Witch

A Tiny Little Thing

I paced back and forth in the common room. Dumbledore wouldn't have told Hermione, I told myself. But how did she know?

Yes, I had randomly blurted out things in front of her twice, but that was a more rare side-effect of Legilimensy, and any book containing information about that would be in the restricted section. I knew that Hermione hadn't gotten permission from the teacher to go there (and she wasn't a rule breaker to sneak in there), seeing as we had every single class together. Wait no, that's a lie. I had missed the first day of classes. I groaned.

Oh god oh god.

As I continued to panic, Fred walked into the common room. He sat down next to me.

"Um, I noticed you weren't at lunch."

"So?"

"Well, um.. I heard what Harry said.."

My face went white, and I buried my face in my hands. "Ohno ohno ohno." I moaned internally. Here I was, sitting in the common room, getting busted for lying by Fred. Ugh.

Wow, Willow, you should definitely consider your career as a spy. Super slick.

I felt the tears coming, but I forced them down. I felt like - trash. Like I was a old, grey-haired person on their deathbed.

Fred looked at me in shock. "Does - do you - your hair -" I jolted up straight. My hair was straight and silvery gray, instead of black and wavy.

"What the - " I muttered. I sighed.

"Honestly, that's not the strangest thing that's happened to me."

Fred bit his lip.

"Well, um, I was the one who found out about your... thing."

I jumped out of my seat.

"What?!"

Fred blushed.

"Well, I... was worried so... I got permission to see the restricted section... I asked Hermione for help..."

That made sense. I hadn't seen him get a note of permission because he was a sixth year and we didn't have classes together. Hermione had helped him by going to the library on his behalf because of his prankster reputation... and because she totally shipped us.

"Well.. about that..."

~~~

Fred's POV

I slowly made my way to Charms, a goofy smile on my face. "Oi!" George yelled angrily, catching up with me. "Where were you? We were supposed to test the updated Dungbombs on Filch but you never showed up -" George noticed the silly smile dangling on my face. He smirked. "You guys did it, didn't you?" he said mischievously. "You - you know - k - " I covered his mouth and dragged him into the broom closet.

~~~

Back to Willow's POV

Me and Fred were smiling fools at dinner. He had already explained the Triwizard Tournament to me, and I was eager to see the other schools arrive.

Hermione kept looking at us suspiciously until George whispered something in her ear and she grinned.

Welp, I was in for a world of "I told you so"s.

I spent most of lunch planning a set of small pranks with the twins, although I decided against any of their crazy ones. Not meaning I didn't want to be in on those pranks. But I knew Hermione would probably go mental so I restrained myself.

I walked to Transfiguration with the twins, until they had to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Tell me how it goes with the new professor!" I called, and they gave me two finger salutes. I rolled my eyes and jogged over to Harry and Hermione.

"Hey guys!" I said. Both of them grinned. "Hey Willow!" Hermione said. Harry waved. I noticed they were with the same, red-headed boy who had been rude at Transfiguration. Hermione was clearly unaware of any such situation, as she said "And this is Ron, I suppose Fred and George have already told you about him?" I gritted my teeth and tried not to sound aggressive.

"Actually, they strive not to mention him."

Ron shot back.

"Well, they strive not to mention you either!"

Hermione looked taken aback. "Ron! Don't be rude!"

Ron glared at me. "She was rude first!"

"Well, I wasn't spreading false rumors about people and making assumptions when I had no business ignoring their partner in Transfiguration!"

Ron cowered under Hermione's glare.

"Please tell me this isn't true, Ronald!"

"Well, so were you!"

Hermione went red.

"For your information, researching why she passed out isn't the same as spreading rumors! And I only shared it with you two and Fred!"

Ron's jaw dropped to the floor, horrified.

"Hermione and Fred is - is - a - a - a thing?"

This thoroughly annoyed me.

"Well, thanks for your company, Harry and Hermione," I practically yelled. "And in case your wonderful friend Ronald didn't know," I continued furiously. "Fred and I are a thing, as you put it, thank you very much." Furious and shaking, I stormed off, leaving Hermione to deal with Ron.

To the contrary, Harry yanked Ron away, and Hermione came after me. "Are you okay?" She asked kindly. I sighed, rubbing my hands against my face as I walked. "Yeah, I just got really annoyed. She gave me pitiful look. "Well, on the bright side, today's Friday, and the other schools are coming." I half smiled. "Yeah, I guess." We walked into the classroom and sat down together. Ron walked up to me and mumbled "Sorry." I gave a curt nod in his direction and faced Hermione again. I giggled before whispering in her ear, "He likes you!"

~~~

"No, he does not!" Hermione said stubbornly as we sat down at a lunch table near the twins. I rolled my eyes. "I used my Legilimensy, Hermione! He's been crushing on you for like, ages!" At that very moment, Ron sat down right next to Hermione, squeezing between her and Harry. Hermione groaned and banged her head on the table. I smirked.

"Coincidence? I think not!" I announced in a majestic voice, attracting a look from Ron.

Hermione blushed.

"Oh, shut up."