For the rest of the day, Fred and George refused to even look in my direction. Although it was funny at first, it became boring after a while, and I needed to kick it up a notch.
Mrs. Weasley decided at dinner time that the house needed a good clean and the kids could do it in order to 'help the order.' No one was happy about it, but it had to be done.

As we were going into the parlor the next day, I pulled Sirius around the corner sharply knowing that the twins could see us.
I grabbed his face and stared into his eyes.
"What are you doing?" he asked skeptically, pulling away.
"No don't!" I hissed. "I'm playing a prank on Fred and George. I need you to look into my eyes like I'm controlling you."
He sniggered slightly but composed himself quickly. "Does this have anything to do with that stuff on your arm yesterday?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Now, to make it more authentic, you need to go into there and say to Mrs. Weasley that I'm doing something with you and I can't clean." I let go of his face, but then grabbed it again. "But say it like a robot to freak them out."
He rolled his eyes but went into the parlor and told Mrs. Weasley that I was tending to Buckbeak.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" he asked me, when we were safely sitting in the master bedroom with Buckbeak.
"They were talking about me behind my back saying I was an evil vampire death eater," I told him. "So I'm going to get them to think I am, and then they'll accuse me and make fools of themselves."
"You actually are evil," Sirius commented. I threw one of Buckbeak's dead rats at him, which made him squirm.
"It's really funny," I grinned. "They're scared to look into my eyes; they think I'm going to control them."

He laughed but then stopped and thought for a moment.
"I think you need to get Ginny in on this," he said thoughtfully. "It would really tip them over the edge if they thought you were after their sister."
"What about Ron?" I asked. "He seems a bit quiet, but he might tell them if he knew."

"Just stick to Ginny. You share a room with her and are in the same year. This could help build the bonds of your friendship."
I scoffed loudly. He had spent too much time locked away alone.

:-:

At six o'clock, Ginny and I were sitting at the top of the stairs, waiting for Fred and George to come down. It was almost The Big Reveal, but first I had one more thing to do.
I heard a door slam on the floor above us, followed by footsteps.
I quickly grabbed Ginny's head and stared into her eyes. Initially she giggled, but then composed herself. I saw a flick of red hair out the corner of my eye, but then it ducked back. They were watching.

"You shall not tell anyone," I said seriously. Ginny repeated me.
"You shall guard the kitchen cupboard, no one is allowed in."
"No one is allowed in," she said in a zombie tone. I had to admit, she was pretty good.
"And when the Death Eater's come out, you shall take the blame," I concluded.

"I shall take the blame."
I stood up, followed by Ginny, and made my way down to the kitchen. I began to shake with silent laughter. I looked to my right and saw Ginny doing the same.

We collected ourselves as we arrived in the kitchen and sat down at the table; me next to Sirius, Ginny opposite me next to Ron. The room was unusually full. Tonks, Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Mad Eye were all present. We even had a rare appearance from Kingsley. It was the perfect setting.

We sat in a thoughtful silence for a few minutes before Fred and George came racing in, their wands ready. Everyone in the room stared at them as me and Ginny pursed our lips and tried not to laugh. Sirius looked down knowingly at us and began to smile.

They flew to the pantry and swung open the door. They ran inside and began to pull things out, grunting and shouting in the process.
Ginny and Sirius stared at me confused.
"I rearranged the boxes and stuff in there to look like people," I laughed, unable to contain myself. Ginny and Sirius joined in, while everyone else stared at us amused; eager to know what was going on.

"Aha!" George shouted triumphantly. "Stupefy!" I began to laugh harder at their stupidity and my head fell on to the table. I could see Ginny sitting opposite to me; her eyes were welling up as she was laughing so hard.
"Wait!" Fred and George emerged from the pantry holding a globe with a sack I had tied to it, to make it look like hair. Fred spotted the little note I had tapped to it and read it aloud.

"Hey losers," he said monotonously. "I'm not a death eater, stop talking about me behind my back. Signed Voldemort's right hand gal."
He looked up venomously at me. George followed.
"Care to explain?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Fred and George started to rant and moan, speaking over each other so nothing made sense. I stared at them along with everyone else, watching them make even bigger idiots of themselves. To most people, what I did would seem drastic and mean, however I hated it when people talked about me behind my back. Especially when they made presumed judgments and didn't even know me. Plus, I needed to show these people that I wasn't delicate, or evil. I was normal and just wanted to do normal things. Like leave the house or get some fresh air.

When I stopped for breath, I cut in. "Now the real version of events," I announced.
"They were talking about me behind my back about how I was evil and that I was a death eater. They wanted to 'out' and embarrass me. So I set a plan to out do them. I made them think I really was a death eater. I pretended I was hiding my dark mark with oat meal." The room was filled with 'ohs'. "I pretended to control Sirius and Ginny which led them down here."

