Yuletide Romance
Author's Note: First of all, this story was written BEFORE Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is not slash. Also, this is the first story I've ever posted anywhere, so be nice. I think it's rather humorous. Lastly, I'm American so my British slang might not be exactly up to par, but I tried.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 1 The Dates
Harry Potter sat in the Gryffindor common room working on his essay for Potions. The Christmas Holidays were only a week away, and Snape was piling on the homework as usual. He was distracted when his best friend, Ron Weasley, flopped down in the chair directly across from him. "You still haven't asked her have you?" Harry asked, slightly exasperated with his friend. "No," said Ron, "besides what's the point of having this stupid ball anyway?" Dumbledore had announced a month ago that Hogwarts would be having another Yule Ball. "Ron," said Harry, who felt like he was saying this for the ninety-fifth time, "just ask Hermione to the ball. I know that you don't want a repeat of last year. Here she comes now." Ron turned around and saw that Hermione was indeed coming over to their table in the corner of the room. "I'm going to bed," Ron said quickly and made for the boys' dormitories. Harry reached out a hand and stopped him. "No you're not," he said, "you're going to ask Hermione to the ball if I have to magically glue your feet to the floor."
"Fine," said Ron, sounding unusually nervous.
"Hello," Hermione greeted them cheerfully, setting her heavy bag on the table with a thud, "I've just been at-."
"The library," said Ron, "we know."
"Oh, shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped, "I'm not in the mood for this."
"Good," said Ron, "I wanted to ask you something."
"Well make it quick," Hermione said, pulling her Potions essay out of her bag, "I have to finish this."
"Well.um," said Ron, looking down at his feet.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Willyougoballwithme?" Ron mumbled in a barely audible voice. Harry snorted.
"Pardon?" Hermione asked.
"Will you go to the ball with me?" Ron practically shouted, shooting an angry glare at Harry.
"Oh, honestly, Ron," said Hermione.
"I guess that's a no," Ron said, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Of course it's a no," said Hermione angrily, "you should have asked me a month ago, but you had to wait until the last minute, as usual."
"You're going with Vicky again," said Ron hotly.
"For your information, Ron Weasley," Hermione was now shouting, "I am not going with Viktor."
"Well then," he pressed, "who?"
"Neville," said Hermione more quietly. "He asked me three weeks ago when the ball was announced."
"Oh," said Ron.
"I think I might know someone who will go with you, Ron," she said, a mischievous smile forming on her lips, "and you, too, Harry."
"Just as long as it's not Eloise Midgen," Ron grumbled.
"Don't worry, Ron," said Hermione, the smile even bigger now, "her nose is perfectly centered. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go do something."
"That went well," Harry said sarcastically after Hermione had left.
"You should have asked me a month ago," Ron mimicked Hermione's words from a couple seconds ago.
"She's right," Harry said, "you should have asked her sooner."
"I assume you have a date," said Ron, sounding irritated.
"Well.no," said Harry, Ron had him there, "I suppose I don't." Harry went back to his essay.
"You could ask Ginny," said Ron, matter-of-factly, some time later "or you could ask Cho again, now that Cedric's out of the picture."
"Not funny, Weasley," said Harry, "not funny at all."
"I suppose you're right," said Ron, "but you could still ask her."
"No, I don't think I want to," said Harry.
"Well, I'm sure Ginny would go with you if you asked her," Ron said.
"It's worth a shot," Harry said.
"What's worth a shot?" said a voice behind him.
Harry felt himself go red. That was Ginny's voice. How much had she heard?
"Harry wants to ask you a question, Gin," Ron told her, smiling evilly at Harry, who knew this was payback for making him ask Hermione.
"Okay," said Ginny directing her gaze towards Harry.
"Well," Harry started; he supposed it would be nice to go to the ball with her. "I was just wondering if you had a date for the ball."
"Yes," said Ginny, "I'm going with Colin."
"Creevey?" said Ron, sounding disgusted. "The annoying git who follows Harry around all the time?"
"Yes," said Ginny, "do you have a problem with that?"
"You can't go with him. I don't like him," Ron told her.
"You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do, Ronald," Ginny said angrily.
"Yes, I do, Virginia," Ron said, he had obviously hit a nerve. Ginny looked angrier than Harry had ever seen her. "You're my baby sister."
"Don't call me Virginia, you know I hate that," Ginny snarled. "Besides, I can go with whoever I want to."
"I suppose so," said Ron, "but if he lays one hand on you, I'll-."
"Oh, come off it, Ron," Ginny said, although she seemed slightly touched that Ron was so protective of her. "I can take care of myself." She turned to Harry, "Did Hermione mention that she knew some girls that would go with you?"
