A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for me to upload another chapter but here it
finally is and it's a bit longer than my other chapters so enjoy and don't
forget to leave reviews!! Thanx =)
*~*~*~*
"I can't believe what you've done! It's ruined!" Parvati Patil had come stomping into the Great Hall, shrieking furiously at her best friend Lavender Brown. She threw down some pink dress robes on the table; "You borrowed my favourite robes again WITHOUT asking! AND you spilt pumpkin juice on them!"
Lavender stared up, wide-eyed, at her friend whilst turning pink. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind me borrowing them," she mumbled, aware that half the table had stopped eating and was now watching them.
"They're ruined, thanks to you!" Parvati yelled, "I hope you're happy. We are no longer friends, Lavender Brown!"
Lavender's eyes flashed angrily. "Yeah? Well, who would want to be friends with an drama queen like you?"
Fred and George sighed. That was the twelfth argument they had seen breaking up friendships that day.
"Did you have any luck in the library?" Fred asked his twin.
George sighed. "There was nothing. No reversal spells or anything; I couldn't even find out how long this curse will last for."
"Snooping around Snape's potion cupboard was equally fruitless," Fred propped his elbows on the table and held his head with his hands, "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, but we better do something fast. The teachers are bound to notice something up with everyone sooner or later," George eyed two second- year boys Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, sat across from him, arguing about whether Qudditch or Muggle Football was the better sport. Eventually, Dean got up, shouting something about Seamus being a narrowed-minded buffoon and strode off angrily.
"I don't think I can take much more of this," George whispered to Fred, "Guilt is not usually something I experience too often."
Fred nodded his head in reply, before spotting the twins' friend Lee Jordan coming over to sit with them. "Oh no, look!" hissed Fred, motioning wildly at their approaching friend. George turned and saw Lee; he was about to happily beckon him over when Fred grabbed his hand. "No, we can't!"
"Why not?" George was confused at his twins' sudden strange behaviour.
"If we stay around Lee too long he might start an argument with us just like everyone else under the spell and if we don't find a counter-curse we could end up never speaking to him again!" Fred said melodramatically and began to yank George to his feet, "Come on!"
George turned to run after his brother, feeling horrible for trying to ignore the look of hurt on Lee's face as he watched them speed off.
* * *
Later, in the Gryffindor Common Room, all was extremely quiet and deserted. It seemed no-one wanted to face their old best friends and were avoiding them by going up to bed early or taking a sudden interest in an after- school activity with their new friends. Fred and George sat tensely in their usual chairs by the window playing Exploding Snap although neither was properly focused on their game.
There was only a hand-full more people in the room. Oliver Wood was sat in one corner; hunched over some Quidditch owl order catalogues so he could check out the newest racing brooms.
Neville Longbottom was sitting quietly near the fire and tending to his pet toad, Trevor, who he had accidentally turned into a squirrel earlier in the day. Trevor still had a big bushy grey tail sprouting out of his back and tufty triangular ears.
A few first-years sat grouped on cushions, talking quietly so Percy Weasley would not look over and give them reprimanding looks. He claimed their chatter was spoiling his concentration while he busily jotted something down on parchment.
Deciding that something livelier might be happening away from the common room, Fred and George heaved a sigh, packed away their game and exited through the porthole. No sooner had they set foot out of the common room than an angry shriek met their ears painfully.
Fred winced as he felt his eardrums burst. "I don't like the sound of that..."
Intrigued, George was already heading down the corridor in the direction of the shriek; it was then that he noticed the group of second-years in front of him.
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were on one side, whilst Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were on the other. Hermione was on her knees, cradling some charred books in her arms and shrieking at Harry, while tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes.
"What's going on here?" asked George.
Ron waved his wand about angrily. "They - HE -" he spluttered furiously, pointing at Harry, "burnt Hermione's books to a cinder!"
"A retaliation to YOUR childish prank, Weasley, let me remind you," Draco spoke up, glowering.
"Turning you temporarily into rats is nothing compared to what you've done to my books!" yelled Hermione from the floor, then she whispered tearfully, "these were my prized Professor Lockhart books. He signed them specially..."
This was all too much for Harry and Draco who burst into full-scale guffawing while Hermione went red with anger.
"That's it!" screamed Ron, who's face was already an unhealthy post-box red, raising his wand ready to strike.
