AN: This is actually a new chapter! I'm starting to branch out a bit more in my PoV's- this had Al's, Rose's, Oliver's and a tiny bit of Jack's. I think this is also the first one where Professor McGonagall has lines (I know shed be really old by now, but look at Dumbledore, he was headmaster for at least as long). To make up for the long gap and the annoying chapter edits this is extra long, almost 3,500 words!
Disclaimer – I seem to have run out of interesting ways of saying 'I don't own Harry Potter'.
Sure Fire Winners
Chapter 4 – 7 More Weeks
Al was getting worried. It had been weeks- weeks –and no one had seen hide nor hair of Jack and Oliver's amazing plan. It was now almost Hallowe'en and all that had happened in almost two months had been some minor mischief; a few cauldrons blown up, floating books in the library, oh, and some catnip which mysteriously appeared in McGonagall's desk; nothing out of the ordinary really. Al couldn't help but remember the whispered conversations and hastily hidden pieces of parchment shared between the two brothers and the Scamander twins. All four of whom had been acting rather odd lately, and their excitement could not be explained away by in being the 29th of October.
He leaned back uneasily onto the red sofa, the prospect of an imminent prank not helping him relax in the red and gold common room. Scorpius sat next to Al fidgeting, trying to watch everyone at once, causing a small circle to form around the two Slytherins.
"I know your brother said it would be alright but does this seem a bit awkward to you?" Scorpius mumbled to his friend.
"It would be better if he hadn't gone off to find the twins. I think he's in on that prank- Jack and Oliver are gone to."
"Must be something big for them to spend this long planning it and for them to have to ask Third Years for help. You know how they hate involving other people."
"Somehow, Scorpius, this isn't making me feel any better."
Scorpius retort was cut short as a couple of second years, who had been eyeing them for fifteen minutes finally approached them.
"What are you doing here?" said the first boy.
"James let us in," Al answered calmly, really not wanting to start an argument with two boys a year older than them, at least two inches taller than them, in the middle of the Gryffindor Common room, which was currently packed.
"That doesn't mean we want a couple of cowardly snakes in here. Get out."
Apparently Scorpius didn't share Al's reasoning, as he stood up quickly, tilting his head slightly to stare the second boy in the eyes.
"Make us."
"Scorp," whispered Albus under his breath, "we are ridiculously outnumbered. Now is not the time to pick a fight."
The second years didn't hear and neither did the rest of the house as the two boys had been left stranded in the middle of an ever-growing circle. Really- where was a Prefect when you needed one?
"Oh, we will," said the first, slowly drawing his wand, the other copying the motion. Scorpius did the same pulling his wand out, holding it tightly by his side, subtly pointing it at the boy who appeared to be the leader, ready to defend him and Al.
"Scorpius, this is a really bad idea," repeated Albus, slightly louder, "Maybe we should just go."
"No. We're visiting James and Jack and Oliver. We've got as much right to be here as anyone else."
"You should listen to your little friend blondie. Now run off like cowardly little Slytherins you are."
That just about did it for Albus. Trying to get him to leave a common room, which wasn't actually his, was one thing. Insulting his best friend and house was completely different. As fast as most of the onlookers could blink Al had jumped to his feet, strode the few steps between them and the two Gryffindors, and drawn his wand which was now pointed straight at the boy's throat.
"What did you just say?" he hissed at the boy, who now looked extremely startled. Apparently he hadn't expected 'cowardly little Slytherins' to fight back, especially not ones so much smaller than him; especially, especially when they were outnumbered roughly twenty to one.
The boy had gone crossed eyed trying to stare at the wand pointed at him, and his friend was being no help what-so-ever, as he had also frozen once Scorpius had pointed his wand at him just daring him to try and hurt Al. Albus guessed the two weren't extremely popular, as no-one had jumped in to rescue their house mates, as he had been half expecting to happen.
"Nu… Nothing. Nothing at all. Just admiring how logical you were being in the situation?" he wittered, desperately trying to back pedal through their 'conversation'.
Just as quickly as it had appeared, Al's wand was stowed back in his pocket, though it was still held tight in his hand- just because they were Gryffindors didn't mean he trusted them to not hex him when his back was turned.
"You know Scorpius," he called to his friend, without taking his eyes off the two still-frozen boys, "I think we've out stayed our welcome. Want to go back to the dungeons?"
"Yeah, it's too red up here anyway."
With that they left the tower, walking briskly down the corridor and round the corner so no one could see how much they were shaking. Two small first years had probably never been the centre of so much attention.
