𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙 - 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

Chapter Nine

I kicked open the door to our dormitory, and the four of us ran in.

"Find whichever bed is yours," I commanded, sprinting over to one of the ones in the middle, with my trunk at the foot of it. "and then everybody sit on the floor!"

George's bed was closest to the wall, then mine, then Fred's, then Lee's next to the other wall between the bathroom and the dormitory.

We all sat in a circle on the floor, crossing our legs. "Now boys, McGonagall said we do have to get some sleep, but she didn't say for how long! We could stay up most of the night and get an hours sleep, or be sensible and get twelve or so hours sleep. Which will it be?" I asked.

"ONE HOUR!" they all shouted together, and the four of us leapt up, grabbed pillows and started throwing them at eachother.

***

When I woke up it was still night, and I was lying down with my head on Fred's chest. We had all fallen asleep on the floor after eating far too many sweets and staying up late talking.

I slowly got up, getting my pajamas from my trunk and going into the bathroom, locking the door.

I turned the shower on and took my clothes off, getting in the shower. I stood in the hot water, feeling refreshed.

Once I was done with my shower, I got out and began to dry myself with one of the fluffy towels from the shelf. When I was dry, I wrapped my hair up in my towel and got my pajamas on.

I unlocked the door and walked over to my bed, towelling my hair and then draping the towel over the chair next to my bed. I slowly slipped underneath the the feather duvet and into the warm bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

***

"Get up!" I heard Fred yell in my ear. I groaned sleepily, pulling the covers over my head. "Come on, we'll be late for breakfast!"

I shot awake at the word breakfast, and instantly leaped out of bed, grabbing my t-shirt, overalls and sneakers, running into the bathroom and locking the door.

I got dressed at top-speed, then brushed my hair and wrenched the door open. "Let's go!" I yelled, grabbing Fred's hand and dragging him downstairs.

We ran out of the common room and down most of the staircases, until one of them moved. I stopped, holding onto the railing. "What's happening?" I asked Fred.

He laughed and answered with, "The staircases like to move, Charlie told me but I forgot to tell you."

"Oh, I see!" I said, and continued to the foot of the staircase, waiting for it to stop moving. When it did, we continued running to the Great Hall at about five stairs at a time.

As soon as we arrived, I slowed my pace and walked calmly over to the empty Gryffindor table. As Fred joined me, I looked around, seeing nobody else in the Great Hall.

I checked my watch. "Five o'clock? Nobody else gets up at five o'clock?" I exclaimed, shocked.

"I suppose nobody else is a morning person like us." said Fred, grabbing a piece of toast and spreading butter on it.

"Yeah, I guess." I replied, piling a large stack of pancakes onto my plate and drizzling maple syrup onto them. I began eating, and the food was delicious! "Wow! This is almost as good as Molly's cooking!" I said with my mouth full.

Fred nodded as he shoved yet another piece of buttered toast into his mouth. "After this d'you wanna look around the grounds?" he asked, swallowing.

"Sure!" I mumbled, barely able to speak from all the pancakes stuffed into my mouth.

Once we had finished eating, we got up from the now half-full Gryffindor table and walked through the huge front doors and onto the grounds.

I spotted a large tree next to a giant lake and ran down to it, Fred chasing after me. I reached the tree and sat down, leaning against the trunk.

"This," I panted, gasping for breath, "is now our spot. We sit here."

Fred nodded, sitting down next to me. We sat there for a while, catching our breath, then got up and walked along the edge of the Dark Forest.

"I'm pretty sure this is the Forest we're not allowed in." said Fred, grinning mischievously. "So let's go."

We slowly crept through. It was very dark, like its name. We froze as a twig cracked, then a centaur walked through the trees, his bow loaded and pointed at us.

I started to back away, then both Fred and I turned and ran, screaming our heads off.

***

"Charlieee!" I yelled, running up to him where he was sitting by the fire in the common room. "Charlie, we were in the Dark Forest and there was a centaur, it tried to kill us!" I whined, clinging onto his arm and sitting next to him on the couch.

Charlie and his friends laughed as Fred joined me and we both looked terrified.

"Centaurs won't hurt you!" snickered Charlie. "They don't hurt kids, or foals, as they call them."

Fred and I both relaxed. "Oh. But then how come he was pointing a loaded bow at us?" Fred demanded.

"Well, if somebody walked into your home without invitation and you didn't know them, you'd have your wand out, wouldn't you?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah, I s'pose so." I remarked.

"Hold on. What were you guys doing in the Dark Forest anyway?" asked Charlie's friend.

Mine and Fred's eyes widened. "Exploring!" shouted Fred, then dragged me back up to our dormitory.

We flopped down onto my bed. "That was close!" I said, lying down.

"Yeah, I hope they don't tell Filch or somebody." Fred replied.