After reading your reviews of the story and your many requests for a sequel… I changed my mind and wrote some more. Enjoy!

XXXX

It was the start of the school year and the autumn season opened brightly to the fresh group of children ready for new things to learn and old lessons to remember at Hogwarts. Only a few were dreading their return to school.

One of them was Ginny Weasley.

After an embarrassing summer filled with an equally embarrassing situation, Ginny was only too happy to escape it all during the new term. Unfortunately, news about what had happened spread as fast as George and Fred's product, Love Sick Chocolates: Guaranteed lovesickness at first sight or your Galleons back!

"I can't believe you're selling those after what happened! Didn't mom confiscate all that stuff?" Ginny found out about the chocolates through Lavender and Parvati, who were giggling over their new purchase and trying to decide who to use it on first. They had finally decided on one of the older Ravenclaw Quidditch players when Ginny spied them then marched right up to Fred and George in the common room.

"We just made more of the stuff." Fred answered.

"Yeah, it's not like the chocolates are hard to make and you'd be surprised where we get the ingredients from." George answered.

"Well, I'm going to report you to the Prefect and make you stop this nonsense once and for all." Ginny threatened them.

"No, don't do that." Fred immediately stuffed a small box out of sight when George stepped in front of him.

"If you do that then we won't be able to share the profits with you." He took out two gold Galleons and rubbed them together in front of Ginny's face. "You were our inspiration, after all." Fred chimed in, "We couldn't have done it without you."

Ginny fumed, "Ugh! I'm still going to report you." She took a closer look at the Galleons, they were real enough. "Were those from Lavender and Parvati?"

The twins grinned.

"I didn't know they had that much money—how much are you charging for that?"

"Oh come on, Ginny. It's a real bargain! And for some of these people, it's their first taste of love." Fred pleaded.

"You wouldn't want to deny them their first taste, would you?" George colluded.

"From what I've had of it, it didn't taste all that great and if that's their only experience of love—I'd say you're ripping them off." Ginny stormed off to search for Hermione, the new Prefect.

"What a spoil sport." Fred resignedly sighed.

"Just because she had the bad luck of eating those near Snape…"George sniffed. "Never mind her then."

"Wait a minute…" Fred stopped his brother, "She ate them near us, not Snape. And how come it was only Snape she fell for? Moody and Sirius were around there too—"

"Shush about Irius-ay okay?" George cut in.

"Oh right," Fred lowered his voice to a whisper, "How come only Snape then?"

George looked at his brother for a moment and thought. Nothing came to him so he shrugged his shoulders and clapped a hand on Fred's back. "Kismet."

Fred gave an unconvinced look.

XXXX

Ginny had to look for Hermione which ordinarily wouldn't have been much of a task but there were a lot of first years running around and being the Prefect required a lot of responsibility. Ginny wanted to avoid as many of them as possible but it was too much to hope for as she made her way past the common room.

Whispered giggles and outright conversations followed her around the room.

"Hey, isn't that Ginny Weasley? Didn't she used to have a crush on Harry Potter?" One of the fourth year girls asked.

"Yeah, but I heard she has a crush on Snape now." Another answered.

"No way!"

More laughter.

Ginny was turning red with embarrassment when she finally found Hermione reprimanding a couple of third years.

"You're not allowed to do that with salamanders! Now take it out—I don't care if it's a fire salamander, you shouldn't be sticking fireworks in its mouth—besides fireworks aren't allowed in the common room and yes the rule does count when it's inside something else!"

Ginny waited until Hermione was finished.

"Oh really, there's so much to do and I haven't even gone over my charms homework yet."

"It's our first week, Hermione." Ginny answered her distracted conversation while they were walking. Hermione was still patrolling the area.

"Yes, but you know our O.W.L.S. are coming up soon." Hermione did a double take on two first years who had quickly shoved a box out of sight. "All right, let's see it."

The two boys laughed and asked her, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure now hand it over!" Hermione reached for the box but when the two boys opened it she jerked back as if it had bit her. Inside the box was a three-headed snake.

Ginny thought she had seen something like that before when she remembered where. It was in Hagrid's class about Magical Creatures. It was a Runespoor, a three-headed magical snake whose eggs were used in magical potions for mental agility.

"Hey, you're not supposed to have that! Where'd you get it?" Ginny demanded.

"Hagrid told us we could look after it until he got back." One of the boys glared at Hermione.

"Yeah, and it's just a baby so it won't bite us anyway." The other boy looked familiar to Ginny and then she remembered who it was. It was Dennis Creevy, Colin Creevy's brother. She had mistaken him as a first year because of his small size.

"Well then, just keep it in it's box." Hermione made a quick dash away from the snake and Ginny followed.

Hermione seemed lost in thought and Ginny remembered what she was going to say. "Oh, George and Fred are selling those Love Chocolates, I think you should confiscate them."

"What?" Hermione frowned.

"Remember?" Ginny sighed and told Hermione about what had happened during the summer when George and Fred had given her Love Chocolates, although they hadn't known then what it would do, and Ginny had unbelievably fallen for Snape.

"Oh right. Sorry, I did listen to you but my mind was somewhere else."

"Right, the O.W.L.S. ." Ginny nodded. "We have plenty of time, you know."

"Yes, if you say that then it just creeps up behind you and then you're totally un-prepared!" Hermione stopped. "I should get started now…" She suddenly veered toward the girls dormitory, leaving Ginny alone in the common room.

"I guess I should tell Ron then." Ginny sighed and went after Ron. She hadn't wanted to tell him about Fred and George's latest invention of the Love Chocolates but figured he may as well find out eventually.

Unfortunately, it was not from Ginny that Ron got the news.

XXXX

"Can you believe it? A Weasley, of all wizards, falling for Professor Snape?" A nasty round of chuckles sounded, followed by a high-pitched squeal from Pansy Parkinson.

"Poor Professor Snape!" Pansy cried.

"I know, first she goes after that Potter and now this! Watch out, she'll be going for that Dumbledore next!"

Cruel laughter filled the air as Ron and Harry walked by the Quidditch field. Obviously the conversation was meant to be heard and the Slytherins hadn't bothered to keep it in their lockers. Draco Malfoy, his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, along with Pansy Parkinson were shrieking the news of Ginny and her unfortunate crush on Professor Snape.

"What're you talking about?" Ron stood in the middle of the field, staring Draco down as the blood crept up to his ears. His fists were balled up and he was ready to fight.

"Whatever false rumor you're spreading about Ginny isn't true, so you'd better stop it." Harry stepped in to defend Ron, just in case things would get out of control. It was after Quidditch practice and Harry wasn't in the mood for a tussle but if Draco was going to insult Ginny, he wasn't going to stand for it.

"But it is true, Potter! So sorry to tell you this but your girlfriend Ginny has fallen for our Professor Snape." Draco grinned maliciously.

"What're you talking about?" Ron unknowingly repeated himself, stepping closer to Draco.

"It's all over the school." Pansy chimed in and smirked. "Everybody knows Ginny has a crush on Professor Snape, well everybody except you two, that is." She gave a simpering laugh that made Harry's skin crawl. It sounded exactly like Umbridge's laugh.

"All right, that's it." Ron stomped over to Draco and got into his face. "You better tell me what's going on or I'm going to take a leaf from the Whomping Willow and whomp your face to a pulp!" Ron's whole face was red to his ears but Draco surprisingly stood his ground.

"Why don't you ask your two brothers, the Weasley twins, about it? Wasn't it their idea for their stupid products?"

Ron's face went into a blank before Harry asked, "Where did you hear that from?"

"I didn't hear it, Scarface, I saw it." Draco sneered as Harry bristled from the use of that bad nickname. "They were selling the stupid chocolates all around school."

"Come on, Ron. Let's go." Harry pulled Ron back from Draco.

More cruel laughter followed them as they made their way across the school grounds. Finally, Ron spoke up.

"I'm going to have a talk with those two."

Harry didn't like the sound of that.

XXXX

It was just before supper when Ginny came to the dinning room.