"Yeah," said, Ron slowly, "what about it?"
"Well," said Ginny, "I have a feeling that they'll agree."
"Do we know them?" Harry asked.
"You might say that," Ginny said, before walking across the room to where Hermione was. The two were soon lost in deep conversation.
***
"You really think they'll do this," Hermione said doubtfully to Ginny.
"I know they will," said Ginny, a confident tone to her voice, "besides, if they don't, I'll make them."
"How?" asked Hermione.
"You'll see," said Ginny.
"We received your note," came Fred Weasley's voice.
"You said you wanted to speak with us," said George, in an oddly formal tone "about the ball."
"Yes," said Hermione, "we need you to masquerade as women."
"WHAT?" Fred and George yelled at the same time.
"Well," said Ginny, choosing her words carefully, "we want to teach Harry and Ron a lesson."
"Exactly," said Hermione, "they need to learn that when there's a ball they should ask the girl they like well in advance instead of waiting until the last minute."
"Let me get this straight," said Fred, "you want us to dress up as women and pose as their dates."
"Yes, exactly," said Ginny.
"Brilliant," said George, "don't you think so, Fredericka?"
"Yes, Georgia," said Fred, "I think so."
"We'll name you," said Ginny, "even Ron, dense as he is, would figure out what was going on if you use those names."
"Aw," said Fred, in mock disappointment, "I like Fredericka."
"We'll give you nice, lady-like names," said Hermione, "like Felicia and Grace."
"I want to be Felicia," said George.
"I'm Felicia," said Fred, "you're Grace."
"It would fool people," said George.
"You'd get yourselves mixed up," said Ginny, "like the time when you- ."
"We know who we are, Gin," said Fred.
"Yeah," said George, "we know we're called Gred and Forge."
"Oh, honestly," said Hermione, "will you two ever stop joking around? We only have four days to teach you two how to be proper women."
"In other words," said Ginny, "we have a lot of work to do."
"Wait," said Fred, "what about our dates?"
"We'll take care of everything," said Hermione.
***
On the other side of the room, Harry and Ron sat watching the four of them conspire. There was definitely something up.
"What d'you reckon they're up to?" Harry asked Ron.
"Knowing my sister," said Ron, "nothing good for us."
Chapter 2 The Ball
The night of the ball had arrived. Even though there had been much advance planning, it was still hectic.
"Do I have to wear that?" Fred asked, staring at the dress robes Hermione was holding up.
"Yes," said Hermione.
"If you were going to make us do this, Ginny," said George, "why didn't you at least get pretty dress robes?"
"They're the best that we could find at the last minute," said Ginny.
"Oh, joy," said Fred sarcastically. "We'll really fool them in those."
"You two need to get your robes on," said Hermione, "we only have an hour." Hermione and Ginny were already dressed.
Twenty minutes later the boys were dressed, and Hermione and Ginny were busy doing their makeup.
"You need more makeup, George," Ginny was saying, "now if you would just hold still-."
"I'm trying," said George, "but how can I not move when you keep putting stuff on my face."
"Yeah," said Fred, "it's not natural."
"Well," said Hermione, who was busy doing Fred's makeup, "this stuff is going to make you look all pretty for Harry and Ron."
"Maybe we don't want to look pretty for Harry and Ron," said Fred, in an annoyed sort of way.
"Well," said Ginny, "you don't want to be ugly, do you?"
"No," said Fred and George at the same time.
"All done," said Ginny. Hermione was still fixing Fred's lipstick.
"Okay," she finally said, "I'm done."
"Good," said Fred, "can we go now?"
"No," said Ginny, "we still have to put your wigs on, and, I daresay, you don't want to go to the ball barefoot."
"We.we," said Fred, "we have to where those uncomfortable things all night."
"Now you know why we complain about having sore feet," said Hermione.
"Yes," said George, "and we'll never tease either of you about it again."
"I doubt that," said Ginny, laughing, as she put a brown wig on George's head. Finally, the twins were ready.
"Now," said Ginny, "remember, your names are Felicia and Grace Watson."
"Okay," said George.
"Sounds good," said Fred.
The twins got up to leave the room, and Fred fell flat on his face, as he was not use to wearing high heels. George had to grab a bedpost for support because he was laughing so hard.
"It's not funny," Fred said, frustrated. "You're going to stumble in these shoes just as much as I am, so watch what you're laughing about." He tried to get up again, but he tripped over the hem of his robes and fell back on his butt. This sent George and Ginny into fits of laughter. "Can I wear flats instead?" he asked, only making the others laugh harder.
"We just have one more thing to do before we're ready," Hermione said, pulling out her wand and pointing it at George.
