Pranking hearts

Rhea was in her dorm. Looking around the cosy red and yellow room. The dark red curtains falling around her four-story bed were lightly brushing against the ground. The pillow that she slept on earlier was now perfectly placed on top of the bright red cover. Her eyes slowly scanned around the room. Taking in details and examining if she hasn't forgotten anything. She checked the small bedside table that was placed next to her bed. She was sure she left her hairbrush there but the table appeared empty now. None of her usual stuff was there anymore. Stress started rising in her head. Filling it with thoughts of foolishly forgetting something in here.

The doors to her dorm opened and in strolled two girls that she shared her dorm with. Angelina rolled her eyes seeing her friend standing in the middle of the room. In the same state as they have left her here earlier. She walked over to the slightly shorter girl, slapping her shoulder.

"You nutter didn't move an inch!" Angelina stated, shaking with Rhea who shrieked, startled by the sudden action. Alicia just laughed at the behaviour of her two friends. Shaking her head as she walked over to her bed to collect her backpack.

"Angie, stop," Rhea laughed. Now Angelina was just jokingly moving her back and forth. Both girls laughing like crazy.

"Seriously you two, cut it out. We need to go or the train will leave without us." Alicia called over her shoulder, zipping up her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder.  Angelina and Rhea were still standing in their spot. Staring at Alicia's back before sharing a look with each other. Angelina held Rhea around her shoulders almost hanging over the younger girl's body. It was a miracle how they haven't yet fallen to the ground.

"I don't see a problem there, honestly..." Rhea shrugged, Angelina nodding in agreement while continuing to hang onto Rhea.

"Oh really? I always knew you two were after Filch, I just didn't know you would want to waste your whole summer on him. But I guess whatever suits you. I am sure two months with him and his smelly cat are gonna be a pleasure." Alicia said sarcastically, walking past the girls, purposefully bumping into them causing the two to stumble to the ground landing on each other. Rhea on the ground with Angelina on top of her.

Rhea and Angelina let the information sink in. The realisation hitting them hard like a Hogwarts Express at a full speed. They scrambled to their feet. Both racing towards their backpacks. Rhea's was thrown in the corner of the room, she almost hit her head against the wall when grabbing onto it. Angelina jumped over her bed, landing next to the big dresser all three of them shared. She dug in there, her backpack lying there at the bottom of it with a few abandoned pieces of clothing the girls decided to leave behind.

Alicia watched them race around the room in amusement as they kept on collecting their belongings. In the rush, Rhea wore the backpack the other way around and Angelina forgot that her's wasn't zipped up causing her to dump all of her things on the ground. Alicia just watched her two friends and dormmates scuttle around hurriedly. Overthinking whether she should laugh at the pair of them or help them collect their belongings. Wondering how she could have chosen these two as her friends over all the other normal wizards and witches this school had to offer.

Then she took a look at how the two were laughing and she just couldn't hold herself any longer. She joined in with the laughing. And walked over to help the two collect their things so they could leave the amazing school for their summer break.

***

"So, what took you girls so long?" Fred asked once the three girls made their appearance in their compartment. Angelina, Alicia and Rhea almost didn't get on the train on time. Due to their hold up back in their dorm. But they managed, after some scolding from McGonagall to get a move on.

"Yeah, the train almost departed without you slowpokes," George pointed out with a laugh, getting hit by Alicia's backpack, which the girl intended to do. Fred rather moved out of the way when he noticed Rhea pulling down her backpack next to him. Rhea gave him a weird look shaking her head while attempting to put her backpack up in the luggage space.

"These two were having a sentimental moment in our dorm, and then one of them managed to dump the content of her backpack on the ground," Alicia said pointing towards Angelina getting Lee and George to laugh and tease the poor girl who sat down next to Lee. Leaving the boy sitting in between Angelina and Alicia while George and Fred had a place between them free for Rhea. "And that one over there doesn't even know how to wear her bag, like a literal five-year-old I'm telling you."

While everyone kept laughing and joking, Fred watched Rhea. The blond was standing on her tiptoes trying to reach the space where she could place her backpack. But was too short to reach. At first, he was quite amused, wanting to make a joke of some sort about how short the Black girl was. But then the train started moving, unexpected by Rhea, influencing her balance. She jerked back about to fall when Fred reached forward catching Rhea just before she could hit the ground. One of his hands rested on the small of her back while the other was placed in between her shoulder blades to steady her fully.

The laughter seemed to cease around them as Fred stared at the surprised eyes of his best friend. Her pale green eyes froze him for a brief moment as he just stared at her. No thoughts whatsoever ran through his mind. Everything was completely blank. It was just her and her body weight, that he could compare to next to nothing, which rested in his arms.

