Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the story line. This is just for fun *smiles*

Chapter 2

Fred awoke to the sound of people moving around. Slowly, he forced one eye open to battle the rays of sunlight. Groaning, he covered his head with his blanket. Someone forcefully pulled it back. "Wake up. Do you want to miss breakfast?" Louis's voice hovered over him.

"Meh, I don't need to eat. Let me sleep a bit more." He groaned.

Louis's crystal blue eyes stared into Fred's silver blue eyes. "Come on now. I'm the kind one. James will dive bomb you if he comes in here."

Fred took the time to think about his choices. He knew better, so he pulled himself up and dressed quickly. He didn't bother with his hair. It was short and wild anyways.

Breakfast in the Great Hall would have been the same as usual if it weren't for the two letters he received that morning. He glanced over to see that Albus opening his own letter. His eyes then traveled to James, who was seated across from him and looking at the letter from his father.

Fred wasn't sure which one to open first… his father's letter, or his mother's howler. He chose the howler.

"Figured you'd get one of those, mate. Don't worry, I got one too." James said, holding up his own red howler hidden behind his father's letter with a devious smirk.

Fred was confused. "What did you do?"

James laughed. "I got detention for walking around the train with my boxers on. Mum's not going to be pleased. That Molly must have squealed on me." He said, sending his cousin a dirty look at the Ravenclaw table. "I'll take care of her later. You want to go first or me?"

Fred held his up. "Mine. Yours should give everyone a laugh." With that said, he popped the seal.

"FREDRICK WEASLEY!"Echoed throughout the hall. "I'M SURE YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS! IS THIS YOUR WAY TO PUNISH ME FOR BEING A GOOD MOTHER?! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU. JUST WAIT UNTIL I-" The letter stopped and blew up into flames.

James glanced over to see Fred's wand out, pointing at what was left of the letter. "She's ridiculous sometimes, isn't she? Getting all upset over something as stupid as jumping a grade."

James shrugged and opened his howler next. The letter was humorous, that was true. His aunt Ginny went on and on about decency and that never had anyone in their family pulled such a childish stunt.

As that familiar voice echoed through the hall, Fred opened his father's letter.

Fred,

Good call not telling your mother face to face, but you could have told me. Of course, I'm totally ashamed that my son is such a genius. Haha, you know I'm only joking with you. It's funny how the two most serious of the family ended up in the same grade and dorm. Be sure to help James out with some of his pranks. You never know when something as ridiculous as a prank may turn out to be helpful later in life. I'm serious when saying that too. Just be yourself and I'll deal with your mother. Also, I've given you permission to go to Hogsmeade, so don't fret.

Your dad

"Meh, Dad isn't surprised about Albus. I guess I really did turn him to the dark side." James joked. Just then, he let out a horrid groan. "No… History of Magic first thing in the morning?! What sort of sick joke is this? Who thinks I can stay awake during that?" He complained.

Fred smiled. He got his favorite class first thing in the morning. It was his best subject, potions. He couldn't wait to get there and make something. Maybe it'd be a free day and he could experiment. Their potions master was new this year, though.

As they got up to leave, James put his hand on the red head's shoulder. "Let's hear your answer tonight, okay?" He said before walking away.

"Do it!" The voice called. "Do you know how illegal it all is?! It would be… fantastic! Trouble now just means you'll be more prepared for life later. I'm so jealous. If I was in my body I would certainly join in."

'That makes me want to do it even less. I could be expelled for something like this.' Fred thought, irritated.

"But that's the point. Imagine the rush from it! What's life without a little risk in it?"

Fred ignored the voice, chanting "do it, do it," in his mind.

When he entered Potions, he took a seat next to Louis. The blonde glanced at him. "Hey, you're good at Potions, right? Could you help me out sometime?" He asked.

"Sure. Have you seen the new Professor yet?"

Louis shook his head. "Not yet. He should be here soon-" At that moment, a man appeared behind them.

"Yes, yes, I'm here. Do not fret. You will still be taught Potions." He patted the two boys on the head and strode to the front. "Now, young ones. I am Professor Lucas Reiner. Twenty-one years old, single, for those of you who may have older sisters or cousins around that age." He gave a quick smile.

He was very handsome by the girls' standard. He had soft, short brown hair and piercing grey eyes. Along his neck was a long scar down the left hand side that disappeared below his dark blue robes. "I'm interested in what you all think about Potions. Write me a short bit about how you feel- don't worry, I don't care if you like it not. You don't have to sign your name. Go on then."

