Ohhhmiedeeerrr! The very first thing I have to say is that I never meant to leave you hanging with a single chapter for a year and a half! I honestly wrote a good chunk of it all at the same time when I first published this, but there were too many gaps and an annoyingly reliable case of writer's block which hindered me from continuing. However, I'm currently on a FF writing binge in which I feel the compelling need to finish two stories at the same time. How it's been working is beyond me, but I've actually made a lot of progress. ANYWAY: I sincerely apologize for taking so long to update. I hope I can recapture some original interest. Otherwise, happy reading!

I think I should mention that this doesn't line up perfectly with the books in the sense that the Triwizard Tournament has not occurred. You'll understand why I must say this when you start reading. I doesn't cause any kind of plot change, so no worries.

-Recap-

"Drink up, my dear!" one of them exclaimed. I'm not sure which… I was too preoccupied wondering exactly how to go about drinking that much without getting sick tomorrow.

"And don't worry about getting sick- we have the perfect spell to cure hangovers," one of them said as if reading my mind. For all I know, they do. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they announced that they had concocted some kind of telepathic device.

I finally looked up at them. "Right… well that's tomorrow's problem. What about now? I'll throw up if you make me drink all of this!"

"Oh, but Katie, we're not making you drink!" Fred said jovially. "It's your choice between this and next year of being our testing slave."

Apparently everyone besides me wins today. Angelina gets to be with Fred. Alicia gets to be with George. The twins get to not only be with their respectful girls, but they also either get a riot out of me being drunk or a riot out of me testing their potions. Oliver just gets to have fun making me feel awkward.

What do I have? The foreboding feeling that I'll be puking my guts out, as I've only sipped the occasional beer before. Oh- and I'm quite sure Oliver will disown me after today, as he'll have front row seats to some of the most humiliating moments of my life.

I reached out, grabbed a bottle, and downed half of it before I could stop myself. Let's get this over with…

Six beers and two and a half hours later I found myself giggling like an idiot at nothing at all. My eyes were bleary and my whole body felt as if it were moving on its own. Thank Merlin the twins had been merciful enough to cast an anti-sickness and anti-hangover hex on me. I wasn't feeling ill at all; rather, it was quite the opposite. I felt like I was floating and I couldn't stop laughing for the life of me. Considering the circumstances, I felt great- especially because I hadn't made a fool out of myself yet.

Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad, after all.

George and Alicia had left an hour after I had begun drinking, saying something about their hot date. Alicia gave us the secret look that promised she would explain all the details in the morning.

Angelina's eyes suddenly lit up. "Next weekend is Hogsmeade!"

"Perfect!" Fred exclaimed. "We're low on supplies. Restocking soon is absolutely necessary for Phase Three!" Oliver, Angelina, and I exchanged looks of horror as Fred laughed evilly.

"What are you talking about? Phase Three?" Oliver questioned.

"Oh, my dearest Olliekins… don't you worry about any of our wonderful phases. Unless, of course, you plan on helping us set them up and test them?"

Oliver opened his mouth in a quick retort, but thought again and sighed in resignation. "Fine. Just leave us out of your 'brilliant' tricks."

"I promise nothing!"

Oliver and I looked to each other in exasperation. Would we ever be free of their hold on us? I swear… even after we all graduate, they will still find ways to mess with us. Even when we were all old and wrinkly, Fred and George would find us and turn our hair blue or dye our skin green. I was certain they would always find ways to haunt us.

"Fred," I said suddenly, having completely forgotten what we were talking about three seconds prior. "How many merpeople are in the lake?" Angelina opened her mouth but I cut her off quickly. "Yes, there are merpeople, Angelina! I don't care what anyone else says- there are merpeople in that lake!"

"Why are so sure?" Oliver questioned. For some reason his eyes were tearing up. Why was he biting his lip so hard?

"'Cause I know! Sometimes at night I hear this sound that wakes me up and I can't go back to sleep 'cause it's so pretty but at the same time it's annoying and makes me want to scream, but it's really nice and comes from outside from the direction of the lake and it sounds like singing, but not like human singing 'cause it's way too high-pitched and squeaky, which makes you think it would sound like a screeching bat but it's really not that bad at all."

I had been using my hands animatedly the whole time to help explain the extreme magnitude of the situation, and by the time I was done, both my hands were raised high above my head. I looked up at them, confused, and slowly waved them back and forth. It produced the weirdest feeling in my arms and it made me giggle.

"So, anyway," I continued. "We should totally take a boat out there and try to talk to them 'cause face it- we would make history for being the ones who discovered the merpeople at Hogwarts!"

