Cerulean - Fred Weasley

Chapter 4 - Magical mishaps

"You think it's broken?" Fred asked as they stumbled down the corridor.

She looked up at his freckled face. "Probably. I did fall on it pretty hard."

He smirked. "That was a fantastic fall. I think you did a backflip and a frontflip at the same time."

"Still better than you. Your voice is lovely."

He rolled his eyes, helping her into a bed as they reached the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey rushed over. "What happened here?" She inquired, examining Simone's leg.

"Defence against the dark arts accident," Fred explained.

"I see the new professor has already made himself comfortable. I miss Professor Lupin already, he didn't have a single accident in his class last year."

Simone thought back to the kind, brown-haired professor. "Yeah, he was pretty great. Moody just has this sort of aura around him, its awesome."

Madame Pomfrey splinted her leg. "That should recover nicely. you'll have to spend the rest of the day in here though." She left to attend to other patients.

Simone sighed, looking at Fred who was sitting on the foot of her bed. "You should get going then, I don't want to keep you from lessons."

Fred looked at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me? I have potions next. By all means, keep me here."

Simone attempted to sit up in bed, groaning in pain. "I didn't know you were taking potions."

He shrugged. "What can I say, it pains me to be apart from the love of my life. Snape is truly a magical being."

She snorted. "Still, you need an Outstanding on your O.W.L.s. How did you manage?"

He raised a singular eyebrow. "surprised that I'm smart?"

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"What can I say? I'm the family genius. Also, the best-looking one, and the funniest."

"I'm going to stop you right there."

Madame Pomfrey returned, this time holding a potion. "What are you still doing here?" she said to Fred. "Go back to class. Now."

"Guess that's my cue. Feel better!" He smiled and walked out. 

Madame Pomfrey handed Simone a small vial. "Drink this. By the time you wake, Your leg will be good as new."

Simone gulped down the purple liquid. It tasted of lavender and chamomile. A sudden wave of exhaustion came over her. She sunk into her pillows, the glass vial slipping from her fingers. 

Simone woke hours later, feeling wholly refreshed. She checked her watch. It was 7:00 PM! "Crap," she muttered, standing up. 

Her leg felt fine, just a little stiff. Seizing her bag, she took off to the library. Madame Pince was there, glaring daggers at any student to pass. Weaving her way through the shelves, she made her way to her usual table by the window. Hermione was already there. Over the years, Simone and Hermione had formed a sort of unspoken bond, they studied together almost nightly, occasionally sharing bits of conversation. Simone was quite taken by Hermione's ruthless homework demeanour, whilst Hermione enjoyed Simone's quick wit.

She took a seat, smiling at the younger girl. "Good first day Hermione?"

"It was pretty good. they've really stepped up the workload though. Professor McGonagall assigned us two rolls of parchment!"

Simone grinned. "Trust me, it gets worse."

"How was your day, Simone?"

"Meh. broke my leg in DADA and spent the rest of the day recovering in the hospital wing. Just woke up a few minutes ago."

"That's terrible!"

The conversation inevitably turned to the Triwizard tournament.

"I suppose you would run, if you were seventeen?"

Hermione nodded. "I'd be prepared, though I'm not sure I'll hold up under all that pressure." She paused, jotting something down on parchment. "You'd be awesome Simone, I would love it if you were champion."

Simone smiled. "What would you spend the thousand-galleon prize on, if you won?"

"Hmmm, I'd have to say books. A giant load of fancy books."

"You would absolutely adore the Ravenclaw common room. One day I'll sneak you up there." she grinned mischievously at the bushy-haired Gryffindor. "But for now, I'll have to get back. See you later, Hermione."

The common room was almost empty when she reached it. She spotted her friends in their usual alcove. They were bickering about something, as usual. 

"I just don't see why you need to take up an entire couch, Roger! I wanted to sit there."

"What can I say, these bad boys need to stretch." Roger flexed his arms.

"What the hell was that! Douche bag fund, right now." 

Roger begrudgingly handed Ruth a sickle. "We should really get a jar." she muttered.

"Silly Roger." Simone took a seat across from them.

"Simone! We were so worried about you! You were out cold when we came to visit." Sophie reached over to give her a huge hug. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if that fund exceeds the Triwizard tournament winnings by Christmas. Think of all the butterbeer we could buy!" Simone said.

"I don't understand what I'm doing wrong! I'm just being confident." Roger pouted.

"That's exactly why we're doing this. You're like a dog, we need to train you out of all your bad habits."

Simone pulled out a piece of parchment while her friends chatted. She dipped her quill in ink and began to write. 

Dear dad,

Today was hectic, to say the least. I can't believe the Triwizard tournament is happening this year! Why didn't you tell me about it? I'm definitely going to go for it, I think I'd make a decent champion. Today I had herbology. Professor Sprout is fine. None of my friends are taking it, so I had to partner with Cedric. He's Amos Diggory's son. I also had defence against the dark arts. Mad-eye or I guess Professor Moody, is just as crazy as ever. He's a good teacher, but his methods are peculiar, to say the least. We fought off the imperius curse in class today. I did okay when Moody told me to do a flip off the table, I half obeyed, causing me to crash-land pretty hard. My leg broke, but it's all mended up now. 

Sincerely, Simone Shacklebolt

She set down her quill and folded up the letter. She'd go down to the owl pens tomorrow morning.