Fred fought to keep his eyes open. He was up late working on an essay for Transfigurations. It is more efficient to…to turn pesky insects into useful household items than to kill them… He couldn't stay awake any longer. With his head hung, he fell asleep, starting to snore immediately.
The creaking and slamming of the portrait woke him from his much needed nap. His head snapped up and he saw an older boy with the same flaming red hair as his own.
"Ron," he grumbled. "Of all places, in a girl's toilet! What am I going to do with him?"
"Ron was in a girl's toilet?" Fred asked.
The sixth-year jumped and upon realizing whom it was, said, "Yes. It seems he's taking after you and George."
Fred smiled. "I always knew he would." He thought a moment, remembering he still had that essay to write. "Hey, Percy. Why is knowing how to transfigure things better than not knowing?"
Percy gave him a stern look. "I can't do your essays for you, Fred. You have to do them on your own." He started up the stairs. "Well, goodnight."
"I can't wait to light a firework under his pillow," Fred said, shaking his head. He rolled up the parchment, grabbed his quill and ink, and stalked up to his dormitory.
"Fred…"
He grumbled and turned onto his side, trying to get away from the voice in his ear.
"Fred...wakey, wakey. Time to get up…"
He slowly opened his eyes. George's beaming face was hovering above him. "Go away…" Fred managed, his voice hoarse. He waved a hand at his brother and pulled the blanket over his face.
He heard George padding away, assuming he had given up. Suddenly the covers were stripped from his bed.
"Hey," Fred said weakly, staring after his brother.
"Get up!" called George.
Fred rolled off the bed, amazingly able to land on his feet. The room was empty. Everyone was gone except for him. Quickly, he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt. Slowly, he dragged his feet out of the tower and down to the Great Hall.
He took a seat next to Angelina, who looked wide-awake. "Morning," she said brightly. "Have a biscuit." She dumped a few onto his plate.
Fred grunted and started buttering one. Two bites later, the biscuit was gone. The process was repeated until his plate was completely empty.
"You slept in," she commented, sipping her orange juice.
"I was tired," he replied. George came and sat down beside him. "Why did you wake me up?" he snapped.
George looked taken aback with Fred's sudden burst of anger. "It's nine o'clock. I think Wood's going to make us practice, anyway. Said so last night."
Fred rubbed his eyes. "You should've let me sleep."
"Sorry," George apologized. He looked up and pointed toward the doors. "Harry's coming." Once the boy arrived at the table, George stood up and said loudly, "Make room for the Heir of Slytherin! You'd better move," he said to a few Ravenclaw first-years lurking nearby. "You wouldn't want to make the Heir angry, or he might sick his snake minions on you."
Harry smiled, watching the girls run off. "Thanks, George. I'm glad you think it's a ridiculous idea."
"Of course it's ridiculous!" Fred exclaimed, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder. After his brother's outburst, he'd woken up a bit. "I've never heard anything so stupid!"
"You shouldn't be saying things like that!" said Hermione Granger, who had just sat down.
"Why not?" George asked. "It's too idiotic not to make fun of. Look at them, going out of their way to avoid Harry, not making eye contact. I think it's funny what people will believe."
Hermione scowled. "Where's Ron?"
"Percy's yelling at him," Fred answered.
"Why?" Harry and Hermione inquired simultaneously.
Fred finished his orange juice. "He caught him by the girls' bathroom again."
Hermione glanced nervously at Harry. "Odd. I wonder why he'd be in a girls' bathroom," she said. Fred thought it sounded very unconvincing.
"You wouldn't have any idea, would you?" he questioned.
"Of course not," she answered quickly, and then immersed herself in a conversation with Harry.
"They're up to something," Fred said quietly to his twin.
George rolled his eyes. "Oh, I got Hogwarts, A History from the library. There was a waiting list, you know. Bloody long one, at that."
They finished their breakfasts quickly and went up to Gryffindor Tower. Ron was sitting in the common room measuring his parchment. An essay for Professor Binns, Fred deduced.
When they reached their dormitory, George reached under his bed and pulled out the giant book. He scanned through the pages, reading only the most important bits. "It talks about the four founders of the school: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. We know all about them, though. Ah…it says they kept getting into arguments with Slytherin because he only wanted pureblood wizards to be let in… Finally, I guess, Slytherin left. According to the legend, Salazar Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle, which the others knew nothing of. He sealed the chamber so that no one would be able to open it until his true heir entered the school. Only the heir would be able to break the seal of the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing the horrors within. He could then use it to purge the school of all unworthy of studying magic. That's all it says." He shut the book.
Fred shuddered. "Kind of creepy, isn't it?"
"Professor Binns told us about that in class," came a voice from the door.
Frightened, the twins jumped. George fell off the bed and landed on the other side.
"Ron, you prat!" Fred said, breathing heavily. "Why'd you sneak up on us like that?!"
"Scared us to death, you did," said George, his head popping up from behind the bed.
"Sorry," Ron said, shrugging. "I was only listening."
"Well, don't," Fred snapped. He sighed and waved his little brother over. "You're up to something, I know it."
"I'm not up to anything," Ron denied.
"Sort of how you weren't up to anything last year?" George asked skeptically.
Ron scowled and left the room.
"He is. Great. We'll never be able to stop him either." Fred ran a hand through his hair. "I hope he doesn't go and get himself Petrified like that Colin Creevey. Weird, though, wasn't it?"
George nodded, saying nothing.