George quickly swiped it out of his little brother's reach. "Oh, we don't want a replay of what happened last time, do we?" he looked meaningfully at Ron. The last time the younger Weasley had tried to curse Malfoy it had backfired because of his broken wand and cursed him instead.
"You're on their side, aren't you?" Ron stared at George in disbelief.
"I wouldn't blame him if he was," Harry spoke for the first time since George being there.
"I'm not on anyone's side," George said in exasperation.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere Snape swooped down upon the group of students, leaving a trail of shadow in his wake.
"What is the meaning of this little congregation?" he drawled slowly, eyeing Hermione, Ron, Draco and Harry while finally settling his gaze on George, expecting an answer.
"Weasley and Granger here were causing the trouble, sir," said Harry, in an almost perfect imitation of Malfoy. Snape turned to him. Ever since befriending Draco and turning on his own friends, Harry had become very well tolerated by the Slytherin professor.
"Everyone back to their dormitories," drawled Snape then eyed Ron and Hermione, "10 points from Gryffindor for lingering in the hallway and causing a fuss."
Ron and Hermione could only make goldfish expressions in response. "B-but Sir!" Hermione was the first to find her voice, "Draco was lingering in the hallway too - surely, points should be taken off Slytherin as well-"
"Silence, Miss Granger," Snape narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Or I shall take the great pleasure in doubling the amount of points Gryffindor will lose."
Hermione shut her mouth with an angry snap and began to fume.
"Professor Snape!" came the unmistakable voice of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart; "An urgent staff meeting has just been called - thought you'd like to know." Professor Lockhart came to a sliding standstill, his turquoise, lavender and emerald robes swirling, while smiling cheerily at Snape's murderous face.
"Thank you, Professor Lockhart," Snape could barely disguise the venom in his voice as he spat out his words.
"Not at all, old boy," Professor Lockhart said, heartily slapping Snape on the back, foolishly oblivious to the looks of pure loathing he was receiving, "The behaviour of the students has been very odd lately, investigating must be done. That is why I decided to call a meeting."
George shuffled awkwardly, looking intensely at the ground.
"Right," Snape hissed in irritation, "we had better go then." He cast a beady eye to the students, "And that means you too."
"Ah, Harry," Lockhart suddenly caught sight of the second year and winked, "up to mischief again are we?"
Harry crossed his arms in response.
"I blame myself," Lockhart said dramatically, almost sounding regretful, "after all, I was the one to give you your first taste of stardom and now you try to get attention whenever you can." He sighed woefully and began to follow suit of Snape who had tried to make a hasty head start before his colleague could catch up.
By now, George had a niggling sensation of panic rising in his throat. An emergency staff meeting? Investigating the strange behaviour of the students . . .the penalty would be severe if the person (or persons) causing the chaos was found out. George gulped. He didn't want to think what might happen to him or Fred for that matter. But then again, he had already experienced a million and one different punishments from various different teachers across the school (including Filch). What could they make him do that was worse than cleaning out the slimy, pus-filled creatures Snape liked to keep as pets? Or getting up earlier than the usual Quidditch practise sessions to polish every single square inch of the prefect badges and trophies (kept in their own special part of the trophy room)?
The sounds of the second years before him broke George momentarily from his train of thought. He saw that Crabbe and Goyle had now joined Malfoy, standing behind him as the usually did, gormless expressions evident.
Malfoy seemed unusually irritated with the pair of bulky Slytherins, rolling his eyes at Harry to show his annoyance at their appearance.
"Don't you both have anything better to do than follow me around like the brainless idiots you are?" he sneered.
Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other in intense bewilderment while shrugging their shoulders at their 'friend'.
"You have no right to call anyone a brainless idiot, Malfoy," Hermione shot at him crossly, then eyed Crabbe and Goyle, "EVEN if they ARE, but that's beside the point."
"Well, if you're so worried about their feelings why don't you form your own little gang? And leave us well out of it," Harry spat venomously at Hermione and Ron, "Misery loves company after all."
Ron's eyes flashed, his forehead was bright red from fuming. "Yeah? Well, maybe we will, POTTER."
With that, Hermione, Ron, Crabbe and Goyle departed in one direction down the corridor whilst Harry and Draco slithered away down the other, leaving behind a gob-smacked George.
He had never thought he would have lived to see the day when fellow Gryffindors were teaming up with devious Slytherins. Of course he knew it was partly his fault but at least he was trying to find a counter-curse. Which was more than could be said for Fred who George seemed to have lost.
