"Is someone coming to serve me or should I just help myself?"

Hermione Granger rapped her wand against the counter of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and let out an irritated sigh. She could see other customers turning to see who the crazy lady was. Let them. One little boy with curly blond hair and a hand in amongst the Pygmy Puffs was foolish enough to give her a smile. She glared daggers at him. He jumped, turned red and then, when a Pygmy Puff bit him, started to cry. She rolled her eyes. They were pathetic, all of them, even the little ones. Men!

"George?" she called out. "Fred? Is no one here? Shall I just take what I want then?"

The two brothers rounded opposite ends of the same aisle at precisely the same time and walked towards her grinning identical grins, arms outstretched.

"Good to see you, Hermione," said George. "In a bit of a hurry?"

"Run out of Patented Daydreams?" suggested Fred cheekily.

Hermione pursed her lips and made no reply. She didn't have time for their stupid jokes. As the twins drew closer their smiles faded anyway. Hermione knew why. She was pale. Her hair, always bushy, today had a life of it's own. Her brown curls crackled and writhed. Her eyes were very dark and very bright.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" George asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

"Shouldn't I be at school?" Hermione said bitingly.

Fred shot a warning glance at George.

"Alright, it's not a social call," Fred said. "That's fine. Tell us what you need. Anything for you, Hermione. You're like family."

Fred obviously thought he was turning on the Weasley charm. Ha! Little did he know, Hermione was now immune. She drew herself up to her full height and narrowed her glittering eyes.

"I've got my own family, thank you very much," she said. "Meanwhile, your brother is an utter prat. I'm here for revenge."