A/N: Second chapter!
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Hermione had been in an exceptionally good mood the whole morning. Today, they would be arriving at the Burrow, and it would be Christmas soon. Her mood was slightly alarming for Harry, Ginny, and Ron, but they figured that she was up to something. What exactly the Head Girl had in mind they didn't know, and they didn't try too hard to find out what it was. It would probably be worth a good laugh, seeing as it was Hermione planning. Her giddiness indicated that everything was going according to her plan. Hermione had to admit that it had been a difficult task in the beginning – she'd had to analyse the potion from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to find out the ingredients the twins had used after which she adjusted the potion for her cause. The witch wanted Fred and George to beg for her forgiveness. Trying to focus on her book once again, she shifted a little in her train seat. After a short while, she gave up on reading with a sigh. Both Ginny and Ron looked up at her, but Harry was still fast asleep, his head resting in Ginny's lap.
"Can't focus," Hermione simply states with a shrug. A smile was still plastered across her face – uncharacteristic for her. Ginny cocked an eyebrow, but Ron didn't know better and enquired.
"What exactly are you up to, Hermione? We've figured it's got something to do with the twins, but other than that, we're clueless. You did pretty well with hiding what you were doing." Frowning, Hermione turned towards Ron, who was sitting next to her.
"Sorry, I don't want to spoil it. Plus, they are your brothers after all – you could tell them what I've planned. There wouldn't be much they could do if they knew about my plan, but I'd rather be on the safe side. You never know with those two!" Hermione's look was pleading, and Ron could see just how hard it was for her to not tell them anything. A few seconds passed before he gave her a lopsided smile, and threw an arm over her shoulder.
"It's fine. I'd like to know, but I can understand why you're keeping quiet. Hurts a little that you think we'd tell them though." Pulling her close, Ron kissed the tip of her nose. A light blush tainted Hermione's cheeks as he let her go, turning back to his sister. That gesture had been so innocent, and showed perfectly just what was going on between her and Ron. They had gone out a few times after the War, but always ended up fighting. She hadn't known what to do about it, and Ron had been equally helpless. One night, without a warning, it all fell apart. Arguing already, they'd come home to the Burrow after watching a movie at a local cinema. Ignoring the rest of the family, they'd gone straight up to Ron's bedroom to continue their row when Ron had suddenly told Hermione that he loved her. That he loved her only like a sister, and that their relationship wasn't healthy for either of them. She'd been rendered speechless, hurt, and angry. All these years, Hermione had thought they'd end up together, have their happy ever after – just like Harry and Ginny. Before Ron could see her tears, Hermione had left that night. She stayed away from the Weasley's house for a few days. Hiding out at her parents' old house while they were still in Australia, and not talking to anyone during that time had seemed like a great idea at first. When she finally returned to the Burrow, everyone had been worried sick, though, but in the end, they understood that the time alone had been important for her. In isolation, she had realised that Ron had been right. Since then, they got along better, and were much closer than ever before.
Shaking her head, Hermione cleared her thoughts and peered through the window. It seemed that they were just pulling into King's Cross Station. As soon as the train stopped and the doors opened, students streamed out the carriages to be greeted by their families. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were picked up by Mr and Mrs Weasley, who quickly ushered them along to avoid the crowded platform. In London, the temperature wasn't as low as in Hogwarts, but it was still snowing – quite heavily -, making it uncomfortable to be outside for too long. Nevertheless the group stopped in a quiet area in the Muggle section of the train station. Mrs Weasley gave them all a hug, complaining about their slightly peaky looks, and promising a good dinner for them. The four couldn't but grin over Mrs Weasley's never-changing behaviour, and even Mr Weasley had a smile on his face while his wife kept on muttering. He soon took his wife by the arm, and steered her toward the exit, though, and it didn't take them long to find a secluded spot, where they could discreetly Disapparate. It was the quickest and cheapest way to get somewhere, and since they all had their Apparition Licences no-one was forced to Side-Along Apparate.
To make their departure a little quieter, they Disapparated in turns. First, Mr Weasley left, taking the trunks of Ginny and Hermione with him. Following after him were Harry and Ron, each carting their own trunks. The girls Disapparated soon afterward, bringing Pig's cage only since the owl preferred to fly – even with all the snow. Mrs Weasley arrived at the Burrow last, forcing the group to sit at the kitchen table right away. As soon as they were in the kitchen, she yelled for the other residents to come down, and started preparing dinner. Much to everyone's surprise, the first ones to come downstairs were the twins, who looked smug as an angry Percy followed shortly afterwards. Glaring daggers, he took a seat across from the twins, who had chosen to sit beside Hermione.
