That Way

Chapter Twenty-Two Matching Scars

"Drop them over the forest for all I care, just take them but don't bring them to me. I want her to think I'm receiving them." I instruct Phillipa to not fully deliver any more letters from my mum, she can do whatever she wants with them as long as I don't even get the opportunity to read them. I leave the owlery and head down to the Great Hall for dinner. I'm absolutely starving, and practically run to the castle and through the halls.

"Did you check your galleon?" Fred asks as I plop between the twins and start stealing food from their plates.

"Oh, eye." I mumble around the food, and the twins laugh until I swallow my food and steal Fred's pumpkin juice to clear my throat. "No, why." I repeat, finally filling my own plate. I glance towards the ceiling out of habit, still in awe after all these years that I get to eat dinner underneath the stars almost every night.

"You better hurry up, Dabria, we have a meeting in a few minutes." George tells me, and I simply nod my head, still eating my food at a pace that would rival Ron.

"Eye em!" I mutter, and the twins and I laugh until I think I'm going to choke at my attempt to say 'I am'.

~~~~

"Ready, Dabria?" Fred asks, glancing at me from across the corridor. We've positioned a few Weasley Whiz Bangs here in the second floor corridor. Yesterday, Cho's git friend Marrietta ratted out the DA and we all had to use the quill. If I had thought the scars were gone from the first time I had to use it, then I'm surely mistaken. Hermione's jinx caused the word 'SNEAK' to be written across her face.

The twins and I thought it was funny, and as much as I tried to feel bad for Marietta, I couldn't. Cho made it hard to feel bad for her as well with how she was defending Marietta.

I get that Marietta was worried about her mom's job, but that was no reason to rat out the whole group. If she felt so bad she could have just left and had nothing to do with it, and asked Hermione to remove her name from the paper.

Hermione told me that Harry broke off whatever was between him and Cho after her best friend ratted out the DA. As mad as I am that I had to use the quill, that the DA's been stopped, and that Dumbledore's left, I also can't make myself feel bad that Harry ended things with Cho.

"Ready." I smile and point my wand at one of the fireworks, ready to set it off.

Fred holds up three fingers, then George holds up two, and I hold up one. The three of us aim our wands and cast the spell, causing the fireworks to go off. We cover our ears and run towards the stairs, and I join hands with them as we scuttle towards the Gryffindor common room. I can feel their scars with my thumbs, and don't let go until we're safe inside the common room, laughing so hard we're holding tears back.

"I'm beginning to think this is all I really enjoy with school anymore." Fred says, propping his legs over my lap as I lean on George's arm.

"What do you mean?" I shift slightly around so I can stare at Fred.

"Well, we're taking so few classes since our O.W.L.S went so terrible and we're not taking N.E.W.T.S..." George begins, and I twist around again, facing the other twin.

"Care to explain, Weasley?" I glance back at Fred again. "Weasley?"

"Well, we're thinking that once we've pulled all our best pranks we could... get an early start on Weasley Wizard Wheezes." George says, and I lean away from him and yank Fred's legs off my lap. Climbing off the sofa so I can stare at them both, I fold my arms.

"How so?" I raise a single eyebrow in a way Hermione calls "impressively high".

"Since the DA's been disbanded and most classes are useless, especially Defence Against the Dark Arts, Georgie and I have been thinking about...leaving."