Moony,
Hope you're doing alright. Gotta talk about the Weasley twins. Seriously, they're cramping my style. I can handle things on my own, you know? No offense, but it's a bit much. Can we dial it back a notch? I promise I won't set anything on fire.
Love,
E.
"Is that good enough?" Estelle saw how her friends read the letter she had just written to her father. The purpose was clear; getting rid of the Weasley twins as soon as possible.
Her expression dropped as she noted the group's reaction to the short petition. "What's wrong?" She added to her first question trying to catch the letter from Neville's hands.
"Well..." Neville started looking hesitant as he gave her the letter back. Estelle raised her eyebrows encouraging him to go on. The boy was struggling to find the right words "It's..."
"It's what?" She asked desperately.
Luna jumped in to 'save' her friend, "We think your letter it's not necessarily convincing," The girl's voice remained calm as she uttered her sentence. One thing Estelle valued about Luna, was how blunt she could be despite her kind nature. "It sounds a bit immature, but it's okay because it sounds like you!"
Estelle gasped in offense "Are you calling me immature?" In moments like this, talking to Luna Lovegood (the most honest person in the world) wasn't the best moral support she could've asked for.
So there she was, writing another letter until all her friends agreed on how it might work only if her father decided to show a little empathy for the insufferable year that awaited her if the situation kept going.
Cool air tingled her skin as she made her way to the owlery to send the letter to Remus. A dark blue sky covered all in shadow alerting Estelle of the imminent curfew.
She tied the letter to an owl and observed as it flew away, batting its wings and starting to make its way to London.
Done.
A shiver ran down her spine, and Estelle internally cursed how this night was one of the coldest she had ever experienced despite the warm Scottish days of September.
Estelle crossed her arms around her chest and pulled her hands into the sleeves of her robe to warm up at least for a moment. She hurried to the Gryffindor common room but echoes of steps that were not her own disturbed her walk.
She looked left and right only noticing there was no place to hide, just an empty and long corridor with no visible end or beginning from the stop she was standing at.
Something only her friends knew was that the young girl feared Argus Filch with all of her soul, and she wasn't mentally prepared to face him in a dark place with no other people around. Estelle could almost picture his dry lips opening to show yellow teeth as he screamed at her.
Another shiver ran down her spine and it wasn't because of the cold.
She closed her eyes tightly when the footsteps were even more audible. As if Filch and his terrifying cat waited for her just around the corner.
Deep breaths Estelle, deep fucking breaths....
Recognition dawned on Estelle as she was scooped up, the touch of a pair of hands on her waist sent a jolt through her skin.
She became aware that it was him as he carried her while running frenetically. It was obvious she wasn't the only one disrespecting the night curfew because eventually when they were far from the initial hallway, he placed her down behind the veil of a dusty tapestry that hung from the wall.
"My god, Weasley! You scared the living hell out of-" Estelle tried to finish her sentence but her words were muffled by his palm. She resisted the urge to spit on it so he could take it off, instead, her eyes looked with his reflecting pure disdain.
"Shh..." George pulled her closer to his body, taking both of her shoulders and turning her around. Her back was now touching his broad chest as their heavy breathings synchronized in a calm rhythm.
Filch's cat, Mrs Norris, meowed close to them and Estelle could've sworn the pure sound of the little creature made her shiver in fear.
Apparently, George had noticed the sudden movement and ran two soothing fingers up and down her arm slowly. As soon as the girl felt the electricity of his touch sending even more shivers down her spine than her fear did she hit the back of his hand to make him let go.
"Unnecessary." He whispered in her ear, she only shushed him in return which made the corner of his lips curl up though she wasn't even looking at him.
When the footsteps ceased and the cat cries were just a disgusting thing to think of, they finally took a step outside the veil.
"What the hell are you doing out this late?" George asked her and it sounded more like a complaint.
"Am I not allowed to?" She asked him in return, "Perhaps, I should be the one asking you that question," Estelle finished.
"What do you think I was doing?" He retorted with sarcasm, if anyone knew the Weasley twins at least a little bit, they would've known curfews were not something they were afraid of.
"Ah, of course, I'm running from Filch and he probably was running from you..."
"Bingo." He clicked his tongue.
"Anyway, aren't you always with the other one?" It was weird for the Weasley twins to show up separately. Somehow throughout the years, this was the first time she saw one of them being on his own, and it was just as unpleasant as seeing them together.
"Oh, Elle, as smart as you are, your lack of common sense never fails to surprise me,"
At the comment, Estelle turned around and decided to walk to the common room on her own instead of keeping this stupid chat. She internally admitted her question was not the smartest one because of course, even when she knew nothing about pranking, it was obvious that they couldn't be together to not get caught.
Soon, the girl noticed she had absolutely no idea about how to get back.
George did his best not to laugh at her lack of knowledge of the castle. Since he and Fred had probably been on every single corner, she assumed they'd already mastered all of the places, including some secret passageways here and there.
"Lost?" He snickered.
As much as Estelle hated losing, she couldn't deny how lost she was. Thankfully, George had mercy (for the first time in his life), and didn't wait for her to answer the question.
"Just follow me, Elle"
"No," Truly for Estelle, being lost sounded way better than having to walk with the idiot for more than five minutes.
"Fine then," He shrugged. "I'll make sure to tell Lupin how his daughter was up late--" Estelle parted her lips to object but he kept talking not minding her efforts, "--and wandering around the castle unprotected." George turned around and started walking away but soon, her voice stopped him.
"That's not fair!" She exclaimed while trying to catch up with his long-legged steps.
"You're too easy" He attempted to wrap one arm around her shoulders but her reflects were quicker so she stepped away i
Finally, with one last huff, she obliged.
