Okay, BEFORE you eat me alive...Hi! This is Aeryn. :)

Thanks so much for reading our story and we are SO sorry about the slow updates.

Mine and Stars lives have been kinda hectic as of late, and we're trying

to get posts done as fast as we can, considering we live in two different time zones. ;)

Thanks for being patient, and without further ado, we present to you the Seventh Chapter!


Recap:

"Were we supposed to be doing something tonight?" Aeryn asked Star suddenly.

"Don't we have to meet up with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb in the Astronomy Tower? What time did they say?" Star motioned towards the Weasley twins with her head; one was talking excitedly to the table about which schools might show up while the other just picked at his food.


Aeryn nodded her head absently while looking up at the Gryffindor table before glancing back over at Star.

"Should we head up there now? Dinner's almost over. At least," she grimaced, watching Star shovel food into her mouth. "For most of us it is."

Star looked up to the Gryffindor table once again and was shocked to find that the fiery hair that had been there a minute ago had disappeared. She looked around the room and the two boys were nowhere to be found,

"I suppose we should leave, the twins have..." Star sighed looking sadly at her food, "I wanted to eat you so badly." She paused, "I'm dumb! I'm just gonna bring the plate!" Laughing at her own stupidity, she piled even more food on her plate before standing up. "Well come on, I don't want to spend my whole night with these boys." She pulled Aeryn up with her free hand and led them out of the Great Hall.

Students were walking slowly to their dorms, legs heavy with sleep and from eating so much. They all seemed to be talking about Dumbledore's speech, wondering which schools were coming and who would be picked from Hogwarts. Star ignored the others and ate happily as they made their way up to the tallest tower.

Aeryn stopped them in front of the door, "Try to be nice." She pointed a stern finger at the girl whose mouth was filled to the brim. Star rolled her eyes and nodded, 'Be nice! Why should I be nice?' she thought as Aeryn opened the door slowly.

Aeryn glanced around to Star again quickly giving her one last warning look. Stepping out of the stairwell, Aeryn walked over the edge of the Astronomy Tower where Fred and George were leaning against the rail, identical smirks on their faces as they watched the girls approach.

"Well?" Aeryn greeted with arms crossed, in lieu of Star who still had her mouth full.

"'Well?'" Fred retorted, placing a hand to his chest and faking offense. "George, did she just greet us with 'Well?'?"

"Why yes Fred, I do believe she did!" the other twin replied. He clicked his tongue at her while Star rolled her eyes. "That is not very nice Miss Monroe. Nor was that, Miss VonTussle," he said, casting an admonishing look at her.

Rubbing her temples, Aeryn looked up at the twins who were grinning like madmen. "Are you quite finished?" she asked crossly. Looking at each other, the twins nodded slightly before turning back to the girls and in unison replied, "Yep!"

"Great. So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Aeryn said, still rubbing her temples.
"Before we get to that, what did you ladies think of the dinner feast announcement?" George asked, cheerfully avoiding Aeryns question. Groaning, Aeryn looked over at Star and indicated she could take over now that her mouth wasn't full of food. I wonder if I could be prescribed medication for migraines? Aeryn wondered, absently rubbing her head.

Star sauntered up to the boys and put on the most Slytherin face she could muster. "Why do you care Weasley? I know this isn't the reason you made us come all the way up here." She sneered, "Now tell us what you want."

"Well acting this way towards your hosts will get you nowhere missy," Fred said with a parental tone. Star gave the boy a snarl."Well aren't we in a bad mood," he muttered.

"You know, this would all go by a lot faster if you just answered our question, then you can go back to the cave that you came out of," George remarked, referring to the Dungeons. Although his face held a slight smirk, his tone had a hint of legitimate anger in it. Star blinked a few times before responding.

"What do you think of the announcement?" Star shot back at them.

"Well, George here and I want to be in that tournament. So we're going to think of something to make us age," Fred stated with a proud smirk.

"How about an Aging Potion," she said the last two words slowly to get her point across.

"That sounds like a splendid idea!" Fred stated with a smile, oblivious to the girls venom.

Star rolled her eyes once again, "You boys aren't going to get your names in, not with your magic. I, on the other hand, will be getting in and you boys will just have to sit and watch from the sidelines. Wishing you were in my shoes." She had completed a circle around them and stopped in front of them once again.

"Wanna bet on it? To see who can get their names in first, or at all. Loser has to do the others Potions homework until break," George said far too eagerly.