"You were eaves dropping on us," George said accusingly.
"You were talking about me behind my back." I retorted.
Sensing an argument was about to occur, Mr. Weasley stepped in.

"I for one am happy about this," he said quickly. "You've finally put the two pranksters in their place. Boys, say sorry to Ally."
They stared at him disbelievingly. "But – "
Mrs. Weasley stared at them venomously. "Boys," she growled.
Fred and George mumbled their apologies and sat down at the table.

Dinner was loud and fun, due to the amount of people there. Sirius and Remus was telling the kids of the table (me, Ron, Ginny and the twins) all about their time at Hogwarts and the pranks they played. They even share with us why they were called 'Moony' and 'Padfoot', I pretended to act surprised like the others.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," George whispered, in shock. "You're the Marauders!" He shouted loudly. The twins jumped off their chairs and knelt of the floor, kissing their hands. Ron and I grinned at their antics, while Ginny looked at them confused.

"I'm Sorry, but who are the Marauders?" she asked. I quickly changed my expression to match hers, not wanting to let on that I knew. That would be an interesting combination.
"They are the most amazing pranksters ever to walk this earth!" Fred said, still sitting on the floor. "We are so sorry for our sisters comment Mr. Padfoot."
Sirius grinned at him and pulled his hand away harshly. "It's fine as long as you stop kissing our hands."

"So," I said conversationally. "Who else was in your gang?" I knew the answer, of course I did. I just wanted to seem as interesting and excited as I should be.
"Moony," Sirius said pointing to Lupin. "Wormtail was the sick conniving rat that is Peter Pettigrew. I am Padfoot and James Potter was Prongs."
I rolled my eyes as Fred gasped again. Did he not realize that the rest of us needed oxygen?
"Harry is the son of a Marauder!" he said in awe.

Ginny rolled her eyes too. "Boys…" she muttered.
"Can't live with 'em, can't discuss pranks with them as they get too excited and almost wet themselves." I concluded.
She giggled as we set off in to our own normal, girly conversation. Something I hadn't had in weeks.

:-:

Tonks had decided to stay that night, and as Hermione's bed had been finally put into ours; she would be bunking with us. She suggested we had a 'good ol'fashioned sleepover', something I was very excited about. I had never been to a real sleepover before. I've stayed over at friends' houses, but I've never stayed up until three in the morning eating junk food and talking about boys.
Ginny and I had become sort of friends since she helped me with my prank. And as I was leaving the kitchen I heard something that made me smile.

"She's doing my head in," Fred or George said, as soon as I left the room.
"Come on Fred," Mr. Weasley scolded. "You two are just upset because you're on the receiving end for once." I grinned as the others in the room murmured in agreement.
"She's so annoying though," George concluded. "And conceited and rude and maybe even a little mad."
"I know," Ginny said, I could somehow hear her smiling. "I like her."

It was then I happy skipped off. I was really happy that Ginny sort of liked me. After my stupid lying when I arrived here, we would be in the same year at Hogwarts (that was if I would still be here then.) Also, I had gained the trust of all the adults, but no one my own age. It was good that I would finally have someone younger to talk to.

Tonks walked into the room then, wearing her purple pajamas matching her hair. She was holding a tub of ice cream and three spoons. She put her spare hand to her lips.
"Don't tell anyone," she grinned, jumping down on to my bed. "But I snuck out and brought this from a muggle shop."
"You're a genius." I took one of the spoons and tore off the lid. It had been weeks since I had eaten ice cream, I don't know how I survived without it.

Ginny came in and ran over to us, jumping just like Tonks did. She grabbed one of the spoons and began to devour it quickly.
"Couldn't you wait for me?" she asked, pausing for a moment before scooping it up quickly again.
"Nope," Tonks and I said simultaneously, popping the 'p'. It seemed that we were having a competition to see who could eat the most before it all went. Ginny was very good at it, as was Tonks. But I however, was failing miserably. I ate a large spoonful but nearly spat it out.

"Oww, brain freeze!" I said shaking my head. They laughed.
"Looks like Brady here can't keep up with the big kids," Tonks said. I flipped her off and began to eat more quickly, ignoring the shivers that were going through my head.
We had almost finished when there was a knock at the door. It was Sirius.

"I know this is a girl's thing, but I've brought fire whiskey." Tonks walked over to him, to the fire whiskey and sat back down.
"If it was just a girl's thing, you would have been invited," I called over to him. He sneered jokingly at me. "But seriously, scram."
He pouted. "Only if I get my fire whiskey back." Tonks raised her wand and swung the door shut. Making me and Ginny laugh.

