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𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘-𝐎𝐍-𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄
chapter ten ─  you catch my eye
(like you're ringing a bell)

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AS HEIDI'S FIFTH YEAR AT HOGWARTS RAPIDLY hurled towards the Christmas break, she found herself suddenly with new drive and direction, as if the choir that had begun singing outside of the Three Broomsticks on Hogsmeade weekends had rejuvenated her zest for life.

On the Monday morning of their last week of school, Heidi opened her copy of the Daily Prophet, mostly to provide a shield. The group in front of her had taken to staring, open mouthed and wide eyed, as she skimmed the pages.

"I didn't know you read," August quipped, having joined the group of girls for breakfast, and Heidi resisted the urge to use the paper as a weapon, sticking her nose in the air instead.

"I've rather taken to politics," she answered, "haven't I, Lydia?"

"Yes, you've taken very well to arguing," Lydia mused.

It was true ─ well, some of it was. Ever since Heidi's unfortunate turn in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and her subsequent run-ins with Roger (Alicia, Angelina and Lydia had taken to mock-vomiting whenever his name was mentioned), she had found herself propelled in her academic life in new ways ─ she had even found herself propelled to the library, and to McGonagall's office hours. Her teachers found themselves complimenting her new-found desire for high marks, and dreading her questions.

"I've decided that I'm going to be a lawyer." Heidi turned another page, suddenly very aware of the way her friends were looking at her.

"Heidi," Alicia said gently, "you cry when someone says you have bad taste in music."

"Because my taste in music is great!" Heidi exclaimed. "This is different. This is my true calling." She laid the paper down, lifting her mug of tea towards her lips. "I am going to be a lawyer."

Heidi felt a breeze on her neck as Alicia's head snapped in the opposite direction; Arbor was approaching. As the only inhabitant of their dorm who knew of Alicia's secret, Heidi was in the excruciating position of having the ability to tease, and knowing that she shouldn't. Honestly, it was painful ─ Alicia really should have known better.

"Morning, troops," Arbor said, grinning, sitting next to her brother so they could trade their letters from home. Her eyes stopped short in their roaming over the group on Heidi, who blinked expectantly.

"Is your tie done properly?" She questioned, and Heidi let her head fall onto the table as the group around her dissolved into laughter. Rather than arguing in her own defence, Heidi rolled up her newspaper with dignity, and collected her belongings.

"Goodbye everyone," she said haughtily, "I hope you all fail the Transfiguration test."

"Where are you off you?" Angelina asked, laughing.

"I have to go and tutor George."

"Ooh, in human anatomy?"

"Fuck you," Heidi replied, walking away to the sound of her friends' laughter.

***

Heidi could hear the disturbance he caused before she saw him, as students were pushed out of his way and he tripped over his own shoelaces.

"You can't give me five minutes of peace?" She asked, her nose still in her book.

"Can't let you get accustomed to a quiet life." George snapped Heidi's DADA book shut ─ rather than elaborating further, he held out a piece of parchment. Heidi leaned in closer, and found a Transfiguration test paper with an 'A' circled at the top.

"That's amazing!" She exclaimed. She was unsure what to do with herself ─ high five? Solemn nod? Walk on by? She was saved from her embarrassment as he wrapped his arms around her in a crushing bear hug; when they separated, Heidi dipped her head in an attempt to hide her tomato-red face.

"I wrote my mum already," George told her, his ears also pinkish. "I think she might write Dumbledore, she'll be that proud. You might get a letter as well, actually."

"I'll tell her that the work was all you," Heidi said, not an inch of sarcasm in her voice. When she turned to continue on her way to Charms, George followed.

"Any fun Christmas plans?" He asked, taking his paper back.

"We always go to my grandparents' for Christmas." Heidi said, as they found their friends outside the classroom. Fred had been turned to face the wall as Angelina used his back as a surface on which she was frantically finishing her essay; Alicia held an ink-pot for her, gently making corrections to Angelina's spelling errors.

"Oh, are you not going to the Christmas party at the Lockaby's?" Lydia asked, materialising at Heidi's elbow.

"Lydia, everyone and their nan is going. We're apparating back just for the party. I'll see you there?"

"For sure," Lydia said, bumping her elbow with Heidi's. "Half the Ministry's been invited." She turned to George. "Are the Weasley's skipping out?"

"We don't typically go in for big parties," George said, grinning.

"Mum doesn't like to be upstaged." Fred's voice was strained as he attempted to turn his head.

George shook his head, signalling that Fred was joking. "We're having family friends around for Christmas."

"I didn't know the Lockaby's were such high profile socialites," Angelina said, rolling up her essay as the group filed into the classroom. Heidi waved goodbye to Lydia and Alicia as she and Angelina fought their way to their usual seats in the back ─ thank Merlin not every teacher was McGonagall. "How do you know them?"

