"Is it midnight yet?" mumbled Lee as he lay across the armchair. His head perched on one armrest while his feet dangled over the other one.

"Another couple of minutes," said George, looking up at the clock over the fireplace.

The three boys were the only occupants of the Common Room. It was dark, the only light in the room was coming from the fire as it cast flickering shadows on the wall. George was sat normally in one of the other chairs, and Fred was sat upside down, with his head leaning off the edge while his feet drooped over the back.

"Yep and then it's snip, snip," said Fred, mimicking shaving his eyebrows.

"Wouldn't it be 'shave, shave'?" asked George.

"Well you should know, it's going to be you doing it."

"You're going to let me shave your eyebrows? I'd be honoured," said George, taking a peanut from a bowl on the table, cracking it open, and flicking the nut inside up into the air which he caught in his mouth first time.

"No, see, because you'll be doing…" said Fred before his brother cut him off mid-sentence.

"I'll be doing the best I can to be careful. Although it's not like I can mess it up really. I'm shaving them all off anyway," said George. "It's nice that you can admit you were wrong."

"I didn't admit…" said Fred, quickly swinging his legs around so that he was now sat properly.

"Shh," said Lee, waving his hand at the two boys, and pointing up at the clock. "It's time."

The second hand clicked passed the number twelve and the three boys' eyes moved from the clock down to the fireplace. They waited. And waited. The only sounds were from the ticking of the clock and the crackling of the fire.

"Well…" said Fred, looking thoroughly smug.

"Give it a minute will you," said George, flapping a hand towards his brother. "Enoch was always a bit late."

"I'm just saying, you said it was this midnight. It's midnight and he's not here. I'm not sure but I think that means I win," said Fred, he glanced at his brother. "Does it mean I win? I think I win."

"Just wait a moment will you," ordered George, appearing a bit unsure for the first time. "He'll appear okay?"

"Oh yes, " nodded Fred. "He'll appear all right. At midnight at the end of the day. Just like I said he would."

"Did you see that? Just then?" said George, pointing at the fire excitedly. "Right there. It was a face. Definitely a face."

"I didn't see anything," said Lee, he looked over at Fred who shook his head.

"Give it a minute, it'll be back," said George, staring at the same spot he had pointed towards.

"Sure it will," said Fred, sarcastically. "So are we borrowing someone's razor this time or shall I just try and curse your eyebrows off?"

"Whatever you prefer because it's you who'll be losing your eyebrows not me," countered George.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," said Fred, smiling. "But we're only going to give you a couple more minutes and then you'll have to admit you were wrong."

"Hey, even if Enoch doesn't appear now…"

"Aha! So you admit it?"

"I admit nothing, but what I'm saying is if I'm wrong it doesn't make you right."

"Of course it does. Either he appears now or at the end of our birthday. He's didn't appear now, so he'll appear later."

"Yes but if he doesn't appear later? There is still that possibility isn't there?" said George, reaching down behind his armchair and pulling out a bottle of Butterbeer he had brought down with him.

"Oh, yeah, I suppose. That's easy, if he doesn't appear now or later today then it's a draw," said Fred. "That means we both win."

"Or both lose," said Lee.

"I prefer my way of thinking," said Fred. He nodded at his brother who had just popped the cap off of his drink. "Did you bring us any?"

"This? Oh no, I only had one left," said George, lifting the drink to his lips. Before he took a drink he looked across at his brother. He held the bottle out to him. "Fine. You look like Percy when we hide his homework. Here, we'll share, have a sip."

"Nice one bro," said Fred, taking the drink and taking a large swig from the bottle.

"Well I think it's safe to say that Enoch isn't coming tonight," said George, standing up. "I guess I was wrong."

"Ha," said Fred, trying to gloat. However, instead of a smug comment leaving his mouth he found a long trail of orange and green bubbles burst forth instead. "What? Blurgh," complained Fred as the froth continued to waterfall out of the boy's lips.

"Happy birthday Fred," said George, over the back of the chair and picking at the Butterbeer label on the bottle. It came away easily in his fingers and revealed there was a second label underneath the first. It read: Madam Mertle's all-purpose cleaning solution, now with a fresh pumpkin and mint scent. "I think that counts as one-nil."

Lee was snoozing quite happily in his bed, tucked in beneath the warm folds of the blanket, when a slightly unnerving sound broke through the haze of his sleepy dream and woke him. It was the sound of stifled giggling. Opening one eye he made out the shape of someone creeping around the bedroom. A few seconds later, accompanied by much blinking, Lee realised that it was, in fact, Fred.

"Shh," said Fred, when he noticed his friend was awake, before carrying on with what he was doing previously.

Lee sat up in bed and watched as his friend scuttled around George's bed and seemed to wedge something under the bottom of the blankets before returning to the cupboard by his own bed where he pulled out a large cream topped pie.

"Where did you get that?" whispered Lee.

"Kitchens, and shh," ordered Fred, who pulled out his wand, pointed it at the pie, and performed a levitating spell. As the pie slowly floated its way across the room, Fred got back into bed. Gradually he guided the pie over to his brother's bed where he kept it stationary above George's face. Fred looked over at Lee and counted down from five with his hand.

