McGonagall Twins

The room was silent, calm. Apart from the whistling of the wind which rushed through the open window, all was well. Dark wooden furniture encompassed the surroundings with light, baby pink walls. The wood looked heavy and old, but cozy the same, just waiting for a fire to be lit.

On the center of one of the walls stood a bunk bed. The bottom one neatly made and tucked tightly in like it was gripping the marress for dear life. The above one was messy,
duvet crumpled over a sleeping child. Her light, chestnut hair shot out in all directions.

The rest of the room had two of everything, wardrobes, desks, & and dressers. They were all the same as the beds. One pristine and organized, the other shabby with an array of items strewn everywhere.

The sun shone into the providing much needed light into the room, which illuminated its surroundings. The birds began to tweet and the girl in the the bed stirred, rolling over
her side.

Ноwever the calmness of the soon disrupted as the door burst open. In its place stood a woman in a green tartan robe. Underneath she wore black turtleneck complete with a ring pin below her chin. Her fever lips pierced, she stared around the room, eyes narrowing the girl in bed.

"Up!" she cried, "Or you're going to miss breakfast!"

"Go away," the girl in the bed groaned.

At the same moment another girl appeared from the bathroom. She looked identical to the one Still lying in the bed, only she was dressed and her hair pressed.

She was wearing a uniform, black robe with a white shirt. Her tie was black emblazoned with the Hogwarts emblem.

"Morning mum" the girl smiled as her mother straightened her tie.

"morning Rowanne" the woman said, refocusing on the girl in the bed. She pulled her wand out of her robe, "Robin, I'm going to count to three. If you're not up I'll get you up myself. 1… 2…" there was still no movement except to hide further under the covers. McGonagall sighed "3" she flicked her wand and the girl rose from her bed. She hovered for a few moments before being placed cautiously back down.

She sat up immediately "what the hell was that for!?" she yelled at her mother. Eyes shooting daggers across the room.

"Language!" McGonagall scolded, "Breakfast, in 20 minutes or you'll have to wait until lunch" with that she turned on her heels and left the
room.

"What on earth's gotten her" Robin sighed collapsing back into bed.

"School begins next week, it's just the usual rush stress" Rowanne walked over
desk to pick up one of the books, "you better get ready though"

"It's fine, you'll grab me a slice of toast won't you" Robin smirked at her sister.

"If I can, I will," Rowanne sighed and walked out of the room.

Rowanne marched down the steps, book in hand until she made it to the great hall. Scuttling silently up one of the deserted isles and took her place second to the end of the table next to Professor Sprout.

The row of teachers stared out at the large hall. It was empty, and quiet except from their hushed murmurings.

Rowanne sat at the left end of the table next to Professor Sprout. Beside her was Professor Gonelline then Professor Binns, McGonagall sat between him and Dunboledore. Then Professors Flitwick, Slughorn, and finally Hagrid. A few more sat next to them but none Rowanne had clocked as she walked in.

"Romanne, you know the rules, no books at the table" McGonagall snapped without looking towards the girl who had just opened up the book. How on earth could she always know what the girls were about to do before they did it?

"Sorry mum" Rowanne said sheepishly. She closed the book and placed it behind her back, helping herself to the food that was before her.

"And where is your sister?" a sinister voice played over chatter that they engaged in.

"I don't know Sir" Rowanne looked up at the Astronomy professor.

"she been at breakfast hasn't at all since the end of term" Professor Gonelline stared at her, eyes narrowing as if he was trying to as if he was trying to pick apart every aspect of the young girl's brain.

Rowanne gulped and opened her mouth to answer but luckily Professor sprout jumped in, "Merlwart give the girl a break she probably wants to take advantage of a lye-in, before school next week" Professor Sprout looked at Routine and winked.

Rowanne smiled back in thanks. She gathered a slice of toast into a napkin and finished her breakfast quickly.

Teachers slowly started A file out of the hall, presumably to plan for the arrival of the students which was happening in just five days.

Rowanne watched as Professor Gonelline, who had been eyeing her the entire time, walked back out the hall, his black cape trailing behind him. He had dirty blonde hair and sunken thin lips. His posture made him seem tall, though he was probably average height. His hands were rough, with a million scars from previous years. He didn't just intimidate any first year but could send fifth years into panic attacks just by looking at them. However Rowanne knew better, She had known him since she was five and he joined the school. He had a soft spot. If only you could find it.

