"I'm struggling to see the better side of me,
I knew this wouldn't last
At Least I could be honest about that
And Now you're telling everyone
How I only did you wrong"
-Tell Me I'm a Wreck, Every Avenue
****
"Did you read the prophet?!"
"That article isn't real! No way!"
"Oi, do you think..."
"She was a transfer in our third year."
"But she seemed so nice!"
"What if it's all a front?!"
"Do you think the other Gryffindors knew?!"
"Oh my god! You don't think that she's-"
Angelina looked up from her breakfast the morning of the second task, students around her were whispering and gossiping-she tried to keep her expression neutral as she looked around at the people holding the latest Daily Prophet.
Cedric Diggory slid into the seat beside her, holding the paper in hands, he cleared his throat before speaking.
"So-"
"Let me read it first," Angelina held out her hand, Cedric obliged without a word. Angelina read it over.
Hogwarts' latest threat: are the young minds safe? An expose by Rita Skeeter
Her eyes skimmed the article before she crumpled the paper, jumping to her feet, she had to get to her friend before something bad happened.
"Oi! I'm not done speaking with you!" Cedric hurried after Angelina.
"Ced, there's things in there that are true but things that I don't even know about," she looked at him as he nodded. "She's got a bad past but she's not a threat like Skeeter is attempting to play her up as."
"Always thought that pretty raven was something special," Cedric mused as he continued following Angelina to the Gryffindor Tower.
"She takes her examinations alone, she falls asleep studying after her patrols, she lives in that library. Don't you dare take what that article says at face value-"
"What type of friend do you take me for?! Is this why you were asking questions a few weeks ago?" Angelina nodded slightly, when they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Angelina took a deep breath. "If I hear people saying anything, I'll do my best to set things straight."
Angelina gave him a smile, patting his shoulder, "I shouldn't say this...but good luck today."
"Good luck to you," Cedric waved her off. "Oh but...tell Harper I'm using the bubble head charm like she suggested, feeling really good about it." Angelina gave a tight smile, her chest feeling tight.
"Angie!" Fred appeared from the portrait hole looking a bit irate, "the-"
"I know. Where's Harper?" Angelina cut him off.
"Lee and I got a fainting fancy in her," Fred explained.
"How the hell-"
"She knows and no one was around. We made a split decision."
"Right, well. How long does that one last?"
"That's the problem with that one, we aren't too sure," Fred sighed, rubbing his neck.
Angelina scowled, sighing slightly as she nodded. "Alright well, where's George and the girls?"
"George was taking a shower, and Harper was saying the girls had been on their way to the boats for the second task. She was waiting with us to help with bets."
Angelina bit her lip as she nodded, "well. It was going to happen soon, all we can do is squash all the gossip until it dies and people move on."
"What do we do now? The whole school knows, it's all they're gonna talk about at the task-I need to collect bets-"
"Go on ahead, I'll stay with her," Angelina said as they hurried to the dormitory, Harper was tucked into George's bed, peacefully dozing away. Fred kissed Angelina's temple, grabbing his bag and hurrying to the boats waiting to take the students to the second task to collect bets. As Angelina sat on the edge of George's bed, she tried to formulate a plan for the gossip, it wasn't something to go away immediately, the school was fickle. All gossip surrounding Potter lasted months, would this last months? Until she graduated? What if Harper was expelled just like at Beauxbatons for this?
George jumped when he opened the bathroom door, rubbing his towel through his hair when he saw Angelina sitting on his bed. When he took in Harper, his eyes widened slightly.
"What-"
"Fred and Lee got her with a fainting fancy somehow," Angelina sighed.
"Bloody hell," George muttered, "I'll watch her, Ange. Go on to the second task."
Angelina shook her head, "no offense but when she wakes up, it's going to take all of us to restrain her. I'm staying."
"I can handle my girlfriend," George bit back, his neck turning a slight red as he adjusted his shirt, "Freddie and Lee are going to need help with bets today."
Angelina cocked an eyebrow, while she trusted George to handle the situation, this was dire. He needed to be able to restrain her at any cost....could he? "I'll go help Fred and Lee with the bets. But I swear if I find her-"
"I got it!" George frowned, Angelina rolled her eyes slightly.
****
Harper slowly woke up from her nap, cursing Fred and Lee's names as she glared at the ceiling. Turning her head she saw George writing something in his notebook he kept for his ideas, sitting on the floor with his back to her. Very slowly and carefully she moved to the other side of the bed.
