Moon Child [Fred Weasley]

1

It was the first day of Teddy's sixth year at Hogwarts, and already Quidditch was canceled.

A tragedy, most had called it.

Frankly, Teddy didn't care. He was never one for Quidditch, much to Sirius' dismay, but watching from the sidelines to him was just as invigorating as flying through the air and tossing quaffles and beating people up. That was a lie. He'd always gone to the library during matches, closed up in his little corner without any windows, but a single candle illuminating that day's parchment out before him.

What he did care about though, was the way all those who actively participated in the sport seemed to mope around the school as they walked to their classes.

A Triwizard Tournament, Dumbledore had announced. Two schools coming to Hogwarts. A Yule Ball.

To the Weasley twins, that meant more people to mark as their targets.

Walking down the second-floor corridor to his transfiguration class with his satchel slung over one shoulder and his hands shoved into his pockets and a lemon sherbet in his mouth, Teddy stilled.

Around him, people shoved past, oblivious to the 16-year-old boy standing in the middle of the hall. Their laughs rang out melodically as friends walked, arms interwoven between them as they caught up on what they missed during the summer they didn't see each other during.

Then, calmly, Teddy looked to the left and right of the hall and turned, worldlessly latching his fingers beneath the frame of one of the larger portraits donning the hall. He swung it open just wide enough he could slip through and disappeared.

Eyes now plastered with dark, Teddy pressed himself to the stone wall binding the hidden passageway and listened. His eyes adjusted quickly to take in the new space and within seconds, he could see the tell-tale dark shadowed outline of stone bricks lining the way.

A moment later, Teddy heard a series of sudden cracks like a whip followed shortly by the sound of students shrieking and running away, steps thudding on the ground beneath them as they went. Fireworks. Easily identifiable. Easily deducible. Leave it to the Weasley twins to decorate the school with colorful explosives on the first day of classes.

Teddy felt a warm breath on his neck and felt someone next to him.

He didn't jump, though his heart did leap for a moment.

A voice spoke up. "Fireworks." It said. "Not exactly the most creative thing out there but they sure get the people's attention don't you think?"

English accent like all the students at Hogwarts. But it was older. Not quite deep but not quite loud or scratchy as some of the younger year students always seemed to have. No, this voice only belonged to one boy in particular.

Teddy looked in the direction the words had come from and, even though he couldn't see who it was, he had a pretty damn good idea.

Fred Weasly grinned into the dark before slipping his wand from where he had stuck it behind his ear and muttered a soft 'lumos', casting the hidden passageway with a soft blue light. "Hello, Lupin." He said.

"Weasley," Teddy replied. The lemon candy was gone now, leaving only a hint of lemony residue. "No need to ask who orchestrated this year's welcome prank."

Fred flashed him a dazzling smile. "My my, if you need to ask such a question I'm not taking my job seriously enough."

"This isn't your job." Teddy said, moving to the portrait back again, slowly pushing it open as he checked the hall outside.

Fred let out a low whistle almost like a scold and then Teddy felt nimble fingers ghost across his wrist, coaxing him back into the dark of the hidden passageway.