The next day, Avery did not go to take her usual seat at the Hufflepuff table. Unable to get a decent sleep after their argument, Avery had woken up around 5am, assumed long chestnut hair, a pointed face, and hazel eyes, left the dorm, and took a seat at the Gryffindor table instead. She did not want to be anywhere near the Hufflepuff table, where she assumed Marilyn would be sitting, and she was also anxious to talk to the twins. Although the look she had assumed today would make it difficult for them to identify her- it being such a complete departure from her normal appearance- she figured they would be able to pick her out based on her robes.

Around 7am, the Weasley twins wandered over to the Hufflepuff table without even a backward glance at the Gryffindor table; it had become their tradition to find her at her house table and flank her either side. They walked up and down the table, looking utterly bewildered, before seeing her waving to them from their own table.

"Well, this is new," George commented as they took their seats on either side of her, referring to her appearance or choice of table, Avery was not sure.

"I need to talk to you two," Avery said quietly. It was the first she had spoken all morning after hardly sleeping, the words coming out gravelly and gnarled. She cleared her throat and proceeded. "I got into a fight with Marilyn last night."

The twins shot each other another look, similar to the one they had exchanged the night before, but Avery was impatient and barreled on. She recounted the fight and explained how Marilyn had said she should ask them what she had meant when she said they weren't "innocent."

"What did she mean by that? Is there something I should know?" Avery asked, feeling that she already knew the answer. She had thought this over the whole night, and she didn't see how there could be anything they were hiding from her- they were a mischievous pair, of course. But Avery could scarcely them believe doing anything serious enough to make them untrustworthy. The longer she thought about it, the more she had assumed that Marilyn was probably referring to the twins being less than "innocent" for associating with half-bloods and non-magic folk. Still, she wanted to hear from the twins herself.

"No idea," Fred said, not missing a beat, face bordering between cool and surprised.

"Yeah, no idea," George echoed, helping himself to some bacon, seeming unperturbed by the accusation.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy filled her head with ideas about us and our family; the Malfoys hate us, what with us being 'blood traitors' and all," Fred continued, also helping himself to something to eat. He also seemed very unaffected by what Marilyn had said.

"Yeah, I guess that could be where this is coming from… I mean, I've never heard her say things like that. It's just so strange," Avery said, brow furrowed. It just wasn't making any sense to her.

"Well, like we told you, young Avery, she always seemed a bit dodgy. She probably didn't like that you were getting close to us since we stand for everything that she- apparently- opposes, and said that to you to make you second guess being our friend," Fred said, giving Avery a sympathetic look. "I just hope it didn't work."

"Of course it didn't," Avery reassured him, shaking her head and grabbing a bit of toast. The whole thing was strange, but she had gotten to know the twins well over the past few months, and she saw no reason to distrust them over Marilyn, who had so suddenly become prejudice and very unlike the person Avery had befriended three years ago.

"Excellent- now, to the matter of celebrating our success. We thought firewhiskey at the top of the astronomy tower would be fitting," George said, rubbing his hands together excitedly, the previous topic of conversation already forgotten.

"Firewhiskey?" Avery repeated in hushed tones, casting a look around to see if anyone had heard. No one seemed to be the wiser, but Avery did notice Marilyn was sitting not far from them across the aisle at the Hufflepuff table, her nose buried in the Prophet, as usual. "Need I remind you I am only a third year? You're underage as well! How would we even get any?" Avery finished, looking back to the twins, who rolled their eyes in unison.

"We have our ways. But don't worry, there'll be some butterbeer there for you," Fred said, patting the top of her head patronizingly. "Just be at the top of the tower at midnight, ready to toast."

"We won't be going up there together?" Avery asked.

"We have quidditch practice, so we'll be coming straight from there. Best if you just meet us there," George interjected in-between bites of toast.

"Alright, but can I borrow the map? I don't feel as comfortable as you, sneaking about the castle late at night," Avery asked, half chuckling.

"'Fraid not," Fred said, actually looking apologetic, "We gave the map to a friend in need."

Avery was aghast- the twins had treated the map so carefully previously, why would they just give it away? And to who? She asked this very question, which the twins shook their heads to and waved off.

