Double Vision

The end had come to what most students would have considered a night to remember. The ball was an extravagant event, and everything went as smoothly as possible. There weren't any wand fights, and everyone seemed to have had a good time. But for some, the night had just begun. After every ball Hogwarts has ever had, there was always someone that was daring enough to try to throw a party. Most times they were thrown in the dorm rooms, and were pretty safe, aside from the occasional person who tried to smuggle in booze. They were usually broken up in half an hour, because people were caught stumbling around the grounds at early hours in the morning. Never in all the years there's been a ball had someone try to throw a really big bash. Until this year…

"Man, this is gonna be a sweet party," announced Jenny.

"Shut up," snapped Hermione. "Or you'll get us caught." The very large group of students was huddled behind one of the biggest statues in the area. They were waiting for the crowd to die down, and for the professors to set off to bed, hoping that they could make it to the Room of Requirement after party.

"I hope there's some good drinks there," said Kim.

"Yeah, I hope it's not just a bunch of sour tasting crap," said Katie.

"I want to put my bartending skills to good use tonight!" Michelle said.

"What?" asked Jenny. "What are you talking about?"

"Oops, I forgot to tell you guys. I took bartending school this summer. It was good times."

"Wow," said Kim. "I'm surprised you managed to fit that into your busy schedule." Kim, Katie and Jenny looked at Harry and giggled. He turned the slightest shade of pink, though he pretended not to hear.

"Do you think it's safe to start walking to the room?" asked Ron in a hushed voice. He peered around the corner, and saw the last of the students that Dumbledore was sending off to bed. "Alright, Dumbledore looks like he's going to go to bed. I think we can start moving in pairs. Who wants to go first?" Everyone looked around.

"Anyone?" said Harry. "Fine then. Michelle, we'll go first." Michelle and Harry scurried out from behind the statue to the nearest stairwell. They went up a few steps and gestured for the next pair to follow. Jenny and Draco made their way to the stairs next, but their plan was almost spoiled when Jenny tripped on her dress.

"Oh crap!" Jenny tried to say, but Draco covered her mouth in time. Hermione and Ron went next, then Kim, Katie and George.

"Alright, is everyone here?" asked George. "Good then, let's go." The group ascended the staircase as quietly as possible towards the seventh floor corridor.

They reached the corridor, and walked to the stretch of wall where the room of requirement door would appear.

"What was it that Crabbe said we had to think about to get into the party?" Jenny asked Draco.

"He said we have to think of a place where we can get smashed."

"Well," said Katie. "That is quite true!" Everyone laughed, but stopped when they realized they were making a lot of noise. They walked back and forth, thinking of what they needed. Soon after, a door appeared in the stretch of wall, and there was a faint noise on the other side. Harry reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it. He opened the door and peered into the room.

The room was huge, and decorated to look like a nightclub. It was packed with students, and they had drinks in their hands, and songs in their hearts.

"Damn," said George. "Those drinks must be pretty strong if they are this smashed already." Everyone laughed, as they observed their fellow classmates stumble across the room to greet each other.

"There just better be some left for me!" said Kim, as she walked towards the nearest bar she could find. The house elf that was tending to the bar gave Kim a wide smile as he handed her a drink. She took a sip, and spit it out.

"Eew!" she yelled. "What the hell was that?"

"A special recipe of mine!" said the elf. "It's a combination of rat tails and orange juice!" Kim's face went pale when she heard this.

"Are you frigging serious?" she asked. "That's disgusting!" Kim put her drink down on the nearest surface and grabbed a cherry cooler from a bucket of ice sitting near by.

"Now that's what I call a drink!" Kim announced. Everyone else dug their hands into the bucket and pulled out different drinks. Jenny got a strawberry daiquiri, and Katie pulled out a margarita. Michelle pulled out a beer on her first try, but put it back. On her second try, she pulled out an orange cooler. Harry and Ron both pulled out beer, and George got himself a nice whiskey.

"George, how can you drink that?" muttered Katie. Malfoy got himself a champagne from across the room, but came back to join his date. Jenny looked at his drink, then him.

"Are you serious?" Jenny asked.

"Yes," he replied as he took a sip. "I only drink the best and most expensive champagne that money can buy."

"Oh good grief," Jenny retorted. "It all gets you drunk in the end!"

