Chapter 8

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She dreamed of the sneaky bastard that night. His dominatingly tall body stood over her, his charming smirk leaned into her, claiming that he won their little prank war. She figured out it was a piece of her imagination then because it was impossible that the Weasley twins had bested her. But he kept gloating. She focused on him, too intently than she would dare in real life. One part of her mind. His eyes had the same know-it glint.

She shot up in her bed. Thrown back to reality with new enlightenment of who she needed. More like what she needed from him. If she couldn't buy it off him, she would steal it. She only had herself to blame, sleeping draughts always made her have the most absurd dreams.

The only thing good that came from her idea was a single acknowledgment. Her answers could not be found in the manner she wanted. Pansy's little birds couldn't find anything. Theo was just being Theo, which admittedly seemed to only piss Lexus off more.

She was past talking, waiting, magic, and gossiping. If she was going to accuse such a thing against her oldest friend and first and only boyfriend, she needed to see it with her own eyes. And of course, those with the very means to prove that happened to quite often cause more pain than good.

How could she possibly ask a favor of a Weasley?

After two days of constant pondering of excuses, to catch his attention, the painfully obvious plan came to her, only miraculously he needed a favor as well.

Fred Weasley entered the hall as he does all others, loud, stumbling, and causing every possible disruption. A ghost dodged his loose limbs and Lexus bit back an insult, knowing that a bad attitude might not get her the very important magical object she needed.

Fred's eyes found her leaning up against the cold stone. Her organic frog note had hopped its way to Gryffindor tower to ask for the meeting, or better the exchange.

He held out a cardboard box overflowing with Red and Yellow. The sight made Lexus's skin crawl. A bet was a bet since both teams were forced into forfeit, which meant that both teams had to pay.

"I thought you would bail on our bet." His eyes scanned her.

"I'm a lot of things-"

"A kiss ass, cold-hearted, doesn't know when to give up-"

"But I'm true to my word." She cut him off before she lost her last bits of pleasantries.

He dropped the box. Instead of flinching and dodging the box, she used the slip of her wand to make a levitation charm. Her face remained still, not giving any inclination that her focus was stolen.

"I figured you'd need supplies for your proper attire, that way you'd have no excuses."

"How sweet of you." Her voice was horse from trying to make it seem like it wasn't sarcastic. She needed him to cooperate in order to get answers. Her disgust for the box couldn't outlast her gloating. She unbuttoned her cloak, wrapping it around his shoulders and even putting the hood up. His flaming hair stood out behind the green of the inside of the hood.

"How adorable." She gushed, "No lengthening spells and no other clothes. Because I'm a saint, I'll allow your shoes."

"What did I do to deserve such mercy?" He wrinkled his nose, "Winter is in three weeks. I might freeze to death."

"Then I'll return your jersey to your mother then."

It became clear that Lexus's end of the deal was far less embarrassing. She could blend in with Gryfinddors, but a six-foot Weasley with the majority of his legs bare would stick out like a sore thumb. The robe barely covered his knees.

"I was wondering if you could get something for me?" Fred said suddenly, catching Lexus off guard more than she would like to admit.

She stopped, readjusting her plan, "That's my specialty."

"Veritaserum."

She turned her head, looking for the looming ears of teachers. Sometimes they used amplifying spells to listen in on students' conversations. A precaution they called it. Snape was famous for it.

"That is controlled by the British Ministry of Magic," Lexus stated.

"So you can't get it?" He concluded, his shoulder dropping.

"That's not what I said." Lexus corrected, she reached down into her bag. Fred couldn't help but smile while her back was turned to him. The vial held a clear potion, a muggle might have thought it was just water.

Veritaserum was the most complicated potion to get her hands on. Most of the time, if someone asked for it she denied even having it to steer clear of the Ministries radar.

"How much do you want for it?" Fred crossed his arms, knowing her efforts were not cheap.

Even Draco would have trouble affording her price for the truth serum, it would take his entire weekly allowance. Knowing the financial situation of the Weasley's she used it to her advantage."How bout a trade instead?"

He snickered, "What could Princess Pureblood want that I can provide?"

She rolled her eyes, "I spent four years looking for one thing. I searched every room in this castle, even asked the ghost about it. Imagine my surprise when I find out the two biggest idiots at this school have it?"

"Can you get to the point?" He pulled the hood off his head.

"A map. Red writing. Owners were Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Her voice was hopeful.

"Not a chance." He spun on his heel to leave.

Lexus ran to walk with him. Usually, she wouldn't be caught dead speaking to Weasley this far out in the open but it would have to be done, even if they got closer to the common areas with each step. "I'm actually related to the creators. You just stole it. If Lupin finds out you have it, he'll march into the Gryffindor dormitories and take it back himself."

"Why would Lupin care?" He narrowed his eyes.

Lexus stepped back to look at him, "You're telling me you found and used the marauder's map without a care of who the marauders are?"

He chuckled, shoving his hands in his pocket with a shrug. "Like you said, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."

