in the eye of the hurricane [open]

[Deleted]

Spring was supposed to bring rainstorms with it; that much was to be expected, especially in the rainy glen that was Great Britain. What Fred hadn't expected was the thunderstorm that rocked him to his toes. One moment the sky had been clear (or at least as clear as a spring sky could be), and the next moment, it had split open. Anyone who was outside at the time the storm started would be sure to be soaked, and Fred was no exception to that rule. He cast an Impervious Charm on his clothes, but it didn't make much of a difference, because they were already wet as the dickens. He was afraid he'd burn himself if he tried to dry his cloak while it was still on his body, so Fred just wrapped the fabric tighter around him, trying to keep it from flying away in the howling wind.

The castle, which had been a sharp and jagged wound on the skyline was suddenly no more than a blurry lump, with various specks of gold from where the inhabitants had presumably lit candles to chase away the grayness of the outside. Fred turned himself to set course for the castle, but the wind buffeted rain into his face and made stepping forward nearly impossible. He wasn't the biggest kid by any stretch of the imagination, but he certainly wasn't the smallest, either. Fred wondered how the smaller kids were faring - if he could barely make headway into the sudden storm, he could easily imagine some of the first years being blown away. It wasn't his ideal way to spend one of his last free periods for a long time, but Fred was going to make it his mission to get everyone safely back to the castle, storm or no storm.

[Deleted]

James had been spending a lot of time outside lately. It was the only place he could freely smoke his cigarettes without being spotted by a teacher and it was really helping in clear his head. Since the kidnapees had returned to the school, things were seeming slightly back to normal but there was still one thing that loomed over James Potter's head and that was what he was going to be doing after graduation... which just so happened to be a few weeks away. So, what does James Potter do when he feels stressed? He smokes a few cigs, of course.

The Gryffindor had just been enjoying a trek around the Black Lake when he went to light another cigarette and it suddenly began to pour down rain. James stood, frozen and frustrated for moment, as the cigarette he had just lit got put out by the rain. With a frustrated sigh as his clothes began to soak through, he figured there was no other thing he could do but head back up to the castle. He didn't even mind that his clothes were soaking through to his skin as he began to walk up the pathway to the school. That was when he recognized a fellow Gryffindor, and not just any old Gryffindor but his cousin and fellow Marauder.

"Fred!" James called out to him through the pouring rain. He tried to run ahead to catch up with him but the rain pelted down so hard against it that it was quite painful, so he slowed down. It felt a lot like hail, which didn't improve his mood from his cigarette being put out. Finally, he reached his cousin and put a hand up on his shoulder. "Where'd this come from, eh?" He said loudly, his eyes squinting to protect themselves from the raindrops.

@fred

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Ah, bloody hell. Whenever Fred tried to be helpful and noble and all that other sentimental junk, something had to ruin it. At least that something was a cousin. Well, it often was a cousin that ruined his fun, since he had a dozen or so of them. He had lost track a long, long time ago. (Not really. Fred loved his cousins.) James, of course, was one of Fred’s more constant cousin companions, seeing as they were in the same house, same year, and same…well, “crowd” seemed to be a juvenile way to put it, but anyone who told you that Fred Weasley wasn’t juvenile would be lying.

“Maybe it came from up your mum’s arse, Potter.” He said with a laugh. He enjoyed ribbing James about the fact that he was one of the three Weasley cousins who didn’t share their surname, and a jibe at his aunts and uncles was never misplaced. You didn’t get to being everyone’s least favorite nephew without a little blood, sweat, and tears! He didn’t know if James actually did want to know the source of the storm, but even if Fred had wanted to, he couldn’t. He didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming a meteorologist, that was for sure.

The wind gusted particularly hard, and Fred was glad that he didn’t have the same shaggy head of hair as his cousin did; trying to keep the stuff from blowing into his eyes would’ve been annoying as all else. “Seen any of the young’uns?” He called over the lashing rain. At least Fred was secure in the knowledge that all of his cousins were old enough to get back inside without any modicum of assistance. Others, as Fred continued to remind himself, were not so lucky. “Not sure if they’ll make it back in on their own!” He shouted. There was no saying that he had to be noble and helpful (and all that other sentimental junk) on his own, was there?

@jams

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It was so like Fred to make some inappropriate joke about James's mother, his own aunt. Shock value was just the sort of sense of humor that Fred had naturally and to be honest, it was one of the reasons James loved him and enjoyed being around him so much. Seeing the look on peoples' faces when Fred said that kind of stuff to them genuinely made James laugh and would often bring a twisted grin to his own face. "You're sick, mate," he said through a hearty laugh.

