authors note: yes i believe in lee jordan supremacy. yes he needs to step up his game with george.
𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁
January 7th, 1994
The next morning, Elodie and George woke first (as they always did.) Usually, this wasn't a problem, but it was rather hard to explain why Fred's arm was around her waist and why his head was tucked into her shoulder as he slept. Elodie didn't dare move.
George was grinning at her stupidly, and she narrowed her eyes. "We were cold!" Elodie mouthed.
"Sure," George snorted.
"Mmph." Lee grunted, rolling over and hitting his head on George's back. Elodie watched amusedly as a flush rose in the redheaded boy's cheeks.
"I swear, Elodie." George mouthed, unbeknownst to Lee.
"I didn't say anything!" She vindicated, smirking.
"The dog is gone." Lee noticed, frowning and sitting up against a rock. His voice woke Fred, who made a grumbling noise and pressed his face farther into Elodie's hair.
"Aw," George pouted. "I liked him."
"He was the love of my life." Fred mumbled sadly. "And now he's gone."
Elodie didnt know if she should take that as a personal offense, but she laughed and pushed Fred off her, not noticing the look on his face when she did.
"That, lads, was the best I've slept in years." Fred announced, stretching his arms.
"Three guesses why," George muttered to Lee.
Elodie ignored all of them, and took a moment to survey their ruined campground. Wands scattered, blankets covered in fallen pine leaves, and pillows that were starting to look suspiciously log-like. The place was a mess.
She knelt to gather all together, and the group set back off towards the castle. The doors had been reopened; and students were milling about the castle like it was any other normal day.
None of the teachers stopped them, and they found the Fat Lady magically healed and half-asleep in her portrait.
"Nudiustertian." Lee muttered, as he was the only one who knew the password, and she swung open to reveal the common room.
It was pretty much empty- most people were probably waking up in the great hall, but there were a couple people there, all glaring at them.
Maura, Katie, Alicia, and Forrest.
"Oh look, it's Elodie's fan club." Fred joked under his breath.
"Where have you been?!" Maura cried, flinging her arms around her friend.
"Maurs- we're fine, really-" Elodie tried, but the others were rounding on them, peppering them with questions.
"Hey." Forrest said, giving Elodie a hug and a brief kiss. "You really had us worried there."
"I'm sorry." Elodie looked down at the floor. God, she really was a terrible girlfriend.
George and Lee were explaining to the group about the makeshift camping, (everyone trying to mask their surprise at the two boys talking again) and Fred was still moping about their dog.
"He'll come back, Freddie, it's alright," Katie put a comforting arm around his shoulder. Elodie, remembering the incident with Katie and Fred from last year, boiled a little inside.
Maura was still fuming. "So you're telling me," she said, "that you let us all think you were dead so you could go camping and adopt a dog?"
"Pretty much." Fred smiled painfully.
"And to up our chances of staying alive!" George interjected.
"Maurs, we're sorry, we really are." Elodie promised. "If we had some way to get in touch with you guys we would've."
"Yeah," agreed Lee.
Maura relented, giving each of them a lasting hug.
"Walk you to class?" Forrest offered, after all the "never do that agains" were over and the Gryffindors had dispersed to different parts of the room.
Elodie nodded gratefully, telling him that she would only be a moment to change.
Or, perhaps, more than a moment.
Elodie got upstairs, realized she looked dreadful, and started panicking.
Her bun had been messed up to the point it almost looked like a bird could hatch it's eggs in it, her clothes were covered in dirt and leaves, and perhaps worst of all- she smelled like the woods, and dog fur.
Elodie groaned, changing into her robes as quick as she possibly could, forgetting all else. She grappled with her hair until it was slightly more admissible, and wiped the dirt off of her cheek. Okay. Well. This was probably the best it was going to get. Elodie officially hated mirrors. If she didn't own one, she would've been able to live in ignorant bliss about her own appearance.
Why Fred and Forrest fancied her, Elodie had no idea. But she didn't have time to think about it more, because angry shouts started to come from downstairs.
"Listen, wazzock-"
Oh, not again.
But this time, it wasn't Fred who was shouting. It was Forrest.
George had a tight grip on his twin's arm, which was likely the only thing stopping a fistfight breaking loose.
"-keeping her out like that all night, when Sirius Black was on the loose, she could've died, what the hell were you thinking?!" Forrest was yelling.
Fred's eyes were wide and furious. He was trying to say something, but Forrest cut him off.
"If you really cared about her, you would've brought her back into the castle to me." He ended, pointing a threatening wand at Fred.
"You- she-" Fred was struggling for words, clearly struggling away from George's grip.
"She," Elodie interrupted, causing all arguments to cease. "Can take care of herself."
Forrest furrowed his brow. "I know you can, doll, but he-"
"Fred isn't responsible for me." Elodie said plainly. "He's not my keeper."
"But if he loves you like he says he does-"
"Forrest," Elodie sighed, "I made a choice. Let's not argue about it."
"Told you, Fortescue." Fred smiled triumphantly. This seemed to be the last straw, because Forrest waved his wand, and encased Fred's head in a pumpkin.
Whether that was some odd crack about him being a ginger, Elodie couldn't tell.
"Oi!" George shouted, firing a jinx back at Forrest, who blocked it swiftly.
Elodie ran into the middle of the firing range. "Stop it!" Alicia, Maura, and Katie rushed to her side, pointing their wands at the boys.
"I hate wizards," Maura muttered.
Fred was still encased in the pumpkin, stumbling around the room blindly. George and Lee were facing Forrest, looking just about ready to curse him.
"You lot, go fix Freddie." Elodie instructed them exasperatedly. "Forrest, can we please go to class?"
Forrest cast one last glowering look across the room. "Sure, doll."
𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁
They walked to class hand in hand, Elodie painfully aware of the fact that that was the last thing she felt like doing right now.
"I'm sorry," Forrest apologized. "I know I stepped over the line."
Elodie laughed softly. "Fred doesn't know what a line is, so I think your actions were slightly justifiable."
Forrest chuckled, nodding his agreement.
The arrived at the Herbology classroom right on time, and Elodie gave him a light kiss before entering the fresh-smelling greenhouses.
"Wotcher, Florence."
"Wotcher, Pumpkin-head."
Fred rolled his eyes. He still had a couple pumpkin seeds in his hair. The rest of their friends followed, all looking slightly ruffled from the hellish morning they had had.
George leaned over the table to talk to Elodie. "Your boyfriend," he announced, "Has just instituted a prank war."
Oh, buggering Christ.
"He didn't even prank you!" Elodie said incredulously. No way in hell was Forrest making it out of a prank war with the Weasley twins alive.
"It's how we roll." Fred grinned. "Give him the rules at lunch, Els."
The rules of prank wars were simple, and as follows:
1. If you don't retaliate, you'll just get pranked again until you do.
2. No unforgivable curses (obviously)
3. Nothing involving mangoes, because George was allergic.
4. Loser may surrender verbally or with a white flag on the winner's door.
And so, Elodie was tasked with explaining said rules to Forrest when lunchtime rolled around. It was an arduous task; Forrest was quite resistant about participating in any such war, as any sane person would be.
"But I don't want to prank anyone." Forrest insisted.
Elodie grimaced. "You sort of have to, love."
"I could surrender right now."
"Early surrender is worse than death." Elodie said, completely serious.
"Merlin, alright." Forrest exhaled. "Any ideas?"
Elodie grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."