The candles in the dinning room were lit and were floating along above the tables while the ghosts of the halls glided by as they always did when the students were gathering. Normally, Ginny felt at ease here but now she sat with worry knotting up her stomach. She hadn't found her brother, Ron, and she hadn't had a chance to talk to him all summer. He had been locked up in his room either with Harry or by himself somewhere.

Ginny was just about to get up and leave when, of all people, Luna Lovegood came striding up beside her.

"Hello." She gazed at Ginny with her big eyes.

"Um, hello." Ginny answered back and didn't know what else to say.

"I heard you like Professor Snape." Luna said bluntly.

"Oh, right, you and everyone else in this school…" Ginny sighed and put her head in her hands.

Luna sat down next to Ginny, suddenly leaning toward her and in a conspiratorial whisper said, "I think he's cute."

Ginny snapped her head up and stared before uttering a loud, "WHAT?"

Luna began twirling a piece of her long blond hair in her hand and undeterred, answered, "He seems so dark and lonely, I wonder what he's really like."

Ginny sat there with her mouth open, gaping at Luna. "You can't be serious…"

"I am." Luna gazed off into the distance. "I bet if he washed his hair and brushed his teeth, he could be really handsome…"

Just as Ginny was about to shake her head and make an excuse to leave, Luna looked up past the tables and nodded.

"Here he comes now."

Ginny put a hand to the side of her face and hid herself as much as she could away from Snape's gaze.

"I wonder what he's thinking of…" Luna gazed where Ginny didn't dare and watched as the dark and mysterious Professor Snape stormed in and took his seat at the teacher's table.

XXXX

I hate you.

This was the first thought to enter said Professor's head as he stormed into the dinning room and sat facing the enormous hall filled with students.

However, it wasn't Ginny who was on his mind but a more detestable character making her way in not far enough from him.

The woman, Dolores Umbridge, had seated herself with much trouble and fussing next to Dumbledore, whose eccentric dress and hat concealed most of the ugly view of the stupid woman.

Severus was only too glad to be seated on the opposite side of that woman.

And once again, news of what was supposed to be his Dark Arts job was given to someone else. To this stupid simpering woman who jabbered on and on about what Hogwarts is really supposed to be.

Severus' next thought was,

I really, really hate you.

He looked directly at the Headmaster.

Dumbledore wasn't looking at him but seemed to be thoroughly engaged in something on his plate.

Severus looked out into the sea of mindless masses, also known as Hogwarts finest students, who were now looking like the drooling nincompoops Severus really knew them to be as they listened to Umbridge's never-ending sprawl of words that were coming out of her ever-open mouth.

His next thought was,

When is this going to end?

When the long droning speech was finally over, everyone was glad to get back to their plates of food.

However, dinner did not satisfy him but settled uneasy in his stomach. He looked back at Dumbledore who was cheerfully chatting away to the unspeakable woman and she was actually smiling back.

If you could call that frog-lipped grimace a smile.

He felt that if he stared at Umbridge any longer, his dinner would come up his throat, so he quickly looked away to a more pleasing sight.

The Slytherins were at their table laughing away at some joke.

No doubt, the witty and entertaining Draco Malfoy is at it again.

Snape smiled to himself, which to be honest, resembled nothing more than a twitch at the mouth.

Draco was huddled over to the others at his table and they were raptly listening until Draco burst out laughing, they followed suit and watched him as he pointed to the Gryffindor table.

Severus assumed they were making fun of Potter again, which was just fine with him. However, when he saw a red headed girl glaring back at Draco, Severus looked closely and realized Draco was pointing at Ginny Weasley, the sister of the troublesome Weasley twins.

For a brief moment, the girl took her angry gaze away from Draco then glanced at Severus before quickly hiding her red face behind her hand. She hunched down low, as if she wanted to disappear completely.

What's this all about?

Severus looked back at the Slytherin table to Draco and met his eyes. The boy suddenly stopped laughing and went back to his food.

He had finally deduced the cause of the laughter and Severus was not amused.

XXXX

It was after dinner and the students were going back to their common rooms. The Hufflepuffs had gone off to the other side while the Slytherins went into their quarters past the dungeons.

Draco and his gang were hanging past the rest of the group, talking amongst themselves, when someone came up from behind and grabbed Draco's shoulder.

He jumped in surprise and turned around to see Professor Snape staring back at him.

"I want to talk with you." The head of Slytherin House did not look pleased.

"What is it, Professor?" Draco inquired while Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson hung around.

"I want to speak to you alone." Draco felt himself being ushered along forcefully by Snape as they headed back the way they came, up the dungeons.

When they had reached the top of the bottom stairs, Snape turned around and looked Draco in the eyes. It felt like his mind was being read as his Professor stared at him then finally spoke.

"What have you been saying to the others about Ginny Weasley?"

"Well, I thought you knew, Professor." Draco laughed but Snape crossed his arms in front of him and stood his ground, so Draco continued, "That Weasley girl has a rather bad crush on you, sir. Her stupid brothers made quite an experiment on her, from what I heard from Pansy—who heard it in the girl's bathroom from Lavender and Parvati, who had bought the chocolates from the Weasley twins."

Professor Snape tapped his foot impatiently then said, "And what did you tell them about her bad crush on me?"

Here Draco faltered. "Well, I don't really know first hand—what I mean is, I heard it from Pansy who head it from—"

"Yes, I know! What else have you been saying?" Snape glared at him.

"That Ginny's still in love with you, sir." Draco finally blurted out.

"What?" Professor Snape unfolded his arms then took a step toward Draco who backed down a step and then another as Snape advanced upon him on the stairs.

"Uh… I mean she's still infatuated, no, I mean she likes you or—" Draco cowered back against the wall. He braced his hands against his face as he saw Snape raise his hand to him. "Please don't hurt me…"

Severus placed his hand on the wall beside the cowering boy's face.

"Stop that now." He saw to his chagrin that Draco was still cowering even though he had lowered his arms. "I'm not going to hit you. However, I'm very disappointed that you're spreading false rumors."

Draco spoke up surprisingly, "It's not a rumor. Pansy heard it from Lavender and Parvati who heard it from the Weasley twins that Ginny fell head-over-heels for you during the summer while eating those Love Chocolates."

"And why would I ever be in contact with that girl during the summer?" Severus leaned into Draco who frowned. It hadn't occurred to the boy to question his source of gossip and bit of mischief-making fun.

Of course, if there was any proof of the Weasley girl and him meeting outside of school, then Severus would have a very serious problem indeed. No one, outside the Order of the Phoenix, was supposed to know about their contact with each other while on business for the Order.

"Um… I don't know, sir." Draco stared up at him.

"Then it's probably a lie, isn't it?" Severus noted with satisfaction that there was a reasonable doubt on Draco's mind about the messy situation. "Don't believe everything you hear, especially from an unreliable source such as Parkinson or the Weasley twins. They were most likely amusing themselves at the expense of their sister and myself." He emphasized this most clearly to Draco who finally got the message.

"I'm sorry, sir. I won't speak of it again. I'll tell the others to stop talking about it."

Severus nodded then backed off from Draco. "Stand up and stop slouching. You're the Slytherin Prefect, don't forget that."

"Yes, sir." Draco followed suit and his usual haughty self was in place as he straightened himself up.

"I'll see you in class, tomorrow."

Severus watched as Draco left for his dormitory and silently cursed the Weasley twins for making such a big mess. Leave it to them to turn an ordinarily harmless prank into a major threat, not just for Severus, but for the Order of the Phoenix, and possibly the whole school itself.

He had to speak to Dumbledore about this.

XXXX

"I want to talk to you two!"

Ron was fuming at George and Fred who were sitting near the fire.

He was still wearing his uniform and had not even bothered to wipe his feet as he tracked mud into the Gryffindor common room. Harry followed behind him and watched with dismay as Ron went up to his brothers.

"What do you think you're doing telling false rumors about Ginny being in love with Snape? Do you think that's funny? Having my sister be in love with a big git like that? Why are you telling everyone that Ginny is in love with SNAPE?"

