Of course, the one day that Harry really wanted to make it to dinner early a million things had stopped him on the way. Professors wanted to chat about assignments, questions about Quidditch needed answered, and his classmates wanted to know why he seemed in such a hurry anyway. By the time he made it into the Great Hall, Ginny had already finished eating and was staring at him expectantly. He ate quickly, carefully avoiding the pitcher of pumpkin juice that the group of girls behind Ginny seemed to be whispering about.

When he finished, Harry stood quietly, flashed an apologetic grin to the girls undoubtedly trying to poison him with love potion, and made his way over to Ginny. As he did, he glanced over at the Slytherin table. Skyler was still there, but Parkinson was nowhere to be seen. They could work with that. "Once I'm gone, grab Skyler and meet me in the main dungeon corridor," he said out of the side of his mouth, hoping to not be overheard. It was far too early in term to spend time in detention unless he absolutely had to.

With that, he strode purposefully out of he Great Hall and made his
Way in the general direction of the Common room. When he was sure no one was looking, he doubled back and headed to the arranged meeting place. He was just checking to make sure
He had his Invisibility  cloak and the Maurauder's Map, just in case, when he heard familiar footsteps approaching. He began speaking without even turning to face the girls.

"Parkinson has gotten into quite a mess with both of you already this week," he directed over his shoulder. "Now I know you could each handle it on your own, but I think we should team up and end this once and for all. If we embarrass her enough and show her how powerful we are, maybe she'll see sense and keep her ugly nose where it belongs from now on." And if not, it will at least be a lot of fun, he thought to himself.

"Do either of you have any ideas about what he could do to her?" Harry asked. If not, he had plenty of his own, but he thought it only fair to give the actual wronged parties the first shot at the pug's punishment.

Doing as she was told, Ginny inhaled what dinner she’d wanted, then glared as Harry sauntered into the Great Hall late. She’d seriously just eaten that quickly for nothing? Her stomach rumbled angrily at her and she couldn’t help but think if she threw up she’d aim it right at the idiot boy. It would be his fault after all. The suspicious pumpkin juice and giggling girls had the redhead rolling her eyes, as did Harry’s apparent apologetic smile at the fools. “Really, Harry, don’t encourage them,” she muttered, glaring even more at the flock of slags before nodding to the boy’s orders.

Once he’d left, she headed over toward the Slytherin table, giving Malfoy a curious raised brow before dragging Skyler away from the blonde. “You are going to explain that soon,” she commented as she pulled her friend along behind her, getting them out of the hall and along to the dungeons without giving the other girl any bit of a choice. It probably wasn’t nice to manhandle a friend like that, but Ginny didn’t care. Between her stomach ache and the stupid girls trying to poison her best mate, she was in a right state of mind.

“I have many ideas, but I don’t think you’ll like most of them,” she growled, imagining all the ways she could make the pug bleed. Somehow she figured Harry wouldn’t support his star prospective chaser getting kicked out of school for beating the self-proclaimed Slytherin princess to a bloody pulp. Oh, but it was so damn tempting. The redhead tried to calm her nerves instead, focusing on the fact that she was finally going to get more revenge on Parkinson for ruining her Harpies shirt. Whatever her friends came up with, she was sure she’d enjoy it.

With a sigh, she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, playing with her wand in her right hand as she tried to calm her pulse. “You two will have to come up with logical plans. Right now I just want to find a beater’s bat and chase the dog until she runs herself into a corner…” The image was lovely, and Ginny actually grinned at the thought of bashing the girl’s skull in. Perhaps Ginny needed a bit of therapy…

Skyler didn't have much time to eat much of anything really. She had arrived to the great hall late, on purpose, in an attempt to avoid the whispers and the looks she received from her housemates and the rest of the damn school. It wasn't even a full ten minutes after she had taken a seat next to Draco when Ginny was making heads turn as she came over purposefully and dragged the Slytherin from her seat.

