Fred foolishly waited for Eleanor to break into laughter and claim that she was only teasing him, but between the silence and the stern expression, it was clear that she was not joking. At first, he didn't even understand what she was talking about, his thoughts were too wrapped up regarding the Triwizard Tournament, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the boy, Malcolm Baddock following a Slytherin prefect out of the Great Hall. Eleanor folded her arms expectantly as if he were to apologise right then and there, but Fred could only shake his head with a slight laugh.

"Come on, Ellie," he said, "George and I were just joking around, we didn't mean any harm by it. We hissed, but isn't a snake the animal of Slytherin?"

"Right, but I didn't see you growling for any Hufflepuff, roaring for any Gryffindors, or chirping for any of the Ravenclaws. You purposely hissed at the Slytherin students. It was pretty obvious."

"I hardly believe he heard us," Fred argued, "everyone else was clapping and cheering, I'm surprised you heard us!"

Eleanor shook her head at his response. "I didn't hear it; I saw you do it. Narrowing your eyes, you and George were practically glaring at him! And what if he had seen that or heard it for that matter? Just because he didn't, doesn't mean you weren't in the wrong."

Fred wasn't sure if he was feeling embarrassed since he was being called out in the middle of the corridor as fellow students walked by them, or if he was hurt because he had been so hopeful that Eleanor was going to ask him out that evening, only to have it turn into her scolding him, which wasn't exactly romantic. He was only growing more defensive because he knew deep down, she was right, but it wasn't like he was going to just admit such a thing. That would have been the smart thing to do.

"Since when do you feel the need to defend a Slytherin student?" he huffed irritably. "You don't even know him!"

"Exactly, you don't know him either!" Eleanor snapped at him. "That's the point I'm trying to make, you treat all the Slytherin students the same. I know some of them can be nasty, but that's in all houses. As soon as they are sorted into Slytherin you cast your judgement. You just see them all as Malfoy, but all I saw was an eleven-year-old boy being away from home for probably the first time in his life and having two sixteen-year-old boys hissing at him."

"Alright, so we're not buddy-buddy with people in Slytherin, I don't see you going out of your way to make friends with any of them either!"

"Maybe you should try pulling your head from your arse for one minute and realise that before I became friends with you, I was only friends with Marnie and Cedric. I haven't gone out of my way to really make friends with anyone else because I was content with the friends I made, but I still had the common decency to be kind to others!"

"I am kind to others! Maybe you should just develop a sense of humour!"

It grew quiet between the two of them, Eleanor's hardened expression softened and immediately, Fred regretted everything he had just said. He went to apologise but Eleanor beat him to the punch.

"I do have a sense of humour, thank you very much. But pranking muggles who can't defend themselves or hissing at younger students isn't funny. If you want to write it off as me not having a sense of humour, so you can sleep better at night, so be it," she replied calmly, "I have nothing more to say to you besides good night."

There wasn't a chance for him to argue or to apologise as Eleanor turned on her heel and walked away from him, darting down the stairs that led to the basement. He could have run after her, but with prefects and professors trying to move everyone along to their respective dorms, it was best for him to head to the Gryffindor Tower, with his tail tucked in between his legs.

When he entered the Gryffindor Common Room, following behind a few other students, the Common Room was still buzzing with people discussing the Triwizard Tournament, but that had suddenly become the last thing on Fred's mind as he made his way up to the dorms. To make matters worse, when he walked in, George and Lee were still awake, clearly waiting to hear how Eleanor had asked him out.

"Well," George grinned, "is it official? Are you two dating now?"

Making his way over to his bed, Fred sat down on the edge of it. "Eleanor didn't ask me out, she called me out."

"YA- WHAT?!" George's celebration was cut short as Fred's words finally registered in his mind. He lowered his arms back down to his sides, his face contorted in confusion. He looked at Lee, but Lee looked just as puzzled as him at the moment.

"Yeah, apparently, she was offended because we hissed at the Slytherin students that were sorted, got all worked up about it, "Fred explained, "I don't know what suddenly set her off like that. She's helped us with plenty of pranks before and it's a Slytherin student, everyone knows they're miserable gits. She was talking about us pranking muggles that couldn't defend themselves. I told her it was an accident, so did you, George. We didn't intentionally prank her mother, but what else was she talking about?"

