Chapter 1

Damn them. Damn those doppelgangers.

It was September the 1st, the much dreaded 'back-to-school' day. And one of those ginger bastards (probably both) had turned my hair green. Mind you, I may have deserved it...

We had been on our way to the Quidditch World Cup, and Fred had bet me that Ireland would win. As if i'd trust those shady twins with my money, I told them that If Bulgaria lost, then they could dye my hair green for day. Stupid bloody Krum, why couldn't he have caught the snitch earlier? Ah, Krum... my, did he look good on a broomstick. Right, sorry, getting carried away. Ireland won, and Fred said he was going to be the bigger person and not sink to my level ( I threw a rather spectacular tantrum) and decided against turning my hair green. I suppose I should have seen this coming, neither of them are ones to keep their words.

So here I stand, mere hours before having to face the judgemental glares of fellow teenage wizards, with green hair. Shit. Ok, stay calm.

'HERMIONE! GET IN HERE!' I screamed. So much for staying calm. She walked into Ginnys bedroom, toothbrush hanging from her mouth and with inexplicably bushy hair. Despite my annoyance with the whole situation, I had to supress a laugh at her expression upon noticing the green-ness of my head.

'What happened to your hair?' She asked, bewildered.

'Evil Twins. Can you fix it?'

'No magic outside of school Shad, remember?' Hermione rolled her eyes. Knowitall. 'Ask Fred and George, if they did it then they'll be able to fix it.'

'Yeah but what if it was one of those products they're developing that hasn't got a reversal yet?' I put on my best puppy dog eyes face.

'Go.' Hermione steered me to the door, ignoring my moans and pouts. Damnit. I was sure that would work.

As if she's get into trouble performing magic outside of school, she's the best in our year. All the teachers love her for gods sake. Except Snape maybe, mind you, he only likes the students in his house. Stubborn old git.

I really don't know how Mrs Weasley manages with all these bloody stairs, and she's not exactly a young woman. After passing a very amused Ginny, I finally reached Fred and George's room. Reminding myself exactly how annoying and stupid they are so as to be addequatly angry, I entered.

'Have you thought of adding Pufffsk-' They stopped their conversation midway as I entered, looked up at me, and started to laugh uncontrolably. Ok Shad, stay calm, don't hex them...yet.

'Change it back.' I ordered once they had calmed down.

'I'm afraid the conditions were that the, um, 'green-ness', was to last for one whole day.' Fred replied, grinning madly. Idiot.

'Yeah, and you said that you weren't even going to do it!'

'So?' They shrugged in unison.

'CHANGE IT BACK!' Wow, I think I may have screamed louder than Mrs Weasly there...it seems to have done the job, they've stopped grinning...sort of.

'We don't really feel like it, do we George?'

'Nah, I'm not really in the mood' George replied. Damn it...well, time to play my trump card.

'Oh well, I suppose i'll just tell Mrs Weasly about it,' I sighed with mock defeat. Ah sweet victory, just look at those grins just, slide right off their smug faces.

'You wouldn't.' George said warily, despite his words however he seemed to have lost some of his cockiness.

'Try me.' I turned towards the door and began to head downstairs, as I heard the twins hastily follow suit.

'Ok, Ok, we'll change it back, on ONE condition.' Fred bargained as I folded my arms over my chest and glared at them. ' Our dearest mother, does not find out, okay?' George finished the sentance off for him.

One thing to remember with the Weasly twins, is that they are not afraid of anything. Except their mother. A bit pathetic really, but it makes it easy to put an end to one of their pranks if you're on the receiving end of it. You could put them face to face with a mountain troll and they wouldn't bat an eyelid. Even were they on the receiving end of one of Snapes notorious 'I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully and make your friends watch' glares, it wouldn't make them half as scared as Mrs Weasly's wrath.

I reveled in my victory as I followed the twins back to their room. They took a small vial of green liquid from a cluttered table in their room, and handed it to me with defeated expressions.

'Drink that and you're hair will be boring again in a matter of seconds.' I snatched the vial from them and headed upstairs. I will honestly never know why they are intent on causing trouble wherever they go. Don't get me wrong, i'm perfectly fine with it, and I admit I have helped them out countless times with their pranks in the past. You see, while they may be imaginative and innovative, their academic skills aren't exactly top notch, so their little (or sometimes quite the opposite) pranks need a helping hand. And seeing as I spend practically every holiday with the Weasly's, I volounteer every now and then. Which is perfectly fine with me, until they start pulling tricks like this, and I end up getting very angry at the pair of them.

I walked back up the stairs to the room Ginny, Hermione and I had shared over the summer to find it empty. Oh well, less people to laugh at the green. I stood infront of a small mirror and took my last look at my green head of hair. It was unbeleivably vivid, like I had grass for hair. It was times like these when I really had to amire the twins' charms work. They may not have been the best at potions or transfiguration, but boy could they perform a charm. That was probably why old Flitwick always seemed to turn a blind eye to their blatantly obvious mischief.

As I opened the twins' vial, I saw Hermione enter the small room, carrying a book. As bloody usual.

'I suppose you perusaded Fred and George to help you fix it? We heard you yelling at them from the kitchen.' She grinned as she walked over to her trunk, placing the book inside and fastening the straps. ' Anyway, its already ten past eight and we're leaving at twenty to nine so hurry up, you're taking as long as the boys.'

I grinned guiltily and downed the vial of anti-green. I looked up into the mirror with overwhelming releif as my hair turned back to normal. It was cut short and was naturally a shade of light brown. I had cut it myself at the begining of the summer as my mother had been compaining that it was always looking ratty and dull. In irritation, I had crept into the bathroom late at night armed with a pair of scissors and had cut it shorter than ever before. It now ended at the top of my neck and surprisingly, I really liked it. At least it was easy to mentain. Its horrible having your hair get in the way in potions anyway, I will never forget the time we were brewing fatiquing fusion and Hannah Abbot's hair got in the way and the cauldron, as well as several around it, exploded into a cloud of blue smoke.

'Righty-ho, I just need to get changed and then i'll be ready. How are we getting to the station?' I asked as I closed my badly packed trunk. I couldn't help but notice the neatness of Hermione's little corner of the room. Everything was packed in her perfectly neat trunk, and her Hogwarts robes were folded carefully on top. How could she possibly be that neat? My stuff was strewn all over the room,and my school robes and quidditch robes were entangled in a mess on the floor. That girl is abnormal.

'Muggle Taxi's.' Hermione answered, 'Mr Weasly had to go into work early. Something to do with Mad-Eye Moody. Percy went in too, i'm not surprised. Its bound to be so busy after what happenecd at the world cup, and Percy is working directly under Mr Crouch.' Honestly. If Percy was several years younger he and Hermione would be glued to each other, they're both so damn work-orientated. At least Hermione has a shred of humour though, as for Percy...well, we're all human.

'That'll be fun' I replied sarcasticly. Muggle transport? I'd much rather ride a pig thanks.

'Anyway, we're leaving soon so hurry up.'

'Ok, Ok.' I walked hastily to the bathroom, throwing odd objects into my trunk as I went.