Chapter 9: Birthday Trouble

Note: New lay-out thingy, both Chantal and Lotte told me this is more clarifying, and they're right. Anyway, I'm too lazy to change the other chapter's on here like this, maybe I'll change it later.

Thanks all for reading AND for the very nice comments. I love you all. Also a big thanks to Chantal (and Lotte, but mostly Chantal) for correcting grammatical mistakes.
I also want to point out one more time that I do not own any character in this. 

Anyway, here's the next chapter!

“Good morning, gorgeous.” There’s a soft voice next to my ear, and someone kisses me on my forehead.
            “Fred, what are you doing here.” I mumble, still half-sleeping.
            “I came to wish you a happy birthday, and I wanted to give you your present.”   “Hmmm, present? The best birthday present right now would be to let me sleep a little longer. It’s a Wednesday, you know I have the first two periods off.” I curl up a bit, as a sign I want to go back to sleep. Fred starts to tickle me, which I can’t stand.
            “Okay, stop it. Stop it!” I yell and sit up in bed. Fred stops. “Fine, I’m awake now.” Fred just smiles and kisses me.
            “Happy birthday.”
            “Fred, go away. This is a girl dormitory.” Both Fred and I sigh.
            “Hermione, do you really have to be such a buzz kill? You’re the only one bothered by this, and you’re about to go upstairs.” I hear Lotte say from under her covers.
            “Ugh, fine. Just don’t get busted by a teacher.” Hermione says and walks out of the door.
            “Like they check the students in their rooms.” I hear Lotte say. I smile.
 Fred looks at me before he looks at the door, considering if he should stay or not.
            “I don’t want you to go. I’m awake now anyway.” I say.
            “Great.” He smiles, and grabs a box wrapped in Christmas themes wrapping paper from the floor. “I couldn’t find any other wrapping paper. Sorry.” He continues.
            “That’s okay, I like Christmas.” I say, smiling. I unwrap the paper and open the lid of the box.  There’s a book in the box with a purple rose in the middle; my favorite. I grab the book and see that there’s a box with chocolates underneath it.  I look at Fred and smile.
            “You’re so awfully romantic sometimes.” I say. Fred grins.
            “Yeah, but you’re the one who loves this stuff.” He says, before he takes a look at the alarm clock on my night desk. “I’ve got to go. See you upstairs?” He kisses me and walks away.
            “You know, that’s just adorable.” Lotte sits up in her bed. “I wonder what George will do on my birthday.”
            I get up and walk towards the wardrobe. “Yeah.” I smirk. “Hey, should I wear my fake glasses today?”
            “Sure, they’re cool. How are we going to wake up Chantal?”
            “Just throw a pillow or something.” I can hear Lotte throw one at Chantal.
            “Oi! I was already awake.”
            “Sure.”

            “What kind of book was it?” Lotte asks while we walk upstairs to the first floor. I decided to eat breakfast now and study a bit in my free periods, instead of eating breakfast five minutes before the first break.
            “A Shakespeare. Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
            “What is it with your love for Shakespeare?”
            “Don’t know. I just like Shakespeare.” I say, and I push the door to the atrium open. “What the hell?” Fred and George are sitting at a table that’s dressed up like we’re in a restaurant. “Oh, you got to be kidding me.”
            “Good morning, ma’am. Can Dobby bring you to your table?” A house elf in the ugliest vest I’ve ever seen stands next to me. I hear Lotte say: “Oh my God.”
            “Yeah, sure. Dobby, what’s going on?” I say, looking back at the table.
            “Master Fred has organized a breakfast buffet to celebrate your birthday. Dobby promised to help him.” The house elf grabs my arm and leads me to the table. Lotte has a hard time trying not to burst into laughing.
            “Good morning, birthday girl. Nice glasses.” George says when we arrive at the table. He sees that Lotte is standing next to me and smiles. “Hello beautiful.”
            “Hey.” Lotte says, still trying not to laugh.
I sit down and see that the plates are already filled. Toasted bread, eggs, bit of bacon, a piece of cheese, brie I believe. I sigh, and smile.
            “You’re so horrible sometimes.” I say, and Fred smirks.
            “Oh, is it okay if we stay here, or do you want us to leave?” Both Lotte and George ask, though it’s obvious they want to stay.
            “I’m fine with you staying.” I say, while I look at Fred’s reaction.
            “Why do you think there are four plates? I knew you wouldn’t want to leave.”
I taste a bit of the bread. There’s cinnamon on it, which makes it deliciously sweet.
            “Is everything as you wish? Dobby doesn’t mind making some more toast.”
            “Everything’s fine to me, Dobby.” I say. The others nod approving. “Everything’s really delicious.”
            “Thank you, ma’am.” The house elf says, and he walks back to the canteen.
            “Do you like it?” Fred asks when the elf is out of sight.
            “Well, it’s a bit… extreme. But yeah, I like it.” I say. “By the way, this toast is very good.” I take another bite of the bread.
            “This is definitely a bit extreme. You’re not going to organize this for me too, right, George?” Lotte says, and she takes a sip of her tea awaiting George’s reaction.
            “No, that wouldn’t be original. I’m probably going to do something else ‘extreme’.” Lotte sighs.
            “Well, well. Looks like we’re having fun.” I see a pink appearance in the corner of my eye, and I look up. Umbridge is standing next to the table.
            “It was supposed to be fun, yeah.” Fred says, snarling.
            “Oh, tut tut. Don’t be so stern at this beautiful morning, Mr. Weasley.”
            “It was a beautiful morning until she came by.” I hear George whisper. Lucky for him, Umbridge didn’t hear that.
            “Now, I want to invite you over at my office,” That doesn’t sound good. “because we have something to discuss.” That doesn’t sound good at all. “So if you would follow me now, please. Come on.” Reluctantly, the four of us get up and we follow the lady in the horrible pink suit. I wonder if Dobby might have got clothing advise from Umbridge, and if I didn’t know better I probably would believe that. 

