The Prankster in Love

Like Father Like Daughter?

"Ready Lissa?" Asked Fred.

"Ready!"

"Three, two!" The four of us counted down as I dipped my index and middle fingers into the jar of water we had. "One!" I pinched the wet start fuse at the end of the firework and Fred threw it down to the other end of the corridor. We hid just around the corner as we watched for Filch coming on the map and then as he was about to get to us, we ran for the moving staircases.

We started on the seventh floor near the entrance to the Gryffindor common room and we were now on the ground floor after using a couple secret passageways to keep him on his toes. We had just let one off in the transfiguration corridor and we were laughing and running to head to the dungeons when we were stopped dead in our tracks as Professor McGonagall was standing at the other end of the corridor looking sterner than ever.

"My office. NOW!"

Filch came wheezing his way to where we were. "Professor these four have had me chasing them from the seventh floor."

"I am aware Mr Filch, and I am dealing with them accordingly." She interrupted him.

He was grinning from ear to ear as he watched us walk to McGonagall's office, he was mumbling something about old punishments in the dungeons.

McGonagall sat down at her desk and had the four of us line up in front of her. "I have not had students quite as rebellious as you four since, well since your father and his friends were students here Miss Black."

"Like father like daughter." I heard Fred whisper beside me.

I shot him a worried glance before McGonagall said. "I think it wise you keep your comments to yourself Mr Weasley."

Does he really think that? Is that good or is that bad? Does he think I'm going to go on a murderous rampage one day and kill one of them? Or does he just think I'm rebellious like my father? Do any of them even trust me? Or do they all think I'm like my father in a bad way?

Oh Godric.

*

It was over a week later and I was sitting in the library with Cedric. I couldn't concentrate I was still worrying about what Fred had said that night in McGonagall's office. Her punishment for us was to help Filch around the castle on Saturday, it wasn't as bad as Snape making us clean his entire classroom because Filch didn't want to be anywhere near us so he just gave us some dustpans and brooms and told us to go and sweep.

"Mel?" I was brought out of my daze by Cedric. I looked across the table at him, he looked really worried. "Is everything okay? You've been in a bit of a daze all afternoon."

I thought about it for a minute before I decided it was probably a good idea to talk about it with someone before I failed this entire school year because of a comment that was made on the first night. "Do you think I'm like my father?"

"I've never met your father."

"I mean, do you trust me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Shhh" Madame Pince glared at us from her desk.

"What's happened for you to think like this Mel?"

"Someone made the comment 'like father like daughter' the other night and now I'm worried that all my friends think I'm going to end up going on a murderous rampage and kill one of them."

"Rrrright." Cedric replied rolling out the start of the word making my heart sink.

"Ohh Godric, you think so too." I slumped forward in my seat and held my head in my hands. I wanted to run. I wanted to hide away from everyone. Why do they all get on as if they're my friends? Do they just feel sorry me? Are they just waiting for my big meltdown? Do they want to be the ones to set me off? All of a sudden, I feel like a ticking time bomb waiting for the boom. I can hear it. I can hear the tick tick tick.