Hey y'all! Did ya miss me? Well, here comes another chapter. I'm almost done with this year, only one or two more chapters left after this and then I start Year Two, which will be a separate story, so put me on author alert so you can know when the story comes out.

Also, pray for the victims of the Newtown shooting. One more thing, KG was a girl who was in my grade at my school. She died this morning (12/18/12) from cancer, but before she did, she asked to be buried in our school uniform *tearing up*she loved our school that much. This girl was a living angel, always smiling even though she had one leg and only a short time to live. KG Rest In Peace. Here is something she once said:

"Courage is doing the thing you fear most. If it means I live, take the leg away."

Disclaimer: I never have and never will own the plot or characters of the original Harry Potter stories…no matter how much I want to.

Merry Christmas! This is my gift to you.

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Nicki was never, ever, for the rest of her life, going to figure out how Sydney was able to push through exams when they half-expected Voldemort to sneak up on them at any moment. But the days passed and obviously Fluffy was still playing guard dog behind the locked door.

The Hogwarts exams were both similar and different from regular exams. The written tests came with special new quills, charmed with anti-cheating spells for everybody, especially the troublemakers at the top of Filch's list (meaning Nicki, Fred, George, and Lee). The magical exams were definitely more fun, except for Snape's breathing down everybody's necks while they put together Forgetfullness potions.

Nicki actually did try the best she could to do well, but it was hard with the stabbing pains in her forehead and lack of sleep from nightmares. Sydney wasn't affected at all by her scar pains because they weren't any worse than her annual pre-exam/during-exam headaches. Sydney had trained her mind to not be distracted by pain.

The second Professor Binns told the class to lower their quills and roll up their parchments, every kid in the class except Sydney cheered and screamed in joy. Nicki and Ron did a victory dance while Justin grabbed Sydney, who was already going over what possible answers could have been, and dragged her out of the classroom.

"That was actually easier than I thought," Sydney thought outloud to Justin. "I needn't have worried learning about-"

Sydney was cut off by Nicki sprinting out of the classroom behind them with her hands thrown up in the air, yelling, "FREEDOM!"

"Ahem," Sydney cleared her throat loudly, "As I was saying, I guess I didn't need to study the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

"Please don't talk about the exams," Ron groaned, "It makes me feel sick."

"Well at least you know you got one thing right," Nicki replied.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"Your name!" Nicki joked. The four kids laughed and headed down to the lake for a well deserved rest. Nicki wanted to feel happy that she was done with exams, but the drop in concentration level in her brain only made her scar hurt worse.

"Cheer up Nic," Ron said gleefully. "We've got a whole week to rest before we find out how bad we did."

"Well it's kinda hard to celebrate when I've got somebody using a jackhammer on my forehead," Nicki snapped back. Ron looked at the irritated twin in confusion. "Muggle object," Nicki said to answer the boy's unspoken question.

"Oh, is that what's been hurting my head?" Sydney asked genuinely. "I just assumed it was my annual headache. I was wondering why it hadn't stopped yet."

"Go see Madam Pomfrey," Justin urged.

"No I think it's some kind of warning," Nicki responded, rubbing her scar to make the pain subside.

Sydney suddenly gasped, sat up quickly, grabbed her bag and ran off toward Hagrid's hut. The others looked at each other in confusion, picked up their stuff and ran after her, yelling things like "Syd, where are you going?"

The other three caught up to the blonde right before they reached Hagrid's, bent over and trying to catch their breath. Sydney turned to them and said, "Isn't it a bit weird that Hagrid has wanted a dragon his whole life and suddenly someone just shows up carrying a dragon egg even though it's against wizard law?"

Before the others could even respond, Sydney ran over to Hagrid, who was carving wood on his front stairs, her friends trailing behind.

"Hagrid, that man who gave you the dragon, what did he look like, was there anything strange about him?" Sydney interrogated.

"Well I dunno. He had a hood on. But actually yeah, he seemed kinda eager ta get ridda it."

"Well did he ask if you had any other creatures or seem interested in any particular, um, pets?"

"Of course he did. It's not everyday ya meet somebody with so many critters, 'specially a three-headed dog. Yeah he asked a lot 'bout Fluffy."

"Don't you find that a bit odd?" Justin asked, understanding where Sydney was coming from.

"Why would't be? Not many people have three-headed dogs jus' layin' around. An' I told'm Fluffy was a piece o' cake compared to a dragon. With Fluffly, all ya 'ave ta do is play a bit o' music an' he falls fas' asleep."

The kids looked at each other in horror before they ran off. They didn't stop running until they reached McGonagall's classroom, where she was focused on grading exams.

"Professor McGonagall!" Sydney exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the teacher's desk. "We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore, immediately!"

"It's a matter of life or death!" Justin added for emphasis.

