Pranking hearts

"Oh come on Rhea, tell us what flavour it is finally." Angelina groaned, throwing herself on the couch of the common room next to Katie. The four of them, Angelina, Katie, Alicia and Lee were trying to figure out the flavour of Rhea's new chapstick that she got for Christmas from her uncle. The blonde promised to buy butterbeer to anyone who guesses it right so everyone was now trying their best to guess the flavour of the chapstick that Rhea had on her lips. The tube with it was safely hidden in her pocket just in case.

"Yeah, we've been at this for about an hour already," Katie let her head fall on Angelina's shoulder. Feeling tired just from guessing the flavour of some chapstick. The others were here because they were supposed to meet before a training session, their last before the match. But Lee and Katie just didn't want to be alone in their dorms and they were tired of just being with each other.

Rhea was leaning against the wall, enjoying the struggle of her friends. Alicia was sitting on the ground crossing out every possible option on the table while Lee was daydreaming about how much butterbeer he'll have Rhea buy him if he guesses the right flavour. But to be honest he was furthest from it out of all of them. It was a miracle how they managed to occupy themselves with something that simple.

"Exactly, I'm quite surprised you haven't guessed it yet." Rhea snickered shaking her head. Ginny that was sitting by the fireplace doing her homework turned over to Rhea with a smirk. The ginger knew about what kind of chapstick it was, Rhea had already shown her when they were spending their day together since Rhea was forbidden to visit Hogsmeade last term because of the fight that occurred one night in Great Hall.

Alicia lifted her head to glare at Lee who was lying upside down in the armchair opposite her. His dreadlocks swept against the ground. He was humming under his breath something incoherent, causing Alicia to frown in annoyance.

"To be frank, some of us aren't helping at all." She sassed staring daggers at the dark-skinned boy with dreadlocks. Lee opened his eyes when he felt her piercing stare at him.

"What? I tried." The guy with dreadlocks defended himself. A slightly offended look set on his face. Alicia and Lee have been fighting these past few days. For no apparent reason. They just kept getting on each other's nerves.

"Bacon or pickles aren't chapstick flavours dimwit," The dark-haired girl snapped. Rolling her eyes at the boy. No one knew what the issue between them was but they were quite nasty towards one another.

"And how am I supposed to know? Did you ever see me wear chapstick Alicia?!" Lee even went as far as sitting up in the armchair so his intense glare at the girl would reach its purpose.

"Calm down you two." Katie sighed, rolling her eyes at the bickering duo. The straight line between the two could have been burned by their intense stares.

"Strawberry!" Angelina yelled triumphantly shooting up from her seat, causing Katie to hit her head against Angelina's shoulder. Katie hissed while Rhea shook her head. Amused by the situation. It was better than thinking about the intense situation around her which regarded her father.

"Angie, you already guessed that...three times." Angelina frowned sitting back on the couch in defeat.

"I just really want it to be strawberry," Angelina muttered. She has been obsessed with strawberries these past few weeks. Ever since they had that strawberry cake at the feast last month. She just can't get the red fruit out of her head. Even the new headband Rhea made for her had tiny strawberries on it. That's how much she loves it. Weird thing is that until now she had a deep hatred towards strawberries. Tastes truly do change.

"Well too bad it isn't, at least I know what to get you for your birthday next year," Rhea said shaking her head. Making a mental note to buy Angelina a strawberry-flavoured one for her birthday next October. "Any other guesses?" Rhea asked, getting comfortable in her position against the wall. She was expecting some more ridiculous guesses from her friends. While the flavour of her chapstick was quite basic it was astounding that they haven't tried it out yet.

"Coconut?" Katie suggested, rubbing the bottom of her chin which she had hit against Angelina's shoulder earlier. The disgusted look that Rhea gave her made Ginny chuckle. The younger ginger has been watching the five of them ever since they came to the common room. Might have been because she likes Rhea and was intrigued about where this will lead to, or because her homework was boring, or the group was so loud that it was impossible not to listen to them. Luckily the common room seemed to be mostly empty.

"Ew, Kate, I hate coconut." Rhea shuddered in disgust just at the mention of the tropical nut. It is interesting how she hates everything that was even remotely close to coconut...even the smell of the coconut shampoo Alicia had in their second year. Katie just shrugged at the overreaction of her friend. A faint smile on her lips. Rhea was so dramatic sometimes and it was so funny.

"I had to try." She muttered continuing to tend to her bruised jaw.

"Turkey." Came the enthusiastic answer from Lee who almost fell from the armchair.

"Bloody hell, Lee!" Alicia yelled, throwing her quill at Lee, and hitting him in the head. The black ink splashed against his forehead.

"Alicia you dung brain, look what you did!" Lee shrieked, reaching for the handkerchief that Angelina was handing him to wipe off the atrament from his face.

"What did you call me?!" The two looked like they would fight really soon.

