A/N Hi guys! Thanks for the follows/favourites and for the lovely reviews from potterandchocolate and ugheunice - they made my day :)

I know you're probably thinking that I'm going update crazy, but it's just because I've already got a fair sized chunk of the story written up and I feel like my chapters are so short that posting one at a time just isn't really much of a worthwhile update. Although I will say that the updates will start to slow down after maybe around 10 chapters are posted.

For all you Fred and George lovers out there, you're in luck - you'll be seeing a hell of a lot of them from here on out, much more than the brief glimpses of them you've had so far.

You know the drill - reviews are like crack to me and are greatly appreciated. Right, enough rambling. Enjoy! :)

I own nothing. Well, I own my OC. So I own one thing.

Astrid Black ambled into Defence Against the Dark Arts precisely two minutes and thirty-four seconds late due to getting lost while searching for the blasted classroom, misguidedly taking directions from that bloody poltergeist Peeves.

"Ah, Miss Black, glad you decided to finally join us," Professor Umbridge sneered, her tone sickeningly sweet.

Be confident, the voice murmured.

"You know us Blacks; we like to make an entrance." Astrid replied boldly, still in a rotten mood because of Draco, holding the teacher's gaze as she slid into the nearest free seat. Murmurs rippled through the classroom as students swivelled round in their seats to look at the girl in shock over her outright rudeness. Ignoring them, Astrid reached into her bag, pulling out a sheet of fresh parchment, along with her wand.

A girlish giggle tumbled from Umbridge's lips, "Oh, you won't be needing that, dear. This is a magic free zone."

"Ah, I see, learning magic without practising magic – the old fashioned approach." Astrid remarked dryly, tucking her wand back into her satchel.

"Now, I'll have you know, I will not tolerate such rudeness in my classroom." Umbridge cawed shrilly, pointing a chubby finger at Astrid in warning.

Astrid loathed this woman already.

"I will not tolerate such rudeness in my classroom," She mimicked in a high-pitched voice, laughter erupting throughout the room.

Are you looking to get expelled, Ast? The voice hissed in her ear.

You told me to be confident, she shot back, I'm just being myself and acting on instinct. What would you suggest? Besides, she's even more loathsome than you are.

Anger flared in the professor's eyes, an ugly sneer spreading across her fat face, "That's it!" She hollered, "Detention, tomorrow evening, six o'clock sharp."

"It's a date," Astrid smirked, leaning her seat back on its hind legs, propping her feet up on the desk. More giggles rattled around the room as Umbridge clenched her fists, her face growing a vibrant beetroot.

What are you doing? The voice asked incredulously.

I'm winging it, Astrid shrugged internally.

Stop it, stop it now before you get hexed into oblivion.

She won't hex me, Astrid responded reasonably.

I'm not so sure. You know, as proud of I am of your ballsiness, you need to put a sock in it, the voice whispered back, look, the vein in her forehead is about to pop.

"Please, don't let me interrupt your teaching," Astrid piped up finally, gesturing for the teacher to continue with a wave of her hand, "Go ahead and continue."

Now you've done it.

Professor Umbridge scrunched her eyes shut, contorting her face into an ugly, twisted mess, and took several deep breaths, calming herself.

"Miss Black, I think it would be prudent to make you serve a double detention, wouldn't you agree?" She spoke finally, a scarily false smile plastered on her face.

"Whatever you say, miss." Astrid responded, giving a mock-salute.

Yep, you're an idiot.

~MischiefMismanagedMischiefMismanagedMischiefMismanaged~

The rest of the morning dragged on in a dull, uneventful blur, with Astrid keeping her mouth zipped as she stuck to the shadows, avoiding a repeat of the Umbridge fiasco. Eventually, seas of students poured into the corridors, the chatter filling the air sounding the beginning of lunch as the herd swayed towards the Great Hall, heads bobbing up and down, dark robes swishing in the draught creeping through the castle. Astrid was wandering through the hall alone, pushing her way through the thick crowd of people as she elbowed past a gaggle of snide Slytherin's that she recognised to be some of Draco's drones, when she caught sight of Angelina up ahead, descending the staircase leading to the Divination classroom.

"Angelina!" She called out, jumping up and down and waving maniacally to grab the girl's attention as she slid through narrow gaps in the crowd, dashing to catch up.

The girl looked up, whirling around at the cry of her name, and her brow furrowed as her gaze scanned the heaving corridor. Hurrying, Astrid's foot got tangled up in an unsuspecting Ravenclaw's robes, and she fumbled to regain her balance, stumbling over the fabric as she crashed into a surprised Angelina, who caught the unsteady girl.

Smooth. Real smooth, the voice piped up.

"That was quite an entrance," Angelina giggled, propping Astrid upright.

"Seems like I'm making a lot of those today," Astrid returned the smile, somewhat ruefully, as her mind flickered back to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"It was well worth it though!" Angelina hooted with laughter, grinning at the memory, "The look on Umbridge's face when you started answering her back was a picture!"

"Maybe I'll get it framed," Astrid's lip quirked upwards.

"From what I've heard, you're not the only one that's stuck with detention with that frilly toad."

