A/N - Thanks so much for the continued encouragement! I truly do appreciate it. Thank you Pauly-85, SpikesDreamer, little mimi, tigerlily727, Boogie, ilovebuffythevampireslayerandharrypotter, Queen of Duct Tape, oOo The Skittle Queen oOo, HrWeasley, Diminished Seventh, avchocaholic, Dragonfly2003, FairyRoses and SakuraJr-17 for your kind comments!

By the way, I saw GOF this past weekend and loved it! The twins were brilliant :)

5

Fred and George entered the Great hall with jaunty strides. After their little contretemps with Ron they had secluded themselves in the extremely useful Room of Requirement and finished hammering out what, if they both said so themselves, was a positively brilliant plan. All in all it had ended up being a very satisfying sort of day.

They headed to the Gryffindor long table which was slowly accumulating students and took seats between Lee Jordan and Henry Hobs of their year.

"Oy," they nodded around at the crowd.

There were smiles and nods back. Moving aside to make room for the twins, Lee Jordan grinned at them. "Brilliant prank mates," he offered a thumbs-up of approval. "You should have seen Ron when he entered the common rooms. He was a giant green glob of despair."

"Thanks mate," George smiled modestly.

"We do what we can," Fred added humbly.

Speaking of dear old Ron, the twins didn't see him, Harry or Hermione anywhere at the table yet. Probably just as well. Ron was likely still a bit irritated from what their helpful spies had informed them had been a very successful beta-testing of their Tornadooze. By the time Fred and George had made it back to the Gryffindor common room after wrapping up their plotting, the room had been delightfully abuzz with snippets of Ron's coated green glory.

Apparently, their addition of Green-glass bug-beetle spit to the concoction had indeed added the desired affect they had been searching for in upping the difficulty of ooze removal. As their spies had gleefully reported, the great ooze had resisted the scourgify spell from three separate students, had laughed off several varieties of other soap and cleaning spells and then had harmlessly evaporated at the appointed time of forty-five minutes leaving a startled and very relieved Ron completely ooze free.

Their spies, well okay pretty much everyone who had been in the Gryffindor common room, had also made known the many threats of a most dire and creative nature aimed from the oozified Ron towards the twins. But that was only to be expected. Great works of genius needed to be properly appreciated. Besides Ron was so used to being pranked by them he'd probably feel all neglected if they stopped.

"So what d'you think Hufflepuff's chances are against Ravenclaw this week?" Beverly Sneade, who sat across from them flipping through the latest issue of Quidditch World, asked as they waited for the clock to strike seven and the table to be covered in assorted gastronomical delights.

"Please," Fred shook his head in disgust, always ready to discuss Quidditch. "The way Waverly's been flying? If that bloke don't get his act together Hufflepuff'l get smashed."

Lee snorted in agreement, his hands toying absently with the silverware in front of him.

"Yeah, but keep in mind Ravenclaws got Hubert and she ain't been flying right neither since 'The Breakup,'" George reminded them. The recent breakup between Melanie Hubert, one of the Ravenclaw beaters, and her extremely ex-ex Vijin Postoon had been so vicious, so public, so long and so annoyingly loud that it had earned capital letters and quotation marks, becoming 'The Breakup' to the entire student body.

"Yeah, well, that's true. Davies is in a fit about it," Fred agreed readily, naming the Ravenclaw Captain who had taken to delivering very heated lectures through gritted teeth about 'focusing on the game' to his team at every possible opportunity, with especially pointed looks during these lectures towards the miserable Hubert.

"Psst, hey Fred 'n George, here comes your brother," Henry elbowed the nearest twin.

The twins' eyes swung up to lock on the figures of Ron and Harry who were making their way towards the long table. Ron shot them a dirty glare but otherwise kept his peace as the two walked around to take a seat on the opposite side of the twins, a good distance away. As they took their seats the older Gryffindors watched with interest as Ron appeared to endure quite a lot of good-natured teasing from his fellow year-mates. Ron looked a little embarrassed but no longer seemed ready to 'splinch the twins together and feed them to Fluffy' as one of his more creative threats had offered.

"Huh, wonder where Hermione is?" George muttered to Fred.

"Dunno, she can't still be mad because of my 'prank' can she?" Fred wondered, starting to get a bit concerned. When he'd first left the room after the utter failure of his invitation he'd been more concerned about his own wounded pride and yeah, he privately admitted, hurt feelings. The last time he'd liked someone even close to this much, it had been Cora Felden in his fourth year. That had been fun for awhile until it had fallen apart over a minor prank, a pint of exploding butterbeer and some really bad poetry. But now that he was thinking back on the situation Hermione had looked near tears there at the end. Really, really mad too, yeah, but her eyes had also held real hurt.