A crowd of Gryffindors were watching the whole scene.

"Well, if they didn't know about it before—" Fred started.

"They sure do now!" George finished. "What're you getting upset at us for? We didn't start any rumor!"

"I heard it from Malfoy that Ginny loves Snape!" Ron threw down his Quidditch gloves and bent down into George's face. "They were all talking about it and laughing!"

"Now wait a minute, we didn't tell anyone that!" Fred interjected.

"We just told Lavender and Parvati that the chocolates really work because when Ginny ate them, she fell for Snape." George said.

"That's the SAME THING!" Ron looked like he was about to erupt from so much anger.

"No, it's not. Ginny doesn't love Snape, it was just the chocolates, and anyway they wear off in a few hours." Fred explained, "So she couldn't still be in love with him."

"I don't think it's what you'd call love though…more like an infatuation, or crush or—"

George was cut off again by Ron who gave a strangled yell.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"Ron, calm down. We'll sort this out, it's just a rumor." Harry didn't want to get between Ron and his brothers but resigned himself to being a sort of referee.

"Just a rumor…" Ron gasped.

"Look, we'll straighten it all out. Once everyone gets a taste of the chocolates, they'll understand. It only lasts a few hours." George surmised.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Harry interrupted since Ron was still gasping for air and hyperventilating after his explosion of anger.

"Don't worry, we only sell them to students age 13 and up." Fred pointed out, "We're not stupid enough to give them to younger kids."

George agreed, "Yeah, we found out it just makes them super hyper anyway."

"Wait, you already tried them on the younger students?" Harry wasn't liking this at all.

"Well, the Creevy kid didn't mind being tested on—" Fred began.

"And we paid him a sickle!" George chimed in.

"A good deal if you ask me…" Fred agreed.

"Colin Creevy or Dennis Creevy?" Harry quickly asked.

"What difference does it make?" George asked.

"Say, where is he anyway? I haven't seen him since we gave the stuff to him earlier." Fred looked around the plushy sofa to the Gryffindor students gathered in the room.

"Huh…I guess he's not here." George shrugged and went back to his comic of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle.

"Oh no." Harry pulled Ron away just as he was getting his anger back. "I think we should find Creevy first then we can worry about Fred and George and those chocolates."

"What about Ginny?" Ron just didn't want to leave it alone.

"She's a big girl, she can take care of herself. If Malfoy does give her trouble, I'm sure she can give it right back to him."

"But she's my little sister…" Ron was like a dog in a tug of war who wouldn't let go.

"Ron, let it go. If she resembles any bit of you when you're that angry, I'm sure no one is going to bother her." Harry trudged up to his dormitory to get changed as Ron followed.

"Well, I guess tempers do run in the family…" He finally seemed to calm down.

"Like red hair?" Harry smiled and Ron shook his head.

"Very funny."

XXXX

Albus Dumbledore was in his office when he heard a tap-tap-tapping on his door.

"Come in."

There was a momentary pause while the sound of small steps pattered back and forth behind the doorway.

Dumbledore got out of his chair and went to the sound.

"Dobby, is that you?"

He wished the elf wouldn't be so timid around him, he really wasn't so unapproachable as some would think and he liked elves. They were funny.

Finally, the knob on the door turned and a small little face poked through.

It wasn't Dobby though.

"Oh my goodness, you're little Dennis Creevy, aren't you?" Dumbledore peered closely at him through his spectacles. "How did you get in here?" The magical password on the Headmaster's Office was still in effect, he could sense that, but somehow this boy had managed to get past it.

"Hi, sir, uh, Headmaster Dumbledore, sir, I didn't mean to barge in but I was curious about the gargoyles and it looked like they were guarding something so I thought there must be a secret entrance and I tried a bunch of charms though I'm not very good so then I thought there must be a password so then I said a whole bunch of things—I can't remember what exactly—then I started naming all the candy—because I like candy and every time I go to Hogsmeade I like to buy candy so I thought it would be fun to name all the candy and then—"

The boy had said this all in one breath and barely stopped for it when Albus interrupted him.

"That's very nice. Why don't you have a seat over here?" He immediately ushered Dennis into a chair across from his desk and started examining him.

Dennis started talking again.

"I've heard so much about this place I always wanted to see it in person but I never thought I'd actually get the chance—until now I mean—but I didn't know how to get here or even if I could get here—"

"Uh huh…" Albus nodded while the boy continued. He saw that the boy's pupils were dilated, and that he seemed very hyper, more so than usual. There was no sign of a spell or poison on him. "What have you had to eat or drink today?"

"—this place is so cool, I like your bird and what are those things?—Oh yeah, for breakfast I had toast, oatmeal, eggs, bacon, potatoes, porridge, pumpkin juice and a bagel with cream cheese then for lunch I had some fish, potatoes, bread rolls, meat loaf, stew, pumpkin juice and pudding then for dinner I had—"

Here he gasped for breath.

"Stew, potatoes, spotted dick, cheese, rolls, pudding, chicken pot-pie, apple juice, pumpkin juice, croissants, éclairs, pudding, ice cream and cookies."

Dennis stopped talking but his eyes roamed all around the office. His eyes wouldn't focus and it made Albus dizzy just looking at him.

"That's it? You had nothing else at all to eat or drink?"

Dennis shook his head violently then stopped, "Oh wait, I think I remember now, yes, I was in the common room and the Weasley twins—they're really cool, I'm surprised they came up to me—they offered me some chocolate and said it was their new product and then I took some but nothing really happened so Fred said just in case something did happen I could go to the Hospital Wing but I said I felt fine so then George passed me a sickle and said I could keep it because I was a first time tester—well, a young one— but I don't know what that means—"

The boy started kicking his legs absentmindedly and Albus sighed. He really wished those twins wouldn't get into so much trouble.

"Dennis, listen to me."

The boy nodded, still kicking his legs about while he rocked side to side.

"I want you to go to the Hospital Wing and tell Madame Pomfrey I told you to go there." He wrote down a prescription for the boy. "Take this, it's a Calming Solution and I want you to give it to her, do you understand?"

Dennis nodded enthusiastically and jumped up from his seat while Albus showed him outside.

Just as they were coming to the door, Professor Snape burst in, almost knocking Creevy flat on the ground.

"I must speak with you, immediately." His robes were still billowing around him as he came to an abrupt stop. He glared down at the boy who couldn't seem to stand still.

"Now, run along—no, scratch that—I mean walk slowly to the Hospital Wing, that's a boy." Albus could see Dennis doing a very fast-paced speed walk down the stairs. He sighed and turned to Severus.

"What is it?"

Severus began his long exposition of the Weasley twins' concoction of the chocolates and their terrible mistake involving Ginny and the Order.

He listened intently until Severus was finished.

"I see." He paused in thought for a moment while Severus paced about the office.

"I'm going to get those twins. I'll take 50 points off each of them!" Severus vented.

"You have no part in this, Severus." Albus calmly waited for his reaction.

"I've become the laughing-stock of the school along with that girl! Of course I have a part in it!" He was balling his fists, clenching and unclenching them while he stormed the office.

"If you punish them it will seem as if their story is true and that could lead to questions about the Order."

This froze him in his tracks and Severus finally stopped pacing.

"Blast it anyway…" he cursed.

"You had better just ignore it until it passes." Albus had gotten up from his seat and began to usher Severus out the door.

"I'd rather wait for a kidney stone to pass." Severus groused.

"Obviously, Severus, you've never had a kidney stone in your life." He looked down on his former student through his half-moon glasses and watched him as Severus grumbled an acquiescent apology before leaving the office.

Albus Dumbledore smiled to himself and tried to imagine Ginny Weasley having an infatuation for Severus. He then laughed out loud.

It was just so silly!

XXXX

"They're not working…"

Lavender had peeked around the stone wall to look at the older Ravenclaw Quidditch player, Neil Dunn, who was in his sixth year at Hogwarts.

