"She gave me another bloody earful on my way back from lunch!" Lee threw himself down into a seat close to the twins, who were hunched over their parchments suspiciously.
"Is she coming back this way?" George asked quickly, poised to scoop their research up and hide it before the bushy-haired girl stomped through the portrait hole.
"Nah, they don't have class today and she'll probably go to the library," Fred brushed off, having seen Ron's schedule at the beginning of the week. Their own Friday afternoon was empty as well, leaving them a few hours to work out what they were going to do, and if and when they were going to cast this spell on Hermione.
"Right," George ran a hand through his ginger hair and hunched over again. "I say we cast it after dinner and stay out of her way as much as possible over the weekend, and then maybe by the time next week rolls around, it'll have started to take some effect."
"Are we really doing this?" Lee asked hesitantly.
"Yes," the twins chorused, and George looked up to eye his friend.
"Not only will it hopefully get her off our backs for a few months, but a little retaliation never hurt anyone," Fred breezed. "If anyone deserves it, it's her."
"Completely insufferable," George elaborated.
"Utterly overbearing," Fred threw in.
"Thoroughly oppressive," George nodded in agreement.
"Wholly dictatorial," Fred expanded.
"Entirely imperious," George volleyed.
"Altogether unbearable," Fred finished with a tone of finality. Lee shook his head with a grin.
"Are you sure neither of you fancies her?" he asked lightly, just barely restraining his smile. "You did spend all summer cooped up with them..."
"Absolutely not!" Fred answered and they both stared aghast at their friend. "What would Angelina say?" he pressed as hand to his chest in feigned hurt.
"Out of line, Jordan," George shook his head slowly.
"Alright, don't get yourselves all in a knot," Lee gave them a face-splitting grin in full. "Just checking."
"Right," Fred redirected them. "Tonight then, after dinner. George, you're up."
Given that George had more of a natural talent for Charms, he was going to wait in hiding nearby to where Fred and Lee would stage a run-in with her as she predictably made her way up to the library after supper. She would be alone and she would also have no qualms about questioning the two what they were up to, considering the very public confrontation they had in the common room a few days ago. They had been more discreet about their testing since, but Hermione didn't need to know that.
"Hand me those notes again," George reached for scribblings from the book they found the spell in. "Delinio Temperantia..." he muttered intermittently, trying to commit the spell to memory for use later in the evening.
Friday turned out to be the perfect day for what they had planned. The fifth year Gryffindors had a day full of free periods and then it would be supper, and then the twins found out that Harry would have detention and Ron was going for try-outs for the house Quidditch team. All of that meant that Hermione would essentially be on her own when the boys left, leaving little chance for either of them to question any possible immediate change in her mood or attitude.
The first week of classes had been a bit of a nightmare. The only classes where normalcy seemed to be attainable for Hermione were Ancient Runes and Arithmancy; she found the fact that Ron and Harry didn't take those classes with her to be proportionately related to the amount of concentration and effort she was able to put into the subject at hand.
Harry's detentions with Umbridge carried on through the week, turning his mood sour after dinner right through until he disappeared up the boy's staircase at night. Hermione got the distinct impression there was more going on than he had mentioned, though it wasn't hard to see that that horrid woman got under his skin in about a heartbeat. When Harry had found out that he would be missing Quidditch try-outs, things took a turn for the worse.
"Harry, you mustn't let her get to you," Hermione paused, looking up from the parchment she was drafting an essay on. "She'll only just keep doing it because she knows she can."
"I know, Hermione," Harry answered exasperatedly. He had been trying to work on homework in the library with her for the better part of an hour, but Hermione had barely seen him scribble out a full sentence.
"I wish you'd just stop rising to her bait," Hermione mumbled, feeling rather flustered at their topic of discussion. Delores Umbridge was a horrid woman who... Well, that was something to consider. How were they ever going to get through practical exams without any actual practise? Perhaps a study group would help...
"Well, I wish you and Ron would stop bickering about every little thing but -" Harry snapped.
"Harry, that's not -" Hermione tipped her head back and closed her eyes, praying for patience. For both of them.
"I know, Hermione. I'm sorry. I'm just -" Harry shook his head and looked at her with a sigh.
"Just one more day," Hermione reached out to pat his hand from across the table. Harry gave her a small smile that seemed to be half-grimace and she supposed that was better than nothing. "Just don't go mouthing off in class again, as hard as it is not to."
