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THERE WASN'T A SINGLE GRYFFINDOR absent from the party that raged after the match. The Gryffindor common room was so packed, it was difficult for anyone to wade through the crowds, and yet that was Robyn, Fred, and George's goal as they fought to make their way towards the portrait hole. They'd enjoyed conversing with everyone, and Robyn was certain Fred and George had enjoyed the praise they'd received for their performance in the match, but it was time to make this party their own, and that meant sneaking down to the one-eyed witch passageway.

The three crept through the hallways, opened the passageway, and clambered down into the tunnel to Hogsmeade. A cold evening draft whistled through the dark tunnel as they trudged along, and Robyn wrapped her red jumper tighter around herself to keep warm. From a few feet ahead, Fred looked back at her. He must have noticed her shivering, because he idled for a few moments to let Robyn catch up before taking his jacket off and laying it across her shoulders. It was a brown-plaid heavy flannel that smelled of gunpowder and resin, and it carried the warmth it brought from Fred to her.

Robyn smiled up at Fred. "Thank you," she said quietly, grabbing the sides of the jacket and pulling them closer to her.

"Of course, Robbie," replied Fred with a cheeky smile. "Can't leave a misspelled bird to freeze in the cold." Their shared gaze lingered for a moment longer than Robyn expected, and she watched Fred's brown eyes melt into a soft, freckled smile before she quickly averted her gaze.

Robyn felt her face grow warm as her mind began to race, wondering what that look in Fred's eyes meant, if anything at all. Of course, she could be imagining that the softening of Fred's smile into a gentle kindness she'd never seen on his face before revealed some deeper meaning that Robyn wasn't sure how to interpret.

Or she was just overthinking things.

Yes, almost certainly, she was just overthinking things.

Besides, what would it matter? It wasn't like Fred was anything more than her best friend, nor did she want him to be. And surely he must feel the same way; he was dating Jackie, after all.

Robyn's mind wandered back to Fred's avoidance of Jackie's kiss after the Quidditch match before she shrugged off the feeling that she wasn't entirely convinced by her own argument and continued down the tunnel in silence. Luckily, they quickly approached the trap door into Honeydukes' cellar, where Fred, George, and Robyn all clambered up into the musty basement.

As they snuck up to the main floor, they were met with the sweet aroma of candy and chocolate, which was a welcome change from the damp smell of the tunnels beneath the school. Fred immediately darted behind a shelf, only to emerge a moment later with his arms full of bottles of pumpkin fizz and a few chocolate frogs.

"Nice," said George, reaching over to grab a few sugar quills from a nearby shelf. Robyn took off the jacket Fred had given her and tied the sleeves together, then took the bottles and frogs from Fred and placed them in her makeshift bag. George dumped his sweets in the bag as well, and Robyn added a few boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for good measure.

After a few minutes of scanning the aisles, George turned to Fred and Robyn. "Reckon you pay for this" – he gestured towards the jacket-bag full of sweets – "and I'll run down to the Three Broomsticks and grab a few butterbeers?"

"Actually," Fred said, "I need to pick up one more thing from across the street. Is it alright if I go with George?" As Fred looked back at Robyn, she met his eyes only briefly before shifting her gaze down to the jacket in her hands, still shaken by their shared look earlier.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I can handle these," she said, gesturing with the jacket-bag. Robyn watched as Fred and George weaved between the shelves and slipped out of Honeydukes, giving the store owner, Ambrosius Flume, a friendly nod on their way out. As soon as they were gone, Robyn turned her attention back to the sweets and began grabbing handfuls of Fizzing Whizzbees out of a barrel to stuff into the jacket. It was her favorite treat from Honeydukes, but she'd never admit to anyone that she kept a stockpile of them in her trunk at all times.

After shoveling about two dozen Fizzing Whizzbees into the jacket-bag, Robyn made her way up to the storefront to purchase everything. Their friend group might break in through the cellar more often than Robyn would like to admit, but they never left without buying something; it's how they kept on good terms with Mr. Flume so they could continue to use the passageway.

With the impeccable timing known only to the twins, Fred and George returned just as Robyn was completing her purchase. Mr. Flume gave her a cloth bag to carry back all the sweets she'd bought so she could put the jacket back on, and the trio bid him good-bye as they headed down to the cellar and clambered back into the passageway up to the school.

"So, what was your final haul?" Robyn asked curiously as they trudged back through the cold tunnel up to Hogwarts.

