"So, you'll definitely fall down some stairs?"
"Yes, Kenny."
"Or bump into a wall at least."
"That's right, Kenny, would you like a sickle for this incredible guessing?" Aubrey rolled her eyes as Fred's tone became increasingly patronising; at this point, she wasn't even sure who it was aimed at, over the past few days, both boys had been acting like five-year-olds.
Honestly, the weight of the world on our shoulders and all Kenny cares about is whether he gets to see me hurt or not. Bloody nice of him, isn't it?
She was about to reply but Kenny's mouth had already opened again, "And I - "
"Kenny, enough!" She replied firmly.
As if in surrender, Kenny raised his arms as the three walked, "Just making sure I can justify this to Angela. If she thinks did this for no reason, well..."
Weirdly, Fred seemed to get this, nodding along, "I can guarantee you'll see me get hurt ... oh and I forgot to mention, don't talk to me and Aubrey at all. We're meant to be ... cursed. Essentially, just pretend you're working alone, cover for us."
"Cursed? Aubrey, are you alright?" Kenny's brow furrowed, "And why are you're telling me this as we're walking towards Mad-Eye's classroom? What, did you think I'd back out or something if you told me before? ... Aubrey, is everything alright?"
For a moment, she didn't reply before sighing, "Not really but it's ridiculously complex and right now, I'm nervous as it is so if I explain, I might have a meltdown!"
Fred and Kenny exchanged a look before Fred grinned, "So that's how you stay calm in weird situations!"
"That and an overbearing moral compass," She replied, "Denial, repression and morality ... pretty great combination."
As the three came up the stairs toward the Defence against the Dark Art's corridor, they were pleased to see the door was shut, allowing them to get into vague position. Mad-Eye was still barking 'Act normally' into their heads, which had eerily fallen into unison resulting in a bizarre echoic effect. The plan was slapdash, they'd walk up the stairs under the pretence of Fred's 'undecided academic reasons' then create a distraction whilst Kenny came down it, duplicating the flask as he did so. It wasn't quite the ordered, well thought out plan Aubrey would have liked but at this point, that was but a distant dream, chaos truly was everywhere.
At the top of the stairs, they saw Kenny casually mingling before darting out of sight behind a pillar just as the door of the classroom opened, unleashing a flood of Second Years. For a moment they appeared to be alone but after the crowd died down, the surly Defence teacher followed.
Are you ready?
Fred asked, which was a little late considering they were already walking towards Mad-Eye in the eerie precision of Imperiused people. Bit late for turning back now.
"Not really, but it doesn't matter, I'm taking a chaotic leaf out of your book," She replied, resisting the urge to check on Kenny although this would no doubt be a giveaway to the keen-eyed Moody, "I'm more worried about you falling down these stairs, if I'm honest."
Of all the things to worry about, don't worry about that. If my head were any harder, you could use it as a cannonball
She was about to reply but noticed Fred coming to a stop a few steps down from Mad-Eye, so quickly followed suit.
On three, smile and stare at him ... one, two, three
The urge to laugh was strong as they turned to Mad-Eye in unison, creepy grins on their faces. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kenny casually emerging from behind the pillar, hands in his pockets as he leisurely strolled towards them. Before, she'd been secretly worried that her fear of Mad-Eye would get the better of them but right now, that had completely dissolved, mainly because of the pure frustration radiating from his face at such happiness.
"Afternoon, Professor Moody," Fred said, his grin only intensifying as Mad-Eye continued to look on in disgust, "I think I lost my textbook the other day, have you seen it?"
Mad-Eye stared between the pair of them, his eyes hopelessly glancing down at the bottom of the stairs, wishing he could escape the pesky pair, "Can't say that I have."
"Can you think it?" Fred asked, both of them growing increasingly amused as the Moody in their heads became even more frustrated.
"What?"
"You can't say it but can you think where my textbook is?" Fred asked innocently, adding to Aubrey:
I actually took that one straight from George ...
"I think you told me, it sounded familiar," She admitted as Moody glowered. A few steps away from them, Kenny had paused, pretending to rifle around for something in his robes, occasionally glowering as a second year or two rushed past.
"He's in place," She told Fred, just in case he hadn't seen.
"No, I can't bloody think it, bugger off," Mad-Eye growled.
"Oh ... well, that's unfortunate," Fred replied.
Mad-Eye took a step forward in an attempt to get around them but Fred awkwardly stepped in time, "Oh sorry, Professor, are you trying to get past?"
"Clearly."
"I'll move," Fred sent Aubrey a sudden surge of adrenaline before seemingly propelling himself backwards, hitting the stairs with a large thwack that almost made her wince. Instead, she stood completely still, continuing to smile as if unfazed. Surprisingly, Mad-Eye also seemed unaffected as Fred tumbled down a little way; his expression was impossible to read. Still, it didn't matter if it was unreadable or not, Mad-Eye was distracted, giving Kenny enough time to walk past and (hopefully) duplicate the flask.
Her smile quickly faded as Mad-Eye's voiced echoed through her mind, snappily telling her it was alright to react to Fred's sudden tumble rather than stare blankly forwards.
"What did you say, boy?" Mad-Eye snapped, his eyes torn away from Fred towards the unharmed Kenny instead.
Despite not being scrutinised, Aubrey felt herself starting to panic a bit. Luckily, it appeared that the two boys were both better at acting than her as Kenny simply shrugged.