When Rowanne had finished she got up from the table, planning to head down to her favorite tree with a book she hoped to 'borrow' from Professor Golline. Though she expected Robin would come and drag her away to play a game of exploding snap or to watch her fly around on her broomstick.

"Wait" she recognised her mother's voice from behind her and turned around "I gather your sister didn't fancy breakfast" McGonagall eyed her expectantly, but Rowanne said nothing, her eyes fixed on the floor. "I see, well if she refuses to eat when she's told she will end up skipping a meal" still Rowanne said nothing, "that means, young lady, that food shouldn't be taken to her either"

She knew. That much was obvious. "Yes ma'am" the girl mumbled taking the slice of toast out of her pocket and handed it to McGonagall

"I'm not a cat at the moment, you’ll have to speak up." McGonagall checked her watch, a slight mischievous grin appearing on her face almost unnoticeable by anyone who didn't know her, "I have enough time to awaken the beast. You go ahead, I'll send Robin after you"

She turned to leave, hoping to get away with it, "Rowanne" well that didn't work. McGonagall's voice was calm, which worried Rowanne. "Your going to start school in five days, and while I'm not as concerned about you, I don't want you allowing yourself to get in trouble because of your sister and what she decides to do"

"Of course," Rowanne smiled as she left the hall.

She walked down the hall towards the defense against the dark arts classroom. She climbed up the south stairs, turned the corner but ran straight into the headmaster. She fell to the floor.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry"

"It's okay Rowanne, no harm done" Dumbledore smiled warmly at her. Holding out his hand to help her up, "are you alright?"

"Yes thank you" she noticed he was holding a copy of the daily prophet, "have you finished with your newspaper?"

"I have, would you like to borrow it?"

“Yes please” she took the newspaper from him.

“Where are you off to?”

“I thought I’d get a head start on the reading for this year” She smiled proudly,

“Ah, a noble goal. Are you nervous about starting?” His eyes twinkled,

“I guess so. I mean, not much will change but at the same time, everything will”

“That is very true. Though things have to change, one cannot expect everything to be the same. Life would get extremely boring.” He winked, “You're going to do very well, I’m sure of it. Though I doubt your mother will let it be any other way”

“I expect not” She chuckled,

“Just out of interest, what house do you think you’ll be in? And, think carefully about this, there is a difference. What house do you want to be in?”

“I’m not really sure. I mean, part of me wants to be in Gryffindor with mum, but then that feels like there would be alot of pressure there. To live up to her name. For Robin it’s easy. She might not want to admit it but she’ll be in Gryffindor, no doubt about it”

“I agree with you there. You could be in Ravenclaw, you know. Your mother was close to being there”

“That just feels weird. The thought of not being in Gryffindor”

“I am certain you’ll know. When the time is right”

“I hope so, thank you Alb”

“Any time my dear, now I was supposed to be meeting someone” He held his finger up, trying to pinpoint where he was going, “Ah, yes. I was supposed to meet your mother. Boy is she going to be annoyed at my lateness”

Rowanne laughed as she walked towards Professor Gonelline’s classroom. “Sir?” She smiled as she looked tentatively around the room. It was empty. That was perfect. She ran her hands along the spines of the books that were piled up on the window-sills. At the very back of the classroom closest to her desk she saw it. ‘First Year’. Below the large golden title the words gleamed and twinkled in the sunlight. Was it really going to happen? Finally, after years of waiting, watching. Was she really going to be a student at Hogwarts?

“What are you doing here?” Professor Gonelinne snarled at her as he entered the room from his office above the classroom,

“Sir, hi. Sorry. I ummm, well” She stuttered,

“Spit it out” he spat, coldly

“I was looking for a book”

“A book?”

“Yes sir, one on Astronomy”

“Well I wasn’t expecting you to be here for a divination textbook now was I”

“No of course not” She looked to the floor,

“Coming into a professor’s classroom without their presence is strictly forbidden. You will have to learn that before the start of term. Things may have been” He paused, “Lax for you and your sister but that is going to change”

“Yes sir, I’m sorry”

“Fine” He stated, “You may take the book”

“Really. Thank you” Her face lit up,

“Not so fast” A sly smile creeped into the side of his face, “You can bring me some notes on the first five chapters before the beginning of term”

“Yes Sir” Rowan left the classroom, making her way outside to her favorite spot.

