So just as they had assumed, Fred and George were called to Dumbledore's office early the next morning. Professor McGonagall was there in the common room bright and early to take them to his office. It was obvious from the sour look on her face that she was not happy. If looks could kill, the boys were sure that they would be dead and buried. She grabbed them by the arms and hauled them down to his office, forcing them inside and slamming the door behind them without a single word. By that time, news of the infamous prank had spread throughout the school. Some thought it to be brilliant while others…well, most, found it to be harsh and definitely not Fred and George's best work.

Dumbledore motioned for them to sit down, never looking up from a few papers spread across his desk. The boys sat silently and awaited nervously on what their head master was going to say. He took a few moments to gather his papers, the moments passing with sheer anxiety for the twins. He never looked up at them or acknowledged them as they sat there. His eyes merely remained on the paper that sat before him.

"Do you know the extent of harm that your prank has caused Ms. Shepherd?" He asked, finally looking up at them and crossing his hands. The boys stared at him with blank stares, showing that they obviously had no clue as to what he was talking about. "Along with numerous cuts and bruises, she has sustained a broken ankle, a broken wrist, and a broken nose that had to be reshaped for the bone to grow again." His eyes narrowed. "What on earth could have possibly possessed you to do something so horrific to somebody I'm sure you two barely know?"

Fred and George stared at Dumbledore blankly, their well thought out excuse caught in their throat. They couldn't recall a prank that had gone so horribly wrong…well, this prank hadn't gone wrong, it had just ended up seriously injuring somebody other then themselves. Fred thought of Emerald, sleeping in one of the hospital beds with her body bandaged. It was a pathetic sight and only made the guilt that he felt worse.

"I think six months in detention would suit you both well, cleaning cauldrons and doing whatever else Professor Snape needs you to do in the dungeon." George bit his lip to keep himself from groaning. The pair absolutely hated Professor Snape, finding him to be the spawn of the devil in every way. They were working on comparing the two, hoping to find a link and exploit it for all the money they could get. Working with him would be like their own personal hell…of course, that was probably Dumbledore's intention. "You're lucky that I haven't contacted her parents."

"Why?" Fred suddenly blurted out. Dumbledore stared at him, silently asking him what made him thing he had permission to speak?

"She asked that her parents not be contacted." He said simply. "It's lucky for both of you, her parents are two very…powerful political figures that you two do not need to get involved with." Both boys nodded, not daring to ask another question. "Before the week is out, I want you separately to go and apologize to Ms. Shepherd. I have told Madame Pomfrey that you have my permission to visit her." George furrowed his brow together.

"Why separately?"

"Because I don't want you two apologizing and then blaming it on some ridiculous excuse…like you got drugged and were forced to do it." George leaned over to Fred.

"Have we used that one before?" He asked quietly. Fred shrugged his shoulders.

"Twice…but who's counting?" Dumbledore asked, leaning back in his seat. "Now go, you two have class."

As they walked out, Fred wasn't sure what to think. He was inwardly torn on what to think or feel about the whole situation. What started out as an innocent 'welcome to school prank' had turned into something that had hurt somebody. Was he a bad person for helping with this? His brother didn't seem to feel a bit bad for what they had done, so it confused Fred as to why he felt so bad. It didn't make sense in his mind. Every time he thought about Emerald, seeing her on the stone floor with her face covered with blood, his stomach twisted in knots and he felt like he was about to throw up. Half way through his potions class, he couldn't take thinking about her anymore. Even with Professor Snape screaming at him to sit back down, Fred walked out without listening to a thing that his teacher was spitting at him. He rushed up the stairs and wound around the school until he finally got to the hospital wing. When he walked in, he saw Emerald at the very end of the row of beds with her good hand holding up a large hard cover book. He was instantly blocked by Madame Pomfrey, who stood in front of him with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.

"Shouldn't you be in class young man?" She asked. Fred peered over her shoulder to see Emerald look up from her book when she saw some actual movement.

"Um…Professor Dumbledore asked me to come and…speak with Emerald, you know, about the…accident." Her eyebrow slowly rose as she stared at Fred.

"Yes, I heard about that. You and your brother pushed a little too hard this time." Fred furrowed his brow together.

"But…we didn't do any pushing." Madame Pomfrey shook her head.

"I'll give you ten minutes, but then you have to leave…I have to serve lunch and I will not allow you to throw me off schedule." Fred quickly nodded and Madame Pomfrey slowly stepped aside. She watched him approach Emerald with narrowed eyes, but finally went back into her office. She kept the door open to hear the conversation and was ready to jump up at any time should things get too heated.

Fred sat down next to Emerald, but she refused to look up at him. Her eyes remained focused on her book, angrily flipping the page. She was irritated that Fred was still sitting there even though she clearly didn't want him there.

"Hi Emerald." He finally said, staring at her with wide eyes. Emerald pursed her lips together, still looking at her book but finding it incredibly hard to read her book.

"You've got some balls coming here." She said after a frighteningly long silence.

"I just…wanted to say…"

"Dumbledore made you come here, didn't he?" She asked bluntly. Fred hesitantly nodded.

"…Yes." Emerald sighed.

"Okay, please apologize and leave." Fred sat silently, his mouth hanging open as she leaned back and finally stared at him. Her face was horribly scraped with black circles under her eyes. She hadn't slept and it was possible that she had been crying.

"I'm sorry for doing something so horrible to you…" He said, letting his eyes drift down to the floor and his head hang. Emerald stared at the top of his head, suddenly letting out a heavy sigh.

"You're not the first…but you are the first to apologize...even if you were forced." Fred instantly glanced up.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you realize how many schools I've been to in the last few years?" Fred shook his head. "I'm always the new kid that everybody has to pick on. I'm used to pranks, but you guys went over and above the expected 'welcome to school, new kid' prank." He tried to hold it back, but Fred couldn't help but smirk.

"My brother and I are kinda famous for pulling off the best pranks…sorry again." Emerald shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess I'm used to it…I just haven't been this hurt before." She held up her wrist wrapped in a neon green cast.

"Why did you move around so much?"

"My parents." She replied simply. "They're good will ambassadors for England to America and we haven't stayed in a city for more than eight months. The last city we lived in was Seattle…we fit in so well there; lots of hippies." She sighed, her eyes glancing over towards the window. "Now we're back and we probably won't be going anywhere else. My grandmother's sick and my father doesn't want to be too far away from her." Fred let out a heavy sigh.

"Look, I'm really sorry about this whole thing…it's making me sick to my stomach."

"It's called guilt, most normal people feel it." She said simply. Fred slowly nodded.

"I know, I'm a bad person." He muttered. Emerald giggled, the first real smile that she had cracked since Fred had arrived.

"So how are you going to make this up to me?" She asked, finally putting her book down and giving Fred a good hard look. He stared before shaking his head and blinking a few time.

"Uh…what?"

"How are you going to make this up to me?" She asked again. "You've been an ass and you broke my wrist and ankle, so how are you going to make this up to me?" Fred ran a hand over his face.

"Uh…well…I don't know, what do you want?"

"I want you to feel as stupid as I did when I came crashing down the stairs. I want to humiliate you…and I want to humiliate your brother." Fred stared with a blank face before he smirked like a mad man.

"All right, let's do it!" Emerald raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" She asked. Fred quickly nodded.

"I mean, I have always wanted to pull a prank on my brother...and it would seriously piss him off if he knew that you were the one to pull the prank." For the first time, Emerald offered him an honest smile.

"All right...I look forward to it."