The twins plan, put their plan into action, and recieve punishment. Percy nearly has a heart attack and Charlie's introduced. All in all, a busy weekend. Oh, and there was something about a map...
For a while Katherine was having a calm school life, she was doing well in classes, the teachers seemed to like her and she'd found a place she never had to worry about the twins interrupting her. The library.
It was amazing in its simplicity. The twins seemed almost allergic to the place. They kept telling her that if she didn't stop going there she'd end up being stuck a book worm for life. She never responded, she'd made a rule that she'd only talk to the twins in class, about class. Other than that she acted as though the pair didn't exist.
After a while the twins seemed to except this and went about their own business. Which was rarely school work and always put an extreme strain on Katherine's curiosity. She'd found that Gryffindor's in general, had high curiosity and had started wondering if that was what had got her into the house. Then she'd think about the parchment had said and she went back to focusing on school work.
She honestly felt like she was, finally, going to have a good year and then on the following Friday she came out of the shower and understood what the twins had been planning the last few days. Her normally light brown hair was bright red, Gryffindor red in fact. For a moment she just stared at her reflection, letting the image sink into her brain…
"FRED! GEORGE! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" The scream caused the pair to jump up from their game of exploding snap, looking towards the staircase to the girl's dorm. Katherine came down dressed in her usual robes but the bright red hair flying around behind her had the interesting effect of making her look like she was on fire and also slightly evil.
People cleared a path for her quickly, not wanting to get in her way. The twins dashed for the portrait hole at top speed, hurtling past Percy, who attempted to scold them before he jumped out of the way of Katherine, terrified because all he'd seen was a flash of red coming at him. Katherine yelled after them as they made their way through the corridors, towards the grounds.
When they were just outside the door Katherine finally got through the haze of anger and pulled out her wand. She performed the leg locker curse on both of them, despite knowing that she only had to hit one and the other would stop. She stopped running and stomped towards them, breathing heavily. Well they had just run all the way from Gryffindor tower.
"Reverse it," She commanded in a cold tone. The twins had the decency to look a little worried at her tone. It was really creepy to hear such a voice coming from her.
"Err, we can't," George told her, eyeing her wand warily.
"It'll fade with time," Fred put in helpfully, "Took for ever to find."
"It did at that," George agreed, "We haven't done anything else all week."
"Fine," Katherine huffed after a moment, "Friday just isn't my day I guess. Now I'm going to have to explain to your brother why I almost gave him a heart attack. That'll be a fun conversation."
"Hey!" George called.
"Katherine!" Fred whined at the same time.
"What about the counter curse?" they yelled together as she walked away. She glanced at them over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
"Your wizards," She said, an evil glint in her eye, "I'm sure you can work it out. See you at dinner." She waved at the pair over her shoulder, a small flick of her hand, and she was back in the castle. She went up a few floors and lent out the window to watch the show.
The twins, eventually, managed to stand up, using each other as support. They did a funny sort of hop towards the castle for a few steps before stopping. Apparently they decided to just wait it out because they both sat down a little way from the door. It was quite entertaining to watch, actually, and she grinned widely as she watched them lay in the grass.
A little while later another red head came out the castle, took a look at the twins, who both offered him a wave, and then started laughing. Katherine cocked her head to the side, she'd hadn't seen much of the other brother who was going to school with them. He was in his sixth year, Charlie, or something. He seemed really different to Percy, much better at taking a joke.
Charlie pulled out his wand and Katherine, knowing the fun was over, walked the rest of the way back to the common room. Ignoring the twins obviously hadn't worked. She needed a new plan, which she quickly decided would involve revenge. A rather evil looking grin spread across her face.
"Well, I think it looked good," said Fred as the pair, very awkwardly, sat down on the grass.
"Yeah, me too," George agreed, as Charlie walked out of the castle, "Charlie, old friend!"
"Help your brothers out?" Fred asked. Charlie watched them for a moment, then started laughing. The twins frowned at him, making him laugh harder before finally pulling out his wand.
"Oh, Merlin, what did you two do?" he asked around his laughter as the twins dusted themselves off, having regained full use of their legs, "And did you know Percy almost died of a heart attack? I found him hyperventilating just outside the common room."
