Dark AIAOY 5

Rebecca and Harry stepped into the Room of Requirement with their closest friends well before the actual first meeting was set to start.  Listening to their wishes and needs, the castle gave them a large room with mirrors and battle dummies, chairs along the edge and plenty of light.  

"It's brilliant."  Harry nodded.  "It's like Hogwarts wants us to fight back."

Ron wrinkled his brow, thinking over the lengths a 'room of requirement' could go to.  "So, let's say you needed the toilet..."

"Charming, Ronald."  Hermione rolled her eyes.  "But yes, the Room would provide."

Students trickled in group by group and Rebecca and Harry gathered the attentions of the room.  "Now that we're all here--early--"  Rebecca nodded towards Cedric, who arrived last.  "We wanted to start us off nice and easy."

"The disarming spell."  Harry took over, eventually asking them to line up into two lines.  "We're going to go through, one by one, and see what we can do."

Neville frowned deeply.  He had been pushed to the front of Harry's line.

Rebecca raised her wand to the dummy she brought forward, explaining step by step how the spell was cast.  Before letting them begin, Rebecca addressed them all equally.  "The entire point of this endeavor, of this group, is to help one another.  Unkindness will not be tolerated in the slightest."

The students nodded.  They all agreed with the sentiment wholeheartedly.  Harry took a deep breath and looked to Neville, starting with his first.  Rebecca jogged to where her line was, smiling to Colin who had snagged first.  "Ready, Colin?"  Colin raised his arm and made his first attempt without results.

Rebecca walked a slow circle around him and nodded.  "Here, you've got to relax a little."  She grabbed his wrist and raised his arm, waving and wiggling his arm back and forth until the boy couldn't help but laugh.  "Alright, give it another go.  One fluid motion."

Colin faced the dummy with a renewed sense of inspiration.  "Expelliarmus!"  The dummy's wand went flying.  

Rebecca grinned and clapped her hand to his shoulder proudly before nudging him to the back of the line.  Dennis stepped up, his brother's success making him feel all the more capable of doing the same.

When each and every member had gone through the disarming spell twice, over an hour and a half had passed.  Rebecca and Harry caught each other's eyes across the room and nodded, waving everyone back to the middle of the room.  "We saw some excellent work today."  Harry began, looking over everyone.

"Really, everyone made progress!"  Rebecca smiled to those who had shown particular growth.  "You should all feel quite proud of yourselves."

"Practise when you can and help the others if you're able.  But, for today, we're through."  Harry raised his coin up in the air.  "Your coins will tell you when we can meet next."

Rebecca began to outline the procedure for leaving.  "We're going to leave in small groups every few minutes, younger students taking priority."  The students slowly began to spread around the room, chatting as they waited.  Rebecca thanked whomever she passed for coming and stopped to answer any questions.

Fred watched, leaning against the wall idly.  He spun his wand between his fingers and saw how Rebecca listened to Neville's try at explaining where he thought he was making his mistake.  "No, I meant it."  Fred heard Rebecca say, though she had lowered her voice for Neville's privacy.  "I did see progress.  Here, we can give it another go while we wait."  The dummy nearest them crept forward slightly.  "Remember to flourish your wand less like-yes, just like that!"

Neville chewed on the inside of his cheek, turning to Rebecca with downcast eyes as he failed to cast the charm again.

Rebecca hated to see him so sad, especially when there had been an improvement.  "Sometimes the obstacle is one we're making for ourselves, I'm huge proponent of that fact."

Neville sighed dejectedly.  "No, it's me.  My grandmother thought I was a squib for year, you know.  I'm just half a wizard."

Rebecca crossed her arms in front of her, not seeing how Cedric had wandered to Fred's side and was now chatting while Fred half-listened.  "Neville!  That is absolutely absurd!  Look, we're going to meet again soon and I'm certain you'll have a grip on this.  What if we met outside of here--maybe Wednesday after classes?"

"I don't really do much, just spend some time in the greenhouses."

"Brilliant, we'll meet there."  Rebecca laid her hand on Neville's shoulder.  "We'll focus and practise until you're solid, yeah?"

Neville smiled at last.  "Thanks.  In exchange," He lowered his voice to just a whisper.  "Professor Sprout's given me a few rows in the last greenhouse...I have some ingredients almost ripe, if you could use them for your...work..."

Rebecca shook her head and laughed lightly.  "Don't get me wrong, ingredients are always in need--but there's no need for anything in return.  This is what this is about, helping."

Neville excused himself at that, relinquishing Rebecca to answer the next question someone had thought up.

"She's really something, isn't she?"

Fred was jerked out of his admiring by Cedric's comment.  "What?"

"Rebecca."  Cedric answered.  "I swear, it's like her patience is endless."

Fred narrowed his eyes at Cedric, sensing an undertone to his words.  "What's your deal, mate?  Of course I bloody know she's 'something.'"  Fred stepped closer, looking down at Cedric.  "Care to know what else she is?"  

Cedric's adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed quickly.

"Mine."

"No, I know that.  Not stepping on toes or anything."  Cedric said quickly, his words rushed.  "You don't-you don't have to worry about me."  Cedric's eyes drifted away from Fred's as the insinuation of his words appeared to Fred.

Fred stepped back, understanding.  "You're...not something to worry about?"

Cedric scratched at the side of his head, planning his next sentence.  "I guess, if you wanted, you could worry about me half the time?  If that makes any sense?"  Fred's guard dropped slightly and he nodded once, softening his expression as Cedric continued to speak.  "Not with her though, anyone who tried that would have to be blind or dull.   Probably both, now that I say it-"

"What'd you just say?"  Fred's heart jumped back into overdrive.

