New Perspective ⌁ Fred Weasley

Chapter Fifteen

While also attempting to prepare for their OWLs, Maxine and her friends worked hard at developing some of their own pranks, as well as trying to recreate the Weasley twins most famous ones. It was exciting, to say the least, with the adrenaline that they had as they stocked up goods from Zonko's and brainstormed the most ideal situations for pranks.

But Maxine was also anxious beyond her own witts. Quidditch was becoming more rigorous and the school load was just getting harder. Along with that, she felt guilty that when they purchased items for pranks, she only had a few sickles to spare. Tamsin and Heidi assured Maxine that they didn't mind and that they understood, but it didn't stop her from feeling bad.

To make matters worse, Winter had begun to make it's way fully into Hogwarts, and Maxine got sick. Really sick. It was a Saturday, two weeks before the students would head home for the Christmas holiday, and Maxine was asleep on a couch in the back of the library. She couldn't breathe fully from her nose, and her body felt like it had been run over by the Hogwarts Express. She knew Madame Pomfrey would be able to help her, but she really did not want to go to hospital wing. Quidditch practice was going on at that moment, but even Cedric Diggory knew that Maxine was far to sick to sit upright on her broom.

When she wasn't helping her friends with pranking their Gryffindor counterparts, Maxine had been studying, sleeping, and attempting to repair some of her belongings. If she knew the spells it would have been easy to fix the large whole in gloves and reattach the sole of her sneakers. But sadly, she didn't know those spells and she felt incredibly lame for asking.

By her couch in the library, Maxine had books, sewing thread and needles, and her worn out shoes thrown about the floor. She used her Hufflepuff robes as a blanket as she slept and her scarf as a pillow. She looked as dead as she felt.

Across the library, Fred Weasley entered. He and George had just given Harry Potter their Marauder's map, but before that he had spent time looking for where the Hufflepuff girls were to see if they could complete the next prank the twins had planned. Heidi and Tamsin were on the Quidditch pitch with their team, but Maxine was alone in the back of the library.

The prank Fred and George had been planning involved all three of the girls, so since they couldn't do it, George suggested they head to the Hogwarts kitchens for snacks. Fred declined, and told his brother that he wanted to find a transfiguration book in the library. Without questioning his brother, George said "okay" and headed in the direction if the Great Hall.

Fred weaved through the book cases and the students studying, before he found Maxine fast asleep on a couch in the far back corner of the library. Her face was flushed, and Fred could hear how congested she must've been as she breathed.

On the floor, he saw that there were sewing items next to a pair of torn gloves and shoes that looked like they were straining to stay together. Fred recognized the needle and thread from items his mother used when she had to much time on her hands to fix things with her wand.

As Fred walked towards a chair next to the couch, Maxine stirred. She opened her eyes just enough to see Fred's blurry tall frame and a head of ginger hair. Then she muttered, "Not today, Weasley."

The nasal sound of Maxine's voice told Fred right away that she was sick. He felt bad as she turned onto her back and coughed a few times, her face becoming more red and her breathing more labored.

"Merlin's beard Beater Girl," Fred said as he sat down in the chair adjacent from Maxine, "You sound like you need a doctor."

Maxine rolled her eyes and sat up at the sound of the Weasley's voice. She coughed violently, before swallowing and clearing her throat. "I'm fine," she didn't bother to correct the Beater Girl comment. She was too sick to care. "I'm not even that sick." She wiped the drool of her chin and pulled her hair back off her shoulders. She looked up the boy sitting near her, who smiled a small, crooked tooth smile.