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IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT COULD fix the worst of situations, it was a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't come easily for Albany after her eventful evening. She lay on her back, feeling more restless than she ever had as she stared blankly at the ceiling, mind racing faster than she'd thought it was capable of. After a while, the rest of the girls entered the dormitory, their efforts to hush their excited chatters in vain. There was a bitter taste in her mouth as she lay still with her eyes closed, listening to loud and lively whispers of Krum and tournament and Goblet of Fire for what felt like hours. When they finally succumbed to sleep, Albany found herself suffocating in the heavy silence again, surrounded by friends but feeling lonelier than she ever had.

Morning arrived like a long-awaited blessing, and she rose from her bed before the others began to stir, feeling more like a stiff plank of wood than a human body. She didn't waste much time in the dorms, eager to drown her problems in coffee given that sleep hadn't been an option, and the hot shower didn't wash away her lowly mood.

The lack of natural light in the Slytherin dormitories made it difficult to guess what time of day it was, but as she wandered through an empty common room and made the unusually quiet journey to the Great Hall, she supposed it was earlier than she had thought. The sky outside was cloudy again, though that was hardly surprising, and the daylight that shone through the narrow windows in the upper corridors was quite pale. Indeed, when she entered the Great Hall to find a grand total of seven other students awake, she realised it was far earlier than her usual waking hours. Hell, than anyone's waking hours.

She had nearly forgotten that it was Halloween, and the decorations caught her off guard; as always, Hogwarts went all-out for its celebrations, and even more so this year, with the number of guests it was home to. Jack-o-lanterns hovered above the tables, casting the hall in a warm, candlelit glow, while black, orange and purple streamers hung from the doorway and ceiling rafters. A cloud of live bats was fluttering about the room. Peeves was flinging peanut shells at a group of Hufflepuff girls, and cackled with glee before diving through the walls as one of them stood and jabbed her wand at him angrily.

Albany sat down at the Slytherin table alone, gaze drawn to the goblet that stood at the top of the hall. It was encrusted with jewels, blue flames lapping at the air from within it. She felt a pang of regret that she'd left the hall and missed its reveal, in exchange for a creepy encounter with Mad-Eye; but there was no point lingering in the past, she supposed, and now she was better informed on how unsettling her professor really was.

Speaking of the devil, he was seated by himself at the staff table; he didn't seem interested in breakfast, or the carved floating pumpkins. He simply sat, hands clasped over his staff, observing the few students in the hall with a cold stare. Albany met his gaze with a fierce glare as it fell upon her, and he curled his lip before turning away, though the magical eye lingered.

Ignoring the uncomfortable shiver that ran down her spine, she glanced to the goblet curiously as a Durmstrang student slipped in a strip of parchment; the flames turned scarlet and sparked aggressively, before settling. The girl grinned and hugged the broad-shouldered boy next to her, before backing away from the goblet. There was a wispy golden circle drawn around it, Albany realised, and wondered what it was for as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"That's the Age Line," Fred informed her, and she jumped so hard that her mug wobbled enough to spill drops of coffee over the white tablecloth.

"Bloody hell, where did you come from?" she hissed, whipping around. Fred and George were beaming cheerfully at her, with the air of two people who were constantly up to no good.

"Doesn't matter," said Fred.

"We're here for you," George said.

"For reasons secret-"

"-but you already know."

Albany sighed, glancing wistfully at her cup of coffee before acknowledging the twins' hopeful faces once more. After a sleepless night, she felt like she'd been hit by a train, she was so exhausted - but she had all weekend to recover, she supposed, and had a feeling that if she refused to go with them, she wouldn't be left alone until she gave in.

"Alright," she sighed, making the effort to sound as unwilling as possible. She pushed herself up from the table, legs a little wobbly, and placed her hands on her hips. "What do you want?"

The twins led her through the quiet castle at a hasty enough pace, the two of them bubbling with mischievous energy. There weren't many people up, but they passed a group of Beauxbatons students headed in the opposite direction, and later Professor Sprout, who was on morning patrol. The short woman smiled good-naturedly at the trio as she strolled by leisurely, though raised an eyebrow at Albany, who grinned and rolled her eyes in silent response.

