Pranking hearts

Heartbreak of a Hogwarts Champion

Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff student and one of the Champions representing Hogwarts. This school heartthrob is going through a rough time now. Not only is he competing in a life-threatening tournament but the love of his life and his beloved girlfriend Rhea Black has broken up with him. Sources say that Rhea was initially the reason for Cedric joining the tournament, was this information proven true how will Cedric cope when facing the last and most dangerous task without the support or motivation of his dear girlfriend?

The reasons for Rhea's violent actions toward Hogwarts' pretty boy have not been discovered yet. Though it could be believed that she just grew tired of him, following in the footsteps of her father, (Sirius Black) a murderer on the run since last year, since he used to break hearts in his Hogwarts years. We can believe that now the new Black heartbreaker is set on destroying the heart of another poor student.

Rhea stared at the Newspaper in front of her. She wasn't yet sure how she should react. Maybe be angry or hurt by the words in the text. But in the end, all of this was such nonsense that she felt like laughing. And at the same time, it was so embarrassing. Angelina had informed her about the article in the papers that morning when they were getting ready to prepare the gifts for the twins' birthday party that was to take place on Saturday that week. Ange was staring at her, waiting for some reaction.

"I have no words," Rhea muttered.

"I know, it is outrageous. How would she even know about your father? And who gives her the right to use that against you? Also, you and Diggory were never officially girlfriend and boyfriend you just went on two dates and they were like a year apart. I see no sense with this woman." Angelina covers the angry part of Rhea's feelings. All she could do now was look at the bright side of things. Her face was in the Daily Prophet...and she looked great.

"I believe this is not an article for a serious newspaper," Katie stated with a bored tone. Rolling her eyes and took a bite from her toast. Since they were discussing this ridiculous paper in the Great Hall during breakfast.

"Who had ever said that Daily Prophet is serious? It's been writing nothing by bluffs since I can remember." Lee laughed, stuffing his face with a sausage.

"Let it be, at least my picture is decent there." Rhea snickered, sipping on her juice.

"Should be pulling out a quill for autographs then Re." Fred teased but he received no answer from the girl, she just continued drinking her juice. Fred sighed, a small huff leaving him when he saw two boys from Slytherin coming over.

He watched them carefully as they snickered while approaching the group of friends. Their eyes seemed to be fixed on Rhea the whole time. Some vile intentions playing behind their eyes. Fred already knew that he didn't like it. And it wasn't just because they were from Slytherin.

"Hello, beautiful." One of them said, his heavy hand landing on the table next to Rhea as he leaned closer to the girl. Now that Rhea acknowledged their presence she jumped a bit in her seat, scooting away from the two guys that she never had a real conversation with. "Now, now sweets, we were just hoping for a wee conversation with ya lassie."

"I'm not interested," Rhea stated bluntly. Turning her head away from the two in disgust. A large hand grabbing her shoulder startled her.

"What's the matter, darling? Too good for us are you? Never knew school sluts like you had any standards." One of the guys said mockingly, forcing Rhea to look at them by grabbing her face. The action got the attention of everyone around the table but no one reacted quite as quickly as a certain ginger.

"Let her go you bastard," Fred grumbled, pulling one of the Slytherins away by his robes quite harshly, making the boy stumble.

"Got a problem mate?"

"Yes, quite a big one. You two are bothering my friend. You should stop before I pummel your sorry faces." Fred said with an uncommonly low voice. George's eyes widened at the tone. He hurriedly yanked on Lee's sleeve forcing his friend to get up with him. They needed to be ready just in case a fight broke out at their table. It was more than probable from the looks of it.

If anyone knew how incredibly bad-tempered Fred was it would be George. They were twins and even though they hate to admit it they really know everything about each other even the smallest of details. So George knew, from the moment he saw Fred's eyes glare at the two Slytherins he knew that they wouldn't be leaving Great Hall on their own two feet. Not unless he will be able to contain his brother.

Of course, he was pissed as well. They were harassing Rhea, after all, his best friend. Had he had a chance he would punch them as well. Although in his case they would still have a slight chance of surviving. Whereas with Fred, no one could be sure now.

"Fred," George warned from across the table, sending a look to his brother. Telling him to calm down. Reluctantly Fred eased his fists which were slowly turning white from the pressure.

"Ah come on mate, there's plenty of her to go around." The one that was standing closer to Rhea answered, grabbing one of the strands of her silky hair.

"Yeah, just gotta wait for your turn." That did it for the ginger. The Slytherin with greasy dark hair that was grabbing at Rhea before was now held up above the ground by the collar of his shirt. Fred had a such strong hold of him it was almost choking him. The people around gasped, and hushed whispers filled the place. Everyone was ready to see what would happen next. It was not every day there was a fight in the Great Hall. If both the twins weren't preoccupied in some way right now this would be a great opportunity to collect bets.

