I Prank You Because I Love You

By corset-rebellion-follower

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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"AHHHHHHH!"

Hermione Granger ran down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Hermione's brown hair was now a bright pink. Her cheeks matched her hair.

"WHO DID THIS?" she screamed.

Everyone burst out laughing. Her cheeks turned a shade darker. Parvarti Patil and Lavender Brown were rolling on their backs, giggling out of control. Neville Longbottom was smiling a little, glad something bad happened that didn't happen to him. Fred and George Weasley walked up to her. "Look on the bright side, Hermione. It's Valentine's Day," George prompted.

"Yeah. You'll blend really nicely with the decorations in the Great Hall," Fred joked. Hermione's face turned a deep red.

"YOU TWO! I can't believe you did this! I… I… I HATE YOU!"

She buried her face in her hands and ran out of the portrait hole. Fred and George weren't smiling anymore. The common room was completely silent. Harry and Ron, who had hidden in a corner so Hermione couldn't see them laughing, quickly got up and ran after her. Once the portrait hole was closed again, everyone looked at the twins. They were looking at their shoes.

"Well? Aren't you going to go apologize?" Lavender asked. "Well, um, it was just supposed to be a harmless prank," George defended. "Well it didn't seem so harmless to Hermione. I mean, if I had pink hair like that, and everyone laughed at me, I would probably die," Parvarti added. "I'm just happy that it didn't happen to me for once," Neville said quietly. Everyone nodded in agreement.

George sighed. "Maybe we should go apologize, Fred. I don't think I've... Fred?" Fred had disappeared from the common room.

He was walking down the stairs to search for Hermione. I can't believe I did that to her. His stomach rumbled. Maybe she'll be in the Great Hall eating breakfast.

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"Hey Granger, nice hair! Did you miss the train to join the circus?"

Hermione looked behind her. Malfoy was laughing it up with his friends, pointing at her still bright-pink hair. She made a face at him and turned back to her food. Harry and Ron were sitting across from her. They had been silent through the beginning of breakfast. Now they were trying to comfort her.

"You know Hermione, it isn't that bad. Fred and George were just playing around. They didn't mean anything by it," Ron argued. Hermione kept her lips pursed together. "He's right Hermione. I bet no one noticed. Malfoy is just trying to get to you," Harry said quietly.

Hermione looked around. Everyone was whispering and pointing at her. I can't take this anymore! She threw her fork down and stormed out of the Great Hall. Fred was coming in just as she was leaving. He caught her arm. "Hermione, I just wanted to say that…" She cut him off. "I hope you're happy now, Fred. Your prank has made me the laughing stock of the entire school." She walked off down the hallway.

He sighed and ran after her. "Hermione… Hermione, wait! I have to tell you something!" Hermione kept on walking. He ran up and blocked her from walking any farther. "Fred, move!" she yelled, trying to get past him. "No. Not until you hear what I have to say."

She finally got past him and ran down the hall as fast as she could. By the time she stopped running, she was back at Gryffindor common room. She ran up to her dorm and slammed the door shut. A group of girls were clustered around her bed. "What's going on?" The girls turned around. They were all grinning.

"You'll never guess what!" Lavender gushed. "What?" Hermione asked sarcastically. "Look!" All the girls parted.

There was a pink rose and an envelope on her bed.

The rose was the same color as her hair. "It appeared on your bed a few seconds ago! Open it!" Parvarti ushered, pressing the white envelope into Hermione's hands. Hermione sighed and opened the envelope. A pink, heart-shaped card was inside. It was covered with silver glitter that shone brighter than any glitter she'd ever seen. She assumed that it was done by magic, even though she couldn't think of any spell that had this effect.

The girls behind her started whispering. Hermione rolled her eyes. Why are they getting so worked up about a dumb card? It's probably a feel-better card from Harry or Ron. She opened the card. Inside, in neat, cursive letters, was this message:

I Prank You Because I Love You.

Hermione's eyes widened. She carefully put the card back in the envelope and stuffed it in her dresser. Then she grabbed the rose and ran out of the common room, leaving all the girls to wonder what the card could have possibly said to make her run so fast.

She ran all the way to the Great Hall before she spotted Fred. As quietly as possible, she snuck up behind him and threw her arms around his neck. He was startled by her sudden display of affection. "Whoa, who are you and what have you done with Hermione? Last time I checked, she was mad at me," he said quietly. She giggled.

"I know. But I got your card. Is it true? Do you prank me because you love me?" He nodded sheepishly. Hermione leaned in so her mouth was next to his ear. "I think that's very sweet." He smiled. "I'd thought you'd understand." He picked her up and placed her over his shoulder.

"Fred, put me down!" she screamed. "Nope. Not yet at least." She sighed. "I don't know if I'll be able to deal with this if you do it every day," she warned. "That's ok. You'll get used to it." He carried her into an empty classroom and put her down. As soon as she was on the ground, she dusted herself off. "Thank you for putting me down. Now can you change my hair color back?" she asked.

"No. There's only one known antidote." Hermione sighed. "Please don't tell me it's a really dangerous potion," she pleaded. "It's not." She raised an eyebrow. "Than what is it?" He stepped closer to her and pulled her into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Hermione could feel something changing.

The kiss released. She took a hand mirror from her bag and looked at her hair. It was it's normal, brown color. She smiled at him. "Thank you. But I think some of my hair is still pink. In the back." He smiled at her. Then they joined in another kiss. But both of them knew Hermione's hair wasn't pink in the back.