Chapter Seven: Pumpkin Juice

After Zoey's run in with Fred and witnessing the twins' start of the year prank along with someone else's prank, the Emeraude retreated to her compartment, without any treats from the trolley since she never found it, and told Echo everything. Before long, the two changed into their robes and arrived at Hogwarts. The Sorting Ceremony didn't take too long and before the Hufflepuff could even take a bite out of her chicken leg, Echo appeared by her side and in a blink of an eye, dragged Zoey all the way to the Gryffindor's table to have their first meal in Hogwarts as second year students.

"Well, Tweddledee and Tweddledum, word has it that there's anew prankster in town and said prankster is better than you two." Echo smirked, folding her arms across her chest.

Zoey's eyes widened and shied away when she caught Fred and George's glare. "I didn't say the prankster was better, Echo," The Emeraude said in a quiet voice, embarrassed.

"Shut it." The twins glared at Echo, stabbing their forks into their food and sawed into it with their knife as if the meat were still alive and they were finishing the job.

Ever since they retreated into their own compartment they had been trying to figure out who the other prankster was and ended up with no results. It didn't help either when they were immediately brought to McGonagall's office, sentenced to a week of detention while they heard no wind about the other prankster getting caught. Heck, they believed that McGonagall and the rest of the professors thought they were the ones who let out the green smoke as well.

"I bet two galleons that it was a girl," The Ravenclaw ignored the glares the twins were sending her, changing her smirk into a wicked smile.

"What makes you say that?" Zoey asked, interested. She ignored the grumblings the twins made. Obviously they didn't want to hear them discuss the other prankster.

"No male has surpassed Fred and George's prank skills. Thought this time, a girl could've learned their tricks." Echo said simply.

"Has anyone even tried to surpass Fred and George?" Zoey voiced out her thoughts, "I doubt anyone does pranks like they do."

"Could be a new female student then."

"Just –" Fred began, interrupting Zoey from continuing the conversation.

" – Drop it," George ended, sending a look at Echo.

The Ravenclaw raised her hand in a downward fist. The impression was something like she was holding onto something. Slowly, she opened her palm, making it seem like she was letting go of the metaphoric object.

"Dropped it." Echo sighed.

Zoey laughed softly at Echo's mannerisms, even the twins couldn't help but break into grins despite still being irritated about having to spend their first week with Filch doing whatever the heck he wanted them to do. Fred and George turned their attention away from the girls and gulped down their pumpkin juice while Echo began to eat her dinner. The Hufflepuff took this chance to look around the Great Hall, attempting to scan each and every student inside.

I wonder who the other prankster is, The Emeraude thought to herself. When she saw no one suspicious looking, the girl sighed in defeat.

"By the way, what happened to your hair? Love the change." Echo's voice brought Zoey's attention back to the twins and the Emeraude's eyes widened when she saw what the Ravenclaw was talking about.

The brilliant ginger shade the Weasley's hair was known to have had transformed into a midnight black that reminded Zoey of, well, midnight. Zoey's brows shot up and she shamelessly admired their new look, taking note that it went well with their bright blue eyes. Catching herself gawking, the Emeraude shook her head and tried her best to stop blushing.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked, not having seen Zoey's initial reaction. He and George's hands reached up to their heads and began running their hands through it. Nothing felt different. It was the same length and texture.

"It doesn't feel different," George said, bringing his hands back down to the table.

"Sure it doesn't feel different but it sure looks different," Zoey reached into her pocket, hoping to find a mirror but frowned when she didn't feel anything but a handkerchief and her wand.

"What?" the twins asked simultaneously, looking at each other. Their brows shot up and their eyes widened while their mouths hung agape. They opened and closed their mouths, trying to get their words out but only produced incoherent sounds before collecting the words they wanted to say.

"YOUR – YOUR HAIR!" They exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention towards them.

"My hair? Take a look at yourself!" Fred yelled, tugging on George's fringe, attempting to show his brother his new hair color.

"Oww! What are you talking about?" George shouted, mimicking Fred's actions, "I've never seen hair so dark!"

"Bloody hell, George!" Fred swatted George's hands away and they both turned their attentions back to Zoey and Echo.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" They asked, not caring that they were causing a ruckus in the Great Hall.

"Don't look at me. You're the ones having the hair problem." Echo gave them a confused look, before switching to suspicion "Wait, you didn't die your hair on purpose?"

"Duh, Echo." Zoey said, placing her face in the palm of her hand, shaking her head. Echo saw this and laughed.

"Hmm… So plainly put, this was a prank too."

"No, Echo, we decided to dye our hair black because we wanted to be different," Fred said sarcastically, pushing his plate away. He had lost his appetite.

"We wanted to question each other, Echo. We knew it was us this whole time but we wanted to see if you knew," George added, rolling his eyes. "Heck, we were the ones who pulled both pranks on the train. We invented this whole other prankster because we were bored."

"Ah. I knew it," Echo said, humoring them.

"Echo," Zoey scolded.

"It's that other prankster," Fred placed his head in his arms and groaned. "It's got to be him."

"He's declaring war," George frowned. "How'd he do it though?"