Where were the teachers now, George wondered. Usually, there were at least two of them here when the hall was full of students. But today, when he needed them they seemed to have taken a break from their duties. The Slytherin boy was losing all the natural colour in his face and gaining a new sickly blue one. The other Slytherin took a fearful step back. Getting out of the reach of the pissed Weasley brother. While Rhea watched, with eyes full of surprise and fear. It was all too quick for her to fully comprehend what even was happening.

"Fred, lay off please," Angelina said to him sternly but still added the gentle please when seeing the cloudiness of Fred's eyes. It didn't really help. If anything it made Fred grip him tighter.

"Fred, I really don't fancy visiting you in Azkaban once you kill that idiot. It's not worth it." Lee called, already sliding under the table to reach the older twin, while George stepped over the table instead, landing on the bench where his brother used to sit before.

"Forget him getting into Azkaban. We look exactly the same what if they mistake me for him by chance? This bloke might ruin my life because of some slimy git. I wouldn't do well in jail." George fussed. Trying to defuse the tension by joking. Hoping it might get Fred to relax. But it did not work exactly as planned.

"Please. Let him go, Freddie." A gentle voice spoke. Rhea finally found herself in the situation. Realising that the lack of the Slytherin boy's kicking meant something was wrong. "Just, stop it, okay? This is just gonna get us into trouble." Students of Hogwarts had seen magic before, but not like this. It was as if the daughter of Sirius Black had used an incantation of some kind on the ginger. He slowly lowered the almost unconscious boy to the ground. Pushing him away as soon as he could stand on his own.

It was most probable the Slytherins would complain to Snape about this. Which still meant trouble for Fred, but he didn't care at the moment. He was glad he did it for Rhea. He basically saved her from harassment, she had to talk to him now. He might not even need the truth serum anymore, everything would go back to normal.
 
But when he glanced back to where the blond girl was just moments ago he found Lee there instead of her with George standing next to him both boys glaring. Fred looked quickly around spotting all four girls exiting the Great Hall in a hurry, Rhea being the first one out of the door.

"You better be bloody joking Fred, because this was absolutely loony. Or you know what no, don't even tell me that you were joking because this is not something you fucking joke about. You could've killed the guy."  George went off to explain to his twin rather aggressively how wrong he was for doing that. Though the older one didn't really care.

"Lee, we better have that serum ready by the weekend. I am figuring out what her deal is, whatever it takes."

***

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Fred and George, Happy Birthday to you!"

The whole Gryffindor Common Room cheered for the two most popular Gryffindor boys. The look on Fred's face spoke for itself. He was enjoying the moment way too much. It was common knowledge that Fred liked to be the centre of attention. He relished the feeling of having every single eye in the room turned to him. George next to him was grinning as well. But not for the same reason his twin brother did. George just loves being with his friends.

He didn't need to put up a show to be the main event all the time like Fred. He just enjoyed that for a moment there was nothing but fun and they could be all together. It was also the day the two boys were becoming adults in the wizarding world. Once they come out of school for the summer holidays they would be able to use magic outside of school grounds.

The two were already talking about the possibilities they had. Everything would be so much easier. Especially cleaning and house chores. They will be able to apparate since they are on their best way to getting their licences. Everything was going great for them.

Now they had this party. Their closest friends got together to put up the whole decoration of the common room for the big day of the twins. From every corner of the room, hundred and gold streamers and purple and orange balloons were decorating the floor. From time to time, some were kicked in the air by the people passing through. Rhea and Lee sneaked into Hogsmeade on Friday and grabbed all sorts of sweets and savoury snacks for the party. And of course, they managed to get a couple of bottles of Butterbeer in Three Broomsticks.

And thanks to Lee's flirting with Madam Rosmerta he managed to get them a small bottle of Firewhiskey. That is something they will try on later when the younger students are out of the common room. For now, they were all just piling gifts on top of one of the tables for the twins to unpack later on. Everyone was eating, drinking and laughing because who wouldn't laugh when Fred and George were telling jokes?

Rhea and Angelina were sitting off to the side, talking in hushed voices when Fred finally noticed them. He had been searching for Rhea for a few minutes now. The girl disappeared out of his sight once the happy birthday song was finished.

"Ladies, how are you doing?" Fred asked, barging in on their conversation and sitting in between the two girls. Angelina huffed, rolling her eyes while Rhea just scooted a little away from the boy that almost sat on her lap.

"Quite well, until you barged in,"  Angelina answered, shoving Fred lightly. The ginger grinned not taking her words to heart.

