Old Books and Firecrackers: Chapter IV

A Harry Potter Fanfic

“If we sent that letter for nothing–” George began.

“He’ll pay up. I’m sure of it,” Fred assured him as he helped himself to more food.

Hermione rushed into the Great Hall a little late for supper. She had probably gotten distracted in the library. To Fred’s surprise, she sat beside him and stared at him and George.

“I don’t know who you’re blackmailing,” she said in a quiet voice, “but I think you should stop.”

“I told you. It was a joke–” George began.

“I’m not asking you to explain, and I know you weren’t joking, but blackmail is against the law and–”

“And you’re all about following the rules, aren’t you?” Fred asked.

She pursed her lips. “This is not about following the rules. If you get caught, you don’t just get detention. You could get in serious trouble. You could go to Azkaban!”

Fred couldn’t help but smile. “You’re worried about us? Never thought I’d see the day.”

She rolled her eyes. “Can’t you be serious for five minutes?”

“Sure I can. Listen, we’re not going to Azkaban for this. It’s not that big of a deal, and if we do get caught, which I doubt, we’ll explain the circumstances and they won’t punish us much at all.”

Hermione frowned. “But how do you know? Blackmail is highly illegal–”

George smirked and set his elbows on the table to lean closer. “If it makes you feel any better, we know we won’t go to Azkaban because we’ve seen our future and Azkaban isn’t in it.”

Hermione huffed. “I don’t know why you’re continuing with this prank, but–”

“It’s not a prank,” Fred assured her. “We’ve been seeing the future since we were little. Just small things, and at first we didn’t know what was going on, but eventually the coincidences kept piling up and we realized there was no other explanation.”

Hermione studied him suspiciously. “You actually believe you’re seeing the future?”

He and George nodded. “Do you believe us now?” George asked with a smile.

She shook her head. “I believe you believe it, but divination is a sham. I think you probably got overly excited by a few coincidences.”

Fred shrugged and smiled. “Maybe. Are you going to eat?”

She pursed her lips and grabbed her bag. “I can see I’m not going to convince you to stop, so I’m going to eat with Harry and Ron.”

“See you later!” George called after her.

“It’s rather difficult to write a letter with a cat on your lap; you know that?” Fred asked the orange ball of fur peacefully dozing on him. He shifted closer to the side of the sofa so he could prop his parchment on the cushioned arm.

Crookshanks had found him an hour ago sitting in the common room and apparently thought he’d make a good pillow. He had curled up immediately on Fred’s lap and hadn’t moved since.

Fred rubbed the cat’s ears absently as he thought of what to write next.

“Has anyone seen Crookshanks?” Hermione asked, wandering into the common room. She looked worried.

“He’s over here, Hermione,” Fred said, waving her over to the couch.

She frowned when she saw her sleeping cat. “Why does he like you so much?”

Fred smirked. “Everybody loves me. Haven’t you noticed?”

“Come here, Crookshanks,” Hermione called. The cat didn’t stir. “Crookshanks!” Fred poked him. He didn’t move a muscle.

“Crookshanks, go to Hermione.” He didn’t think the cat was trained, but he was ninety-nine percent sure it knew what he was saying.

Crookshanks ignored him.

Fred looked up at Hermione. “Unless you need him, you can leave him with me. He’ll get up eventually. I would pick him up, but I’m a little afraid of what would happen if I tried.” He grinned; Hermione frowned. Her bottom lip stuck out a bit as she pouted.

“Why is he always with you?” she asked.

Fred shrugged. “I don’t know. Sorry.” She marched back to her dormitory.

He felt a little bad for lying to her. It had not been lost on him that Crookshanks only seemed to want to be with him when both he and Hermione were alone.

He rubbed the cat’s ears. “Stupid cat,” he whispered. “You’re going to give me away.”

For the first time, Crookshanks stirred. He lifted his head lazily and glared at Fred.

“I didn’t mean it,” Fred assured him. “You’re a good cat.” As Fred petted his head, Crookshanks laid back on Fred’s lap and went back to sleep.

“Fred! Lee!”

Fred turned around to see Hermione running toward him and Lee. She stopped in front of them and paused to catch her breath.

“Something important?” he asked.

“Yes! What do you know about magical eavesdropping methods?” Fred froze. How did she know about the Extendable Ears?

“What d’you mean?”

“I think Rita Skeeter has some way to listen into conversations at Hogwarts. She’s not supposed to be writing articles on people here, and I want to know how she’s doing it.” He relaxed. So she didn’t know yet.

“How do you know she’s listening into conversations?” Lee asked.

“How else could she have known about Hagrid? Or that Viktor asked me to stay for the summer?”

“He did what?” Every good feeling Fred had maintained toward Krum evaporated.

“She must have been listening somehow even though we didn’t see her,” Hermione continued.

“What did you say?” Fred asked.

“To Viktor? Oh, well, I didn’t get the chance to say anything–”

“What are you going to say?”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to say no. I mean, I don’t think my parents would like it much, and, besides, your mum asked me to stay first.”

Fred fought to conceal his smile. “I imagine you won’t be missing much. Staying with his family would probably be really boring. I mean, he doesn’t talk much, does he? What if his family is all the same way?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Meanwhile your house is nothing but exciting. And most of it is your fault.” Fred laughed.

“Magical eavesdropping devices?” she reminded him.

He was about to answer when something occured to him. “Are there non-magical eavesdropping devices?”

Hermione nodded. “But they don’t work at Hogwarts.”

Fred was really curious about muggle listening devices, but, judging by her expression, he would have to ask her about them later.

“Hmm. She could have an invisibility cloak, I suppose, but most don’t work very well so you would probably have seen some sign of her at least.”

“There’s also a charm that enhances all your senses, but she’d still have to be close by and it only lasts for a little while,” Lee said.

Hermione’s eyebrows shot up. “Have either of you ever–”

Fred shook his head. “George and I haven’t gotten it to work. It’s very difficult.”

“But you’ve tried it?”

“We should get to class,” Lee interrupted, grabbing Fred’s arm.

“I’ll go check the library,” Hermione muttered. “Thanks for your help.”

“I’ll let you know if I think of anything else,” Fred called over his shoulder as Lee dragged him to class.

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