Although she would never admit it to anyone, secretly she was excited. Not about the prospect of doing work, but this was her first ever homework on a magical subject. Besides, it gave her something to do in the upcoming days to the beginning of school. Honestly this summer has been one of the most boring periods of her life. Often Minerva would take the twins away, at least for a few weeks at the beginning of the holiday. And in the week before the term began they would normally stay with their grandparents and get to see their uncles and cousins so they were out of Minerva’s way. While they had no friends their age as most grew up and left Hogwarts, day trips out to Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley or even Muggle attractions were very normal.

But all that stopped this year. No one had told them why. No one had explained. Rowanne wondered if it had to do with the ‘war’ but what that was she had no clue. She had borrowed the newspaper almost everyday, trying to keep track of things but nothing really made sense.

She finally came across her tree. The sun shone from the side producing a perfect glare that wasn’t too bright or fully in shade, and a breeze encompassed the whole area, but in her shirt she certainly wasn’t cold.

She nestled herself in the roots of the tree, and looked around. Directly in front of her was a giant hole. She wondered why it was there. It certainly hadn’t been there before. She was lucky not to have been reading, or she might have fallen in. Who knows how deep it was.

However she shoved these thoughts to the back of her mind. Right now, all she wanted to do was read her book. An hour went past, Rowanne hadn’t looked up until she finished the first chapter. It was odd, Robin hadn’t been out to find her. Normally Rowanne would just settle down with a good book, and then from the shadows, Robin would leap out, terrifying her.

But today she hadn’t, much to Rowannne’s relief. She decided not to press it but enjoy the much needed break from the craziness.

“Ellow love” A voice called, Rowanne jumped. It could have been minutes, or even hours, who knew, “Ops, didn’t mean to spook you. Whacha reading?”

“Hi Hagrid, just a book Professor Gonelinne lent me”

“Ah, did ya bite his ‘and off for it?” He chuckled,

“I’d say he almost bit mine” Rownne retorted,

“I be’ ‘e did. I’m Off to ‘he hall for lunch. U com’in, you’ll be late otherwise”

“Oh god is that the time?” Rowanne looked around, panicked. She had barely finished chapter two and had made no notes at all. Gathering her belongings she scuttled along beside Hagrid, the two talking about the start of the term.

“I remember when, oh ya musta bin ‘bout five or six . You tried ta sneek in wi’ the new first years, took your motha till the last few ‘fore she realized,” Rownne chuckled, “I can’ say she was too impressed. Ya did it again at breakfast the next day. Sat wi’ the Gryfindors. I fink she pu’ a charm on your seat for the rest o’ tha ‘ear after she foun’ ya sitin at the back of her class havin done a ole day o’ lessons” Rowanne didn’t remember that, but it sounded more like something Robin would do.

“Hagrid?” Rowanne asked curiously, “You're the grounds keeper so you must know, what’s that giant hole for?”

“I errm, well, you see, the ‘hing is. I can’t tell you I’m afraid”

“Why not?”

“It’s a secret”

“Is something going to be put in it?”

“course”

“What?”

“Its a. No wai’ I can’ tell ya. Don’ go tirckin me into it” Hagrid sighed, “u’ll find out soon enough anyway”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry” Rwanne sighed, that was disappointing, “What about the war?”

“What” He looked at her shocked, “Rowanne, ya can’ be talkin ‘bout things like that. Ya safe at ‘ogwarts. Dumbledore ‘ll stop at nothin to protect the school. Besides, if The Order is right then if ‘ere’s one thing the Dark Lor’ is afraid of, it’s coming here”

“Why can’t we talk about it? What’s The Order’? Who is the Dark Lord? And why does the school need protecting?”

“I’ve ‘aid too much. Forget that, all o’ it. Look Rowanne, your mum, Dumbledore, they're doin everyfin they can. It’s ‘eally nothin for ya ta worry ‘bout alright”

Unfortunately they had reached the Great Hall, but Rownne couldn’t resist asking one more question, “What’s my mum doing?”

“I’m standing right behind you” Rowanne turned around to see McGonagall staring down at her, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere”

“Sorry” Rowanne looked back at Hagrid

“What are we talking about” McGonagall asked

“Nufin” Hagrid mumbled, scuttling off into the hall.

