Weasley Twin Soup
Hermione looked up from the secret cauldron in the girls' bathroom to see Harry and Ron enter, the invisibility cloak dropping behind them as they looked inside the stall, just two away from where Moaning Myrtle wailed and sent tears flooding into the school's sewage system.
"It's almost finished, and I make no guarantees. I told you your brothers were probably trying to trick us again, and I think I was right," Hermione said firmly, giving Ron a dirty look. "I think we're making soup, not our own star."
"Have faith in Fred and George," Ron sneered, trying to stick up for his mischievous brothers. "They said they made this once before and made that little red star, the one even the astronomy teacher can't identify."
"That's because it's not a star, it's a planet," Hermione huffed, stirring the cauldron diligently despite her doubts. "I did the research myself, and I'm fairly sure that's a planet, not a star, and I'm sure they're perfectly aware of this. Have you learned nothing from the past years of your life, Ron? Ginny's a year younger and she knows they're trying to play us."
"Well you're still involved, aren't you? You're still brewing a secret potion out of a girls' toilet!" Ron hissed.
"Stop it, both of you! Something's happening," Harry said, pointing to the steam coming from the cauldron. Before it was clear or greyish, just like typical steam, but now there was a red tint to the steam. The cauldron seemed to be whistling too, something the twins told them would happen.
"Is it getting brighter?" Ron asked.
"Cover your eyes!" Hermione cried.
As she said that, a blast of red light filled the room, a blast of light that would've been blinding if they hadn't heeded Hermione's warning. All three sat cowering behind the sleeves of their robes for a full minute, when Hermione decided to have a peek. The light was over almost as soon as it started, and now it was safe for them to look again.
"It's…It's empty!" Ron stammered, peering into the cauldron.
"It is empty. We'll have to use a telescope to see if it worked," Hermione whispered, pushing the cauldron into the far corner of the stall behind the toilet. She then cast a spell, pulling away a few bricks. She pushed the cauldron into the space and cast the spell again, hiding the cauldron.
"We still have fifteen minutes before curfew," Ron shrugged, helping to get the invisibility cloak around all of them. Hermione nodded, pulling the cloak tight around herself. Curfew or no curfew, she didn't want to be seen in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom at this hour, not when they probably should be in their common room or leaving the library, two locations far from the current bathroom.
Ten minutes later, they were across the castle and in the empty astronomy tower. Hermione set up the telescope and peered upwards through a tiny seem in the invisibility cloak. After a few minutes, she'd found nothing unusual. Ron and Harry dumbly did the same, but they came up empty as well.
"I still think this was a dirty trick of some sorts. We were probably making an exploding soup or something, not a star or a planet or whatever they wanted to claim it was," Hermione snorted, crossing her arms angrily.
"You're perfectly right," a voice said in the darkness. The cloak fell as the three jumped, but it was just the twins stepping out of the darkness.
"Fred, I think you did mighty well with yourself."
"Same to you, George."
"Oh cut it out! What did you have us brewing?" Hermione demanded.
"Soup, but it's not your typical soup. It's sort of…."
"Well it's all over your face, darling-"
"And your clothes-"
"And probably all over that bathroom you used too," they said together, nodding with satisfaction.
"We've been covered with it?" Hermione asked, looking around for a mirror.
"Oh you won't be able to see it-"
"But we do," the twins leered, withholding a chuckle as Hermione gave them a red-faced glare of pure rage.
"Hermione, they're probably playing with us still," Harry said. "We're clean. We'd know if we were dirty. Our shoes would've squeaked on the stone floor, or-"
"Nope, stop your theorizing, Mr. Potter," George smiled. "Fred, they simply don't understand. Explain it again."
"If you were in the area when it blasted out of the cauldron, you were covered. You don't see it because you were blinded."
"Yeah, we're probably just a couple of purple blobs to you two right now," George snorted, and Fred laughed alongside him.
"We covered our eyes," Ron smiled darkly. The twins stopped laughing.
"They were just messing with us! How dare you!" Hermione shouted.
"Hush, hush," Fred sighed, patting her shoulder. "It really does make great soup if you don't add that last ingredient. We'll show you tomorrow before lunch. Please, let us try again."
"No," Hermione huffed, reaching for the invisibility cloak. "We should ignore them, boys. Come on or we'll get detention."
"Fine, fine," the twins said together, watching them leave before ducking into a secret passage and disappearing into the night.
The next day at lunch, the twins passed a secret flask around the Gryffindor table, advertising the reddish blend as the best soup they'd ever have. Hermione refused out of principle, Ron did the same, and Harry was busy trying to convince Snape he didn't intentionally blow a crack in his cauldron during class.
The twins smiled and shrugged, leaving the table early. Everyone who ate the soup confirmed it was just that, soup, but Hermione wouldn't believe them. She wouldn't be able to trust the boys for a while, though she was satisfied that they weren't blinded like they were supposed to be. That was her doing, not theirs. She still found a way to smile, and that she did as she returned to her normal study rituals.
Theme 046: Stars and Planets
To complete the themes yourself, I have the list posted on my profile. The list is for any type of fan fiction (one-shot, drabble, etc.) and any fandom. Challenge yourself in other ways to make it more fun, and enjoy!