"Good to hear, you Rera?" He turned his head towards the blond on his right but received no answer from her. He hummed with an annoyed undertone. An idea came to his mind. "Fancy playing a game of truth or dare?" Angelina was about to answer but got cut off by Fred. "Before you say no, I'd like to remind you that it is mine and Georgie's birthday and we deserve to play our favourite game with our best friend, don't we Ange?"

"Ugh, fine you pest. You win." Angelina said defeated, she and Rhea moved from the couch to tell others they were going to play the game. Fred remained on the couch secretly grinning to himself.

"I'll win for sure today." He mumbled to himself, his hand travelling to the pocket of his jeans and feeling the small vial he had hidden there earlier in the morning.

The game commenced. At first, they started lightly a group of seven best friends joined with Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean. Many people were just being quiet spectators. Like Hermione and Neville who sat on the couch and watched the others play. So far they got Harry to walk around the common room without his glasses. The poor lad knocked down everything that got in his way. He tripped over the couch, coming face-first in contact with the ground.

Alicia had to confess that she was not in love with any of the boys she ever dated. The question was given to her by Lee and she almost killed him with her eyes. Katie told the truth about her and her Beauxbatons girlfriend's broke up a month ago. Everyone was shocked by that. But Katie seemed to be fine with it already. The last dare was for Ron who had to jump naked into the Black Lake. That got most of the younger students to clear out to their dorms.

It was already late at night. Ron had to be escorted to the showers by Harry because the boy was shivering terribly. Dean and Seamus also left, followed by Neville and Hermione disappeared even before Ron was ordered to jump into the lake. Now it was just the standard group of seven and it was Fred's turn to pick his victim. And since everyone who wasn't supposed to be here was out he could set his plan into motion.

"Truth or dare princess?" Fred asked, eyes trained on Rhea who finally looked over at him.

"Dare."

"Courageous are you?" Fred teased. Rhea rolled her eyes. She was unknowingly playing to his plan. George noticed Fred digging into his jean pocket and pulling out the vial.

"Fred." George coughed, trying to catch Fred's attention but the older twin was doing a good job of ignoring him. A light purple vial was pulled out from the pocket of his old jeans as he presented it to the Black girl. Rhea eyed the vial with a sceptical look.

"I dare you to drink this." Fred dared, a smirk on his lips. Everyone from the group was watching the situation. This was one of the first real moments Fred and Rhea were having in a long time. If they do not count the time when Fred almost killed one of the Slytherins. And right away it was intense. The girls wondered whether it was because of the months they spent without a proper conversation or if Rhea was just tense because she didn't want to rat herself out.

But what was bothering Rhea the most wasn't revealing the secret to Fred. To be honest she was considering confessing her feelings a few times already over these past weeks. She's got so close every time only to chicken out in the end. Truth or dare was the chance. She had a plan with Angelina. Ange was supposed to ask her about her crush and Rhea was supposed to tell them. It was now or never. And now Fred was here, daring her to drink some unknown liquid from the pale purple flask. That was the true horror. The flask could contain anything.

Ever since Fred and George were coming up with joke products Rhea has been careful when drinking or eating around them. In fear, they would slip her something they wanted to test. She did the mistake once and once was enough. But on the other hand, Rhea never backed out from the dare and she truly didn't want to start today. So even if the liquid could be potentially poisonous she was going to drink it just because her pride wouldn't allow her otherwise.

"Or are you too scared?" Fred prodded ignoring the fact that George was sending him a murderous look. Rhea groaned leaning forward.

"Give me that." She said quickly, grabbing the vial from Fred's hand so fast George couldn't even attempt to stop her. She gulped the liquid down at a rapid speed. Fred grinned victoriously, thinking how clever he was for outsmarting one of the smartest girls in the whole Gryffindor. He was so happy with himself that he didn't even wait to make his plan less obvious. He immediately started with questions.

"How are you feeling then Rera?" Fred asked smirking.

"Honestly I am really stressed out about the upcoming finals, I haven't really slept well last night because I was worried about Harry and the stupid tournament. Oh, and I am really sick and tired of all those slimy gits hitting on me because of that ridiculous article the wicked witch wrote." Everyone stared wide-eyed. Never did they hear Rhea confess how she felt so openly. Angelina and Alicia shared a worried look while Katie was glaring at Fred already knowing there was something wrong with the thing he made Rhea drink.

"It works." Fred cheered silently. But since everyone was already looking at him they heard him. The look of realisation flashed across Rhea's face as she stared at Fred in disbelief.

"Fred, what did you do?" She asked. Fred just shrugged an innocent look playing in his eyes. George however wasn't satisfied with the situation.