The Ravenclaw Quidditch team had just come back from practice and Lavender had snuck the Love Chocolates in the boy's locker room.

"Maybe he hasn't eaten them yet." Parvati was also waiting.

"No, look he has the box." She pointed to the dark purple box Neil was holding. "Who did you use your chocolates on?"

"I'm not telling." Parvati smiled smugly but Lavender saw her eyes were on Ryan James, the seventh year Ravenclaw player.

"I don't know why you wasted your chocolates on him." Lavender scoffed.

"Speak for yourself!" Parvati seemed deeply offended at her remark.

"Shh! Here they come…" She started primping herself while the Ravenclaw team came near, finally she stepped out to greet them and bumped right into Neil. "Oh, hello, Neil." She gave him what she thought was a winning smile.

Neil only stopped and stared at her for a bit before moving on. "Uh yeah, hello…" Then he resumed his conversation with Ryan.

Parvati was less discreet and grabbed Ryan by the arm, spinning him around to face her. "Aren't you going to say hello to me?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ryan just gaped at her.

"I'm Parvati." Here she grabbed his arm and leaned in toward him, "I've been watching you play."

"Oh great." Ryan nodded then didn't know what else to say. "Well, um…bye."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Parvati still hung onto him while Lavender watched with mixed admiration and disgust. "I was going to ask you to come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow." Parvati was now batting her eyes at Ryan.

"Oh, really?" He looked over his shoulder at Neil who was in a hurry to get back to his dorm. "I'm actually busy…yeah, I have to study—sorry." Ryan finally pulled away and walked with Neil up the stairs.

Lavender hadn't even bothered to ask Neil out.

"Well, so much for the chocolates…" She made up her mind to confront those Weasley twins and get her money back.

"Let's go follow them."

Lavender gave an exasperated look at Parvati then said, "You never give up, do you?"

Parvati only giggled mischievously.

They followed as Neil and Ryan climbed the stairs then stopped.

As Lavender and Parvati hid behind a tapestry, Neil made a detour to a deserted corridor and Ryan followed.

"Come on, let's go this way." Neil called to Ryan and the two girls carefully shadowed them.

"Hey, I know this, it goes to the Astronomy Tower." Parvati giggled again and Lavender told her to hush.

The two boys came to a dead end then started whispering and Lavender leaned out of the stone alcove to listen.

They started to laugh and then Ryan snorted, which made them both laugh harder.

"I bet they're talking about us." Parvati whispered.

"Be quiet, I want to hear what they're saying…" Lavender was grasping the edge of the stone vase that stood in the alcove, the rest of her weight was balanced on her tippy-toes as she strained to listen.

Finally, the boys spoke up.

"I feel funny, do you?" Neil asked Ryan and he nodded to the box of chocolates that Neil was holding.

"I got one of those too but it was pink." Ryan took the box out from his robe pocket.

"Huh, that's funny."

They both opened the boxes and looked at the identical chocolates.

Parvati gave Lavender an uh-oh look.

Neil and Ryan both shrugged then ate some chocolates. A short while later they started to giggle while Ryan snorted again, making them both erupt in guffaws until they sat down on the stone floor in their Quidditch robes, wiping the tears from their eyes.

"I don't know what's gotten into me but I think it's these chocolates." Neil laughed and cried at the same time.

"Yeah, my stomach keeps flipping over, like I've just done a Wronski Feint." Ryan popped another chocolate in his mouth.

"I don't think you should be eating those…" Neil couldn't stop laughing.

"Oops." Ryan snorted into laughter again.

Parvati was watching the whole scene with boredom. "Well, this was interesting, let's leave." She stepped out from behind the big stone vase while Lavender hung on.

"Wait, they might start talking about us." She clung to the vase and listened while Parvati sighed and sat back down again.

Ryan wiped the chocolate from his mouth and Neil leaned over to him.

"You missed a spot." Neil brushed Ryan's lips off with his fingers then licked the chocolate off them. "Do I have any on me?" Neil leaned closer to Ryan.

"Nope!" Ryan laughed and was about to snort again when Neil's mouth suddenly closed on his.

Lavender and Parvati both gasped then Lavender fell down from the precarious position she was holding on the stone vase.

"Quick run!" Parvati grabbed Lavender but she only fell down again because her feet had gone numb from crouching so long.

Parvati ditched her and ran down the stairs, leaving Lavender gaping at the two boys who were now staring at her.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan gave a bewildered look while Neil seemed a bit embarrassed.

"Nothing, enjoy your chocolate!" Lavender blushed then quickly ran away in humiliation.

"What was that about?" Ryan popped another chocolate into his mouth while Neil took another look at the chocolates. Engraved onto his box was a gold 'W' and he found at the bottom of the chocolates a card reading, "Weasley's Love Sick Chocolates: Guaranteed lovesickness at first sight or your Galleons back!"

XXXX

"All right, all clear."

George beckoned Fred from around the hallway and they quietly crept over to Filch's office.

"Who knew Filch would have exactly what we need?" Fred snickered and watched the door as George disarmed the charm that Professor Flitwick had put on the office for Filch, since Filch couldn't do it himself he insisted that his office be 'protected' at all costs. Though from what George could see there wasn't much to protect aside from the scattered whiskey bottles, dirty plates and cat toys that littered the office. The file cabinet that contained all the nasty reports Filch had written about them had been wrapped around in iron chains which was a feeble attempt at protection since even the most amateur wizard could undo the lock with a simple spell. But it wasn't reports that George and Fred were after this time.

"I can't find it under all this mess…" George looked under the piles of old grease stained parchment.

"Let me try." Fred climbed over the boxes of cat toys and accidentally stepped on a dirty plate as it broke with a muted crunch. "Oops! Why doesn't he just let the house elves come in here and clean up?"

"He doesn't trust even them." George looked around.

"Can't we just sneak into the greenhouse where Professor Sprout keeps the Glumbumbles and get some there?" Fred complained.

"No! She'll know they were stolen and we can't risk bringing them out." George started looking in Filch's desk. "I know it's around here somewhere."

"Why would he keep Glumbumbles in his office?" Fred asked.

"Not the Glumbumbles themselves, but the treacle—where is it?" He pulled out another drawer.

"We had a hard enough time getting the dried Billywig stinger's from Honeydukes." Fred crossed his arms and leaned against another cabinet.

"WATCH OUT!"

It was too late.

A whole box of stuff fell onto Fred and he crashed onto the floor and landed with a hard thump that knocked the breath out of him.

"Get this off of me!" he rasped.

George lifted the heavy box off Fred then looked inside of it.

"Hey, this is what we're looking for!"

"Glad I could help…" Fred rolled over onto this knees to catch his breath. "Give me a hand will you?"

George helped him up and with the other hand, he shoved the box onto the desk.

The box was filled with various items confiscated from students including, Quidditch balls, Exploding Snap packs, broken Wizard Chess sets and even potion ingredients.

"Oh no, there's only a few bottles left." George took out a small glass vial that had grayish slimy liquid in it.

"Well, we don't need very much of it do we?" Fred was in a hurry to get out and now his head and back were hurting from the fall.

"It depends how much Billywig you put in the chocolates."

"As I recall, it was you who put in too much Billywig!" Fred pointed out.

"Oh right. I get us confused sometimes." George took the remaining three vials and then reached up over his head to put the box back. "OW! I can't reach…" George slammed the box down on the desk again.

"Watch it!" Fred helped George lift the box again but realized they were the same height, so it wasn't doing any good. "Ok, grab a chair."

George found a rickety chair and Fred balanced himself precariously as he lifted the box.

"Almost got it…"

Suddenly, George felt something furry slide between his legs. He looked down and saw it was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris.

"Oh crap."

Mrs. Norris sat back and gazed at him with her yellow eyes, "Meow."

"Quick move it!" George nudged Fred.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I have a very heavy box here!"

"It's Mrs. Norris! Filch is coming!" George looked back behind him then down at the cat again.

It gave him a knowing glance as if to say, "You're in for it now."

Fred struggled to shove the box back onto the cabinet but it was still perched precariously and it looked like it would fall at any moment.

