▬▬▬▬

ALBANY LEFT HOGSMEADE THAT AFTERNOON in a sort of state of shock. There was a lot to take in; that much was obvious. She wasn't sure what to make of any of it, and at this point would have preferred if she woke up to find that it had all been an extremely long, dramatic and made-up dream. But despite the numerous times she had pinched herself that evening, she wasn't waking up - and there was a deep pit in her stomach that seemed to tell her that it was all too real.

She wanted to scoff every time the word soulmate made its way to the front of her mind; but decided not to, as she would have been scoffing constantly. Her conversation with Merlin and Arthur was playing on loop, and no amount of butterbeer had drowned it out. She had sat in silence in the corner of the inn until Madam Rosmerta had ushered her outside, muttering something about closing hours for students - Albany hadn't been listening.

The two ghosts had, at some point in her daze, taken the hint that she needed space to process everything, though whether she was glad to be free of their presence, she wasn't sure. The walk back to Hogwarts felt lonely in the cold, the vast majority of students already long gone from the village.

She shuffled into the Great Hall in time for dinner, though didn't feel hungry in the slightest. Her head was still reeling as she slipped into her seat beside Faith, body working on autopilot.

The dark-haired girl was in bright spirits as she chatted amiably with Zoe and Viola across the table, and it took her a moment to notice Albany's withdrawn personality. When she did, however, her pale blues were immediately filled with concern.

"Al?" she said, gently poking her friend with a long finger. "You look like you've seen a ghost, what's up?"

Albany tried not to grimace at the irony of the remark. It was difficult to return the conversation with her mind so occupied. Soulmate, war, power, it said, playing on repeat and increasing in volume when she tried to ignore it.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Albany said eventually, and managed to shoot her friend a weak smile. It must have looked unconvincing, because Faith's worry only increased, eyebrows furrowing. "Just tired," she added. "Long day."

Faith stared at her hard for what felt like an age, and then finally relaxed, sensing Albany's reluctance to talk. "If you're sure," she said, gentle worry on her tone, and returned a soft smile. "You missed the drama earlier."

"Mm?" Albany hummed, the effort of sounding interested quite exhausting.

"Yeah, Draco got turned into a ferret," Phylis chimed in excitedly from the other side of Faith. Her grey eyes twinkled with glee at the thought of it. "Funniest thing I've ever seen!"

The words sounded like a distant echo to Albany, who managed a quiet, "Oh?" when she noticed that her roommate had stopped talking.

"It was brilliant!" Zoe added eagerly, leaning forward to look down the Slytherin table where Malfoy was surely seated among his fellow fourth years. "Mad-Eye did it to him, was bouncing him all over the place...."

Albany drowned out the rest of the conversation, unable to keep her mind from wandering. Destiny, fate, were words she'd grown up hearing around her parents. Her brother had been obsessed with the notion just as they were, and his body was brought back to the family home in a closed coffin. Look at where destiny brought you, Albany thought bitterly. Of everyone in the family, she'd never wanted anything to do with it, so why was it that she was being forced into one?

Her sleep that night was troubled and restless, hardly a sleep at all. She grew angrier the longer the thoughts plagued her, and the longer Merlin and Arthur's absence stretched. They had dropped responsibility on her shoulders that weighed a ton and then abandoned her to deal with it. In the end, she woke up the earliest she possibly ever had, and left the dormitory, determined to shake it off with the new day.

She had a prank to play, she reminded herself, and got to work.

Albany found herself climbing the stairs to the Owlery as the sun was creeping up over the horizon, scarf as usual wrapped tight around her neck against the morning chill. The sky was a beautiful mix of pinks, purples and oranges, and she might have spent more time admiring it if it wasn't for hearing the familiar voices above, speaking in hushed tones.

"He didn't reply to the last one at all," one said, and it caught her off guard to hear the twins sounding so serious. "Is there much point in another letter?"

"George, he robbed us blind and I'm not about to let him get away with it," Fred replied, voice firm.

"Yeah, I get that, but Pig looks like he won't survive another flight, and I'm not telling Ron if he doesn't make it back."

