Pranking hearts

It's been weeks since the accident between Rhea and Fred. Neither of them spoke to one another or dared to appear in the same room as the other. Classes were the exception, but it was like there was some sort of invisible wall between them that made it easier for them to ignore each other. Rhea didn't even attend classes for the first two weeks. Calling sick and just visiting the Hospital Wing two times a week to get some calming potions, every time accompanied by Angelina who seemed to be the most worried about the well-being of the girl. A few times even George tagged along. But he was rather preoccupied with Fred.

The older twin was terrible to be with during the first weeks. He would do everything and anything to occupy himself. There was a week when George would be woken up at five in the morning along with Lee because Fred was causing a ruckus in their dorm when he was getting ready for his morning runs. It was a rather hard time for all the occupants of the boys' dorm.

Fred had a lot of questions in his mind that he refused to focus on. That's why he was coming up with all the terrible ideas, the pranks, and the new products for the shop. Last week he came up with the idea of a love potion since he heard Angelina talk about her last assignment for Snape which was to write an essay on Amortentia. He was intrigued by the idea. Especially now that he was questioning his own love life. He didn't want to speak with Rhea, not because he would be angry. He personally had no reason to be. He was just confused, scared and overall just lost in what he was supposed to do. It's not every day that his best friend confesses to him that she loves him. It was new territory and in all honesty, Fred didn't know how he was supposed to react to it. How was he supposed to feel? Did he love Rhea too? Well, she was his best friend but other than that? He didn't know. So he was keeping his distance.

Rhea on the other hand was angry. Angry at her own feelings, angry at herself for not confessing sooner and especially angry at Fred because he used the truth serum on her. See she didn't mind finally telling Fred how she felt. It was bound to happen someday. She was angry at the way of how it happened. She was forced by the truth serum. It wasn't on her own account. And that bothered her. It was supposed to be her moment, the one from the books that she read. The romantic confession of affection. And even if Fred wouldn't feel the same at least it would be done correctly. If anything she deserved to have it done the normal way and not by force of a potion. Even love infused by a love potion doesn't feel right. How should a confession of love under a truth serum feel normal?

Their friends were also very supportive of the matter. Most of them were maybe on Rhea's side but they were trying to keep the two apart or at least far enough from each other until they were ready to face one another again. Without anyone getting injured. And according to what the girls could hear from Rhea the time will not come in a long, long time. George knew this was the time he was fearing. The time he couldn't fix his brother's mess. All he could do now was be there for the both of them. Keeping Fred occupied while being Rhea's mental support at the same time. It was tough having his twin and best friend mad at each other. But he had to do it, he had to be there for them both because he cared for both of them. He was not going to pick sides here. That's why he did everything Fred wanted to do for the past few weeks. To keep him from having any invasive thoughts before he had everything in his head figured out about his feelings towards Rhea.

That's why they were stepping up the stairs to the Owlery late at night. Although George wasn't exactly thrilled about the contents of the letter he still followed, not wanting to let Fred send the thing on his own. If his name was already written there he might as well participate. That doesn't mean that he liked it. Not at all actually.

"That's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-" He stated being a step behind Fred while trying to talk some sense to his brother. Even if he knew his twin wasn't keen on listening to others too much these days.

"We've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did." Fred smirked evilly, waiving their letter in front of George's eyes. George rolled his brown eyes not knowing how else to explain what he thought about it.

"I'm telling you if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"

"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?" Fred snapped back once they reached the door. The Owlery door banged open and the twins came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. George shot Fred a look, hoping the three fourth years haven't heard their conversation.

"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.

"What, at this time?" said Hermione and Fred. Fred grinned. He was enjoying it. However, that might be because he was oblivious to the subtle glare Harry was sending him. George however noticed it. Knowing that Harry knew a bit about the accident that happened between Rhea and Fred. Especially the part when Rhea didn't attend classes for two weeks. Since Harry saw the girl as his sister it was expected that he would be on her side, and that included having a heavy heart with Fred.

