Chapter 6
"Madam Pomfrey wants to see me." Rebecca said, slowing down as their group left the feast. "I'll meet you all in the common room soon as I'm done." She thought that that would be it on the subject, waving them on and heading the opposite direction.
But, hardly a corridor away, the sound of hurried footsteps behind her caused her to look back. Fred smiled and shrugged. "George doesn't need me to look up an aging potion, figured I'd come too."
"What do you need an aging potion for?"
"For the age ring, of course!" Fred's mind hadn't wavered, he and George had to at least try to get into the Triwizard Tournament. "Dumbledore's apparently drawn one around it to keep people under seventeen from entering."
Rebecca said nothing on the subject, chewing at the same spot she had before even though it hurt--Perhaps because it hurt. Fred sensed the change in mood and changed the conversation to Mad-Eye Moody's arrival and the freak weather in the hall.
They were still talking about how odd it had been for the enchanted ceiling to have sprinkled on them when they reached the Hospital Wing doors. "About time!" Madam Pomfrey chided, waving them in.
Rebecca took a seat at the chair across from Madam Pomfrey's desk while Fred lingered by the middle of the room. "What's this about, Madam?"
The woman sat back in her seat. "A follow-up, really. I wanted to know if the additions to a nightly tea was still working and that you've still been drinking it." McGonagall had already warned Poppy of the sensed-lie about the latter.
"Every night." Rebecca said. "It's still working, though I wish I could still have dreams." Rebecca's head shot up as she realised what she had said. "Not that I'm ungrateful! Not at all. I just-"
"Dreams can be important, dear." Madam Pomfrey thought on the issue a moment. "We could try diluting the strength of the drops, a little at least. There's a chance it would only decrease the chances of a premonition instead of blocking it completely, but-"
"We can only try." Rebecca gave the healer a little smile. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."
"Don't thank me yet." Madam Pomfrey rifled around in the cabinet next to her desk and set a different bottle than what she had had out in front of Rebecca. "I expect a report tomorrow--An honest report. No funny business."
Rebecca stood and put the bottle in her pocket. "Of course! We're very serious, aren't we Fred?"
Fred popped to her side, happy to have been included in their conversation and eager to follow along. "Oh, absolutely! I think I'll be organising my socks tonight."
"Out!" Madam Pomfrey laughed. "Out with the both of you!"
Fred and Rebecca didn't hurry on their way back to the common room, finding it easy to play around in the empty, post-feast halls in a way that they relished the opportunity to do so. Soon enough, they had to stop. They had linked elbows and been spinning, switching one direction to another as they laughed and ended up making themselves topplingly dizzy.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell her about the incident from the match?" Fred asked, the topic having been one he couldn't quite get out of his head until he asked.
"I'm certain." Rebecca said, turning to the large window next to them. "How can you even be thinking of such trivial things with a view like this?" She surveyed the wonder slowly, taking in everything from the biggest to the smallest detail. The multitudes of stars twinkling above and on the lake's water, the shadows of the trees from the forest on the sweeping hills of the valley.
Fred put his shoulder against the wall and glanced out the window for hardly a second. "Your well-being is far from trivial." While she was engrossed in the beauty outside, Fred focused solely on her.
Rebecca tore her eyes away from the night and looked to him, reassuring him. "If it happens again, I will go straight to the Infirmary. Okay?"
Fred liked to think that he knew Rebecca fairly well, he considered her one of his favourite people to spend time with--Fred knew when she was lying and when she wasn't and he was content with her answer. "Want to keep heading to the common room?"
Rebecca nodded, but waited another minute looking out the window before moving to go. Fred spent the minute alternating between the outside and the inside.
The Fat Lady was very happy to see the two of them and started chatting with Rebecca warmly. The topics of summer were covered, as well as what classes Rebecca was looking forward to before the portrait opened to the home-like view of the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ron were waiting for them by the fire, Hermione and Ginny having ascended to their room earlier and George busy researching up in his.
