DISCLAIMER: I don't have any rights to the characters other than the ones that are quite obviously not canon.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 23: On with the show

The tale of the twins escape had grown to legend status within a week of them leaving the school, much to the amusement of their friends they had left behind. Lee relished in retelling the story to anyone who would listen to him, layering on the embellishments until all that remained of the original tale was the fact that they had flown out of the grounds on shackled brooms. Meanwhile Verity spent every waking moment alone in the choir room; though she was doing nothing that resembled the practice of music. In the corner behind the grand piano and a broken harp there was a small copper cauldron bubbling away quite merrily, the contents of which kept giving off puffs of violet scented smoke in shades of vivid green. So far she had spent two days going over the notes that Fred had owled to her, the parchment battered and crumpled from Umbridge's post screening process. The instructions tailed off after she had to add a spoonful of doxy droppings, they had not managed to figure the rest out before they had had to leave, thus the reason they had sent her it instead.

If anyone can figure this out, it's you Very. We're counting on you, use it well.

She grinned at Fred's curling handwriting as she walked in the room and locked the door behind her, ready to give it another go. Shoving the letter back in her bag she sunk to the floor behind the piano and dragged her notepad to her, Self-Inking quill at the ready as she peered into the cauldron. Two seconds later and she had yanked herself back so fast that she heard her neck pop unpleasantly, a sharp twinge racing down her spine. The potion was so green that it actually glowed, searing into her vision to make bright spots dance before her eyes. Wiping her damp cheeks with her sleeve she thrust her hand into her bag once more and quickly tipped the contents of a small glass vial into the gloop, the mixture of ground hazelnuts, giant's toenails and the hair from the head of a House Elf incinerated in seconds. She waited with baited breath, not daring to blink less she missed a moment. A minute later and she started to grin. The venomous green had taken on a purple sheen, the liquid solidifying until it lay in the bottom of the cauldron as a quivering lump which seemed to shiver each time her glass stirring spoon touched it. Nodding excitedly to herself she muttered the enchantment to cancel the flames beneath it and sat back.

The loud knock at the door sent the spoon flying out of her hand across the room, smashing into pieces against the hard flagstones while she threw a mouldy looking dust cloth over her cauldron. Cursing under her breath she sat completely still, her heart thundering in her chest as the person at the door knocked again and then called out in a harsh whisper.

"Very! Will you open the bloody door you mad bat!"

Grinning when recognising the voice she jumped to her feet and ran over, quickly letting Lee in before shutting, bolting and magicking the door locked once more. Her mate walked past her to where he knew she kept her cauldron and sank to his knees, a handful of cloth spilling onto the floor in front of him. Making sure there was definitely no one listening in Verity turned and followed him, clapping her hands with glee when she saw the material shimmering in various hues of yellow.

"Lee, it's perfect! Where in Merlin's undies did you find so much of it?" She asked, running a length through her fingers in bliss.

"You know those scarves Trelawney drapes over all her lamps? Well those would be these. Say hello to five top quality, if ugly, unicorn hair scarves. Now are you going to tell me what you need them for?" He asked, leaning back against the piano with a sigh.

"It's a surprise." She replied, already spooning equal measures of her new mixture into the centre of each scarf and watching as it sunk into the material, "It's just perfect."

"And you're off your bloody head. You do realise that the Quidditch match is about to begin? Tell me you hadn't forgotten about it Very?!" He said in exasperation as he saw the shocked look on her face.

"I did wonder why I dressed in George's jumper this morning. Alright, keep your knickers on, I'm coming. You know, you're worse than Angelina sometimes, at least the twins let me have actual fun."

Sighing just like Lee had she threw the five lengths of silk into her now empty and unlit cauldron before running for the door with him, remembering to lock the choir room behind them. As it was the weekend she was dressed casually in jeans and trainers, George's infamous Christmas jumper on her to keep her warm in the late spring breezes. The two of them ran like the wind down to the pitch, the sound of the crowd cheering already making them pick up their pace so that when they finally arrived they were completely out of breath. Lee made his way to the staff box where the commentators box was, leaving Verity to trudge up one of the Gryffindor stands, hoping that she would find at least some of her friends there. A smile broke on her face as she recognised Terry Boot from Lee's dorm, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas sitting at the front. Pushing her way past the very excited First Years she plonked herself down on the bench between Terry and Dean, flashing them a bright smile when they went to complain.

"Oh hush, my arse isn't that big. Ron's looking a bit green, isn't he?" She commented, looking over at the Weasley who was indeed an odd shade of khaki.

Before anyone could agree the match had started, her eyes flicking rapidly as she tried to follow the players, Lee's voice booming over the stands. Her heart sank in her chest as the Quaffle soared past Ron's outstretched hands to fly through a goal, a wave of Slytherin's on the other side of the pitch getting to their feet as one and starting to sing in loud voices.

Weasley cannot save a thing,

He cannot block a single ring…

Verity growled under her breath before getting to her feet as well, glad that the tower she had chosen was fairly near the Gryffindor goals. Reaching for the flag Terry was half-heartedly holding up she snatched it and held it up instead, waving and whooping so loudly that the other Gryffindors in the tower with her got to their feet and began to do the same. Poor Ron was trying his best without the snakes chiming in, she made a mental note that before the term was over she would think of an equally catty song about Malfoy, perhaps throwing in a comment about a ferret.

