Authors' Note: We are so sorry for the long wait. And to help that, we made you guys our longest chapter ever! We kept the usual separate POVs but then at the end, we decided to have a shot at writing together. Like really together. It's a rambly mess but we like it. Hope you guys do too!

APOV

"Dipsy!" I whispered-shouted in front of the painting of the fruit bowl. Isabelle's elf appeared within seconds, eyes glowing as she greeted me.

"Miss Anne called Dipsy? Dipsy here for Miss Anne!" She squeaked.

I couldn't help but blush. "Oh, you." Dipsy may be Isabelle's elf, but she was gracious enough to let me work with Dipsy for tonight, since my common room was nearest to the kitchens and also, being a muggleborn, I didn't have an elf of my own. Dipsy didn't seem to mind the arrangement and was happy to help 'Miss Belle and her friends'.

"How're the cupcakes?" I asked.

"They're ready Miss Anne!" And with a snap of her fingers, several platters of cupcakes appeared in front of me, floating temptingly just an arm's reach away. I shook my head, beamed at Dipsy and gave her a hug.

"Thanks Dips. Isabelle said we could count on you."

I swear, if elves could blush, Dipsy would have. "Always a pleasure to help Miss Belle and her friends."

Suddenly, there were several other house elves looking at me shyly, Isabelle told me that Dipsy had stated that the kitchen elves seldom got visitors, so I guess I was a new sight. "Hello, you all. I wanted to thank you for helping us. I really do hope we don't get you into trouble."

Several of them bowed and mumbled "Not at all, Miss!"

"Great! So, the cupcakes are ready, can you please bring them outside the common rooms now? Nixxy, Vienne and Isabelle will be by theirs and get those platters. They'll take it from there, so you can go back to the kitchen once you've given them the cupcakes. I'll see you back here for our second phase." I smiled.

In a flash, all that was left were three platters of cupcakes, Dipsy and me. We brought those to my common room, where Dipsy left as we got to the barrels. I called the third years and below, already having talked to the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years about the plan. Some sixth and seventh years didn't want to come, but they promised to stay out of our way. Us being Huffies, I trusted their words. In fact, they'd been helpful enough to gather all the loitering Hufflepuffs and gather them in the common room. No sweat.

"Anne-tooey-net, what are these cupcakes for?" a grubby first year named Berty Hoptrop asked. I tried to hide a sigh, he always mispronounces my name.

As the lower years gathered around me, eyes wide at the platters of cupcakes on the table, I started to blush. I never really did well in crowds. Oh, face it Antoinette, you never really did well in socializing of any sort.

Forcing a smile on, I said as cheerfully as I could without passing out in cold sweat, "They're for you!"

VPOV

As soon as I enter the Eagles' territory, I feel that something isn't right.

I look up and see a dozen or so first years, still wearing their pointy hats, ogling at me. They shouldn't be here. No, I shouldn't be here. But Izzy said… No. Maybe I forgot to do something, and I shouldn't be here yet.

Let's see… I'm pretty sure I covered everyone at my side. I didn't have a problem feeding them the cupcakes.

"All right, listen up you lot." I say, clapping my hands to get their attention. They all look up to me. I smile and show them the cupcakes that resemble sparkling emeralds. The elves did a really good job at frosting them. "These were made by Professor Snape."

Their eyes grow into the size of saucers, I swear. I keep my poker face on. Pansy snorts, and I shoot her a glare; she isn't helping. "He says that if you don't eat them," I pause, making them more nervous than they already are. "He'll have you skin the toads and slice rat spleens…for a week."

Everyone hates doing the nasty work, so they eagerly made their way to me (they ran), and quickly ate them. And in the blink of an eye, they fell in a heap in front of me. It's a good thing nobody else was there to see what happened. To my dismay, I had to levitate them to their dormitories by myself. Sometimes I hate Pansy. That aside, I'm happy that everything went smoothly. They're all in their four-posters, sleeping and drooling on their fluffy green pillows. The elves said the effect should last until tomorrow morning, so I guess that all right.