Rhea had her eyes wide in fear and surprise. Unlike Fred's mind, her's was racing with thoughts and emotions. She could have hit the ground, injuring herself quite terribly if she would have landed wrongly. But Fred saved her. Of course, Rhea believed Fred and George with her life, but she would have never imagined either one would save her like this. And now she was here, in his arms saved from quite a nasty fall. Looking into his dark brown eyes left her breathless for a mere second.

The others in the compartment of course didn't fail to notice what was happening just in front of them. Angelina and George shared a look as they were sitting opposite each other. Both of them grew sly smirks on their faces, but not laughing as to not ruin the moment just yet. Lee was confusedly looking at the two of his friends that didn't yet move from their fatal position. He was lost in the situation, not comprehending the strange trance the two seemed to be in.

Alicia who wasn't quite sure whether she should cheer for the two or be a tease rather remained silent. Just watching and waiting for either one of them to move. But that didn't seem to be likely to happen without some help.

"Uh, you two plan on standing there the whole way home? Not that I am complaining, frankly I don't even understand what you are doing, but if so could you at least move a bit to the side so the rest of us could talk?" Lee asked raising an eyebrow and Fred and Rhea were quick to get out of their trances. However, Fred was the first one to wake up, his hands leaving Rhea letting the girl land on the ground with a thud.

Everyone watched in amusement as Fred fell back into his seat while Rhea landed on the ground next to their feet. Angelina was the first one to help the younger blonde to stand up, as she was the first one to get over the laughing fit aside from Fred who was blushing profoundly because of the previous events.

"Are you okay?" Angelina asked, helping Rhea to her feet, seeing the girl rub the back of her head which she had hit on the ground. Rhea shook her head, hiding the faint pinkish tint that her cheeks gained as she just looked around at her friends seeing them laughing and smiling. A grin reached her face, forcing the initial embarrassment to the far back of her mind.

"Yes, totally fine. Just didn't exactly expect to be dropped like that." She joked lightly nudging Fred's foot with her own. Sitting down in between the two gingers. Fred also got out of her sheepish state thanks to her laugh, shooting her an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just got startled I guess." He said. "If anything it was Lee's fault," Fred concluded pointing towards the dark-skinned boy who held up his hands in surrender. 

"Hey! You two were blocking the whole compartment, sorry to point that out," Lee defended sending the group into fits of laughter. This light and cheery atmosphere survived the rest of their way home.

***

The Hogwarts Express stopped at the King's Cross station on Platform 9 and 3/4. The brakes of the old train squeaked slightly while stopping by the crowd of parents and younger siblings that were waiting here to collect their kids who just now arrived from school for the summer holidays. Rhea looked out of the window, having to lean her whole body over Fred who was sitting right next to it.

"Rhea, what are you doing?" Fred laughed watching the girl lean herself over him, hindering him from standing up and exiting the train. The blonde was searching for her godfather who was supposed to come and pick her up. But her eyes couldn't seem to find him in the crowd of too many people.

"I am searching for my uncle. He was supposed to be here," Rhea said sadly, pushing herself away from Fred and frowning slightly. The taller boy looked her over before standing up and reaching for his and her backpack that he put up there at the beginning of their journey home. He handed Rhea her washed-out black rucksack.

"I am certain he is here. There are just too many people out there for you to see." Fred said gently, not wanting his friend to be so nervous about it.

"Yeah, and if worse comes to worst, we can take you home with us! I'm sure mum won't mind one more kid around," George laughed with a shrug. Both he and Fred knowing their mum likes Rhea already like her own so it would be no problem having her over. She was practically a part of the family ever since she stepped foot inside the Burrow over the Christmas break.

"Thanks for the offer," Rhea smiled, securing the bag on her back as the three of them exited the compartment, Angelina, Alicia and Lee had already raced out, desperate to see their parents and siblings after a long time. "But I guess, I'd prefer to finally see my uncle," Rhea confessed softly. She hasn't seen her uncle ever since the start of the term and that was so far the longest she could remember being apart from him.

The twins understood. Learning over the year how close bond Rhea has with her uncle. Concluding it was because he was the only one she has left. Their family even if they had enough members were always glad to add any new members, which were usually some good friends of the kids. Their mum was a very loving person, but it seemed that from all the kids that she had harboured in their house, she liked Rhea the most.

And if the twins could be honest, they weren't surprised. Jokingly saying that it was because they had the best taste of all of their siblings. But they knew they were lucky to have Rhea. She had such an easy-going personality, she could be nice and on the other hand, could compete with them with pranks. She was like an angel sent from heaven to them. And they couldn't ask for better. Already knowing that with her their years at Hogwarts will be a breeze.