            Umbridge opens the door of her office and we walk in. I can still see a few paint spots on the pink carpet from the joke we’ve pulled a few months ago.
            “Sit down.” Umbridge points at four old-fashioned chairs which look like they sit horrible. It’s also a miracle they’re not pink. “Come on. Sit down.” She says again, now a bit more impatient. We walk slowly towards the chairs and sit down. I was right; the chair sits terrible. 
            “Now, I don’t think I need to explain why I invited you over, do I?” Umbridge looks at us in a way that’s just… disturbing.
            “Well, in fact, we have no idea why we’re here, so could you please explain?” Lotte asks, definitely as confused as I am.
            “Do you really think I believe that? I know that you know why you’re here.”
            “Apparently I do not know, or else I wouldn’t ask.” Umbridge considers what Lotte just said, and decides to give an explanation.
            “Someone stole a thing out of the teacher’s vault.” Well, that’s vague. “I know it were you.”
            “Excuse me?” the four of us say, all very offended by that.
            “Oh, don’t play so innocent. Everything leads to the four of you. It’s obvious that you poisoned Fluffy, smuggled the Weeping Angels inside, and stole the missing object out of the vault. Not to mention that you were the ones who made a mess of my office.” And of course she had to say that all in a friendly voice, what makes the accusation even worse.
            “Are you kidding? Why on Earth would we poison Fluffy, smuggle creepy aliens inside, and steal something from which we don’t even know it exists? Seriously, we have no idea what’s supposed to be in that vault.” I get up from my chair in my anger. Umbridge has walked towards me while I was talking and she slaps me. For such a small woman she kinda slaps hard; It burns on my cheek.
            “You must not tell lies to me. Like I said, all the evidence leads to you. Don’t deny it.”
            “She’s telling the truth. We haven’t stolen anything.”Fred also gets up and looks angry at Umbridge.
            “And why would we smuggle someone inside who tries to kill our friends?” Lotte says.
            “Or poison Fluffy?” George joins the protest.
            “Sit down!” There’s a bit of threatening in Umbridge’s voice, though we all ignore her command.
            “It unbelievable that every time something happens you think it’s our fault. We’re not the only ones at school.” Lotte says.
            “You have a reputation. You are criminals who try to sabotage the school. Now sit down!” Umbridge says again.
            “We are not criminals.” Fred and George say.
            “Sit down!” Umbridge yells.
            “What’s going on here?” Three men are standing in the doorway.
            “These four students have committed crimes against the school.” Umbridge says.
            “We have not!” the four of us say in unison.
            “Dolores, I think you’re overreacting.” Jack says.
            “I don’t think I am, Mr. Harkness. You don’t know what these students are.”
            “In fact, I think I know that better than you do.”
            “These students are criminals. They need to be punished.”
            “Calm down, Dolores. I agree with Jack. Do you really think they are trying to sabotage the school?” Lupin says.
            “You can’t just blame students for what happened.” Sirius joins the conversation.
            “You know as well as I do that the evidence leads to these four. In fact, I know that you might have something to do with this as well. You’re as criminal as they are, Mr. Black. I wonder how it’s possible you’re not in Azkaban yet.” Sirius wants to say something back to Umbridge, but Lupin is faster.
            “You can’t just accuse people you hate, Dolores. Even though they make a joke once in a while, these students have nothing to do with the troubles the school is dealing with right now.” Lupin says.
            “Dolores, Remus is right. Let these students go. They have classes to attend.” Professor Dumbledore walks into the office. He probably heard the noises in the corridor.
            “Fine. Students, you are allowed to leave. But don’t think I won’t keep an eye you.” Umbridge says. Fred, George, Lotte and I walk out of the office as fast as we can. I’m glad Dumbledore came by, because Lupin, Jack and Sirius wouldn’t be able to convince Umbridge to let us leave. Well, Lupin was able to calm her down, but without Dumbledore we would still sit there.

