"Tooks are probably the coolest in these books. I mean, they're adventerous and they were willing to fight back." George commented from the chair where he sat with Return of the King propped open on the table.
"When will you be done with that? I'm tired of hearing about the Shire and hobbits and whatever else there are..." Fred grumbled.
"Really? I find it facinating. SAVE THE SHIRE!" George shouted.
"You might need to save yourself first." Came a voice behind the twins. Lee looked up and was suprised to find Harry standing there with pink parchment in his hand.
"What's that you've got there?" Fred asked upon seeing the parchment.
"A note for you two." Harry said, "Something about detention?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." George said, "Well, damn, I was looking foreward to a peaceful night."
Harry wisely decided not to point out that it was impossible to have a peaceful night around George, and instead said, "You've got to go to her office at 8:00. No idea how long you'll be there."
"That's awfuly late." Fred commented, "How much do you want to be that she'll keep us past curfew and have Filch stalking about trying to get us in trouble for being out of bounds?"
"Naw, too likely, I'm not going to bet on it." Lee said.
"What about you, Harry? Want to bet?" Fred asked.
"No." Harry said immediatly.
"I don't see how it's so likely." George decided, "After all, it's not like we can get in trouble. If she kept us past curfew in detention, we can't get into trouble for leaving her office late because the fault would be on her."
"I do believe that is a loophole, George." Fred said.
"Yeah, and there are no such things as loopholes." Lee pointed out, "Remember who you're dealing with."
Harry frowned, "That was the phrase she had you write? Wait, have you even told them what they're in for?"
Fred and George laughed while Lee said simply, "Yes."
George pulled the parchment from Harry's hand and said, "Well, run along, we've got business to attend to. You know, jokeshop business, so unless you'd like to participate and be a tester...?"
Harry didn't say another word and was gone in a heartbeat. George turned his attention back to the parchment, "Well, just as Harry says, eight o'clock tonight at her office. Should be fun."
"So that will be in 40 minutes. In the meantime, who's up for a game of Exploding Snap?" Fred asked, withdrawing the deck of cards.
"But...I want to read about..." George began, but wilted under the glare from his twin and said, "Or play Exploding Snap, that's good too."
Reluctantly he put the book away, and they began their game. Lee played winner, and they dwadled away the 40 minutes with continous games of Exploding Snap. Finally, eight o'clock rolled around and the twins still hadn't left the saftey of Gryffindor Common Room.
"You know, when it says you have to serve your detention at eight means that you have to be there at eight." Lee said as he began shuffling the deck again.
"You're so uptight about rules." Fred said, "It's a wonder you didn't make prefect."
"And here I thought we'd brought you over to the light side." George agreed.
Lee put down the deck of cards and crossed his arms. He sent them a look that said don't argue with me. Reluctantly, they got to their feet, and with a last glare at him, turned toward the portrait hole to serve their detention.
When the twins arrived at the door to Umbridge's office, Fred felt the need to run through the plan just once more, "You have your wand, right?" he asked.
"What? I thought you were bringing your wand! I left my back in the Common Room." George said, looking worried.
"You did WHAT? We agreed you'd be the one..." Fred began, but George suddenly smirked, giving away the prank.
"I'm joking. No need to look that scary. Anyway, yes, I know the charm, yes I have a quill, yes I have my wand, and yes I can do it nonverbally." George told him.
Fred pushed the door open, and together they crossed the threshold. Umbridge was sitting at her desk smiling in a sickeningly sweet way. She held a two quills lightly in her hands. She pointed them to two separate desks, which they took without a word. Next, she handed them their quills respectivly and asked, "Where is your parchment?"
"You didn't tell us what we were going to be doing." Fred said, glad that she had been so shortsighted as to sit their desks facing eachother so that if she looked to him her back would then be turned to George and he could switch the quills.
"No matter, no matter, I shall lend you some parchment. Next time, however, do bring some of your own." She said, handing them both a roll of lavender scented parchment.
"Don't worry, we will." Fred and George said together, slightly revolted by her choice of writing material.
"Very good. Now then, I want you to write, I must not spread rumors." Umbridge told them. She paused as if trying to think of a different phrase for each twin, but decided that it didn't matter. She figured they would be foolish enough to write the same thing no matter what her instructions were, and if she simply set them to the same thing in the beginning, it would mean less grief later. "You may begin writing."
There was silence for the next few moments, and all any of them could hear was the scratching of quill on parchment. When the words had begun to cut their way into the twins' hands, neither had made any motion that they felt the pain. After he had about four lines written, George tapped the desk lightly with his fingers, a sign to Fred that he should begin distracting Umbridge.
"Professor!" Fred suddenly exclaimed (secretly, he was loath to act the part of such a fool), "I've just realized, you've not given me any ink!"
"Yes, well you won't need it." Umbridge said patiently, reminding herself that these were Gryffindors she was dealing with, and that they weren't the smartest in the world.
"No, but I mean...how is this quill writing? I mean....It's not writing very well, the ink isn't coming out, it's faint and I can hardly see it!" Fred told her. Curse George for being better at spellwork.
