OK, so I would like to point out that I have not gotten many reviews for this particular story…that's not good. I greatly appreciate reviews, no matter what they say. For all I care, it could say, "Silly rabbit, trix are for kids," because it's still a review, and that means that more likely than not that person read my story. So, please click on that little button at the bottom of the page that says review this chapter after you have read it and tell me what you think…good or bad. Thank you! Now, enough of this, on with the story!


Remus Lupin walked into Grimmauld Place's kitchen to investigate a loud exploding sound he had heard, and as expected he found the source there. Said source was the Weasley twins and Autumn Pendley sitting around a bubbling cauldron. One of the twins (he wasn't really sure which) was covered in an odd pink slime that seemed to sparkle and glow. The other two sat laughing as he glowered at them, until he seemed to get an idea. A mischievous grin on his face, he used his hands to gather as much of the goo as he could before wiping it all off onto Autumn's hair, getting some on her face in the process. She let out a shriek as she realized what was happening and jumped up from the table, backing away from it. She giggled as she said in a pathetic attempt at threatening him, "Oh no you don't! You stay away from me, Fred Weasley!"

The other twin, who was apparently George, laughed, earning slime on his shirt from Fred. He scowled, causing Fred to burst out laughing. Fred stood and approached Autumn, who stumbled over a chair as she tried to back further away. Remus chuckled and leaned against the doorframe, deciding to see how she would handle herself in this situation. "Oh come on, Autumn; don't you want to give me a hug? It'll be a huge insult if you don't," Fred teased, his arms wide open as he slowly walked towards her.

The blonde girl's eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape route. Reaching the other end of the table, Autumn turned her body towards Remus, apparently planning using him as a sort of shield from Fred's antics. "Well, then I am afraid that I am going to have to insult you terribly." Seeing her about to escape, Fred rushed towards her.

She squealed and ran towards the werewolf, but Fred apparated in front of her so she accidentally ran straight into his arms. He crushed her to his chest and whispered softly in her ear, "Gotcha."

Remus smiled as George laughed at the helplessly trapped look on Autumn's face. She had done well, but Fred had had two advantages: being legally old enough to use magic, and apparation. If it weren't for that, Remus suspected that she might have gotten away. Finally intervening, "All right, Fred, I think that's enough. However, I do have two questions: what is it really, and what are we going to tell Molly?"

The three teenagers laughed as Fred released Autumn, who now matched Fred. George answered, "No idea on both questions. Miss Coordination over there spilled the chocolate milk Fred had made her into our concoction that we had been working on."

Autumn giggled, obviously a little dizzy. Fred had sat down when he had started losing his sense of equilibrium, and they both seemed a little dazed. She said in a dreamy voice that would have made Luna Lovegood proud, "I made the cauldron go poof!"

Remus arched an eyebrow at George, who just shook his head and suppressed a grin as Autumn tripped over her own two feet and plopped into Fred's lap, who was looking extremely pleased at the moment. George said, "Apparently the side affect is getting high." However, as quickly as it came it went, leaving them totally sober and Autumn getting out of Fred's clutches. "Anyway, it exploded and covered Fred in that slime junk. As for what to tell Mum…" the redhead trailed off, losing himself in thought.

Autumn spoke up. "Well, what if we said you two were helping me get in some practice for potions class next year because I needed the help, and, being the klutz that I am, and spilled chocolate milk in it, resulting in this mess?"

All three guys' jaws dropped when she finished, all shocked that she had come up with such a spectacular cover-up story that was so perfect so quickly. The twins continued to stare in awe at the blonde witch as Remus said, "Yep, that ought to do it. Well, I'm getting out of here before I become guilty by association." With that, he left the room, passing Molly Weasley on the staircase as he headed for the library upstairs.


As the twins sat with Autumn in her bedroom before dinner, Fred watched Autumn as she sorted through her CDs, looking for a particular one that she said had her current favorite song on it. Her side-swept bangs fell into her eyes from behind her ear, and Fred had to fight back the urge to return it to its place. Suddenly she exclaimed, "Aha!" as she removed a CD from its case.

George asked, "What is it?"

She laughed softly, and the sound made Fred's heart race. "A muggle singer named Selena Gomez and her band The Scene."

George commented, "Sounds kind of weird."

Autumn shrugged. "Yeah, well, keep in mind that your wizard bands sound weird to muggles and muggle-borns like me. I mean really, the Weird Sisters? They're not even related…or girls." George started to argue, but she hushed him by saying, "Shh, listen," as the music started playing from the…what had she called it? Oh yeah, CD player.

How you choose to express yourself,

It's all your own and I can tell

It comes naturally, it comes naturally…

Fred noticed as Autumn began singing along with the CD, so softly he almost couldn't hear her, which was probably how it was supposed to be.

