I own nothing. Enjoy!
It was their third year enrolled at Hogwarts.
Fred and George Weasley were on the train, heading towards the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and had already began pranking one of the new first years. His name was Neville Longbottom, he had a pet frog. (Why he decided to choose a frog instead of an Owl or Cat the twins'll never understand.) Nevertheless this Neville Longbottom seemed very attached to his frog, but once the candy trolley came around, the frog seemed to have been seemingly pushed to the back of the boys mind for just a moment.
And that moment was all that was needed for one of the twins to quickly snatch the frog up.
Fred and George went into a different train car and leaned towards each other.
"How long do you think it'll take for that boy to realize his frogs gone?" Fred asked
"Dunno. I'm guessing ten minutes, what with all the candy he was buying." George replied.
"Ten minutes? No, I'm thinking more like five."
"TREVOR!" the twins heard Neville yell from down the hall. the boys looked at eachother and laughed hysterically.
"Looks like it took him a lot less time than we expected." George said thru his laughs
"No kidding." Fred agreed.
"Neville please stop panicking everything will be alright." A girl with thick brown hair said to the hysterical boy.
"Trevor! Trevor where are you?! I have to find him!" The boy, Neville said as he frantically searched thru his belongings, throwing them everywhere.
"Neville...Neville please-!" the girl said as she dodged the books and clothes that were being thrown everywhere. "He probably got out of the car when the trolley came thru…" one of Neville's shoes hit her hard in the side of her head.
"Ow-!" she raised her hand to her head and winced. she sighed frustratingly. "If I go out and look for Trevor will you promise to stop throwing things?" She asked him.
Neville immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at her. he quietly nodded, the look on his face reminded the girl of a lost dog. she closed her eyes and sighed. her head throbbing terribly, where his shoe had hit her. "Alright then. I'll be back." She said as she got up. As Neville thanked her, she turned towards him and nodded with a smile before closing the door to the car and beginning to search for Trevor.
As she walked thru the halls asking others if they had seen a stray toad anywhere by chance, she overheard two people laughing in a car down the hall. she walked towards the car and pressed herself against the wall next to the door, so she could hear what they were saying.
"Blimey that was hilarious!" One of them said
"Did you hear that scream? I didn't know anyone could scream that high."
"It was so worth taking it, just for that."
"First years are so easy to mess with"
A high pitched Scream? theft? from a first year? Hermione decided she had heard everything she needed to. Whoever was in there must have taken Trevor. The girl frowned and pulled the sliding door open hard. She was met with two identical male red-headed twins staring up at her with surprised expressions. The girl looked around, she saw no toad, but the boys seemed to have the word guilty written all over their faces. she frowned more.
"Where is it?" she asked forcefully
"Ahh...Hello to you too?" one of the twins said
"Can we ask what it is you're looking for?" The other asked
"Because we have no idea what you're talking about…."
"Even less where whatever it is might be."
"Please don't toy with me" The girl said "A first year named Neville, his toad has disappeared. And I just overheard you two talking about you two stealing something from a first year and getting a kick out of their screams when they realized their possession was missing. You must have taken it."
The boys shook their heads simultaneously.
"We have no idea what you're talking about."
"We didn't take anything miss Puffy hair."
The girls hand went up to her hair, her face turning red from anger and embarrassment because of the nickname they called her. she pushed as much hair back and behind her ears trying to tame it a little. "My name is Hermione…" She said through gritted teeth.
"Well, nice to meet you Hermione! I'm Fred." One of the boys said while pointing to himself
"And I'm George!" The other said immediately after.
"And although we appreciate the claim, that we would be clever enough to take that kids toad, I'm afraid we have absolutely nothing of the sorts on us.
Just then, movement could be seen under Fred's robes, as well as a faint croaking sound heard. The boys stared up in horror. While Hermione stared at them in triumph. "I knew it. Alright give it here." She held out her hand and took a step closer to Fred.
"I-I told you, I don't have anything..."
"Oh come now don't be daft. I wasn't born yesterday you know. now give it here. so I can give him back to Neville." She took another step closer.
"Look Puffy hair, I don't have that slimy toad. Perhaps someone else took it, or he just ran away from his owner. Or Hopped really."
