YOUR POV

Fred and George walked with me until we reached the witch. Walking through the halls, I took note of how many paintings this place held. Probably a thousand or more. One had a bunch of old men arguing about a scroll one was looking at, another was a woman checking herself out in her reflection. Most of the paintings displayed the old headmasters or teachers of the school, or people that had done something significant in Hogwarts history. But alas, a small percent were only here because they were threatened to be thrown out and disemboweled, so they were offered to the school. There was plenty of space as well, so why not? Dumbledore gladly accepted them. I knew for a fact that the paintings always helped a student. Many first years ask them for directions around the castle because they're new to the school. Unfortunately, the corridor came to and end and we walked towards the statue.

"There she is!" said Fred gleefully. He went over and patted the stony hat she wore.

She was wearing a stony dress and apron and her face was rather appaling. The stone was quite weathered and there was a piece of Drooble's Blowing Gum under her mouth. I shuddered in disgust. No wonder this hid a secret passageway: it was so plain and ordinary nobody would suspect it.

"So, how to we get in? Like, open the passage?" I asked.

"Easy peasy, (y/n). Watch this." George whipped out his wand and tapped the statue, "Dissendium!"

The wand didn't make any sparks or flashes, which was normal. When you used it to open something or do a simple spell to open or close an object, the raw magic that's needed isn't much. So, you have an invisible spell transaction. Soon after the spell was said, the witch's old behind shuddered and grinded open to reveal a really old pair of stairs. The crawl space was rather tiny, but it way big enough for us all to fit in no problem. When the scraping of stone had stopped, I looked at the space. It was a long way down for sure. And the smell of it....ugh. The basement smell.

"Hey, George?"

"At your service!"

"Great. Who built the secret passages?"

"Well, it's rumored that Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor built them."

"What."

"Yeah, I know." He agreed. "But, hey those were the olden days. Now, are we going or are we gonna just stand here and drink tea talking about the past, or get a move on?"

I laughed. "Well, when you put it that way, let's go!"

"After you, ladies first." said Fred smirking.

I shot him a smirk back and hunched down to get through the tunnel. The stairs were steep and slippery and- OH MY GOD THERE IS A RAT. The black rat looked at me with it's beady eyes and made a sort of growling noise before it ran off into the dark. I could hear it's paws scratch against the hard underground until it got out of hearing range. As we began to descend further into the chasm, the air began to get old and rank as we worked our way down. At one point it got so dark I had to light my wand to see. Finally, the passage leveled out to reveal a straight path and a set of stony stairs leading to a trap door. I ran right up to it and almost opened it before the twins stopped me by pulling me down.

"Why'd ja do that?" I hissed.

"Stealth. We don't want to get caught, remember?" Said Fred.

For the first time in my life, he had used a serious tone. "Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry.."

"Don't worry, (y/n). Let the professionals handle it." George winked.

He hopped up the stairs and went in front of me to open up the trap door.

GEORGE POV

I lifted the trap door slowly: I didn't know if it had anything on it at all. After, I peeked through the small opening I had made and glimpsed around. Looked like the coast was clear....oh no. There was a cat in the corner. Apparently, we hadn't covered up our tracks that well last time and now there was a guard. Shoot.

I carefully un-pocketed my wand and whispered forcefully, "Petrificus Totalus!"

The cat went rigid and stood still. I cast the spell again to make sure, with these animals you just never know. I peeked down at (y/n) and Fred and nodded.

"Let's go."

YOUR POV

When George gave the all-clear and quickly pushed myself up and into the basement of Honeydukes. When Fred got himself out and stood up fully we headed up. We were soon greeted by the rush of the warm, sugary-smelling atmosphere of the shop. We quietly stood up and walked slowly to a corner of the shop. After we knew we were safe, we let out a big sigh.

"That....was intense." I breathed out. I was mentally taxed.

"Yeah, but it was worth it!" Fred exclaimed as he ruffled my hair. "Let's get down to the shopping part and get it done and over with. How much time do we have until the students start arriving?"

"About fifty-ish minutes."

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "Let's go get my dress, it's the most important part anyways."