"Wait," said George, "what are you doing, Hermione?"
"Well," Hermione stated airily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world. "If you're going to look like girls you might as well sound like girls too."
"Right," said George, realizing what she was going to do.
***
"I'm so glad that Fred and George gave me these new dress robes," said Ron happily, admiring how he looked, "I was afraid that I'd have to wear the same ones I wore last year." Ron's robes were navy blue with no lace in sight.
"I just hope those dates that Hermione and Ginny got us are worth this," said Harry, who was standing in front of the mirror trying to make his hair lay flat. "I mean there's something strange going on. I heard Hermione and Ginny talking about making them look respectable."
"What do you think that means?" Ron asked.
"Knowing Hermione," said Harry, "the only good thing about them may be that their noses are in the center of their faces."
"Oh, great," said Ron, sarcastically. "We'd better go down. Hermione said that they'd be in the Entrance Hall at five minutes to eight."
"Okay," said Harry, looking at his watch and realizing that they only had five minutes. The two boys headed out of their dorm and down to the Entrance Hall. Once there, they spotted Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Colin standing with the two girls that must be their dates. Harry thought they looked like Mr. Weasley in a dress. "Ron," he whispered, "don't they look familiar to you?"
"Yeah," said Ron, "they're probably in Ravenclaw or something."
"Okay," said Harry, although he was certain that he knew these two girls from somewhere.
"Harry, Ron," said Hermione, spotting them, "these are your dates." She motioned to the two girls with brown hair and ugly dress robes.
"Very, er, nice to meet both of you," said Harry, shaking both their hands. For some reason, this seemed oddly familiar to him, too.
"I'm Felicia Watson," said Fred, in his falsetto, "and this my bro-er sister, Grace." This earned furious glares from Hermione and Ginny.
"Harry, you're with Grace," said Hermione, "Ron, you're with Felicia."
Harry took George's arm and led him into the Great Hall followed by the others. They sat at a table for eight. After the tables had been moved to the side, Harry noticed that the initials G.W. were on Ginny's robes in gold lettering. 'Well, let's see,' Harry thought, 'that's G.W. for Ginny Weasley. Ron's initials are R.W.. Let's see, George would be G.W. just like Ginny and Grace. Wait a second, Grace looks just like George. Holy Merlin's Beard! Felicia and Grace are Fred and George in wigs!'
Chapter 3 Missing the Point
"Ron!" Harry hissed at his friend.
"What is it Harry?" Ron asked, somewhat concerned by the note of urgency in his friend's voice.
"I need to talk to you," Harry told him in a hushed voice, "outside. Now!"
"Okay, okay," said Ron getting up and walking with Harry towards the exit.
"What's the matter with you, Harry?" Ron asked, once they were where no one could see them.
"They're Fred and George!" Harry exclaimed.
"Whose Fred and George?" Ron asked, stupidly.
"Our dates, you dolt," Harry told him, "they're Fred and George in wigs with dresses on."
"Wh-why," Ron asked, "why would they-?"
"I don't know," Harry said flatly. "Hermione and Ginny must have thought this up. That's what they were doing that night in the common room. After all, they're the ones who set us up in the first place."
"We just spent half an hour with my brothers as our dates," said Ron, sounding disgusted and rather furious.
"I know," said Harry, "we have to do something about this."
"Well, what?" Ron asked.
"I have an idea," said Harry, grinning mischievously "here's what we have to do." Ten minutes later they came back into the Great Hall to find Fred and George.
"Oh, hello, Felicia," said Ron, very smoothly, "it's a bit warm in here don't you think? Say, why don't we go for a walk in the gardens outside?"
"Sure," said Fred, not knowing how to refuse.
"Well then, let's go," said Ron, putting his arm around Fred and leading him out of the Great Hall.
"It's a nice night, isn't it?" Ron asked Fred.
"Oh, yes," said Fred, "very nice."
Ron spotted a bench, "Would you like to sit down?" he asked, walking over and sitting down on the bench himself. Fred joined him, albeit very reluctantly. Ron scooted very close to his brother and took his hands.
Ron noticed that Fred was starting fidget. Ron pulled back and looked into Fred's eyes, "My, Felicia, you certainly are strong. I really like that in a girl." They sat in silence for a few moments, Fred continuing to act uncomfortable.
Ron pulled back again. "I really like you Felicia. You're so familiar and comfortable. I feel as if I've known you all my life," he said, suddenly finding it very hard to keep a straight face. "Would you mind if I kissed you?" Ron leaned forward.
"Geroff, idiot," said Fred, jumping up as if his butt had caught fire, and pulling his wig off.
