AN: Ok, here you go, next chapter. I'm not 100% happy with it, but I'm hoping it will help break my lack of inspiration. I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 16: End of First Term

"Harry! Hey Harry! HARRY!" Harry spun around, wand at the ready, having heard his name bellowed over the noise of students heading down to dinner.

"Oh, it's you two. Did you have to be so loud?"

"Well…" said George.

"…Seeing as you didn't hear us the first two times…" continued Fred.

"…I think the answer is a resounding…" took over George.

"…YES!" They finished together.

Harry sighed. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd told them to drop the annoying twin act. "Ok… so what do you want?"

"A lot of things, actually…"

"…But mainly we want to let you know…" Harry ground his teeth together.

"…That we have a successful set of mirror communication devices…"

"…There's more to tell…"

"…But we're hungry."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that they were done talking. "Let's meet after dinner, then. Does the empty classroom by Transfiguration work for you?"

"That will do…"

"…Quite well."

"See you then, Harry!" The twins took off for dinner, and Harry followed at a more sedate pace. He was one of the last to sit down to dinner, and saw the questioning looks his friends threw him. He shook his head slightly. He'd tell them later.

"Hello, Harry." Ginny appeared behind him, and for a moment, he wondered if she'd watched him and followed him in. As he drew a deep, calming, breath, however, he changed his mind. Ginny wouldn't do that.

"Hi Ginny. Luna, Hermione, Draco, make some room, won't you?" It was obvious from their dirty looks they weren't happy with this, but knew batter than to make a scene, and figured Harry must be implementing some new plan.

"Thank you, Harry. How was your day?" She leaned directly across him for some potatoes as he took a breath to speak.

Harry smiled. "Well, you know, just another day. How about you?"

"It was great. Harry, thank you so much. You really seem to be giving me a true second chance."

"No problem, Ginny." The rest of the meal was spent in near silence. Ginny didn't want to push her luck or make anyone suspicious. Luna, Hermione, and Draco didn't want to reveal what they were sure was Harry's brilliant plan. Harry was eagerly anticipating his meeting with the Weasley twins.

As soon as he was finished eating, Harry excused himself. He caught the twins' eyes at he left the Great Hall and knew they would join him shortly.

Sure enough, about five minutes after he entered the room, the twins crept in without a sound. They flicked their wands at the door, sealing it behind them to keep out all eavesdroppers.

"Top secret this is, Harry…"

"…No one else knows these even exist."

"They'll be part of our debut product line."

"Now, we've made some changes to the mirrors to make them more portable."

"This one here's a wristband…"

"…and this one is a necklace."

Harry looked at the two products, confused. "But guys," said Harry, concerned. "These are tiny. I wanted them large enough to use as full visual communication devices. When I talk to someone, I want to see more than one eye."

The twins sighed dramatically and shook their heads. "Yes, we know, Harry…"

"…And if you'd just listen…"

"…You wouldn't have to question us." Harry nodded his understanding and waved for them to continue.

"Now, with both types of communication devices…"

"…We have created built in resizing charms…"

"…You just touch the rune…" The mirror on the wristband instantly expanded to the size of the mirror Harry owned.

"…and voila! You have a full-sized communication device."

"…Touch it again, and it's back to portable size."

"Now, these are on their own network."

"We figured out some clever charms to ensure your communication is private."

"Only mirrors we put on this network can communicate with each other."

"You can still reach other mirrors…"

"…But they can't reach you."

"We've made a couple of each…"

"…So these two are yours."

"How much do you plan to sell them for?" Harry could see these flying off the shelves.

"We were thinking 15 Galleons, maybe 20 if the sell well enough."

"Ok, then, I'll give you 40 Galleons for one more of each and your word that all four will be on a private network. Can you do this before the end of term? That gives you two weeks."

"Yeah, of course, Harry."

"We can probably get them done in a couple of days…"

"…what took so long this time…"

"…was figuring out what charms to use…"

"Was there anything else, Harry?"

"Yes, actually, I have another challenge for you."

"Really…"

"…and what would that be?"

"I'd like a set of four communication journals. I can't exactly use the mirrors in class. But if I had a journal to write in, the teachers would think I was taking notes. Now, the journals would need to be able to send and receive messages both individually, so two people can communicate privately, and as a group, so a message written in one journal can be read by all of the others. Again, they would need to be on a private network. Will 100 Galleons be enough to cover your costs?"

"100 Galleons? Blimey, Harry…"

"…that's enough to make 50 or 60 of these journals."

"I'm also paying you for your time."

"Well, in that case…"

"100 sounds about right. Thanks, Harry!"

"No, thank you, Weasleys." The twins left first, whispering excitedly to each other. Harry left a few minutes later to head down to his common room. He decided he would tell his friends that the Weasley twins were telling him about new joke product ideas. They should believe that, and then he could get to bed. Tomorrow's Quidditch practice was sure to be hellish with Slytherin's first match in a week.

Harry slept well, and was therefore energized and ready for practice. What he didn't count on, however, was a six hour practice session. They had a mock game, with some extra Slytherins playing the other team in hopes of proving they were good enough to be reserve. They also had two hours of drills, which left them all exhausted and barely able to move. They all trudged in to dinner absolutely exhausted.

