As Fred was scratching in between my feathers, with me purring contentedly, we chatted about how Ludo Bagman might have scammed us with our bet in the World Cup.
"Maybe he paid us in leprechaun gold on purpose." Fred suggested, frowning.
"Something I would do, to be honest." I sniggered. "But he looks too innocent to do that. Maybe he accidentally swapped it for actual money, not knowing that it vanishes."
"I -" Fred was cut off by my brother and Ron bursting into the dorm. Neither of them looked strangely at the position we were in; Harry simply requested I join them in Divination homework.
"Shit, I forgot about that." I swore, leaping off the bed and folding my wings back into my skin.
As we passed Harry and Ron's dorm, Dean and Seamus stuck their heads out. "Divination homework?" They chorused.
"Indeed." I grinned at them.
"Naturally." Harry and I said simultaneously.
We all took our copies of Unfogging the Future back down to the common room, found a table and set to work on our predictions for the coming month. An hour later, we had made very little progress, though our table was littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and my brain was as fogged as though it had been filled with the fumes from Trelawney's fire.
"I haven't got a clue what this lot's supposed to mean." Dean said, staring down at a long list of calculations.
"What the fuck even is this?" I blinked at a scattering of symbols on the parchment in front of me.
"You know." Ron said, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration. "I think it's back to the old Divination standby."
"What - make it up?" Harry said.
"Yeah." Ron said, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink and starting to write. "Next Monday," he said as he scribbled, "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter." He looked up at us. "You know her - just put in loads of fucking misery, she'll lap it up."
"Right." I said, crumpling up my first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering first-years into the fire. "Okay... on Monday, I will be in danger of - er - burns."
"Yeah, you will be." Seamus said darkly. "We're seeing the Skrewts again on Monday. Okay, Tuesday, I'LL... erm..."
"Lose a treasured possession or some shit." I said, flicking through Unfogging the Future for ideas.
"Good one." Seamus said, copying it down. "Because of... erm... Mercury. Why don't you get stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend, Harry?"
"Yeah... cool..." Harry said, scribbling it down. "Because... Venus is in the twelfth house."
"And on Wednesday, I think I'll come off worst in a fight." Dean said.
"Aaah, I was going to have a fight. Okay, I'll lose a bet." I said.
"Yeah, you'll be betting I'll win my fight..."
We continued to make up predictions (which grew steadily more tragic) for another hour, while the common room around us slowly emptied as people went up to bed. Crookshanks wandered over to us, leapt lightly into an empty chair, and stared inscrutably at us, rather as Hermione would look if she knew we were fucking up our homework.
When Fred and George came down, I left my homework in the hands of Harry, who had basically the same handwriting as me, and darted over to them. At the same time, Terry knocked on the window next to where us three were, on his broom.
"This is when the real banter happens, lads." I grinned.
Fred and George opened the window to let the fourth member of our clan in, and we all sat down in the corner, Terry glancing around and hiding the blue parts of his robes, although everyone already knows who he is and which house he's from, and propping his broomstick against our table.
We set to work on our letter to Bagman, although sometimes we were met with obstacles in the form of too-accusing sentences and casual conversation turned into attack-Daisy-conversation.
George shook his head at Fred, scratching something out with his quill, and said, in a very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the almost deserted room, "No - that sounds like we're accusing him. Got to be careful..."
And then as Fred rewrote the sentence, George said to Terry in a conversational tone, "Y'know, Softpaw here had a wet dream about Red earlier."
"Oh?" Terry grinned at me, trying and failing to raise one eyebrow.
"Yeah, was moaning my name in her sleep and everything." Fred smirked down at the parchment.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, and Bushy has wet dreams every night about YOU, Hopper."
"Oh!" Terry gasped, and all four of us burst out laughing.
Just as we were finishing up our letter, my fourth-year Gryffindor squad came over to us with our predictions.
"Harry finished yours, Daisy." Dean sniggered.
Harry handed me mine with a grin, and I glanced down at the tragedies listed. "Wow, I wish I accidentally drank bleach." I high-fived Terry.
Hermione entered the common room just then, and pulled Ron's predictions towards her.
"Not going to have a very good month, are you?" She said sardonically, as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.
"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned." Ron yawned as Dean and Seamus and I sniggered.
"You seem to be drowning twice." Hermione said.
"Oh, am I?" Ron said, peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging Hippogriff."
"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" Hermione said.
"How dare you!" Ron said in mock rage. "We've been working like house-elves here!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows - Harry and Ron had told me she had a new house-elf obsession.
"It's just an expression." Ron said hastily.
Harry laid down his quill, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation. I fist-bumped him.
"Softpaw had a wet dream about Red earlier." George told everyone.
"Bushy had a wet dream about Hopper earlier." I retorted.
Everyone blinked.
~~~
In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether we could resist its effects.
