III. can you see right through me?

Devore always thought about how women with depression were treated in the heads way before she was born. In the 1930's if a woman was considered depressed or not taking proper care of her husband, it was legal for her to be sent to a psych ward where they would perform smile therapy on her, which consisted of them taking a picture of a fake smile to her face and she was forced to stare at herself, thinking that if a woman watched herself smile then it would become a natural practice. Women have always been ruled by men. People have always believed that woman can't do what a man can do and that their place was to sit on their ass and do housework. Devore had always felt like she couldn't express her pain because people would think she was crazy, so she plastered her own fake smile in hopes that people would just leave her alone!

She stared at herself in her bathroom mirror. She just looked so tired. There were bags u see her eyes. Her shoulders were hunched over. She traced the nail marks on her arm and she winced at the pain in her wrist, which was now bruised. Devore had gotten good at stoping herself from crying or feeling any emotion,
and if there was one thing that could mask any girls defeat and insecurities, it was makeup.

She lathered on concealer to make her bags disappear and a thin coat of blush to bring the color back to her face. She was grateful that her uniform was long sleeved to hide her bruises. She brushed her hair and painted her lips pink, and then she stared at herself for a minute longer, desperately wanting to feel anything. But she didn't.

Morgan was waiting for her in their dorm that they shared with two other Slytherin girls. "Hello, gorgeous." She complimented when Devore came out of the bathroom.

"Slow down, Lin. It's too early to be in a good mood today."

"No, you're just a Debbie Downer."

They linked arms and followed everyone out of the common room to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. Devore searched inside her bag to make sure she had everything for class but realized she forgot a book. "Oh crap, I forgot my Potions book!" She groaned. "Go ahead, I'll be right back."

Morgan nodded and went to the Great Hall. Devore continued rummaging through her bag as she walked down the hall. For what felt like the hundredth time, someone bumped into her.

"Are you a magnet, Taylor? Cause you seem to be very attracted to me." 

Devore felt like she couldn't get away from him. Everywhere she turned, Fred was there, and it frustrated the hell out of her. She let out a long groan and looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. "Don't make me vomit, Carrot Top."

Fred smirked like usual. "Always with the creative nicknames, Ice Princess."

"Oh, how so original." She mocked. "If you'll excuse me, I have to retrieve a book because I actually care about my education." She pushed him away from her and stormed off, leaving the red head to stand there, still smirking.

Fred Weasley was the Hogwarts jokester. It was like everyday something was being blown up in someone's face or something was being spilled on someone. He knew how to push people buttons but Devore Taylor was a challenge like no other. It was like he made her angry just by looking at him but for some odd reason, he liked it. He liked that he pushed her buttons because he had always done it. But there was a line to Devore Taylor that you never cross, you never try to compete with her. She was satan after all. He walked through the Great Hall and went to his house table, still wearing a smirk.

"What are you grinning for?" Ron asked his brother.

"Just had an encounter with our dear satan."

Forks clattered against plates. "And you didn't get hexed?" Lee asked, looking surprised.

"On the contrary, I just received a new nick name."

"Our dear Devore Taylor being nice to someone?" George made a joke.

Fred titled his head side to side. "I wouldn't say nice. Just less of abrasive."

"Wow, Freddie. How'd you manage to pull that off?"

"I think just being in my presence angers her." He looked over to see Devore sitting down at her table, the Potions book in her hand, and he flashed her a cocky wink, to which she scoffed at him.

"How come you came to bed so late, Dev?" Morgan asked her while digging into the French toast on her plate.

Devore stopped her chewing. "Uh. . .I couldn't sleep so I decided to stay in the common room for a while longer." She came up with and quickly went back to eating her sausage.

When she lifted her arm, Morgan spotted the large bruise that wrapped around her wrist. "What happened to your wrist?"

She quickly tried to hide her panic and she lowered her arm. "I feel off my bed in the middle of the night and landed on it. It doesn't even hurt." Devore laughed it off.

She narrowed her eyes. "I didn't hear anything."

"You're a deep sleeper."

Morgan glanced to her right and saw Pansy hanging on to Draco's arm as he talked to Blaise. She put her two cents in about how she felt about Draco, and how she felt about his and Devore's relationship, but it also wasn't her place to tell her what to do.

"What are your classes?" Devore quickly changed the subject.

"Ugh, I'm taking Apparation." Morgan grumbled.

"I have Potions with Snape first thing." She put her book into her bag. "We should get going. Don't want to be late."

Her friend watched her carefully. "Dev, are you sure you're okay?" Morgan asked her, getting a bad feeling in her gut.

Devote quickly looked at her, moving a piece of hair from her face, and she smiled. "Of course I am. I just love Snape so much, y'know?" She replied sarcastically.

"Definitely." She nodded as a response.

The girls finished their breakfast and got up to leave for class. Morgan casted Draco a glare as she walked by him.

Potions class was only bearable because Olivia and Devore had been partners since their first year. After a while, Devore pretty much made her always be partners with her, because she didn't like anybody else in the class. Everybody was waiting for Professor Snape when Fred and George appeared at the table behind theirs. "Good morning, ladies."

Devore spun around, her eyes wide. "What are you two doing here? This is fourth year Potions."

"Well, you see—" started George.

"Georgie and I feel as if we have other priorities—" said Fred.