"Everything alright?" Harry remarked, glancing between Fred and Rebecca slowly and in a way that went entirely unnoticed by either.
Rebecca took out the bottle and showed it off, waving to it like she was presenting a prize. "Yes, of course. We're trying something new, might be good."
Harry looked as if he wanted to ask a question, but George appeared at the top of the boys' stairs and called for Fred and Rebecca insistently.
"I'll be right back." Rebecca followed Fred up the stairs, curious as to what could have George so excited.
Inside their room, Lee was sitting on his bed and waved to Rebecca as she and Fred entered. "Bloody hell, George!" Rebecca looked around half in awe, half in shock. "We've only been back for a few hours, how have you already made a mess?"
"There isn't a mess and I didn't ask you up for a lesson on housekeeping." George quipped back sassily. "Come look at this recipe, it's perfect!" Rebecca skimmed the information on the aging potion George was so proud of finding. "And, best of all, it only brews for one night! We can enter tomorrow!"
Rebecca rolled her eyes and went back to the door, unable to hear another word about entering the tournament without saying something that would cause a row. "Don't forget to sleep, yeah? I'll see you all in the morning, for classes."
Lee raised an eyebrow as Fred hurried out into the hallway after her while George only worked on, laying out ingredients and everything that they would need when Fred got back.
"I hope the tea works out." Fred said, pausing with Rebecca in the privacy of the dormitories. "Good luck, I mean, with the dream thing."
Rebecca glanced up at him, finding that his face was preemptively red and that he was leaning closer to her so that her back pressed against the wall. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, leaving what felt like a trail of fire where his thumb brushed across her temple. Fred put his face near the side of hers, his soft whisper clearly heard.
"Maybe you'll even dream of me."
Fred's face lingered closer to hers a moment longer, so close, before he turned back and walked to his room without looking back--though Rebecca wouldn't have noticed even if he had. She stayed where she had been a long moment, her heart racing wildly. She couldn't help but feel her face as she walked down the stairs to the common room as if there would be a crumb left of Fred's touch that she needed to brush away.
Rebecca made her good nights to Harry and Ron quickly, rushing to get to someone she could talk to before bed. "Hermione, you are not going to believe what just happened." Rebecca laid onto Hermione's bed next to her, holding a pillow against her. "I was up to see George's idea..."
"He did not!" Hermione cried out, holding her hand over her mouth and laughing wildly. Ginny let out a mock-gag where she had been listening from the bathroom door. "Ginny, come on." Hermione gave her a tired look. "Even you have to admit that there was a certain skill in 'maybe you'll dream of me.'"
"It's Fred!" Ginny said as if that answered everything.
Rebecca got her pajamas on and her tea ready, following the instructions Madam Pomfrey had written out carefully. Hermione and Ginny, quickly finding that they had the same poor opinions on the Beauxbatons' girls, pulled their covers up and looked over their timetables as their nightly routines came to an end.
Ginny was the first to turn off her lamp, wishing the other two a good night before closing the curtains around her bed as they were apt to stay up a bit later. Hermione sighed and scooted over in her bed as Rebecca stood at the foot with an expectant, though unquestioning smile. The massive tome on Hermione's lap was held on both of theirs as they read together in the quiet until Hermione couldn't read a page more and Rebecca's yawns had grown more and more frequent.
"Are you admitting anything about Fred, then?" Hermione asked, grinning. "Since you seemed so willing to share what he'd said?"
"Are you admitting anything about the scarf and its giver?" Rebecca countered, grinning as well.
Hermione sighed. "So we're at an impasse."
"It would seem."
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Ron was absolutely furious that they were to start their fourth years off with Defence Against the Dark Arts. "We'll hardly be done with breakfast before we have to sit with a nutter!" He scooped a second helping of eggs onto his plate, seemingly to cope with the idea. He admired the man, sure. But there was something unsettling about the bouncing blue eye of Moody's.
