An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Forty-Five

Despite my frustration with Oliver scheduling such an early practice, I decided to take full advantage and wake up at five so I could get some flying in with my armor before the rest of my day started. I was tip-toeing through the Common Room to head out when I was ambushed by the twins pulling me into a nook under the stairs.

"What the hell are you two doing?" I whisper-yelled. I'd almost judo flipped them both to the floor before I realized who it was.

"We want to prank the girls," whispered George, looking far too awake for five in the morning.

"We want to go wake them up for Quidditch practice the hard way," continued Fred. "But we can't get up the stairs before they turn into a slide and send us back down to the bottom."

"So the plan is, we run up as far as we can and then jump when the stairs disappear, and you pull us up the rest of the way," finished George.

I sighed, ready to tell them no for a few reasons. Then I stopped myself. I'd been so caught up in work lately that I hadn't made time to have fun. I needed to start having some fun before I went crazy.

"Alright, I'm in," I said. "Just let me get in position at the top of the stairs."

The twins nodded excitedly and I headed up, trying not to cackle. I needed a little mischief in my life, and I didn't have time to manage a visit with Loki. This was the next best thing.

"Alright Alexa, here we come," George called softly up the stairs. Next thing I knew, the twins came charging up the stairs at full speed. They almost made it to the top, but then the stairs went slick as ice and turned into a slide. Barely, I managed to grab one of each of the twins' hands without falling over myself.

"Good! Now pull us up," said Fred, the excitement evident in his voice. I grinned at him and George and leaned in, pulling them up just a little.

"Long live the king," I whispered, the grin never leaving my face as I let them fall down the slide. The pure shock and disbelief of their faces would stick in my mind forever. The stared up at me in outrage when they reached the bottom, and my grin just widened. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that since you all watched Lion King."

The twins' expressions quickly changed from shock to mischief.

"That's great Alexa," said Fred, his smile taking on a wolfish quality. "Really, stellar prank."

"Unfortunately for you, you still have to come down here and face us," said George, his expression identical to Fred's.

I would've been worried, except I'd learned a few new tricks over Christmas break.

"Oh boys," I sighed, strolling along the top of the stairs. "You know, we've never gone up against each other before. Not really, since that one Potions class doesn't quite count. And let me tell you now: you have no idea who you're dealing with."

With that, I opened a sling portal to the Hogwarts grounds and stepped through, making sure to not look back. I'm sure the twins would catch up to me eventually, but right now I didn't have to worry about retribution. I could just enjoy the pure shock on their faces as I disappeared into a glowing golden portal.

I cackled in triumph for a few minutes on the grounds before I started anything productive.

After I practiced with my armor for a while, I met up with everybody at the Quidditch pitch. The twins watched me like hawks all practice, but I wasn't worried about payback yet. We all understood that Oliver would kill every single one of us if we did anything to distract from Quidditch practice, no matter what reason we had. I knew I couldn't avoid them forever, though, and I decided I'd give them opportunities to get me sooner rather than later. The less time they had to come up with crazy pranks, the better.