            “I can’t believe she just accused us of ‘crimes against the school’. What was she thinking?” George is definitely still angry about what just happened.
            “I know. I mean, she hates us, okay, but she went way too far this time.” Lotte says.
            “What do you think is supposed to be in that vault?” Fred asks.
            “Don’t know, but it’s definitely something worth a lot.” I say.
            “Yep. Oh, I really have to go to the other building. Biology started fifteen minutes ago.” Lotte says, looking at her watch.
            “We’re going with you. We’re supposed to be in Math’s class by now.” George says.
            “Hmm, I think I’m going to shoot a dummy in shreds.” I say.
            “Right, first two periods off. Have fun.” Fred says, and he kisses me before he walks away, together with Lotte and George.
            “Good luck in class.” I yell after them.
            “Why do you always get in trouble?” I hear someone say behind me. I turn around and look at Sirius and Jack.
            “I think you know.”  I answer. “She hates us.”
            “So we’ve noticed.”
            “I know how it feels.”  Sirius says. “She wants me in Azkaban.”
            “I believe she also hates me. Guess that’s why Albus send us away.” Jack says. “He and Remus are talking with Dolores about the troubles and how she treated you.” he continues when he sees my confused face. “So, you wanted to let off steam?”
            “Yeah.”
            “Okay. I think I can teach you a new technique. It’s a hard one, but I think you can handle that.” That sounds good. “Sirius, you’re coming too? You look like you want to kill something.”
            “Yeah, maybe it’s a good idea, though I really don’t know how to handle a gun.”
            “Oh, we’ll teach you.” Jack says with a wink.

It feels good to shoot something. I already shot four dummies in shreds. Jack just thought me a new technique and is now trying to teach Sirius how to shoot. Well, how to shoot the thing he wants to shoot, and not something else. Five minutes ago he almost shot me. It’s quite hilarious though.
            “Sirius, try to aim at the dummy.” Sirius takes a shot, but the bullet ends seven meters to the right. “No, not like that.” Jack sighs.
            “I think I prefer magic.”
            “Maybe, but now we’re working on something non-magical.”
            “Can’t I just…”
            “No.”
            “You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
            “Yeah, but the answer stays no.”
            “How can you say no if you don’t know what I’m going to ask?”
            “Because I can.”
            “That’s not a real answer.”
            “Yes, it is.” Sirius is not amused by that and shoots Jack.
            “Why did you just kill him?” I ask.
            “He was being annoying.”
            “You’re such a child.”
            “Thanks.”
            “That wasn’t a compliment. Try to shoot the dummy next to yours.”
            “Why?”
            “Do you want me to shoot you?”
            “You do realize you’re threatening a teacher, right?”
            “Yeah. Now shoot that dummy.” Sirius aims at the dummy next to his and shoots; he misses. Again.
            “Okay, now try to shoot that dummy by aiming at your own.”
            “Why?”
            “Just do it.” He aims at his dummy, but right before he shoots he moves a bit and the bullet ends in the dummy on the right. “See, you’ve got a deviation to the right.”
            “What happened?” Both Sirius and I turn around. Jack jumps up and the shot wound slowly disappears.
            “Ah, you’re alive again.” I say.
            “Yeah. Reminds me of the times you killed me.” I grin. I think I killed him, like, twenty times or so. “So, Sirius, why did you kill me?”
            “You were annoying.”
            “I was not.” Oh dear, here we go again.
            “You were very annoying.”
            “I was only giving you instructions.”
            “In an annoying way.”
            “Okay, stop, the both of you, or do you want me to shoot you.” I interrupt. “You guys are being childish. Sirius, listen to Jack. Jack, Sirius has a deviation the right. Work with that.” I say, and I walk back to my spot.
            “Buzz kill.” I hear Sirius murmur, and I can’t help it but smile. I shoot a few more dummies in shreds, and see Jack doing the same. Sirius is able to shoot one bullet into a dummy.
            “You know what, we try another gun. Maybe that’ll work.” Jack says.
            “Why? I’m finally getting used to this one.”
            “Yeah, but it’s still not going quite well, is it?”
            “I just shot one bullet into that dummy! And I shot you!”
            “Yep, but we’re still going to try another gun.” And once again, Sirius shoots Jack.
            “Why do you keep on killing him?”
            “He was being annoying. Again. And it’s more fun to shoot him than to shoot a dummy.”
            “Yeah, and why won’t you try shooting the dummy when Jack’s bothering you? You were able to kill him twice with just two bullets.” I say.
            “I don’t know. I quite like shooting Jack.”
            “If you shoot Jack again, I’ll shoot you.”
            “And once again you’re threatening a teacher. For the third time already.”
            “Yep.”
            “If you shoot me one more time, I’ll shoot you.” Jack’s alive again.
            “You’re never going to stop arguing, are you?” I say.
            “Nope.” The guys answer.
            “Okay, then I’m out of here. I’ve got a history class to attend. Good luck shooting each other.” I say, and I walk away.