"That's good enough, let's go!" George leaped across the piles of stuff to gather the vials he had put down.

Fred jumped from the chair and clumsily threw it back to it's relative position.

Mrs. Norris slinked away as Fred and George were about to escape.

"WHERE ARE THEY?"

"Oh no…" George stopped but Fred grabbed him.

"This way!"

XXXX

Filch came bounding past the hallway and lurched toward his office.

"DAMN THEM!"

They had obviously entered his office and had stolen something.

Filch entered his office and went through his things. Though it was a mess, he still knew where everything was. He found several pieces of parchment that were displaced and then he looked up to the cabinet.

The box of confiscated items was in danger of falling.

Filch lumbered over to the cabinet but just as he reached it, the box, which had been inches from the edge, came crashing down. Filch, being a squib without a wand, could only duck out of the way and just in time too.

He swore profoundly and stomped his feet.

Mrs. Norris came slinking past him and gave a started mew as his foot nearly came in contact with her tail.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but those blasted twins are at it again." He bent down and gathered Mrs. Norris into his arms while he kicked through the fallen items until he found what was missing.

The three glass vials that he had confiscated from a meddling Ravenclaw student were gone.

Technically, they belonged to Professor Snape, the Potions master, but Filch didn't see the need to tell him about the vials or return them to him. As far as Filch was concerned, Severus Snape could get his own vials.

"Don't worry, my pretty, we'll catch those boys."

A wide grin spread across his stubbly face and Filch produced the box of chocolates that he had taken from the Ravenclaw boys, Neil Dunn and Ryan James. He had caught them sneaking around the hallways near the Astronomy Tower.

It was really because of the two stupid Gryffindor girls, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, that Filch finally understood what was going on.

They came running down the stairs together and Filch yelled at them, like he did all the other students, "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS!"

The girls ignored him so he ran after them, trying to hunt them down, when the two Ravenclaw boys bumped into him from the stairs.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

The boys just stood there, looking stupid, like all the other students.

Filch noticed one of them held a box with a gold 'W' on the cover.

"Give that to me!" Filch reached for it but the other boy shook his head. Finally, he snatched it from the younger student and opened it. There were some chocolates in it but he also saw the card.

"Weasley's Love Sick Chocolates: Guaranteed lovesickness at first sight or your Galleons back!"

He sneered.

"Go back to your dorms!"

The boys ran away without a word.

Now, in his office, Filch had exactly what he needed to get those boys expelled for good. It was against Hogwarts rules to make love potions, especially without the permission of an instructor and he bet his brown boots that Severus Snape would sure be interested to know about the twins brewing an illegal potion for profit.

XXXX

Ginny had been waiting in the common room.

Hermione was still going over her homework but Ginny couldn't concentrate.

She kept thinking back to dinnertime when Draco Malfoy had been snickering and laughing with his cronies. He had also been pointing to her.

No doubt it was about the stupid Love Chocolates.

"Hey, there you are."

Ginny saw Harry coming down the stairs. All of a sudden she wished she were invisible.

"Um, hi." She looked down at her books.

"I tried to find you after dinner but you were gone." Harry sat down next to her on the sofa.

"Yeah, I'm just getting a head-start on my homework. You know the O.W.L.S. are coming up soon."

"It's our first week here." Harry laughed then added, "You're starting to sound like Hermione."

Hermione was crouched with her large Runestones and Hieroglyphs book, "I heard that." She looked up from her book for a moment then asked Harry, "Where's Ron?"

"He's still calming down." Harry answered.

"Wait, does Ron know about what happened? Did he hear it from someone?" Ginny closed her book with a loud thump.

"Not just anyone but Malfoy." Harry folded his arms and scoffed, "So you can imagine how Ron reacted."

"Oh no. I meant to tell him myself but I haven't had time, not to mention it's been hard getting a hold of him—I haven't spoken to him all day."

"Well, here's your chance." Harry nodded to the stairs.

They all looked toward Ron who was wearing a sulky expression. He was also wearing the maroon slippers with fluffy ball tassels that Mrs. Weasley had knit for him, so as he came down the stairs, he looked like a child who was rudely awakened from his nap.

Ginny giggled and Hermione burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ron stopped and put his hands on his hips, which only added to the sulky childish image.

"You look funny in those slippers." Harry explained.

"Well, they're the only ones I have and my toes are cold."

Ginny laughed then remembered what she was going to say. "So, you heard about the stupid chocolates?"

"Yeah, I heard." Ron slumped down into a chair near the fire. "I gave Malfoy a talking to."

"And Fred and George." Harry added.

"That wasn't really necessary," Ginny began, "but thanks."

"I can't believe those two. What do they think they're doing?" Ron fumed.

"Making money." Harry concluded.

"But at my expense!" Ginny put down her book and tucked her feet under her. "Just because those stupid chocolates may have worked on me doesn't mean that it would do the same thing for anyone else. And besides, maybe it was just a fluke, I don't think those things would work again anyway."

"Wait, what about Lavender and Parvati? Didn't they buy some chocolates?" Hermione looked up from her book.

"Oh yeah. I wonder what happened with theirs?" Ginny mused.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow when news gets around school." Harry deduced. Then he remembered something, "Wait, we were supposed see about Dennis Creevy and those chocolates…I hope he's all right."

"What about Dennis and the chocolates?" Hermione asked angrily.

"Don't tell me Fred and George tested them on him?" Ginny couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, they did. I didn't see Colin around either." Ron answered.

Hermione dropped her books down on the floor, startling Crookshanks who meowed in indignation. "I better check the hospital wing. I'm going to get those two twins."

"Where are Fred and George anyway? They should be back by now." Ron looked around the common room but didn't see the two troublemakers in sight.

XXXX

"Ow! Your elbow is hitting my ear…"

"Well, your foot is nudging me in a very inappropriate place…"

"Can we get out now?"

"Wait a moment, let me see…"

Fred reached and pulled himself out of the stone vase.

Filch was nowhere to be seen.

"It's all clear." Fred heaved himself over the steep edge then very carefully let himself drop down. It was almost a seven foot drop. "Come on, hurry."

George scuffled and crab crawled his way up the deep vase until he reached the top and then he jumped as Fred did but landed hard and had to roll. "Ooof…" George got up, "That was rough."

"If you weren't so darned clumsy it would've been an easy jump." Fred scoffed.

"Well, my legs were getting numb from holding myself up in there, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get out at all." George brushed himself off.

Fred shook his head. "Just use an elevating spell."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." George knocked his head playfully.

"Now where are the vials of Glumbumble treacle?" Fred gestured to George.

"Oh no…" George felt the back of his pants. "They must've smashed when I fell down and rolled."

"WHAT?" Fred roughly turned George around. "I can't believe this! After all we went through to get it, you had to break them!"

"Well, if you hadn't shoved me head-first into that vase I could've put them in a safer place!"

George fired back at Fred.

"Now what're we going to do?" Fred asked.

"Let's just forget about it. Filch almost caught us anyway." George surrendered.

"Not a chance, we have too much at stake in our business. That Love Chocolate potion is going to make us rich. We'll just have to go and get some more Glumbumble treacle."

George shook his head at Fred. "Not me, I'm not going."

"Are we in this together or not?"

Fred stuck out his hand and George reluctantly shook it. "All right, all right, but next time you carry the stupid vials."

It was when they were tracing their way back that they almost ran into Filch again, this time on his way to Professor Snape's office.

"Oh no, I thought he was going to Dumbledore but he's on his way to Snape." Fred waited behind a corridor.

George looked around, suddenly he saw a way out of this mess.

"Hey, I got an idea…"

XXXX

"I think you should see this!"

There was a grumbling gravely voice behind him and Severus wished he could turn into a stone gargoyle.

"But that probably wouldn't help," he thought, "Filch is known to talk to gargoyles as well."

Filch charged over to him, his heavy boots thudding across the stones, until he was face to face with Severus—so to speak, Severus was still a head taller than Filch.