"I'll drink to that!" said George as he raised his glass. "A toast…to the best after party ever thrown, and to Katie, the best date in the room." Katie turned a great shade of red and covered her face. Everyone raised their drinks in the air to toast.

"Cheers!" everyone shouted. They all took sips of their drinks, some longer than others.

As the night went on, the music was blaring, and everyone's glasses were constantly refilled. The house elves seemed to be more than pleased to be serving everyone, and were especially grateful when Harry left one a tip.

"Oh thank you, Harry Potter. You truly are the greatest wizard to have ever lived. Dobby has told us all so much about you!"

"Thanks Dobby," he muttered under his breath and walked away from the bar. He walked through the crowd looking for Michelle. He found her sitting in a corner, talking to some other people from Hufflepuff.

"Michelle," he said. "Would you like to dance?" Michelle stared at Harry.

"Erm, are you seriously Harry? Or did you get a hold of some Polyjuice potion?" Michelle asked.

"No, it's me," replied Harry. "I'm just really drunk right now, and I am practically willing to do anything." Harry took Michelle's hand and led her into the middle of the room. Harry proceeded to dance like Michelle had never seen before. She never knew that he had such great rhythm!

"Wow, Harry, I'll have to get you drunk more often!" she yelled over the music.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea," said Harry with a smirk. They danced their way over to where Jenny and Draco were standing with a few other Slytherins.

"Jenny, why are you and your lover not dancing?" asked Harry. He looked over at Draco.

"Well, seeing as I don't have one, I was just resting my feet anyway. Draco and I were just enjoying a chat with some of our friends. This is my friend Nirusha. She's in sixth year."

"Hello," said Michelle. "What is up?"

"Absolutely nothing," replied Nirusha. "I'm actually finding this party quite boring."

"Really?" said Draco. "I'm having a great time!" He took a sip from his glass. "Hmm, seems that I'm due for another refill. Potter, come with me to get another drink."

"Uh, alright," Harry said with a hint of hesitation in his voice. The girls watched as the guys disappeared into the crowd.

"Jenny, what the hell was that?" asked Michelle.

"Yeah, I thought those guys hated each other more than anything," Nirusha said.

"They do. But I'm surprised to see that Draco is on his best behaviour tonight. He hasn't even made fun of any Gryffindors since we arrived. I couldn't figure it out meself, but I guess once you get a few drinks in him he turns into a nice guy." Jenny looked over to the bar where Harry and Draco sat. They were laughing together! Some other people were beginning to take notice at this rare phenomenon.

"That's bloody awesome, though," exclaimed Michelle. "Maybe there should be parties more often. I noticed some changes in Harry too. He's a lot more co-ordinated!" The girls laughed together.

"Go dance with him again, before he decides that he doesn't want to anymore," said Nirusha. "I'm gonna go and find Phil. We're leaving to find something better to do."

"Ah, I see," said Jenny. "I think I know where you're headed off to!"

"Eew, Jenny, no!" shouted Nirusha.

"Don't lie to me. I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose. My advice of the day is: wear protection!" Jenny and Michelle laughed as Nirusha stuck her tongue out and disappeared into the crowd. They looked over at Harry and Draco again.

"Jenny, this is totally awesome!" Michelle shrieked. "I'm so glad that there's even the slightest chance that they can be friends…and it's because of us!"

"I know!" said Jenny. "Let's just go get our dates back before we end up leaving alone!"

"Indeed." The girls walked to the other side of the room to where their dates were still laughing together. Draco had refilled his drink, while there was a small collection of shot glasses in front of Harry.

"Harry, how many of those are yours?" Michelle asked.

"Psh, I have no idea!" shouted Harry. "But they were pretty damn good if you ask me! Come on love, let's dance again!" Harry got up out of his seat and fell to the floor. Michelle and Jenny rushed to pick him up and lean him against a nearby wall.

"Draco," started Jenny. "How many drinks did Harry have?"

"Only four or five," said Draco. "How many did he have before?"

"Like four or five! He's had way too much to drink tonight. Harry, how are you feeling?" Michelle struggled to hold him up.

"I feel fine, gosh!"

"No Harry," Jenny said. "I think you've had way more than enough for tonight. You need to get yourself into bed so you can sleep it off. Where's Ron or Hermione?"

"Over there in the corner," said Draco. " See them? They're the ones that can't keep their hands off of each other. Disgusting if you ask me."

