"??"
"Hey~!"
"What's the matter, dear Ron? Sitting here all by yourself, spacing out?"
"Oh! My dear little brother, don't tell us that because your two friends, Harry and Hermione, are competing for Hogwarts, you've lost your sources for copying homework!"
George and Fred had just been about to head out together from the Gryffindor Common Room, which was practically deserted and growing emptier by the minute, when they spotted their little brother Ron sitting alone in a corner. An open fourth-year Potions Class textbook lay beside him, and he was staring blankly at a thick stack of parchment.
The twins exchanged a glance, then smiled knowingly. Forgetting all about going out for a stroll, they grinned and sauntered over together, arms slung around each other's shoulders. Each draped an arm over one of their little brother's shoulders and leaned in from either side, teasing him.
They knew that Ron, Harry, and Hermione had always been known at Hogwarts as the Gryffindor "trio." But things were different now. Harry and Hermione, that top student, had both become Hogwarts Champions, and their Professor Annie had taken them off to the super-fun Kingdom of Lordaeron to go adventuring. No one knew how many days they'd be gone or when they'd return... So naturally, their little brother Ron had been left all alone. He'd looked so lonely and isolated lately that just looking at him made you feel sorry for him.
Smack!
"No! I wasn't thinking about copying anyone's homework! I'd finished mine ages ago!"
The moment he saw his two twin brothers, who almost never spoke nicely to him, come over, Ron hurriedly closed his textbook so they couldn't see his work. Then he stubbornly insisted:
"George and Fred, let me correct one thing: Harry is my friend, that's true! But Hermione