Hello little ducklings! So I have had a horrible week at work this week, so I decided to take my frustration out on my keyboard and type. So here you go!

Disclaimer: As much as I love Harry Potter, it is impossible to own something just because you love it. It might also have to do with my name not being JK Rowling…

"I'll tell you what Professor, give us a week, and we will duel anyone or everyone in this class one by one. But for now, we would like to sit out for today." Hermione suggested

Professor McIntyre nodded his head once, sharply. "Agree'. Yee've go' one week."

'Well this should be interesting.' Hermione said completely serious.

'You have no idea.' Was the only reply Hermione's twin gave.

"You know what will get me back into shape more than running at a god awful time in the morning? Sex. Lots and lots of sex." Graciela said as she, Hermione, Lily, and the boys were all sitting in the common room.

"Gracie!" Hermione squeaked in a shocked, yet slightly outraged voice.

Graciela was so absorbed in her thoughts about who she could possibly use for sex that she didn't notice Sirius perk right up at the mention of sex. Nor did she notice Peter making a shocked choking sound as if he swallowed spit down the wrong pipe in his throat, nor Remus smacking Sirius in the back of the head from across the chess game they were playing, and shake his own head at him. What she did notice was Hermione's voice, low and dangerous, "Graciela Clearwater."

"Yeah yeah, I know, I was mostly teasing. Running before classes tomorrow, bright and early, got it." Graciela stood up and cracked her back before cracking her neck followed by her knuckles. Everyone but Remus cringed in disgust at the sound of her body cracking. Remus just looked impressed.

"Nicely done." Remus said, a smirk on his face. "I bet I can out crack you."

"Man. I've been sitting here for 15 minutes. What do you think it's like once I'm sitting down reading for long periods of time?" Graciela chuckled as Hermione shivered and pulled a disgusted look. "Just ask Hermione! She knows what I'm talking about." Graciela picked up her bag as Hermione nodded and just said "Absolutely horrid," before following her twin's lead by grabbing her bag and heading toward the stairs.

"Wait!" James said, "it's not too late, are you guys going to bed already?"

Graciela nodded as Hermione said, "Graciela doesn't do well with little sleep and if we're getting up early to go for a run, then I have to get up before her so I can wake her." With that she smiled at the group, and in unison the twins sang "goodnight" before looping arms and walking up the steps to their room.

"You know; their personalities are so different sometimes that you forget they're twins. That is until they say stuff at the same time, in the same voice, and give you the exact same look as the other. Then you feel stupid for forgetting they are twins." James muttered this out loud, as if he'd been thinking about it for a long time.

Sirius made a noncommittal sound of agreement, eyes focused on his game in front of him, while Remus looked up at James and looked as if he too were thinking something similar. "It's like," Remus stopped, thought about it for a moment and then restarted, "The Twins are like, female versions of you and Sirius." Remus nodded to James, while Sirius looked up startled at the mention of his name, and gave Remus a critical look as he mused over what he said. "Graciela is Sirius, Hermione is James." Remus continued. "Think about it, Graciela seems more carefree yet, knowing what little we know of her, we know she's had a really hard life but tries to hide it with sarcasm. Hermione has values and ideals that she sticks to, and it will take heaven and earth to make Hermione to budge once she gets to a decision."

By this time, Lily was looking astonished at Remus as if suddenly, everything in the world made sense. James leaned backwards until he was slouched against the couch in shock as he absorbed Remus' words, his mouth slightly open. Sirius on the other hand, crossed his arms as if he was slightly offended to be described that way, but wasn't sure if he could refute what Remus said. Lily's eyes brightened, "You are so right Remus. It's like they are opposite sides of the same coin. They look the same except for a few small differences, but those differences make them who they are, right? And you can tell that the years they spent not knowing the other existed, is what really shaped their differences in personality and temperament. I'd be curious how they would be like if they were together their entire lives."

"Actually, I can answer that for you." Graciela said as she stepped into the light. Everyone whipped around at the sound of her voice, and they all looked guilty for talking about her and her twin behind their backs. Graciela moved to the table next to the couch and picked up a potions textbook. "Forgot this." She said as she waved it slightly before continuing. "Hermione and I were good friends with these twins. Adorable red heads, but these boys were tricksters. Always pulling pranks, and they even opened up a joke shop together. Always finishing each-other's sentences. They were identical, and it was almost impossible to tell them apart. That is, until George lost his ear in a battle. Anyway, no one could tell them apart, not even their mother. It took Hermione weeks when she first met them to find some small things to tell them apart. How they moved, which way they tilted their head when they were curious about something, which hand they put in their pocket, that sort of thing. Once 'Mione and I knew the differences between them, we got really good at telling them apart. Everyone figured it was because we were twins ourselves that we could tell them apart. But it wasn't that at all, we just paid attention. I guess what I'm trying to say is, thanks? Thanks for noticing the differences, because we are two different people." With that Graciela nodded to herself, turned around and headed back for the stairs, leaving everyone downstairs in shocked silence as they processed what had been said.

