In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 4: Nebula

Chapter 174: Restless and Hungry

LUCY:

The twins were making me nervous. More and more, they whispered behind their hands to each other. More and more, I'd catch one or both of them staring at me. More and more, they'd get mail at breakfast and hurry from the Great Hall together. More and more, when they were actually in the mood to talk to anyone other than each other, they asked me questions.

"Moody's your legal guardian now, right?"

"How exactly do you control that magic you do with your hands?"

"What's the wildest accidental magic you did as a kid?"

"Any plans for the summer?"

They were relentless. I answered their questions and asked plenty of my own. They never answered mine. They'd just smirk or smile or some combination of the two and ruffle my hair or kiss my cheek before telling me not to worry and to trust the process. I had no idea what they meant by any of it, so I had no choice but to shrug and sigh and watch as they hurried off to talk about Merlin-knows-what, just the two of them again.

I was really convinced that they were planning a massive prank for their birthday and wanted my help, but when the morning of their birthday arrived and they hadn't said anything, I realized — with no small amount of dread — that they must have had something else in mind.

I could tell that I was not the only person expecting the twins to put on a performance for their birthday. It seemed the whole school was on edge when I made my way down to the Great Hall. Their seats were empty, but to my surprise, someone had already placed two packages in the spots where they always sat. I glanced at the tags on each and realized it was Henry's handwriting, and, surely enough, he was trying rather hard not to grin when I glanced over at the Hufflepuff table. That was interesting.

Henry caught my eye, and a wad of parchment the size of my fist soared through the air. I snatched it out of the air easily and cocked my head at him in confusion.

"Open it," he mouthed, "trust me."

When I did so, a handful of ear plugs dropped into my palm. The parchment simply read Pass these out to the people around you and plug your ears. You'll be glad you did, I reckon.

I glanced at Henry again. "What?"

He merely grinned, nodded at my hand, and resumed his conversation with Martin and Emily.

"What're those, Lu?" Harry asked.

"Henry says we need these," I replied, glancing somewhat apprehensively at the packages on either side of me. "I don't know what he has planned, but I think we ought to trust him."

Only a couple of seconds after we'd all plugged our ears, the twins arrived. Everyone in the Great Hall turned to look at them, but they weren't bearing any obvious Fanged Frisbees or Dungbombs or anything else of the sort so conversation resumed again.

I opened my mouth to wish the twins happy birthday as soon as they sat down on either side of me, but before I got the chance, the packages on the table suddenly burst open.

"I BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D GET THE FIRST LAUGH TODAY — " Henry's voice shouted from Fred's box.

" — BUT I SINCERELY HOPE I'VE BEATEN YOU TO IT!" George's box continued.

"AFTER ALL, IT'S NOT EVERY DAY YOUR FRIENDS, THE FAMOUS WEASLEY TWINS, TURN EIGHTEEN — "

" — AND IT'S YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY AT SCHOOL — "

" — SO I FIGURED I'D TRY PRANKING THE PRANKSTERS — "

" — FOR ONCE, SO — "

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the boxes finished in unison.