"Who else dared talk back to her then?" Astrid asked curiously.

Angelina glanced around the crowd, scanning for eavesdroppers, and lowered her voice to a hushed tone as she spoke, "Apparently she gave Harry Potter a detention tonight for saying You-Know-Who is back!"

"Really?" Astrid's eyes widened in shock. Who knew Harry had it in him to get detention on the first day?

Angelina nodded grimly.

"That's ridiculous," Astrid scoffed, "Freedom of speech and all that jazz,"

Angelina nodded, murmuring in agreement, as the horde reached the entrance to the Great Hall, filing inside.

"Thankfully, she'll probably only make you write lines," Angelina piped up once they were comfortably sat at the table.

"My favourite pastime," Astrid replied dryly, earning a chortle from Angelina.

"You're rather funny, do you know that?" Angelina said once she'd calmed her laughter.

Astrid looked at the girl in surprise, unsure of whether she was being serious or not. Nobody had called her funny in years, not since her family had broken her, robbing her of all sense of fun. Her parents weren't the type for jokes anyway.

"Really? I'm not all that amusing..."

"Oh shut it," Angelina cut her off, smiling good-naturedly, "You've made me laugh, haven't you? And didn't you make a whole classroom full of students laugh earlier, or was that someone else?"

Astrid smiled shyly, "I guess the class did laugh,"

"Damn right they did!" Angelina grinned, and Astrid sensed that this was a girl was someone that was popular amongst everyone; she had to be, being as friendly as she was.

Astrid opened her mouth to speak when she was distracted by someone's weight plopping down on the bench beside her, someone else following suit on her other side.

"What's this about making people laugh?"

"Our ears are burning!"

The pair spoke in unison, their voices mashing together, and Astrid looked up to see the red-haired twins either side of her, squishing her into some kind of human sandwich, their faces dominated by identical grins.

"Seems like your heads have inflated over the summer," Angelina grinned, "We're not talking about you, I'm afraid."

Both boys gasped in mock surprise.

"Are you saying that - ..."

"Our heads are oversized -..."

"Due to our perfectly normal sized egos?" They finished together; mock outrage etched across their freckled faces.

"I'll have you know Miss Johnson; my head is a very healthy, normal size. Him, on the other hand..." One twin piped up, jerking a thumb at his brother as a grin spread across his face.

"Hey!" The second twin interrupted, reaching over to whack the first while the two girls giggled.

"So, who is this supposedly hilarious person you were gossiping about?" Twin number one asked Angelina, batting twin number two away as Astrid looked from boy to boy, discreetly searching for distinguishable differences. She noticed how the one on her left, twin number two, had a miniscule mole dotted on his neck, and as he shot her a toothy grin she noted that his teeth were slightly more crooked than his brothers; aside from that, they were identical to the last freckle.

"Astrid, of course!" Angelina gestured to the girl opposite her, a wide smile plastered across her face, "You saw her in Umbridge's class – it was brilliant!"

"Ah yes, that was quite the scene," Twin number one turned his attention to Astrid, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Black,"

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," She played along, smiling coyly. In the pit of her stomach she felt the strangest sensation, and as their eyes locked, she strongly suspected that he was the twin that had taken to engaging in staring contests with her at mealtimes.

"Oi, get a room, you two," Twin number two scoffed.

Chuckling, twin number one thrust his hand at Astrid, which she politely took, shaking it, "George Weasley."

"No, I'm George! He's Fred." Twin number two interrupted and shoved twin number one.

"No, he's Fred." Twin number one shot back, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh, give it a rest!" Angelina rolled her eyes as she reached over the table to swat both boys. Settling back in her seat, she gave a satisfied smirk as the pair rubbed their arms, grumbling about violence.

"On your right, that's Fred," Angelina informed Astrid, pointing at twin number one, "And on your left, that's George."

Astrid nodded, filing away this, along with the few discrete physical differences she'd noticed between the two, away in her memory.

"So, you're the famous Weasley twins I've heard so much about?" Astrid arched a brow, looking from one to the other.

"Hear that, George?" Fred nudged his brother, "We're famous!"

"Practically celebrities, Fred," George added, grinning.

"Hold the applause," Fred continued, earning a snort from Angelina, who was watching the pair with amused interest, rolling an apple across the table.

Astrid giggled, producing a torn and crumpled square of parchment from her robes, "I'm such a big fan," She joked, waving the parchment around, "Can I get an autograph?"

Chuckling, Fred responded, "You'll have to get in line,"

"We've already queues of girls fawning over us," George added.

"You wish," Angelina interjected, smirking as she rose to her feet, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised Alicia that I'd meet her in the library," Tossing the apple in the air, she gave the trio a wave. Astrid gave her a quizzical look, aware that Alicia was down at the lake with Katie, but Angelina just merely grinned in return, shooting Astrid a wink and biting her apple as she skipped away.

"So, Miss Black, how about we take you on a tour of the castle?" Fred jumped to his feet, rocking the bench, and offered her his hand, with George following suit.

Casting aside any nerves bubbling within her, Astrid smiled widely, taking both of their outstretched hands to get to her feet, "I'd be honoured."