Days passed, and if Gracie and Hermione had any more nightmares, no one else knew but them as they cast their strongest silencing spells and wards around their room. As the days flew by, Graciela and Hermione ran every morning, slowly increasing not only their speed but distance, until at the end of the week, they were running 5 miles at a steady pace without getting completely out of breath. In the mornings, they would run, then go to classes during the day, making sure to eat correctly, and would find ways to lift weights before dinner, and then meeting in secret to duel each other at night in preparation for the duel for the end of the week.

Friday came, and Hermione and Graciela were sitting in the DADA room early, mentally preparing for the duel. Hermione stood leaning against her desk arms crossed, as Graciela sat on the desk itself fiddling with her wand.

'Remember, it's just a duel.' Hermione said quietly to her twin for perhaps the 3rd time since they got there. 'We need to keep control of what spells we use, and pretty, pretty please do not under any circumstances use custom spells or any of the spells that we know don't get used for the first time until after this year. And we have Slytherins in our class so nothing that will make Snape suspicious.'

'Hermione. Stop. No worries. We got this, and I promise you have nothing to worry about. You don't forget about the combinations we practiced.' Graciela noted back to her twin as she saw the first students start to wander in the classroom. Hermione just quietly nodded back to her twin, before pulling her wand out, taking her cloak off and setting it on the chair behind her. Graciela noticed the Marauders walk in and spotting the twins, start making their way over to them. Graciela shook her head at them, but only Remus understood that the twins wanted to be left alone, as he grabbed the back of James and Sirius' cloaks and physically stepping in front of Peter. He ushered the Marauders to empty desks as Gracie sent his a "Thank you" smile. He just nodded in reply as the Professor walked in.

"If I remembe' correctly," Professor McIntyre began, the word correctly pronounced core-et-ly dropping the k sound almost completely, "We 'ave some twins who be duelin' da class toda' yeh?"

Hermione and Graciela nodded sharply, together. They clasped hands quickly in reassurance, before rolling their shoulders and stepping up to the "Duel Arena", every motion perfectly together, in eerie unison. Professor McIntyre called up two random students, and said it was going to be partner duels. Hermione faced off against a Slytherin she didn't recognize, while Graciela faced off against a Gryffindor that she recognized from the common room.

"You want me to partnered with some Gryffindor?" the Slytherin asked the Professor, her voice full of disgust as she sneered at her partner.

Professor McIntyre didn't even dignify that with a response. Just ignored the Slytherin, and called out, "Begin."

The battle was over in seconds as Hermione called out "Agumenti!" followed a beat later by a similar shout from Graciela but this time with, "Diffindo!" The water split in half and rushed onto both targets, knocking them back so hard that the water pushed them right off the stage. The next thing anyone saw was the Slytherin staring wide eyed at the twins in shock, completely soaked, while the Gryffindor coughed out water.

Hermione and Graciela straightened, and together called out "Next." Some students helped the two stand up, and then suddenly two Slytherins were jumping onto the stage, looking more than a little ticked off. Unfortunately for the twins, it was none other than Severus Snape and a boy who looked eerily similar to Sirius, his grey eyes clouded with fury. 'Regulus.' Hermione said to her twin quietly.

Graciela nodded to her sister before adding, 'No water spells.' She saw Hermione nod in horrified agreement. They both knew how Regulus would die. The twins got into a fighting position and Severus and Regulus followed suit.

Before McIntyre could call the duel to start, Regulus surged forward and called out, "Stupefy!" Followed by Severus calling out the same spell.

The twins dodged the spells by twirling out of the way, almost like a ballerina. Before spinning around and facing the boys again.

