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IT WAS MONDAY MORNING, the day the school term officially started for the year, when Rebecca Carrow had realized that having such a bold, loud, very-Gryffindor friend like Adrienne Samson wasn't always such a treat. The girl wasn't afraid to speak her mind, or even let someone know that she didn't like them to their face – and it seemed that she was extremely keen on letting Fred Weasley know exactly that. Ever since their little conversation in the Gryffindor common room, they both seemed to have it out for one another; always sending glaring looks or looking annoyed when having caught gazes or been interrupted by one or the other. And not only had Adrienne become a target of the twins' attention – Rebecca too, by mere association, had been put into their gazes once more.
Thankfully, Cedric Diggory had came in like a knight in shining armor, as he usually did, and blocked the view of the Ravenclaw from the blatantly staring Gryffindors across the way. Just like all the years prior since they became best of friends, the trio had met for start-of-term breakfast in the Great Hall, all seated at the same table yet again. However, much to her slight displeasure, they found themselves seated amongst all the Hufflepuffs – most of whom who seemed to be morning people, and were chatterboxes no matter the time of day. Not to mention that plenty of them also seemed to have the staring problems the Gryffindors had, eyeing her oddly with side glances and whispers behind her turned head.
"If theres one place I know I don't belong – besides my mother's house –" Adrienne gave a sudden snort, smothering her chuckles into her goblet of orange juice as Rebecca continued, "it's among the Hufflepuffs."
"Yeah, I could see that," Her blonde friend mused mockingly, picking up the bowl of clotted cream for her scones, "but you have to admit, the food is oddly way better over here than everywhere else."
"Because we're the best," Cedric beamed happily, munching on some hash with a pearly grin which got him a spoonful of cream flung at his head – luckily ducking in time to be missed by just a hair.
Professor Flitwick, also known as Ravenclaw's Head of House and the resident Charms teacher, had grown used to the constant seat-switching amongst the trio – much like both Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. So it wasn't surprising for the friend group to see the short man hobble over to them just to hand Rebecca a slip of parchment before returning halfway across the room; granting her the pleasure of receiving her timetable for the term. Both Sprout and McGonagall did the same for Cedric and Adrienne, and like clockwork, the three friends did a quick glance over their schedules before handing it off in a triangle form amongst themselves until they reached their own again.
"Looks we've got Defense first thing today," Rebecca hummed softy, peering at Adrienne who had mindlessly returned to her breakfast, "I can't wait to see how Professor Lupin will teach, if I'm honest. Hopefully he won't –"
"Weasley is getting on one of my very last nerves," Adrienne suddenly blurted out, her eyes narrowed over Cedric's shoulder, "who does he think he is? They all think so highly of themselves –"
"It must be a Gryffindor trait," Cedric uttered boredly, sending her a look she didn't even acknowledge as she glared right back at the redhead.
"Hey, we have Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies together after lunch," Rebecca finally looked up from carefully analyzing both hers and her friends' timetables, smiling cheerily to Cedric, "ooh! And Charms on Fridays."
"Bee, you're not even listening to me," Adrienne whined with a frown, shoving the three scraps of parchment away from her friend towards Cedric's plate, "this boy is literally making me insane."
"What boy doesn't make you insane, Adrie?" The Ravenclaw sighed softly, giving her a look, "give it a week, he'll be back to forgetting you even exist. Shorter if he ever manages to wrangle down that one girl into a relationship."
"What girl?" The blonde looked suddenly intrigued, a mischievous glint that spelled trouble glittering in her eye, "what juice gossip did those chatty dormmates of yours spill?"
"He wants more than she is giving," Rebecca informed with a shrug, "they didn't specify, only that it's someone in the year above us – Sara, that girl that Lisa eyes – had told her and Abby all about it. One of her own friends, I assume."
"Now...would I be a complete bitch if I –"
"Yes," Cedric immediately cut in, sending the Gryffindor a pointed look, "I know what you're thinking and that's way more than just mean, Adrie," At her frown, he wagged his pointer finger at her face much like his father would do him, "It'll just make you an even bigger target for one of those blasted pranks that's just looming like a bucket over your head."
Before Adrienne could retort, like they both knew she would, a loud screech-like exclamation had sounded suddenly from the front of the Great Hall, whipping everyone's attention to the large double doors. A girl, who was easily recognized as a Gryffindor from her scarlet and gold tie, was stomping her feet in anger all the way to her house's table – right in front of the same pair of twins that everybody could've guessed had caused her such embarrassing agony.