Cedric raised his hands, hearing his words and how else they could have been taken.  "Not like that!"  Fred raised an eyebrow, demanding a further explanation.  "I meant, the way you two are.  It's not like the rest of us; it's not courting or dating.  You two are real."

Rebecca finally finished with all of the lingering, burning questions of the group around her and made her way to Fred, yawning all the while.  "Every question answered and most of the younger students have made their way out."  She eyed the obvious tension between the two boys.  "What're you two up to?"

Cedric gave Fred a small smile, hoping there was no animosity between them.  "I was actually just making my way out."  Cedric held his hand out to Fred and Fred shook it, giving Cedric a nod.

"You're not starting something, are you?"  Rebecca asked warily after Cedric had left them.

"Why do you say it like that?"  Fred opened his arms and let Rebecca lay her head on his chest.  "Am I known for starting things?"

Rebecca closed her eyes, relaxing in his arms.  "Of course not, what do I know?"

"Beside everything?"  Fred kissed the top of her head.  "It was a little something, but not any more."

"Being right probably entitles me to a reward, yeah?  Like a kiss?"

Fred leaned back so that he could see her face more clearly, acting like he was thinking.  "I'm not sure if that's how it works..."  He smiled and leaned closer, pausing centimeters from her lips to make her wait a second longer.  Rebecca opened one eye to see what was taking him so long and reached up, pulling him by the back of his head.

The distance between them was closed and she kissed him sweetly.

"There, I feel adequately rewarded now."  Rebecca sighed and linked her hands behind his back.  "Bloody hell, I'm ragged.  Ready to-"

"Rebecca!"  Harry called, waving her over to where he, Ron, and Hermione were standing.

"Ready to go talk more."  Rebecca grumbled.  "I'll be right back, alright?"

"Go on, professor."  Fred teased, settling in to wait until she was ready to walk back to the tower.

"What did you think?"  Harry asked the second she was within conversation range.  "About the Army?"

"Not of supper?"  Rebecca raised her hands in surrender at his look and Hermione hid her giggling.  "I think this is going to be a great, great thing."

Ron shook his head, looking around the room that was far emptier than it had been half an hour ago but so easily filled in his head with all of the hard work and camaraderie that had been there.  "I think it already is."

*******************************************

"It's Slytherin, alright?"  Angelina began her final remarks to the team with the utmost of seriousness--Oliver would have been proud.  "We've got to expect some dirty moves, some dirty tricks.  We're going to rise above it though."  She nodded, looking from member to member of the team she had been working so hard to polish to a shine.  "We're going to play strong; we're going to play hard."

Angelina answered a question from the ever-nervous Ron, queasy before his first match and feeling the pressure grow exponentially at the reminder that he was filling Wood's shoes.  

Fred and George threw their arms around their youngest brother's shoulders and jostled him back and forth.  "Don't worry!  Play like you have been at practise and we're golden!"

Angelina agreed, Ron had been putting in hours of practise.  "Alright!"  She shouted, the time to meet on the field having arrived.  "Let's line up and kick some green arse!  Game faces--Good, good, goo-Rebecca!  Stop smiling like that!"

Rebecca's face dropped.  "Smiling like what?" 

"Like you're on your way to hang out with some mates!"  Angelina snapped.  "It's the first match of the season, intimidation tactics please!"

Rebecca tried her best to intimidate on command, narrowing her eyes a little.  "Better?"

Katie looked at Angelina and mouthed something, something very similar to 'just breathe.'  "Looks good, Rebecca."  Katie motioned for her to continue out into formation.  "Intimidate the daisies, yeah?"

Rebecca had no comeback, and she pretended she didn't see Ron, Harry, and George cracking up at the comment.

Fred shook his head and grabbed her hand, pausing his own laughter momentarily.  "It won't even matter, you'll be going so fast none of them will be able to see your face."

Rebecca's smile returned just as strong as it had been before.  First match of the season!  It had taken Umbridge so long getting the teams reinstated that each team had one match taken off the board, but the rest of the year should go without a hitch.  "Ready?"

Fred pecked her cheek and stepped to the side so they could mount their brooms like the rest of the team.  "If you are."

The Gryffindor team lifted up and took off, streaming towards the pitch where the crowd cheered loudly for them.  Ginny was in her jersey down on the bench with the other alternates while Hermione sat alone, Rebecca noticed with a tug at her heart.  With Ron now up in the sky...  Cedric stood from his seat surrounded by Hufflepuff classmates and weaved his way around others, stepping into the aisle and walking along the edge before sitting at Hermione's side.  A few other students--Colin and Luna, the latter dressed in an intricate lion's head costume--went to fill in anywhere around the newly forming group that they could.

Rebecca looked away, refocusing on the end of Madam Hooch's opening statement and pleased with how the situation below had resolved itself.

Lee cleared his throat into the microphone, greeting the attendees.  "And it looks like the teams are cleared to their ends of the field before taking position."

Angelina held her hand in the middle of the tight circle they had formed, "Gryffindor?"

"Gryffindor!"  They all shouted in response, hurrying to their marks.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the game began.  Katie took the quaffle first, plucking it out of the air just as the Slytherin chaser's fingers brushed against its leather exterior.  Katie wound her arm back and sent it soaring through the air, directly into Rebecca's flight path.

"Perfect pass from Katie sends the quaffle straight to Rebecca!  Malkovich, Slytherin's newest chaser, seems particularly riled up this morning especially as-Oh!  Fake pass to the right and the quaffle goes left to Angelina!  Merlin, I do believe that finger's out of regulation...am I right, Madam Hooch?"

"Jordan, just do your job."  McGonagall's voice sounded tired as it faintly echoed over the crowd.