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry. "At least they're getting some ass. I guess Crabbe or Goyle wouldn't put out for you, eh?"

"Potter, if you say one more thing like that I'll…"

"You'll what?" asked Jenny. "Harry is totally smashed, he doesn't know what he's talking about. How are we going to get him back to his dorm room?"

"It's alright, I'll handle it," said Michelle. She put a hover charm on Harry. "I know the password to get into the common room. I can leave him on the couch or something. Then I'm going back to my room. Later guys." Michelle pointed her wand out the door, and the floating Harry headed out of the room. He waved excitedly at everyone as he was leaving until he was down the hall.

"So," Jenny questioned. "How many of the four or five drinks did you give to Harry?" Draco looked at the ground. "Answer me!" she said in a stern tone.

"Um…four or five?"

"Draco! You knew that he had been drinking before, but you went ahead and gave him more anyway? That is probably the most irresponsible thing you have ever done. You know, Michelle and I were stupid enough to think that you guys were starting to get along. What possessed us to even think that?"

"Aww, come on Jenny. I was just having some fun. Potter sure looked like he was having a good time!"

"That's not the point," retorted Jenny. " You just wanted him to make an ass out of himself, and you succeeded! I don't even want to be around you right now. It was fun up until now. Good night." Jenny stormed away from Draco, in hopes of finding one of her friends.

"That bloody girl is so dramatic," mumbled Draco to himself, ad he sat at the bar and took a sip of his drink. He put the glass back down on the bar and left the room.

Jenny walked to the other end of the room and saw Kim sitting at a table by herself, beer in hand.

"Kim! Why are you sitting here by yourself?" asked Jenny. Kim looked up at her, then back at her drink. "Where's Neville?"

"I have no idea where he went," sighed Kim. "I haven't seen him since before we left the ball. I feel so ditched right now."

"Aww, dude, come on. Neville would never do that. He's probably just been looking for you the whole time, but he can't seem to find you. I wonder why? Because you're cooped up in this little corner!" Jenny grabbed Kim's arm and lifted her up out of her seat. "I'm sure Neville is around here somewhere. He's usually pretty outgoing when he's drunk." They searched every corner of the room, and there was no Neville in sight. They approached Seamus and Dean.

"Guys, have you seen Neville?" Kim asked.

Seamus replied, "Yeah, he went back to his room hours ago."

"What are you talking about? He was supposed to come to the after party with me."

"Well, I guess he was too tired. Speaking of which, its almost 4:00. I think I'm due to turn in. Night, ladies." Kim and Jenny said bye to Dean and Seamus as they exited the room.

"It's four already?" exclaimed Jenny. "Where the hell has the time gone?"

"I dunno, dude," replied Kim. "Should we wait for Katie or leave now?" There was no sign of Katie or George in the room.

"Kim, we don't want to interrupt the lovers. Besides, I've been officially pissed off for the night, so I'm going to sleep."

"Yeah, I'm so mad Neville left. I guess I will have to have a little chat with him about leaving his date tomorrow." Jenny and Kim exited the room and separated when they got to the stairs. Kim headed to Gryffindor Tower, and Jenny made her way to the dungeons. They both had to be very careful to avoid getting caught by one of the professors.

Soon after Jenny and Kim left, everyone started to slowly clear the room and stumble to bed. Luckily, no one was caught that night, as there was not a single teacher wandering the corridors. No one knew if they were tired from after the ball, or had their own after party. Even Peeves had no interest in squealing on all of the students. By 4:30, almost everyone in the castle was sound asleep. But, not everyone outside the castle was.

A few hours into the party, Katie and George decided that it had gotten too loud and rowdy for their liking. They picked up a few drinks and snuck out of the castle. They walked down to the lake, as far away from the castle as possible. They didn't want to be disturbed. Before Katie and George could make their way back up to the castle, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Sunday afternoon had arrived, and the castle seemed was as if there was no one living in it. Almost everyone from fourth year on had decided to sleep in the entire day, to make sure that they were fully recuperated from the previous night. The weather was surprisingly warm for an October day, but only a handful of students decided to get outside and enjoy the sun while it lasted.

A group of first years were in the mood to take a walk down by the lake. They wanted to see if the could spot the giant squid. It wasn't anywhere near the surface, but they did come across two people lying on the grass.

"Hey, what are those people doing over there?" said one of the first years.

