Not Alone After All

Chapter XLIX

"Is he-" Fred trailed off watching Cedric and Laura talk. They were laughing and seemed pretty close.

"He most probably isn't," George assured him. "I heard he has a thing for Cho Chang, a third year."

"He definitely looks like he's-" He cut himself off when he saw Laura laugh and nod excitedly.

"Bloody hell," Lee mumbled. He had joined the two right after Laura had left, and had been watching the scene unfold. "She just said yes."

Fred couldn't believe his eyes. And at the same, it all made sense. Potter and Diggory. Who was Fred Weasley in comparaison?

Fred stood up the moment Laura came back up to their table. He walked away before Laura could even talk to him.

"What's his problem?" She asked, genuinely confused. George looked down, suddenly taking interest in the food on the table. Lee shrugged.

"He wasn't feeling so well," Lee told her. "Said he was going to go lay down."

"Don't you guys have Defense in like, ten minutes?" Laura asked, having seen Fred's schedule once. He didn't have many courses, but he definitely had one now.

"No," Lee shook his dead. Laura knew he was lying. Something was definitely wrong with Fred. George didn't dare look her in the eye. They were lying to her face.

"Right," she said dryly. "You'll know where to find me if you ever decide to tell me the truth." Laura stood up from her seat and walked away.

♧♧♧

To say the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was intimidating was an understatement. Laura and Ginny, who usually sat at the front of the classroom and were top marks students, now sat at the back, both slightly terrified of Professor Moody.

"'Morning class," Moody greeted them. He then went on to explain how Dumbledore agreed that children should be aware of dangerous situations from a young age. The class tensed up when he told them he would be showing them the Unforgivable Curses.

Ginny and Laura exchanged a look.

"I-" Ginny stuttered. "Is he going to try them on one of us?"

"I honestly wouldn't put it behind him," Laura shrugged.

"Are you volunteering, Miss Potter?" Moody's harsh voice boomed from the front of the class. Laura tensed up, not knowing the professor had heard her.

"No, sir," She answered hesitantly.

"Detention Potter," he told her. Laura sighed. "You'll join Mr. Weasley in professor Snape's detention next Wednesday, on the 30th." Ginny managed to snort a laugh. "Do you want to join them, Weasley?" Her face immediately fell.

"No, sir. Absolutely not," Ginny quickly told him.

"So... do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?" Moody went straight into it. Several hands went up, but Moody pointed at a slytherin boy sitting at the front.

"Er... I know about one... its called the Imperius Curse?"

"Yes, yes. That one gave the ministry a lot of trouble a few years ago. No one knew who was under the curse, its indetectable."

He proceeded to take a small spider from a glass jar that had been sitting on his desk and use an engorgio spell on it. The spider grew and it became almost as big as his own face.

Laura felt a shiver go through her body as she realised what the professor was going to do next. He pointed his want to the spider.

"Imperio," he spoke. Immediately, the spider started floating in mid air. He waved his wand left and right and it followed. Soon enough, every student was laughing. All but Laura, who still appeared to be terrified of the situation. Not of the spider, but of the fact that it looked like Moody had the whole class under the Imperius Curse.