It was quiet for a moment before George let out a little "oh" that brought Fred and Lee's attention over to him.

"Didn't Harry go over to Ellie's house for dinner that one night?" George reminded him. "Maybe he told her about us giving Harry's cousin the Ton-Tongue Toffee?"

Suddenly, it all made sense, leaving Fred to groan before placing his hands over his face and falling back onto his bed. He couldn't believe the situation had taken such a bad turn when everything seemed to be going so well.

"Why does she even care that we gave Harry's cousin the Toffees?" Fred grumbled, placing his hands down. "Everyone knows that Harry's family treats him like rubbish. Is it really the worst thing that we pranked him of all people?"

"Well, I don't think she's looking at it from the perspective, Freddie," George said, "you know her mother is a muggle, and it was only just recently that they started getting along with each other. She's probably going to be a bit more defensive and thinking back to the Quidditch Cup, you saw how upset she was when she saw those muggles being mistreated, we all were, but it might have hit closer to home for Ellie. She's not wrong, muggles can't defend themselves against magic."

"Alright, fine, I understand that part, but why is she so set on defending a student from Slytherin?"

Lee shrugged his shoulders. "She's in Hufflepuff, aren't they supposed to value kindness?"

That wasn't the answer that Fred was looking for, but there really nothing else to discuss as he prepared for bed. He hoped by the morning that Eleanor wouldn't be upset with him and everything would just blow over. But as he finally climbed into his bed a little later, Fred couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. He couldn't stop trying to make sense as to why Eleanor felt the need to defend Malcolm Baddock so much.

But then he remembered the little girl in the wand shop, the one he had ended up poking in the eye with his wand, however, it was the same one that had brought into Ollivanders' by Professor McGonagall, rather than being escorted by her own parents. The same girl that looked absolutely terrified during their first year when she had to walk up to the Sorting Hat during the Sorting Ceremony.

Fred remembered wondering why anyone would look frightened of the hat, but then again, if one didn't grow up with magic, they had no idea what to expect. And being eleven and being away from home for the first time probably wasn't easy. For the most part, the Weasleys usually had a sibling that was already attending the school and Fred had lucked up with his older brothers already attending Hogwarts and starting at the same time as George.

Eleanor didn't share that luxury and as he rudely made her remember, she didn't have any friends until she friended Marnie and Cedric. Maybe Malcolm did come from a magical household, maybe he didn't, and Fred finally realised the point Eleanor was trying to make.

As he fell asleep, he fell into a dream where Eleanor had been sorted into Slytherin back in their first year and there he was, hissing at her.

Despite the spat she had with Fred the night before, Eleanor slept relatively well, however, when she woke up in the girls' dorm, she didn't find herself with the usual excitement that surrounded the first day of classes. Perhaps it also had to do with the fact that after seeing Professor Alastor Moody during the Welcoming Ceremony, she missed her father greatly. She didn't want to cast premature judgement on the professor, solely based on his appearance, but of course, Cedric had learned that the man was a retired Auror, known very well for his rather gruff demeanour.

After suffering through professors like Quirrell and Lockhart, Remus had been such a breath of fresh air. He was kind and friendly, he actually knew what he was talking about, and he was able to conduct his class in a way that was enjoyable for pretty much everyone. But Eleanor tried to tell herself that it was a good thing that their newest professor had plenty of experience fighting the Dark Arts, so maybe there was a lot to learn as well.

Trying to go into the situation with a clear mind, Eleanor pushed herself out of bed and made her way to get ready for the day. She opened her trunk to grab her clothes, only to have her eyes settle on the box that she had decided to open the night before when she got back to the dorms. After the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament, Eleanor had a feeling the box was related to the event and upon opening it, she found herself even more curious.

Inside the box was a set of red dress robes. What did she need dress robes for?

Still unsure of what the formal wear was needed for, she made her way to the bathroom where she showered, took her time brushing out her hair before leaving it to air dry, and brushed her teeth before getting dressed. Slipping on her robes, she passed Marnie's bed and shook her friend's leg until Marnie started groaning and complaining, a good indicator that she was awake, even if she didn't want to be.