"Can't remember."
"You just said something," Mad-Eye replied adamantly.
"Could have been about my girlfriend ... if it was I can tell you more - "
"No, that's enough," Mad-Eye snapped before turning to Aubrey, "We should probably get your idiotic friend to Madam Pomfrey," She remained a few paces behind him as he grumbled, " ...falling down stairs, I said to act normal ... he is a complete blithering idiot, don't know what I expected..."
Now that Mad-Eye was walking away, she allowed her eyes to drift towards Kenny who was walking away like nothing had happened. He gave no indication whether he had the cup or not but perhaps that was for the best.
• • •
It seemed that Mad-Eye hadn't caught on, perhaps he was too preoccupied or more likely, just didn't care. The potential spy a few days ago had left her worried that Mad-Eye knew they were free but considering she and Fred had been alone with him and he'd said nothing, she'd assumed they were in the clear.
Madam Pomfrey seemed amazed that Fred wasn't in more pain considering what had happened, only using a few simple healing charms before telling him to rest for half an hour before he could leave. Aubrey waited until both Mad-Eye and Pomfrey were gone before she walked towards the bed, hopping on and accidentally landing on Fred's leg.
"Ouch!"
"I'm sorry!" She jumped off, her teeth gritted.
"Don't worry," He replied, adjusting himself before assuring her there was space. She was a little more hesitant now but obliged, smiling weakly at him.
"Well ... that was eventful? Seriously, how are you not more hurt?" She asked, leaning forward and pushing Fred's hair back from his face, examining his forehead. Briefly, she remembered that only weeks ago, that had been her forehead and felt a shiver pass through her body.
"My head's like a cannonball?" He repeated.
"No, I don't buy it," She replied, pushing up his sleeve, "No bruises, nothing!"
With a grin, he leant in, gesturing for her to do likewise. For a brief moment, her heart rate quickened with excitement and fear that he was going to kiss her before realising he was merely telling her a secret. Aubrey scolded herself for being so silly, kissing and everything like that could wait.
"Fine, I didn't tell 'cos I was worried it wouldn't work," Fred replied, "But I found some sort of temporary protection charm, tried it out this morning and after about twenty attempts ... my Charms skills aren't what they used to be - "
"Given you've missed half a year's worth of content I think that's understandable," She replied kindly.
"Knew you'd get it. Anyway, it still hurt to fall down those stairs, mind you and I do have a bruise on my leg but the damage was minimised - "
"George and Lexy!" She suddenly exclaimed, "Hon, you're a genius we can use it on them."
"... yeah, we can," He replied, nodding slowly, "We can keep them safe!"
Perhaps it was because kissing was now on Aubrey's mind or simply their combined excitement had got to her, but Aubrey leant forward, placing her hands on either side of Fred for support before planting a kiss on his cheek. Instantly, they both froze as she suddenly became still as a statue, poised in position.
"Um ... it was a reward kiss," She mumbled, "An ... um, an incentive for good behaviour."
His lips had curved into a grin, "Well, thank you ... "
As usual, the rush of completing a baby step got to her although any further would be too much too fast. Fearing he might try and kiss her again, she suddenly lay down, resting her head on his chest as he took her fingers in his.
"What's this, more incentives?"
"Something like that," She replied. Cuddling was fine and kissing him wouldn't be out of the picture forever ... just not yet. The two stayed like that in comfortable silence for what could have been minutes and hours before Aubrey heard a strange scuffing sound nearby. Fearing it was their potential spy she instantly, sat bolt upright, only to see an incredibly awkward Kenny standing there.
"Um ... " He was clearly trying ti suppress a grin, which made her blush inside ... thankfully, "Thought I'd deliver your flask but you seem a bit busy."
She laughed awkwardly, taking it from him, "Thank you so much, hon, this ... this has been so helpful and worked weirdly well."
"No problem it was piss easy and you know I'm usually hopeless at Charms," He replied, "As for the curse, was it a love curse because that would explain why you suddenly like that ... no offence, Fred."
"None taken, Kenny, I was thinking the same thing," Fred replied before adding aside to Aubrey:
Okay, I'm usually calm and that pissed me off.
He may not have had telepathy but Kenny clearly picked up on Fred's undertones, "I'm joking ... I mean, Aubrey has a type and let me tell you, it's very .... you."
In an attempt at being sly, he winked at Aubrey who quickly cut off eye contact to avoid bursting out into laughter, "Don't wink, Kenny..."
"I wasn't winking."
"Then why did you wink?" She laughed, which he joined in with; Fred, for once, remained silent, looking between the two with mild amusement.
"Must be your imagination," He grinned, "Anyway, I'd best be off, Ang wants me to try this Norwegian Beet salad with her. I won't tell about what I just saw, if you're worried but if she and Lexy find out you've been engaging in ... romantic activities and not told them, I believe they'll be a little miffed."
She pressed her lips together, "Thank you, Kenny, I appreciate it..."
After a few more awkward nods, Kenny left them alone again. Due to the sheer awkwardness of it, they couldn't help but laugh.
"Bloody Kenny, who says 'miffed' anymore?!"
"Don't imitate him, he's just a bit weird sometimes," She laughed, "And he did help us. Now, all we have to do is expose Moody at the cup and our lives will be in order. We can save George, Lexy and all the others - "
"Not to mention engage in romantic activities," Fred teased.
"Don't say that whilst you're imitating Kenny!"