“Everything okay?” Minerva looked to her daughter for answers, guiding her into the hall.

“Of course” Rowanne mustered a smile, “Where’s Robin? I was half expecting her to jump out from behind the tree”

“Upstairs, she decided to stay in bed”

“Is she not coming down for lunch?”

“The house elves will bring her something don’t you worry”

The meal went much as the last one. It was awkward, silent. Rowanne had never seen the other professors unable to strike up a conversation. She wondered if it was because of her. They were definitely hiding something.

"Rowanne" she snapped of her thoughts. McGonagall Stood there, expectantly. The food on her plate had been eaten, she didn’t remember eating it though. “Did you hear anything I said?”

"Sorry, what were you saying?' She smiled politely, McGonagall sighed,

"I have a meeting with the other teachers at 1 and there's going to be something arriving at 3. I want you and Robin inside your room when that happens. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am" Rowanne shifted slightly, there was no way she would be able to keep Robin inside if she thought there was something interesting happening elsewhere. Though she wondered what it could be. Did it have to do with The Order, the war. Or maybe it was about the big hole that had appeared in the grounds.

"Good. In the meantime I've not told Madam Pince you would be down to help her catalog the books"

"Great, I'll go there now" Rowanne got up, excited to finally do something useful.

She hurried out of the hall, down the corridor towards the library. She and Madam Pince worked in silence for three hours, she wasn't much of a talker. It was now 2:45 Rowanne knew she would have to head upstairs soon.

The library was large and fiercely guarded by Madam Pince who had no sympathy for anyone but her books. Among the shelves knowledge leaked from every corner
just waiting to be discovered. The titles were ordered as meticulously as ever, neatly arranged for maximum productivity.

The silence was interrupted by McGonagall. She looked more stressed than ever. The rings under her eyes seemed to have darkened in the few hours since they had last seen each other.

"Would you go upstairs and find Robin please dear. The two of you will need to stay there for the time being" Rowanne nodded and obeyed, pulling herself up from the floor. She picked up her belongings from the table and walked to the edge of the library with her mother. Before parting, McGonagall placed a comforting hand on the back of Rowanne's head, ruffling the girl's hair gently.

Calmly Rowanne made her way to the faculty tower. They occupied half of the second floor. Right next to Professor Flitwick's smaller apartment. Things had been rearranged when the twins were born to allow them to have some sense or normality growing up in a school full of larger children. Not to mention magic, forbidden forests, secret passageways, dangerous potions and even more dangerous creatures.

Rowanne whispered the password into the handle and it turned on its own, allowing her to push it open. She walked through their open plan living room/kitchen to the room the twins shared on the other side.

Robin was the top bunk lying on her back, a snitch hovering centimeters above her. She got up the minute the door opened, bashing her head on the tiny gold ball.

"Don't close the-"" she said hurriedly but it was too late, Rowanne was in the room and the door closed. Robin flopped backwards and stared at the ceiling, defeated.

"What's got you in a huff? " Rowanne asked, walking over to her desk on the other side of the beds. She saw the untouched plate filled with sandwiches. It was unlike Robin to not eat.

"Mum cast a spell on the door. We can't get out"

"Well she did say we weren't supposed to leave" Rowanne placed the sandwiches at the end of the top bunk and pulled herself up.

"You don't understand, I've been in here all day. Where were you?"

"I was helping Madam Pince. What happened, you didn’t come and find me?" She offered a plate to Robin.

"We got into a fight" Robin turned away from the plate, refusing. "I'm not hungry"

"You missed breakfast, you're starving. Com’on, I won't tell mum"

Robin rolled her eyes, she took the plate.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Mum said if I wanted to sleep all day then she could transfigure me a snout and a tail and we would find me a patch of mud to live in"

"Let me guess, you said 'yes please?" Rowanne chuckled

"might have" Robin sighed, "she got mad and now I have to stay in here until she says
otherwise"

"Hence the fact we can't open the door?"

"Bingo!" Robin said with a sarcastic tone,

"why don't you just fly out of the window, that's what you normally do"

"she took my broom" They sat in silence for a few moments as Robin ate

"Well I might as well make the most of this." Rowanne made her way over to the neat desk and sat down, getting out parchment to begin her note taking.

“What are you doing?” Robin looked at her sister, appalled.