She wasn't sure why she was surprised when she followed the lively redheads down an oddly familiar corridor and into an oddly clean classroom. It clicked almost immediately, as she slipped through the door after them, shutting it gently behind her. Countless sponge wars had taken place in the room; she couldn't forget it if she tried. She fought the smile that crept up on her lips as she took in the old room once again; the chewed-up desks had been replaced by newer ones, and the floorboards looked as though they'd been sanded down and varnished, much smoother and shinier than she remembered. The classroom she'd spent a week serving detention in held a weirdly dear place in her heart.

The most notable difference was the cauldron suspended over a silver flame in the centre of the room, where Lee Jordan was tending to a bubbling potion. He sat up and grinned as the twins made their presence known, and waved brightly at Albany. She smiled coyly in return.

"Et voilà!" George announced cheerfully, jumping forward and bowing to Lee. He gestured to Albany as he did, who lingered tentatively by the door. "The final ingredient to our master plan."

Albany blinked in confusion, realising he meant her. "Wait a minute-"

Lee was clapping as he pushed himself to his feet, grinning from ear to ear. "Great! Okay, Allie - can I call you Allie? Fred calls you Allie - anyway, come here a sec."

Albany stared and didn't move, her gaze darting from the twins to Lee repeatedly, before narrowing in suspicion. "What exactly do you mean, final ingredient?" she asked slowly. "Is this the Ageing Potion? Because we did these in fourth year and they don't work like Polyjuice, you don't need the hair of an older student-"

Fred laughed, and beckoned her over. Reluctantly, she approached; in the cauldron was a swirling potion of baby blue, steaming as it bubbled gently over the fire. Scattered on the ground surrounding it were numerous ingredients that she had a funny feeling had been stolen from Snape's stores.

"We know that," Fred said, grinning. "We're in your class - well, George and I am, so you should know we're not that useless."

Albany raised an eyebrow at him. "Then what d'you need me for?"

"Well," explained Lee, sitting down again so fast that there was an audible thud as he hit the floor, "it's supposed to simmer for another forty minutes, which is fine, we've still got until the evening feast - but it's supposed to be green by now, not blue, and...."

"We don't have a clue how to fix it," George finished, shaking his head at the potion as if he were putting the blame on the swirling mixture.

Albany shot him a glance that was both amused and seriously confused. "I repeat," she said, "what do you need me for?"

Fred stared at her as though the answer was obvious. "You're good at potions," he stated simply.

"So are you!" she shot back. "You're in my class, as you reminded me."

"Please?" George begged, and she faltered as her gaze turned to him. His puppy eyes were worse than Merlin's, the hazel irises shining with silent pleading as he stuck out his bottom lip and pouted. "We need your help."

She huffed, more flustered than she cared to admit, and turned to the brewing stand with a dramatic sigh. "Alright, fine, whatever, I'll see what I can do."

The boys cheered, and the twins jumped on the spot, elbowing each other playfully. She rolled her eyes, glancing down to the scattered ingredients.

"Do you have a book?" she asked Lee, who shrugged.

"Didn't see one."

She turned on the twins, exasperated. "Where's the book?"

"What book?"

"What's a book?"

She rolled her eyes as they smirked in amusement. "The book you were using to brew this."

Fred grinned at her. "My dear Allie, books are for nerds."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How are you brewing this?"

George shrugged. "Memory."

She wasn't sure if she was impressed by how far they'd gotten on memory alone or baffled by how utterly stupid they could be. Either way, she buried her face into her hands and groaned.

"Accio Magical Drafts and Potions," she recited, flicking her wand, though frowned as something shattered outside instead.

"I'll get it," George offered gently, before she could grow frustrated, and repeated the incantation. Fred hurriedly opened the door to the classroom and George caught the flying textbook with all the ease of a seasoned Quidditch player.

Albany took it from him gratefully, flicking to the index and then to the pages on Ageing Potions. Her tired eyes darted over the process and common mistakes paragraphs as the boys watched her curiously.

"Alright, I think-" she sat down opposite Lee, glancing between the blue potion before her and the book- "how many newt's spleens did you add?"

"Collectively?" George questioned, eyes glancing upwards in thought.

"Four," Fred answered.

"Common mistake number one," Albany read aloud, her forefinger on the paragraph in the textbook as she fought a smug smile. "Students often forget to add the fifth newt's spleen after the Lethe River Water; it is assumed this is due to the memory-diminishing effects of the latter."

