Firefly-chan- ::bows::Thank you, you don't have to tell me. I KNOW I'm brilliant (k, I'm just kidding… I'm not really that cocky :-D)
Bunni V- Yes, I'll get it out as soon as I can… and you will find out (hehehe!)
Amanda- Thanks! I'm happy that you like it.
Jordan- ::grins mischievously:: it might be, we'll see!
Princess BOING Serenity- you put spaces in your name ::pouts:: oh well! They're some of my faves, too, that's why I put them in. Snow would be nice…
Gekkani_Musouka- I'm not quite sure I did… can you run that by me again? Just kidding!
Nina_79934- Thanks, I'll try!
Roninchica- Um… Snape doesn't know right now, I wanted to kill him, and I know who I'm putting Usagi with, and it might be a twin (might not be, too…)
Ami A- Thank you, you KNOW where I got the phrase from, and it might be, but I'm going to try to keep it from being too out there.
Anime Luver- It will! Love could be happening there, but it might not… I'm glad you're thinking ;-)
VegaKatt- They probably will, but it'll most likely be quite a bit later.
Moonflower49- Um… yes, I am crazy. What made you ask? I'll get it out ASAP!
Caitlin- Thanks, cousin of mine! I didn't want her to be too difficult, and I had the book sitting in front of me for the letter… didn't really need it for anything else, though! You need to read the rest soon… or I'll fly to where you are and kick your butt! (And yes, people, I can carry through with that threat as long as I have some funding and a map.)
*** *** *** *** ***
The next morning, Usagi was up very early, plotting her prank. She needed to get a few things, like the key to Snape's office, and she couldn't do that without a bit of help…
"Harry!"
"G'way, Dudley… don wanna go school wif you…" Harry mumbled, rolling away from the bit of sunlight spilling through the gap in his curtains. It was, after all, a Saturday, and very early.
"Come ON, Harry!"
Harry was rolled out of bed as the owner of the voice heaved all his bedclothes the opposite way. "What'd you do that for?" he muttered, getting up.
"I need to borrow something, brother dearest," Usagi said with a grin. It was always so much fun to wake people up so far before they wanted to.
"What'd you get me up for, then? I don't care if you grab a quill from my table…" Harry said in a very annoyed way.
"Well, it's not a quill I want. It's the Invisibility Cloak."
"Fine, take it," Harry grumped. "I'm going back to bed."
"Sleep well!" Usagi gave a little wave as she left the boy's dorm, Invisibility Cloak tucked under her arm. Now the fun was going to begin.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
It was hours later, and Usagi finally had everything set up. Someone was going to have the WORST day in his or her life, and no one would know who had caused it to happen… except Fred, George, and most likely Lee. And then the rest of Gryffindor would find out… and probably most of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, too. Oh, well, the more who knew, the better! As long as she didn't get into too much trouble for it…
Usagi muttered the final spell, and left the room as she pulled on the Invisibility Cloak. Seconds later, the unknowing and soon to be unhappy victim went into the same room, and sat down at his desk.
"AHHH!" Snape bellowed as his desk turned into a huge pile of cobras. They were, of course, non-venomous, but they still bit and looked scary. At least his chair was normal… or so he thought. There was really a charm on it, and the effects of it will be told all in good time, my friends.
For now, though, Snape was trying to get a particular jar of pickled… er… something down, and was having a hard time of it. Every time he would reach for it, it would scuttle away, just beyond his reach and dance tantalizingly. Snape gave up on the jar, and decided to go to breakfast before some other odd thing happened.
This, however, was not to be the happy escape imagined. As the owls swooped in to deliver the mail, they were all drawn over to him, and perched on his shoulders, head, knees, any accessible space, after their letters had been delivered. Usagi, giggling at how the charm she'd placed on his chair had worked, turned back to her toast.
Hazeka flew over to her, and said in a rather bemused way, "I wonder why we all want to go to that git so badly…" before also going over to sit on Snape. By this time, everyone had noticed their owls landing on Snape, and spotting his furious look, they knew that it wasn't by his will. Everyone began laughing, even the Slytherins.
Angrily, Snape rose and stormed out of the hall, some of the startled owls flocking after him.
That was the last of the public embarrassment, but he also was soaked when he returned to his bedroom, found several tarantulas and a few black widows in his wardrobe when he went to change, as well as several other small things that were quickly discovered by the school.
Everyone was wondering who had the nerve to pull so many pranks on the bad-tempered professor, except for one person. She, however, voiced her amazement at the bravery of whoever had done it, but only for appearances.
