Chapter 3: Pranks and Decisions

Author's Note: I hope you are all enjoying the story. For those that say fics with an age difference are disgusting…this fic is not for you.

The next morning Athena was excited with the prospect of the new year. She had gone over the work loads for all of her classes and knew that she would be able to train as an animagus and help Professor Snape with brewing potions for the school. She decided that if her animagus lessons would take place on Thursdays she would speak to Professor Snape about either Mondays or Fridays for the potion assessments. She made it to her Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Quirrell with time to spare and ran into Fred and George mid scheme.

"Please tell me I will not be accosted in the middle of one of Professor Quirrell's lessons," she laughed as she watched the twins scramble to hide evidence of any wrong doing.

"Of course you would show up early," Fred teased.

"You should be used to it by now," she looked at the colored chalk on George's hands, "just please make sure you aim whatever it is away from me."

"The professors have us all wrong," George chimed in with a grin.

"They think you are the one influencing us," Fred supplied.

"But little do they know that we are the ones influencing you," George finished looking with pride at Athena.

"I would say I have influenced you both to think before you decide to blow up the school with a stink bomb," she shivered remembering the smell in the Gryffindor common room last term.

"Oh we agree," Fred pulled a contraption out of his bag, "we definitely think about our hijinks before we strike."

"You may have made us more dangerous," George said before placing a hand on her shoulder, "we actually put thought into how not to get caught."

"And we've noticed how you laugh at most of our pranks," Fred was now passing the contraption to his brother, "and how you let us get away with things as long as we agree to spare your precious books and notes."

"It's only fair," she tried to inspect the gadget but was blocked by George moving towards the open classroom door with it now hidden under his jumper, "I have helped you out of a couple of predicaments."

"Filch was genuinely confused when all of the evidence disappeared after a few minutes," Fred stared off into space as their last prank played out in his mind.

"No one would guess that the brilliant Athena Potter would use her studies to assist the dark side," George called over his shoulder as he beckoned his brother into the classroom, "I need cover to place it without anyone seeing."

"Any chance you want to help us with a disillusionment charm?"

The cheeky smile that she knew so well was smiling back at her from both pranksters. Shaking her head while rolling her eyes, she waved her wand quickly over the mysterious contraption and it was suddenly blending into George's hands.

"I could kiss you, Thena," Fred looked at her before moving into position to watch for incoming students.

"Which one are you again?" she stuck her tongue out as she teased him and watched him clutch his chest with false sadness in his eyes.

"That one hurt," he pouted before giving the all clear to his brother.

"So what exactly did I just help you hide?" Athena took her seat and watched the masterminds at work.

"We learned about these confetti cannons that muggles use," George was now explaining from underneath Quirrell's desk.

"We thought it would be interesting to make one of our own with a color changing dust," Fred gave him a signal to hurry up and she could hear the sounds of children coming down the hall.

"So you are going to set off a dust bomb?" Athena sounded unimpressed and if she was being honest, she was a little disappointed that this was their big back to term prank.

"She's sounds so uninspired," George was now done and making his way to the seat just to the left of Athena, "how far we have fallen."

"She is so smart in all other aspects," Fred took his seat on her right, "do you really think we would just use any ol' dust?"

"I figured you were bound to fail at some point," that earned her scoffs from both sides.

"The dust is a unique mixture of our own creation," Fred pointed to his temple as if to indicate he had a brilliant idea.

"We did borrow an idea from the muggles beyond the confetti cannon," George pulled out a container labeled 'Itching Powder.'

"On top of that," George pointed at the hidden device, "the dust is designed to only fade after the target makes their way through the rainbow of colors."

"Each one lasts about a day, and we are trying to modify it so the more you try to clean it off the longer it stays," the excitement in Fred's voice was a almost unnerving.

"We are waiting to perfect that for Snape," George said.

"It is fascinating how much joy you get out of messing with people," she said while getting out parchment and her books, "especially Professor Snape."

"Not all of us can be his favorite," George countered.

"Are you sure you aren't a secret Slytherin?" Fred asked while narrowing his eyes at her, "Cause he doesn't like anyone other than you and Slytherins."

Athena gave him a firm punch to his left arm and laughed as he pretended to be hurt.

"We will tell Professor McGonagall to pack your things and move you into his house," George offered a fake sincerity as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Or maybe we could just move you into his chambers," Fred teased, but he did slightly gag on his own words.

"Oh shove off," she blushed and regretted the night of contraband fire whiskey that had led her to confess a slight crush on the Potions Master.

"We still love you, Thena," the comment came from George but he was ducking behind his book to avoid the swing that was headed his way.

They would have teased her longer if it weren't for the rest of the class arriving. All of the students were in their seats and waiting for Professor Quirrell but he was nowhere to be seen. About 10 minutes later he came stumbling in with several books falling out of his hands.

"S-s-s-sorry I'm late," he stuttered before coming to a halt in front of his desk, "P-P-P-Peeves decided to to to make my morning d-d-difficult."

The class chuckled at the flustered professor but soon quieted down as he began to teach. They were about half way through their talk on Vampires, which was a particularly delicate topic with Quirrell, when Fred and George leaned slightly back in their seats distancing themselves from the desk. Taking the subtle cue, Athena leaned back slightly and waited for the inevitable.

"Three…" George whispered.

"Two…" Fred was giddy with apprehension.

"One…" the twins said in unison.

Quirrell had just turned to write something on the board when a loud 'BOOM' rang out in the class room and a cloud of dust burst from underneath his desk and engulfed him. Everyone tried hard not to laugh and several of the students failed miserably. Quirrell was frozen in the middle of the cloud and stayed motionless for almost a full minute before they heard a stifled cough.

