fireworks - gideon prewett fanfiction

chapter five

(Gideon's pov)

"Sh, did you hear that?" The amusement which Fabian's face previously held had gone, and was now replaced with confusion. His eyes widened while his brows furrowed, and his eyes darted to the door.

We'd decided to celebrate the first day back at Hogwarts by visiting The Kitchens. We'd gotten our usual snacks and had sat in the quaint room at the back of The Kitchens. It was a cozy room, with small tables and fluffy rugs. It was the highlight of our night going to them, and it was those nights when we came up with most of our pranks, although History of Magic was a close second.

It was surprisingly peaceful, despite the clatter of pans and bustling house elves, Fabian and I wordlessly agreed that it felt like home. It truly felt like the Burrow, with the smell of fresh pastries and cakes. It's never been discussed, but we both knew we were always quite homesick when we went to Hogwarts - it's a twin thing. Over the years the feeling had lessened, but at the start of the year it always was the worst. As kids, Fabian, Molly and I were inseparable - and I'm glad to say that things haven't changed. But the presence of mum and dad just gave a comforting air to any place, and they couldn't come to Hogwarts. Although the school was our second home, especially since we practically live here all year, it never feels like the Burrow.

As much as Fabian and I deny it, the scolding of our mum whenever we pull a prank on Molly is weirdly nice. Unlike at Hogwarts, where if you charm people's shoes to start tap-dancing - you'd get detention; at home we might get shouted at by mum, but then she'd purposely charm hers as well, and join in. And of course, dad would go around with his camera, capturing the moment. And yes, I'm speaking from past experiences.

"The hell was that for?" I scowled and picked the fizzing whizzbee from my sweater, throwing it back at him. The dumbass caught it in his mouth, laughing.

His grin widened, and he put his finger in front of his mouth - shushing me; before getting up and looking through the sliver of the door the house elf had left open.

"It's Molly and the others!" He whispered, trying to muffle his laughs with the sweater our mum had knit last Christmas.

I sniggered, ickle Mols roaming Hogwarts at this time?

"Yeah, and pigs can fly!"

He smirked, "Don't get ahead of yourself, we're doing that one next week during breakfast."

I laughed loudly, I had forgotten all about the charmed pigs in our dorm. Fabian and I had spent the entire summer break in our room trying to learn how to charm pebbles into wings, then we binded the wings to the backs of a couple wild pigs which lived near the Burrow. The plan was to let them loose while the marauders made the Great Hall's sky ceiling rain cats and dogs. That was a muggle phrase Remus had told us, and of course - a brilliant prank idea.

Fabian peeped behind the door again, beckoning me closer. Quietly I tiptoed on the oddly warm, yellow tiles, and took a look behind the door myself.

Of course, Molly with the famous Prewett hair caught my eye first. It was practically impossible, she stuck out like a sore thumb with her familiar fiery-red locks. She was rummaging through a cupboard, most likely looking for the cockroach clusters - her favourite.

Lily was sitting at the counter on the left, buttering a fresh croissant, and Mary was emptying jars of snacks into a mini bag. She must've put an extending charm on it because with all the empty jars beside her, and the small tote - it surely would've spilled by now.

Alice was decorating her ice cream sundae, and Marlene was chugging a bottle of fire whiskey - unsurprisingly. In the four years of knowing that girl, I can count the days where she hasn't been drunk on my fingers.

Then there was LaRue. Her flushed cheeks resembled a chipmunks', her mouth stuffed with exploding bon-bons. Even with her cheeks full of sweets, she still managed to look cute, I mean, cute as a baby-faced girl could get.

Which is extremely cute.

Not that I liked her, I just wasn't blind - Sirius and the others, and practically every guy drooled at the sight of her. It's understandable, she had doe-like, big, blue eyes, and naturally-red, pouty lips, a smooth complexion and flowing brown hair. Not to mention her impeccable broom riding and contagious smile; whoever said she wasn't pretty would be lying to themselves.

For some reason, which I can't explain, I know she wasn't the ordinary girl. She was too... bubbly. And she was too likeable for her own good. Half of the male population of our year had already tried to get to know her, asking if she needed help to find her way around school - one Ravenclaw even invited her to his dorm.

And the small brunette merely smiled and politely declined, as if he was offering her tea instead of trying to get in her pants.

She was a kid. With bug eyes and a round face. And with a naïve little brain to match. Unless, she's playing innocent - and likes the attention. But hey, it's not that I cared, hell I wouldn't be surprised. Nearly every girl in our year thrived off of attention, and a pretty, no, gorgeous, girl like her wouldn't be any different.

But my eyes were glued to the girl, it was like I was in a trance - I couldn't pull my gaze away.

Then, her eyes lifted, though her cheeks were still extremely packed with food. Oh, her face was priceless. Her eyes pooled with guilt and embarrassment, that she'd been caught - and if possible she looked even cuter, with a sheepish smile showing off her dimples.

"Well, well, well," Fabian began, and I finished his sentence as usual, "What do we have here? Students... in the kitchen at this late hour? Tut tut tut, 60 points from Gryffindor!"

Fabian disappointedly shook his head for added effect, and I couldn't help but smirk.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Will you please give it a rest? Plus it's not like you're the model student - you're also out of bed too, genius." She gave a deadpan look and rose from the stool, carrying her half-eaten croissant.

I raised my eyebrows with my usual smirk, "Glad you appreciate my brains Lily, I'll be sure to tell James about your compliments later - though he might get slightly jealous," I winked and couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her ears reddening, almost camouflaging with her hair, "1:22am is a pretty late hour to be up at considering lessons start at 9am don't you think Evans?"

Mary's eyes widened as did Lily's, "He's right Lils, we can't be late for Transfiguration on the first day back - Professor McGonagall will kill us!"

I laughed internally, Lily would rather jump off the Astronomy Tower than be late to a lesson, and everyone knew it.

Rolling her eyes, Lily made her way to the door - Mary right behind her, heaving the bag on her shoulder. Molly and Alice trailed behind too, carrying as much food as possible. Marlene's drunk self however, was singing as she pulled LaRue away from a house elf who she was laughing with. 

She was laughing with a house elf? I'd never seen anyone talk to a house elf for fun - let alone laughing with one.

There was something weird about the girl. Behind all the smiles and her shining eyes, she seemed like she had secrets. Don't ask me why I think this, it's just the powers that come with being a better-looking twin. And having a sister too - it's called big-brother intuition.

She was hiding things, and I was going to find out what.