I told Pansy and the others to wait for my signal to go. So, what did I forget? I momentarily panic, but it doesn't show in my face.

It hit me: the cupcakes.

I close my eyes and exhale in relief. It's not me, thank Morgana. I open my eyes again, feeling tad better.

I could feel their shocked stares burning a hole through my House crest, and then my face next. They couldn't even bother to be discreet. I take a tentative step forward, and hear a tiny strangled gasp; a first year no doubt. I smirk to myself. Slowly, I trail my gaze to where the said first year stood still. I fight to keep myself from raising a brow.

She was a wee thing. A short fair-skinned girl with curly blonde hair that reached her shoulders, big brown doe eyes that seemed to scream for help as I continued to stare her down; I don't bat an eye. I walk towards her and crouch down to level my gaze with hers.

"Hello," I say in what I believe was a friendly tone.

"A Slytherin!" she shrieked. I only smile at her. I'm not sure what I look like right now but she half ran to her dormitory. Crap. I should tell Isabelle about her. We can't afford to slip up; not now.

Laughter erupted from my batch mates and the higher years. I'm not sure if I imagined it, but I grin and give them a salute. They're quite used to me being here whenever the lower years are out. Sure, it took some time for them to trust me but when they knew that I'm as good as a friend, they welcomed me as if I'm one of them. I hear a set of frantic footsteps going towards my direction as I stand up from my crouching position.

"Sorry I haven't herded the critters yet." Isabelle apologized, motioning towards the young Ravenclaws scattered all over the common room.

I smooth down my uniform. "S'alright. Need help?"

"Sure, maybe you scaring them will herd them into place." Izzy snickered.

I bat my eyes at her, and smile sweetly. "I can?"

"By all means, please do." she nods enthusiastically.

IPOV

You will never have any idea how hard it is to herd all the lower years. Ravenclaws are scattered all over the castle. Mostly where there is good light to read. The youngsters are barely found in dark corners doing Merlin knows what, but that's what Prefects are for. But still, once they were nestled in their books, it was hard to get them out. By the time I had herded the critters, Vi had arrived, having finished with the Slytherin babes. Lucky her.

"Sorry." I mouthed to Vienne as I passed out the cupcakes that were secretly charmed with sleeping spells.

This kid will seriously have some serious hexes directed her way if she doesn't… "Why don't you want a cupcake, Liz?" I smiled, hoping I didn't look like I was going to cut her head off any time now.

"I just don't want to."

Stubborn little twat.

"C'mon, Liz, it's really good."

"I don't see you eating some."

"That's because I already ate some earlier." JUST EAT IT ALREADY.

I looked around, hoping that none of the little Ravenclaws have started to drop like flies in the common room. It would be harder to get Liz to eat the cupcake. Unfortunately, some of them were practically strewn all over the floor, dozing off. Vienne grinned and signaled me to just hex the kid, but hey, I still have my conscience.

"Just a bite? So you can at least taste it." I smiled hopefully.

"No."

"You will eat it, Liz." I grinned. "Or you will be bald by tomorrow. Wanna lose that gorgeous red hair?" Seriously, this kid is known for being utterly vain, beauty with brains, and she knows it. Oh, and did I mention that she's a first year? Bah.

"I'll tell."

I laughed. "Of course you will. I was just joking, you sure you really don't want the cupcake?"

"I don't want it."

I chuckled. "Alright then."

She turned to leave and I took out my wand. "Soporio." Liz Spektor's leg crumpled and she started snoring mid-fall. Huh, I guess the charm works. "It was way past your bedtime anyway, sweetums."

Some of the fifth years helped in taking the young ones to their dormitories. Luckily, most of them found the way to their beds before the charm had taken hold so we didn't have to worry about them.

"I feel a little guilty sending them to bed after giving them pastries." Padma murmured. "If Hermione finds out, she'll have a fit. Dentist muggle parents and all that."