"I am!  I am repeating the action on the field!"  Lee's gasp interrupted his insolence.  "Bludger heading straight from the opposing towards Katie's head and-wow!  She rolls to the right and goes for the shot!  It's good, ten points to Gryffindor!"

Rebecca cheered for the first goal of the match and the season, the players quickly lining back up in formation at the center of the pitch.  All three girls failed to secure the quaffle, though not for lack of trying.

Two of the Slytherin chasers boxed Katie and Rebecca out while a bludger was sent at Angelina.  The chaser who had been called out publicly for falling for the fake-out tore down the field, dodging George's bludger and pulling his arm back for the shot.

Ron gulped, gripping his broom too tightly and tensing up.  He jerked towards the left-most goal, thinking that was where the shot was headed.  Malkovich turned at the last moment and shot for the center, making it through easily.

"Ten points to Slytherin."  Lee said with far less enthusiasm.

Ron stared down at his broom as the crowd largely remained silent, the only cheering being that of the Slytherin students.  The match continued on at a breakneck pace, Ron letting six more goals through before Angelina called for a time out.

"Weasley!  What's the matter?"  Angelina bellowed, landing roughly in the circle of players forming at the base of the goal posts.  "You're freezing up!"

Ron stammered, trying to figure out how to explain his poor performance.  "I-I'm-"

"Well!"  Angelina demanded.

"Relax, Angelina!"  Rebecca snapped sharply.  Angelina threw her hands above her head and walked a few steps to the side, running her hands down her face and leaving her back to the team.  "Ron, it's alright."  Rebecca put her arms around Ron the best she could, eventually letting her broom fall to the ground to hug him entirely.

"I know, I'm tossing the whole match!"

"I didn't say that shite!"  Rebecca grabbed his shoulders and turned him so that he was facing her entirely.  "Everyone's got a first match, okay?"

Angelina came back and lowered her head apologetically, holding her hand out with Ron's broom.

"Yeah!"  George said, clapping happily.  "Now let's get our heads out of our arses and get back to this one!"

Ron turned his head to the side, a chant growing from the crowd.  "Weasley cannot save a thing.  He cannot block a single ring."

Rebecca put her hands on Ron's cheeks, making him look at her.  "Let's get back to the game."

"That's why Slytherins all sing, Weasley is our king."  Ron's eyes fell as the words continued.

Angelina grimaced and called them back up into the air, regretting ever having called a time out.  "Let's get back up there and finish this!"

The team returned to the sky, a few ringleaders clearly directing the horrible song from in front of the Slytherin laden stands.  Angelina flitted about, giving them individual directions before play began again.  Harry was to get the snitch and get it quickly while they could still secure a victory.  Katie and Rebecca were switching to a two-chaser offence so Angelina could stay back and work as a second line of defence between the quaffle and Ron.

"Just like that, the time out is over and the match begins again!"  Lee announced loudly, trying to over power the crowd.  "Gryffindor snags the quaffle in the takeaway, Katie dodging the swooping Slytherin defence."  Lee had to raise his voice to be heard as the chanting began with a renewed power.

"Weasley was born in a bin, he always lets the quaffle in!"

Rebecca and Katie managed to score another goal each, sending Gryffindor's points higher and lessening the Slytherin lead inch by inch.  When Harry caught the snitch shortly after, Slytherin had only managed to get the quaffle twice more--Ron stopped one shot and Angelina stopped any other chasers before they could shoot.

The Gryffindor team landed on the ground and tried to enjoy their victory, but the song seemed to go on and on despite its eventual end as the students began to file their way out of the stands.  Hermione was one of the first on the pitch and she tried to be as positive as she could.  A victory!"  She shouted, grinning.  "A victory...against Slytherin!"  Their moods seemed to lift minutely at Hermione's attempt.

Fred and George scowled as Draco joined the Slytherin team, all of which turned to walk towards them.  "We wanted to write a few more verses, you know."  Draco's voice was laced with cruelty.  "But we couldn't come up with anything to rhyme with fat or ugly!"

Rebecca scoffed, looking Ron over head to toe.  "Then you're dumber than you look, Malfoy.  Ron's fit and sharp--certainly more so than you."  Any sadness she had felt towards Draco, any similarity she had felt they might have had, it was wiped away by the outrage that filled her at how he had helped ridicule Ron so terribly during his first match.

"Not for him."  Draco snapped.  "We were trying to write about his mother."  The majority of the Gryffindor team froze.  "We also tried useless loser, for his father...couldn't get that to work either."

Ron, Harry, Fred, George, and Rebecca moved in unison, launching themselves at Draco and the Slytherin team.  They abandoned their brooms to fall to the floor, pushing through those who tried to stop them.  "What did you just say?"  Ron bellowed, grabbing a chaser by his kit and winding his arm back.

Fred had Draco by the front of his shirt, hoisting him up off the ground.  "My mother?  You're going to badmouth my mother?"  His voice was low and threatening, a tone Rebecca had never heard leave Fred before.

The professors in the distance shouted for students to clear a path, Umbridge's shout piercing above all others, but they were too slow.

"What isn't there to talk about?  Your whore of a mother or the one she birthed?  Though, ther eis always the whore she's assumed, too."  Draco's eyes flitted to Rebecca, clearly defining who the second insult had been meant for.  Not caring about herself, but hearing the blatant insult of Molly, ignited Rebecca's body like it had with Lavender.  Rage filled every fibre, every empty spot of her body until all she saw was red.

