AUTHOR'S NOTE: This piece was written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, round 4. The prompt was to write a story that begins and ends with the same word, and I had to use an abstract noun—so I used the word "Idea". My optional prompts were 4. (word) confused, 9. (quote) "Your words create what you speak about. Learn to speak positively." Sanya Roman, and 14. (word) swollen.

I also wrote this piece as a prequel to The Marked Ones, my long fanfiction project. This piece is set one year before the events of The Marked Ones take place—so the year before Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the last year that Nymphadora Tonks and Charlie Weasley spent at Hogwarts. I decided to write this because, while I knew the dynamics that the 4 main characters (Elia, Nina, Allen and Brett) shared prior to the events of The Marked Ones, those dynamics are changing as the story starts, so I decided it would be nice to show a little bit of what things were like before.

Enjoy!

"Your words create what you speak about. Learn to speak positively." Sanya Roman

"Idea number one." Nina Javeris tapped her rhinestone-covered cigarette case against her palm as she stepped out through the doors of the castle. "We throw a big surprise party for our dear friend Tonks. Like get some Quintin Black and Firewhiskey and a bunch of food and some Weird Sisters music and just…" She waved her hand through the air as if releasing a handful of confetti onto the warm breeze. It was late spring, the last dregs of mist lifted from the trees in preparation for the summer. The swollen buds on the trees had blossomed; the air was thick with pollen.

Her friend Elia Shacklebolt shook her head. "Not gonna attempt it. You know how Tonks gets when you startle her. Her clumsiness is bad enough when she's on firm footing." Their appearances were stark in contrast—Elia was short, wiry, and olive-skinned while Nina was taller, curvier, and paler of face; Elia wore her thick, curly black hair loose down to her waist while Nina kept her short, choppy hair dyed bubblegum-pink and carefully spiked; Elia's eyes were gray while Nina's were dark behind purple-rimmed glassed, thick eyeliner, and heavy mascara; and while Elia wore practical, simple garments under her Hogwarts robes, Nina's were bright, mismatched, eccentric pieces thrown into a haphazard mix under the robes.

"Alright, fine." Nina rolled her eyes, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "Idea number two. I give Tonks a makeover, like a 'Congratulations, you made it, now you can look awesome too' kind of thing."

Elia raised her eyebrows. "Are you kidding me?"

Nina's grin faded. "Oh, yeah…that's right. Never mind that one. If Tonks wants a makeover, she just has to think about it and it'll happen. We've gotta come up with something better than that." She paused, lighting a cigarette and leaning back against the wall. "Give me some time, I'll come up with something."

"Let's hope that you do. I'll be thinking on it, too." Elia sighed, waving her hand to fan the smoke away from her face.

Nina shook her head. "Not necessary. I'll come up with a good one, just you wait."

"We'll see about that…" Elia smirked. And with that, she turned and walked back across the grounds. In the wake of finals, the grounds were littered with groups of students kicking back and relaxing in the last couple of weeks before the summer holidays. Elia scanned the grounds for familiar faces. Over by the Postal Tree, her best friend Allen Marchena, her classmate Brett Lau, and Brett's younger sister Megan were seated in the shade. Smiling, she brushed a stray curl out of her face and jogged over to join them.

Allen smiled and waved as he spotted her, blowing his too-long bangs out of his face. "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool," he recited once she was close enough to hear him.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." Elia plopped down on the grass next to him. "Hey, Hamlet. What's going on over here?"

Allen nudged her and jerked his head towards Brett and Megan, who sat a few feet away. "Well, Megan's a bit nervous about the results of finals…" he whispered, "so Brett here is just being a good big brother and reassuring her."

"Really? Megan is worried?"

"Hell no. She could care less about the results, she's no more worried than she was before finals. But Brett is still being a good big brother and reassuring her. You know how he is."

Elia snorted. "Oh my god."

Suddenly, Professor Dumbledore was standing not five feet away, fiddling with his wand. "Hello, students. Glad to see you're enjoying this wonderful weather." He gasped slightly as his wand slipped from his grasp, but picked it up quickly.

Allen nodded. "Same to you, Professor." Then, when he noticed he funny look on Elia's face, to her—"What's up, El?"