"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor." Hermione said uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was -"
"Shut up, Mynee, we wanna have some fun." I sniggered, high-fiving Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, Amy, Suzanne, Shannon, Terry, and Draco in turn.
We all were put under the Imperius Curse, all watching and snickering as each of our friends were made to do strange things. Harry and I managed to fight it and Moody insisted on putting us through our paces until we could throw the curse off entirely.
Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and I were deeply amused when Trelawney told us that we had received top marks for our homework in our next Divination class. She read out large portions of our predictions, commending us for our unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for us - but we were less amused when she asked us to do the same thing for the month after next; all of us were running out of ideas for catastrophes.
On the morning of the thirtieth of October, a few hours before the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people were meant to be arriving, and only a few weeks before our first student-organised Quidditch match, we all traipsed down to the Great Hall. We joined Fred and George, who had got up earlier than Lee and I for once.
"It's a bummer all right." George was saying gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand, he can't avoid us forever."
"Who's avoiding you?" Ron said as we sat down next to them.
I grinned at them, knowing what they were talking about. Bagman had ignored our first request to talk to us face to face, and now we had to send him the letter we had written the other night.
"Wish you would." Fred said, looking irritated at the interruption.
"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother." George said.
"You guys got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling." George said bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with Transfiguring my raccoon."
"Like Neville with transplanting his ears onto a cactus in Transfiguration yesterday." I snickered to Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus, who all snickered too, Hermione looking on disapprovingly.
"Y'know, I don't feel like going to class today." I mentioned casually to Fred, George, and Terry who had sneaked over to our table again.
"Skip?" Terry suggested.
"Hell yeah." The twins and I chorused, giggling, as Hermione rolled her eyes at us.
And so us Insurgents ditched class, Draco joining us after asking out to the bathroom in Potions and finding us in the Owlery on his travels.
"Hey, baby." He smirked as he took my hand, us five roaming the empty corridors, keeping an eye out for teachers and Filch, and chattering banterfully.
"What the fuck do you want?" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Maybe I want a little kiss." Draco said innocently.
I smirked and leaned in. Our lips met, and I caught Fred out of the corner of my eye as we broke apart, glaring jealously at us.
Wow, what. Jealousy?
"One secondo, dickfaces." I told my squad as I swept into the girls' bathroom to pick out a spitball Terry had shot into my hair.
I was faced with Pansy, who was washing her hands in a sink. We made eye contact, and I felt heat slowly burning on my face as her... really pretty brown eyes stared into mine.
"Hey." I said slowly as I stopped beside her, breaking the eye contact as I faced the mirror, picking out the spitball and chucking it in the bin.
"Hey." Pansy said shyly.
I turned to her, and a small smile found its way onto my face. "You've... you've got really pretty eyes."
Pansy went bright pink. "Um... thanks. I mean, you've got stunning eyes. They're such a beautiful shade of green... Uh -"
I found myself smirking at her awkwardness.
"I - I gotta - gotta get back to class." Pansy stammered. "I won't tell Snape I saw you, I promise. That's kind of hot that you - you're ditching class. Umm... forget I said that. Bye."
I watched with amusement as the bright pink Slytherin girl scurried out of the bathrooms.
"Hm." I said to myself as I followed a moment later.
But as soon as I reached the door, someone flew into me and slammed me against the wall.
Thinking it was Pansy, I gasped, "Wow, Pratinson -"
But there was a flash of red hair in my vision, and I peered up in surprise. "Fred?"
"Daisy." Fred panted, looking down at me. His hands didn't relent on my shoulders, pressing me into the bathroom wall.
"No boys allowed?" I breathed. "It's a girls bathroom, Freddo. Only vajayjays in here."
"Yeah, but... I just need to do something." Fred dragged me into a stall, locking the door behind us. He pushed me, more gently, against the wall of the stall, and, leaning down slowly, connected our lips. I gasped in surprise, my mind battling - I have a boyfriend? Pansy? But I'm actually pretty into Fred? I've had two wet dreams about him? I let him scratch my wings? But Draco?
But I succumbed to the amazing sensation of my best friend's lips against mine, and sank my fingers into his hair. Fred grabbed my ass and tugged it up; I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist, and he slammed me back against the wall, sliding his tongue into my mouth. His crotch grinded against mine, and in real life, it felt so much better.
I tightened my legs around him, grinding into him desperately as Fred's tongue explored my mouth. Fred smirked against my mouth, pushing me against the wall more forcefully, rolling his hips against mine. His core pressed into my core, and I threw my head back, breaking the kiss and moaning, my eyes shut as pleasure rocketed through me.
Draco... Draco... Draco!
I stopped Fred, my hands on his shoulders. "Wait... I'm in a relationship."
Fred looked at me with darkened eyes and an expression I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"Draco doesn't have to know."
I gazed at him for a second more. Yes... he doesn't have to know...
"This can be our dirty little secret." I breathed, my pupils blown, and our lips connected once more.
