A/N: AND WE'RE OFF! So begins the Goblet of Fire drabbles...

"Just where do you think you two are going?" the voice of their mother rang through the tent.

George looked to his brother and smiled sheepishly as they turned to face her. "Just thought we'd see if there's any good food out there!" he replied.

"We have dinner here," mother replied.

"Yeah, but we heard that Honeydukes set up a stand somewhere in the tent section," Fred added. "We have all those extra galleons to spend."

"Our hard-earned money," George said, jabbing Fred in the ribs.

Their mother rolled their eyes, but George knew that they had her. She couldn't complain if they were spending their own money. "Molly, if they want to waste their money on candy, let them!" their father cut in. "When they're broke for the Hogsmeade trip in the fall, they'll learn their lesson."

"Twenty minutes!" she exclaimed, sounding too tired to argue. George opened the tent for Fred and the two were out into the crowd again.

Adjusting his scarf, George took in the atmosphere again. "This has to be the best thing we've done in ages!" he exclaimed.

"I think everyone in the entire wizarding world is at this game," Fred said.

"That Honeydukes stand has to be somewhere towards the middle," George said, pushing through the crowds to get to what he thought had to be the middle of the tent area.

The twins pushed and roamed through the crowds for what felt like ages, taking in the smell of everyone cooking their diner, the music playing across the field, and the cheerfulness that they hadn't seen anywhere else. After who knows how long, they found the Honeydukes stand and bought as much candy as they could. "Save some for the others?" George had asked as he bit into a chocolate frog.

"No way!" Fred replied, stuffing the candy they couldn't eat into his pockets.

As they made their way back to the tent, George let his mind wander to the game they were going to watch that weekend. While he and Fred had always talked about opening their own joke shop, and George was set on it, he had always wondered what it would be like to be a professional Quidditch player- the fame, the fans cheering, being able to play Quidditch all day. He'd thought of it since he was a kid. Suddenly, Fred stopped short, pulling George from his thoughts. His twin ducked behind a tent, pulling George with him. "What is it?" George asked.

"Peek back around and see if you see who I see," Fred replied.

George grasped the edge of the red and yellow tent, leaning practically on top of Fred to see what he was looking at. A few feet in front of them, he saw Professors Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick seated around a fire, drinks in their hand. "Blimey!" George exclaimed, taking in the picture. "I know that they're people, but this is just weird to see."

"And I thought McGonagall's quidditch outfits were out of character for her," Fred snickered, motioning to their head of house who was in a green tartan dress with her signature witch's hat which was now also tartan print.

"Is Snape drinking?" George asked, widening his eyes as he saw the Potion's Master take a long swig out of a whiskey bottle.

"This is better than anything we ever saw on the map!" Fred exclaimed. "How easy do you think it would be to get closer and hear what they're saying?"

"Eh, not hard," George replied, finding that if they navigated it right, they could sneak around and get behind the professors' tent. "But, even if it is, it's worth the possibility of hearing a drunk Snape."

"Let's go!" Fred agreed, dragging George with him again. The two kept their heads down as the snuck around a few tents until they were able to get in the back of their tent. It was tough to hear them with the large crowd, but George remembered something he had in his pocket. Fishing among the candy wrappers, George felt what he was looking for. "The extendable ear!" Fred said when George proudly showed him.

George nodded. "This should do it." Carefully, he let the ear fall to the ground and watched with a smile as it crawled its way over to where the four professors sat. Fred leaned in, and they did their best to arrange the earpiece so they could both hear.

The first voice they heard was Professor Sprout's. "You better watch, Severus," she laughed. "Minerva is a high better."

"Oh, believe me," Snape replied. "After my most recent loss, we agreed not to make bets on the world cup."

"He's afraid to bet against me," McGonagall said with the familiar rivalry she had for school Quidditch games. "Paris did break the bank a bit."

George looked at Fred. "You think Snape and McGonagall went to Paris together?"

"No way in hell would she go with Snape anywhere," Fred said, shaking his head.

"You never did tell us how the trip was," Flitwick cut in.

"Oh, it was lovely!" McGonagall exclaimed, sounding more like a teenage girl than their strict professor. "It was only a weekend, but truly a nice break. We brought you all gifts; they're back in the castle!"

"I would have paid to see you drag Severus through Paris," Sprout laughed.

George thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. "McGonagall and Snape?"

"Paris?"

"He must have lost a really big bet," George added. "McGonagall is more devious than we thought, huh Fred?"

"Oui!" Fred replied with a smile.

"There's no pictures, Pomona," Snape replied, his voice as monotone as usual. But George was surprised by how friendly he was with the other professors. He'd always imagined Snape stayed in his dungeons all day. The idea of Snape being part of any staff bonding was laughable. Even at the few Order meetings that he and Fred had listened in on, Snape was his normal miserable self. Here he seemed different. Must have been the alcohol. "So, if you and Rolanda have any plans to raid either of our offices for them, save the trouble."

"You two didn't take on nice photo together?" Flitwick asked.

"Even if we did, it's ours," McGonagall jumped in. "Now, let's get inside. It's starting to get cold, and I would rather not be out here when all the young, inebriated fans come out."

The all laughed, and George pulled the ear back in. The two ran as quickly as they could away from the tent, stopping for a breath only when they were out of view. "Oh, we have to find that picture," Fred finally said, breathing heavily.

George laughed. "They said that they didn't take on."

"Oh, come on! Snape said that so that nobody would look. There's one. McGonagall would certainly keep that for blackmail if she needed it over Quidditch practices or scores. You know how she gets over Quidditch."

"True," George agreed as they made their way back to the tent, neither acknowledging how mad their mother would be at how long they'd been gone. "I guess we got ourselves a project this year, huh Fred?"

"Oui oui!"