Elia's voice was a whisper when she spoke. "Have you ever, in your five years at Hogwarts, seen Dumbledore drop something by accident—especially his wand? I think that's Tonks."

Allen's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" His voice was high-pitched when he spoke. "Dumbledore's" eyes twinkled as Elia stood.

"Tonks, you've taken avoiding Brett to a whole new level." Her voice was low so as not to draw the notice of Brett or Megan. "If you're going to impersonate a professor, make sure you've got the posture and everything down…fumbling with your wand while impersonating Professor Dumbledore will not work."

Dumbledore—Tonks—sighed. "It's that obvious, is it?"

Elia shrugged. "Not to most, probably. But you know...my dad's an Auror, he's taught me to look out for certain things in case a Dark Wizard ever tries to impersonate him. You can't blame me for noticing."

Tonks shrugged. "It still needs some work, I guess...I'll have to practice."

Elia frowned. "Do you mean what I think you mean by that?"

"One of the things that you're tested on in Auror training is disguise. Well, disguise and camouflage. Call it early training!" Tonks winked mischievously and moved off to another group of students, leaving Elia marveling at her friend's nerve.

"See, even Professor Dumbledore is enjoying the weather, just try not to worry..." Elia could hear Brett saying.

"Brett, you're the one who's worrying. I am fine! Stop treating me like a little kid!" Megan's voice was impatient.

Elia stifled a laugh as she sat again next to Allen. "Nina's trying to think of something to do for Tonks, to celebrate her graduating. It looks like Tonks is already starting her own celebration, though...impersonating Dumbledore takes some serious guts."

Allen chuckled. "So that was her. She's going a bit overboard on her efforts to avoid Brett, isn't she?"

"Well, she's told him she's not interested. He hasn't given up. Not much else she can do besides avoid him, right?"

"Fair enough."

Elia smirked. Tonks was talking to a small group of students near the castle, and she'd changed her posture so that, if Elia didn't know better, she might have thought it was actually Professor Albus Dumbledore on the other side of the grounds. Then, her eyes widened. "Oh, shit, Allen...get up, we gotta go watch this."

"What's up?" He glanced lazily at her.

"Look, over there!" Elia nudged him and pointed. He followed her gaze and saw Professor Dumbledore wandering across the grounds towards the same group of students Tonks was speaking to.

His jaw dropped. "Come on, let's go!" He jumped up and broke into a run, with Elia falling quickly in stride next to him.

They stopped to watch the exchange from a short distance away. "Hello there." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he faced his lookalike. "Might I say, those are most excellent socks. Dare I ask where you found them? I may like a pair myself."

Tonks smiled and nodded to him, not even shaken. "Oh, there are many curious things to be found in muggle stores. I walked in looking to get a bag of lemon drops and happened to see these sitting on a shelf...as you say, they are most excellent socks, I couldn't resist purchasing them."

Dumbledore was absolutely beaming. "Ah, lemon drops! How magic has advanced, and yet failed thus far to create so excellent a candy!"

Allen and Elia were both howling with laughter by that point. The students to whom Tonks had been speaking as Dumbledore looked utterly confused—since when were there two Dumbledores? The real Dumbledore seemed to be enjoying the conversation with his impersonator greatly, and beneath Tonks's act, Elia could see that she was very pleased with herself.

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking noise. Elia and Allen both jumped, Elia letting out a small yelp, as dozens of brightly-colored fireworks exploded over the grounds. A second round of fireworks flew up moments later, these forming themselves into words: "CONGRATULATIONS TONKS! WE WILL MISS YOU! LOVE, NINA AND ELIA"

Allen raised his eyebrows, glancing at Elia. "Did you know she was going to do this? Implicating you, a Prefect, in something so disruptive?" Elia shook her head, her jaw hanging, as Tonks, still disguised as Dumbledore, blushed beet-red. Allen sighed. "You'd better hope Filch buys it when you tell him you knew nothing about this."

Elia lowered her face into her palms. "The sentiment definitely got across...but this? I'll be lucky if I'm still a Prefect tomorrow. Allen, remind me next time that leaving Nina in charge of things is a very, very bad idea."