"Oh come on, you don't really think Fred would do something, do you?" Hermione asked, putting her arm on the page she was reading, holding her place.
Ron and I looked to each other, the looks on our faces straight as ever. We looked back to Hermione. "Yes." We said in unison.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I were all situated at our usual table in the library, all the way in the back. Classes had ended for the day and we were all having a study session.
Well, Hermione and I were. Ron and Harry had just tagged along.
"It can't be that bad, right?" Harry questioned, not believing the words that came out of his mouth either.
We sat in nervous silence for a moment, my leg bouncing under the table.
"What's got you lot all worried?" George said, walking up to our group. His forehead was bandaged, his arm still in a cast, but other than that, he'd pretty much healed overnight thanks to Madame Pomfrey's wonderful work.
I turned to Ron and leaned in. "Should we tell him?" I whispered. Ron only shrugged.
"Your brother is thinking of doing something stupid." Hermione said, not looking up from her book.
"Aren't they always? And which one?" George said, taking a seat next to me. The table was silent once again. No one wanted to tell George about what Fred had said. "Well? Come on now, don't leave a guy in the dark."
"Fred is. He said something about wanting to make the Slytherin's pay for what they did." I spit out. The group looked at me, astonished. "Sorry." I mumbled.
"Is that what you're all worried about?" George laughed. "Freddie wouldn't do something too drastic. Whatever he's got planned will be harmless and, let's face it, it'll be funny."
The group didn't seem to think so. "I don't know George. He seemed really angry. He had this look on his face that I've never seen before. It was scary, how serious he was." I said, nervousness lacing my voice.
Anxiety filled George's face. "I'll talk to him." He said solemnly. Again, the table filled with silence. No one seemed to be in the mood to talk.
I twiddled my thumbs and Ron sat next to me, whistling. It filled the silence between everyone at the table. I could feel George bouncing his leg underneath the table.
"Ahem." Hermione cleared her throat. She glared daggers at Ron. His whistling stopped and he looked at her with confusion. Hermione rolled her eyes, just thankful that Ron had stopped whistling.
Ron looked around the table, still confused. He went back to whistling, which caused Hermione to clear her throat once more.
"What?" Ron said, confused as ever.
"I'm-"
BANG!
We all jumped and turned to the library doors, beyond which the loud noise had come.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron questioned.
"I think I know." I quickly stood up, rushing out of the library. The group followed, all of us rushing into the Great Hall.
BANG!
We all looked around, looking for where the sound had come from.
"Sounds like the dungeons." Hermione said. I could see worry cross everyone's face as we all rushed to the dungeons.
We rushed down the steps, Slytherin students pushing past us. Smoke quickly filled the stairwell and it became hard to see.
"You'll pay for this Weasley!" A voice yelled. Fred emerged from the smoke, coming from Slytherin common room.
"Fred! What the bloody hell are you doing?" Ron said, worry lacing his voice.
"Exactly what I said I would." Fred smirked.
"You git! You could get expelled!" I said, smacking him upside the head.
"Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head.
"At worst, he'll be given detention. McGonagall expects this from us at this point." George said between coughs.
We all ran back up the stars, waving our hands frantically. The smoke was beginning to clear as we reached the top of the stairs.
"What'd you do anyway?" Harry asked as we reached the top of the stairs.
"Well-" Fred began.
"Weasley!" A woman's voice spoke. A female student who I'd never seen before emerged from the smoke. Her eyes landed on Fred. "I'll kill you!"
"That." Fred said, laughing.
"You didn't." George said, beginning to laugh as well.
"Yup."
The female student dove at Fred, but he jumped out of the way. The more I looked at her, the more familiar she looked. I couldn't quite place my finger on it.
"Is that?" Harry questioned.
"Yup. The bloody git who shoved me off my broom." Students had begun to gather. They all looked at the student, as her face grew red.
The female student chased Fred down the hallway and we all watched as Fred took off around the corner.
The rest of the students followed, eager to see the outcome of Fred's prank. Our group stayed put.
"But the Slytherin Beaters are both male." Ron said.
"Yup." George said.
Our small group burst into laughs. George had been right; this was funny.
