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[TarantulaHawk]

“Close one. Last time we were in here and she started in on “examples” she droned on for hours…" The way that George clasped Ines on her shoulder made her shift a little, almost uncomfortably. "Not a bad save, Glaspy. Not bad at all..."

Ines shrugged lightly, dislodging George's hand from her shoulder. But as she did so, she seemed unable to keep a smile off of her face at the slightly proud feeling she got by knowing the class briefly falling apart was actually her fault. It wasn't often that she was able to make people laugh with her corrections - usually people just rolled their eyes at her because it was annoying to them.

“Our hero~”

The second that Fred's head found its way onto her shoulder, she found herself overwhelmed with the closeness of the twins. Maybe it was just because she wasn't used to people other than her siblings touching her, but it was certainly uncomfortable. But she paused briefly, not doing anything because an interesting scent hit her nose; it smelled like smoke, but the kind that came from those Filibuster-brand fireworks.

When Fred sat upright after only a few seconds, Ines could feel her ears burning as the scent disappeared and was quickly replaced by the disgustingly overpowering sage and sandalwood incense.

“Well, anyway, c’mon, let’s get out of here before the crazy old bat hits her stride again.”

Ines nodded quickly at Fred's words, getting to her feet. "Fantastic idea."

She easily followed the twin to the ladder that would bring them up and into the astronomy tower. As they waited for the line to dissipate so they could head up as well, a Gryffindor managed to slip through the line and up to Ines' side.

"That was brilliant!" She was in a fit of giggles, obviously still amused with the Hufflepuff having gone, for lack of a better term, head-to-head with the professor. "I didn't know you were so sassy! It's so funny."

"Uh, thank you?" Ines raised an eyebrow.

The girl kept giggling as she turned around and headed to the back of the line, where she began to talk to a couple other girls. Ines was confused. Was it really so funny that she had an attitude with a teacher? Ines had already begun to feel the heavy feeling of guilt in her heart for having been so rude to Professor Trelawney, even though she wouldn't take back a word of what she said. But she didn't have too much time left to ponder her guilt, as she realized that she was the next up the ladder. So, she swiftly climbed it and found herself heading up and out into the night.

Once she was up onto the top of the parapet, she inhaled deeply - the light chill in the air actually sort of felt good after being in the furnace below them. But as she looked up and into the distance slightly, she caught a glimpse of a dark figure bobbing slowly in the breeze. A shiver ran through her body and she crossed her arms. Dementors were a true threat to students. She wondered why Dumbledore had allowed them to be there, even if reluctantly. Who cared about Sirius Black when over a thousand innocent students were at risk?

"So," she glanced at Fred after a moment, raising an eyebrow, "are we really going to exchange the journaling we've done? Actually, did you or your brother even bother to try do it?"

 

[Flak-Bait]

Grateful for the open space and fresh air, Fred interlaced his fingers together stretched his hands high above his head, popping his shoulders to rid himself of the last lingering sense of confinement from the classroom. He glanced down to his feet and perked up when he saw Ines at the top of the ladder. He moved aside, giving her and the rest of the crowd on the ladder room to step out into the night.

“So,” It wasn’t long before Ines spoke, “are we really going to exchange the journaling we've done? Actually, did you or your brother even bother to try do it?"

“Pft.” He gave a quiet snort and let his hands fall gracelessly back down his side, his stretching interrupted by his laughter. He turned to look at the Hufflepuff witch, eyes twinkling with amusement. How could she go from making cracks to a professor’s face to actually worrying about homework assignments like this? A rustle from the ladder drew his attention back down to the floor where a familiar head of flaming red hair had just appeared at the top of the ladder.

“Have we done the work, she says…” He mused down at his brother, unable to keep his amusement to himself.

George paused on the ladder and blinked up at him for a second before looking over at Ines, understanding dawning on his face. “Precious.” He cooed, pulling himself the rest of the way up onto the tower floor.

“Of course we haven’t, ” Fred answered more directly, turning back to Ines with a sly grin, “We haven’t actually bothered to turn up for this class in weeks apart from the exams. We wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for you.”

“But, don’t let that put you in a state,” George placated immediately from behind, brushing his hands off as he wandered over to join them, “We’ll get it done if it’s for a group project. Not gonna get many laughs out of you if we fail you, I suppose. ‘Sides how hard can it be? Just make something up, suggest we’re all likely to die within the week and it’ll be done, yeah?”