Severus looked a little more hesitant to call out another spell so quickly, but it seemed Regulus had no issues with it. Quickly, in contingency, Regulus fired off multiple spells in anger. Yet the twins dodged every single one of them. When Regulus paused, just for a second, Severus shot forward and called out "Levicorpus!" Hermione let it hit her, and as she swung into the air, Graciela grabbed Hermione by the ankles. Instead of trying to pull her down, however, Graciela used them like the rings in gymnastics and flipped herself over the boys' heads, landing behind them, and firing a stupefy at Regulus, knocking him out. At the same time, Hermione called out "Petrificus totalus!" hitting Severus with the body bind and knocking him on his back.

Graciela looked down at the two boys on the floor, to the classroom full of shocked students whispering to each other that they beat the two Slytherins, then to her twin before she cocked her head. "Huh. Neat spell. Levicorpus was it?" She undid the body bind and helped Severus up much to his displeasure. Then she shook Regulus until she had him alert and sitting, before turning back to Severus. "I'm assuming you created that spell? It comes in handy I bet. Would you mind letting my sister down and showing me the counter?" Graciela said to Severus with a gentle smile on her face.

Severus seemed shocked that Graciela was being so nice to him considering her twin was levitating in the air, and the fact he was Slytherin. He nodded and muttered, "Liberacorpus." Before turning to Regulus and helping him off the stage.

Hermione shouted out a delighted, "Thank you!" as her feet touched the ground. That shocked the classroom into further silence even as Hermione smiled at the Slytherins before getting a concerned look on her face. "Are you guys okay?" Hermione asked Regulus and Severus.

Before they could respond however, Sirius said, "No worries Hermione! Their pride is just in tatters now is all. To be beaten by Gryffindors, and girls at that!"

The smiles dropped off Hermione and Graciela's faces as they turned to their fellow Gryffindor. "I'll have you know that we were almost sorted into Slytherin, and the only reason we weren't was because Hermione was sorted first and I made the hat put me with her." Graciela said, anger spilling out of her voice.

"And how, might I ask, is being a girl a hindrance to dueling? I'll have you know; girls are just as good at dueling as boys." Hermione added.

Sirius, unaware of the girls' sudden foul mood, continued on, too happy to see his "Perfect" baby brother get his butt kicked. "Sure, some girls are good duelers, but men are just naturally better at dueling than women."

"Oh, no you didn't." Lily said, as Remus and James winced behind Sirius.

"Well then." Hermione started.

"Let's prove you wrong, shall we?" Graciela asked.

"Pick your second, Sirius, and put your money where your mouth is." Hermione stated, her eyes dark with fury and contempt.

Sirius looked stricken as if just realizing that he had insulted Graciela, Hermione, and pretty much every woman in that room. He gave the Twins a sheepish smile as if to say sorry, but the twins were not letting him off that easily. They rolled up their sleeves in unison while waiting for him to take off his cloak. Sirius stammered out a quick, "James, you're my second." The two boys climbed onto the stage. Graciela cracked her neck quickly and loudly, as Hermione wrung out her hands.

Professor McIntyre looked positively ecstatic about what was going on around him, and just stood silently against the wall with a smirk on his face. "Keep I' clean yeh four. Begin."

Graciela and Hermione whipped out a bunch of spells simultaneously, without a single word said between them. They worked in tangent, flawlessly sending spell after spell at the boys. The boys were surprisingly holding their own, even sending a spell or two back at the twins. Everyone moved so fast, it was hard for anyone to keep up. That is, until Hermione shouted "Agumenti!" and everyone thought they knew what Graciela was going to do. They thought wrong. Graciela called, "Glacius! Deprimo! Engorgio! Windgardeum leviosa! Oppungo!" in such a quick succession that it wasn't until Graciela and Hermione cancelled their spells and the sudden silence seemed to suffocate everyone, that anyone had realized what happened. Graciela had turned Hermione's water into ice, turned that ice into a tornado of icicles with wind, enlarged the ice shards, lifted everything up higher, and then made them attack James and Sirius. James was hardly touched except a cut across his cheek, but Sirius was covered in little cuts all over his face, arms, hands, and anything else exposed.

Hermione walked up to Sirius while Graciela walked up to James and healed the two Marauders as the room stayed quiet, as if afraid to piss the twins off as much as Sirius had. Quietly, Hermione told Sirius, "You need to learn to watch your mouth, or one day you will meet someone who doesn't care if that ice had killed you." Then the two girls linked arms once again, summoned their stuff, announced, "Duel over. We're done." And left the room in silence.

They walked all the way up the stairs to the Gryffindor rooms, and headed straight to their bedroom. Once they were in their rooms with the proper spells to make sure no one would bother them, they both collapsed onto the bed and cried.