"Why, Fred," said Ron, feigning surprise, "I had no idea it was you."
"You knew," Fred realized, "you've known the whole time." He pulled out his wand and did the reversal of the spell that Hermione had performed earlier to make his voice high-pitched.
"Yes, of course I knew," said Ron, now sounding perturbed. Fred seemed convince for a brief second.
"Actually, now that I think about it," Fred said, "you're too damned dense to come up with that conclusion on your own. Harry told you."
"No, actually," said Ron, "I've known the whole time."
"I'm sure," Fred glared at him, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now, I'm going back inside before I freeze to death." He turned around and started to walk back to towards the castle.
"Why'd you do it?" Ron asked. Fred stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"They asked. It sounded like fun at the time," he told Ron. "Now I have sore feet and a wedgie."
"That may be true," said Ron, laughing at the all the blackmail material he had just been presented with, "but it's not the reason."
"You're right," Fred told Ron, "and if it wasn't for you and your stupidity with women, I would be inside dancing with Angelina instead of standing out here in this stupid get-up and these extremely uncomfortable, hard to walk in shoes yelling at you." Fred turned around and walked back into Hogwarts, not seeming to care that he hadn't straightened out his dress or put his wig back on.
***
Harry watched Ron leave the hall with Fred. He turned and walked back over to the table where George, Hermione, Ginny, Colin, and Neville were still sitting.
"Hermione," Harry said, sitting down next to George, "have you seen Fred and George anywhere tonight? I thought they were coming."
"No," said Hermione, "have you seen them, Ginny?"
"No, I haven't seen them, either."
Harry turned to George. "Fred and George are Ron and Ginny's older brothers. They like to joke around a lot, but I don't think they'd ever do anything mean to mean to me or Ron."
"What makes you think that?" said George, angrily. "Do you have some kind of hold over them?"
"Not really," said Harry, "it's just that we're good friends, and we do things for each other."
"Oh, of course," said George.
"Potter," said a voice, "I don't believe I've met your date." Harry turned to see Professor Snape standing behind him.
"Well, Professor," Harry said, feeling extremely uncomfortable, "This is Grace Watson."
"I don't believe I've seen you before, er Miss Watson," said Snape.
"I'm in Ravenclaw," said George, quickly, "I'm a seventh year, and I'm not taking your N.E.W.T preparatory course."
"I still thought that I knew all of the students," said Snape. "Although, there is something uncomfortably familiar about you."
Harry was thoroughly enjoying this. Neville and Colin looked extremely confused. Hermione and Ginny were glaring at Harry, and George looked like he was ready to bolt. George breathed a sigh of relief when Snape turned and walked away, but the sigh turned into a moan when he saw Fred walk into the hall, his wig in one hand and his shoes in the other, followed by a smirking Ron, earning themselves curious glances from everyone in the Great Hall.
"Bloody hell," George swore under his breath, pulling out his wand and making his voice normal. "Well," he turned to Ginny and Hermione, "guess the joke's on us."
"Do you know what he did?" Fred yelled at Hermione, Ginny and Harry, motioning to Ron who seemed to find all of this extremely funny. "He tried to kiss me."
"I did not," Ron said, "I was just pretending."
"I'm ready to leave," George announced.
"Yes," Fred agreed, "let's go." The twins walked out of the hall, amidst laughter and applause from the other students.
"I suppose you two think it's funny," said Hermione.
"Yeah," said Ron, "we find it very amusing."
"A real laugh riot," Harry said, dryly.
"Well," said Ginny, "that's what you get when you're too stupid to get dates for the ball well in advance."
***
"Well, I must say," said Hermione, as she watched Harry and Ron leave. "That did not go as planned."
"No," said Ginny, "but it was pretty funny. I wonder if Ron really did try to kiss Fred, too bad we don't have a camera."
***
Naturally, the story was all over the school by the time the new term started. Harry and Ron were on their way to Divination when Malfoy said something to them.
"Weasley," he said, "you must be really pathetic if you have to get your own brothers to dress up in drag and pose as your dates for the ball."
"Hermione set up those dates for us," Harry told him, and then he mentally slapped himself for telling Malfoy that piece of information.
"You're a lost case, Potter," Malfoy said, "fooled by a Mudblood and then not realizing that your dates weren't even girls."
"They did a really good job," Ron said, defensively.
"Why are we even telling you this, Malfoy?" Harry said. "Bugger off."
"If you say so." Laughing, Malfoy went over to tell Crabbe and Goyle.
Harry turned back to Ron and said, "And the moral of this story is."
"Never let my sister and Hermione find us dates for the ball?" Ron said.
"Exactly."