Umbridge got up and moved so she could see his parchment. So far, the plan was a success, as she now had her back turned to the elder twin. Looking down at his parchment, Umbridge found no signs that he had written any lines. "Have you even written anything?" She demanded.
"I did! Naturally, I write very lightly...do I have to press harder with this quill to make it work?" Fred asked her.
Umbridge took a deep breath and said, "You must actually put the quill to parchment to make a mark."
Fred did as he was told, and actually wrote out the words this time. She watched to make sure he wrote atleast two lines, then he pretended that it suddenly dawned on him where the 'ink' was coming from, "Professor!" he exclaimed, "It hurts! What kind of barbaric system is this?!"
"It will teach you to not spread nasty rumors." Umbridge said, not really answering his question.
"I wasn't telling a rumor!" Fred said, immediatly taking offense to such an accusation, "I was telling the truth."
"You haven't a shread of proof. All you have is the word of a daft was-hero to trust." Umbridge snarled at him, loosing her sweet composure. Curse those Gryffindors and their stout nature.
"Daft?! Harry's not daft! And if it is a war of proof, then we have more proof than you do!" Fred said, forcing himself to not go for his wand, "What evidance do you have to say that He isn't back? We have more than you, for example, what about all those mysterious dissappearances for both Muggles and Wizards? Don't you find that just a bit suspicious?"
"Quiet! Keep your nose out of matters you don't understand." Umbridge said to him.
"I understand perfectly well that you're just afraid to act because if He's back it would mean a war you don't want to face." Fred replied.
"Of course not, boy! Who on Earth wants to go to war? What insane person would want that?!" Umbridge almost shouted.
"It's not a matter of want! It's a matter of what you have to do! You need to stop acting like a coward! There's going to be a war, you're still going to have t--" Fred tried but was cut off.
"I don't want to hear another word. I will have to expelled if you say anymore." Umbridge practically spat. Fred didn't say anything, but glared at her with all the hate he could muster. She composed herself again and continued, "See? You are beginning to hold your tonge. These words are lies, and I will not have them spread as rumors. They will lead to unnessisary fear based on no facts." still Fred said nothing, so she continued, "Also, I am beginning to wonder, what do you know about these matters? If you're in league with the Potter boy, and he has unnatural knack for finding out what he's not supposed to know, how much do you know?"
Fred didn't answer her, instead he ignored her and picked up his quill. He suddenly realized that he'd said too much, and now she was supcious that there was definatly something going on, like secret underground meetings for people who believed Harry. Fred sincerly hoped she didn't think that the D.A. was still meeting even after she banned it with her first Educational Decree all those months ago.
Upon seeing that she would not get any information from Fred and knowing that George was likely to not say anything, she returned to her seat. As she passed George's desk, she glanced to make sure that he had been writing that whole time. It irked her slightly to find that he only had about 7 lines written down. She supposed he had been as shocked as she at his twin's outburst.
No one spoke the rest of the detention. At ten o'clock, she decided to release them with a reminder to be back the next day, and to make sure that they were on time. When the twins were halfway to the Common Room, Fred remembered the entire point of getting detention and asked, "Did you managed to switch the quills?"
George laughed and pulled the evil quill out of his sleeve along with his wand and said, "I had them switched by the time you started complaining about the fact that it was such a medieval system of detention."
Fred stared at him, then said, "First of all, that's not what I said, and second, why didn't you tell me you'd had them switched?!"
"It was amusing to watch you guys argue." George said lightly.
"But...I...in trouble...and...she...detention...expelled...why?" Fred stuttered helplessly.
George patted his twin on the shoulder and said, "It's alright, mate. Now you can say you've had spy practise and site it as an argument to convince Mum to let us into the Order."
Fred grumbled something about how "that was the least of their problems" and "my hand hurts". George shook his head and they continued on their way; he, atleast, was pleased to inform Lee that the plan had gone rather amusingly. Fred, however didn't seem too happy about how it all went down, but if he kept his mouth shut, then it would all smooth out in the end. Especially once they'd had their revenge. Soon, phase three would be put into action.
Yet again A/N::
Hah, almost rhymed! Well, this is basically to say: Same deal as the last two chapters.
Hmm also wanted to say, sorry about the insanity when Lord of the Rings gets mentioned.
In a way, it's a reflection of how my friends and I function, and since they influance me
and by extension influance my writing...well, here you are. Suprised? Nah.
And explanation of chapter title = "Going Overboard" 'cuz Fred does go a a little overboard with his arguing. (gawsh, Weasley, watch your temper!!! jk!)
ALSO!
A spot of confusion has apparently arisen
Thanks to SowerKreem for pointing it out to me::
Yes! George only switches his quill with Umbridge because he and Fred only need one quill for their plan.
Uhm... I suppose he could have been nice and switched Fred's as well, but...uhh...I guess he wasn't x)
Anywayyy. Uhm. I didn't really think that part through, I guess, so I think you'll have to use a bit of imagination on that part. But yes, do know that only one quill was needed and only one was switched. Sorry about the confusion!!!
Nyway, 2 more chapters to go, guys! Seeya 'til next update!