"He's our most experienced teacher yet." Hermione argued. "Surely it won't be that bad."
Fred sighed as he and George managed to join the others for the end of breakfast, sitting beside Rebecca as usual. He and George had been up far too late brewing the potion and then Fred found he wasn't tired, leading to him staring up at the ceiling for what felt like ages. "You lot are lucky, honestly. We've got the OWLs this year." Rebecca opened her mouth to ask, but Fred answered without it. "Ordinary Wizarding Levels."
"But away from boring things like examinations, we-" George tried to change the subject.
"Examinations are not boring!" Hermione exclaimed, launching the two of them into a debate that swept up most of their friends.
"How did you sleep?" Fred asked, idly picking adding banana to his oatmeal.
Rebecca felt her face warm as she remembered how he had behaved the night before, Harry shouldering his bag and checking the time before motioning to those that had gotten to breakfast on time that they should be going shortly. "Fine, thank you. I think this new draught will work out."
Fred couldn't help a little smirk. "So you did dream?"
She shook her head. "Not exactly, but I suppose no one dreams every single night. I just slept differently, if that makes sense."
Fred nodded and moved on as Hermione grinned at her plate inexplicably to Harry, who was growing agitated. "As much as I enjoy this," Harry motioned between Fred and Rebecca. "We're going to be late." Harry left the table quickly, leaving confusion behind him to what had sparked his attitude.
Ron shook his head. "Don't take it personally, any of you." He took a bite of his toast before elaborating. "He stayed up too late and then slept through his alarm, too."
Rebecca stood up as Hermione and Ron did, the fourth years wanting to catch up with Harry before class truly began. Ron and Hermione began to make their way to the exit, Rebecca leaning back down to Fred's ear very similarly to how he had done to her the night before. "You seem awfully concerned about my dreams, Fred." She enunciated carefully, speaking low enough that only he could hear. "You're not...dreaming about me, are you?"
Fred choked on his oatmeal, an issue arising as Rebecca left he and George. George scarfed what he could before going to stand as well, not wanting to start the year off on the wrong foot. Or at least, not start the morning off that way. "Ready to go?" He asked Fred, reaching for his backpack.
"Nope." Fred said curtly. "Need a minute."
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Mad-Eye Moody stood at the front of the classroom, staring at them all as they filed into their first class of the day and the term. Harry was already in his seat when the other three got to him, unable to say anything before Harry apologised.
"I'm sorry," Harry sighed, lowering his head. "I just didn't sleep well, I think."
The others, especially Rebecca, were more than happy to let it go. It didn't help that Moody started class the second the bells tolled, but it wasn't too big of an issue either.
"Alastor Moody." He proclaimed as the last ring faded. "Ex-auror...Ministry malcontent...and your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. I am here because Dumbledore asked me," His human eye moved steadily from one student to another, his prosthetic eye bounced around the room wildly. "End of story, goodbye, the end!" His voice rose to a shout before dropping back to a conversational level. "Any questions?"
The students had many, many questions, but they stared at him silently. The room was unsure of their new professor--Very unsure.
"When it comes to the Dark Arts, I believe in a practical approach." Moody narrowed his focus onto Harry a moment, sitting next to Ron besides Rebecca who was next to Hermione in four seats across the middle of the classroom. "Who can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?"
Rebecca looked around the room, masking her confusion. She had never heard of such a thing.
"Three, sir." Hermione answered from besides Rebecca.
Moody wrote the numbers one through three on the board and looked back to Hermione. "And so they are named?"
Hermione's voice grew tight, a weight in her stomach settling at the feeling of where this lesson was going. "Because they are unforgivable. Using any one of them-"
"Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban!" Moody growled, turning to the rest of the class. "Now, the Ministry says that you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" He shouted and slammed his piece of chalk onto the desk in front of him loudly.
Rebecca looked at the man warily, feeling feelings she had buried deep inside herself; memories she'd hidden trying to resurface at the proximity to a man who acted so unhinged.
