Managing Mischief

Chapter 7: Plotting and Scheming

     That night at dinner the Great Hall was abuzz with excited chatter, most being in regard to their DADA class and its newest professor.

"Did you know he was an Order member?!"

"I heard he was there the night You-Know-Who was defeated!"

"He's really been there, ya know?"

"I can't wait for our next DADA class!"

Remus seemed to be the talk of the tables, but not nearly as much as the Gryffindor table. His house seemed to vibrate with the excitement of the day and pride in one of their own being their teacher.

"I reckon every class is going to be as brilliant as todays!" Lee exclaimed, bouncing in his seat.

"I hate to be the voice of reason here, but you do realize there will be theory days as well?" Leo pointed out to his friend.

That seemed to sober Lee a bit but not for long. His large grin back on his face as he straightened his spine and responded, "True but if the hands-on days are anything like today's class, it'll totally make up for it!"

The group chuckled, but they wholeheartedly had to agree with Lee.

"Right! Back to Operation Ogre!" Aries said, redrawing the attention of the group. "I think we're almost ready to test."

"I agree. However, we are going to need to decide just where we are going to do the trial run." Fred eagerly responded.

George leaned forward, whispering "What about the Slytherin common room?"

"YOU'RE A GENIUS DEAR BROTHER-O-MINE!"

"Shhhh! Don't draw attention to us! Don't forget Aries and I are no longer the only ones with exceptional hearing now." Leo chided, looking around to make sure they, indeed, didn't draw any unwanted attention to their scheming.

A quick glance at the professors at the high table confirmed they didn't seem to have been overheard. Professor Lupin was smiling and appeared to be in deep conversation with Professor McGonagall. Breathing a sigh of relief Leo turned back to the merry band of pranksters.

"I like the idea. Leo and I can stake it out. We have a better chance of escaping without detention if we're caught by Un- Professor Snape."

The group nodded in agreement. "We will still need to be more cautious though. Professor Lupin's heightened senses aside, we're contending with a pranking legend on top of it." Leo pointed out.

"We'll bring the map, but for now it may be better to finish this later. Our whispering seems to have caught the attention of our uncle." Aries said, inclining his head toward the professors.

All at once, Fred, George, Lee, and Leo whipped their heads around to the High Table to find that they were, indeed, being watched. Professor Snape watched with a blank expression on his face as he raised an eyebrow at the group. Severus Snape was no stranger to the signs of his godsons' plotting and scheming.

Aries slapped a hand to his forehead. Could they be any more obvious, he thought to himself. Chancing another glance at his uncle, Aries saw a small smirk appear on Professor Snape's face before the man in question once again lowered his face back to his dinner.

"Maybe we should give it a few days before you two scout out the common room." Lee voiced nervously.

The twins readily agreed, knowing they were already on thin ice with their mother, and not wanting to risk further ire from her just yet.

"We'll need the extra time anyway to iron out the finer details." Aries said, gulping down some of his nerves from thinking of his mother's wrath.

⬦⬦⬧⬦⬦

Two nights later, Aries and Leo were wandering around the dungeon and hiding in the shadows attempting to learn the current password for the Slytherin common room.

"We should have borrowed the cloak from Harry. This alcove is too small" Aries huffed elbowing his brother in the ribs in the process.

Holding his side Leo answered in a rasp, "We are definitely using the cloak next time. Let's just call it tonight and try again tomorrow night."

Aries nodded at his brother, "Check the map and then let's make like a banana and split."

Before Leo could pull out the map, footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. Snapping his head up with wide eyes, Leo looked at his brother and brought a finger to his lips, only to be returned with a look from Aries that seemed to say, just how stupid do you think I am?

However, their silent conversation was broken by the sound of a second set of footsteps.

⬦⬦⬧⬦⬦

Remus wasn't sure when or why his feet seemed to carry him to the dungeons but yet that's exactly where he found himself. Rounding the corner Remus came face to face with Severus Snape. 

Well, isn't that just my luck, Remus though letting out a small sigh.

Snape's head snapped up at hearing the sigh and sneered at Remus. "Lupin", he greeted the other man.

Shock painted Remus' features. He wasn't expecting, what he could call a civil greeting from Snape. In fact, he was sure that was the first time he greeted Remus without making a reference to his lycanthropy.

Realizing he had yet to reply, Remus greeted him with a small smile and head nod, "Severus."

Sneer still firmly in place Snape turned back to the tapestry he had stopped in front of. Remus had never been good at reading the other man, but he was sure there seemed to be a hint of something in his eyes, excitement perhaps. 

Remus couldn't seem to control his curiosity and walked toward the man, stopping at his side. Remus took in the tapestry before him, from what he could tell it seemed to depict the Forbidden Forest. Just as he seemed to decide there didn't seem to be anything special about it, he heard the soft sound of someone, or more adequately, somebodies breathing behind the tapestry.

Remus again looked at Snape in surprise, "How..." he started.

Snape cut him off by raising his hand. Not saying a word, he yanked the curtain to the side revealing Aries and Leo.

"Well fu-"

Immediately, Leo's hand shot out and covered his brother's mouth before he could finish that word. Putting on his most innocent smile he looked at his godfather, "Uncle Sev, what a wonderful surprise! What brings you to this neck of the woods?"