Even though Charlus had already been the victim to five pranks that morning, he knew that there was more to come, as much as he would've liked to think that his friends would be more reasonable this year. It was just a matter of waiting for the pranks to happen and then plotting internally how to seek revenge on every single one of them afterwards.

The entire of the S.S.E.A.W. had assembled a few weeks prior when Charlus had been in a detention for setting off dung bombs in the library, alongside Mia (though she had gotten away with it because she was an expert at lying and wheedling her way out of trouble).

The purpose of that particular meeting had been to plan all of Charlus' birthday 'surprises' and they had come up with many ideas that were finally being put into motion, after weeks of planning and the set-up the night before.

As a result of planting all the pranks last night, all of the S.S.E.A.W. were considerably tired and were chugging coffee like their life depended on it (which it probably did, to be honest).

"So, I'm assuming it's Charlus' birthday today then?" Eileen asked casually at the Slytherin table as Euphemia plopped herself down in her seat with a rather happy smile on her face as she waved goodbye to her friends, who were obviously sat at their respective house tables.

"No, we just felt like setting off a load of birthday related pranks so that we could trick everyone into thinking it's his birthday when it's actually not," Mia replied sarcastically with a wry smile and Eileen rolled her eyes, "I was only asking, jeesh..." before turning back to her marmalade and toast.

Glancing at the wristwatch that her father had gifted her on her fifteenth birthday, Euphemia concealed a giggle when she saw what time it was as she looked up and across the hall, catching the expectant gaze of Lyall's, who nodded and waved his wand discreetly underneath the table, pointing it upwards with a slight angle of his wrist.

Exactly ten seconds after Lyall had uttered the spell, there was a slight disturbance above and many of the students in the hall looked up in curiosity, furrowing their eyebrows in confusion as the owls didn't usually come in with the post until much later in the morning breakfast period. And yet here they were.

"It's a bit early for the post, isn't it?" Garm wondered out-loud with a knowing smirk on his face (for, of course, he knew about the pranks - he was, after all, a member of the S.S.E.A.W.) and Mia chuckled to herself, playing along, "Yes, how very peculiar," she said airily, receiving many strange looks from her fellow Slytherins.

On the Gryffindor table, Charlus hadn't even noticed the fact that the owls had started to fly in much earlier than per usual or that they were now circling in loop-the-loops around the top of his area because he was too busy chatting to Brutus (which was a ploy to distract the birthday boy, as everything had been planned out to the most minute detail).

If it hadn't have been for the completely staged and dramatic yelp of Daphne Meadowes', a move that was bound to catch Charlus' attention, the boy in question definitely would've missed the spectacle that was about to happen. As soon as he looked up, the owls began to swoop down on him, all dropping a parcel dangerously close to his head which had him cowering for cover, his hands reaching up to cover his hair.

"What is going on?" he asked, bemused and, to Minerva's delight, he began to open the boxes, only to find that there was nothing inside them. With each one, he rummaged through the contents, finding an empty box for each one and the puzzlement grew on his face as Charlus glanced around at his friends seated near him, scratching his head in confusion.

Alastor hid his own face, that was slowly turning red from the effort of trying not to laugh, behind his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook, unaware that it was actually upside down whilst Florean was just openly sniggering from the Hufflepuff table, David shooting him warning glances as Pomona was also looking equally amused, shooting a knowing look over at Euphemia, who was smirking at Garm, who appeared very thoughtful, glancing at his watch occasionally.

"Any minute now..." Filius whispered to Daphne and Clover, who were sat near him and were also watching with baited breath, as the rest of the students in the Great Hall bustled about, unaware of the prank that the entire of S.S.E.A.W were awaiting, the premature arrival of the owls now forgotten as the birds had now disappeared from the Great Hall, after depositing Charlus' wonderfully 'empty' parcels.

