Atropos → george weasley

xxxi. the slytherin collective

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thirty one

the slytherin collective

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Before returning to Hogwarts, Ottilie made up with her parents. Now that Clarence Young was looking out for her sister, she felt slightly better about Adelaide going to Avens. Adelaide obviously picked up on Ottilie's change of heart because she hardly seemed upset when it was time for Ottilie to head back to Scotland.

Despite the amicable farewell, it was still a relief when Ottilie found herself back in the Slytherin common room. It was loud as friends gathered to discuss their holidays. Though she had no one to rush up to greet her (Millicent and Graham did give her small waves from where they were sitting with their friend groups), she felt welcomed somehow anyway.

She hardly noticed the bleak weather and grey skies during the first week.

The good mood was a big part of why she wasn't completely annoyed when George intercepted her on her way to the Great Hall early Friday morning.

"Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell mentioned you were an early bird," he said, grinning at her from where he was leaning against a banister on the marble staircase.

"Unlike you. I usually see you and Fred arrive for breakfast as I'm leaving," she said. "I didn't even know you could physically be awake this early."

"Am I awake early? Or am I up very late?"

"What d'ya need?" She was expecting him to ask her to steal knarl quills from Snape's stores or something.

Instead, he said, "At exactly a quarter past four this afternoon, be in the library. Second floor in the magical law section."

"That is so specific."

"It's specifically where no one will be, which is why I chose it specifically."

"All right, I get it. See you then."

By her last class that day, she'd nearly forgotten George's peculiar request. The skies had cleared up since that morning, so after lunch, Ottilie followed Justin, Ernie, Hannah, and Susan outside to make an elaborate snow sculpture. It was supposed to be a dragon, but a few hours later, it looked more like a partially melted worm.

Her face frozen, Ottilie glanced at her watch and saw that she had only a few minutes to get to the library. She said a quick goodbye to her friends and sprinted into the castle.

Filch yelled at her to stop running and then yelled at her for tracking in snow as she tore across the entrance hall. The water on her shoes nearly caused her to slip on the stairs, but she managed to keep it together all the way up to the third floor and then into the library. She was heaving by the time she'd reached the cramped second floor with its low ceilings, dust, and poor lighting.

She collapsed at a table in a small corner of the magical law section and checked her watch again. She had made it with mere seconds to spare.

"Right on time."

George walked around the corner, smiling amusedly. "Although, I was hoping you'd give yourself enough time to avoid puffing your way through the library. Fred and Lee saw you."

"Fred is in the library? Is he also meeting his secret lackey to ask her to commit crimes for him?"

"He's doing class assignments. Although, I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive." George pulled out a chair for himself. Just to be sure this was really George, she checked to see if he had a scar above his eyebrow. There it was. Faint, but still noticeable. "I know it's surprising, but Angelina figured out that Fred and I haven't been revising for our O.W.L.s and she's worried we won't be able to return to Hogwarts if we can't scrape at least an Acceptable or two. So, she's forcing us to spend at least two hours a week in the library."