"Oi, kids, don't jump at each other," Fred called from the portrait hole when he and George finally walked inside the common room.

"Yeah what's with all the ruckus here? Why are we murdering each other?" George asked walking further inside the room. Both twins almost choking on their laughter when they noticed the atrament splattered across his face.

"Looking dashing Mr Jordan. What's the occasion?" Fred snickered causing Lee to roll his eyes while Angelina helped him wipe the ink off of his face. It might be needing a shower though.

"Is no one going to stop and think about what he just called me? That was insulting." Alicia whined, arms crossing over her chest. She looked over at Katie since the girl with light brown hair was usually on her side of the things every time. But this time Katie just shook her head at her.

"You threw a quill at him and got ink all over his face. Trust me, he was holding back on the curse words." Alicia frowned at the answer from her supposedly best friend.

"What was happening here anyway? We could hear you yelling random fruits and foods from the stairs." George said when he walked over to the couch getting ready to sit down. Fred walked behind the couch, putting his hands on the backrest to lean on it.

"We are guessing the flavour of Rhea's chapstick," Angelina said moving a bit to the side to let George sit down. Otherwise, he would sit on her. The Weasley twins were not arguing about where to sit. They simply sit. Something you bring with you from a big family like theirs is that you have to fight for your place otherwise you sit on the floor. And they apply this rule with their friends as well. "She promised to treat whoever wins at Three Broomsticks," Angelina said, freeing the bits of her skirt from underneath George.

"Oi, I just promised Butterbeer to whoever guesses it right." Rhea corrected only to get dismissed by the wave of Angelina's hand.

"I'm playing too. My guess is on either chocolate or mint since she loves both of those." George said, raising his hand in the air. Tilting his head to the side to wink at Rhea. The girl just shook her head with a smile telling the younger of the ginger twins that both his guesses were wrong. George frowned turning away to think some more. He leaned over to glance at the table where Alicia was writing down all the options they had used already, once she retrieved her quill from Lee.

"Hm," Fred hummed, deep in thought, looking over at Rhea. Focusing on the pale red tint that her lips now had. The smell was too faint to capture from such a distance. A genius idea came to life in his head as he pushed himself from the couch and aimed his steps towards Rhea. The short girl looked at him weirdly, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Fred was now mere inches from her. His body captured her against the wall behind her. One of his hands rested next to her head while the other all of a sudden found its place on the side of Rhea's face.

"Fred what are you..." Before she could finish the sentence she felt the pressure on her lips. The action took her by surprise, a startled gasp leaving her lips as Fred pressed his own against hers. The room suddenly fell silent. Fireworks erupt inside Rhea as her eyes fluttered shut at a lightning speed. The unexpected taste of caramel reached her senses. It was magic like no other. Her heart was beating like she was playing Quidditch for senseless hours but at the same time, her body was relaxed as if she were in a deep slumber. And that is exactly how she felt like this was all just a dream. A very realistic dream but a dream nevertheless. It felt like hours of their lips being connected but in fact, it was just a few short seconds before Fred broke the kiss by pulling away. Running his tongue over his lips before smirking.

"It's cherry flavoured, pretty basic. Though I have to say still pretty good." He stated casually. Standing up straight and looked down at Rhea who was still flabbergasted by what has just happened. "You owe me a Butterbeer then princess." Fred winked triumphantly with a smirk stuck to his stupidly handsome face.

No one seemed to be bothered by what had happened. The other members of the group not taking it seriously because Fred and Rhea always act strange with each other so Alicia, Lee and Angelina just rolled with it and saw it as nothing more but friendly teasing. They were more irritated by the fact that they didn't win the free Butterbeer. But Katie and the other two Weasleys in the room seemed to be more perceiving. They noticed the faint blush on Rhea's face when Fred pulled away from her, as well as the fact that she was avoiding eye contact with everyone. Ginny even took notice of the way the blond kept anxiously playing with the sleeve of the sweater that she was wearing which had a large yellow letter F on it. It was so obvious.

Ginny went to speak with Rhea about it. Too excited to just wait for the right time to come. She needed to know if her assumptions were right. But before she made it to Rhea there was a yell coming from upstairs that made them all stop talking. The next thing they knew Hermione came storming towards the girl's dormitories, holding her big ginger cat in her arms. Rhea shuddered at the sight of the cat. She liked Crookshanks personally, but cats, in general, were just a big no in her book.

Ron and Harry came down minutes later. Ron looking entirely heartbroken. He confessed that Scabbers was gone. His suspicion was that Crookshanks had eaten his beloved rat. Though Rhea thought it was believable but she was sure she had seen Scabbers just minutes ago running out of the common room. But really that could have been just any ordinary rat.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Fred bracingly. "And he's been off-colour for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly, one swallow, he probably didn't feel a thing." Fred said, not minding the way his words were affecting his younger brother who was obviously missing his pet. Even if Ron used to curse the old shoe brush on daily basis it was something that he had in position and in a family as big as theirs it is quite hard to have something just for yourself. Fred and George could talk about that for ages. They don't even have their own birthday.

