people love an ingénue

"What does it do, though?" Lavender Brown raised a skeptical eyebrow as she gazed at the mischievous Weasley twins, her lips pursed in suspicion, earning a crafty grin from each boy from where they stood across from her in the middle of the train aisle. Her inquisitive query hung in the air like a challenge, waiting to be answered.

"Well, we're about to find out, aren't we?" One of them said cheekily, and Lavender opened her mouth to retort, but Reese had been noticed a second too soon.

"Ah, Lupin!" Fred had beckoned for her to join them. A wary glance out the window, then back to her three awaiting companions, she consented to their request.

"I hope you aren't dragging me into this fun little dispute."

"Ah, not a quarrel at all! Perhaps you can convince Miss Brown to try our brand new product."

"Is it safe?" Reese eyed the small purple sweets cautiously, concluding the answer would be a resounding 'no'.

"Well, technically it's still a prototype." George shrugged, shooting her a wink.

"Absolutely not!" Lavender waved a perfectly unblemished hand, nearly knocking the candy from Fred's grasp before he smoothly ducked it beneath the swing of her arm. "Besides, I need to tell Reesey all about the summer I had! Come along—“

"We actually need to borrow Reesey for a second,"

Reese glanced warily between the three of them. "Actually, I—“

"No way! Lacey has been bugging me about where Reese has been all summer! Reese is coming with me to end my suffering!" Lavender demanded, but the twins had been slowly guiding Reese backwards toward their compartment as she spoke, and gave her a curt wave as her voice faded out by the sliding shut of the glass door. They swiftly commandeered Reese's attention for their own purposes, leaving Lavender to ponder the potential dangers of their latest invention.

"She is right, you know. That Macmillan has been in here twice already, asking where her roomies are." George grinned and the two fell lazy into their seats synchronously. Reese smiled weakly, not thinking to finally sit down until Fred had to insist, nudging her with his shoe.

It wasn't until she started speaking that Reese became aware of the fourth body that hardly took up any space the cramped room provided.

"She was a bit overbearing." A girl chimed in from Reese's left in the window seat, her fiery red hair no doubt coming from those same parents of Fred and George. "Nearly gave me a headache." She added, earning absentminded snickers from a twin Reese couldn't place because her eyes hadn't left those of the Weasley girl.

Sure, Lacey acted a bit bizarre and never seemed to be drained of energy, and it was true that at certain times she irked Reese to no end, but she felt a certain obligation to defend her roommate and fellow Gryffindor.

"She's just being nice." Reese concluded, distastefully toned, "Perhaps you could benefit from it." That last bit was half-hearted and mumbled, but Reese could still feel Fred and George exchanging amused glances above her. She avoided the expression of disdain she was no doubt receiving from the freckly girl on her side, suddenly finding the ceiling fascinating.

From the corner of her eye, though, she could sense the girl's eyes narrowing much in the same way Reese's had. Her rosy cheeks twisted as her face did just as she opened her mouth to retort. "Well—“

The freckled girl at Reese's side bristled at her words, poised to unleash a fierce comment until George intervened with a tactful reminder of the importance of civility."Okay, Ginny, let's not say something we shouldn't be," George interjected good-naturedly, a smile dancing on his lips.

"Reese, this is our dear and very polite sister, Ginny."

"I'm sure this was the start of a lifelong friendship, don't you think, Freddie?"

"I do think so, Georgie. Ginevra here is—“

Ginny's face appeared as if she had just smelled something foul. "Don't call me—"

"She's going to be in Gryffindor like her big brothers. Aren't you, Gin?" they both looked at her expectantly.

The nerves seemed to crack Ginny's hardened demeanor as she began to chew on the inside of her cheek. Reese couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She recalled that same gnawing fear of disappointing her own family—though hers consisted of far fewer members than Ginny's.

Lacey's face suddenly appeared in the glass, and Reese didn't bother registering Ginny's eyeroll or the twins' snickering. Reese watched in contemplation as Lacey tried to pry the door open, but Fred's foot had kept it pushed closed.