“Right...” Fred agreed obligingly, knowing that George was right, but dreading the idea of actually putting quill to parchment with any real degree of commitment.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Lee’s voice sounded from the shadows to their left. Fred blinked and turned to peer over at the other boy. Lee was sitting cross-legged on the stone floor between his two partners, one of their textbooks balanced in his lap. He skimmed over the words in the book with the end of his lit wand, the pale glow from the wand suffusing his face and revealing a smirk on his lips as he read aloud, “Says here you’re supposed to do your journals day by day…that way you can ensure proper reading from your planet’s alignment at the time of your entry. Delays will impact the clarity of your emotional state and result in false readings. Only truly gifted Seers can—blimey—” Lee faltered with a snort and disbelieving shake of his head, then quickly began to read again with a new sarcastic haughty air to his voice, “Only truly gifted Seers can seek and pull answers from the heavens in retrospect.” Lee's partner’s snickered beside him as he finished with his dramatic reading.

“Brilliant!” Fred said brightly, sweeping around on his feet to grin down at Ines and give her a nudge with his elbow. “You’re in luck, again, Glaspy! George here is something of an expert at ‘pulling from the heavens’.” He straightened up beside Ines, peaking over the top of the Hufflepuff’s head to glance at his brother, “You pull answers and excuses from Uranus all the time, don’t you? He can do it in broad daylight any everything!”

“Well,” George drawled with mock modesty, an echo of laughter in his voice, “Don’t know if I’m as good as you, buuut….” He puffed his chest out, pretending to revel in the praise as Lee, his partners, and a few of the other students close by broke off into fits of muffled snickering.

 

[TarantulaHawk]

“Have we done the work, she says…”

Ines looked at George, her expression a funny mixture between hopeful and worried.

“Precious.”

Fred really didn’t have to say anything more, as that gave her all the information that she needed, but he still continued.

“Of course we haven’t. We haven’t actually bothered to turn up for this class in weeks apart from the exams. We wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ines snapped, eyes wide as she looked over at George.

“Don’t let that put you in a state, we’ll get it done if it’s for a group project. Not gonna get many laughs out of you if we fail you, I suppose. ‘Sides how hard can it be? Just make something up, suggest we’re all likely to die within the week and it’ll be done, yeah?”

Ines couldn’t really disagree. That was exactly what Trelawney would eat up and grade them highly on. She was actually fairly surprised that the older woman didn’t work for some sort of tabloid, even more surprised that she wasn’t (Ines was fairly sure, anyway) a friend of Rita Skeeter’s. She loved drama and had a flair for the dramatics, though Ines figures Trelawney would be offended by anything and everything the reporter could have said about her.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Ines glanced over at Lee, her eyebrows furrowed as the relief of having an easy time with the assignment disappeared completely. “Says here you’re supposed to do your journals day by day…that way you can ensure proper reading from your planet’s alignment at the time of your entry. Delays will impact the clarity of your emotional state and result in false readings. Only truly gifted Seers can—blimey— Only truly gifted Seers can seek and pull answers from the heavens in retrospect.”

“Brilliant!” Ines glared at Fred as he bumped her with his elbow. She couldn’t have anticipated what he was about to say next. “You’re in luck, again, Glaspy! George here is something of an expert at ‘pulling from the heavens’. You pull answers and excuses from Uranus all the time, don’t you? He can do it in broad daylight any everything!”

Ines barely managed to bite back a bit of giggling that bubbled up into her throat. After a second, she coughed lightly and then gave them a tense but genuine grin.

“Close, but not quite.” She said confidently, crossing her arms. “Maybe you should focus on trying to get yourselves caught up with journaling instead of making me laugh.”

Nearby, Ophelia shook her head even though she was giggling a little herself. “You two are really awful at making her laugh, honestly.”

Ines rounded on her, removing her wand and lighting up the tip of it so she could give a proper glare her way. “Excuse me! Don’t help them!”

“I never said I was going to help them!” Ophelia leaned back as if the witch was going to hex her.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Ines groaned, rolling her eyes as she plopped down on the stone parapet on her knees, ready to simply get to work.