"What a lovely sight," Rebecca hummed quietly, shaking her head slightly before a weak chuckle passed her lips, "though, I don't really think green is her color."
Both Cedric and Adrienne had no problem in laughing along with the rest of the hall's occupants, each of them agreeing that lime green hair didn't really suit anyone. The girl, Angelina Johnson, had threw a small fit – though, all in good nature – cursing out the twins who did nothing but grin and laugh at the expense of their fellow team member and friend. After being prodded for a few more minutes, and with the help of Katie Bell, Angelina's hair returned to normal, no thanks to the twins, and she finally cracked a foolish smile with an eye-roll before taking her usual seat by Alicia Spinnet.
"Man, I'd really hate to be on the receiving end of another one of those twins' pranks," Cedric murmured, grimacing to himself at the memory, "I still remember having to pluck ants off myself for months after they had drenched me in syrup."
"It was terribly funny though," Adrienne grinned wider, her vision going slightly dazed as she took to remembering the end of third year after a Hufflepuff quidditch win, "sticky and gross, but really funny."
"Well, I suppose as long as my appearance isn't altered I think they might be sorta fun," Rebecca declared with a meek shrug, mindlessly trying to settle for a muffin to take along.
"You say that now," Cedric chuckled, shaking his head, "but then you have to shower for like two hours straight because they throw pus-filled balloons or something just as gross at you."
"That's disgusting," She gagged, shuddering at the mere thought as she immediately dropped the muffin in her hand, "where would they even get all the pus?"
"Probably from—"
"On second thought," Rebecca interjected Adrienne quickly with a grimace, shaking her head rapidly, "I'd rather not think about such things at the breakfast table."
"Godric," Adrienne suddenly swore with a deep frown, glancing up from the platter filled with bagels and various spreads, "I think I just might die if I have to endure more than a mere half hour with Professor Hagrid."
"Well isn't it so lucky that you have a double slot today after lunch?" Cedric beamed innocently, watching the blonde's face morph into one of horror, "almost two whole hours of magical creatures and Professor Hagrid, what fun."
"That's it," She groaned aloud, letting her head fall atop the table by her plate, voice muffled by the stained wood, "I quit – send me back home."
"No, you're going to class and you're graduating from this place," Rebecca proclaimed in a tut, nudging the girl, "even if I have to kick your butt down each corridor to get you there."
"Well, you better go now or she'll change your mind," Cedric prompted, standing up from his seat smoothing out his robes that donned his shiny Prefect pin, "or before you're both late."
"We have another ten minutes," The Ravenclaw shook her head, intently staring down the muffins again.
"Yeah, Diggory," Adrienne mocked the Hufflepuff, "Mr.Perfect and Prefect," Cedric rolled his eyes dramatically, slinging his bag over his shoulders, "we still have ten minutes," she repeated, somehow still managing to be understood over the food she was currently consuming.
"Right, well, I'll just go to my own class then," He rolled his eyes once more, a smile still cracking at the corners of his mouth as he reached out to take a bright red apple with him, "I'll see you both at lunch," he insisted before he was disappearing out of the hall with Hewie Davidson and some other Hufflepuffs.
"We won't be late for class, will we?" Rebecca questioned the blonde at her side, hesitating momentarily as she glanced to the large clock above the double doors of the Great Hall.
Adrienne hummed mindlessly, shaking her head, "Muffin?" She offered instead, pushing the fresh baked goods on a pretty platter closer towards the dark haired girl.
"Sure," She smiled, nodding once as she quickly glanced over the various flavors yet again before choosing a mixed berry one.
They both sat amongst the rest of the badgers for a bit longer, wasting away the last few minutes before they absolutely had to get up and begin their trek towards Professor Lupin's classroom. Being the bottomless pit she was, Adrienne happily continued to pick and prod at the breakfast foods before proceeding to wrap another two muffins into a napkin to shove away into her bag for later when she felt peckish in class. Rebecca followed in suit, taking another muffin into her own bag.
"Alrighty, I'm done," Adrienne sighed in delight, standing from her seat to immediately stretch out her limbs, "Let's go before Cedric has a fit from across the castle."
"You're gonna end up pulling a muscle," Rebecca warned quietly, biting into her muffin just as they both walked towards the Great Hall's exit.
"Dear friend, I cannot pull what I don't have," She tutted with a smile.
"Touché."
Both girls exited through the double doors alongside a gaggle of other students, turning left to begin their small trek towards Professor Lupin's classroom. They walked in silence, Rebecca munching on her baked good as Adrienne made sure to note the correct location of the classroom for the billionth time – knowing they were bound to take a wrong turn easily or somehow get stuck on a moving set of stairs that'll set them back in Cedric's absence.