Heidi grinned as she fished in her bag for her quill and ink-pot. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

"So it's your mum."

Heidi gave a non-committal hum, rooting around in her bag for her charms book as Flitwick began the lesson. The truth was that she knew very little about Annie's work, and had only found out that Dria's parents were clients of her mother's from Oliver, who had found out through an accidental slip from Dria. Both had promised not to tell their mother that they knew; however, Heidi was sure that her mother suspected something from her lack of questions after the invite had been sent out.

Her thoughts were interrupted not by Flitwick (although she was sure that his demonstration of the growth charm was riveting), but by a feather, floating next to her forehead. After staring at it for a moment, dumbfounded, she followed the line of sight led by the feather to the perpetrator; one George Weasley, wand out and face reddened from trying not to laugh.

She levelled him with an unimpressed look, before trying to float the feather back his way ─ but it would not give. Four years had passed for George to practice Wingardium Leviosa and it looked like he had finally got it down. However, Heidi could do it better.

Her efforts were futile when, once again, the feather floated in her headspace. She suppressed the urge to laugh; no one had noticed, not even Angelina, and Heidi wanted to keep it that way. Inch by inch, the feather gained precious airspace, floating above the unsuspecting heads of Gryffindor's fifth years. When Fred looked up to see what what making George laugh under his breath, he grinned; when he noticed Heidi was on the other side, his smile turned to a smirk, and Heidi felt her stomach drop.

Too many of her friends were dropping hints, and her feelings were growing too quickly. George made it hard to breathe, and the simple idea of everyone knowing made it harder. Fred probably knew her secret, could probably tell from a mile off. The feather floated to the ground as Heidi's smile faded, heart locked in the chains of panic, and her hair swung forward to hide her face from her foes.

***

The days passed in hazes of rain, and the cold seeped through the old walls and windows of Hogwarts so that Heidi began wearing her gloves and her scarf inside. She was often found curled up next to the Gryffindor common room fire, pouring over not only her schoolwork, but also the books she had yet neglected to return to Osh.

Her reluctance to spend time with George in the days following Charms hadn't gone unnoticed; his quips weren't met with her usual witty retorts, and she was fast running out of excuses to escape his presence. The sarcastic Heidi-and-George remarks usually dropped by her friends had dropped, as Heidi's demeanour made it clear that they were unappreciated.

Oliver flopped down on the couch next to Heidi as the sun set on another week, eyes carefully studying her as if any wrong move could ignite an emotional landmine. Heidi sighed, putting the book of romantic poetry (studied for the scribbles, she told any onlookers) down on the table.

"Who sent you," she asked, glaring. "And don't lie."

Oliver looked sheepish. "Lydia."

"That bitch."

"Not very kind of you!"

Heidi shoved him, a small smile pulling at her lips. "It wasn't kind of Lydia to rat me out!"

Oliver settled back into the couch, and the two siblings stared into the fire together, as peaceful as it was possible for them to be. Heidi guessed that Oliver didn't quite know what to say, but he soon opened his mouth. "Do you have any plans for Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"I'll probably just hide out at Osh's café," Heidi answered, bringing her legs up onto the couch and tucking her feet in. "Why?"

"I want to get Dria a Christmas present," Oliver said, holding his hands up in defence as Heidi swung a cushion at him. "I have no idea what to get her! Please help." He rested his hands on the cushion still in Heidi's hands, exaggerating his face to look pleading. Heidi pushed him back, laughing.

"Fine! God, you're so mushy. What would you do without me?"

Oliver's arm settled around her shoulders as he pulled her in for a hug; rare, as their sibling-ship was not always affectionate. Heidi smiled as he pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

Heidi shook her head. "Not yet," she said. "I'm still figuring everything out myself."

Oliver nodded. "It'll sort itself out just fine," he said, standing up and rounding the couch, before tugging on Heidi's hair in what she assumed was intended to be a gentle manner.

"Oi!" She yelped, hands already grasping another cushion ─ but he was too far away. Settling back into the couch and arranging the cushions around her, Heidi was reaching for her book when she became aware of a shadow lingering over her.

She looked up and saw the object of every intense, uncomfortable emotion she had felt in the last few months standing over her, hands in his pockets as he rocked gently on his feet.

Before she could utter a word, George had beaten her to it. "I don't know why you're mad at me, or if I did anything to upset you ─"

"I'm not mad," Heidi said quietly.

George faltered. "Oh." His face brightened, and he sat down on the nearest armchair. "You aren't?" Before Heidi could answer, he shook his head. "Actually, don't let me get sidetracked. I promised to tell you about Padfoot if I passed the Transfiguration test, and I passed."

Heidi gave him a look. "You passed weeks ago."

He waved his hand. "Semantics."

"Tell me," Heidi said, leaning forward.

