𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖊, 𝐝. 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲¹

𝟎𝟎𝟒. POTIONS

      The twins laughed again, as if Topaz had said something funny. "Aye, it's possible, but you know what else we heard from Elara?" George prompted, their eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint that made Topaz spin on her heel and walk away with a simple, "Nope." She scowled at the thought of Elara gossiping with her brothers about Topaz. The twins, however, were not so easily deterred and chased after her as she descended the stairs into the dungeons. "We think he fancies you," Fred teased as they reached the bottom of the stairwell, one twin flanking Topaz on each side.

      She did her best to maintain a neutral expression as she headed for the potions classroom, but it was quite difficult with Fred and George yammering away in her ears about all the gossip they'd heard about Topaz and Draco. If it wasn't for her fondness of their antics, Topaz would have driven them away already.

      She wasn't even sure how she managed to get along so well with the twins when all they did was annoy the hell out of her, just as they were doing right at that moment. She sighed as she recalled the moments leading up to their first encounter, her lips twitching in amusement. Last year, after Crabbe yanked on her unkempt hair so hard that tears burned her eyes, Topaz's wand, which has been resting casually in the groove of her Transfiguration textbook, produced a jinx of its own accord. The spell hit Crabbe in the face and sent him flying across the Great Hall, and when he finally stumbled to his feet, his tongue was tied in a knot and he couldn't speak. Topaz hadn't even heard of the Mimblewimble curse when she jinxed Crabbe, but she did remember how everyone burst into laughter when Crabbe started crying as he clawed at his flushed cheeks, his bulbous tongue preventing him from speaking clearly.

      Fred and George harassed her for days afterward, demanding to know how she had perfected the Tongue-Tying curse as only a Second-year. They didn't believe her when she told them she didn't even have her hand on her wand when it jinxed Crabbe!

      Topaz sighed as the twins continued on, her lips pursing as she reached into her pocket and wrapped her hand around her buzzing wand. It was warm, and when it felt Topaz's hand, its activity stilled. The twins finally believed Topaz when they saw her wand shoot yet another curse of its own accord, that one directed at Malfoy after he insulted Amber (though it missed the little twat and got her three day's detention when it hit Snape square in the rump and set his cloak aflame).

      With a smile, she pulled her wand from her pocket and displayed it flat on her palm, watching as Fred and George instantly bit their tongues and took a step back in unison. Topaz had a phoenix feather core in her beech wand, a core that was very well known for acting of its own accord, as Topaz's had done many, many times in the last two years.

      "Careful boys," she murmured with a gentle wave of her hand. "Don't you two have better things to be doing? Like terrorizing your professors?"

       The twins exchanged a glance and shrugged in unison. "Eh, we're plenty pleased with what we're doing right now."

       Topaz glared. "You might find yourself jinxed if you're not careful." She quirked a brow as her wand twitched again. She quite enjoyed having such a volatile wand. It was almost as if it was protecting her... Finally, the twins raised their hands in surrender and backed away just as voices began to bounce off the damp dungeon walls and a horde of Third-years emerged from the dank stairwell, their voices swelling as they made their way toward the Potions classroom.

       "You win today, Griffin." George shook his head as Fred tsked his tongue and, together, they departed, the crowd of Third-years parting around them like he was Moses wading through the Red Sea. When the crowd reformed and the twins disappeared up the stairs, Toapz's gaze fell and met Ron's. His ginger brows were quirked in confusion as the trio approached Topaz.