Hermione had a plan. She was sick and tired of everybody always calling her a teacher-loving bookworm. So it was only natural that she was going to prove them wrong. She was going to show every single one of them, and especially that infuriating bunch of redheads, that she could be just as devious as the rest of them.

That bunch of redheads was the reason that she was so determined to do something radical. They never shut up about her bookish ways! Ron had teased her ever since they met when they were eleven. Ginny had rapidly become one of her best friends, but she too couldn't stop herself from telling Hermione that she should let herself go once in a while. The twins were undoubtedly the worst. She hadn't seen them since coming back to school 2 months ago as they had left the previous year, but every time she did see them they couldn't go 5 minutes without teasing her about her good marks, or telling her that if she didn't actually do something soon she'd explode.

She'd show them. Hermione Granger was going to make sure that nobody remembered her as just the know-it-all bookworm.

Of course she was proud of her work. She enjoyed being the one people thought of when they were asked about someone smart. But that wasn't all she was. She was brave, and caring, and loyal, everything that made her a Griffindor and not a Ravenclaw. She just didn't believe in breaking school rules unless it was absolutely necessary. And with Halloween coming up this was the perfect opportunity to let everyone know just what she was worth. All she had to do was come up with a good prank.


...


Seven weeks later Hermione was sitting on her bed in the girls' dormitory. It was the last day of term and she had almost finished packing her trunk. She was going to the Burrow with Ron, Ginny and Harry in the morning and she was slightly nervous.

Her prank had worked brilliantly. The effects hadn't lasted long but she had made sure everyone knew who was behind it. Nobody would ever again think of her as just a bookworm.

But somehow she felt that she hadn't entirely proven herself yet. Oh all the students, and even some of the staff, had been impressed, but there were two people whose opinions mattered slightly more with an issue like this one. The Weasley twins had been the pranking authority since the Marauders almost twenty years before them. They were legends at the school and one of the reasons she had done the prank to begin with. So Hermione felt that if she didn't get their approval she'd have failed, and Hermione Granger didn't do failure.

"Are you coming or not?"

Ginny's head stuck through the gap between the door and the wall. She had organised some sort of end-of-term party in the Room of Requirement and she insisted that Hermione come along.

"Yes, yes, just give me a minute." Hermione said with a smile. She stood up and checked her hair in the mirror before following her friend out the door.


Hermione stepped into the Burrow and was immediately swept into a hug by Mrs Weasley. Mr Weasley had come to collect them from Platform 9 and ¾ while the rest of the family waited for them at home. As Mrs Weasley turned to give Harry and her children hugs as well Hermione noticed the twins standing in the doorway to the living room, identical grins on identical faces.

"Hi Mione", they said in unison, "still as wound up as ever, we see."

"I'd be careful if I were you, boys." Ginny remarked from across the crowded room. "She can turn pretty nasty when she wants to."

George just kept on grinning "Come off it Gin. You can't tell us that our dear -"

"sweet -"

" little -"

"bookish -"

" perfect Prefect -"

" Hermione has a dark side?"

"Keep saying stuff like that and you'll find out." Hermione muttered darkly.

"Ooh what're you going to do to us?" Fred asked. "Can't put us in detention."

"Or dock us points."

"Or report us to a teacher."

"Or even write to our dearest mother here." George finished with a smirk.

Hermione heard Harry whisper something that sounded a lot like "It's your funeral" before turning to fully face the twins. "Let's just say that if I can convince two Weasleys to stop bugging me about my grades, I can just as easily sort some others out as well." She said, an evil grin almost splitting her face in two.

And with that she swept towards the stairs in the hall, her trunk floating behind her. As she left the room she heard the twins start to interrogate their siblings, who were just as determined not to give anything away that could be used against them.


Over the course of the next week the twins hardly stopped badgering Hermione about the prank she had pulled. They were desperate to find out what she could have done to shut both Ron and Ginny up.

"Not a chance, Fred." She said as she saw the boy approach her.

"Hey, how d'you know I'm not George?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Lots of reasons actually. Your eyes are more of a sapphire blue, while George's are like a deep oceany colour. George has a freckle on his left eyelid and you don't. Your voice is ever so slightly deeper than his. Shall I go on?"

Fred looked dumbstruck. It took him a minute to fully recover. "How do you do that? I know about all that stuff, but I'm pretty sure not even mum does."

"I've always been very observant" she said matter-of-factly.

"You can say that again." Fred mumbled, his voice slightly bitter.

