A/N: Thanks so much to all the fantabulous people that reviewed my last chapter! You're the greatest! I'm really sorry it has taken so LONG for me to update! I promise the future chapters will be out way sooner.
Rememberal: Fred has just stolen a blank piece of parchment from Filches' office whilst George distracted Filch.
Fred moaned as he collapsed onto the soft, plump armchair of the Gryffindor Common Room. Where the hell was George? He paused for a moment and heard the once distant yells of students become louder and more urgent. The Fat Lady's portrait opened and George appeared bright red and gasping for air. Behind him, a large group of students stood fuming at him having had to hastily create a pathway for George to run through.
George clung to his knees, doubled over, trying to regain his breath. Satisfied, he stumbled over to Fred. His voice was irregular and bitter.
"Never… EVER… race Mrs Norris." As an afterthought, he added, "Bloody cat could win international cross-country paws down." He chuckled and threw himself at the nearest armchair. He groaned and shot an icy glare at Fred. "Our reward better be worthwhile."
Fred had momentarily forgotten about the parchment that was still clamped in his hand. He glanced down at it and released his grip on it ever so slightly.
"Well, brother. You will be pleased to know that I did manage to grab an item. As you will understand –"
"ONE ITEM! JUST. ONE. SODDING. ITEM! AFTER ALL OF OUR INTENSIVE TRAINING SESSIONS, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAVE LEARNT BETTER! GINNY WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER THAN THAT! WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? Sodding unbelievable–"
Fred cleared his throat loudly to silence his brother. "As you will understand, GEORGE, all items in that cabinet were… supposed… to be kept away from prying eyes. Every item there must be dangerous enough (Fred's eyes gleamed maniacally at this) to be confiscated and locked up. It's marvellous that we even own ONE of those items. Mind you, we do already own about fifty items that ought to be confiscated immediately." Fred chuckled and slid out of his armchair to walk over to George, who was still slightly angry at his brother for his bad judgement. Once Fred reached George, he held out the piece of parchment for George to study. George turned from slightly angry to rather sarcastic.
"Blank parchment. Oh my god, Fred. How wonderful! My brother is a genius!" He reached up to Fred and gave him a large bear hug, smothering his cheek in wet, slobbery kisses.
"George!" Fred's voice was muffled as he yelled to his brother's black robes. "Geroff me!"
George released Fred's head, faux-reluctant, and Fred rolled his eyes.
"I thought we could use this lunchtime to see what it is before Potions."
"And lunch is when, exactly?" Fred dismissed George with a wave of his hand. His eyes were glazed over in concentration – searching the parchment for anything that may be a clue.
Lee sauntered into the Common Room and spotted the twins hunched over the parchment and made a beeline towards them. Staring for a moment at their glassy eyes and vacant expressions as they turned the paper over and over again, he decided to finally say something.
"Guys, you're wizards!" George's head shot up and hit Fred's face as he tried to look at the parchment beneath George's head. Fred grabbed his nose and glared at his brother while Lee chuckled.
"Really?" Fred asked.
"Are you serious?" George added, over-excited.
"THAT'S AMAZING!" The twins spoke simultaneously – eerily – in the way they often did. Lee gave the twins a sarcastic smile.
"I, Lee Jordan, along with my mischievous friends – Fred and George Weasley, command you to reveal the secrets you conceal!" Lee said, hitting the map with his wand.
The threesome huddled together and stared at the parchment where dainty, green handwriting began to appear as though an invisible hand was writing upon it.
Mr Padfoot extends his greetings and is excited to learn that Mr Filch has some hard times ahead of him.
George chuckled and looked at Fred, "'Fraid Filch's already gone mental trying to prove we're the ones that bewitched the snowballs to attack him every time he threatened fellow Hogwarters with detention!"
Mr Prongs is eager to gain knowledge of mischievous pranks being pulled on unsuspecting pupils.
Lee smirked at the twins, "They couldn't even guess."
Mr Wormtail entirely agrees with Mr Prongs and would like to reveal the secrets of this parchment.
Fred glanced over at George, perplexed.
Mr Moony concurs with Mr Wormtail yet reminds him that revealing the password is prohibited among Marauders.
George sighed before looking at the parchment one last time.
Mr Prongs would like to wish Mr Jordan, Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley good-day and wishes them all the best at guessing the password.
Lee, defeated, sank back into his chair, "Guess?" he groaned. "How the hell are we supposed to guess?"
"Gentlemen, the guessing game begins!"
"Alright!"
"Malfoys SUCK!"
"Appropriate passwords, Lee!"
"Right. Yes, SIR!"
"Pranks! Jokes! Mischief! Trouble?"
The parchment stayed blank. Not a word formed on its old, wrinkled surface.
"Marauders rock my world of flying inflatable sheep!"
George glanced at Fred. "Take that back. I seriously don't want a kid with an imagination as my brother!"
The threesome's lunchtime was pretty much a waste of time. It seemed easy enough for the twins to guess a password, having broken into their parent's room many times when they were younger to glimpse what their birthday presents may be.
No matter what the three of them guessed, the map stayed resolutely blank.
For the second time that day, George was running. Running being an understatement. He was flying along the corridors, skidding around corners and yelling at Fred and Lee for not checking their watches. George liked to call himself multi-talented.
"I cannot imagine" (his trainers squealed as he turned a tight corner) "what Snape's face is going to look like" (he sped down the dark, damp corridor leading towards the Dungeons) "when he finds us twenty minutes late" (he jumped down the stairs four at a time) "for his exciting class" (he slammed to a halt outside the door) "all about dungwax."
Fred and Lee skidded to a halt right behind him.
Fred peered into the keyhole of the dungeon door. "Oh. Damn." The class was deathly silent and not a word came from any of the students as Professor Snape held up a jar of brown, gluggy, melted wax. His voice was harsh and bitter – he obviously hadn't had a very good day.
"Okay. On the count of three… we back away slowly and pretend that we were sick all afternoon. 1… 2…" Fred's whispering was completely ignored by the other two, who were communicating in very fast, exaggerated movements. They seemed to be having no luck at all at portraying their messages, as each was now shaking their heads and pummelling their fists into their open hands. They both wore very angry expressions.
Unfortunately, it was that very moment that Snape paused his lecture for a dramatic effect. The class could now hear a series of quite frantic thumps issuing from just outside the classroom door. No one dared turn their head to have a look, as Snape's eyes narrowed into thin slits of dark ice.
When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper, yet every single person in the class understood exactly what he meant and understood that the consequences of disobeying would be unforgiving.
"You will all be silent."
And with that, he strode to the door and flung it open. George and Lee were caught half-way through a miming act, and Fred was bending over, trying to look through the keyhole.
Snape stared at the three of them for a full minute, the silence loudly echoing off the walls. No one dared move.
"Detention. Eight o'clock. Here." Snape paused. "Every night for the rest of the term." Fred lowered his head and looked at Snape with very aggressive eyes. "How does it feel to also lose one hundred and fifty house points on top of detention? Pleasurable? Stimulating? Fun?"
Snape smirked and turned to face the class; who were all turned in their seats to get a better view of what was going on at the door of their classroom.
"Class dismissed." And with that, Snape strode past the three 'detention-seekers' and climbed the stairs of the dungeon as the bell finally sounded.
A/N: As for the next chapter, good things come to those who wait and review often!