"Fred!" Ginny scolded her older brother seeing how his speech affected Ron who just buried his head in the palms of his hands.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself," George said coming closer to put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder in a calming manner.

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said miserably. Lifting his head to look over at Harry who stood by the side "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," Harry nodded.

"His finest hour," Fred muttered, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory." Ron just shook his head, still mourning his pet rat. "Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?" Fred dismissed walking over to Rhea because he was getting fed up with his brother's moaning about some rat.

"You could be a bit more sensitive," Rhea whispered to him when he stopped by her side. Fred looked down at her shaking his head with a lopsided grin.

"Princess, you act as if you don't know me." Fred snickered. "It's just a rat anyway. What's the deal?"

"Insensitive prick," Rhea muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, but you still love me," Fred whispered to her. Just then Oliver came, ordering all of them to get moving so they can train finally.

It was so huge the whole house was packed in the common room. Even the first years were there because the music and chatters were so loud that they wouldn't be able to sleep. Even Percy the Head Boy was there, enjoying the party at his house. Which was a first. Maybe for his last year, he wanted to partake in some out-of-class activities. It honestly looked like he was having fun. He even bet for the game with Penelope winning ten galleons once Harry caught the golden snitch. The only one who wasn't celebrating was Hermione, the girl was far too caught up in her studies and later on, she fought with Ron and took her book upstairs to her dorm.

The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. But the girls from one particular dormitory were far from falling asleep. All four of them may be in their pyjamas but not tired one bit. Today was a big day for them. They did it. They won the match and they have never been so close to winning the Quidditch Cup as they were now. It was just at the reach of hand.

From the excitement, they couldn't sleep it was such a huge dose of adrenaline that was flooding through their veins. It felt like they wouldn't even fall asleep that day. They kept on talking and laughing just passing the time before the morning would come or before the sleepiness would drown them down. Alicia looked about ready to fall asleep after Angelina rudely insulted her taste in men. It was no secret Alicia wasn't really picking between boys, she lived by the motto the more the merrier. That didn't sit well with Angelina however and it often caused arguments between the two girls.

It was quiet for a while after the disagreement between the two girls. They decided to call it a night and try to fall asleep. But it appeared impossible. Rhea was just lying in her bed. Thinking about random nonsense that was making her brain go fuzzy. Everyone can guess what she was thinking about. That was until there was an ear-piercing scream, shaking the whole tower.

Rhea shot up in her bed straight as an arrow. Looking around bewildered. Her hand quickly reached for her wand and used Lumos to light up the room. The other girls were also sitting up. All startled and confused. Angelina was even a bit pissed. She was almost at the point where she would fall asleep before the loud cry woke her up.

"Bloody hell what is going on?" Katie muttered. They heard people outside on the corridor rushing towards the direction of the common room. The girls all looked at one another but no one made the first move until Rhea sighed.

"Seems like I'm going to investigate." She offered, standing up from the bed and walking towards the door. The other three girls stayed in their beds. Already too sleepy to stand up. Alicia was actually already falling asleep again. Rhea walked quietly towards the common room. Pushing past the curious students. Until she spotted Fred and George standing on the stairs to the common room. She stopped by them to watch the show unfold. Percy was just yelling something at Ron and the other four boys that shared the dorm with him. All of them looked out of breath and very terrified.

Professor McGonagall came back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around. She didn't look at all happy to see the group of Gryffindors still lounging around the common area at this atrocious hour. Rhea leaned her head against Fred to enjoy the show properly. At least she hoped to find out what was the ruckus about.

"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" Percy said, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare..."

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" Ron shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. Everyone's head turned in that direction. "Ask him if he saw..." Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" The question was heard clearly. McGonagall was making sure that the people in the common room could hear her.

"Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan loudly. That portrait just didn't know how to speak quietly. There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room. Sirius Black had really stepped foot in the common room. And he got as far as getting into one of the dorms. And not just any dorm but the dorm where Harry was. Even if Rhea wasn't sure that her father wanted to kill Harry but still what was he doing there? And with a knife?

"You...you did?" stammered Professor McGonagall. "But-but the password!" This felt like a bad dream.

"He had 'em!" stated Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!" Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk. No one could blame her. There was a prisoner from Azkaban lurking around the castle with a knife and he almost killed one of the students whilst they were asleep. That was something worth worrying about.

"Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?" There was utter silence, no one wanting to give the already upset teacher any reason to yell at them though it was broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air. Rhea sighed, watching the boy fearfully glance at the Professor. That was just wonderful.

No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Rhea had to go upstairs to collect the other three girls. Fred and George wanted to accompany her just in case Black somehow got towards the girls' dormitories, but they weren't able to pass the stairs that turned into a slide once they stepped a foot on it. Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell them that he had again escaped.