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Two weeks later, Maria Black was fuming mad, so much that even Fred Weasley couldn't calm the girl down.
"Maria, I'm sure he didn't-"
"Two weeks," Maria cut off the red-headed twin as her voice rose in anger. "It's only been two BLOODY weeks and he's managed to do something so incredibly, dangerously stupid-"
Maria was cut off when Fred suddenly grabbed her around the waist, throwing her over his shoulder and taking her away. The Black girl, still oblivious to the stares of the other students in her anger, struggled to free herself from the Weasley twin's grip.
"FRED WEASLEY!" the Black girl yelled as she began pounding on his back. "Let me go this instant or I'll- hmph!"
Maria released a startled yell as Fred dropped her back on the ground and she barely managed to keep her footing. Despite the way Fred towered over her short figure, Maria stomped up to the boy, ready to give him a piece of her mind when she suddenly stopped.
Glancing from Fred's face to the empty corridor surrounding them, Maria let out a defeated sigh as she threw her face into her hands. She knew Fred was only trying to help by bringing her away from the crowd, but she was simply too blinded by her frustrations at the situation. Maria felt a pair of familiar warm hands engulf her own petite hands, pulling them away from her face so she instead stared into the soft chocolate eyes of Fred.
"Why do you think he did it?" Maria's soft voice filled the empty corridor as Fred felt his heart drop at the defeated look on the Black girl's face. "He's innocent, so why would he do something so stupid?"
Maria scanned Fred's face, almost as if searching for an answer he couldn't provide. The Weasley twin paused for a few seconds, struggling with what to tell her, before settling with a simple, "I don't know."
Maria nodded at his words, almost as if expecting them. Fred opened his mouth, to say what Maria would never know, as a pair of footsteps echoed across the corridor. The two Gryffindor's quickly pulled away from each other as they turned to find Professor McGonagall walking their way.
"What are you two doing down here?" the professor questioned the two students who didn't have a valid response for the two. "Nevermind then. Dumbledore has required all students to spend the night in the Great Hall as a safety precaution. Come along."
The two Gryffindors shared a glance before scurrying after Professor McGonagall towards the Great Hall. When they arrived, Maria was shocked to find the rest of the school already gathered, separated into their individual houses with sleeping bags lined up against the walls. Maria and Fred made their way over to the rest of the Gryffindors, specifically where Geroge and Perseus currently sat with their backs against the wall.
Perseus scurried to his feet when he spotted his sister, George not too far behind. Both ran over to their siblings, relived their twins were seemingly alright.
"Are you okay?" Perseus pestered like a mother hen as he quickly checked Maria over for any injuries. "You aren't hurt anywhere?"
Maria swatted her brother away as she rolled her eyes in irritation, although she was slightly touched by his concern for her despite their current row.
"I'm fine," Maria reassured her brother as he released a relieved breath of air.
"Good, because I told..." Perseus began but trailed off when Fred frantically shook his head and made the cut-off signal with his hand. Realizing mentioning Sirius Black at the moment wasn't the brightest idea, Perseus tried to backtrack, although quite miserably. "I was told we should go to bed immediately."
Maria raised a questioning eyebrow at her brother but brushed off his weird behavior as she found a sleeping bag next to Perseus. Fred took the sleeping bag on her other side as Maria missed the way Perseus' mouth opened to protest, only to be shut up by George elbowing him in the ribs and shaking his head. Releasing a soft yawn, Maria's head had barely hit the pillow when she felt herself drifting off.
"You wake them up."
"Me? Why don't you?"
"I don't want to face Maria's wrath."
"Maria's? What about Fred's? Poor bloke's in Heaven right now."
Maria's eyes fluttered open, the bright light prompted her to reclose her eyes as she released a soft groan.
"Bloody hell, she's waking up."
"What do we do?"
Maria snuggled herself deeper into the pillow, wrapping her arms around it more tightly as a chorus of soft snickers followed. Despite trying to ignore whoever was interrupting her sleep, curiosity overcame Maria's desire to fall back asleep as she once again opened her eyes only to be met with the shocking realization, and extreme embarrassment, that her pillow was none other than Fred Weasley's chest.
Startled, Maria jumped away from the redhead, only to find herself entangled in the Weasley boy's arms. More snickers followed as Maria quickly tried pulling Fred's arms off her waist, which was a harder task than she imagined as the boy had a deathly tight grip on her. Finally, slipping out of his arms, the Gryffindor scrambled onto her feet as she struggled to comprehend anything, her mind buzzing with too many thoughts to understand.
More shickers shifted her focus on George and Lee, who paused at the piercing eyes of Maria Black seemingly staring into their souls. Perseus stood off the side, glaring at the redhead laying on the ground with enough hatred to burn a hole through the ground.
"This never happened," Maria threatened the two snickering boys, who held their hands up in surrender at the death glare she sent them. Without another word, Maria scurried away before the boys could notice the beat red her face was becoming, although Perseus was quick enough and knew his sister well enough to notice the way her cheeks slightly flushed as she ran away.
When George and Lee were sure Maria was out of sight, they turned their attention back to Fred, who was still laying in his sleeping bag.
"Come on, Freddy," George teased with a grin as he lightly tapped his twin brother's side. "We know you didn't sleep through all that."
After a slight pause, the redhead on the ground peeked one eye open to confirm Maria was nowhere in sight. When Fred was positive the Gryffindor girl was gone, he opened both eyes as a foolish grin spread across his face.
George and Lee raised an eyebrow at Fred, before sharing an amused look.
"Whipped," George whispered to Lee as both boys sniggered at their best friend.