Skyler didn't know what the red head was up to, and gave Draco a shrug and a small wave while shooting her friend a sheepish grin as she allowed herself to be pulled from the hall in a resigned sort of way. She need to talk to the Gryffindor anyways, so she supposed this was good a time as any. It wasn't like she had really wanted to finish her plate of mashed potatoes and gravy anyhow.

Once they were out of the great hall, Skyler questioned her friend, her curious gaze searching the red head's face. "So. Mind telling me what this is all about? Not that I mind being dragged from dinner like a rag doll or anything." She added with sarcasm, grinning at her friend. The answer came soon enough when a voice from up ahead caught her attention. Skyler's gaze snapped onto Harry, and her grin became twice as large at being in the company of both of her friends. She didn't have much of a chance to greet them both though, since apparently this meeting was all business. But as Skyler caught on to just exactly what business this pertained to, she launched herself at the pair, hugging them with excitement. "You guys are awesome!!" She exclaimed, her eyes bright with mischief now as she reigned in her exuberance.

The brunette couldn't hold back the snort at Ginny's statements, though she had had much the same ideas when she had first left the hospital wing after nearly being blown up by the sixth year girl. "Actually, I thought maybe Parkinson could do with a little public humiliation." Skyler smirked and pulled out a vial of orange liquid from her robes pocket. "After careful consideration, I thought maybe the best place to strike would be that damn mouth of hers." Skyler's eyes flashed for a moment. She had taken kindly to being called a freak, and she wasn't likely to forget it anytime soon. The brunette cocked her head, eyes wandering between her two Gryffindor friends. "But any ideas you two have I'm sure would work as well."

Sometimes Ginny said things that made Harry worry about her a lot. She had just a touch too much of the twins in her for her own good. It was one thing for them to get in an actual brawl to solve a dispute that they felt was beneath magic or pranking. There were two of them, and between them they were bigger, stronger, and smarter than just about anyone in the school. Ginny was an amazing witch and all, but she was still a young girl. If she got into the wrong scrape without backup, this rage-fueled love of muggle style violence could get her into a lot of trouble.

Harry would just have to keep a close enough eye on her that she had backup and a touch of rationality in her corner for all of the scrapes she got herself into this year. He was sure that Skyler would help him in that department if he needed it. She didn't seem to be one to back down from a fight of any sort any more than Harry was. "We will not be going with the get thrown in Azkaban plan, Gin, though I will remember it just in case an even more serious situation comes up." His tone was joking, but he hoped that would be enough to get her to not kill anyone.

For now, though, they needed to get Parkinson back without Ginny doing something that would get her expelled. Hogwarts would be boring without the redhead. Everything that Skyler said sounded like exactly what they needed, and Harry eyed the potion or whatever it was curiously. "Her mouth is a perfect target, Skyler. Especially if we can hit her ego too." Still, he didn't even recognize the color of the liquid as anything familiar. This could be dangerous. "What's in the bottle?"

The feisty redhead remained propped against the wall, arms crossed as she listened to her friends discuss what they might do to the pug. Sky had some potion that made Ginny quite curious, and the idea of public humiliation brought a devilish grin to her lips. Oh yes. Hitting Pansy in the ego would be the best place of all, even if it meant very little chance of bloodshed. The youngest Weasley silently wondered when she’d developed such a bloodlust, then discounted it at as leftover rage toward the idiot snake. That was completely rational, and so it could be ignored.

She sighed at Harry, knowing he wouldn’t support her rather barbaric idea. “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, “no visiting Malfoy’s dad.” She shot their Slytherin friend a look before focusing again on Harry and the plan at hand. “I agree. Her mouth will make the best target. It is so large after all.” Her laugh was harsh and rather unpleasant, really. Ginny quickly stopped it and cleared her throat.

There were more things to focus on while they were having this little meeting. “How, exactly, are we going to find her? And administer… that?” She didn’t know what the potion was, and she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know. “It isn’t like we can just walk up to the girl and tell her to drink it.” Ginny rolled her eyes, wondering if her friends would take kindly to her apparent sour mood. Her stomach was still gurgling uncomfortably and she still wanted to ask Skyler what the story was with her and the blonde boy she’d been hanging around with.

