15| AS THE SUNLIT PARTS OF THE SEA
"This is it, Freddie," George said in a ceremoniously sincere tone. "this is the moment. The one moment we've been waiting for all our life. The one moment when we'll prove our might to the world. When the sun shines on tomorrow's horizon, it will be the rise of a new era — tonight, Freddie — tonight we seek vengeance!"
Fred nodded with a look of fierce determination. "Vengeance," he repeated. "Vengeance is sweet."
They stood like that for a while, gazing past each other's shoulders, throwing spunk looks at the cold stone walls around them and sucking in heavy breaths, smouldering with passion.
Then George opened his mouth. "Did I do well?" he asked Fred with unhinged enthusiasm.
"Inspirational." Fred wiped a fake tear from his eye. "Wood should have let you give the speeches more often."
George waved one hand and put the other over his chest as he replied in a humble, flattered sort-of voice, "Oh no, you're too kind, good sir."
Fred sniggered at his overly girlish moves. Another two minutes of silence followed.
Fred sighed in the end, breaking the bleak silence. "Came up with anything yet?"
"No," groaned George, "but what's the point if we can't even locate it? All I can see are these stupid walls."
Fred agreed.
The two of them had been down in the dungeons for almost half an hour now — enunciating senseless words to the air and trying to find the entrance to the Slytherin common room to implement their newly hatched plan. But they couldn't for the life of them figure out the password to the Slytherin common room. Hell, they didn't even know whether a password was required.... what if they had to solve a riddle like in the case of the Ravenclaw common room? Or tickle a pear, like they had to for the kitchens? What if they had to tickle a sleeping dragon?
Fred narrated the idea to George and sent them both into a sniggering fit. When they were done, they scratched their heads, thinking deeply.
"What does Snape like?" George said suddenly.
"I dunno, sunflowers?" guessed Fred.
"Yeah, because Snape would wear sunflowers in his hair," said George sarcastically.
"Aha! Hair grease!" Fred snapped his fingers, his face lighting up.
"I'd go with potions, to be honest." George laughed.
"Oh, that could work too."
"So which potion will it be —?" George started mysteriously, "Weedosoros potion or Wit-Sharpening potion? Skele-grow or Sleeping Draught? Fergus Fungal Budge or Fungiface —"
The sound of stone rubbing against stone interrupted them, echoing around, and they quickly cast the disillusionment charm on themselves, pressing their backs against a wall.
A stone door concealed in a stretch of stone wall slid open and a Slytherin boy — Cassius Warrington to be exact — stepped out, frantically checking behind him to make sure no one was around. Fred and George didn't waste a minute; as quick as they could, they rushed in through the closing entrance with padded footsteps.
Both peered around in the dark to confirm that Warrington had been the only one awake before they burst into suppressed laughter.
"Think he's going to put his name in the goblet?" asked George, the charm fading off him.
"Probably... but even if he did, the goblet won't select a sissy like him." Fred rolled his eyes, coming into plain sight as he started making his way through the cold corridor. "Godric, it's freezing in here!" he added, rubbing his arms to gain some warmth.
George snorted softly, copying Fred's actions as they approached the end of the corridor. "No surprise there."
Six counted footsteps later, they found the Slytherin common room in its dark, mysterious glory. The serpents and green light were repelling to them but they couldn't deny that the entire room was a spectacular work of art. Everything from the ceiling right down to the tiniest artefact had been carved with stunning skill.
Fred started jumping giddily on his cold, bare feet. "We've done it, Georgie! We've just completed the most difficult stage of Operation Blue!"
"Operation Blue?" asked George, stifling his grin.
"We need a name for this epic prank!" Fred reasoned.
George nodded importantly in response then looked toward the two staircases. "Let's get down to business. Which one d'you think leads to the girls' dormitory?"
"We'll find out soon enough," said Fred, "you go right; I'll go left."
And so, with a simultaneous colloquial nod, George went left and Fred went right.
They returned from their respective destinations in a matter of moments — Fred shook his head while George was overcome with giddiness — he had safely gone up the stairs (apparently they didn't turn into a slide) and found Gemini asleep in her bed. He took Fred by the wrist and pulled him up to the Slytherin girls' dorm at once.
Upon entering the faintly lit room, basking in the lake's moonlit green hue, they found five girls — Pansy Parkinson on the middle bed, tangled in her sheets; Tracey Davis on one of her sides, Daphne Greengrass on the other; Millicent Bulstrode was lying face-first onto her pillow in one corner.
On the other end of the room, they found their victim.
Gemini was comfortably tucked into her emerald sheets, dark hair open for once and spread over her pillow like mist.
