𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐍 - 𝐡.𝐩.

15 | As The Sunlit Parts Of The Sea

A stone door concealed in a stretch of stone wall slid open and a Slytherin boy — Cassius Warrington to be exact — stepped out, frantically checking behind him to make sure no one was around. Fred and George didn't waste a minute; as quick as they could, they rushed in through the closing entrance with padded footsteps.

Both peered around in the dark to confirm that Warrington had been the only one awake before they burst into suppressed laughter.

"Think he's going to put his name in the goblet?" asked George, the charm fading off him.

"Probably... but even if he did, the goblet won't select a sissy like him." Fred rolled his eyes, coming into plain sight as he started making his way through the cold corridor. "Godric, it's freezing in here!" he added, rubbing his arms to gain some warmth.

George snorted softly, copying Fred's actions as they approached the end of the corridor. "No surprise there."

Six counted footsteps later, they found the Slytherin common room in its dark, mysterious glory. The serpents and green light were repelling to them but they couldn't deny that the entire room was a spectacular work of art. Everything from the ceiling right down to the tiniest artefact had been carved with stunning skill.

Fred started jumping giddily on his cold, bare feet. "We've done it, Georgie! We've just completed the most difficult stage of Operation Blue!"

"Operation Blue?" asked George, stifling his grin.

"We need a name for this epic prank!" Fred reasoned.

George nodded importantly in response then looked toward the two staircases. "Let's get down to business. Which one d'you think leads to the girls' dormitory?"

"We'll find out soon enough," said Fred, "you go right; I'll go left."

And so, with a simultaneous colloquial nod, George went left and Fred went right.

They returned from their respective destinations in a matter of moments — Fred shook his head while George was overcome with giddiness — he had safely gone up the stairs (apparently they didn't turn into a slide) and found Gemini asleep in her bed. He took Fred by the wrist and pulled him up to the Slytherin girls' dorm at once.

Upon entering the faintly lit room, basking in the lake's moonlit green hue, they found five girls — Pansy Parkinson on the middle bed, tangled in her sheets; Tracey Davis on one of her sides, Daphne Greengrass on the other; Millicent Bulstrode was lying face-first onto her pillow in one corner.

On the other end of the room, they found their victim.

Gemini was comfortably tucked into her emerald sheets, dark hair open for once and spread over her pillow like mist.

"Is it just me, or do you feel like we're being terrible to her?" said George in the softest of whispers, finding it hard to tear his eyes from the sight of her. "I mean — look at her, she's so precious!"

Fred patted his shoulder. "It's just you."

George sighed. He pulled out his wand from his sleeve, pointed it at Gemini's hair and muttered, "Colovaria," with a fluent swish of his wrist.

Gemini's hair turned a bright shade of blue-green, and she twitched in her sleep. The twins froze at her movement, then released a muted sigh when she didn't move any further. They quickly rushed to her trunk and put a silencing charm on it as they opened it.

They spotted her uniform — ironed and neatly folded — and with the same charm, turned her black robes a brilliant shade of lime green. They muttered a few more charms to make sure the spell didn't come off, and giggling at the queer sight, left her dorm and the Slytherin common room.