"I'm worried about school," I admitted. "We were really behind at Salem; I've probably got the talent of a first year." I was probably worse than that, but I didn't want to lay it on too thick. But what was I to do? In a month I would be going to be a fourth year at Hogwarts and the only magic I had ever done was choosing my wand.
"You'll be fine," Ginny said reassuringly. "We've got some real duds in our year."

Tonks shook her head. "Was it a good school? They don't seem brilliant. Dumbledore wanted to find out a bit about you, but the school is so bloody secretive that we only found out your last name and that you went there, which we knew already."
I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"It wasn't excellent," I invented. "We would get away with murder. If I didn't do my homework, they didn't care. But I can't really remember much, I'm still don't remember anything." Although it was an excuse, it was true. The last thing I remembered was April fool's day, when Jack told me he had died. It might have worked, if he hadn't text me off his own phone… From then until I woke up here, it was blank.

"Any boys?" Ginny asked me. Tonks wriggled her eyebrows.
"No," I said sadly. "I'm currently flying solo." I was unsure if I wanted to date here. If I went out with someone, I could completely change the plot. Even me just being here was changing it. "I'm not like dear Ginny here," I added slyly.

"Hey, you've already got my brothers worked up about Michael, they're ready to kill him," she admitted. Tonks laughed.
"The price you pay for a big family. That's why I'm happy I'm an only child." She grinned. I nodded with agreement.
"Why, were you a rambunctious teen spirit?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," she answered shortly. Ginny and I sat up quickly and stared as though she was about to begin story time.
"Do share…" I prompted. She blushed slightly.
"Let's just say I had a lot of boyfriends. Charlie being one of them," she said to Ginny.
"Ew," she said simply. Tonks looked down, obviously embarrassed.

"Do you have a boyfriend now?"
She shook her head. "No. Being an Auror, you don't really get the chance to go out and meet someone. Plus I'm in the order now, and every spare moment I get is spent sleeping."
"Then why not date someone in the order then," I said slyly. "Remus seems to like you."

I know I shouldn't have interfered, but I always felt bad. They were married for only a few months before they died, plus their baby was really young. Maybe if they got together sooner, than they would be a real family, even if it was just for a little while.
When I was younger, I really wanted to be Emma Woodhouse and be a match maker. Now was my chance.

Tonks blushed slightly. "No he doesn't. We're just friends." Ginny scoffed.
"You like him and he likes you. You're even worse than Ally in the flirting department."
"Hey," I protested weakly. She was right, and I didn't really want to change the subject.

"And he is very dishy," I grinned. Ginny nodded.
"You guys think he's hot?" Tonks asked, sounded both scandalized and relieved.
"Of course," Ginny said. "He's got that whole 'Punish me you sexy professor' thing going on." Tonks and I gapped at her. Did she really just say that?
"Ginny Weasley," Tonks scolded. "What would Mr. Corner say?"

The ice cream was now gone and Tonks decided to open Sirius' box of fire whiskey. I discreetly took one and drank it quickly. It was the most amazing thing I had ever drank. It made me feel so warm and happy inside. I drank some more and before I realized the whole bottle had gone. I returned to the conversation to find the subject still on Michael.

"Do you like Harry?" I asked her plainly. Ginny went red slightly. "You do," I giggled. I grabbed another bottle of Fire Whiskey. "I bet you get married and have three kids and live happily ever after."
"He likes Cho," She muttered.
"Not for long," I sang. Tonks grinned and took the bottle off me.

"You downed the last one in less than a minute; you're not having another one."
I pouted slightly but she shrugged and grinned again. "One more." She handed one to me and then one to Ginny. That was the last thing I could remember…

:-:

When I woke up the next morning my head was pounding. It took me about five minutes for my eyes to adjust to the light and when they finally did, I wish they didn't. Our room was a tip. There was a huge ice cream stain on my bed, and clothes and fire whiskey bottles littered the room. I collected them quietly (as Tonks and Ginny were still asleep) and went downstairs, not even bothering to change.

I stopped as I went into the kitchen and stuck my head around the door. "Is Mrs. Weasley here?" I knew she would kill Ginny if she found out she had been drinking. Tonks and I would probably six feet under too.
"No, she's gone home for a few hours," Ron called. I came in, pulling the crate behind me and set it by Sirius.

"If anyone asks, they're yours." I looked around the room and found another addition to our group. I knew exactly who it was just by looking at her wild hair and serious face.
"Hey I'm Ally," I said walking over to her and hugging her lightly. Fast movements hurt my head.
"Hello," She smiled. "I'm Hermione Granger."

I forgot to thank everyone for the reviews last chapter, so I want to give an extra BIG thank you to everyone who have read and reviewed. I'm experiencing some laptop problems, so please bear with me.
This was more of a filler chapter, but don't worry, because Harry will be arriving next chapter, and hopefully Hogwarts after that.
Thanks again ;)