Sway

Chapter 3: Weasley Wizard Whiners

Later that afternoon found Fred sitting quietly embarrassed in his own room reading a pamphlet sporting the title: "Now What?" It was exactly what it sounded like; a life planning guide and Fred had received it from Percy of all places. Percy Weasley had actually given one pamphlet to each of his twin brothers in his ongoing campaign against their chosen line of work. He had gotten them from the career-counseling center at the ministry of magic where he worked. George had thrown his away then and there, but Fred had kept his citing it as too unimportant to even bother throwing away.

This was how George found him though the pamphlet was cleverly transfigured to look like a graphic novel. Fred wasn't big on reading so he didn't think a book would have been believable should he have been discovered. George walked into the bedroom that used to be Bill's and threw a large pile of paperwork down on Fred's lap rather unceremoniously, looking around the room with evident disdain.

Fred and George had mutually agreed to separate, finally opting for separate bedrooms when Fred became engaged to Katie. It had been a joke about Fred and Katie needing privacy that made Molly gasp in horror as well as an attempt to get used to not living together, but when Fred had refused to move back into the bedroom he had shared with his twin following his break up with Katie, claiming he liked his space, George had been less understanding.

Fred simply looked up at George and raised his eyebrows.

"This is a first draft of the contract I managed to score with Everyday Living Costume Emporium. They are based in Germany and want to carry our brand of joke supplies. They insisted that though they trusted my word to be good as far as your acceptance of terms went, for legal reasons they want separate signatures."

Fred nodded slowly. "All right I'll look over it and let you know what I think."

"Let me…let me…Let me know what YOU THINK!" George leaped off the edge of the bed where he had taken a seat while explaining to Fred about the small forest he had dropped on his legs. "You haven't thought anything in months! Why, our last big seller was purely your invention and you had nothing to do with the patent proceedings! Now suddenly you want to delay my business plans!"

Fred had to admit that George had a completely valid point and he also did not miss the emphasis on George's "my", but there was absolutely no point in trying to explain what he had just read. There was a brief section on being unhappy with a current career and it had advised to do as well as you can in your current job while you search for what to do next for the simple reasons that a) you still needed to make a living while finding yourself and b) potential new employers may want to speak with your old boss before hiring you. Explaining this would mean admitting that Fred was considering leaving the joke shop and he was not prepared to say that with finality or say it to George so Fred responded with, "Well…I still need to protect my investments!"

George glared at Fred and left the room without saying a word.

~*~*~*~*~*

"Goodness Harry looks amazing up there on that broom." Ginny gazed up at the sky sadly, following the pattern of her ex-boyfriends flight.

Hermione just nodded. She knew in flight was one of the few places Harry felt free and his skill really did make it a sight worth seeing.

Ron, Harry, and Ginny had decided to go and play quidditch after lunch and Hermione as usual was completely content to grab a book and sit in the stands or in this case on a hill over looking the orchard they were playing in. After about half an hour of flight Ginny had opted to join Hermione as a spectator.

"I miss him." Ginny placed her chin on her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"I know, Gin." Hermione dog-eared the page of the Jane Austen novel she was reading. "Just remember why he did it. He really does care about you, it's just…"

"I know."

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron had stopped throwing their homemade quaffle and were having a heart to heart in midair in a way that only boys can manage-with as few words as possible.

"She's beat up over you mate." Ron nodded down to where Ginny was now reading over Hermione's shoulder.

"I know. I loved her Ron, but I've got to complete the mission first."

"Don't yank her around… you're my mate but I'll still beat you." Ron suddenly changed gears. "What do you think she's thinking about?" Harry knew he meant Hermione, but before he could offer a guess, Ron continued, "Its funny isn't it? The way there is so much going on now? With Dumbledore gone and Hermione an agent for the order while you do your world savior thing and I try and pass my NEWTs. We're just all over the place! How can one go about relating to a girl who's already marbles, but gets worse as her responsibilities increase and who won't ever turn down a new responsibility!"

Harry stared. This was a thought provoked Ron he had rarely encountered and now he was at a loss for what to say in response. It threw him off and with so much already out of his hands he chose to change the mood all together. Suddenly he grinned wickedly and said, "Let's go find Fred and George."

*~*~*~*~*~

"Fix it!"

Fred just about fell off of his bed when he heard a possibly female growl from his door way.

There was Hermione with bright green hair. It was also sticking straight up. Fred snickered. Hermione glared.

Ron and Harry, with George's help had managed to hex Hermione using a special one-time use wand that George and Fred had invented. It came with a specific spell built in, but saved the spell caster from saving incriminating evidence on their own wand Ginny was in the shower when these events were being planned and as neither of her brother's were willing to go there and Harry was too scared of the Weasley height and quidditch muscle to mention his lack of family relation and therefore eligibility to enter into a naked situation with Ginny, so she was spared.

"I see you have recently been to a stylist." To his credit, Fred kept a straight face. Partly to keep up the joke with Hermione and partly to hide his hurt that George had not bothered to inform him of the plan when he knew exactly where he was.

"You are going to find yourself recovering from a visit with an anatomy reconstructive specialist if you do not immediately fix this." Hermione looked lethal. She had been having such a peaceful day starting with her run, followed by breakfast with Fred and sitting in the orchard. Now that she had been pranked she was finding it difficult to remain calm. She couldn't even lean her head back and count to ten because of the new shape her hair had acquired.

Fred had no idea if such an occupation truly did exist, however, Hermione really did look angry and he knew her temper well so he quickly muttered the counter curse (available only in a sold separately antidote and reversal kit for those unable to survive the time most of their joke material required to wear off) and Hermione's shoulders visibly relaxed and she quickly twisted her long hair into a braid hoping Fred hadn't noticed anything.

But he had. Leaping from his bed before Hermione had fully turned around, Fred slammed the door shut and locked it as he simultaneously yanked out the hair tie keeping the younger witch's braid intact.

Hermione's hair was pin straight.

"Uh…" Hermione stuttered. She was simultaneously completely impressed with Fred's agility and speed, disgusted with her lack of it despite her obsession with fitness, and dumb struck at having been found out. At least her anger was gone thought Fred.

The truth was that pin straight hair was not a huge deal at all. Granted Fred thought that without the waves that had now been revealed to be artificial pulling it back, Hermione's face was framed appealingly by the layers in her hair, but overall hair texture was not a huge concern for either member of the magical community currently locked in Fred's room.

"You look different," offered Fred stupidly in an effort to get an explanation.

Hermione slumped against the wall and told Fred the story assuming she would be freed no other way, which was correct. In her first year, she had attempted a spell to give her straight hair some curls and it had resulted in the bushy mass she became infamous for. As an eleven year old, any recognition really had been nice so Hermione had kept it up even after she had perfected the curling spell to do it right. As she got older, Hermione admitted to growing tired of the bushy headed image, but not wanting to admit to vanity or that she had ever botched up a spell, Hermione had gradually decreased the frizz until it was just waves and she was able to chalk it up to the natural physical maturation process.

Fred howled with laughter. And he was laughing for precisely all of the reasons Hermione had never wanted to confess about her hair in the first place. Hermione squared her shoulders and demanded that Fred stop laughing after three minutes of it. And to his credit, he did though frequent snickers continued.

"Fine, Frederick. Let's be fair. What's something you've never told anyone?"

Fred stopped laughing completely now and stared hard at Hermione. For the most part he was an open book, but suddenly he wanted Hermione to share a secret of his so he picked the only one he had though granted it was a brand new addition to the store of facts about Fredrick Bartholomew Weasley. "I am going to be an Auror."