The wind blew toward them a powerful gust and James's hair, which he had been growing out this year, flew all around his face. This was the only downside to having long hair, he realized; it was always in his face. He would often look at Aurora and ask her how she did it with much longer hair, for he felt he would have to cut his soon. It was far too long, especially in the powerful and rainy winds. "I didn't see anyone on the other side of the lake but I'd say, just to be sure..." The eldest Potter took out his wand from his robes and pointed it in the direction he believed the lake to be, for it was far too dark now from the rain and clouds to see. "Homenum Revelio," he said the human-presence revealing spell to see if any sign of life would be brought to their attention in these conditions...

@fred

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The greatest thing about his greatest cousin was, in Fred’s opinion, that he was impossible to offend. People were always spouting off about how his jokes were off color or uncivil or whatever, but James just laughed. It was why they were so good together. “If I’m sick, then you are too, you muppet! You laughed!” Fred shouted. What were they doing, again? Right, the saving-the-world shite. James was much more resourceful than Fred could ever hope to be; the human-revealing spell wouldn’t have ever crossed his mind. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to grab his wand with his robes and cloak whipping around like they were. After seeing James cast the spell, though, Fred began to attempt to fish it out.

Several loud popping noises sounded over the roaring wind, and sparks lit up the area surrounding them like bizarre violet stars. Fred was beginning to regret his heroism just the slightest bit. The Gryffindor finally managed to find his wand amongst the rippling waves of fabric, and tapped it to his throat. “Sonorus.” He muttered under his breath. There was no way he and James could gather all…Christ, there were nine of them? Well, there was no way that they could get all of the kids – by the time that happened, the storm would practically be over. “If you can hear my voice, come towards the red sparks.” His voice, amplified by the spell he had cast, boomed as loud as thunder. Fred gestured with his hand for James to create the sparks of which he spoke, unsure if casting another spell would cancel the Sonorus. “If you see anyone else nearby, especially someone younger than you, grab on tight. When everyone’s gathered, we’ll head back to the castle.” Easier said than done, Fred thought. Easier said than done.

@jams

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James playfull rolled his eyes at his cousin and waved his hand at him, as if to dismiss his cousin's rebuttal. "Yeah, yeah," he said, a light laugh still emitting from his lips. Now, it was down to business. James had not really been paying attention to who was out on the grounds (as always, he was more concerned with his own thoughts,) but he was sure that there had to be some people on the ground who wouldn't mind assistance. James couldn't even see the castle from where he stood so he couldn't imagine what it was like for the younger ones.

The eldest Potter was looking all around as the spell revealed nine bodies to him. He was cursing to himself when Fred had cast Sonorus and the Quidditch captain jumped little at the loudness of his voice. He was just about to cast red sparks up into the sky so some of the people would be able to find them easier when three Ravenclaw third year girls came running up to them, soaked to the bone. They look relieved but also shaken up at the suddenness of the storm. "Stay with us and hold together," James instructed them. He turned back around and then once more cast red sparks into the sky.

@fred

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Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as he expected. A trio of girls found them quickly, and they hadn’t even needed the sparks. Fred walked over to the girls and cast a drying charm on all of their robes and cloaks, following it with an Impervius so that the rain wouldn’t soak them again. Hopefully they’d be a little more comfortable that way. He had half a mind to actually tie them together, and was about to do just that when another boy, a first year in their own house, stumbled up to the group without a cloak on. He stammered out something about the wind having taken it a way, and Fred clicked his tongue sympathetically, shedding his own cloak to wrap around the poor boy, and in short order casting the spells he had used on the girls. He cast a Sticking Charm as well so that the borrowed cloak wouldn’t go the way of its predecessor.

“This isn’t so hard, eh, Potter?” Fred said, though he was beginning to shiver in the absence of his cloak. “We should give up all our career prospects and go into search and rescue instead.” Despite his earlier misgivings, the Gryffindor decided that it would be best to bind everyone together; they didn’t want to lose the people they had already found. He conjured thick ropes and tied them around the waists of the three third years and the little first year before turning back to his cousin. “Reckon I should make another announcement?” He didn’t want to annoy the people that were already on their way to the cluster of children, but in the off chance that someone hadn’t heard his first call nor seen the sparks, Fred didn’t want to leave anyone behind.

@jams

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James paid no mind as his cousin seemed to have the newcomers under control. Instead, he squinted through the rain with his wand arm outstretched in front of him. It was incredibly difficult to see even two feet in front of him, let alone across the entire grounds. He had barely heard his cousin through the heavy rainfall but he turned to reveal a smirk nonetheless. "We do make a great team," he agreed. James turned back just in time to see two more students, a boy and a girl, come running up to them. "Yeah. One more oughta do it, I'd say." James gave a nod toward his cousin as he quickly performed the same set of spells that his cousin had on the newcomers.

