Chapter 9

A Chapter by E. Kang

Fred and George walked into the Great Hall for lunch. George told a joke to Fred, and the twins laughed together. They were headed to the Gryffindor table when Fred tripped on someone's robes. He was sent sprawling to the floor as George roared with laughter. Getting up, Fred glared at his twin, but he soon started to laugh along. Looking around for the person whose robes had caused him to take a spill, Fred's eyes settled on a face that was radiating guilt.

"I'm so sorry!" gushed a tall, rather pretty girl. "So, so, so, so, SO sorry! You're not hurt, are you?" Fred ignored the sniggering Slytherins and flashed a smile.

"Perfectly fine, m'dear! No, wait, I'm only joking. I'm going to have to visit good ol' Madam Pomfrey after choking down some food. I'm ruined!" Fred said, dramatically. The girl let out a laugh and Fred smiled. He really liked her smile. With a wave, he left the girl and went to go eat. As he sat down, he realized that he hadn't asked her for her name. Shrugging, he dived into the food.

George looked around as he ate. Everyone seemed excited about the Tournament. He heard several conversations about Harry and Cedric. Looking up, he saw Sage, who was sitting a little to his left, across the table. Her friend, Stacy was sitting next to her. Clearing his throat, George caught the girls' attention.

"Sage, isn't your friend in Ravenclaw or something?" George asked in a teasing tone. Sage rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, so?"

"So," George said, "I don't think she should be sitting here at our sacred Gryffindor table." He grinned, and turned to Fred, saying, "Right, Fred?"

"Right you are, George!" Fred exclaimed.

"There aren't any rules against other houses sitting with each other," Hermione cut in, from a little further down the table.

"Eavesdropper," Fred shot back. Hermione shrugged and turned back to Harry and Ron. George smiled.

"Only meant to tease, of course," he said. Sage rolled her eyes again, and muttered something that sounded like, "annoying" under her breath. Stacy laughed.

"Come again, Sage? Didn't quite hear you there," George said, cupping a hand around his ear. Sage laughed and took a bread roll and threw it at him. George dodged it, and it ended up hitting Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl, on the back of the head. Sage let out a quiet gasp and exchanged fearful looks with Stacy. Pansy whirled around and glared.

"Who threw that?" she demanded. Sage pointed at George, her eyes wide as if she couldn't believe George would do such a thing. She meant to blame him as a joke, but she didn't expect what was about to happen. Sparks flew from Pansy's eyes.

"Think it's funny to throw food at people, do you?" she hissed, getting up from her seat. George smiled.

"I find it very funny, actually," he said breezily. Pansy was about to spit out a reply when she noticed Stacy staring at Draco, who had turned around to watch the action. Frowning, she looked back and forth between them. A sneer appeared on her ugly face.

"Well, well," she said. "Are you staring at Draco?" Stacy looked up at Pansy, realizing she had been caught. Even though a slight blush crept into her cheeks, she shook her head.

"Nope," was her short reply. Pansy laughed.

"I saw you looking, girl," Pansy said. Draco remained quiet, his usual sneer still on his face, but not looking at anyone.

"Then you better check your eyesight, girl," Stacy said, anger starting to boil. Pansy snickered.

"Do you like Draco? I know what I saw. Had a cute little look on your face, you did," Pansy said. Stacy rolled her eyes, pretending not to care. However, she froze as Pansy's next sentence hit her. "By the way, how are your parents? Seeing as they are what they are, how come you turned out this way?" She didn't know how Pansy knew about her parents. Stacy felt numb. How did Pansy know? How? Were her parents Death Eaters too? Stacy couldn't make sense of anything. Her biggest fear was the secret about her parents getting out. Apparently, it had.

Sage was trembling with fury. Whipping out her wand, she stood and pointed it at Pansy and roared, "ENOUGH!" Pansy took out her wand and pointed it at Sage as well. Sage was furious. How dare Pansy mention Stacy's parents like that? It was practically like revealing what they were. Sage hated seeing her best friend hurt. Stacy had had enough hardships in her life; she did not need this miserable excuse of a girl making it worse. By now, the entire Great Hall was deathly silent and watching. Teachers were hurrying towards the girls, but no matter what trouble she got in, she wouldn't let Pansy get away with saying that to Stacy.

"Stupef--" Sage was just about to stun Pansy when George got in the way.

"George, move," Sage said through gritted teeth. When he didn't move or speak, she tried to get a view of Pansy in order to get a shot at her, but saw that Draco had stepped in front of Pansy and had forced her to lower her wand. Glaring hatefully at George, Sage could only stand there until the teachers reached them.

"What is going on here?" demanded Professor McGonagall. Neither Sage nor Pansy spoke, locked in a venomous stare. Stacy timidly spoke up.

"Sorry, Professor," she said, unable to think of an explanation. Professor McGonagall shook her head.

"Mr. Weasley, would you please escort Miss Olliver and Miss Moore out of the Great Hall? And Mr. Malfoy, please take Miss Parkinson." As George started to move, Sage glared at him.

"Don't you even think about escorting us out. We know the way," she hissed at George. Taking Stacy and putting an arm around her, the two girls strode out of the Great Hall, followed by Draco, Pansy, and Professor McGonagall. Fred patted George on the back sympathetically as he sat down.

"You did the right thing, Georgie. Don't take it too hard if she hates you," Fred said. George shook his head. He hated the way Sage had glared at him, hatred in her eyes. He slumped forward and put his head in his hands, having lost his appetite.

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