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"ALBANY BRONWEN!"

Albany shot up out of her seat in surprise; she'd nearly forgotten about Fred and Carly as she watched over George where he lay asleep in his hospital bed. Fred didn't sound incredibly happy with her for not meeting up with them where they were supposed to, though as his expression softened the closer he drew, she figured he would forgive her. Carly followed him closely, hands clapping over her mouth in shock.

"What happened?" Fred asked her urgently, hazel eyes focused on George's resting face. "We went back to the Great Hall and we were waiting ages for you, then we overheard someone saying they saw George being lifted to the Hospital Wing-"

"I found him collapsed in the dungeons," Albany murmured, wincing at the thought. "I have no idea what happened to him."

Fred's face fell drastically as he gazed down at his twin. "Is he - is he going to be okay? I don't understand...."

"Yes, he'll be just fine," said Madam Pomfrey, approaching the bed upon noticing her patient had more visitors. She waved her wand above George's forehead, taking his temperature, and then nodded with certainty. "He has no signs of injury or trauma. I'm sure he will be waking up soon."

"No signs of dark magic either, I hope," growled Moody. He hadn't left the room either, keeping a cautious eye on Albany from where he stood ominously in a shadowed corner of the Hospital Wing.

Fred glanced in alarm from Moody to the nurse, but she shook her head as though the idea were nonsense.

"Dark magic would leave a mark, Professor, and Mr Weasley is all clear."

Carly's eyes narrowed as she examined the boy from a short distance.

Fred glanced to Albany. "Did he say anything to you? When you found him?"

Albany bit her cheek. "Not really, he was barely conscious.... All he said was 'I told her no.' Was that about...?"

"The girl who asked him to the ball? Probably," Fred agreed, and managed a weak chuckle. "That git. Of course the first thing he would do is assure you he still doesn't have a date."

Albany gave a small smile to that, though Carly didn't seem to find it so amusing, yet to tear her eyes from George.

"Who was the girl?" she asked seriously.

Fred shrugged. "Didn't know her. Slytherin, anyway."

Albany felt her face fall instantly. "What did she look like?"

"Straight dark hair," Fred detailed, scratching at his chin. "Kind of narrow. Oh, and she had these really bright golden eyes."

Albany frowned in confusion. Her first thought, naturally, had been Faith - she didn't want to believe her former friend would attack another student, but apparently, she hadn't. Faith's eyes were a chilling blue; in fact, she didn't know anyone with such a peculiar eye colour as golden. Carly hummed lowly in acknowledgement of Fred's description.

"He hadn't consumed any alcohol, would any of you know?" Pomfrey inquired curiously.

Fred shook his head. "All he had to drink was pumpkin juice."

"Very well." Pomfrey nodded. "Unfortunately, then, I have little idea of what caused such a reaction. He doesn't seem to be suffering any side effects, so when he wakes up, you're all free to go."

"Thank you," Albany murmured appreciatively.

Pomfrey shook her head in mild amusement. "And I'd rather not see any of you three in here again this year. Goodness knows you can't stay out of trouble."

"No promises," Fred said with a grin.

"I have to go," Carly piped up suddenly.

Albany and Fred whipped around to stare at her.

"What for?" Albany asked, concerned.

"I will catch up with you later," Carly assured them with a blank expression. "Let me know how he is."

Without another word, she turned and left, silk robes billowing out behind her.

"I'm probably just being paranoid," Albany murmured, watching the curly-haired girl go, "but I'm a little freaked out now, seeing her go alone."

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Fred said quietly, though didn't sound fully sure of himself. His eyes darted to the side, and Albany followed his gaze. "See, Moody's going as well. He'll keep an eye on her."

Albany bit her cheek. "That actually makes me a lot more nervous," she whispered, and was about to get to her feet when the boy in the bed began to stir.

"George?" Fred called softly, full attention back on his brother.

George's eyes began to blink, and he turned his head slowly to face the two, confused gaze darting between them.

