Except For You ~ {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 41

Professor Snape enters the room, sending me a strange look. I send one back, to which he simply looks away, muttering something. I probably got points taken away from Ravenclaw. Ah well, I'll get twice as many back this lesson.
"I'm surprised to see half of the people in this room," he starts, eyeing me. I guess he didn't know that Del and I were dropping the internship. "This year will be unlike the first five. I will be harsher, the potions will be harder to make and for some it might not even be worth it. But if you plan to use this course in your future, make sure you pay attention."
We all nod, either too scared or not bothered enough to answer. Personally, I just didn't have anything to say.
Snape assigns us to start on a potion I've never heard of. I quickly grab the ingredients and start working on preparing them, my hair now in a quick ponytail as I read the book.
"Miss Mathias..." The familiar voice says.
"Yes, professor?" I answer, not looking up from the root I was cutting.
"You're in Potions."
"I am aware professor." I bite back a snarky remark.
"Why?"
"Del and I decided we didn't want to do the internship anymore." I look up briefly, moving onto the next ingredient and focusing on it instead. "I'm going into healing instead."
"I see. What other classes are you taking then."
"Care of, Charms, Herbology and DADA." My eyes linger on the board, taking me too long to read. "What's that word before 'chop'?" I ask.
Snape glances behind him. "Finely." I nod, grabbing some moonsilk grass and chopping it. "Why are you taking Care of Magical Creatures if you're going into healing?"
"Well, animals have different properties of healing and harm. A venom from a certain animal may only have one treatment, and I don't plan on accidentally killing a patient because I didn't know what it was."
Snape nods. "I suppose..."
"Besides, I can also learn about natural remedies should magic not suffice. For example, did you know Thestral saliva has healing properties? Well, I think it's their saliva, I haven't been able to test if it's that or their-"
Snape cuts off my ramble. "Thestrals? How on earth did you figure that out?"
"One healed me earlier this morning," I respond, mixing the potion three times clockwise.
"You... Can you see Thestrals?"
"Yes." I glance up and meet his eyes with a deadly glint. Up until now, Snape had shown no sign of concern about the conversation. I'd rather he kept it that way. "I don't plan on talking about it," I add, before looking at my potion again.
"I understand, Miss Mathias." He moves on, letting me exhale a breath I didn't know I was keeping in.

My potion was almost perfect. Apparently, one gram less of moonsilk grass would have done the trick. Noted.
My feet dash to the Great Hall, happy to get lunch.
I plop down beside Del. "Hey," I greet, tired.
"Hey!" She replies with a grin. "I feel like it's been a year since we last had any proper time together."
"Only a couple months!" I say with jazz hands. She rolls her eyes. "I know Del. It's really not my fault though."
"You could have declined Cedric's offer," she answers, pointing her fork at me. I give her a quizzical look. She quickly gives in. "Yeah, you're right. I would've beat your ass. Besides..." She smirks cheekily. "If you didn't go, you and Fred wouldn't be together right now."
I roll my eyes, chuckling. "Alright, that's enough. You have a boyfriend too, remember?"
"Yeah, but half the school didn't make a betting pool for me and George!"
"What?" I exclaim, drawing the attention of about twenty people around us. "What betting pool?" I exclaim again, this time slightly quieter, after Del cringed at my first outburst.
"You didn't know?" She asks, with a slight laugh.
"No! Who, what, when?"
"Like, almost all of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor bet on you guys!"
"But, like, what did they bet?"
"When you guys would get together." She laughs again. "It was either the last year of school, or in the summer holidays."
"Well... did you win?"
"I set it up."
"DEL!"
She laughs again, and people around us have started to watch the conversation.
"Yeah, sorry. But, hey, most of the Ravenclaws won. The Gryffindors thought it would take Fred forever to make a move."
"Well, luckily for him, I decided to make the first one."
"And for you," she sings, nudging me slightly. I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, wanna go to Hogsmeade together? I still haven't been able to find a good dress."
"Ah! I love shopping! Of course! I can't wait!"
I laugh lightly at her sudden excitement. "Good. Because I have no idea what colours I look good in."

Turns out, Del wants to make jewelry. I only know this because she was in my Charms class.
I had missed Charms. The classroom, atmosphere, teacher, work. Everything about it, I missed. Even the exams!
I let out an incomprehensible sound when I see Del waiting at the front of the door.
"Excuse me!" I call, walking up to her. "Why in the world didn't I know you were doing Charms?"
She smiles at me sheepishly. "I wanted it to be a surprise?"
"You literally suck."
"Yeah, but you love me."
A pout forms on my face. "I hate that you're right."
We head into the classroom and sit down.
Professor Binns walks in and hops onto his little platform, smiling at all of us.
He starts talking about exams, the work, class, how hard it will be, etc.
But I feel Fred's eyes on me the entire time, trying to figure me out. I know what he's thinking. It's not hard to find out. A simple glance behind me tells me it all. I just wish he'd leave me alone about it.

My gut twists as Professor Binns calls on me, and it takes me a whole minute to realise he wants me to come to the front. My body freezes. Which is weird, because I don't have any type of stage fright. In fact, I could probably get up on stage and do something embarrassing without consequence (that's a lie, my mind would scream at me until I died).
Finally, I stand, hiding my trembling as if I were first year and getting sorted again. I step past Del and make it to the front, looking at Professor Binns plainly.
"Could you show the class the charm you were working on last year?"
I blink, confused, before I realise. My mouth dries up, but I nod and pull out my wand.
Everyone's eyes are on me. I can't mess this up. I just can't.
Fred's hazel eyes catch my blue eyes and sparkle with reassurance. I smile softly at him, before my eyes dart to Del's. She grins, before mouthing the word, 'Aslan'.
And that's all I need.

Professor Binns catches me before I leave the classroom. I step back through the crowd towards him, like I did a mere two years ago.
Woah. Major deja vu.
I shake the feeling away and look down at him.
"Ah, Miss Mathias. I'm so glad you decided to continue with my class! I'd like to talk to you about harder work."
"You did, Professor, earlier in the lesson."
"No, no, nothing like that." He chuckles lightly. "I mean for you specifically. See, you've always been outstanding in your results throughout Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Let's not forget that internship the ministry offered-"
"How do you know about that?" My voice comes out more terrified than I'd like to admit. I was going for a casual, curious conversation, but that's been thrown out the window now.
Professor Binns looks a bit shocked from how I snapped at him, so I clear my throat and step back. He swallows and continues, carefully, "Professor Dumbledore informed me. He said to look out for you."
I try to keep a scowl off my face. That wasn't Dumbledore's business to know, but I suppose it can't be helped. He always knows everything at some point.
"And, so," Professor Binns keeps speaking, not sensing my annoyance, he never was one to pick up on those sorts of things, "I was wondering if you'd like more advanced work."
"Well, I..." I hesitate. What would this mean for me? "I'll tell you after the next lesson," I decide. This seems to satisfy him, because his grin somehow gets bigger and he waves before turning away. As he walks away, I let out a deep breath slowly, before turning and walking away as well.