The twins laughed at the image of their stuffy older brother hyperventilating after Katherine flew past. She definitely made life fun.
"Well, that was totally worth one leg locker curse," said Fred, George nodded.
"So what'd you do?" Charlie asked curiously, as they all walked back to the common room.
"Oh, you know Katherine Nott?" George asked, "The first year girl?"
"We magically dyed her hair red," Fred explained after Charlie nodded. Charlie gaped at them.
"Well, you two better know what you're doing," he said with a shake of his head, "Provoking a Nott, really?"
"Yeah, we'll be fine," said Fred, pushing through the portrait hole.
"Nothing to worry about really," George added, following through the entrance.
"Hello boys," Katherine called from her current position in front of the fire. The twins hesitated for a moment, this was new, Katherine didn't sit in the common room. There was a calm smile on her face, her red hair was still free and she'd done nothing to hide the new colour from the rest of the Gryffindors. Said Gryffindors weren't exactly talking to her, but no one was giving her the wide berth she usually got, probably due to what they assumed was an open declaration of being a Gryffindor.
"Have a nice walk?" She asked innocently.
"Ok, maybe a little reason to worry," George mumbled as Fred continued to stare.
"Yeah," Charlie replied, moving past them to get to bed, "You two have fun with that."
"George," Fred whispered as they moved up to their dormitory, "I think we made a monster."
"I was thinking the same thing."
The next morning the twins were surprised to find Katherine waiting for them in the common room. They came down the stairs cautiously, keeping an eye out for her wand.
"Morning," she said with a smile, standing up and moving towards the portrait hole, "Breakfast?"
The three went down to breakfast together and, ultimately it was rather uneventful. Katherine sat across from the twins at the table, filling her plate without hesitation. After a moment the twins followed her example and began filling their plates. She waited till they were finished then leant forward across the table.
"Ok," she started, "Obviously my avoiding you didn't work" she gesture at her hair "so I've decided that, since you seem intent on hanging out with me, I'll fold. First things first, have you gotten anything from the parchment? I mean besides insults."
"Err, well no," said Fred, both the twins reeling slightly from her speech.
"Like we said yesterday, we spent heaps of time getting the hair thing right," George's voice wavered off slightly at the end. Katherine waved her hand dismissively.
"Unimportant," she informed them, "So long as it's gone before I have to go home there aren't any problems. So, no progress with the parchment, that'll be the first thing then."
She fell back into her seat, looking thoughtful. The twins watched her for a moment, confused by her change in attitude despite the fact that it was exactly what they'd wanted. Katherine brushed her hands on her legs before she started eating, looking up at the twins as she did.
"You guys should eat," she told them, "I want this parchment worked out by Monday." The twins started eating quickly, meaning they missed the taste of the first few bites.
"And guys," Katherine said sweetly, watching them eat with a smile, "Don't ever pull a prank on me again unless you know how to reverse it."
The change in tone caused the twins to look up from their food, having almost finished it already. It suddenly dawned on them that their food didn't taste quite right. In fact it tasted awful. Very much like…
The twins eyes widened and they both took off from the Great Hall. Katherine calmly followed after them, finding them spitting out the window onto the grass, grumbling about fowl tasting lollies.
"Yeah, we nicked some from Filch," she explained, leaning against the wall, "I guess I found a reason for them being in that draw. Still though, I don't think he's supposed to take lollies, even if they are Cockroach Clusters."
"That was cruel," George grumbled.
"Those things are fowl," Fred agreed.
"My hair is bright red," said Katherine with a shrug, "Now we're even, and we've eaten. Let's head up to the common room."
"Irritating parchment check, snacks check, wands check, determination check. Now let's get on to business. Who's having a go first?" Katherine asked, looking up at the two boys. They'd made a pit stop at the kitchen after she'd told them she already knew they knew where it was. The twins had found it in the first week and had, of course, been thrilled. Now they were all lying around on Fred's bed in the boy's dormitory surrounded by the generous gifts of the house elves.
"I'll give it a go," Fred offered, "Any key thing we want to through in."
"Pfft, who knows," Katherine answered, taking a bit of a brownie, "Just say hello to them, see what happens."
The twins both gave her an odd look but Fred put his wand to the parchment anyway and said, "The Weasley twins say Hello."