Charlus himself had given up on trying to figure out what the deal was with the box and, after sending a few more bemused glances at his friends. who all shrugged in unison at him, he continued to spread his jam on his toast, eyebrows still furrowed in thought. All of a sudden, there was a slow ticking noise that started playing, starting off quietly at first and slowly growing louder and louder so that Charlus could hear it, along with all of his friends that were watching.

"What is that mysterious ticking noise?" Eugenia wondered out-loud with an amused smile creeping across her features as Alastor dropped his book with a thud, acting equally confused, "I don't know, it's kind of....catchy," he began to tap his fingers on the table to the beat of the ticking noise, adding extra volume and nodding his head slightly which encouraged the rest of the group (the Gryffindor ones at least) to also start tapping their fingers, or their feet on the ground.

Everyone else in the Great Hall had started to look over in the direction of the Gryffindor table and Florean let out a shrill giggle before also started to tap his feet loudly, adding a clap on the third beat as Pomona clanged her cutlery against the table, Edgar Bones joining in with a smirk. At the Ravenclaw table, Clover and Daphne were clinking their forks against their goblets of pumpkin juice whilst Filius waited with his wand hidden underneath his sleeve.

Mia and Garm didn't want to draw attention to themselves at the Slytherin table, especially as many of their fellow students were pulling faces and muttering vile comments underneath their breath about the 'audacity of Gryffindors' and the way it was 'impossible to have a peaceful breakfast nowadays.' However, Euphemia wanted to have some part in the prank and so she began to tap her foot to the beat of the ticking and various other sounds echoing through the hall.

Though bemused, the rest of the student body had started to join in with all of the noises now and Charlus looked resigned and amused, knowing that something was going to happen. As for the teachers - well, Headmaster Dippet had dozed off into his oatmeal, Professor Dumbledore was thumping his fist against the teachers table, happily participating and the rest of the Professors wore a mixture of disapproving, exasperated and amused expressions.

Many noises filled the Great Hall on the fourth of March....

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Stomp. Stomp. Clap. Stomp. Stomp. Clap.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Ding. Ding. Ding.

Thud. Thump. Thud. Thump. Thud. Thump.

Tick. Stomp. Clap. Clang. Ding. Thud. Thump.

Plus a —

"What the hell is going on? This school has gone to the dogs," from Druella Black before she flounced out of the Great Hall, her hand resting on the small bump that had started to form on her stomach. Soon after the seventh year had left, Florean jumped atop the Hufflepuff table and cupped his hands to his mouth so that his voice would project further.

"HOGWARTS, YOU'RE DOING AMAZING. NOW JOIN ME IN COUNTING DOWN FROM SIXTEEN!" he bellowed and many of the students looked confused, bewildered, amused, annoyed but most nodded and agreed, their breakfast forgotten momentarily in chaos of that morning, in the heat of what was obviously a prank on one Fleamomt Charlus Potter.

"SIXTEEN! FIFTEEN! FOURTEEN! THIRTEEN! TWELVE! ELEVEN!" the students chanted and cried out  (well, the enthusiastic ones anyway - many of the Slytherins had walked out of the hall after Druella, rolling their eyes and quite a number had done the same from the other tables, leaving only the, as Minnie liked to call them, people with an 'actual sense of humour' and the 'fun ones').

"TEN!"

"NINE!"

"EIGHT!"

"SEVEN!"

"SIX!"

"FIVE!"

"FOUR!"

"THREE!!"

"TWO!!!"

"ONEEEE!!!!"

As soon as everyone bellowed the last number, there was a moment of breathless silence before a popping noise broke the quiet atmosphere. Then another popping noise. Followed by a bursting sound then the incessant ticking started up again and everyone craned their necks to see what was happening over at Charlus' place at the Gryffindor table. The boxes, that he had previously thought were empty, were emitting some rather strange noises and Charlus leaned back cautiously, seeming suspicious.

There was a sudden ear-deafening bang, rather like an explosion and the entire Great Hall was filled with a smoky haze as one of the boxes burst and, just everyone began to cough and laugh their way through the grey mist, another bang sounded and glitter was absolutely everywhere, bursting up from one of the boxes and not only coating Charlus from head to toe in the pink, shimmery stuff, but everyone else in the vicinity.

