"You know, they say that the hauntings stopped for years- And started again this year. The screaming." Grace said, leaning against her friend as the walked down the end of the Hogsmade Village. The girls were not alone- Most of the third year students had made their way to the edge of the village, and many old groups as well. You could hear them all whispering stories about the Shack to one another.
"Oh, please." Marci snorted. "Surely you don't believe anything really happens there. It's probably just someone pranking." She sighed.
"OH, but there isn't." A fifth year Hufflepuff boy pipped up from behind them. "See, My Gran lives just over there." He pointed to a small cottage behind a stone fence. "Has my whole life- and most of her own. She said the Shack was always quiet- Empty. And when my Mum was in school- The screaming started. Gran said it was inhuman. Said folks around the village tried to find someone willing to go see- But no one ever would. They even talked about seeing if a Muggle Priest could come." The boy said.
"Woah." Grace said quietly. "How- Wow."
"Oh please. It's just some local colour." Marcelline snorted. "Grace- Really?"
"Well why not?" Grace ask, "The castle is crawling with ghosts!"
"Precisely! One of which murdered another! And yet no one fears being near them!" Marci reminded her- Thinking back to the Bloody Barron and Grey Lady.
"Well-" The boy repeated, leaning closer to Marci, one eyebrow raised, "What sort of ghost is only active on the full moon?"
Marci scoffed outwardly- But inside she was very much done with this conversation. She turned on her heels and headed back toward the bigger part of town- Half in mind to go find some ice cream. It took a moment before Grace caught up to her. "Greg didn't mean it, you know." She said, gesturing back toward the Hufflepuff fifth year who had joined another group of students. "He loves to tell stories."
"Didn't mean what?" Marcelline ask calmly, opening the door to the sweets shop.
"To annoy you." She replied.
"Why would I care if he did?" Marci ask again, turning to face her friend. Grace's cheeks burned bright red. Marci grinned. "Oh, My little Gracie- Do you fancy him?" She joked, shrugging her arm into her friend. Grace shook her head viciously.
"No!" She defended.
"You totally do!" She said, laughing. "Or you wouldn't care what I thought."
"Oh. Heads up." Grace said, nodding to the door where Fred and George Weasley had just entered with Lee Jordan.
"Marci!" All three exclaimed at once. "So very glad we found you." Lee added.
"Yes, see- We have something set up. A- Party of sorts." George said, laying a few knuts on the counter to pay for her treat as they ushered her away- only giving her long enough to shrug at Grace, who smiled and waved Marci off.
"Party?" She ask, following along as Lee and George walked at her sides, Fred in front of them, walking backwards.
"Well- among other things. We have a few of our products ready for testing. We just need somewhere to hold such an event." Fred explained.
"And I need to be a part of these shenanigans for what reason, remind me?" She ask, looking at all three boys.
"Actually- there are two reasons for that. Number one- We thought if we could use an empty classroom, say, the dueling room in the defense wing..." Lee trailed off.
"Then we could have someone a real bang opening. But we need a man on the inside- Or in this case- A Daddy's Girl." Fred ended the thought. Marci narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Somehow, she was not surprised that they wanted to use her for such a reason- But she was a bit surprised that it took them nearly a month into the school year to decide to act on it.
"Whats the other reason?" She ask, adjusting and crossing her arms over her chest. Lee and Fred both grinned over at George.
"We just enjoy your company, of course." Lee said, giggling with Fred. Marci shook her head again.
"I don't understand." She admitted. "My dad would never allow such a thing. Trust me, I never get to have parties. That will not change now." The twins exchanged a look that seemed to signal they were picking up on the young witch's annoyance.
"No, no. We don't want you to get him in on it. We want you to distract him." George said. "You know, make sure he doesn't happen down in that part of his wing."
"You could distract him better than any of our normal go to professor distractions." Lee said.
"Pretend to have a problem. Or maybe you need help with a school project." Fred offered. At this, Marci laughed out loud.
"You know this man has literally been through every grade I've ever gotten with me. I haven't ever gotten a bad grade in my life." She knew this sounded a bit cocky- but it was true. She wasn't allowed to do poorly on anything, not that her father was ever harsh with her; on the contrary, Remus simply pushed Marci to be good at everything and to make herself into a well rounded individual. He felt that her grades, and many extra activities such as five years of ballet and two extra languages would give her what he claimed was "the necessary skillset to overcome her parentage". Marci took this to mean he wanted to make sure she was so impressive on a resume that being a werewolf's daughter would not hold her back.
"Well- Can't you just make something up?" George pleaded, he grabbed one of her hands a tugged as he ask. "Please?"
"It's not like we will have another opportunity as good as this, again, like, ever!" Lee reminded her. "And besides, all the times you caused trouble with us before you knew they'd write to your dad if you got caught and that never stopped you before."
"Because she never gets caught, remember?" Fred reminded his friend.
"But my dad would know. He always knows." Marci informed them.