"Why I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," McGonagall informed the students, her tone restrained of all anger. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?! Now?!" Nicki begged, her voice strained from the tension and fear.

"Professor Dumbledore is a powerful wizard, Nicole, he has many demands on his time-"

"But this is important!" Nicki interrupted.

"More important than the Ministry of Magic, young lady?" McGonagall challenged, her words as cold as the look in her eyes.

"Professor, it's about the Sorcerer's Stone," Sydney blurted out, hoping that her favorite teacher would help them.

McGonagall's head snapped up from the exam papers, her glare so penetrating that the kids felt like she was trying to read their minds, or at least burn holes through their heads. "How did you possibly find out about that?"

"Um, internet?" Nicki offered, too freaked out by her Head of House's piercing stare to put a good excuse together.

"That doesn't matter right now," Sydney butted in, thankfully saving her sister's butt. "What does matter is that someone is going to try to steal the Stone. We have to talk to Professor Dumbledore." Nicki was pleasantly surprised by her twin's assertiveness and confidence to stand up to a teacher, and a somewhat scary one at that.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," McGonagall sighed, finally dropping her glare, but only briefly before throwing it back at the students. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, nobody can possibly steal it... it's too well protected."

"But Professor-" Justin pleaded.

"Granger, I know what I'm talking about. Now all of you leave, before I have to take away more points from my own house."

The kids carefully backed out of the room. It wasn't until they were outside that they realized that they hadn't taken a single breath since McGonagall gave them her famous glare. The four of them all started rapidly breathing until they restored the air that had been held in their lungs.

"It's happening tonight," Nicki stated firmly, totally sure of what she was saying. "And we're gonna be there when it happens."

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That night, Sydney, Nicki, Ron, and Justin felt like they were spies preparing for a top secret mission to save the world, which technically they were. The boys just wore jeans and dark sweaters, but the girls were dressed a little more fun, but still able to blend in with the shadows.

Sydney had on tight denim capris with black ballet flats and a short-sleeved purple henley shirt with a cropped, three-quarter sleeve denim jacket and her hair tied back in a high ponytail. Nicki, on the other hand, had grey cargo pants, black converses, black t-shirt, and an unbuttoned light turqouise and grey plaid shirt tied at the ends at her midriff, finished off with a white newsboy cap.

While the four students waited for the rest of their House members to go to sleep, they checked on the details of their plan. Sydney flipped through notes in hopes of coming across one of the enchantments they would have to break that night. Nicki made sure she grabbed the cloak before the other girls noticed. Sydney pocketed the flute Hagrid whittled, also shrinking Nicki's guitar and bringing it along in case the flute didn't work out.

The group was just about to head out when they heard a familiar voice behind them. "What are you doing?"

The four turned around to see Neville standing at the stairs from the boys' dorm, clutching his toad while wearing blue teddy bear footie pajamas. Nicki could barely hold in her laughter at the boy's appearance.

"Nothing Neville," Sydney insisted, using her almost-magical power of persuasion.

"You're going out again," Neville replied firmly yet shakily. "You can't go out. You'll be caught again and Gryffindor will lose even more points."

"Neville, you don't understand. This is important," Justin responded, trying to think of a way to politely get rid of the boy.

"I won't let you do it," Neville said nervously, obviously trying to sound tough. "I'll - I'll fight you!" Neville put up his fists, obviously meaning what he said.

Nicki scoffed to the side before turning back to the boy in the fighting stance and saying, "Neville, I taught all you know, but not all I know. Dude, I'm sorry about this but..." Nicki dashed behind the boy and pushed hard on the pressure point in his neck and shoulder. Before Neville could collapse, Sydney pulled her wand out of her boot, raised it, and cried, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Neville's legs and arms snapped to his sides as his whole body went stiff before he fell to the floor. The others looked down on the boy who unfortunately fell flat on his face.

"You're a little scary sometimes. You know that?" Ron stuttered. "Brilliant, but scary."

"Full body bind," Sydney said, answering the unspoken questions. "The pressure point might last until we get back but I didn't wanna take any chances. And the brilliance is all mine, but Nicki's scariness has rubbed off on me." Nicki closed her eyes and grinned, taking her sister's statement as a compliment. But before anybody could say different, Nicki waved her wand and said three different spells.

"Obscuro!" A blindfold appeared out of nowhere and tied itself around Neville's eyes.

"Incarcerous!" A rope snaked its way around Neville's body, fully confining the boy even if the full body bind wore off.

"Silencio!" Neville's lips closed even tighter and even if he could move his mouth, he wouldn't be able to say anything. Nicki lifted her head and pocketed her wand skillfully.

The other three looked to Nicki before Justin questioned, "Are you sure that's not too much? No offense but I think you took it a little too far."

