'Ello everyone, here's chappy 9! I know, I know, it's about time, but on the bright side it wasn't as long between updates as last time! Anyways, as I am now on my summer break I should be able to update more often, so I hope we can all look forward to more of TSOG. BY the way, this chapter isn't horrible long, but it's the lead up chapter to Charity Ball which is going to be quite long and much more exciting.
As always, special thanks to my beta reader Sizarie!
"Alright, so here's the plan. I go ahead and scout out the area, if all is clear I'll send the beetles back to get you. If I'm not back in five minutes assume the worst and return to the common rooms. All clear?"
"Yep."
"Do you have the green goo?"
"Yep."
"Okay, hopefully I'll see you soon."
Aquilus crept quietly down the halls of Hogwarts towards the Great Hall. It was a risky plan; there was no denying that. The Great Hall was at a central point in the school so was one of the best-patrolled points, but they had no other choice. If they wanted to go down as the best pranksters and general trouble makers Hogwarts had ever seen they needed to start working fast, and they needed to work big!
He looked both ways; so far so good. Quietly as possible he slid across the floor towards the door. If they could just get inside the Great Hall it would be easy after that with so many things to hide behind. He reached the door. Aquilus pulled his body up to the handle and slowly turned it. The handle gave a loud creek. He froze; a minute passed and no one came running.
Aquilus sighed and opened the door all the way. Once he was in he pulled three, inch long beetles out of his pocket and placed them on the floor. They immediately scuttled off the way he came.
Draco woke up the next morning nervous but happy. However, there was a lot to do before things would be ready. He quickly got out of bed and got dressed. As fast as he could he ate the breakfast that the House Elves had prepared and went to his office to handle the last minute details for tonight.
Just as Draco nicely settled himself at his desk however, a large Hogwarts owl tapped on the window. Thinking it was from Jewel or Aquilus he jumped to his feet. The letter read:
Dear Mr. Malfoy
I'm sorry to inform you this but your two children, Jewel and Aquilus Malfoy have severely damaged some school property. They, as well as two other first year students from the Gryffindor House, spread green magic-resistant 'goo' all over the Great Hall last night. They also managed to set 'goo' bombs so that went the doors were opened or if you stepped on certain parts of the floor you became covered. Needless to say it will be quite expensive to replace and repair all the property they have damaged since it can't be magically repaired.
The exact cost is estimated to be 537 Galleons. Hogwarts cannot afford to spend that kind of money on the second day into the year. You are being asked to pay for half of it and the other two students' guardians will pay the rest.
I hope you understand how serious a situation this is, and will find a way to punish your children outside of the measures that the school will take. I will warn you now, if this kind of behaviour continues Jewel and Aquilus will be expelled.
Yours respectfully,
Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master, Head of Slytherin House
Draco sighed. Well, at least he knew what house they were in now. He grabbed his quill and scribbled a reply.
Dear Prof. Snape,
Although it is nice to hear from you again I wish it had been under different circumstances. The green 'goo' they used is called Jelly Fish Skin, and is a creation of Jewel's. It is completely harmless, but as you said is resistant to magic. I'm afraid even if you do try to wash it off with Muggle means it will leave everything stained. However, if you mix a potion of two cups of Muggle baking soda, with one cup of water, and three grated cat hairs (the hairs off Jewel's own cat work the best) and apply it to the 'goo' it will evaporate almost instantly and leave behind no trace it was ever there.
If this does not work, please send me another owl and I will pay you the full amount needed to replace the property.
-Draco Malfoy
Jewel grinned as she and Aquilus ran towards Ellie and Lyn after their detention. "Well, look what we have here," she drawled snidely, skidding to a stop behind them. "Two little Gryffindor rats. What do you think 'Quill, should us big bad snakes eat 'em?"
Ellie and Lyn whirled around, identical frowns on their faces. "Yuck, would you look at that Lyn, I guess no where can be kept clean from Slytherin dirt!"
"What did you call us, you worthless rat?" cried Aquilus, stepping forward threateningly.
"Exactly what you are! Dirt!"
The four children glared angrily at each other in the middle of the entrance hall. Eventually they couldn't hold their twitching lips in a frown and as one they burst into laughter.
"So," said Aquilus as they all walked around the edge of the lake, "did they send a letter to your guardians too?"
Lyn grinned, "yep! We got a letter back from Hermione telling us off, a letter from Harry and Ron telling us that while they knew how much fun pranks were we shouldn't destroy school property, and a letter from Fred and George Weasley that congratulated us on a prank well done!"
Jewel laughed, "We didn't get anything quite that interesting. Our dad wrote Prof. Snape with the antidote to my potion and then sent us a letter telling us to try not to target school property in the future. He also told us to be nice to Prof. Snape and not give him any migraines."
"Nice to Prof. Snape?" asked Ellie, "Why? Is it because your dad was in Slytherin too?"
"Nah. It's because Snape is our dad's godfather."
"What!? Does that mean you have to spend time with a teacher outside of school?"
"Well, Snape has been around our whole lives, but it's not like he's been our teacher before now anyways. Besides, he always brings something for Jewel and I whenever he visits. He's sort of like an uncle or grandfather all mixed into one."
"Man, if you two get special privileges I'll kill you!"
"Ha! Most likely he'll pick on us because he'll want us to do better!"
They paused at a giant weeping willow beside the lake to take a break for a moment. "We should probably head in soon, Ellie and I still have some stuff to do. We'll see you tomorrow after breakfast right?"
"Yeah sure, see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight."
"Night!"
Ginny smiled shyly at her reflection in her mirror as she finished placing the last pieces of her coppery hair into an up do. She glanced down at her dress and felt her smile widen. She was wearing ivory coloured dress robes that pulled in just under her bust and then fell to the floor in graceful layers or satin. There was intricate beading and designs on the bust and along the hem that gave it a simple elegance that shone.
Standing up from her vanity, Ginny walked over to her jewellery box. The dress needed some sort of necklace to finish it off. She pulled out a few pieces that might do and after a few moments of contemplation had narrowed it down to two. The first was a simple gold chain with a charm made of intricately woven pieces of fine gold wire. Bill had given it to her when she had graduated from Hogwarts and it was one of her favourites. She held it up to her throat and studied her reflection thoughtfully. It was nice, but not perfect. Ginny picked up the other necklace, it was a garnet pendant set between two fine gold faeries that were stretched around the stones edge trying to grab each others feet. Ginny held it up to her throat and grinned; it looked perfect with her dress. Quickly she undid the clasp and reached behind her neck to put it on, but just as she was about to fasten the clasp she froze. Slowly she lowered her arms and put the necklace down on the counter. Draco had given her that necklace; she had almost forgotten. Without a second thought she grabbed the necklace Bill had given her and put it on, whirling away from the winking garnet and grabbed her purse as she walked out of her room, closing the door with a resounding bang.
TWIN SHADES OF GREY HIT 500 REVIEWS!!! I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU ALL!!! ::Dazma faints from excitement::
Voice 17: Hello everyone, it's great to see you all again. Thanks for all the good wishes from everyone; I got busted out of jail without a hitch! Anyway, as you can all see, Dazma isn't able to come to the computer at the moment, so I'll remind everyone to review… and if you don't I'll steal your car! Mwah ha ha ha! ::ahem… clears throat:: Yes, so have a nice day everyone. See ya next chapter.
::Dazma's imaginary lawyer walks in:: Dazma is not in anyway trying to promote car theft, disobedience of the law, or anything else that could get her in trouble. Thank you. ::Dazma's imaginary lawyer walks out::