"Which is why you're our best bet." Fred said. "Come on, Marci. For us?!" He pulled Lee and George close and as if on cue all three boys batted their eyelashes and pouted their lips. Marcelline sighed heavily, a deep feeling of guilt sitting in the base of her stomach.
"Alright." She agreed, "But let me look at a calendar first and tell you when to plan it." She said. She hated herself for giving in, but really there was no harm in what they were planning, only that it violated some very minor school rules. She decided if she could get them to hold their party of an evening just after the full moon, she might be able to pull off what they ask of her.
"And you're sure that everything is set?" Lee ask, peaking around the door to the old dueling classroom as he started ushering students in. It was a Saturday afternoon, the day after the full moon, and Marci had just went to check up on her father and found him asleep.
"Sure, I'm sure she nodded, as she handed a box Fred had passed her over to George. "Should be completely clear all evening."
"Good." Fred nodded, watching other students as they started to come in. "Lee, you did remember to leave Granger and the 'Darling' Head Boy off the list, right?" He ask his twin, who nodded to confirm.
"Well, course I did, I'm not an idiot!" George called back. At this point, the room was beginning to get quite crowded. The three boys took the dueling stage and Lee held up a hand an shouted to get everyone to look up their way.
"Thank you all for coming to our little get together." Fred started.
"As you all know we, along with our very good mate, Lee, have long been in the business of mischief- But we have as of late decided to make that business-" George started to explain.
"A business." Fred completed. "And as such, we need to show our loyal fans,"
"You lot, in other words," Lee added.
"Right, we need to have ourselves a showcase." George finished. "So if you will please, we have four stations. Each one has a few things we've been working on. Lee has one, right there." He pointed to the corner table, "I'll be here." He gestured to the far end of the dueling stage, "Fred will be at the table close to the door. And Marcelline will be on the other end of the stage."
"So without anymore chatting about," Lee clapped his hands, "Let's party."
Students scattered about and soon the room was so buzzed with activity that both Lee and Marcelline felt the need to add additional layering of silencing charms to the door. There was laughter and shouting all about, so loud that Marci almost felt her head might erupt. But it was great fun, a much needed getaway from walking the straight and narrow to avoid getting in trouble because her father was now at school and could catch her personally. Marci could escape at school without getting in trouble easily- She was either always too far in the background of commotion to be noticed or she'd learned how to talk so smoothly she never got in any real trouble. But such had never been the case at home. It was as if her father knew all her tricks ahead of her.
Marci was blowing bubbles which made rude noises of various bodily functions when the popped for a group of first years, who all jumped trying to get ahead of each other to pop the bubbles before each other. She had to admit they were a clever gag, and loads of fun for pretty much any age. From what Marci could see, everything they had out for students to try out seemed to be hilarious and very magically sound. She was just standing on her tiptoes to see what else the boys had out when the door slammed against the wall behind her, and the entire room feel into silence.
"What, exactly, is going on here?" Remus called, his voice booming and angry. He was leaned against the wall, and ghostly pale, but it was obvious this was not going to stop him from doing his job. None of the students said a word, but most turned to the Weasley twins, expecting them to answer the professor.
"Er-" The twins mumbled together, obviously trying to spin some sort of story.
"I will wait." He crossed his arms over his chest, scanning the crowd until his eyes locked with Marcelline, and she knew that out of everyone- She was officially in the most trouble, regardless.
"Well, sir. We thought we'd have an enter-house get together. Bit of fun with friends and what not. Can't mix houses in our common rooms of course." Fred said, hopping down from his position.
"Hmm." Remus growled, moving through the crowd of students, hands in his robe pockets. "And this mess?"
"Comes with the party, sir." George called. "Just some fun."
"Are any, or perhaps all of you aware that there is a curfew in place?" He shouted through the room. "That you are all due back in your common rooms long before now. And, need I remind you all there is a murderous reason for the rule?" He looked over to where Ron Weasley stood with Harry Potter, then back to Marcelline. He continued to make his way through the crowd.
"We needed the distraction, sir." Lee defended. "The dementors make it a bit too serious. Oh, no pun intended." He said as several people in the crowd muffled giggles.
"Seems there is a good mix of our houses here. All four houses will loose three hundred points, each. I better not hear a peep about it or I will make it three hundred per person." Silence spread back through the crowd. He made it to the far side of the room, turned back to face all the students and scanned the crowd once more. "Dismissed. All of you, before I decide to add to the punishment."
Students swarmed for the door like insects from beneath a rock. No one dared talk as they spilled into the corridor and split for their separate common rooms. Marcelline shrugged herself thin as students pushed past her into the hall, until the last student was out. Remus walked over toward the door and paused, not giving her time to speak. "I said dismissed, Marcelline." He growled, and she looked down at her feet as she too hurried out of the classroom, trying her hardest not to cry. She'd never made her father so angry before, and it worried her.
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