Wide-eyed, Angelina tried to change the subject. "Where do you think 'Lica and George went off to?"

Fred's grin was massive at this point. "Now, Angelina, dear- it's not nice to change the subject without warning."

"Yeah!" I said loudly. "Listen, Fred… where can I acquire a boat?"

"The boathouse should have a few, Katiekins!" Even his tone was dancing in merriment. "When will you embark on this marvelous voyage?"

I stood up quickly. "LET'S GO NOW!" I all but shouted, so great was my excitement. I started marching (literally) towards the Fat Lady but Oliver grabbed my wrist before I could make it more than a meter away.

"Don't be silly, Kates," he said. "Don't you think they might sleep at night? By the time we get out there, they'd be asleep." There was a certain look in his eyes that I didn't understand, but as I thought about it, he was perfectly right.

"Merlin…" I breathed. "You're right! They're merPEOPLE! Of COURSE they sleep at night! Just like people do. Good call, Ollie. Good call." I reclaimed my seat next to the Scot and stared at Fred. "What is so bloody funny?"

"This is officially my new favorite game!"he nearly choked. His cheeks were pink from near-silent laughter.

Having no idea what game he could have possibly meant, I mentally classified him as insane and looked to Angelina. "Room of Requirement," I said seriously.

"… What…?" The girl had no idea what I had meant, which confused me greatly. Of course she had to know about the Room of Requirement; we had used it too many times to count.

"To answer your question from earlier. I think he took her to the Room of Requirement 'cause then he conjure up whatever room he wanted to take her to. Room full of roses? Done." I could feel myself slurring a bit so I slowed my excited speech down and used hand motions instead to emphasize my point. "Candle-lit dinner? Done. Dancing the night away? Done. It's the perfect place for most girls! She's a total romantic so she'd love it!"

"No way," Fred said, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "George would never do something so cliché. My dear brother had a brilliant plan to woo her. I've been trying to get them together for weeks… he wouldn't mess it up the first night."

"How did you even know she liked him back?" Angelina asked curiously.

"Are you kidding? We Weasley twins are absolutely irresistible!" he cried in mock hurt.

The girl rolled her eyes. "You're so arrogant…"

"Only sometimes, love."

Angelina grinned and they leaned in for a quick peck that turned out to not be so quick.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Come onnnnn, guys! Get a roooooom!"

"Someone has to make sure you finish all of those drinks, Kates. I would entrust Oliver with the task but I'm sure you would seduce him and convince him to tell us that you've finished them."

This made me laugh so hard that I couldn't breathe. "Right! You know me, Weasley- I'm the school slut!" I said sarcastically and still couldn't stop laughing. "Haha… seduce Oliver. That's rich!"

"You know, I'm not so sure Oliver would stop any of your advances," he said nonchalantly.

This caused me to laugh more. "And I'm Merlin!"

"If you say so, Katie," Angie smiled.

I downed the last of the sixth beer and placed it back on the table a bit too forcefully. Ha! It seems I don't know my own strength!

"I'm sorry, Olllliiiieee," I said, turning to him. "They want me to seduce you but I'll have you know that I'm not a whore." I shook my finger for emphasis.

"I never said you were a whore, Kates." Why was he smiling now?

I looked at Angie's smile and Fred's grin. I puckered my lips in distaste. "What's so amusing?" I asked as I reached for bottle number seven.

"Nothing at all, my dear." Fred said.

I examined them all skeptically but it led me nowhere. They were a bit blurry anyway. I opened the bottle and took a large swig. As I pulled the bottle from my lips, I closed my eyes and giggled. "Anggeerrsss… could you help me get to the loo?" I tried to stand but toppled over, nearly crushing Oliver. "I don think I can get there alone," I giggled again as he helped me find my balance.

Angelina stifled a snort and rose as well. "I suppose you could use some help, huh?"

I nodded vigorously to Angie and shooed Oliver away. "You can't come, Sillies!"

Oliver just raised his brow at me and looked at Fred. "This is an exception, right?"

"Sorry, mate. No time outs."

I glared at Fred angrily and he gave me a look back but his face was too blurry for me to tell if he suddenly pitied me or if he was just glaring back. "That's not fair, Fred!"

"It's alright, Kates," Angelina said as she grabbed my hand and led towards the girls' staircase. "I have the perfect solution."

I scrunched up my nose, still not too comfortable with the whole situation.

"Trust me," she said, all too familiar with the look I was giving Oliver. "Just help me levitate him up the stairs."