After one or two days, Estelle's efforts to avoid the Weasley twins became fruitless, having her meals with them was one of the most annoying things she had ever experienced in her short life. The worst part was how she had asked her friends (Neville and Ginny) to sit with her and the boys during at least one meal and they had declined. Estelle couldn't blame them, after all, Neville was too shy to keep up with the twin's antics for more than two minutes, and Ginny said she'd rather die than have to watch how Fred and George played with their food and spat everywhere. Luckily for Estelle, that hadn't happened yet.
Now there she was, a beautiful morning she would rather spend in the company of her friends.
"Everything alright?" Lee Jordan, the best friend of the twins who was sitting next to her, kindly asked when he noticed the way Estelle looked at Neville and Ginny enthusiastically talking while having their breakfast.
The girl merely nodded at the question. Lee and Estelle had barely talked on a few occasions, she had always preferred just to listen to whatever the boys talked about without making any comments as she silently ate. However, Lee showed empathy (maybe even mercy) for her and tried to make her time with them less boring by making small talk.
"I know," he nudged her arm. Fred and George didn't notice the interaction since they were too busy measuring that their cups of tea had the exact same amount of liquid in them. "Must suck to be here, huh?"
"It really does" Her attempts to be indifferent today failed as she turned to look at him. As much as she tried to accept her new reality, it was hard for her to feel trapped and have nothing to do about it. Remus hadn't even responded to the letter she sent and desperation was growing within every second.
"I know we don't know each other that well," He said cautiously, "But as long as your father wants you to be watched by these pricks, you can count on me," Lee added with a reassuring smile and a wink.
Estelle wanted to thank him for the words even though she was sure it would do very little to improve her current situation, "Thank you--"
"Aww, I'm going to cry" Estelle looked up only to witness how Fred pretended to wipe away fake tears with a napkin. "Georgie look at them! She can't count on him!"
It genuinely surprised Estelle how Fred and George could turn a serious moment into a complete mess in just a second.
"Really?" George gasped, as he looked between Estelle and Lee with fake amusement "Making new friends, darling?" He asked her as she scowled.
"Come on, mate. She's miserable enough..." The curly-headed boy said to his friends while rolling his eyes. It was clear how he really pitted Estelle's situation.
"Weren't you on our team?" Fred looked truly offended, and Estelle had to hold back a snort.
"There's no team, is it impossible to take care of her without bothering her?"
George clicked his tongue in disapproval, "Takes out all the fun, weren't you always up for a bit of teasing? Don't tell me Elle here made you all soft and fuzzy..."
"I'm still here by the way," Estelle said as she looked at the three boys bantering about the way she was being treated without even considering her opinion in the conversation.
"She talks!" Fred mocked her.
Before even thinking about replying, Estelle quickly tried to catch George's hand from the other side of the table as she heard him muttering the sonorous charm.
She was too slow.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen, today we are here with our girl, Elle," George pointed at his neck with his wand. His voice was amplified, disrupting any other sound in the great hall. Everyone was looking at them with curiosity and his smirk grew even bigger, "On a scale of one to ten, how mistreated are you feeling right now?" George Weasley was used to being the center of attention, it showed as his eyebrows wriggled at her not paying any mind to the heads that were turned in their direction.
Lee shook his head disappointed, maybe even embarrassed.
George took his wand out of his neck and pointed at hers wanting her to answer out loud.
She swallowed before parting her lips to talk or maybe curse him but luckily for her, Remus Lupin hadn't failed as a father and had actually taught her many spells and their counterparts.
"Quietus" She muttered making the magic disappear.
"Not a bad move," He added, raising his hands in surrender.
He didn't seem to notice how Snape was walking towards them, his steps firm as always. It was too late for Fred and George when they saw the Professor because as soon as he arrived at their spots, he grabbed both of the twins by the collar of their shirts and pulled them up from their seats effortlessly. He was probably used to reprimanding them by now.
"Detention, tomorrow in the potions classroom," Snape started with his cold tone "The three of you." With that, he turned around and let his grip on the boys go. Lee sighed in relief when he wasn't included in the punishment.
Estelle had detention because of the twins.
Well, because of George but Fred had technically started it all.
And that only meant one thing.
Remus wasn't so right about the protective young men, was he?
Breakfast was coming to an end, the twins remained quiet after shrugging at Snape's words. Fred and George must be the only two people at Hogwarts that spent more time in detention than their own common room, and they seemed quite proud about it.
The familiar sound of an owl's wings flapping and making its way across the Gryffindor table made her look in that direction. Estelle didn't normally receive letters, so when the owl landed in front of her and looked at her with expectant eyes, it could only mean that her father had responded to her request.
She didn't waste any time and unfolded it immediately. Her expression fell as she landed eyes on the handwritten words.
E,
I understand your frustration, but the twins are there for your safety. It's not about questioning your abilities; it's about the dangers the Order faces. Joining us means facing real threats, we already had that conversation. I care about you, and I need to make sure you're protected.
Stop complaining and recognize the gravity of our situation. There's a reason why I need to ensure your well-being. If you can't accept that, I can't allow you to be part of the Order. It's not about undermining you; it's about keeping you safe in these perilous times.
The twins, mischievous as they may be, have proven their loyalty and resourcefulness. So please remember that we're facing dark times, and every precaution is taken with your best interests at heart.
Love,
Moony.
Estelle forced a nonchalant expression but it came out as the biggest frown ever plastered on her face. Fred showed curiosity at the sudden reaction and took the letter from her hands before she could even react.
Raising one of his eyebrows at her, he silently showed the letter to George, making her heart beat faster than ever. She could see how his eyes scanned the words and time seemed to stop.
"Already trying to get rid of us?"