Finally, Lee Jordan thought of a possible candidate for the best prank Hogwarts had ever seen.
"Hey, Fred, George, come HERE!" he hissed at the twins the following Wednesday evening. Grinning, the twins lay down one the floor and wriggled in a military fashion, as if trying to sneak up on Lee.
"Oh, cut that out! I think I know who did it," Lee said excitedly.
Needing no more description of what 'it' was, the twins leapt up and pounced on their friend. "Who is it?" they both cried.
"Usagi," Lee said with a grin. "How long have we been pretending innocence? I could see right through her little 'Oh gee, I wonder who it could be' act. You two should've, too," he said in a reprimanding tone.
"Sorry, mumsie," the twins said in unison, bowing their head in mock shame.
"Let's go corner her!" Fred exclaimed.
"To the map!" George said dramatically, pointing towards the boy's dormitories.
"The map!" Lee and Fred repeated, rushing after George.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Gotcha!" three voices echoed around the empty classroom.
"What?" Usagi shrieked as she was tied to a chair. "Why are you tying me up?" she added as she realized that it was the twins and Lee.
"We are going to question you," Lee said with an evil grin as Fred held up his wand.
"Lumos!" he said, and a bright spotlight shone in Usagi's eyes. She had no way to shield them from the light as her hands were tied behind the chair.
"Now, we have one-" George began.
"Maybe two!" Lee broke in.
"Question-"
"S!"
"For you. Did you or did you not play several amusing pranks on the evil, slimy, mean, horrible, nasty," George went on in this vein for some while, finally concluding with, "Biased Professor, who goes by the name of Snape?"
"Yes," Usagi said. "Can you move that stupid light? It's going to blind me!"
"How'd you do it?" Lee said excitedly.
"I borrowed a few things… like keys," Usagi said vaguely.
For some reason, everyone present found that extremely hilarious, and the boys were soon rolling on the ground laughing, Usagi bent double in her chair.
"Can… you… untie me… now?" Usagi gasped as she recovered her breath. Immediately Lee sprang up and untied her, and then fell back to the floor laughing. Usagi shook her head sadly and returned to the common room.
She was very surprised that the whole school didn't know by the next day. She'd expected Fred, or George, or Lee, to tell someone else, and then everyone would've known. They're much better at keeping secrets than anyone would've thought… Usagi mused during History of Magic. They're really much brighter than anyone gives them credit for...
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"We're having a meeting tonight," George informed Usagi at lunch.
"So be there," Fred added with a wink.
"Be where?" Usagi asked of Lee after the twins had left. Her bewidlerment was very obvious.
Grinning at her confusion, Lee said unhelpfully,"There, obviously!" before disappearing.
"That was highly unhelpful," Usagi muttered to herself. It turned out that she didn't need directions.
Her sixth sense once again led her to a room, and told her the neccessary password to enter. The room itself was filled with chamber pots, and the other members of the Mischief Making 'club' grinned up at her from a table.
"You found us!" Fred said overenthusiastically. Usagi hadn't missed the surprise they'd had at her having found them. She knew that if she hadn't come, they would've used the map to hunt her down and then bring her here. She'd ruined quite a bit of their fun.
"Right then. First order of business tonight: Who are we going to play a trick on next?" George said, beginning the meeting.
"I know! I know!" Lee exclaimed excitedly, wildly waving his hand around in the air.
"Anyone?" George said, seeming not to notice Lee.
Inspiration struck Usagi, almost making her fall out of the chair that had been conjured for her. "Malfoy!" she squealed gleefully.
The twins exchanged another glance, including Lee in.
Lee closed his eyes and smiled a bit. (Translation: I like that idea.)
George closed his eyes, smiled, and raised his eyebrows. (Translation: Me, too.)
Fred didn't follow this particular line of conversation. He knit his eyebrows together and widened his eyes. (Translation: Maybe we should teach her glance-talk sometime...)
Lee and George raised their eyebrows and widened their eyes. (Translation: Nah, not yet.)
"Sounds good to me!" the three replied. Then began the planning.
*** *** *** *** *** ***
So, what do you all think? Sorry if it's a bit short, but I am currently using a piece of junk that someone has the nerve to call a computer... I NEED to get back on the good one, pronto. Anywho, I've decided on a little test. It won't mean anything if you get it right or wrong, it's just for my own use. Here it is:
If you only read my writing (of the story), what age would you think I am?
Ami A and Princess BOING Serenity, you two can't guess and you know why! You too, Caitlin and Rue (if you do read this).
Well, I'll go check this over and try to post it on the good computer!
~**Rini**~