The Chaser : A Fred Weasley Fan Fic

Thirty Nine: Humbug

Our first few DA meetings were rocky. Learning all new spells had been harder than we'd ever imagined. I couldn't help but feel if a little fifth year like Harry could do them they'd be easy peasy, but I was quickly proven wrong.

Though Defence Against the Dark Arts was one of my favourite subjects, I knew barely any of the manoeuvres we were covering and I found myself repeatedly getting frustrated. The only thing I could really get the hang of was a stunning spell.

"Here, all line up at the sides, we'll be practicing on each other today" Harry called, motioning for everyone to make a space in the centre of the room.

"Me and Ron can demonstrate" Hermione beamed, stepping out of the line and into the centre.

I was stood between Fred and George as they smirked over me.

"1 sickle" George whispered.

"You're on" Fred replied.

I rolled my eyes and watched intently as the pair readied themselves, stretching their arms out with their wands in hand. Ron's wand quivered ever so slightly and Hermione pounced forward.

"Stupefy!" she called, casting a blue stream of light from the tip of her wand and sending Ron toppling backwards off his feet.

George grumbled quietly and I heard the clink of the coins as they landed in Fred's hand.

"Thank you" he sang, giving me a cheeky grin as he pocketed his winnings.

"Fancy a go, you two?" George smirked, nodding towards the empty runway between everyone. Nobody had stepped up to take their turn next after that performance and everybody seemed to be avoiding Harry's eye line.

"Alright then" I grinned defiantly, stepping out of the line and pulling my wand from my robes.

"Want to take a turn, Tilly?" Harry smiled and pointed me towards the mirrored wall at the back of the room.

"Me and Fred" I called, beckoning him from the sidelines. Harry directed Fred to stand at the other end, near the crackling fireplace that warmed the room from floor to ceiling.

Fred had a smirk on his face that said he thought he was going to win this but I'd been far better at stunning spells in all the other practices and I was feeling quite confident in myself.

"Ready?" Harry called. We both nodded and pointed our wands at one another.

Staring each other down menacingly, we were both unable to stop ourselves from smiling as we waited for the other to make the first move.

"Stupefy!" we cried at the same time but my wrist was just a second quicker.

I skidded backwards a few paces, but Fred flipped on to his back just as Ron had. It looked much funnier knocking down someone of Fred's size and the room erupted into laughter. His head rolled straight back up to look at me in a combination of shock and pride.

Fred pulled himself to his feet and dusted off his dark grey trousers before barrelling towards me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

"Well done, Till" he chuckled, "I want another go though"

"You want to try that again?" I laughed, pulling myself out of his arms and looking up at him.

"Yeah, come on. Best out of three?" he smirked.

We shook hands playfully, as though equal competitors, and walked back to our original positions. I braced myself, brandishing my wand and cementing my feet to the floor.