'It's like they knew this was going to happen.' "Fine, first one." Star extended her hand and both boys shook it simultaneously.

"You're going to wish you hadn't made this bet." She smirked. "Now seriously, why the hell did you ask us to come up here?" Star sighed.

"Well..." George began.

"Well, we were thinking of offering you the chance of a lifetime," Fred said, pushing away from the railing lightly. "Of course, now that you've been acting ever-so rude, we might just have to take our offer elsewhere," he said stroking his chin in fake contemplation. Aeryn rolled her eyes at the act, before turning to whisper something to Star.

"What kind of offer?" Star asked, turning to narrow her eyes at the twins.

George grinned at her before answering. "A kind of...collaboration," he replied coyly.

Aeryn felt herself growing more and more suspicious of the twins. Taking a half-step forward she asked, "What kind of 'collaboration'?" Aeryn didn't like the smirks the twins had plastered to their faces. Looking over to Star quickly, she saw Star staring at the boys in a strange mixture of curiosity, suspicion, and animosity. Overall, it was a rather frightening glare.

"How would you ladies feel about a temporary alliance between Starlight-Monroe Products and the newest line of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" the twins asked in unison, grinning at Aeryns confused look.

Star blinked a few time in shock, 'Why would they want to join with us? Both of our companies are doing fine on their own and neither are taking business away from the other...They must want a product of ours...' Star smiled at the boys and received a dirty look from George.

"Excuse me boys, we need to have a quick company meeting." She grabbed Aeryn and pulled her out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She quickly put a locking and silencing charm on it so the boys wouldn't try to but in.

"I don't trust them." Star stated flatly, "They want one of our products, I know it." Aeryn looked back at her with a look that made it obvious that she was thinking about something hard.
"I have the same feeling, but what do you think they want?" Aeryn said, eyebrows furrowed in contemplation.

"Any of our stu-" Stars eyes got wide with realization. "They want our fireworks..."

Aeryn felt her jaw fall and mirror Star's shocked expression. The fireworks? They want to use us for our fireworks? Aeryn was suddenly sad and enraged all at once. "They think they can just use us for our fireworks?" she practically hissed, trying to glare through the door. "I don't think I've ever been so angry before in my life! They're supposed to be our friends, and they think they can just use us to get ahead in their stupid little...play business?" she seethed. She looked over at Star who appeared to still be in a slightly shocked state. "Well?" Aeryn demanded. "What are we going to do about this?"
Aeryn sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself down. Sitting down on the stairs dejectedly, Aeryn watched as Stars' evil genius mind started working.

Star paced back and forth, trying to come up with a plan to mess up the boys. 'If they're going to try to steal our fireworks we're going to have to hurt their products,' she thought as she passed the door again. The twins could be heard from the other side pounding on the wood. Star stopped suddenly, finally coming up with an idea. With a sly smile she went and sat next Aeryn, who was still fuming.
"I have an idea my dear friend." She leaned against the stone step behind her. "We'll tell them yes, that we will form an alliance with them. Then we'll ruin all of their products." It was simple, but all of the best plans were. "We'll sabotage them from the inside, while keeping all of our secrets safe. We won't bring any of our products or diagrams with us, unless to the kitchen and unless we know that they won't be there. We'll owl our customers their orders." She turned to Aeryn, "We have to keep our products away from those boys."

Aeryn looked over at Stars determined face from her seat on the staircase. Mind whizzing, she tried to take in all Star was proposing. Her stomach felt weird.

"I guess that's a pretty good plan. As far as revenge goes, at least," she said slowly. "I just can't believe they'd use us for the fireworks," she stated flatly to Star, smiling sadly. "I guess so." Star said as she looked into her friends sad eyes and gave her a soft smile. Star and Aeryn had both had more than their fair share of boys who had all tried to act as if they liked the girls for discounts or inside information about their products. Star wished that they didn't have to go through something like this again, especially Aeryn. Aeryn wasn't as used to it as Star was. Looking back at Star again, Aeryn tried to steel her resolve enough to be able to face the two twins again.

Star lifted herself up and extended her hand to her friend. She pulled her up and gave Aeryn a hug.

"We'll get them," Star said as she pulled away and smiled. Wrapping an arm around Aeryns waist (It was the highest place she could reach) and walking up to the door, Star undid her charms and swung the door open. The girls heard a loud thud and found both twins lying on the floor clutching their faces. 'Oh yay.' Star gave Aeryn a little smile.

"You okay boys?" Star asked, poking one of them with her foot. All she got in return was a dirty look and a moan, 'That means this must be George.'