"Oh, don't worry." I smirked, remembering what transpired that afternoon. "Those were sugarfree."

NPOV (earlier...)

The books were flying all around and we girls were scrambling all around the Room of Requirements. Vienne flung open another one of my chest and rummaged through the contents. The Weasley twins were just on the couch, however, watching us with no interest at all.

"You could just will one, you know?" George said.

"It is the Room of Requirements after all," his twin added. Then we four looked at them, all mirroring the same look of incredulity, disbelief at our own lack of common sense.

"Right," Belle muttered, throwing some of my books back in the trunk. But one of those books caught my eye. I lunged for it.

"No need, here it is!" I announced, holding up the old, crummy book. The pink, leather-bound book was my cookbook. Well, it was just a compilation of all my recipes. I laid it on top of the coffee table and leafed through the pages. The rest came and circled around.

"Make that next time," one of the twins directed, pointing at a beef dish.

"We're looking for cupcakes here, Fred," Antoinette said, brushing his hand off the page. I turned a few more pages over until I found it.

"Looks relatively simple to me," the Slytherin girl said. She grabbed the book without care for the other on-lookers, typical Vienne in her own bubble. It made me shake my head.

"Do it, if you want," I offered.

"Oh, I will," she assured.

Milk was being poured into a pewter cauldron mid-air. The cauldron was on top of a small fire, and a spoon was stirring the… err… batter. I'm not sure if that's what you would call it but it was a mix of eggs, flour, milk, and chocolate so I guess it counts. It was a mess, the entire kitchen. And Vienne was in the middle of it, sweat building on her forehead. We kept out of the way since she refused help. The twins weren't around since cooking was not their cup of tea. So Isabelle, Antoinette, and I were the ones around, we were sitting on the kitchen counter, watching in awe, and fright as the Queen of Potions did her magic.

"Are you sure your recipe is right? I don't see any snake fangs written here. I think you need it," Vienne said, taking out a pouch of the dentals.

"No, you most certainly don't," I refuted. But the girl didn't listen. She started pulverizing half a dozen using a mortar and pestle then she sprinkled it on the batch. I swear, I will never eat anything she cooks.

"Starting to smell just about right," Belle whispered to me and Tooney, "that is, if you're making Polyjuice!" We three laughed.

"You forgot the bat wings, Vi!" the Huffie chortled.

"It's already in," she replied, and to our surprise, with all seriousness. We giggled and hooted all the more but it did not waver the Snake's doings. I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye and rubbed my gut, all that laughing made it hurt.

"We should help," Isabelle said when she was done with her fit. We nodded on it and made our way to our petit friend.

"Put the vines down and let us help you, Vienne," I said, killing the small fire under the cauldron.

"What's the incantation?" she asked, as if she didn't hear me. I shook my head. "I used the wrong kind of cauldron, didn't I?"

"Nope, you just tried to make it into Snape's class," Antoinette said. Vienne threw her hands in the air and all the floating ingredients fell to the ground, making a greater mess of the place.

"Fine, so it's not like potions then," Vienne sighed and pointed her wand to the batter, "Evanesco." And on that note, we started cleaning up the place. When we were through, I picked up my book and erased Vienne's edits.

"Somebody multiply the whole recipe by 15. Yes, we're making that much," I told the lot. The Ravenclaw took the lead and did the arithmetic. The other girls came over and peeked at her work.

"I'll sift 52 and a half cups of flour then," she said when she was done. I was stunned at the volume of batter we'll be making.

"Tooney, get the eggs done. Separate the white and the yolk. Vienne, mix the butter and the sugar," I commanded. I took over the chocolate business since I doubt Vi knew what a double boiler was.

"Not in a cauldron!" the Hufflepuff girl exclaimed. I turned to see her stopping Vi from an encore presentation.

"Use the mixing bowl, honey. This is not potions," Belle said over the cloud of flour.