"Not tell." George stood up, beginning to walk towards the portrait hole. "Show."

"Well, aren't you a drama queen." Heidi decided to keep the poetry book with her ─ if she was one step closer to discovering Padfoot,

George winked, holding the portrait hole open so Heidi could climb through. As soon as he had followed her out, she turned to him. "Where are we going?"

"This way," he said, gesturing. "Fred's waiting at the end of the corridor. All will be revealed."

Heidi kept her grumbling to herself, drawing her cardigan further around her as she followed George through the cold halls. They were met by Fred's grin at the corner, and he nodded at Heidi as the two came to a stop before him.

"Hello, Madame Detective," he said, mock-bowing before her.

"It's Mademoiselle, actually," Heidi said in her best attempt at a posh English accent, curtseying. "What are we doing here?"

"We hear you're on the hunt for one Padfoot," Fred began.

"And we just might have the right clue for you," George continued. Each brother took one arm of Heidi's, leading her down the dark halls as they lit their wands. "Shall we promenade, M'lady?"

"We shall," Heidi said, and the twins indulged her in skipping down the hall until they reached the stairs. Feeling nervousness mounting, Heidi tried to keep her steps quiet until the three approached a statue of a one eyed witch.

"Any guesses?" George asked, grinning at the look on her face.

"I think you two might be barking mad."

Fred shook his head. "Oh, naïve young Heidi. Our acquisition of this piece of parchment was a key point in our Hogwarts careers."

"We're giving it away tomorrow," George told her, "so we thought it was time to show you."

"But you must never tell a soul." The eyes of both twins bore into Heidi's own, and she nodded her head.

"Cross my heart," she said lowly.

George nodded, pointing his want at the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he recited, and Heidi watched with wide eyes as inked lines began to curl out from the tip of George's wand like spider webs, crossing around each other to reveal a map of Hogwarts, detailed and moving! Each inhabitant was shown on the map ─ she could see Dumbledore pacing in his office, Lydia and Jules on their prefect rounds, and her own name, beside the one eyed witch with Fred and George.

Even more breathtaking than that, however, were the shapes curling into words at the top, reading:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP

"Padfoot," Heidi gasped, taking the parchment when Fred handed it to her and pouring over it.

"How do you know Padfoot?" George asked, taking the book Heidi handed to him and opening it to the page she pointed him to.

Dear Padfoot, today was terrible.

Dear Mystery Girl, I am happy to announce that your day can no longer be terrible as you have engaged with myself.

Dead Padfoor, your ego is showing.

"There's more of them ─ whoever Padfoot and Mystery Girl are, they wrote notes to each other in probably hundreds of books. They're all over Osh's café."

"Merlin, we really need to get into cafés," Fred said. "I didn't know they were this exciting."

"You should go just for the raspberry scone," Heidi said, "apparently it's really something."

George grinned. "We could go now," He said, wand at the ready. Heidi opened her mouth to speak but decided to keep quiet as he tapped his wand on the statue, muttered 'dissendium', and pushed himself through the hole that was opened to him.

"Close your mouth," Fred said, "you look like a fish." He gestured for Heidi to follow George and, not really having any reason not to, she did.

She landed at one end of a long, winding passageway, and was helped up by George only for her questions as to their whereabouts to go unanswered. Her queries as to whether or not they were planning to murder her also went unacknowledged.

They walked for around ten minutes, only making light conversation ─ just enough to stop Heidi from going back, without any hint of what was forward. When they arrived at the bottom of stone steps, Heidi wanted to cry out of thankfulness.

"Almost there!" She exclaimed. "At last!"

George chuckled, holding the trapdoor at the top of the steps open for her, and helping her hoist herself onto the dusty floor above.

Ugh. Heidi climbed to her feet, brushing the dust off her clothes as best she could before looking around her. As soon as Fred and George had made it out of the trapdoor and onto their feet, she glared. "I came all this way for a dusty basement?"

Fred headed towards another set of stairs. "Not just any dusty basement."

George gently pushed Heidi forward, both climbing the stairs as Fred opened the door at the top to reveal Honeydukes ─ empty of students and staff, the lights turned off and all of the sugar-quills Heidi could wish for, ripe for the taking.

"So," Fred began, holding out his hand to Heidi. "What do you think?"

"Co-detectives?" George said, his hand also directed towards the girl. "We'll provide the sugar if you let us in on everything you know."

Heidi deliberated ─ the way she felt about George made her life increasingly difficult by the day; and yet, she couldn't stay away from him. Perhaps this was the answer, a way to dance on the edge of his life without being too involved, just close enough to touch. She grasped both of the hands offered to her and shook them, grinning.

"I think you've got yourself a deal."

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 ─
leave it to kristy to find aop
inspiration when she should
be getting a job!! big thanks
to oscarisaacss for single-
handedly inspiring me enough
to write this in two days LOL