Fred issued a sudden fervent mental prayer that she wasn't holed off somewhere crying because of him. The thought that he might have really hurt her feelings caused a sick and unfamiliar sensation to develop in the pit of his stomach. Of course it wasn't guilt. He, Frederick Theodopholus Weasley did not do guilt. Besides, he didn't have anything to be guilty about. He was the injured party here! No, he was just concerned that Hermione might miss dinner was all. Besides, how could he pull off stage I of the newly formed 'Hermione Will Be Mine' plan if the girl wasn't here to spring it on?

She was probably just curled up with a book somewhere.

Two hours earlier

Hermione paced the confines of the dormitory sleeping chamber, her fury bubbling over, too great to allow her to be still. That horrible Fred! And that horrible George! He was surely just as behind that prank as Fred had been! And stupid, stupid, stupid Ronald! She saw him again in her mind's eye looking completely aghast that she would 'misinterpret' his 'innocent' words. "Ooooh!" Hermione muttered furiously, crossing her arms in disgust. Honestly, she couldn't remember ever being so angry before. She, Hermione Granger, was a firm believer in logic and rationality. You should address problems in a dispassionate manner so as to come up with the best, most effective solution. But right now an unfamiliar red haze seemed to be clouding out those parts of the brain that dealt in logic and rationality. Instead her emotions had seized momentary control and they seethed with the desire to get even with those horrid boys. To pay back Fred and George and yes Ronald Weasley too!

"I should prank them all!" she muttered to herself, kicking at a stray shirt that one of her roommates had left strewn on the floor.

Hermione paused in mid-kick, arrested by the thought. She should prank them all. Should she prank them all? She should prank them all! She should give them a taste of their own blasted medicine, she should.

Second and third thoughts rose hurriedly to the surface as logic and rationality made their reappearance. She didn't believe in wasting time on silliness like pranks when she could be spending time studying and improving her mind, logic and rationality reminded her sternly. And she certainly did not want to get into trouble by being caught perpetrating something as silly as a prank.

But this was a special case, she argued with herself. And, well, it could almost be considered an academic pursuit. An experimental assignment of sorts. In the field. And well, really, some of the stuff Fred and George came up with in the course of their relentless pranking was positively brilliant magic. Not that she'd ever tell them that but, well, really brilliant. In fact, she sometimes thought that if only the twins could bring themselves to devote as much time to their studies as they did to their silly pranking that their contributions to the field of academia would be amazing. But the idea of those two giving up their jokes for academia was as ridiculous as, well, she, Hermione giving up the world of academia to become a professional prankster.

Hmm. If she was really serious about pranking them then what could she do? Something public but something that couldn't be traced back to her. She certainly didn't want to get caught. But it would have to be something that would impress the twins. And what kind of prank could possible impress the twin terrors of Hogwarts?

Hermione, finally calmed enough by having an actual problem to think through, sat down distractedly on the edge of her bed. As she sat, Crookshanks, who had been eyeing his human with irritated eyes as she had paced the room, seized the opportunity and jumped into her lap to say hello and finally receive his due attention. Idly stroking the orange pug-nosed cat, Hermione continued to ponder the situation.

What kind of prank would be enough to teach those three a lesson? But not be too mean. She didn't want to hurt them or anything but…but what kind of prank would…her hands stilled suddenly, buried in soft ginger fur as an idea slowly began to take form. A small smile crept up her face. Oh, that was it! That was just perfect!

Hmm, but now what would she need?

Logic, rationality and emotions began working together in perfect accord now that she had a clear objective. Hermione started mentally sorting through the ingredients she'd need to make her plan work. It wasn't quite a Polyjuice potion she was looking for. Besides, that would take much too long to brew. No, she needed something that was quick. She wanted to do this now before her ire cooled and she ended up forgiving the dolts. There were elements of the Polyjuice that could be useful though…combined with some advanced charms that she'd been studying during free-time…Her mind sorting through ideas, Hermione jumped up, cuddling the purring Crookshanks in her arms. A visit to the library was definitely in order!

Two hours later

Yeah, he'd go and find Hermione directly after dinner and put Part I of the 'Plan' into action Fred thought to himself. If Hermione was still mad at him, well, he'd jolly her out of it. He could wait for her to cool off on her own of course, but, well, he just didn't want to. And that was weird 'cause he was usually patience incarnate when working a plan. This time, well, he wanted everything to happen now. The thought flashed briefly across Fred's mind that maybe he should try being serious with Hermione one more time but he quickly quashed the idea. That had worked horribly, it had, being sincere. No, better to stick with what he and George did best. Being devious.

A slight commotion caught Fred's attention and he looked up as Professor Dumbledore entered the Great Hall. Snape and Professor McGonagall accompanied him, the three of them deep in conversation. As they made their way up to the head table, Fred's eyes were caught by a flash of brown hair back towards the front entrance. He watched as Hermione Granger strode calmly through the open doors, her face perfectly composed. She did not spare a single glance for Fred and George as she walked over to join Ron and Harry. The twins watched interestedly as the two younger boys greeted the brunette. Smiling a greeting back at Harry she pointedly ignored Ron, squeezing in to sit so that Harry provided a barrier between the other two.