Unfortunately, that conversation wasn’t going to happen with Harry present, and Harry was definitely staying present tonight. “Any genius ideas then?”

Skyler snorted at Harry's speech about Ginny's plan, though she was curious about this azkaban. She went as far as to open her mouth to question on it, but changed her mind at the last moment and closed it again, shaking her head slightly. Perhaps this wasn't the right time. They had more pressing matters to deal with. Skyler smirked devilishly at Harry's question. "This, my friend, is a potion. But it's not just any of your ordinary run of the mill potions. Because that will just not do."

Skyler said this with an air of someone who was sorely disappointed in the lack of potions she considered useful for these types of situations. She gave the little vial a shake, her eyes gleaming. "And what it does is perfect for Parkinson, given the fact that she can't seem to keep her big mouth shut and has a terrible shriek." The brunette made a face and shuddered at the memory of her subjection to said shriek and focused on Ginny and her question.

"That is my current problem. I think where to do it is obvious. The great hall during during breakfast or lunch would be ideal, since nearly the whole school is there at those times and the potion's effects will only last a good few hours, so that gives ample time to enjoy it's effects." She explained simply, obviously haven given this a lot of thought and purposefully leaving out exactly what the potion did. She really wanted her friends to fully enjoy the effects, and that could only happen if they were unaware of what it did.

Skyler cocked her head to the side, slipping the potion back into her pocket, and continuing with explaining the problem they had, and hoping one of them had a better alternative to what she had in mind. "As for how to get her to consume it,I was thinking of recruiting Draco, since he wants to see her pay just as much as I do, but he's set on being a lazy punk and sitting back and watching the show." The brunette paused to roll her eyes in what would have been irritation, if not for the small amused grin that graced her lips, or the almost fond tone she used when referring to the blonde boy in question.

She gave a sheepish look to Ginny, knowing the red head was itching to question her on that subject, and Skyler knew she couldn't outrun the girl forever. Clearing her throat a bit and rubbing the back of her head, she shrugged. "I can't really ask anyone else in Slytherin to help, so plan B was to just wing it."

Harry was yet again a little bit uncomfortable at the mention of Malfoy. Where before he had just assumed the meeting and connection was by chance and that the rumors were mistaken, now he had to give them credence, since Skyler definitely seemed to trust the Snake Prince. What could that possibly mean? Harry was sure that he hadn't misjudged the girl he was with now. He was equally sure that he hadn't been misjudging Malfoy for the last five years. The two couldn't both be true. He needed to talk to Skyler about it, but now was decidedly not the time. Maybe it was Malfoy he needed to talk to about it anyway. Either way, that could be decided later.

For now, they had a revenge to plot. It was nice to feel like something as simple as a teenage prank was the most important thing going on with Harry tonight. No wars, no murders, no mysterious plans and figuring out who you could trust without someone you loved getting killed or injured. Harry felt just like his dad and Padfoot, working on plans for their monthly adventure on the night of the full moon.

"So what you're saying," Harry said to Skyler in a mock scholarly voice, "is that you need something that will make Pansy drink something that has a potion which is clearly harmful to her health in some way." He puffed on an imaginary pipe, like he was Sherlock Holmes or something. "I believe we have two choices in how to go about it. Firstly, we could make her willingly take the potion, believing it will make young Malfoy love her again." He threw the imaginary pipe away in mostly pretend disgust. "But I don't think anyone here likes that idea, each for our own reasons." Harry paused, pretending to be at a loss for his other ideas.

"Luckily for you, our friend Miss Weasley comes from the first family of diversions and shenanigans. We'll just create a distraction large enough for you to slip that lovely liquid in her drink without Miss Parkinson knowing." At that point Harry started laughing uncontrollably, unable to continue the Holmes ruse any longer. When he spoke again, it was finally his normal voice again. "So what's the plan, Gin?"

