After the insane, whirlwind weekend she had been having, Skyler was just looking forward to it being over. Which was why she trudged her way to dinner Sunday night looking like a dark cloud had settled over her. It was the first time she looked worse for wear since coming to Hogwarts, and the brunette couldn't muster more than a halfhearted glare for anyone who chose to look at her longer than necessary.

Entering the great hall and making her way to the Slytherin table, she came to a sudden halt as her purple eyes widened in realization. The teen quickly scanned the table again, but no, there were no mistakes. The only available seat, unless she wanted to sit with the firsties, was one seat over from Parkinson. That seemed just too close for comfort, and did nothing to improve her mood.

Sighing in resignation, and thinking in the back of her mind this was probably a good thing, all things considered, Skyler dropped onto the bench and swung her legs under the long table, ignoring the girls next to her in favor of piling food on her plate. Everyone seemed to be in the mood for talking and Skyler for once was glad no one seemed ready to go against Pansy's hush order because she did not want to talk. Even if she did have a few choice words for the sixth year.

All in all, Sky did one heck of a job of looking every bit like a moody teenager with problems, and not looking like someone who was about to pull a prank and hoping not to get caught. She looked as annoyed as all hell at having to sit so close to Parkinson, when on the inside she was happy with her luck. She glanced over at her friends across the hall, winking imperceptibly, but otherwise keeping her look of annoyance and frustration as Parkinson's voice filled her ears.

Having made sure to get a good night’s sleep Saturday night, Ginny was rather hungry once dinner came around on Sunday. Unlucky for her, considering she barely had time to shove a couple rolls down her throat before Sky was sending her a secret wink and she knew it was time to get this show on the road. Nearly all of the castle was in the Great Hall now, and it was the perfect time to strike. Obviously they couldn’t wait any longer, so the redhead got up from the table, claiming she needed the loo, nodded slightly in the direction of the Slytherin table, though no one else would notice it but Skyler and Harry, and made her way out of the crowded Hall.

Silently smiling, Ginny ran over to the nearest broom closet, gathering the supplies she’d hidden there earlier in the day. Her converse trainers slapped on the stone floor, but no one would notice that. The whole Entrance Hall was filled with the laughter and conversation of the feast, so she felt no pressure as she set up her bundles of rockets and the one giant dragon that was meant to distract the professors. She knew they’d come for her as soon as the familiar product fizzled out, but that was okay. Ginny was proud to have the same reputation as the twins.

Fingering a hole in her old Cannons tee, the youngest Weasley took a deep breath and threw her thick red hair over her shoulder. She leaned over to light the fireworks with the tip of her wand, but was quickly irritated as the sheet of red hair fell in front of her face and some began smoking as it hit the warm wand tip. She growled and pulled the offending locks out of her way, tying her hair into a messy ponytail and smirking in triumph as the offending locks stayed put. Now it was time to begin.

”Here we go. This one’s for you, guys,” she muttered, thinking of her brothers as she lit the fuse and stood to watch the chaos break out in the Hall. The dragon roared to life and soared toward the staff table while the smaller rockets popped from table to table, more noises urging the students out into the entryway and away from Skyler who was surely getting her potion in place as Ginny positioned herself closer to the main staircase to avoid being trampled. She wasn’t going to hide. No, she was fine with getting dragged off for a talking to. She just wanted to see the delighted faces of her peers in wonder at her brothers’ inventions.

Harry made sure he was at dinner early on Sunday night, but he didn’t really make a very good show of eating. He could always find time to eat later, after everything was taken care of. He did pull a glass of pumpkin juice and a sandwich in front of them, but after that he didn’t touch either. He chatted idly with Neville and Nearly Headless Nick, but his eyes never left the entrance, where he was waiting for Skyler to appear.