Hermione observed him from through her eyelashes as she went about settling into her homework again. Harry seemed relatively more relaxed now, and she that she was thankful. He'd been rather on edge since the summer with his near-expulsion and he hadn't come back from that just yet.
Eventually they settled into a quiet work pattern of Hermione finding the relevant information in some books, using it and writing her draft, and then handing the books off to Harry as he struggled along behind her.
Ron was missing, but Hermione didn't question it. It meant that she wasn't at risk to irritate Harry by bickering with him. Before she even knew it the bell rang for the end of evening classes which meant dinner was waiting downstairs in the Great Hall.
"Jeez, are you keeping a Ukrainian Ironbelly in there?" Harry laughed as they packed up and Hermione's stomach gave a particularly loud grumbling roar.
"Oh ha ha," Hermione stuck her nose in the air, which only made Harry laugh harder and she cracked a grin. "I'm starved. Let's go before Ron eats it all."
The two of them made their way from the library tittering between them.
"Right, she's finished her dinner, let's go before she gets ahead of us," Fred commented, returning his glance to George and Lee at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The three made a hasty exit, travelling up the corridor near the library that Hermione usually used.
"I'll be right here," George motioned to an alcove that was ideally placed for him. "Make sure you face me so that her back is my way."
"Right-o," Lee saluted and the two of them made their way down the hall. Fred pulled a paper bag our of his cloak and Lee produced a clipboard. The idea was to make it look like they were on their way to testing some of the Weasley's sweets when she saw them and undoubtedly would pause to scold them. Hopefully she would assume that George was off rounding up some innocent first years. Considering she thought they were monsters for paying fellow students to test merchandise before going school-wide with it, he didn't think that would be a difficult jump for her.
Before a minute was up there were footsteps from the way they had come and George watched as Fred and Lee struck up a conversation and started walking down the hall. The new Gryffindor prefect came around the corner as predicted and spotted the pair straight away. Hermione blazed right past George's hiding place and made a beeline for the deliberately suspicious looking pair.
"You had better not be about to test those on students!" she stated loudly, bringing the boys to a halt at the sound of her voice.
"And what if we are?" Lee turned with a smirk, goading her.
"Must we do this every time?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
"No, but I get the feeling you must, since you can't seem to leave it well enough alone," he countered and George chuckled to himself.
Right, Fred and Lee had her attention. It was time to get this plan in motion. Taking aim, George shut out their building argument and exhaled quietly.
"Delinio Tentigo," he whispered, flicking his wand precisely.
The spell itself was hardly noticeable, which was a bonus as it didn't attract attention by nature. It looked more like a disturbance, a sort of warping of light around a lightning bolt shape of magic, clear and tinged slightly pink. So slight that he'd never see if it he hadn't been looking right at it.
It hit Hermione square in the back but she didn't seem to take any notice and George held his breath for minute, watching to see if she broke habit because of any weird sensations or the like. Luckily she didn't; As he watched, Hermione made a grab for the paper bag in Fred's hand, missed, and the argument escalated to the point of Hermione actually stomping her foot a little which George found hilarious. He knew they'd all be glad to have that temper in check, at least for a little while. It took far too much energy to have at it with her on an almost daily basis. They were never going to see eye-to-eye with her need to follow rules and behave clashing so horribly with their desire to spread laughter and trouble wherever they could. It was a basic truth of the world.
"And I suppose George is off corralling some more innocent first years and luring them into an empty classroom somewhere so that you can dose them, is that it?" Hermione was harping on.
George popped out from his hiding spot and approached the trio.
"Is that what you think of me, Granger?" he spoke up and she jumped, swinging around to glare at him.
"Yes, that is what I think of you," she spat. Boy, did they do a good job of getting her riled.
"Ouch, that hurts," George grinned despite the tone in her voice. "Anyway, excuse us Granger, we've got work to do." He mimed tipping a hat to her which Fred and Lee mimicked before the three of them started off down the hall the way they had come.
"You can't -" Hermione stuttered. "You can't just walk away!"
"We are!" Lee laughed and the three of them beat a hasty retreat, disappearing quickly around the corner.
"How did it go?" Fred immediately questioned.
"As if you need to ask. Looked fine, got her square between the shoulder blades."
