April Fool's Day-Fremione

One evening after closing Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Fred and George sat behind their matching desks with equally messy stacks of invoices, parchments, and order requests. It had been another successful day, raking in the galleons from the influx of Hogwarts students enjoying their winter break. While the twins could hardly be considered 'neat', their office was usually more organized than at present. They simply couldn't keep up without postponing their paperwork until after closing time.

George sighed as he looked for a place to rest his elbows on his overflowing desk. It seemed even the stacks of papers had spawned smaller piles of their own. Somewhere underneath it all was a desk calendar- at least there was the last time he could see the wood grain of the desk. "How could this happen?" he muttered.

"Hmm?" Fred asked without actually being able to see his twin. He continued to search the top drawer of his desk for the magenta bottle of ink he needed to sign the payroll checks as George continued.

"Ol' McGonagall would have herself a right tantrum if she saw how disorganized this place was," came the muffled voice of George as he spoke through the clutter.

Identical looks of nostalgia crossed their faces as they remembered their favorite, and long-since retired, professor from Hogwarts. Most people knew of her prowess in the area of Transfiguration or her staunch support of anything Gryffindor. But the twins, having served more detentions in her office than any other students since the Marauders, saw firsthand how meticulous she had been with the paperwork she was assigned. They had often wondered if Percy hadn't learned the finer points of paper-pushing long before he joined the Ministry as a Hogwarts Prefect working with McGonagall.

Grinning, Fred nodded in agreement. "Never could get anything past her. I think she even had our detention slips filled out before the train left from platform nine and three quarters."

"Boys, why wasn't this assignment turned in yesterday?" George mimicked their former professor's voice as he tried to clear a space to work.

"Gentlemen, you have to request the Quidditch pitch using the forms Madam Hooch gave you," Fred added in an uncanny likeness of her.

For a while, both worked quietly, hoping to finish in time to have dinner at a decent hour. Fred dipped his quill into the full ink well, signing his own paycheck with a bright pink flourish before continuing on to George's, Verity's and the others. As he set the checks aside to dry, his attention was drawn to the picture sitting safely on the bookshelf to the right of his desk. Younger versions of himself, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and their friends waved back at him as they posed for the camera. Professor McGonagall stood straight-backed at the end of the row of students and adjusted her glasses as she waited for the photograph to be taken.

Turning the picture toward his now visible twin, Fred spoke again, "It served her well - McGonagall that it is - that she was so meticulous. Us, too, for that matter. Remember that time she pulled one over on Umbridge?"

"Yeah, classic, that was . . . .

Traditionally, the OWL and NEWT students in each house spent the Saturday before Easter break touring the British Magical Museum. If any of the professors had been asked, they would have said that the goal was to teach students about the significance of the magical world in the political, social, and cultural context. Students, though, saw the trip as an opportunity to get away from the infernal lectures and studying for their exams.

This year, Umbridge managed to keep three of the four houses from participating by passing Educational Decree number one-hundred twelve. When the Professors Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick petitioned for their students to be allowed to go, they were turned down almost before the requests could leave their lips. Professor McGonagall, as was her routine, filed permission requests with both Dumbledore and the Ministry when last years' students returned. With so many demands on her time, she simply found it easier to fill out the paperwork as soon as they returned to the castle. The other professors often joked with her about this meticulous behavior. This year they were all wishing they had followed her lead. With the Ministry's approval for the students to venture into magical Britain, Umbridge had no authority in the matter.