"Mate, we can't go down this way- Filch is pacing the corridor." Fred argued as they ran from several explosions that went off down the hall behind them. It was one of the first pranks in months that seemed to go as planned.
In other words, the black cat wasn't there to screw it up.
"We're kinda stuck, Freddo. Got anything other plans?" George asked, peering over his brother's shoulder at the Marauder's Map Fred held in his hands.
"There's a secret passage way just down here. Though, exit's by the Black Lake." Fred pointed out.
"Well, it's either that or polishing stupid trophies all night."
"Good point."
"Obviously."
The twins exchanged a look before opening a painting and headed down the secret passageway carefully. Relieved that they didn't get caught, by Filch or the black cat, Fred and George took their time down the dark and chilly tunnel.
-
Hardly any creatures, of any sort, ever ventured in and out of the Forbidden Forest. There was the occasional chipmunk or squirrel, but besides that, no one ever saw what was lurking inside, come out.
But today, late in the afternoon on the first day of November, emerged a black cat. No one saw it exit the Forbidden Forest, or even go in for that matter. The cat was quick with its movements, agile.
No one saw the cat morph into Olive Lark either.
Ollie shivered, rubbing her irritated and scratched hands together to warm them up. The palms of her hands ached from the rough terrain of the Forbidden Forest, but didn't seem to complain. The trip was worth it. She found out that Sirius Black was a good man, and still had feelings for her sister, after all these years. She felt comfortable with the man, even after one meeting, thinking of him as a fun uncle or older brother.
As she rounded the tree by the Black Lake, she took a seat, tired from running across the forest floor in such a hurry. She didn't feel like going to supper then, even if her stomach growled from not eating much that day. All Olive wanted to do was be alone for awhile, possibly get some writing in.
She took out her notebook, flipping through the ink-filled pages before stopping at where she had left off. Finding her pen, Ollie cracked her cold fingers and began to write.
As usual, Olive grew lost in the world she was creating through the flow of ink to paper, the world around her fading away as she fell into a trance. She no longer felt cold or tired, but fixated on the paper as if it were Merlin himself.
She didn't notice Fred and George emerge from a storm drain by the tree she was sitting at, or hear them laughing at a joke. Ollie didn't hear their footsteps crunch on fallen leaves as the two of them approached her.
Olive didn't even notice them sit next to her, their eyes scanning what she was writing.
Fred and George noticed how quickly Olive was able to write, and how neat her handwriting was. She barely crossed anything out, or even seemed to pause and think. Everything just flowed out continuously, as if she was a robot.
The twins also didn't notice how good Olive was at what she did on a daily basis. Even for two who didn't do much reading for fun, or even for schoolwork, they found themselves quite interested in the story Ollie was writing.
This went on for a good twenty minutes- Olive writing while the twins read. They found themselves falling into the world their Ravenclaw acquaintance was creating, and felt their bodies slowly go numb as they became as transfixed as Olive was. Neither of them noticed how cold it was outside.
Or even that it began to snow.
For Great Britain, it was always on the chilly side, often raining quite frequently. There were a few days that would be nice enough to venture outside with only a t-shirt and jeans on, but most of the time people found themselves throwing a jumper over their heads for good measure.
"A-choo!"
Reading time was over.
George sniffed as he rubbed the end of his nose with his sleeve, bringing the three of them out of the trance they were previously in.
Olive looked up, startled by the two who sat next to her and how dark it had gotten since she sat down. Her nose was red from the cold, along with her cheeks, both contrasting with her fair skin.
"What are you two doing here? How long have you been here?" She asked as she jumped to her feet, closing her notebook putting the cap back on her pen.
Fred and George blinked a few times, completely unsure themselves.
"Um.."
"I dunno..."
"Thirty minutes? An hour?"
"Not sure."
Olive sighed, shivering greatly as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Where you two reading my writing?" Ollie raised a brow, her voice defensive.
"Yeah." George shrugged.
"No one's supposed to read it yet! Not until it's finished!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. The snowflakes that had gathered on top of her head fell off, cascading around her with the rest of the falling snow. Olive had this issue that no one could read what she had written until it was done. She didn't know why it was such a big deal... But it was. It gave her closure and less anxiety.
"Okay! Okay, lady, jeez." Fred and George put their hands up in surrender, startled by the mixture or red and yellow swirling in her eyes from the mixture of anger and anxiety.
"It's quite good though." George said quickly, speaking truthfully, "When you are done, can we read it?"
Olive blinked a few times, staring at the two of them. Fred nodded in agreement with his brother, slinging an arm around him.
"Y-you want to read this?" She asked, stammering from the chattering of her teeth. Olive came unprepared for the cold weather, certainly the snow. Although she wore boots, she didn't wear thick socks, and only a thin jumper and windbreaker- things she mostly wore in the spring and early summer months.
"Yeah!" Fred exclaimed, "If you let us."
"You two read?"
"No..." George shrugged.
"But that is some good literature." Fred smiled.
Olive rolled her eyes with a small smirk, tucking her things into her bag.
"I'll be sure to let you know when it's done." She said, rubbing her sore hands together, trying to get the feeling back into them. Ollie sniffled from the raw air making her nose run, looking longingly back to the castle, which was much warmer than outside. She shuddered again, wrapping her thin jacket around herself tightly to try and keep in the small amount of warmth she had left.
"It's cold, we should get back to the castle." George suggested, noticing how cold Olive appeared to be. He himself was cold as well, but was much more bundled up than she was.
"Good idea, George. Coming Ollie?" Fred asked as he and George turned on their heels and began to make the long walk in the cold to get back to the castle.