"I'm quite impressed. A potion like that takes months to brew." Hermione said as our laughter died down.
"It's probably not strong. Took him a few hours, at most. The potion will most likely only last a few minutes." George explained.
Fred came bounding around the corner. "Think I lost him." Fred turned to George. "You should've seen his face when he drank that potion Georgie. He was raging mad."
"Slipped it into his drink, did ya?" George said, elbowing Fred.
Fred only nodded, smiling as he did.
"Wait, if all you did was slip it into his drink, what were those loud bangs?" I asked.
"Smoke bombs. Fred and I keep a couple on us most times. They're loud and create a lot of smoke. Perfect for a get away."
"Fred Weasley! My office! Now!" Professor McGonagall stood in the entrance of the hallway, holding back a few laughs herself.
"That's my cue. Au revoir!" With a dramatic wave, Fred swiftly turned himself around, McGonagall following him all the way to her office.
----------------------------
I sat at the dinner table, retelling the events of Fred's prank to the girls.
"And then he just strutted off to McGonagall's office like he was in no trouble at all." I said, finishing the story.
Emmie smirked from behind her book. "Struts does he?"
"I do! But only on the rarest of occasions." Fred said, leaning his head over Emmie's shoulder. He took a seat between Emmie and me, even though I knew he'd already eaten at the Gryffindor table.
"Rare occasions my arse. Struts around like a damn peacock." George joked as he sat on my other side. The girls at the table all looked towards Fred.
"What?" He asked, feigning cluelessness.
"You know what! Tell us how you did it!" Tonks asked, leaning across the table in curiosity and excitement.
"Famous already, am I?" Fred said smugly.
"You wish." George and I said in unison.
The group at the table leaned in as Fred sat in silence, driving the table absolutely mad with anticipation.
"Oh come on. A prankster never reveals how he pulls a prank." Fred said, winking.
"We all know you're brimming with the urge to tell someone, so just get it over with already!" Emmie said, smacking Fred lightly with the book she'd been reading. She put her bookmark into the book, closing it as she did. Fred now had her full attention, something, unbeknownst to Fred, he had quite often.
"Well it was quite easy, slipping in. You'd think it wouldn't be, seeing as it's password protected. But all you gotta do is slip in when two gits aren't looking and boom. You're in."
Fred had the tables full attention as he retold the story. He'd slipped in, undetected. The Slytherin Beater had been bragging to his friends about how they would've won had George not been there. Fred had slipped the potion into the water he'd been drinking. A sip and a few moments later and the boys' face had begun to change. Fred had taken a picture and that's what had made him catch everyone's attention. He'd been prepared though, and had lit a smoke bomb, aiding his get away.
"Something bout pranks is that you've gotta be quick and sneaky." Fred explained.
"You've got a limited window of time to pull the prank. If you miss that window, you're screwed." George said.
"I see. Good to know." Tonks said, making a mental note.
"Look Freddie. We're aiding the next generation." George joked.
"Hell yeah!" They high fived over my head, the grins on their faces wide as I'd ever seen.
"You two are bloody insane." Emmie said whilst laughing. She reopened her book, but the book wasn't able to hide the smile on her face.
"Insane, am I?" Fred said, shoving his face in hers.
"Totally." Emmie quipped, shoving him lightly in the shoulder.
George nudged me, smirking. He mouthed I ship it.
I mouthed back Me too.
"So what's the punishment?" I said, sadly interrupting Fred and Emmie.
Fred took a moment, not wanting to tear his gaze away from Emmie and her giggles. He finally turned around to answer me. "Two weeks detention for my 'very cruel, very bad, not at all good, bloody awful prank'." Fred did his best to impersonate McGonagall as he quoted her.
"Bloody awful? More like bloody brilliant!" Tonks exclaimed."You guys have to show me how you pull pranks."
"I don't know. What makes you think you can prank like the big boys?" Fred asked jokingly.
"I can keep up. Trust me." Tonks said.
"That's pretty compelling. What do you say George?"
"I'd say we have an apprentice on our hands."
Tonks celebrated her new apprenticeship by doing the thing she did best: eating.
As dinner winded down, George stopped me before I began heading back to my dorm.
"Hey, I've got something to show you."