I do not own Harry Potter. Amy and Karen belong to me. Thanks to COURTY for the idea.

Lightning and All Tied Up

Karen had made it to the end of the corridor before turning right back around and limping for the hospital wing. Her feet were killing her, and Amy said goodbye before heading towards Charms. The mud from the bottom of her robes dripped along the floor and her blue eyes darted from side to side, hoping that Filch and his blasted cat were as far away from her as possible.

The last thing she wanted was to get detention for mudding up the floor.

Amy took her spot in Charms and dropped her bag by her mud-encrusted feet. All the sweets she had been given were packed in her bag along with her books, and after a moment's thought she pulled out a Sugar Quill. It was note-taking day, and although it was boring as heck, it gave some time for revenge planning.

Flitwick waved his wand and words appeared on the blackboard. Everyone instantly copied them down and Amy hurried, her normally legible scrawl a chicken scratch. Karen entered class a few minutes later with healed feet and handed Flitwick a note.

"What'd you tell her?" Amy whispered when Karen sat down.

"I told her that I put my bare feet too close to the fire in the fireplace." Karen shrugged. "She told me to get my sneakers, but considering Fred and George stole them..."

"Don't worry. I already got a prank in mind." Amy grinned wickedly. Karen smirked and copied down the note.

...

The bell rang and the two girls hurried out of class. Amy stood in the middle of the corridor, hands on her hips and blue eyes scanning the crowd of students. Karen had tried the Summoning Charm, but it didn't work. Not that she expected it to.

"So how are you going to get them to give back our shoes?" Karen asked. They certainly couldn't go around shoeless all day, but they also couldn't be tattletales.

"I figure George will be a bit more cooperative under pressure, so you just have to detain Fred." Amy spotted the two redheads making their way through the mob of students. "Found them!"

Karen pulled out her wand and frowned nervously. She wasn't too sure about this, but most of the plans Amy had come up with worked. Unfortunately they also landed them in detention.

When Fred was within wand-range, Karen cried out, "Expelliarmus!"

"What's the big idea?" Fred roared when Karen caught his wand. He didn't get an answer. Instead he got locked in a Body-Bind thanks to skillful hexing by Karen.

As Fred rolled about on the floor shouting for someone to perform the counter-curse Amy tackled George to the ground and pinned him down. She held him by the front of his robes and shook him furiously. "I want our shoes back! I want our shoes back!"

"Too bad! Now gerroff!" George rasped, trying to fight Amy off.

"My feet are cold! I want my sneakers back, you lousy punk!" Amy twisted his arm and he howled in pain. "Give 'em back!"

"Get off!" George hollered as he thrashed about. "You're mad!"

"Darn right I'm mad! I'm furious! I want my shoes back!" Amy gave his arm another twist and George frantically slapped the floor with his hand.

"Ack! I can't feel my arm! Fred! Do something!"

"I would if someone would perform the counter-curse!" Fred snapped from the floor. He was stiff as a board and Karen was glowering at anyone that approached with their wands. But not too many people did. They were having too much fun watching the chaos happening around them.

"Shoes!" Amy demanded.

"Alright! Alright! Lee! Go get their shoes before she breaks my arm!"

Lee Jordan darted from the crowd and sprinted for the dormitories. He really wished he was listening when they were taught the Body-Bind counter-curse.

"So...that was some nice Transfiguration work you did this morning," Amy said conversationally. "Dirty and painful, but pretty good."

"Thanks," said George's muffled voice as his face was pressed to the floor. Lee came running back and he hastily chucked their shoes at the two girls, not wanting to get too close.

"Brilliant!" Amy said with a grin. She got off of George and slipped her sneakers on. Karen pulled her shoes on as well and relieved Fred of the Body-Bind. She tossed him his wand and both girls took off around the corner just as McGonagall came striding down the corridor.

"What is going on?" she demanded, staring at the twins who were face-down on the floor, struggling to get up.

"Houston!" they chorused angrily before storming away, trying to retain what was left of their dignity.