"I don't know," said the next one. "Are they even alive?" The children walked towards the sleeping Katie and George and picked up a nearby branch. One of the kids gave George a great poke in the stomach.

"OY!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Who did that?" George's scream startled Katie out of her slumber.

"What's happened?" Katie mumbled. The first years had looks of horror on their faces, and immediately sprinted towards the castle.

"I think we scared those poor little ones right out of their diapers!" boasted George. "Well done, love." He kissed Katie on the forehead and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Shut up, George!" said Katie, as she playfully punched him in the arm. George gave her a puzzled look.

"Geor.. Yes! I am George. Sorry dear, did that comment make you cross?"

"Well, you were a first year once. I'm sure you wouldn't have appreciated being taunted by someone much older than yourself."

"What are you talking about? George and I taunted the older students when we started going here!" Katie thought for a second.

"Don't you mean, Fred and I?"

"Yes, yes I did. Sorry, sometimes we think we're each other. It gets pretty crazy."

"Well then, how will I know which one is the real you?" asked Katie.

"Here's how," said George, as he leaned forward and gave Katie a kiss.

"That's a pretty good test right there," said Katie with a slight stutter. The two looked around and noticed that more and more people seemed to be leaving the castle, They got up and hid behind a nearby rock.

"Crap, I hope people didn't notice that we were gone all night," said Katie. "We'll have to sneak back up to the castle.

"No, we won't." said George. "It'll just look like we've been outside for a few hours or something. No one will know that we were out all night. Well, except for our roommates. But I'm sure they all collapsed when they got back anyway. Come on, let's go." George took Katie's hand and led her up to the castle. They got back in without any question and headed to the Ravenclaw common room.

"Aww, are you dropping me off here?" Katie complained.

"Yeah, I have to go and change out of these dress robes. Dinner is going to be served in a couple of hours, so I will see you back in the Great Hall soon. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like one to me!" said Katie. "I think I'll get a start on my History of Magic homework before I go for dinner. See you in a bit!" Katie gave George a peck on the cheek and turned around. She said the password and slipped into the common room, George still staring at her.

"Man, it's good to be George!" He headed to Gryffindor Tower with a hop in his step, thinking about the last twenty four hours.

Dinner was about to begin, and all the students piled into the Great Hall. They chatted with other students, waiting for Dumbledore to announce that the food was being served. Some students excitedly discussed the party from the night before, while some discussed the trauma from the morning after. Potions were brewed, spells were cast; all to remove the effects of a hangover. Harry sat at the Gryffindor table holding his head. Michelle sat next to him, rubbing his back. Jenny sat next to Michelle, looking at Harry with concern. She caught a glimpse of Malfoy at the Slytherin table. He was looking right at her, but she did her best to ignore him. Kim looked up and down the table, hoping that she would find Neville.

"Man, he must have the ultimate hangover," said Jenny. "I would never have guessed that he would have had that much to drink."

Kim said, "Harry? Did you see Neville when you woke up?" Harry lifted his head from out of his hands.

"I saw him lying on his bed when I got out of mine to throw up. I didn't get a very good look, but I don't think that he was sleeping." Kim paused to think.

"Where the frig could he have gone off to, then?" Dumbledore stood up, and with a wave of his hand, the tables were covered in mountains of food. Michelle and Jenny got up and went back to their tables. Michelle sat with Justin, and Jenny sat with Nirusha, far away from Draco.

Not many people were in the mood to eat that night. People were mostly mashing their food around on their plates, some not putting anything on their plate at all. The meal was pretty boring until the doors of the Great Hall were thrown open. An angry figure stormed through the hall. Everyone turned around and had looks of shock on their faces. This was not a stranger that walked in so angrily. It was a person that was quite well known around the whole school, and not for having an ill temper.

The real George Weasley sped up the aisle towards the front of the Gryffindor table, fury in his face. He scanned the table to find his target. Fred had no idea what was going on, since he had his face buried in the Daily Prophet. To his surprise, the paper was ripped right out of his hands.

"So this is how you spend the day after snogging my girlfriend, eh?" snarled George. Fred stared at him with terror in his eyes. Everyone else stared at them in amazement. Had Katie not attended the ball on the arm of George?

"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?" asked Fred, with a hint of fear in his voice.

"You damn well know what I was talking about. You made Polyjuice potion, you stole my dress robes, and you dumped me in a closet before I could go to pick up Katie." Silence fell across the entire Hall. Fred stood up, face to face with his twin.

