A/N: This is a collaborative effort by the House of Ravenclaw, from the ThirdFloorCorridor. This chapter was written by Morwen and betaed by Esir, Jewel, and Hermioneevenstar.

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Harry and Ginny followed their Head of House into her office with the air of prisoners sentenced to death. It didn't seem to help Harry that his most hated teacher (and prank victim) was behind them, silently herding the two students down the corridor.

Ginny quickly collected herself. Harry had already mentioned that Snape seemed to know who had pranked him. If the Potions professor knew that Harry had been in the dungeons last night…

She didn't want to think about it. It would be far better for Harry if she took the blame, especially because she rarely got in trouble. Also, Snape wasn't obsessed with expelling her.

And Ginevra Weasley was not going to let Snape expel Harry. Not if she could help it.

So, to get Harry out of this, she would need to explain…quite a lot, actually. She would have to explain why Malfoy had seen both their names on the map, how Harry's map had ended up in the Slytherin dorm, why Malfoy was targeted…it might be rather difficult.

McGonagall's office door swung open ominously and she took her usual place behind her desk as the others filed in. Ginny pulled Harry into the middle of the room, hearing Snape's clicking boots stop beside Harry.

"Mr. Potter." Uh oh, McGonagall really did sound ticked. "I demand that you give me some explanations. Why were you cursing Draco Malfoy in the corridors, and why was an item belonging to you found in the Slytherin Common Room last night?"

"Could it be that Harry Potter was in the Slytherin Common Room last night?" Snape asked, almost hissing in anger. "You may have inherited an invisibility cloak, Potter, but that does not give you leave to parade around the school like your arrogant, ignorant, empty-headed father!"

"I don't think that my father is really relevant right now, sir." Harry was holding his head up stiffly, trying to calm himself under the scrutiny of his professors.

"No?" Snape's voice lowered into a snarl. "Perhaps, then, you could enlighten me: where do you get your flagrant disregard for rules, your penchant for making ill-considered plans, and your stubborn insistence on trying to be expelled? Answer me!"

"He wasn't in the Slytherin Common Room last night!"

All three heads turned toward Ginny. She felt a lump in her throat from the look on Snape's face, but she fixed her eyes on McGonagall, determined to get Harry off.

"I-I was the one in the dungeons last night." Ginny hung her head, both to appear ashamed for her audience and to hide her eyes from Snape. It wouldn't do to be Legilimized, after all.

"Then why," Snape asked, turning back to Harry, "was your property found in a Slytherin area last night, Potter? Have your belongings begun to spontaneously Apparate into other Common Rooms? Shall I warn Professor Flitwick to watch for your trousers tonight?"

"I stole Harry's Cloak and Map so that I wouldn't get caught."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at Ginny's admission. "And I suppose, Miss Weasley, that you went into the Slytherin dormitories for no reason?"

"No ma'am." Ginny's mind raced circles around the problem, looking for an acceptable answer. Seizing on a sudden idea, she began to blink quickly. "Someone dared me to prank Malfoy, so I snuck into his Common Room for inspiration."

"And?"

"There were letters under his mattress, so I took some and made the Howler out of them." After all, most of what she was saying was true. The only difference was whether or not Harry had been involved.

"Miss Weasley," from the sound of his voice, Snape was probably glaring at her. "Do you realize that accessing the Common Room of another House without permission is against 14 different school rules? You have not only illicitly entered my House, but you have also violated another student's privacy. You are guilty of illegal entry, theft, and disturbing the entire school with your antics. Shall I continue?"

Ginny felt that she had blinked enough by now, so she slowly lifted her head and fixed her eyes on Snape's chin, just in time for a few tears to start streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sor-sorry. The older students thought that it would be really funny and I-I…" She took a deep shuddering breath, hoping that Harry wasn't going to go Gryffindor and tell the teachers that she was lying. "I wanted mine to be as good as the Umbridge prank."

McGonagall's lips twitched. Ginny looked up at the Transfiguration professor with her most pleading gaze. "I'm re-really sorry. I know that I shouldn't have listened to them."

There was a short silence, everyone staring at Ginny as she sniffled quietly. Hopefully McGonagall would be won over by the tears, so that Ginny would have some help in convincing Snape.

The Potions Master cleared his throat uneasily. "Potter!" At Snape's sudden roar, Harry jumped slightly, looking rather miserable and confused. "You were there with her! Malfoy saw both of your names on the map before it went blank!"

"The map gets confused sometimes." Ginny sniffed a bit, trying to work up a few more tears. "It's used to Harry, so when someone else takes it around, it thinks that Harry is still there. Really sir," she looked back at Snape, locking her eyes on his aquiline nose this time. "Please don't blame Harry when it was my fault!"