"Fine, we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," Fred said with a shrug. He was holding a sealed envelope in his right hand. Harry glanced at it, but Fred noticed his action and shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered. Didn't need any nosey Potter snooping on their business. "Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door. George snorted at his brother's attitude but noticed his other brother didn't move an inch.

"Who're you blackmailing?" Ron quizzed. The grin vanished from Fred's face. George half glanced at Fred, before smiling at Ron. He knew the little bugger heard it all. At this rate, they can openly say it to McGonagall.

"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily. Rubbing the back of his neck. He was a good liar, but Fred was better. Though he was sure Fred wasn't in the mind space to be fibbing. If anything he was being brutally honest lately.

"Didn't sound like that," Ron was suspicious, whatever those two were up to weren't good news. Fred and George looked at each other. The tension between the Weasley siblings could be cut with a knife.

Then Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but..." He got interrupted by Ron, playing the righteous human.

"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," said Ron. "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that." Fred shot George an annoyed look for what he said earlier.

"Told you, I was joking," George dismissed his brother quickly. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect." He teased while working, knowing it would take Ron's attention from what he was doing.

"No, I won't!" said Ron hotly. George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. He turned around and grinned at his little brother.

"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later." He and Fred left the Owlery. Once outside the twins high-fived stepping down the steps.

"Never knew you could be so fierce Georgie, what's happening?" Fred asked after a while as they walked around the courtyard of the school. Careful not to attract anyone's attention since it was already after curfew.

"I'm just trying to make you happy here you git. And our kid brother was just crossing my plans there. Had to put him to his place." George shrugged, not minding what happened. Fred who walked next to him grinned. He was happy that his twin was always by his side.

"Aw, is little Georgie being nice to me? I'm touched." Fred said in a squeaky voice, throwing one arm over his brother's shoulder. George groaned in annoyance. "You love me, don't you little brother?"

"Sod off, will you?" George pushed his twin off of him, shaking his head. "You're such a kid." He muttered under his breath, walking inside the castle. Fred followed after him at a leisurely pace.

It wasn't as easy as it used to be, sneaking through the castle at night. It was easier when they had the map with them. They didn't have to be as careful, or at least they weren't on their toes. Now they had to sneak through the castle since neither of them fancied getting detention now that the year was almost about to be finished. Fred however wasn't making it easy on him. With his loud footsteps and whistling. He was carefree but for George's taste, this was too much.

"Listen, can you shut up?"George asked in a harsh whisper.

"What?" Fred asked in a normal voice.

"Shut your pie hole, mate. Don't fancy getting detention this late in the term." The younger twin peaked around the corner seeing the empty corridor which was a signal they could move. Slowly George led the way down the hall Fred followed, he was quiet now. Deciding it was better to not get on George's nerves.

Once they made it inside their common room they made their way right into their dorm. Lee wasn't there surprisingly which sparked a lot of questions. But that wasn't the first thing that started their conversation.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow? I figured we could get some quidditch training in the morning, then we can work on some products. Oh, I know we can also prank Slytherins, what do you say?" Fred ranted kicking off his shoes before throwing himself on his bed.

"I'd say you should slow down mate," George answered less enthusiastically, pulling his shirt off and throwing it on the pile of dirty clothes they had in the corner of the room. "Look, I love spending time with you, you're my twin and all. But I'm definitely not up to getting up before eight in the morning just because your stupid head can't bear to think about what happened." Fred looked away from his twin, reaching under his pillow for his plain white shirt in which he slept and his pyjama bottoms.

"I don't understand what you mean. I don't have any problems. Just thought we could use some practice. You seemed to be slacking on that last training we had." Fred said nonchalantly, lifting the shirt that he wore for the whole day, and quickly replacing it with his sleeping one. George who was already changed rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that bluff." He spat, throwing his socks at Fred. "I'm sick and tired of you pretending you don't care." Fred looked away, a disgusted look on his face as he picked up George's socks with the tip of his wand, throwing them on the pile with a swift swing. "You are worried, admit it. You are worried about what Rhea thinks of you now."

