Begged and borrowed time - Tom Riddle

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆

January 1991:

"Oi, August!" Fred shouted, his voice filled with a mixture of surprise and amusement. George quickly covered his brother's mouth.

August's mind raced, desperately searching for an explanation. How did they know her name? The possibilities swirled in her head, but she couldn't make sense of it all.

"She has to be in this hallway," one of the twins commented, August couldn't tell which one, as she wasn't able to tell them apart.

"I've never seen that name before," the other thought aloud.

Her mind was processing all of the options as to why the boys were searching for her. Someone they could not see and was right here.

"Maybe she's an exchange student?" asked one.

"Let's just hope she's not a teacher," replied the other.

"August!" Screamed George once more.

"If we get caught because of you, you'll regret it," George threatened Fred, clearly concerned about the potential trouble they could be in.

Caught between fear and curiosity, August attempted to take a cautious step backwards, hoping to retreat unnoticed. However, her hopes were dashed as her right shoe scraped against the stone floor, creating a small sound that echoed through the hallway.

"Oh, come on, we know you're here! Come out of your hiding," Fred ordered. George hit him over the head with the map, and he let out a groan.

"You sound like a weirdo, stop it, you'll scare her!" George scolded his brother, realizing that being menacing wouldn't be the best approach to coax someone out of hiding.

"We don't even know who we're looking for, George. Maybe it's not even a girl, or perhaps she's Filch's secret lover," Fred joked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Both boys burst into laughter.

"August Flamel, come out of hiding or I will scream your name until Dumbledore shows up... or worse, Snape, or even worse, Filch!" Fred threatened.

"One," Fred began to count.

"Two," George continued, the two boys exchanging a glance.

"Three," they said in unison, raising their wands to their throats, pretending to use them as microphones. Before they could shout her name, August dropped the invisibility cloak, raising both hands in a gesture for them to stop.

"No! No! Stop it, you're going to get us into big trouble!" she pleaded, alarmed by the thought of jeopardizing the trust she had just established with the headmaster. She had to hope that the twins wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Who are you?" the redheads asked simultaneously, their curiosity piqued by the sudden appearance of the unfamiliar girl. She was clearly not someone they had seen before.

"Can we discuss this somewhere else?" August asked, feeling a bit anxious about being seen by more people. The last thing she wanted was to endanger her chance to travel to London and board the train to meet other students starting their journey at Hogwarts.

The two brothers exchanged uncertain glances, trying to decide whether to accompany August to a more private location or simply go to their dormitories and forget about the whole encounter to avoid getting into more trouble than they already were. However, the allure of unraveling the mystery surrounding the girl outweighed their concerns. They both knew they wouldn't come across such an intriguing enigma in the later months at Hogwarts. After a few minutes of August pleading, they decided to listen to her story.

"So..." August began, unsure of how much of her story she should reveal to the two students. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the opportunity to confide in the same boys whom she had observed with amusement during her time at Hogwarts. At least she knew Fred and George wouldn't mind staying out so late, and she believed they would provide her with a fair chance to explain herself.