The End
Author's Note: First of all, this story was written BEFORE Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is not slash. Also, this is the first story I've ever posted anywhere, so be nice. I think it's rather humorous. Lastly, I'm American so my British slang might not be exactly up to par, but I tried.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 1 The Dates
Harry Potter sat in the Gryffindor common room working on his essay for Potions. The Christmas Holidays were only a week away, and Snape was piling on the homework as usual. He was distracted when his best friend, Ron Weasley, flopped down in the chair directly across from him. "You still haven't asked her have you?" Harry asked, slightly exasperated with his friend. "No," said Ron, "besides what's the point of having this stupid ball anyway?" Dumbledore had announced a month ago that Hogwarts would be having another Yule Ball. "Ron," said Harry, who felt like he was saying this for the ninety-fifth time, "just ask Hermione to the ball. I know that you don't want a repeat of last year. Here she comes now." Ron turned around and saw that Hermione was indeed coming over to their table in the corner of the room. "I'm going to bed," Ron said quickly and made for the boys' dormitories. Harry reached out a hand and stopped him. "No you're not," he said, "you're going to ask Hermione to the ball if I have to magically glue your feet to the floor."
"Fine," said Ron, sounding unusually nervous.
"Hello," Hermione greeted them cheerfully, setting her heavy bag on the table with a thud, "I've just been at-."
"The library," said Ron, "we know."
"Oh, shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped, "I'm not in the mood for this."
"Good," said Ron, "I wanted to ask you something."
"Well make it quick," Hermione said, pulling her Potions essay out of her bag, "I have to finish this."
"Well.um," said Ron, looking down at his feet.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Willyougoballwithme?" Ron mumbled in a barely audible voice. Harry snorted.
"Pardon?" Hermione asked.
"Will you go to the ball with me?" Ron practically shouted, shooting an angry glare at Harry.
"Oh, honestly, Ron," said Hermione.
"I guess that's a no," Ron said, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Of course it's a no," said Hermione angrily, "you should have asked me a month ago, but you had to wait until the last minute, as usual."
"You're going with Vicky again," said Ron hotly.
"For your information, Ron Weasley," Hermione was now shouting, "I am not going with Viktor."
"Well then," he pressed, "who?"
"Neville," said Hermione more quietly. "He asked me three weeks ago when the ball was announced."
"Oh," said Ron.
"I think I might know someone who will go with you, Ron," she said, a mischievous smile forming on her lips, "and you, too, Harry."
"Just as long as it's not Eloise Midgen," Ron grumbled.
"Don't worry, Ron," said Hermione, the smile even bigger now, "her nose is perfectly centered. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go do something."
"That went well," Harry said sarcastically after Hermione had left.
"You should have asked me a month ago," Ron mimicked Hermione's words from a couple seconds ago.
"She's right," Harry said, "you should have asked her sooner."
"I assume you have a date," said Ron, sounding irritated.
"Well.no," said Harry, Ron had him there, "I suppose I don't." Harry went back to his essay.
"You could ask Ginny," said Ron, matter-of-factly, some time later "or you could ask Cho again, now that Cedric's out of the picture."
"Not funny, Weasley," said Harry, "not funny at all."
"I suppose you're right," said Ron, "but you could still ask her."
"No, I don't think I want to," said Harry.
"Well, I'm sure Ginny would go with you if you asked her," Ron said.
"It's worth a shot," Harry said.
"What's worth a shot?" said a voice behind him.
Harry felt himself go red. That was Ginny's voice. How much had she heard?
"Harry wants to ask you a question, Gin," Ron told her, smiling evilly at Harry, who knew this was payback for making him ask Hermione.
"Okay," said Ginny directing her gaze towards Harry.
"Well," Harry started; he supposed it would be nice to go to the ball with her. "I was just wondering if you had a date for the ball."
"Yes," said Ginny, "I'm going with Colin."
"Creevey?" said Ron, sounding disgusted. "The annoying git who follows Harry around all the time?"
"Yes," said Ginny, "do you have a problem with that?"
"You can't go with him. I don't like him," Ron told her.
"You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do, Ronald," Ginny said angrily.
"Yes, I do, Virginia," Ron said, he had obviously hit a nerve. Ginny looked angrier than Harry had ever seen her. "You're my baby sister."
"Don't call me Virginia, you know I hate that," Ginny snarled. "Besides, I can go with whoever I want to."
"I suppose so," said Ron, "but if he lays one hand on you, I'll-."
"Oh, come off it, Ron," Ginny said, although she seemed slightly touched that Ron was so protective of her. "I can take care of myself." She turned to Harry, "Did Hermione mention that she knew some girls that would go with you?"