Harry's vision went black momentarily, an image of Voldemort's ghoulish smile filing his sight before his sight returned.  When he blinked away his confusion, Fred had wrestled Draco's body on the ground while Rebecca's fists hurled themselves into his face and shoulders.  Ron had been grabbed by Crabbe and taken away from the fighting, despite how he bucked against the larger boy's grip.  George was dealing with Goyle, trying to step in before any of the Slytherins watching tried to make a move to free Draco.

"Children!"  Umbridge shouted, her wand in hand to separate them all.  Draco shakily pushed himself to his hands and knees, blood streaming from his nose as he gasped for air.  Rebecca spat a mouthful of blood on the ground before moving to take him down again, the ache in her jaw somehow comforting as her anger roared louder.  Hermione hooked her arm through Rebecca's forcing her to stay still.  "This behaviour is shameful!"

McGonagall walked past Umbridge, grabbing the faces of her students and turning them up to hers so she could survey the depths of the damage.

"You four," Umbridge gestured to Harry, Rebecca, Fred, and George.  "You four are hereby issued lifelong bans from quidditch.  Your brooms will be confiscated."

"And what about Mr Malfoy?"  McGonagall called after Umbridge as she walked away.  

Umbridge stopped, turning back slowly.  "Mr Malfoy is an esteemed member of the Inquisitorial Squad.  Whatever skirmish happened here was not preempted by him, nor Mr Crabbe, Goyle, Zambini, or otherwise present!"  Umbridge addressed the four holder's of all blame once more.  "But, on the topic of additional punishments, you four are also issued one month of detention."

Hermione and McGonagall walked with the team back to the showers.  Angelina shell-shocked into silence and Fred holding his still-bleeding nose to the sleeve of his jersey.  The second the door was shut behind them, McGonagall turned on them.  "I cannot believe the insanity I just had to witness.  What, in Merlin's long, long beard, would have you turn into such barbarians?"

Ron sputtered.  "You couldn't-He said, he actually said..."  His mouth kept going, but no words came out.

The hot, burning rage that had consumed Rebecca had yet to lessen.  If anything, at the scolding, it seemed to grow sharper and force her heart pounding into her ears.  Rebecca's head stayed towards the ground, despite McGonagall's persisting questions.  She rubbed the raw knuckle of one fist against her trousers--the pain not cutting through the fog.

McGonagall opened the door from the main room to the showers, pointing into the benches before they left.  Rebecca sat next to Harry, McGonagall's voice still muffled and distant.  The heat rose in her body at being forced to sit, the hair on the back of her neck and arms standing up as her skin prickled painfully.

"You are aware there's nothing I can do, nothing anyone can do now.  You will be subject to her punishment."

The tile floor Rebecca continued to stare at began to warp and waver, the lines fading and sharpening to a sudden and startling definition.  "Miss Potter!"  McGonagall snapped.  Rebecca looked up, her mind startled clear.  "Have you heard a single word I have said?"

"Yes, professor."  Rebecca intoned, hoping her voice sounded the proper amount of apologetic.

"Go shower.  Know this, you have disappointed your house today.  Godric Gryffindor himself would be ashamed at all of your behaviour."

"That's a lie!"  Rebecca shouted, a final bubble of rage making its way up from deep inside of her.  Her hand clapped over her mouth as she stood up, shocked she had let that escape.  "I didn't mean-I didn't mean that."

McGonagall watched Rebecca's eyes flit back and forth, how she rolled her neck before taking a step closer to the shower doorway.  Rebecca continued into the shower, her eyes staying as distant.  The other girls followed in seconds later.

When McGonagall turned back to the center of the room, Harry and Ron had disappeared into the showers as well.  Only Fred and George remained and the stood slowly.  George checked Fred's nose and nodded, the bleeding had stopped at last.  George then entered the shower, leaving him to speak to McGonagall--George wasn't sure he was able to repeat what had been said, not yet.

"Whores."  Fred said quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Whores."  Fred repeated.  "He called our mother, our sister, and Rebecca...whores."  Fred discarded his sodden, bloodied jersey and left it on the bench.  He faced McGonagall and said only one thing more before joining the other boys in the showers.  "Could you have reacted differently?"

*******************************************

Fred and George, much to Rebecca's relief, hadn't yet had a detention with Umbridge.  The fact had filled her with a level of peace that was unmatched every time her hand twinged or ached after the punishments Umbridge loved to rain down on her, and it was a level of peace that was utterly annihilated the evening after the quidditch debacle.

Fred sat beside Rebecca while George was next to Harry, four identical black quills resting on the desks that had been waiting for them when they arrived.  Umbridge gave her usual speech about behaviour and positive role models, but eventually gave them the same task as usual.

"Perhaps," Her giggle echoed in the ears of the punished.  "You could all benefit from a lesson on lying."

Rebecca and Harry were skilled and hardened against the initial pain of your own handwriting being cut into your skin, they had even learned that it was best to write slower than you would normally as then you got less cuts per hour.  Fred and George, very unused to inflicting such pain on themselves, learned that it was much harder than it seemed--their punishment.

All four hands quickly wept blood, the letters opening with a painful malice that burned.  An hour later, they were excused with smug tutting.

None of them spoke a word as they left, none of them sure what to say.  Fred and George followed Harry into the bathroom and, since Harry wouldn't be alone this time, Rebecca opted for the girls' lavatory.

She looked at herself in the mirror as she rinsed the back of her hand.  Her hair had grown since the end of summer cut received months before, and the bags under her eyes were pronounced and dark.  The water washed and cooled the blood in her hand, the stinging providing her a clarity she needed as she gathered her thoughts.

Rebecca was angry, of course.  She always seemed to be angry lately.  But she was especially angry at the outcome of the day.  Now she was banned from quidditch, she was forced into even more detention, Fred and George now had to suffer alongside her, Draco wasn't in their suffering with them.  She was angry, wholeheartedly and entirely.