McGonagall appeared sympathetic, but kept her voice carefully neutral. "Take a few deep breaths, Miss Weasley; calm yourself." She turned to Harry with a piercing glare. "To return to my first question; why were you cursing Mr. Malfoy in the school corridors, Mr. Potter?"

Harry still looked rather unsettled, but turned to McGonagall and gave her a convincing answer. "I was only trying to disarm him! He caught up to me after breakfast and started throwing hexes at me for no reason!" He paused for a moment. Pretending to think, Ginny realized. "I guess he thought that I sent the Howler."

Snape, of course, sneered. "A deduction worthy of a Gryffindor. Bravo, Potter."

McGonagall glared at her colleague, then turned to Ginny again. "Miss Weasley, I admire your courage in admitting your guilt. However," she held up her index finger to Ginny's faintly hopeful face. "I will deduct two hundred points from Gryffindor on your behalf and you will serve three weeks of detention with me."

Ginny allowed her eyes to widen in horror. She knew that McGonagall had to be harsh with her – Snape was still in the room, after all – but still felt that she had to put on a good show of hurt feelings. But then, Ginny had broken lots of school rules…McGonagall was letting her off rather easy.

The Transfiguration professor seemed to think so too. "I'm not punishing you as harshly as you deserve," she said, "because this is an isolated event and you seem to have been pressured by older students. Rest assured that we will continue to discuss this later, especially the subject of resisting your brothers'... suggestions."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Ginny nodded in submission.

Snape wasn't quite done. "Potter, I'm still not convinced that you were not involved in the heinous events of this week." Harry lowered his eyes to his shoes. "However…" He leaned in close to Harry's ear, and whispered something in a low voice.

Harry blanched slightly at Snape's words, but nodded. Snape gave him an answering nod and, with a final glare toward Ginny, swept from the room.

She sighed in relief, and then looked Harry full in the eyes. "I'm really sorry that I got you in trouble, Harry. It was my fault that Malfoy attacked you in the halls, and I almost made Professor Snape give you detention. Please forgive me."

Harry nodded at her, his face showing a bit of bewilderment, but he seemed to understand Ginny's charade. They turned back to McGonagall as their teacher cleared her throat.

"Miss Weasley; now that we are all Gryffindors in this room, I wish to ask you a few specific questions." Ginny nodded, wondering what McGonagall was getting at.

"Were you involved in the sudden outbreak of pranking that swept the school this last month?"

Ginny nodded again.

"Were you, Mr. Potter?

Harry glanced at Ginny, and then nodded also.

"And were either of you guilty of letting the verdoni into my office?"

"No, it wasn't either of us." Harry started biting his lip. "If we tell you who it was, will you promise not to take points?"

Professor McGonagall arched an eyebrow. "Very well then. I will not. Was it Miss Granger, by any chance?"

"No," said Ginny, rather gleefully. "It was Luna."

The look on the witch's face was priceless. "That- that is quite unexpected." Shaking her head, she waved a hand in dismissal. "Off with you then, and don't breathe a word of this to anyone."

As Ginny followed Harry out of the office, she heard McGonagall mutter to herself, "Wherever did she find a verdoni?"

The door closed behind them, and Harry turned to face Ginny. "You were brilliant!" he murmured, nervously running his hand through his hair. "I can't believe that you lied to Snape like that and got away with it."

"I'm just glad that you didn't give me away. You didn't want me to take all the blame, I could tell."

"Yeah," Harry said, smiling shyly at her. "but still, it isn't fair for you to have three weeks of detention, and I feel really bad about it. Do…do you want me to help you with your homework so that you won't get behind?"

"I'd like that." Ginny gave him her brightest smile in reply. "Actually, I'm glad that you let me take all the blame, because otherwise we both would have lost more points and had two months of detention, and all of them would have been with Snape!"

"Exactly. That's why I decided to follow along with what you were saying." Looking around suddenly, he motioned her toward a nearby empty classroom. Once the door was shut he turned back to face her, then took her hand in his. "Thanks so much for deciding to help me. I would have been expelled without you there. Hell, I probably wouldn't even have gotten into the Slytherin Common Room."

Ginny squeezed his hand casually, a carefree smirk on her face. "So, are you going to tell me what Snape said to you?"

Harry blushed and lowered his eyes. "He said that he wasn't going to push it because he knew that we were somehow involved with the Umbridge affair. Other than that, it was the usual: 'I'm going to use your kidneys in a potion if it ever happens again' speech. I guess he's willing to look the other way this time because he hates her so much. At least, that's the impression that I got."

"Then I guess we have Hermione to thank." Shaking her head, Ginny pulled Harry back to the door. "Come on, Ron and Neville are giving out the prank award in an hour, and I want to change first."

Harry opened the door for her, and then followed her out of the room toward Gryffindor Tower. "We aren't going to win." He said wryly.

Ginny snorted. "After getting half-caught and losing two hundred points? We'll be lucky if we don't get last."