“Homework”

“Suck up”

“Slacker”

“Shut up”

“With pleasure” Rowanne focused back on her work. But she was interrupted again,

“At least remind me what it’s like to be outside these walls” Robin sighed dramatically,

“You’ve barely been in here a day. It's not like you're never getting out again” Rowanne sighed,

“Oh come on. You must’ve done something. As boring as you are even you can't have stood around like a melon for 5 hours”

“I went to get a textbook from Professor Gonelinne, went outside, read said textbook, went to lunch, helped catalog books in the library and now I'm here” Rowne stated matter-of-factly. If there was one thing she was looking forward to next year it was not having to entertain her sister while trying to study.

“You're kidding me. You actually managed to find something more boring than watching the statues of knights. That’s a new low, even for you”

“It wasn’t boring in the slightest. Now can you do me a favor and be quiet, in case you hadn’t noticed I’m a bit busy here”

“Doing what, cataloging spiders. I’m bored, let’s do something fun. Exploding snap? snitch snatcher? I’ll even play chess with you!”

“Rob, I need to focus”

“Ugh, why do we have to be inside anyway. I could be out playing quidditch or prank old Kettleburn”

“I think there’s something being planted in the grounds. They probably don’t want us getting in the way”

That got Robin’s attention. She sat up abruptly, “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure. I was reading at the usual spot but there was this giant hole in the ground. Rather dangerous actually, good thing I wasn’t reading. Woulda fallen straight in”

“We should go and have a look!”

“Absolutely not. We’re here for a reason, remember. Anyway, there’s no way of escaping. Unless your hiding an anti-locking spell up your sleeve”

“Ugh, fine”

Robin lay on her bed, she was beginning to get restless. How to escape, she thought to herself. If only they had another broom, then it would be easy. Hang on there were two of them. And two brooms! Robin smiled, her mischief strewn across her face.

"Hey Row" she sang sweetly.

"What is it Rob?" Rawanne sighed, eying her sister skeptically.

"wanna break outta here?" She had mischievous grin on her face

“I thought we went over this. We can’t get out of here”

“But what if we could”

“But we can’t”

“But what if we could”

“But we can’t”

“Just say we could”

“I’m busy Robin. I need to get this done”

“Oh leave your niffler list and come and have some fun with me”

“Later, just let me finish this chapter”

“You're such a spoilsport” Robin jumped down from her bed, pulling her sister away from her parchment.

“Alright, fine!” Rowanne stood up, “Your going to knock the ink over if your not careful”

“Geez, it’s not that deep. Let’s just go alright”

“Rob, there’s no point”

“Don’t you wanna find out what’s going on? What that hole is”

“I’m sure we’ll be told in time”

“But don’t you just wanna know”

“Of course I do. But we can’t”

“But what if we can”

“I’m not doing this again Rob”

"Fine! There are two of us right?”

“Last I checked”

“Therefore we have two brooms" Robin nodded excitedly "Where's yours?"

"under the bed I expect. haven't seen it in years"

She crawled around on the floor for a moment before emerging triumphantly.

They hurried over to the window and unlocked it. Robin stepped out with the broom, mounting it in mid air. Rowanne, a lot more cautious, slid onto the back of it. Clutching her sister for dear life. They flew down by now they were experts at joint flying. Dropping with ease, though Rowanne still wobbled as she stood up.

“Well, we should go and find them” Robin decared,

“Are you insane, can you imagine the look on mum’s face, how much trouble we’ll be in”

“That’s half the fun of it”

“No, definitely not. We don’t even know if that’s what they’re doing”

“Fine. We’ll check the castle first”

“Thank you” Rownne rolled her eyes and the twins set off on their hunt

Silently they searched the castle, it was eerily quiet, even for the summer. They walked around the first floor. No one was in the great hall, or library. They checked the dungeons, Slughorn was nowhere to be found.

“I told you they were outside” Robin hissed as they came out of the divination classroom, having to walk back down all those stairs,

“I think it was the other way around” Rowanne sighed, “There’s only on more place we should check, someone who would never leave, just incase something happened”

“We’re not checking the library again, I’m not spending another 10 minutes trying to convince you to drop the books you decide to take”

“I don’t mean there. I mean the hospital wing, it overlooks the hole. It’s the perfect place to check if they’re there without being seen”

“Why didn’t you say that to begin with!” Robin groaned, Rowanne shrugged,

They eventually made their way to the hospital wing. Rowanne spotted something. She shoved Robin behind one of the curtains. Stuck her head and back out to check what she had seen.