Rebecca turned and leaned against the lip of the sink, holding a towel to the back of her hand as she looked over the knuckles that were bruised after the brawl.  Both of her hands were horrid now, left over traces of the violence she couldn't seem to help but surround herself with.  A deep dislike--almost a hatred--for herself threatened to bubble up inside of her, but the shuffle of shoes on the floor caught her attention.

Walking to the back of the room, one door was partially open with a crouched down, trying-to-hide figure inside.  Rebecca scoffed as Lavender revealed her face.  "What?  Trying to find more lies to tell the Prophet?"

Lavender shook her head timidly, not looking at Rebecca directly.

"Look at me!"  Rebecca demanded, "Don't duck your head as if I've ever done anything to you that wasn't deserved!"

Lavender glanced up, but looked away just as quickly.  "You're mad, you've really lost it."

"Oh no."  Rebecca scowled.  "What're you going to do about it?"  Rebecca turned and left the bathroom without another word.  She would wait for the boys out in the hall, at least the ghosts were better company.

When Fred finally left the bathroom, a little colour returned to his cheeks and his hand not actively bleeding, he was poking the edge of the wound gingerly.  Rebecca reached into her pocket and pulled out the tin of salve he had given her so long ago.  "May I?"  She asked, any fight in her gone.  All that was left in front of Fred, her Fred hurting, was a tired and wary care.

Fred nodded and watched as she spread a thin layer on his hand with the utmost of gentleness.  He took some and reached for her hand to do the same, taking the excess and reaching for her other hand.  The salve was meant to ease pain and speed up healing, which he hoped for her split knuckle.  He could hardly stand the thought of Rebecca hurting any more than-well, hurting at all.  "You don't need me, certainly not to protect you."  Fred brought her bruised hand to his lips before letting go.  "That's been proven time and time again."

Rebecca shook her head.  It was just a Fred-like remark, but it felt like it tore at something inside of her.  "I need you, always.

Fred passed the tin to George and Harry before putting his arm around Rebecca and leading the way back to the common room, waiting until they were in the privacy of Gryffindor Tower to fully embrace Rebecca as he wanted to.  He only stopped when the bench at the very back of the common room was in front of them, and Fred pulled Rebecca onto his knee before she could sit beside him.

Rebecca hid her frown in the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around him.

Fred rubbed circles into her back, knowing that something had to be dug up.  "Love?"  Rebecca looked up at him, letting him know she was listening.  "Everything that he said today was false."

"I know."  

Fred shook his head, leaning his forehead against hers and closing his eyes.  "It's not enough for you to know it, I need you to know that I know it.  Your friends know it.  Hell, most of the bloody school knows it, too."

"How do you know that?"  Rebecca asked, confused how the ending was brought in.

Fred felt a small smile play at his lips, though he felt absolutely void of humour in his chest.  "Ask Cedric sometime.  Apparently, gossip says we're 'real.'"

"'Course we're bloody real."

"Not us as in you and I," Fred's smile came easier to him.  "Us as in us, together."

Rebecca put her head back against his shoulder and closed her eyes.  "I can't believe we've been banned from quidditch."

Fred sighed.  "I know, love.  Is there anything I can do?"

Rebecca shook her head, pressing her lips to his neck before putting her hand to his cheek to turn his head towards her.  She kissed him lightly at first, then stronger.  When something dripped down Fred's cheek and onto hers, she pulled back concerned.  "Darling, what's the matter?"  She whispered, wiping his tears as quickly as they could form.

"How could he have said that?  How can these things--these horrible things--be happening at our school?  Why doesn't anyone care?"

Rebecca sat up more, pulling Fred's head against her.  She rubbed the back of his head and let him purge the defeat he felt until his shoulders stilled and he seemed to be in one piece once more.

"I'm sorry."  His voice was soft and he wouldn't look her in the eyes.

Rebecca kissed his cheek and swung her legs off of him, standing in front of him with her hand outstretched for him to take.  "Don't be stupid."

Fred blinked at her, smiling before taking her hand.  "Okay."

Rebecca brought him to the boys' stairs, looking up them with a devilish gleam in her eyes that Fred realised he had fallen in love with as much as the rest of her.  Startling him out of his reverie, Rebecca nodded at her decision as to how they would spend what little time they had left of the day. 

"Let's go find a first year, seeing the products at work always brightens a day."

Fred looked up at the ceiling of his bed in the dark hours later and thought about just how right she had been, their day had ended with a little brightness.

*******************************************

Their detentions seemed to stretch an eternity for two weeks, but Rebecca's thoughts on the subject were only made worse as more and more students were punished alongside them every night--for the minutest of offences.

Nigel had his first detention during the second week of their punishment and, no matter how hard he tried, a handful of gasps and whimpers escaped him.  This only helped the older students in detention, letting their anger mask their pain.

"That will do for tonight."  Umbridge smiled over them as they were excused.  "I hope the message is starting to...sink in."  She actually laughed as they stood.

Fred and George were quick to find Nigel after, putting their arms over his shoulders and walking him into a separate corridor ahead of the others o give him some privacy.  Most of the students followed behind, knowing that Madam Pomfrey had been forbidden for providing any punished student medical aid and there were Gryffindors who had salve.  "It's not that bad, mate."  George said softly, handing Fred the tissue he held his hand out for.

Fred held Nigel's hand gently, dapping at the cuts.  "Not bad at all."  Fred spoke gently, looking over his shoulder to locate where Rebecca had gone with the salve.  "Let's get something on there though."  Nigel closed his eyes and turned away as Fred put it on, the sight of his torn and smarting hand making his stomach hurt.

