Friendless » Fred Weasley

xvi. honeydukes cellar

Tori spun around and around, trying desperately to stop as she fell down the dark slide. She tried reaching for a ledge, or something, but she ended up crashing into the twins. The three of them were screaming, all flailing around. The tunnel seemed endless, twisting and turning and picking up speed. Tori had to make sure she wasn't going to vomit.

They had to have been sliding for about five minutes, but it felt like hours. There was a sudden turn and this time they really began to fall. Tori had almost managed to grab a hold of George when they hit a slide again. Momentarily, they all shot out of it, flying in the air and landing on the rough floor.

Tori laid there, her eyes shut. She felt a little dizzy as she tried to regain her strength to get up. It didn't help that someone was shaking her, muttering, "Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead." Tori opened her eyes to see it was Fred shaking her. "Oh, thank Godric! You're alive!" He quickly hugged her before helping her to her feet. George stood next to his brother, his wand lighting the room.

"Where are we?" Tori asked, rubbing her head. The room was dark, even with George's light. Tori felt her wand in her robe pocket before pulling it out and helping George light the room. It seemed to be some sort of cellar.

"The map says... we're right under Honeydukes." Fred watched the moving map, glancing up at his friend. "Hey, there's a ladder over here!" George called a little bit further away from them. Both Tori and Fred rushed over to George, their eyes wide with excitement. Tori never would have imagined sneaking out under Hogwarts. Then again, she wouldn't have imagined ever being put in Gryffindor.

"Well..." Tori began, eyeing the twins. "There's only one way to find out if it's right..." She began to climb the ladder, her wand still in her hand. Tori made her way to the top, glancing down at them before quietly pushing up the dusty tile. Her eyes crept out, scanning the shadows of the darkroom.

From what she could see, it seemed like a store. She lowered the tile and called down to the twins. "I think we're here! It seems like Honeydukes!" There was a sound of a high five and Tori smiled as she began climbing down. She was about halfway down the ladder when her foot slipped, causing her to fall.

Tori let out a yelp of surprise as she fell. She waited to hit the ground again when she felt herself fall into a pair of arms. Her feet ended up hitting the ground, but other than that she was fine. Tori glanced up to see Fred, who she smiled at awkwardly. "Thanks."

"No problem. Just be careful, it seems a little slick."

"Yeah, you're telling me."

"Alright, enough you two. Your googly eyes make me feel sick." George made a puking motion and Tori got up. She sent him a glare and then turned back towards the map. "So, where do we go from here?" She asked, watching Argus Filch stop in front of the library.

"It seems like... we go back the same way we came?" Fred read over the map, visibly confused. "And now it's saying Prongs says to trust them, and that they know what they're doing?" Tori made a face, reading over the next line. "Sit back on the slide and push off backward... will that even work?"

Fred shrugged, meeting Tori's gaze, "We got to trust Prongs. Come on, let's go."

✧ ✦ ✧

"So, slides apparently move backward now," Tori sighed sarcastically, brushing the dust of her braids. She was seated on the floor behind the one-eyed witch statue, which had just closed up. George was bent over, checking the map and his brother tried to catch his breath.

There were a couple of loud dings from the clock in the courtyard, reading that it was at least twelve in the morning. Tori internally groaned, knowing they'd have little sleep for the next day. It felt like they were gone for at least ten minutes. Unfortunately, it was an hour.

"Come on, we need to start moving if we don't want to get caught," George stood up, reaching his hands out to Tori and Fred. They took it, getting up and glancing at the map. "Alright. Let's go."

The trio made their way through the corridor, flinching at every shadow that so happens to move. Some of the paintings began to stir or shushed them to be quiet. Tori was just hoping they wouldn't run into Filch or Peeves.

They leaned against a wall like a couple of Prefects passed from finishing their nightly rounds. Tori held in a breath, waiting until the coast was clear to release it.

They then quickly rushed up a couple of flights of stairs, making it pass a group of annoying paintings.

"Hey! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Quit that racket!"

"Put that light out!"

"We're going to get caught if these paintings don't shut up." Tori groaned as they were running up another flight of stairs.

"They're half asleep, Filch doesn't even listen to them." George yawned and Fred rubbed his eyes. "Come on, don't fall asleep on me." Tori shook them both as the Fat Lady was insight.

They stopped in front of the portrait, words running through Tori's head as she tried to remember the password.

"Uh, um. Oh! Uh, Alpha Persei!" Tori called. The Fat Lady, who was sleeping, began to stir. She didn't say anything, just opened the door with a tired yawn.

"Come on." Tori grabbed the twins, yanking them inside. "You're going to rip my sleeve off!" Fred grumbled, rubbing his eyes once more.

"Whatever, I'll see you two tomorrow. Goodnight." Tori waves to them as they parted ways. They replied with a tired 'night' and headed off towards the boy's dormitory.

Tori sighed and made her way towards her dormitory, yawning as she went. She was exhausted and really wanted to collapse into bed. She opened the door slowly, hoping not to wake anyone up.

But Angelina sat on her bed, reading something. Tori caught her gaze and glanced at Alicia's bed, where Alicia laid, passed out.

"It's late. Why are you still up?" Tori asked Angelina, frozen in the doorway. Angelina shrugged. "I should be asking you the same question. I guess I also should ask you why you're covered in dust."

Angelina sighed, shaking her head. "Look, I don't know what you were doing, or where you went, but I don't care. I just want you to be careful. Especially if it's with the twins. I don't know how they're not expelled yet."

The two girls both chuckled and Angelina continued. "But seriously, you have to be more careful. It's just the three of us in here, I don't want it to end up being the two of us in here."

Tori nodded slowly, taking on Angelina's words. "Okay." She said softly. "I'll be more careful."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

here's the next chapter!
how do you all think of Tori so far?