Oliver's footfalls stopped instantly, making me halt as I whipped my head around. Angelina, who was still pulling my arm, nearly flew backwards into me.

"You can't stop like that, Ollers!"

"The three of you nearly dropped me earlier. There's no way I'm trusting just the two of you, especially if Katie's drunk!"

"Ppppsssssshhhhhhhhhtttttttt!" I scoffed. "I am NOT drunk!"

Annoyed, Angelina placed both hands on her hips. "Well, how do you expect to do this, then? Unless you're going to cave in and reveal your glorious secret way up the stairs, there's no other option."

Fred's laughter from the couches echoed in the common room.

"It's not funny!" I yelled at him, crossing my legs and bouncing. "I'm about to burst!"

"I can't believe you haven't thought of it yet, Ollie Poo." Fred was going to be the death of me, I decided. It wasn't going to be training in the rain or snow, or from rampaging trolls or deatheaters. No. The twins were going to kill me before anything else got the chance.

"Accio broom!" Oliver shouted, his wand suddenly drawn and pointed at the boy's dormitories.

"There ya go," Fred laughed.

"BRILLLLIANT!" I shouted and nearly ran over a second year as I dashed up the stairs, not even caring at this point if Oliver was close enough to me or not. Luckily, the invisible chain didn't yank either of us and we made it up to the bathrooms without further incident. In retrospect, I have no idea how I didn't trip in my drunkenness.

Somehow I made it into a stall but the second I shut the door, I opened it again. "No! I can't!" I cried, mortified at the thought of Oliver hearing me tinkle. "I'd rather hold it in until tomorrow!"

"Don't be silly," Angelina said, running into the bathroom a few paces behind Oliver. She whipped out her wand, "Muffiato!" The spell hit the stall I was hanging out of and when I looked back at the two of them, I realized that they were both saying something to me at the same time but I couldn't hear either of them. I was frozen for a second, entranced by the sudden silence. It wasn't until Angie started animatedly shooing at me that I remembered why I was there in the first place and hurriedly shut the door.

I finished my business, washed my hands and face, and started giggling at my reflection. The goofy smile stuck on my face made me laugh and the sight of me laughing made me laugh even more. I brought my hands up to stifle my giggles but the feeling of my arms moving so quickly felt strange.

Wondering if all such movement would feel so odd, I closed my eyes and spun around. Another fit of giggles escaped me. If something so simple felt so brilliant, what if…

I spun around several times, keeping my eyes shut and not even bothering to suppress my giggles this time. It was strange- I was controlling my body but my limbs felt foreign. Before I could even register my actions, my legs seemed to move on their own and after a moment I realized I was dancing. Not surprisingly, I laughed more, faintly realizing how absurdly I was acting. My arms were flailing about for some reason and I was sure that to anyone else I would have looked like a lunatic. Luckily, no one else was in the room to see such a ridiculous dance. I would have been mortified.

The sound of my incessant giggling echoed off the bathroom walls, somehow sounding like music to my drunken self.

I'm not sure how long I had been 'dancing' before I heard a strange sound. It startled me and I stopped instantly to try to hear it again. I opened my eyes finally to search for what could have made the noise. Nothing in the stalls or by the wall… what about behind-

My entire heart sank into my stomach at the sight of Angelina, leaving me frozen. Both of her hands were covering her mouth, not doing a very good job at all at stifling her laughter.

I supposed it could have been worse. Sure, she would make fun of me for weeks but she wouldn't tell anyone else except for Alicia. The two of them would humiliate me but I could deal with that. Now, if the twins had seen anything even remotely as embarrassing as that, they would surely have humiliated me for months. But even so, the twins laughing at me wouldn't be half as bad as if he found out.. or worse- if he saw me dance like a fool. I think that if he ever saw me dance like that I would just quit the team and lock myself in my room for the rest of the year.

Angelina and I had known each other for so long that we could almost speak to each other with mere looks. We locked eyes as was custom when we did something embarrassing. It always served as a silent promise that whatever embarrassing thing that had transpired would remain a secret between us. But the look she gave me was different and it confused me. She was my best friend… she wouldn't betray me by telling anyone. Why-

"Was that dancing, Kates, or were you having a seizure?" Oliver asked apprehensively. I was still frozen but I was able to slowly turn my head far enough to see him standing a few meters to the left. It was apparent that he was trying his absolute hardest to keep his composure.