"Bloody hell Al."
"I know."
"That was…"
"I know."
"Reckon McGonagall and Melarithmos will kill us?"
"Possibly…"
"Reckon we'll ever be allowed back in? I mean it was pretty cool up there, even if it was all red."
"Probably."
Scorpius nodded, apparently out of questions and let his head droop forward as Al's flopped back against the wall. After a few seconds the blonde spoke again.
"We should probably get going. Y'know, before anyone comes out."
"Good point," replied Al and the two hurried away, taking as many short-cuts as they could remember to get back to the safety of the green and black dungeon as fast as possible.
Scorpius and Al were lazing on one of the long green sofas in the Slytherin common room, a lot more relaxed than they had been in the tower. For one thing no-one was staring at them and also the lack of people threatening to hex them also helped.
"Al, Scorpius," called Nate, who had just come through the wall into the dungeon,
"Jack and Oliver are outside. They really want to talk to you."
"Kay, thanks Nate."
"I reckon I know what they want to talk about, don't you Scorp?"
"Yeah. Think they'll be mad about us fighting in their common room."
"Depends how much everyone likes those other boys. And we didn't technically fight, more trading threats."
The two flopped off the sofa a left the common room.
Sure enough two brothers were leaning against the stone wall opposite the entrance. As the two Slytherins appeared and then wall shut behind them and the two pushed themselves off the wall in a matching movement.
"Is it true-"
"-what everyone's saying?" The two said, completing each other's sentences in their haste.
"Depends." Started Scorpius, "If they're saying we're planning on dying our hair pink and changing house, then no."
"But," continued Al, "if they're saying we were almost in a duel in Gryffindor Tower, then yes."
The two Gryffindor's eyes widened and Jack pulled the tie out his hair, adding to his dishevelled appearance.
"Wow."
"We're dead, aren't we? There were a tonne of people in there and they're going to be so mad."
"You are kidding right?" quipped Jack, swinging his tie over his shoulder.
"It was Williams and Campbell. Everyone hates them and thinks they're a couple of complete Slyth-" Oliver cut himself off mid-sentence as he remembered who he was talking to, covering his confusion by grabbing Jack's tie and tying it around his head.
Al crossed his arms and Scorp glared frostily at the boy.
"Please, do continue. We never did get to hex those second years."
"I…Well, it's just… You know… They…" he flustered wildly, turning to his brother to help, who just raised his hands in a 'I'm-not-getting-involved' gesture. Al and Scorp exchanged a glance and the two split into grins.
"Yeah we know, just stop flapping. It doesn't suit you."
Oliver tried to glare back, realising he had just been made a fool of, failing miserably as he started laughing with Jack.
"So you seriously almost hexed them?" he asked after having recovered.
"I didn't," Scorpius defended himself, "Al almost hexed them."
"Al?" the two said in shock.
"Yes, me. No need to sound so surprised."
"Yeah it's just, you're, well you're…"
"Al." supplied Jack
"Exactly. You're Al. You don't do fights."
"Well apparently he does when people insult his friends and house," grinned Scorp, slinging his arm around his friend's shoulders.
"Guys?" asked Al, "Why do you only have one tie between you. And why are you using it as a hairband?"
The two brothers grinned, "Well, you see…"
Jack sat on a desk in an empty classroom, his head resting against the wall behind him. One arm was resting on his leg, folded up in front of him, the other hanging lazily off the desk. His long hair was tied up with his red and gold striped tie which he was fiddling with. Oliver was lying on a desk opposite, his jumper discarded on the floor and sleeves rolled up, tie flicking into his face slightly as his head hung off the edge of the desk.
"Do you think they're ever gonna turn up? We've been waiting for ages."
"I know, so much for punctual- we need to finish this planning. Everything needs to be exactly right."
Silence fell again and Jack returned to flipping his tie about while Oliver drummed his fingers. Finally the door opened and the Scamander twins entered.
"Finally, we've been here forever."
"Thought we were going to die of boredom."
"Oh come on," countered Andy, "You've only been here five minutes."
"I thought there were wrackspurts outside the library," explained Lorcan to which the three boys just rolled their eyes, "It was very noisy."
"Five minutes too long," replied Jack, "now have you got everything with you?"
Andy indicated his satchel, which was full of rolls of parchment which were covered in jotted down spells and plans.
"Good. Lets get started then."
Arya and Rose walked into the Great Hall, giddy with excitement; it was finally Hallowe'en, the night of the big prank. They were probably going to get into heaps of trouble for helping the boys but it would definitely be worth it.