"Hey George, you good?" Albany asked, voice gentle. Instinctively she reached for his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

George met her gaze, a smile beginning to grow on his lips. His voice was groggy when he spoke. "How's it going, Lionheart?"

Albany found herself torn between disbelief and amusment. She shook her head at him, unable to hide her own relieved smile. "I've been better."

"How do you feel?" Fred prompted him.

"Fred," George mumbled, acknowledging his brother with a grin. He slowly managed to prop himself up on his elbows, looking around with bemusement. "Am I in the Hospital Wing?"

"No, this is the library," Fred deadpanned, but grinned down at his twin nonetheless. "Yes you're in the Hospital Wing, George. You collapsed in the dungeons."

George wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Did I really?"

"Yeah, you were in a right state," Albany said with a light laugh. "Do you remember much?"

George's smile slowly began to fade as he pondered this in silence. Albany and Fred exchanged concerned glances, though waited patiently for the boy to respond.

"I... was in the Great Hall," George said slowly, face screwed up in deep thought. "With Fred. We were talking about the portable marbles of darkness, or whatever they were called...." He gave a small smile. "Oh, and then this girl asked me to the ball. I told her no...."

Albany's eyebrows furrowed in concern as she stared at the boy. "You told me that. In the dungeons."

George seemed surprised. "Did I? Huh."

"So you don't remember what happened after that?" Fred asked, face falling.

"No," George admitted quietly.

The three sat in heavy silence for a long moment, each in contemplation. Albany's gaze had dropped to the floor, dozens of theories and ideas flooding her mind. Someone had clearly done something to George - unless he had some sort of underlying medical condition, which she supposed was a possibility. Had they been testing their own products? Did someone have a vendetta against him?

"Oh," said George out of the blue, and he had a pleasant smile on his face as he glanced between the two. "I have a Yule Ball date."

Albany rolled her eyes in amusement. "Yeah you do, dumbass," she said, stifling a laugh. "We can talk about that later, when you're not in a hospital bed."

George blinked in confusion. "Okay," he agreed blankly.

"You feel like you can stand?" Fred asked.

George nodded. "Bit of a headache, but nothing too bad, I reckon," he said with a grin.

He sat up further and stretched out his limbs, waking up his body again. Albany and Fred helped him out of the bed, though once he was on his own two feet again, he didn't need their support at all. Albany laughed as he shook out his legs, and did a few experimental jumping jacks.

"Feeling better?" she assumed cheerfully.

"Good as new!"

Fred grinned from ear to ear, and gave his brother a heavy pat on the back. "Good to have you back, George."

Albany sighed, disappointed despite the relief of seeing the boy okay. "I guess we'll never know what happened, then." She shivered. "Not exactly reassuring."

Fred shrugged. "He might remember given some time."

George frowned, rubbing at his head. "I dunno...."

"It's okay, George, don't stress over it," Albany assured him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You feel like dinner?"

"When he was sick earlier?" Fred pointed out, wincing. "I don't know if that's-"

"Sure," George agreed, shrugging.

Fred blinked, and then grinned. "Alright then. Hope the menu tonight is decent."

It was a relief to leave the Hospital Wing behind them, though Albany still felt quite unsettled as they made their way down to the Great Hall. It didn't sit right with her to simply carry on as normal and forget all about the incident, however content George was in doing so. And though her heart fluttered a little in excitement for their later conversation regarding the ball situation, she was grateful when Merlin appeared to discuss the mystery properly.

"Hey, you two go on ahead," Albany called to the twins, hanging back as Merlin made his presence known to her. "I'll catch up."

"You too?" Fred remarked, eyebrows raising with an amused smile. "I didn't think our company was that bad."

Albany rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll only be a minute."

She waited until the two redheads had rounded the corner and the corridor was empty before gingerly pushing open the door to the nearest classroom. The lights were out, leaving the room quite dark, though she left it that way, closing the door after her.

"Alright," Merlin began conversationally, folding his arms as Albany sat herself up on a desk. "So obviously, this isn't something I think we should sweep under the rug."