@fred
Sorry it's so short. >.<

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Fred squinted into the rain towards his cousin. He had been hoping on lip reading to help supplement the bits of speech that he couldn’t make out over the wind, but that obviously wasn’t going to work. He had heard something about a team, and Fred could only assume that it was a compliment about their teamwork. “Well, of course we do. We’re Weasleys!” Never mind that James didn’t have the Weasley last name. Weasleys were notorious for being Good People, with the capitalization and everything, so it was no surprise that he and James were doing a bang-up job of being Good People and rescuing kids from the storm.

After casting the Sonorus charm once again, Fred shouted into the murky grey of the storm. “Again, this is an announcement for anyone on the grounds. If you can hear my voice, come towards the sparks.” Not a moment later, someone stumbled into Fred. When he turned around, he recognized a Slytherin sixth year, clutching tightly to a kid that might’ve been in first or second year. That left only one student unaccounted for, counting the two James had been taking care of earlier. Fred methodically placed the Slytherin and her tiny charge onto the end of the chain, and turned towards James. “One missing.” He shouted, wishing he had kept the Sonorus charm active. “Do you reckon we wait, or head out now?” He didn’t want to leave someone, of course, but Fred was worried that the storm was only going to get worse.

@jams

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James instinctively puffed out his chest, all business-like, as he squinted about the grounds as Fred made the last announcement. He paid no mind when a new student came stumbling into Fred behind him. There was still one missing and that didn't suit well with James. "Not bloody likely we'll be leaving someone out in this, mate," he said, determinedly. "Homenum Revelio!" He cast out again and then the spell revealed a lone body out in front of them that had to be almost halfway across the lake. James let out a groan.

"Bloody hell," the Gryffindor rolled his eyes and turned to his cousin. "I'm saying we all chain up and go catch that straggler. No man left behind says I!" He pumped his fist to his chest. James was never one to leave an underdog in need and now was certainly no exception.

@fred

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Fred rolled his eyes at his cousin. Of course once they had started acting all heroic-like they had to keep up with it. Sometimes James acted too much like his father for his own good, not that anyone ever asked him. He agreed with the premise, of course – leaving someone out in the middle of the storm wasn’t just cowardly, it was also damn near inhumane. He nodded his assent, and then made a broad, waving motion with his hand in case James hadn’t seen the subtler movement. Casting the Sonorus spell once again, Fred spoke to all of the assembled. “There’s still someone out there, so we’re all going to be moving. If at any point you lose sight of the person in front of you, do not be afraid to shout for me or James. Oh. I’m Fred, by the way.” He said with a chuckle. It was so like him to forget something silly like that.

The Gryffindor boy cleared his throat – it was beginning to hurt from all of the vocal projection. Fred oriented himself towards the streak of purple light that appeared when James had cast his revealing spell, and began to move forward with slow, steady steps. “C’mon, Jamesy, we have saving to do!” He called back to his cousin. He just hoped that the student they were still searching for wasn’t moving around, because that would make their job so much harder.

@jams

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James smirked in spite of himself and his cousin's heroics and he took off toward the direction of the last body lost in the rain. With his wand in front of him, he cast a charm that caused the rain to bounce off of his robes so he wouldn't be impeded by the downpour. He held his left arm up in front of him and over his eyes so as to shield them and he squinted around. Then he spotted the last student, attempting to huddle under a small tree that really provided no sort of shelter for them at all. "Oi," James called to them and the student look up suddenly. The happy look that spread across the boy's face brought one to James as well as a impenetrable sense of pride. He turned back to his cousin.

"That's all of them, then!" The Gryffindor declared as he turned back to the group. "What do you say we get these folks back up to the castle, Freddie?"

@fred

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Fred was on the verge of giving up when James finally spotted the last student. His shoulders sagged a bit in relief, but he quickly drew himself up again to avoid looking tired to the younger students. If he looked tired, then they’d get tired, and then they’d spend hours and hours getting back to the castle when everyone dragged their feet. “Aye aye, Captain!” Fred called to his cousin upon the suggestion they return to the castle. He didn’t know why anyone would choose to stay outside in the middle of this godforsaken storm, but that didn’t matter. He was like a messiah, leading his people into the promised land as the rain raged and lashed around them. Every so often he would turn around to check and see if everyone was still attached. They were, thankfully.

Opening the door to the Great Hall had never been quite so triumphant. Apparently the professors had realized there was a reason to be worried, because a few of them were in the hall. Fred felt an unexpected swell of pride as he led the children back inside, smiling with relief. He turned to James, and gave him a huge thumbs up. They were heroes now. They had made it through the eye of the storm.

@jams
(end?)