Thanks for sticking with me so far! It picks up soon, just stick with me, ok? :)

Chapter Three: A Prank and A Dream

Breakfast was uneventful if you don't count the pancake-eating contest that began between the twins and Ron; Ron won with seventeen, Fred came in second with fifteen, and George was last with twelve. The whole table applauded their efforts and Mrs. Weasley just shook her head wondering if their appetites would ever subside.

Afterwards, they all headed towards the back yard, except for Fred and George who had to do the dishes due to losing to Ron. They didn't mind. It gave them a few more minutes to finalize the details of their scheme. Even with magic, this amount of dishes would take a while to clean and put away.

Hermione didn't like the thought of them alone together. She knew they were scheming and that for once their sights were set on her. She had always appreciated how they were careful to not involve her in their jokes; she knew if they had she would simply breakdown into tears. She was just too sensitive when it came to being embarrassed.

Destroy a horcrux of the most powerful dark wizard of all time? Feel the fear and face it anyway was her motto.

Be embarrassed in front of her friends or even strangers? Puddle of tears. Why else would she study all the time? She never wanted to be humiliated in a classroom full of people she knew. She always had the right answer.

She could feel that this was about to change however. They were coming for her specifically and there was a high probability she would fall on her face, whether literally or metaphorically, and she wasn't happy about either possibility. She continued to prepare for it mentally, or at least attempt to, but knew it wouldn't be possible. They were too clever, even for her.

Twenty nervous-filled minutes passed before they finally joined the others outside.

The final dish was in its place, and the mess they had created while throwing soap bubbles and water at each other had been cleaned up. They headed outside to join the others.

They were not disappointed to see that Hermione was the first to notice their arrival. She almost jumped at the sound of the back door closing, and seemed relieved to see their faces.

"She knows we're planning something," Fred whispered.

"Even better," said George.

Hermione sat alone in the library. It was really the living room, but she always thought of it as the library in her mind because there were so many books there, among all the other knick knacks of life to be found in a home filled with nine magical people over the past 30 years. It was her favorite room in the whole Burrow. She tried to spend some time in there every day and today was no exception.

She had found one of Mrs. Weasley's books Tips and Tricks for the Stay at Home Witch and poured over its pages, wishing she could teach her own mom these things. There were two reasons she couldn't: one, her mom was not a witch, and two, she still hadn't been able to find her parents in Australia. She didn't even know what their new names were, having kept that information from herself in an attempt to protect them lest she be interrogated by the enemy. Now that the enemy was gone, she was left to hunt them down muggle style, and it was a slow process.

Thoughts of her mother and father disappeared when the book flew from her hands. A twin towered above her having grabbed the book from her, smiling.

"Give it back!" she demanded, holding her hand out. She couldn't believe they were going to do this here, in her favorite room. At least no one else would be around to see it; this was the best she could hope for.

"I will, if…"

"What do you want?" she cut him off, just wanting to get this over with.

"I want you to kiss me," he said, more than pleased with the blush that rose in her face.

"Kiss you? But it wasn't even you I bumped into this morning, Fred," she said with a satisfied sense of pride as his eyes faltered. She could always tell them apart and she knew it bugged them to no end.

"That's true, but it doesn't change my price," he stated, realizing the first part of the plan hadn't worked. They could never fool her, but they'd never stop trying either.

"Fine," she stated, standing and trying to appear more confident than she felt. She stood on her toes and kissed him quickly on the cheek, knowing her own cheeks were as red as his hair in the process.

"No, a real kiss, love," he said before wrapping his free hand around her waist, pulling her close, and putting his lips on hers that were still held in a surprised, "Oh" pose. As soon as they made contact, he knew this wasn't a joke kiss, not on her side or his. She kissed him back, even leaving her lips slightly open begging for his tongue to explore further, but he resisted, pulling away with a smile before he tossed the book to his brother.

"My turn," said George, grinning from ear to where his other ear should have been.

She turned as quickly as she could, still dazed from being kissed by Fred.

"Your turn what?" she stated, realizing this was all a dream and smiling. She must have fallen asleep in the library, but that's ok, she hadn't had one of these dreams in a while and they were always so good.

"You have to kiss me too if you want your book back," teased George. He looked over her should at his brother whose smile faltered, why hadn't she hit him or hexed him or even seem embarrassed? This wasn't the Hermione they knew, and his confidence faltered as she strode towards him with a fire in her eyes he hadn't seen before.

"I don't really care about the book, but I'll kiss you anyway, George, if you say you really want it," she cooed. She loved the dream version of herself, wishing she could be this way in real life, asking directly for what she wanted.

She was standing closer to him than they had even been in the hallway and was tracing her finger down his chest making his heart thump. He thought to himself that she must be bluffing and he knew backing down wasn't an option; Fred would never let him hear the end of it if he did, so he had to say it, and it wasn't a lie.

"I really want it, 'Mione."

"You know I love it when you call me that," she teased before putting her arms around his neck and pulling his lips down to hers. She kissed him passionately, wondering why this dream felt so much better than the previous ones, when he pushed her away. That had never happened in the other dreams.

"Damn it Hermione, I'm his brother! I can't believe you would do that to Ron!" George said.

"It's not a dream," she said aloud, not intending to.

"No, this isn't a dream," said Fred, his anger barely under the surface. It may be his younger brother who he loved to torment, but still, no girl should do this to him.

"But then why did you…" she trailed off, with a look of confusion in her face and tears appearing in her eyes.

"To make you run and tell Ron of course," said Fred.

"You would be embarrassed," said George.

"And he would be pissed,"

"And we'd prank you both at the same time," finished George.

She was silent, her face had lost its color, and she was holding back tears as she turned and ran up the stairs, the book forgotten.

Please Review and let me know what you think! I hope I'm not wasting my time writing this...

- Geo