She was a misfit, he was a git.
Matilda Diggory enters her fifth year of school, ready to remain as under the radar as possible, only there's a catch. She's somehow managed to catch the eye of a particularly annoying redhead, who seems hell-bent on...
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Matilda woke up before anyone else did the morning following the triumph of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She made her way downstairs to find a number of students hadn't even made their way back to their dorms, like Fred, George, Lee, Wood, and a small number of other older students. There were empty bottles strewn around the room, covering every surface available, as well as food wrappers littered about the place and red and gold streamers hanging across the room. She climbed over Fred, who was lying on the floor directly between two of the round tables in the centre of the room. She accidentally caught her shoe on his hip, knocking him gently. Matilda grimaced, hoping he wouldn't notice.
"Ow."
"Sorry," she whispered, hoping not to disrupt any of the others.
He looked up at her, his hands lifting to shade him from the sunlight filtering in through the curtains. "What are you doing awake already, love?"
"Don't call me that," Matilda scolded him, but a smile danced on her face. "I'm going to get breakfast."
Fred groaned and clutched his stomach, "I'm so hungover that the idea of food is not appealing. What is wrong with me?"
"You drank a little too much, Frederick," she teased, pursing her lips. "Perhaps you should follow my lead, since I'm so responsible and wise."
"Come off it, you were dancing on the table!"
Matilda flushed and her voice lilted, "Madonna was playing."
"Sure, sure," Fred said, scrunching his face cynically. He sighed and placed his hands on the ground, pushing him up. "Right. Let's go get you some breakfast, shall we?"
"Oh, I've got to go to the Hospital Wing," Matilda said awkwardly.
"What for?"
"It's where I have to...eat. To make sure that I'm not skipping meals." She carefully looked at him, hoping she didn't put him off. "You don't have to come with me anymore, if you don't want to. I understand."
"No, no. I'll come. Then I can get one of Pomfrey's Pick-Me-Up potions. They work wonders." He held his hands up for her to grab.
"As if she'd give it to you for being hungover," Matilda said, taking his hands and pulling him to his feet. Once he stood up, his hands left hers and she rather wished they hadn't. "Pomfrey isn't that kind."
"She loves me."
"I highly doubt that, Weasley."
They exited the Portrait and started up the stairs. They remained in silence for most of the way, but as they reached the corridor that led to the Hospital Wing, Fred looked to her for a few moments.
"What?" she asked, giving him a strange look. "Do I have something in my hair?"