"Get out here!" Lacey called, her voice quiet and muffled through the glass but no doubt deafening to anyone else within a ten-foot radius.

"I reckon I should go," Reese stood from her seat, causing the girl beside her to instinctively stretch across it. "Fred, George," She gave the twins each a departing nod, glancing offhandedly at the sprawled girl across from them, "Er..."

"Oh, she prefers to be called 'Ginevra'," Fred informed cheekily, evoking a fit of chortles from his brother and a scowl from his sister.

"Right, er," she looked back over at the twins, "I'll see you guys."

"Well, why didn't you just ask them yourself?" Dean asked just as Lacey tugged Reese through yet another compartment door and kicked someone's trunk away to make room for her.

"Ask who what?" Reese asked, squishing between the window and Lavender Brown, who hadn't looked very chipper for someone who'd just returned from an exotic holiday.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lavender grumbled.

"Lavender's just in a strop because none of her precious Italian boys offered to write to her."

Lavender crossed her arms bitterly. "I said I didn't want to talk about it, so let's not talk about it, gosh!"

Reese grinned, feeling suddenly giddy in the presence of her friends. "That's not really how muggles communicate, Lav."

"So, they're too good for letters now?" She protested, and Reese and Dean exchanged amused glances.

"It's a bit outdated in some places now, I think. Normal people just call each other—" He informed, shrugging.

"Hey!" Lavender objected, "We are the normal ones!"

Dean commented sarcastically. "Of course, because vampires, trolls, and traveling by broomstick and teleportation—"

Reese corrected, "Apparation—"

"Right, Apparition, is very normal."

"Don't forget floo powder!" Lacey interjected.

"We know about floo powder, Lacey." Lavender said bluntly.

"Oh, I know! I just wanted to say something."

"How was your summer, Lacey?" Reese offered with a smile, and the three sat back as she began to ramble about Ernie Macmillan, Quidditch, and Ernie Macmillan.

🗡🗡🗡

The Sorting Ceremony stretched on, an interminable expanse of time for those mere spectators. They watched as the new students filed in, taking their seats beneath the vibrant banners of their respective houses. Restlessness festered among the older students, and many were unable to resist the pull of slumber, only to be rudely awakened by the Sorting Hat's resounding decree.

"Lovegood, Luna!" Professor McGonagall prompted, squinting at the parchment over her horn-rimmed glasses.

"Ravenclaw, surely," Seamus murmured from beside Dean. "Met her on the train. A bit of a loon."

Dean shot him a reproachful glance, but couldn't help a small grin from spreading. As if in agreement with the whispered prediction, the Sorting Hat proclaimed, 

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Oi, there's ickle Gin," Fred whispered, as the four second-years followed his gaze to the outspoken ginger girl Reese had encountered on the train.

"She's so cute." Lavender commented, but her tone belied the sentiment. "I wish I had a little sister. I could do so many experiments on her..."

"Anyways..." Reese trailed off, awkwardly. "Do you have a sibling down there, too, Dean?"

"No, I'm an only child, just like you. Kind of sucks."

"So, I'm the only one of us that has a gross brother to deal with? That's not cool." Lacey frowned, and the twins shook their heads in that same simultaneous manner that made Dean and Reese exchange odd looks.

"Ah, trust us, nearly twelve years ago, we also obtained a gross brother," George smirked, and Reese's brow furrowed in confusion as she began glancing around the table.

"Where is Ron? I didn't see him on the train."

Dean muttered, "I asked Hermione, and she hadn't seen Ron or Harry at all."

"Really?" She hummed in interest before she noticed how small the jumble of first years had gotten, and was eternally relieved that this exciting endeavor was coming to an end.

"Weasley, Ginevra!" was called, and Reese didn't have to glance at the twins to know they were greatly entertained.

She seemed far more timid than she had been on the train, chewing on her hair anxiously, cheeks stained crimson as she avoided everyone’s stare.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat bellowed, and the Weasley sighed in relief, hopping off the stool and prancing over to where her brothers awaited her. She was careful to avoid Reese's proximity, she noticed, squeezing into a spot a few bodies away from her.