Harry tended to cling to Rebecca after detention, listening to how she spoke to the younger students who needed salve and reassurance.  He wouldn't admit--maybe he didn't even know--that he liked to pretend there was someone there to speak to him like she did.

Rebecca sat on the bench beside Nigel when she was done, the other students leaving to their evenings.  Fred stayed on one knee in front of Nigel, the younger boy's hand still in his.  "How many more do you have?"

"Two."  NIgel sniffled, moving to stand and finidng that Fred wouldn't let him just yet.

"You don't deserve this."  Fred said plainly, and finally.  He didn't want Nigel to argue that he knew that already, he just wanted Nigel to hear it.

Nigel nodded once and stood, holding his hand to his chest.  "You don't either."  He said softly.

Rebecca took the tin back out of her pocket and pressed it into Nigel's other hand, shaking her head when the boy tried to refuse the offering.  "We can always make more, just take it and share it."  Nigel still seemed unsure, so she went a step further.  "Please?"  Her voice left no room for more argument.

Fred looked at the back of Nigel's head as he walked away and hurried to him, leaning down and whispering something into his ear with a grin.  Whatever it was, it filled Nigel with the very fire his pain had dampened--Nigel took off at a run to find his friends.

"What was that?"  Rebecca asked, falling into step beside Fred.  His hand searched hers out automatically, like a magnet.

"It's time to fight back."  Fred's eyes glowed with something bright behind them, something devious and determined.  "We've got the D.A. for the future, but we haven't done anything about the present yet."

"And what, pray tell, are you thinking?"  George asked with a scowl, looking at the back of his hand.  He had always liked his hands, he thought they were one of the most noticeable things about a person.  Now one of his would always be marred.

"Hmmm..."  Fred nudged George, trying to distract him.  "Umbridge-itis?"

"What?"  Harry snapped, feeling left out as the word sent Rebecca and George oohing and high-fiving, though they ended up yanking their hands out of the air and hissing in pain.

"Illness is coming to Hogwarts."  That was the only explanation Fred would give, and the second Ron and Hermione swarmed Harry in the common room, he led the way up the boys' stairs with Rebecca and George on his heels.

Rebecca took her usual position in their set up, the middle man.  She was in charge of ingredient measuring, preparing, and allocation.  George sat at the end of the cauldron, where the finished products would need to be checked for quality and packaged.  Fred, after grabbing their recipe book, pulled out their trunk of supplies.  

"What're we thinking first?"  Fred mused, running his hands over the tops of the organised chaos.  "Doesn't matter all that much, Nigel's telling the others to be ready tomorrow and we're going to need everything from the snackboxes."

George snickered.  "She's not going to know what hit her."

Rebecca tried to capture the feelings filling the room, normalcy, trouble-brewing, happiness.  "Let's start with the Puking Pastilles then, more of a mess left behind!"

*******************************************

It was after midnight when they had finished preparing everything for the morning.  Lee had already gone to bed with plenty of complaints at the inconvenience of the lights being on outside of his bed curtains--not because he could see them, but because he knew they were on.  As the last batch was put away, Rebecca let out a breath and wiped at her forehead with the back of her non-detention hand.  All three of them were knackered after the sheer rush of work they had completed without pause.

"Think it'll be enough?"  Rebecca asked, motiong to the basket in front of them with a yawn.  Row up on row of Fever Fudge, Blistering Bon-Bons, and the sweet they had made the most of, Puking Pastilles.

Fred shrugged and added their secondary project's work to the finished pile, tins made to give to other students.  "For a little, at least."  Part of the reason they had worked so late was George's insistence that the tins for others get decorated, now there were some darned in yellow and black and blue and bronze.  George had been right, in the end.  The extra step made the gesture all the greater.  "It's late, RK.  Let's get you on to bed before Hermione combusts."

"You assume she hasn't already."  Rebecca said under her breath, pulled to her feet after Fred like a yo-yo on a string.  At the door, it occured to Rebecca that Fred was already in his room for the night.  "You don't have to walk me across, I know the way."

Fred shook his head and waited to respond until after he had closed the door to the stairs behind them.  "But I want to."  They worked their way down the stairs slowly, pausing at the bottom of the girls'.  Rebecca tilted her head up to him as he kissed her gently, his hand resting on her hip and holding her against him.  Releasing her lips, Fred looked her face over carefully.  "Are you okay tonight?  There's something...bothering you, I can tell."

Rebecca tried to give him a smile, but it was more of a wince as he prodded the exact part of her that hurt.  "I'm fine."  He continued to look at her, waiting.  Fred was certain he would wait an eternity for her.  "I didn't like seeing Nigel hurt, the other young ones."

"They're children as much as you are."  Fred said softly, not understanding that this pain Rebecca felt was pain out of love, not perceived guilt.

"Yes, because you are so much older than I am."  Rebecca sighed, her hands tightening around Fred's arms.  "You know what I mean, they're children still.  They're supposed to be-I don't know.  Happy?  Focusing on their schoolwork and trying to sneak a fast one on Filch and all of this without the torture and decrees and bullshite."

Fred slid his hands up until they were resting on top of her shoulders, his head drooping to stay with her eyes.  "I know and you are entirely right.  We're going to take it back though, with the meetings going as well as they are and with Nigel rounding up the forces."

Rebecca nodded, letting Fred's certainty and positivity fuel her.  She pecked his cheek and stepped up a stair.  "I'll see you in the morning.  I love you, Fred."

"I love you too, don't forget it."  Fred glanced up at her as she reached the midpoint of the stairwell.  "Don't forget your draught either?"

"I won't, thank you."  Rebecca's mood darkened as she made her way to her room.  "Don't know what the bloody point is."  She and Harry had continued to dream in the meaningless, dark bits as they had been without explanation.