"You need to know what you're up against!" Moody continued and turned back to the board, staring at the words as he'd just turned his chalk into a pile of dust and fragments. "You need to be prepared!" Behind Harry and Ron, Seamus pulled his gum out of his mouth and bent to put it under his desk. "You need to find another place to put your chewing gum besides the underside of your desk, Mr Finnegan!"
"No way." Seamus muttered, shocked and impressed. "The old codger can see out the back of his head.
Moody turned and snatched a small piece of chalk up, winding his arm back and pelting it at the Seamus' head. "And hear across classrooms!" Moody stepped forward, seeming to abandon the situation of gum-disposal as he continued. "So, which curse shall we see first?"
Rebecca turned to Hermione incredulously. "See?" She whispered.
Moody hobbled forward until he stood in front of Ron and Harry's desk, letting out a bellow that made them all jump. "WEASLEY!" Ron looked up, frightened. "Stand." Ron did as he was told. "Give us a curse." Moody demanded.
"Well, my dad did tell me about one." Ron gulped. "The Imperius curse."
"Yeah," Moody nodded. "Your father would know all about that. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago." Ron didn't know which eye he was supposed to focus on, distracted by the mans gnarled, scarred appearance. "Perhaps this will show you why." Moody opened a jar at the front of the classroom, letting the large spider-like creature crawl into his hand.
"Engorgio." The professor cast first, making the insect larger than the span of his large hands. Ron felt even more afraid. "Imperio!" Moody cast louder, waving his wand about as the spider went wherever he directed.
Neville jumped back in his seat, the first seat of the room with Dean, as Moody made the bug dance across their books. The class giggled nervously as he moved it from desk to desk, from Crabbe's head to Parvati's robe. "If she bites, she's lethal." Moody warned as he dangled it above Ron's head, letting the numerous legs brush against him.
Rebecca grabbed the table's edge tightly, hating Moody for what he was doing to Ron.
Draco cackled loudly at Ron's reaction, scrunched closed eyes and a little whimper escaping Ron no matter how hard he tried to hold it in.
"What're you laughing at?" Moody asked, though he had been laughing too. Moody moved the spider so that it was crawling on Draco's face.
"Get it off me!" Draco commanded of Goyle, though the boy only stared.
"What should I have her do next? Jump out the window?" Moody moved the spider so that it was next to a window, the mood of the room plummeting further. "Drown herself?" He asked, holding the spider over a bucket of water where he kept her as he continued their 'lesson.'
"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius Curse. But here's the rub: How do we sort out the liars?" Moody's face took on a dastardly sneer as he glared around the room as if one of them held the answer. "Another!" Moody demanded. "Up, up. Come on."
Rebecca watched Neville's hand raise slowly.
"Longbottom, isn't it? Up." Moody looked the boy over. "Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for herbology."
Neville nodded and gave the curse he knew all too well. "There's the um, th-the Cruciatus Curse."
Moody opened his mouth in a strange grin. "Correct! Come, come!" He guided Neville to the front of the room and directed him to watch the spider. "Particularly nasty. The torture curse."
Neville reached up and loosened his tie, suddenly feeling as if he would be sick.
"Crucio!" Moody growled. The bug began to squeak and squeal, writhing in unimaginable pain. Neville stared as the bug began to fold in itself, his eyes growing distant as he retreated into his mind, into his past. His breathing became quicker and he winced with each growing squeal from the bug. Moody continued the spell on regardless.
"Stop it!" Hermione shouted. "Can't you see it's bothering him?!"
Rebecca jumped to her feet, her chair squeaking on the floor as it was pushed out quickly. Moody looked away at the noise, releasing the spider from his spell and grabbing it while he cleared his throat. Moody walked past Neville who had yet to move, though he closed his eyes tightly. Moody only stopped in front of Hermione and Rebecca's desk. "Perhaps you could give us the last Unforgivable Curse, Miss Granger." Moody's words included a question but his tone did not.