Chapter 8: Pretzel Confessions

“Fred, where are we going? And what about George and…” “Don’t worry, they won’t miss us.” Okay. What’s going on here? Arhg, how I hate it when people are acting mysterious like  this. Fred’s leading me through the corridors. “Okay, fine, be all mysterious, but please tell me where we are going!” I think you can tell I’m quite annoyed. “Shh, we’re almost there.” Meanwhile we’ve already reached the library. Fred picks the lock and we walk in. “Okay, the library? What are we going to do here.” “Just wait.” Fred walks to the end, where stairs are leading to the top floor, the Astronomy classroom. Fred leads me upstairs, where he opens the hole in the roof. He grabs the ladder. “After you.” I walk upstairs and onto the roof. It’s a bright night and I can see stars twinkle. It’s also quite cold. “Here.” Fred hands me his black coat. I look at him in a ‘what are you doing’ way, but accept his coat and pull it on. “Thanks. Now, what’s going on? Why did you brought me here?” Fred looks down. He seems to be very uncomfortable. “Okay, please listen. Remember this morning, when I didn’t told you the first part? The part about something what Peeves said?” “Yes, of course.” “Well, I didn’t tell you about it because… because it’s quite complicated. And it’s also the main reason why we avoided you and Lotte.” I sigh. “You’re avoiding the point once again.” “Sorry. It’s just… I don’t know where to begin.” Okay, even though he’s kinda cute right  now with all the insecurity (I haven’t seen this side of him before), this is starting to get annoying. “Maybe at the beginning?” “Right. Sorry. I’m annoying you, aren’t I?” No, really. “Yes.” “Sorry.” “And stop apologizing.” I say while giving him a pat on his shoulder, trying to make him feel a bit more comfortable.  “Right. Sorry.” Is it wrong that I have to laugh right now? “No, but seriously, go on with your story.” “I haven’t even started yet.” Okay, he’s back again. “Okay, so, Peeves told us something. Something about pretzels.” Oh god no, he got to be kidding me. “Okay, and why are pretzels so special?” I try to ask as nonchalant as possible.  “Well, Peeves heard some individuals say that Pretzels are funny, and handsome. I believe  also adorable.” “Don’t forget to mention sweet.” I say. I’m already busted anyway, so why don’t play the game? “Ah, so you confess?” “I don’t confess anything.” We both smile. “Okay, go on.” “Well, then Peeves asked if we shouldn’t do something.” “And what did you say?” “George and I said we would do something, but we didn’t need Peeves’ help.” “I see.
And what would you do?” “What I’m doing right now.” “And that is?” “Telling the girl who likes Pretzels that Pretzels also likes her.” He didn’t just say what I think he said, did he? Oh dear, here come the butterflies. “Oh really? And what does this Pretzel like so much about this girl?” And now he’s uncomfortable again. Oh, feelings can be so weird. “Well, she’s funny, and smart. She’s also a kind of crazy, in a cute way. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to mention she’s beautiful.” I giggle. Even though I’m confident of how I look (unlike other girls I’m happy the way I am) I love to get compliments like this. “So…” “So what?” I ask. He looks at me. There’s a twinkling in his eyes I’ve never seen before. Not to mention he’s got very beautiful eyes. I stare into his eyes for what seems to be a long time, not knowing what to say, and Fred… Well, he just does the same. Though just seconds later, he comes closer, and he kisses me. His soft lips are pressed on mine, I can feel the warmth of his body. I don’t wanna let go of this moment, but too fast, it’s over. We stare into each other’s eyes again. I smirk. “You know, this is just a bit weird. I mean, we used to be best friends and all.” “Yeah, I know what you mean.” “At least the rumors have become the truth now.” “What rumors?” “Well, rumors about me and you, Lotte and George.” “There are rumors about that?” “Yeah, of course. A boy and a girl can’t be just best friends. No, they’re probably dating in secret.” Fred grins. “I see.”
            “So… Is there also something going on between Lotte and George?” I ask “Oh, yeah. Why do you think we let them alone?” Now it’s my time to grin. “By the way, adorable? I’m everything but adorable.”

