The three boys slowly turned around as though their entire beings were questioning what their ears had told them. Sadly their eyes confirmed the fact that Snape was standing arms folded behind them with a smug sneer plastered across his face as the colour drained from them.

"Oh hello Professor," Fred said casually as if bumping into him outside the library at night was an entirely natural thing.

"Imagine my surprise," Snape said, completely ignoring Fred's greeting, "when after taking Bickstaff to the hospital wing to the Hospital Wing last week I returned to find that there had been some unwanted visitors in my office and that my personal supply of Jobberknoll feathers had somewhat diminished."

His eyes swept over all three boys' faces, the twins, well used to facing interrogation at home by their mother, kept an impassive, almost confused expression plastered across their faces. Lee however let a brief look of panic flicker across his face before he managed to get it under control; Snape had looked away at this point so if he had noticed it he didn't let on.

"Of course Jobberknoll feathers are used in many potions so it was nigh on impossible to work out who took it," continued Snape in his soft calm voice, "that was until this morning when I witnessed Mr Filch offering an uncharacteristic but hearty good morning to each and every student that passed him."

He paused to coolly pick a speck of dust off the shoulder of his robe, which he examined intently before rubbing his fingers together. The boys, having decided that silence was the best option remained still, quietly waited forSnape to continue.

"After speaking to Mr Filch, it became obvious that something was amiss. He couldn't in fact remember a single thing about himself, not even his real name,"Snape stared accusingly at the twins when he said this, before either of them could respond he carried on, "the only potion that could cause such an effect and that requires the use of Jobberknoll feathers is the Complex Forgetfulness Potion. A potion, that I recall, you," his eyes bored into George at this point "were quite interested in."

The looks of complete innocence and confusion about the wholesituation remained etched on the three boys' faces Snape gazed intently at them each scrutinizing every aspect of their beings.

"Now since a Mind Trick Spell is much more effective the Complex Forgetfulness Potion is very rarely used and as such is found in one, and only one, book; Moste Potente Potions. I spoke with Madam Pince to see who the last person was to take that book out and do you know that when she went to check she found that the book had been stolen from the library?"

Collective silence reigned supreme once again amongst the boys.

"Of course it came down to the simple matter of discovering who took the book, thusly uncovering who stole the Jobberknoll feathers, and that brings me to you three," he broke into a cold unfeeling smile.

"Sorry to disappoint you Sir," stated Fred giving a shrug.

"But we haven't got a clue what you are talking about," finished George with an equally perplexed look on his face.

"Really?" Snape raised an eyebrow sceptically before putting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a small battle of clear liquid, "there are ways of checking your story. Of course if you are telling the truth then you have nothing to fear."

"What's that?" asked Lee, his wide eyes transfixed on the bottle in Snape's hand.

"What's that Sir?" corrected Snape giving the bottle a slight shake, "this is Veritaserum, a very powerful truth potion."

"And you're going to give it to us?" asked Fred excitedly, which wasn't the kind of reaction that the Potions Master had been expecting.

"Oh that's very kindof you Sir," added George holding out his hand expectantly and smiling.

"No not to give it to you as a present," Snape clarified his eyes narrowing malevolently, "a few sips of this and you'll give me the truth about everything."

"And what if we don't want to take it?" asked Lee trying to sound brave but his voice betrayed him by quivering slightly as Snape's gaze swept over him.

"I could always persuade you," he pointed out, letting his cloak billow open slightly so that the boys could catch a glimpse of his wand, "and believe me that won't be nearly as pleasant as drinking a few drops of this."

"Evening Severus," said a soft calming voice, "out for a midnight stroll?"

Snape's eyes flicked up from Lee, the boys looked over their shoulders, and each one of them a quiet yet audible sigh of relief.

"Headmaster," Snape gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, "I caught these three out of bed after hours."

"Hi Sir," each of the boys mumbled slightly at Dumbledore.

"Gentlemen."

"I also believe that they also stole from my private stores whilst unattended and used it to make a Complex Forgetfulness Potion, the instructions of which are only found in one book, which was also stolen. They then used this potion on Mr Filch."

"Sneaking out and exploring the castle at night is something students have done for centuries," replied Dumbledore placing a hand on George's shoulder, "and as teachers we try to discourage this as much as we can. But theft and poisoning are serious offences indeed, you no doubt have proof of these acts?"

"Not at present," admitted Snape slowly, feeling the moment slipping from his control, "but with a few drops of this it will all become clear."

"Unfortunately I cannot permit that Severus, as you know the use of Veritaserum is very strictly regulated and even then it is only used in the most extreme cases. I doubt these boys could be capable of anything that would ever warrant it's use," Dumbledore's twinkling eyes looked meaningfully at the bottle in Snape's hand, "if all you have is suspicion and no real evidence then I am afraid that I cannot attribute blame to these boys. Innocent until proven otherwise."

"But what about Mr Filch?" snapped Snape, "and there was a book missing from the Library."

"The Library is a big place," explained Dumbledore opening his hands wide, "I mean on occasion I myself have managed to lose my way in there, I'm sure the book will turn up once Madam Pince conducts a thorough search. As for Argus, from what I understand is that he appears much happier and more pleasant then usual, no doubt he is getting into the Christmas spirit early."

"So they are just going to get off with flouting the rules?" argued Snape barely containing his contempt.

"No Severus," replied Dumbledore much to the disappointment of the boys, "I shall inform Professor McGonagall of tonight's escapades in the morning and she will no doubt punished the boys' youthful exuberance. Now if you will excuse me, it is getting late, and I shall escort them back to their House. Severus."