He took a seat at the front of the class and waited until everyone was finished. With a quick flip of his wand, all the pieces of parchment were within his hand. "Good good. Now then; I can't stand it." He laughed. "Most people do. Let's see; It's okay, but it's hard. I get that, too. It's my best subject. I find it easy and yet challenging at the same time, like a puzzle." He gave a devious smirk. "I'll find out who this it. He sounds interesting."

"Eh? How could you tell it was a boy, Professor?" A girl asked.

He turned the paper over. "I can tell a boy's hand writing, no matter how neat it appears. He glanced up to see the strawberry blonde teen had his hand up. "Yes?"

"I'll save you the trouble of the hunt. It's mine."

Reiner smirked. "You're the one, eh? And you are?"

"Fred Weasley." He answered.

"Fred Weasley… Fred… Weasley. Ah, here you are. Next to, another Weasley? Who's Louis?" He asked, his head popping up from the book in his hand.

Louis raised his hand. "I am."

He walked up to them and bent down to their level, his grey eyes looking back and forth between the two. "You don't look like brothers."

"That's because they're cousins!" Shilus called from the row behind.

Reiner put his hand on his chin. "Cousins, eh? But still, to have no similarities…"

Louis looked a little embarrassed. "Well, Sir… I'm part Veela."

Many in the class made sounds of awe and wonder. Whispers of "I never knew that" and "He is quite good looking," could be heard around the room. He blushed a bit.

"Veela, eh? I don't think I've ever heard of a male Veela, mixed or not." Reiner replied. "Well, that's of no matter. But it does answer why you two look so different. I can see a bit of resemblance here, in the shape of your eyes, and your jaws as well. I just had to look a little closer is all." He seemed pleased with himself. "Now then, where to begin."

He flipped through his little book. "Hm… How about, I put a few potions on the board right here," he tapped the chalk board, "and you lot pick the one you want to do. You've got the rest of the class, which is well over an hour."

Fred glanced around to see most of the students looking for the simplest potion they could do so they could get good marks. 'No fun in that.' He thought as he found the one potion that was not in his third year potion book.

Draught of the Living Death

Fred wasn't stupid. He was well aware that that particular potion was a sixth year N.E.W.T. Level potion because he'd read it in his sister's book a few years back. He closed his eyes and started to recall what was on the pages. Fred was a rare wizard indeed, because he had a photographic memory.

He walked over and found the ingredients that the potion required. He grabbed the valerian roots and started to chop them. He put them in the potion and a blue steam was emitted from the top of his caldron.

The book called for the juices of a sopophorous bean and to cut it up to release them. 'But smashing it would release the most juices and leave out the unnecessary parts.' He thought as he smashed his bean and put the juice in the potion, turning the liquid a clear lilac color.

Reiner looked around at all the simple potions being made. It made him smile to see that many took the easy way out, only a few decided to try a potion that was third year level. That is, until he noticed the boy who had stated that he enjoyed potions. He stretched his neck to try and see what potion he was working on, since it was nothing like the others. He almost gasped when he recognized the pale pink color. He watched as the boy stirred it counterclockwise for seven turns, then one clockwise. He smirked. 'This kid noticed that the potion wasn't turning the color it was supposed to, so he added an extra stir at the most powerful magical number. He's a smart one.'

Fred continued to stir the potion until it was finally as clear as the instructions stated in the directions he was recalling. He wiped his forehead and sighed with a smile. But, he jumped, startled, when he noticed that Professor Reiner was sitting on a stool right in front of his caldron. "S-sir!"

Reiner leaned over. "Well well now. I can't believe you were able to make that so easily. That's the clearest Draught of the Living Death that I've ever seen, and I'm a master, young man. I'm not only amazed that you could make it, but without any instructions to boot since this particular potion is not in the third year book. In fact, it's a N.E.W.T. Level potion."

Louis looked up from the third year potion that he had been trying to make. He couldn't believe what Reiner had said. Apparently, neither had the other students. They started to whisper behind the Weasley cousins.

"Thirty points to Gryffindor and, do you mind if I keep this? I would like to test something." Reiner asked. Fred simply nodded. "Great! I'll go get some phials."

After class, many of the students surrounded the two Weasleys.