"they're all there?" The whispered, voice shaking.

"I told you?” Robin shot back before doing the same thing her sister had done.

Outside, standing over the large hole Rowanne had spotted earlier that day, every teacher in the entire school was outside and poised moving large tree into tree into position.

They kept watching as it was lowered onto the round and Dumbledore raised his wand. It was as though he breathed life into the tree, its old knackered branches dived into action so that several teachers had to jump back to avoid swinging branches.

Shocked, the twins stared at each other for a moment. They looked at eachother, that mischievous grin appearing on Robin's face again. They would have to investigate. But not now, their path was blocked by teachers who were coming back towards the school

Rowanne, realizing this first, grabbed her sister's wrist and began to run. The broom, which had been hidden in a cupboard, was blocked. Luckily Rowanne remembered something. She turned them in the opposite direction from the broom, towards their chambers.

"Where are you going, the broom's back there?” Robin asked, panting.

"What along with detention before we've even started school? Great idea Robs" she ran slower now, stamina running out.

"Well what else do you suggest?"

"I was able to get through the door"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Rowanne struggled to find the words. "It's a one sided charm!" She cried, "I read about them. I was able to open the door from the outside but you can't from the inside"

"You genius!" Robin yelled, "don't ever let me mock you for reading again!"

"I'm holding you to that"

They approached the door "tabby" they said together, urgency in their voice. pushing it open, hurriedly sprinted to their room. It opened 'thank God' Rowanne thought they collapsed on the bottom bed and died of laughter.

All was silent in the room when it was finally opened by m McGonagall. Both girls lay on
reading in their respective beds. Something wasn't right Robin would never pick up a book
voluntarily.

"Can we talk?" McGonagall asked the girls, "I had the house elves bring us some tea and cake"

Robin dropped the book but, looking down, Rowanne did the same but stared up at her sister, as though they could communicate through the mattress. Seemingly they
came to a decision as the discarded books were both girls joined their mother into the lounge.

It was a rectangular room, with the two bedrooms of the school coming from one side and the exit to the rest of the school on the other. Memorabilia was limited. Apart from two baby pictures and a family photo, nothing else pointed to the identity of the inhabitants.

They sat in a sunken area which housed a sofa, coffee table and fireplace. Behind it was a table with four chairs. And along the side wall stood an unused kitchen.

They sat on the sofa, McGonagall began to speak, "So girls, I just wanted to say thank you and I'm sorry. I know these weeks have been difficult and I appreciate your patience"

"That's alright mum. Is everything okay?" Rowanne asked as she took a slice of cake.

"Everything will be fine now dear. thank you"

"Does this mean I get my broom back?" Robin asked.

Rowanne slapped her face with her hand. 'Idiot', she thought. Her mother seemed to think the same as she snapped back,

"No, It certainly does not, but what we do need to do is go over the plans to get you to school"

"I thought we were getting stuff from here?" Rowanne asked confused,

"And we live at the school, do we really need a plan to get here?" Robin chimed in,

"I want you girls to have a well-rounded experience at school. Just because you've lived here doesn't mean you don't deserve to have to do everything the other students do. So I'll drop you at at Diagon Alley for you to go and collect your things on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I'll drop you at Kings Cross so you can get the train with the other students"

They nodded along with the instructions, Rowanne making a mental note of every step. Robin let it fly out of her brain, knowing her sister would have a handle on it.

"Are you not coming with us?" Rowanne asked, slightly disappointed.

"No. I don't think that's a good idea, there's likely to be a lot of students there. The less time we spend together in front of them the better. Wouldn't you agree"

"Definitely" Robin smiled, relieved.

"Anyway. Now that's sorted, how was your day?" McGonagall asked, "Did you see the tree?"

"It's so big!" Robin exclaimed instinctively. Rowenne sighed, she really was her own downfall. Robin realized what she'd done, back tracking, "I mean, they all are. We, we saw it. Out of the window."

