Gaia was not a morning person – far from it, actually. The only exception to that was when it was the first day of classes when the nerves and excitement would overcome her desire to just roll over and go back to sleep.

"Gaia, wake up."

But currently, that wasn't the case.

Gaia groggily peeked an eye open to see Jewel already fully dressed and ready for the day.

"Jewel, it's the weekend. There's no reason for me to wake up this early," Gaia groaned as she buried her face into her pillow.

"It's almost 10. You missed breakfast," Jewel said.

"It's too early for a weekend" Gaia mumbled.

"The Weasley Twins are downstairs at the knocker. They've been there for a good 30 minutes, I think," Jewel said.

Gaia opened her eyes to stare at Jewel before sitting up.

"Actually, I think it's been an hour," Desiree commented as she put on shoes.

"Why would they be at the knocker?" Gaia asked in confusion.

Desiree shrugged before making her way towards the door.

"How would I know? You're the one who's friends with them," Desiree said with a grin, "Why don't you fix yourself up? I'll go let them in. They looked quite pitiful outside," she said before stepping out of the dorm.

Jewel shook her head in amusement before standing up straight.

"Desiree's right. I'm going downstairs. I'm spending the day with Lana" she said before stepping out of the dorm.

Must be the Gryffindor I see her with occasionally, Gaia thought. She allowed herself to stare into nothing for a few minutes before shaking her head sharply.

"Right. Get ready," she mutter to herself and stood to fix herself up.

✧✧✧

"Took you long enough."

Stepping out of the common room, Gaia was greeted by the sight of Fred leaning against the wall, with George sat down on a step beside him.

"Yeah. We've been here for ages!" George complained, making Gaia roll her eyes as the Ravenclaw entrance shut behind her.

"Not really my fault. I didn't know you were here outside," Gaia retorted making Fred huff playfully.

"Save your excuses, Eruditus" he said as he pushed off the wall, slinging an arm across her shoulders.

No, Gaia's face did not flush slightly at the action. And she definitely wasn't trying her best to push it down, thank you.

"Come on. We-" George said as he stood up.

"-have something to show you."

Each twin took hold of Gaia's arms and started pulling her down the staircase, Gaia nearly tripping every now and then.

"So-" Fred started.

"-we forgot to tell you-" George continued.

"-something really-"

"-important last year," they alternated.

Gaia pulled her arms from their grip as they reached the bottom of the staircase, mumbling slightly about how tight their grip was. As she rubbed her arms, she looked at the two cautiously.

"What?" she asked slowly.

"You remember that detention we had last year?" Fred asked.

"The one where - take a left there Freddie - we set off dungbombs?" George elaborated.

Yes, she could remember that. In fact, she had worked her arse off to make sure that the twins still had decent grades because they begged her to help.

"And what about it?" Gaia asked as they all turned left just like George said.

"So, we got detention, right?" Fred continued.

"And we saw this drawer-"

"-in Filch's office" Fred grinned as he said Filch's name.

"It was labeled Confiscated and Highly Dangerous" George said.

"So naturally, you opened it?" Gaia asked with an amused smile.

Fred snorted, "Of course!"

"And we found this-" George said, starting to make a rectangle shape in the air with his hands.

"-blank piece of parchment"

"Honestly, it looked-"

"-like rubbish but-"

"-we took it anyway-"

"-because it was in that drawer-"

"-for a reason, right?" As George said the last part, Fred pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to Gaia.

Just like they had told her, it was a blank piece of parchment folded multiple times. She unfolded it and turned it over a few times to try and find something. Were they messing with her?

"So why give it to me? I get I'm a Ravenclaw and all but we already have enough parchment" Gaia said making the boys burst into laughter.

"Come on,-" Fred started.

"-follow us," George said before pushing open a door revealing staircases going down.

"I don't know about this, it looks pretty dark," Gaia said.

Another thing about Gaia is that she absolutely hated the dark, especially when she was alone. She wasn't very fond of the idea of not knowing who or even what was in the dark.

The twins paid no attention to what she had said and dragged her down the staircase, George lighting up the way with a Lumos charm.

"What does this have to do with the parchment?" Gaia asked.

Fred grinned at her and pulled out his wand, pointing it at the parchment, which Gaia still held in her hands.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" he chanted.

What on earth is this boy doing? Gaia thought. To her surprise, ink burst out from the area on the paper his wand was pointing towards. Suddenly, the parchment wasn't blank anymore. Gaia's mouth fell into an 'o' shape as her hair turned yellow.

She opened up the parchment to reveal a map with tiny little footsteps, moving around the map and each with little names below them.

"Wait, is this Hogwarts?" Gaia asked in shock, "And is that Dumbledore!?" Gaia nearly shouted as she spotter a pair of footsteps pacing in one room with the name 'Albus Dumbledore' below them.