Lee jumped to his feet with a triumphant shout, pointing an accusatory finger at the twins as he grinned at them. "I told you there was supposed to be something after the water! I definitely messed that up in my O.W.L.s, which is why I remembered it and you didn't!" he jeered.

Fred picked up one of the slimy spleens from the floor and threw it at him with a smirk. "Are you really gonna boast about failing Potions?" he taunted, as Lee ducked with a high-pitched shriek.

"Oi, we need that!" George yelled at them, though couldn't stifle his own laughter. He retrieved the spleen from the floorboards and dropped it into the cauldron, which Albany was grateful for, as she had had zero intentions on touching it.

The brew sparked and hissed, emitting a large cloud of steam before slowly changing colour to a bright, glowing green. Lee whooped and the twins high-fived, before turning to Albany with huge grins.

"Life saver, you are," Fred told her, positively beaming. "Now we can get our names in that goblet."

And then her stomach dropped, and she remembered exactly what they were brewing it for. Life saver, she thought with a growing nausea, how ironic. She tried to shake away the sudden onset of concern as the boys celebrated; she hated to kill their high spirits, and chided herself for being dramatic. However, the exhaustion of a night with no sleep and an empty stomach made shaking her head a dizzying task, so she remained seated on the floor instead, trying to silently assure herself that if any of them died in the tournament, she wasn't entirely at fault. Besides, it was hardly as if the goblet would consider them worthy enough to select one of their names over every other Hogwarts student entering. The thoughts did little to comfort her, however.

Albany remained in the company of the three pranksters for the rest of the morning at their insistence, until the Ageing Potion had completed brewing and they filled small flasks with the contents of the cauldron.

"For your assistance," George had said with a grin as he handed her a spare one, and turned away before she could ask any questions, leaving her baffled as to why he thought it an appropriate gift.

They cleaned up the classroom a second time before returning to the Great Hall after lunch; it was more crowded than Albany had ever seen it on a casual weekend, and she doubted there were many students outside of its walls. A tall and lanky Durmstrang boy was trying to reach the floating pumpkins as he jumped on the Slytherin table, while a gang of Beauxbatons students were critiquing the streamers. Most of Hogwarts was gathered around the Goblet of Fire, chatting and cheering for the students who were daring enough to enter their names.

Fred, George and Lee only grew more excited as they hurried up the hall, their laughter attracting the stares of numerous students. Albany, in stark contrast, felt a cold pit of dread knotting her stomach, and trailed a little ways behind them as the twins spotted their younger brother with his friends, and hurried over to talk to him.

She bit her cheek as they exchanged words, before the three boys approached the golden circle, practically trembling with excitement. They had taken the potions just before leaving the classroom, to ensure that no professors spotted them with the evidence.

"Ready?" Fred asked the other two, bouncing on his heels. "C'mon, then - I'll go first-"

Albany made her way up behind George and Lee as Fred walked right up to the edge of the Age Line. She felt herself tense in anticipation of his next step, and the rest of the hall had fallen quiet as well, watching him in curiosity and awe. Fred stood like a diver prepared for a fifty-foot drop as he rocked on his feet, hyping himself up; and then with a great breath, he stepped over the line.

For a moment, Albany thought it had worked, and felt her stomach knot as George shot her a wink and leapt after his twin with a triumphant yell. In a split second, there was a loud sizzling sound and both boys were hurled from the circle before they could so much as look at the goblet. They landed painfully on the floor, and before Lee and Albany could run over and console them, long white beards had sprouted from their chins.

The students in the hall roared with laughter, and Albany couldn't help the flood of relief she felt at their rejection. They didn't seem too heartbroken over it, though, and joined in on the laughter heartily as they took in each other's beards.

Lee was howling with laughter as Professor Dumbledore approached, eyes twinkling in amusement. He took in the identical beards with an impressed glance and subtle smile, before sending them in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

Albany reluctantly though happily followed after them at their beckoning, having nowhere else to go. She had to admit that the two were a funny sight to see as she and Led accompanied them up the halls, unable to fully stifle their laughter for longer than two seconds as they walked. Passing students and professors had a good laugh, too, and Albany felt the tension in her shoulders relax a little bit. Perhaps the cure to her problems didn't simply lie in sleep or coffee, after all, she mused, but in laughter.