Zoey pursed her lips in thought and reached for Fred's goblet of pumpkin juice. She dared to take a whiff of the beverage to check if her suspicions were correct and immediately regretted her actions. The Emeraude slammed the drink back down on the table and pinched her nose in hopes to make the smell go away somehow.

"Never. Never again," The Hufflepuff said, shivering.

Echo looked over at Zoey with confusion and reached out her hand for Fred's goblet, repeating Zoey's actions. It had smelt absolutely horrible. She placed the goblet down, not as violent as Zoey, and covered her nose.

"Smells terribly horrible." The Ravenclaw deadpanned.

Fred, who raised his head when Zoey slammed his drink down, reached for his goblet while George took his own. Together, they sniffed their drinks.

"Did you really have to do that?" Echo asked blankly when Fred and George placed their goblets back, both with disgusted expressions. "Don't you trust our judgment?"

The twins shrugged their shoulders.

"So I'm guessing that this other prankster slipped a potion into your drinks," Zoey voiced, getting over the smell and began thinking. "But how'd she do it? When?"

"Someone who's arrived earlier that's who. They gotta be near the Gryffindors too." Echo said with a nod.

Before the Emeraude could get a good look around the Great Hall, everyone was dismissed from dinner. The Welcoming Feast had ended before Zoey could even take a bite out of her meal. Zoey's eyes widened and she made a grab for a muffin when the twins shot out of their seats and quickly made their way to the exit. The Hufflepuff heard the laughter of those who caught sight of the black haired Weasleys. Taking a banana muffin, Zoey took a bite out of it and followed Echo out the Great Hall.

"I didn't get to finish my chocolate pudding," Echo spoke exasperatedly.


Three days had passed since the other prankster's trick and Zoey found herself staring at the still black hair of the Weasley twins. It had been three whole days and the black dye was as dark as ever and Fred and George weren't even close to finding out who the prankster was. It was getting on their last nerve.

"You know, I'm kind of liking your new style of hair. A lot of stupid girls over there say so." Echo smirked, jerking her thumb behind her, indicating a group of now squealing girls.

Zoey frowned at the girls, feeling a bit jealous that they could squeal all they wanted but if Zoey were to do it, not that she wanted to, she would never hear the end of it. Pushing the thought away, the Emeraude turned her attention back to her friends.

"Shut it," Fred and George said, smirks playing on their lips. Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. Figures. They liked the attention they were getting. Boys.

"I – Isn't Quidditch tryouts starting soon?" The Emeraude stuttered out, hopping to change the topic. Lucky for her, it worked and mischievous grins now played on Echo, Fred and George's lips.

"You've got that right, Zwei," Echo said, smirking. "By the time of the first game, if I make Fred and George look bad, you could say 'Bye-bye' to those naïve girls."

"You're going to tryout?" Zoey asked, shocked. "What are you trying out for?"

"I'm trying out as a Chaser. Being a Beater or a Seeker is too boring of a role for me," The Ravenclaw said simply.

"HEY!" Fred and George exclaimed, jumping out their seats and slamming their hands on the table, shaking the plates and utensils.

"What? Everyone has their opinions on something."

"Being a Beater is not boring!" Fred said, staring down at Echo.

"Just think! Being able to hit someone with a Bludger in order to help your team win!" George added as he mimed swinging a Beater's bat and hitting a Bludger all the way to Kingdom come.

"And what's better is when your enemy is on the opposing team!" Fred's eyes twinkled with evil thoughts and Zoey guessed that the older of the Weasley twins was imagining hitting one of the Slytherin's with a Bludger.

"But I thought if they were on the opposing team, they automatically become your enemy? Well, while in game, of course." The Emeraude asked, confused. She wasn't much of a Quidditch fan.

Zoey understood the general idea of the sport but she never grew a fondness for it. She didn't see why they needed the other players if when the Seeker catches the Snitch, they automatically get one hundred and fifty points and end the game. The Hufflepuff also thought that the other positions, Chaser or not, were very dangerous. The Chaser was in danger of getting hit by the Bludger if he or she had the Quaffle and the Beater's were in danger if a Bludger was directed at them. The Keeper was in danger if he or she missed saving the goal or was also hit by the Bludger. Same goes for the Seeker. To put it simply, everyone was in danger when the Bludger was around. That and if they were hit, they would fall hundreds of feet to their doom.

"So which class do you guys have first today?" She asked, shaking away the thought of getting hit by the angry ball.

"I have Transfiguration," Echo said, checking her schedule. "I love Transfiguration but it doesn't love me."

"I have History of Magic," Zoey frowned, knowing for a fact that she shared the subject with the twins. It was going to be her first time having a lesson alone with them and she was nervous.

Fred and George saw Zoey's unease and they shared a grin before swiftly moving to each side of Zoey, looping their arms with hers and bringing her up from her seat. The girl barely weighed anything.

"Well, then, Miss Emeraude," Fred began with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. " We wouldn't want to be late."

"Good day to you, Miss Beaumont!" George added, his grin widening. "We shall be whisking your lovely friend off to her first subject. We don't want her to be in trouble after all."

"That's a lie." Echo muttered, watching Fred and George drag Zoey out of the Great Hall, softly laughing when she saw Zoey's panicked expression.


HELLO.

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 7 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

PS

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)