Hermione's ears reddened with rage. "My. name. is. not. Puffy Hair!" Hermione took a step closer with every word she said until she was standing right above where he was sitting. she looked down at his face with slightly clenched fists. "Now give me the Toad!"
Fred leaned back in surprise as the girl got in his face. She was a little one, just like all the other first years, but he had to give it to her, she had spunk. and quite a short fuse. he put his hands up in surrender. "Alright alright. We took something, from a first year." He reached into the pockets of his robes. "Here it is." He pulled out one of those enchanted chocolate frogs.
Hermione stood up straight in confusion and disbelief as she saw the chocolate frog in his hand, croaking away, as it should. "But...What?"
"I stole this from a kid a few cars down. Didn't feel like paying for one myself so I snatched It when he wasn't looking. and maaan did he have a fit. He must really love chocolate, who wouldn't naturally." Fred smiled "Here…" he said taking out a Godric Gryffindor trading card "You can take the card that came in the box too, for seeing thru our ruse. Not like I want another Gryffindor anyway, I have Like, seven of them at home already."
Hermione takes the card and frog in her hands and looks back and forth between them confused. "Wh-What? Huh?" she was so sure they took trevor, but it seems like all they took was a chocolate frog. She didn't believe it, but the evidence was right here in her hands.
"You know. That's a nasty looking bruise you got there." Fred said pointing to the spot where Neville's shoe made contact with Hermione's head. It was close to her temple so the spot before it was hidden by her hair, but once she pulled her hair behind her ears it was as plain as day. "You may want to use your Puffy hair to hide that. It's reaaaally noticeable."
Hermione's hand went up to her head and she winced in pain. She groaned in frustration, then threw the card and frog down on the ground. "Leave my hair alone!" She muttered as she pulled her hair back over her ears to hide the bruise before turning around and leaving, slamming the door behind her.
After several moments passed and the twins were sure the girl was gone, George turned to Fred a wide smile on his face. "That was bloody brilliant Fred!"
Fred smiled as he turned towards his brother "Thanks George!" He said as he took the real trevor out of his cloak "I'm just glad I decided to swipe that chocolate frog off the trolley on our way."
"Yeah, or else we may have had to turn her into a frog to make sure she didn't tattle on us." George said jokingly, although a slight tone of seriousness could be heard in his voice.
"Yeah…" Fred began laughing "Imagine a frog with that thick puffy hair."
George laughed as the image formed in his head "Blimey that'd be a sight to see."
"She'd probably try to kill us if we did, she was no pushover."
"True, but that'll make it even more enjoyable to pull pranks on her in the future."
Fred smiled, the thought of pulling an actual prank on her intrigued him greatly, seeing her face scrunched up like it was earlier in frustration at them would be quite hysterical. he nodded "Yeah, she'll be one of the most fun to mess with, but for now, lets figure out how we're going to prank our baby brother once he gets sorted."
George smirked and rubbed his hands together as he leaned forward "This one's gotta be good."
Once the train finally made it to Hogwarts, Fred and George set Trevor free in the hallway before entering the great hall for the sorting of the first years. They figured the toad would be found sometime throughout the year. They sat together at the Gryffindor table with all the other second thru seventh year gryffindors, waiting for all the first years to arrive in the great hall. The other seat next to Fred is conveniently unoccupied. George leaned over closer to Fred and whispered in his ear "Did you do it?"
"Yep" Fred whispered back "it's all set, it was really easy, a simple enhancement we could have done in our sleep."
George smiled "This is gonna be quite the 'shock' to Ron, Don't ya think?"
Fred looked at his brother questioningly "years of making up jokes and you go with 'quite a shock?'
George gave his brother a smug look, "It was all I could think of at the moment."
Just then the large doors of the grand hall opened, and professor Mcgonagall walked in. Followed by all the new first years.
Fred and George looked at each other and thought the same thing. "Fresh meat." they already started planning all the pranks they'd play on the first year, they first wanted to begin with their little brother, Ron who was also a first year. the prank was already in motion, and all he needed to do was sit next to Fred.
"Hermione Granger"
The twins turned their heads towards the front as they heard Professor Mcgonagall start the sorting ceremony with the puffy haired girl from the train. everyone, Including hermione herself watches and waits in anticipation to see where the sorting hat will put her.
"Hmmm….Gryffindor!"