When she finally did, Harry made a great show of relaxing and taking a big drink of his juice, though one eye never left the younger girl as she took a seat. She winked, but Harry did not move at first. His cue was tied more to Ginny, who was getting up from a seat a few down from his own. When the redhead reached the end of the table, Harry finally stood and wound his way slowly to the Slytherin table, surely with the eyes of at least three professors on him. Nothing good ever happened when Harry and Slytherins mixed, after all, and two distractions were better than one.

He stopped right in front of Malfoy, who was a little down the table from Skyler and Parkinson. Hopefully he could draw every pair of snake eyes that didn’t move to see the firework show onto himself and leave no chance of witnesses. Also hopefully the snake Prince could improvise a little, otherwise this might be a complete disaster.

“Oy, ferret boy!” he projected so that basically everyone present could hear him. “I heard they may let your worthless father out of prison soon. Do you think his master will do him in behind closed doors or punish him somewhere nice and public to set an example for all of the other screw-ups that follow him?”

There. If Malfoy couldn’t come up with a fight out of that he was a lost cause and Harry would just have to tackle him or something.

It was dinner and the great hall was packed as usual and try as she might Pansy could never get to a seat next to Draco. She blamed this on the freak who had done something to steal the blonde boy right from under Pansy's nose. Before the freak, Draco had been perfectly happy with Pansy. It was Pansy who was supposed to be with him. Pansy who was supposed to make him laugh. Pansy who he was supposed to kiss and look at in that way.

The sixth year stabbed her piece of roast beef viciously with her fork and he beady dark eyes narrowed when the very freak she hated with all her might took the seat one person over from her. She glared daggers at the side of the bint's face all the while spitting venom from her mouth. "I could have sworn we had a no freaks rule here at the Slytherin table. Perhaps you should go sit with the gryffindorks Riddle. Or do they not want you there either? I wouldn't blame them though. Maybe you should go ear with Moaning Myrtle. You're about as wanted as she is around here. She may be the only person to like you. How dreadful! To have only a dead person like you. I guess you'll have to get used to it though, since your parents are dead now too. But they probably didn't like you either. How terrible."

Pansy's mouth was a cruel smirk and her dark eyes malicious as she spoke about the younger girls now dead family. It had been like uncovering a gold mine when she had opened the paper just the day before to read that information. She hoped the girl tried to attack her so all the professors could see how unstable the freak was and so Draco could finally see her true colors. Pansy glanced over to the blonde but it looked like he was tied up with Potter and she wanted to get closer to hear but she never got the chance because rockets were zooming around exploding and she shrieked and ducked under the table to wait for it to be over and her neighbors on both sides of her did the same.

Draco knew that his girlfriend had something planned that evening with Potter and the Weaselette, but he wasn’t sure exactly what it entailed. The thing was, he knew it involved Parkinson getting her ass handed to her, and that meant he was determined to be at dinner until whatever it was happened. He was fortunate enough to avoid the pug sitting beside him, but he also managed to avoid Sky sitting by him, which had him in a bit of a sour mood. Then Potter started his way over toward him, and Draco had to work to hold in a groan.

So far he hadn’t let others see him picking at Potter at all, since he could technically get in trouble with the Dark Lord, whom he was still supposed to be serving, should word get out. This time, however, the foolish lion was making it difficult for the blonde to avoid an altercation. It seemed obvious to Draco that Potter was purposely going for another distraction, and while his blows were a bit low, Draco was thankful for his help with his girlfriend’s master plan.

”Honestly, Potter, I’d doubt anyone would bother with Lucius after all he’s done, but then again, the Dark Lord continues to bother with you, so who am I to say?” He smirked at the Gryffindor, enjoying his ability to use his father against people even as he made fun of the man as well. He was happy for the sudden appearance of fireworks all through the hall, as he couldn’t hide the joyful grin that was crossing his lips. Sparring with Potter when he knew they had an actual goal in mind other than simply hurting each other was actually pretty fun.

