Atropos → george weasley

xxix. a heist in hogsmeade

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twenty nine

a heist in hogsmeade

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 The next few days went by blissfully Weasley-free.

Ottilie explored the castle at night—she'd ended up finding several rooms she'd never been to before and spent one night reading a book on Dark potions.

Despite the pure bliss of successfully becoming an Animagus, unease was still at the back of her mind. The secret wasn't just hers. She was sharing it with one-half of Hogwarts's most notorious troublemaking duo.

It was impossible to know if George had kept his side of the deal. If Fred knew, the twins would probably have enough sense not to grin at her like Cheshire cats from across the Great Hall. Sure enough, neither twin gave her any indication they knew something about her. In fact, George did not speak to Ottilie again until December, shortly before the Christmas holiday.

They were on their next Hogsmeade trip at the Three Broomsticks. Ottilie was sitting with Justin and Ernie after they'd done their Christmas shopping. The pub was crammed full and very loud. Every seat was taken, so about half of the patrons stood around with tankards of butterbeer. It was decorated for Christmas—garlands all around and a modest, sparkling Christmas tree in the corner.

Justin was excitedly talking about how much his parents would enjoy the camera he bought for them.

"All they'll have to do is put the photos in the potion to make them move. No magic required on their part. Mum will probably have a fit once she sees it."

Ernie was asking Justin to send him a photograph of the enormous Christmas tree the Finch-Fletchleys had every year when Ottilie felt something hit the back of her head. She turned around to see a crumpled bit of parchment on the ground.

She lifted her eyes and spotted the Weasley twins sitting with Lee and two girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The group was listening intently to Fred telling what must've been a hilarious story, given that they were all in hysterics.

Except for George, who was looking at Ottilie. At least, she assumed it was George, given that Fred would have no reason to pay attention to her in a crowded pub. It occurred to her then that she needed to learn how to tell the two of them apart if she didn't want to accidentally spill her secrets to Fred, thinking he was his twin.

George subtly nodded at the parchment and then jumped back into the table's conversation. After rolling her eyes, Ottilie bent down to pick it up. Could he have picked a worse time?

She opened it under the table while Justin began explaining digital cameras to Ernie.

meet me outside at the back of the broomsticks in ten minutes - G

"G." She said under her breath, mockingly. "No shit."

Back in that empty room in the castle, she'd been so desperate that this had seemed like a good idea. Now that it was real, and it was sinking in that she'd really, truly agreed to be the Weasley twins' personal shoplifter, she wasn't feeling nearly as relieved. In fact, she was silently cursing herself. There had to have been a better way, a plan that didn't require her to commit petty crimes on behalf of people who didn't like her.

"Think I'm going to get that broomstick care kit before they're sold out. See you later," said Ottilie about ten minutes later. She had been eyeing the kit at Dervish and Banges, which was nicer than the one she currently owned, so it was a believable enough lie. However, Ernie was so fascinated by the idea of digital cameras, and Justin so invested in explaining it to him, that she could've outright said she was meeting George Weasley to devise a heist, and they probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.