chaos ~ fred weasley

40. atlas

guys i shit you not: my laptop won't let me use images from the internet as headers for chapters anymore so i went looking in my folders for something that would work and i found this photo of an arctic char and i thought you guys would enjoy it so here it is. i can't believe you've waited two months for a chapter from me and this is all i have for you i-

Fred was upset when I told him about me losing the bracelet, but not as upset as me. Over the next week I found myself constantly reaching for the familiar leather only to find myself with a bare wrist, and this made me more anxious than I care to explain. Allie understood why I was upset when I told her, but Julian only raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Question, though," Julian says, leaning forward and twisting his own leather bracelet on his wrist. "Like, it's not as if he's dead or something and that's all you have to remember him by."

"No, I know," I say, scrunching up my hair slightly as I rest my head in my hand. "I just... it's nice to have something of him when he's not around, I guess."

"Merlin's beard," Julian says, laughing as he shakes his head. "You are so whipped."

Allie jerks her hand forward like cracking a whip and makes a whapshh sound before high-fiving Julian.

"I really am friends with five-year olds," I murmur to myself a smile lurking at the corners of my mouth.

"Five-year olds make great friends, I'll have you know," Julian replies indignantly. "Last summer I taught my younger cousins some chat up lines and took them to an all-ages bar. We had a great time!"

"Oh, yeah?" Allie says, chuckling. "What did you guys do there?"

"Well," Julian says excitedly, shifting forward in his chair to tell us more about his dumb plan. "The first one I taught him was: 'yeaaaaaah... you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he says in a nasal voice, tilting his head forward and widening his eyes.

I snort loudly, clapping a hand over my mouth as I imagine Julian's poor little cousins being corrupted like this. "And what happened?"

"Well, I taught him a few others, right, so this girl came up to us and was cooing, all like, 'ohmygod he's so cute!' and then he said in this really creepy voice, 'Are you a lightbulb cause you're turning me on' and then she was all like 'stop!' and then he said, 'Yeaaaaaah... you'd like that, wouldn't you?' and... well, that's the story of how I got a five year ban from this bar."

The thought of Julian training a child to use pickup lines on girls in bars sends me over the edge, and before long I'm draped over Allie's lap, head upside-down as I recover from my laughing fit. From my view upside-down I can see Snape storming towards me with a vengeance. I scramble to get up and feign nonchalance as he stands so close that I can smell the overwhelming vinegar of Pepperup Potion on his robes.

"Miss Jordan, your behavior here in the Great Hall is despicable," he spits, giving me a once over. "I understand that the Gryffindor common room is privy to this kind of behavior, but you are not only displaying yourself in front of the other houses but also two of the best wizarding schools in the world. Fifteen points from Gryffindor."

I look down, unable to contain my shock as whispers ripple through the students sitting nearby. "Professor Snape, don't you think that's a little unfair?" I hear someone say from across the table, and I look up to see Hermione looking pleadingly over at the dark-haired man.