Their eyes lit up as they entered the hall; the enchanted ceiling was a deep blue with a spattering of twinkling silver stars. In the place of the customary candles were dozens of floating pumpkins, the guttering candles inside them causing them to seem even more menacing. The room was already half full of other students eager to start the feast, chattering noisily.
The girls checked their protective charms for the fifth time that evening and sat down at the Ravenclaw table with the other first year girls- as much fun as the rest of their gang was it was possible to get bored hanging out with guys all the time.
The girls began chattering about the new Muggle albums one of their roommates had been sent by their cousin, 'Culture Vultures'. The conversation quickly spiralled away, resting momentarily on the upcoming Quidditch match, their Charms homework assignment and Arya's older brother who left Hogwarts last June and was now working in the department of Magical Transportation and had started a petition to bring back flying carpets to Britain.
As it began to near the end of the feast and the piles of cakes, sweets and candied fruits had dwindled to crumbs Arya looked up at the ceiling and nudged Rose.
"Look," she whispered, stopping herself from pointing just in time, "it's almost ready."
Sure enough, unnoticed by the rest of the students the pumpkins floating above had started to pulse and swell. Rose caught Jack's eye across the tables and he grinned, jerking his head upwards. Her eyes followed where he was indicating and saw the pumpkin above Williams and Campbell had grown to twice its original size and was glowing faintly green. Al wasn't the only one who didn't take his friends being insulted well.
Rose looked back to the brothers who were mouthing together 'five, four, three, two, one'.
The pumpkins exploded.
Students screamed as orange pulp rained down on them, Arya, Rose and the four Gryffindor boys protected by their shield charms. The girls watched, Arya in glee and Rose slightly apprehensively, as the flesh of the giant pumpkin hit Williams and Campbell, drenching them in orange gloop. Her apprehension disappeared and was replaced with a grin identical to Arya's as the two boys wiped it off their faces, flicking the globules onto the floor, revealing their skin which was now bright green. Not noticing the growing circle of silence around them the two shook their heads, sending the gunk flying. Nearby girls squealed and tried to get out of the line of fire of the charmed pumpkin pieces and the boys began snickering slightly; to match their sickly green skin they now had silver hair.
Jack and Oliver- two of the six people left in the whole school without their hair or skin dyed orange in patches- leant over.
"Since you like Slytherin so much we thought you might like to wear their colours."
"For a month," added Oliver, high-fiving his brother.
The crack of the two hands meeting broke the tension and the students started laughing, chatting and complaining. Arya turned to the Slytherin table and gave Al and Scorp a thumbs up.
This went on for a few minutes, Gryffindor congratulating the four boys, clapping them on the back and laughing at Williams and Campbell, both of whom were still in shock at the thought of having to be green and silver for an entire month. At the Ravenclaw table the first and second years were looking at Arya and Rose in awe, amazed that the two girls- the same ones that always did their homework, didn't ever talk in class and – as far as they knew- didn't even pass notes –had been involved in what had to be the most impressive prank so far that year.
Professor McGonagall steeped up to the head teacher's podium and the room fell silent immediately. She surveyed the room taking in the orange students, the green and silver Gryffindors and the six (mostly) immaculate children.
"Scamanders, Hitchens, Das, Weasley, please report to my office immediately. Williams, Campbell, if you would go to the Hospital Wing, I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be able to return you to your original... colours."
With that she stepped away from the podium and walked out the hall, striding towards her office.
"I told you this was a bad idea," hissed Rose to her best friend, "Didn't I say we would get caught, that we would get in trouble?"
"Relax," replied Arya, walking confidently to the office, head held high and braids swinging behind her. "From what you've told me about your family, I'd say that your dad and uncles'll be proud."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Which ones? Given the size of my family that's practically half the Wizarding world."
Arya snorted at the joke, "Probably is. I meant the ones that own a joke shop."
Rose paused mid-step. "Y'know I think you're probably right. I just really don't want a detention, or to lose house points."
"Then you shouldn't have helped look up those charms."
"Yes, but-" Arya gave her a look. "Fine, let's just get this over with."
With that she grabbed her friends arm and dragged her up the spiral staircase after the boys.
Oliver stepped into the circular office and actually tugged the red and gold tie off his head, leaving it to hang loosely around his neck. The room was filled with small gadgets and inventions, all whistling, clicking, whirring and cluttering up every available space. Probably left over from when Dumbledore was headmaster- he did a quick calculation in his head –twenty years. Wow.
