Second update in one day! Yay. Hope you all like this one.

This is a complete AU. There was no war, no Voldemort, "blood status" not as big of a deal, etc. Lupin is the DADA teacher (not that he plays a big role in this story. Just FYI) :) It takes place during the Golden Trio's 5th year.

Disclaimer: Still no ownage. *sigh* Maybe some day.

Prompt #17 Howling

Almost every student in the Great Hall sat fidgeting nervously during dinner, myself included. After what we pulled off today, it's quite surprising that nothing had come in the mail sooner. But now, it was time for dinner. The news had surely reached all of our parents by now, even my own.

Perhaps I should back up a little and explain just why the entire student body of Hogwarts looked ready to explode with anxiety, was sweating fiercely from the adrenaline pumping through their bodies, or had chewed practically all of their fingernails off in their nervous wait. It's quite a story to tell. No doubt something that will be remembered far past our time. But that had been the whole point of doing it, hadn't it?

We wanted to leave our mark on Hogwarts ever since Fred and George discovered a loooong list of all the pranks past years had pulled on teachers, other houses, friends, enemies, family members, and even previous headmasters. Well… word got around rather quickly thanks to the Hogwarts Rumor Mill, and everyone's interest was piqued somewhat by it. Even the temperamental Slytherins socialized civilly with the rest of us because of it.

After reading the list, a group of students came up with an ingenious plan: Why just do one prank? Why not do every single one of them already done?

Our logic behind that seems a bit flawed looking back now, but the fame and glory looming in the back of all our minds far outweighed the consequences at the time. I'm usually the more conservative one out of my friends, but I was all over this idea. Being the "Brightest Witch of My Age" as I'm so called, a lot of people expected me to be involved in some way with the pranks. Some of them did require a bit of difficult magic to create the desired affect. I was the woman for the job, apparently.

We decided to pull out all the stops, adding our own pranks in the mix. After all, Fred and George were probably the best pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen (the Marauder's being their only competition). Things were sure to be chaotic. Everyone wanted to input their opinions, spouting out ideas, saying which pranks would work best in which classrooms, who should be the one to execute the different pranks, and arguing about the ones they thought were stupid.

Once we organized who was doing which prank in which part of the school, we set a date: two days before the end of our second term. Our exams would be finished then, it would give us plenty of time to plan more if need be, and we would be free almost all day long. It was my, Harry's, and Ron's fifth year. Fred and George planned it as their last hurrah since it was their seventh year. Ginny, being a year below us, decided to join her twin brothers in their quest for fame.

"Okay everyone, obviously we aren't going to be able to openly discuss this due to the chance the professors overheard us. So.. I've proposed a codename for our plan. Operation Felix Felicis," I announced with a grin at a meeting in the Room of Requirement. I was proud of my inventive and clever use of the name for "liquid luck". Everyone else was on board. O.F.F. was a go.

After many weeks of hushed, excited whispering, scheming, and plotting between unusual groups of students, it was time. Breakfast ended this morning, and I said my goodbyes to Harry and Ron, made my way to the dungeons to prank a few of the classrooms there. The anxiousness inside of me built up with each step I took. What if I got caught? What if I couldn't do it? I shook of these negative thoughts away and collected myself. There was no way I was going to let that get in my way.

Mission completed, I strolled leisurely through the castle to the common room, catching the occasional mischievous grin or triumphant smirk from another student. It seemed things were going as planned.

Once inside the Gryffindor common room, I met shouts of joy. Kids high-fived. Animated chatterers re-enacted the moment they almost got caught by Filtch or Peeves. Details about pranks that they had pulled off flew from one person to the next. Gryffindor courage came in handy apparently. Now, we needed news about the other houses.

Right on cue, an enraged Professor McGonagall stormed into the common room. The talking ceased immediately. No one said a word as she glared from student to student, looking for a weak link. We stood strong, no one slipping up or looking guilty.

"I don't know if you are all aware… But there has been a series of pranks pulled throughout the castle. It saddens me to think that something of such magnitude had to involve the participation of most, if not all, of the student body. Now, I'm fully aware that because you are young, you like to make a ruckus and cause problems," McGonagall looked to me, disappointment evident in her gaze. I bit my bottom lip but said nothing.

"I had high hopes that my house had not been involved when the first pranks were discovered in the Astronomy Tower by Professor Trelawney. But more were uncovered by Professor Snape in the dungeons, and then Professor Sprout found the same thing in her greenhouses, though none of her plants were damaged. On top of that, Professor's Sinistra, Babbage, Flitwick, Lupin, and myself, to name a few, found the same types of things in our classrooms. The Great Hall appears to have received identical treatment. Various corridors are now deemed unsuitable for use. Therefore, after further inspection, the Heads of Houses have come to a consensus with Headmaster Dumbledore that… Well, everyone… seems to have had some part in it," she sighed, her face softening a bit, "If someone were to come forward and announce their innocence as well as name those who are guilty, then no punishment shall be placed upon you. Would any of you like to step forward?"

We all looked to one another. I eyed every Gryffindor in the room, challenging them to lie to a professor. We all were guilty, so we would all be punished if it came to that. We stood together. No one stepped forward.

When McGonagall noticed this, a small smile raised her thin lips, "I suspected as much. Gryffindors have always been known to stick together in times of need. Very well.