"Well, I only did that because I wanted Katie to have a wonderful evening. And I know she wouldn't have if she went with you." George clenched his fists at his sides and looked over at where Katie was sitting. She had no emotion on her face, and had no idea how to react to what she was hearing.

"You've got some nerve saying that. How the hell could you do such a shitty thing to me?" George raised his arm and took a swing at Fred. He narrowly missed, just barely clipping the tip of Fred's nose. Cheers and hisses erupted from the crowd. Everyone got out of the seats, trying to see what was going to happen. Fred threw a punch back at George, hitting him in the stomach. Fred stumbled and took a few steps back, but he took aim and punched his twin on the left side of his face.

All of a sudden, Hagrid came pushing his way through the crowd to where the brothers were fighting.

"Wha's goin' on over here?" he asked. Fred and George were now rolling around on the floor trying to hit each others heads on the cement. Hagrid picked up one with each of his hands and suspended them in the air.

"Put me down Hagrid!" shouted George. "I need to teach my brother a lesson!"

"Now, this is not for me to settle. I'm taking you to Dumbledore." Still carrying the twins, Hagrid left the Great Hall, with Filch hurrying behind him. The students could hear mention of expulsion and suspending them by their ears as they walked out. The students calmed down, but continued to talk excitedly about what had just happened. Jenny went running over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Katie! What was that all about?" Katie stared straight ahead, not making eye contact.

"I knew it wasn't George."

"What are you talking about?" asked Jenny. "Fred supposedly used Polyjuice potion. There was no way you could have noticed it wasn't Geroge."

"Yes," said Katie, still not looking at her friend. "Personalities don't change. He seemed different the whole night. I thought it was just that I was nervous. He even kissed differently."

"Okay, I don't need to hear that. That's probably the strangest thing I've ever seen in my li… Katie, are you alright?" Katie's face was more pale than it had even been. "Okily dokily, I think you need to go to the Hospital Wing. Let me help you." Jenny picked Katie up out of her seat and helped her walk out of the hall. Jenny dropped Katie off into the care of Madam Pomfrey and headed back to the Great Hall.

The rest of the evening had past, and Katie was forced to stay in the Hospital Wing for the night. She hardly got any sleep at all, and woke up with a pain in her neck the next morning. To her surprise, she had a visitor.

"How are you feeling?" asked the visitor. Katie's vision was slightly blurred, but when it came into focus, she wished she was blind.

"What are you doing here, George? Or Fred? See, I don't even know who to trust anymore." George stared at Katie.

"Don't worry, it really is me," he said.

"How do I know that for sure? You could have killed the real George for all I know!"

"Well," George began. "Remember when you asked me out in Hogsmeade the other day?"

"Yes," said Katie. "But everyone was listening in on our conversation. So how will I know for sure?"

"No no, I mean, after that. When we made everyone go away? You and I left the village and walked around the grounds for hours?"

"Are you sure about that?" George didn't even flinch. He was telling the truth.

"Katie, I'm positive. If I really was Fred, I would have guessed that we had sex in the Forbidden Forest, or that we listened to rap music in the dungeons. Ugh, such awful music."

"That's what I was looking for!" said Katie, who seemed much more cheerful.

"Can you trust me now?" said George, as he took Katie's hands.

"Yeah, it's your brother I don't trust. What an asshole he is for doing that."

"Fred sometimes gets carried away with nonsense. Anyway, we both were given detention, but he got an extra week because of the Polyjuice incident. Maybe we can have a password so this can be avoided in the future."

"Actually, that's a good idea!" Katie paused, trying to think of something that only the two of them would remember. She motioned for George to lean closer and whispered in his ear.

"Squib," she said softly. George looked up at her.

"What kind of word is that?" he asked.

"Hey, you said it should be something no one would guess!"

"Good point," said George. He leaned in and kissed Katie lightly. Madam Pomfrey burst into the room and caught them.

"So this is how you get better, young lady?" she shouted. "I think it's time for you to leave, this girl needs all the rest she can get." George stood up from beside Katie's bed.

"Alright, I guess I will see you when you are well. I hope you get better soon." George kissed Katie's hand and walked out of the Hospital Wing.

"Why, aren't you a lucky girl," said Madam Pomfrey.

"Yeah, I am," said Katie. She continued to stare at the entrance, hoping to see that George was going to come back.