#fifthyear

            During one of the changing of classes Y/N and her fellow 5th-year Gryffindors were confronted by a hoard of 7th-year Ravenclaw students, loudly insulting the youngest Longbottom of his foolishness and stupidity while Neville could be seen tucking his blushing head and practically fleeing the scene, while Y/N stood still and took it in. The look on her face actually struck fear in Fred’s light prankster heart.

 Deftly, with barely a whisper of a spell or a movement of robes, Y/N hexed that unsuspecting Ravenclaw with a vicious Furnunclus curse, covering the bully immediately with large and prominent boils. Chaos ensued. The loud wailing of the victim, students trampling each other, all ducking and parting like the Red Sea to find the perpetrator, lucky for Y/N the girl quite literally ducked and covered, joining the crowd and concealing her identity from the frantic teachers in the corridor.  

Fred vowed never to make fun of Neville in front of his cousin as long as he lived, or actually, piss her off that badly, ever in his life.

            Locking eyes with Y/N he slowly smiled and nodded his approval- it truly was an act of a talented witch- and to not get caught! Teachers were whipping their heads around but couldn’t find the perpetrator. Y/N smirked, and a high flush appeared across her cheeks, making her almost glow.

She is beautiful.

            Fred had been surprised by the thought, but unsure of its meaning. They were good friends, known each other since diapers, how did he not realize she was also a pretty girl? That was looking at him. Limbs moved thankfully on their own accord, helping up and dusting the girl off. They were both giggling, falling back into line, the adrenaline rush of pulling off a minor crime and getting away with it, and maybe the rush of something new.

            The night that Buckbeak the hippogriff and Sirius Black’s great escape was an ordinary one for everybody who wasn’t Harry Potter’s immediate friend or foe. Late in the evening, Y/N was sitting at one of the windows of Gryffindor Tower, quietly taking in a beautiful night in the Scottish hills. OWLs were over, and Y/N was disappointed by her growing indifference to grades. To Y/N it was difficult to take a test seriously when it seemed obvious that there were bigger and more grave things brewing. The foreboding expressions on their professor's faces with every hysterical article from the Daily Prophet, the tight-lippedness of her parents’ letters, Y/N didn’t know what to think of it. A close creak next to the girl made her jump upright, wand gripped so tightly it was a miracle it didn’t splinter.

            “Merlin don’t curse me!” Fred Weasley yelped as he threw his hands above his head.

            The immediate sob of relief and realization that it was only her friend made Y/N want to cry.

            “Fred, what are you doing?” She whisper screamed, the feeling coming back in her hands, and the heat of the sun burning her cheeks into a bright crimson blush. Fred was in pajamas, a homemade blue jumper, and flannel pants, but with bare feet and bedhead. Obviously not intending to leave Gryffindor Tower. The question was met with a couple of seconds of silence.

            Fred raised a red eyebrow, the shadows of the night taking away most of his color.

            “I could ask you the same, or did McGonagall leave you in charge to hex anybody who dared cross the common room?” He asked sarcastically, hiding the fact that seeing the girl he fancied wielding what he knew could be a painful end to his night sent his heart rate through the roof. As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted it. Fred knew his friend was not expecting to be disturbed, and Black’s reappearance had put everybody on edge.

            She smiled instead, a true one, a smile that made Fred’s chest swell with affection and pride for making it come into existence.

            “No, just, thinking,” Y/N answered, sitting back down, drawing her knees back into her chest.

            “Ah, never good.” Fred joked, weakly, as he took the open spot next to her. They both took in the night, not exactly needing to end the comfortable silence, but politely waiting for the other to speak first. It was Y/N.

            “You never answered my question.” Why he was awake?

            “Honestly? Lee snores.” Fred replied with an exhausted chuckle, it was very very early in the morning. They sat and talked about nothing, which meant everything to them. Y/N welcomed the attention and distraction from her earlier worries that brought her to this spot, to this chair, and to this moment with the boy she had grown to be so fond of. After a couple of yawns and rubbing of eyes the pair agreed to part and get some sleep.

            Y/N was already halfway from their perch to the girls' staircase when she heard Fred exclaim looking out the window,