He laughed out loud when he noticed the pug jumping under the table, along with her idiot friends. Now was Sky’s chance, and he nodded imperceptibly at her as he smirked at Potter as if to tell him ‘good job’. He vaguely wondered what was going to happen when the professors caught the Weaselette, but that thought was soon gone from his mind as he watched the dragon rocket singe the head table. It seemed the Gryffindorks knew how to make distractions count.

Skyler glanced across the hall to see Ginny get up from the Gryffindor table, and knew things were about to get underway. But she gave no indication anything was amiss. She sat there as she normally did, doing her best to ignore whatever Parkinson was saying. Some things couldn't be ignored, however, and the brunette's knuckles turned white from the immense strength behind her grip on the fork she wanted to plant into the older girl's face for even mentioning her parents.

It was then Sky noticed something that wasn't apart of the plan happening. Harry had made his way from the Gryffindor table as well, and the teen was thankful he had otherwise the whole ruse would've been for nothing because she would have outright attacked Parkinson then and there. She watched with a curious gaze as he approached Draco, but couldn't hear a word said because suddenly rockets were going off all over the place.

Skyler rolled her eyes but was happy with the extra luck as Parkinson and her friends took cover under the table, and with a quick glance around, seeing that everyone, professors included seemed to be distracted, she easily slipped the potion into Parkinson's pumpkin juice. Her triumphant smirk showed for a split second and then she schooled her look into an amused grin as she watched the remaining rockets and the dragon attacking the staff table, her purple eyes dancing.

Catching the eyes of those of her co-conspirators, Skyler gave an imperceptible nod. With everything going on, no one would be able to pin Parkinson making donkey hee haw sounds whenever she opened her mouth to speak on Sky. It seemed rather fitting, for the girl who talked like an ass so much to finally sound like one. Not to mention her mouth would turn into something more donkey like versus staying in it's normal form. As things settled down again, Skyler took it upon herself to be the helpful prefect she was and made her way over to Harry and Draco. Coming to a half next to Harry, she asked loud enough for those around to hear, but not so loud that it was over the top, "Problem boys?" Now she could only hope Ginny got away without getting caught, and that Parkinson took a drink of her of her pumpkin juice sooner rather than later.

Harry saw Draco’s nod and smirk after he had said his piece and knew that Skyler was on the move. Still, the fact that most of the Slytherin table was actually hiding under the table like cowards made him think that he could relax and enjoy the show. He took half a step back and did just that, eyes fixed to the rockets. He was glad he was clearly visible, as he was one of the first people some professors, especially Snape would want to accuse if Ginny didn’t do something stupid like turn herself in. Harry had an alibi, and so far he and Draco had done nothing he could get into trouble for.

He was still standing there, admiring the show, when Skyler spoke. Harry jolted guiltily as he realized he hadn’t been keeping a very good watch. Then he composed his features into a neutral expression, hoping that Skyler would remember that she had to be his enemy when the Headmaster could see and that he meant no actual offense.

“Your boyfriend and I were just discussing how worthless his father is,” Harry said with a mock innocent smile. “Apparently even Draco is willing to concede that I am more worthy of the Dark Lord’s attention. I really do hope Lucius provides something of a distraction, though. I really have too much going on this week to save the world.”

With that Harry turned on his heel and walked away, back towards his own table and his unfinished dinner. While he hadn’t done anything against the rules, he had certainly established an alibi now, and Skyler had clearly succeeded in his objective. All he could do now was get out of the way before someone decided that his current position was suspicious and hope that Ginny had had the good sense to do the same.

There were rockets flying everywhere in the great hall and bursting into little firework shows before their eyes and there was a dragon much like the one the Weasley twins had set after Professor ah bridge last year heading straight for the head table. Last year Pansy had been slightly impressed by the twins but would never have admitted it under threat of death and right now she was in much the same predicament and was quite angry that she had been reduced to hiding under the table.

