DISCLAIMER: i own nothing you recognize that is all the work of JK Rowling and i only wish i could have created these characters

okay guys, so this is just something i came up with when i was mostly asleep and thinking about the glorious imperfections of life

do me a favor and keep an open mind

PROLOGUE

"Fred? George? Where are you?" "We are right here Ice." "We're right in front of you." "Did I get something in my eyes? I can't tell if they're open or not."

I feel the movement of the air as a twin waved his hand in front of my face but I can't see the men holding me close, supporting my weakened body. I can feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I feel the sun beating down on my face but its light does not reach me. My world is black.

"I'm blind."

The twins took care of me after that. Neither of them ever left me for long and one of them was always there the moment I called out. They didn't even go to class. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore could not force them to leave my side. House elves brought the three of us food.

I knew they blamed themselves. They knew I had retreated so far within myself that I didn't care who was to blame.

I knew they were worried about me. I knew I wasn't recovering. I know I should move on for them if not for me; but I can't see to take the step.

So I think about life before the darkness.

I remember when I first met the twins.

They ran into my compartment just before an explosion rocked the Hogwarts Express and screams filled the air. I was already changed into my school robes and my wolf Cerberus was at my feet. He cornered them with hackles raised, a growl ripping through his throat.

"Who are you?" "I'm Fred and this is my brother George. Can you do something about your monster?" "I could but neither of us appreciates the term monster. But if you rethought your wording and added an apology I might reconsider and call him off." "Sorry, please call off your bear." "Bear is a wolf, not a bear." "Then why is his name Bear?" "His name is Cerberus. Come here and lay down."

The giant white wolf growled once more in the direction of the two redheaded boys before crawling in my lap, his head alone big enough to overflow my lap. He kept his eye on the boys but made no move to misbehave.

"What are you doing in here?" "Avoiding an explosion of pink dye." "What are you doing in here?" "This is my compartment; I'm riding to Hogwarts like everyone else." "Right, who are you?" "Are you a first year, too?" "My name is Icera and, yes this is my first year at Hogwarts."

"Wicked. Do you mind if we sit with you?" "Are you going to set off any explosions or dye me unnatural colors?" "Probably not between now and the Sorting, no." "Then feel free." "And is Cerberus there going to eat us if we stay?" "Probably not between now and arriving, but I can't make any guarantees. He was too nervous to eat this morning."

"That is not very reassuring." "That is terrifying." "He's really a big teddy-bear unless I'm threatened. So long as you don't do something stupid and get me hurt you should be okay. Unless you are evil, then he might make an exception and devour you. I'm not sure as his previous encounters with evil were spent trying to protect me from them so he didn't have much time for eating."

"That—" "Really wasn't helpful either." "No, no it wasn't."

"Best I can do. So, why did you make everyone in the corridor pink?" "It was funny." "We were bored." "The prank masters have arrived!"

"Prank masters, huh? Do you hear that Bear? They think themselves masters." The animal looked at me then back to the twins and gave his bark-laugh. "You have a different opinion?" "I usually do have a different opinion George. But you can be masters if it pleases you, so long as you know who the goddess is."

"You like jokes?" "If you are a goddess of pranks then what do you have planned for the Welcome Feast?" "And why don't you take this opportunity of adult-free time to wreak havoc?" "Why on earth should I scare them now and blow my cover? Part of my brilliance is never getting caught." "No one never gets caught." "I haven't been caught in eleven years and I don't live with idiots."

They were disbelieving. My smirk grew.

"You don't believe me? How shall I go about proving my brilliance to you?" "Do something without being caught, of course." "If you can." "To you or to someone else?" "Whatever you think you can get away with." "But you have to do it before we get to Hogsmeade." "Okay, just this once though. After that you either have faith in me or you leave me alone, is that understood? I'm not here for everyone's entertainment, only my own."

"Deal." "You got it."

"Okay then. Why don't we get to know each other until then?" "Sure, why not." "Everyone's going to know about us in time." "You are very confident." "We've been causing mayhem since we could walk." "It's a natural gift of ours." "Double trouble after all." "You do that a lot." "Do what?" "Talk in tandem. Does it freak some people out?" "Sure it does." "But we don't mind." "It adds to our charm."

"So, it's not just the two of you at home, is it? I mean, mayhem ensues mostly from a crowd, right?" "Right, we have three older brothers, a younger brother, and a little sister." "Then there is mom and dad, too."

"Wow, that must have been so great growing up with so many siblings to keep you company. Not that you two have ever felt lonely. You've always had each other, right?" "Of course we have." "That must be nice—to always have someone to talk to, prank with, lean on when times are rough." "It is." Fred blushed as he said it but his gaze was steady on mine. George, of course, laughed and said, "Just like a girl to talk about companionship. We are twins! We get to pull pranks on even our mother and you want to talk about how lonely life is? Fred, brother mine, snap out of it. We've got life made for us."

"Sorry. I'm an only child and I live with a bunch of adults. It gets pretty lonely. That's why I started pranking in the first place. It gave me something to do and the people I live with think I'm an angel." "Are you sure they aren't idiots?" "I'm sure."