George held up the bag he carried, which clinked with glass as he moved it. "Madam Rosmerta set me up with some bottles of butterbeer for everyone and asked me to pass on a congratulations to the team when we get back. So, Fred, congratulations to us!"

"Cheers to that!" Fred agreed as he stuffed his arm up the bottom of his sweater, pulling out a glass bottle full of a deep amber liquid. "I grabbed this one just for us."

George looked back and immediately recognized it, giving Fred an excited grin. Fred handed it to Robyn, who turned the bottle around to read the label: Firewhisky. She laughed, shaking her head. "Did you at least pay for it this time?"

Fred's jaw dropped in feigned shock as he let out a dramatic scoff, placing his hand on his chest in disbelief. "Of course I did, Robbie! I left a few galleons on the bar for them."

Robyn narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, unsure if he was being serious or not. But Fred didn't budge. She nodded in approval and ushered the boys back towards the castle. As long as he paid for it, Robyn was satisfied.

They trudged back through the tunnel and re-emerged into the dimly lit corridors. Robyn peered around the one-eyed witch statue to make sure the coast was clear, then the three raced back up to Gryffindor Tower, the sound of the music blasting from the party growing ever louder as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

The portrait door swung open for them, and Robyn, Fred, and George were greeted with loud cheers as they entered the common room. With a laugh, Robyn grabbed a handful of candy from the bag and tossed it into the crowd. George began passing out butterbeers, shoving one into Robyn's hand before wandering off. Fred beelined over to Flynn, Lee, and Lisa, not-so-subtly pulling the bottle of firewhisky out from under his sweater to show them. Robyn passed out a few more handfuls of candy before she made her way over to their group.

"Flynn, you have your glasses, right?" Robyn heard Lee say as she walked up to them. Flynn grinned and without answering, turned to run up the stairs towards the girls' dormitories.

"Are we playing 'a phoenix's life'?" Robyn asked, handing the bag of candy to Lisa. As Lee nodded in response, she noticed his eyes flicker curiously down to her shoulders, and she suddenly remembered she was still wearing Fred's jacket. Robyn felt her face heat up one again as she tried as discreetly as possible to take the jacket off.

It really shouldn't have been that big of a deal; she'd borrowed Fred's jacket countless times over the years. But there was something about this time, and the fact that it was accompanied by that damn look...

Robyn pulled her arms from the sleeves, carefully navigating around the open bottle of butterbeer in her hand, and balled up the jacket before tossing it over to Fred. "Thanks for not letting me freeze," she joked, trying to sound as casual as she could with a undoubtedly deeply flushed face. Subtle, Robyn.

Luckily, George's voice rang out from across the room, interrupting her thoughts. "Madam Rosmerta sends us her congratulations! Cheers, everyone!" Bottles of butterbeer rose above the sea of people in a toast to Gryffindor's victory as a chorus of cheers echoed throughout the common room. Robyn lifted her own bottle with the others before taking a drink. Butterbeer was never her favorite; it was too sweet and the bite of the alcohol clashed too much with the rest of the sugary, frothy drink. But it was tradition after a great game of Quidditch, and Robyn wasn't going to disrespect tradition. She'd take her single sip and pass the bottle to Lisa, who always finished hers for her. One could say it was their own little tradition.

Besides, Robyn preferred the firewhisky, and just on time, Flynn appeared once again at the top of the stairs, shot glasses in hand.

"Let's go, Flynn!" Robyn shouted up at her friend. She could already feel a slight buzz behind her forehead from the one drink of her butterbeer, and she cursed herself silently for not eating more for dinner after the game.

Soon enough, Robyn, Fred, George, Flynn, Lisa, and Lee were circled up on the floor, the bottle of firewhisky in the middle of the circle and shot glasses sat in front of everyone, each filled to the brim with the bubbly, amber liquid.

"Alright, who's going first?" Lisa asked. On the other side of the circle, Flynn's hand shot up in the air.

"In all the years of a phoenix's life, never have I ever shagged someone," she said confidently, folding her arms as she leaned back against the wall.

One by one, Lisa, George, and Fred all took shots of firewhisky. Lee and Robyn looked at each other and grinned.

"Never would've thought you'd be proud of being a virgin, Flynn," Fred said between coughs. He picked up the bottle of firewhisky to refill his shot before passing it to George.

Flynn rolled her eyes and grinned, though Robyn could tell her smile was laced with a hint of malice. "Never would've thought you'd be proud of who you've slept with," she shot back.

