𝓓𝓸𝓾𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓓𝓮𝓿𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 - [EDITING]

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝔀𝓮𝓷𝓽𝔂 𝓕𝓲𝓿𝓮

"Why am I always the look out?" I hiss at George as hands a package of Dungbombs up to his brother.

"Because you don't get sidetracked as easily as Fred," he answers.

"Hey!" Fred exclaims from his precarious perch atop a ladder held up by magic. He strings Dungbombs like Christmas ornaments across a wire rigged to the ceiling. It was precarious work considering that if he slid the bomb too hard and it hit one of the others, the entire chain would explode, triggering a domino effect with the other strings we've already set up across the hallway. My job is to make sure no one comes into the hallway prematurely and sets off the magical trip wire while the twins and I are in the room. Fred hooked the last Dungbomb onto the wire and dusted his hands off, letting a putrid brown powder flit to the ground. "There. No more look out duty necessary, Oggster."

"Finally," I sigh and watch Fred climb down the ladder for a little longer than I probably ought.

George looks and me and his gaze flits to follow mine. He makes a face and looks back at me. Heat rises in my cheeks and I quickly focus on my feet, but it's too late. George shrugs and says, "I've got the same one."

"The same what?" I risk glancing back over at him and he opens his mouth. Realization hits me like a train and I quickly cut him off. "Don't answer that. I was not looking there."

"Yes, you were," George retorts, a familiar grin crossing his mouth. "You were totally checking out Fred's b-"

"I was not," I exclaim loudly.

"You weren't what?" Fred asks. He flicks his wrist and the ladder folds itself over and over until it's the size of a single stepladder. He tucks it under his arm.

"She was-"

"I did no such thing-"

George and I talk over each other and fall silent at the slightest snick sound. My eyes meet with the boys' and we run, argument forgotten, just in time for class to dismiss and students fill the corridor, triggering our trap and setting off the most beautiful- and rancid- explosion.

A display of dully colored fireworks erupts across the hall. One after another the sections burst into brown clouds that shrouds the corridor in an unpleasant mist.

As I run, procure a mental image of three outlaws riding off into the sunset while the TNT that allowed for their jailbreak explodes in magnificent plumes of smoke and flames. The thought makes me grin almost as much as the chorus of screaming and gagging that begins.

"Argh!" Filch screams. "You three, stop!"

The boys and I exchange ear-to-ear grins and sprint around the corner.

"In 'ere!" Fred pants, yanking open a closet door and waving us in.

We file in and he yanks the door closed behind us. I hold my breath, lungs burning from the effort after just running, and I'm acutely aware of every part of my body that touches the boys seeing as I'm wedged between the two. George's thigh and fingers, Fred's shoulder and his breath tickling my neck... Heat creeps up my cheeks once again and I'm silently grateful for the dark hiding my blush.

Filch's lilting footsteps storm past us, but we stay silent until they vanish completely. Then we tumble out of the closet and erupt in laughter.

"That. Was. Epic!" Fred exclaims when he catches his breath.

George grins and nods, but is too winded to speak.

"Can you feel it?" I ask, breathing in deeply. "This moment shall forever go down in Hogwarts history as the Great Dungbomb Attack of 1993!"

We high five and everything feels ok. Normal, comfortable... safe. I relish in the warmth of familiarity, but something looms just around the corner. I can feel it, like the coldness that comes just before a Dementor nears. But I don't want to think about that right now, nor ever, so I bury the worries beneath a grin and plead with my brain that for once I'll be able to be carefree, just like before.