"You guys go ahead, I'll stay out here." She said, rubbing her hands together as she headed back over to her spot.
George gave Fred a look before walking over to Ollie, slightly amused that she wished to stay outside in the cold while she was already worried. Under the amusement, however, he felt a bit of concern for the girl as she sniffled again from the cold, her hair damp from the snow that had melted in her curls.
"You should come inside." He said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his warmer jacket, "It's pretty cold out here."
Olive raised a brow before shrugging her shoulders.
"I'll be fine... I like the cold. Plus, I'd rather be alone." She said. George grinned at the last part, grabbing her wrist gently to prevent Ollie front sitting down.
"You know we can't let that happen." George smirked.
Olive groaned, "You don't want to leave me alone for just one night?"
Fred approached the two, arms folded with the same cheeky grin that George has plastered on his face.
"Let's make a deal, then." Fred offered, "You let us walk you back to your common room and away from the cold-"
"And we'll leave you alone for the rest of the night. Forget the black cat for tonight." George smiled.
Olive looked between the two, her hands on her hips. She was freezing, and knew she'd probably get sick from being out here too long, so the offer was kind of them. Though, Olive often preferred that people shouldn't worry about her.
"Fine." She gave in with a shiver, "I'll take the deal, but no funny business, okay?"
"Of course." George nodded his head. He and Fred offered their arms to Ollie, which she gladly took. Heat seemed to radiate off the two like a space heater, instantly making her slightly less cold than she was before.
Knowing their way perfectly around the castle, including some passageways and different ways to each class, Fred and George silently agreed to take Ollie the long way back to the Ravenclaw common room.
"So how did you two find me anyway?" Ollie questioned them, looking up at George, then Fred, who were both considerably taller than her.
"Well," Fred began with a mischievous smirk.
"We pulled a prank, and Filch got on our tail-" George spoke with a hint of added drama in his tone, making Olive have to force back a small laugh.
"So we took a secret passageway that led out here."
"A passage way?" Olive mused. She hated the twins- even more so this year. But now... They seemed to be growing on her a little bit, despite her mental protests against it. There were times where Fred and George could be annoying as hell, and others where they could be quite funny and caring.
"Yes. A passage way. Why is that funny?" Fred asked her. Olive shook her head with a teeny grin on her face.
"I've only heard about them in a few books about the school, I didn't think they'd be real." She admitted.
"Well, they are real. That's how we found you." George beamed with a triumphant grin.
They rounded the lake, reaching the worn stone steps that would lead all the way up to the Herbology Greenhouse. Everything was beginning to be covered in a blanket of white from the falling snow, causing the steps to be a bit more slick.
Which is why Olive slipped on the first step, falling forward into the snow. Since Fred and George were on either side of her, arms linked, they came down with her.
If only someone was able to see what a sight that was.
"You guys okay?" Olive mumbled, her face resting in the snow. Her hands underneath her on the stone steps to break her fall. Ollie's hair was sprawled out around her, shielding the rest of her head from the boys.
George rolled over onto his back with a small chuckle, his hands running through the snow. Fred just couldn't help himself, bursting with laughter as they rolled around in the snow.
"We're fine, Ollie." George smirked, wiping the snow from his jeans and coat as he got to his feet. Fred did the same, then ran his fingers through his hair to get the stubborn chunks of snow to fall out, "The question is, are you okay?"
Lifting her face from the snow, she sighed, rolling over onto her back with a sigh. Her face was covered in snow, as well as pieces of her hair.
"Yeah, totally fine." She muttered, slowly picking herself off the ground. She used numb hands to brush the snow off, her front, and used her sleeves to wipe the snow covering her now numb face. She didn't notice the small scrape on her temple from the fall, where she might of grazed the step on the way down.
"Jeez, Olive, you got yourself a battle wound there." Fred commented.
"I wonder who won, her or the stair."
She reached a hand up, touching the scrape with her finger. A small shot of pain ran through the nerves in that spot, causing her to quickly take her hand away.
"Probably the stair." She winced, "But let's just go before my limbs fall off due to frostbite, okay?"
They nodded, linking arms with Ollie again as the continued up the stairs carefully and quietly. All of them were really cold from their trip into the snowy ground, but were only silently complaining to themselves.
As they entered the castle, opposite of where the Ravenclaw common room was, the three sighed with relief as warmth hit them.
"Thank Merlin." Ollie muttered, rubbing her numb hands together.
"And you're the one who wanted to stay outside." George teased, shoving his frigid hands into the pockets of his coat. Olive narrowed her eyes at him, holding back the smirk that wanted to tug onto her lips.
"Shut it." She said, "Let me embrace the warmth." Ollie walked further into the castle with her arms out, letting the warmer air wrap around her frigid body. Fred and George laughed, not seeing this odd side of Olive before.
"It wasn't that cold outside." Fred said as he folded his arms together, following Olive and George deeper into the castle.
"Speak for yourself. My hands are freezing." The girl said. She shook her head, snowflakes and tiny icicles flying everywhere. Ollie held out her pale hands, her palms scraped and scratched, her fingertips red and stuff with cold.
George reached over, grabbing her hands with his to see exactly how cold they were.
"Merlin's Beard, Olive." He exclaimed, "You're gonna catch a cold."
She shrugged, taking her hands away from George's grasp and shoving them into her pockets.
"I'll be fine. Just a hot shower and some warm socks would be nice." Olive admitted.
An idea popped into Fred's head, causing him to grab Ollie's and George's arms- dragging them in a different direction than the Ravenclaw Common Room.
"Weasley! The common room is that way, you idiot!"
"Come on, Lark, keep up. I've got an idea!"