Give Her Hell From Us

Chapter Seven

When the time for my second and hopefully last detention with my mother rolls around, I excuse myself from the dinner table and walk with the twins to my mother's office.

"Sit." My mother orders as soon as she opens the door. We do as she says. "Joslyn, you will be writing 'I must speak up for myself' and the two of you will write 'I must take responsibility for my actions'. Get to it."

I pick up the blood quill and start to etch the words 'I must speak up for myself' into my skin on top of my scarred hand that is just barely starting to heal. The twins wince a lot in the first ten minutes, then they seem to adjust to the pain and are quiet for the rest of our detention.

"You may go." My mother finally announces, waving us away. "I do hope you've learned your lesson, Joslyn."

My jaw stiffens but I don't bother to reply. We walk out of her office as quickly as we can and the moment we're out of her sight I wave my wand and heal both mine and the twins' hands to the best of my abilities.

"I can help you to heal your hands after your next detention too if you'd like. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years." I offer as we begin walking back to Gryffindor tower.

"Thanks." I think it's George who replies, avoiding my gaze.

"Will our hands end up like yours where you can't even read what it says?" Fred asks, pulling the robe of his sleeve down to hide his now healing scar.

"I don't think so. If she changes what she wants you to write it will be a mess but you'll probably still be able to read it. Otherwise you'll just have one sentence that you can clearly read like you do now." I reply after a moment of thought.

The twins shrug and each wrap an arm around my shoulders as we walk back to Gryffindor tower, which is a bit odd but I don't push them away.

"Thanks again for setting the record straight." I say quietly as we come to a stop in the common room.

I give each of the twins a quick peck on the cheek before heading up to my dorm without another word.

"How did it go, hun?" Abby is on her feet from the moment she spots me at the door.

"Just about as well as it could have." I answer, glancing down at my hand that's still inflamed and an angry red even after the healing spell. "I still cant believe they told her truth after all that."

"Well, it was the decent thing to do but they aren't saints, Jo." Abby sighs, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm not saying they're saints, but they are decent, and that's more than I expected of them." I shrug as Abby steps back.

"I guess that's fair." She agrees after a moment. "Come on, let's get to bed. You've got to be exhausted."

I nod and move to dig through my trunk before changing into some pajamas and sliding into bed.

"Night, Abby." I yawn, pulling the curtains closed around my bed.

~•~

After two weeks of detention my mother still refuses to let the twins off of the hook. She can't torture them forever, though she's certainly drawing it out for as long as she can.

"Well you'll definitely have that sentence there for a while." I sigh as I put away my wand after healing the twins' hands once again.

"Eh, not the worst thing that could be etched onto our hands forever." George shrugs.

"It's actually pretty ironic." Fred chuckles. "Besides, tomorrow is supposed to be our last detention anyway."

"She's finally letting you off the hook?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I doubt it but she can't keep us in detention for the same thing for longer than two weeks." George says.

"Ah." I nod. "Well then, I suppose we'll have to be more careful next time we prank her."

"Next time?" Fred asks. "Honestly, we were still going to go after her,"

"But we didn't think you'd want anything to do with us after what we did to you last time." George finishes for his twin.

"Just don't leave me to take the fall by myself again and we won't have a problem." I shrug. "It's about time I stood up to her."

"Wicked." The twins say in unison, sharing a grin.

"How would you feel-" George says.

"About joining our cause?" Fred continues.

"Your cause?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." They grin, speaking together once again.

"We're creating sweets that make you ill when you bite one end so that you can get out of class," Fred starts, smirking slightly.

"Then once you're out you bite the other end and return to normal." George grins.

"Sounds brilliant." I smile. "I'm in."

"Great! Meet us in the common room at midnight for a meeting," George says, placing a hand on my shoulder. I glance at a clock that hangs high on the crowded common room wall. It reads 7:00pm.

"And remember, don't tell anyone what we're doing." Fred says in a whisper.

"Not even Abby?" I frown.

"Not even her." George nods, raising a finger to his lips. 

"Alright." I sigh, getting to my feet and walking away from our table in the corner. "See you then."