Summers at The Burrow - Fred Weasley

Chapter Forty-five - To Consult a Werewolf

we were currently at Quidditch practice and as it had always been the last few weeks, it was bloody freezing. the dementors brought an eerie cloud over the school that dried and chilled the earth and air around us. the crisp autumn atmosphere had been skipped all together and even when it should have been warm and sunny out we had to wear jackets or our cloaks to protect ourselves from the chilling wind.

as it quickly became winter it got even colder and we had to wear at least three layers each beneath our practice uniforms to even remotely feel a little warm. it didn't help that a lot of us were skin and bones and needed like twenty blankets to keep warm in the winter.

"Everyone in!" Oliver shouted as he flew to the center of the pitch where many of us were practicing.

"What is it?" Alicia asked.

"we've got to keep up morale, pump some energy in you. we've got another thirty minutes left. after were done with practice everyone's staying in the locker room and were turning it into a sauna. there's something to look forward to. we have to stay on our toes and practice to the last minute so that we can get the cup again!" he finished with more energy then he started but the only one who reciprocated his energy was Fred who was great at matching peoples energy.

"let's go guys! thirty more minutes and we can all strip down like old Finnish men and bask in the steamy locker room!" Fred shouted making everyone begin laughing.

"there will be no stripping. especially not in front of Harry." i said jokingly covering his eyes as he swatted me away.

"so if Harry wasn't their would you let us strip?" George asked hopefully.

"im not the one in power here." i said putting my hands up in defense as we all looked at Oliver.

"No!" he shouted through an annoyed chuckle.

"your breaking my heart, Oli. all I've ever wanted in life was to sit in a sauna with no clothes on." Fred said beginning to fake sob as he leaned over on his broom causing me to nearly flip over as he flopped on me.

"someone needs to take this guy to Finland." Angelina said as she rolled her eyes at Fred's antics.

"were wasting time!" Oliver shouted as we realized he had flown back to the goal posts.

we all groaned as we resumed practice still freezing our butts off as we flew around throwing and hitting stuff at one another. it was an unproductive last thirty minutes and Madame Hootch came onto the field telling us to get off since it had gotten dark and she didn't seem to think it was all that safe anymore with the dementors being around and all that. 

we did as we were told and we got off the field entering the locker room and closing the door tightly before Oliver turned the showers on leaving the curtains open on all of them to allow the rest of the locker room to steam up as we took our gloves and guards off. we shoved them in our cubbies and took our thin practice robes off leaving us in only our many layers of jumpers and trousers.

Harry had given up on his glasses since they no longer remained clear with all the steam going through the room and once it grew difficult to breath through the steam Oliver shut all the shower taps off with magic and we shut the lights off as we all ran into the cold. i had brought an extra cloak with me down to practice so i had an additional layer but i still ran back into the school with the others not bothering that we weren't exactly permitted to run through the halls.

once we reached The Fat Lady's portrait we said the password and entered quickly as we all tumbled over the backs of empty sofas and armchairs by the fire. it seems the cold puts everyone in a tired mood because there were few in the room besides Hermione who was waist deep in a mountain of work that she had been working on since before we even went to dinner. it's clear she had not stopped working on it yet. Ron had to have brought her something to eat though because the girl had a small empty plate beside her with only a few crumbs of evidence that there was ever anything on the plate.