Chapter Nine - Revenge
The group began to head down towards the kitchens. Skye was beside herself in panic about being out of the common room outside of curfew. It didn't help that they were accompanied by around twenty rowdy Gryffindors curious to see if the Weasleys could penetrate the Hufflepuff common room.
"This isn't very stealthy, is it?" Skye whispered, clutching at Tabitha's hand, her other holding her wand to light the way.
"Oh, calm down Skye. The Weasleys are scouting the way and I promise if I even sense the disapproving glare of a teacher we're going to peg it out of here leaving these guys behind in the dust," she stated, giving her twitchy friend's hand a squeeze in reassurance.
"Gee, thanks Tabitha," Angelina exclaimed, voice drenched in sarcasm.
"What are you guys gawping at anyway?" Tabitha raced up to the twins in stealthy cat mode trying to peer over their shoulder. Skye thought she eyed up some sort of parchment that George folded over out of sight.
"Nothing. Snape's always on patrol up ahead around now so we wait here 'til he moves on, ok?" Fred explained.
"How do you know that?" Tabitha questioned with eyebrows raised.
"Maybe if you ask nicely we'll give you some pointers, Tabby cat," George smirked.
"As if I need your help," Tabitha scoffed. Soon they reached their destination, having arrived outside the kitchens. Skye spotted the barrels and tried to make a good judgement as to how far away she should stand. Others were clearly clueless as to the location of the Hufflepuff common room as they milled around the area.
"Ready, Fred?" George bellowed happily as he approached the barrels.
"Ready, George. Gather around everyone. We'll be needing your help to rearrange the furniture," Fred chuckled.
"I didn't come to do manual labour. Now get on with it," Tabitha complained. Soon the twins complied as everyone watched eagerly. Apparently, George was to do the honours of tapping out the password. Skye heard the four syllables of 'Lumos Solem' being tapped out on the very top barrel and braced herself.
A sharp smell hit Skye's nostrils as a torrent of vinegar spurted towards the twins, completely drenching them from head to toe. In response the twins couldn't have looked more shocked. Following a moment of silence, Tabitha was the first to burst out laughing, which earned a nudge from Skye as she tried to suppress her own laughter in her hand.
"Adam, did you get the password wrong again?" Skye swirled around to see Mikey approaching from the back of the group.
"Must have. Sorry about that guys!" Adam called over and the two high fived. This was then followed up with a round of high fives from Tabitha as the twins broke into grins.
"Don't suppose you guys bought some chips with you, did you?" George joked.
"Sorry, buddy," Mikey grinned.
"No worries, Mikey. We still love you," Fred opened his arms as if to embrace Mikey into a big hug, which was swiftly dodged. Skye laughed as Mikey began using her as a shield against Fred's hug attempts.
"Where did you guys end up hiding in the end? I couldn't see you at all on the way here," she inquired gazing over her shoulder.
"You wouldn't believe what we found!" Adam grinned. "That painting of the fruit bowl opens up to the kitchens."
"No way, how did you find that out?" Tabitha asked, obviously impressed with such a find.
"Adam's a clean freak. He was practically dusting the paintings while we waited. It was dead creepy when the painting started to laugh," Mikey explained with a shudder.
"For future note you tickle the pear, just so you don't go around cleaning it every time you get hungry," Fred grinned, lunging in to wrap himself around Mikey who squirmed in protest.
Skye was laughing at the scene until she was hit with a sudden feeling of panic. Someone was coming and it wasn't someone who was going to appreciate seeing twenty students happily chatting in the corridor past curfew.
"Someone's coming!" she warned. This caused everyone's face to drop as they stopped their conversation to listen for the approaching figure.
"I don't hear…" Adam was soon shushed by the group that was now on high alert.
Tabitha flashed her hand up in a quick wave goodbye before beginning to scout the way ahead. Skye gave a quick smile to the guys as they waited for the Gryffindors to clear the area before following Tabitha down the corridor. At the first intersection, Skye grabbed Tabitha's arm as she headed towards the way they had come.
"Not that way. We'll be caught," she whispered urgently.
"How do you know?" She questioned, eyebrows knit together. However, the whispered praise of Filch to Mrs Norris could be heard in the far distance. This caused the students gathered to exchange looks, which seemed to convey a free for all in an effort to escape potential consequences.
Tabitha grabbed Skye's hand and began pulling her in the direction of the common room at the heels of Fred, George and Angelina.
"Guys, you're dripping everywhere!" Tabitha gasped as she ran.
"Well, whose fault is that?" Fred shot back.
"Go left!" Skye called. Tabitha glanced at Skye unsure about taking her advice or following the others that had gone ahead. The answer seemed to come soon enough as the students heard the cries of 'students out of bed' from that direction. Fred and George seemed to gain speed at the drama, leaping in glee as they passed the girls by.
As they approached the portrait of the fat lady, they all gasped the password at her until she felt obliged to open the way to safety with a huff of frustration. Fred and George climbed in first, still dripping vinegar, as Angelina followed. Skye practically dived into the portrait hole in order to feel the lush red carpet under her fingers and was followed by Tabitha who tripped and landed on top of her.
"Bloody hell, Skye. Couldn't you find a better place to crash then right in front of the door?!" she got out between deep breaths. This was then followed by a squeal of success as Skye was embraced.
"I'd appreciate the hug more if you weren't crushing me," she breathed. "We are never doing that again."
"I make no promises," Tabitha smirked as rolled off Skye to brush herself off.
"Yeah, come on Skye where's your sense of adventure?" said Fred.
"Buried in a book," Tabitha muttered. Skye pouted at her.
"Well, it's time to start living the adventure, not just reading it," George grinned.
"Says the guy dripping vinegar on the carpet," Skye shot back.
"Good point. I'm heading off for a shower." George began to head off in the direction of the boys rooms, followed by Fred.
"Well accomplished girls, you've made them shower for the first time in a month," Angelina shouted, more to the benefit of the twins than the girls standing right next to them.
"Sleep tight," Fred replied, with a flash of a wicked grin. That didn't give Skye the best of feelings. They were now target number one and she could see the same logic had dawned on Angelina. Tabitha had probably come to the same conclusion, but looked delighted about having a target on her back.
"Well, I'm heading up too," Angelina yawned. "Night."
The two girls wished Angelina goodnight as she headed up the stairs. Skye began to follow, but was stopped by Tabitha.
"Hey, how did you know about Filch tonight?" The girl gazed at Skye quizzically.
"I don't know. It was like a gut feeling. It was like as soon as we considered to turn that way I had this horrible feeling we would get caught," she shrugged. "Does it matter?"
Tabitha only tilted her head in response, finally saying, "come on, let's go to bed".
Skye very much doubted that was the last she would hear on the subject.