Hermione smiles, happy with her placement. She gets up from the stool and heads towards the Gryffindor table. She walked towards an empty seat next to another gryffindor she had yet to meet, when she saw there was an open seat next to the twins she met on the train. She needed to talk to both of them about what happened on the train, even though it seemed like they only took a chocolate frog, she had a huge feeling they took trevor too, and it was going to gnaw at her until she knew the truth, so she walked towards them.
Fred and George clapped as the sorting hat put the girl in Gryffindor, they both smiled, knowing playing pranks on her would be a whole lot easier now that they were all in the same house. However their smiles slightly faded and they cocked their heads to the side simultaneously as they noticed that it looked like she was walking towards them. it took them a moment to realize that she was planning to take the seat next to Fred. the one they planned for Ron to sit in. The twins quickly looked at each other in horror then turned back to her general directions and shook their heads and waved their arms vigorously. Motioning for her not to sit next to them.
Hermione stopped for a moment, seeing them motion for her not to sit by them was a little upsetting. Sure they didn't get off on the completely right foot on the train, but seeing them so adamantly telling her to go away kind of hurt. She didn't want people hating her, especially so soon. But she needed to talk to them, she'd move to a different seat at the table once she finished talking to them. she walked up to the twins. "I need to talk to you two."
"Can't we talk later?" Fred asked frantically
"Fred and I'll meet you in the common room after the sortings over, but right now you should probably take a seat over there." George said
"Don't worry I'll move in a moment but I really want to talk to you about what happened on the train." Hermione began to sit down "It'll only take a sec-"
"No!" the twins cried out simultaneously
The second hermione sat down, she was shot with a few volts of electricity. The twins stared in horror as hermione's pupils dilated and her hair frizzed up and poofed up worse than before. Although she got a few looks, most of the people in the grand hall were too busy with the sorting to noticed what just happened.
Hermione slowly turned towards Fred and George, her eyebrows furrowed so closely together, the gap inn between them was nonexistent.
"Uh...Heh...We're really really sorry Hermione." Fred Said
"We were not trying to do that to you." George quickly added
"It was supposed to be for our brother Ron."
"That's why we didn't want you sitting here."
"We tried to warn you…"
Hermione stared at the twins, unblinking as they tried to explain themselves. Several spells and enchantments she could use on them went thru her mind.
"GRYFFINDOR"
Hermione's train of thought was broken as the sorting hat called out that there was going to be another gryffindor. she broke her gaze on the now slightly cowering boys just as Ron took the seat right across from her.
"I'm so glad I got gryffindor! Imagine what mom would've done to me if I was put in any other house, especially Slytherin." He said as he sat down with a big grin on his face, it changed into a look of shock as he took one look at Hermione.
"Blimey, What happened to your hair?"
"Just the humidity in here…" Hermione mumbled thru gritted teeth. She glanced at the twins to her side one last time. The look on her face told them that this was not over. They knew they'd be hearing about this again.
To the Twins surprize, they didn't hear about it again. In fact for several weeks she didn't say one word to either of them. Not even one. They figured she must be really mad because of that accident on the first day. Or it could just be the fact that since they're two years apart they have hardly no classes together. But it seemed to them that she was purposely avoiding them. They didn't blame her, not after thinking about the fact that they constantly teased her about her puffy hair, then made it three times poofier by electrocuting her.
On halloween the twins skipped the beginning of lunch to set up for their next prank, when they heard a strange slightly muffled sound coming from down the hall. They looked at each other, shrugged and decided to see what it was. as they got closer they saw someone curled up in a ball in the corner. when they were a few steps away they realized it was hermione. Fred and George stopped in their tracks then turned around and whispered to each other.
"It's hermione." Fred said
"I know it is." George replied
"What do we do?"
"I don't know."
"Should we say something to her?"
"Is that a good idea? You know how girls get when they're upset."
"true...but still-"
"Would you two just go away?" Hermione said thru her sobs
Fred and George slowly turn around. Hermione hasn't moved an inch from her position. They took a hesitant step closer
"Hermione...You okay?" Fred asked
"Yeah." George said "What's wrong? What happened?"
"You're brother happened that's what!" Hermione yelled at them as she stood up. Tears still streaming down her face. "Next time you see him, tell for me that I know I have no friends and that i'm sorry i'm such a nightmare to him." She quickly walked into the girls bathroom nearby and slammed the door.