"Bloody hell," Charlus muttered, laughing but the other boxes hadn't done anything. Yet. One shot off into the sky and hit the rafters, like someone had lit a fire underneath them and, suddenly, confetti was raining down on everyone in the Great Hall. Many stood up with their arms raised towards the ceiling and let the confetti shower down on their already glitter covered selves.

The ticking grew again and, before Charlus could even blink, there was too much happening at once for him to comprehend it. Another box burst and glitter erupted everywhere again. another one exploded into an expanse of jelly which grew larger and larger and it was soon spreading all over the hall like a giant wave, swallowing everyone's bottom halves as half of the students cried out in fear and tried to run away whilst the rest shrieked in delight and swam about in the jelly, which was also scattered with glitter and confetti.

Chaos continued to ensue, the trained owls flying back in again to drop eggs on top of Charlus' head, which completely ruined his hair and his eyes widened in horror as he tried to run away from the wave of jelly that now appeared to have a mind of its own and seemed to be pursuing him, taking the form of a cobra and Charlus desperately tried to wipe egg from his precious hair as more glitter and confetti was dumped on him, weighing him down.

The last box then began to brew, forgotten in the midst of the utmost chaos that was the Great Hall - with the owls dropping eggs, the confetti and the glitter and the jelly monster that was chasing Charlus around the perimeter of the hall, leaving slivers of strawberry jelly everywhere that swallowed other people up, all of the S.S.E.A.W members being included as they laughed heartily.

Filius had completely sunk beneath the jelly but Pomona fished him out, hoisting him atop her shoulders whilst Florean and Brutus aided the owls in throwing even more eggs at Charlus, making sure not to hit his face though as that was just cruel. David was attempting to babysit Florean whilst laughing his head off and Minerva was sprinkling even more confetti everywhere, Eugenia giggling incessantly as jelly remained in her beautiful blonde locks. Lyall was standing on top of the Gryffindor table, chatting to Elphinstone Urquart who, seeing as the teachers were present, was trying to be authoritative but was failing miserably.

The teachers were trying to calm many of the students down - Professor Beery of Herbology was patting a second year Hufflepuff on the back as she cried hysterically over a piece of eggshell landing in her hair, whilst jelly dripped off the Herbology Professor's beard, causing Garm to laugh loudly from the Slytherin table, where Euphemia was creasing up with laughter as she watched her boyfriend run away from the huge jelly snake.

Clover and Daphne were having a ball, sloshing about in the red jelly and Augusta looked extremely amused and she even stuck her finger in some of the jelly to taste it before declaring it as 'rather distasteful.' Because of their having fun (or not - Eileen Prince was practically crying at the loss of her breakfast), no one noticed that Alastor snuck over to the final box, that was still brewing and gave it a little poke with his wand, prompting the box in question to explode loudly.

Everyone jumped wildly and a small Ravenclaw named Eden screamed shrilly and ran into Professor Dumbledore's arms, who was having a grand old time - an amused smile lining his glittery beard as he picked confetti from his auburn hair, flicking jelly off his purple robes. There was then a whistling noise as something from the box shot up into the air, followed by another quick object that also whipped through the air at an alarming speed.

The speedy objects were in fact fireworks and they erupted in the air, causing a huge noise and vivacious colour soared upwards, with igniting minerals crafting to resemble flowers bursting at high speed.

Fiery sparks whipped the ceiling and one of the fireworks very nearly hit one of the wooden rafters above, causing Minerva to intake a breath very quickly before releasing it out of relief.

The expansive ceiling, that was reflecting the early morning sky outside as always, was dotted with brilliant inks of light that added to the canvas for mere moments before melting away into the air, leaving nothing but a sizzling stream of firework excess drifting down onto the remaining students.

