The Potioneer | Fred Weasley

Chapter Nine|A List of Problems

Silence. Fred and George were still.

"What?!" they exclaimed together.

"Ollie did this?"

"But he would never..."

"He couldn't!"

"But he's so nice..."

"There's no way he-"

"Stop it!" Alicia yelled. They both stopped exchanging words and just looked at her. "Marisol wouldn't want us gossiping about this, so let's stop this topic of conversation right here."

"I just can't believe he would-"

"Hush!" She silenced George. "I said stop talking about it."

They soon began conversing about random topics. Some relating to school, and some not.

Much to Leah's dislike, they got to the topic of past summers. Angelina soon noticed that Leah wasn't taking part and decided to make a point.

"It's been a bit, so why don't we head back already?"

They all nodded in agreement and stood up. As they walked out, Leah leaned over and whispered to Angelina.

"Thank you."

"Any time."

They were then back in the common room, soon to get to bed because it had been getting late.

Before Leah could get to the stairs, she turned around and saw Fred standing before her.

"So next Saturday is our first quidditch match. You and Marisol should come support. Your friends are on the team." Fred said cooly.

Leah nodded lightly. "We'll most likely be there. I'll have to dig out an old Gryffindor shirt to wear of course."

"Oh, you can borrow one of mine!" Fred exclaimed rather awkwardly. They stood there for a moment in the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, I really appreciate it, but I'm sure I can find something." she responded.

"A-Alright so I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She nervously nodded in response.

With a small wave, she began up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Maybe I can borrow something next match!" Leah quickly yelled down the stairs to him before continuing up the stairs. He nodded and waved in response.

Fred turned around and sighed.

" 'Oh you can borrow one of mine!' " George mockingly recited Fred's words from the boys' dorm stairs.

Fred then chased after his brother up the staircase. "Shuddup!"

When Leah woke up the next morning, Marisol wasn't in her bed. The clock on the wall by the door showed seven. Marisol was never up by now.

Leah got dressed and set out to go find Marisol. The sun was slowly rising and the Gryffindors common room was silent.

Leah found Marisol sitting by herself in the great hall. She was gloomily stirring her cereal with her spoon. Leah thought about how it was very unlike Marisol to be the first awake.

"Mari, why are you up this early? You're the only one at the table so far."

They looked down the long Gryffindors table seeing no one else but them.

"Thought I'd grab breakfast early today. I've got quite a lot of things to do." Marisol said as she rubbed her eyes lazily. Leah sighed and sat down next to her.

"Alright, well I can help you! What do we need to get done today?" Leah was happy to help with whatever Marisol was going to need.

Marisol waved her off and shook her head. "No, I can do it myself just fine." and she stood up leaving Leah sitting by herself.

Leah sighed heavily, frustrated with what to do with the current situation at hand.

"Well, this is most definitely a problem."

Fred, George, and Lee were walking to the only quidditch practice of the week. They had been talking about various things from their classes to their potential holiday plans. "Where are Marisol and Leah?" Lee asked.

They all glanced over at the stands. The spot Leah and Marisol liked to sit in was vacant. Marisol wasn't grinning waiting anxiously for quidditch to start, and Leah wasn't writing in a textbook as usual. Fred frowned and looked around.

Fred couldn't find her anywhere and frowned. He then gave up and went into the locker room to prepare.

Leah gathered a few books as quickly as she could, throwing them into her backpack. She then ran as fast as she could through the castle corridors. Leah panted as she ran towards the quidditch pitch, somewhat seeing everyone flying around.

It took Leah a better moment to get up the stairs, but she finally reached her favorite spot to sit. Leah took a few deep breaths and calmed down.

Fred looked back at the stands one more time to see if Leah had shown up. Much to his joy, she was looking up at the practice and smiled.

Fred grinned and waved to her before getting back to the game. Leah lightly laughed and went into her work.

As much as she tried to concentrate, she couldn't take her mind off the fact that Marisol wasn't with her.

Her friend was acting strange, and she didn't quite know what to do.

Later, after quidditch, Leah closed the door behind the girls as they walked into the dormitory. They glanced at her with confusion.

"Guys, there's something wrong with Marisol." said Leah.

Angelina and Alicia looked at each other. Alicia tried to keep her face unchanging, but she too was aware that something wasn't right.

"I'm sure Mari, is fine. She told me she's just trying really hard in charms class lately. All she's doing is some hardcore studying." explained Angelina.

Alicia agreed with a nod and began taking off her quidditch robes.

"Angelina is right, Leah. You're over thinking it. You study twice as much as she is right now, and we know you well enough to know you're alright." Alicia said.

Leah saw her point. They would never be concerned for her if she was just studying. There wasn't much commotion if Leah was studying, it was a common thing to happen.

She didn't like second-guessing herself. Leah always had her original thought and then stuck with it. This time, however, she caved and agreed with the other two girls.

"You're right, you're right. Mari is just studying a bit more than usual, that's all."

Leah was sitting back in her bed late into the night. Everyone was asleep already, and Marisol had yet to return.

As Leah read her book, Marisol walked in and placed her books on her nightstand. Leah held her place in her book and diverted her attention to Marisol.

"Get to everything on your to-do list today?" Leah asked.

Marisol simply nodded and got into her bed. She hadn't changed into her pajamas but instead pulled the curtains around her four-poster.

Leah sighed again and pulled out parchment paper, a quill, and her ink. It was time to begin a very necessary list.

Leah's List of Problems

-Marisol acting weird
-Kicked out of house
-Starlett going away
-Can't brew anti-death
-Fred Weasley?