Lumos

Chapter 10

While we were on the train I decided to switch up my hair color once more; instead of the colorful ends now it was back to my accustomed red but this time I had honey colored highlights all over. I decided to be patriotic and go with the red and "gold" house colors. Fred looked over and pulled my hair to look at it.

"I wanted something new, I just wanted to be different." I told them.

"I like different." George whispered in my ear, making me shiver slightly.

"I'm glad that the two of you can't enter." I told George as we stood in the entrance hall, waiting for everyone to walk up the stairs.

"What are you on about? I'm going to do everything I can to enter that tournament." He argued.

"George, I know that the Headmaster will be smart enough to know who does and does not enter the tournament. The age restriction isn't a joke, it's being imposed for a reason." I stated.

"I know it's not a joke! What it is – is not fair, we turn seventeen before the damn tournament is over. We should be able to enter and be a contender." He argued.

"No! It's a good thing that the two of you, that none of you can enter." I argued.

"Why don't you want us to enter?" he said.

"I don't want anything to happen to you." I said softly.

"To all of us?" he asked.

"To everyone, but I don't want anything to happen to . . . you George."

"Alaia . . . what am I going to do with you red?" he whispered.

I don't know when it happened but suddenly he was really close and his right hand was on my face, his thumb caressing my cheek. It's like last night in the kitchen, he makes me hyper sensitive to my surroundings, well just to his presence. We were just staring into each other's eyes and then he started to lower his lips closer to mine and . . .

"Oi! Did you have to go get Ali from the rain again?" Fred shouted from the top of the stairs.

George and I jumped apart, it was like something burned us and we ran separate ways. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I was sort of shocked at what almost happened. George was blushing furiously as his brother came down the stairs.

"No, Ali and I were discussing why she doesn't want us to compete in the tournament. She's so very happy about the age restriction." George said as he worked to calm down.

"What? Ali-cat why wouldn't you want that for us, to win? We deserve a chance at it too, I'm still going to do my best to enter." Fred said as he came back down the stairs.

"I'm very happy that the age restriction was put in place, neither one of you need put yourselves into unnecessary danger." I told Fred, I was still a little breathless but it wasn't obvious.

"Why Ali, why? It's not going to stop us anyway, we'll find a way to enter our names." Fred said, oblivious to the tension around him.

"I'm tired, I'll see you guys in the common room maybe." I said before running up the stairs.

Relaxing against a cool wall I was trying to get my heartrate back down, the moment just seemed to keep rolling behind my closed eyes again. Once I made my way up to the Gryffindor tower I realized that I do not know the new password.

"Balderdash," George suddenly said from behind me, scaring the life out of me "a prefect downstairs told me."

"Right, well then . . . I'll see you two around." I told them.

There were a few students still in the common room, none of them from my merry little group of misfits so I went straight upstairs. Hermione was up but so was Faye, Lavender and Parvati. Faye was very quiet, if you didn't see her you would forget she was in the room. Parvati is ok, she allows herself to be influenced by Lavender sometimes but mostly she's a very nice girl. Then we have Lavender, hmm she's a whole different level; she annoying to a fault and so girly it's embarrassing. Her and I have never gotten along, I just . . . I can't stand her.