'Mr Moony would like to inquire as to why you're saying hello to an inanimate object.'
'Mr Prongs finds it curious that the Weasley twins have come back after such a long time.'
'Mr Padfoot agrees with Mr Prongs and wonders what they were doing over that time.'
'Mr Wormtail wonders if any of their previous advice was taken.'
"They're not insulting us this time," George pointed out.
"You weren't trying to find out about the parchment," Katherine said, pulling out her wand, "The twins had all their time taken up by working out how to perform a prank." She informed the parchment. Nothing, then the page flickered to life with just one word.
'Prank?'
Katherine laughed, ginning at the parchment.
"What?" the twins asked.
"Don't you see?" She asked, gesturing at the parchment, "Why would Filch confiscate a plain piece of parchment? He wouldn't, unless the students who had it were trouble makers. Also we were given a hint at one point. Remember when Mr Moony told me to watch my temper? Most people would say it would get me into trouble. Moony clearly said it could 'cause no good'."
She grinned at them for a moment while they tried to catch up with her. Until they finally spoke.
"So what you're saying," George began, "Is that this lot were pranksters?"
"And they used this to pull of their pranks?" Fred asked. Katherine nodded.
"Then how do we use it?" they both partially yelled, causing her to laugh.
"How can we use this parchment to get up to no good?" Katherine asked, pressing her wand to the parchment.
'Mr Prongs suggests trying a password.'
'Mr Padfoot wonders if you would promise you were up to no good.'
'Mr Moony agrees with Mr Padfoot and suggests they make it sincere.'
'Mr Wormtail wishes you good luck.'
The words faded out and left the three of them studying the parchment. At this point they all had their wands out and were aimlessly munching on their food. For a moment no one spoke them Fred broke the silence.
"Well, might as well have a go," he said determinedly, "Nothing to lose right?" He put his wand to the parchment. "I promise I am up to no good."
'That didn't seem very sincere.'
"I sincerely promise I am up to no good?" George tried.
'Getting warmer.'
"This is going to be a fun weekend," Katherine said with a laugh, "How about…making our intent clearer? I sincerely promise that I am up to no good."
"That didn't work, got another one?"
"What've we used already?
"Candidly, deeply, earnestly, frankly, genuinely, ingenuously, in good faith, profoundly, really, truly, truthfully, wholeheartedly and naturally."
They three lay spread around the boy's dormitory, all in rather odd positions. It'd been hours since they'd started working on the map, and it had quickly become apparent that they just needed to change the words 'promise' and 'sincerely'. They had come to the decision that 'swear was the best fit to replace 'promise' and were just working on 'sincerely'. Katherine, whom was currently being used as a human dictionary, was lying on Fred's bed with her head hanging over the side. Fred, personally, thought her face was coming to match her hair. He was laying head to foot with George, on George's bed with the parchment between them.
"Oh, I don't know," Katherine groaned, "Try, um, I absolutely? No, from the bottom of my heart? Oh, for Merlin's sake this is going to kill me soon. My gravestone will read 'Died attempting to find out the secrets of a piece of parchment, will be solemnly missed by none but her brother'. Father would probably disown me for…Oh, hey! Use that! Try solemnly!"
She flipped up into a sitting position and immediately put her head in her hands, groaning loudly. The twins laughed and she shot them a weak glare. She gestured for them to try the parchment and George put his wand to it.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," He said lazily, having said variations of the same phrase over the last few hours. For a moment they all just stared at the parchment, the ink started spreading over the page as they watched.
"Yes!" Katherine exclaimed loudly, jumping at George's bed causing both the twins to roll out of her way. This, of course, caused them to fall onto the floor with loud thumps. Katherine ignored this, and their consequential groans, in favour of picking up the parchment.
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MAURADERS MAP
She read excitedly. The twins climbed back onto the bed looking over her shoulder at the map, identical grins spread over their faces as they watched the little dots moved over the parchment.
"I told you," Katherine sighed, "We can't just wander around with it until we work out how to clear it."