"Yeah," said, Ron slowly, "what about it?"
"Well," said Ginny, "I have a feeling that they'll agree."
"Do we know them?" Harry asked.
"You might say that," Ginny said, before walking across the room to where Hermione was. The two were soon lost in deep conversation.
***
"You really think they'll do this," Hermione said doubtfully to Ginny.
"I know they will," said Ginny, a confident tone to her voice, "besides, if they don't, I'll make them."
"How?" asked Hermione.
"You'll see," said Ginny.
"We received your note," came Fred Weasley's voice.
"You said you wanted to speak with us," said George, in an oddly formal tone "about the ball."
"Yes," said Hermione, "we need you to masquerade as women."
"WHAT?" Fred and George yelled at the same time.
"Well," said Ginny, choosing her words carefully, "we want to teach Harry and Ron a lesson."
"Exactly," said Hermione, "they need to learn that when there's a ball they should ask the girl they like well in advance instead of waiting until the last minute."
"Let me get this straight," said Fred, "you want us to dress up as women and pose as their dates."
"Yes, exactly," said Ginny.
"Brilliant," said George, "don't you think so, Fredericka?"
"Yes, Georgia," said Fred, "I think so."
"We'll name you," said Ginny, "even Ron, dense as he is, would figure out what was going on if you use those names."
"Aw," said Fred, in mock disappointment, "I like Fredericka."
"We'll give you nice, lady-like names," said Hermione, "like Felicia and Grace."
"I want to be Felicia," said George.
"I'm Felicia," said Fred, "you're Grace."
"It would fool people," said George.
"You'd get yourselves mixed up," said Ginny, "like the time when you- ."
"We know who we are, Gin," said Fred.
"Yeah," said George, "we know we're called Gred and Forge."
"Oh, honestly," said Hermione, "will you two ever stop joking around? We only have four days to teach you two how to be proper women."
"In other words," said Ginny, "we have a lot of work to do."
"Wait," said Fred, "what about our dates?"
"We'll take care of everything," said Hermione.
***
On the other side of the room, Harry and Ron sat watching the four of them conspire. There was definitely something up.
"What d'you reckon they're up to?" Harry asked Ron.
"Knowing my sister," said Ron, "nothing good for us."
Chapter 2 The Ball
The night of the ball had arrived. Even though there had been much advance planning, it was still hectic.
"Do I have to wear that?" Fred asked, staring at the dress robes Hermione was holding up.
"Yes," said Hermione.
"If you were going to make us do this, Ginny," said George, "why didn't you at least get pretty dress robes?"
"They're the best that we could find at the last minute," said Ginny.
"Oh, joy," said Fred sarcastically. "We'll really fool them in those."
"You two need to get your robes on," said Hermione, "we only have an hour." Hermione and Ginny were already dressed.
Twenty minutes later the boys were dressed, and Hermione and Ginny were busy doing their makeup.
"You need more makeup, George," Ginny was saying, "now if you would just hold still-."
"I'm trying," said George, "but how can I not move when you keep putting stuff on my face."
"Yeah," said Fred, "it's not natural."
"Well," said Hermione, who was busy doing Fred's makeup, "this stuff is going to make you look all pretty for Harry and Ron."
"Maybe we don't want to look pretty for Harry and Ron," said Fred, in an annoyed sort of way.
"Well," said Ginny, "you don't want to be ugly, do you?"
"No," said Fred and George at the same time.
"All done," said Ginny. Hermione was still fixing Fred's lipstick.
"Okay," she finally said, "I'm done."
"Good," said Fred, "can we go now?"
"No," said Ginny, "we still have to put your wigs on, and, I daresay, you don't want to go to the ball barefoot."
"We.we," said Fred, "we have to where those uncomfortable things all night."
"Now you know why we complain about having sore feet," said Hermione.
"Yes," said George, "and we'll never tease either of you about it again."
"I doubt that," said Ginny, laughing, as she put a brown wig on George's head. Finally, the twins were ready.
"Now," said Ginny, "remember, your names are Felicia and Grace Watson."
"Okay," said George.
"Sounds good," said Fred.
The twins got up to leave the room, and Fred fell flat on his face, as he was not use to wearing high heels. George had to grab a bedpost for support because he was laughing so hard.
"It's not funny," Fred said, frustrated. "You're going to stumble in these shoes just as much as I am, so watch what you're laughing about." He tried to get up again, but he tripped over the hem of his robes and fell back on his butt. This sent George and Ginny into fits of laughter. "Can I wear flats instead?" he asked, only making the others laugh harder.
"We just have one more thing to do before we're ready," Hermione said, pulling out her wand and pointing it at George.
