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"ONE ON CONDITION"
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Transfiguration went really well. Alice was the first to turn her match into a needle and was awarded five points, which was really amazing because that's the same amount Snape took off her, so it was like she never lost any at all.
As soon as the bell rang, Alice began gathering up her things, but stopped when McGonagall called her up.
"Yes, professor?" she said quietly, staring at the ground.
"I have noticed you are not wearing any shoes" McGonagall replied with a slight smile. Alice jerked her head up and then looked at her dirty, cold, red feet. "Hogwarts is cold at this time, you need to be wearing at least a pair of socks"
"Yes professor" she mumbled a nervous wreck. How could she wear socks when she didn't have any? How could she wear shoes when she didn't have any?
Alice left the classroom, hiding behind her hair. Her whole class thought she was a lunatic, Draco hated her and she wasn't allowed to be with Harry for some reason. As much as she loved Hogwarts, she hated it just as much.
She tried to avoid anyone she knew, jumping into a broom cupboard every so often. It was lunch, so she hoped the common room was empty, but it didn't help the fact that she still didn't know the password.
Instead of trying to talk to anybody, she sat down in the doorway, taking out the potions book she managed to find and tried to read, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it. Maybe she was better at cleaning, at least that was something she could do.
Soon enough, the two twins that nearly knocked her over wandered by and Alice jumped to her feet, picking up her books, waiting for them to mutter the password. But they didn't, they stood in front of her and stared at her. She felt odd so ran away, hearing them laugh as she got further away.
She once again ran into someone, but just her luck, it was Draco. She squeaked trying to pick up her books, but dropping them again.
"I am very sorry Mr. Malfoy" she said quietly, finally getting all her books in her tiny arms. He scoffed and walked off. Alice didn't know what to do. Her life at Hogwarts was getting worse by the minute. She headed to the library, hoping she get some sort of peace there.
And for once, she did.
She took out her potions book and found the instructions she had to copy down five bloody times. She thought it should be easy enough, but when you don't know how to write it proves to be very difficult indeed.
She gave up about an hour later because she had run out of parchment. She gathered her things and headed back to the common room hoping to find someone half helpful.
But no one was there, everyone was inside.
"Please, it wont happen ever again!" Alice begged the fat lady. "I've tried to get it off somebody, but no one will help!"
"No, no one else is allowed access without a password, why are you so different?" she said impatiently, this conversation had been repeating itself for the last fifteen minutes.
Alice was really mad at that moment. She sat down in front of the doorway, a glare fixed on her face, trying to make her feel guilty, but it didn't work. She only looked away and practised her singing, which by the way is the worst sound ever!
She soon heard footsteps and jumped to her feet, waiting as patient as possible for the person to walk by. It was the twins again, and she if she wanted to get into the damn common room she would have to find the courage to ask them. And surprisingly, that's exactly what she did.
"Excuse me, sir" she began, tapping the taller one on the shoulder. "Do you know what the password is?"
They looked at each other, debating whether to help or not. Alice waited there patiently, biting her lip and hiding behind her hair.
"We'll help you" began one
"On one condition" the other started.
"You help us taste test our product" they finished together.
Alice couldn't see anything wrong with it, so agreed by nodding her head while still looking at the ground. The twins had smile that could light up a room.
"Well come on then!" said one, pushing her towards the common room. They muttered the password not very loudly and Alice couldn't hear.
"Oi! You told me that you'd tell me the password" she protested, stopping suddenly, causing the twins to fall over her. "I'm so sorry!"
They got up, and brushed themselves down before guiding her in without saying anything. They brought her over to a small corner, where there was a stool, and a box of something or other.
"Now, you sit here, and we'll be back in a second" said one, with an odd look in his eye, as if he knew something she didn't.
She sat there, wondering if this was a good idea, I mean she could just run.
But she didn't want to mess with the twins, she didn't think that was a good idea.
She waited and she waited, but it seemed as they had forgotten about her.
So, she stood up, only to be pushed back down again by the twins who had only just returned.
"We made a deal" one of them scolded in a playful way, but it wasn't fun for Alice, she was terrified.
"Now, all we want you to do is taste this sweet-" began one before Alice interjected.
"What's a sweet?"
The twins looked at her as if she was a girl who lived under a rock for eleven years.
"This, is a sweet" said one, holding up a squishy purple sweet.
"Oh you mean, squishy-things-that-taste-good!" she exclaimed, a beam forming across her pale face.
They looked at each other, trying not to laugh but by doing so, their faces had turned bright red.
"Just eat it" they said in unison, handing her the purple sweet.
But this wasn't any ordinary sweet, this was one of the twins Skiving Snackbox, specifically the Fainting Fancies.
Fred and George have been perfecting them by tricking first years like Alice to eat them.
Alice hesitated before taking the sweet.
"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked, trying not to look at them.
"Do you want the password or not?" asked George impatiently.
She quickly nodded, popping it in her mouth.
It tasted odd, and soon enough, Alice fell limp in her chair and was soon on the cold floor.
"Now Fred, the other side" said George holding out his hand as Fred rooted through his coat pocket for the remedy sweet.
Fred laughed a nervous laugh.
"What?" asked George worridly.
"We have no remedy one's left" Fred answered nervously.
George's beam slowly faded.
"We're dead"