Hermione's Twin ⇒ Fred Weasley

Ch. 23: Match Maker

Ch. 23: Match Maker

      The days were ticking by faster than I'd thought they would. Soon, it would be Christmas time. I still couldn't believe that it would be the first Christmas that I'd spent without Trey and my adopted mom. It caused a tightness in my stomach, but I forced it to the back of my mind. Instead, the Yule Ball seemed to be what took up everyone else's thinking.

      Jenna's playful voice prodded me from my dismal thoughts. The average-sized blonde rubbed at her belly and groaned. "Elle come on, you don't need shoes. Let's just get some breakfast! I'm starving!" 

     The other girls, Lana included, in the room glared and pushed the covers over their ears at our conversation. I stuffed my feet into some lounge shoes and ignored her for a moment, tying my hair up and washing my face in the connecting bathroom.

      Once my face was dry, Jenna grabbed my hand, pulling me downstairs and out of the portrait hole faster than I could blink.

       I glared down at my white fuzzy shorts and sighed. "My legs are cold. You cannot expect me to walk around the school in the dead of winter, in my pj's, with no socks on at --" I grabbed her wrist and looked down at her watch, feeling my heart stop. "-- AT FIVE FORTY-SEVEN ON A SATURDAY MORNING?!" I quickly turned back around, clamouring for the portrait, but Jenna latched on to my arm. 

     "I'm going back to bed, Jenna!"

      Jenna lifted her grey gaze and pouted. "Noooo, please -- look, I'm sorry, okay? But, you have to come with me! I can't go down there alone, I don't know anyone. And, Lana to me to 'fuck off', so... " She whimpered and tugged me towards the stairs to the Great Hall. 

      "You're already up," Jenna added. "If you went back to bed now, you wouldn't be able to fall back asleep!" 

       Damn it, she was right. "I hate you."

     Once she had led me down the stairs, I was awake and craving my favourite drink in the whole world. I heaved the Great Hall doors open and looked around the candle-lit room in surprise. There were a lot more people in here than I'd thought there would be. 

     'There has to be six, hell, maybe even seven people in here!' I thought sarcastically to myself. They must be the crazy people in Hogwarts. I didn't say it out loud, because even I could tell how bitter it sounded. 

      "Liza! Hey, Ellie!" I cringed and stifled a yawn. I knew it, definitely the hour of the crazies. Blake rushed up to me and bounced happily, her curls flouncing with every hop. Blake was clad in her Slytherin flying gear, her mouth parted into a glimmering grin.

     "Woah," Blake said as she approached Jenna and me. "I didn't even know you were alive at this time of the morning."

      "I'm not," I growled, still wishing that I had gone back to bed. "Why are you here anyway, Blake?" I eyed her outfit. "I thought Quidditch was cancelled this year."

     She shrugged and walked to the Gryffindor table with us, grabbing some bench next to me as Jenna sat across from us. "I don't know, I could not really sleep I guess." Blake waved a hand down her torso as she piled fruits on her plate, a croissant and opted for a glass of water. So healthy. "So, I figured why not practice some drills?"

     I grabbed some cream of wheat, ignoring the grossed-out stares I received from Jenna and Blake. They had no right to judge my love for the cream of wheat. I also grabbed a goblet of my delicious drink, putting milk and sugar in it with a giddy smile.