Reese hadn't been able to find Ron or Harry as the rest of the Gryffindors headed up to the common room, so she was instead whisked away by Dean and Seamus, while Lacey and Lavender rushed ahead, eager to claim their spots in the crowd.

"Reese is trying out for Quidditch this year," Dean announced with a raised eyebrow to Seamus, his elbow planted on her shoulder.

Seamus let out a snort, "Is that so? I never would have guessed you had a penchant for athleticism."

"She doesn't, that's why it's funny." Dean giggled into the collar of his shirt.

She frowned. "Shut up, Thomas. I'm not thrilled about it either."

"We never said we weren't thrilled," Seamus chimed in with an impish grin, "Right?"

Dean nodded curtly, "Of course we are. We're jumping up and down with glee."

"Only because you're looking forward to seeing me fall off my broomstick," Reese retorted, eliciting another round of snickers.

Lacey lunged at Reese like a starved lioness, tackling her with a bone-crushing embrace. "I've been counting the seconds until we were reunited, my sweet Reese!"

Reese nearly yelped when the giddy Gryffindor threw her arms around her, squeezing her with so much force that she thought she may suffocate. She laughed weakly, patting Lacey on her back in a lame attempt to ease her off. "I just saw you a little bit ago!"

"Far, far too long!" Lacey gasped theatrically, spinning in half a dozen circles before attempting a graceful fall onto her bed. Lavender erupted into giggles.

Lavender joined in, throwing her arms in the air dramatically. "Oh, the agony of being away from your luminous presence, Reese! How we've suffered!"

Hermione looked up from her book, her face unimpressed. "Can you two be any more dramatic?"

"Hermione," Reese looked over at her with a wry smile, "life without you is but a meaningless existence."

Lavender and Lacey fell on their backs in fits of laughter, Hermione giggling along with them. Reese let a smile engulf her as Hermione tossed a pillow at Reese. "Very funny. Good to see you again, too."

🗡🗡🗡

"I hope you all didn't spend your lazy summer growing gradually more incompetent," Professor Snape's voice droned on, a monotonous sound that seemed to sap the life out of the very atmosphere. His words hung in the air like a dark cloud, threatening the peace of the students, "but to make sure, an exam will be taking place in here tomorrow, and if you fail, you'll suffer the consequences." Snape intoned, his eyes roving over the class with a contemptuous glare.

Reese let out a long sigh of impatience, her gaze shifting skyward to the dull ceiling. Her friends had joined her in the back of the class that year—all except Hermione, of course, who had raced to the front row so her hand would be the first seen when it shot up after every question—and were seated beside each other on her right. The room was, by choice, strictly divided—the Slytherins all sat on the leftmost side of the room, Gryffindors on the right, whereas the middle showed an imaginary, divided line separating the green and red. Reese had been on the edge of that fence, epically complicating things when it came down to partner work:

"The person by your side will be who you are expected to work with this year." Snape announced, in a voice that brooked no argument. At the sound of both pleased and displeased reactions, Snape only spoke over them, "If you should have any complaints, I will take House points from all of you."

Lavender grumbled under her breath, "You know that only applies to the Gryffindors..."

When students began to murmur amongst themselves and split into seperate pairs, is when Reese finally turned to Lavender beside her. Before she could open her mouth, though—

"Sorry, Reese!" Lavender frowned. "Everybody over here is paired."

"What? What am I supposed to do? Come on—"

"There are an odd number of Gryffindors over here! If I got to be with you, Ronald seated by the wall would have been all alone!"

Reese sighed, feeling the dread of having to face her last resort.

"Looks like it's you and me, Zabini." She said, giving him a sideways glance.

"Yeah, lucky you."

Her nose wrinkled in distaste. "I wouldn't quite say that..."

"What, you don't like me?" He arched a dark eyebrow skeptically, as if the possibility were foreign to him.

"Not at all, I thought we were best mates."

"Well, I'm not particularly fond of you either, Lupin."

