He raises his wand and asks Harry, "So does she have to speak the spell or is she just going to do nonverbal again because I think-"

Before he can finish his ramble, I silently cast 'stupefy', sending Ron soaring even further back. His back hits the wall and he lets out a grunt before sliding down into a heap at the bottom.

I smirk at this, satisfied with how it went. Harry goes to pull Ron up who says, "The world is spinning."

We all laugh at this until Ron regains his composure. He asks me, "Feel better?"

I pretend to think about the question with my hand raised to my chin. After a few moments, I drop my hand and smile, "Much."

After a few more pairs go, Harry says, "I think that's enough for today. Great job!"

I move to start walk out and am joined by the twins. George slings his arm loosely around my shoulders as Fred's arm secures itself around my waist.

Fred starts, "What you did back there to Ronnie..."

"Absolutely brilliant"

"and hilarious."

A chuckle emits from my lips, "I am quite talented, aren't I?" They nod their heads at this, laughing as well as we walk down the hallway towards the Great Hall.

On the way there, we pass Draco, who shoots me a smirk when he sees me arm in arm with the twins. Draco always seems to be knowing of my feelings, except when it comes to him of course, so I am glad to have him to talk to.

We stop in out tracks though when we see Filch hammer another decree onto the wall. This time it says that all students will submit to questionings. Marietta stands in front of us and turns around to leave with wide eyes, nervous about being questioned. I don't blame her, but we all have to stay strong.

"She's impossible." Those around me agree with my comment, clearly not happy about what Umbridge is doing to this school.

From beside me, I hear George yell out, "Harry, come take a look at this."

The Golden Trio join us, glaring at the new decree. Hermione notices a weary Harry and says, "It will be fine." Harry nods his head, not fully believing her words.

Ron goes to rub his back and Fred says, "A little sore from being beat by these two amazing witches?"

Hermione laughs at Fred's words as I smile, content with what happened. Ron rolls his eyes and grumbles out, "Not a fair matchup..."

"Haven't you heard the saying that life isn't fair?" Hermione questions Ron, furthering Ron's displeasure with the situation.

I speak up, "Be grateful because you are lucky compared to those I have sought out revenge against in the past." My legs move to walk away, leaving the group me.

Footsteps follow me, and I crank my neck around to see Ron rushing after me. When he is right on my tail, I stop suddenly, making Ron crash right into the back of me and falling to the ground.

He groans, "Are you done now?"

"I believe so," I reply while extending my hand to help him up. "You're following me."

Ron looks away, "I wanted to talk."

My eyebrows raise at this since the only talking he has done has just been when we met in the library a few weeks ago. "Then talk."

I cross my arms over my chest, awaiting the pathetic excuse he has probably come up with to defend his actions and cowardliness. He lets out a sigh, uncomfortable with the subject matter, "I've been avoiding you these past few weeks because I was scared and unsure of how you would be with me alone."

Cue the excuse. He continues though, "Everyone else has resumed being comfortable around you, and I know your intentions now."

He pauses for a long moment, so I assume he is done, "Is that all?"

Ron shakes his head, "I realized that I have yet to sincerely apologize to you...So I am sorry for what I did to you. There were different actions I could have taken, so I'm sorry that I didn't believe in you. It will never happen again, and I will be here for you as a friend when you're ready to consider me worthy enough as a friend again."

His words shock me, especially since he is never this eloquent. I never expected him to apologize like this to me, but I realize that I also held him at a lower standard as he did with me. I step forward to embrace him and say quietly, "Thank you."

I pull away and leave him be.

-------------------------------------------

Three days later, we already meet again to finish practicing Stupefy. When I walk out, I see the twins peering around the corner. I sneak up behind them, "What's going on?"

They signal for me to be quiet, and I do as I'm told. I move my body to get a better view and see Filch eating a box of chocolates.

I can tell that the twins are trying to contain their laughter, so they pull me away. The two start laughing, clutching their stomachs. I stare at the scene in front of me, wondering what is so funny, although I let them laugh it out.

After a minute they settle down and Fred says, "Those are no ordinary chocolates." I catch on quickly, happy that they found away to get rid of Filch for a bit.

Fred and George suddenly start talking fast about all these ideas they have and what they can do to retaliate. I try to follow along but it seems as though some ideas don't need to be spoken.

I admire the pair and how excited they are about creating more products. As they start to slow down I say, "I'm really happy for you two. I think your products are going to be a big hit one day."

George says in a sassy way, "They already are!"

I laugh at him as Fred says, "Thank you, Alexia." Our eyes meet as I nod my head in return. After a few moments, I break eye contact to see George with a curious look on his face.

"Well, I will leave you two be to start working on new products." They both shoot me a thumbs up as I make my way down the corridors. I decide to head back to the common room, but pass yet another decree about something called the Inquisitorial Squad in order to receive extra credit.

Knowing full well that Umbridge isn't nice enough to simply hand out extra credit, I follow the instructions by walking to her office. There, I see about ten Slytherins signing up for the squad. Umbridge explains that the goal is the catch wrongdoings in the school, and I know this is about the D.A.

I spot bright blond hair and tap him on the shoulder, "Really Draco?"

He turns around and shrugs, "Anything to get Potter and his friends in trouble."

"You do realize that I am included in the friend part, right?"

Draco's body shifts to fully face mine, "Yes but I know you can just compel Umbridge, so I know you will never get in trouble."

I roll my eyes at this and step forward to sign my name. Umbridge slyly smiles at me, unaware that I ever compelled her. She can only see as far as my Slytherin robes.

On my way out, I look to Draco who is surprised I was able to sign up and did, "Anything to protect Potter and our friends."

The Original WitchWhere stories live. Discover now