"I never knew you were that amazing in Potions, Fred!"

"We didn't know you were part Veela, Louis!"

Both boys were uncomfortable about the questions and comments being shot in their direction. Thankfully, the head girl of Hogwarts appeared.

"What's with this mob? Please go to your next class, third years." She said, causing most the students to dart past her.

"Oh no…" Louis muttered.

"Louis? Were you causing that mob? You should know better than to create such misconduct-"

"It wasn't anything like that, Victorie!" Louis yelled at his oldest sister. Victorie was a tall and beautiful young woman that resembled most of what their mother was. She had long, silver blond hair that was in a low braid now and had sharp, blue eyes. She was in her final year, a Gryffindor, and Head Girl.

She sighed. "Then what was it?"

Louis seemed to be embarrassed around his oldest sister. She was like the perfect child in the family, and he was more like the rouge. She strived for perfection while he was content with just passing. "They were just in awe that I was part Veela… that's all."

She glared at him. "There's no reason to flaunt that around."

"There's no reason to be ashamed of it, either!" He yelled back.

Fred slowly glanced around, glad that there was nobody in the corridor to hear them. He was suddenly starting to feel very hot.

"Well, whatever makes you happy. I'm leaving." She turned on her heel and walked away.

Louis's blue eyes glared off after her. "I really hate her."

"No you don't. You guys just don't see things the same." Fred replied. He glanced down and noticed that Louis's books were slightly singed. "Come on, we've got class."

Fred and Louis had never been close, but now that Fred was spending more time with him, he was starting to feel the same thing that he felt when he was around James.

By the end of the day, most of the students were exhausted, but Fred felt as if the day had been easy. Fred was lying on his bed when James fell onto his bed. "Hey there! Did you have a nice day?"

Fred shrugged, not wanting to look away from the book his sister had bought him before he went back to school. It was the first time he'd gotten a chance to read it.

"I heard about Potions. You and Louis standing out, you because you're just awesome in there and Louis because he's a little man harpy."

"Get off it. It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal. I know you're not going to like this, but we have some big mouthed relatives, and this is going to get back to our family, meaning all the adults are going to want to gather and talk with you about it."

Fred sighed. "Oh, that. That does suck a bit."

James army crawled up next to him so that they were lying parallel to each other. "So, have you decided yet?" He asked.

Fred groaned and closed his book. "Listen, I can't just jump at the thought like you, James. Something like this is illegal, and more importantly, it's dangerous. Do you really want to go through with this?"

James was just sitting there with a huge grin. "Hell yeah I want to, but the question is, do you? Hey, I'm going to do it with or without you. I just think having someone else there will make it easier."

Fred sat up. "Then why don't you ask Albus?"

James face darkened. "I don't want to drag him into this, at least yet. He's only been here a day. Besides, you're in your third year and you're a genius. I'm not throwing that around lightly, either."

Sighing, Fred looked up. "Then what about Louis?"

James thought about it for a moment. "Well, I was thinking about asking him, too. He wouldn't rat us out, that's for sure. Maybe, but do you think he'd be able to do it?"

Fred shrugged. "Listen. Go see Albus and talk to him, I'm sure he wants to talk to you. After that, I'll have my answer, okay?"

James smirked his usual smirk. "Fine. I'll be back later. You better have an answer!" He called as he tried to roll out of Fred's bed with no success. Landing on the floor, he moaned before jumping up and darting out of the dorm room.

Fred shook his head. He was about to open his book again when he heard something tapping on his window. He looked up and spotted a tan owl with black edging the feathers. He recognized this owl as the head of Gryffindor House, Professor Neville Longbottom. He stood up and took the note in the bird's beak.

Fred Weasley

Come down to my office, please. I would like to discuss your first day.

Professor Longbottom

"Now what does he want?" The redhead groaned. He stood and started to head out of the dorm.

"Maybe he just wants to ask you about your day… like the letter says." The voice chimed in his head.

"Be quite, you. And nothing is ever that simple." He muttered as to not attract attention to himself.

He opened the door to Longbottom's office and walked in. "Sir? You wanted to speak with me?"

Longbottom turned around in his chair, his hand holding the news paper. "Oh, yes I did. Did you day go smoothly?"

Fred wouldn't have called Potions smoothly, but he nodded anyways. "Of course. I'm not bragging when I say that I find most of my classes easy and boring."