"Everyone has a bit of idiot in them." "Trust me when I say they aren't everyone." "Who are they then?" "The Hogwarts professors."

The looks on their faces were brilliant. Identical wide-eyed, open-mouthed expressions of What? were plastered there like they'd been shot with a lightning bolt. I laughed at them, Bear was startled awake and he growled at them. I pet him to calm him down but could not stop laughing. They were hilarious.

"What do you mean?" "I live at Hogwarts." "Like, the school we are headed to?" "You got it." "Then why are you riding the train?" "Grandpa wanted me to experience school like everyone else. That means the train and the boats and the Sorting and everything." "Who is your grandfather?" "Albus Dumbledore."

Again with the shocked expression. It was great.

"This is your prank, right?" "No." "This is pathetic." "It's the truth. Trust me, my pranks are better than lies." "You are telling us that the Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is your grandfather?"

"That's right boys. But don't go spreading it around. My career at Hogwarts will be based on me not who I'm related to." "I didn't even know Dumbledore had kids." "I didn't know he'd ever been married."

"Well, actually he wasn't married and he doesn't have children." "Then how are you—" "He adopted my mom when Grindelwald killed her parents." "So you aren't actually related?" "You don't have his ridiculously good genes?" "I don't need his good genes. Mine are just as good. My mom was a very powerful witch even as young as she was when she was orphaned. That's why Grindelwald came after her."

"What about your dad?" "Yeah, what kind of genes did he give you?" "He was a prankster, one of four who ruled the halls of Hogwarts." "Where are your parents now?" "They're both dead. Voldemort killed them."

We talked for a while after that. We laughed and I learned a lot about the two of them. We liked each other almost instantly and we were on a fast track to friendship. But I still had something to prove to them.

"So you turned your brother's teddy bear into a spider?" "Yeah, now he's petrified of the hairy little beasts." "That is verging on mean." "He tattled on us for various things until we snapped. It might have been a tad extreme but we feel he deserved it, right Fred?" "Well we did it; it doesn't really matter if he deserved it or not anymore."

"So what made you turn it into a spider?" "They are creepy little blighters." "George never has liked them." "They crawl all over you with their hairy little legs and beady, way too many eyes." he shivered, imagining the feel of them crawling over his skin. "I used to sneak them into his bed at night before he started crawling into bed with me to get away from them. I stopped doing it after that."

"That was you? You tortured me with those beasts?" "It was all in good fun George. Don't be mad at me." "I can't be. You did stop after all. Besides, I was the one who kept putting itching powder in your shorts." "I knew that was you." "But we haven't done those sorts of things to each other in years."

I laughed at them and they laughed with me. Then the lady with the food trolley came along.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" I bought treats for all of us and smiled at the old woman politely.

She left and I handed out the treats. Before she moved too far from our compartment the old witch started dancing on the spot. Her hair turned purple with pink polka dots and everyone in the corridor started laughing at her.

"Whoever did this, stop it right now! I mean it; whoever did this is going to be in a lot of trouble." I stood up and rushed to her. "Oh my! Are you all right? Can you reach your wand? Why don't you try a finishing spell?" "Finite Incantatem" "There you go, you'll be all right now, won't you?" "Thank you my dear. I don't know what came over me. I don't usually panic like that." "Don't worry about it, everyone has trouble sometimes. Are you well enough to carry on or shall I escort you to the driver?" "I'm fine. Thank you my dear."

She continued on down the train with everyone laughing at her. Her hair was still in polka dots and her hips twitched when she stopped walking.

I sat down to my pumpkin pasties as Fred and George laughed and ate the snacks I'd bought for us.

"Did you see her dancing?" "Did you see her hair?" "That was brilliant! She totally forgot to even be mad about whoever did it! And her hair—" "She still hasn't noticed her hair." "I wonder who did it." "I wish we had thought to do it." "That magic was a bit too advanced for first years. We don't have any experience with anything but explosives and dyes."

"Still, that shows a real competitor. We are going to have to be careful."

And then they both stopped and glared at each other. They started squirming. Fred was attempting to discreetly scratch his legs and nether regions while George started swatting at invisible bugs crawling all over him.

They started screaming at each other. "I thought we were passed this!" "You have got to be kidding!" "I thought we'd agreed" "No pranks on each other!" George tackled Fred in his seat and was trying to strangle him while fending off Fred's attacks.

I couldn't help but laugh at them. They looked at me like I was crazy. "I told you I never get caught."

The expression on their faces was priceless. i spent a great portion of my time bringing that look to their faces and we have been best friends ever since.

I had been in on every prank since then. I had caused chaos for teachers and with the twins I wreaked havoc on the students. We went everywhere together. We were sorted into Gryffindor together and we made the house quidditch team together. I never got caught in my pranks but whenever the twins were caught I was close by, waiting with an alibi or to laugh at the number of detentions they managed to accumulate.

okay, so i hope you guys like this

please review and save my heart some ache

let me know if i need to throw this away or if it is not a complete embarrassment to writing and humanity