"What is it now?" he folded his hands into his robes. "Isn't this a matter for the Headmaster to deal with?"

"This concerns you too, Severus." Filch blustered up to him.

"It's not the Bloody Baron, is it?" He was tired of having to deal with that ghost, it wasn't as if the silver specter gave him much attention. Whenever Severus told the Baron not to scare Filch, the intangible wisp would just hiss at him then float away.

"No, it's those twins again!" Filch shouted, "And look, this is theirs!" He shoved a purple box into Severus' face and this time Severus took notice. He snatched it away then looked inside. He saw the trade-mark calling card and scowled. Those twins were going to get it this time.

"They were also after something in my office. They took some vials—" Filch stopped himself but Severus turned to him sharply.

"What vials?"

"Er, some of the glass vials, a Ravenclaw student had it, that Boot kid." Filch deflected, "Are those your vials?"

"Yes, and in the future I would appreciate it if you return them to me at once." Severus glared at Filch then returned his attention to the box. The chocolates were melting.

"Glumbumble indeed."

Filch nodded though Severus knew Filch had no idea what Glumbumble was.

"Should I tell Umbridge?" Filch got excited all of a sudden.

Severus hissed, "Don't. This is not her concern." Filch frowned but Severus was satisfied that he would keep quiet. Filch had an unnatural attraction to Umbridge and her sickly sweet-simpering ways of dealing with the students. He knew that Filch admired her warped ways of punishment when it came to student discipline.

"I will deal with this myself." Severus stormed into his office, leaving Filch behind to seethe and fume.

"Stupid wizard…thinks I'm just a squib, what do I know? Bah!"

XXXX

Now Severus knew why the chocolates had been so potent when that Weasley girl had eaten them.

Melted chocolate is fine but melted Glumbumble treacle is enough to put one in a stupor, or if combined with Billywig, it gains even more potency but the reaction is different—almost intoxicating to the point of losing control. The person would be in a complete daze, in a dream-like trance, unable to see any reality at all.

"It's a wonder the girl didn't lose her mind…" Severus thought back.

She had reminded him of a person possessed.

Severus knew what he had to do and now he had the proof. Those twins would get what was coming to them.

He decided to go straight to Dumbledore with the evidence.

As he came outside his office, he looked around to make sure Filch wasn't in sight. The coast was clear.

But just as he was coming up the dungeon stairs, a deafening crash sounded and made him jump close to the damp stone wall.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Severus managed to catch his breath.

A hideous cackle rang down the hallway.

"PEEVES?"

Another cackle answered him. Peeves, the Hogwarts Poltergeist, was at it again and making more trouble.

Severus cursed under his breath then fumed, "I don't have time for this."

He angrily leaped up the stairs then came to the scene of the crime. Filch was on his back, groaning in agony while Peeves floated above him, gleefully delighting in his pain.

"What happened?" Severus got out his wand and pointed it at Peeves who only made a rude noise in return.

Filch was wheezing and tried to speak but nothing would come out. His face was dark red and his fists were clenched. Other than Filch lying on the floor, there were no other signs of injuries.

However, when Severus looked around, he soon saw what was the matter. Pots and pans, part of a metal suit of armor and a stone bust of the Wizard Hagar (The Hot Tempered), were strewn around on the stone floor.

He looked up at Peeves and guessed at what happened. Severus looked down at Filch.

"Did you throw your back out again?"

Filch wheezed and looked at Severus pointedly.

Peeves must've thrown the lot of junk and Filch, being the foolish squib that he was, tried to catch them before they fell—a useless attempt since all he managed to do was throw his back out for the third time this week.

"I'll bring you to the hospital wing—again." Severus pointed his wand at Peeves and hissed, "Be gone!"

A silver wisp of smoke emanated from his wand and shot at the Poltergeist. Peeves laughed at first then cringed at the silver smoke and floated away, making more rude sounds as he left.

Severus pointed his wand at Filch who flinched.

"Don't tempt me, Argus."

He flicked his wand and a stretcher appeared, lifting Filch up and setting him down upon it carefully. They then proceeded to the hospital wing.

XXXX

"No, no, I won't do it!"

George and Fred stood and held their ground as they made their case, which wasn't a very good one.

"Please, for us, we're your friends right?" George nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, think of it as a favor to Harry." Fred encouraged.

"Oh yes…Harry…"

There was a short pause.

"But Harry wouldn't want me to get in trouble."

George groaned. "You won't get in trouble, trust me."

Another dubious pause.

"No, I'll not. I'd better not. I am'nt getting into trouble anymore."

George gave up.

"Dobby, please…" Fred tried again.

"Why?" Dobby looked up at the Weezies, whom he liked very much. But Dobby knew they were trouble, yes, Dobby knew about these two.

"It's..." Fred tried to think then it came to him. "It's not for us, it's for Dumbledore!"

George grabbed Fred and took him aside. "What're you doing? He'll take it straight to Dumbledore."

"Better Dumbledore than Snape. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

George hung his head. He'd been through this before but they were in it together after all.

Fred turned around to Dobby.

"Dobby, can you get the box of chocolates from Snape and give it to Dumbledore for us? We'd very much appreciate it."

Dobby seemed to consider this carefully. Finally he nodded, yes.

XXXX

"Honestly, there must be something we can do about this."

Madame Poppy Pomfrey, the school nurse, was bustling around and fixing up Filch, moving his legs around in such a fashion that Severus thought he would snap in two. Finally, she took out her wand and little ropes came out, lashing up Filch so that he was tied in a very strange manner. He looked like an irritated and broken puppet, all tied up in a strange position.

"Now, don't move or you'll throw your back out again. This is the best position for you to rest in."

"How am I supposed to rest like this?" Filch managed to gasp out. He was speaking from under his arms and between his legs. If there was Yoga in the wizarding world, Filch's pose probably would've been called the Blustering Belly-aching Bend-over and Swear pose.

"This is the third time this week. I'm going to talk to Dumbledore about this and personally have that pestering Poltergeist suspended from Hogwarts." Madame Pomfrey bustled through the beds to the other patients.

A crew of Quidditch players were in bed, most of them were incapacitated due to their failed Wronski feint maneuvers, which they had seen Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Quidditch player, do quite successfully. Unfortunately, these kids were no Viktor Krum.

"Now, I'll have no more of this Wronski feint business, do you hear?" Madame Pomfrey walked around, tending to the students.

A few of the students Severus recognized came in with obvious potion malfunctions. He spoke to a tow-headed first year, who was a Gryffindor.

"So, you thought you could get a head-start and make the Shrinking potion yourself, did you?"

The student groaned from his enlarged head.

"Don't hassle my patients, Severus." Madame Pomfrey shooed him away. "Thank you for bringing Filch, you can go now."

He was about to leave when he saw another student, this time a sixth year Ravenclaw boy and Quidditch player. He seemed to have a fever but his eyes were clear and he was frantic.

"Please, get me out of here. I don't want to be here."

"What's your name?"

"Neil Dunn, sir. It's not my fault—it was those stupid chocolates, they made me sick and then I—" Here he stopped and looked at Severus, his eyes roamed to the purple box. "It was those, those!" He shuddered. "No, please, no more chocolates!"

Madame Pomfrey came rushing around.

"Get out of here! You're upsetting my patients!"

Severus sneered at her. He wasn't doing anything, it was the chocolates that were driving the boy mad.

He spoke to her, "Don't give him any sedatives, just let it wear off."

"I think I know how to treat my own patients, Severus." She wasn't listening.

He didn't bother pursuing the matter, the boy wasn't in his house.

"On your own head be it."

He turned to leave when he bumped into something. It hit him squarely in his stomach.

"Ooof."

There was a squeak and then the thing looked up at Severus.

"What do you want?" He managed to spit out at the house elf.

The creature's bulbous eyes stared up at him and wrung its hands while stammering a reply.

"I… I… didn't mean to…I…" Dobby continued.

"Nevermind!" Severus veered away from him but the creature followed. "Stop following me." He stopped and so did the elf.