Fred laughed. "Touché, Black."

The grin never left Flynn's face, but she turned towards Robyn and gave her a look with her eyes that said, Does he even know who I'm referring to? Robyn gave her a silent shrug; she knew exactly who Flynn was talking about. But with the series of strange events that had already occurred that day, Robyn wasn't entirely sure where Fred's mind was regarding any of it.

Before she could dwell on it any longer, it was George's turn. "In all the years of a phoenix's life, never have I ever...had a boyfriend."

This time, Lee, Lisa, and Robyn all picked up their glasses, downing their firewhisky. Robyn's throat burned as it went down, leaving behind a cinnamon aftertaste that lingered in the back of her throat. She coughed a few times to clear it, but it turned into a brief coughing fit as it burned more than she was expecting. She felt a hand rest on her knee to stabilize her and once she finished coughing and had caught her breath, she looked up to see it was Fred. He gave a concerned look through raised eyebrows, and she nodded to let him know she was alright. He pulled back and moved to lean back on his hands, but she could feel the warm imprint his hand left behind. Part of her wished he'd put it back.

"Regretting that one, aren't you, Robbie?" Fred asked with a smirk, as though none of what he did had just happened at all.

"Merlin, Fred, someone's chatty tonight," Lee interjected. Fred shot him a grin.

"Listen, Frederick, Roger was...just a little too uptight and patronizing for my liking," Robyn replied, trying to compose herself. "I'm sure you enjoyed defeating him today."

"Damn right I did. Alright, Lisa, your turn."

The game continued, and between skipping class (which was now unfortunately true given what had happened last term), stealing things (Snape's personal stores were running dangerously low because of her), and running away from home (she was never going to win that one), Robyn was four shots in, and she could feel her head beginning to spin. She refilled her shot glass again, spilling some of the firewhisky onto the carpet. Shit. She knew she was tipsy, but there was no way she was that drunk already.

Fred gently grabbed the bottle out of her hand and passed it over to Flynn, who topped off her own shot glass. "Last one," he said to Robyn, his voice quiet enough so only she could hear it, "and then you're cut off."

Robyn shook her head slowly, leaning over to rest her head on Fred's shoulder. "You're no fun," she whined.

Fred let out a soft laugh. "It's up to you," he replied, resting his head on her own, "I just didn't think you wanted a hangover tomorrow."

"I hate it when you're right." Robyn glanced up to look around the circle of friends, trying to remember whose turn it was next. She met Lisa's gaze, who was looking very curiously between her and Fred. It's nothing, Lisa, Robyn thought to herself.

It's got to be nothing.

"Fred, you're up," George said, and both Fred and Robyn sat up abruptly. Robyn shook out her arms, readying herself for her final shot of the night.

"Alright, in all the years of a phoenix's life, never have I ever..." Fred glanced over at Robyn slyly, and she couldn't figure out if he was going to target her so she did take her shot or if he was going to make sure she didn't. "Never have I ever stood someone up."

And there was her answer. Robyn picked up her shot glass, raised it to Fred in a sarcastic toast, and downed the firewhisky. Maybe she was a little more drunk than she thought, because it didn't burn nearly as much and the cinnamon taste was stronger than it had been, masking the taste of the whiskey.

As she set the glass down, Robyn heard from across the room as someone entered the portrait hole and the room went silent. She whipped around, quickly hiding the shot glass on the floor between her crossed legs as Professor McGonagall walked in.

"Alright, everyone, you've had your fun," McGonagall said sternly. "Congratulations on the win for Gryffindor, but it's off to bed with all of you." With that, she turned around and left, and the crowd began to disperse, the younger students in particular moving quickly towards the stairs up to the dormitories.

Robyn turned back around to see Flynn pull the now half-empty bottle of firewhisky out from behind her back. "I guess that's our cue the game's over. I'll keep this in my trunk for next time," Flynn said.

"Sounds good to me," Robyn replied, hopping up to her feet. The quick movement made her head spin even more, and she could feel the blood rush to her head as she stood still for a moment to stabilize herself. "Whoa."

She was definitely more drunk than she thought.

Fred grabbed both of their shot glasses off the floor as he stood up, handing them over to Flynn before wrapping an arm around Robyn's waist, his hand resting on her back to help her walk.

"Come on, let's get you to the stairs," he said.

Robyn nodded, overwhelmed by the feeling of Fred's hand on her back. Maybe she was wrong, thinking this was nothing. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Either way, her head was starting to feel incredibly fuzzy, and before she could think through what she was saying, she heard herself mumble, "Please don't let go."

