Bodyguard!AU
"So what do you see?" Ron tries to get George's attention by touching his shoulder, but the twin remains on tiptoe watching from the helmet of the armor.
"I see we're screwed," he says finally, wiping his elbows and returning to face the rest of the group. "There's world out here, we can't all go out at once."
Harry adjusts his glasses on his nose and crosses his arms, "It's not so much the quantity that worries me, but the quality of the people in the hallway."
"In fact," George nods and scratches his chin, "in a nutshell, Freddie, if you go out now every living thing will stop you."
"We could just give the map to someone else," Ginny suggests, gathering her hair into a high ponytail.
"Like to you?" Lee smiles, "Or to Hermione? I wouldn't want her to give it to Filch again."
The prefect shrugs and shakes his head, "Throwing it out a window is a much easier way to make it disappear."
"So Fred is keeping the map," George concludes, pulling up the sleeves of his sweater and approaching the others. "Out here I saw a group of first graders, Professor Sprite and Angelina."
"What did you do to Professor Sprite?" asks Ron in a low voice.
"We needed some roots..."
"And the greenhouse is the easiest place to get some."
Hermione tightens her lips into a line, but says nothing. The only thing stuck in her mind is the damn couch the twins want to buy with their share of the treasure. If there's no room at the Burrow, where will they want to put it?
"Lee and I will be right out, trying to keep the first graders busy with some Canary Creams."
"George Weasley!" blurts out the prefect, placing her hands on her hips. No one seems to listen to her.
"Professor Sprite can be taken care of by Luna and me, what do you say?" suggests Neville, smiling at her friend.
Ginny and Harry look at each other and smile, "We'll take care of Angelina, we just have a couple of things to ask her about the Gryffindor team."
"Ron, Hermione, make sure Fred gets to the end of the corridor intact. Protect him."
Ron is on his toes trying to see Ginny and Harry from the helmet of his armor.
"Take it, Hermione." Fred puts the map in her hand and closes her fingers around the paper. "In case anything happens, go out into the hallway and wait for us there."
She rolls her eyes. "I will set it on fire." It only occurs to burn it because her hands are now hot: the twin exerts an effect on her that is as powerful as it is unfamiliar.
Fred smiles, moves a strand of hair behind her ear and lowers his voice so as not to be heard by his brother. "I'll take my chances."
Ron turns to look at them, "Shall we go?" he asks buoyantly, but he musters his enthusiasm when he is confronted by Severus Snape's gray face.
Only Fred and Hermione remain, and she, without the shield of books she always keeps on her lap, feels especially fragile. "We're almost there," he reassures her, moving to one side to let her pass ahead.
"Look, Fred, as for the couch--"
"Mr. Weasley, wait a minute!" Oh no. "I wanted to ask you something." Professor Umbridge coughed and increased her pace to catch up with him: seeing her walk like that made one quite laugh, but the twin held back.
"You go, I'll catch up with you later," he whispers to Hermione, patting her on the back. When the prefect reaches the end of the corridor, she leans against the wall and takes a long breath. At least the map is safe.