A/N: Read the chapter before this before reading this chapter!!!
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When ten students had failed to show up for the Feast, the assumption was that there was a Death Eater attack. Of course, there was confusion all around: it was obvious why Death Eaters would attack Harry Potter, his two best friends and some Weasleys, but what people were having trouble believing was that Voldemort's servants would kill Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and especially Draco Malfoy, all of whom had parents in his Inner Circle. There was whispering and exclamations as everyone came in to sit and watch the Sorting, which went by very quickly indeed as less students were showing up each year. After the hat had been taken away with its stool, Dumbledore stood up. The Hall fell silent.
"As you may have already noticed, nine students have been removed from our midst." His twinkling eyes and cheerful demeanor puzzled people; wouldn't he be very serious if they had died or been captured? "Granted, there were only supposed to be seven but the fact remains that ten are not here." The teachers were all looking at him curiously…they obviously had no idea what this was about either. "I have taken the liberty of trying to make them resolve their differences. It is probably very apparent that there is a deep rivalry between a certain Slytherin and three Gryffindors." Everyone in the Hall knew exactly who he was talking about, and were wondering where this would go. "So, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter are in a train carriage by Norfolk as we speak, trapped." There was a rustle among the students at the word 'trapped'.
"Why the twins sir?" Lee Jordan called out. He was very put out since his two best friends had failed to show up, and the news that they were now stuck in a train carriage with a bunch of fifth years was almost laughable.
Dumbledore smiled. "They burst in their carriage by pure accident," he said. "I apologize for that, but they'll be back shortly once I do the proper spells."
"Is Ginny there too?" Saffron Patil, the Patil twins' little sister, yelled out. Dumbledore nodded.
"She is indeed…I found that she needed some time away from school," he added, eyes glittering with youthful mischief. Before anyone else could call out he quickly listed the rest. "So it's Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ronald, Virginia, Fred, George, Vincent, Gregory and Pansy who are out there right now. I will tell you when someone is to come home, so don't worry- your friends will be returned to you shortly." Dumbledore attempted to make some other trivial announcements but soon gave up due to the whispers overpowering his voice. The Feast went by very quickly, and everyone was soon walking up to bed.
--
"Do you think they'll be back soon?" Dean asked his best friend Seamus as they climbed the stairs. Seamus laughed.
"Are you pulling my leg? Them stuck in a carriage with Malfoy? They won't even be out for graduation!" Lavender and Parvati were listening in carefully from behind them, and Lavender decided to cut in.
"Will they have to make up work?" she asked, thinking of Hermione's face when she realized how much work she missed. Dean shrugged.
"Search me. This whole thing is really odd." The others nodded fervently before splitting up to go to their dorm rooms. They collapsed in bed, exhausted, with questions floating around in their heads. It was only 8:00, but everyone was strangely tired.
--
The next morning (Saturday), the Gryffindors woke up to a robust 'Good morning fellow students!' Everyone immediately recognized the voices as the twins' and sprang out of bed. Lavender and Parvati wrapped their robes around them as they hurried down the steps excitedly. They ran into Dean and Seamus, who were rubbing their eyes and yawning.
"It's Fred and George!" Parvati squealed, looking over their heads, and making Dean and Seamus wince.
"Steady on, do you really need to be that loud?" Seamus asked. Parvati shoved him.
"Shut it you- oh they're going to tell us stuff!" Parvati and Lavender jumped up and down in anticipation and Dean and Seamus rolled their eyes.
"You're both nutters," Dean muttered before Fred and George started clapping for people's attention.
"Dear and kind folk of Hogwarts!" George said theatrically.
"We have been through things that only the very strange could think of!" Fred added, making several people laugh.
"And we bring you it live into the Gryffindor Common Room!" George proclaimed. Silence. Neville looked up at them, confused.
"You're going to get them all over here for us?" he asked. Fred and George laughed.
"No Neville. Maybe we should start from the beginning?" Everyone nodded and clapped, trying to get them to tell them the juicy details. The twins grinned; this was their most enthusiastic audience yet. "All right," Fred continued. "Well, we found ourselves trapped in a bloody train carriage in the middle of nowhere."
"Norfolk!" someone yelled and everyone laughed.