Making one batch of vanilla and marble cupcakes would usually take me less than an hour; that includes baking time. But this one took longer at the sheer amount of the batter. Thankfully, we had magic to help us with the labour-intensive whatnots (beating until stiff peaks, mix until fully integrated). It would have sucked the life force out of us if we did it all by ourselves! But at the end of it, we had a giant mixing bowl of the mix and we were all pleased. Antoinette had lined over a dozen cupcake pans. The oven was already lit up; all we have to do now is bake it. We four grabbed our wands and flicked a little spell, and in no time at all, the cupcakes were ready for the oven.

"How long until we can eat them?" Vienne asked.

"Forty five minutes," Antoinette said, referring to my book. I closed the oven door and glanced at the wall clock hanging on the wall.

"We're sort of on schedule," I noted, laughing as I did. "Ezi!" I called out and soon a house elf appeared. I smiled as it bowed courteously at us. "In forty five minutes, in case we forget, take out those cupcakes and lay them on salvers for frosting," I instructed. Ezel, my reserved elf, nodded and peeked into the oven window.

"It smells sweet, Miss Nixxy," he commented. "Forty five minutes. Ezel will do the usual."

"Have Dipsy and the others help," Isabelle said. Ezel nodded once more and left to find the other elves.

"So, what else needs to be done until that time?" I asked. "We're done with the frosting."

MARAUDERS' POV

"We have to round up our guests," Vienne said, leading the group out of the kitchen.

"Yeah, we do, where's the guest list? Is it with the twins?" Anne asked, looking back at the cupcakes to make sure they were in no danger of being eaten by sneaky people who planned on going to the kitchen (say, Ron Weasley or Crabbe and Goyle. All three). . we didn't want that because we should have first pick. Once the cupcakes were to be charmed and turn into sleepycakes, it wouldn't be a good idea for them to eat those.

"I believe so," Nixxy said. "I have no idea how to find them though. Stupid gits."

"Where did they say they'd be anyway? I wouldn't expect to find them in the library..." Isabelle said, frowning as she thought of an image where the twins had their noses buried in books. They all stared at each other and fell into a fit just thinking about it.

"Maybe the Room of Requirement, but what would they be doing there at this time?" Vienne wondered. Even if it wasn't all certain, they made their way there.

"So, what kind of room do we ask for?"

"I don't know, just think 'awesome room where we monitor pranks from?'" Nixxy said dryly. They paced by a desolate wall several times until a grand door started to materialize.

They opened it and breathed a sigh of relief when they found themselves in the room they wanted to be in. The twins were lounging on the couch, as usual, poring over the list of people they had planned to invite to the pudding party.

"Oh, you girls finally back," the redheaded Fred said, leafing through and handful of parchment. The girls sat along side of the twins and looked over at the list.

"We're inviting Lavender?" Nixxy exclaimed with disgust.

"Oh heeelll no." Isabelle piped up.

"Why not?" Vienne said.

"Because it's LAVENDER!" both brunettes pressed.

"I know. I just wanted to see how you lot would react." The Slytherin grinned mischievously.

"Stop judging and we'll just invite her. There are more repulsive people anyway," George said, tossing the list of Slytherins on the table.

"Why isn't Theo here?" Vienne's eye twitched. She looks at Nixxy. "You know what I mean."

"The bloody hell with that git,"

"Well, he might prove worthy to be pranked. Remember, we're doing this party to find prospective prank-ees."

The ebony-haired girl nodded in agreement. "Right. Who are we pranking next again?"

"That party's gonna decide for us, I guess."

"Fine, we add all those people on the list."

"Are we really expecting Malfoy and Hermione to arrive?" Fred asked with a knowing grin at his twin.

"I bet you they have better things to attend to than our girls' pudding."

"Oh my soul." Isabelle shuddered at the thought. Nixxy hit her two fellow Lions on the head. Their smiles couldn't get smacked off.

Antoinette nodded solemnly and started scanning the list of Hufflepuffs she was supposed to invite, hiding her blush by lowering her hair onto her face.