*******************************************

"The stunning spell is a wizard's bread and butter."  Harry walked in the aisle facing the front of the two lines of Dumbledore's Army.  "It's one of the most useful spells in your arsenal."

Rebecca nodded, agreeing.  "Attack or defense, to start or finish an interaction."

"Nigel," Harry propted, hiding his displeasure.  "Why don't you take the other side."  Rebecca and Harry both agreed that the best way to start talking about any spell was--within reason--to have it done to them.  Rebecca and Harry had also, much to Harry's displeasure, drawn straws.

Nigel's heart thudded as he walked out from between Fred and George--the position he tended to fill whenever possible after the care the older boys had shown after a number of detentions.

"Give me your best shot."  Harry said encouragingly.

Nigel raised his wand in front of him and held it over his shoulder, whipping his arm towards Harry forcefully.  "Stupefy!"

Nigel and Harry were thrown in opposite directions, both due to the force of Nigel's spell.  "Not bad!  Not bad at all, Nigel!"  Rebecca led the applause as Nigel staggered to his feet and she went to Harry, offering him a hand with only a hint of a smile.

"She's right," Harry croaked, rolling his arms to loosen what had tightened.  "That was certainly not bad."

"Let's break up into partners and give it a go!"  Rebecca called.  She and Harry stayed where they were to talk a moment, surveying which groups had been made.  "Oh no."  Rebecca whispered.

"What?"  Harry looked over the room again, not seeing any issues.

"Look."  

"Oh no."  Harry pursed his lips, not feeling good about this at all.

"Don't worry," Ron said quietly, gravitating towards Hermione to be partners as he usually did.  "I'll go easy on you."

Hermione smiled through the insult.  "Thanks, Ronald."  He turned and walked back to the other side of the line, unsure as to why Hermione's voice had taken on the same tone he usually earned with a crude joke.

"One sickle on Ron."  George whispered to Fred.

Fred shook his head, there was familial faith and then there were facts.  "You're mad, one on her!"

Rebecca went to the middle and raised her hand for them to prepare.  When Rebecca lowered her hand, they were free to make their attempts.  Hermione had already flourished her wand and cast the spell by the time Ron had begun to circle his wrist.  

Yet again, a boy was sent flying through the air at that night's meeting.  Fred rubbed his hands together and laughed, taking the sickle from George with glee.  "Thank you!"  He sang, sticking his earning in his back pocket.

"Shut up!"  George groaned, eying Ron warily as he hobbled towards them.

"I let her do that."  Ron said defensively.  "Good manners, isn't it?"

Fred rolled his eyes.  "If that's what you want to tell people."  George continued to rib George, but did so more and more alone.  Fred's attention had been caught by Harry's furious stance and look down at Rebecca.  Rebecca stood there, taking whatever he was giving until Harry had clearly pushed too far and Rebecca glared up at him.  She shook her head and spat just a few words before leaving to help others.

When she came to Fred to check on him, he could feel that she was bothered even though she was trying to hide it.  "Trouble?"

"Always, it seems."  Rebecca already felt lighter just being with him.  "How much did you make?"  She linked her hands behind his back, resting her chin against his chest.

"Are you accusing me of gambling?"  Fred asked offended.  "I would-hey!  What're you..."

"A sickle, hmm?"  Rebecca grinned up at him, enjoying his flustered and brightened cheeks from her searching.

"Watch your hands!"  Fred whispered, looking around to see if anyone had noticed.

"I don't know what you're talking about."  They went back and forth, chatting a moment longer before Rebecca continued onto the next student and Fred followed not far behind.

"You shouldn't be cross."  Cho said, dragging Harry's attention back to her and away from his twin.  His scowl was proof enough that he was angry, but Cho didn't think that this spat would last very long--not at all.  She had seen Harry and Rebecca's relationship, how close they were compared to some other sibling-pairs at Hogwarts who hardly spoke to each other except in passing.  "Not in times like these."

Harry bit his tongue, catching his rude and snarky immediate response.  "You don't understand."

Cho shrugged, knowing far more than she let on.  "Ravenclaws tend to know things, you know."

"Not about this."

Cho sighed.  "You're angry about the war against Umbridge and the role the three of them are playing in it."

Harry scoffed.  "War?  They are handing out pranks--hardly weapons.  They're only acting like fools and going to get themselves in more detention!"

Cho gave him a small, sad smile before turning back to the dummy she was supposed to be trying the spell on.  "Are you mad about the pranks themselves, afraid about her bringing more punishment onto herself, or jealous and feeling left out?"

Harry stared at Cho's profile, hearing his every source of discontent laid out in front of him.  He looked over his shoulder to where Rebecca and Colin were laughing heartily at the dummy that she had enchanted to waltz around the room.  "That's not all I'm jealous of."  Harry thought as Fred bowed in front of Rebecca and held out his hand, the two of them the first of many partnerships twirling and jumping around the room.

When their time was up for the meeting, they started the dismissal procedure as usual.  Rebecca and Fred were leaning against the wall surrounded by older students waiting for the younger ones to get back first, laughter aplenty washing off everyone in their immediate vicinity.

"At least somethings can't seem to be ruined, right?"  Cedric asked, clapping his hand to Harry's shoulder as he passed to do a final check for straggling second or third years.

"Yeah, right."  Harry muttered.

The crowd around them began to dissipate, the evening having grown fairly late.  Rebecca's smile lost some of it's radiance, much to Fred's disappointment, as Harry appeared in front of them.

"What now?"  Rebecca asked, grateful that he had at least waited to fight more until the Army had dispersed.  "Am I laughing too much again?"