His words sobered me up at a possible record speed. I could think of ten million places I'd rather be at that moment. I'd rather have been lost in the Forbidden Forest than to have just danced like an absolute idiot in front of Oliver. I would rather have been thrown into the middle of the lake in the middle of the winter as opposed to standing in front of my biggest crush ever, speechless and unable to do anything to subdue the humiliation. I would have rather gone up against Voldemort himself than to have been stuck magically chained to Oliver for the next twenty hours in what would be the most humiliating experience anyone could ever have to go through. Put me in Azkaban for the rest of my life… I'd take that in a heartbeat over seizure-dancing in front of the cutest boy in the world.

Painfully aware of how red my cheeks had become, I was able to begin moving my limbs and I silently fumbled for my wand and pointed at the invisible chain. Being a Weasly test subject for a year would be FAR better than this. They could humiliate me all they want… no evil plot could be worse than this disaster. I opened my mouth but before I could utter a sound, Oliver had crossed the distance between us and had taken my wand from my hand.

"There's no way I'm letting you give up already," he said, Scottish accent thicker than usual. "You've never been a quitter."

Right… well I never made such a fool of myself either. I reached for my wand but it came as no surprise that my attempts were in vain… I was trying to take something from someone who revolved his life around protecting things. "My wand, please," my voice was barely higher than a whisper and I dared not look him in the eye.

"You're willing to give yourself to the twins just because I saw you drunkenly dancing?" Disbelief was evident in his voice. "Everyone does funny things when they drink. I'm not going to hold this against you or think any less of you, if that's what you're afraid of."

I reached a few more times but Oliver blocked me every time. "I just want to be alone right now. Please."

"Come on, Kates." He reached out for my chin with his free hand and gently made me look at him. "You were so happy a second ago. I'd never seen you smile like that. If anything, that was cute," he said once our eyes met.

I knew he had to be lying but my heart still skipped a few beats. I shut my eyes angrily and inwardly groaned at how I reacted for the smallest things. I'd have to put a stop to that somehow…

"Kates…" He coaxed, trying to get me to loosen up. Instead, I pulled away and looked at Angelina for help. I telepathically begged her to pin Oliver down so I could successfully retrieve my wand but if the message got through, she didn't show any signs.

I could feel my cheeks reddening even more because I was so embarrassed and frustrated. That's when I remembered that Angelina always kept her wand in her back pocket.

Asking her for it would be pointless- Oliver would just take it, too. If I could get to it before she reacted, I'd be set. I would disarm Oliver, get my wand back, and immobilize him. If there was one thing I prided myself on, it was the ability to perform back-to-back hexes quickly and with ease. After I stunned Oliver, I would break the spell between us, sprint up to my dorm, lock the door, and put up wards to fend off a certain Scot that might pursue me.

Taking a deep breath, I ran through all the motions one last time in my head and lunged at my best friend.

Angelina's surprised shriek echoed throughout the bathroom, and she unexpectedly backed up just as quickly as I lunged. Because I hadn't considered that she might not cooperate and stay still (although I should have- chaser reflexes are ideal for such situations), I came up short. The extra second it took to recalculate my course of action was all Oliver needed to jump into the chaos and take a hold of my still-grabbing arms.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Katie?" Angelina cried, still surprised.

I sent her another pleading look which seemed to do the trick- she reached for her wand but Oliver cut in before she could pull it out.

"100 extra laps for you if you even think of giving her your wand." His tone was smug and all of us knew that he had won. It was January, which meant practice was already freezing enough- and Angelina hated the cold the most out of all of us.

"Sorry," she offered sincerely.

"Would you mind giving us a moment, Angie?" Oliver asked her a little too politely for my liking.

My eyes widened and I mouthed to her, begging her not to leave us and make it even more awkward. Again, she looked at me helplessly but complied with his request.

"Now, then," Oliver said, turning me to face him once more. "Would you care to explain just what this is all about?"

"Not particularly." All I could do was stare at my feet. I wiggled my toes in my shoes nervously.

"You know this is absurd, right?" I remained silent so he sighed. "Are you really that embarrassed, Kates?"

"Maybe…" I muttered, even more ashamed now that he was making me admit it aloud.

He chuckled. "You always seem to find new ways to surprise me." He lifted my chin again. "I was joking when I said that before. You were dancing, Kates, and for someone so drunk I'm impressed you were able to keep your balance. Besides- it's not like you're the only one to do something ridiculous."

"Have you ever seizure-danced, Oliver?" I asked seriously.

"No, I can't say I have... but have you seriously forgotten the robe incident three years ago?"