"Wait," said George, "what are you doing, Hermione?"
"Well," Hermione stated airily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world. "If you're going to look like girls you might as well sound like girls too."
"Right," said George, realizing what she was going to do.
***
"I'm so glad that Fred and George gave me these new dress robes," said Ron happily, admiring how he looked, "I was afraid that I'd have to wear the same ones I wore last year." Ron's robes were navy blue with no lace in sight.
"I just hope those dates that Hermione and Ginny got us are worth this," said Harry, who was standing in front of the mirror trying to make his hair lay flat. "I mean there's something strange going on. I heard Hermione and Ginny talking about making them look respectable."
"What do you think that means?" Ron asked.
"Knowing Hermione," said Harry, "the only good thing about them may be that their noses are in the center of their faces."
"Oh, great," said Ron, sarcastically. "We'd better go down. Hermione said that they'd be in the Entrance Hall at five minutes to eight."
"Okay," said Harry, looking at his watch and realizing that they only had five minutes. The two boys headed out of their dorm and down to the Entrance Hall. Once there, they spotted Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Colin standing with the two girls that must be their dates. Harry thought they looked like Mr. Weasley in a dress. "Ron," he whispered, "don't they look familiar to you?"
"Yeah," said Ron, "they're probably in Ravenclaw or something."
"Okay," said Harry, although he was certain that he knew these two girls from somewhere.
"Harry, Ron," said Hermione, spotting them, "these are your dates." She motioned to the two girls with brown hair and ugly dress robes.
"Very, er, nice to meet both of you," said Harry, shaking both their hands. For some reason, this seemed oddly familiar to him, too.
"I'm Felicia Watson," said Fred, in his falsetto, "and this my bro-er sister, Grace." This earned furious glares from Hermione and Ginny.
"Harry, you're with Grace," said Hermione, "Ron, you're with Felicia."
Harry took George's arm and led him into the Great Hall followed by the others. They sat at a table for eight. After the tables had been moved to the side, Harry noticed that the initials G.W. were on Ginny's robes in gold lettering. 'Well, let's see,' Harry thought, 'that's G.W. for Ginny Weasley. Ron's initials are R.W.. Let's see, George would be G.W. just like Ginny and Grace. Wait a second, Grace looks just like George. Holy Merlin's Beard! Felicia and Grace are Fred and George in wigs!'
Chapter 3 Missing the Point
"Ron!" Harry hissed at his friend.
"What is it Harry?" Ron asked, somewhat concerned by the note of urgency in his friend's voice.
"I need to talk to you," Harry told him in a hushed voice, "outside. Now!"
"Okay, okay," said Ron getting up and walking with Harry towards the exit.
"What's the matter with you, Harry?" Ron asked, once they were where no one could see them.
"They're Fred and George!" Harry exclaimed.
"Whose Fred and George?" Ron asked, stupidly.
"Our dates, you dolt," Harry told him, "they're Fred and George in wigs with dresses on."
"Wh-why," Ron asked, "why would they-?"
"I don't know," Harry said flatly. "Hermione and Ginny must have thought this up. That's what they were doing that night in the common room. After all, they're the ones who set us up in the first place."
"We just spent half an hour with my brothers as our dates," said Ron, sounding disgusted and rather furious.
"I know," said Harry, "we have to do something about this."
"Well, what?" Ron asked.
"I have an idea," said Harry, grinning mischievously "here's what we have to do." Ten minutes later they came back into the Great Hall to find Fred and George.
"Oh, hello, Felicia," said Ron, very smoothly, "it's a bit warm in here don't you think? Say, why don't we go for a walk in the gardens outside?"
"Sure," said Fred, not knowing how to refuse.
"Well then, let's go," said Ron, putting his arm around Fred and leading him out of the Great Hall.
"It's a nice night, isn't it?" Ron asked Fred.
"Oh, yes," said Fred, "very nice."
Ron spotted a bench, "Would you like to sit down?" he asked, walking over and sitting down on the bench himself. Fred joined him, albeit very reluctantly. Ron scooted very close to his brother and took his hands.
Ron noticed that Fred was starting fidget. Ron pulled back and looked into Fred's eyes, "My, Felicia, you certainly are strong. I really like that in a girl." They sat in silence for a few moments, Fred continuing to act uncomfortable.
Ron pulled back again. "I really like you Felicia. You're so familiar and comfortable. I feel as if I've known you all my life," he said, suddenly finding it very hard to keep a straight face. "Would you mind if I kissed you?" Ron leaned forward.
"Geroff, idiot," said Fred, jumping up as if his butt had caught fire, and pulling his wig off.