Shaking his head, George headed off in search of his twin who had no doubt been caught up in an adventure of his own.
* * *
*~*~*~*
"I can't believe what you've done! It's ruined!" Parvati Patil had come stomping into the Great Hall, shrieking furiously at her best friend Lavender Brown. She threw down some pink dress robes on the table; "You borrowed my favourite robes again WITHOUT asking! AND you spilt pumpkin juice on them!"
Lavender stared up, wide-eyed, at her friend whilst turning pink. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind me borrowing them," she mumbled, aware that half the table had stopped eating and was now watching them.
"They're ruined, thanks to you!" Parvati yelled, "I hope you're happy. We are no longer friends, Lavender Brown!"
Lavender's eyes flashed angrily. "Yeah? Well, who would want to be friends with an drama queen like you?"
Fred and George sighed. That was the twelfth argument they had seen breaking up friendships that day.
"Did you have any luck in the library?" Fred asked his twin.
George sighed. "There was nothing. No reversal spells or anything; I couldn't even find out how long this curse will last for."
"Snooping around Snape's potion cupboard was equally fruitless," Fred propped his elbows on the table and held his head with his hands, "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, but we better do something fast. The teachers are bound to notice something up with everyone sooner or later," George eyed two second- year boys Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, sat across from him, arguing about whether Qudditch or Muggle Football was the better sport. Eventually, Dean got up, shouting something about Seamus being a narrowed-minded buffoon and strode off angrily.
"I don't think I can take much more of this," George whispered to Fred, "Guilt is not usually something I experience too often."
Fred nodded his head in reply, before spotting the twins' friend Lee Jordan coming over to sit with them. "Oh no, look!" hissed Fred, motioning wildly at their approaching friend. George turned and saw Lee; he was about to happily beckon him over when Fred grabbed his hand. "No, we can't!"
"Why not?" George was confused at his twins' sudden strange behaviour.
"If we stay around Lee too long he might start an argument with us just like everyone else under the spell and if we don't find a counter-curse we could end up never speaking to him again!" Fred said melodramatically and began to yank George to his feet, "Come on!"
George turned to run after his brother, feeling horrible for trying to ignore the look of hurt on Lee's face as he watched them speed off.
* * *
Later, in the Gryffindor Common Room, all was extremely quiet and deserted. It seemed no-one wanted to face their old best friends and were avoiding them by going up to bed early or taking a sudden interest in an after- school activity with their new friends. Fred and George sat tensely in their usual chairs by the window playing Exploding Snap although neither was properly focused on their game.
There was only a hand-full more people in the room. Oliver Wood was sat in one corner; hunched over some Quidditch owl order catalogues so he could check out the newest racing brooms.
Neville Longbottom was sitting quietly near the fire and tending to his pet toad, Trevor, who he had accidentally turned into a squirrel earlier in the day. Trevor still had a big bushy grey tail sprouting out of his back and tufty triangular ears.
A few first-years sat grouped on cushions, talking quietly so Percy Weasley would not look over and give them reprimanding looks. He claimed their chatter was spoiling his concentration while he busily jotted something down on parchment.
Deciding that something livelier might be happening away from the common room, Fred and George heaved a sigh, packed away their game and exited through the porthole. No sooner had they set foot out of the common room than an angry shriek met their ears painfully.
Fred winced as he felt his eardrums burst. "I don't like the sound of that..."
Intrigued, George was already heading down the corridor in the direction of the shriek; it was then that he noticed the group of second-years in front of him.
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were on one side, whilst Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were on the other. Hermione was on her knees, cradling some charred books in her arms and shrieking at Harry, while tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes.
"What's going on here?" asked George.
Ron waved his wand about angrily. "They - HE -" he spluttered furiously, pointing at Harry, "burnt Hermione's books to a cinder!"
"A retaliation to YOUR childish prank, Weasley, let me remind you," Draco spoke up, glowering.
"Turning you temporarily into rats is nothing compared to what you've done to my books!" yelled Hermione from the floor, then she whispered tearfully, "these were my prized Professor Lockhart books. He signed them specially..."
This was all too much for Harry and Draco who burst into full-scale guffawing while Hermione went red with anger.
"That's it!" screamed Ron, who's face was already an unhealthy post-box red, raising his wand ready to strike.
George quickly swiped it out of his little brother's reach. "Oh, we don't want a replay of what happened last time, do we?" he looked meaningfully at Ron. The last time the younger Weasley had tried to curse Malfoy it had backfired because of his broken wand and cursed him instead.
