The next evening, Fred, George, Ron, and Harry walked into Remus's classroom after dinner.

"We're sorry," Harry said again.

"Sit down," Remus said firmly.

Each boy took a chair. Remus handed out quills and parchment.

"You're each going to write down exactly what happened that led you to come here with your whole house to prank me," he told them. "I will check all four papers for discrepancies so I suggest you all tell the truth."

"Could we confer with each other first?" Harry asked.

"Definitely not," Remus said. "That would ruin the point of the assignment."

Harry wrote whatever he could remember from yesterday's conversation. They all gave their papers to Remus when they finished and sat silently when he read them.

"Harry, you may go," Remus said when he finished reading them. "I know how hard it is to try to stand up to three fellow marauders."

Harry went back to the common room.

"What did he do to you?" Lee asked.

"He made us write down what happened," Harry said. "When he saw that I tried to stop them, he said I could go. I don't know what the others will have to do."

Fifteen minutes later, Ron returned.

"I just had to write an apology," he said cheerfully. "Fred and George are in bigger trouble."

Not long after, Fred and George returned.

"What happened?" Lee asked.

"Oink made us write down what happened," Fred said.

"Why did you call moo, oink?" George asked.

"I guess he got back at us," Fred said. "It looks like we can't say his name."

"Which name did you try?" George asked him. "I only tried his first name."

"I also only did his first name," Fred said. "I wonder if we could say his nickname."

"I'll try," George said. "Baa."

"I'll try his proper title," Fred said. "Professor Lupin."

"That worked," George said cheerfully. "I guess we're no longer on a first name basis. That's not a bad punishment for a neigh."

"You mean we can't say the P word either?" Fred complained. "We better go ask him to remove his brilliant meow."

Fred and George went back out.

"I wonder how he did that," Harry said. "That's such a brilliant prank."

"He is such a cool professor," Lee said. "You're lucky you know him outside of school."

A while later, Fred and George returned.

"We had to beg for mercy," they said. "He said that if we wouldn't have been calling him by his first name or discussing pranks, we wouldn't have noticed what he did."

"Did he at least teach you how to do it?" Harry asked.

"Of course not," George said. "He doesn't want us to do it back to him."

"I guess we won't be pranking him in school anymore," Fred commented. "He definitely has the upper hand."

In December, McGonagall announced the Yule Ball. Harry decided that this time, he and Ron better do it right.

"I'll ask Ginny and you ask Hermione," Harry told Ron. "We'll make sure they know that we have no intention of dancing or doing anything romantic."

"I'd rather go with someone pretty," Ron said.

"Hermione's a girl!" Harry explained. "Of course she'll make herself pretty. She'll get her hair all straight, wear fancy dress robes, and maybe fix her teeth. All girls know how to make themselves look nice."

"You ask first," Ron said.

"I'll ask during lunch," Harry told him. "This way you could see how it's done."

After sitting down in the great hall for lunch, Harry realized his big mistake.

"I should have made sure to sit near her," he complained to Ron.

"Are you going to do it anyway?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Harry said with a confidence he didn't feel. "Otherwise someone else may ask first."

Harry looked down the table to where Ginny was sitting with several third years.

"Hey Ginny," he called.

Ginny stopped talking to her friends and looked at him.

"Did you hear about the Yule Ball?" Harry asked.

The whole table went silent as everyone looked back and forth between Harry and Ginny. Ginny blushed a deep red and nodded.

"I don't know how to dance," Harry explained. "I have no intention of stepping onto the dance floor at all. I'm planning on enjoying the food, sitting with friends, and checking the map regularly for suspicious activity. I may do something foolish like hunt for death eaters or unregistered animagi. It's not going to be a romantic date. Do you want to go with me?"

"Sure," Ginny said with a huge smile.

"You just made her Christmas," George said.

"Now it's your turn," Harry told Ron. "You'll feel better once you get over it."

"Hey Hermione," Ron said nervously.

"Yes," Hermione said, trying not to smile.

"Did you hear about the Yule Ball?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Hermione said. "I was in the same class as you when Professor McGonagall announced it. Are you going to use Harry's speech word to word?"

"I was planning on it," Ron said sheepishly.

Hermione looked thoughtful.

"I'll go with you," she finally said with a smile, "but you have to at least dance one dance."

"Deal," Ron said.

"Can I convince you to dance one dance too?" Ginny asked Harry.

"We'll see," Harry said.

Later that afternoon, Hermione entered the common room looking very embarrassed.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Hermione said. "I just turned someone down for the Yule Ball. He's not taking it too well."

"If you'd rather go with him than Ron," Harry started.

"I don't!" Hermione said. "I just feel bad that I hurt his feelings."

"Who is it?" Parvati asked.

"I'm not going to embarrass him by telling anyone," Hermione said.

All the Gryffindors were curious, but they didn't have to wait too long to find out who it was.