“I swear, it was the most adorable thing ever.” I sit down on my bed, and so does Lotte. We just told each other the stories of tonight. “Totally. But can you imagine that Peeves heard us talking? It’s so weird, we didn’t even notice him.” “Well, he still is a ghost and he’s used to do things like this.” “True.” “Though in fact, we have to thank Peeves. I mean, our best friends just turned into our boyfriends.” Lotte smirks.
            “Hey guys, I haven’t seen you all night. Where the hell were you?” Alice in Wonderland Liz walks in, followed by Kayleigh, Kyra and Chantal. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen you like, 5 minutes or so.” “Well, it was our plan at first to hang around, but my date took me upstairs to the roof.” “And my date took me outside to the lake.” The four girls look confused. “But… I thought… Your dates we’re the twins, right?” Kyra has lost it. “Yep.” Lotte and I answer. They all think about it, and after a few seconds, Liz starts to jump around, squealing like a little girl who just got a real life my-little-pony. “Is it what I think it is?” Lotte and I look at each other, now also a bit confused. “Depends on what you think it is.” Lotte answers. “Seriously Irmoesss, can it be more vague?” “Yeah, shush Kyp. Is there something going on between you and the twins?” “Is there something going on between you and the Mad Hatter?” I say, teasing Liz. “Oi!” Irmoesss yells while she hits me. “We’re just friends!” “Ouch, sorry. I was only teasing you.” “Yeah, well, it’s quite annoying if people keep on thinking you can’t be just friends with a guy.” Thank you Liz. “We know the feeling.” Lotte and I both say. “You still didn’t answer Irmoesss’ question.” Chantal points out. “Yeah, is there really something going on or not?” Kyra says, while she sits down on the ground. “Well, maybe.” “Okay, sometimes it’s quite annoying if you both say the same thing at the same time.” “Sorry Dawa.” “Totally when it’s something vague like ‘maybe’.” “Well, Kyp, in fact, ‘maybe’ is not that vague in this kind of conversations. In this way, it means ‘yes’.” “Irmoesss, you’re annoying.” Liz grabs Kyra’s hair, and Kyra does the same as an answer. Kayleigh sigs. “You know, I have to watch this, like, twice a week. Sometimes I wonder why they’re my roommates.” Liz hits Kayleigh with her free hand. “Maybe because I have the Dalek alarm clock with the sonic screwdriver.” “In fact, that’s mine.” “Oh, right. Kyp, let go!” “Nah, you first.” “If you two do not let go of each other’s hair, I’m gonna get the scissors.” “You wouldn’t do that, Dawa, you’re too sweet.” “Well… Okay, yeah, that’s true. But Chantal isn’t.” Liz and Kyra don’t know how fast they have to let go. Chantal almost cut their hair once before. “Okay, are you guys done?” I ask. “Not yet.” Liz says, and she hits Kyra. “Hey!” “Okay, now I’m done. Well, was I right or not?” Both Lotte and I sigh. We know we can’t hide things like this for our friends. “Okay, yeah, there’s something going on between me and George.” “And between me and Fred.” “Ha, I knew it!” Liz starts dancing a sort of victory dance. “Really?” Kayleigh asks, to check if we’re not just saying it to please Liz. “Yep.” “Big yes.” 

Chapter 7: The Halloween Dance

“NYAAAAAH!!”  “AAH! Why did we choose this one as our alarm clock? Beckett! Shut it down!”Like always, I free my hand from under the covers and snooze the clock. I hear Hermione walking through the room, always the earliest bird. Even though it’s Saturday today. And yes, we need an alarm clock on Saturday; we have fighting classes in the morning.
            The Halloween dance is also today, though Halloween itself is just two days left. Hermione is going with Ron to the dance, Chantal with her boyfriend Daniel, and Lotte and I… Well, right now no-one has asked us yet, so we just go together. We have fitting outfits; we go like our favorite characters from an awesome movie we’ve seen a while ago, Sucker Punch. We quite liked the movie, unlike others, maybe because we saw the hidden message in the movie… Anyway, that’s a whole different story that I’m not going to tell you, so go watch it for yourself.

A few minutes later, right before the alarm clock starts screaming again, Pyrite jumps on my bed and lies down on my feet like she always does. This is not going to help with getting out of my bed. I put the alarm off and try to free my feet, what’s almost impossible; when I move my feet, Pyrite tries to catch it. “Ugh, Pyrite, stop it. I have to get out. You’re not helping.” Pyrite looks at me with curiosity, but almost immediately jumps on my hand, because I tried to free it from under the covers. I can’t help it but laugh. “Stop it, you crazy cat.” I move both my hands and feet at the same time, what makes Pyrite go crazy. I free my hands and play with the Lynx for a few minutes, until she gets distracted by Raven, who started running through the room.
            I jump out of my bed and throw the pillow in Lotte’s direction. “Tubbs, wake up!” I hear Lotte laugh from under the pillow. “A pillow? Seriously?” “Yeah, I didn’t want to waste this notebook by throwing it at you.” I pick up the notebook that lies on my night table. It has been lying there since the start of the year, but I haven’t used it yet. “Maybe I’ll use this missile later for waking up someone.” I put it back and walk to our walk-in wardrobe. “What are we going to do with fighting classes today?” I ask, while considering what to wear. “I believe he said we would continue the sword fighting.” “Okay, so, comfortable pants and a tank top.” Lotte comes standing next to me in the wardrobe. “Something like that, yeah.” I pick grey knee breeches and a kaki tank top, while Lotte picks black training trousers and a purple tank top. Lotte also wants to grab purple and black trainers. “Remember last time we had to put off our shoes? Jack wants us to fight swords barefoot, because that would be better for our position or something.” “Right. Crazy Jack.” She puts the trainers back and smiles. “Barefoot breakfast?”