"Is it just me, or do you feel like we're being terrible to her?" said George in the softest of whispers, finding it hard to tear his eyes from the sight of her. "I mean — look at her, she's so precious!"
Fred patted his shoulder. "It's just you."
George sighed. He pulled out his wand from his sleeve, pointed it at Gemini's hair and muttered, "Colovaria," with a fluent swish of his wrist.
Gemini's hair turned a bright shade of blue-green, and she twitched in her sleep. The twins froze at her movement, then released a muted sigh when she didn't move any further. They quickly rushed to her trunk and put a silencing charm on it as they opened it.
They spotted her uniform — ironed and neatly folded — and with the same charm, turned her black robes a brilliant shade of lime green. They muttered a few more charms to make sure the spell didn't come off, and giggling at the queer sight, left her dorm and the Slytherin common room.
Gemini rose with the dawning sun, eyelashes fluttering sleepily and the cool morning air making her shiver for just a second. Habitually, she ran a hand through her hair, trying to untangle any knots — and that's when she noticed. She examined her mid-back length hair between her fingers — silky as ever, but blue.
She was confident that she'd fallen asleep with black hair the previous night... With a small pout on her lips, she shot up from her bed and went to the bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror.
Blue.
Blue-green as the sunlit parts of the sea.
Gemini beamed. She absolutely loved it.
She rushed to her trunk to fetch her sports vest and shorts. Over the summer, she had developed a habit of going for jogs early in the morning. Fizzy had been persistent that she stop eating muffins because they weren't good for her health — so Gemini had found a solution — exercise. She'd spent the summer going for jogs every single morning but couldn't continue the same schedule at school. So she decided that she would jog on weekends.
When she opened her trunk, she found some eccentric lime-green robes inside, and for a moment didn't recognise the garment. But when she unfolded them, she was hit with the revelation that it was her uniform.
It wasn't a coincidence — someone had tried to prank her. She shook her head with a disappointed sigh at the petty attempt. And it didn't take more than a second for the answer to click in her head — of course, Fred and George would do that.
But the one thing she did wonder about was the very fact that they'd gotten into the Slytherin common room. Surely they didn't know the password? It was in Latin.
She discarded her robes, throwing them across the room, and pulled out her second set of robes. She used a spell to iron and fold them and then lay them on her bed. Finding her sports garb, she hastened to get ready lest she got late.
Albeit her hair was still blue, she didn't bother to change it, thinking it looked good with her black vest and shorts.
Tying her hair up in a pony and lacing up her shoes, she silently left her dorm, Millicent's snores dampening as she closed the door behind her and proceeded out of the Slytherin common room.
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It was far too early for anyone to be awake, especially since it was a Sunday, but Gemini had to still sneak out of the castle, lurking in the shadows and checking for people around every corner since she'd known some Ravenclaws (such as Roger Davies) to wake up early in the morning to study (or flirt, in case of Davies).
The moment she had slinked her way out of the castle, Gemini breathed in the fresh morning air deeply. An oddly familiar squeak sounded from somewhere on her head — Twig had tagged along.
She laughed and pulled him from her beautiful blue hair. "Go get Galleon," she said and he saluted her the moment she brought him in front of her eyes. Jumping off her fingertips, he sprinted to the forest, cutting through grass.
Meanwhile, Gemini made her way towards her usual spot at the edge of the lake from where she always started her jog. Her perpetual regime was that she ran a couple of laps around the lake and then stretched for a bit before returning to the warmth of the castle.
The deep, blue-black water of the Great Lake glittered under the sun, which induced shades of pink and tangerine that spread through the sky like ink and lit the canopy of the trees of the Forbidden Forest.
She didn't wait for Twig to return with Galleon. She checked the time on her watch and placed it on the ground before setting off, slow at first. As was routine, Galleon caught up with her halfway through her first lap and raced ahead, recording time on her watch, which he had collected from the spot where she had left it.
Gemini felt the cool air whip against her skin, her shoes hitting the damp soil. The dewy smell of grass surrounded her senses, and gentle bird songs mingled merrily. Dappled sunlight fell over her when she passed under trees. A large tentacle emerged from the lake, sending ripples through the water; it swayed and waved at her. She waved back.
Nature twined with the strings of her mind, putting her at ease. And as she swept some soil aside with her foot to mark the end of her first round at the very spot she had started from, the sun, at last, came up in all its golden glory, its rays peeking behind clusters of fluffy clouds.