Suddenly there was a loud crackling sound as the firecrackers Fred had stowed under his brother's blankets erupted into life. George sat bolt upright and planted his face squarely into the pie.

"What the…" shouted George as the firecrackers petered out. He pulled the pie off his face, wiped his eyes clean, and looked around the room. He saw Lee who just pointed over at Fred's bed where the occupant was now pretending to sleep. "I thought we agreed not to start the pranking until at least after breakfast."

"You just had pie for breakfast," mumbled Fred with his eyes still closed. "And that's one-all now."

"Git," muttered George, he leaned over the side of his bed and picked up an old t-shirt which he used to wipe his face. "What time is it?"

"Just after eight," said Lee, looking at the clock.

"Where's…" said George pointing at the other two beds in the room which were currently unoccupied.

"They're sleeping on the floor in one of the other rooms," explained Lee. "No one is dumb enough to stay around you two on your birthday."

"Except you," said Fred, his voice muffled from his pillow.

George looked over at the clock above the doorway for a few moments. The second hand was gradually ticking its way around the face, and ten seconds before it was ten past eight, George began counting down silently to himself.

"Oh god," sighed Lee, placing his hands over his ears expectantly.

"Oh god what?" asked Fred, lazily before realising something was wrong. He opened his eyes just as his brother finished counting.

The whole left side of Fred's mattress suddenly inflated sending the boy flying across the room and onto the floor.

"Ow," muttered Fred in a crumbled heap. He propped himself up onto his elbows and looked at his brother. "I thought you were waiting until after breakfast."

"I just had it remember," said George, pointing to his face where the odd piece of pie still remained. "I believe that makes it two-one to me."

"I should have gone home for the holidays," said Lee, shaking his head and lying back down.

"Where is everybody?" asked Fred as he, George and Lee made their way down to the Common Room after showering and changing into their clothes. He caught sight of himself in a mirror and ran his hand through his now black hair, which had been the result of George switching out his brother's shampoo for some Mrs Odlum's All Purpose Colour Change Solution. "You know what? I think I can make this work. How long will it last again?"

"Three more washes I think," said George, looking around the room. "So that means at least four months."

"Could you maybe not open your mouth so wide?" said Lee, waving his hand in front of his nose.

"It's not my fault," muttered George, holding his hand over his mouth. He pointed a finger at his brother. "Blame him."

"Ghoul toothpaste," said Fred. "Smells like death."

"I can tell," said Lee. He nodded at George. "Just don't stand near any open flames. You'll probably explode."

"If he did would that count as an extra point to me?" said Fred hopefully.

"Nope, each prank only counts for one point," said George, wagging a finger at his brother. He sniffed and grimaced. "Seriously, is there anything I can do to get rid of this?"

"Well, if you want I could give…" started Fred, before his brother interrupted him.

"On second thoughts forget it. I don't think I could risk taking anything else from you," said George. "So what are we at now? Four-three?"

"Four-all isn't it?"

"Really? I thought it was…" George paused while he mentally reached a total. "Oh yeah, I forgot about the…" He pointed down at his feet. On his right foot he wore a normal shoe but on the other he had one of his slippers, which was inexplicably rather wet. "What did you use for the glue? It's still not budging even after the shower."

"I don't really know," admitted Fred. "I made it in potion's class. It was supposed to be a Laughing Potion but I must have mixed something in by mistake. It sticks to everything. Unless you know the trick to getting it off of course?"

"Don't suppose you want to tell me?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Unless you want to declare me the winner now and save time?"

"No chance."

"Didn't think so, " said Fred. He looked around the room. "Seriously, where is everyone?"

"They're avoiding you two," said Lee. "No sensible person would dare being around you two on your birthday in case they get caught by one of your pranks."

"That explains why you're here," said Fred, smiling. "So breakfast? Or shall we just drop down to the kitchens later for a mid-morning snack?"

"We could do both," said George, sitting down on the three-seater couch in front of the fire and stretching himself across it length-ways.

"And you're expecting them to serve you up here do you?" said Fred.

"I'm tired. I was hoping one of you would bring it up."

"Yeah, that's just never going to happen," said Lee.

"How about we have a little wager? Loser brings the food up," said George, plumping one of the cushions with his fists before resting his head back down.

"I could go for that."

"What do we wager?" asked Lee.

"Here," said George, putting his hand into his pocket. He pulled out a red dice. "We can use this. Highest number wins. I'll go first."

"Hang on," said Fred. He scooped up the die as it rattled across the table. "I'll go first, then Lee, then you." He rolled the die and watched as it came up as a six. He handed it to Lee, who then rolled a five. He handed it to his brother.

"Damn it," said George. He lazily rolled it onto the table and called out 'four' before it could finish its journey. It landed on a four. "How did you know it was a trick dice?"

"You're my brother, remember? Besides, I bought you that for Christmas."

"Really? I thought that was Charlie," said George.

"Nope," said Fred, smiling. He patted his stomach. "I'll have a full English for breakfast if you don't mind, and get extra sausages will you?"

"Fine," said George, he waved a hand towards the closest armchair. "Make yourself comfortable and I'll bring them up in a minute."