She remembered sitting on George's bed while Lee and Fred got ready for the task, Fred had asked her to test a custard tart to see if it was still viable. When she changed into a canary, Ginny ran in and demanded to know if the paper was telling the truth. Just as she was changing back, Lee seized the opportunity to pop a fainting fancy in her mouth, the next thing she knew she was asleep.
I will murder both of them for that
George was quietly humming to himself, Harper continued to slowly move away, when she felt nothing beneath her feet she took a deep breath. Swinging onto her stomach and slipping off the bed until her feet touched the floor.
"Harpsichord?" George's voice called when she was about to stand up, she gave a small wave from her position on the bed.
George slowly got to his feet, his eyes widening.
"Did you....did you fight off the fainting fancy?!" He asked, impressed and worried.
Harper straightened up fully, "I'm not sure? But...I...I need to use the loo."
"Not a chance, love," George snorted.
Harper pursed her lips, nodding. The hard way it is then
George was reaching for his wand as Harper bolted out the door, crashing down the staircase and into the Common Room. George's voice was calling behind her as she ran through the deserted room, thankful other students were at the second task.
Harper sprinted through the corridors, her destination the gilded carriages outside, she wasn't even wearing shoes as she ran—having left them by George's bed while she waited for the boys to get a move on. Her feet hurt as they slapped against the unforgiving flooring. She didn't take the first secret passage, knowing George would be hot on her tail, she ran to the seventh floor before finding the available passage and sprinting down it. She needed to get to the carriages, she needed answers.
Why would they reveal her secret?! Why would they talk to Skeeter?! Nothing made sense. It'd been two months since they even had an interaction.
She was at the oak front doors in minutes, her breathing heavy and her sides burning from the continuous running, her lungs were on fire as she took deep breaths. George was nowhere in sight.
The frost on the ground stung her feet as she pushed forward, there was really nothing she could do about the feeling. Her wandless magic was still minimal, her anger pushed her onward.
"Harper!" She faintly heard George catching up.
She was halfway to the carriages when Astrid came into view, Harper quickened her pace and lunged herself at the girl, toppling them both to the ground.
"You think you can come into my home and ruin me? I did nothing to you! I was your friend!"
"Harper please stop!" Astrid was begging.
"I did nothing to you!" Harper screamed.
"Please we didn't do anything!" Astrid was hysterical, trying to block her hands as Harper pounded as hard as she could a the girl's face.
"Liar! You said you wanted to make me pay for not understanding how my brain works?! Is this enough for you?! Huh?! Are you happy now?!" Harper was seething.
"Please stop!"
"You want to see a monster?! I'll show you a fucking monster!"
"We never talked to that vile woman. Who in their right mind would?! She's all gossip and no facts to hold up a single word!" Astrid continued, "please! Stop this!"
"She wrote an entire expose on me! And it's all your fault! So what if you didn't speak to her?! I bet you've been telling everyone about our history!" Harper breathed heavily, wiping her chin from sweat. "you're a ruddy bitch!" Pelting her harder and faster.
"You wanted a monster! This is what you wanted! Thinking you can show up and threaten me daily! I'll ruin that face of yours permanently!" Harper was shouting at the top of her lungs.
Hands tried to pull at her wrists from behind as she continued, her tears falling and blurring her vision as she continued shouting at the top of her lungs.
"This is what you wanted! A god damn monster! I left you alone, I did nothing! How could you do this?!"
"Stop! Stop! I never told a soul!" Astrid was shrieking behind her hands.
She was finally lifted off Astrid, kicking and clawing at the girl as she squirmed. George's arms tightened around her, Astrid crying as she wiped her face—the blood rushing down her face.
A broken nose and bloody lip, a cut was seen above her eye as well.
"Let me fucking go you bleeding oaf! How dare you?! Release me now!"
"Harper. stop."
It wasn't George but Fred holding her tightly, her kicks connecting with his shins as he held her above the ground.
"Oi, you. Do you have your wand or not?" Fred asked Astrid who got to her feet, wiping her nose as it bled-it was crooked and misshapen now, Harper gave a satisfied laugh. "Stun her for me would you? I have questions for you."
Astrid glared but obliged, Harper was frozen in his arms as he sighed, placing her on the ground. Fred pulled out his wand and bound her with ropes, unfreezing her and silencing her before she could say a word.
"Now. Did you talk to Skeeter?" Fred turned his wand to Astrid who fixed him with a glare as students from the boats began to return. Noticing the situation.
"No! I might show my disdain toward Nonemacker but I would never sell her out like that."