Speaking of the students, many had ventured back inside of the Great Hall now that the jelly, glitter and confetti had stopped chasing after people and a lot of the students had scuttled back in to gawp at the firework display that Charlus' friends had set up, their mouths opened in perfect oval shapes.

"This is perfect," Charlus exclaimed with a grin, "The rest of it sucked...I am now covered in egg and jelly with bits of glitter and confetti stuck in my hair but the fireworks are perfect," he mimicked an applause and Lyall and Eugenia bowed jokingly, laughing.

"Last but not least...the best firework, I think," Mia popped up from behind the Gryffindor benches, clapping her hand down on the soggy shoulder of her boyfriend's, who span around to beam at her before attempting to wrap an arm around her, which she brushed off with disgust, "No, Flea, if I wanted egg, jelly, glitter and confetti all over me, I wouldn't have moved out of the way when the prank was in motion. Stay away, child."

Charlus laughed and held up his hands in surrender before Euphemia told him to pay attention and they all looked up to see the last firework as it whizzed up into the air, bursting into a million bright pieces and crackling and popping all over the place before it assembled into the words Toujours Egál.

"That means 'Always Equal' in French," Mia whispered helpfully to him and he grinned back at her, nodding that he did know that fact (he wasn't that stupid). The words sizzled there above everyone's heads for a few more seconds before they burst into tiny pieces of neon and applause rang through the hall.

After the fireworks had completely dispersed, Headmaster Dippet stood up, holding back a smile as Professor Dumbeldore openly expressed his amused delight beside him, "As entertaining as that was, I would appreciate it if you all returned to your...whatever you young people do during the day whilst we clean up this mess," the Headmaster gestured to the jelly-covered, egg-splattered, confetti-coated and glitter-sprinkled Great Hall, which was all a result of the several pranks pulled during the breakfast period.

"What is he on about? He can just clean it with a spell, surely?" Florean asked underneath his breath, rolling his eyes slightly but apparently it wasn't as quiet as the Hufflepuff may have thought because Professor Dumbeldore overheard his comment, "Ah yes indeed, Mr Fortescue. But where would be the fun in that? All of you now, chop chop! You have a Great Hall to clean! Happy detention, guys!" he clapped his hands together and several buckets of soapy water and sponges appeared at the S.S.E.A.W.'s members feet, who all looked dismayed and unimpressed.

Only Augusta Sanderson had not been involved in the pranks because she had opted out of the marauding but everyone else out of the S.S.E.A.W. group had been well and truly busted. Classic troublemakers such as Minerva, Mia, Charlus, Alastor and even Florean were used to carrying out detentions like this so it didn't really bother them, though they were still annoyed at being caught in the act.

Clover and Daphne were clearly upset that their Saturday had been marred by being forced to clean up the Great Hall but, despite their polished behaviour records, they weren't too fussed. Eugenia seemed more bothered about getting a small dollop of egg out of her hair than the detention and Lyall was aiding her, the two of them chatting quietly as the blonde fretted about her eggy locks.

As for the prestigious seventh years, Elphinstone Urquart appeared completely in shock that he, the Head Boy, had been dumped in the detention also and he was shaking his head in disbelief with Edgar Bones at his side, who looked extremely amused. Garm was also amused and he was actually starting to use to soapy suds in the buckets to blow bubbles through the air at Brutus but ceased upon a stern gaze from Headmaster Dippet, who was picking his way through the messy hall.

Frek was the only one who was quite distraught about the entire predicament but David was doing a good job at comforting him, assuring him that it was only one detention and it wouldn't really affect his record. Filius was also slightly miffed but Pomona was telling him that it was 'the price you have to pay when you're a prankster' as if she actually had much knowledge on the topic.

"I object to this labour," Minerva kicked one of the buckets with an exasperated expression, clearly about to say something else but Headmaster Dippet cut her off sternly, "Ms McGonnagal, you are not in court and therefore you are not entitled to objecting. You carried out the treacherous deeds and you must accept your judicious punishment with lessened complaint," he told her seriously and Minnie bowed her head slightly in resignation as everyone else sagged with annoyance.