"That don't involve to sitting through an entire hour of Snape's boring lessons."

"That is until we discovered how low our marks actually were—"

"And mother nearly threw a lamp at our heads."

Olivia laughed. Devore narrowed her eyes. The twins winked at them. Professor Snape whisked into the classroom and all the chatter died down. "I'm gonna make things a little different this year. Instead of working with who you are beside,  switch with the person directly behind you." He instructed the class.

Devore and Olivia looked at him with wide eyes. Devore turned in her chair to see Fred already looking at her with a huge smirk on his face. She quickly looked back at Snape. "But professor, Olivia and I are always partners." He insisted.

"Frankly Miss Taylor, I don't think I can go another year with hearing you and Miss Kennedy's gossip."  Snape sneered. "You also just happen to have the top marks in this class. Perhaps your knowledge will guide Mr. Weasley to actually pay attention to my lessons. Now switch."

Much to their hate, Olivia gave her an apologetic smile and switched seats with Fred, joining George at the table. Fred came and flopped in the seat. "Hi there, partner." He said with a cheery grin.

Devore glared at him. "If you do anything to piss me, I will not hesitate to throw whatever we make on you."

"I'm feeling the love, Taylor. Feeling the love."

"Alright, the potion you will be making today was used in the middle ages to enhance the appearance of the drink. Now, get everything you need to prepare."

The students started gathering all the ingredients for the potion. "So a potion to make someone pretty? That's not misogynistic at all." Devore commented.

"Leave your feministic comments to yourself, Taylor." Pansy butted in across the room.

"Make sure you conjure it up right, Parkinson. You'll definitely need it."

Fred snorted at the comeback. "Now go easy on me,  Taylor. I already failed this class once. Mum will kill us if we fail again."

Devore only rolled her eyes. As the time passed, the two of them were able to conjure up the potion, watching it turn into a light green color. "This is absurd." She muttered while storing the potion.

Fred suddenly laughed. "Remember when you were twelve and you tried melting crayons to use as blush because you wanted to look like Ginny? You always said she had the best flushed cheeks."

Devore did remember that. She remembered coming down the stairs of the Weasley home with bright red melted crayon slathered on her cheeks. They all laughed. Devore was embarrassed. "I was stupid then. Thought I was the ugliest thing ever." She uttered quietly, remembering that she used to hate her chubby cheeks and round eyes.

"It's too bad. Cause I thought you were the prettiest."

She instantly looked at him. She glared for a total of five seconds before actually looking at him. Draco never called her pretty, at least not like that. Suddenly, the potion in the cauldron exploded and drenched them both.

The whole class bursted out laughing. Olivia covered her mouth while George almost fell out of his chair from laughing so hard. "TAYLOR, WEASLEY, 10 POINTS FROM BOTH OF YOU!" Shouted Professor Snape.

Devore didn't know what to think about what just happened. She was angry at herself for giving in to something so small, especially to Fred Weasley. She wanted to forget about it, completely zap it from her memory. She had Draco, and while they were still fighting, Devore wasn't a cheater. But she felt something when he said it to her. A small feeling, but it was something. Her face was buried in her hands as she sat in the library with her friends, still trying to process what had happened.

"Did I just hear that Devore blew up a potion? That's my girl!" Atlas cheered, causing a hush noise from the librarian.

"Atlas, shut up." His twin sister hissed while she was working on her homework.

"Sorry Livvy, I just can't get over the fact that Fred Weasley caused the our little Dev to frazzle up." Atlas laughed, resulting in a harsh slap on his arm. "Ow!"

Devote glared deeply. "I don't want to talk about it, ever."

"What did he even do?" Morgan questioned.

She removed her hands from her face and stared off at nothing in particular. She had been thinking about it way more than what she wanted. It was all Fred's fault. She should've known better. He and George failed positions last year and were forced to retake it this year to be able to earn credit. He just had to sit behind her. "Just being his usual annoying self."  She answered simply. "He was that way when we were younger and he'll never change."

They decided to continue working on their homework during their free period, listening to Atlas talk about how he accidentally set a bush on fire outside. Twice.  As she was flipping through her text book, Olivia slowly slip a piece of paper in her direction. Devore grabbed it and opened it underneath the table.

I heard what he said. Don't worry, I won't say anything.

Fred sat lounged out on the couch in the common room, listening to his friends criticize him about what happened during Potions. "What were you thinking?"  Hermione said roughly.

"Truth be told, I wasn't thinking at all." He admitted.

"So what? You're crushing on Devore now?" Ron asked his brother, sitting in the chair across from the couch.

"Don't be silly, Ronnikins. Just my usual banter." He denied the accusation.

"Good. Having feels for Devore Taylor is the last thing anyone should do." Hermione continued to sneer.

Fred rolled his eyes. "There's worse things in the world, Granger."

"Come on, Freddie. You know that's not the same Devore we knew." His twin brother told him.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." He almost snapped and got up from the couch. Fred went upstairs to his dorm room and lied face down on the bed. He groaned into his bedding.

Fred knew the girl he encountered today wasn't the same Devore he knew before. The shy eleven-year-old he ran into in the hallway during her first year. That Devore was sweet and shy and quiet. This Devore was mean. She was spiteful. Cruel. He was a fool for thinking his words could change that. But for a split second when their eyes met, Fred thought saw a glimpse of the girl he once knew.