When all was said and done and Pansy reemerged from under the table along with her friends and several others who had taken refuge there she noticed the hall was something akin to pandemonium with everyone up and about. Her eyes snapped over to where Draco had been sitting to make sure her blonde adonis were ok and saw he was still in some argument with Potter and she was going to make her way over to his side when she spotted the bane of her existence was already there. Snarling Pansy picked up her goblet of pumpkin juice to take a drink to cool herself down before she completely snapped in the middle of the great hall. She chugged down the liquid just to give herself something to do but the want to wring Riddle's neck wouldn't leave.

It happened so suddenly Pansy wasn't sure it had even really happened until others around her began to notice the horse like snout she had developed. She looked down to the point she was nearly cross eyed and saw that she now possessed the nose and mouth of a horse and her eyes widened in horror and she brought her hands up hardly thankful that they were still normal human hands to try and cover her new addition and at the same time turning a glare on her neighbor and telling the girl to shut up. Except words were far from what came out of her new mouth because when she did go to speak a very loud and obnoxious "HEE HAW" came out instead. Pansy was mortified as the laughter started and she shrieked at those near her to shut the hell up but much to her horror the same donkey sounds came out whenever she tried to speak and as much as she wanted to run from there her feet would not move and it was like she was frozen in her horrified state.

Making his way behind his girlfriend, Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his body, smirking into her neck as he nuzzled against her hair. ”What can I say? The man is utterly worthless,” he murmured, agreeing with Potter with more ease than he ever thought possible. He shook his head at the retreating form of the boy-who-lived. Was it possible for the two of them to actually get along? It seemed like Skyler might just push that question, and Draco wasn’t exactly opposed to it. Weird.

He was shocked out of his thoughts by the sudden sound that filled the Great Hall, seemingly causing everyone to stop and stare at the ridiculous sight standing and flailing at the Slytherin table. Parkinson was braying like a donkey and her face was elongated into that of the creature she so clearly mimicked. Draco couldn’t hold back his laughter as he kept his face buried in Skyler’s hair, trying to keep the attention away from his loud, snorting laughter.

She just kept trying to talk, and it kept coming out in those ridiculous “HEW HAW”s. It was fantastic! ”Oh sweet Salazar,” he gasped between his laughter. ”How long will she keep this up?” He noticed that the fireworks display had ended a bit ago and vaguely wondered if they’d be visited by any professors anytime soon. Hopefully they’d be too busy dealing with the source of the explosions and then trying to calm the pug down. Maybe there wouldn’t even be any questions for the two suspicious snakes.[/color]

Skyler allowed herself to be pulled back against the strong, firm body she was easily getting used to feeling at her back, and the same could be said for the arms that encircled her waist. She rested her hands over Draco's almost unconsciously, narrowing her eyes at Harry's would-be innocent smile and she felt the anger beginning to boil inside her. She had not really seen nor talked to him since the meeting with the headmaster and she couldn't help but wonder if the revelation of her relation to the current Dark Lord had meant the end of their friendship.

She didn't have any chance to react or snap back because Draco's agreeing words flitted to her ears and the brunette's eyes widened imperceptibly in shock as she watched Harry walk away and back to his table. It was then the sounds she had been waiting to hear exploded in the hall, and Skyler's eyes immediately snapped to Parkinson. It was funny to the teen that even though she knew what she would see, it didn't take away from her amusement in the least. The scene was just too funny and the fact that Parkinson kept trying to talk made it all the more hilarious. Skyler didn't bother trying to hide her laughter like her boyfriend did, but neither did she point and make a bigger scene like many of the other students. In that way, she blended in, looking like nothing more than an innocent bystander laughing at the truly amusing scene.

She could only hope Ginny had managed not to get caught and was able to see this sight because Sky knew the red head would hate to have missed this. After everything Ginny had done, she deserved to see the final result atleast. "Until midnight." The brunette answered Draco's question lowly, not wanting anyone to overhead and put two and two together. Unable to help herself, Skyler looked briefly over to Harry across the hall to see his reaction to their prank.