Eavesdropper ─ Fred Weasley

Chapter 1

"Hey, snake girl!"

I sighed. That was stupid the name Cormac McLaggen gave me, when he wanted to get under my skin. Or, snake skin, according to him.

"What do you want, McLaggen?" I turned around, stopping reading my book. It was a cold saturday morning in the Great Hall, much too early for this.

"Why are you studying on a Saturday, you should be in Ravenclaw if you want to do that," He spat. "You're too much of a snake for that though."

"What does that even mean?"

"Ssssss," He hissed, and his Gryffindor cronies surrounding him followed suit. I rolled my eyes and turned around, trying to ignore them.

"Don't be like that Hermes!" I heard his voice behind me. I continued to ignore him, until he tugged on a piece of my hair.

I whipped my head around, but it was too late. He and his cronies had already left, laughing their arses off, probably going to bully another student.

I sighed. It had been like this every bloody day for the past 4 years. As a Slytherin, it was hard for me to make friends because I was so quiet. I preferred to read and write. Sure, I had acquaintances, but I had never put in effort into making friends, and I was fine with it. The only bane of my existence was Cormac and his followers, who lived to make my life miserable. It was fine, I carried on.

I picked up my book and headed towards my favorite spot to read on the weekend, the staircase of the clocktower. There was a beautiful window I could just sit next to, and no one was there so I usually had it all to myself.

As I arrived and sat down, I thanked myself for wearing a sweater. It was snowy outside and quite beautiful, actually, but still freezing.

As I started reading, I heard an unusual echoing at the bottom of the stairs. It sounded of a few boys and the sound of someone struggling.

I perked up and listened.

"Come and join the big boys," Two boys said in unison.

"What're you doing?!" Another yelled. The others sushed him.

My curiosity overcame me and I stood up very quietly, creeping to the edge of the stairs. Looking one story down, there were three boys on the ground level, and I was actually quite close, close enough to make out their faces.

The two boys together were Fred and George Weasley from Gryffindor. They had an infamous legacy at Hogwarts for being pranksters. The other boy was Harry Potter and he, well, he was Harry Potter.

As I watched, I could see the twins hand Harry a piece of parchment paper.

"What's this rubbish?" Harry asked.

"What's the rubbish he says! That there, is the secret to our success." Fred said, pointing to the piece of paper. Though the twins were similar, Fred seemed to be a little shorter, and he had a different nose than George.

"It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me!" George said.

I stepped a little closer. The twins were famous at Hogwarts for the amount of pranks they pulled, and they somehow never seemed to be caught. Now I knew, there was something behind it.

"We've decided your need are greater than ours. George, if you will." Fred said, motioning to his brother.

George pulled out his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Even from far away I could see the paper change. It appeared to be a map of some sort.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map...?Harry read.