At 9 a.m., Lotte and I walk downstairs to the training center. We’re already running late, because the fighting class actually starts at 9, but Chantal kind of held us up at breakfast; we didn’t woke her up today, and she didn’t quite like it.
            “Okay, wait up, wait up!” “Good morning, Chantal. Are you already in a better mood than half an hour ago?” “Sorta.”
            I open the door of the training center. The rest of the group is already there; Liza, Kayleigh, Kyra, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Harry, Ron, Neville and the twins. We’re the first group of today. The other group has class from 11 a.m. ‘til half past 12. In total, there are 26 students who take the fighting classes once in two weeks. There were not many students who liked this class, or they liked another class at this time better. Or their parents forbid them to takes these classes.
            “Jack’s not here yet?” Lotte sits down. “Nope.” the twins answer in choir. “I’ll go check his office.” I say. I walk towards the door at the end of the room, the door that leads to both Jack’s office and the shooting area. I open the door at the same moment as Jack. “It’s almost like you do this on purpose.” I say. “I also do this on purpose.” Jack smiles and puts his arm around my back to get me back to the others.
            “Okay, today we continue last time’s sword fighting. We are going to work in pairs and duel each other. There’s a box filled with protectors over there.” Jack points at a big box in the corner, “I want you all to put on a vest. We’re going to use proper swords today. Okay, the pairs; Chantal and Kyra, Kayleigh and Liza, Hermione and Ginny, Luna and Neville, Ron and Harry.” These are actually the pairs we always work in. I already walk to Lotte, knowing we will be paired up together. “Wait. Lotte, you’re with George. Becky, Fred.” I look at Jack. He always pairs me up with Lotte, and now he pairs us up with the twins. After days wherein they have been avoiding us.
            Jack sees me staring at him and winks. I hate him sometimes. He is, like, one of my best friends here at school and sometimes I get the feeling he knows me better than I do. When I was a first year, I used to wander around the corridors and in one of the first weeks I ended up here in the training center. I didn’t feel very comfortable around my classmates and needed a place to be alone. Jack knew how I felt and made me feel better. He has helped me from then and gave me fighting classes in the breaks. He made me more confident about myself and I could always talk to him. He became family to me, like the big sassy gay brother I’ve never had. He’s an awesome guy, but sometimes I could just kill him. In fact, I’ve actually done that a few times.
          “Daydreaming again?” Fred’s voice scares me out of my thoughts. “I hate you sometimes.”  I say, and smirk. “Well, if that’s everything. I thought you would be angry about me and George avoiding you and Tubbs.” I put on a vest and grab a sword, followed by Fred who does the same. “No, not angry. More like, annoyed and curious.” “Annoyed and curious? Yeah, I can imagine you feel like that.” We go stand on the other side of the room. I make a few moves and hit Fred in his chest. “You’re good.” “Thanks. So, are you going to tell me why you and George were avoiding us?” He tries to hit me but I block his attack. “Maybe. You’re really good.” He tries again, this time he falls when I block his attack. “Stop trying to flatter me with your compliments, it doesn’t make me less annoyed.” I give him a hand and he jumps back up. “I actually wanted to propose two out of three and I would tell, but I believe that’s too easy for you. You’re better in this than I am.” “I told you to stop that.” We both attack at the same time and the swords cross. Fred’s fighting better than a few seconds ago. I guess that was just a sort of warming up. He hits me in the chest and I fall down. “Need a hand?” I grab his hand and he pulls me back up. “Okay, you know, it’s quite a long and complicated story.” I smirk. “Try me.” He attacks again, and I block. “Well… Okay, the first part is not that import. It’s about something Peeves said. I’ll tell that later.” I attack. Fred tries to block it, but doesn’t do it properly. “Okay, and the second part?” “The second part is about the avoiding.” “Yeah, I got that. You’re avoiding the clue from this.” We both attack once again. Fred almost drops his sword when I hit him. “Why do you always have to be so straight to the point? Okay, George and I avoided you and Tubbs because we didn’t knew how to ask you.”  I wanted to attack, but drop my sword a bit now. “Ask us what?” Fred attacks and in my inattention he almost hits me, but I’m able to block his attack in the last second. “How to ask you to the dance.” He falls down because of my last block and tackles me, and I fall down next to him. “So… Do you want to go to the dance with me?” Strange feelings inside. Again. I smile. “Yeah, sure.” He jumps up and gives me a hand. “Okay then, it’s a date. Not like a ‘date’ date, but like friends.” He continues quickly. I have to smile about that. He seems not very confident about this. I look at Lotte and George who are on the other side of the room. They’re talking. Seems like they also go together.