Nixxy started folding a piece of parchment from a pile by the couch. These were the invitations.

Vienne covered her ears. "Don't. Let's get to work." She walked over to where Nixxy was, and plopped down beside her.

"These things are lovely. If only they weren't so difficult," the Gryffindor girl mused.

The corridors leading to the Ravenclaw Tower were crawling with sneaky students, hiding in the shadows of the posts. People from the same houses avoided arriving together so as not to attract attention to themselves. It was best that the Ravenclaw head of house was not around that night.

"Does Hermione know about this?" Ginny asked Lavender Brown as they turned around the corner. They nearly bumped into a Hufflepuff boy when they did. The redhead's companion shrugged. In moments, they reached the tower and made their way up the spiral staircase.

"How are we supposed to get in that common room, I heard you have to answer a trivia or something," Pansy grumbled as she carwled up the stairs with Blaise and the other Slytherins.

"A riddle, Pansy, it's called a riddle." Daphne Greengrass corrected her.

"Just put up the invitation in front of the gargoyle. It says so at the back of the invitation. Didn't you see?" Vincent Crabbe said, startling everyone.

"You're that smart?" Pansy remarked. But when the lot looked up at the group before them, it appeared that Goyle was right. In disbelief, they did as they had to. Stepping in, behold their eyes, the greatest PARTY WHO EVER LIVED! (we can see that. But we kept it :P)

Lights danced around the room, music pounded on the speakers, and the teenage witches and wizards were dancing.

To everyone's surprise, Neville Longbottom stepped up and took Ginny Weasley by the hand as they bagen owning the dance floor.

Harry was in disbelief, so he nudged Ron. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Mhm, refreshments." Ron answered, making a beeline for the refreshment table.

Blaise almost choked on his drink when he saw Neville dancing. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. "My jimmies have been rustled! Longbottom can dance!"

Astoria, boiling with envy, marched towards the chiseled Cedric Diggory and pulled him to the center of the dance floor.

Soon it was apparent that the two couples were having a showdown...

"She hasn't even had a drink yet." Daphne muttered to Theo, looking at her sister flaunting her moves in the middle of the Ravens' common room, no less. She was shimmying her chest, making the dance hotter with every step. The audience were getting excited. Surprinsingly, the Hufflepuffs started wolf-whistling for the younger Greengrass before the Slytherins even started.

"Why are they all acting as if they drank too much firewhiskey? We're only serving butterbeer." Anne asked, looking at the guests.

"You don't know?" Nixxy laughed and picked up another cut of pudding.

"Don't know what?" Isabelle narrowed her eyes and sniffed at her own serving of gooey goodness. Her eyes widened. "Oh."

The twins bounded over. "What do you ladies think?" they grinned, waggling their eyebrows at the rest of the group.

Vienne raised her eyebrows at both slices; Nixxy and Isabelle's. "Don't tell me..." she glanced at the twins. They responded with a wink.

"You guys really didn't know?" the drunk brunette asked. This girl was as plastered as any bloke after 20 pints lager. She knew of the twin's plan and she took full advantage. "I love you, Fred and George!" she said, embracing her favorite twins in the world.

"Then let's go to the dorms and have oursleves a little snog?" Fred announced.

"We'll find a hog? Yay!" Nixxy exclaimed, putting up a bottle of butterbeer and skipping to the crowd. "Let's party!"

"Who said anything about a log?" muttered Isabelle, blinking rapidly to try and get a hold of what was happening around her.

"She can never hold her alcohol, can she, Fred?" his twin noted. His statement earned him the stares of the three girls.

"You spiked the pudding," Vienne accused, and retracted her hand that was holding the spoon she was using to distribute the pudding. The twins grinned.

"That they surely did."

"What's a party without it, after all," they chorused.

The Ravenclaw stood up from the beanbag she was sitting on and said, "I'm going to have to go to the loo now. Excuse me."