Nodding along as Skyler explained her potion and plan, Ginny found herself already thinking like her twin brothers. She knew they would have some great idea of how to get the potion into Parkinson’s drink, and so she had to come up with a good idea too. She was determined to live up to their standard, and that meant she had to think like them. When the Slytherin mentioned Malfoy, Ginny had to remind herself not to snort in response. Really? Malfoy pranking someone? The prim and proper Slytherin prince? Ginny doubted he could pull it off, and the image of him lazily lounging back and watching the whole ordeal sounded much more like him to the redhead.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course he doesn’t want to lift a finger. Haven’t you learned anything from spending time with the ferret boy? He’d end up breaking a nail if he tried…” she couldn’t hold back the comment, though she did stop from saying anything more. She could tell her friend was fond of the boy for some unknown reason. Maybe there was some secret side he didn’t show the Gryffindors. Ginny hoped that was the case.

Rolling her eyes at Harry’s strange gestures, Ginny couldn’t help the growl at the very mention of someone being nice to the pug. “No one is making her feel loved, Harry. She deserves to feel like nothing more than dog shit.” Perhaps some anger management. Yes, that would probably be good for the feisty Gryffindor. “The distraction idea sounds good, though.”

Now it was time for her to think up that Fred and George worthy plan. She did have some of those fireworks they’d created. She also had the makings of a swamp somewhere in her trunk. “How do we feel about fire and mild explosions?” she asked with a rather frightening grin. Her eyes gleamed with excitement at the thought of getting back at the stupid pug. If Ginny had her way, the girl would keep paying up all year.

Skyler couldn't contain the laugh that bubbled up out of her at Harry's shenanigans. "Nice Harry. Very convincing. Really." She too, looked to Ginny at his question, eager to know if her red haired friend had any bright ideas as far a distractions go. The brunette wasn't used to having partners in crime but she was sure she could get used to this. Especially if it was those two who were her partners. And Draco.

Ginny's words about Draco had Skyler's purple eyes flashing, her anger apparent. She forced herself to bite her tongue, having wanted to tell Ginny just exactly how wrong she was about him and why she shouldn't make that mistake again. Skyler wasn't Parkinson. The older Slytherin might be afraid of the red head but Skyler wasn't. Thankfully, the brunette was smarter. While she did not know the entire story behind it, Skyler did know that there was a story to why there was animosity between the friends she was with now, and her boyfriend. And she would get to the bottom of that and go about making a plan to get them to all get along eventually. But now was not the time.

She lost some of her heat as she considered Ginny's words, her own grin breaking in spite of herself. She really couldn't help it at the idea of explosions. Skyler liked explosions. Usually. When she wasn't the exploding bit. "As long as you're not exploding me like Parkinson tried to do I say full steam ahead." The brunette said laughingly.

Ginny looked at Harry for a confirmation before nodding her head and solidifying the plan in her mind. She knew her friend was probably thinking of something a bit less… extreme when he thought of a distraction, but it wouldn’t be good for any of the other snakes to see Sky slip the potion into Pansy’s drink. No, this had to be big. And Weasleys were good at big.

“If I set them off just outside of the Great Hall, I’m sure everyone will get up for a moment to look at what’s going on. That would give you time to slip the potion into her goblet and join in with the crowd so no one suspected you.” The only potential problem she could think of was the teachers. Sure, some of them would be distracted and rush down to see what was going on. She was sure, however, that others would remain at the table. Others like Snape, and maybe Dumbledore.

A wicked smirk crossed her lips as the girl imagined how many detentions she was going to earn for this. “We’ll wait til next week. I’m not missing the first Hogsmeade weekend for this,” she muttered, thinking ahead and knowing that there was no way she’d get away without large punishments. “I’ve got one of the dragon rockets that the twins used on Umbridge. I can send it along the head table. It’ll keep prying eyes from seeing what you’re up to, but you’ll have to be quick.”

Only the first week and already Ginny was planning something huge. Yes, she was going to go down in the history books just like her twin brothers, and that made her happier than anything. “So, Sunday or Monday evening?”