The twins agreed and we headed out of the shop and into the brisk, and cold February air. Apparently, it had decided to snow a little bit. The gentle flurry flew it's way through the small collection of buildings. I snuggled my scarf a little tighter around my neck. Since the grey-black sky made it darker than it actually was, the street lamps (that had a candle in them) were lit by the shops. We passed many stored on the way to Madame Malkins. All the stores were wooden, and clustered all together. The roofs were all dusted with a thin layer of fresh snow, and old Christmas garlands were still hanging here and there. For the most part, the main road was decorated with silkey, think pink and red ribbons. And big, red hearts were put up just about everywhere. Some shops displayed love potions, or attention-attractors (buy one get one free!). Looking at all the little things put up against each other, the gentle snow.....it made me bubble with a warmness inside my chest. Being with the twins made it better. We soon came across the shop, which didn't look like much to be honest at first with it's stained wood outside and mushy yellow snow. But, when we crossed into the interior it was much more homely. The warm smell of spice and fresh lined always helped brighten my day. The rows and racks of robes and dresses made my heart quiver anxiously. How was I supposed to sort through all of this? I quickly found a dress and held it out in front of me.

"Hey guys! Does this look okay?" I exclaimed.

The turned around from what they were looking at, came over, and examined it.

"No, this is not your style. It needs to be simpler. Try that one over there." They pointed to a neon-ish pink one.

"That one?! Hell no!"

They laughed. "We know. You did say you could get one custom made, so let's try that!"

"Alright."

The three of us walked up to the register and asked if Malkin was here. She pointed to the back with her quill. We thanked her and I pushed the curtain aside to go into the back, but the twins held me back.

"You got about twenty-five minutes. So you better hurry." Fred said. "Do you want one of us to come in or.....?"

"No thanks guys. I think I got it from here. Thank you. Can you wait here for me? I'll try to be out soon."

They nodded and let me go. I wandered around for a little. Making my way through the shelves stocked to the brim with satin, velvet, and other cloth. I turned a corner and smacked straight into someone.

"I am so, so sorry." I apologized while getting up. When I looked up to see who it was, I was dumbstruck.

I had hit Madame Malkin.

"Ah, yes. I presume your (y/n) (y/ln/)? Minerva has told me a lot about you. Including that you are very clumsy sometimes." Said the older seamstress.

"Heh heh....yep that's me!" I blushed red. "So, Madame, I was wondering if I-"

"Could get your custom made? Yes, I know. In fact, Minerva said I should do yours first. So let's get to it then." She bustled off with her maroon dress swaying behind her.

I was put on a stool while the Madame told me to get undressed so she could measure me. Once I had removed my cloak and most of my clothes (except the essentials) she started to measure me.

"Mmm hmmm...." She wrote down the measurements with her quill on a spare piece of parchment. "What color were you thinking of? For the color of your dress?"

"I was leaning towards like a black dress. It's an elegant color and goes well with almost every situation. By the way, Madame, if it wouldn't be too much, could you put in a dash of dark red? It's a Valentine's Ball."

"Not a problem, sweetheart. I always enjoy a challenge."

She went off into her storage and brought 2 different colored cloths back: black and dark blood red. And....a thing of golden glitter? I was a little uncertain about it.

"Hold still; don't move."

After what seemed like hours, she was done. Sure, there were needles everywhere and some sections were 'eh' looking, but otherwise it looked gorgeous. It was one of the pretty-est dresses I'd ever seen in my life so far.

"Alright." She breathed out and stepped back. "I'll send the completed outfit to Hogwarts tomorrow. Now, you might want to run off and start getting your other things!" She smiled.

"Don't worry; that's on my to-do list!" I said cheerily. "Thank you so much!"

"Not at all dear. Now hurry!" She made a shoo-ing gesture with her hand at me.

I gave her one last smile before retracing my steps back to the black curtain. When I emerged, Hogwarts students were already filling up the shop quickly.

"Uh-oh...." I murmured.

"Time to go, then?" George wiggled his eyebrows while Fred nodded quickly.

"Let's go. Now to find the mask and a good pair of shoes!"

The three of us marched out of the shop enthusiastically.

"Hey can I pick out the-"

"No."