As classes ended and she made her way to the statue of the one-eyed witch, Avery could practically feel each individual drop of sweat as it emerged from her pores and collected in her palms. She kept trying to tell herself it would be fine, that she would collect what the twins needed as quickly as possible and then get the hell out of there and everything would be fine. She would stop assuming other people's identities, which is what got her into this terrible mess in the first place, and then she would just be a regular student, getting average marks in class, and hopefully making the quidditch team during tryouts next week.

The twins were already waiting for her by the time she arrived at the statue, both looking calm and collected as they poured over a bit of old parchment together, which put her a little more at ease. If they weren't worried, why should she be, she rationalized to herself.

"There you are!" George said before looking up and beaming brightly.

"How was Care of Magical Creatures?" Fred asked politely. Avery cocked an eyebrow at him.

"How'd you know that's where I was? I don't recall giving you my class schedule."

"We knew where you were the same way we know Snape is in the staffroom right now," George began.

"The marauders map," they chorused together.

"And what is that, exactly?"

"We'll show you in the tunnel," Fred said with a wink. Again, George kept lookout while Fred opened the witch's hump and helped Avery slide down first, and she was shortly joined by the twins. Huddled together, each of their wands lit, they leaned over the bit of parchment, and Avery saw that is was actually a map of Hogwarts. Not only that, but it seemed to be bewitched so that you could see the exact movements of everyone on the Hogwarts grounds and inside the castle, little banners labeling each pair of feet trailing up and down the halls, including one reading "Severus Snape,"which was, as the twins had said, in the clearly labeled staffroom.

This is... brilliant," Avery said, allowing her jaw to hang open this time in the tunnel, but

only slightly; she didn't want to seem too impressed. "Did you make this or where did you get it or how do I get one?" Avery continued. She couldn't imagine having this to herself; the things she would be able to do and get away with!

"We nicked it from Filch's office of course, and as far as we know, it's the only one, so I'm afraid you'll have to do without," Fred said, smirking a bit as Avery's face fell.

"So, we've got pockets full of dungbombs. We're going to stand just outside the classroom and talk a little too loudly about how we're planning to set them off just outside the library- you know, catch that afternoon, after-class rush-"

"Snape'll be sure to either follow us, wait till it happens, and pounce, or, he'll nab us right outside the staffroom and punish us on the spot. Either way, he'll be miles away from his class, giving you an easy shot at the ingredients," Fred finished, holding out the map for her to grab.

"We're trusting you with the map. That way if something goes wonky and anyone is coming your way you'll know and you'll be able to get out of there or change your appearance and not get caught," George explained.

"But, you must be very careful with it-"

"It's our most prized possession-"

"Honestly, if it comes down to you or the map getting out of there alive, we want the map."

Avery rolled her eyes and took the map and Fred also handed her some of Snape's robes, which they had previously coordinated for them to steal with the help of a few house elves who were, according to Fred and George, eager to please.

"Be careful with these also. We told the elves we'd have them back by tonight."

"Right," Avery replied, sighing deeply, "we better hurry in case Snape decides to go to the dungeons or something." The twins nodded in response, but did not move.

"Which means I need to change into these, which means you need to not be here."

"Avery, we're all in this together. Everys single step of the way."

"Urm, not this step. Out, please."

Chuckling, the twins made their way up the slide and out the witch's hump. Using the light of her wand, she glanced over the list she had made of Snape's features earlier that day and after changing into his robes focused hard until her body began to take it's new shape. Growing a few inches in height and losing a few inches in hair, she was sure there wasn't a person who looked more like Snape than her in this moment, and she was also sure that this was her least favorite person to pretend to be ever, although at least her profuse sweating at the idea of stealing from Snape's private stash added to her impression of him. Greasier than ever, Avery climbed up the slide and out of the hump, Fred helping her down to the floor.

"Thanks," she murmured, tugging nervously at Snape's cloak.

"I've got to say, what you do it bloody impressive. Although it's a little unsettling to hear your voice come out of Snape's mouth," George whispered. Avery had left everything at the bottom of the tunnel except her wand, the marauders map, and the small beaded purse, which she had stashed in the pocket of Snape's robes. With the map out in front of her, she quickly checked it to make sure Snape was still in the staffroom down the hall. Luckily, he was, as was Filch. Perfect, Avery thought. There was no way that Snape and Filch would be able to resist overhearing the twin plotting a prank. It was sure to distract them both, and she should have no trouble getting what she needed.

"Should I walk you over there? You know, so you can watch him on the map to make sure he doesn't go anywhere?" Avery asked, her alto not at all suiting Snape's lanky frame.