Eleanor grabbed her bag, including her knitting supplies and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.

As she entered, it was almost a reflex to look in the direction of the Gryffindor table and it was just her luck that Fred was already there. He spotted her just as she spotted him, but Eleanor quickly looked away first and made her way to sit at the Hufflepuff table. She pulled out her knitting and started working with every intention of ignoring him.

However, that certainly didn't last very long as she felt someone sit beside her on the bench a moment later. She hoped that it was Cedric or Marnie coming to join her, but one quick glance up, revealed that it was Fred. She said nothing to him, focusing back on her knitting quietly.

"Alright, Ellie, I know you're angry at me," Fred said, "and you have every right to be, but if you could just hear me out..."

Eleanor didn't look at him or speak, but she paused in her knitting to indicate that she was listening.

"So, I thought about what you said last night, and I realised that I was wrong. George and I shouldn't have hissed at Malcolm, even if he couldn't hear it. That's why I apologised to him first thing this morning. Of course, he didn't really understand why I was apologising to him, which made things a little awkward when I had to explain it."

She finally looked at him again, looking slightly suspicious as to whether he was telling the truth or just telling her what she wanted to hear.

"You apologised to him?"

"Yes, you can ask him for yourself if you don't believe me," he said, pointing behind them. Looking over her shoulder, Eleanor spotted Malcolm easily, probably because he had the biggest stack of pancakes on his plate, eating happily by himself. When he realised that the two were looking in his direction, he smiled, his cheeks full of food, before he waved at them. Eleanor and Fred waved back at him before Eleanor turned back around.

"Well, that was nice of you, I'm sure he appreciated, now if you would excuse me, I'd like to finish this row- "

"Ellie," Fred whined, "you didn't let me finish! I was going to say that you were right about what you said. Maybe I didn't like hearing what you had to say but you were right. We shouldn't be testing products on muggles like Harry's cousin, but I swear, the incident with your mother was a mistake. And while we've had our differences with some Slytherins, we shouldn't treat them all like they're Malfoy."

"And?"

"And I'm sorry for saying you didn't have a good sense of humour, that was a complete lie. You have one of the best senses of humour in this castle."

"And?"

"And I was a total arse for saying that in the first place."

"And?"

"And...I think you're incredibly kind and you're allowed to be with how many or how little friends you want to be around, regardless of their House."

"And?"

"ELLIE!"

Fred was incredibly relieved to hear Eleanor start laughing as he almost fell into a panic, wondering what else there was for him to apologise for. He thought he had pretty much covered all the bases until she kept egging him on.

"You could have stopped after saying I had one of the best senses of humour in the castle," she told him with an amused grin, "but I was curious to see how far you would go."

Normally, he would have retaliated, but he was thankful that it seemed like they were on good terms again. No matter how brief it had been that they weren't talking to each other, it felt like an eternity and he wasn't sure if he could handle Eleanor giving him the cold shoulder.

"So, is this your way of saying I'm forgiven?"

Eleanor let out a heavy sigh with a slight shake of her head. "I don't know, Fred-"

Suddenly, she received a kiss on the cheek, nearly causing her to drop all of her knitting onto the floor. She turned her head in surprise, staring blankly at him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to kiss the hell out of your face until you say you forgive me!"

He wasn't lying either as he unleashed a series of kisses on her cheeks, her chin, her forehead, and her nose, all of them bringing Eleanor to laugh or squeal as she tried to push him away. And though clearly the two of them were enjoying it, she eventually gave in.

"Alright, alright! I forgive you! I forgive you!"

"Finally! And now that I have your forgiveness, what were you really going to talk to me about last night?"

Red face and highly flustered from Fred's kiss attack, Eleanor didn't even have time to recover when Fred asked. She immediately swallowed, attempting to hide her nerves as she was put on the spot. Numerous students were coming into the Great Hall and her confidence was dwindling by the second.

"Um, well, I was going to ask you something..."

"And that would be?"

"Did you want me to put Fred and George Weasley on the order forms or George and Fred Weasley?"