The three were sitting at the Gryffindor table for dinner. The map was hidden back in the boy's dormitory. They'd all been thrilled when they realised what it was, and none of them had any doubt what they'd end up using it for. Of course they'd had to check if it worked, needless to say the few people who saw Fred and Katherine streaking down the hall, only to stop for breathe and speed back to the common room, were very confused. George had met them in the common room with a triumphant grin announcing that it'd worked completely. The rest of the common room had seemed a little unnerved by the grins on the twin's faces. They'd talked for a little until deciding they needed dinner, they had skipped lunch after all. The twins were all for taking the map everywhere with them but Katherine convinced them to leave it behind.
"What if a teacher got it?" She snapped, cutting off any possible arguments, "That would mean, no sneaking round, no going to the kitchens, not to mention it would severely damage your ability to pull pranks."
"Oh, right," George said, looking rather horrified at this revelation. An opinion shared with Fred.
"So how are we going to work out how to clear it?" Fred asked.
"The same way we opened it probably," Katherine replied, "But we'll do it tomorrow. I don't think you dorm mates would appreciate us keeping them up all night throwing random words around."
"Makes sense," Fred said, nodding.
"What about your dorm mates?" George asked.
"Oh they probably wouldn't mind having you there but they wouldn't like to be kept awake," Katherine said thoughtfully. Alicia and Angelina were actually quite nice, though they didn't share as much with her as each other. They were still slightly wary of her.
"Besides you two can't come into my dorm," she added nonchalantly, as though this was obvious.
"Why not?" the twins asked together, causing Katherine to stare at them.
"You don't know?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side, "When we get back to the common room you two should try going up there."
"Let's go now," George said excited, apparently taking this as an invitation into the girl's dormitory. The twins pulled her up and they all started heading out of the hall. Katherine sighed at the sudden action, she was now a few steps behind the twins.
"I'm never going to have a quiet moment now that I'm friends with you, am I?" She asked quietly. The twins apparently heard her, however, as they both froze in place before they rounded on her.
"What?" She asked, unnerved by the awed look they were giving her.
"You just called us friends," Fred explained, sounding very much as though something amazing had just happened.
"Well, we are, right?" She asked uncertainly, watching the twins carefully.
"Oh, absolutely!" George exclaimed. Both twins nodded vigorously, before putting an arm around her shoulder. They proceeded to drag her up to Gryffindor tower chanting, "We got Nott, we got Nott!" Katherine was very tired of this by the time they got into the common room and was very thankful when the pair remembered their reason for leaving dinner.
"I'm going to stay down here," She told them, sitting in one of the armchairs. They shrugged and tore up the stairs. For a moment she wondered if they could out run the stairs but didn't have to think about it for very long as she heard surprised yells. These were quickly followed by some painful sounding thumps and the twins sliding back into the common room.
"That's not fair!" George announced after they'd run up the stair a number of time, having continuously ignored Katherine's advice not to do that. The twins both slumped into armchairs, finally admitting defeat, for now.
"Yeah, you can come into our dormitory," Fred pointed out.
"It's an old rule," Katherine explained, smirking at the pair, it'd been highly entertaining to watch really, "Girls are supposed to be more trustworthy."
"Yeah right," George snorted, "This from the girl who put old Cockroach Cluster in our food."
"Like I said it's an old rule."
The three laughed and more Gryffindor's filtered into the room. A few people watched her play exploding snap with the twins and, after a moment, Lee joined them. People eventually got bored of watching to see if she was about to kill them all and run off for the Slytherin's and went about their own business. As it got later Katherine and the twins headed to bed. The twins were all for staying up later but Katherine reminded them the sooner they went to bed the sooner they could get to work on the map.
Sunday was mostly spent in the boys dormitory trying to work out the second password. They eventually discovered it was 'Mischief Managed' using mostly guesses and the little knowledge they had about the Marauders. Even with that they got it a lot faster than the last one and, by lunch, the boys were planning all the trouble they could cause with this new tool. Katherine was just as excited, but more so because the map showed secret passages out of the castle. The trick would be working out which ones Filch knew about but none of them were particularly worried about that. They were all too excited to worry about something so trivial.
Aw, this was fun! Gotta love it when someone pranks the Weasley twins.
Speaking of pranks I've got a few idea's but I'd really appretiate some imput from you guys. If you've got any ideas, or want someone to get it for an unknown reason, comment and I may very well put it in the next chapter ;)
Thanks to the people who've added this story to favourate's and/or alerts!