The match quickly picked up pace and far from being disheartened by the song which kept blaring over the stadium, Ron seemed to be getting the hang of being a Keeper. It had only taken him how many matches, Verity thought to herself but kept quiet. Another goal for Gryffindor, it actually looked like they might win! Hollering loudly she got on the bench and waved like mad, Terry laughing beside her as she danced for dear life. Further along from them she could hear Luna Lovegood cheering on both teams simultaneously, one minute calling out for Cho Chang and the next for her friend Ginny. Another goal followed by another save from Ron! Verity tugged Seamus and Dean to their feet and began to yell out loudly.

Weasley is our King,

Weasley is our King,

He DIDN'T let the Quaffle in,

Weasley is our King!

The two boys quickly caught on and started singing along with her, Dean spouting verses with ease until the whole tower was doing it too. In the distance she could see the grin spread across Ron's face and as Ginny flew past she gave a thumbs up to the crowd. The enthusiasm caught like wildfire, the next stand listening in and jumping on the bandwagon to throw another round out there for the rest to hear.

Weasley can save ANYTHING,

He didn't let the Quaffle in,

That's why Gryffindors all sing;

Weasley is our King!

The whistle blew sharply, the match had ended but which side had won? Then she saw her, whizzing around the pitch triumphantly with the Snitch struggling in her hand, a victorious look on her face. Verity immediately punched the air and screamed, her voice hoarse as she launched into another verse while Ginny Weasley did a second lap of the pitch before landing. The crowd tumbled down the stairs as a solid mass, the Gryffindors pouring onto the pitch to lift the team into the air on their shoulders, giving them a true hero's ride back to the castle. As she ran after them she blinked in shock, watching as Lee Jordan grabbed Katie Bell and smooched her right there in the middle of the crowd, not caring who was looking. Verity gaped until Angelina caught her up in a hug, dancing around like a loony before laughing at the sight.

"How did you not know about them?! They got each other signed Easter eggs and everything!" The taller girl laughed, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Now that you mention it, I did see some writing on the egg of Katie's that I smashed! Oops…but who cares?! We won the cup!" She yelled, the two of them swaying amongst the crowd as they passed Harry and Hermione, "Weasley is our King! He didn't let the Quaffle in!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

June had arrived in its usual glorious manner, with blue skies and sunshine. Not that anyone could enjoy it as exams had started. The younger years were already stressing out over their O.W.L's and the Seventh Years had taken to practically living in the library as they tried to cram in as much knowledge as they could before they were called away to sit their N.E.W.T's. Thursday morning dawned with a bang, the girls heading downstairs to the Common Room only to find it buzzing with gossip, rumours flying around them much like one of the twin's fireworks. It took all but five minutes to find out what had happened, the entire eldest year sinking into the couches as they listened, dumbstruck, as to how their Head of House had been struck down with several stunners to the chest and that Hagrid had fled from the school grounds. Verity could hardly contain her anger as she got to her feet, leading the way to the covered courtyard for their Defence Against The Dark Arts practical exam, ready to aim her wand directly at Umbridge, hopefully at point blank range. It was Angelina who grabbed her hand and shook her head, signalling it would be stupid to do anything in front of so many examiners. Barely controlling herself she somehow blasted her way through the exam, no longer caring what results became of it, it wasn't as though her Father would care and seeing as she could always fall back onto the joke shop as a career it would be fine, at least she knew she had aced Charms. After they had traipsed back indoors once more she made her excuses to the others and began to head back to the Common Room on her own, needing time to think. Pushing through the crowd of students she didn't see where she was going until a familiar voice rang out in her ear.

"You can't come down here! No, sorry, you're going to have to go round by the swivelling staircase, someone's let off Garrotting Gas just along here-" Yelled Ginny, nearly deafening her as she turned to address someone who doubted there was such a thing, "If you want to walk through it, carry on, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who doesn't believe us."

"Er…Ginny, not that I don't believe you but…" She said nervously as she walked closer, the other students quickly leaving, "What the hell is going on?"

"Garrotting Gas Verity, you heard me. You'd better get a move on before-"

"Ginny…I'm not stupid. What the hell had happened that means you need this corridor clear?" Verity snapped, not in the mood to be patronised.

"Harry had another vision…" Ginny sighed, tugging her to the side as the boy in question slipped past them, "A bad one."

"Please don't say it was your dad again…or the twins, dear Merlin it was, wasn't it?" She gasped, immediately breathing a sigh of relief as Ginny shook her head.

"It wasn't any of my family Verity…he saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named with a hostage…" The younger girl looked at her with serious eyes, Verity's heart sinking as she recognised the look on her face, already knowing what she was about to say, "Verity…he has Sirius…he has your dad…"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: Thank you for putting up with my procrastination between updates! I've started NaNoWriMo this year on top of a hectic work schedule so my time is very limited but I do want to finish this story! I hope you liked the chapter!

You know what's coming up next, don't you? I warn you now to get your tissues ready.