"Treacherous deeds? Judicious punishment? Does he always speak like we're in a Shakespeare play?" Alastor exclaimed as soon as the Professors had left the room, picking up his sponge and glaring at it as if hoping that it would disintegrate underneath his fiery stare. "I mean, he is like five hundred years old so he's probably lost track of what century it is. For all his old brain knows, it could be the time when Macbeth is on the Scottish throne," Pomona commented before starting to scrub at the floors pathetically, her eyes rolling.

"What even is a Shakespeare? Is it some type of medieval illness?" Garm asked, completely in the dark about the acclaimed Muggle author due to his pureblood upbringing. "Shakespeare was a person, dumbass. Euphemia knows more about him - she's a complete book nerd. Mia, explain to—" Eugenia broke off, glancing about for Euphemia as the girl was nowhere to be seen.

Clover seemed to cotton onto what was happening, "Wait...where's Mia?" she asked, also unable to see where the girl was. That seemed to grab everyone's attention - for they would really take any distraction available to avoid the task at hand - and Alastor then pointed out that Charlus was missing too. For a moment, a few of them grew concerned but then Florean stated the obvious....

"The sneaky bastards have abdicated! Ran off...abandoned ship! Oh, the betrayal!" Florean cried out dramatically, swaying as if he was about to faint and David rushed forward to catch his boyfriend as Florean fell backwards into David's arms, a hand pressed to his forehead theatrically whilst he made despairing noises, his friends looking on with a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

"Is he always like this?" Daphne Meadowes asked Lyall in a slightly tactful whisper and Pomona reached forward to pat the third year on the shoulder, "Yeah, he is. You'll get used to it eventually, I choose to just block him out sometimes, it's like white noise..." she simpered innocently as Florean thrust his head towards her, appearing insulted.

"Another betrayal? Oh, woe is me!" he exclaimed.

