Everything Changes // Fred Weasley

chapter 5: a final plan of action

September 2nd, 1994

I woke up on my own the next day, the sun beaming in through the window beside my bed. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was, and when I did my heart skipped a beat. Yesterday had been so overwhelming that I hadn't had much time to process everything that was going on. I was at Hogwarts, a place I had literally dreamed about for years, and I was here to stay.

I looked around the room and realized that I was in there alone, so I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to wash off all of yesterday and get ready for the new day. My first official day as a "student" at Hogwarts. After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I curled up in the dormer and talked to Naomi, to see where she was.

I'm almost done with breakfast, she thought to me, but I have class in ten minutes, so I got George and Fred to sneak into the kitchen for you today and get you your meals. He can't climb up to the girl's dorms though, so you're going to have to meet him downstairs in a few minutes.

I was shocked. I had to go to the common room to meet them. What if someone saw me and remembered that they had just seen Naomi on the steps outside of the portrait. I voiced my concerned to Naomi, but she wasn't too worried. Since it was the first day of classes, no one would want to be late to class, and the administration never gave anyone a free first period.

I stepped down from the dormer and threw on one of Naomi's Gryffindor pullovers and headed down the stairs to the common room. I had time to really take in everything around me, since the sun was shining in through the windows and the staircase wasn't lit by only the small light at the end of Naomi's wand. As I turned the corner into the common room my breath was taken away by the beauty. I had never seen anything like it before, and I felt as though this wasn't the last time I was going to be saying that.

The Gryffindor common room felt welcoming, with its large fireplace that seemed to always be on, as I remembered it was glowing faintly last night as Naomi and I ran up the stairs. It was also full of couches and armchairs, and carpets lining the entire floor and even some of the walls, causing the entire room to feel cozy. I looked around the room to see if George and Fred were there yet with my food. I didn't see anyone, so I went to sit on the couch in front of the fireplace and warm up, because it was very cold in the Gryffindor tower, despite it being the end of summer.

As soon as I sat down I heard the portrait swing open and I threw myself off the couch to hide before I could check if it was the Weasley twins, but I fell off too fast in my rush and hit my head hard on the table, which led whoever had just walked in to come over and investigate the noise. I laid on the ground with my eyes closed, rubbing my throbbing head hoping that somehow, they wouldn't see me, but having no power to get up and hide again.

"Oi," I heard a voice laugh above me, "What are you doing on the floor?"

I slowly opened my eyes and saw George standing above me, twice. Had I hit my head that hard that I was seeing double? Then I remembered that Fred was coming too and I quickly sat up, hoping that they weren't able to read my mind because I had just committed what I would consider a grave sin as a twin, seeing double.

"Oww, sorry," I said, standing up to greet them, "I had to make sure it was you guys before I showed myself, I didn't want anyone to freak out if they had just seen Naomi in the hall."

"So, you thought that banging your head on the table would help with that?" Fred chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, "Obviously not, that was just a side effect of my wicked reflexes."

The boys looked at each other with their eyebrows raised and then George handed me a bag that must have been filled with my food for the day.

"Here's your meals," he smiled, "and Naomi slipped in a copy of her Care for Magical Creatures book, in case you get bored of staring out the window."