“You know, it’s kinda cute.” Lotte says when I told what happened. I smirk. “Yeah, I know. How did George ask you?” “Bit the same. He was also avoiding it.” We both laugh.
                “Hey, where are you going?” I step back from the stairs. “We have to go that way. Our room is on this floor, remember?” “Yeah, I know. I’m going to Sirius.” “Why? We don’t have animagi class today.” Lotte follows me upstairs. “True, but I want to ask him something about the hair thing.” “Okay… But that’s not such a big problem.” Lotte says confused, still not seeing the point. “Yep. In fact, it’s quite handy. I’m not a big fan of wigs.” Now Lotte understands where I’m going.
                Meanwhile we’re arrived at the -2^nd floor. I knock on the door of Sirius’ office. “What’s it this time? Oh, hey Becky, Lotte.” “Who do you thought we were?” I ask. “Umbridge. She’s been bothering me with things a lot lately.” He points at the couch when he keeps on talking, meaning we have to sit down. “Mostly if I knew something about her ‘office problem’ a few weeks ago and the Malfoy incident.” We all smirk at the memories. “Also about the problem with Fluffy and the Angels.” “Yeah, what exactly happened? You said you would tell us.” I say. Sirius sits down at the couch facing us. “We still have no idea about the Angels, but Fluffy has definitely been poisoned.” “I heard something like that, yeah.” Lotte says. “And more?” She continues after a few second of silence. “Well, more I don’t know. By the way, what did you come for?” “Well, when I change back from an animal into a human my hair stays the color of the animal. Can it also happen that it stays the length?” I ask. “Hmmm, I think that’s possible. Why?” “Well, my character for Halloween has short blond hair, with a sort of reddish glow. I hate wigs.” I say when I see Sirius’ face. “Ah, I see. Let’s see, try to change into an animal with that color, imagine a cat or dog with that kind of fur. And just change back like you always do.” I do what has been said and change into a short-haired cat. I look at my tail, it’s a beautiful kind of blond. Not a color you see a lot at cats though. “Pretty fur, Beckett.” I hear Lotte say. “Okay, change back. Here, look.” Sirius hands me a mirror. My hair is exactly the way it has to be. I look at Lotte. “I told you this could be useful.”

“How do I look?” Lotte walks out of the wardrobe, looking exactly like Sweet Pea. “Whoa, Sweet Pea, you look beautiful.” I say and stand up. “And what about me?” “You are definitely Rocket.” I smirk.
                Chantal walks into the room. “Tada!” She turns around. “Ah, Madame de Pompadour.” I make a bow. “It’s a pleasure to know you will be joining us at the dance.” I say with an old French accent, or at least, I try to say it with an accent. Lotte starts laughing because of me. “Don’t. Just, don’t. You look amazing, Chant.” Chantal straightens her big wig. “Thanks. You two look awesome. And sexy.” We all start laughing. 

                “Hey, girls, what about me?”  A careful voice interrupts our laughter. Hermione steps out of the wardrobe, wearing a beautiful  yellow dress. “Whoa, you’re Belle? Amazing.” I say. “Beautiful Hermione.” Lotte continues.
                There’s a knock on the door. “Chantal, you’re ready?” Chantal walks to the door and opens it. “Hey Daniel. Nice costume.” “Hey, you look beautiful.” Chantal blushes. “Nice combination.” I say. “Madame de Pompadour and William Turner.” “Right now, I would scratch Madame de Pompadour. Right, Miss Swann?” Lotte says with a wink. Chantal sighs. “Yeah, you’re right Tubbs.” I say. “Okay, let’s go, before these two start to be annoying.” Chantal and Daniel disappear into the corridor, but right before the door closes, someone opens it again. “Whoa, Hermione, you look beautiful.” Ron stands in the door opening, looking like a dumb Musketeer so with his mouth wide open. “Hey, Ron. Where are the other Musketeers?” “What? No, wait. They’re picking up their dates. Whoa, Hermione, you look beautiful.” “Yeah, you already said that. C’mon.” And so Lotte and I are left alone.
                A few minutes later, there’s another knock on the door. “Yeah.” I yell. The door opens and two men in black suits and with black sunglasses walk in, though their red hair betray who they are. “Whoa, you two look handsome.” Lotte and I jump up from our beds. “Thank you. We first wanted to go as each other, but thought that would be too boring.” “Then we wanted to go as the Musketeers, together with Ron, but he already asked Harry and Neville to join him.” “Then we thought about going as the Olsen Twins.” “But in the end, we just grabbed this two suits from our closet.” “Well, thank God. I can’t imagine me dancing with an Olsen twin.” I start laughing at the thought of Lotte and an Olsen twin dancing around. “Guess you can.” “Yeah, sorry.”
                “And what about you two? You look… Amazing.” “Thank you. Lotte is Sweet Pea and I am Rocket, both from the movie Sucker Punch.” “Ah. Sexy.” It seems the twins want to take that thought back. “Okay, let’s just imagine we didn’t say that.” Lotte and I laugh. “Whatever.” The boys put on their sunglasses. “Shall we go?”