She ran three consecutive laps without halting, and at some point, she crossed the Durmstrang ship. Thankfully, no one was awake on the ship and she passed by safely without being spotted. Beads of sweat rolled down her temples, glinting in the light, a redness blossoming spontaneously in her cheeks. Gemini did her stretching, and Galleon handed her back her watch when she finished. He then ran off to his cave and Twig tangled himself in her shoelaces.
Gemini couldn't help the giggle that escaped her — Twig was one of a kind. Stretching her hands above her head one last time, she started making her way into the castle.
About half an hour later, she was in her dorm, drying her wet hair with a flick of her wand. She had taken a cold shower and was dressed fully and smartly in her uniform now. The only thing that seemed out of place was her blue hair.
Pansy's irrelevant commentary was heard in the background. She'd been going on and on about how Gemini looked absolutely terrible and she and Tracey kept laughing gleefully at her hair. For Pansy had at last found something in Gemini to complain about. Her envy was so patent that Gemini could do little but pity her.
Daphne was rather amused by Gemini's own outlook on her new hair. From her spot on her bed, she pulled on her shoes as she spoke to her. "You've been staring at the mirror for the last ten minutes," she noted.
"It's my reflection," said Gemini, "it won't let me leave. It thinks I'm absolutely breathtaking — I really can't explain how much I'm blushing right now." She placed her hands over both her completely normal cheeks.
Daphne rolled her eyes at Gemini's antics. Events like these were a daily thing for Gemini's dormmates. She never shut up about her appearance.
"You might as well say goodbye to it then," Daphne continued, walking over to her. She placed her chin on Gemini's shoulder and looked into the mirror, "or Vincent and Gregory will gobble up all the food."
Gemini sighed deeply. "That's a valid point..." she frowned as Daphne pulled away and started walking out of the room. Gemini followed her, blocking out Pansy and Tracey's whispers.
They reached the common room and everyone seemed dumbstruck at Gemini's appearance before Draco, who had been tying his tie, looked up and gave a loud laugh. Gemini flipped her hair. "You like this, ferret? I did it just for you." she winked.
The common room broke into laughter. Pansy, who'd just reached the common room, looked at Gemini furiously.
Draco snorted. "Yeah, I like it."
"I'm glad." Gemini grinned and then strutted out of there with Daphne.
Draco accompanied them and swung his arm around Daphne's neck. She rolled her eyes. "You're really not helping, Draco." she sighed, catching a glimpse of Pansy and Tracey stalking Draco and discussing something darkly.
"What do you mean?" he asked, looking back at Pansy as well. Pansy stopped speaking at once and twirled her hair around her finger, smiling a sickeningly sweet smile at him.
"Nothing," said Daphne quickly. Too quickly.
Draco looked at her suspiciously. "What? Tell me." He prodded. But a new voice joined them, saving her.
"Hmm... I like this...."
"Could you, for once in your life, leave my hair alone?" Gemini groaned.
"Blaise!" Draco greeted him with a broad grin.
"When did this happen?" Blaise asked in return, fiddling with Gemini's hair.
"Dunno," he shrugged, "but she says she did it for me. Flattering, isn't it?" He fanned himself teasingly.
"If you're trying to make me jealous, it won't work," said Blaise, shaking his head disappointedly.
"He's under the delusion that I like him," Gemini told Draco, heaving a sigh. "Poor kid," she added, looking up at Blaise, who raised an eyebrow at her.
The word "kid" set Draco and Daphne off and they laughed and laughed until they started wheezing.
Gemini grinned innocently at Blaise, who looked reasonably bitter at being made fun of. They reached the entrance hall at last, where a huge population of students were staring in anticipation at the Goblet of Fire. A pair of voices called out to Gemini from somewhere in the crowd. It didn't take her long to locate the source. Fred and George waved avidly to her, looking pleased with her appearance.
She smirked and walked ahead to meet them. "What do you think about my new hair?" she asked them. Several heads turned toward her, and they were stunned at how pretty she looked even with blue hair.
"What do you think about your new appearance?" they shot back, exchanging mischievous glances.
"I think it's brilliant," she said and their grins dropped.
Her smile bloomed.
The crowd laughed.
"You know, if I were you," she continued, now circling them ironically with her hands locked behind her back, "I would have stolen a key possession of another person" — she took the piece of paper in Lee Jordan's hand — "and dropped it on the floor. Oh, and maybe added a bit more creativity."
Fred and George pouted at Gemini. Unfazed by them, she looked down at the paper she had taken from Lee which stated his name and school. "You're putting your name in the Goblet," she noted, looking up at him.
"So are we!" said the twins proudly.
