HOCUS| Fred Weasley

S I X

Penelope gasped in great lungful's of air. On that morning, she'd decided to trade in her walk for a run. She hadn't a clue what time it was but the sun was barely rising in the sky. She'd traded out her multilayers of black fabric for a simple Durmstrang training garb of soft brown. It consisted of a tunic that buttoned all up the lefthand side and some tight trousers of a similar shade.

Penny ran with only her destination in mind. She was determined to travel as far around the Great Lake as she possibly could before inevitably returning back to Bulgaria. There was lots to be said about Hogwarts, its beauty being one of them. Her grandmother hadn't lied when she explained the location. The very place itself was magical.

Since selecting her wand the day before, her obscurial had been at war within her. It was angry that she'd defy it. The shadows were powerful enough that she didn't need a wand. The painful blackness couldn't speak and yet somehow she knew it was unhappy with her. it felt like constant pins and needles within her. No matter how hard she tried to get warm, goosebumps had taken up permanent residence on her arms. She shivered if she stayed still for too long. Dealing with the shadows was like dealing with a stroppy teenager. It had turned its back on her and was pouting in the corner.

The girl almost faceplanted when a glimmering light shot across her vision and a body barreled into her. If not for arms wrapping around her, absorbing her fall by spinning, she'd be in the lake. Something, or rather, someone had sprinted out of the forest straight into her and she was currently looped in long arms as though she weighed nothing. The person completed a whole spin to absorb the speed of their crash, until finally placing her back where she started. Her heart thundered in shock.

The next thing she was aware of was a rich spicey floral scent. It was like Bergamot and Vanilla, making her mouth inexplicitly water. Penny swallowed and contained herself when she laid eyes on a familiar red-haired figure. 

The person who'd barreled into her was the vibrant twin she'd noticed so often since arriving at Hogwarts. Even without his twin, he stood out to her. His hair was even more stark among the trees that were still a lovely emerald green. His hair was darker than his twins, a redder orange but it still resembled a flame. His skin was a creamy porcelain like a doll, smattered with freckles across handsome features. It took her a long moment to realize she was staring.

Her body seemed to burn where his arms had wrapped around her. Even though he stood on a declined part of the path, he was far taller than her. 

Luckily for her own sanity, he was distracted from her staring. In his hands he held what could only be described as a firework. It was like the sparkle from the top of a Guy Fawkes sparkler but he held it in his hands like it was a sneaky pet that he'd finally captured. He was windswept, his cheeks cold from running in these early hours. 

After gasping for breath countless times, he finally beamed at her and spoke.

"Where do you find a cow with no legs?" 

"Huh?" She ever-so-intelligently replied and he chuckled, the sound music to her ears. Penny was unable to explain why she found everything about him so inexplicably attractive. She resented the thought.

"Right where you left it." He returned and it took a moment for the joke to be absorbed by her. Penny let out a shocked little laugh, surprising herself. It wasn't that his joke was funny-- it was just completely random. "There you go," he smiled gently, fondly despite not knowing her. She felt suddenly shy.

"I'm sorry for running into you," she decided, knowing she needed to say something as he gently coaxed the firework into a glass bottle with his long fingers.