Her companions nodded absently and continued eating and observing their guests, within moments Isabelle was back with a stricken look on her face.

"The loo could wait." she announced shakily.

Antoinette shot her a look. "Why?"

"Let's just say some people found the dorm rooms appropriate for their... endeavors."

"Who's in?" said the Hufflepuff. Her eyes scanned the area to look for the 'missing ones'.

"Does it matter? I didn't take time to look," Isabelle said.

Antoinette shook her head. "Oh boy, this is going to be a long night."

"On the contrary, they'll fall drunk in a few hours"

"And come on, at least they mingle among each other," George said. It was true though. Everybody seemed to let their prejudice about every other house aside that one night.

They heard a dreamy voice join in their conversation. "Hello everyone."

"Guys, look who I found. It's the sweetheart, Luna," Nixxy said, coming back with the reserved blonde. She then fell on the couch asleep.

"Why, hello Luna. Enjoying yourself so far?" Isabelle asked her fellow Ravenclaw pleasantly.

"The party is alright though I really hope the pudding doesn't attract flutterbys. They're known for their extreme liking to sweets and diving into them, you know, but they're really dangerous if people accidentally eat them."

Nobody knew how to respond to that. But because she was adorable, they smiled and pretended to know what those were.

"Vi! There you are." Blaise suddenly appeared. "Have you seen Draco?" For some reason he looked terribly nervous.

The twins looked at each other and smiled.

Meanwhile...

"Draco, stop brushing your leg against mine."

"If you'd only care to notice, Granger, my legs are as cramped as yours and I'm barely moving. If only you weren't too aroused to even lift your right leg, we'd have a little more space"

"Then what's that that keeps on moving against my leg?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's probably nothing. Now, shut up and kiss me." he whispered, crashing his lips on hers. But she was uneasy and it wasn't because the Slytherin prince was all over her but because of the rough, bristly sensation rubbing on her lower leg.

...

*meow*

The sound caught them by surprise and made them jump. Draco hit his head and a broom fell on the girl. A bucket follows suit and clatters onto the floor.

"Crookshanks?"

*hiss*

"Malfoy..."

"What?"

"That's not Crookshanks..."

The feline's eyes were as luminescent as oil lamps. lul. The eerie glare of the cat was all too familiar. The pair knew it wasn't the fierce pet of the girl, it was worse. Way worse.

"Mrs. Norris!"

"Not now, Blaise." Vienne said, pushing him to the side. Luna suddenly dropped her robe and passed the boy. He trailed her as she made her way to the center of the common room, meeting a couple more girls.

From a corner in the room, Pansy narrowed her eyes at the view she was seeing. "Is Blaise following that Loony girl?"

Ernie walked over and spoke as well. "Forget that, what is she doing?"

Then, the music started at the flick of her wand. The lights dimmed and a spotlight came on, focusing on the pretty blonde girl. Her hips swayed to the beat of the cabaret music.

"Lovegood can dance?"

"She's good."

"Maybe she can even... love good." Someone offered, which earned the speaker looks from everyone around who heard his statement.

The Ravenclaws started whispering amongst themselves, they didn't even know Luna could dance. Soon everyone was staring.

Blaise didn't know what overcame him. He just realized that he was on the dance floor with the young Ravenclaw. She twirled and fell into his arms. He dipped her so low that her hair touched the floor. But he kept his balance, she was light anyway so it wasn't much trouble.

Luna pulled her necktie off and tossed it over his neck, pulling him closer in their strange tango. Every step brought their bodies closer until he was entirely lost in her azure eyes.

And that said it all. The Marauders caught each others eyes, except Nixxy who was suppose to be asleep. Their looks were in synch with their thoughts. They have found their pair.

"Don't kill Cedric!" Nixxy suddenly exclaimed, grabbing the attention of nearby students.

"What the glob?" Harry said. "That was my dream!"

"What?" Cedric was stunned. "You two dream about me?"

"Looks like she's up. Who wants the last pudding?"

There you are :)