Hermione's Twin ⇒ Fred Weasley

Ch. 34: Thieves & Threats

There was a shuffling and a crash, then a curse. Cocking my head to the side, I wedged my body against the wall next to the open cupboard door and snuck a glance into the dimly lit storage room. There was a large, bulky shape shuffling around and the sound of crunching glass under shoes. My ears also picked up on the barely audible sound of things being moved around on the shelves. Curious.

My heartbeat shot into overdrive as I listened. The footsteps and grumbling started to make their way out of the storage room. To avoid detection, I quickly hopped over towards the hallway and made a quick right, dodging into an abandoned classroom, to hide out until the mysterious figure made their way outside.

Biting my lip, I peered out the dusty stained glass window on the door and waited. Slowly, the clunking sound of heavy footsteps drew closer and closer, revealing a suspicious Mad-Eye with an arm full of potion ingredients and his magic eye swiveling around for a look out.

As the eye grazed over to me, I fell to the musky floorboards and held my breath, not wanting him to find me. I refused to even move from this spot until I could no longer hear the footsteps.

Once he was out of hearing range, I breathed a sigh of relief and dusted myself off. Walking back into the hallway, I watched where the professor had travelled, eyebrow arched and heart racing.

I wondered silently, thinking to myself. 'What could Professor Moody possibly need with Lace-wing fli—'

"Ah-ha! Caught you red handed..." A cold, sneering voice rang out from the side of me.

Stomach clenching, I slowly turned to assess the towering figure of a very angry, very tall Professor Snape. With a hiss, he grabbed me by my robe collar and begun dragging me down a corridor.

And all I'd wanted was some soup.

GINNY

"Harry... have you seen Elizabeth? She let me borrow her hair tie and I've been meaning to give it back." I bit my lip and asked him, drawing his attention away from the blushing Cho and her new boyfriend, Cedric. It was a lie, the hair tie. I really just wanted his attention - what can I say, I'm not a class A flirt.

Harry furrowed his brow and shook his head. "No actually, she and her friends have been acting rather odd the last couple of weeks, I hope they're fine."

"Yeah, and you know whenever something odd happens at Hogwarts, it's a big deal...." Ron paled a little sending a concerned look at Hermione who only rolled her eyes, then continued reading an extremely used and worn copy of 'Hogwarts: A History'.

"I'm sure they're fine, maybe a little odd, but fine none-the-less." She giggled and set down her book, casual smile turning into a frustrated brow as she looked over towards the Gryffindor Champion.

"Harry, have you even trained yet for the last tournament? It may be some time off, but you don't want to have zero time like the last one... Right?" She scolded in a motherly tone, making Harry and I roll our eyes.

Harry sighed and shook his head with an embarrassed smile, eyes trailing back to the giggling Cho in Cedric's arms, looking like a lost puppy. I smiled tightly and twirled some fiery red hair on my finger, looking at him in the corner of my eyes. "You know, Harry... I'm pretty good with Charms — maybe I could even give you a few tip—"

"No you ain't." George interrupted me with a snort into his pumpkin juice and rolled his eyes. "Why, just yesterday, you made a goblet explode. You were only trying to change the temperature of your tea, Gin." Blake hid a smile behind her hand as she flipped through the Daily Prophet she'd taken off of Hermione.

"That didn't happen!" I flushed scarlet, face now matching my hair color. "Shut up, George." I hissed and shoved my plate away from me, finished with the conversations. "I'm going to find Dean."

"Dean Thomas?" Ron scowled and gave a disgusted glare down the row of chairs towards the handsome, dark skinned boy in their year. "Why do you want to be talking to that prick?"

"I like him, Ronald - so if you will excuse me." I snapped, slightly pleased when my confession got Harry's attention. The only thing that bothered me was whether he was looking at me in jealousy or just brotherly concern.

ELLE

     "Lacewing flies, worms-wort — tell me Miss Granger, just what are you and your friends up to? I know your twin is making a Polyjuice potion again, but I want to know why."

     Snape scowled with a menacing curled lip, his black eyes flashing. "I've already threatened Mr Potter about stealing from my personal storeroom, and he seemed to find me very .... convincing, so I will spare you the same threats."

       Snape had threatened Harry? I wondered when that happened, and why Harry hadn't said anything about it.

      Snape's hand flashed towards a medium sized vile on one of his shelves and he held it up into the light while I crossed my arms over my chest, sitting back on a stool in the classroom with annoyance. Soup was still calling my name. My stomach voiced this with a low growl.

      "You see this, Miss Granger? This is called Veritaserum — clear, colorless, and odorless and is almost indistinguishable from water. With only a mere three drops of this in your morning—" Snape gave me a cold look over, almost like he was assessing me. "—Morning coffee,—"

      I flushed and cut him off, thinking of my favorite beverage. "—How'd you know —"

      "It's a stereotypical fact that all Americans drink coffee. I just figured you are a stereotypical American." Snape sneered and held it closer to my face with a firm look in his eyes. "Three drops of this and you will be spilling your inner-most thoughts to everyone at your breakfast table."

      I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Your threats don't really tickle my fancy, Professor. If you didn't know this already, I get humiliated thrice a day as it is. A little truth potion won't change that." Snape lowered the vial, mouth pressed into a tight, disapproving line. I continued on, hungry and frustrated.

     "Besides, I didn't even steal from you — it must have been Ma—" I cut myself off, realizing that I didn't have the full story. After all, I didn't know what was going on here. And, Snape was also a suspect amongst my friends. "— Must have been someone else...."

     Information is power to the person who holds it. *

     "What was that, Granger?" Snape rose a brow, not letting my subtle blunder of words go.

     I smirked a little and quickly tried changing the subject. "As I was saying, Professor. I didn't steal anything from you. Perhaps it was that Malfoy boy, and I do take offense to that American comment — I am in no way a typical American."

"Something a typical American would say." He rolled his eyes and slipped he potion into his pocket, beginning to leave the cupboard, calling over his shoulder. "Loud, arrogant, and obnoxious - plus you like to get into fights. Typical American indeed."

     My face glowed red with anger and I opened my mouth to say something smart back, but suddenly thought better of it. The only thing that would get me is more detention. "Touché." With that, I slid off the stool and made my way out - not even giving him a look as I did.

But, all of this did get me something. For some reason, Professor Moody was making Polyjuice potion.... Or, just gathering ingredients that are used in Polyjuice potion.

Regrettably, there were countless potions that require the same ingredients. Now we had to keep an even closer eye on him.

No fred this time :( But, next chap is Vaaalllentines daayyy so - LOT OF DRAMA Duuuhhh xxJess

10-Year A/N:
*further proof, a decade later, that Elle could toootally make a great Slytherin, if she wasn't Muggleborn.

I ... don't like the next few chapters. But, they're kinda a cult classic for some readers so... I'll keep them.

The biggest thing people wanted is drama, so ... it's drama for sure