McGonagall was either extremely sentimental or as obsessed with tradition as every other witch and wizard over the age of thirty. Speaking of the old man. Oliver looked up at the walls covered with portraits of the old headmasters and mistresses, or at least their back drops. A majority of them were pretending to snooze while watching the six children gathered in the centre of the room. Being a painting must really dull. Two of the old heads caught his eye- one with long white hair and twinkling blue eyes and the other with dark hair and eyes. So that's who Al is named after.
McGonagall turned to face them, addressing the two fourth years first. "Lorcan, Lysander, this I have come to expect from you, if not at this scale, but encouraging first years? What exactly were you thinking?"
Oliver glanced at Jack, who at some point had tied his hair up again and saw him nod slightly. Time for that famous Gryffindor courage. The two stepped forward.
"Actually Professor, it was our idea."
"And we approached the twins."
"And Arya and Rose."
"And decided to specifically target those two worms."
"But in our defence we were provoked."
"Really? How were you provoked enough to deem it necessary to dye the two boys green and silver?"
"They insulted Al and Scorpius personally and also their house and tried to start a fight with them."
Oliver tried to stop his mouth twitching into a smile as he heard one of the paintings snort. Obviously they weren't the only ones with a sense of humour.
"Well as admirable as your loyalty and this house unity are I cannot condone you actions." She turned back to the twins, "Is this true?"
The two Scamanders looked at each other, both obviously undergoing an internal debate- should they agree, to tell the truth and try and lessen their fall or protect their new friends and get into even more trouble than they already were? Oliver decided to save them the effort and crossed his arms, clearing his throat.
"Yes it's true." Sighed Lorcan, his sing-song lilt toned down due to the seriousness of the situation.
"But," cut in Andy, who had always been more sensible than his two-minutes-younger brother, "they didn't force us to do anything and we gave them a lot of help organising and planning everything."
The headmistress nodded, apparently satisfied with their answer and turned to the girls. Arya stared back defiantly, not being brave so much as ridiculously cocky, while Rose in complete contrast was staring down at her shiny black patent shoes and shuffling her feet.
"Miss Das, I can't say I'm surprised that you are involved with this given that these two," she glared at jack and Oliver, "were, but Miss Weasley I expected more of you. So far you have been remarkably sensible and mature. Why did you feel the need to get mixed up in this debarkle?"
The small red-head shuffled her feet some more before glancing up at the teacher.
"Well you see, a month ago-"
"A month ago?"
"We said it took a lot of planning," cut in Andy.
"Well Jack and Oliver said they had this really great idea, but needed help with some of the magic and since me and Arya are dead smart could we help them research and learn some charms."
"And you just agreed without asking what they planned?" questioned McGonagall, apparently doubting that the girl should have been sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Oh no Professor," began Arya, speaking for the first time since entering the office, "I got them to tell us exactly what they wanted to do. I thought it sounded really funny so I talked Rose into helping too, but all the credit for Williams and Campbell has to go to them. We didn't even know until about five seconds before the pumpkins exploded."
McGonagall blinked, surprised at the girl's honesty.
"Well thank you, Miss Das, for telling me. How long will the charms last for?"
Arya pretended to ponder the question- they all knew the answer.
"Well Professor, I'd say for about a month."
To this the Headmistress just pursed her lips, past the point of being surprised by their prank. "I don't suppose there is a way to remove the charm to return them to normal?"
"Nope."
"Well in that case all that remains is your punishment. A detention to each of you with your respective heads of house, you will lose twenty points each and I shall be writing to your parents."
The twins considered this for a moment before deciding that it could be a lot worse.
"Fair enough. May we return to our common rooms now Professor?"
"Yes, please do."
AN: I know I made Rose sound like a complete wimp in this, but there has to be a reason she didn't end up in Gryffindor, and I don't think she's that different from Hermione in first year- she'll get better, I promise . When calling out last names McGonagall called Jack and Oliver 'Hitchens' which is their last name as of now. Bob Hitchens was married to Isla Black who was disowned for marrying a Muggle/ Muggleborn (the Blacks didn't differentiate between the two) so they are their descendants. I just thought it would be cool if they were (very) distantly related to the Potters, Weasleys, and Tonkses.
You may also have noticed by now that this is basically a collection of one shots (I was trying to make it sort of like The Mormfongs – amazing story!) so if anyone has any requests or ideas for the end of first year and second year please put them forward!
I was thinking about putting their letters from their parents and/or Rose's family's reaction when they get their letter from McGonagall into a one-shot. Who would read this?
R&R please( especially about that ^)!
Chance x