Then he noticed it was behaving strangely, its eyes were moving side to side then paused as if looking around the corner then came back to swivel on Severus.

He didn't know much about a house elf but from what he had seen and heard at the Malfoy's, he knew enough to judge that a house elf couldn't lie to their masters. Since Dobby—he remembered it's name, came to work for Hogwarts that meant he probably wouldn't lie to the teachers either.

"Why are you following me?" Severus asked very carefully.

"Fred and George asked, sir—oh no…" The elf clamped a hand to its mouth.

Severus had already guessed the answer and knew that Fred and George must be somewhere close by.

"Follow me, then." He managed to compose the smirk on his face as he turned around, heading outside the hospital wing. The elf reluctantly followed.

Severus headed up the stone steps of the hallway as if he were going to the Headmaster's office. He was around the corner, near the stone gargoyles when he suddenly pulled the elf around to him and hid in the shadows of the archway.

He put a finger to his lips, telling the elf to be quiet.

At first, there was no sound but then slowly he heard two pairs of footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Where'd they go?" one voice whispered.

"I don't think they went in yet." another voice answered.

Severus waited and Dobby, who stood nervously beside him, shifted from one foot to the other and wrung his hands again.

"I don't believe this," Fred groaned, "Dobby was supposed to get the chocolates from him."

Severus turned to Dobby who stared wide-eyed at him. He barely repressed his contempt toward the elf and looked back at the twins.

"Hey," George chimed, "Maybe he distracted Snape long enough for us to make an excuse. We can tell Dumbledore our side of the story before they come back."

"Okay." Fred turned toward the gargoyles. "What's the password again?"

Severus stepped out and grabbed Fred roughly by the arm.

"OW!" Fred yelped. "Get your slimy hand off me."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your mouth, Weasley." Severus grinned maliciously. "And you, Weasley number two, twenty points off as well."

"We didn't do anything, there's no rule against coming to the Headmaster's office." George defended.

"No, but you'll be in plenty of trouble when I show the Headmaster this." He threw Fred off and held up the purple box of chocolates.

The twins gave each other a look then Fred spoke up, "So what? They're harmless, it's just a novelty gag."

"Your harmless gag put a Ravenclaw student in the hospital wing."

That seemed to give them pause.

Severus stepped closer to them and they stepped back against the wall.

Severus shoved the box of chocolates at the elf, Dobby. The elf just stood there with the box.

"Give those to Dumbledore!" He snapped at it.

Dobby nodded and faced the wall of the gargoyles, which automatically opened for him, then he went on his way to the Headmaster's office.

Severus stared the twins down against the wall knowing that when Dumbledore saw this evidence, there would be no question of punishment or possible expulsion.

The twins stood their ground silently, as if facing an executioner.

XXXX

"Come in."

Snape pushed the twins into Dumbledore's office.

It was nighttime but floating candles lit up the large and cozy room. There was also a magical fire burning in the stone fireplace below the hanging portraits of past Headmasters of Hogwarts who were now dozing in their frames.

Fred and George looked around.

They had been in this office many times before, since they had a habit of getting into trouble, but it looked very different at night.

The Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was sitting at his desk but Fred and George were also surprised at Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout's appearance in the office at this time.

Professor McGonagall was in her long flannel robe but still looked very dressed as always while Flitwick had on a very attractive lounging jacket but Professor Sprout, George had to stifle a laugh, had on a regular bathrobe and fuzzy slippers.

Dobby, Fred saw, was nowhere in sight.

He must've left before we got here, the little lucky devil, he thought.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the twins entrance with Severus who was now caught unprepared at the appearance of the other Professors and their very casual dress.

"Getting into trouble at this time of night, are we?" McGonagall quipped.

"What is it, Severus?" Dumbledore waited patiently, his hands clasped below his chin. He seemed to have been in the middle of conversation with the other teachers who were seated around his desk.

"It's about the twins and their—" Severus paused, not wanting to bring attention to the other Professors the disastrous experience just a summer ago with Ginny Weasley and the love chocolates. "experiment."

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow while Flitwick and Sprout giggled silently. Severus seethed inside, knowing that Dumbledore must've told the whole story to them.

"Sit down." Dumbledore raised his wand and three plush chairs appeared. He motioned the twins to the chairs.

Severus didn't sit down in the other chair.

"I prefer to stand." He positioned himself behind the twins' backs and faced the Headmaster.

"Very well." Dumbledore directed his attention to Fred and George who now wished they never bothered with the stupid chocolates. "Is it true that you have continued to make an illicit substance after your mother's instruction not to and with the knowledge that you have broken the school rules about brewing such a potion while using stolen ingredients?" The look he gave the twins suggested that he knew all about where they had gotten the Glumbumble treacle and Billywigs.

"Yes, sir." Fred answered.

"But we didn't mean any harm." George explained.

Dumbledore gave them a questioning look while Snape sneered.

"I mean," George corrected, "we didn't think they'd be strong enough to send someone to the hospital wing."

"When we tested them, they were fine, no one had any bad effects." Fred elaborated then stopped himself before backtracking again. "I mean, by testing, that is to say—"

George cut him off, "They were safe. We made sure."

"I wonder if little Dennis Creevey would agree with you." Dumbledore continued, "He came in here quite unlike his normal self and I had Madame Pomfrey tend to him."

"Don't forget that Ravenclaw student as well." Snape reminded the Headmaster.

"Uh, we don't know anything about that." Fred defended.

George said nothing.

Professor McGonagall looked livid while Flitwick and Sprout were just thanking their lucky stars that the twins were not in their house.

Dumbledore nodded then looked at Snape.

"And what is your verdict, Severus?"

"I think you know what that is." Snape continued to loom over the twins' backs, making them even more uncomfortable than they could possibly be.

"Expulsion, yes." Dumbledore sighed and turned to McGonagall.

"I'll write to their parents at once." Professor McGonagall's clipped tones held no pity for the twins and their reckless entrepreneurship at the cost of the student's safety.

"For the time being, I suppose Mr. Filch would have to take charge of their detention—" Dumbledore started to say but Snape interrupted him.

"Filch is indisposed in the hospital wing."

"Again?"

"Yes, it's his back. It will take time, at least a few days."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Dumbledore began again. "Well, in the meantime I will have to meet with your parents to discuss this situation and your detention will have to be served with someone else."

Fred and George could feel Snape's gloating stare behind their backs.

Fred seemed to be angry and had his fists balled up but George was suddenly sick with guilt. He didn't want his mom to find out about this, after all she had been going through with the Order, and this would be one more thing to set her off.

They hadn't meant any harm with the chocolates but with two students having been to the hospital wing already, it was sure enough that they could no longer make the stuff, let alone market it.

The love chocolates, although a very promising product, was now an illegal substance and one that could cost them their entire wizarding education. They were facing expulsion. Mum and Dad were not going to be pleased, especially after all the money they'd spent for books, robes and materials that cost a number of sickles and galleons.

But wasn't that the whole point? For them to make money, enough money to pay their parents back for all of this and then make enough for themselves to live on?

The whole thing seemed pointless now.

"We'll surrender the rest of our product and our materials." George suddenly said.

"There's more of it?" Professor McGonagall asked, astonished.

"Yes, but we won't be making any more and we won't be messing with potion ingredients anymore."

"You definitely will not be if you're going to be expelled." Snape cut in nastily.

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence Snape and George continued while Fred stared at him, aghast.

"We're sorry. We won't do it again."

For once, Professor McGonagall believed him and she looked at the Headmaster to see what his judgment would be.

"Well, I'm very pleased to hear that, for the both of you." He nodded over to Fred as well then stood up. "You two are excused for the night. We will see what to do about your detention in the morning, after Professor McGonagall has written to your parents."

Fred groaned softly but George nodded.

"I will oversee their detention, Headmaster." Snape answered sharply.

"No, that will not be necessary and you will hardly have the time to do so." Dumbledore gave Snape an odd look that the twins didn't fully understand but they were glad they didn't have to stand Snape for much longer.