Reese blinked and then eyed him peculiarly. It was one thing for her not to want to pair with him, but for him to not want to pair with her... "Huh?"

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Lupin." Snape declared bitterly, and Reese's incredulous stare shifted from Blaise Zabini to Professor Snape at the speed of a physically impaired snail.

Reese's jaw slackened in disbelief, "For what?"

He shrugged as the Slytherin side of the room seemed to chorus in snake-like snickering, "Talking."

"Everyone was talking!" Reese protested in disbelief. "You're joking, right? You must be joking."

"I don't joke. Ten points, unless you'd like me to add detention—"

"This is ridiculous—"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor."

Reese groaned in exasperation, closing her eyes and sinking low into her seat, arms crossed over her chest in defeat. Zabini grimaced, "Christ, Lupin, you're definitely meant to get this class flunked for me."

Reese was the first to bolt as the class dismissed, earning unhappy glances from her housemates for her seemingly unmerited behavior. But Snape's conduct had thoroughly irked her, leaving her unbothered by the disapproval of others.

"So unfair," she chided still, Dean and Lacey trailing by her side. "And those Slytherins, ugh! They find everything amusing, I swear." Her remark didn't go unnoticed, drawing a sharp response from her nearby classmates.

"When you make yourself look like a fool," taunted Draco Malfoy with a sly grin, inciting a chorus of jeers from his clique. "That is what we find amusing."

"Yeah, that's what we find amusing!" Pansy Parkinson echoed loudly, as if she were his shadow.

"Think for yourself, Parkinson, don’t be a sheep." Reese retorted, unimpressed by Pansy Parkinson's loud endorsement of Malfoy's insult, and Pansy's eyebrows narrowed as she planted her hands on her hips.

"It's no surprise to us." Malfoy jumped his eyebrows, "I'm sure you reckless Gryffindors will have your points plummeted into the negatives by Halloween."

Reese's jaw shifted in irritation, and Lacey waved a peaceful hand, "Maybe you should just bite your tongue, Reese!" She gestured pointedly to the group of Slytherins, many of whom were taller than all of them except for Dean. The Slytherins stood in a formation Reese suspected had likely been rehearsed. Parkinson and Malfoy posed no real threat, but Crabbe and Goyle's bulk, coupled with Zabini's towering presence behind them, could be intimidating. Even so, none of them had any real ability to start a fight. She could have laughed at Lacey’s at Lacey's absurd notion that this trivial spat could escalate into violence.

"I heard you blabbing about trying out for the Quidditch team," Parkinson piped up once her confidence was finally restored.

"Pitiful. Now we know we'll beat you on the pitch, and in winning the House Cup!" Malfoy crowed, eliciting guffaws from Crabbe and Goyle, and a foot-stomping tantrum from Parkinson.

"I was going to say that!"

Lacey stopped walking to plant her feet firmly in place, her pointer finger held aloft, and her voice brimming with righteous indignation. "Hey! I'm a better Quidditch player than all of you combined! A disgrace on the pitch, you are! A bunch of sore losers!" 

Reese and Dean exchanged a glance of bemused approval before their attention was drawn back to the sneering Malfoy, whose arrogance was as plain as the sneer on his lips. Reese raised her eyebrows at Lacey. "Was this your example of how I should bite my tongue?"

Malfoy started once more, "Maybe you should—“

"Piss off—“ She gritted.

Dean stepped forward in a way that was not intending to be threatening but inadvertently emphasizing the height difference between himself and Malfoy.

"Well, goon, then." Dean challenged, jerking his chin towards Malfoy. Malfoy's fists clenched, but Lavender interrupted with a noise that sounded like a whimpering puppy.

"Guys, no fighting! This hallway is so creepy and I need to eat, so we are leaving!"

"Who is 'we'?" Lacey inquired, eyeing the Slytherins with contempt in a way that seemed far too bitter for her often bubbly state. 

Lavender groaned in disinterest. "You guys are so dramatic. Let's just go. Aren’t you hungry?”

Dean nodded with a sigh, beginning to lead the way. “Starving.”