"Yes yes, thank you," Fred said, irritated at the interruption. "Anyway, it was getting pretty tense and all that, and Malfoy-" it was interrupted with boos. "Yes we all hate the bugger, now will you let me finish?!?" The Gryffindors shut up, too curious to blow their chance to hear the story firsthand. "Thank you. Now, Malfoy was getting rather difficult and so were all the Slytherins in fact so we decided to play a little game. It all got very boring rather quickly, especially after Malfoy admitted feelings for someone…" Fred stopped, tantalizing the listeners.
"Who on earth could Malfoy have feelings for besides himself?" Lavender asked, and everyone laughed in appreciation of the joke.
"It's a shell shocker. But if we've done this thing right you should see who it is." George took out a huge rolled up piece of parchment and opened it dramatically. Everyone looked at it apprehensively, but it was blank.
"What the hell is that?" Dean asked, standing on his toes to see.
"Ah, but it's the thing that'll connect us with our unfortunate trapped friends," George replied, tapping the parchment with his wand. "Visionarus!" he said importantly, and tiny dots of color started to zoom all over it connecting together. Hastily, Fred and George started pinning it up; it reached from the ten foot banister to the floor, and was easily twelve feet wide. Everyone gaped as the dots began to form a picture: a train carriage with five sleeping guys. Smiles starting popping up everywhere as people started sitting down to watch. Lee Jordan walked over to the twins.
"What did you do mates?" he asked curiously, marveling at the parchment screen.
"It was simple: there are these things we got over the summer. Sort of eyes that you can connect with a spell and tack them up places. We put a few in the train carriage and voila!" George grinned. "So basically, we can see everything that goes on in there. It was getting too good to miss." Lee patted their backs.
"Congratulations, it's genius!...but not as genius as this idea." Lee grinned. The twins were intrigued.
"What are you thinking Lee?" Fred asked curiously.
"I'm thinking that the other houses will want in on this too," he explained. "Especially Slytherin, since Malfoy's stuck in there too. So why not make them pay for it?" Fred and George grinned wide.
"Bloody brilliant!" George exclaimed. "Seven Sickles a person, a Galleon for Slytherins," he added happily.
--
Half an hour later, the guys on the parchment screen hadn't woken up yet, and people were playing cards to pass the time until they did. There came a knock on the portrait hole and Fred leapt up to answer it. "Yes?" he asked through the portrait.
"We've got the damn money, let us in!" the voice of Blaise Zabini demanded irritably. People dropped their cards while others raised their eyebrows. Blaise Zabini was known for her undeniable pride and good looks; what was she doing asking to be let into the Gryffindor Common Room? Fred swung the portrait open and the Slytherins scrambled in. Blaise had brought a handful of their friends, who each handed Fred a gold coin. She looked around the Common Room, surveying it was cold eyes. "Not too shabby," she said, before sitting down on a vacant chair near the screen. Her eyes flickered to where the blond was sleeping near the window on it, and she motioned for her friends to join her. The Gryffindors were appalled.
"What are you playing at, letting them in?" Dean hissed to Fred. Fred shrugged.
"Well we'll change the password after they leave- besides, the money's good," he added, showing him the coins. Dean scowled.
"They'd better be ok, or I'm hexing them senseless, got it?" Fred gave him a smart salute.
"Yes sir!"
--
Over the next ten minutes, the students of Hogwarts were streaming in. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws found their friends quickly in the crowd while the brooding Slytherins skulked to the corner Blaise had made temporarily theirs. It wasn't fifteen minutes before the place was packed with every single student in the school. Fred and George were ecstatic; the money kept rolling in.
"Let the games begin!" George muttered as the Draco on the screen came to life. He opened his eyes slowly, making everyone in the room fall quiet as they watched; it was so much better than doing homework! Draco sat up and glared in the direction of Harry and Ron. The Slytherins laughed. They continued to watch him scowl, glare, snarl and generally be malicious towards the sleeping Gryffindors. It was no surprise to the students, who weren't expecting him to change a whit no matter what Dumbledore said.
Harry and Ron woke up. Some girls starting giggling shrilly when they saw Harry sleepily put on his glasses and look around. Ron looked like he was thinking about getting up but fell heavily back onto his jumper and fell asleep. There was lots of laughter at this. Two minutes later though, he woke up again and winced as the sun went in his eyes. One hundred and twenty pairs of eyes followed Harry as he picked up the note the twins had left.