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An hour later, the entire DA was gathered in the Room of Requirement, recounting the pranks of the month and discussing which had been the most successful. Ginny caught "Croaking", "Wets the bed", and "Nightclothes" several times from the various snatches of conversation. She sighed gently. She knew that there was no way that the Malfoy prank would win, but still, it was nice to hear that her prank would be remembered, if nothing else.

"Oy!" Ron was standing in the front of the Room, trying to get everyone's attention. He waved his arms, yelled, and jumped up and down, but no one paid him any notice until Fred let out a loud whistle and called everyone over.

Once everyone had calmed down, Neville and Ron brought out a scroll of parchment and Ron began to read it. "We are here today to award the best pranker of the month. Out of the 5 separate acts of mischief, there were clearly some really brilliant tricks, and some duds. First, we want to recognize the evil geniuses who sent the Headmaster some doctored Sherbet Lemons: Fred and George Weasley!"

The twins rose from their seats to tremendous applause and made their way up to the two judges, making their usual sales pitch. "If you need anything – "

"Anything at all to satisfy – "

"Your pranking needs –"

"Just see us!"

Neville waved them to silence, and then announced the next prank. "Next, we have a certain someone who let a verdoni into Hogwarts, which then proceeded to terrorize McGonagall and give us an unforgettable picture of her running through the castle in her nightclothes. The second pranker: Luna Lovegood!

All heads turned as Luna got up, looking faintly pleased. Ginny caught Luna's eye and gave her a bright smile. Once everyone seemed to have gotten over the worst of their surprise, they all erupted into cheers for the Ravenclaw, grinning at her as she gracefully walked up to join the twins.

Ron cleared his throat, then read the next name. "Snape was next, and, although only the Fifth-year Gryffindors saw it, one of his own students glued him to the floor, then proceeded to ruin everyone's potions. Harry Potter, step forward!"

Harry came to the front of the room to general applause, but, as most hadn't seen the prank, it was rather subdued compared to what Luna and the Twins had gotten.

Neville took a deep breath before continuing to read from the roll of parchment. "Umbridge," he began, but was immediately drowned out by a sudden cheer spreading through the ranks of the DA. Once they settled down a bit, he started again. "A brilliant student gave her a croak, cursed her with a really cruel itch, and hexed off all her hair. The guilty one is: Hermione Granger!"

All heads whipped back to Hermione, who was daintily walking up to the front with a smirk on her face. They gave her the greatest ovation yet, more than half the DA rose to their feet as she joined the others at the front of the room.

Ron took the scroll back from Neville, and waited for almost half a minute while the room settled down. Once everyone was quiet, he announced the last prank. "Draco Malfoy was our last prank, and he –" Ron was interrupted, as the entire DA began to cheer enthusiastically. They were obviously ecstatic over whoever had managed to send Malfoy a Howler. Ron prepared to raise his voice over the noise, but was saved by Hermione, who sent a quick "Sonorous" over to Ron's throat.

He mouthed a quick 'thanks' over to her, then kept talking. "Malfoy got a very special letter from his mum. Only, it wasn't really his mother. The Howler came from the combined forces of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley!"

This time, every single member of the DA was on his or her feet, clapping and roaring as Ginny walked up the aisle and joined Harry. She looked straight into his face and smiled, rolling her eyes slightly at the prolonged cheering.

After the room quieted down once more, Hermione cast Quietus on Ron, and he returned to his favourite role of being in charge. "Now, we can't give out the award based only on how impressive the prank was. After all, if the pranker gets caught, it takes away the entire point."

"For instance," Neville said, "Harry and Ginny managed to completely humiliate Malfoy, but they also lost two hundred points for Gryffindor, and Ginny has three weeks of detention to serve."

The Gryffindors who hadn't known this gasped in horror. Two hundred points was a lot, Ginny knew, and that would put Gryffindor at a huge disadvantage for the House Cup. Unless, of course, they managed to have a very good Quidditch season that year.

"And," Ron continued, "Hermione almost got caught, because Umbridge gave her a really nasty burn."

All of the members knew this, but they still looked sympathetically at Hermione. Ginny felt sorry for her. All that work, and Umbridge had still managed to hex Hermione.

"Everyone knew beyond a doubt that the Twins were behind the Headmaster's sweets, and Harry got kept after class when he pranked Snape." Neville said this very matter-of-factly. He had been there both times, after all.

Ron straightened and continued. "But there was one pranker who never got caught, who executed flawlessly, planned a creative prank, and who won this award, hands down. To Luna Lovegood, we award the Pranking Trophy!"

It was only a gold-coloured goblet, but the way that Ron handed it to Luna, you would have thought that it was made of diamond. She took it with a smile and thanked him, nodding to everyone around.

Overall, thought Ginny, it had been much better than Truth or Dare.

THE END.