"Or maybe, boring… because they are easy. You're not being challenged, are you?" Fred shook his head. "Even in Potions, where you were able to make a perfect Draught of the Living Death using your head alone."

Fred averted his eyes. "So you heard about that, did you?"

Longbottom put down the paper and leaned forward in his chair. "I did. Professor Reiner made sure to brag about you as if he created you. I'm just curious how you were able to make it so perfectly with no instructions what-so-ever."

The redhead didn't want anyone to know he had a photographic memory. His parents didn't even know about it. "I'm just good at remembering things, sir."

"But then, where did you read it? Not in your textbook, I'm sure."

Fred sighed. "I read it in my sister's potion book a while back. I can just… recall information like that." He said as he stared at the toad, still sitting in the same place.

Longbottom leaned back a bit. "Your sister, Roxanne, correct?" Fred nodded. "She was quite clever as well, if I'm correct. Head Girl, too. Well, anyways, Professor Reiner has a request of you. Professor!" He called into the fire. It soon turned green and out stepped the young Potions Master.

"Ah, you've brought him here, have you?" He said with a smile. "You are quite talented, Mr. Weasley. I was wondering if you would like to help me out this weekend on something. It's not for a grade, mind you, but I can assure you that you won't be bored and… it involves making potions." Reiner asked.

Fred scowled. "What kind of help?"

"Well, it's at the ministry in the Potions department. We'll be making a type of potion that fights against cursed injuries. It's quite difficult and I thought you might like to join me. I work part time with the Potions department and the Healers as well. What do you say?"

Fred glanced back at Longbottom, who had a kind smile on his face. "Well, okay. Just this weekend?"

Reiner smiled. "Yes. From Friday afternoon until Sunday night. You'll need to get your homework finished early, though, so that you don't have to rush Sunday night."

Fred nodded, not intending to do his homework until Monday morning anyway. "Very well, off with you." Reiner said.

Fred couldn't believe this. It was so out of the ordinary that he was still in a bit of shock. To be able to do something like this was incredible. For once, he was actually excited.

James wasn't there when he returned, but Rose was. He looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. She was trying to write something about the transfiguration she had done today, but she seemed to be stuck.

"Do you need help, Rose?" He asked. It startled her a bit.

"N-no… I can figure it out."

He read over her notes. "You transfigured a match into a needle? What do you have to write about?"

She tried to lean forward to prevent him from reading more of her work, but he had already seen it all. "Well, I was able to do it easily enough, but actually writing out the process and why we were assigned to transfigure something so simple… I can't seem to get it."

He looked at the book, but he didn't need to. He already knew this by heart, but knew better than to just give her the direct answers. "Well, the process… just think about what you had to do to make the transfiguration, and as for the reason why you were given such a simple task… think about the shapes of both objects, but also think about the properties of both objects. See what you can come up with now." He said with a light smile.

Rose blushed a bit and went back to work. He hadn't meant to embarrass her. This was another reason why he didn't like to be around his cousins, they all reacted to him in strange ways.

He walked over to the couch and dropped into it, now in a slightly bad mood. The fire flickered before his eyes, making them close. He felt as if he were falling asleep when someone came up and shook his head from side to side.

"Freddie! You in there?" James said with a smile. He seemed to be in a better mood now than when he left.

Fred looked out the window to see that the sky was no longer blue, but black. He realized that he had indeed fallen asleep after all. "You had your talk with Albus, then?"

James smiled as he took a seat next to his cousin. It wasn't his devious grin or devilish smirk, but a solid, sincere, smile. "Yeah." He sighed out. "He told me why he chose to go to Slytherin. You knew, of course… he told me that you two talked. I… have to admit that his idea is one that is going to be difficult, but I'm going to try and help him with it. You will too, won't you?" He asked, looked down at the redhead.

"Yeah, I think I will."

They sat in silence for a moment before James turned to look at him again. "So?"

"So what?" Fred automatically replied. James glared at him before he remembered. "Oh right, right…" He sighed. "Okay then, James. I'll become an illegal Animagus with you."

A/N: Chapter 2 is complete. I uploaded the first two chapters of the rewrite, I hope you like them. This is my first time writing after coming back from a very... long... Hiatus. I appologize for my absence, apparently my mind had been a little wanderstricken since I've got PCOS and a severly messed up Thyroid. It affects the thinking but I don't think that was the reason. Anyway, hope you enjoied the first two chapters.