"He made you drink our truth serum." He confessed.

"You snitch!" Fred yelled at his brother but was outshouted by the girls.

"You did what?!" All four girls shouted collectively. All of them looked quite disturbed by what Fred had done.

"Why would you do that?" Angelina spat, she didn't want Rhea to speak now. It was just wrong if Fred figured out anything from the girl whilst under the influence of truth serum.

"Because she's been ignoring me since the Yule Ball. We haven't properly spoken in so long and you can't convince me that it is normal. We used to be best friends and I want to know why you are behaving so oddly all of a sudden." Brown eyes were fixated on the pale green ones that sat right across from him. He could tell his best friend was boiling with anger. He could tell just by the look into her eyes.

For while he was debating with himself if he did the right thing. But how else was he supposed to figure out the truth?

"I want to know what's been wrong with you Rhea. You're acting stupid."

"Oh no," George muttered, his hand hitting against his forehead. He could already feel that Fred made the worst mistake possible here.

"Stupid?! You think I'm acting stupid?" Rhea shrieked standing up from the ground. The girls all crawled out of the way taking Lee with them and George also followed to stand somewhere to the side, rather than be in the way right now. Fred stood up, backing away when he saw Rhea advancing towards him. His back hit the wall that appeared behind him. "I am not the one who slipped truth serum to my best friend."

"And how else was I supposed to figure out what was wrong?"

"By talking to me?! You know that is the thing that normal people do when there is an issue. They talk."

"But you weren't talking to me!" Fred yelled back, pushing himself from the wall. All of a sudden finding confidence in himself to stand up straight in front of Rhea. Easily towered over the smaller girl but her glare stayed strongly set up on him.

"Because you were acting like a git!"

"And what did I do to you that was so terrible?"

Rhea was quiet for a while, her teeth biting down on her lip to keep her from falling under the submission of the truth serum and blabbering out the truth. But the serum was far too strong even if Rhea was strong-willed.

"You went to the Ball with Angelina." There was a sigh heard from the group that was watching the situation from afar. Angelina was standing there guilty. Rhea finally admitted she was hurt by the fact Angelina went with Fred. She had her suspicions before, Rhea said she was a little saddened by it but it just made her realise she liked Fred as more than a friend. But right now Angelina realised. Rhea knew long before the Ball, long before Angelina went with Fred.

"So? It didn't mean anything, we went as friends just like you and George. And why would you even care that I went with Angelina in the first place?!"

"Because I love you, you idiot!"

The whole common room stayed silent. No one dared to move or say anything. The group of five were still in the corner, staring with wide eyes at what just happened. Rhea stood still in front of Fred, heavy breaths escaping her and her eyes were glistering with fresh tears that were threatening to fall. Fred stood in place completely frozen. It looked like he was having a hard time processing what just happened. Rhea was quick to realise everything and once the moment sunk in she bolted towards the dorms.

"Rhea!" Angelina called, after the girl. Sharing a look with other girls she went to follow after her dormmate with the other girls following quickly behind. There was a sound of the door closing loudly that let them know that the girls made it towards the girls' dormitories. George and Lee were finally able to walk over to Fred.

The older ginger still looked quite flabbergasted from the previous events. Everyone was surprised that was true. They had never heard Fred and Rhea scream at each other like that.

"Well, that was a bad idea," Lee muttered after a few seconds of silence.

"No shit mate." George snapped, sending a glare Fred's way. Fred rolled his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Come on then, don't go gentle on me. Hit me with the I told you so." Fred encouraged absentmindedly, sitting down on the couch. An unusual look of defeat on his face. George however didn't take him up on the offer. Instead, he walked in front of his brother to stare down at him with a disappointed look in his eyes.

"You know I never miss out on an opportunity like that. But this is not homework for Transfiguration or making the potion in Snape's class. This is Rhea mate, and the fact that you hurt her like that is not making me happy in any way." George said with a shake of his head. "Honestly, if you weren't my brother I'd punch you now. But because I know that this is going to haunt you until you fix it, I'm just gonna leave it." With that, the younger ginger stepped towards the stairs. "Come along Jordan." He called over his shoulder and the boy with dreadlocks followed after him, casting one last glance at Fred before disappearing behind the door.

Fred was left alone in the common room. Accompanied only by the light coming from the fire lit in the fireplace. He had a lot to think about. There was new information he found out. And some new emotions as well. Fred had never felt so guilty in his life. And so surprised. What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to say to Rhea that he loved her too? But what if that wasn't true? He never really thought about it like that. Sure he loved her, but he always thought it was just as a friend. Did he love her romantically? That was the question. A question he needed to find the answer to before talking to Rhea again.