Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 19: The Heir of Slytherin

Shaye wasn't really sure what time it was; the only thing she did know was that it was late. 

After returning to the common room following the incident in the corridor pertaining to the message written in blood and the petrified Mrs. Norris, the others had decided that they had experienced enough excitement for one night and shuffled off to bed. Shaye, however, had plopped down in front of the fireplace to read over the Lost Wanderer letter at least twenty more times, recalling the story Hagrid had told at the same time. She was confident there were dots to be connected and all she had to do was find them. 

Shaye nearly fell asleep on the couch a couple of times but refused to head up to bed until she had something. With Harry hearing voices and a new mystery on the rise, she feared that she would soon be too busy with classes and helping her friends find out what the Chamber of Secrets was to focus on her own problems. 

But unfortunately for Shaye, it turned out that she could have sat on that couch for days. In the end, Hagrid's story had provided no more details than she already had; only confirmed that the letter held some validity to it.

Just as she was about to call it a night, Shaye heard a noise coming from the staircase and looked over to see none other than Fred and George sneaking out of bed. She didn't even have to ask them what they were doing to know that they were up to no good. They were always up to no good.

"What's the plan for tonight, boys?" Shaye stood from the couch.

Fred and George jumped slightly but their worried expressions faded fast when they realized they weren't in trouble. "We thought you were Percy." Fred breathed a sigh of relief. 

George nodded. "He's been trying to catch us leaving the common room for years. Too bad he never thinks to check for a sleeping potion in his evening tea."

"You slip sleeping potions into Percy's tea?" Shaye was unsure if she was amused or concerned. Maybe both?

"Only when we plan on sneaking out at night." Fred shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Trust me, if there was a negative side effect, we would have seen it by now."

George snickered. "Yeah, we've been doing it for a while."

Shaye just shook her head and smirked softly. "Well, you two have fun." She folded the letter back up and stuffed it into her pocket. 

Fred and George eyed the girl, noticing the bags under her eyes and stress visible in her green irises. "You should come with us," George suggested. "You look like you could use some cheering up."

Fred nodded in agreement. "It's bound to be a spectacular prank; one of our best. Filch is gonna hate it. Would be a shame to miss it."

Shaye opened her mouth to politely decline but instead found herself seriously considering the offer. While sleep was an extremely tempting option, the thought of getting to have a little fun wasn't something that Shaye was about to turn down. She could use something to get her mind off of everything. 

"Okay," she agreed. "But we're not going to prank Filch."

Fred and George smirked. "We're interested." 

Approximately an hour later, Shaye, Fred, and George were standing just outside of Lockhart's office, admiring their work. Fred and George's ideas to jinx the desk chair so that it would roll away whenever someone tried to sit on it and bewitch the door to knock every five minutes was a very good start, but it simply wasn't enough. 

That's when Shaye debuted the trickster that lived deep within her; a trait she hadn't really known she possessed until that very moment.

First, Shaye put a spell on all of the pictures that Lockhart had displayed around the office of himself—which was a lot—so that his smile was crooked and completely unattractive. It was a small detail but Shaye was sure it would drive him crazy. Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award winner no more.