She laughed at his idiocy. "Those were nicknames, you bloke. Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter."

"Harry's father?"

"No, James Potter the groundskeeper." She deadpanned, making him scoff, "Sirius Black was his godfather and Remus Lupin our Dark Arts teacher. My grandmother's maiden name is Black. Would you like a diagram of the Black family to confirm our relation as well?

His look down on her toyed with the idea of letting her go on a tangent to explain her whole family line. "For a lady that runs her own business, your customer service is terrible."

"Do you want the Veritaserum or not?"

"Listen, Flint-"

"-Please." She burst, holding out the vial for him. Fred found her eyes, hearing the hollowness of her voice. "For one night and then you can have it back."

"Why?"

"That's none of your business." She straightened her back. "I won't ask about the Veritaserum if you don't ask about the map."

"I'm using it for an extreme game of truth or dare after the Ravenclaw Hufflepuff game." His voice got deeper when he lied. "Your turn."

She pressed her lips into a firm line. She decided to put the vial back in her bag and sling it over her shoulder as she walked in the other direction.

He jogged around her, putting his arm out on the edge of a statue that was placed at the end of the hallway to stop her from going any further. At this distance, it was easy to tell just how tall he was. She was completely aware that he shields her entire body from any onlookers. If someone was curious enough to walk around to see her, it would surely look like he was flirting with her.

"Fine." He gave in, opening his bag up to a mess of books, papers, and food wrappers.

"You do know cleaning spells exist right?"

"Everything has its place." He pulled out his transfiguration book, flipping it open to a page somewhere in the middle. The map was folded inside.


"While I spent two years looking for this map, you were using it as a bookmark four desks away?"

He handed it to her with an annoying smile. She snatched it, "Pleasure doing business with you."

--

By the time lunch rolled around, Lexus was practically charging for that damn Weasley again. She pulled his head back by pinching both his ears. His conversation with Hermione Granger was over. Instead of wincing or pulling away, he continued the game. Looking at Lexus upside down with his head tilted back, grin growing by the centimeter.

"Twice in one day, what makes me so deserving?" He cheerfully said in front of all his friends.

"There's a password." Her face was red from anger or running from the privacy of her dorm.

"There is." He raised his eyebrows with amusement. "Our deal was for the map, nothing else."

She pursed her lips together, "So be it, I have Defense Against the Dark Arts next, I'll just ask Professor Lupin when I get there."

She made a show of turning, going to make an exit. Lexus had never snitched in her life, but the threat was enough in this case.

Fred used his long arms to reach out, his finger found the loop on her plaid uniform skirt. Pulling her back towards him. He laughed it off but Lexus found herself for the first time in a long time caught off guard by the redhead. Between the pranks and secrets, he had learned what to expect from him. She knew he would try to get her to come back by calling her or maybe even grab her forearm. Belt loop pulls were new, alongside the sudden disappearance of air in her lungs.

"Are you always so dramatic?" He rolled his eyes and let go, ignoring the stare from his housemates.

Truthfully she could be a hundred times more dramatic. She could become a female Draco if she pleased. The money, daddy issues, and a box blonde dye would make them twins. She would settle for logic at the moment, not that she had any other choice because the gears of her brain seemed to still process the shock.

"You could have saved us time by just telling me in the first place."

"You were in a rush to get away." He pointed out.

"Because I find you incredibly infuriating." She slowly came back to herself. Reminding her voice to sound stronger the next time she spoke.

"I have that strong an effect on you, huh?"

In the past or present?

Even his damn freckles were starting to annoy her. They were just scattered across his nose. They didn't speak or smirk and yet she wanted to pry them off his face. "Do you wake up every morning and make a twelve-step plan on how to piss me off or are you just a natural?"

"It's the first thing I think about in the morning and the last at night." He smirked, holding his hand over his heart and pretending to swoon.

"I must pop up in your dreams as well then." She felt a strange victory inside a loss because she was dreaming about him. Not the other way around.

"Only the nightmares."

"Even your psyche can't escape me, how wonderful."

"You're far from wonderful."

The warning bell rang between classes. Lexus groaned, "Just tell me the bloody password you annoying twit."

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

"How fitting." She stood up straight and fixed her skirt.

"Why are you giving her the map password?" Harry Potter asked from the other side of the table.

"What map?" Ron had a mouthful of food.

"You can pick it up in the astronomy tower at midnight," Lexus concluded, not wanting to owe anything to a Weasley.

She knew it was past curfew, but she would have her answers by then and the faster she was done with the map back, the faster she could be done with Weasley.

"See you there, Princess."

She hated the way the nickname caused her lips to smirk without her intention. She had to cover it with something teasing. "Pleasure to see you accepted your royalty."

She left before he could fire something back. She actually enjoyed Lupin's lessons once he stopped preaching Gryfinddor values and didn't like the idea of being late. 

--

I loved this chapter. it was so fun to write and even more fun to create. fred weasley owns my ass.

how am I doing so far? any questions, comments, things you wanna see?

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