"I won't," he whispered back. Robyn looked up at Fred to see him smiling back down at her with that same gentle look in his eyes that he'd given her in the tunnel to Honeydukes. Robyn felt her stomach turn, and she redirected her attention back towards trying to get to the dormitory stairs.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Fred passed Robyn up to Flynn, who was a few steps up, carrying the shot glasses and bottle. Robyn reached out and grabbed Flynn's outstretched arm, pulling herself up the stairs one by one.

"Make sure she gets to bed alright," Fred called up to Flynn. From behind Fred, George bolted past up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, and Lisa, tipsy and giggly, ran up after him.

"You have so little faith in me," Flynn replied sarcastically as Robyn reached the top of the first flight of stairs. Robyn looked back and waved good-night to Fred, her mind still reeling. Amidst the haze of trying to stay aware of what was going on around her, all she could think about was Fred's brown eyes and that gunpowder smell that lingered in his hair and the feeling of his calloused hand resting on her back.

And then she found herself in the fifth-year girls' dormitory, standing in the middle of the room as Flynn pulled back the sheets on her bed. Robyn clambered into bed, unbothered by the fact she was still in her clothes, and was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

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A SCREAM ECHOED ACROSS GRYFFINDOR TOWER. Robyn opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurry as she sat up and glanced around the silent dormitory. It was still dark out, and Robyn could still feel her head spinning. It must have been part of a dream. She shuffled back under her covers and rolled over, ready to get back to sleep.

Robyn was so close to sleep that she could sense the whispers of a dream in her periphery, swallowing the darkness behind her eyelids. And then a violent shake rocked her so hard the dream vanished, and Robyn was wide awake. She opened her eyes and shifted her head over to meet Lisa's worried gaze staring down at her.

"Something's happened. We need to get downstairs. Now." Robyn had never heard such seriousness in Lisa's voice. Robyn rolled over in her bed to face her friend, watching in hazy confusion as Lisa rushed over to Flynn's bed and was trying to shake her awake.

"What?" Robyn replied groggily, sitting up and pushing the blankets off of her.

"No time for questions," Lisa said shortly. "Help me wake up Angelina and Alicia."

Soon enough, the entire fifth year dormitory was awake and they all made their way down to the common room, half-asleep and, at least in Robyn's case, still a little drunk. The common room was packed with Gryffindors, as it was earlier, but instead of celebrating, everyone was milling around in confusion, trying to figure out where the scream came from and what was going on. A shrill voice rose above the crowd as Percy Weasley rounded the staircase down from the boys' dormitories.

"Everyone back upstairs!" Percy said demandingly, but as the herd of zombified half-awake students began to wander back towards the stairs, another voice rose up to counter the Head Boy.

"Perce – Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" Ron Weasley shouted back at his brother, and the room fell quickly into an uncomfortable silence.

Almost immediately, every ounce of alcohol seemed to evaporate from Robyn's body as she felt her blood turn to ice. There was no way. No way Sirius Black got into Gryffindor Tower. He was standing over Ron – with a knife, no less. He must have thought it was Harry.

How did he get in? Was he still in the tower? Were they still in danger?

"Nonsense!" Percy stammered, though he didn't sound convinced. It certainly didn't convince Robyn. "You had too much to eat, Ron – had a nightmare –"

Robyn grabbed Lisa and Flynn's hands instinctively and began to scan the room for Fred, George, and Lee. She found two fluffy, ginger heads in the crowd and began to force her way through to them, dragging Flynn and Lisa along with her.

As soon as George saw Lisa, he took her and wrapped her in his arms, setting his chin on the top of her head. "We talked to Ron right before Percy came down," George said quietly. "He's gone bloody mad. How would Sirius Black even get in here?"

Robyn shook her head anxiously. "I don't know. Someone needs to get Professor McGonagall," she replied shortly before looking over at Flynn. Her face had gone completely white, and she hadn't said a word since being woken up. She looked like a ghost wandering around the tower: not entirely present, but just enough to be incredibly jarring. Robyn tightened her grip on Flynn's hand.

