Doesn't Mean a Thing

Elise was walking in the hallway alone. It was still Saturday and she wanted to be alone. She couldn’t be around her boyfriend or their friends at the time. She needed time to think.

Elise had to change out of what she was wearing earlier because George had gotten eggs on her. She was wearing a blue sweater, jeans, and riding boots now. Her naturally curly hair was poofed.

She walked down the empty hallway. It was too quiet. She saw something glittering between the statues of two ogres. Curious, she walked even closer. As she approached it, she felt a fuzzy feeling, as if there was static in the air. Suddenly, she was zapped and she fell unconscious.

*~*~*~*

“I can’t believe we didn’t use this sooner!” George exclaimed.

“I know, we’re brilliant.” Fred said, rubbing his hands together.

Over the summer, he and George had created an invisible rope. It glittered when someone walked close to it. When you made contact, it shocked you and rendered you unconscious.

“Now, Filch will be doing his daily rounds in the hallway in five minutes.” George noted.

“He walks into the rope between the statues, and zap! He’s down.” Fred chuckled.

Suddenly, the two heard footsteps. Filch was early. They hit behind the statues, holding down the rope. They couldn’t see him, but the sight after would be even more hilarious.

There it was; a zap. They both ran out from behind the statues, laughing. Hoping to see Filch passed out on the floor, they dropped the rope.

“That was amazing!” Fred laughed. He held up a hand for George to high five, but George was staring at the ground, his mouth open.

“Oh shit.” He cursed. Fred looked down and gasped. It was not the body of the caretaker, but the body of a sixteen year old girl. She was facedown. Her big brown curls were up and charged with static from the rope. She was wearing blue sweater and jeans. Fred flipped her over and gasped.

“Elise! Oh my God, what do we do?” he panicked.

George winced and picked her up. “We can’t take her to the hospital wing; Pomfrey will ask how it happened. Let’s just take her back to our room until she wakes up.”

They snuck up the stairs (which was not easy; they kept moving) back up to the common room. When they opened the door, they saw Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. They all stared at him.

“What on earth did you do?” Angelina asked, getting up to go over to them.

George grunted. “She walked right into our trap for Filch.” He said. “Here, help us get her up the stairs.”

They got to the boys’ room and they laid her down on George’s bed. She was still passed out, but her hair wasn’t shocked anymore.

“Way to go, idiots.” Katie said.

Suddenly, Elise sat up. She fell back down, groaning and rubbing her head. “What the hell happened?” she asked.

George winced. “You walked right into a trap we set for Filch.”

Elise groaned. “I hate you so much right now.”

George took her hand. “Are you feeling okay? You took a nasty fall.”

Elise tried to sit up again, but touched the back of her head. It was sore. “Oh God, it hurts so
bad.” She winced.

“Fred, go get some ice from the kitchens. Ange, grab Fred’s pillows.” George said gently.

Fred didn’t want to leave her, but he left for the kitchens. Angelina grabbed some pillows and they propped Elise up. George kissed her forehead. “I am so, so sorry.” He said. “We didn’t mean for you to get into it.”

Elise was quiet. George was giving her an authentic apology.

“And I’m sorry about the whole Harry thing. Really, it’s none of my business. You care about him just as much as I do, and your opinion is just as important.” He said. “Forgive me?”

Elise couldn’t resist the puppy dog face he was giving her. “I forgive you.”

*~*~*~*

Fred returned with the ice and threw it to George, who pressed it to the back of Elise’s head. It seemed that the two of them had reconciled and were together again. Lee had since gotten to the room and witnessed the disappointment in Fred’s face. He followed him out and to the Black Lake.

“Oi, you, we need to talk.” Lee barked.

Fred turned around. “What is it, Lee? I kind of want to be alone right now.” He said, annoyed.

Lee gave him a look. “I saw how you looked at her.”

Fred looked at the lake. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lee sat down next to him. “You fancy her, don’t you? Angelina and you have been done for a while. You two are too much like brother and sister to actually be in a relationship. But you like Elise.”

Fred gave him a look. “Don’t judge me.”

Lee sighed. “I don’t mate. Elise is a beautiful girl with a beautiful soul. But the thing is she’s with your brother.”

Fred looked down. “I know. I just thought that by being friends with her, I wouldn’t want her as much. But it just made me like her more. And I don’t want to hurt Angie.”

Lee sighed. “Your own brother, Fred…could you stand it?”

Fred shook his head. “I can’t. I can hardly stand it right now. I just want to see her happy. Sometimes she is, but then sometimes she’s so sad with him. He doesn’t care about her as much as I would, Lee! He treats her like a trophy. Sure, they walk hand in hand but he’s leading. He just wants to prove that he got the girl.”

Lee nodded. “I know. But you don’t know; he might care.”

Fred shook his head. “He’ll never care half as much as I do. I’ve lost it over her.”

Lee nodded. “I know. You don’t seem to be as playful as you used to. You don’t pull the usual pranks anymore.”

Fred sighed. “I really don’t care as much, Lee.”

Lee sighed. “You need to get out of this. She’s ruining the two of you.” He complained.

Fred nodded. “I care too much.”

Lee sighed. “How long have you felt like this?”

Fred shrugged. “It was weird. The moment I saw her; even though we’d met her at the Quidditch Cup, I hadn’t thought of it. It was when she was walking towards us with Angelina. We were sitting in the common room, remember? The night we got to Hogwarts? She looked at me and I felt it kind of. It was like she was meant to be around, like it was destiny that she just ended up here. I mean, who transfers to Hogwarts? No one. So why her?”

“Well why’d you let George have her?” Lee asked.

Fred shrugged miserably. “George has never had a girlfriend. He really liked her. I could tell. I thought maybe it’d be okay, maybe they’d lose interest in each other or nothing would happen. But as they got together, I just couldn’t stand it. I tried staying away, but I just want to be around her all the time and I don’t know why. They’ve been together less than three months and it’s driving me insane.”