“Well you're certainly not a Ravenclaw,'' McGonagall scowled at Robin. Her expression changed almost instantly. She stood up, towering over the two girls, “I told you to stay inside your room. Was that really too difficult to ask?” The girls said nothing, looking down at their feet. “When I tell you to do something it isn't out of malice, it is quite simply to protect you. That tree is dangerous, I don’t want either of you going near it. Or else you will face severe consequences." McGonagall shook her head, sighed and pressed the ridge of her nose, “Robin, go to bed. I still have something to discuss with your sister. We'll talk more about this in the morning"

Robin got up, looking anxiously at Rowanne who didn't meet her eyes. She walked out of the room and into her own, glancing back once more to see if she could work out what was going to happen. Rowanne was rarely in trouble, she wasn't as used to it as Robin was. It was her fault she knew that, and she knew Rowanne was angry, how angry was another question entirely.

Rowanne sat on the sofa, her left knee bounced up and down rapidly almost matching the pace of her breathing. She didn't dare look up. Her mother hadn't spoken but she could tell even from here that she was angry.

McGonagall sighed. She walked over to where the girl was sitting and sat down beside her. “I don’t know if you accidentally swallowed a forgetfulness potion or something, but I seem to remember that we had a conversation just this morning about you getting into trouble because of your sister”

“I’m sorry” Rowanne mumbled, her knee shaking even more, she struggled to breathe but held her composure. Seeing this, her mother placed a comforting hand on Rowanne’s bouncing knee and squeezed slightly.

“You're brave, and smart. I know you would do anything for your sister, but you have to put yourself first at times. If she is in danger or doing something she shouldn’t you can come to me”

“You mean snitch?” Rowanne looked up, terrified of her mother’s reaction to what had just tumbled out of her mouth.

She sighed, “I guess I do” McGonagall closed her eyes slightly, breathed in pursing her lips together and relaxed them once more,

“I can’t do that” Rowanne’s knee began to shake again,

“I know” McGoanagall wrapped her arm around the girl, who placed her head on the woman’s shoulder.

They sat there in silence for a while, before Rowanne finally spoke, “What are you thinking about?”

“What to do about your sister, there’s not enough time to ground her, and she doesn’t exactly have anything more I can confiscate”

“What about me?”

“Oh your meeting me at 6 o’clock on the quidditch field every day until the end of August”

“What, no. Please, mum anything but that!” Rowanne protested, sitting up. But it was shot down by Minerva,

“If you're going to use a broomstick to escape a locked room then you’d better learn how to use one properly.”

Rowanne sighed, she was out of luck. “You could come to Diagon Alley with us”

“Sorry?”

“Robin would hate it. I don’t really care. Besides we've hardly you this summer”

McGonagall smirked, you could see the resemblance between her and Robin.

"Why is that?" Rowanne asked nervously,

"Why is what dear?"

"Why haven't you been around all summer"

"I'm sorry. We just have a more complicated cohort this year"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing to worry yourself about"

"Is it because of the muggle resistance"

"What do you know about that?" McGonagall sat up abruptly

"Ummm, just that there are some people in the ministry who don't think Muggle borns shouldn't be allowed into school or something" she decided not to ask her about the war. That was something for another day.

"Well yes. But it's nothing to worry about" McGonagall reassured her, "You should go to bed, you have an early start tomorrow”

Rowanne nodded, rising from the sofa “And do me a favor Rowanne, don’t follow your sister in the future, I can’t imagine the consequences if you followed in her footsteps”

"Row?" Robin lay on the bed above, trying to get her sister's attention, "Row please. I'm sorry" Rowanne turned over on the bed, saying nothing. "Please just talk to me. I know, I'm sorry you got into trouble. But can we just talk about this?" Rowanne still didn't acknowledge her sister, "Okay this is just petty!" Robin jumped out of the bed to face Rowanne, who turned in the other direction. "You don't see me moping every time mum chews me out! You know what you need. Revenge! We can plan a prank or something, for the last day before school. It'll be wicked and we'll be gone when it happens!"

"Robin, stop it! I'm not doing anything. I'm keeping my head down until school starts. Now can you respectfully leave me the hell alone!" Rowanne yelled, slightly too loudly. Robin stepped back, offended.

The door opened and McGonagall stood there staring at the two. "What's going on here?" She asked sharply,

"Nothing mum" they mumbled in unison as Robin clambered back into the bed. McGonagall left, closing the door behind her. The two girls plummeted into darkness.