"Well, whether you are or not, we just wanted to let you know that we agree to your little alliance." She gave them a single nod and pulled Aeryn over to the opposite side of the tower, facing away from the boys. Star pulled some of the fireworks from earlier out of her bag. "How about we light these off?" she asked, smiling brightly at Aeryn. "Hey, are you even listening to me?" Star asked with a slight frown as she gazed up at Aeryn. "I was asking if you wanted to light these off!" She continued shoving two of the newest fireworks into Aeryns face with a strained smile.

After a few seconds Aeryn looked up at Stars concerned face. Blinking as her sluggish brain tried to comprehend what was being asked of her, Aeryn nodded slightly and gave Star a small smile before taking one of the fireworks being held out to her. Turning the firework over in her hands, Aeryn glanced over the design, letting her mind take over from her heart for awhile. Setting the firework upright on the edge of the floor of the Astronomy Tower, Aeryn pulled out her wand and muttered, "Incendio."
The firework lit and within seconds had erupted from the Astronomy Tower, leaving a fiery trial of sparks behind it. Aeryn watched as the firework exploded into bursts of red and gold, her heart aching as she looked over at the twins the colors reminded her of most.

Star lowered herself to the floor of the Astronomy Tower and let her legs dangle over the edge as she watched hers and Aeryns creations meld together. She sighed deeply and leaned against the pillar to her left. 'I hate boys,' she thought sadly. The red and gold lights flashed across the sky, reflecting onto her face.

"What's wrong with you girls?" Star heard a deep voice from behind ask. She didn't bother turning to look. It was Fred, she could tell. She could also tell that her wasn't actually talking to her at all, just to Aeryn. So why bother responding? Aeryn ignored the twins probing questions and looks. She felt saddened thinking that they weren't who she'd originally thought, but at the same time, she didn't want them knowing that. It would make her feel like they'd won, and that simply wouldn't do. No. She would be strong, just like Star.

"Heeeello? Do you girls always ignore your generous hosts?" This time it was George. Star turned and saw him kneeling next to her, his twin standing next to Aeryn. She looked into George's eyes and hoped that the pain she was feeling wasn't reflecting on her face. George's face became a light pink color under the girls gaze. Star tore her eyes away from his and stared out to the colorful night sky.
"Shut up and watch the fireworks Weasley."

Holding her head up high as the last of fireworks colors fell prey to gravity, Aeryn glanced around her. Star was sitting exactly like Aeryn, with her legs dangling over the edge of the Astronomy Tower. The twins were taking turns looking confusedly at the sky, each other, the girls, and then back to each other. Aeryn felt like she could practically feel the silent communication between the two. Standing up so suddenly that it startled Fred, Aeryn walked over to Star and held her hand out to help her up. "Come on," she said gently, her motherly instincts kicking in. "We're going to be in even more trouble if we're caught out past curfew." As Star took her hand, Aeryn helped her stand up and turned around to head back to the Astronomy Tower stairs, dropping Stars hand in the process.

This is my fault, she thought as she began descending the stairs without a glance back. She didn't know if Star was right behind her or still in the Tower, but Aeryn knew that she would follow eventually. Being slightly older than Star, Aeryn felt responsible for almost everything that happened to her, except possibly her detentions caused by her more obscene pranks. Stopping at the bottom of the staircase to wait for her friend and roommate, Aeryn promised herself that she wouldn't get twisted up in any of this boy nonsense again. And after all...she had a business to run didn't she?

wWi

Star stood next to the boys as Aeryn walked out of the room. She gave them a curt nod and started to follow her friend, but before she got 3 feet a hand grabbed her arm. Star turned to find out what had stopped her and followed the hand up the arm and to the freckly face of George, seeing flashes of pain and anger in his eyes. 'Oh no, he's gonna do something bad to me,' she thought, her eyes growing wide as she yanked her arm away.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Fred asked looking between her and his brother.

"Nothing. I was just going to ask what was going on with her and Aeryn." George replied coldly, avoiding Stars eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with us, we're just contemplating this new business venture." Star said as professionally as possible before practically running out of the Astronomy Tower.

Slowing down her pace, as to not tip off Aeryn that anything weird happened, Star jumped over the last few steps and landed next to her fellow Slytherin with a small thump. Star smiled up to the redhead and put an arm around the girls' waist. "Let's go to bed." She rested her head against Aeryns arm and led them down the hall. 'We can do this, I know it.'


There you guys go! We hope you liked it! :D

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