"You're on their side, aren't you?" Ron stared at George in disbelief.
"I wouldn't blame him if he was," Harry spoke for the first time since George being there.
"I'm not on anyone's side," George said in exasperation.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere Snape swooped down upon the group of students, leaving a trail of shadow in his wake.
"What is the meaning of this little congregation?" he drawled slowly, eyeing Hermione, Ron, Draco and Harry while finally settling his gaze on George, expecting an answer.
"Weasley and Granger here were causing the trouble, sir," said Harry, in an almost perfect imitation of Malfoy. Snape turned to him. Ever since befriending Draco and turning on his own friends, Harry had become very well tolerated by the Slytherin professor.
"Everyone back to their dormitories," drawled Snape then eyed Ron and Hermione, "10 points from Gryffindor for lingering in the hallway and causing a fuss."
Ron and Hermione could only make goldfish expressions in response. "B-but Sir!" Hermione was the first to find her voice, "Draco was lingering in the hallway too - surely, points should be taken off Slytherin as well-"
"Silence, Miss Granger," Snape narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Or I shall take the great pleasure in doubling the amount of points Gryffindor will lose."
Hermione shut her mouth with an angry snap and began to fume.
"Professor Snape!" came the unmistakable voice of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart; "An urgent staff meeting has just been called - thought you'd like to know." Professor Lockhart came to a sliding standstill, his turquoise, lavender and emerald robes swirling, while smiling cheerily at Snape's murderous face.
"Thank you, Professor Lockhart," Snape could barely disguise the venom in his voice as he spat out his words.
"Not at all, old boy," Professor Lockhart said, heartily slapping Snape on the back, foolishly oblivious to the looks of pure loathing he was receiving, "The behaviour of the students has been very odd lately, investigating must be done. That is why I decided to call a meeting."
George shuffled awkwardly, looking intensely at the ground.
"Right," Snape hissed in irritation, "we had better go then." He cast a beady eye to the students, "And that means you too."
"Ah, Harry," Lockhart suddenly caught sight of the second year and winked, "up to mischief again are we?"
Harry crossed his arms in response.
"I blame myself," Lockhart said dramatically, almost sounding regretful, "after all, I was the one to give you your first taste of stardom and now you try to get attention whenever you can." He sighed woefully and began to follow suit of Snape who had tried to make a hasty head start before his colleague could catch up.
By now, George had a niggling sensation of panic rising in his throat. An emergency staff meeting? Investigating the strange behaviour of the students . . .the penalty would be severe if the person (or persons) causing the chaos was found out. George gulped. He didn't want to think what might happen to him or Fred for that matter. But then again, he had already experienced a million and one different punishments from various different teachers across the school (including Filch). What could they make him do that was worse than cleaning out the slimy, pus-filled creatures Snape liked to keep as pets? Or getting up earlier than the usual Quidditch practise sessions to polish every single square inch of the prefect badges and trophies (kept in their own special part of the trophy room)?
The sounds of the second years before him broke George momentarily from his train of thought. He saw that Crabbe and Goyle had now joined Malfoy, standing behind him as the usually did, gormless expressions evident.
Malfoy seemed unusually irritated with the pair of bulky Slytherins, rolling his eyes at Harry to show his annoyance at their appearance.
"Don't you both have anything better to do than follow me around like the brainless idiots you are?" he sneered.
Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other in intense bewilderment while shrugging their shoulders at their 'friend'.
"You have no right to call anyone a brainless idiot, Malfoy," Hermione shot at him crossly, then eyed Crabbe and Goyle, "EVEN if they ARE, but that's beside the point."
"Well, if you're so worried about their feelings why don't you form your own little gang? And leave us well out of it," Harry spat venomously at Hermione and Ron, "Misery loves company after all."
Ron's eyes flashed, his forehead was bright red from fuming. "Yeah? Well, maybe we will, POTTER."
With that, Hermione, Ron, Crabbe and Goyle departed in one direction down the corridor whilst Harry and Draco slithered away down the other, leaving behind a gob-smacked George.
He had never thought he would have lived to see the day when fellow Gryffindors were teaming up with devious Slytherins. Of course he knew it was partly his fault but at least he was trying to find a counter-curse. Which was more than could be said for Fred who George seemed to have lost.
Shaking his head, George headed off in search of his twin who had no doubt been caught up in an adventure of his own.
* * *