It’s already quite busy on the ground floor. People in the weirdest costumes walks past us. We enter the atrium where many people are already busy dancing.
            “Hey, guys. Whoa, awesome outfits.” Kayleigh walks towards us in a beautiful white dress. “You too, Dawa. Whoa.” “Yeah, but who exactly are you?” I look at Kayleigh. “I’m Sakura.” “Right...” I have absolutely no idea who that is, so I just stare at Kayleigh. “She’s a character from a manga series.” “Okay.” Kayleigh looks around and sees something she doesn’t like. “Oh, I got to go. If Lauren asks where I want, don’t answer!” Before we get to chance to ask why, Kayleigh disappears into the crowd. “Okay, what was that for?” Fred looks at me and Lotte. I want to answer that I have no idea, but the next second Lauren appears in front of us, dressed as a Weeping Angel. “Have you seen Kayleigh?” “No.” the four of us answer. Lauren makes some strange facial expressions; it’s obvious she doesn’t really believe us. “Okay.” she says, and disappears back into the crowd. “I think that’s the answer to your question.” I say. “Yep.” “Definitely.”
            “Hey look, Liz is Alice. Like in, Alice in Wonderland.” I say, when I see her dancing around. “Ahw, and her date is the Mad Hatter.” “Who exactly is her date?” Lotte and I look at each other before we look at the twins. “A guy named Jake. He writes stuff.” “They’re quite adorable together, aren’t they?” I say, looking at the dancing couple.
            “Who are adorable together?” I turn around and look at three girls who seem not to be in character. “Alice and the Mad Hatter.” I say. “Are you three not in character?” “Oh, but we are.” Martha says quickly. “Yeah, I am Martha and Martha is me.” Mells continues. “Okay. And what about you, Amy? An eye patch?” Lotte continues the question. “Oh, it’s an eye drive. And I’m Madame Korvarian.” I also don’t know who that is, so I just answer with: “Ah, right.” “Hey, by the way, have you seen the Doctor’s outfit? It’s really awesome. He’s a vampire hunter or something like that.” “Yeah, Mells might have a crush on him.” “Oi, Amy! You also said he looked hot. And you already got yourself the last centurion.” “Last centurion?” I ask, bit confused. “Yeah, Rory. You should call him Peter Vincent now, by the way. I mean the Doctor, not Rory.” “Rory is now Roranicus Pondicus.” “Mells, shut it with the Pondicus. He’s only my boyfriend!” “Maybe, but Williams is not like an awesome name for a centurion.” “I have to agree with Mells with that.” Lotte says, trying to join the conversation. “See!” Mells says, still trying to convince Amy.
            “Hey guys, nice outfits.” Rose walks in, wearing a beautiful pink dress in a 1960’s/’70’s style. “Yeah, same for you. Planning to go to an Elvis concert?” Amy says. “Well, if Peter Vincent is going to take me, then yes.” Rose smirks. “Shall we go to the dance floor?” The four girls say “Bye.” and walk towards the dance floor. The four of us look at them, and the next moment I start laughing. “What’s wrong?” three voices ask? “Look at the outfits Simone, Lisanne and Laura are wearing.” I see, with tears coming up in my eyes from the laughter. “Okay, let’s see. Oh, Laura is Hit Girl! Awesome!” Lotte says, searching the room for the three girls. “Is that a Llama suit? With green and purple hair?” George asks before he starts laughing. “Probably Lisanne.” Lotte says. “Okay, and the Sumo wrestler?” “Probably Mone.” I say, trying not to start laughing again. “Ah. Any idea who the two vampires are?” “Vampires? Oh. Well, the one who really looks like a aristocratic vampire is Ernö, I believe. And the girl seems to be Nastja, though I wonder if she’s dressed like a vampire. I mean, she’s a real vampire, so… I guess she something else death, and is now giving Ernö directions of how to be a vampire.” “Right… Oh, hey, look. The Doctor really looks awesome as Peter Vincent.” Lotte says, I believe more to change the subject than that she really find it interesting. Guess that’s also being noticed by the twins. “Shall we go to the dance floor, like the others?” “Yeah, sure. C’mon George.” Lotte grabs George’s arm and pulls him on to the dance floor. I want to follow them, but Fred holds me back. “Wait, I… I have something to tell you. It… It’s the first part of the story.”