"Oi! Watch it, shrimps!" Adrienne called out grumpily after having been shoved to the side by three younger students running down the hall.
She grumbled under her breath another time when she was ignored, much like an elderly lady, before suddenly turning to her friend who was tossing the muffin wrapper in the trash. Once Rebecca rejoined Adrienne, the Ravenclaw fell into step with the Gryffindor with a very small content smile.
"Hey," She began conversationally, "I thought we said we were gonna fight that one third year – the Weasley bo–" Rebecca quickly nudged Adrienne with her elbow, promptly halting her from continuing to speak with wide eyes, "Ow! What—"
Glancing over her own shoulder, Adrienne stifled a loud laugh and looked wide-eyed right back at Rebecca. Ron Weasley had flushed an unnatural shade of red, having been caught by the older girls, standing by an equally embarrassed looking Hermione Granger and oblivious Harry Potter. The two older girls continued on, walking right by the proclaimed Golden Trio – letting out their scattered laughs as they made it into the classroom just in time for the lesson to start.
"Back of the class, back of the class," Rebecca whispered in a meek chant, immediately making a beeline towards the last empty double desk in the far corner of the classroom.
She skidded to a quick stop, planting her bag atop the table and plopping herself down with a wistful breath – falling short of her best friend who hadn't caught her quick movements. The blonde had glanced around dumbly, seemingly too slow to comprehend what had happened before she spotted her friend from across the room.
"Students! Your seats, please," Professor Lupin had walked into the classroom, briefcase in hand as he walked slowly up to the front of the room towards his own desk.
Rebecca turned abruptly at the sharp tap to her shoulder, grimacing momentarily before she was coming face to face with one half of the Weasley twins.
"What do you think you're doing here?" He asked snobbishly, eyeing her oddly.
She eyed him in return, whipping back around in her seat and looking to a dumbfounded Adrienne with extremely wide eyes. The blonde glanced between the twin and her best friend, glaring at the former before stalking up to them meaning business the moment Rebecca signed out 'help.'
"Oh, here we go," The twin uttered midst a grunt as Adrienne walked up.
"Weasley, shove off and find another seat," She declared, folding her arms over her chest.
"Oh yeah, whatever you say, Samson," Fred scoffed sarcastically, giving her a narrowed look, "why don't you and Carrow go find other seats."
"She was here first – fair and square –
"Students! The lesson is about to begin," Professor Lupin's voice came again, his eyes now locked to the tensed figures at the back of his room – the rest of the students following his gaze, "is there a problem back there?"
"Not at all," Fred smiled at the teacher, gesturing to himself and his twin who still stood silently at his side, "just waiting for Carrow here to get up so my brother can sit, Sir."
"There's no assigned seating," Lupin stated slowly, eyeing the quartet, "and we don't have time to waste, so the two of you –" He had gestured to Adrienne and George, "you'll find that these seats are quite the same as those," He motioned to the last empty desk by his own.
"No, Sir, you don't understand," Adrienne began abruptly, "I have to –" Her hand was suddenly tugged, making her eyes snap downward towards her seated friend.
Rebecca quickly shook her head up at the blonde, eyes wide and face warming more and more by the second – mortification settling in her bones as she tried avoiding each and every curious stare from the rest of the class. She slowly released Adrienne's hand, signing out her request, eyes pleading.
'Just go sit,' She insisted quickly, hands and fingers moving intricately and just as swiftly, 'I'll be fine.'
Professor Lupin watched them all closely, eyebrows furrowed as his students silently spoke between themselves, his words dying on his tongue at the sight of the Ravenclaw so horrified at the class' attention. Adrienne only nodded dutifully, giving Fred Weasley one last glare before she was stalking towards the front of the class and sitting down with a scrape of the chair against the floor. George, while feeling bad about the situation, only sighed and followed after the blonde and took the last empty seat at her side.
"Well, now that, that's sorted," Lupin cleared his throat, quickly gaining the attention back to himself and watching the relief immediately flood the girl's tense shoulders, "let's get started."
Rebecca had scooted her chair as far away as possible from the ginger at her side, already far more uncomfortable than she cared to be. She met Adrienne's eyes with a poorly-hidden frown, sitting a bit straighter in her seat and watching her friend's closed fist move in a circular motion upon her chest. With the silent apology, Rebecca shook her head and tried hard to look indifferent as she turned back slightly and intently forced herself to focus on the lesson.
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