"Am not."

"Sure you are. You can't stop thinking about it. That's why you keep coming up with all these stupid activities."

"So what?!" Fred screamed, throwing his wand on the bedside table. "What do you want to hear? That I am sorry for what happened? That I feel guilty? I feel like I destroyed the best relationship with any human that I ever had? She meant so much to me. I felt as close to her as I do to you and I know you for a significantly longer, mind that." Fred tried to joke but George could see on his face he was serious. "I want to make it right. You bet your bloody stinky socks I do. I just don't know how. Not sure how I feel either."

"What do you mean? How you feel? You don't know if you still want to be her friend?" George asked curiously, sitting down on his bed so he was still facing Fred who lay down in his own bed. Back against the mattress as he just stared at the ceiling.

"No, I'm sure I want to be friends. I just...I don't know if I love her the way she loves me. You know? I never thought about it. And I want to have things straight in my head before I approach her. Because when I don't know how I feel, I don't know what to tell her, you get it?"

"I guess. But you better hurry up with figuring it out. I don't know how long I can put up with you when you are like this." George rolled his eyes jokingly. Fred scoffed throwing a fluffy red pillow at his brother who chuckled catching it effortlessly. "Just maybe focus on thinking rather than coming up with stupid things. Especially ones that are supposed to start so early in the morning. I need my beauty sleep."

"That you do," Fred uttered with a smirk, George gasped throwing the pillow back at him, hitting Fred in the side of the head. Fred grabbed the pillow putting it under his head. George laid down as well, putting the covers over his body. "George?"

"Yeah?"

"You'll help me, right? To figure out how I feel about Rhea?"

"I think you should figure it out yourself," George said, slowly tilting his head to glance at his brother. "But I'll let you know when you're close to figuring it out." George grinned to himself turning around so he was facing the window. "Night." He called over his shoulder. Fred was a little confused but shrugged turning towards the door to fall asleep as well.

"Good night."

***

It was the day of the final task. The families of the champions had come to school to watch them compete. Rhea wanted to act as Harry's family because quite frankly she could be considered the closest thing he had to one but she was told someone was already there for him. It made her wonder if Dursleys would actually care enough to come and watch him compete. But then she dismissed the thought remembering how utterly terrified the muggle folks were of magic and how they resented Harry. She figured they would have to be dragged here against their will and even then there wouldn't be any promise they would be very pleasant.

In the end, she concluded that since Harry didn't need her intense support right this second she could tend to her own problems. Some things were affecting her life, both mentally and physically and she was getting rather sick of the life as it was at the moment. That's why she needed help and couldn't think of a better place to seek it than in the Great Hall.

So here Rhea was, sitting at Slytherin's table during lunchtime, chatting with Althea and Edmund. The two were practically married at this point so they were the right ones to aid Rhea's love problem. However, it was hard to focus when she spotted the Weasley family sitting by Gryffindor's table with Harry. Even Mrs. Weasley and Bill were there. They were probably the ones meant to give Harry the family support.

Rhea watched with hidden jealousy behind her eyes as Edmund whispered sweet things to Althea making the girl with platinum hair blush and she pushed Edmund slightly leaving a goofy smirk on the boy's lips. Not that Rhea would want Edmund, frankly she didn't even want Althea. She just wanted what they had. Seemingly flawless and love-filled relationship. How could it be so perfect? It looked effortless too.

"I'm sorry Rhea, we've been ignoring you there for a while," Althea said after a while of her and Ed silently flirting with each other. Rhea forced a smile, shaking her head dismissingly. She can't be mad at them, can she?

"It's fine really, I'm infiltrating on your quality couple time. I'm at fault here."

"Ah bollocks, love," Edmund said waving his hand. "We spent enough time together as it is." He commented and Althea nodded in agreement.

"It's so bad my friends think we are joined at the hip at some point. Or that one of us might die if we are not together."

