Rebel Rebel (A Fred Weasley fanfic)

16

She clutches the bag tighter to her chest when he reaches for it, making him raise an eyebrow, "It's nothing."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're planning on using whatever you've got in that bag on me?"

She looks insulted, "I would never!"

"Is that so? Then who is the intended target?"

"Tristan."

"McLean?" he asks and she nods, "Can I ask what he's done?"

"He's an arsehole," she says angrily, surprising him, "He's seventeen and yet he's still knocking people over and picking on everyone. You would think that he'd have grown up by now."

"He knocked you over?" Fred asks, feeling something stir inside of him, frowning when she shakes her head.

"Not me. Kaye and Angelina when were down in Hogsmeade. I was going to get him back but Kaye asked me not to. And then when we left Honeydukes, he was pestering a poor Hufflepuff girl. She looked terrified, Fred." she looks down at the bag in her hands with a sigh, "I don't know, I guess I just thought that he deserved a taste of his own medicine."

She hands the bag over and Fred takes a peek inside, "Dungbombs?"

Hearing the tut in his voice, Stevie frowns, "What's wrong with Dungbombs?"

"A little boring don't you think?"

"Boring? I-you two use them all the time!"

"Not all the time," he scoffs, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to lead her into the castle, "Stevie, if you're going to prank someone, you've got to do it right and luckily for you, you're in the presence of a master."

"Oh really?" she asks and Fred rolls his eyes, making her laugh, "I'm sorry. Where are we going?"

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," he suddenly takes his arm off her shoulder and grabs hold of her hand instead, "But first, we need to make a quick stop."

And so he leads her in the direction of the narrow steps down to the dungeons, her hand being held tightly in his and Stevie takes the moment to notice just how much bigger his is than hers. She also notices how nice it feels to have her hand held by him...she likes it.

~~|~~

The quick stop had been Snape's supply cupboard, where Stevie had kept look-out while Fred grabbed what he needed.

They then spent the next couple of hours in the girl's bathroom, Fred hunched over a cauldron while Stevie watched quietly.

He wouldn't tell her what it was her was brewing, telling her that she'd find out what it was in the morning.

And she did.

It was the final morning; the hall alive with excitement and talk of what the summer holidays would bring when the doors flew open and running in, came Tristan...at least it sounded like Tristan but he was covered in long, straggly hair. Hair that was so long, it came down to his feet.

"Look at him!" Ribh shrieks as Tristan walks forward, arms out in front of him so he doesn't bump into anything or anyone and Stevie looks across to the Gryffindor table.

Fred watches the Slytherin try to stumble his way down towards the teacher's table, where Snape is heading towards him.

"He looks like Cousin It from the Addam's Family!" Kaye giggles from beside him but Fred is barely listening. He's too busy looking at Stevie, who's looking at him with wide eyes, shaking her head when he sips at his pumpkin juice and winks.

Snape practically drags Tristan from the hall, Madam Pomfrey hurrying along behind them and Fred makes sure that he looks like he's deep in conversation with George as they pass by to avoid any suspicion. 

Dumbledore gives his final speech of the term, wishing them all a good holiday before dismissing them and as he and George leave the hall, Fred hears Stevie calling his name.

"You could have gotten in trouble for that," she says as soon as she reaches him, "Honestly, where'd you even get a potion like that?"

"It's just a little something that we've been working on," he shrugs, "At least we know it works now."

She suddenly looks a little awkward, looking around quickly before standing on her tiptoes so she can kiss his cheek, "Thank you."

Fred looks over her shoulder when Hagrid can be heard announcing that the train will be leaving for King's Cross in an hour and he looks down to see that Stevie's still looking at him, "Do you wanna meet back here in say, half an hour and then we can travel down to the train together?"

Stevie nods, "Sure. But you better make it forty minutes. I don't know how long it'll take me to get Benatar into her travel cage."

Fred laughs but agrees, "Forty minutes it is."

~~|~~

Down at Hogsmeade station, Fred takes Benetar's carry case from Stevie so she can climb down from the carriage, handing it back to her when she's safely on the ground again.

"Thank you," she smiles.

"You're welcome," he grins before he's digging through his pockets for a piece of parchment, "Here."

"What is it?" she asks, brow furrowed.

"It's my address. I thought that, you know, maybe we could write to each other through the holidays."

"Yeah?"

He nods, "Yeah, if you want of course."

She grins, plucking the scrap from his fingertips, "I would love to."