Forever Mine: My Time With Fred Weasley

Forever Mine, Rewritten: Chapter 3

To my surprise, Professor Flitwick met us at the end of the Gargoyle Corridor where he waited on the edge of the maroon runner, seemingly expecting us. I thought this quite odd and added it to my ever-growing mental checklist of bizarre happenstances which would later spurn hours of meddlesome research.

Professor Flitwick was of small stature, and his appearance indicated goblin-like features; an overly-large head, long pointed nose, and small but kind eyes. Druscilla and I bowed our heads toward him in acknowledgment, at which point Flitwick extended a hand to me with a dazzling smile.

"Professor Filius Flitwick, madames!" exclaimed he in a delightful light voice, "Charms master and head of Ravenclaw house. I warmly welcome you to Hogwarts!"

I smiled back, thinking him very agreeable and liking him immediately, and shook his hand, which felt firm and strong. He then shook Dru's hand, and she smiled as well, first at him and then at myself.

"Charmed, Professor," I responded, to Dru's dismay, and she quietly scoffed under her breath, both annoyed and delighted by my pun. Flitwick, however, chuckled heartily and threw his arms in the air.

"Charmed indeed, Miss Tate! A delight to have such esteemed new Ravenclaw students!" then he turned to Professor McGonagall, who stood aside as quiet as a cat. "I appreciate your time, Minerva, I'll take them from here."

McGonagall nodded curtly and wished us a pleasant first night at Hogwarts before strolling off, her heels clicking echoing hauntingly through the quiet castle.

-

Behind my head, a quill scratched furiously. Despite her charmed Crane & Co. notebook, which was copying Professor Flitwick's every word, Dru's brow was furrowed with concentration as we followed him across what seemed like all of Hogwarts. The castle was eerily empty, as the start-of-term feast was ensuing floors below, and even Flitwick's small voice bounced to and fro along the cobblestone walls and into the vaulting space above. I silently thanked my sister for having the good sense to take notes, realizing that navigation of the castle would surely be difficult for the first few weeks.

"Will we have maps?" I inquired as we began to climb another staircase, this time huge and spiral, which had just swung from its previous position to land conveniently in our path. Dru made a quiet 'oooh,' noise and tentatively placed her hand on the stair railing, a small smile curving her mouth. Professor Flitwick quickly trekked the steps ahead of us, and I tried to ignore the stitch pinching my side, tauntingly reminding me of my unfitness.

"At Hogwarts," he replied as he reached the landing, "we encourage utter independence in our students!" then he tittered off down the hall, which cut to the right, out of sight. Dru turned to wait for me at the top of the stairs, her notebook made it before I did and bonked into her kinky dark mop. She snatched book and quill out of the air, placed the latter within the former, and plopped them in the pocket of her robes. I sighed loudly as I reached her, and leaned for a moment on the newel post.

"A simple no would have sufficed," I muttered, and Dru snickered breathily, looping her arm through my own and tugging me gently down the hall after Flitwick.

"No worries, sister, I'll copy my notes for you," I smiled down at her, she hadn't grown since hitting five-feet last summer but she otherwise was showing every sign of becoming a refined young woman, just like me (ha.) After years of fighting her natural hair, she was finally embracing her unruly coils, and the torchlight kissed her skin.

"Ah, condensed, please," I responded, and she nodded earnestly as we rounded the corner to find Professor Flitwick standing proudly before a huge arched door, which was missing a doorknob. As we came closer, an eagle-shaped knocker became visible.

"This," squeaked Flitwick with a smile, gesturing toward the door excitedly, "is the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room,"

"You're joking," I grumbled under my breath, side still throbbing, and Druscilla added to my pain by lodging her elbow into my ribs, and then smiled toothily at the professor.

"Excellent!" replied she ever so politely, as if she hadn't just physically assaulted me, and pulled me closer to the door. Flitwick, however, held up a finger.

"Entering the common room is no simple task, you see, the eagle's riddle must be solved for the door to open,"

Of course, I thought, the end of each of my days has to include both physical and mental exercises. Dru, ever the optimist, made a delighted response and nodded enthusiastically.

"To keep out the riff-raff," she joked, unlooping our arms and taking a step forward to come face-to-face with the knocker, and Flitwick laughed shortly.

"Exactly," responded he, stepping back to allow Dru her first riddle-solving opportunity. Suddenly, and with a slight creak, the eagle's bronze beak opened and a calm voice omitted, filling the hall like smooth music.

"You carry it everywhere you go, and it does not get heavy..." the beak sealed together once again, and I noticed Dru's hands balling into nervous fists; her hands sweated profusely when under duress. I gnawed on my bottom lip, trying not to make eye contact with Professor Flitwick, who was standing to the right and smiling pleasantly at Dru, quietly encouraging her. I silently willed Dru the power to answer correctly -- I knew she was capable, but my sister's overconfidence often landed her in situations she was unprepared for. The answer pounded in my head, and I projected it as loudly as I could in my mind, hoping some type of telepathic sibling connection would suddenly spring up. Finally, after a few more painful moments of silence, I leaned slightly to Dru and whispered, so lightly that it hardly made a noise, "Your name."

Suddenly and with a loud crack, the door slid open and revealed yet another spiral staircase. I clenched my teeth and breathed in sharply, turning to look at Dru with wide eyes, like, 'I'm so sorry.' But she just snorted a laugh through her nose and wiped her palms on the folds of her robe.

"Know it all," she hissed, and I stuck my tongue at her before the two of us followed Flitwick up the final staircase.