"Ow! Are you planning to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic?"
"Why the sudden urge to learn Occlumency?"
Just as Neville gave his suggestion, Fred and George's voices came from behind them.
The two of them, one on each side, slung their arms over Neville's shoulders. Fred leaned in curiously. "Come on, tell us! What are you planning to do?"
"Planning to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic? Or break into Gringotts? When's the operation? We want in too!" George chimed in, his eyes shining.
"We were just talking about Ron..." Neville said, then recounted exactly what had happened in Potions Class from beginning to end.
As they talked, the group had already arrived in the Great Hall and sat down.
Hermione got into the rhythm the fastest, deftly spreading her notes beside her plate and starting to revise while dealing with lunch.
"That's about it..." Neville took a sip of Pumpkin Juice to moisten his throat, then turned to Ron and asked, "Ron, is there anything else you want to add?"
"No..." Ron shrugged. He had just instinctively started to turn his head for a glance at the Teachers' Table when he abruptly turned back.
"Someone check for me..." he lowered his voice, still shaken. "Is Snape in the Great Hall?"
Harry stood up and quite boldly looked around. After carefully scanning the Great Hall and making sure there was no sign of Snape, he sat back down and shook his head at Ron. "He's not in the Great Hall."
"I don't know why I was so unlucky today anyway!" Ron complained, jabbing at the potatoes on his plate with his fork. "To think Snape actually singled me out like that!"
Fred rubbed his chin, seeming to be thinking about something, and agreed a little absently, "Oh... that does sound a