"W-who is responsible for this?" he said with a trembling voice.

Everyone stayed quiet as their professor looked out across the room searching for some sign of guilt. He suddenly started to twitch before the urge to scratch overwhelmed him. He was soon spinning around in circles trying to reach the itch on his back that was incredibly irritating.

"Class di-di-dismissed," he said before retreating into his office in the corner of his classroom.

The class cheered and discreetly congratulated the twins on their way out. By the time they made it to Potions, the whole school had heard about their antics. Athena had laughed with them as they speculated what Quirrell would look like in orange tomorrow.

"50 points from Gryffindor," the voice they all knew so well said from behind them as they entered the classroom.

"For what Professor?" George asked incredulously.

"Don't think me as daft as Professor Quirrell," their professor said as he walked past them towards the front of the classroom.

"I guess that was fun while it lasted," Fred lowered his head in disappointment.

Athena took pity on them and grabbed each of them by their elbow to pull them close, "At least you still have a couple of days as Quirrell makes his way through the rainbow."

The twins grinned as they realized she was right. They has really thought of a prank that would bring joy to everyone every time they laid their eyes on Quirrell.

"We knew there was a reason we kept you around, Thena!"

Fred pressed a light kiss to the top of her head before letting her lead them to their desks. George and Fred preferred to sit further back from the front, so they were in the row directly behind Athena. It was still too close for their liking, but their friend had convinced them to sit near her when she offered to help them with the class. They were pretty good with any subject that helped them with their pranks, but every now and then they needed some assistance with some of the more difficult potions.

The class went by quickly with only another 30 points being taken from Gryffindor. Athena was able to offset it slightly by earning 10 back with another perfect potion. Most of the students left as soon as they were dismissed, hoping to not catch any more detentions or deductions from the Potions Master. The twins looked towards Athena, but once she waved them off, they rolled their eyes and made a hasty exit.

She took her time in packing up her belongings as she waited for Professor Snape to emerge from the store room where he was putting away some ingredients from the lesson and bringing out more for his next section. She noticed a couple of cauldrons that still needed to be cleaned out and quickly cast a scourgify on what remained and made sure they were placed back on the tables for the incoming class.

"I take that as you deciding to accept my offer," Severus' voice caught her off guard.

"I actually just don't like clutter," she smiled, "but as it happens, yes I have decided to accept your offer. After getting Professor McGonagall's approval, I realized that I would be foolish not to accept."

"Are you certain?" Severus asked with genuine interest, "it will require a great deal of work outside of your classes. And if you decide to pursue your animagus training, it will be even more difficult to manage your studies."

"I understand, Professor," Athena had thought about it all night last night, and knew that she could make it all work, "Professor McGonagall wants to have animagus lessons on Thursday nights, so I can work with you either Mondays or Fridays after classes so I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays to complete my homework."

"Unfortunately," Severus sat down at his desk and beckoned her to take a seat across from him, "when things begin to pick up, I usually brew twice a week and collect any needed ingredients on the weekend."

"That's expected," she nodded, "that's why I planned for either Monday or Friday, or both during the Quidditch season. I figured if I know ahead of time when it would be busy, I can plan accordingly."

Severus looked at his student and considered her answer. It would be difficult to accomplish both and as much as he was thinking he should tell her to wait until next term, he did have a soft spot for her. If she wanted to do it, then who was he to stop her? And Minerva had already agreed that she could handle both. Plus, it would allow both of them to monitor her workload and the effects of the animagus training.

"If you are certain, then we can start with Fridays. When would you like to brew the evaluation potions?"

"Does this Friday work?" Athena had looked over the basic potions and felt confident in her abilities to brew them, and tonight she would go over the books he lent her to ensure she was ready.

"Will you be prepared?" Severus was a bit taken aback by her readiness.

"Professor, I read textbooks during my summer since I'm not allowed out of my room," she laughed but stopped when she saw the concerned look on his face.

"You're not allowed out of your room?"

"My aunt and uncle are not a fan of magic," she said sheepishly, "so the solution to any accidental 'freakishness' is to keep us out of the public eye. I don't think most people know that they have a niece and nephew."

Severus immediately resisted the urge to march right up to Petunia and remind her that the only reason she was so miserable is because she was jealous of Lily getting her Hogwarts letter. He could remember vividly how heart broken Lily was when her own sister renounced her out of jealousy.

"Well," he cleared his throat and composed his thoughts, "you are very talented and well read. I am sure that you would be able to pass the evaluation right now if I gave it to you. I will see you Friday after classes. You will not need to bring any of your supplies. I will allow you to use my brewing station to complete the test."

"Thank you, Professor!" Athena shot up from her chair, "I won't let you down."

"I wouldn't expect you to, Ms. Potter," there was a softness in his voice that very few knew existed.

"I will be here as soon as I can on Friday," she smiled at him one last time before gathering her belongings and leaving.

Severus sat looking down at his desk. He knew that Lily's relationship with her sister had only degraded over the years, and he had admired Lily for the strength she had to still remain as kind as she was in the face of so much hatred. He never thought that Petunia would stoop as low as to take it out on the children of her late sister. Now that he thought about it though, he wondered if the animosity was due to the fact that they survived and she didn't.

He knew he would need to talk to both Albus and Minerva about her home life. He understood that Albus had his reasons, but it might warrant a check up every now and then. And if Albus wouldn't do anything, he knew he could count on Minvera helping him. He was thinking a visit to the Dursley's may go a long way in making them realize the kids were not the ones they should be afraid of.

Hopefully he would be able to help her. And hopefully one day he would get a grip on his emotions around her. It would only get harder to hide his bias as they started to work together. Friday would be the true test of his poker face.

TBC…