"We left that," George informed the curious viewers as Harry started to read. George muttered something and the image zoomed in on the note. Everyone read it and laughed, but was puzzled by the picture.
"Nice drawing Weasley," Zabini drawled, and her friends laughed unpleasantly.
"Thank you," Fred said, bowing. Harry handed the note to Ron and he laughed too, but looked distinctly angry about something. "Must've seen the ferret," Fred mumbled to his twin.
"What's eating Ron?" Seamus asked, looking closer. George zoomed off the note and the view was normal again.
They watched Draco read the letter and then toss it, and Crabbe and Goyle rip it. As Harry and Ron played Exploding Snap, so did some people in the audience, waiting for something interesting to happen. Most people, however, were watching Draco draw curiously. Due to where the 'eyes' had been placed, they couldn't see what he was drawing. This caused some resentment among the spectators, but Fred and George covered it up with some jokes. They watched him rip up a picture and throw it out the window. "Interesting," Blaise commented to herself in a low whisper.
The door slammed open and Hermione was on the screen. She didn't look too bad besides exhausted, and she talked with Harry and Ron a little about how annoying Pansy is before watching them play chess. A couple minutes later, Pansy stormed in, making everyone laugh at her clear utter rage. "I have never slept so badly! Damn bugs everywhere, leaves up my shirt…and something took my trunk! I found some clothes strewn everywhere but it took most of my good clothes." The laughter echoed around the room.
"Good old Pansy, always worrying about the looks," Blaise said dryly, making everyone laugh again.
"An animal took her clothes? Classic!" Dean said, wiping his eyes of mirth. Lavender and Parvati nodded, giggling.
"Nice to have you back," Draco commented sarcastically, reminding everyone that he was still an ass as usual.
"I didn't ask you. I'm still narked with you, so don't get me started!" Pansy said, glaring at him. Shocked, everyone turned to the twins.
"Oh yeah, there was a fight last night and Pansy got pissed at him," George explained, shrugging. Indefinitely curious, they turned back to watch.
"Oh no, Pansy's going to maul me with her nails!" Draco mocked, making the laughter come again.
"This is too good," Seamus said, laughing. "Something has got to go wrong!" His prediction came true when they watched the train door open and Ginny Weasley came in.
--
"Who is that?" Blaise asked into the silence, squinting at the leather clad girl. The guys were whistling appreciatively, the girls trying to figure out who it was. George broke the silence, sounding almost identical to Ron.
"It's Ginny! What is she doing?" he asked no one in particular furiously. Jaws dropped everywhere simultaneously with the people on the screen. "Leather pants! Mum'll throw a fit if she finds out."
"And what is that…gunk on her eyes?" Fred asked, looking closely at the screen. "Her eyes are so weird now!" Blaise turned around from her imperial perch on her chair.
"She's up to something," she said to George. "How will your Mum find out? And it's eyeliner," she informed Fred. Turning back around, a small grin was on her face. That's Pansy's work, I'd know it anywhere, now what are they up to?
People shushed them so that they could hear what Ron was yelling now. "Virginia Weasley what are you doing in leather pants??" Normally people would laugh at that, but it was silent; Ginny Weasley?
Ginny shrugged. "What are you doing in a striped shirt?" There was a scattering of applause: stripes really didn't work for Ron. Neville laughed suddenly.
"Look at Malfoy's face! He can't shut his gob!" he said laughing. Eyes turned to the blond, and crinkled up in laughter; he really did look completely gobsmacked.
"This isn't funny Gin," Ron was saying disapprovingly.
"I didn't mean for it to be funny," Ginny replied, leaning against the doorframe. A few guys whistled again, only to be cut short by the protective, but alarmed, glares of the twins.
"You little bitch, you took my clothes!" Pansy suddenly yelled, making everyone jump. Everyone laughed as she tried to charge down Ginny.
"She's really mad isn't she?" Seamus asked, meaning 'insane', not 'angry'. Dean nodded laughing.