"I'm glad you agree," Albany murmured. "Something funny is going on."

"You're right," Merlin said with a nod. "For everyone's sake, it would be safer to figure it out."

"Where's Arthur?" Albany inquired curiously; it felt odd to be conversing on such an important topic without the presence of the former king.

"He's occupied with other things," Merlin said, waving away her concerns. "Wanted to look into something he noticed earlier. I'll fill him in, don't worry-"

"Wait, hold on, is this something important?" Albany interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't I know?"

Merlin sighed, though didn't sound too irritated. "When you were looking for George through your mind, he thought he saw something of interest. Personally, I think it's a waste of time, but he's all obsessed with it now."

Albany nodded reluctantly. "You'll let me know if it is important?"

"Of course," Merlin assured her with a smile. "I just have my priorities in order, and I wanted to sort this first. So what do we know?"

Albany's face fell into a more serious expression, and she began to recite all she knew so far; from the pumpkin juice George had been drinking to what he'd said to her below in the dungeons.

"So where do we start?" she asked, feeling quite like an amateur sleuth.

Merlin's smile was one of determination. "Where it all started, of course - the Great Hall."

The room in question was now filled to the brim with students from all three schools, as they were midway through dinner. The chatter and noises of clanging dishes echoed around loudly, almost frustrating to listen to as Albany was attempting to focus on the task at hand. It was so warm it was stuffy, between the roaring fireplaces and countless bodies, and she shuffled hastily between the crowded benches of the Gryffindor table.

Fred and George were seated about halfway up, and the crowd around them was packed tight. Word of George's incident had clearly spread fast, as the poor boy was being subjected to countless questions when Albany finally managed to squeeze between Lee and Angelina. Even his younger siblings, Ron and Ginny, had seated nearby to check up on him, though he was in the middle of reassuring everybody that he felt perfectly fine when he noticed Albany.

"Hey Al, finally joining us?" he asked, grinning broadly at her.

Albany, unfortunately for him, was not sitting down for dinner. She didn't beat around the bush. "Is this where you were sitting earlier?"

George blinked, bemused. It was Fred who answered, gesturing further up the table.

"A few rows up," he explained, though continued quickly as Albany rose from her seat straight away. "Allie, wait - you should know that Carly's already been up there."

Albany paused, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?"

Fred smiled. "Yeah, she's a few steps ahead of you. You'd be better off working together if you're trying to figure things out."

Albany managed a small smile. "Thanks. Where is she?"

"Saw her leaving the hall when we were coming in," Fred explained. "Moody was with her."

Albany's stomach dropped. Apparently, so did her expression, as the twins seemed concerned.

"You good?"

"Gotta go," she said hastily, and scrambled from the bench.

She muttered careless apologies as she pushed her way back down the table, heart racing in her chest. It wasn't that she didn't trust Moody - actually, scratch that, because she didn't trust him one bit. He was enveloped in bad vibes, to put it simply, and was overall an extremely creepy guy, professor or not. The idea of Carly alone with him was frankly terrifying, and with what had happened to George fresh in her mind, she couldn't help her worry.

"Find anything?" Merlin prompted her as she finally freed herself from the bustle of the Great Hall. It was then, she realised, standing in its doorway, that she had absolutely no idea where Carly and Moody would have gone.

"No," she muttered, more panicked than she cared to let on. "But Carly might, and I think our culprit is about to make sure her knowledge doesn't get anywhere else."

Merlin frowned immediately, eyebrows knitting together in confusion and concern. "What do you mean?" he asked, voice urgent.

"She's with Moody," Albany replied seriously, and her gaze darted around the hallway and staircases desperately for any sign of the pair.

Her mind was racing now, connecting all the dots. Convenient, wasn't it, how he had been right there when she needed a professor to help George - and staying in the Hospital Wing, asking if he had left any signs of dark magic on the body - how he'd trailed after Carly, and marched her from the Great Hall upon realising she might have found evidence.

"I think she's in danger."