[176] A Vow in Ashes

At the library entrance, Luna smiled. "Not a lucky day. I'll tell you another time."

Hall agreed.

He turned around to face three scrutinising faces — Draco, Ron, and Harry.

"I'm just here to make up the numbers." Harry raised his hands.

Ron ignored him. "You believe her? That sounds obviously fake!"

Draco's question was more pointed. "You like her?"

Ron didn't interrupt — he wanted to ask the same thing.

Hall rolled his eyes. "We're twelve. Twelve."

"So?" Draco crossed his arms. "My family's already picking suitable fiancées for me. Pansy and Daphne both want the position."

"I'm not accepting anything related to love before I'm eighteen." Hall made a big X with his arms.

Even Harry and Ron looked surprised. "Hall, isn't eighteen a bit — "

"It's common to start in fourth year!"

Hall was adamant. "Bottom line. Understand?"

Ron, satisfied Hall wasn't interested in Luna, grinned and clung to him. "You can date whenever you want! But you're too young right now!"

Hermione stood up, walked over to Ron, and slapped him on the head — just like Hall had.

"Hermione!"

"That's to teach you a lesson."

Ron looked bewildered. Teach him a lesson? For picking up a book carelessly? Or for trying to burn one?

"Achoo — " Ron sneezed with tremendous force, a snot bubble inflating from his nose.

Draco, disgusted, dragged Hall backward. Hall cooperated without resistance.

Ron stared at him like he'd seen a traitor.

"Ronnie, I love you. I don't love your snot bubbles."

"Hall!" Ron's face flushed to match his hair.

He mumbled something about being the older brother and despicable Malfoy, then tried to wipe his face with his sleeve. He stopped at the horrified looks.

Fine. Handkerchief.

"Someone's talking bad about me behind my back. That evil Malfoy."

"I suggest you don't flatter yourself." Draco's look was pure disdain. "No Gryffindor is worth my personal insult."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. Since when had Malfoy's insults become so sophisticated? They looked at Hall.

Hall pretended not to see.

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Fred and George appeared, draping their arms over Ron's shoulders. "Who bullied our little Ronnie? Oh — it's Hall. Well, nothing we can do about that."

"Fred! George! You're back from Hogsmeade!"

"Of course we didn't forget — "

"Ta-da!"

"Sizzling honeybees for our youngest brother and sister!"

"Exploding candies!"

"Teeth-shaking ice mice and crunchy ice mice!"

Ron nodded along. Those were for Hall and Ginny. But what about him? His face fell.

"Fred, George — you bastards!"

"How could we forget our adorable Ronnie? The best for last." They presented their gift.

Hall and Harry shared a look. Foreboding.

Ron took a cookie and a candy without hesitation.

Pop.

He transformed into a giant canary. Feathers fluttered down. Red liquid oozed from somewhere on his body.

"Chirp — "

Ron-the-canary flapped frantically, darting in circles.

The students returning from Hogsmeade stopped to stare. Some looked disgusted. Most looked thrilled.

Half an hour later, Ron returned to normal, fuming with his back to the twins.

"Our Ronnie's angry."

"Fred, it's your fault."

"Damn it — I'm Fred! George, it's your fault!"

Ron's eyes went dead. He'd forgive them in a month. Half a month. A week. Three days. Fine — three days, absolutely no less.

Draco wore a satisfied expression. "I'm going back. Don't spend too much time with these Gryffindors."

"Don't worry. I haven't kept Helena from you."

Draco nodded and left. The Gryffindor concentration today had exceeded acceptable levels.

The moment Draco was gone, Fred and George descended on Hall.

Hall shrugged them off. "Lift your arms, you two bears."

"Hall, you're too skinny! You haven't gained any weight since first year."

Would Fred and George be intimidated? Of course not. They started pinching and squeezing, determined to find some flesh on him.

The twins pinched and squeezed. What started as a joke became genuine fun. So soft. So bouncy. They wanted more.

"Have you pinched enough?" Hall's voice came through gritted teeth. "One Galleon per pinch. Ready to pay?"

Fred and George froze. Their hands withdrew at record speed.

"Little Hall, what are you talking about? Pinch? We were concerned about your growth!"

"That's right — Ginny will be taller than you at this rate."

Hall knew they were changing the subject. But the idea of Ginny outgrowing him stung.

"I understand."

The twins grinned. "Want us to teach you to grow taller? Not expensive — 100 Galleons! Don't miss out!"

Hall remembered where those sales tactics came from. Life was a boomerang.

"Shut up, both of you. Or you won't see another Galleon from me."

They retreated instantly. Hall chuckled. That was the confidence money bought.

"Don't tease Ron too much. He had a rough day."

The twins' ears perked up. If Hall wouldn't talk, they'd get the story out of Ron. Much easier.

Hall didn't care. Even if they knew, what could they do?

He underestimated the twins.

By lunch the next day, they'd appeased Ron and extracted the full story. Hall was heading to the Forbidden Forest to dig up some glowing sunflowers when they appeared.

"Our dearest little brother — "

Hall held up a hand. "Get to the point."

"We heard you found Ravenclaw's secret chamber. And Lady Ravenclaw's daughter. We're heartbroken — you didn't share something this important!"

They even squeezed out fake tears.

"What do you want?"

"Hehehe." Malicious grins spread across their faces. "We thought — now that you've found Ravenclaw — we heard she has a particularly powerful crown."

Hall stared at them. "You want the Ravenclaw diadem? Do you think Lady Helena would hand over her mother's crown?"

"Why not?"

"Besides, why do you even want it?"

The twins' faces went conflicted. "We need a competitive product for your investment. So we thought — the Ravenclaw Crown. Legend says it makes you the wisest wizard in the world. We want to study the magic, create a weakened version. If we can pull it off — "

Their eyes lit up. Galleons flowing into their hands.

Hall considered it. "Interesting. But the diadem doesn't actually make you the wisest. It probably stimulates the mind — a temporary boost. That's not how brains work."

He didn't elaborate on brain science. They'd figure it out.

"The idea's good, but hard to implement." Hall offered his sincere advice. "The competition isn't strong enough. Unless you can create a memory bread."

Fred and George's eyes lit up. "Memory bread? What's that?"

Hall described it. Toast that looked and tasted normal, but pressed against a book, it copied the text. Eat it, and the text was memorised. Perfect for cramming. Forgot after the bathroom? No problem — you didn't care after the exam.

"A brilliant idea!"

"This is what we'll research next!"

They hugged, jumped, and ran off without looking back.

Hall shook his head and headed for the Forbidden Forest.