An hour later, the chaos was finally over, Leo's side having been narrowly victorious. Leo and Marisa had retreated to the library, where neither would be able to jinx the other without facing the wrath of Madam Pince, to catch up on some revision.
Leo was one of very few students in his year, and most likely only two non-Ravenclaws (Hermione, naturally, being the other) who was upset about the cancellation of exams. He was determined to study just as hard as he would have done if there had been.
Marisa, on the other hand, was using her time to catch up on the smaller details of what had been going on while she'd been Petrified: classes, gossip and day-to-day life.
And they might have shared the occasional kisses when no-one was looking. Not that either of them would have admitted it for the world.
Both, however, were less cheerful than they had been: there was less than a month left of the term now, and soon they'd have to go home and not see each other for the entire summer.
It would be hard – much harder than last year – to get along without each other for that long, and they were trying not to think about it until closer to the time.
"Maybe I'll invite you to stay at my house during the holidays," suggested Leo. "Now you're not a muggle-born – officially – you should be an acceptable friend."
Marisa grinned. "Sounds good. We'll need to think up a few ways to drive Draco insane while I'm there."
"Definitely," agreed Leo. "Should probably look into a few prank spells as well."
Their lips split into matching evil grins, but Marisa was startled away from her Herbology essay when she heard a voice – or two voices? – behind her.
"Why, hello, Miss King."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
She stood up and spun around slowly to see two older red-headed twins, also sporting evil grins.
"Likewise… Fred and George? Who's who?"
"Now that, Miss King – "
" – is a secret you will never find out."
"A little bird told me – "
"That you've been messing with our baby brother."
Marisa tried as hard as she could to keep track of which one was speaking, but it was harder than she'd expected.
"As much as we admire the sentiment – "
" – we are the only ones allowed to mess with our ickle Ronnikins."
"So," they said together, "we're going to make you pay."
Marisa sighed. "You know, generally when you want to take revenge on someone it's wise not to tell them until your plan is complete."
"But where would be the fun in that?" asked Twin One.
"Rule one of being evil: don't gloat until you're at least two hundred and ten percent sure you can't possibly lose," said Leo. "Gloating is fun, but not if it means your plan is going to fail."
"Thank you for the warning. I shall watch out for any evidence of pranks."
The twins, looking disappointed that their attempts at intimidation had failed, turned to leave. As an afterthought, Marisa called after them "And maybe you'd better watch out, too!"
Then, once she was sure they were out of earshot, she said "We're doomed."
"Excuse me, we? I don't intend to get mixed up in any of this."
"I would have thought you'd want to defend your girlfriend."
"You really don't know me at all, then, do you?"
Marisa rolled her eyes. "Right. Fetch me that book of prank spells. I'm going to show them exactly why I shouldn't be messed with."