The twins watched her as she went into the bathroom, eyebrows raised.
"Well that wasn't pleasant. Sounds like Ron really hurt her." George said. "C'mon lets go Fred, lets go get some food." He began heading towards the grand hall
"Uh…" Fred said "I'll meet up with you in a minute. I uh… gotta...go" He said pointing his thumb towards the boys bathroom.
George looked at him then nodded. "All right. I'll save you a few pumpkin heads." He then turned around and continued on his way.
Fred walked towards the boys bathroom and opened the door slightly, looking back over his shoulder at his brother. Once George was gone he closed the door and headed towards the girls bathroom. He knocked on the door. "Hermione? It's Fred. Don't worry I'm not coming in." He said thru the door. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for what my baby brother said about you. He can be a real big git sometimes. Heh, who am I to judge I haven't been the nicest to you either huh? You probably hate all us Weaslys don't you?" He knew he and George had been gits themselves to her, what with making fun of her hair and all, but he'd never say something as mean as what Ron said. "Don't worry our little sisters really nice. Nothing like us. You'll like her when she comes to hogwarts next year." He leaned against the doorframe "Oh and about Ron, he'll be regretting what he said soon." He reassured her. "Well...See you around Hermione." he walked away, his next big prank already in mind.
It was the morning after Fred talked to Hermione thru the door of the girls bathroom. She had forgiven Ron for what he said about her, but his words still echoed in her mind sometimes. She was studying for an upcoming potions test in the gryffindor comonroom. Although early in the morning there were several other fellow Gryffindors up doing the same as her. When all of a sudden a loud scream came from the boys dormitory. Everyone looked up from their books as Ron ran halfway down the stairs in such a frenzy, he tripped and tumbled down the rest of them. He got up and looked around bug eyed. Harry came walking down behind him, eyes narrowed with drowsiness like he had just been unexpectedly woken up.
Hermione looked at Ron in confusion "Uh...Ron? what's the matter with you?"
"Yeah." Neville said "You look like a muggle who's just seen a ghost."
Ron took a few deep breaths "I had a dream. That I was surrounded by spiders, and then I ran away, but then I bumped into all of the other Gryffindors, but I was only in boxers that had cartoony faces of all the teachers on it. When I woke up, there were spiders all over my bed! I was horrified! and that's why I ran down here in such a frenzy."
"I don't know what he's talking about." Harry chimed in "There were no spiders anywhere in sight, not one. It must've been a figment of your imagination Ron."
"I know what I saw!" Ron sighed "but maybe you're right. oh well" he half smiled "at least the other part of my dream wasn't real."
"Uhm...Check again little brother." Ron's older brother percy said, nodding down towards Ron's clothes.
Ron looked down. and stared in horror at what he saw: He was only in boxers, ones with cartoony versions of every one of the teachers at hogwarts. Just like in his dream.
Everyone in the common room burst into laughter.
"Bloody- I don't even own a pair of boxers like this! what's happening?!" Ron screeched as he tried to cover his boxers with a pillow and ran up the stairs.
Even Hermione found herself laughing.
"Maybe now he'll understand what a real nightmare is." someone said from behind her.
Hermione turned around, and saw Fred standing there. He looked down at her and gave her a half smile. "Told you he'd regret what he said about you."
Hermione stared wide eyed "You? but how?" she asked
Fred shrugged "It was easy. put a little bit of this potion in his drink that George and I made that makes the drinker dream about whatever we choose. Then I conjured up multiple apparitions of spiders that disappeared once he got out of bed. and on his way to the stairs, I used a little spell I learned that will make any clothing look however I want it to. Could have done it in my sleep."
Hermione looked at him with a small open mouthed smile. "Very clever. You and George must've put a lot of thought into this one."
"Actually George had nothing to do with this. This one was all me." Fred said proudly
Hermione raised an eyebrow. Although she'd barely known the twins half a year, she was surprised that he didn't ask his brother to help. She wondered why he decided to do this one alone, but it didn't matter she was actually grateful. His prank had made her smile, the first time since what happened yesterday. "Well...Thank you Fred."
Fred smiled down at her. "No Problem Puffy hair" he said jokingly as he headed back towards his dorm.
Hermione scoffed as she heard him call her puffy hair once again, but her smiled didn't fade as she went back to studying, for she had to admit, that nickname didn't bother her as much anymore.