"Truly it's a miracle to see us apart these days." Edmund shrugged, not seeming ashamed or bothered by what he was saying.

"And you're fine with that? Both of you I mean?"

"Let's put it this way, some days I want to murder him," Althea said casting a look in Ed's direction.

"Yeah, and she can get insufferable as well at times."

"But it's nothing a little time apart and propper communication can't fix. I still love him to pieces."

"And I love you," Ed said a love-struck expression once again on his face as he leaned in to kiss his girlfriend again. Rhea rolled her eyes.

"All right, I get it you love each other. Now stop before I'll be forced to see the bits and pieces of my lunch again."

The two Slytherins pulled apart. Althea smiled kindly at Rhea while Edmund had that partly annoyed and partly amused look on his face. Both of their attention was on Rhea. They hadn't talked to her in some time so they were curious about what was going on in her life. And the Black didn't take long to spill the tea for them. It took her about ten minutes to explain the whole drama revolving around her and Fred, not forgetting to mention the truth serum dilemma and the fact that she couldn't stop telling the truth for another two days, which made the whole talk about the problem easier for Angelina, Alicia and Katie when they were asking questions later that day.

Once Rhea was finished talking Althea was deep in thoughts while Edmund scowled. He and Rhea were friends for some time now and he really did care about her so seeing Fred do that to her ticked him off greatly especially when he was the one to help Rhea realise her crush on Fred.

"Nutter," Edmund whispered under his breath, casting a look at the ginger in question that was sitting with his twin brother and the rest of the Weasley family by the Gryffindor table. Then he looked at Rhea to see her utterly drained of all the energy she could possibly have. The situation was taking its toll on her. He reached over the table, grabbed the hand of his friend and squeezed it lightly. "I know it's tough now, but things will get better." He promised although he wasn't sure it would help.

"How do you know that? What if it just gets worse and worse and worse, to the point where we can't even be in the same room with each other?! You know it's already hard being in the same classroom as him. The girls are trying everything in their might so we don't have to forcibly spend time together. But there's just so much they can do." Rhea sighed in defeat. Edmund took his hand back, not knowing how to react to that.

"I'm not great at the advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?" He said awkwardly, then glanced down at his plate spotting some food left. "Some cheese? Ah stupid, forgot you don't like cheese that much." Edmund scolded himself putting the plate down.

"Do you feel ready to talk to him?" Althea asked softly. Rhea shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Then maybe don't stress it for now. I know it is hard to accept this but you are not the one at fault here as far as I know, so maybe let Fred sort out his thoughts and then he'll come on his own." The Slytherin suggested. Rhea however was sceptical.

"What if he doesn't? I don't know if you noticed but Fred isn't the one to be thinking things through. Nor does he take the right approach to sort problems."

"You'll just have to trust him then, won't you?" Rhea sighed in defeat. But concluded Althea was right and there was no better option for her now.

***

"Hey Ced," Rhea called when she finally found Cedric before the third task. She had already spoken to Harry threatening to come to the afterlife to kill him again unless he came back alive. Now she wanted to wish her friend good luck. The two of them grew close over the years. But just as friends.

"Rhea, hi," Cedric answered once he spotted Rhea trying to get over to him. He walked over to her, excusing himself from his parents. "What are you doing here? Thought you'd be talking to Harry."

"I already did, got the whole speech, he better listen to what I said. Now it's your turn."

"I'm all ears my lady." She grinned, bringing the taller boy into a hug.

"Be careful out there. Remember winning is not as important as you might think." She whispered to him sincerely.

"Hah, yeah right." Cedric laughed, pulling away from the hug. "Hope you'll come to my celebration party over the summer after I win this thing. The drinks are on me." Rhea shook her head with a chuckle.

"You are seriously daft." There was Dumbledore's voice heard calling from the distance instructing the contestants to join him. "But really, be careful out there."

"Always Black." He said with a wink before jogging to join the others. Rhea sighed to herself, watching him disappear behind the corner before she walked to the stands to find her friends so she could sit by them and watch the final task.