"That would be a terrible idea. We can't be seen together," Fred said, glancing over his shoulder, "and you need to keep your bloody mouth shut. Don't talk to anyone, no matter what you do, or we'll be ruined. Soon as you can, change back into yourself and meet us outside the painting of the fruit bowl in the basement. We'll be there as soon as we can." And with that, Fred and George both turned on their heels and scampered away towards the staffroom. Taking a deep breathe to steady herself, Avery took off at a brisk pace towards the staircase and down towards the dungeons, the map in one sweaty hand and her wand in the other.

One benefit of becoming Snape was that unlike when she pretended to be one of her fellow classmates, people didn't only avoid talking to her, they avoided even walking near her. Walking down the halls as Snape, she couldn't help but notice students veer out of her way and down different passages, unless of course they were Slytherin, who Snape always favored. Even so, they only nodded politely or smiled as they passed by, and Avery made it to Snape's classroom without incident. She did take a brief pause just outside the door to his class to eye the gargoyle that the twins had mentioned. It sat their, lifeless, and she wasn't surprised she had never noticed it before, it being just as dark and murky as the wall behind it and blending in nicely. She also decided she couldn't be too surprised it could talk. She swore sometimes that the suits of armor around the castle moved.

Still careful to try to mimic the way Snape moved and his mannerisms, Avery opened the door to his dungeon classroom and stepped inside, closing the door carefully behind her. Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest as she strode as quickly as she could across the cold stone floor to the wooden door of the stockroom. Grabbing the metal handle, she attempted to pull the door open, but to no avail.

"Oh shit," she muttered. She aimed her wand at the handle and whispered alohomora, but it was fruitless. She should have thought of this. She should have known he wouldn't just leave his supply closet wide open, and if her charm wouldn't work, she wasn't sure how in the world she was going to get what they needed. She didn't know any other spells that would unlock things. She turned and looked wildly around the room, for what she wasn't sure. Panicking, she hurried to his desk and rifled through the drawers, hoping to find a key to the door, but she found nothing. Avery mentally flicked through a list of spells she knew, trying to think of something that would help her get through the door.

Bombarda, a wicked voice kept whispering to her. Looking from her wand to the door, she shook her head. That spell would destroy the door and would likely blow half his supplies to smithereens as well. Never the less, bombarda was the only spell she could think of, and that little voice kept whispering it over and over and over again, begging her to take the chance and smash through the door. Consulting the only other tool she had in her possession, she looked at the marauders map and realized, to her absolute horror, the twins were indeed outside the library with Filch, but Snape was not. Her eyes flew to the staffroom, but he was not there either. The fear rising like bile in her throat, she scanned the passages leading the dungeons, and sure enough, a pair of feet labeled "Severus Snape" were headed right for her.

Cursing herself for not have consulting the map sooner, she whirled about, looking for something, anything; a place to hide, someone else to disguise herself as. But even if she did transform into someone else, she would still be wearing Snape's robes, and she would still be in his classroom after class time, and he was sure to be upset about that, too. Looking at the map again, the pair of feet representing Snape were getting dangerously close to the pair representing her. He was maybe 15 feet from the door of the classroom. It was too late to run, and even if it weren't, there was no place to run. She couldn't transform, so she had to hide. Making herself as small as she could, she ducked under the table closest to the supply closet, farthest from the door to the classroom, and held her breath.

Seconds later, she heard the door to the classroom open and close. She refused to turn her head, too paranoid that Snape would sense her slightest movement and find her, but she could hear his footfalls coming closer and closer to her hiding place. She closed her eyes tightly, and bit her lip, silently praying he would leave, heart battering against her ribcage. Above her she could hear Snape whisper something in his greasy voice and a door open. Still holding her breath, Avery took the chance and turned her head, seeing the door to the supply room standing wide open. She heard the clink of vials and the crinkle of paper and assumed Snape was collecting ingredients for something.

"Absolutely unbelievable," she could barely hear Snape muttering to himself. She couldn't catch every word, but she did hear something about Dumbledore and Professor Lupin, her new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and more curious still, something about the full moon. Before too long, Snape's feet reemerged from the supply room and then enter another door across the room, which Avery knew to be Snape's office, and Snape, who was still grumbling about "an undeserved favor," closed the door behind him. It was quiet in the classroom, other than the muffled noises now coming from Snape's office.