"Headmaster," Snape replied matching the Headmaster's nod of goodbye, before turning briskly and storming away down the corridor.

The boys duly followed Dumbledore towards Gryffindor House since he wasn't speaking as he walked Lee and the twins matched him and the four of them made for a silent procession passing along the corridors. Fred glanced over at his brother and frowned slightly, confused as to whether or not they were going to get into trouble. George, equally unsure, just gave a non-committal shrug.

Soon they had reached their destination, standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, Dumbledore turned to the boys and addressed them.

"Firstly to the matter in hand," he said solemnly, "as you are already aware I am sure, it is against school rules to wander about the school at night unsupervised. This rule is generally for the student's safety although in your cases I'm pretty sure it is more for the school benefit," he added smiling.

"Professor McGonagall," he continued, "will be told about your indiscretion and it will be up to her to set the punishment. In regards to the theft and poisoning allegations, as I said to Professor Snape, since there is no proof that you have committed these things then you cannot be punished for them. However," he raised his hand and leaned forward as each of the boys broke into a relieved grin, "please understand that the school takes a dim view on such behaviour and that anyone caught doing either will be most severely dealt with."

Dumbledore pulled out a large gold watch from his pocket and examined the time, "now if you will kindly excuse me," he said shutting it with a snap, "Mr Filch and I have arranged to listen to some music together after he finished his nightly patrol. He has a most wonderful singing voice that I had never been aware of before," his eyes sparkled behind his glasses, "goodnight gentlemen."

"Goodnight Headmaster," they replied before trudging through the portal.

The boys plodded into the Common Room silently, Charlie looked up from his book, "did you get caught?"

"Yep," replied Fred as the other two nodded to confirm this.

"Did you blow anything up?"

"Nope."

"Well one out of two ain't bad," said Charlie.

The next day things slowly went from bad to worse First Professor McGonagall approached them in the middle of breakfast, thin lipped and shaking with annoyance. People around the three boys tried to hide their smirks as they were each given double detention as well as taking twenty points each from them (at this point their fellow Gryffindors stopped smiling). Then they had to put up with the unnerving and dark looks that Snape kept giving them whenever he passed them in the corridors. But the worst came shortly after lunch as a pair of rather full twins wandered out of the Great Hall with the rest of their fellow students.

As they headed outside into the sunlight the twins were chatting animatedly to themselves and weren't really paying much attention to where they were going so almost ended up barreling into Filch in the entrance way.

"Oh hello Mr Filch," greeted Fred cheerily.

"You!" Filch pointed an accusing finger at the twins, "don't you 'hello Mr Filch' me."

"Er…ok," agreed Fred looking uncertainly at his brother.

"Professor Snape told me what you two did and the fact that the Headmaster won't punish you for it," spat Filch looking absolutely disgusted, "but I'll make you pay for what you have done to me."

"And what is it that we are suppose to have done?" asked a wide-eyed angelic George.

"Done? Done!" snarled Filch, "you tricked me into drinking a potion and then told me lies to make me nice to people."

"Now Mr Filch," said Fred placing his hands on his hips, "how could we trick you into drinking a potion? I mean you are far to clever to fall for something like that from a student."

"Er…" Filch stopped mouth open as he seemed to think aloud to himself, "well I've got to admit that it doesn't sound like something I'd do," his confused expression then turned hard once again as he rounded on the twins, "but then why did Professor Snape tell me all that stuff about me acting stupid?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked George amazed, "he's jealous?"

"Why would he be jealous of me?" queried Filch before he could stop himself.

"It's because you are the most feared member of staff," whispered George carefully looking around.

"I am?" asked Filch in a confused voice before rallying himself, "I mean I am aren't I? It's all down to discipline isn't it? I said that from the start, and no one'sbetter at discipline then me."

Filch puffed his chest out in a self important way, looked at his reflection in a suit of armour and tried to press down some rogue strands of hair on his head. His brief moment of narcissism came to an abrupt end when his cynical mind raised a very good point.

"Wait a minute," he ordered, "why on earth should I believe you two? Ever since you started here you've been nothing but trouble."

"Oh that's because we were so undisciplined," explained Fred.

"Yep," agreed George wholeheartedly, "I mean our parents were soft on us, let us run wild and all sorts."

"But it took a firm hand, a tough line, routine and order to get us into shape, and that's all down to you."

"Well it's like I have always said…" Filch's voice trailed off as he had a look of realisation dawning on his face which gradually changed into a look of fury, "hold on, you were doing this the other night, I remember now. You were flattering me, trying to weasel out of being punished. Well it didn't work then and it ain't gonna work now you hear? I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on the two of you, and when you slip up, and you will slip up, I'll be right their to catch you."

The retreating Filch stomped away angrily pausing to berate a young Ravenclaw who had the misfortune to be trailing mud into the school at the time the caretaker was passing.

"The thing is," George frowned, "we gave him enough to last at least a week, why is he back to normal? Well normal for Filch anyway."

"You know I think Snape might have had something to do with it," concluded Fred, "I bet he gave him an antidote first thing this morning."

"Damned Snape, what did we ever do to him?"

"Yeah just because we snuck into his office, stole some supplies, possibly offended him during the Quidditch match," Fred counted them off on his fingers, "did I miss anything out?"

"Nope that sounds about right," admitted Fred nodding.

"I miss Norman," admitted George as the twins stepped out into the brisk autumn weather.