Enemies - Fred Weasley X OC

The Bet

-Zephyra-

It was November at Hogwarts and the ground was frozen solid. The trees were clinging to their last Autumn leaves and frost bejewelled the grass. I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts, but it felt almost like my first; the atmosphere at school was so unfamiliar. I think people were on edge from the Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup, and, despite it being unbelievable dangerous, I was slightly glad for the ongoing Triwizard Tournament distracting people from the war on the horizon.

'Voldermort will be returning,' that's what my father said, and although I wanted no part in that, I doubted I could avoid it.

I was doing as I always did. Keeping up appearances, being a 'Slytherin role model' - whatever that means - and just generally steering clear of others. Other people are exhausting. 

Unfortunately, this plan became difficult to maintain when faced with two of the most boneheaded, belligerent boys in Gryffindor, who found it amusing to pick fights. I will admit that I found it entertaining to argue with them, but who wouldn't? It's not like I ever lost.

That is how I ended up, once again, standing in a corridor arguing with the Weasley twins. 

"If I throw a stick will you leave?" I questioned. I heard the twins giggling behind as they continued to follow me. Didn't they have anything better to do?

"Are all Slytherins scared to face us or just you?" One of them asked.

"Are all Gryffindors so desperate for a verbal attack that they follow Slytherins back to their dorms?" I snarked.

"You're so certain you get to us, aren't you?" Fred laughed, "Malfoy, you've miles to go before we think you're even mediocre at insults." 

"You've got miles to go before you find a brain cell."

"Come on! I know you're secretly impressed by our ingenious pranks," George said. 

I scoffed, their pranks were mediocre at best. Anyone could pull off the stuff they did, it's just most of us have better things to do with our time. I'll admit that one with the troll foot jumping down the tables at breakfast was quite funny, but other than that they were about as original as one of my brothers insults.

Before I could think better of it I turned to face them. Their laughter stopped as they saw my face, a soft smile resting on my lips.

"You want to know why I was put into Slytherin?" I asked not waiting for a reply, "it's because I'm cunning, something very good for pranks. You think you run this school because people know your names and know that 'oh Fred and George Weasley  flooded the toilets'." I chuckled quietly. 

"If you weren't so self centred you'd realise that maybe, just maybe, if you were as clever as you say you are then you wouldn't be in detention every evening. Because if you're getting caught, frankly I think you'd do better going to classes, not wasting time on pranks."

"Oh really?" Fred scoffed, smirking down at me. "So what, you think you could do it better?" 

"A toddler could do it better," I drawled, turning around.

I'd done a few pranks myself over the years, although mine all had a self-serving purpose (what can I say, I'm a Slytherin). There was the time I caused a fight between the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team before a match, which led them to replacing their captain mid-season and losing the house cup; how I had cursed all the Ravenclaws to receive bad marks in astronomy (alright, that one was just funny, not self-serving); the slime bomb I exploded in the boys toilets after one of them called me and my family 'slime balls', oh the irony; the countless times I skipped lessons. And yet, never once had I fallen into trouble because of them.