The three best friends stepped off the train. The moment Rhea's feet met with the pavement of the platform she felt pressure around her waist, preventing her from breathing correctly. Rhea glanced down to inspect the source of her nearly suffocating only to notice a little ginger-haired girl hugging her tightly. Rhea smiled widely, seeing Ginny hugging her. She had missed the younger girl so much. The two grew close over the Christmas break and Rhea now saw Ginny as her little sister while Ginny saw Rhea as her big sister.

The little ginger was in desperate need of another girl since her whole life she has been surrounded by boys. Luckily for her Rhea was nice and kind to her, causing the two to become friends right away. Before Rhea came to the Burrow Ginny had Fred and George as her own personal heroes. Loving their pranks and witty remarks. They were the best option among Percy and Ron. Since Bill was already out of the house and Charlie was maybe amazing, but since he had planned on working in Bulgaria Ginny was sure she wouldn't see him as often anymore which left her looking up to Fred and George as they seemed like the safest option for her, with them only being three years older they wouldn't disappear from her life quite as quickly as her two oldest brothers.

That's why Ginny didn't like Rhea at first, thinking she would take her big brothers from her. She didn't like the way Fred and George always talked about her in letters and how they all just kept laughing together when they first arrived at the Burrow. But then Rhea did something that stunned Ginny. She asked her to help her prank, Fred and George. From that moment Rhea has gained some new type of respect in Ginny's eyes and as a girl, she gained some plus points over Fred and George. Now Ginny was proud to say that she looked up to one and only Rhea Black and wanted to be like her. Of course, Rhea wasn't aware of this proclamation that Ginny has made in front of Ron and her mum and dad when they went to see the others, kids, off to school at the end of the Christmas break.

Both twins shared a look, surprised as to why their sister wasn't all over them by now but was rather hugging Rhea. Fred frowned slightly while George tilted his head in confusion.

"Hello, we are your brothers..." Fred started.

"Don't we deserve some love too?" George finished the sentence. Ginny looked up from hugging Rhea, her eyes travelling towards her brothers, who held their arms out expecting a hug from their little sister. Ginny just shrugged her shoulders dismissingly.

"Get in the line." She said hugging Rhea a bit tighter, causing the blonde to laugh. Mainly because of the shocked expressions the two Weasley boys were wearing. It took a few minutes to detach Ginny from Rhea. A lot of force from the twins was used. No one was sure if they were jealous of their sister or their best friend and the moment.

Once the twins successfully got Ginny to separate from Rhea Mrs Weasley appeared crushing all three of them in a hug. Saying how happy she was to see them. After the nice welcoming Rhea felt a bit as if she was invading a family moment and so she decided to depart from the ginger-haired family unnoticed. She slipped around the people that were flooding the platform. Everyone is extremely happy to see their child, parent or sibling after such a long departure.

The happy family moments she witnessed sending a pang of jealousy inside Rhea's heart. Jealousy that she didn't have anything like that. Her pale green eyes caught on her friend Angelina who was hugging her mum. The two look so much alike. The happiness radiating from them. The look Angelina was sending her mum's way. Rhea felt envious. She never had that chance. Never had to chance to share a look like that with someone. She didn't even know properly who her mother was. Never saw her picture, she just knew how everyone kept saying how she looked so much like her. At least that was something she could relate to.

When it came to her father, she at least remembers a vague image of how he looked like. Her theories of his appearance were weakly supported by the old pictures that her uncle showed her on rare occasions. That was all. The personality of her father with the looks of her mother was the only thing she had of her parents. And it made her wonder why it was like that. Why was it her that had to grow up without parents while all her friends had great families? She gets that her mother had not much of a choice when leaving her, being informed that her mother was killed when Rhea was too young to comprehend anything.

But what Rhea didn't understand was why her father left her. She remembers that day he walked out of the house of her uncle. Giving her one last short glance before disappearing out of her life. Never got it explained. As a child, she would wait for him in front of the door. Waiting there several hours every day, just watching the door if they would reveal her father behind them. But it never happened. Even asking Remus a few times when would her father be coming back. Never received an answer to her question, at least not a clear one. And after a few failed attempts she stopped trying altogether.

"Rhea," A voice from the crow brought her out of the mopping mood. Lifting her head only to see her uncle standing a bit further away, waiting for her. A signature kind smile plastered on his tired face. A few new scratches and bruised were covering his skin, after the last full moon. Eyes glimmering with happiness she raced over to her uncle, capturing him in a tight hug. Causing the man to chuckle.

"I missed you so much." She muttered, her face burying in the fabric of his shirt. A few lone tears escaped her eyes, due to happiness and a bit of sadness that she was feeling inside. Remus brought his arms around her, crouching down a bit to hug her better.

"I missed you too. It has been awfully quiet back home without you." The two kept hugging for a bit of time before deciding to finally go home. Rhea told Remus all of her stories from Hogwarts, while the man listened to her with a proud smile.