Book One of the Mercury Series: Liquid Mercury {A Harry Potter Fanfic} EDITING

Ch. 10 ~ Cheers

Chapter 10

I walked into the castle, determined to find George. I walked aimlessly around in the halls, wondering where to look. Then I got this magical idea of the Room of Requirement. 

I hiked up from the 1st story to the 7th. I couldn’t find him anywhere!

George’s POV

I fumed inside one of the gazebos on the grounds, overlooking the lake. How could she hang out with Malfoy? Malfoy! The guy who terrorized us and cracked jokes about our family! How could she betray us like that?

I refrained myself from screaming at her right then and there when I found her. She looked as innocent as a puppy. So I settled with a cold monotone. I groaned and looked out at the lake for a bit longer. 

Mercury’s POV.

I was starting to get worried about George. I’d already looked for him everywhere, and he still didn’t show. It’s been hour. Finally, I resigned to the common room. 

“Hey guys?” I said to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Fred. 

“Yeah, Mere?”  Fred asked. 

“Have you seen George? I’ve been looking everywhere for him…” I said. 

They all shook their heads. Then Fred said, “Did  you check by the lake?”

Of course! With a quick thanks to Fred, I booked it out through the Portrait Hole and through the corridors. Turning random corners, I ran until I finally made it into the Entrance Hall. I stopped at the great oak doors, panting and spluttering from my psychotic running around the castle. 

After my breathing and heart rate slowed a bit, I pushed open the doors. Chilly air blasted into my face. I looked around and saw that snow still covered the ground, just like in the courtyard. Only this snow was thicker, and it was flowing down from the sky in a light flurry. I peered around until I saw a bright red head of hair in one of the gazebos. Silently cheering in victory that I finally found my friend, I jogged over, puffy white snow crunching under my feet. 

Apparently, George heard me, because he turned around and waited for me to arrive. Once I’d stepped into the gazebo, I fell onto the ground, catching my breath. 

The first thing out of his mouth: “Why are you here?”

I caught my breath and said, “Did you really just ask me why I’m here? Honestly?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off before he even began. 

“I came out here, because I wanted to know why you were so cold in the courtyard. I mean, yeah, I was sitting with Draco Malfoy, but that doesn’t give you any reason to be cold to me. I mean, why?  What does it matter to you? And why were you even looking for me in the first place?” I ranted. 

“Okay, first, I was cold to you in the courtyard, because you were being civil with the person who made jokes about me and my family. Made jokes about you, Harry, and Hermione! I was cold to you because I thought you were starting to like him. It matters to me because I don’t want my best friend to be mixing in with Slytherins! And I was looking for you because…” he mumbled the last part to where I couldn’t hear. 

“What?” I said.

“Because we were going to take the potion!” he lied, and he knew I knew. 

I rolled my eyes and lifted myself off of the gazebo floor. I opened my mouth, paused for a moment, then said, “Being civil with him, was just because he told me something that… made me care about him… okay? It wasn’t that he liked me, or that I liked him… I hate that he made jokes about us, I’m not blind to that. I only like him as an acquaintance, maybe a friend. I only like him a fraction more than I did yesterday. Okay? And I’m not, ‘Mixing in with Slytherins’. That’s just gross,” I said. 

He looked torn between wanting to laugh, and wanting to still be angry with me. 

“Oh, c’mon! I’ve been out for three months! I don’t want to fight with my best friend!” I said. 

He finally laughed, while I smirked in triumph. 

“So what in the world are you doing out here? Its frigid!” I exclaimed. 

He shrugged and said, “Lets head back to the castle.”

As we exited the gazebo, he threw his arm around me. 

“You know, while I looked for you, I ran the length of the castle. I think I did a pretty good workout today,” I commented.

He laughed and nodded. 

We returned to the common room after, to collect Fred and Hermione. As soon as we opened the Portrait Hole, we got a huge shock. 

Hermione and Harry were talking loudly about something that happened in Divination. In what seemed to be relief, Hermione called me over, “Mere! C’mere and listen to this!”

Reluctantly, I walked over, George’s arm falling off of my shoulders. 

“What?” I asked.

Hermione told me what happened. 

Apparently, Harry had taken a crystal ball back to the Divination classroom after Hermione purposefully knocked it off of the table in haste to get out of the fraud’s midst. When he brought it back, Professor Trelawney gave a prediction. 

“It wasn’t a phony one either,” Harry added. 

It was told that a faithful follower of the Dark Lord would return to his master.

“You think it’s Sirius Black,” I stated. 

“Well- yes.”

I groaned and stood. “I don’t need this right now. Hermione, c’mon. We’re needed in the you-know-where to take the you-know-what.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked. 

“None of your business,” I snapped. “I still haven’t forgotten that note!”

He looked at me curiously. “What note?”

“The one where you wrote, I HATE YOU POTTER.” 

Then I marched off with Hermione at my heels. 

When we finally made it to the Room of Requirement, the twins were already there. They were sitting in the corner with the Potion kit, stirring and adding random ingredients. 

“Hey, guys,” I said. 

“There you are! I was beginning to think that Harry ate you two or something,” Fred joked. 

“Ha, ha,” I laughed sarcastically. “Lets just get this over with.”

“It should be done by now,” Hermione said. 

Fred took cups and poured the liquid inside. 

“Cheers,” we all said, before downing the potion.