DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don't sue. Really, don't sue, it'll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I'm broke.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, I'm afraid I have no excuse save my muse apparently went on holiday, but I promise I have not given up on this story. This is only a short chapter, but it is something to keep you going until I write the next one, which I will try to make soon.

CHAPTER 5

After much, very sad, deliberations Fred finally had to admit defeat on his idea of sneaking Fluffy into Lockhart's office. However, after enlisting his dear twin brother's help he was able to do a modified version of the plan, which instead of one massive animal involved serval smaller ones – mostly borrowed from Hagrid and the CoMC class. They'd tried to 'enlist' Mrs Norris too, but this unfortunately resulted server scratching and almost getting caught by Finch, and so the devil cat was scrapped from the plan – being let hidden in various cabinets in the DADA classroom which were magically set to open ten minutes into the second year Gryffindor/Hufflepuff class. Fate managed to significantly work her way back into Fred's good books when she informed him of where Hagrid kept the animal aphrodisiac to help 'encourage' his critters come breeding time and when it would be unguarded, as well as when Lockhart's private rooms would be clear as well. He still hadn't quite forgiven her for the lightning incident, or setting Trelawney on him but seeing Lockhart being chased down the corridor by various creatures all intent on humping whatever part of him they could reach did bring her very close.

He and George were in full agreement that the week's detention and the disapproving looks of various female students was so worth it. Come to think of it, McGonagall did seem to go pretty light on the punishment. Ha, guess the other teachers near hatred of the flop must already be starting.

Much to Fred's (and George's) delight this was just the first of many successful pranks that took place in the next few weeks, all aimed at the smiling annoyance. The prank with the trick toothpaste was particularly satisfying, Lockhart didn't smile nearly so much the three days he had green teeth. It was during this time that Fred fully forgave Fate, and in fact started to consider her one of his closest, yet strangest, friends. Wonderful deity that she was, she was all too willing to assist in the plan to prank Lockhart into insanity. She was without a doubt the best lookout ever, even the sacred Marauders Map could not compare. And while she never came up with the plans themselves, she did offer little suggestion which would make said plans 'More Likely To Work'.

When it came from Fate, and said in that tone, it certainly dissevered capitals.

The weirdness that came from discovering Fred was suddenly a Seer was starting to fade by now. George didn't much care once it was established that it hadn't changed his brother beyond giving him a couple of extra classes. In fact, George seemed to pretty much like him being a Seer now as it – as George jokingly put it – made his pranking instincts better than ever. The teachers (aside from the obvious exception of Trelawney) for the most part seemed content to ignore this new side to Fred, aside from McGonagall giving him a stern warning his first class back with her that his new addition to his schedule did not excuse him from doing his work in his other classes. Even his parents hadn't responded much besides a letter from his mother telling him she was so proud of his new talent – though what exactly didn't done to be proud of he wasn't quite sure – and that he better work hard to better hone his new 'gift'. A lecture that Percy naturally had to repeat in more long winded verbalism, but then again Percy would find any excuse to lecture the twins some days.

Other than that, and few students looking at him funny the first couple of days after his first 'prophecy' most of the school seemed to forget the sudden revelation that one Fred Weasley was suddenly a Seer. The fact that someone, most likely a Ravenclaw, pointed out that most Seers didn't have more than a few true prophecies in their lifetime, and Fred not sprouting off anymore that the breakfast table probably helped calm everyone down quite significantly. Even Trelawney had calmed down slightly, content to simply smile blissfully at Fred when she saw him, as opposed to the giggling and – Merlin forbid – hugging. While still kind of creepy, Fred much preferred this arrangement.

There was only one person in the school who seemed unable to get used to this new change, and that was the Headmaster himself. Suddenly Dumbledore seemed to be around a lot more often, wandering the halls, needing to talk to teachers during class time (McGonagall at least was not amused by this, and even Dumbledore seemed unwilling to challenge Snape in his own domain), deciding to take a walk by the Quidditch Pitch seemingly every time Gryffindor was practicing (though never in a storm again, the look of George face the one time Oliver had suggested they do so scared even the fanatic off that idea. What a good, loving twin brother he had! He must have been taking lessons from Mum when Fred wasn't paying attention.). And every time he did, Dumbledore would enviably stop and stare at Fred with the most intense look Fred had ever seen, like he was expecting the red head to start spouting off all the secrets of life right then and there. Fred found this even more disturbing than Trelawney's near hero worship, but he knew it played into Fate's plan when she was ready to move to the next step.

In all however, life didn't seem all that different from what Fred remembered of his first time in forth year. Sure the classes were easier, but he'd always been at the top of class, when he bothered to apply himself anyway. The pranks were different, and he had an extra helper, but they were still pranks. Quidditch practice was toned down slightly, due to Oliver's sudden wariness of George, but it was still Quidditch and still intense enough to scare most players away. And as for classes, well they were pretty much exactly the same only made even more boring form the fact that he'd done them all before. It was a good thing that Fred had always been one of the best in the class when he bothered to apply himself, or someone would have caught on by now that he knew everything the teachers were teaching them. As it was, Fred was acting extra lazy, which was so far doing a pretty good job hiding the extra knowledge he shouldn't have.

Everything was pretty normal. Which was what Fred was probably finding the most strange about all this. Everything was too normal, too calm. He'd just come back from a time of civil war, where no one really trusted anyone. He'd lost track of the number of times his own family had held their wands on him and demanded he prove who he was. That had become the new normal for Fred, now with everyone being so carefree and happy all the time… it was much more disturbing than it probably should have been.

In a weird way, Fred was almost looking forward to when the damn monster would be released from the chamber. At least the added tension that would bring would make him feel more at home.

Speaking of which…

Halloween was tomorrow.