...

"I can't believe you gave up," Fred said in annoyance as he stabbed a piece of lasagne with his fork.

"That girl has a grip! I can barely feel my arm!" Sure enough, George's right arm hung limply by his side.

"Ooh they are so going to get it," Fred hissed. He shot a murderous glare at the other end of the table where Karen and Amy sat, making sure to put enough distance between them and the twins as possible.

"What's with the ceiling?" Lee asked. He gestured above and the twins' gaze followed the hand movement. Although the weather outside was cloudy, the bewitched ceiling was crackling with thunder and lightning.

"I have a guess. Name starts with an H and ends with an N," George muttered darkly.

Katie Bell smirked in amusement. "So you're on a last name basis?"

"Ah shut up!" Fred said angrily and shoved the lasagne in his mouth.

The thundering got louder and the lightning flashed brighter. Everyone's attention focussed on the ceiling as the lightning began to get out of control. Dumbledore's brows were furrowed in confusion as he studied the ceiling. He reached for his wand but before he could do anything a bolt of lightning shot from the ceiling and crashed into the Slytherin table.

Or to be more specific right in front of Lucian Bole. The boy flew from his place on the bench and crashed to the floor, his dinner covering him from head to foot. Snape instantly swept from the High Table to attend to his student and the rest of the Hall (except for the Slytherins and teachers) burst into howling laughter. Amy smiled thinly and sipped from her goblet.

"I told you Bole would regret the day he met Houston," Fred muttered to his twin as a shocked and stunned Bole was ushered from the Hall by his Head of House.

"Does the heathen have Herbology next?" George asked suddenly.

"Yeah, why?"

A smile curled across his face. "Well...it's not much, but it'll satisfy my revenge needs."

"Do tell dear brother."

...

"I can't believe you didn't get in trouble for that whole lightning thing!" Karen exclaimed as she and Amy walked across the grounds to Herbology. The chilly autumn air made them hug their robes closer to their bodies.

"They didn't have proof it was me."

"How'd you bewitch the ceiling to do that anyway?"

Amy grinned slyly. "A magician never reveals their secrets; nor do I."

Karen blinked. "Er...a magician?"

"It's basically a Muggle trying to do magic but uses cheap tricks. Some of them are rather entertaining," Amy explained.

"Huh, that's pretty-uh oh. Twin alert!" Karen gestured towards the redheads who were casually strolling about a few meters away.

"What do you want?" Amy asked in annoyance. She went for her wand just in case, but before she could pull it out of her robe sleeves the twins whipped out their wands from behind their backs and shouted, "Alarte Ascendare!"

Karen and Amy were thrown off of their feet and into the air. With shrieks of dismay they splashed into the lake behind them. The twins laughed and high-fived each other before tearing off back to the castle before Amy could curse them into next week.

Karen spluttered as she broke through the surface. She shoved her raven hair from her face and scowled. "Jerks!"

She climbed onto shore and squeezed the water from her robes. She cast a glance at the shimmering water and grew anxious when Amy didn't pop up. She stumbled back and clapped a hand over her mouth when a large tentacle rose from the water. The Giant Squid gently placed Amy on land, uncurling its tentacle from around her waist.

Amy coughed out a mouthful of water and shoved herself to her feet. "Thanks Squiddy!"

Karen removed her hands from her mouth. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm going to kill those two, though. I can't swim." Amy scowled for a second before she smiled. "Hey! You didn't freak out this time!"

"You're not going to let me forget that, are you?" Karen asked. With robes plastered to their bodies and waterlogged bags slung over their shoulders, the two made their way to Herbology.

"Nope. I hope Sprout has some sort of spell that'll get us dry...Fred and George better look out!"

...

"You've lost it!" Karen cried. Classes had ended and they were settled in the comfy armchairs by the fireplace. Sprout had sent them to Pomfrey and she cleaned them up. Amy refused to tell the truth, so she simply said they both slipped and fell in the lake.

Amy really hated to tattle.