"Doesn't matter. We don't really need it anyway, do we? George and I know the castle as well as each other, and with you being a master of disguise you hardly need it either," Fred told her, unphased. Avery was still surprised by the twins nonchalant attitude towards the loss of such a powerful magical object, but he did make a valid point, at least about the twins knowing the castle well. While Avery was, indeed, a master of disguises being a metamorphmagus, but she still felt ill-at ease sneaking to the top of the tower at night. If she was caught, there would be little her disguise could do to protect her; she would eventually be found out, as Filch had nothing better to do than hang her from his office ceiling by her ankles until she confessed her identity. She told them this.

"Oh, quit being a stick in the mud," George sighed. "You sneak from the room of requirement to your common room nightly, this is hardly different."

"Don't overthink it and you'll be just fine," Fred added, ruffling her hair as he and his twin stood and waved goodbye. Avery watched them go, biting her lip anxiously as it was her nature to overthink. But, as she herself collected her belongings and readied herself to head to class, she reasoned that they were probably right; she had snuck around the castle uncaught for several months now, it was unlikely that tonight would be any different.

Avery assumed that avoiding Marilyn throughout the day would be very difficult, but as it turned out Marilyn was just as eager to avoid Avery and did a lot of the work on her own; she had arrived to all of their classes before Avery and chosen seats far from where they normally sat together. At meal times she sat surrounded by others at either the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw table, but never the Slytherin table, which Avery found odd. If she and Malfoy were friends, why didn't she seek refuge with him now that Avery knew about their relationship? Avery resolved, however, not to linger on it too long- Marilyn was not her concern any longer. So when Marilyn was not present in their dormitory after dinner, while Avery flipped through her textbooks, looking for inspiration for more products for the twin's business, she pretended not to notice her absence or wonder where she was.

Around nine o'clock, she took one of her books to an armchair by the common room fire and sat, watching her housemates slowly peel off and head to their beds over the top of her textbook. By 11:15, she was the only one left in the room, and decided if she was going, now was the time. As a precaution, she assumed the appearance of a dark haired boy before she exited the common room, and made her way upwards.

Heart pounding the entire time, Avery made every effort she could to keep quiet and stay in the shadows of suits of armor or duck into empty classrooms when she tricked herself into believing she had heard something. However, she encountered no one on her journey, and was just starting to feel her heart rate return to normal as she pulled open the door to the top of the astronomy tower and felt the cool breeze shift her hair around her ears. She closed the door behind her and looked curiously about for her two friends. However, she did not see them anywhere. She checked her watch; it was only ten to midnight with her being over zealous in her stealth, and she couldn't imagine where the twins could be.

"Avery? Is that you?" She finally heard Fred whispering furtively. She glanced around muttering "yes! Where are you?" before she finally saw him emerge from behind a stone gargoyle.

"Will you morph back into yourself, please? I thought you were a prefect or something," Fred replied, shaking his head as he walked toward her, a bottle of firewhiskey in one hand, a bottle of butterbeer in the other, which he held out to her. Avery looked down and it was only then that she remembered she had assumed a masculine appearance.

"Oh, right. Sorry," she laughed, focusing hard until she looked like her brown eyed, blonde haired, feminine self again. She gratefully accepted the bottle of butterbeer Fred was holding out to her and then looked about for George.

"Where is your counterpart?" She asked teasingly, "Is he under your cloak?"

"It was a long practice. He decided to go to the dorms," Fred replied, shrugging, not quite making eye contact with her. Instead, he gestured vaguely towards the sky. "Forget about him for a minute; have you noticed the view?"

Avery turned in the direction he was motioning. It was, in fact, a gorgeous view; the night sky was clear and alive with tiny, glittering pinpricks of light. The moon was just a silver in the sky, almost if the blanket of stars was beginning to tear, revealing just the tiniest shard of a bright, glowing, heaven.

"Wow," Avery said, not sure what else she could say. They had certainly picked a beautiful place to celebrate. "I love looking at the stars," she mumbled, immediately feeling stupid. "But I mean, obviously- who doesn't, right?"

"Right," Fred echoed, a genuine smile spreading across his features. "Well, are you going to drink your children's drink or not?" he said, gesturing to her bottle with his own.

Avery wasn't sure what struck her in that moment- maybe a childish desire to prove him wrong, or maybe her success jaunt to the tower gave her the confidence to feel just a bit more daring- but she reached out and grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey with her free hand, gently prodding his fingers and pulling it from his grasp. She then deftly replaced it with her bottle of butterbeer, prodding his fingers again to indicate he should close them around the neck of the bottle. She then looked into Fred's eyes, smirking, and took a pull from the bottle. It was a little more awkward than she had been hoping- she hadn't ever had alcohol prior to that moment, and it's strength was unexpected. She made a face and tried hard not to cough, breaking eye contact as she brought her free hand to her mouth. Fred laughed, his smile widening.