"You look like you're going into shock."

"Well, I always thought I was the only one that knew my twin as well as that. It's pretty unnerving to find out someone else can do what you've always thought was a sign of some special connection nobody else had." He sounded really hurt, Hermione realised suddenly.

"Hey, it's alright. Of course you and George have a special connection that nobody else has. I will never be able to understand how you finish each other's sentences like that, or how you know exactly what the other twin is thinking without even looking at each other. I only notice Fred and George as individuals, I couldn't even begin to grasp the combination ."

She looked deep into Fred's eyes, desperate to get him out of his sudden depression. After a minute or so, it seemed to work. His eyes regained their signature sparkle and a hint of a grin was visible.

"You really are amazing, do you know that?" he whispered suddenly.

Before Hermione could answer the sound of hurtling footsteps came from the stairs and Harry and Ron burst through the door.

"Hey Mione, we're going for a walk. Wanna come?" Harry gave her a subtle, yet pointed, look.

"Sure, just let me get my coat."

She quickly ran up the stairs to go grab it, all the while thinking about how the conversation had ended. What did he mean by it? But the thought was driven out of her head when Harry explained his latest dream to them.


The following morning the twins cornered her again.

"Boys" she greeted, a small smile on her face.

"Hi Mione, how come you look so cheerful?" Fred inquired.

"I'm just flattered that you think I could pull off something so brilliant that you're still begging me to tell you after a week." She replied, still grinning.

Instantly identical looks of mock-hurt appeared on their faces, but before either, or both, of them could say anything Hermione continued. "So I've decided to make you a compromise. If you can shut up about it for the rest of the day I'll tell you tonight. Consider it an early Christmas present. But if you don't leave me alone I'll just have to show you the hard way, get my drift?"

"Oh you really are a devious little witch, aren't you?" George said, "Fine, we'll leave you alone. C'mon Forge, we've got work to do."

And so Hermione got the first bit of peace and quiet since she had gotten to the house.


That evening, which happened to be Christmas Eve, Hermione was sitting on the couch in the living room. It was pretty crowded with all the Weasleys there, along with her, Harry and Fleur. At about half past eleven the twins siddled up to her, expectant grins on their faces.

"Well Mione, the day's almost over," George started.

"Can we have our present now?" Fred finished, giving her a wink and a cheeky grin.

"Oh all right, I guess you do deserve it." As she explained what she had done, the twins' eyes grew rounder and rounder, their jaws slowly dropping. After she had finished, they gave each other significant looks and turned back to face her. Fred opened his mouth but before he could say anything George got a rather panicky look in his eye and said, "Uhm, Forge, remember that thing we had planned for tonight? That's going to go off in about 5 minutes?"

Hermione checked her watch, it was 5 minutes to midnight. When she looked up, Fred looked panicky as well.

"Oh Merlin! You go stop it, I'll make sure she doesn't go near it." As he said this he jerked his head towards Hermione.

George disappeared and Fred turned to her, looking slightly sheepish. "We kind of had a prank ready for you," he said, not really meeting her eyes, "But after we heard what you did to Ron and Ginny, we'd rather not find out what you would have done to us."

"Oh that, I took care of that hours ago. And you're right, I would have made it worse for you." Hermione answered, a huge grin spread across her face.

Fred's eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his face.

"You knew about it? Oh Merlin, you are completely diabolical!"

And before she could say anything, he had swooped down and was pressing his lips to hers. When they broke apart he was looking sheepish again. She thought he was even blushing! Since when does Fred Weasley blush about anything?

"I'm sorry about that." Fred whispered, "I just had to do it. You're so beautiful, and smart, and funny. I really -"

At that moment George burst into the room, looking rather dishevelled. "Hermione you are one evil witch!"

"Well next time you want to prank me, make sure you don't talk about it where I can hear it. It's not my fault your own prank turned on you." With that the entire room burst out laughing, even George joined in after a moment. Hermione checked her watch again, it was 5 minutes past midnight.

"Merry Christmas" she whispered to Fred, looking up into his eyes.

"Merry Christmas" he whispered back, before kissing her again.

This time when they broke apart, there was a gleam in Hermione's eyes.

"Hermione the Evil Witch, I like it."

AN: This was written for the Twin Exchange October Titel Swap. Please go and vote if you liked it. Also I apologise to everybody waiting for When Dreams Come True, the first chapter is finished but I completely blocked myself because the story wasn't going in a nice direction. So it's being rewritten and shall hopefully be appearing soon!