The twins and several of their seatmates watched avidly as Ron appeared to make an imploring gesture toward Hermione. When that had no effect he began speaking rapidly and gesticulating wildly, his flailing arms overturning a fortunately still empty goblet. To the interested observer it appeared that he was miming the whole Vornadooze incident to Hermione in an effort to gain her sympathy. This did at least get Hermione to look at him. However, any hopes of sympathy appeared to be quickly dashed as she appeared to issue him a few sharp words before turning her attention back to Harry and away from the visibly deflated Ron.

"Huh," George raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Looks like you're not the only Weasley that Hermione's mad at. I wonder what he did?"

"Stuck his foot in his mouth most likely," Fred snorted. "This is Ron we're speaking of after all."

"Yeah, you're right," George agreed. He shook his head in mock dismay for his younger brother. "That boy will remain dateless his whole pathetic life."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll find a girl someday," Fred disagreed. "As long as he don't ever talk to her."

The great clock began chiming the time and the students stirred in anticipation as with a rush of magic the empty table began filling with the dinner repast. Hunks of roasted beef, steaming chicken and bean casseroles, delicate cornish pasties, black pudding, crusty loafs of bread and assorted red, green and orange vegetables appeared piled temptingly high upon platters and in large bowls. Grabbing a pitcher of steaming cider Fred poured a generous mug for himself and began spooning chicken and bean casserole onto his platter, snagging two cornish pasties on the fly.

"Y'know," George commented, the words slightly garbled due to his mouth being happily stuffed with bread. "I've been thinking about the Tornadooze spell and I think I may know how to improve the quality of the…what?" George asked noticing Fred's distraction.

Fred had paused in his foraging and was watching Hermione with a puzzled frown, his food momentarily forgotten. The girl was up to something.

How he was so sure he couldn't say but well, he had spent most of his life being up to something so he was an expert at recognizing the signs. Not to mention he'd spent the last year in the habit of Hermione watching and the girl was, well, just definitely up to something.

The signs were all there. She kept aiming glances their way which, okay, she could probably just still be steamed at him but there was a look of expectation in her eyes. And she just looked a little…shifty? Nervous? Guilty? Oh, the girl was definitely up to something.

"Hermione's up to something," Fred informed his twin.

"Huh? What you mean? You mean 'up to something' up to something?" George asked interestedly, craning his neck to get a good look at Hermione. She had been gazing their way but upon noticing their interest immediately turned her attention fixedly upon her dinner plate.

"Huh," George muttered, considering. "She does look a little nervous. The first sign of the amateur mischief maker."

"Yeah," Fred frowned. "And she keeps looking our way. And she keeps sneaking glances at Ron too when he isn't looking. So what could she be feeling nervous about?"

"Maybe she's plotting to do away with you," George suggested cheerfully.

"Oh, hah. Thanks. Nah. She's…"

"What're you two going on about?" Lee asked, tilting his head in curiosity. "Why would Hermione be plotting to do away with you?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "Long story mate and she's not plotting to do away with me."

"Are you sure, cause I…" Lee didn't get to finish his comment as a sudden commotion erupted at the head table and all eyes swung in that direction.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sybill Trelawney had just opened her mouth to indignantly protest the new teacher's disparaging remarks about the field of divination which had been accompanied by an annoyingly girlish giggle (the woman must be at least fifty for heaven's sake, it was time to put the giggling aside!) when her attention was distracted by Professor Dumbledore.

What on earth? She frowned, puzzled for a moment, her eyes narrowing curiously. Was the Headmaster…sparkling? Yes, it seemed as if glitter was dancing up and down the surface of his…was that...? Even as she opened her mouth to inquire she heard a gasp from further down the table. She craned her head to look past the Headmaster and noticed that the glitter wasn't only covering him but was running up and down several of the increasingly alarmed staff. Apprehension growing, she slowly looked down upon her own unsteady hands and saw the same sparkles dancing across pale skin. Oh dear…oh dear this couldn't be…

!BANG!

…good.

Sybill let out a horrified shriek, stumbling up and away from the table as she lifted suddenly humongous hairy hands in front of disbelieving eyes. Snatching up a silver spoon she peered into the surface and began screaming in earnest as she saw the face of an extremely hairy, wild-eyed man with an enormous bulbous nose and terribly large ears peering back at her. Looking wildly back up she saw that where Headmaster Dumbledore had been sitting there was now a startled looking tiny gnome of an old woman, wide eyes blinking owlishly, dressed in what appeared to be a belly dancing uniform. But it was the site of the former Professor Snape that sent Sybill Trelawney into a less than graceful swoon as she toppled backwards like a great hairy oak brought low. Oh, he still had the face of Severus Snape, beaky nose, oily hair and all, but it was now attached to the body of an extremely curvaceous woman. In a polka-dot bikini.