"Come on, trade back. You don't need this stuff," he began, stepping closer, and placing the butterbeer into her free hand, grabbing the firewhiskey out of the other. Avery noticed, though, that Fred used both hands to take the alcohol from her, lightly running his hands along hers as he did. She looked at his face, eyes still watering from the alcohol, and took in his smile before he took a drink himself. What had just happened? Was she imagining him unnecessarily touching her hands? She must have been misinterpreting things, she quickly realized, brushing it off and taking a drink of butterbeer to quell the taste of the whiskey.

"Thank you for all of your help, Avery," Fred said, looking at her again. He seemed more earnest than he had ever seen him. "We really couldn't have done it without you. Well, at least not as quickly and efficiently," he corrected himself, playfully nudging her with his bottle.

"Of course. I've really enjoyed being a part of the business. Of course I was disappointed when I wasn't chosen for the quidditch team… But I feel like it worked out the way it was meant to," Avery said, feeling oddly nervous all of the sudden, picking at the edge of the label on her bottle, avoiding his gaze.

"You really feel that way?" She barely heard Fred say. She looked up at him and had a difficult time reading his expression. He seemed very solemn in that moment, and she wasn't sure what had shifted between them from only a few moments ago when he was so jocular.

"Yes, of course… Is.. Something wrong, Fred?" Avery asked uncertainly. Without breaking eye contact or setting down his bottle, he wrapped his hands around Avery's empty one. She felt his warm palm against her own in contrast to the cold bottle he pressed tightly to the back of her hand as he looked deep into her eyes, his expression only growing more serious.

"I have to tell you something," he started. He paused to take several shallow breaths in and out of his nose, as if contemplating if he really did need to tell her whatever it was.

"Well… What is it?... Come on... Don't overthink it and you'll be just fine," Avery laughed, repeating what he had told her that morning, despite the fact that her heart was beginning to pound as hard as it had on her journey to the tower. She had never seen Fred like this, and she wasn't what he could have to tell her that was this serious. Had she been right before? Had Fred actually taken some sort of… romantic interest in her? Had he taken what she said about her being meant to work with them as some sort of validation that she was interested in him too? Wasshe interested in him? It was an undeniable fact that the twins were handsome. She had also grown to love their individual personalities and value them as friends over the past few months. But she had been so caught up with her feelings for Cedric and viewing the twins as business partners that she hadn't even considered the possibility until this moment.

Fred finally broken eye contact to look down at the stone floor, biting his lip. She stepped closer to him, impatient for him to speak. At her movement, he lifted his head again and their faces were less than six inches apart. Heart pounding harder than ever they stared at each other. She wondered if he was going to kiss her, or if she was supposed to kiss him. Or was there something entirely different going on here. Just as she felt like screaming for some clarification, Fred broke eye contact to look towards the door. Avery followed his gaze, and suddenly heard what he had- footfalls. Someone was quickly making their way towards the door.

"Hide!" Fred snarled quietly, pulling her with his free hand to hide behind the gargoyle he had hidden behind earlier. The door opened seconds after Avery's robes had whipped around the corner. It was a Ravenclaw Prefect whose name Avery did not know. He briefly used his wand to illuminate a few areas of the landing, before considering himself satisfied and leaving the same way he came, closing the door behind him.

"We need to get back to our common rooms," Fred said without missing a beat, shoving the bottle of firewhiskey into Avery's hand so that he could go and collect his broom and quidditch robes- he really must have come straight from practice and changed his muddy clothes before she arrived. "Quickly, come on."

Avery, breathing heavily, followed Fred, feeling much safer sneaking around the castle in his company than she had by herself. Fred seemed to be utterly in tune with the castle. He knew when to hide in the shadows, which passageways to take- even a secret passage Avery had never known before, helping them skip several floors. Avery had momentarily forgotten her desperate desire to know what Fred wanted to tell her in all the commotion. It wasn't until they reached the top of the stairs leading to the entrance hall when Fred told her she would have to traverse the rest of the way herself that she remembered.