"Yep!" Fred grinned.

"He seems to do that a lot," George commented.

"Pacing in his office." Fred nodded with his brother.

"You had to bring me down a creepy dark stairway to show me this?" Gaia asked dryly, though she was still excited about the map.

"It isn't that creepy" Fred defended but Gaia shot him a look telling him to shut up, which he did.

"No, look here," George said as he pointed to their footsteps.

"That's so weird. So, it shows where everyone is, then?" Gaia asked in a whisper, observing how their footsteps moved on the map as they moved themselves. Gaia stopped momentarily and laughed breathlessly when her footsteps on the map stopped as well.

"Yeah, but that's not the point," George said with a grin of his own.

"Look where we're headed," Fred explained as he pointed to a room a bit ahead of them on the map.

Gaia furrowed her eyebrows as she brought the map closer to read the text – 'Kitchens'.

"We're going to the kitchens!?" Gaia asked, the yellow of her hair turning darker as she grinned.

"Yeah, now come on!" Fred grinned as he ran off.

Gaia and George followed after him, stopping before a painting of a fruit basket. They looked at each other before simultaneously looking down at the map.

"It says here that the Kitchen is right in front of us," George said.

"Maybe the map's just wrong?" Fred asked.

"Or maybe it's behind the painting. Come on, you two! Your common room entrance is literally a painting," Gaia said.

"Yeah well you can't exactly shout a password-" Fred replied.

"-at a fruit basket and expect it to open-" George continued.

"-can you?" they said in chorus.

"Of course, because shouting it at a lady is much more believable. Thank you for enlightening me," Gaia said sarcastically.

"At least it's a person in the painting!" Fred defended.

Gaia rolled her eyes and turned to the painting. Perhaps there was a hidden button somewhere? Or maybe part of the painting would sink down if you tapped on it, just like the muggle entrance to Diagon Alley. She ran her fingers on the surface of the painting in thought. When her fingers ran towards the middle, a small giggle filled the room. All three froze up and glanced at each other.

"Did someone follow us?" Fred asked as he looked around.

"Mate, I think the pear giggled," George said in bewilderment.

Gaia looked back at the painting and saw that her fingers had passed the pear when the giggle sounded. She ran her finger on top of the pear again, and the same giggle filled the room.

"It's laughing," Fred breathed out.

Gaia ran her finger on top of it multiple times and it started giggling loudly, as if it were being tickled. A few seconds later, the painting swung open making the three stumble back. They looked on in shock as a group of house elves did the same thing from the other side of the painting.

"Woah." The three once again shared glances before grinning at each other.

✧✧✧

"Thanks so much Dinky," Gaia said, with a bright smile, to a female house-elf as they exited the kitchen.

"It was Dinky's pleasure to serve Mr. Weasleys and Ms. Eruditus!" the house-elf smiled up at them, moments before the painting closed.

"That's got to be the most I've eaten," Fred said, sighing in content as they climbed up the stairs.

"I think you forgetting who our mum is," George snickered making them laugh.

"You're right about that one." Fred grinned.

After about a minute of walking, they reached the top of the staircase and ended up in the Great Hall.

"We're definitely going back some other time, right?" Gaia asked with her own grin.

"We'd be mad not-" Fred started.

"- to go back" George finished.

"It'll be our little secret too" Fred winked.

Alright, perhaps Gaia WAS blushing. As to why, she had absolutely no clue why she was blushing. Perhaps what Jewel told me just got to my head, Gaia thought. There's no way she had a crush on either of them, right? Not that it would be a horrible thing to have a crush on one of them. Fred had always been someone she trusted deeply.

While Gaia was deep in thought, she failed to notice two things. One, her hair had an obvious amount of pink in it. Two, Cole had made his way towards them.

"What'll be your little secret?" Cole asked, snapping Gaia out of her thoughts.

"Well, mate-" Fred said teasingly.

"-if we told you-" George followed.

"-then it wouldn't-"

"-really be a-"

"-secret, now-"

"-would it?"

Cole laughed before shaking his head.

"You've got a point. Hey, Ria. Nice to see you." Cole sent her a sly smirk as he eyed her hair. Gaia glanced over and blushed more heavily when she spotted the pink strands mixed into her brown hair. Gaia scowled as Cole laughed while she willed the pink to disappear.

"Shut up," she muttered.

"Well, I've got to go catch up with Kaleb. See you two at the common room!" Cole waved as he ran towards Kaleb.

Gaia watched, giggling slightly as she witnessed Cole literally jumping on Kaleb's back, making both boys fall to the ground. When she turned to face the twins, the suspicious grins on their faces immediately made her tense up.

"What?" she asked hesitantly.

"Could it be-" Fred started slowly.

"-that our precious Gaia-" George said in the same manner as they both stepped closer to her.

"-has a crush on wittle Cole?" they said together as they put their arms on her shoulders.