"Then who did?"
"I don't know."
"Did you tell anyone? Are there others with you that would? What about your friend? I know you've been wanting your revenge-"
"No. Not revenge on that type of scale. I might threaten it. But to make it news? When the world is still dark and filled with dark wizards? We may not be the friends we were but even I know that's a death sentence for her. Dark wizards knowing that information will get her killed. I'm above that."
Astrid was wiping her face as she glared at Harper.
"I wanted to see her suffer a bit of humiliation, but this is worse than I could imagine. So no. It wasn't me. I'm not this wicked." Fred snorted, Astrid gave him a withering look. "Are we done? The crowd is growing."
Over Fred's shoulder students had stopped to see why someone was bound on the ground at Fred Weasley's feet while he talked to a Beauxbatons. George slowly walking up, collapsing on the ground, he pulled Harper toward him, glaring at the two of them.
"She's the one who tried to murder me with her bare hands like a barbarian," Astrid spat a bit of blood on the ground.
"I might have more questions-"
"Then bother Marz. I'm done," Astrid wiped her hands in the air and walked off, Fred sighed and leaned down to Harper's level.
Harper was glaring, Fred shook his head.
"You're going to get frostbite on your feet, Harper," Fred muttered as he took in her appearance. "How did...did she break out of the fainting fancy?"
"Maybe it wears off," George mused, gently picking Harper up in his arms, cradling her protectively against him. "Thanks for erm...stopping her."
"How'd she get by you?" Fred asked as they walked their way to the castle.
"She bolted," George muttered.
"You're a wizard," Fred frowned.
"I can't just stun her..."
Fred sighed inwardly, but remained silent, would he have been able to stun Angelina if he was put in the same situation as them? Never. He patted George's shoulder slightly, removing the bindings from Harper. He kept the silencing charm on her as they walked.
"Let's go to the hospital wing, she needs something for her feet," George muttered.
"Should I-"
"No, I don't really wanna see Angelina and her smug face right now," Fred raised an eyebrow at the bitterness in George's voice. "She made it sound like I can't handle my girlfriend."
Fred pulled his top lip between his teeth, keeping his mouth shut. It wasn't the time to criticize his twin and it really wasn't the time to defend his own girlfriend against said twin.
It was best he remained the middleman. They'll sort it out on their own.
****
"It was a beetle," Harper whispered in the quiet room. They'd made their way to the Hospital Wing, Harper sat on a bed as she let the pepper-up potion work through her system. The whole group had assembled, Harper noticed Angelina giving George a dark look which he returned in kind.
"What was that love?" Alicia prodded Harper's arm, taking a seat on the bed beside her friend.
Harper sat up straighter, looking at her hands, "the only thing around us at the ball when I told you about Beauxbatons....was an insect." She looked at George with a frown. "Don't you remember?"
"I....I don't....I recall a lot of things from that night, but not a beetle, Harpsichord," George apprehensively responded.
"Do you believe me?" Harper pleaded desperately, her eyes were huge as she began to tremble. Angelina sat beside her friend, wrapping her arms around the girl's shoulders.
"Of course," Angelina whispered.
"Can I see the article?" Harper looked at Angelina expectantly. Angelina bit her lip and looked at everyone else, unsure what to do, "please, Ange?"
It was a few minutes before Fred reappeared with the edition of the Daily Prophet, Harper took it wordlessly and read the article. The rest of the group stood in silence as they waited, minutes passed before the only sound they heard was the sound of paper being torn in half.
Harper sat shaking with the crumpled remains of the paper in her hands.
Harper tried to get to her feet but Angelina and Alicia held her on the bed. "There's things in here I didn't talk about...I...I need to see Malfoy. He knows something!"
"We'll handle Malfoy, Harpsichord," George shook his head, pushing Angelina off the bed and out of the way, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Harper noticed the two share dark looks for a moment, "I don't want you punching more people."
"We'll give you a bit of privacy," Joy whispered, trying to pull the others away, George sitting beside Harper as Fred hung behind. With an eye roll she let the twins stay, ushering everyone else out.
"I'm impressed you got over the fainting fancy," Fred mused, sitting at the edge of the bed, Harper reflexively leaned into George as she watched a vein pop out of Fred's neck.
"Sorry for kicking your shins to death," she muttered, George began smoothing out her hair with his fingers. "But you tricked me with a canary custard first!"