"Wait!" she whispered harshly, trying to grab him by the arm as he retreated. It was then that she also remembered she still had two bottles in her hands. Fred turned around and leaned in close enough to have a whispered conversation. Avery shoved a bottle into his hands and whispered surreptitiously, "What did you want to tell me?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "That's not important right now. Get back to your common room."

"No." Avery replied firmly, not breaking eye contact with him. She was determined to appear stern and force him to tell her, but for whatever reason he was smiling- maybe it was hard for him to take a girl 4 inches shorter and two years younger than him seriously.

"Come on! You can't leave me wondering like this!" Avery snarled as quietly as she could, her brow deeply furrowed.

"Merlin's beard you're stubborn," Fred chuckled quietly, shaking his head slightly, before he leaned in and kissed Avery firmly on the lips. It happened so quickly, so suddenly. Avery was so stunned she almost didn't feel the pressure of his warm, full lips on hers. Almost. And then it was over, and Fred was smirking at her before her turned and trotted off, broom in one hand, bottle in the other, towards his common room.

Avery stood, stunned for a moment, before she realized she had better get to her dormitory, and quickly. Still half dazed, she turned and started down the stairs, scanning the entrance hall as she did. She saw no one, and scurried across the hall and down the passageway into the basement level. The barrels which hid the entrance to her common room looming at the end of the hall, Avery broke into a sprint. Just as she began to slow down so she could tap the password on the barrels to get inside, the entrance to the common room opened, and Cedric Diggory stepped out before Avery could formulate a plan to run or hide.

"Avery? What are you doing out here?" He began incredulously. He looked her over, quickly zeroing in on the bottle in her hand. "Is that firewhiskey?! How did you even get hold of that?!"

Avery looked down at her own hand, and it was true; in all the commotion, she must have handed Fred the wrong bottle. Her mouth was agape. She was stammering nonsensical syllables, her eyes darting between the bottle and Cedric, who looked utterly bewildered. He suddenly became very stern, giving Avery a hard look.

"I don't owe you this time, Avery- I already let you off once for wandering around at night. And you clearly weren't up to something innocent this time, either- son of a bludger, you're a third year! You have no business with this!" he exclaimed, yanking the bottle from her hand.

"I know, I know!" she cried, holding her hands up, either to defend herself from his scorn or to plead for mercy. "I know you won't believe me even if I try to explain, but that's not my bottle. And I know I have no business being out right now-"

"No, you certainly don't," Cedric agreed, crossing his arms and continuing to glare at her.

"I know," Avery repeated, somewhat exasperated, and certainly out of breath from this whirlwind of a evening. "I really know, Ced. But I'm begging you to do me a favor. I promise you, it will never happen again. I went out tonight against my better judgement- next time, I will stay in! I promise you. Please… Just… Please." She wasn't entirely sure what the punishment was for underage drinking as one wanders around the castle past midnight, but she could only assume that it was very serious, and she was desperate not to be punished by the school and- perhaps more frightening- by her parents, who the school was certain to alert of her misdeeds.

Cedric averted his eyes, glaring at the side wall of the chamber instead of her for a moment, before looking down and dropping his hands to his hips.

"Actually, I just remember I do owe you again," he said, somewhere begrudgingly. Avery furrowed her brow again, not sure what her meant. He looked back at her and saw the confusion playing along her features and clarified: "For the date. With Cho."

"Oh," Avery whispered. She could feel the waves of disappointment radiating off of Cedric in her direction. She could also sense that he was struggling with this decision; he wanted to be kind and help her when she was clearly desperate to escape punishment. However, she was obviously in the wrong and letting her get away scot free was, in a way, becoming party to her rule-breaking. She suddenly felt guilty for putting Cedric through this struggle, and contemplated if she should just accept his punishment, whatever it might be. But, before she could offer, Cedric spoke.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Avery. But, I know you're a good person and I know you wouldn't go back on your word. I'll let you go, to repay some of your kindness towards me, but if I ever catch you out at night, or drinking again, I'll…" He trailed off, probably not sure exactly what steps he would take. But finishing his thought wasn't necessary; Avery understood how serious this was, and was already determined to never let Cedric down like she had tonight again.

"I understand. You have my word," Avery said solemnly. She started for the entrance to the common room, pausing briefly to say thank you again. Cedric did not look at her. Instead, he strode off down the passageway to make his rounds. Avery watched him over her shoulder for a moment, disappointed in herself almost as much as Cedric had been, before she crawled through the entrance and into the common room.