Hermione's Twin ⇒ Fred Weasley

Ch. 18: Potter Stinks

Ch. 18: Potter Stinks

Sunday-the second worst day of the week. You have this awesome feeling that you have a whole day of rest-but then you realize you have school tomorrow and you have not written that six parchment essay that Moody graced you with.

     Growling under my breath, I trudged my way through the cobblestoned halls and tried to shove through the hordes of people going Godric knows where. I personally was looking for my new acquaintance: Blake.

     Blake'd told me that she would help me finish my essay because she had finished her homework already and was 'bored out of her mind in the Common Room'.

     We all agreed to meet in the open square since the snow had not yet started. We wanted to soak up the last bit of warmth there was before the icy tendrils of winter's breath settled across the Castle Grounds.

     As I sifted my way through the people, I caught up with my fuzzy haired twin and her messy haired friend, Harry Potter. "And, where are you lot off to?" I asked, popping up in between them.

     "I was just leaving. I was reminding Harry that we had another session in the old classroom on the fourth floor." Hermione whispered and then quickly took off.

     Weird.

     I watched my sister with an eyebrow arched high. She curtly waved at the pair of us, then trudged up the stairs. I followed her with my eyes until I saw her join up with Dean, Seamus and Ron.

      "Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?" I muttered under my breath. Figures. Meanwhile, you wouldn't be catching me following Ron's shadow around. I fought the urge to roll my eyes and scoff.

     Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't blame her, you know?"

     "Don't think like that. Hermione's being self-centered if she thinks that hanging out with that big baby more than you will help her score a date to the Yule Ball," I snapped.

     However, I regretted what I said almost instantly. I bit back on my tongue, feeling ashamed that I'd like Hermione's crush slip.

     Harry chuckled, shaking his head. We shared a knowing glance and he weighed out what he was going to say carefully. "I know the feeling, trust me." Harry scratched at the back of his neck, gazing at me from over the top of his round spectacles before muttering: "I've known Hermione and Ron a while longer than you, and I've started to see the signs."

I grinned. I started to excuse myself, knowing that Blake was probably waiting for me, when in the corner of my eye, I saw a guy sporting an obnoxiously bright pin. I'd actually never seen any pins at Hogwarts before, so the curiosity caught my eye.

The pin flashed back and forth from different faces quickly, from yellow and orange to a sickly green color. The lanky Hufflepuff noticed Harry and called to him, tapping on his pin with a wicked smirk: "You stink, Potter." I tried to get a closer look, but he walked away.

Harry bowed his head in frustration. We walked a few paces forward as I examined the crowd around us.

I lifted my head and looked around the corridor to see that pretty much everyone was wearing the brightly hued pins, and were shooting Harry dirty looks of disdain. The one's that weren't wearing them were about to put them on their vests.

Suddenly, many people were bombarding Harry with comments about how much he stunk.

     A Hufflepuff walked past and whistled at me. I realized he was one of the guys who had seen me soaked to the bone on the first day. Angrily, I flipped him off and ripped the pin off his chest as he brushed past me.