Harry nodded through the big parts of the plan being worked out. "Better make it Monday evening," he said thoughtfully. "Dinner is spread over too much time on Sundays, so the risk is bigger and the reward is smaller." That would sew that up and make it a better prank in general. Harry would have to figure out some role, as he would want to be involved somehow, but that could be worked out later.

For now, they needed to scatter before somebody saw them and tried to figure out what they were up to. They weren't doing anything against the rules, but Snape had spent weeks up Harry's butt for less in the past, and he didn't have the time to deal with him or any extra detentions this year. "Let's get out of here Gin, before somebody wonders why two prominent Lions are hanging out with the new Slytherin princess outside of the snake pit."

He turned as if to go, but then spun on the spot, fixing his emerald gaze on Sky. "Malfoy, really? I sort of expected better of you." Without waiting for any sort of answer from her he turned back around to make his exit again. In truth he didn't care all that much who she dated, as long as it didn't mean him having to play nice with Malfoy, but any shot at the self absorbed blonde had to be taken, regardless.

Skyler listened intently to her friend's plan for a distraction, her face thoughtful. It should work, and it was just as good as any of the plans she had come up with on her own. She frowned though, at the bit of getting in trouble. The brunette didn't like the idea of any of them getting caught, and if someone did she would rather it be her. But she couldn't be in two places at once, and neither of the other two could possible slip The potion into Parkinson's drink. Gryffindors at the Slytherin table would catch anyone's eye, no matter what was going on outside the great hall. This she knew for a fact.

"Isn't there any way to set them off without you getting caught? I mean, I would rather you didn't get in trouble. That's the whole point of a prank anyways. To do the crime without doing the time." Skyler would rather just take her luck slipping the potion to the girl while she wasn't looking and hoping no one else saw than have one of her friends get in trouble for it. Not to mention if they got caught for the diversion, they would immediately be linked to what would happen to Parkinson. The professors of Hogwarts weren't idiots. She knew they would put two and two together.

"I mean, I know you can't turn invisible or anything but there's gotta be something..." The fifth year trailed off, shaking her head, still frowning. She would think of something. Eventually. Unless one of them did. She shrugged, slipping her hands in her pockets casually. "It doesn't really matter to me what day we do it, but if Harry thinks Monday works best then who am I to argue?" She grinned at the pair of Griffindors, not for the first time sincerely happy to have them as friends and count them as such.

The grin didn't last long, however, nor did the happy and excited feeling she had within. Her glare was playful at first, when Harry deemed their meeting finished and referred to her as the Slytherin princess. Skyler snorted. "I'm hardly a princess." She advised with an eye roll. But her glare turned serious when he spun around to make his opinion about her choice in boyfriend known. Purple eyes flashed in anger, and a hurt look stole across her face for a moment. Why should he think any less of her for being involved with Draco? She didn't think any less of him and there were quite a few things he had neglected to mention to her so far.

Skyler glared at the back of his head, forcing back the hurt his words caused and swallowed down the angry words she wanted to throw at him. And there were plenty, but she knew from experience that things tended to get worse when she let her anger consume her like it wanted to at that moment. But she was still too angry and disappointed with her new friend, and she couldn't fight back her words for long. "And I guess I expected more of you, since I assumed you would question before casting your judgement on me." She didn't yell. She didn't need to. Her voice was hard, and it shook in anger but it was a soft tone. Like the soft hiss of a deadly snake you didn't hear until it was too late. And underneath it all, was a burning disappointment.

She met her red haired friend's eyes for a moment before turning to head to her own common room. "See ya Ginny." Skyler didn't hold anything against her. Ginny had seemed honestly more curious than anything about her and Draco, and for that she was grateful. But the brunette had nothing more to say at the moment. She was too angry, and didn't trust her own voice or temper. She didn't want to end up saying anything she would regret, and that usually happened when she let her tongue loose in her anger. The better part of her knew it was best to leave now.