She didn’t notice how her friend simply rolled her eyes. Ophelia was certainly not the only one who was worried about Ines, and she wanted the twins to make her relax and laugh and enjoy herself for once. They all worried Ines would lose herself far too quickly with all of the responsibility she held on her shoulders - it was too much for one teenage girl.

 

[Flak-Bait]

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Fred turned to look down at their Hufflepuff companion. He was sure he’d seen her shoulders bunch just a little in the dim light, as if she was fighting back amusement, but—as always—Ines seemed to reel herself in just in time.

“Close, but not quite.” He listened to her boast, unable to fight a tiny grin at the way she crossed her arms over her chest to make herself look more resolute. “Maybe you should focus on trying to get yourselves caught up with journaling instead of making me laugh.”

He opened his mouth to retort, but before he could find the words, a new giggling voice interrupted, “You two are really awful at making her laugh, honestly.”

Fred turned to peer over his shoulder at the speaker, only able to recognize the asian girl as one of Ines’ friends when the dark-haired witch rounded on her and jabbed her lit wand defiantly in her direction.

“Excuse me! Don’t help them!”

The grin that had wormed its way onto his expression earlier broke as Fred barked out a single laugh at the indignation in Ines’ gesture. In the pale glow of her wand’s light, he could see his twin grinning too, though George seemed to be trying not to laugh aloud and incur more of the Hufflepuff’s wrath---if only in interest of not spoiling her mood so that they could get a rise from her themselves and claim their prize from Deidre. But he couldn’t seem to find the same willpower. He didn’t know why. There was just something about seeing Ines out of her shell. That and he was never going to be able to see her angry without picturing that pouty glare she’d given him in the library a few days ago...

He took a step back, letting Ines pass between him and George as she huffed and turned away from Ophelia’s group. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Fred cut a glance back at George. His brother looked back at him slowly, wearing the same wide-eyed wry grin he usually wore whenever Charlie or Ginny had gotten into trouble back home and they were listening in to the telling off from afar. He got the message. George figured they were walking on eggshells now. He wasn’t convinced, though. Not by Ines’ yelling or Ophelia’s jeering. He knew they’d gotten the Hufflepuff close to laughing plenty of times now. They weren’t horrible at it. Ines was just horrible at letting herself laugh...which was a whole other issue onto itself.

But, as luck would have it, they were as pig-headed as she was.

Giving Ophelia a quick reassuring wink, Fred turned on his heels and followed after Ines. “So,” he started, hefting himself up to sit on the tower’s guard wall and finding it rather comfortable even in spite of the sheer drop behind him. “How d’you start this journal thing?” He asked, more out of obligation than anything. He leaned forward on his precarious perch and squinted down at Ines’ parchment, a tiny smirk playing across his lips as he tried to make out some of the words in her journal assignment—suddenly and intensely curious as to rather or not she’d written anything about him or George.

“Have to know our sign first, don’t we?” George put in as he approached and settled down onto the stone floor across from Ines, “Think we’re…..a goat? Or a ram or some bollocks? Aries.”

Fred blinked and straightened up to shoot a look at George. He knew they had to play along to keep Ines from worrying about her grade, but he hadn’t been expecting his twin to actually know anything about all this. “How--?”

“Ginny used to read Horoscopes from her cereal box to us every morning,” George answered before he could even get the question out. “Remember? Seer’s Snaps. Tasted horrible, but Zonko’s printed coupons on the box, so we tricked her into thinking she could win a unicorn if she ate enough of the cereal let us 'mail her box tops off for her'.” George snickered as he spoke, then added almost wistfully, “Took her a year to catch on...but we’d built a stockpile just in time for first year.”

“Oh, yeah…” Fred grinned slowly at the memory, feeling pleased with himself that they’d been up to so much since then that he’d almost forgotten those days. Shaking off the nostalgia, he turned back to Ines and straightened up on the tower wall importantly.

“Right-o. Ram it is, then. Think I’ve got this... if you would?” He gestured down to Ines’ parchment and quill, pretending to ask her to take dictation for him. He cleared his throat and lifted a hand to rub at his chin, “Let’s see...Monday, I…” He paused to give the impression that he was really deliberating the point. After a few long seconds, he twisted around on the wall to look out at the shadowy slopes of the mountains in the distance, the first hints of snow glittering atop their peaks. “I had a go at the trashcan, but no one would let me eat from that, so I hoofed it over there to have some grass instead….still haven’t grown my horns. Hoping for improvement on Tuesday.”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Ines was just looking forward to being able to finish the assignment and get it turned in. Journaling and talking about events and her feelings was definitely something she wasn’t used to. And it was annoying and time-consuming, she could be doing other things but instead she had to work on an assignment from a class that she only took because of the easy grade.

