The Dark Mark (The Girl Who Lived part II)

The Invention Convention

I didn't love Harry. I didn't reciprocate his feelings. I couldn't. So why was I crying? Why were clear salty droplets falling from my eyes? "He was just upset. When he cools down, try to explain it to him. He's a pretty reasonable person". Ginny said, attempting to comfort me. I wore the watch that Harry had thrown away. Just as he had done with me. "I think we can all agree that boys are stupid". Hermoine stated, as if it were a fact. 

The next morning, we would be attending an invention convention. Inventions old an new, would be displayed in glass cases. We piled into the car. The car ride was long and quiet. Mr. Weasley seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere. Everyone but Mr. Weasley had known of last night's events. And everyone had taken a side. There was Ron's side, and Harry's side. I was on Ron's side. As was Ginny and Hermoine. The twins sided with Harry. They knew of what had actually happened, but they couldn't bring themselves to say that Harry was wrong. When the car was parked, we filed into the building in which the convention would be held. Mr. Weasley ran around the rooms of inventions eagerly, like a child at the fair. 

I occassionally glanced over at Harry. A sadness washed over me everytime I did so. Sometimes he'd see me looking at him, and he would simply look away. "We'll make you feel better, Scarlet". Said the twins who wrapped their arms around me. "See Ron over there?" George began. Ron was sitting down on one of the benches. There was nothing unusual about it. He was beginning to doze off. His eyelids would droop, and his head seemed to lull. "We wanted to cheer you up, so we thought a prank would make you feel better. We put glue on the seat". Fred continued. "That's all lies. You just wanted to prank Ron and needed a reason to justify it". I said. "Well, we tried". The twins said, shrugging. "So how are you planning on removing the glue?" I asked them. The twins shrugged again. "We weren't". Said George. "Just sit back and watch the show". Fred said. 

"You're terrible". I said, nudging them both. "But you love us". They said, squeezing me into a bear hug. "I'd better go wake Ron up". I said. "Oh please, let us". Said the twins. They headed over to a sleeping Ron and poked him hard on both of his sides. Ron jolted upward and screamed. Ron still remained seated. For, he wasn't able to move anywhere at all.  "Fred! George!" He called their names, but they did nothing but scurry off. "Sorry, they were trying to cheer me up". I said, taking a seat beside him that hadn't been covered in glue. "I'm really sorry about last night. Yes, I do have feelings for you. But I wouldn't do something so underhanded. I want you to love me for me. I wouldn't purposefully wreck your relationship with Harry for my own personal gain". He began. "I know". I answered him. "Hey Scarlet..." He trailed off. "Yeah?" "I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I can't manage to move at all", He said.

"Right. Give me a minute".I made my way over to Ginny, who was busy watching Mr. Weasley. It was her shift. "Ron's glued to the bench over there. Do you happen to have nail polish remover?" I asked her. "Why is Ron glued to the bench?" She asked me, not taking her eyes off of Mr. Weasley. "Twins". I said. It was only one simple, one syllable word, but it somehow said it all. Nothing more needed to be said for her to understand what had happened. She nodded her head, and handed me a small bottle. "I'd love to stay longer, but Dad's begun to ask muggle's questions. And we know where that leads". We went our separate ways and into different directions. I returned to Ron with the nail polish remover and paper towels that I had fetched from the bathroom. "Here". I handed him the two items that would remove him from the bench. When Ron was freed from the sticky situation that the twins had put him in, he stood up and stretched. I noticed that there was a white stain on his jeans where the nail polish remover had been used. "Uh.....Ron. The nail polish seemed to bleach your pants". Ron awkwardly turned around to examine the problem. "Bloody 'ell. These are my favorite pants, too". "Look, I can work on it later. But for now, just cover that spot". Ron tugged downwards on his shirt. It wasn't even close enough to covering the stain. "Here". I took off the overly baggy hoodie I had been wearing. He tied it around his waist. "Perfect".

Our attention was soon diverted from the stain to Mr. Weasley. Apparently he had tried to touch the exhibits and bothered a majority of the visitor's by asking them what the function of each invention was. "I'll behave. I promise". Mr. Weasley said to the many members of the security team as they dragged him away from the inventions and to the parking lot. "Looks like we need to go". I said to Ron. We, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and the twins slowly followed behind. "Some people have no manners". Mr. Weasley stated as he picked himself off the ground and brushed himself off. We piled into the car again, just as cramped as we were when we left the hotel. The ride back to the hotel was a fairly quiet one. Ginny would strike up a conversation with Harry, only to have Ron tell her to sit down and shut up. Who in turn would be told by the twins to do the same exact thing. Who would soon be yelled at by Mr. Weasley who would give them the same message. When the car was parked, we exited the car one by one. As everyone else went back to their respective rooms, the twins held me and Harry behind. They slapped a pair of handcuffs on our wrists, preventing me and Harry from going our separate ways. 

"How did you even get these?" Harry asked them. "Let's just say that one less cop is ready to arrest some criminal". They said. "I swear that when I get my hands on you-" I reached up my hands to grab their collars. But my arm was connected to Harry's so I didn't even have the freedom to do so. "We can't have our dear Scarlet and "The Boy Who Lived" arguing, now can we?" George said to us. "It's not good for business". Commented Fred. "Well, we'll be off. Ta-ta!" They both said, waving at us as they walked away to their room. Harry and I slowly made our way inside. We took seats between the rooms in the hallway. We said each other's names at the same time. "You go first". We said in unison. Every syllable in every word, matching up. I insisted that he go first. "I want to apologize for going off like that, I never should've trusted that snake. I didn't even give you the chance to explain". He looked into my eyes, pleading for forgiveness. Although he could've handeled it better, he wasn't completely at fault. "I'm sorry too. I would never do something like that to you. And I never meant for you to think that. The twins gave Ginny, Ron's diary. We read a bit of it not knowing who's it was. I wanted to apologize for it, and returned it to him. That's all that happened". I assured him. "Are we okay?" He asked me. I nodded. "I love you Scarlet. I just can't stand it when I see you with other guy's".He lightly pulled off the watch that I had put on my arm. It was fastened as tight as it would go, yet it still felt three sizes too loose on my arm. The glass on the watch was cracked. He fastened the watch tightly around his wrist and I pulled my scarlet ribbon that he had given to me out of my pocket, which I then tied around my hair. I noticed that the door to the room the guys slept in was slightly ajar. The twins were most likely eavesdropping. I pointed this out to Harry. He seemed to understand. "I love you Harry". I quietly crept over to the doorknob. "Bloody 'ell. I think I'm going to be sick". I heard from behind the door. Ron was there too. "I love you too, Scarlet". He said as best he could without laughing. With one swift movement, I opened the door out as far as it would go. Fred, George, and Ron, who had all been leaning on the door, eager to listen to us talk, fell onto the floor and on top of each other.