"Now we wait," Lee sighed, rubbing a hand over his face wearily. "Takes it out of you, that one."
"Don't usually hear you saying that about a bird, Jordan," Fred laughed and got an elbow to the ribs.
"Come on, we have actually got some willing participants to meet," George chuckled and they made off for the common room hurriedly.
The Nosebleed Nougat turned out to work a lot better than before and they wrapped up with the first years right about the time that the people who had tried out for the Quidditch team stumbled back through the portrait hole all sweaty and tired.
"I did it!" Ron called, stepping into the common room and promptly tripping over his own two feet. The twins laughed as he scrambled up and made his way over. "I made Keeper!"
"Good job, little bro!" Fred slapped him hard on the back and Ron grimaced, rolling his shoulder a few times. "But you should probably have a shower. You stink." He offered Ron a grin.
"Thanks," he mumbled. "Harry back yet?"
"Haven't seen him since dinner," George shook his head. "We'll procure some butterbeer and snacks!" he called after Ron as he disappeared up the stairs to the dormitories. A quick trip to the kitchens had them carting platters of sandwiches and tarts and carrying jugs of butterbeer back up to the tower. By the time they made it back to the common room, Hermione had reappeared but luckily didn't seem to notice their entrance. Either that or she didn't care.
"We should keep an eye on her," Fred mumbled to George as they set down the platters. Both of them were casting glances over to her as she sat by the fire and scribbled away between talking to Ron and Ginny. She looked fairly normal, tie still cinched properly at her neck and skirt still immaculate, however she had removed her school sweater at some point, hot next to the fire. Her hair had been down earlier in the evening when she had breezed past him as he hid from sight, curls bouncing forcefully. Now it was tied back in a braid that looked like it was trying desperately to break free and George laughed to himself; even her hair was hard to tame.
People swarmed the snacks and drinks and before long there was a rousing chorus of 'He's a Jolly Good Wizard' in Ron's honour. The three conspirers kept wary eyes on Hermione but she didn't seem to pick up on the recent nosebleeds and thankfully dropped off in her chair by the fire. Breathing a sigh of temporary relief, they joined in the festivities as Harry stumbled through the portrait hole.
"Harry, I did it, I'm in, I'm keeper!" Ron called, bounding over to his dark-haired friend. George surveyed the fifth year and thought he looked rather drawn for some reason, though detention with Umbridge was a good explanation for that.
"What? Oh - brilliant!" he responded, casting a glance around at the party atmosphere.
"Have a butterbeer," Ron pressed a bottle into his hand. "I can't believe it - where's Hermione gone?"
"She's there," said Fred, taking a swig of butterbeer and using the bottle neck to gesture to her slumped form.
"Well, she said she was pleased when I told her," Ron justified.
"Let her sleep," George insisted hastily. If she was asleep, that meant she wasn't at risk of yelling at them for at least a few minutes.
"Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you," Katie Bell tugged the younger ginger away. "We can take off his name and put yours on instead..."
Convinced they had dodged the bullet for the night, they put on a juggling show for the common room, cheers and applause ringing around them.
Saturday finally came around and Hermione lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She had actually allowed herself a late start on the first weekend of term. She'd been staying up knitting hats for the house-elves every night that week and it was seriously cutting into her rest time, on top of extra studying for O.W.L year.
As predicted, Harry and Ron skived off doing homework for going out and flying before practice that afternoon.
"You know, if you don't apply yourselves from the beginning of the year, you'll be under a lot of stress come June! It's not worth it! Just a bit of preparation now will save you down the road!" Hermione egged them at the breakfast table. She had finished with the Prophet finally, finding nothing of consequence after their talk of Sturgis Podmore curiously being arrested.
"Hermione," Ron started, his tine indicating he was sure he was about to mollify her.
"No, I don't want to hear it, Ron," she held up her hand. "I won't be helping either of you come revision time. Just bear that in mind as you go and spend the day on the Quidditch Pitch."
"Oh, you don't mean that," Ron started and Hermione saw him jump and assumed Harry had kicked him under the table.
"I guess you'll see when the time comes. I'm going to the library," she stressed, rising from the table and stepping back into the aisle between the tables. "You know where to find me when you get some sense."
A/N: Bit short but I wanted to squeeze an update in.
Any ideas on what might happen?
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Cheers