"Not funny," the older Weasley protested in a dangerously low voice when the twins simply chuckled about his stare. Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione glanced at Percy expectantly as he showed no obvious changes to his exterior, but he examined silent on the matter. Since neither Percy nor the twins were about to go into further detail, Ginny enquired what they had done.
"Oh, I don't think Percy would like you to know," George responded casually. Percy only grunted, face flushing red. Mrs Weasley looked at the twins suspiciously and was about to start lecturing them about pranking their own siblings when Charlie came down the stairs, causing her to drop the topic. Unlike his younger brothers, Charlie greeted his two youngest siblings, Harry, and Hermione enthusiastically. Since he still worked in Romania, he rarely got to see his family and was happy whenever the chance came up to be around them. Hermione couldn't help but blush a little when Charlie pulled her in for one of his bone-crushing hugs – the second-eldest Weasley sibling was way too handsome, even with all his scars.
The same could be said for Bill, who arrived at the table last with his wife, Fleur. The two looked a little dishevelled, but no one commented on it. Just like Charlie, they greeted the quo quite enthusiastically before taking a seat with the rest of the family. With one last wave of her wand, Mrs Weasley put several bowls and plates of food on the table, everything smelling divine. In response, Hermione could feel her stomach rumble, and quickly grabbed one of the bowls containing potatoes. The dinner was loud as always, the whole family conversing over one another. After a while, Percy had calmed himself down, joined in the conversations, and apologised to both Harry and Hermione for his rudeness earlier. The twins and Ron snorted at this, while Ginny rolled her eyes – Harry and Hermione simply waved it off. Not for the first time, Hermione noted that the Weasleys were an incredible family. They all were different, yet they were still so close to each other, stood in for each other, and had a great time together.
A sly smile spread across Hermione's face when she realised she could use the noisy hubbub to talk quietly to the twin beside her: Fred. She nudged him to get his attention. The two of them would get one more chance to correct the mistake they had made the last time Hermione had talked to them in their shop.
"You sure you don't want to stop selling love potions?" she asked, looking straight into Fred's eyes. The red head raised an eyebrow at her, chuckling.
"Better give up on this matter, Granger. Yes, we're sure we don't want to stop selling them. They're not as dangerous as you make them out to be, and they are one of our top selling products after all," he argued, still amused by her advances. Hermione merely sighed.
"That's unfortunate. Very unfortunate indeed," she murmured with a shake of her head. There was a glint in her eyes that gave Fred, just for a second, the chills. He tried to tell himself that he had just imagined it, but as the evening passed, he grew more restless. George had eavesdropped – he had to try hard just to make out what was being said – to the little exchange between Hermione and Fred, but had missed her look. That made it impossible for him to understand his brother's reaction. Later, when they were back in their bedroom, Fred explained it to George.
"Maybe she really does have a plan." Fred was sitting on his bed, his gaze fixed on George, who was fiddling with one of their new products on the floor. His voice was a little uneven.
"Bollocks!" George exclaimed then stopped talking for a few seconds. "Well, even if she has, we're the pranksters. We have done everything possible to all kinds of people. She can't surprise, or trick us. There is no trick we haven't used before." Clearly the prankster was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince his brother, because he too had started doubting that they were safe from Hermione. His brows furrowed, and he yelped when the little object in his hands exploded. It was only a small explosion, but enough to fill their room with smoke.
"Bloody hell, George! Why are you always so careless with our stuff?" Looking for his wand, Fred began coughing. George ran over to the window and opened it, vanishing the smoke once he'd gotten a bit of fresh night air.
"I didn't plan on making it explode," George retorted once the smoke was gone. His hands had slight burn marks, but it didn't hurt too badly. "Besides, I only worked on it because you're over-thinking Granger. So you better get me some Murtlap Essence, and quickly!" Fred laughed in response, but prepared the essence for his twin without a come-back. As soon as George's skin met the cool liquid, a blissful sight left his lips, and he leaned back against a wall.
"You really think Hermione's up to something?" George asked, focusing on Fred again. The other simply shrugged.
"You didn't see the way she looked at me."
"She's not just having a thing for you?" The suggestion from George made Fred roll his eyes and snort loudly.
"Yeah, 'course. Hermione Granger, bookworm and know-it-all, has a thing for me, someone who breaks rules on a regular basis."
"Oh, come on! She seems to like the bad boy type. Did you see how she blushed when Charlie hugged her?"
"And now tell me how ickle Ronniekins fits in with that theory?" The two of them laughed, but George kept eying his brother carefully. The peaceful smile that had spread across his face was interesting. Maybe he didn't mind the thought of Hermione and himself that much?