“How’d you start this journal thing?”

Ines sighed. It figured that Fred hadn’t paid a lick of attention. But before she could answer, the other twin did it for her.

“Have to know our sign first, don’t we? Think we’re…..a goat? Or a ram or some bollocks? Aries.”

As the two of them went onto talk about how George actually knew that information, she found herself unsurprised. The one thing that their professor talked about that actually had information that that sort of interested her was about zodiac signs. And she knew what an Aries meant in terms of personality - creative, determined, bold and loud. Perfect for them, really.

“Right-o. Ram it is, then. Think I’ve got this... if you would?” Ines looked at Fred and sighed, grabbing the parchment and her quill - at least writing things down for them would give her something important to do. “Let’s see...Monday, I… I had a go at the trashcan, but no one would let me eat from that, so I hoofed it over there to have some grass instead….still haven’t grown my horns. Hoping for improvement on Tuesday.”

“Okay, absolutely not.” Ines set her quill right back down again, and despite her firm tone, she was smiling a little bit more than before. “I’d like to actually pass this assignment, thank you very much.”

Ines shifted the parchment and looked at her first journal entry. “You need to at least do this mostly correct. The professor may be… air-headed, but she’s not completely dumb.”

“You’re a Virgo, right?”

Ines glanced over to see one of the students who had been previously sitting up near the professor’s desk. She was a Gryffindor and she looked intrigued.

“Yes.” Ines nodded, eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

“A Virgo with two Aries?” She gasped and looked over at her friend, who looked at Ines with an almost apologetic expression. “That’s a nightmare to work with. You’re a Virgo, so you focus on details and organization and Aries… well, they don’t, to put it lightly...”

Ines looked from the girls to Fred and George before smiling a little bit more. “Did you hear that, boys? You can’t mess up this assignment because I’m a Virgo.”

There was a little bit of laughter from students who were nearby and Ines didn’t have to look at the two girls to know they were upset with the blatant disregard Ines had toward their words.

“So, try and start your journal entry again.” Ines looked at Fred pointedly. “A little less ridiculous this time, if you please.”

 

[Flak-Bait]

Fred watched from the corner of his eye as Ines—poised and ready to write—deflated and dropped her quill away from the parchment the second she realized he was having a go at her. He turned and beamed down at her from his precarious seat, feeling quite satisfied with himself when he saw the subtle curl of a restrained grin on her lips.

“Okay, absolutely not. I’d like to actually pass this assignment, thank you very much.”

Fred opened his mouth, just about to quip something about adding some terrible goat-related tragedy to his story for Trewlawny to really sink her teeth into, but before he could even speak a new voice butted into the conversation.

“You’re a Virgo, right?”

He picked his head up and looked over at the Gryffindor girl. It was hard to see her in the dim glow of a few dozen Lumos spells, but as a few more lighted wand tips turned curiously towards her, he realized that the girl had been one of the students who’d crowded devotedly around Trewlawny’s desk just moments ago downstairs.

Well, this was gonna be a laugh…

Fred settled back on his precarious stone perch and watched as the girl swept them with a nervous glance before turning back to Ines and warning her that this assignment was going to be a nightmare on account of their clashing signs. Somewhere in the distance, he could make out Lee’s distinctive snort at the banal decree and George turned to flash him a wry look, but Ines was the first to speak.

“Did you hear that, boys? You can’t mess up this assignment because I’m a Virgo.”

A grin cracked across his face and Fred took a few seconds to watch the two Gryffindor girls balk and glare waspishly at Ines before looking down at her himself. He felt his grin spread when hers did. Without missing a beat he swung his legs out and sat straighter up on the guard wall, “Well, why didn’t you say so?! Here I was thinking we could fail and get dropped out of this class, but…if you’re a Virgo…”

“Fat lot of good you are to us!” George pitched in, “We’ll be stuck here for weeks thanks to your details and organizing!” Behind his twin, the girls seemed to be all too aware that they were being toyed with now and where skulking back to their corner.