"I have not!" Amy defended. She had told Karen her plan and the girl didn't seem too fond of it.

"You want to tie up Fred and George and-"

"I know what I want to do! Are you in or not?" Amy asked impatiently.

Karen sighed wearily. "Oh all right. But this is pretty harsh."

Amy waved a hand in dismissal. "It's war now!"

The blonde headed up to the twins dorm and Karen sighed before creeping out of the common room and into the corridor. The glowing numbers on her watch told her it was one in the morning. Detention with Snape always ran late...good thing she was done.

All she had was her detention with McGonagall tomorrow.

The raven-haired girl tiptoed down the corridor, wary green eyes searching for signs of Mrs. Norris. It took longer than expected, but she finally found the entrance to the kitchens. Amy had managed to weasel out the location from a sixth-year.

It was amazing how scary Amy could be when she wanted to be.

Karen tickled the pear and crawled through the opening. She froze and stared at the house-elves that swarmed about, cleaning and sweeping. Being a pureblood, she did have a house-elf back home, but she had never seen so many in one place before.

"Er...excuse me?"

A slight flush crept across her neck when every elf stared at her. "Uh...may I please have some fruit? I'm a bit hungry."

Instantly a basket of fruit was passed along and handed to her. Karen gripped the basket and peered overtop the pile of fruit. "Thanks a lot!"

She edged her way from the kitchen and lugged the fruit all the way to the Great Hall. She entered and stared in disbelief. Amy had actually managed to do it.

Fred and George were tied back-to-back, placed on the Gryffindor table and glaring daggers at Amy. Their mouths were covered with handkerchiefs. "How'd you do it?"

"They were waiting for me and tackled me to the ground. I don't quite know what they were planning to do, but I kicked their butts and tied them up and levitated them down here." Amy smirked. "Apparently I never mentioned I took self-defense classes."

Karen placed the fruit on the table and the twins eyed it suspiciously. It was bad enough they got beat by a first-year (again), but now they were tied up in the Great Hall.

"Are you ready?" Amy asked.

"I guess so."

"Then let's get to work!"

...

It was half-past two in the morning when Karen and Amy left the Great Hall. Amy was grinned widely and Karen was trying to keep her eyes open. "That's it...tonight we're getting some sleep."

Footsteps came towards them and Amy paled. She managed to dive behind a statue but Karen did not get that luxury. Minerva McGonagall swept around the corner just as Karen was about to duck behind it. "Miss Thomas! What is the meaning of this?" she asked angrily.

Karen gulped and shuffled her feet nervously. Amy, out of McGonagall's line of sight, tugged at the legs of Karen's flannel pyjamas, urging her to say something. "I-I h-had a n-nightmare a-and we-went f-for a walk."

McGonagall's expression softened just a bit. "That still doesn't give you an excuse to wander the corridors past curfew Miss Thomas."

"I'm s-sorry. I just couldn't go back to sleep."

McGonagall gently ushered Karen down the corridor. "Come along then. Madame Pomfrey may have some Dreamless Sleep Potion for you, and then back to bed you get. Does Miss Houston know where you are?"

"No ma'am."

"Then we better hurry. If she's awake she'll no doubt be in a right state."

As the two disappeared around the corner, Amy crawled from her hiding place and grinned. "I never would have thought Karen's stammering would have come in handy!"

...

Amy was pacing the room, trying to look as anxious and worried as she could, when Karen and their Head of House climbed through the portrait hole. "Karen!"

Karen found herself wrapped in a bear hug by her best friend. "Good to see you too!"

McGonagall actually smiled. "Now that you have reunited after a night apart I insist you all get to bed this second. Thomas, make sure you take that potion when you're settled it bed."

Karen thanked her and McGonagall left. Karen grinned at Amy and said, "Nice acting skills."

"Thanks! Nice stammering, it came in handy."

"I can't help it! I stammer when I get nervous or scared!" Karen whined. Amy grinned and the two girls went up to bed for a few hours.

...