"All I did was ask if they still had a fresh taste, I had no idea that today was the day that the world was going to end. We didn't know it was coming out today! We've been preparing for two weeks. Lee was the one who grabbed the fainting fancy," Fred gave a sidelong smile. "I'm going to make sure that Angelina is alright, I'll see you two later."
He got to his feet without another word, Harper resting her head against George's chest.
"Is everyone mad at me?" She whispered, interlacing their fingers together.
"Not at all, impressed really. You ran the length of the castle and still had the stamina to get in a few good hits," he laughed.
"Are you mad at me?" She asked nervously fidgeting with the hem of her blanket.
"No, love. Never," he pressed his lips to her temple.
"Why didn't you just stun me like Fred suggested?"
George sighed deeply, resting his cheek against the top of her head as they laid there against her pillows.
"Would you have been able to stun me if the roles were reversed?" His voice was soft and contemplative, his thumb running along the back of her knuckles. Harper shook her head slightly. "Exactly."
"Why're you and Ange fighting?" Harper whispered, frowning as she glanced at him from the side. She watched his jaw clench and unclench for a moment.
"She's irritated that I couldn't stop you....and I'm irritated that she thinks she knows better than me," George's voice was even and cold as he spoke. It sent a slight chill down her spine, George heaved a sigh and moved around until he was able to press his face into the crook of her neck, breathing deeply.
"Well....don't fight, it could've gotten a lot worse," Harper nodded. George gave a snort but nodded quietly.
***
"If it isn't the main person of interest in my little sleuthing expeditions!" George clamped a hand on Draco Malfoy's shoulder, making the blonde jump slightly. "Come with me a moment," George gave a sickeningly sweet smile.
"I don't have anything for you, Weaselbee. Shove off," Draco tried to shake George's grip off.
"No no no, on the contrary, you have valuable information for us," Fred appeared, clamping his hand on Draco's other shoulder. "So step into our little office here," Fred pointed to a broom cupboard that barely fit the three boys.
"Honestly I don't have time for your pathetic-"
"How did you know about Harper?" George interrupted.
Draco scoffed, rolling his eyes as he reached for the door. Fred slapped his hand away, "answer us, Malfoy."
"These aren't hard questions," George shrugged, him and Fred folding their arms. "So again: how did you come by the knowledge of Harper being a legilimens?"
"I didn't come by it," Draco sneered.
Fred unfolded the Prophet, shaking it out slightly and clearing his throat. "Close sources in the Slytherin house suggest that her prefect badge is a farce."
"Look-"
"Oh so you do know something!" Fred grinned, swatting the top of Draco's head with the paper.
Draco swallowed his spit as the two boys towered over him, "Malfoy. I just need to know how you came by this information, you see....my beautiful girlfriend is going to go on a war path any second, she will destroy you and everyone in her way if you do not give up maybe an ounce of how you came across this information," George sneered, leaning forward slightly with a smirk. "She's out for blood. And you went and opened your mouth that day in Hogsmeade. You signed your own death warrant."
"We'll protect you, obviously for a little fee," Fred nodded. "Trust us, we've seen Harper get mad, you saw how that Beauxbaton girl's face looked after Harper got her hands on her a few days ago! And that without a wand."
"I overheard it from somewhere," Draco stuttered, George and Fred gave each other looks. "I swear. I overheard it."
"Where-"
The broom cupboard was opened with a bang, Celeste stood wide eyed at the three boys cramped in the closet.
"Erm....hello....." Celeste gave a slight wave.
"They were threatening me!" Draco gasped before running off, George stood shaking his head.
"Can you not threaten the people in my house specifically?" Celeste laughed with a tired sigh. "Go on now, don't let me catch you in anymore cupboards."
"You aren't going to take points away or anything?" Fred asked, giving an approving nod.
"Harper let my Hayden go scot free the other night, it's like our presents to each other," Celeste winked, waving as she walked away. "Although that's two for one, so she owes me extra."
"Oi! Celeste!" Fred called, she stopped and turned, smiling as the twins caught up to her.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about how Skeeter got her hands on that information about Harper, would you?" George asked.
Celeste laughed, "like I told Lee awhile ago, no I don't know anything. But....I like the girl, so if I do hear anything around the dungeons I'll send an owl."
"I knew you were a sweetheart, Celeste," George grinned.
"Don't go spreading that around now," Celeste winked before walking away.
"Freddie...what do you say to making a line of listening devices?" George mused.
"I didn't want to bring it up with everything but I had the thought as well."
They looked at each other a moment, shaking each other's hand.
"But it's a secret from Harper," they agreed unanimously.