"Oh well," Nicki dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Too late to do anything about it now. We got an evil teacher to stop. Huh, never thought I'd say that and actually mean it. Oh and before you ask Syd, Fred and George did not teach me those spells. I actually found them when we spent that eternity in the library."

Sydney pursed her lips and nodded in understanding and agreement, thinking about how her twin called practically all teachers evil, but this time Nicki was actually right about Snape.

The four of them just barely fit under the cloak. They hurried up to the third floor, but when they got inside they noticed a harp in the room, but Fluffy was awake. They slipped out of the cloak as Sydney pulled out the flute, trying to play a tune but not sure how to handle the flute without hitting a bad note. Then she remembered her sister's guitar, which was still charmed to sound acoustic.

Sydney pulled out the tiny guitar, enlarged it to regular size and called out Nicki's name before tossing the guitar to her twin. Nicki caught the guitar, put on the strap, and strummed a simple lullaby. Fluffy's three sets of eyes immediately began to droop. She continued to play as her friends opened the trapdoor.

However, the trapdoor seemed to have no bottom. "Just jump," Sydney urged, not sure of how long the dog would sleep. The two boys gulped in fear before jumping in. Nicki quickly returned the guitar back to her sister before jumping in herself. Sydney shrank and stored the instrument and fell into the bottomless pit before Fluffy fully woke up.

The landing was soft, but not safe. The kids had landed in a giant pit of a vine-like plant, which kept tying around them. Sydney studied the plants, trying to figure out what they were, while the others simply squirmed in a failed attempt of escape. Suddenly, the blonde girl's face lit up.

"All of you, stop moving! This is Devil's Snare. The more you move, the faster it will kill you. You have to relax."

"Great, now how am I supposed to relax when I know this plant is trying to murder me?!" Ron exclaimed, jerking around under the vines.

Sydney sighed impatiently as she shook her head in annoyance. The girl closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and disappeared under the Devil's Snare.

"Syd!" Nicki screamed, trying to locate her sister under the vines.

"Just relax!" Sydney called up from a chamber underneath the plants.

Justin went first, taking a meditation pose and sinking through the vines.

"Justin!" Ron screamed. Nicki took a deep breath and followed the blonde boy through the plants. "Nic!" Ron cried out.

The other three were standing in the lower chamber, listening to Ron's screams and watching his legs squirm under the Devil's Snare.

Sydney crossed her arms before she looked to the other two and said, "He's not relaxing, is he?"

"Apparently not," Justin replied.

"I've gotta do something!" Sydney insisted while Nicki was too busy trying to yank her hat out from one of the vines.

"What?" Justin asked.

"Oh, I remember reading something in herbology... um..." Sydney struggled to remember the little rhyme.

"Hel-!" Ron yelled, starting to kick around even more.

"Hey, stop moving. I'm trying to get my hat but your panic attack is not helping!" Nicki called up to the ginger, hoping that would intimidate him into not moving.

"'Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare...It's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun!' That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" Sydney cried, proud that she remembered that Herbology lesson. She pulled out her wand and cried out "Lumos Solem!"

A bright light flew out of the girl's wand, blinding everyone in the room as well as causing the vines to shrink away. Ron fell through the opening right on to his face. The others ran over to him and help the redheaded boy stand up.

"Ron, you okay?" Nicki asked.

"Yeah," he answered, dusting off his sweater.

"Okay."

"Lucky we didn't panic," Ron replied. Nicki looked a him in shock, not able to believe how dim the boy could be sometimes.

"Lucky Sydney pays attention in Herbology," Justin responded, giving Ron the same look of disbelief as Nicki.

"Come on guys, let's go," Sydney urged the group, ignoring Ron's moment.

The vine that had been holding Nicki's hat dropped it on the floor after it melted away from the light. Nicki picked up her hat, smacked Ron on the head with it, and followed her sister.

In the next room, all they could hear were flapping wings. It was filled to the brim with flying keys, which was actually scarier than it sounded.

"Look, there's the door," Justin exclaimed, pointing at a large wooden door with a giant keyhole. The four ran to the door, ignoring the bird-like keys flitting above their heads. Ron pulled as hard as he could on the handle before he fell backward from the force. Sydney stepped forward and tried using Alohamora like she had on the first door, but it still wouldn't open.

"We need a key," Sydney admitted. "The door is charmed against unlocking spells."

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one; probably rusty like the handle," Ron observed.

Nicki looked up and, using her Seeker skills, scanned the flock for the right key. When she finally located it, her face lit up as she said, "That one! The one with the bum wing. I'll go get it."

The girl hopped onto the ancient-looking broomstick and shakily flew up into the mob of keys, which started attacking her the second she touched the broom. She chased after the right key, which was surprisingly fast despite its dinged-up wing, while her friends shouted directions and assurances at her from below. The second Nicki caught the key and the other keys retreated, she threw her arms up victoriously, faking the sounds of a crowd cheering. She floated down to the ground and jumped off the broom. Her top layer of clothes were torn in places and her face and hands had a few scrapes, but the girl was still pleased with herself, especially since she had managed to hold on to her hat and the rips on her clothes made them look cooler.