"And a fresh pot of tea as well," said Fred. He was about to sit down on the chair his brother had pointed towards but something stopped him. He looked over at George and could see he was only pretending to have his eyes closed and was carefully peeking out. Fred sidestepped the armchair and elected to sit on the one the other side of his brother, while Lee took the vacant chair.

"What the...?" said Lee. As he had sat down the chair had collapsed underneath the boy, sending him sprawling onto his back.

"Damn," muttered George, he swung himself upright and pulled some things out of his pocket, which he threw down onto the table. There were several nuts and bolts. "I'll go get the breakfast."

"Hey!" said Lee, who had eventually managed to right himself. "What was that?"

"I'll tell you what it wasn't," said Fred, smiling. "It wasn't five-four. Still all-even George."

"Yeah I know," said George, sighing. "Could we even call it half a point?"

"Half a point for pranking Lee," said Fred, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"No chance," said Lee, grumpily. He made his way over to the couch and carefully lifted the seat cushion with the tip of his shoe to make sure there was nothing dangerous. Once he was happy it was safe he sat down. "I told you, I'm not having anything to do with this, okay?"

"Fine," said George, disappearing out of the Common Room.

"I'm surprised with you," said Fred, settling into his seat. "I thought you would up for a bit of pranking."

"Normally yes," said Lee, stretching himself over the couch in the same way George had done previously, "when it's Filch, or the Slytherins, or Percy, just as long as it's not me."

"You wouldn't be pranking yourself."

"No, but you and George would be pranking me. There is nothing I could come up with on my own that would be anywhere near as horrible as you two could come up with together."

"Now you're just being kind," said Fred, pretending to be bashful.

"There was something that surprised me though," said Lee, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well the whole idea of today is that you and George will prank each other nonstop until midnight, or someone gives up, right?"

"Yeah."

"And both of you will look for any opportunity to prank the other?"

"Right."

"And you are both keeping an eye on the other to try and spot any pranks that the other has set up?"

"Yep."

"And you've just sent George down to go and collect breakfast for you to eat?"

"Ah…" said Fred, leaning forward in his seat. After a couple of seconds he stood up and made his way towards the portal. "Maybe I'll just go and help him dish up."

"Thought so," said Lee with his eyes still closed. "Make my eggs scrambled, okay?"

Despite three or four trips to the Infirmary, numerous complaints from other students, and at least one lengthy lecture from McGonagall (which included detention for the twins), the pranks continued throughout the day, into the afternoon, and well into the night. Lee and his two friends sat waiting in the Common Room just as they had twenty-four hours previously. Except this time their appearance were a bit difference; Fred, along with his dyed black hair, was sporting one black eye, an arm in a sling, and three rather unsightly large green boils on the side of his face which looked like they would burst at any minute. George, still with a slipper stuck to one of his feet, had a bandage wrapped around his head and another around three of his fingers on his right hand, a large purple bruise on his left arm, and a large amount of hair growing out of his ears.

"Look Lee," said Fred, turning to his friend who was huddled under a large blanket with only his eyes visible, " we said we were sorry."

"I don't know who you're talking to," mumbled Lee's voice from beneath the covers. "I'm pretty sure I said I didn't want to talk to either of you, so you can't be talking to me can you? Because I'm not talking to you."

"To be fair, you said you weren't talking to us," countered George, "you didn't say we couldn't talk to you. And we are both really sorry."

"Really sorry," added Fred before waiting a few seconds to continue, "even though I technically didn't do anything wrong."

"Hey, don't blame this on me," complained George.

"It was your spell."

"Yeah, aimed at you. Not my fault you stepped out of the way at the last minute."

"What did you expect?" said Fred, shaking his head. "I wasn't going to let you use a spell on me. Besides it would have been embarrassing if that had got me."

"Enough," snapped Lee, before he calmed his voice down to an even tone, "let's just get to midnight and talk to Enoch. Then I'm going to go to bed and pretend that this whole day didn't happen. And I want you two to do the same."

"Yeah, fifteen-all," said George, nodding, "I can't believe it ended in a draw."

"It's almost like we shouldn't had bothered in the first place."

"Maybe you should remember that for next year," muttered Lee.

"Maybe," agreed Fred. He looked over at his brother and shook his head dismissively.

"It's nearly time," said George, flicking his eyes up at the clock which read two minutes to midnight.

The boys waited in silence. It was Lee who spoke first.

"Just why here though? Why did you have to do it in the Common Room, when it was really crowded? Why not one of the corridors? We're always in empty corridors."

"I know Lee," said George.

"Angelina was sitting right next to where I was standing."

"Sorry Lee," said Fred.

"Who… who even thinks of doing something like that."

"Really sorry Lee," said George.

"'Accio trousers'? Why?" grumbled Lee, shaking his head forlornly.

"I didn't think they'd rip away," explained George, "just thought they might… you know… wedge."

"They were old. Should have thrown them away ages ago. They were comfy, you know?"

The twins nodded in agreement as the three boys lapsed back into silence. They watched the time tick away on the clock.

"And the one day you decide not wear underpants," said Fred.