Frozen, Avery contemplated what to do. She could crawl her way out of the classroom and run to the painting for the fruit bowl, explain the whole thing to the twins, call off stealing from Snape altogether, and begin giving them a portion of her take from pretending to be other people. But, in order to do that, she wouldn't be able to quit like she had planned, and after this experience, she really did think she should quit. Another option was to crawl into the stockroom, snatch and grab as much as she could and then sneak out, give everything to the twins and wash her hands of the situation. It was a much more risky route, what with the possibility that Snape would hear her and come back out and catch her, but if she didn't, she would still owe the twins. The same voice that wanted her to break down the door of the supply room was pleading for her to crawl into the supply room and take anything she could get her hands on. She wasn't sure where this little voice was coming from, but it was as loud and clear as if it were crouching under that table beside her and whispering into her ear.

Her heart still pounding, and despite her better judgment, the little voice won out, and with a cautious eye on the map, she watched Snape in his office while she slowly crawled from under the table into the storeroom.

Lit by a few floating candles, it would've been hard for anyone who wasn't familiar with the stockroom to find what they needed, especially with their heart racing like Avery's was. However, since one of the detentions she had covered for Ernie MacMillian had been spent cataloging these same ingredients for an entire night, she knew just where most things were. Quickly and quietly Avery grabbed what she could and stuffed them into the tiny, beaded bag, careful to watch the map and make sure Snape was still at his desk. Then, closing the pouch and tucking it back into her pocket, she slid down onto the floor and crawled back out of the room and along the wall farthest from Snape's office, heading for the door out. Placing the map inside her pocket, she watched the door to the office while she carefully reached up and grabbed the door handle, pulling the door open as quietly as she could and crawling out, gently closing the door behind her. She spent a moment on the floor, taking deep steadying breaths. She hadn't been caught. Yet.

"Severus? Are you alright?"

Avery's head snapped in the direction of the voice, only to see Professor Lupin looking down at her curiously, concern lining his features. He was dressed as shabbily as ever and looking incredibly pale. Instead of voicing a response, Avery stood, dusted off her robes, and gave Lupin a curt nod. Worrying that the real Snape might hear Lupin's voice if he kept asking questions, she began to stalk back towards the entrance hall, hoping Lupin would follow, and he did.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, I was just coming to inquire about the potion..." Lupin began, trailing off, as though he was uncomfortable. Avery was in deep trouble now. Even if she could respond, she had no idea what to say. She guessed that maybe the potion in question was why Snape had just been in his supply room, but she couldn't be sure. She needed to say something, though, and whatever it was needed to be short and sweet she could get rid of Lupin (hopefully without him noticing Snape's voice had jumped an octave or two) change back into herself, and meet the twins.

"It's brewing now," she said quietly, doing her best possible imitation of Snape, which wasn't altogether terrible, but certainly not convincing. She was glad her back was to Lupin so he couldn't see her grimace at her own bad impression of the potions master.

"Are you quite alright, Professor? You seem a bit... off."

Avery felt she could get away with a grunt, so that was all she did, afraid if she spoke again he would definitely know something was up.

"Well, I'll be in my office then. You'll let me know when it's finished?" Lupin asked. They were out of the dungeons and in the entrance hall now. Avery glanced over her shoulder at Lupin, who looked a bit puzzled, and grunted again before walking away as quickly as she could, leaving the dumbfounded professor behind. Hurrying as quickly as possible, Avery darted up the stairs and down passages to finally arrive back at the statue of the witch. Careful to check for anyone nearby, she tapped the hump, muttered 'dissendium,' and hoisted herself inside, which was much more difficult without Fred's help. Once at the bottom of the tunnel, she took a shakey breath and smiled. She had done it. It got what she needed for Fred and George, and though her run-in with Lupin wasn't ideal, she hadn't been caught. A rush of adrenaline hit her in the chest, and she did a little dance, laughing with relief. At the beginning of this whole thing, she didn't think she would ever want to transform into anyone else ever again, but it ended up being such a thrill. As she changed back into herself and back into her robes, stuffed Snape's into her bag, and climbed back up and out of the tunnel, she wondered what the twins would be using the ingredients for exactly, and whether they could use a full-time metamorphmagus at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

When she arrived at the painting of the fruit bowl, the twins were already awaiting her, looking a bit disheveled, their shirts wrinkled and ties undone, but upon seeing her in one piece, each of them cheered and punched the air.

"Avery! You're alright! We were worried. Snape didn't follow us. Only Filch did. What happened?" Fred asked in a rush, running his fingers through his hair.

Smiling, Avery pulled the pouch out of her pocket and tossed it to Fred, who opened it. Both he, and George, who was peering over his shoulder, looked ecstatic at it's contents.

"Is this everything from the list?" George asked in awe.