You follow what you feel inside,

Listen to it and you don't have to try,

It comes naturally,

Mmmm, it comes naturally,

A quick glance at George confirmed that he heard her too, but neither of them was about to stop her. At this time in her life, they were both surprised by how well she seemed to be recovering, and this was proof of just that.

And it takes my breath away,

What you do so naturally…

You are the thunder, and I am the lightning,

And I love the way you know who you are,

And to me it's exciting, when you know it's meant to be,

Everything comes naturally, it comes naturally,

When you're with me baby,

Everything comes naturally, it comes naturally,

Ba-ba-ba-baby,

You have a way of moving me,

A force of nature, your energy,

It comes naturally…

Autumn suddenly stopped singing, which disappointed Fred because he had enjoyed listening to her. He thought Autumn sang the song better than the actual singer (A/N: no offense to any Selena Gomez lovers out there, because I actually love her music and her voice, but sadly I don't own those), but that was just his personal opinion. She blushed furiously, obviously embarrassed at being caught singing along. Fred asked, "Autumn, what's wrong? Why'd you stop?"

She blushed even more as she mumbled, "Well, um, it's just that, well, I don't like to sing in front of people. I mean, I guess I'm just shy about it because I know I'm not very good. I know I'm not terrible; I'm just not…good."

The twins stared at her in disbelief. George demanded, "Who on earth was tone-deaf enough to tell you that you can't sing? I thought you sounded great!"

She said without thinking, "Well, my par—" She stopped mid-word, the harshness of reality hitting her yet again when she realized what she had been about to say. Swallowing hard, she began again, "My parents…used to hear me singing in my bedroom. They'd say that I sounded like a dying cat. I know they were making a joke out of it, but that was just their way of saying it nicely. They still meant it though, and I knew they meant it; I just never let it get to me. I mean, the door was always closed, making the sound change a bit, but they were probably right. Point is, I can't sing, so please don't do something stupid like try to make me sing in front of anyone."

Fred gave her a look of innocence. "Now tell me, Miss Pendley, what makes you think we'd try to do that?"

She smiled and gave him a playful shove, which he allowed to push him so that his back was on the bed. "Because, Mr. Weasley, you and your brother here are prone to doing stupid things like stage a karaoke night or something and force me to sing in front of a bunch of people, and I would greatly appreciate it if you two would just let this be."

The twins exchanged looks, but before any comments could be made, Ginny came in and said nervously, "Um, guys? Mum has supper ready down in the kitchen." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the boys aparrated to the kitchen, and Molly's scream could be heard immediately after. Ginny rolled her eyes as Autumn got up and joined the redhead for the walk downstairs. Ginny asked, "So how are you holding up, Autumn?"

She shrugged. "Not bad. Still struggling a bit, but hiding it well. I'm surprised, but your brothers Fred and George have actually been a big help."

Ginny got a mischievous smile on her face that rivaled the twins'. "Yeah, I've heard. So, you and Fred, huh? I can see that happening." At the confused look from her best friend, she said, "Professor Lupin told me about the slime incident. Sounds like you two have it bad. Let me know how it works out."

Autumn was about to deny anything going on between them, but they had reached the kitchen, and Molly had pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh, good to see you're doing better, dearie," she said before pushing her towards a plate of food in a very motherly fashion.

Rolling her eyes, Autumn sat down between Fred and Ginny. Fred snaked his left arm around the blonde, making her jump. He glanced over to make sure she was ok and found that he had just surprised her. Meeting his gaze, she blushed and dropped her eyes to her plate. She hoped that she would be basically ignored for the rest of the meal, but alas, no such luck was found. Ron, in an attempt to get his older brothers in trouble, said casually, "So, Autumn, I heard that you, Fred, and George were down here making a potion this afternoon, when you started snogging them and stopped paying attention to the potion, and it exploded."

Molly screeched, "WHAT! You two said that you were helping her study for next year when she spilled chocolate milk into the cauldron, and exploded!"

Autumn interjected, "Which is exactly what happened, Mrs. Weasley. I don't know where that ridiculous rumor came from, but if I had to guess, Ron just made it up to get Fred and George into trouble. I assure you, Mrs. Weasley; I have never kissed a Weasley, and I don't intend to ever do so. It would just inflate these two's egos too much; heck, their egos are already too big as it is."

Fred poked her side, making her squeal and try to wriggle out of the prankster's grasp, but to no avail. Autumn found herself being pulled over to him and being tickled mercilessly until Molly hit Fred on the back of the head with a wooden spoon. "Enough, Fred; leave her alone," she scolded as everyone else laughed at the two of them. Fred reluctantly released his captive, but he made certain to leave an arm around her waist possessively. Autumn scooted as far away from him as his arm would allow, still giggling. He gave her a roguish grin before returning to his unfinished meal. She returned to hers as well, thinking, He is something else.