Heh... something similar to the prank described in the beginning of this chapter (at a slightly smaller scale... ok... only three victims. But at least I could take pictures of all of their faces :P)has been successfully pulled off by me and my friend.

And I have used the words 'Go away. I've just found out I can be very dangerous', but that's a long story and I don't think you need to know. (Heh... that sounded scary. But it could have been worse. I could have said that you don't want to know...)

Ok, back to the story...

This can't be true!

The house-elves had done a really good job. For the Gryffinors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs it was the best breakfast ever. All the Slytherins found on their table, however, was some bread and water. Nothing else was going to appear until they'd eaten all they got and were too full to eat any more. The look of confusion in their faces was priceless!

However the authors of the prank were not in the mood to enjoy it. Fred and George were more nervous than they had ever been before, Wormtail was terrified and tried desperately not to sit near Padfoot, who was still very shocked and muttering things like 'This can't be true' and 'I would never…' to himself. Moony and Prongs kept telling him that they did not believe the story they had heard that night, but it was obvious that they were not exactly sure of it themselves. All six boys were tired after a sleepless night and disturbed after finding out things they would rather not know.

'You don't believe it, do you?' Potter said 'We all know you're not evil!'

'Quit hiding under the table, Wormtail,' Lupin was saying at the same time 'Nobody's going to hurt you.'

'Yeah,' Potter added 'We still have six years left to live. We can't spend them under the table!'

Pettigrew gave a small, nervous laugh.

'We really shouldn't have asked,' Lupin said.

'That's it!' Potter suddenly came up with an idea 'We're not supposed to know all this. So why don't we try not to think about it? Pretend we don't know.'

'How about because it's impossible?' Black spoke to the others for the first time in a long while.

'Oh, come on! You don't believe it, do you?'

'I… I don't know…'

XXX

A slightly younger boy at the Slytherin table was rather unhappy about the prank. He stood up. Then he sat down again, as if not sure what to do. Finally he got up again and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

'What do you want?' Black asked, looking up at him.

'Food,' he said simply 'You don't expect me to eat that stuff we got, do you?'

'Go away, Reg. I've just found out I can be very dangerous.' apparently he was beginning to take it all a little less seriously. He wouldn't stop thinking about it though.

'Oh, come on! We're brothers after all... '

'Oh, now I'm your brother, am I? And where were you the last time Mom was yelling at me?'

'Ah…' sighed Potter 'Back to normal at last…'

'H-he looks very angry though,' Wormtail was still scared 'd-doesn't he?'

'Almost back to normal…'

XXX

A couple of hours later the boys decided they did not believe in the story they had heard that night. It just couldn't be true, could it? Even Fred and George had to admit that it sounded at least a little strange. Others thought 'a little strange' sounds like saying that Severus Snape wasn't exactly their best friend.

'It can't possibly be true! It's about as likely as… as… as Snape becoming a teacher'

'Err…' said George 'Well, actually…'

'Oh no!' James said 'That's worse than the evil Padfoot!'

And this time all six of them laughed at this.

XXX

For a few days life went back to normal again. Classes started on Monday, Fred and George pretended to be foreign exchange students and their four new friends did not want to know any more about the future. It seemed as if they had forgotten about it all. But one day some of them got a little more nervous again. Four of them were discussing something in whispers and stopped talking every time they thought the twins might be listening. In the afternoon Moony felt ill in class, excused himself and went to the hospital wing (Fred and George thought it's unfair. Their teachers would never let them out of the classroom so easily(1).) Later that afternoon the twins overheard the other three talking.

'I-' Wormtail was saying 'I'm not sure I want to come tonight… You know… err…'

'What are you afraid of this time?' Padfoot asked.

'Well… You know…' Wormtail stuttered 'A rat is so much smaller than a dog…'

'Don't talk about that again!'

'Err… or a stag for that matter… You might not even mean it but - '

'Wormtail,' Prongs told him 'Nobody's going to accidentally kill you tonight. You still have six years left, remember?'

'You still think it's funny?'

Fred and George didn't understand what that was all about, but they had recently understood that there might be some things they'd rather not know(2) and when Padfoot, Prongs and a slightly reluctant Wormtail told them they were going for a little walk, they understood immidiately, that they should not come with them. They spent most of the evening discussing the whole situation. Their roommates had not yet come back when the two boys finally fell asleep.


(1) Of course this might have something to do with all the things that happen whenever nobody is watching them. Dungbombs, fireworks, exploding toilets…

(2) And that they already knew some of them. But they were still in a better situation than the other four.