A prank war is all it takes for a wild and carefree Gryffindor to change an isolated Hufflepuff's perspective on life and teach her that they are more alike than she thinks.
Companion books:
- Other Eyes (Ginny Weasley)
- Gravity (Percy Weasley)
...
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It had been three days since the last pranks, and Hogwarts had stopped echoing with the jokes of singing quills. The prank war was on pause for the weekend, not because anyone declared peace, but because very professor decided that the only thing anyone should do during the weekend was study.
So for now, the Great Prank War was on pause.
The library was inviting this Sunday. Lunch had just ended. Students were studying quietly, memorizing Transfiguration charts and Potions ingredients. The library was the designated safe space, so there were no chance of any pranks being pulled.
Maxine laid on the couch in the back of the library, Maxine and Tamsin sitting at the table next to it. Their books were spread out loosely, scribbled on parchment strewn about. Maxine held a History of Magic text book above her head, reading about contracts between the Ministry of Magic and other magical governments throughout the world.
"I swear, if I have to read about Cheering Charms one more time," Heidi said as she dropped onto the table with a soft thud," I'm going to hex myself into happiness."
"You wouldn't need to," Tamsin muttered. "You're delusional enough already. Just wait until your sixth year. It's so much harder." She grimaced as she looked down at her own Transfiguration homework from her sixth year class.
Heidi crumpled up a piece of parchment and chucked it at her. But it missed Tamsin, and hit Maxine right in the head. Maxine didn't react though. Her eyes were glued to the pages of her text book, and though she wasn't reading. Instead, she was deep in thought.
It has been a week since they sat down with Fred, George, and Lee to revise their rules for the Prank War. Other than the day that Maxine spoke with Fred outside of the Hufflepuff common room, Maxine hadn't had any interactions with him outside of their pranks. It filled Maxine with the smallest bit of sadness. She liked talking with him. She glanced over at her friends; Tamsin looked like she was going to set her books of fire and Heidi had put her head back to the table.
"What we need to do," Heidi said as she picked up her head from the table, "is plan our next prank. Those boys are already plotting something horrendous. Unless they have decided to give up. Our prank on them was much more embarrassing than theirs."
"There is a sooner chance of Snape handing out sweets than them giving up," Tamsin said. "We need to go big. I think next weekend, we go down to Hogsmeade. We can all pitch in and buy a bunch of things from Zonko's. We just need to figure out what to do until then."
Maxine bit her cheek as a silence descended on them. She didn't look over, but she could feel that Heidi and Tamsin were looking over at her, waiting for her reaction. When they didn't look away, Maxine sat up and turned to face them. "I don't have any money."
She watched Heidi nod her head sympathetically. Tamsin's brow furrowed. "I though you had a few Galleons? Didn't you get any money for Christmas?"
"Uh...no," Maxine shook her head. "I have a few sickles. But I'm trying to save those."
