Rebel Rebel (A Fred Weasley fanfic)

12

Sirius Black had gotten into the school again only this time, he'd managed to get past the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat horse and right up to the boy's dormitories where he'd apparently attacked Ron, who he had probably mistaken for Harry.

Every inch of the castle had once again been searched but like last time, Black had vanished.

It had been late by the time anyone in Gryffindor Tower had gone to bed and even when they did, they lay awake in their rooms chatting with their friends and coming up with more theories as to how he's managed to slip by the Dementors for a third time.

Because of all the excitement -and the party that had taken place the night previous- Fred was running on little to no sleep but hey, at least he had double potions to look forward to.

He's debating on whether or not he forgets about the food in front of him and just naps at the table for the rest of breakfast when someone squeezes themselves into the space between him and a second-year who he doesn't know the name of.

"Hey,"

He looks up from his plate so fast that he swears he hears his neck click but he couldn't care less about that right now because it's Stevie who's sitting beside him. Stevie who's sitting so close to him that their legs are almost...Fred shakes his head. He had to get a grip.

"Morning," he breathes, looking across the table to where Ribh had wedged herself in beside Kaye - to see her rolling her eyes. Both of them also look tired. Stevie's hair is tied back in a loose ponytail and her tie is crooked.

"Hi," Stevie repeats, giving him a bright smile.

"So what happened last night?" Ribh asks, looking at Kaye who was still looking rather shaken, "I mean one minute we were in bed and then the next, Helena Ravenclaw's coming up through the floor telling us to get up so the dorms can be searched."

Kaye shudders and drops her spoon into her porridge bowl, "It was Sirius Black."

"No way," Ribh stares at her, "He tried to get back into the common room?"

"More like he got into the common room," George says as he slides into the space on Kaye's other side.

"He got in?" both girls repeat, so loud that it attracts the attention of students sat at the other tables.

"He got all the way up to the boy's dorms." Kaye adds.

"Did you see him?" Stevie asks, looking at Fred again.

"No, he didn't," she looks past him to Ron, who's scowling, "Because it was our room the came into and it was me he was standing over a knife."

"So he says," George shrugs.

"I'm telling the truth!" Ron snaps, "You lot saw the curtains around my bed!"

"Once again, once Ron woke, he didn't hang about," Fred speaks, smiling when Stevie helps herself to a slice of toast that's on his plate.

"That's twice that he's targeted the Gryffindor common room," Ribh joins in, "What he wants has to be in there."

"You mean who," Fred corrects, not-so-subtly nodding down the table to Harry Potter, who raises a hand to give them a wave.

"Now that makes sense." Ribh nods before delving into a new conversation with Kaye.

Fred notices that Stevie's gone rather quiet and looks down to see her chewing thoughtfully on her toast with a furrowed brow. "You're thinking awfully hard there," he murmurs, nudging her gently.

She finishes her food before speaking, "It's just...how did he get in? He couldn't possibly know the password, could he?"

"Well, um," Fred's gaze flickers to Neville Longbottom, who's staring dejectedly at the table, "He's not the best at remembering passwords so he'd written them down at the start of the year. He must have left them lying around and Black found them."

"Oh," Stevie looks at the boy sympathetically, "Poor Neville."

"McGonagall is furious," Kaye whispers so he doesn't hear, "I've never seen her so angry before. She's banned him from Hogsmeade, given him detention and told us we#re not allowed to tell him the password."

"Poor bloke has to wait outside the common room until someone lets him in." Fred snickers.

"It's not funny, Fred." Kaye scolds him, "Professor McGonagall's even written home."

"No doubt his parents will be sending a Howler."

"Grandmother," Kaye and George correct her quietly, "He lives with his grandmother."

"Yeah," Fred stands as the bell rings for their first lesson, "And from what I've heard, she's not someone you want to mess with."

~~|~~

News of Black's return to the castle obviously spread like wildfire due to Ron's constant retelling of the ordeal and the fact that security had once again been ramped up.

"They still give me the creeps," Ribh mutters, glaring across the grounds towards one of the Dementors down by the gates.

The Ravenclaws were making their way back to the castle after Care of Magical Creatures where they'd had a pretty fun lesson with Nifflers -a complete 180 from the Hippogriff Hagrid had shown them back at the start of term- and Kaye was currently trying to shove a huge slab of Honeydukes chocolate into her bag.

"Stop looking at them," she hisses, grabbing Ribh's arm, "They'll come over!"

"No they won't," Ribh shakes her off, "Dumbledore has forbidden it, remember?"

"Didn't stop them coming in before."

Well, she has a point.

"I wonder what Flitwick will have us doing." Stevie wonders aloud as they head for the stairs, rolling her eyes as a group of seventh-year boys come barreling up the stairs from the dungeons.

Stepping off to the side, she narrowly avoids being trampled but Kaye isn't so lucky and her shoulder hits that of Tristan MacLean; a Slytherin with dark hair with eyes to match who would be rather handsome if he weren't such an arse.

He scoffs when Kaye drops her Fantastic Beasts textbook, going as far as to kick it out of her grasp when she reaches for it, "Watch where you're going, mudblood."

Stevie comes to a halt at the steps, spinning around to pin a glare on the boy, "What did you just say?"

"Stevie," Kaye whispers once she's gathered her book, "Stevie, just leave it, please."

"What did you just say?" she demands, ignoring her friend as she stares up at Tristan.

"I said," he speaks slowly, "That the mudblood should look where she's going."

"Apologise."

Tristan laughs - as do the boys that are standing behind him, "Hear that? The blood-traitor wants me to apologise." He grins when Stevie's brow furrows, "Oh yeah, we all know about you, don't we boys? A failure to the Nicholson family I believe is what my father said."

She opens her mouth to reply (with what, she doesn't quite know) but he beats her to it.

"Tell me, how does it feel to know that your parents are ashamed of you? They're so ashamed, that they didn't even want you home for Christmas."

"Stevie," both Ribh and Kaye plead when she suddenly pulls her wand from her robes, pressing it so it's just under Tristan's chin and she feels them tug on the back of her robes.

For one satisfying moment, Tristan actually looks rather worried but then, his eyes flicker up to someone over her head and once again, that smug smirk makes its way back onto his face.

"Miss Nicholson," she stops breathing momentarily when Professor Snape speaks from behind her, "What, can I ask, do you think you're doing?"

Well, shit.