Fred watched them go with amusement, only looking back down to Ines when she prompted him to try the assignment again; with actual effort this time. “Right, right…” He rolled his eyes and let himself slump back down in his seat as he thought for a moment, lulling his head back as if really searching for an answer. “Monday, we had Potions. So that was clearly a sign from above of a shite week incoming. Got assigned a lab partner. Pretty sharp. Not bad looking, but…” He looked back down at Ines and his brother, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, then he tossed a hand out to the side and crowed dramatically, as if he was announcing some great injustice he’d suffered, “She’s a VIRRRGOOOO!”

The sudden dramatics caught the attention of most of the class. The laughter that had started from Ines’ dry wit only grew now, morphing into giggles and palm covered snorting from the more restrained students.

“S’right.” George agreed with a snicker of his own, “Tuesday we thought we’d have a bit of Quidditch practice. Went okay for me, but…planets must’ve really been out for you. You got her again! A Virgo!”

By now the Gryffindor girls had completely retreated to a far corner of the astronomy tower, but Fred hardly noticed. The rest of the class (or at least those that weren’t thick enough to take Divination seriously) where all cracking up as the twins took Ines’ joke and ran with it; sounding not unlike a pair of very spirited crows as they started to narrate the rest of their week--ending every day with loud lamenting over Ines' sign every time.

“And on Wednesday–! OH, don’t get me started on Wednesday…”

“Transfiguration! When Mercury is right above us—WITH A VIRGO!”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Ines watched as Fred shifted, moving his legs outward and sitting up a little straighter against the parapet wall behind him. “Well, why didn’t you say so?! Here I was thinking we could fail and get dropped out of this class, but…if you’re a Virgo…”

“Fat lot of good you are to us!” She looked over at George, unable to keep away a grin at his comment of, “We’ll be stuck here for weeks thanks to your details and organizing!”

Ines could feel the urge to start laughing bubble up in her stomach and she bit down on her lower lip. Maybe using her sarcasm around them was a bad idea. They seemed to just feed off of it, which was something she had noticed before but completely forgotten about until just then.

“Right, right…” She looked back to Fred and quickly grabbed her quill, hoping he might have something of actual sustenance to put down for the assignment. “Monday, we had Potions. So that was clearly a sign from above of a shite week incoming. Got assigned a lab partner. Pretty sharp. Not bad looking, but…”

Ines looked at him, waiting for him to continue. She had written down what he said, with a few basic modifications to make sure none of the them got in trouble for the language. She had to pass this assignment and that thought lingered in the back of her mind. Though she was more focused on what Fred was about to say.

“She’s a VIRRRGOOOO!”

She should have seen it coming, but she didn't. Why didn't she?

Ines felt absolutely moronic when the first hint of a giggle passed her lips and she covered her mouth, unable to stop herself. She wasn't going to lose this. Absolutely not. She would not give her sister or the twins the pleasure of victory against her. But she knew she wasn't the only one; the rest of the class was attempting to try and hide their own amusement (terribly).

“S’right.” George was the one who spoke next and Ines' stomach and throat tightened almost painfully as she held her breath against the laughter threatening to escape her. “Tuesday we thought we’d have a bit of Quidditch practice. Went okay for me, but… planets must’ve really been out for you. You got her again! A Virgo!”

The class was slipping willingly, and Ines was absolutely not willing in the situation, but she realized that she wasn't able to make the decision for herself; the joking statement of her zodiac sign that she made earlier was coming back to bite her right in the arse.

“And on Wednesday–! OH, don’t get me started on Wednesday…”

“Transfiguration! With Mercury is right above us—WITH A VIRGO!”

She couldn't stop herself; a loud peal of laughter escaped her lips. Ines could feel her stomach twist unpleasantly at the silent acknowledgement that she had just completely lost, but it wasn't like that was her focus at the moment. She was giggling hard (and also hiccuping occasionally), curling her legs up into her chest as she sat there, trying to hide her face in her legs - both absolutely ashamed and unabashedly amused.

And others had noticed. Ophelia was losing it now, the sound of her friend's laughter contagious - it always had been. The other students were also laughing and cackling, a few teary-eyed at the dumb jokes the twins had made and a few others only laughing because of Ines' laughter. It was a light-hearted scene, and it seemed that everyone had completely forgotten about the assignment for the moment.