FOUR RAPUNZEL

     Bram was going to blame glaring homosexuality for the reason he was posted up outside Severus Snape's office just after curfew, keeping an eye out for any passerby. Not only were they students out of bed, but they were also actively breaking into a teacher's supply closet which was just bad news all around. This wasn't the worst thing Bram had ever done for Fred, but it was certainly on the riskier side considering Snape had it out for anything that resembled a Weasley. Really any student that wasn't a Slytherin was fair game for Snape, which Bram thought was kind of an asshole attitude, but whatever. He could hear the twins rustling around inside the office and his heart beat faster with each passing moment. The longer they were there, the more chances they had to get caught.

"I've got it!" he heard one of them exclaim before the twins were by his side once again. Fred had a handful of items in his hand and was putting the bottles inside of his school bag with a few disguising charms just in case they were caught on their way back to the common room -- that had been Bram's idea, of course.

"Anyone coming?" Fred asked as they looked around the hallway. In the distance, Filch's footsteps could hardly be heard, but they were definitely getting closer by the moment. In order to not draw attention, they took off at a brisk walk instead of a run, neglecting to light their wands as not to wake the portraits and get themselves caught.

"You guys got everything you need?" Bram asked in a whisper as they walked away, "It better be because I'm not coming back here to do this again for you."

"Got it," George answered with a cheeky grin, "This is gonna be awesome, I just know it."

Bram chuckled lightly, shaking his head, "All for you guys to even get a chance at entering this stupid competition. Is it really that worth it?"

"It's a thousand bloody galleons!" Fred exclaimed as he egged the boy on, trying to get them to move faster. His hand was around Bram's arm as they picked up their pace, pushing the boy along. Bram's heart fluttered at the touch.

"We're gonna open a joke shop if we win it," George explained further, "Like we've been planning all summer, but our mum threw away all our order forms! Bloody ridiculous if you ask me."

The blond laughed at this, shaking his head at the twins, "You two are ridiculous. I mean, this tournament could be dangerous, you know. You're gonna risk your lives for a thousand galleons?"

"That's more money than we'd probably see in our lifetime if ya think about it," Fred scoffed, "Weasleys' aren't exactly bloody rich."

Bram took this into consideration for a moment, considering money had never been a huge problem for them. They weren't rich enough to the point where they had house-elves and giant unnecessary manors, but they lived comfortably. He couldn't imagine his parents having their current salary and seven kids to care for, though, so he supposed Fred's comments were fair enough.

As they returned to their spot where they normally broke off after their hijinks, George asked, "All right, what do we owe ya for this one?"

Bram shook his head, "There's nothing I want checked out right now, don't worry about it."

"Well, if you're gonna risk your teacher's pet reputation for us, the least I can do is make sure you don't get caught on the way back to your common room," Fred teased, nudging his brother, "Head back to the common room, I'll go with Bram."

"You really don't need to," then blonde argued, but he let the boy walk with him nonetheless. He would never turn down Fred Weasley, he knew that. "Your hair's gotten so bloody long."

"Don't be rude," Fred scoffed, slinging his arm around Bram's shoulders as they walked, "I think I'm gonna grow it out even longer so you better learn to braid."

Bram laughed outwardly at this, not even bothering to stifle it for the sake of the portraits, "What makes you think I would ever braid your hair for you? Anyway, I never said the long hair was a bad thing, sheesh. It was an observation."

"Okay, well observe this," the boy shot back as he lightly smacked Bram upside the head. Bram gasped and shoved him aside gently with a laugh.

Fred looked like he was about to shove Bram back, one hand gripping his robed shoulder ready to push when he paused. The sound of footsteps could be heard in the distance and as if she was warning them, Mrs. Norris was sitting in the middle of the hallway just behind them.

"Ah, bugger," Fred whispered as he pulled Bram behind one of the statues, pressing a finger to his lips. Bram rolled his eyes at the motion considering he already knew he would have to be quiet.

He couldn't help but take in their situation as they awaited Filch's passing. They were behind the statue, facing each other with Fred's back against the wall and Bram's against the statue. It seemed Mrs. Norris had crawled away to finish her rounds which meant she wasn't going to rat them out -- Bram made a mental note to steal something from breakfast to give to her as a treat. Mrs. Norris loved him because of his constant bribery which heavily contributed to the fact that the twins were rarely caught by Filch anymore. Their heavy breathing subsided as they waited; Bram took a mental note of the way Fred's hand was still clutched around Bram's arm the way it had been when he yanked him behind the statue. He was trying not to think too hard about it, but he was a Ravenclaw, and overthinking was pretty much his only personality trait. Still, he was trying to control his heartbeat because he had a feeling if got any faster it would burst out of his chest. He wondered if Fred would catch it.

Soon enough, the lamplight rounded the corner, held by none other than Filch. He grumbled his way down the hallway but thankfully didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Bram breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't immediately caught, but they still waited until he was very clearly out of their range for them to move from their position.

Fred chuckled lightly as he brushed himself off, "What would you do without me?"

"Sleep instead of being almost caught out of bed," the boy teased, a grin ghosting the features on his face as Fred shoved him lightly, finally getting his revenge for earlier.

"Wait, wait, stop," Fred paused for a moment as Bram regained his footing. Fred reached his hand up and placed a piece of Bram's hair back where it was meant to be, "There you go, you were looking all out of sorts."

"Says Rapunzel," the blond snorted as they continued walking.

"Oi! It's not that long!"