Starbeam - A Wizarding World Story - ON HIATUS

Chapter 34

"Oh, To Be Young And In Love." "Claire, You're Younger Than Us, Shut Up." "NEVER! MUAHAHA!"

Fred, being the fantastic twin that he was, teased George relentlessly about his crush. Of course, Fred didn't know who exactly his brother fancied, just that it was a pretty Slytherin, but that didn't stop his constant joking. 

Ginny joined in occasionally, when she was around her older brothers, but seeing as they and Harry were kicked off the Quidditch team for retaliating to something Draco said (Claire was very disappointed in him after that match), she had a lot of practices to be at. 

Claire had yet to get a detention with the pink devil, despite all her subtle insults to the woman. Passive aggressive comments were her favorite. "Bless your little heart," "Good for you, I could never pull that off," and "It's nice to see not everybody's obsessed with appearances" were definitely in the top 5. 

Pansy, too, was loving the Hufflepuff's quips, and was actually supplying a multitude of others to her. Pansy's favorite was: "I'm sure you're doing the best you can." Especially paired with a mock-sympathetic expression. 

Umbridge clearly didn't understand the sarcastic undertones of their words, but the rest of the class did, and they all learned quickly to contain their laughter whenever Claire said something to the professor. 

Fred and George cheered her on, one time, when she told Umbridge a particularly snide comment during a moment after class with the pink devil. Umbridge only sniffed at the two red-heads before smiling sweetly at Claire, who turned out to be one of her favorite students. 

"Miss Foster-Diggory, dear, might I persuade you into joining us, Hermione, Harry, and a few others at the Hog's Head this weekend?" Fred asked with a wink one day, very obviously mocking the teacher that favored the girl. Claire rolled her eyes but grinned. 

"I would be delighted, Mister Weasley. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the invitation." she replied. He and his brother laughed. 

"You are quite welcome, my fair lady." he returned before they were both off, probably to perfect something in the Skiving Snackbox. Claire rolled her eyes again, before turning back to Pansy, who was with the girl when the twins approached her. To her surprise, Pansy was slightly blushing, though the brunette worked hard to get it under control before the blonde noticed. Claire raised an eyebrow, an amused grin already working its way onto her face.

"Ooooh, some-Pansy's got a little crush." she teased. Pansy's cheeks turned a bright red as she tried to convince Claire otherwise. But Claire was not having it. 

"Is it George? Of course, it's got to be George, Fred's taken and in love. Tell me, when'd it start? Will we hear any wedding bells?" Claire asked, more than obviously trying to embarrass her friend. Pansy playfully shoved the Hufflepuff away from her. 

"Oh, shut it you. It's nothing like that," 

"Sure it isn't." Claire interrupted. Pansy pouted at her friend. 

"It's not! I bumped into him a little while ago... noticed that he's... attractive, and I dunno... it just... happened, I guess. Oh merlin, I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?" the Slytherin explained. Claire grinned largely at her best friend. 

"Of course not, I wouldn't be your friend if I didn't tease you about who you fancy. And you can't really do it back because the boy I fancy is my boyfriend." the blonde taunted not unkindly. Pansy groaned, but she couldn't help the wide smile that spread across her face as they walked, arms linked with Claire.