𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 162

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
AND SIXTY TWO
✧
-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH THEY DISCUSS 
IN THE COURTYARD

. . .

"It'll be my fault Fred and George left, just you wait and see - I'll be in deep shit." Ron repeated darkly, shaking his head. "She'll say I should've stopped them from leaving, I should've grabbed the ends of their brooms and hung on or something... Yeah, it'll be all my fault..." 

"You can blame it on me if you'd like." Aviana offered. "I knew all about it, freed their brooms and everything... helped them modify the Stinksap, helped them... okay, we're going."

"What?" Harry blinked.

Aviana was up on her feet. "Up, up, up - no, not that fast, in an orderly fashion, not too fast... faster, faster." She clapped her hands and ushered them out, and when Harry glanced behind them he saw Umbridge making her way down the hall. When they had cleared the doors, she urged them up to a run, leading them out into the courtyard.

"What did you do?" Harry asked, breathless as he took a seat on the low, mossy wall.

"I may have called her little Inquisitorial Squad a blinked-up bunch of pussies who had nothing better to do with their lives than listen to their cult-leader who is brainwashed by propaganda and Fudge's dick." Aviana said dismissively. "Both in the letter and very audibly in person yesterday. But anyone could have overheard me."

"Jesus." Hermione's index fingers pressed over her temples.

"What were you saying about blaming you?" Ron asked, still looking terrified.

"Just blame me." She shrugged. "What she's going to do when she reads the letter? Give me a detention? Whip me? It was one thing with Fred and George - they're of age, I'm a minor, and it's not exactly hard to get a hold of Rita Skeeter. Just tell her it was me."

"Yeah... yeah I might." Ron said, but he didn't sound convinced, more scared by Aviana's response and much more likely to just take the blame himself.

"Well, if she does say anything it'll be very unfair." Hermione said diplomatically, although she was looking at Aviana as if she was crazy. "You couldn't have done anything! But I'm sure she won't, I mean, if it's really true they've got premises in Diagon Alley now, they must have been planning this for ages..."

"Yeah, but that's another thing." Ron shook his head. "How did they get the premises? It's a bit dodgy, isn't it? They'll need loads of Galleons to afford the rent on a place in Diagon Alley, she'll want to know what they've been up to, to get their hands on that sort of gold..."

"Well, yes, that occurred to me too." Hermione said. "I've been wondering whether Mundungus has persuaded them to sell stolen goods or something awful..."

"Please, they wouldn't trust Mundungus as far as they could throw him, let alone do that kind of business with him." Aviana rolled her eyes. "They're not that stupid."

"They didn't." Harry confirmed quite curtly.

"How do you know?" Ron and Hermione asked simultaneously.

"Because..." Harry faltered, glancing over the three of them. Aviana was watching him with very wide eyes. "Because they got the gold from me. I gave them my Triwizard winnings last June." He told them.