"I believe so. I never thought that entire night I was stuck cataloging his ingredients would be a night I was glad I experienced, but I wouldn'tve been able to have done it otherwise. It was an incredibly close call, but I made it out with the map and everything," she replied, her grin growing ever wider.

"Let's get dinner and you can tell us about it," George said, clapping his hands together. He looked so incredibly happy, and Avery's heart leapt at the sight.

"Alright!" Avery said happily, turning to leave the basement area for the great hall.

"No, no! Here, Avery!" Fred said, laughing. She turned around to see George tickling the pear on the painting, which consequently giggled and caused the entire painting to swing forward, as if on hinges, and reveal a doorway to a marvelous kitchen. Mouth agape again, as it so often seemed to be around the twins, Avery clambered through the doorway after them. Seeming to be quite at home, Fred and George made their way over to a scrubbed wooden table where a gaggle of house elves began dancing around their ankles, offering them food and drinks.

"Pumpkin juice, sirs?"

"Treacle tart?"

"Here! Roast beef and Shepard's pie!"

The twins greeted and thanked the different elves, taking the different trays out of their hands and putting them on the table, beckoning Avery to come and sit, which she did.

"The robes, sirs? We are needing to wash and return them, please," one elf said, tugging on George's pant leg as he sat and proceeded to help himself to some pie.

"Right! Avery has them. Thanks again for your help, it's much appreciated," he replied. Taking the cue, Avery dug the robes out of her bag and handed them to the elf, who was so small she barely seemed able to carry them.

"Thank you, miss!" she cried, scurrying away with the robes in her long fingers.

"Don't worry. The elves are good secret keepers," Fred said, nothing the dubious expression on Avery's face. "So, tell us all about what happened?" he continued, piling food onto his plate and her own. Too excited to eat, Avery launched into the story, and Fred and George were a great audience. Although they gave her scathing looks for not realizing sooner that Snape was heading for the dungeons, they gasped and even laughed in the appropriate places and high-fived her success in the stockroom. They didn't even seem to be bothered by her run in with Lupin, or even curious about what the potion was.

"Lupin and Snape don't seem to be all that close. We've seen Snape glaring at Lupin a time or two, actually. I'm sure nothing will come up again about the run-in, and even if it were to, I don't think it will matter or that they'll trace it back to you. I'm sure the potion is just something for class. Like an antidote or solution of some kind that Lupin keeps in case a kid gets stunned in his class or something," Fred told her, shrugging it off and helping himself to more treacle tart.

"Well, it's everything. Absolutely everything we need for the snackboxes, Fred," George saaid with a smile. He had been going through the bag and checking things off the list as he found them. "Guess this means you're off the hook," he continued, turning to Avery.

"Right... Right..." Avery said, nodding, not sure how happy the sentiment made her. While the events of the night had easily been the most nerve-wracking of her life, they had also been the most exciting, and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to give it up. As for becoming an ideal Hufflepuff like Cedric, the more she thought about it the more she felt like it was a lost cause. She may have been sorted into Hufflepuff, but she was who she was, and she wasn't Cedric. She enjoyed her adventures with the twins and wanted to have more, and if these types of adventures weren't something a true Hufflepuff would engage in, then maybe she wasn't a true Hufflepuff, like she had told Marilyn a thousand times.

"You alright, there, Avery? I thought you'd be pleased," Fred said through a mouthful of tart.

"Well, it's just... These snackboxes. This business you're starting... I think I might like to be a part of it," Avery started, her eyes darting between the twins and her plate as she played with her food, trying hard not too seem too interested.

"Really?" the twins asked.

"Do you always need to speak in unison like that? What is that, anyway? Some sort of weird twin thing?"

"What did you have in mind?" Fred asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Well, I would rather not steal to be perfectly honest," Avery began, "but should you need someone to sneak around for you or cause a distraction, or you know, whatever, I think I might like to help. Maybe I could even chip in a few galleons, you know, if I were to continue doing... What I do..." The twins looked at each other and grinned, and Avery's heart jumped into her throat. Maybe they wanted her to be a part of the business as much as she wanted to be part of it.

"Alright, Avery," Geroge said, turning from his twin to face Avery, smirking. The twins seemed to get about twice as handsome when they smirked like that, she thought.

"We'd love to have you on the team. You can chip in what you can and help with anything we need. In exchange, we will help find you business as well as make sure anyone who does know about your business keeps quiet. Also, when the business takes off, we'll be sure to pay you back for your investments." Avery thrust out her hand and shook each of the twins' in agreement, thinking, but not saying, the thrill of it all would be payment enough.