"I take a moment for myself. Bow down, bow down," Nicki called out (AN I don't own this quote or anything else from Happy Feet). Ron looked at the girl in confusion while Justin and Sydney, who understood the muggle movie reference, crossed their arms and gave her a look that said "seriously?"

"Or not," Nicki said sheepishly. "Either works."

"Gimme that," Sydney responded, snatching the key out of her twin's hand. "Now then, if you are done wasting time, let's go." She put the key into the hole, turned it, and unlocked the door. The key sped out of the door the millisecond that it was no longer needed, its other wing bashed now that it had been caught twice.

The four walked into the next room, which Ron immediately recognized to be a giant wizards chessboard. The torches lining the board lit up, revealing pieces that were so large, the smallest pawns were as tall as the kids.

"There's the door," Nicki pointed out. The four hurried to the exit, only to be halted by the drawn swords of the pawns.

"Now what do we do?" Sydney asked as they backed away from the obstacles.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron exclaimed. "We play our way across the room." He took a breath before he started to give orders. "Justin, you'll be the queen's side castle. Nicki, you and Sydney take the empty bishop's square. And since there are two of you, you'll have to take every step together. As for me, I'll be a knight."

The students all took their positions, Justin on the right end of the board, the twins on the left, and Ron on the back of the knight piece next to the girls. Nicki and Sydney looked at each other, nodded, and wrapped an arm around each other, ready to move as one.

"What happens now?" Sydney asked nervously.

"Well, white moves first, and then..." Ron paused as he stared forward, "we play."

One of the white pawns slid forward two spaces, almost as if challenging the kids.

"Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like...real wizards chess, do you?" Justin questioned, not looking at the others as he spoke.

The redhead held off on answering the question until he commanded a pawn, "You there! Move to D5." The black pawn scooted forward, only to be stabbed by the white. Smoke billowed up and broken remains of the black pawn scattered across the board. Ron gulped and muttered, "Yes Justin. I think this is gonna be exactly like wizards chess."

Sydney and Nicki's heads whipped around to stare at each other, their eyes wide with the same exact fear.

The game proceeded, Ron shouting orders and pieces getting smashed to bits. The white queen dominated the game. The kids got really anxious when the opposing queen stopped two spaces, a single move, away from the sisters.

Nicki looked around at the positions of the pieces. "Wait a minute," she murmured.

"You understand correctly, Nick," Ron said. "Once I make my move, the queen will take me. Then you two are free to check the king."

"No! Ron, no!" Justin cried out.

"What is it?" Sydney asked.

"He's going to sacrifice himself," Nicki answered.

"No you can't! There must be another way!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Ron snapped back. "Syd, you and Nick are the ones who have to go on. Not me, not Justin, you two!"

The twins nodded their heads in understanding. Ron looked forward, his dusty face grim. He took a deep breath, tightened his hold on the horse's metal reign, and commanded, "Knight to H3!" Ron held his breath as his piece slid forward and sideways. "Check," he mumbled.

The others watched in dread as the white queen approached the boy. Ron gulped in fear of the blank white face. The queen pulled out her weapon and stabbed the horse in the side. Ron screamed in pain as he was thrown off the piece, falling unconscious as he landed on the board, his piece falling off the edge.

"RON!" Nicki yelled. Justin started to move toward the limp boy, but was stopped by Nicki.

"No! Don't move!" Nicki called out to him. "Don't forget, we're still playing."

Justin nodded and stepped back to where he was standing.

The girls looked at each other, nodded, and moved forward in a straight diagonal line, their steps in perfect sync with each other. They stopped in front of the white king.

"Check!" Nicki started, her irrational tone like an explosion: loud, violent, and agressive.

"Mate!" Sydney finished, her level-headed tone like a knife: smooth, sharp, and calm in a deadly way.

The king's sword fell, clanking to the floor in defeat. The three remainders ran from their spaces over to Ron, a fallen warrior in battle.

Sydney looked up at Justin and said, "Stay and look after him, then go to the owlery, send a letter to Dumbledore."

"Ron's right," Nicki added quietly. "The two of us have to go on."

Justin looked up at his almost-girlfriend. "You'll be okay Syd. You're an amazing witch," he assured her. "And the two of you together are an unstoppable, magical force."

Sydney kissed him on the cheek and stood up. Nicki whacked the boy on the back in a friendly way that said "I approve, but hurt her and I'll kill you." The twins stood up, turned toward the door, and ran toward whatever danger might lie ahead. But whatever it was, they would face it together.

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So, what'd ya think? If it's bad then don't answer that. Review and Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you may celebrate :).