"We don't have a choice. Besides, we're sixteen, I don't think we can get in legal trouble over this."

Albany was slightly alarmed by the conversation, and she was far too nosy and cold to wait around outside the door. She tucked the parcels she had intended on posting under her robes, before pushing it open and narrowing her eyes at the pair. Their backs were turned to her as they went back and forth over a small, scraggly owl.

"And you think I'm the snakey one," she spoke up, and smirked as the redheads as good as jumped out of their skin. The owl flinched, too, and for a brief moment she was worried the fright had killed it. Her eyes flicked back up to the startled faces of the Weasley twins. "What are you two scheming?"

"Here's the part where I give a funny quip about keeping your nose out of other people's business," Fred said immediately, a little defensive. He grinned nonetheless. "Margaret, is it?"

"Definitely not," Albany replied, rolling her eyes. Her interest was, admittedly, piqued by whatever the two were hiding. They hadn't seemed the type to avoid any attention, usually revelling in the spotlight - but then what had brought them to the Owlery while most students were still in bed? "Why is it everywhere I go, you two are there?"

"Guess our paths are just destined to cross," George said good-naturedly with a shrug, but the comment made Albany frown.

Hastily pushing away such thoughts before they consumed her once again, she raised her eyebrows at the plucky little owl Fred was now tying a letter to.

"He's kind of cute," she said with a smile. "If twelve minutes from death."

"He's Ron's, before you accuse us of being bad pet owners," George said with a grin.

Fred leaned down to the scruffy bird, and murmured assurances into his ear, "don't listen to them, Pigwidgeon. And please come back alive."

Albany smirked, forgetting herself and the fact that she was speaking to her current enemies for a moment. 'Pigwidgeon' took a nosedive out the open window, and her heart stopped for a moment as she stared, before she spotted the owl staggering through its flight over the castle grounds. Even the twins looked a little pale watching him, whether in concern for him or the contents of the letter, she wasn't sure.

"Did you say his name was Pigwidgeon?" she asked after a minute.

"Ginny," the twins groaned in unison.

"She's the worst at naming things," Fred complained.

"You only say that because she thought your full name was Ferdinand for two years," George snorted.

Fred glared at him. "She was three and that was your fault, you git!"

"You act as if Ferdinand is a bad name."

"Personally, I think Fred sounds much more classy."

"Yeah, because classy is definitely a word people describe you with."

"Handsome, then."

"You? Handsome? Now that's a good joke, Freddie!"

"We're identical, you blast-ended skank!"

Albany stifled her laughter with a harsh cough.

George turned back to her, eyebrows raised. "So what brings you up here at this fine time of day, Evangeline?" he asked.

Albany met his gaze, consistently baffled by the names they could come up with. "You didn't answer my question, why should I yours?"

"Damn," Fred said. "Using our own tactics against us."

Oh, you have no idea, Albany thought smugly. She smiled in an overly-polite manner at the duo, and side-stepped out of the doorway, inviting them to leave.

"Well, I have business to attend to, and I'm assuming you've dealt with yours," she said.

Fred's eyebrows disappeared into a mop of red hair. "Are you asking us to leave?" he said, feigning hurt.

"Yes," Albany said drily, and waved her arms at the open doorway for emphasis. "Good day, gentlemen."

"If you insist," George said with a grin, and bowed out of the tower.

Fred followed him, giving the girl a friendly wave as he left. "Catch you later, Vanessa!"

"Bye now!" Albany called out to them, rolling her eyes in amusement as she was left alone with the owls. She removed the parcels from her robes once she was sure the boys had left, and uttered a sigh of relief now that the boxes weren't digging into her sides anymore.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

When Faith sat into place beside her for breakfast, the girl's mouth had dropped open in surprise. Albany turned to face her, smiling innocently.

"What?" she asked, though knew well why Faith looked so shocked.

"You're up," the girl said, astonished. "Before me. Before anyone!"

Albany grinned as Faith took a hold of her shoulders, shaking them gently.