Hermione looked up and shook her head. Hermione Granger was defying a teacher.
"No?" Moody's human eye widened. He took a step back towards the front of the class before raising his hand with the spider and casting the final spell. "Avada kedavra!" A green light flashed out of his wand and the spider stilled at last, dead.
Harry stared at the spider as Rebecca was. This man, this man who was supposed to be their professor, supposed to teach them and further their education, just used the very spell that left them orphaned years ago as a classroom example.
"The killing curse." Moody explained unnecessarily. "Only two people are known to have survived it..." Moody's fake eye switched between Rebecca and Harry rapidly. "And they are sitting in this room."
Moody clomped his way away from Hermione and Rebecca, stopping in front of Harry to stare at him a moment before taking a gulp out of his flask and shuddering. The bells that signified the end of the classroom ran shortly after, the students filed out of the room in silence.
"Completely demented." Ron said as they made their way down the long, spiral staircase. "Terrifying to be in the same room in, though he's looked evil in the eye."
"That man..." Hermione could hardly formulate a sentence to capture her feelings and thoughts. "That man is a monster." Rebecca said nothing, though she agreed. The green flash that signified the death of the spider was still fresh in her mind. Raising her voice, Hermione continued. "There's a reason those curses are unforgivable--To perform them in a classroom!" She shook her head and continued down the stairs.
Rebecca stopped her descent and stood on the stair next to Neville who stared out the window motionless. "Neville?" She asked softly, not getting a response. "Hey, why don't we go on a walk?" Rebecca put her arm through his and tried to lead him down the stairs.
Before they'd even made it more than a few steps, Moody laid a hand on Neville's shoulder. "Son? You alright?"
Neville nodded.
Rebecca glared at the man. "We're going on a walk."
Moody ignored her entirely. "Come, we'll have a cup of tea." Moody pulled Neville away from Rebecca and up a step. "I want to show you something."
"I'll be fine." Neville said quietly, though he wanted nothing to do with the professor. "Tea fixes everything. I've heard you say that before."
The dark clouds that had built up over the castle throughout the first block of classes opened up as they walked to their second, spilling rain heavily over the castle until the cobblestone walkways were little more than slick collections of puddles and the students were wet in varying degrees.
The rain continued through the afternoon.
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The horrid start to the day was forced from the minds of the group as they trickled down into the large room devoted to the Goblet of Fire after classes had finished to see who was entering.
"Come on, put it in Cedric!"
Rebecca watched as a seventh year Hufflepuff pushed the sixth year Cedric over the age line. Cedric had a piece of parchment in his hand, he'd decided to enter earlier that day. Reaching up and pushing the little paper that could decide his glory, Cedric toko a lap for handshakes as the room cheered.
Rounding the corner near Rebecca and the others, Cedric overlooked Ron's outstretched hand to give Rebecca quick, surprising hug. "Glad to see you made it out of the World Cup alright." He pulled himself away from her, smiling over his shoulder at the Goblet. "Shame about quidditch, but this is pretty neat isn't it?"
"Don't let Fred and George hear you." Rebecca grinned. "Between them not being old enough to enter and quidditch cancelled for the year, they're still considering dropping out!" The two of them exchanged conversation for a moment, Rebecca's attention drifting towards the door as Fred and George's shouts announced their entrance.
"I see your thoughts wander elsewhere." He said, a teasing smile poorly covered on his face before he excused himself and Rebecca wandered over to where Fred and George were.
"Eternal glory." Ron savoured just the words. "Be brilliant, wouldn't it?" He and Harry walked around the age line. "I wish this was three years from now, when we could be chosen."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "Yeah? Rather you than me."
Rebecca sat next to Hermione and leaned against the back of the bench with her arms crossed. Fred and George told her to sit and watch the show, one which she would much rather not see at all.
"We've done it!" George called loudly.