No one needed to fetch McGonagall, however, because suddenly the portrait door swung open and the head of Gryffindor House came storming in. "Now really, enough's enough! I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous!" McGonagall looked around the room before her gaze landed on Percy up on the stairs. "Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor," boasted Percy. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! Ron's just had a nightmare and –"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" screamed Ron, and the room grew so quiet Robyn could hear herself breathing. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley," McGonagall said calmly. "How could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" Ron stammered, pointing with a shaky hand towards the back of the painting of Sir Cadogan. "Ask him if he saw –"

Professor McGonagall didn't say a word. She paused for a moment, glaring suspiciously at Ron, then turned around and vanished back through the portrait hole. The entire room waited with bated breath, trying to hear their conversation.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" Sir Cadogan declared.

Robyn felt Flynn's hand slip out of her own. She looked over to see Flynn had dropped onto the armchair next to her, her face still frozen in an expression Robyn couldn't read.

"But – but the password!" Robyn heard McGonagall say incredulously.

"He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

McGonagall fell silent as she turned away from the painting to face the crowd, her face white as a sheet.

"Which person," she said, her voice trembling with anger, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

Somehow, the silence in the room grew even more deafening as the smallest whimper from across the common room echoed out throughout the crowd of students. Neville Longbottom raised a violently shaky hand into the air, his face flushed a deep shade of crimson.

He was met with a furious glare from McGonagall, who looked like she was about to explode with fury. She told Sir Cadogan not to let anyone in or out of the common room before leaving to gather the other professors to make a sweep of the castle.

The rest of the night dragged on as all the Gryffindors waited in the common room together. Robyn knew there was no way she could go back to sleep after learning what had happened, and she was certain most everyone else felt the same way. Fred, George, Lisa, Lee, and Robyn sat together on the floor. They all kept a close eye on Flynn all night, but Flynn didn't move from her spot on the chair, frozen like a statue with her hands gripping her scalp like she was trying to pull out her own hair.

Finally, at dawn, McGonagall returned to inform them that Black had escaped the castle once again. As everyone began to gather their things and move to get ready for the day, Robyn noticed Flynn quickly beeline towards the dormitories. Without a word, Robyn slipped away from the group to follow her up the stairs.

Before she had even opened the door, Robyn could hear yelling and loud thuds coming from inside the room. She carefully pried the door open to find Flynn storming around the room, tears pouring down her face as she ripped the curtains from her bedposts. Flynn swung open the trunk at the end of her bed and pulled out the shot glasses from their game earlier. With a hoarse scream, Flynn hurled each shot glass at the wall. One by one they exploded, broken glass showering down onto the hardwood floors. Flynn then followed that with several inkwells, which left streaks of black ink down the textured walls. Finally, she took the half-empty bottle of firewhisky and threw it at the mirror above her dresser, and they collided in an avalanche of glass and alcohol that rained down across the room.

Robyn calmly walked past Flynn, making sure to avoid the broken glass as she approached the mess. "Tergeo," she whispered, pointing her wand at each pool of alcohol and ink on the walls, the dresser, and the floor. With each incantation of the spell, her wand siphoned up the liquid, leaving behind only the glass and the torn curtains to clean up.

Once she was done, Robyn finally turned to face Flynn, whose whole body shook with every heavy breath she took.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Robyn asked quietly.

With a deep sigh, Flynn collapsed onto her bed. "Robyn, he was in our common room, he almost killed Ron. If I find him, I'm gonna kill him myself. He doesn't even care that he has a daughter that has to deal with the consequences of the shit he does."

Robyn sat down at the foot of Flynn's bed and placed a hand on her shoulder, uncertain of what to say. After a moment of silence, all she could think to say was, "I'm really sorry, Flynn."

"Sorry? Sorry?!" Flynn snapped back, shrugging Robyn's hand off her shoulder as she stood back up. "Have you seen the looks that people give me in the corridors between classes or in the Great Hall at meals? They all think I'm helping him. News flash, I'm not my father. I hate my father. And you know what? I hope I find him, so I can kill him. Or turn him over to the dementors myself. And I hope they give him the Kiss. Maybe then, finally, I can get some fucking peace." Flynn made her way over towards her dresser, crushing broken glass under her feet as she went. She picked up the black diamond necklace from her father and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered, scattering pieces of glass and diamonds all over the floor.

Flynn shot Robyn a withered glare and stormed out of the room, her footsteps leaving a trail of speckled blood behind her.

Robyn stood up slowly, stunned into silence by what had just happened. She carefully cleaned all the glass and blood off the floor before collecting the broken pieces of Flynn's necklace and putting them back into the necklace box. She opened her trunk and, after a brief hesitation, hid the box beneath a stack of parchment.

Just in case.