"Why, Fred," said Ron, feigning surprise, "I had no idea it was you."
"You knew," Fred realized, "you've known the whole time." He pulled out his wand and did the reversal of the spell that Hermione had performed earlier to make his voice high-pitched.
"Yes, of course I knew," said Ron, now sounding perturbed. Fred seemed convince for a brief second.
"Actually, now that I think about it," Fred said, "you're too damned dense to come up with that conclusion on your own. Harry told you."
"No, actually," said Ron, "I've known the whole time."
"I'm sure," Fred glared at him, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now, I'm going back inside before I freeze to death." He turned around and started to walk back to towards the castle.
"Why'd you do it?" Ron asked. Fred stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"They asked. It sounded like fun at the time," he told Ron. "Now I have sore feet and a wedgie."
"That may be true," said Ron, laughing at the all the blackmail material he had just been presented with, "but it's not the reason."
"You're right," Fred told Ron, "and if it wasn't for you and your stupidity with women, I would be inside dancing with Angelina instead of standing out here in this stupid get-up and these extremely uncomfortable, hard to walk in shoes yelling at you." Fred turned around and walked back into Hogwarts, not seeming to care that he hadn't straightened out his dress or put his wig back on.
***
Harry watched Ron leave the hall with Fred. He turned and walked back over to the table where George, Hermione, Ginny, Colin, and Neville were still sitting.
"Hermione," Harry said, sitting down next to George, "have you seen Fred and George anywhere tonight? I thought they were coming."
"No," said Hermione, "have you seen them, Ginny?"
"No, I haven't seen them, either."
Harry turned to George. "Fred and George are Ron and Ginny's older brothers. They like to joke around a lot, but I don't think they'd ever do anything mean to mean to me or Ron."
"What makes you think that?" said George, angrily. "Do you have some kind of hold over them?"
"Not really," said Harry, "it's just that we're good friends, and we do things for each other."
"Oh, of course," said George.
"Potter," said a voice, "I don't believe I've met your date." Harry turned to see Professor Snape standing behind him.
"Well, Professor," Harry said, feeling extremely uncomfortable, "This is Grace Watson."
"I don't believe I've seen you before, er Miss Watson," said Snape.
"I'm in Ravenclaw," said George, quickly, "I'm a seventh year, and I'm not taking your N.E.W.T preparatory course."
"I still thought that I knew all of the students," said Snape. "Although, there is something uncomfortably familiar about you."
Harry was thoroughly enjoying this. Neville and Colin looked extremely confused. Hermione and Ginny were glaring at Harry, and George looked like he was ready to bolt. George breathed a sigh of relief when Snape turned and walked away, but the sigh turned into a moan when he saw Fred walk into the hall, his wig in one hand and his shoes in the other, followed by a smirking Ron, earning themselves curious glances from everyone in the Great Hall.
"Bloody hell," George swore under his breath, pulling out his wand and making his voice normal. "Well," he turned to Ginny and Hermione, "guess the joke's on us."
"Do you know what he did?" Fred yelled at Hermione, Ginny and Harry, motioning to Ron who seemed to find all of this extremely funny. "He tried to kiss me."
"I did not," Ron said, "I was just pretending."
"I'm ready to leave," George announced.
"Yes," Fred agreed, "let's go." The twins walked out of the hall, amidst laughter and applause from the other students.
"I suppose you two think it's funny," said Hermione.
"Yeah," said Ron, "we find it very amusing."
"A real laugh riot," Harry said, dryly.
"Well," said Ginny, "that's what you get when you're too stupid to get dates for the ball well in advance."
***
"Well, I must say," said Hermione, as she watched Harry and Ron leave. "That did not go as planned."
"No," said Ginny, "but it was pretty funny. I wonder if Ron really did try to kiss Fred, too bad we don't have a camera."
***
Naturally, the story was all over the school by the time the new term started. Harry and Ron were on their way to Divination when Malfoy said something to them.
"Weasley," he said, "you must be really pathetic if you have to get your own brothers to dress up in drag and pose as your dates for the ball."
"Hermione set up those dates for us," Harry told him, and then he mentally slapped himself for telling Malfoy that piece of information.
"You're a lost case, Potter," Malfoy said, "fooled by a Mudblood and then not realizing that your dates weren't even girls."
"They did a really good job," Ron said, defensively.
"Why are we even telling you this, Malfoy?" Harry said. "Bugger off."
"If you say so." Laughing, Malfoy went over to tell Crabbe and Goyle.
Harry turned back to Ron and said, "And the moral of this story is."
"Never let my sister and Hermione find us dates for the ball?" Ron said.
"Exactly."
The End