"Cooked it up just last night!" Fred finished.
"It's not going to work!" Hermione sang, putting her hand in her book and closing it so she didn't lose her spot.
Fred and George took either side of her, Fred grinning at Rebecca and finding a poor excuse of a smile all he got in return. "Oh yeah?" Fred asked.
"Why's that?" George followed up.
Hermione pointed at the line. "That age line was drawn by Dumbledore himself!"
"So?" George asked.
"So," Hermione raised an eyebrow sharply. "A genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as pathetically dimwitted as an Aging Potion."
George shook his finger, grinning. "That's why it's so brilliant."
"'Cause it's so pathetically dimwitted!" Fred finished, using Hermione's words against her.
Rebecca was beginning to see a degree of sense in their approach and knots wound inside of her. The idea of one of them competing in the Triwizard Tournament left her mind reeling.
Fred and George stood with a little jump, shaking up their vials. "Ready, Fred?"
"Ready, George!"
They linked elbows and smiled at each other, Fred taking one moment extra to catch Rebecca's eyes before they turned their vials to the ceiling. "Bottoms up!" They said together, grimacing at the taste and waiting a few seconds before jumping over the age line.
The students in the room cheered, Cedric leaning against the wall by the door as Fred and George stepped up to the Goblet of Fire with the parchments their names were on. Tossing them in at the same time, they turned and cheered with the students.
Harry and Ron clapped along with everyone else while Hermione looked to where Rebecca was now chewing at a fingernail, watching the Goblet carefully. Fred and George glanced back at the Goblet and cheered once more, thinking they'd entered the contest and gotten around the rules set by Dumbledore and the Ministry.
Rebecca's hand clasped against her mouth as the flames from the lip of the Goblet whirled around in a circle and threw Fred and George from the circle roughly with blue balls of fire. Rebecca jumped off the bleacher and pushed her way through the crowd to get to them, fearing the worst.
Fred sat up first, holding his head and laughing as George's red hair had been replaced with long white locks and a beard rivalling Dumbledore's.
"What're you laughing about, you ugly nutter?!" George countered.
Fred reached up, finding identical hair had grown on him. "You said!" Fred accused.
"No, you said!" George countered before responding to the insult of blaming him with a punch. Fred blocked every punch, throwing a few back himself.
"Get off or I'll tear your ears off!" Fred growled, still returning every hit.
Hermione rolled her eyes at their reaction to their failure and reopened her book beside Rebecca for moral support while Rebecca watched the brawl and shook her head. The students in the room began to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Rebecca did not join in the changting, though she also didn't try to separate them. She had seen the two of them get into fights like this in their summers together and had learned the hard way that they would beat the sense into each other eventually.
Fred and George still rolling around, the chanting went silent as Igor Karkaroff and Viktor Krum entered the room with Karkaroff's aide close behind. Viktor approached the Goblet of Fire without hesitation, raising his arm up and entering himself into the contest. Hermione watched him, their eyes meeting as he pulled his hand away from the flames. The Durmstrang entrant was gone as quickly as he and his entourage had arrived.
"Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley!" Dumbledore's voice rang out from the doorway moments after Karkaroff and company had left. "I appreciate the ingenuity and congratulate you on your bears, we look quite dashing if I say so myself." He and Rebecca made eye contact as he spoke, a little smile being shared between the two. "If you make your way to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey will be able to remove all effects of the incident, though I think you'll find your chin quite cold afterwards." The headmaster said nothing else before leaving, the students around slowly making their way out as no one else arrived to enter.
Rebecca shouldered her bag and told Hermione, Harry, and Ron that she'd meet them at supper and that she was going to walk to the Hospital Wing with Fred and George.
They walked in silence, Fred and George rubbing at the sore spots left from their scuffle and the bruises already forming. Rebecca took her spot between them and looked at them both, one and then the other. "I don't know." She reached up and pulled on the ends of both of their beards. "I could get used to this!"
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