It was going to be a long day.

~~~

Meanwhile, Euphemia and Charlus were down by the Black Lake, having snuck away when all of the chaos had been happening. As the Professors had exited through the main doors, the couple had snuck under Charlus' invisibility cloak (that had still been in his pocket from when Florean had returned it to him earlier that morning) and ran all the way down to the lake.

"Ugh, the cloak is all full of egg, glitter, confetti and jelly now," Charlus pulled a face as he examined his silvery cloak, sitting gingerly down on the grass as he tried to wipe himself free of all the prank remains. Since they had been sat down by the lake, many students had approached him to wish him a happy birthday and also to congratulate him on a 'jolly good show' although he hadn't actually had anything to do with any of the pranks, apart from being the victim.

"It was a jolly good show, I do have to agree. How many of the pranks did you come up with?" Charlus asked Mia, taking her hand and she shrugged modestly, "It was a group effort. I already told you - my main prank was the suits of armour singing 'Happy Birthday' to you because I didn't want to be mean to you," she smiled innocently at him.

"Well, in that case, the suits of armour prank was my favourite because it was your idea," Charlus told her affectionately and Euphemia pulled a face, "Ew, that's the sappiest thing that's ever come out of your mouth, Fleamont Potter. I'm tempted to be mean to you now," she joked and he laughed before grimacing down at his messy attire, "I need to clean up."

"Yeah, you do need to clean up - you absolutely stink of egg, you disgusting child," Mia wrinkled her nose in fake disgust before gesturing for him to stand up, "Come on, I have an idea." Charlus obeyed and struggled to his feet and Euphemia sent him another innocent smile that he was starting to become increasingly suspicious over now. She went to hug him but pulled back at the last minute, placing her palms on his back and shoving him.....right into the lake next to them.

There was a huge splash as Charlus sunk underneath the water before he popped back up again, gasping and soaked, his hair flattened to his forehead as his arms flapped frantically, watching as Mia practically wet herself with laughter. "That is priceless," she clapped her hands together as Charlus glared at her from where he was bobbing up and down in the Black Lake, his lips slowly turning blue from the cold whilst he shivered madly.

"Did I tell you how much I hate you?" he hissed through chattering teeth and Euphemia giggled, giving him a little wave from where she was nice and dry on the ground. Charlus dragged himself out of the water, his arms trembling from the cold and Mia wiped actual tears of mirth from her eyes, "You know you secretly love me," she winked.

There was a moment of silence before Charlus wiped excess water from his face and shrugged, "Yeah, I do love you," he said casually, inwardly cursing himself inside - especially when he saw Euphemia's face whiten as fear crawled into her grey-blue eyes. He stepped forward, grabbing her warm and dry hand in his cold, freezing one, "You don't have to say it back...just know that I love you. Even if you do shove me into freezing lakes."

Mia let out a slightly strained chuckle and Charlus ran a hand through his wet hair, wondering why the hell he had to go and mess up a perfect moment when his girlfriend spoke, "That's the first time anyone has ever told me they've loved me before," she said in a small voice and Charlus felt like he had been doused in cold water again at her revelation but he knew that she wouldn't want him to make a big deal about it.

"Then it must mean more, right?" he asked, "You're incredibly lovable, Mia. Would you like me to tell you why—" Charlus was cut off by Euphemia as she kissed him, bringing warmth through his cold body as they locked lips and he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear affectionately before she pulled away, "I'll get back to you on that list of how incredibly lovable I am but it's your special day so let's not make it all about me, okay?" Mia shot him a smile.

"Agreed. Just one more thing - how does it feel now that you know that I love you?" Charlus asked, watching her blush in the most adorable fashion as he said the famous three words again. "It feels...amazing. And, for the record - I-I think I....uh...I th-think I love you too," she stumbled over her words, conflicting emotions swimming through her eyes and Charlus felt his heart stop in his chest. He hadn't expected her to say it back so fast....

"Only think?" he teased her and Euphemia's blush turned to a brick red face as she buried her head in his soaked shirt, "I've never experienced love, okay? It's a foreign emotion to me and it scares the hell out of me but....what scares me even more is how sure I am about this. I do love you, I'm sure of that - I'm just scared that I'm going to end up letting you in and then being heartbroken when it doesn't work out," Mia mumbled into his shirt, her words muffled but Charlus heard every word.

"Don't be scared," he said softly, lifting up her chin and placing a gentle kiss on her lips, "I'm not going to hurt you," Charlus promised her, love and affection shining from his entire face. "Yes but....what if I end up hurting you? I'd never forgive myself," Euphemia sighed and then, before Charlus could answer that, she seemed to brush away the emotional talk, "That's enough sappy nonsense for one day. You, Mr Potter, still have many birthday surprises!" she pulled his hand, starting to drag him back towards the castle.

"The best birthday surprise was you saying the thing you were most scared to say...I'm so happy that you love me too and I'm not just some pathetic fool," Charlus squeezed her hand as they started to walk back up the path, his feet squelching from the water but he had forgotten his predicament in the intensity of the moment.

"I mean, you are a pathetic fool and that was incredibly sappy but, whatever floats your boat, mate," Mia chuckled, sending him a look that conveyed clearly that she was joking, which he understood with a warm smile, still over-the-moon about the entire situation.

Little did he know what was around the corner....

So, I decided to write an extra long chapter today because there's been such a delay between chapters — no I'm lying, I just got carried away and then was like 'whoops...nearly 5,000 words! oh well, guess they're getting a longer chapter yay.' You caught me. Oh no.

Also, Charlus' birthday seems to be going on FOREVER like jheez, man, we get it - you're sixteen now STOP TAKING THREE CHAPTERS TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS!

So. Extra.

*sighs*

On a lovelier note, thank you so much to -jillian for the amazing NEW cover that she's done for this book! Already told her this in person but she deserves a shoutout so huge thanks, Jill <3