Hope - George Potter

13 - Dangerous but cool

George had never slept so comfortably in his entire life. He had always had to share his small bed with Harry, but now he had so much space and could sleep in such a soft and comfortable bed all alone. It was a huge difference to the clammy old mattress he had at home.

He didn't think he could ever get up and actually get out of the bed. Suddenly there was loud shouting next to him. He didn't understand what it said as he was still partly sleeping. He kept his eyes closed and just hoped it would stop soon.

A few wet drops fell on his forehead, as if they were a small warning about what was to come, and George immediately opened his eyes and tried to get away as soon as possible, but it was too late.

He was soaked from head to foot and glared at the smirking Henry who stood over him, holding a bucket.

"What was that for?" George asked in a dangerously low tone.

"I figured it would be faster. That way, you won't have to take a shower," Henry laughed.

But after the murderous look from George, he ran out of the room as fast as possible. George ran after him with a shrill war cry. When he finally caught up with Henry, he started a tickle attack, like he always did with Harry.

Five minutes later, the two boys were lying on the floor, out of breath and holding their stomach from laughing too much.

"I think we are even now," Henry said, sitting up before holding his stomach like he was a wounded soldier and falling back to the floor. George laughed at the antics of his friend.

Henry suddenly sat up again and looked around in a curious manner. "Why did nobody tell us to be quiet? Where is everyone? Do you really think they're still sleeping?"

They cautiously walked up to the dorm of the seventh years. They knocked, but there was no answer. George opened the door. Inside was complete chaos, clothes lying around everywhere, but there was no sign of the boys.

"What time is it?" Henry asked worried.

They went into the room to search for a clock and found one on one of the bedside tables.

"Shit," was all Henry said when he was looking at the clock hands that showed it was already quarter to nine.

"What did she say again about when classes start?" George asked. He already knew the answer but hoped he was wrong.

"In about 15 minutes," Henry said.

They looked at each other with an alarmed expression on their faces before sprinting up the stairs back to their room. Henry just put his uniform over his pyjamas but George was still completely wet from Henry waking him up, so he had to get dressed normally.

Their books were completely forgotten, they just grabbed their quills and parchment and stormed out of the Ravenclaw common room. Just when the door had closed, Henry turned to George with a horrified expression on his face.

"I forgot my wand. We have to get into the common room again," he said.

So they had to knock the knocker and the eagle came to life again.

"How many days in a week start with 'T'?" it asked.

George was extremely thankful for that question.

"One, two, three, four, fi-" he said and the door swung open. He really didn't have any idea as to why it was four, but he really only wanted to get inside as fast as possible. They probably only had a few minutes left and still had to get to the Great Hall to get their timetables before going to class.

Henry was soon back with his wand in his hand and they ran down the spiral staircase and through the door that had to be tickled in the keyhole. They ran along one corridor and then the next but soon they didn't know which direction to go. They stopped in front of the three corridors that were in front of them.

"I think we got lost," Henry said.

"Thank you for that information. I hadn't noticed yet," George said rolling his eyes, "This castle is just too big."

He leaned against the wall to catch his breath from all the running.

Suddenly, he fell backwards and landed on a slide. He slid down headfirst completely panicked. It was dark and quiet around him and he slid down ... and down ...and down. He got faster and faster and just hoped he wouldn't die when he finally hit the bottom with his head.

It seemed like he was sliding downwards for several minutes, but it was probably only half a minute until he landed by flying into a corridor. He rubbed his head, but the landing had thankfully not been as horrible as he had imagined.

He looked around confusedly as to where he had come from, but there was nothing, no opening in the wall, no slide, nothing. He stood in a corridor with paintings on either side. It all looked completely normal.

Suddenly a person came flying out of a painting on the opposite wall. He was so fast that George couldn't get out of the way before the person crashed into him. When he looked over, he saw Henry lying next to him.

"Alright there, Henry?" he asked.

Henry just groaned as an answer before getting into a sitting position.

"I'm telling you, this school is dangerous," Henry said, while rubbing his head.

"But also pretty cool. My old school was definitely not as exciting," George said grinning.

"Oh, poor little Georgie didn't have any murderous slides inside the walls of his old school," Henry said, rolling his eyes. They both started laughing.

Surprisingly, they had landed near the Great Hall. When they came running inside, Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw house, was the only one left.

"Where have you two been? Classes started five minutes ago," he said in a strict tone, but his face clearly showed that he was amused. His eyes wandered over the two students who were standing in front of him, out of breath, trying to look as innocent as possible, but failing horribly. One of them, the son of James Potter, with his hair still completely wet and standing off in every direction possible and his tie hanging loosely around his neck.

This sight was so familiar to him. He had seen this same innocent look, this same chaotic appearance many times before. He couldn't think of any way George Potter could look more like his father than in that moment.