Fred and George rose to stand and were about to leave when Snape pounced on them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Snape looked to Dumbledore and spoke harshly, "They should be escorted to be sure they don't get into further trouble."

"I'm sure they can find their way back safely enough." Dumbledore looked down at the twins through his half-moon spectacles.

They both nodded in agreement. No trouble.

"Good, then." Dumbledore was satisfied while Snape stood there dumbfounded. "Now I want to have a little chat. Sit down, Severus, please."

The twins saw Snape's mouth twist into a sneer before they closed the door and headed down the stairs.

Fred was still angry, George could tell, but then he laughed.

"That was sure a close one, I thought we'd get it for sure."

"What do you mean? We might still get expelled." George sighed.

"No way! Mum will talk to Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore and that'll be it. We'll give it a rest for a few weeks then start up again, we might even have time to recoup our losses." Fred was bounding down the stone steps but George stopped in his tracks.

"We're not going to make any more of that stuff! I was serious in there. Two students were in the hospital wing and Mum will be off her broom for sure. I'm not going to be a part of it."

"You're serious?" Fred stopped and looked at his twin brother.

"Yeah, I am."

"Then how're we going to make more money?" Fred asked.

George shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care. Right now all I care about is staying in school."

"Well, at least we don't have detention." Fred brushed him off.

"Of course we do."

"Nope, Filch is in the hospital wing for a few days and Snape, for some reason, isn't going to be overseeing our detention so we're off." Fred smiled.

George thought for a minute then remembered something. "I think you're forgetting something."

"What?"

"Umbridge. She's going to oversee our detention."

The smile on Fred's face fell off.

XXXX

Severus sat down on the chair across from Dumbledore's desk, unwillingly.

"Do you care to explain why I will not be overseeing their detention?"

Albus Dumbledore gazed at him across the desk. "I'm sure you already know. You will be plenty busy with training for Harry."

Of course, he almost forgot. Occlumency Lessons.

The rest of the Professors looked at him and Severus wondered why they were still hanging around.

"Who's going to oversee the twins detention?" Severus asked suspiciously.

Professor McGonagall sniffed then said, "I won't be doing it. I've done enough for those two already."

"Which Ravenclaw student was in the hospital wing, Severus?" Professor Flitwick spoke up in his small voice. Severus leaned around to look at him perched on his cushions.

"The sixth year student, he's on the Quidditch team, Dunn."

"Oh no, not Neil Dunn!" Flitwick was certainly agitated now. "He played that marvelous Porskoff ploy in our last match against Slytherin." He was explaining to Professor Sprout about the Porskoff ploy, meant to lead opposing Chasers off while the Chaser throws the Quaffle downward to a fellow Chaser waiting to catch it.

"Getting back to the matter…" Dumbledore continued, "It would have to be Umbridge who would oversee the Weasley twin's detention."

Professor McGonagall uttered a harsh barking laugh. "She couldn't handle those two."

"Don't be fooled by appearances, Minerva, that witch has more up her sleeve that you can guess." Severus looked cautiously at Dumbledore who nodded solemnly.

"I have heard stories about her." Flitwick nodded in agreement to Dumbledore's unspoken statement.

Professor Sprout said nothing, preferring to leave the unpleasant subject alone.

Dumbledore clasped his hands together and spoke, "Well, I'm sure we'll all have enough to think about for tomorrow. Let us have something more cheerful to get us through the night."

He nodded toward the door and a small figure came tottering over, tray in hand.

Dobby steadied the wobbling tray refusing help from Dumbledore, although he may have spilled a little bit, as he was determined to show himself to be the proper server.

He carefully held the tray as Dumbledore took the steaming mugs of hot chocolate off and doled them out to each of the Professors.

XXXX

When Dobby had first come into the Headmaster's office with the purple box the Weezies had told him to take from Professor Snape, Dobby wasn't sure what to expect. Professor Snape had caught the Weezies and Dobby knew they were in trouble, yes they were.

But Dobby didn't want to get in trouble too, so Dobby waited, afraid of what Dumbledore would say or do.

He gave the Headmaster the gift from the Weezies and said what he was supposed to say.

"I'm to give this box to you, sir."

"Well, thank you, Dobby, this is quite unexpected."

Dobby nodded then waited until Dumbledore's attention was away from what he was writing. It looked like a long letter to someone.

Finally, Dumbledore remembered the elf was still there. "Ah, I'm sorry, I was in the middle of something…" He distractedly folded the letter up then took off his glasses and polished them. "Go ahead and open it, let's see what we have."

Dobby opened the box and Dumbledore put his glasses back on.

"Oh, chocolates! Very nice. I think I'll have a piece." He reached in to take one then saw that they were almost melted. "Oh dear, well waste not want not. Just put the chocolates aside on the dish there, I'll see to it later."

Dobby obeyed and carefully slid the chocolates onto the dish tray that held the other candy Dumbledore liked to eat. He wasn't sure what to do with the box so he put the box on top of the desk and waited for further instructions from Dumbledore.

"Now where did I put that stamp of mine?" Dumbledore shifted the papers around, absentmindedly putting some on top of the purple box with the gold 'W' on it. Dobby helped him look and found it in a silver tray, next to his ink bottle.

"Here it is, sir."

"Oh, thank you." Dumbledore was about to excuse Dobby then stopped him, "Before you go, the staff is coming up for a little meeting, would you mind serving some of us some hot chocolate?"

"Not at all, sir, I'd be happy to." Dobby beamed a bright smile up at the Headmaster who smiled back.

"And take these chocolates too to go with it."

Dobby thought he understood now, "Waste not, want not. Yes, sir."

XXXX

The steaming mug of hot chocolate gave off a strange scent but at least it was warm. The nights had taken a wintry turn and Dumbledore was glad of the comfort within his office.

It was unfortunate about the twins and their concoction of clever surprises but rules were rules.

He would deal with that tomorrow, among the other list of things he least wanted to do, one of those being Umbridge. But for tonight, he settled himself down and dozed off quietly with his eyes open, watching the swirling purple fire in the hearth while Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall talked softly to themselves.

"Severus, why aren't you drinking your hot chocolate?"

Severus looked up, lost in thought, a hard line between his eyebrows. Dumbledore noted he looked a lot older than his years but then they all were at this troubled time.

"I'm not partial to milk, it aggravates my stomach," he answered.

Dumbledore knew about Severus' lactose intolerance and smiled. "This is a different brew, made with something the muggles call Soy milk, made from soybeans, it's quite good."

"Oh." The line between his brows did not soften. "Thank you for your consideration."

Severus still didn't drink.

"Do drink up, Severus, and try not to be so severe," Dumbledore said.

McGonagall made a strange sounded that erupted from her mouth, very low at first then louder. She was giggling.

Sprout joined in and then Flitwick.

Albus almost inhaled his hot chocolate, he had never heard McGonagall make quite that same sound before. She was covering her mouth now and tears of mirth started from her eyes.

"Very funny." Severus finally got the joke and was not amused. He took a sip of the hot chocolate and the line between his brows did disappear but this time the look on his face was replaced with suspicion. "This tastes strange."

Dumbledore sipped his hot chocolate then swallowed. "Oh dear."

McGonagall burst out laughing along with Sprout and Flitwick.

Severus looked sharply at him, "What else is in this?"

"Just chocolate and soy milk."

"What kind of chocolate?" Severus pressed.

"Some from the kitchen and some that Dobby brought with him."

"The chocolate from the BOX?" Severus slammed his mug down on a table near his chair where the liquid sloshed out.

It didn't take long for Dumbledore to put two and two together. Box of chocolates, Weasley twins—love chocolates.

The other Professors hadn't gotten the message yet and were still giggling like a bunch of school girls.

"Oh dear." He said again.

Dawning recognition spread in Severus' eyes and he gripped the arms of his chair with white knuckled fingers, feeling like his stomach was doing flips, as he stared at the floor. "Oh crap."

XXXX

Thanks for your patience while I finished this BONUS chapter.

Hope you enjoyed it!