There was a collective gasp as Ginny lazily set a purple beam at her, and Harry who had unwisely decided to intervene. "That's a really difficult spell," whispered Padma Patil to her twin. "I'd know it anywhere- a very complicated shield spell." Parvati nodded, enthralled with the screen.
As Draco visibly fought to shut his mouth, Ginny was saying "So what if I did? I didn't bring anything good; I have to say your taste is better than mine was."
"Oh there's definitely something up," Blaise muttered to herself.
"Now what do you say?" Ginny asked the two people on the floor.
"Sorry! Sorry Gin ok? Just get rid of the spell!" Harry said angrily. His admirers cheered, while those who didn't like him booed. It was like a Muggle move theater with a very involved audience.
"You shouldn't try to fight my spells. They're pretty powerful when they want to be," Ginny said, straightening up.
"I have a feeling she's not just talking about her wand," Dean said impishly, and as a result got cuffed over the head with one of the twin's books.
"Ginny, cut it out or I'll write to Dumbledore!" Ron bellowed. The sound hurt everyone's ears, and they groaned in protest.
"Turn the bloody thing down Weasley!" Millicent Bulstrode yelled. Fred, wincing at the decibel level, obliged.
In an uncanny impression of Malfoy, Ginny sneered. "Oh scary. When did you become Dad Ron?" Although shocked at her daring, everyone was inwardly impressed at the change.
Along with the audience, Pansy and Draco laughed. "You're my baby sister!" Ron protested. Fred and George nodded firmly together like bobbleheads.
"Not anymore," Ginny replied, with all the warmth of December. Crabbe and Goyle woke up, bringing everyone's attention to them.
"Who's the girl?" Crabbe grunted to Goyle.
"Dunno, but she's hotter than Pansy," Goyle replied in his troll-like manner. Everyone laughed.
"Bet Pansy's not happy about that," Seamus said, chortling along with Harry and Ron on the screen.
"Shut up," Draco said to them, kicking Goyle with his foot. An increased interest spread through the room like an epidemic.
"You," Ginny said, the disgust evident in her voice.
"Me," Draco replied.
"You know, it's all thanks to you I had this little reality check," Ginny said. Having no knowledge of the fight, the Hogwarts students were perplexed; what on earth could Draco have done to make her dress so…so Pansy?
"Really."
"Really. I owe you for that- it's about time someone told me the truth anyway," she replied, making the twins scowl darkly.
"What is she on about?" Fred breathed angrily.
"Starting not to like this," George said evenly under his breath. His other half agreed.
"Do I feel an accidental technical error coming on?" he asked.
"You do indeed," George replied grinning.
"Everyone always makes it sugar sweet for me for some reason," Ginny was saying. "But you're pretty straightforward aren't you Draco?"
"You could call me that," Draco said leaning back.
"I did- would you?"
"Ron's going to have a heart attack," Lavender whispered to Parvati. Overhearing this, Dean laughed.
"You could cut the sexual tension in that carriage with a knife," he said, making Seamus snort with laughter.
"I wouldn't use that particular word," Draco replied to Ginny.
"What word would you use?" Ginny asked coyly.
"I wouldn't," Draco said, staring her down. There was a silence on both ends before Blaise Zabini declared, "So Draco Malfoy likes the Weasley. Charming." Everyone stared at the display in complete astonishment.
All of a sudden the image disappeared. There were curses and groans filling the air. "Sorry folks!" George said breezily. "Show's over, go to breakfast!" Blaise stood up, her wand in hand.
"Kick us out then Weasley, but you give me one reason to blast you into little pieces and I swear I'll do it," Blaise said, utterly annoyed at the interruption.
"A threat. Charming," George said in an impression of Blaise. Angrily, she walked out the portrait hole, and the Slytherins silently followed. Not far behind were the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, who quickly said goodbye to their friends and departed whispering to each other about what they saw. The Gryffindors soon went their own separate ways, getting dressed and ready for the day. Fred and George were left by themselves in the Common Room with the huge piece of parchment.
"I reckon that when Mal-ferret comes back he'll find himself mysteriously transformed into a puddle of green goo," George said lightly, although his face turned dark.
"Right there with you mate." The twins rolled up the parchment and threw it in the fire. They watched it burn and then went up the stairs to the dorm room.
"So what should the new password be?"