Her eyes widened as she blushed in surprise.

"What!?" Gaia shrieked.

The two gingers clutched their stomachs as they laughed loudly. Gaia continued to sputter as George nearly rolled on the ground laughing. Fred was the first one to recover, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye before giving a subtle grin.

"It's alright. We won't tell him Ria," Fred teased, mocking the way Cole said Ria.

Gaia only rolled her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest.

"What even makes you say that?" she asked, annoyed.

George finally got up from the floor, still releasing little chuckles.

"Well, your hair turned pink when he stopped beside you," he explained.

"And you had a small blush on your cheeks," Fred also explained.

Why was I even thinking about that made me blush? Gaia thought. Ah, right – Fred. Gaia's hair started turning pinking once more at the thought. As George burst out laughing, Gaia was too busy trying to get her hair to turn back to brown to notice the scowl that slowly appeared on Fred's face.

"See! You're hair turned pink again!" George grinned, laughing harder when Gaia growled at him in annoyance.

"I don't have a crush on him!" Gaia argued.

"Your hair says otherwise! You can't even turn it back!" George managed out between laughs.

Well the way I can feel your brother staring at me silently is making it hard for me to turn it back, Gaia snapped in her mind.

Embarrassed, Gaia turned around with a huff and walked away with a scowl, once again failing to notice the scowl on one of her best friends' face.

✧✧✧

"Hey Gaia! What's- woah," Malia said as she approached Gaia in the halls.

Gaia looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to stop.

"Your hair is almost as black as mine. What's wrong?" Malia asked as she fell into step beside Gaia, slowly put an arm around her.

Gaia sighed before shaking her head, her hair returning to its natural brown.

"The twins are just being really annoying. Nothing new," she grumbled.

Malia stared at her for a while before pulling her down the corridor. Gaia stumbled a few times as she struggled to keep up with the Slytherin, who was weaving through people like they weren't even there. A few minutes later, they reached a seemingly empty area with a staircase leading up.

"Where are we?" Gaia asked, curiously looking around.

"Astronomy Tower. It looks great from up there. Especially at this time," Malia answered as she pulled Gaia along with her to go up the staircase.

"You brought me to go sightseeing? No offense Malia, but I really didn't take you as the type to enjoy that," Gaia joked as they reached the top.

Gaia looked out at the opening of the tower and gasped.

"Wow" she breathed out.

The sun was already setting because she had spent most of the day with the twins. The glow of the sun reflected on parts of the castle, which could be seen from where they were. Beyond the castle was the Forbidden Forest, the trees extending beyond what her eye could see. The sky was a perfect blend of oranges as it started turning dark.

"So, what's wrong?"

Malia's voice snapped her out of her awe as they sat near the opening, their feet hanging off the edge. Gaia sighed, not looking away from the sight.

"It's actually quite silly now that I think about it," Gaia mumbled.

"It's not that silly if you were upset enough that your hair was black," Malia said.

"It's just. I don't know," Gaia groaned as she leaned back and lied down on the floor with her legs still hanging on the edge.

"It's weird. I never reacted like this to him before, but ever since Jewel mentioned it I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I mean, it was just a small little wink but then I felt all giddy and smiley and-" Gaia paused before sighing, "I don't know Malia."

"Is it Fred?" Malia asked.

Gaia shot up, letting out a small shriek as she almost tipped off the edge. Malia caught her, laughing slightly.

"Stupid. You're gonna die before you even have a chance to figure out your feelings." Malia giggled.

"Is it that obvious?" Gaia asked sheepishly.

"Well, not really. We're 12, no one really looks too deep into crushes and stuff. I guess it's just that I spend a lot of time with you and you talk about Fred a lot," Malia explained.

"I talk about Fred?" Gaia asked, surprised. Malia groaned playfully and nodded.

"Yeah! It's always Fred did this today and Fred did that. Fred would've done that. Honestly, it's annoying sometimes," she explained further.

Gaia hit her arm harshly, making Malia yelp as she leaned forward slightly from the impact.

"Now you're trying to kill me!? I could've been pushed off the edge!" Malia whined as she rubbed her arm.

Gaia rolled her eyes playfully.

"Oh, quit being a baby, will you?" Gaia said before looking back out at the view. The sun was almost entirely gone so the sky was slowly turning into a dark color.

"So, we've established that you have a crush on Fred. Why were you so irritated when I saw you?" Malia asked making her groan.

"They were teasing me about Cole. Fred winked at me so my hair started turning pink and Cole came to us at the same time so they thought my hair got pink because Cole was beside me," Gaia said, a bit embarrassed as she realized how childish her reason was.

Malia was quiet for a few moments.

"You're right. It is silly. You overreacted," she deadpanned making Gaia hit her again.

"Hey!"

✧✧✧

Edited 09/06/2020