Except For You ~ {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 5

I felt foolish waiting at the Astronomy Tower after the rest of the class. I had to take extra long packing up, then pretend to drop something and summon it from the ground. Del made sure she was the last one out, because she knew that Mr Trouble was coming up to meet me. After about ten minutes, he finally shows up. I had already started reading. I glance up at him. "Took you long enough." I whisper, reading my book.

"I was getting food."

"Hm, okay." I respond, still not looking up from my book.

"Whatcha reading?"

"Letters to the Lost." I answer.

"What's it about?" He asks, sitting down next to me. I hand him the book and get out another.

He reads the blurb and front page silently. He hands it back to me. "Sounds cool."

"Read it, I already have three times." He takes it back and continues reading it. I sit there, reading another book while he reads that one.

Occasionally he'll exclaim things like, 'TELL HER DAMN IT!' or, 'WHAT? NO WAY! THAT DICK!' It was funny to hear his reactions to that book while I silently read about owls getting orphaned, kidnapped (or rather, owl-napped), and hypnotised.

I look up from my book and check my watch. It's four in the morning. I stand up and walk over to the balcony, feeling the early morning breeze on my face. The stars are sprinkled heavily on the navy blue sky, that's slowly getting lighter. It was worth staying up here, being able to see this. I hear Mr Trouble stand up and slowly walk over next to me. I have my arms on the railing, looking at the view. You can see Hagrid's hut from here.

However I say, "This was probably a shit idea."

"Because I'm here?"

"Yes, and the fact that there's a huge monster running around the castle ready to strike."

"I forgot about that." He whispers, his normal cheeky smile on his face.

"Hm, well if I'm about to get attacked, you can heroically save me from harm's way."

"I'm not the one who can produce a shield charm." He teases.

"I'm not the one with a map that shows everyone in Hogwarts and where they are at all times."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The Marauder's Map?" I ask slyly.

"How do you know about that?" He asks, worried. I just laugh.

"I have my ways. Also George fell asleep with it while it was still unlocked." I add.

"That idiot!" He exclaims under his breath.

"Speaking of shield charms." I whisper, walking back over to the corner and trying the charm Professor Flitwick instructed me to do. "Protego Horribilis." Nothing happens. "Protego Horribilis." Again, nothing happens. I shake my arms and try again. "Protego Horribilis!" A small shield produces from the end of my wand. It stays there for a minute until Mr Trouble comes over and kicks it.

"Really?" I ask.

"Not that protective, is it?"

"I didn't see you producing the shield charm in class." I remark.

"True, true. Do it again." I roll my eyes and repeat the charm. I keep doing it for ten minutes until I'm too tired to do anymore.

I grab a spare bit of parchment and record my progress.

"This is what I mean by talented." Mr Trouble whispers when he looks over my shoulder at my progress. I shrug. He moves and sits down next to me.

"We could probably read some more before we go down." I say, checking my watch.

"When do you reckon we can go down?"

"Five at earliest." He looks at me with intrigue because I responded so quickly. I huff impatiently. "We're right above the Ravenclaw tower, did you know that? The earliest I've ever seen someone go down is five, which tends to become five-fifteen because they walk too slow reading."

"You're that someone, aren't you?" He asks, failing to hide a smirk.

"I don't read while I walk, it's annoying and slow." I remark. "But... sometimes I do go down at five, yes." He laughs. I whack his arm. "But not for food! It's to meet Del." I add shyly. He laughs again.

"You're cute when you curl up like that." I suddenly realise that I had curled with my chin on my knees and my arms around my legs. I flush.

"It's comfortable." I mumble. He curls up as well and sits for a long moment.

"You're right." He unfolds into a cross-legged position and grabs the book I gave him. He starts reading it as he pushes my book towards me. I pick it up and read.

My watch beeps. "We could probably go down now." I whisper into the long silence that was only filled with birds chirping and the flipping of pages. My voice disrupting it sounds wrong.

"Mhm." He responds.

"Do you want to go down then?" I ask.

"Uh uh."

"You sound like a child."

"I wanna stay here." He pouts.

"I stand corrected. You are a child." He laughs.

"Okay, let's go." He whispers, standing up. "Oh, by the way, the book's really good."

"I know, it's my favourite for a reason." I answer, also standing up and brushing myself off. "Did you finish it?" I add.

"Um, no." He mutters quickly.

"Keep until you do. Tell me what you think of the ending." I instruct.

"You left your bookmark in here."

"I know. You use it, I have another one." He tucks it into the book and I grab my bag. He grabs the snacks he brought up and we quietly walk down the staircase. We reach an intersection, one that heads down to the Ravenclaw tower and one that's the main entrance to get to the Astronomy tower.

"You go down that one and let your brother know you're alright." I direct.

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna slip into the stream of Ravenclaws that come down at this time. I'll be fine. Go!" I explain, shooing him away. He runs silently down the hallway, winking at me at the corner before disappearing.

The words, "Seeya soon, Miss Salty," travel down the hallway as he turns. I shake my head.

"Seeya soon Mr Trouble, seeya soon."

I quickly slip down the staircase and join the group of early-bird Ravenclaws that go down at this time. No one turns a head. I don't blame them. I'm pretty unnoticeable, with me being small, quiet and usually dressed in dark colours. But most of the time it's because I don't want to be noticed. I like it better. The only people who really know I exist at this school are Del, Mr Trouble and the Professors.

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Hey! This is a rather short chapter but I really like it! If you're reading this, thanks for reading this far! Hope you're enjoying so far!

<3 Okieee