Amy got up, a bit pale with dark bags under her blue eyes. Her gaze drifted to Karen, and then the empty potion vial sitting on her bedside table. With a sigh she got dressed in her school robes and then violently shook Karen. The girl shot upright and blinked furiously. "What's the matter? Are we being robbed?"

"No, it's breakfast time and you were knocked out by that potion. I can't believe you took it."

"It was a lovely sleep." Karen got dressed and the two girls left their dorms and joined the few students leaving the common room.

"McGonagall is going to know it's us," Karen whispered nervously as more and more students poured towards the Great Hall.

"Ah, relax. No proof. And if the twins give up our names it'll be because they're just mad."

Roaring laughter could be heard coming from the Great Hall. Amy and Karen slipped inside and joined the crowd of laughing and jeering students.

Fred and George were tied up and placed on the Gryffindor table. The handkerchiefs had been removed and replaced with round apples. They were decorated with grapes, watermelon, bananas, apricots, cherries and dates. They looked like what Amy intended them to look like; two pigs on a platter.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Oh no," Karen whispered and buried her head in her hands as McGonagall and Dumbledore and some other members of the staff pushed their way to the front of the crowd.

There was silence as the teachers took in the sight before them. Amy was satisfied to see Snape trying to hold back a smirk. McGonagall hastily untied the twins and they yanked the apples from their mouths, fuming and practically glowing bright red. They jumped off the table and scrambled from the Hall to get changed.

McGonagall surveyed the crowd with thinned lips and fiery eyes. "Well?" she demanded.

She was staring right at Karen, who had really only gone to get the fruit from the kitchens. Amy decided to take the rap. What were a few more detentions?

She waved her hand in the air. "My fault! I have a terrible temper, see, and I forget to take my daily amount of sugar and therefore can't be held accountable for my actions."

"Office! Now!"

"Oh...well it was worth a shot." Amy shuffled from the Hall, bowing and waving amidst tumultuous applause and cheers and whistles.

Karen shook her head and made a mental note to get Amy as many Chocolate Frogs as possible for taking the blame alone.

But Fred and George were definitely going to hex them into oblivion.

...

"That was certainly...creative," Filius said from his perch on a pile of cushions. He glanced at the twins from his spot on the High Table and caught the murderous glare they shot Karen. "I do hope they don't do anything rash."

"Oh I don't know. If I had to spend who-knows-how-long tied up in the Great Hall with an apple stuffed in my mouth and covered in fruit, I'd probably do something rash," Pomona said thoughtfully. "I suppose Houston is getting an earful."

"That was a rather cruel prank," Albus said with a frown. "Maybe this little prank war of theirs is getting out of hand."

"No!"

Filius, Pomona and Albus stared at Severus in amusement and surprise. Severus coughed and collected himself. "It's best just to let them get it out of their systems."

Pomona grinned. "Does that mean you won't punish her for striking Bole with lightning?"

"I couldn't punish her anyway because I didn't have any evidence...but I suppose her last little prank on the Weasley twins might remove any thought of punishment from my mind."

"Severus, you are a harsh man."

"Not as much as Minerva. I almost pity Houston. She'll be deaf by the time Minerva is done with her," Severus said with a slight smirk.

There was a blinding flash of light and a shout of surprise. The light cleared and everyone in the Hall stared.

Where Karen Thomas had once been was now a fluffy bunny rabbit. The animal took off, streaking out of the Great Hall. Hermione hollered and took off after Karen the Bunny. Angelina and Katie started throwing pieces of food at the twins, despite their protests. Ron and Harry were trying hard to quell their amusement.

Albus sighed. "They did something rash."

"I can see that," Filius muttered.

"I'll take care of it," Severus said with an odd gleam in his dark eyes as he swept from the table and headed straight for the twins.

Filius sighed wearily. "I'll go see if I can find Miss Thomas. Hopefully Miss Granger caught up to her."

"Houston won't be happy when she hears of this," Pomona mused aloud.

Albus took a long drink from his goblet. "Neither will Minerva."