"Are you sure you're the real Albany Bronwen?!"

Albany laughed, gently removing Faith's hands. "Yes, I am," she assured her friend with a smile.

Faith giggled. "You weren't joking about the new school year, new you thing," she said cheerfully, reaching for a slice of toast. "I feel like a proud mother!"

"You are a proud mother," Albany teased, and ducked to avoid a swat across her head. She leaned over to Faith, grinning as she whispered, "I wouldn't have breakfast, by the way."

Faith looked at her incredulously. "I really don't think you're Albany," she said seriously. "What on earth-"

"It's happening today!" Albany whispered.

Faith's pale blue eyes bulged as she stared at Albany, and then over at the Gryffindor table, scanning it for the soon-to-be victims. Giving up after noting the amount of redheads, she turned back to face her friend, eyes as wide as golfballs. "Serious?"

"I wouldn't joke about this," Albany replied, grinning as she noted the irony in her response. Pranks are, by definition, a joke, she could practically hear the voices of the twins saying, in the mischievous way they said everything. "That's why I'm up early."

Faith's expression of shock fell to one of disappointment. "So I still have to wake the sleeping ogre every morning?"

"Yeah, probably," Albany admitted, though shot her an unimpressed look at the comment.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden arrival of morning post; dozens of owls - dark, light, speckled, tawny - had flown into the Great Hall, screeching and hooting to their respective owners as they brought letters and parcels hanging from their feet.

"Hey, you got a letter!" Faith chimed happily, pointing out the tawny owl that had landed on the table in front of Albany, head tilting as it stared at her, awaiting attention.

It wasn't going to get any for a while.

"Shh," Albany hissed to Faith, and was practically standing on the bench she was stretched so tall, eyes focused on where the Weasley twins had just received two small parcels, not daring to blink.

Fred and George looked both delighted and surprised to be receiving presents so early on in the year; they exchanged a gleeful glance as Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson leaned in curiously. The two small parcels were wrapped a little messily with shining red paper, and tied quite unprofessionally with green ribbon. They could have been decent Christmas presents if it wasn't September.

Albany was staring them down so hard she could feel her eyes watering, and blinked hard. She wasn't going to miss this for a second; the anticipation of watching them just shake and examine the boxes was already killing her. The two exchanged another glance, nodding in silent agreement, and swapped boxes, before opening them with the excitement of children on Christmas morning.

Shrieks and screams cut across the noise of the owls and chatter of the Great Hall as a great big cloud of green smoke rose over Gryffindor table. Students began to evacuate the hall at speed, as the same vile smell Albany had been subjected to at the start of the year began to spread throughout the room, and in much bigger proportions.

Faith was among those in a panicked hurry to leave, though her shriek had laughter in it as she glanced back at Albany before making a run for it.

Albany had no intentions of leaving until she was fully satisfied with the twins' reactions; she had dealt with the stench before and would again just this once. She was one of very few remaining in the Great Hall as the smoke began to disperse enough that she could see through it. Even the staff had disappeared in the chaos, and the owls had fled the scene. The tawny one that had been waiting impatiently in front of her had torn off her letter himself with his beak and joined the rest of the flock with haste, but Albany wasn't concerned with her own mail.

She was proper standing on her bench as the smoke cleared, sucked away by McGonagall's wand; the stern woman looked the least impressed Albany had ever seen her, but she didn't let her eyes waver from the twins. They were the only ones remaining at the Gryffindor table, and hadn't even attempted to leave their seats. Perhaps they knew it would be futile, or were revelling in the prank themselves, but as Albany took in their flabbergasted expressions she didn't care. A huge sense of pride, achievement and satisfaction had filled her chest as she grinned wider than she ever had.

The two were quick to spot her; as the last three students to abandon their breakfast, there was nobody else to turn to, with the exception of McGonagall, whose stormy rage Albany was making a point to ignore. The distance between them as they stood on opposite sides of the hall didn't prevent Albany from noticing their own broad smiles, and as they stared each other down, the noises of the crowd dying down outside, she found herself doing the unthinkable.

She winked.