They spent the rest of the week having at least one hour of practice every night after dinner to prepare. They were playing Ravenclaw, so at least it would be a clean match, but that didn't mean Marcus was going easy on them. The day before the big match, Harry was tiredly walking into the entrance hall when he heard someone calling to him.

"Harry. Psst! Harry! I need to talk to you." On alert and with his wand out, Harry followed the voice. He was very surprised to see Neville standing just inside an empty classroom.

"Neville? What's going on?"

"I promised you I'd keep an eye on the Weasleys. They've set up a plan for tomorrow's game."

"What do you mean?" Harry wondered if the entire Weasley family was in on this new plan. He hoped not, he really liked the twins, and Ginny was growing on him now that she'd been making an effort to fit in.

"Percy and Ron are planning to dress in dark cloaks and masquerade as Dementors. They seem to think this will cause you problems."

"Thanks for the warning, Neville. I'll take care of if. You'd better head back to your common room before curfew."

"Thanks, Harry. Good luck tomorrow." Harry nodded his thanks, and carefully made his way back to his own common room. His mind was racing a mile a minute. The two hated Weasleys were trying to sabotage the game, huh? He knew he could scare the devil out of them with his Patronus. It had taken the shape of a dragon, just like his Parseltongue protector. Lupin had seemed incredibly surprised, as apparently very few wizards had Patroni that were magical animals. Harry had declared their lessons over shortly after that, thanking the professor for his help. He had been curious if Lupin would devise some other reason to offer him lessons, but as of yet, none had been forthcoming.

He carefully assessed his plan. He was sure sending a dragon at the two Weasley idiots would scare them half to death. With a wandless Parseltongue stunner hidden right behind it, they wouldn't be going anywhere, and everyone would assume they had fainted. Harry grinned evilly. The match was going to be awesome.

The Quidditch match started our as any other. The teams were introduced, the balls were released, and the game started. Harry spotted the two cloaked figures hiding in the shadows, waiting for the perfect time to appear. He grinned, they had no idea what was coming.

He flew well above the pitch, keeping an eye on the action while looking for the Snitch. It was an hour into the game, and Slytherin was 50 points up, but the Snitch hadn't shown itself once. A glint of gold caught his eye and he dived. Speak of the devil… As he dived, he noticed the two cloaked figures make their way out onto the pitch. Harry summoned his happy thoughts and cast his Patronus, immediately followed by his wide-area Parseltongue stunner. He didn't bother to watch the idiots' reactions, as he knew Luna, Hermione, and Draco would be willing to share later.

Seconds later, he caught the Snitch, with the Ravenclaw Seeker trailing behind him. The blast from Madam Hooch's whistle signaled the end of the game. Slytherin had won 480 to 280. It had been a good game. Harry caught sight of Professor McGonagall making her way onto the pitch and flew down to catch the action. They arrived at the two immobile bodies at the same time.

"That was an excellent Patronus, Mr. Potter, but it appears you scared whoever is under these cloaks so badly that they fainted."

"I'm sorry, Professor, I thought they were Dementors."

"Not a problem, Mr. Potter. It is an easy mistake to make from that height. Now, let's just see who tried such a terrible prank, shall we?" She rolled over the students and her face changed to one of utmost fury.

"Enervate! How dare you! An unworthy trick!" She was shouting. "I've never been so ashamed of Gryffindors! A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the game! That will be one month detention for each of you!"

"But professor…" started Ronald.

"No buts. You will also lose 100 points each!"

"Professor, I'm Head Boy, you can't…"

"Were head boy, Mr. Weasley. I can't believe that as head boy you would try such a dastardly trick. Never in all my years, has a Head Boy behaved like this!" She held out her hand. "Your badge Mr. Weasley."

With what looked like great pain, Percy Weasley unpinned his badge from his robes and handed it to Professor McGonagall. He threw Harry a dirty look, as though to blame the entire mess on him. Ignoring him, Harry watched Professor McGonagall hurry off to meet with the other heads of houses and the Headmaster. No doubt in attempt to name a new Head Boy.

The party in Slytherin that night was beyond compare. It was as though they had won the house cup. Gryffindor was last in the competition for the house cup by nearly 200 points, and the Gryffindor Head Boy had been disgraced. It was definitely a joyous day.

A very quite "ahem" saw the common room instantly fall silent. Standing at the entrance stood none other than Professor Snape. They were suddenly all sure that they were in deep trouble for their noise.

"A fine match, Slytherin. And Mr. Potter, take twenty points for that astounding Patronus." The room cheered. "Yes, yes, quiet down!" Instant silence. "As I'm sure you all know, Mr. Percy Weasley is no longer Head Boy. The heads of houses held a quick conference, and the new Head Boy has been determined. Mr. Flint, collect your belongings, as you will be moving into the Heads' suite."

As Marcus walked forward to collect the badge, the common room once again exploded into noise. The Head Boy was now a Slytherin! Harry just barely heard Professor Snape tell Marcus he would wait for him in his office.

Everyone wanted to congratulate the new Head Boy, and, as such, it took him nearly twenty minutes to get to his room to collect his belongings. He was escorted to the door like a conquering hero. He was Quidditch captain and now Head Boy. As he left, the was another swell of noise wishing him well in his new rooms, although they knew he'd be visiting the common room quite often. Despite Marcus' absence, the part continued through the night, stopping only when the students went to dinner. It was a good thing the next day was Sunday, as most Slytherins didn't make it out of bed until noon.