Gemini's eyebrows shot up. "Good luck failing." she smiled and offered the paper back to Lee, who took it, throwing a look at the twins.
"Considering the fact that we are illegally eligible to participate, we are not going to fail in putting our name in the Goblet," Fred told her indignantly.
"Well then good luck getting killed." she smiled idyllically again.
"You wait and watch." Fred scowled, speaking in a challenging tone.
"I am," she responded equally.
"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement and a burning desire to prove Gemini wrong. "C'mon, then — I'll go first —" He pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words 'Fred Weasley — Hogwarts'.
He walked right up to the edge of the golden line surrounding the Goblet and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.
Gemini watched his progress with a wicked look.
For a split second everyone thought it had worked — George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred — but the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.
The entrance hall burst into laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards.
"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall.
Gemini caught his eye, and he cast a questioning, but amused look at her exotic hair.
He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."
Fred and George started making their way out, Lee following them — still howling — but Gemini wasn't done with them just yet...
As they passed by her, she gave them her most sinister smirk as she sang softly, "Pop! Goes the weasel!"
Lee roared harder, clutching his stomach with a painful expression. The few people who had managed to catch her words were either puzzled or laughing their lungs out. Though the twins didn't get the reference, the line seemed insulting enough to them, judging by Lee's reaction.
"How dare you, Gemini?" Fred gasped. "You'd really do that to us? Me and little Georgie of all people?" He pulled George close to him as they both pretended to be hurt.
"Fine then," George spoke up, wiping fake tears from his eyes, "if that's how you want it — just remember that I loved you, Gemini Juliet Delmar!" He stretched an arm out toward her as Fred started to pull him away. With one last agonising look, George turned around — and pretending to be heartbroken, marched away to the infirmary.
Gemini was left standing there with her eyebrows nearly touching her hairline. "He didn't even get the middle name right," she muttered, kicking the ground with a disappointed expression. The entrance hall, which had gone quiet during the twins' theatrics, was now resurrected with laughter.
Gemini felt Professor Dumbledore's gaze lingering on her and she met his eyes at once.
"And what are we going to do about your hair, Miss Delmar?" he asked her.
"Ask them," said Gemini, pointing towards where the twins had left. "because everyone knows I would never —" She stopped speaking at the knowing look Dumbledore gave her and coughed into her fist, causing everyone to snigger amongst themselves.
Gemini was known for causing mischief and though it was a rare occurrence, it was always something that one could never forget. For example, everyone knew who set the Hippogriffs on a marching procession around the castle the previous year with the suits of armour on their backs (who were all holding up their swords in a form of salute) despite the absence of proof.
"You would never what, Miss Delmar?" a voice drawled. Professor Snape had arrived.
"Had a bit of a late start, professor?" Gemini grinned at him shamelessly.
"That is none of your concern, Miss Delmar, however — if you must know then I was in my office, searching for a new date to test your antidotes." He swept his hawk-like gaze around the hall distastefully as he said this. "Now if we must ponder on the real question — why is your hair blue?"
"I was blessed overnight by angels," she replied.
Someone laughed. Snape's eyes snapped in the direction of the sound and he gave the student his most vicious look.
Gemini looked at Dumbledore — who looked like he was suppressing a smile, his eyes twinkling in that familiar way.
"Come on, professor, don't you like my hair?" Gemini asked Snape proudly, placing her hands on her hips.
"No," he said shortly. And he waved his wand once, making the charm fade away. Her hair was black again.
Gemini's jaw fell to the ground. "How dare you, Mr Snape?" she gasped loudly.
"Professor," he corrected.
"Do you have a doctorate degree?"
He looked flustered. "No —"
"Well then, Mister Snape," Gemini continued, "you had absolutely no right to change my hair like that—"
"I am your head of house —"
"Didn't all your years at Hogwarts teach you that you are not supposed to use magic on students?"
"Detention," said Snape at once. He looked far too provoked.
Gemini looked surprised for just a moment before she pulled out her wand and coloured her own hair blue. "If I am getting detention then I might as well do something worth it," she said. Part of her couldn't believe it — it was the first time she had gotten detention.
Snape sneered at her, and then without another word, he swept his black robes and marched into the Great Hall. The laughter that followed Snape's departure was deafeningly loud.
"Grumpy old bat," Gemini mumbled to herself.
Dumbledore looked a tad surprised too — though he also had a certain look that said he knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. He smiled at her as he said, "Would you accompany me into the Hall, Miss Delmar?"
"Not if you're going to turn my hair black again," she answered.
He laughed a deep, rumbling laugh and shook his head.
"Very well, then." she agreed and they set off together.