I must also inform you that because no one in any of the other houses has confessed to the pranks, we simply cannot punish you. Dumbledore feels that we cannot punish every single student that attends Hogwarts, and since there are only two more days left until the end of term, it would do little good anyway. All of your parents will be informed of what occurred today, so be expecting a response in the near future. Now, with that, I leave you to go about what you were doing before I interrupted. Enjoy your evening," she gave a stiff nod before walking to the portrait.

Whispers started immediately, but I kept my eyes on McGonagall. Just as she was about to leave, she turned back around. The woman I looked at as a mentor smiled and shook her head, looking positively amused. Hmm, that was strange. It was almost like she knew all along what we would do… Perhaps she did.

Ron and Harry pulled me out of my thoughts by pulling me into a hug, "So what'd you end up doing in the dungeons, Mione?" Ron asked, a devilish grin on his face.

I couldn't help but grin back, "Well.. I set off a few of your brothers Wild-Fire Whiz Bangs and some Decoy Detonators. I noticed Fred and George engulfing the fourth floor corridor with that Portable Swamp they wouldn't stop talking about so much."

The fiery red-haired twins came up behind me, each putting an arm around my shoulder.

"Ah.. Yes. The Portable Swamp," Fred said, a giant smirk forming on his lips.

"That one was simple.." George scoffed.

"It's the Punching Telescopes that'll make it right difficult for the professors to clean it all up," Fred finished for his twin, laughing at the thought.

Harry chuckled as he recalled what he saw in the Great Hall, "There was an incredible amount of Muggle bouncy balls filling the entire thing. Probably a meter off the floor, I'd bet! How they got that many, I'll never know."

Stories were exchanged for hours, but once lunch time came around, we marched out of the common room to the Great Hall. To our surprise, all of the bouncy balls had been removed.

Though most of the students' spirits were incredibly high from the success of Operation Felix Felicis, some were worried about what their parents were going to say. They barely spoke to anyone all through lunch, and kept looking to the ceiling for the owls. I'll admit, I was a bit worried, but I was incredibly happy at the overall success of the mission. We were going down in history!

I learned that a few of the Slytherins successfully deployed a fake Fiendfyre in the library without harming any of the books. I let out a sigh of relief at that news. Madam Pince had screamed in terror at the sight of her precious books covered in flames. I wished I could've seen that.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Luna, Neville, Pansy, Blaise, Draco, and I, along with a bunch of other students gathered in the Room of Requirement. We shared our success stories and laughed and generally just got to know each other. This was turning out to be a great bonding experience for the students of Hogwarts.

Soon enough though, high spirits began to sink. One negative thought seemed to push the rest of our negative thoughts to the front of our minds. What would our parents say? Would we get in trouble? Why hadn't I thought about that before agreeing to the pranks? A nervous tension settled over the student body. Not many people were happy.

Now, I'm back to where I started at the beginning of this story. Dinner time had arrived, and we slowly made our way to the Great Hall once again. This time, though, the atmosphere was very different. There was no laughter. There were no animated conversations. There was no joy.

We nervously fiddled with our forks, picking through our food. Not many people were actually eating. Ron, however, couldn't seem to shove enough of it into his mouth.

"Honestly, Ron, you would think you would slow down a bit before you choke," I scolded for the millionth time, but it never worked. Ron continued shoveling food into his wide open mouth.

I fussed with my hair, twirling a piece of it around my fingers like I always did when I was nervous. My parents were going to be so upset.

Then I heard it.

The sound of wings. Normally it was harder to hear, more faint. Not tonight. It sounded like an entire army of owls was flying through the air, wings beating and flapping like crazy.

The mail was here. And it looked like every student in the Great Hall was going to be receiving something tonight.

In the beaks of almost every single owl was a bright red envelope.

"Oh, no!" I grumbled, "Howlers!"

Students looked to others, nervous and scared. It was never good to ignore a Howler. They had to open them. One by one, shrieks and shouts filled the Great Hall. Students paled at the sound of their parents reciting their full given names, clearly seething with anger. The noise ricocheted off the walls, making it seem like there were twice as many as there actually were.

I had never heard that much yelling in my life! Cursing, promises of groundings and punishments, and, in some cases, threats of physical pain bound around the room. I saw several people cringe as they listened to what their parents had to say about our pranks. None of it was very pleasant.

Harry received a Howler from his own normally sweet, even-tempered mother. I was shocked into silence to say the least.

Looking down in front of me, I noticed a simple white envelope on the table. Ah, a letter from my parents. Muggleborns got to miss the embarrassing experience of a Howler, but it didn't make it any worse to witness one. My parents wrote of how disappointed they were, how they expected better of me, how I would be in immense trouble the second I got home. They always liked to lay the guilt on thick.

Seconds later, the ripping of paper was heard all around the Great Hall. It seemed that the Howlers were finished with their ranting and raving, so they were now tearing themselves into millions of pieces. Some students sighed, glad that it was over. Others looked at the tiny pieces as though it would come back to life to scream at them some more. A few actually lit their torn up Howlers on fire.

The professors had looked on in amusement the entire time. It seemed the unruly, yet incredibly sneaky and brave, students would be getting punished after all.

We had wanted to leave our mark on Hogwarts. We wanted the fame and the glory and the credit for being ingenious. We definitely got that and then some. Our pranks went down in "Hogwarts: A History", something I was incredibly proud of. But also in that book were the first hand experiences of several students depicting what 500 or so Howlers sounded like in one room.

It was certainly something none of us would ever forget.

Let me know what you all thought of this one! :) I had a blast writing it.

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xoxo Princess