BROTHERHOOD ⟶ Harry Potter

Chapter Eleven

It seemed to take ages to get the smell of vinegar out of Milo's hair as he lathered himself up multiple times before bed and even in the morning, he decided to shower once more. The last thing he wanted to do was greet his friends and have them question why he smelled like vinegar, it obviously wouldn't take them long to piece it together before they started laughing at his misfortune. Although he couldn't help but chuckle as well, knowing he had been quite the sight for poor Bitsy to witness, at least she had been kind enough to offer him a towel. Unfortunately, the night before did not go well for Milo as his attempts with reconnecting and reconciling with Harry did not go according to plan. Harry was bitter and Milo knew it wasn't the boy's fault, however, he did wish that Harry would give him a chance. 

When he entered the Great Hall that morning for breakfast and to collect his timetable for the semester, only a few seconds had passed before he found arms resting on his shoulders. He glanced to his left and then to his right to see Fred and George walking with him. 

"Morning," he greeted them, slightly puzzled by the already amused looks on their faces. He would have said that it was too early to get into trouble, but knowing the two there was never a time that was deemed inappropriate as an opportunity to prank. "What are you two up to?"

"Well, we thought we'd tell you that we spoke to Ron last night," Fred began.

"About putting in a good word for you to Harry," George finished. 

"Really?" Milo said brightly, "That's fantastic! And, what did Harry say after Ron spoke to him?"

"Um..." The twins exchanged looks before George patted him on the shoulder. "So that part didn't end so well..."

Milo sighed looking down at the floor. "Figures."

"But," Fred interjected, " that gave Georgie and me an idea to help out your little situation."

"Meaning what?" Milo asked. "What do you have planned?"

"We figured we would prank Harry mercilessly until he agrees to talk to you," George smiled.

The twins high-fived each other behind Milo's back but their celebratory time didn't last very long as they witnessed Milo shaking his head. He didn't like the idea at all it seemed as he sat down at the edge of the Gryffindor table with the twins standing in front of him.  As he peered up at them, he tried to hide his frown behind a smile, that appeared to thank them for the offer.

"He's off limits," Milo told them. "Really, don't prank him. I have a feeling he's been through enough and that won't do him any good. I don't want to force him to talk to me, I want him to do it on his terms. Even if it takes until my seventh year, as long as he does it on his own terms, I'll be happy."

"But if we could just speed up the process," Fred tried to encourage the boy to reconsider but Milo didn't seem inclined to do so anytime soon. The disappointed sighs escaped from the two while McGonagall came around with the timetables for the Gryffindors, but of course had grabbed Milo's from Professor Sprout to hand to her son personally. 

"Thanks, Mum," Milo said before coming wide-eyed as Fred and George giggled as McGonagall shot the two a stern glare. "I mean, Professor. Sorry. I'm all sorts of distracted."

With a wave of her hand, McGonagall cleared Fred and George to leave a moment for her and Milo to speak in private. Already she could tell that Milo had a stressful morning as the boy's hair was all over the place, but she could see the spot where he had pulled and twirled it repeatedly. Currently, his hands were in his lap, his fingers running over his trousers to keep himself from picking.