Serpentine ; Fred Weasley

Eleven

Martha had deep scars on her hand.

Scars that apparently came from Umbridge's detention.

I had spend hours trying to convince her to go to Dumbledore or but she refused so now I was on my way to confront that bitch about torturing my best friend.

I didn't care if I got myself expelled in the process. I was angry. Angry about my best friends scars but also angry at myself for not being able to stand up to Felix properly, so now I was going to take that anger out on Umbridge.

I marched my way through the castle, opening doors and hearing them slam behind me.

My shoes sounded against the stone floor and it wasn't until I turned a corner that I stopped up, eyes landing on the three boys hunched over something, all looking my way as I stood there.

"Look... it's Brooks." Lee said through a strained smile and the twins slowly straightened up while Lee sat crouched by the ball on the floor.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Nothing." Fred and George said in unison before George added a few words. "Just something we're working on."

"Okay." I shrugged. "I'm just gonna walk through here. If anyone asks, I didn't see any of you."

I made my way through the corridor, reaching the other side and when I heard footsteps behind me, I spun around quickly, seeing Fred follow me.

"Where're you going?" He asked.

I turned back around, continuing to walk.

"I know you like me." I said. "You can't seem to stay away from me for more than a few hours."

A small laugh slipped from his lips.

"I may have a small crush." He shrugged. "Is that so bad?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I have a boyfriend."

Silence fell over us for a moment before Fred reached for my wrist, making me stop walking.

"Still?"

I sighed, turning to face him.

"You're staying with him?" He asked. "I mean... I personally don't care but I also personally would leave him as fast as possible."

"Yeah, well I'm not you, am I?" I asked. "I'm sorry that it isn't that easy for me. He's been my best friend since we were born. It's always been him, Martha and I and at first we didn't want to go into this relationship in case we broke up and it would ruin our friendship."

He stared down at me before taking a step closer to me. His hand that held my wrist slid to my hand and he pressed it to his chest.

"One of the things I can't stop thinking about, is that he's not making you feel comfortable with sex."

"He is—"

"If he keeps neglecting you afterwards, you might start hating it, and you aren't supposed to hate sex." He said. "Does he let you come?"

I raised my eyebrows at his question. I hadn't expected him to be this forward.

"Yes."

"Good." He smiled at me before letting go of my hand. "Now... where're you going?"

"Uh—" I scratched my forehead before answering. "...I saw Martha's scars. I was about to go kill Umbridge but now I'm not angry enough anymore, so thank you a lot."

"Oh, well we're actually planning a prank to get back at Umbridge for that." He said. "She hurt Martha and we are not impressed."

I raised my eyebrows.

"A prank?" I asked. "On Umbridge?"

"Uh-huh." He smiled. "Come join us. It'll be fun."

"Okay." I said, following him back towards the door, and when we reached it, Fred stopped and turned towards me.

"I know I just asked a favour of you but I kind of need another one."

"Uh..." I nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

"I need help with some homework." He said. "So I was wondering if you'd be able to help me out tonight?"

I studied his face as the question left his mouth.

Fred Weasley needed help with homework?

"Okay."

"Yeah?" He smiled. "Great. We can meet in the Serpentine corridor."

***

Over the next couple of weeks, I met with Fred every single night in the Serpentine corridor where we settled in a cupboard so I could help him with homework after curfew.

Somehow, he constantly had more homework he wanted my help with. I had never seen him actually want to make an effort, but he did and I enjoyed helping him.

Felix didn't know anything about it because if I had to be honest, I didn't trust him to stay calm and I got scared of his outbursts.

It was just Fred and I's secret. No one but us knew.

"What does Serpentine mean?" Fred asked as he leaned back against the wall opposite of me, his knees spread and his textbooks and quill on the floor between his legs.

"I think Serpentine is something that's curving and winding in shape." I said. "Like a snake."

"Ahh." He nodded. "That makes sense. The corridor curves at the end, I think... doesn't it? Or am I thinking of a different corridor?"

I laughed and looked at him.

"I'm sorry... don't you and George know the entire castle like the back of your hand?"

"Well, yes." He nodded. "But we're mostly familiar with the secret—"

He pressed his lips together and I narrowed my eyes, tilting my head.

"The secret what?"

He ran his hands up and down his thighs before moving his stuff aside, scooting closer to me.

"Alright... so George, Lee and I are quite familiar with some secret passageways in the castle." He whispered.

I didn't know why he was whispering, but it caused me to chuckle.

"No one can hear us, Fred." I said. "You don't have to whisper."

"Right." He smiled. "Well, now you know. Maybe I can show some of them to you one day."

He scooted back to the wall and leaned against it, picking up his textbook, and I stared at his face as he focused on what he had written down.

His eyebrows were knitted slightly together in concentration of reading, his lips slightly parted and one of his hands rested on his knee, fingers tapping against his trousers.

I watched as he moved his hand up and brushed it through his hair, then rubbed his eye and placed it back on his knee.

"We can quit for tonight if you're tired."

He looked at me.

"I don't want to go to bed." He said and shrugged. "Unless you want to?"

I shook my head.

"I'm not tired."

"Neither am I." He smiled but he immediately yawned, covering his mouth, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sure." I said. "Not tired at all."