Harry shook his head.  "No--well, yes--but that's not what I was going to say.  I was-"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes.  "You know, Harry...take this however you want, but I don't care about what you have to say right now.  I'm sorry I am not miserable every waking second like you are making yourself, and I'm sorry I let myself enjoy any happy moments that happen to appear."  She looked at him expectantly.  "Is there anything else you could possibly want to hear an apology for?"

"Rebecca..."  

Rebecca snapped, the condescending tone what pushed her over the edge.  "Don't 'Rebecca' me like that!"

"How do you want me to say your name then?"  Harry's voice was sharp.  "It's not my fault that you parade around like a-like a love-struck puppy!  It's irritating and annoying.  There, that's something you could apologise for."

Fred stood up taller, looking down at Harry.  It was one thing to be in an argument, it was another to insult and call names.

"I see what the problem is then."  Rebecca stepped closer to Harry and didn't look away from his eyes.  "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm not apologising for anything else.  You are an arse.  Pull up your fucking big boy trousers and tell Cho how you feel if you're lonely, but don't hold my happiness against me because of it."

Harry lowered his eyes and tried to think of anything to say, but failed.

Rebecca left the Room of Requirement with the next exiting group, Fred following alongside her quietly.  He had to walk faster and faster to keep up, musing to himself how fast her legs could move.

"Who does he think he is?  Really, who?"  Rebecca fumed, speaking to herself mainly.  "Trying to act like I've done something wrong!"

"These things always work themselves out, love.  Let's just-damn."

Rebecca looked over her shoulder, confused as to why Fred had stopped in front of the wall of decrees.  "What is it?"

Educational Decree 83: Students will submit to questioning about suspected illicit activities."

"That's great, fantastic."  Rebecca rolled her eyes.  "Another decree!  What else could top-Merlin, Fred!  What's the hurry?"

Fred had grabbed onto her hand and pulled her behind him as he hurried through the corridors to the common room with a renewed need.  "We've got to get back.  Now."

"What is it?"

"Questioning."  Fred wouldn't explain further.  He only stopped when he and Rebecca joined Hermione and Ginny in the corner of the common room, his face so heavily coated with worry their conversation halted instantly.  "New decree--individual questioning."

Hermione glanced at Rebecca and sighed.  "Oh, blast."

*******************************************

"This is stupid, I don't even-"

"Just do it again!"  Hermione commanded.

Rebecca pursed her lips, but did as she was told.  "No, professor.  I don't know what you're talking about."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, taking her role in the task seriously.  "Tell me the truth!"

Rebecca focused on the muscles of her face, willing them to stay as placid as she could.  She hoped her cheeks weren't reddening as she actively thought about lying.  "That is the truth."

Fred sat back in his seat with a little air of relief.  "It's better.  Not good, mind you, but not as bad as it was."

Harry nodded, but stopped as soon as he saw the look Rebecca gave him.  He had ran into the common room half an hour after their 'training' had begun, he had read the newest decree and instantly thought of who they knew that could be especially caught by this.  

Hermione looked up from her parchment and her notes she had scrawled as Rebecca's every action had been analysed.  "You stopped squinting, which is good.  You're still biting at your lip though.  If she pays attention to your tells, there's no hope."

"I'm certainly ready with that much faith."  Rebecca muttered before shaking her head and speaking so they could hear her.  "My lip just hurts, there--explanation."

"Why would your lip hurt?"  George asked.  He had been listening to the conversation with only half of his attention, flipping through one of the copies of Quidditch Weekly he had never read before.  He had mentioned it to Cedric weeks and weeks ago in a conversation, how he had always wanted to read through the beater interview from 1964.

"Erm...let's see..."  Rebecca glanced at Fred as she wracked her brain and smiled, having an answer immediately.  "Rough snog?"

Ron bent down and put his head between his knees, retching dramatically.

Hermione rolled her eyes at both of them, but thought it through a moment.  "Actually, that might work to your advantage.  If you're...honest enough...she may end any questioning of yours early."

"Or she'll assign more detention."  Harry contradicted.

"Does that matter to you?"  Rebecca asked, standing up and kissing the top of Fred's head.  The hour was late and she was ready for bed.  "Colour me surprised then."

Harry jumped to his feet, following her to the girls' stairs.  "That doesn't even make sense.  Can you just listen to me for a moment?"

Rebecca paused.  "Sure, a moment.  I was hoping for a break before bed."

Harry took a deep breath, speaking lowly.  "It's not that I'm jealous of you and Fred."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and turned her back, continuing up the stairs.  She was too tired for lies.

"No wait!  I am, but not like that."  Harry was relieved that she turned back towards him, taking a step towards him again.  "I just...I wish I was able to offer you something.  I can't wrap my head around how you lot make your pranks.  I can't play quidditch with you anymore.  It's not like there's an opportunity to just pop out and do something the you and I with all these bloody rules."  Harry's voice broke as he further explained why he had acted the way he had.  "I feel like I'm nothing special to you, that I can be replaced."

Rebecca rolled her eyes again.  "Well, that's just dumb.  No one on earth could replace you.  I only have one twin."  She sighed.  "We've been working on the Army together, doesn't that count for something?"

Harry shrugged.  "In a way, I guess.  But that's work."

"Harry,"  Rebecca said sadly.  "We're entering a war.  Voldemort is out there, as you well know.  We're not always going to be able to just have fun together.  We should be enjoying whatever we do together no matter work or play."

"You're right."  Harry said, much to his chagrin.

"I know."

"Does this mean we're okay again?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, trying to fight back the smile that wanted to show.  "Depends, you pulled up your trousers yet?"

Harry grinned.  "Yes, my 'fucking big boy trousers' are up."

*******************************************

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