A ghost of a smile played at my lips. "You kind of deserved that..." I said quietly. Oliver had the team train for nearly six hours and then refused to let anyone off the pitch until they had gotten fifty quaffles past him. "Even the Slytherins thought it was ridiculous." In retaliation the 'Hell Practice', as it was referred to later, the twins had hexed all of Oliver's robes to change colours every hour, on the hour.

"Right, well they were all rainbow, Kates. And everyone in the whole school saw it. People actually waited for me outside of my classes to see what colour they would turn to next." His cheeks were the slightest bit rosy and it was easy to see that he really might have been half as embarrassed as I was at that moment. The realization made me feel the slightest bit better because next to nothing embarrassed Oliver. I tried to recall if I'd ever seen Oliver blush and realized that I hadn't.

"Well, you brightened the school, I suppose..." I said, stepping closer inconspicuously.

"The school is so dark! I was the only colourful thing to be seen in the whole castle," he answered seriously.

Another step. "But your mum sent you a new robe."

"It was ten centimeters too short! I looked absur- NO!" he nearly shouted as I successfully snatched my wand from his grasp. I pointed again, and got half the spell out before he had grabbed my wrist and turned it upward, rendering me helpless once more. From that angle I couldn't do a thing and fearing that he would take my wand again, I flung it as far as I could with my wrist still in his steel grip.

We both looked at it slide across the marble floor and come to a stop close to the wall.

"I can't help but think you didn't exactly think that one all the way through," he said, looking back at me.

With my wrist still secured tightly in his hand, he gently led me over to my wand, careful, of course, to keep me far enough away from it. He picked it up, shook his head, and placed it in between his pants and boxers on his side. The look he gave me dared me to try to steal it again.

Ignoring my death glare, he led me the opposite way back to the staircase.

"Oh, no no no no no…." I skidded to a stop, realizing what he was intending. "We'll find another way-" but Oliver completely ignored this as well. He put one arm behind my back and the other underneath my knees, scooping me up before I could scramble away. "Oliver, please! I beg you! Not again! We can summon our brooms and fly out the window! I don't want to sl-" A huge grin plastered on his face, he started running at the staircase. "OLIVER WOOD! DON'T YOU DARE!"

With absolute precision, he slid into the staircase. The second his perfect rump hit the top stair, the rest of the stairs popped down to form the most terrifying slide I'd ever been on.

I'm fairly certain the entire castle could hear me scream that I was going to kill Oliver Wood and when we got to the bottom, he was laughing heartily.

"Don't worry, mate," Fred choked from his own laughter. "I don't believe dear Katiekins will have the time to lop off your head just yet. She still has four beers to kill in the next…" he looked at the huge clock on the common room wall. "Fifty-three minutes!" His voice squeaked at the end, so great was his excitement.

"You've got to be bleeding kidding me!" I groaned, trying to remember exactly what wretched thing I had done to deserve such bad karma. Ignoring the group of third years that were staring at me, I quickly punched Oliver on the arm for scaring me half to death and ran towards the couches Fred and Angelina were occupying… only to feel my wrist get wrenched backward. This threw me off balance and I felt the wind pass my face as I flew forward.

Oliver catching me just in time was possibly the first lucky thing that happened to me all day. When my mind stopped swirling, I opened my eyes, only to see a pair of gorgeous chocolate brown eyes staring at me, full of concern. For a second my heart melted… those chocolate pools were worried about me! Maybe I could forgive him for the Horror Slide, after all…

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten about your twenty-four hour shadow, Kates," he said. Though his tone was light, it completely ruined the moment and I immediately felt stupid that my cheeks were flushed. Did the twins spike my drinks with some kind of bad luck draught? I swore I would find out and strangle them both.

Sensing that I was slightly peeved, Oliver brought me back to my feet and pulled away, confused. Wordlessly, I grabbed his forearm and pulled him along with me, my eyes locked on the remaining beers.

"Are you alright, Kates?" Angelina asked hesitantly as I snatched one of the bottles and downed half of it in one go.

"Absolutely peachy," I said, though I was sure the three of them could hear the irritation in my voice. Before they could say another word, I downed the rest of the bottle, praying to Merlin that I wouldn't get sick, and sank onto the couch. I just had three more to go and I'd be done. I supposed with my luck, I would be the one to pull their insane dare. George had to have written that specifically hoping that I would get it because I was the light-weight of the group. If anyone else would have had to do this, they would get drunk at best. But as for me… I was the only one who would get absolutely, completely plastered.

I can't wait to finish the next chappy! :D A large chunk is already written... and things only get funnier!