Changing For The Better: Book 1

Chapter Two: The Lion and The Snake

When Fred and George had finally woken up, they were in their beds. Fred just laid there for a few seconds before he slowly sat up. "George?" He glance over to his brothers bed as he slowly started to sit up. "What happened?" Fred looked confused. It was all so fuzzy in his head. "Something attacking the corridor... lots of screaming and running.." George spoke only a few words at a time, making listening to him very difficult. "Then all I remember is pain." Fred nodded. "How did we end up in here?" He looked to his brother for an answer. George just shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine, Freddie. I don't remember anything other than starting to run, and a bunch of loud banging. Almost like-" "Explosions." Fred finished the sentence. "What if Ron is hurt?" Fred suddenly got extremely worried. He made sure he was wearing clothes and ran to the door, just as it was opening.

Matthew was walking in and smiled. "Oh I'm so glad you guys are alright! I found you on the ground knocked out. Are you okay?" He looked at both of the boys. George nodded. "Just my head kinda hurts." Matthew nodded slowly. "As it should. I saw one of the gargoyle statues break and hit you guys both on the head. I had just turned around to make sure everyone was coming and no one was left behind. Professor McGonagall was able to use some sort of charm to help carry you guys back here." He smiled. "I'm just glad you guys are okay. Annie would be sad if two of her friends got hurt on my watch." He smiled at Fred and then walked out of the room. Fred sat down while George got dressed and walked out of their room, heading for the Common Room. As they were walking down the stairs, the twins scanned the Common Room for people to talk to so they could get their minds off the pain in their heads. Sitting by the fire they saw Ron and Harry. Perfect prank bait.

George slid over next to the boys and grinned "Helllloooooo." He said slightly louder than needed to get their attention. Ron jumped. "Bloody Hell George!" George shook his head and pointed to his face. "Fred." Then the real Fred brought over two drinks, butterbeer. "You boys want some butterbeer?" He smiled. Ron shook his head. "Not from you. I bet there is something in it." Fred shook his head. "You don't trust me Ron? I'm offended." Harry looked between them and then looked at the stairs. "I bet Hermione could tell us if there was something in the drinks." Ron looked at Hermione as she walked up and nodded. "Yeah I suppose. She's one of those kinds that reads for fun." Hermione smiled as she walked up.

"What's going on over here?" Harry explained the situation to Hermione, who seemed glad to help. She probably just wanted to seem smart in front of the older boys. "This one is safe to drink" she said as she handed it to Harry. "This one is too." She handed it to Ron. "Or at least it should be." She said, after Ron had taken a gulp of it. Ron glared at her and the twins. The twins were both high-fiving Hermione and laughing. Ron suddenly felt sick and ran up the stairs. Harry ran after him, snickering to himself. Hermione then left to go and talk to a prefect about something.

Fred and George claimed the now empty couch and laughed to themselves. "What a nasty little trick." The twins looked up to see Annie smiling at them. She was in street clothes, more than likely she had changed when she got back to the Common Room like everyone else. Her jeans wear tight and perfectly form fitting, while her sweater was loose and baggy. You could see her wealth much better when you realized the brands of what she was wearing were some of the top Muggle brands in fashion. But to the twins, she just appeared to be wearing some oddly tight and stretchy jeans, and a sweater with some French words on it. "You know if you got lucky with Hermione helping you out." She carefully sat down in the chair across the table, and Fred noticed she was favoring one side over the other. "Why are you favoring one side over the other?" Fred blurted out and George looked at him with a "you stupid git" face. Annie smiled at George. "Oh don't give him that look. It's alright." She stood up and walked around the table until she was standing in front of them. "I fell off a cliff and sliced my side open on some rocks before school started. When I was running around today the stitches came undone and I had to get them redone before I came back to Gryffindor." She lifted the side of her sweater, revealing her right side, and the huge slice with fresh stitches in it that peeked out either side of the bandaging around her entire waist. She let her sweater go, covering her midriff once again and sat down on the edge of the tables much closer to talk to the twins. "That looks really painful." Fred looked sad. Annie shook her head. "Oh I don't feel pain so it's okay! Don't be sad, love." She took his hand and smiled at him. George smiled softly at this. The girl they knew to be very confusing and mysterious was ultimately a good person who obviously cared and did not want anyone to be sad around her.