Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for all of the favs/follows/reviews - they make my day, honestly. I am so sorry I haven't updated in like two months; I've been really busy with school and volunteering and tutoring and everything... The real high school life has finally hit me, I guess.. :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I started writing it two months ago, and have been adding bits to it every now and then, so it may seem kind of choppy.
All the same, enjoy!
As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, Hermione and Ron apologetically bid Harry goodbye.
"Sorry, mate," Ron said. "It's just-" He paused and gestured helplessly at the prefect badge in his hand. "You know."
"We'll see you later, Harry," said Hermione anxiously, carefully watching Harry's expression as he turned from them.
"Yeah," said Harry heavily. "See you."
"See you, mate," Ron said as he and Hermione spun around started to make their way to the prefect compartment. "Er… which way is the compartment?"
Hermione led the way, their trunks rolling across the train floor. She cast a long look over her shoulder and sighed. "Part of me wishes we didn't have to go to this meeting."
"Me too," said Ron with a nervous laugh. "Surrounded by prefects."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "In case you haven't noticed, you're a prefect. And I didn't mean that, I meant Harry. I don't want to leave him."
"You sound like Mum whenever we have to leave Fred and George at home alone."
"Ron," said Hermione exasperatedly.
"Hey, but if you think about it, this is the first ride we haven't gone on with him," said Ron forlornly. "Well, at least the first one I haven't been on with him. Unless you count how you rudely came in our compartment first year."
Hermione shot him a glare over her shoulder. "You weren't that chivalrous yourself," she retorted.
"You insulted my magic just because-"
"It was ridiculous!" exclaimed Hermione.
"And then you pointed out the dirt on my nose," said Ron indignantly.
"So that you could freshen yourself up before the Sorting!"
Before Ron could shoot back a response, someone called out, "Oi, keep it up and you'll become like Fred and me!"
Hermione immediately stopped in her tracks, fully expecting the twins to Apparate in front of her like they had every day of summer. Ron crashed into her from behind.
"Merlin, Hermione, what're you doing?"
"No, Ronniekins," Fred said as he and George popped out of a compartment and took places on either side of Hermione. "That's not how you do it. You have to say 'Merlin, Hermione'-"
"-and then she has to finish it for you," said George seriously.
"Then you can be just like us." Fred grinned cheekily.
"Charming," grumbled Ron.
Hermione sniffed. "Come on, Ron. We're going to be late." She started down the hallway again, completely ignoring the stares from Fred and George.
Ever since they'd told her that she practically had no choice but to go through their ridiculous year-long training, Hermione had taken giving the cold shoulder to an extreme. She did not simply ignore the twins when they walked into the room. She positively disintegrated them with her lack of acknowledgement. She might as well have put an Invisibility Charm on the twins, for all they existed.
The twins, Hermione had to admit, were very Gryffindor about it. They were seemingly unfazed by her iciness, though it was true that they always hesitated before boisterously trying to strike up a conversation with her, a goal that was unattainable by all means. They'd have better luck trying to talk to the portrait of Sirius's mother, Ginny once commented to her as Fred and George left the dining room with glum expressions on their faces.
Obviously, an act so extreme did not go unnoticed by anyone, though they all believed it was because the twins' constant jokes about Kreacher combined with their renewed vigor for pranking had finally gotten to Hermione after the entire summer.
She almost wished that were the case.
Hermione sighed with annoyance at her situation, and fueled some of that irritation towards Ron as she came to a stop at the end of the hall. "Well?" she demanded rather crossly. "Come on."
"Right," said Ron, glancing hesitantly at the twins. The tips of his ears turned a bright shade of red, and he shifted so that the sleeve of his jacket fell over the prefect badge in his hand.
"Ooh, the prefect compartment," George sang, shooting Ron a delighted look.
"Our favorite place to prank on the train!" declared Fred.
Hermione could feel their eyes boring into her back, goading her to react, but she only said impatiently, "Come on, Ron."
"Bug off, won't you?" Ron said to his brothers, who simultaneously cackled and said, "Oh, but that won't do, Prefect Ronniekins!"
"What, are you going to force us into detention?" asked George, and it startled Hermione to know that she could distinguish the twins by their voices alone.
She shook her head as if to shake out the thought, but now that it was there, she could not forget this new ability of hers. From behind her, Fred said, "Ooh, we're terrified."
"Shut up," said Ron.
"What should we do this time, Forge?" said George thoughtfully. "Something along Peeves' style? Or something subtle in the food, maybe?"
Hermione was unable to keep quiet any longer. She was practically bursting with the need to speak. "Why you would do that is beyond me, seeing as that's where everyone capable of giving out detentions is," she said scathingly.
"Oh, but you won't give us detentions, will you, Hermione?" said Fred sweetly.
"I could very well," she snapped.
Fred sighed and said to George, "Told you she'd be rogue. Hard to handle."
"Good thing we had the foresight to think of this lesson," George agreed.
"What lesson?" asked Ron, clearly bewildered. But Hermione just silently shook her head and started to walk again.
"Pre-lesson number one!" said George, running up so that he was ahead of Hermione.
She pushed him aside as Fred said, "Never put your trainers in detention."
"Got that, Hermione?"
"Certainly," she said through gritted teeth.
"Repeat!"
She bit back the impulse to lash out at them. It would most likely be easier to simply oblige and let them leave. "Never put your trainers in detention. And don't order me around!" she couldn't help but add with a scowl.
"Perfect!" said George, ignoring her last comment.
"A natural," Fred said, shaking his head.
"What the ruddy hell is going on?" Ron asked from behind them. He hadn't followed the twins and Hermione when they started walking and the look on his face would have been comical, except the twins chose that moment to bid them adieu (and leave Hermione with Ron's questions).
"Excellent work, Hermione! We'll see you both up at Hogwarts!"
Fred and George bounded off as quickly as they had come, leaving Ron staring at their backs, befuddled.
"What was that all about?" Ron turned to Hermione, who resumed walking.
"Not really sure," Hermione said shortly, having already made a firm resolve to keep her prankster training to herself and the twins.
"What did they even say? Something about a lesson?" Ron followed her only to stop again, incredulity dawning on his face. "Are you tutoring them, Hermione?!"
"What? Of course not, don't be ridiculous."
"I'll bet Mum put you up to it!" said Ron. "She's probably still angry over the fact they only scraped a few N.E.W.T.s each, and asked you to tutor them!"
"And I would jump at the chance to teach the twins," said Hermione sarcastically.
"Oh – yeah, you're right…" Ron trailed off. "But wait – didn't they say something about a lesson that they planned?"
Hermione sighed as they rounded a corner and reached the prefect carriage. She tried to peer through the curtains while saying offhandedly, "I told you, it's nothing, Ron. Besides, you know Fred and George, they're always going around saying things that hardly make any sense." She pushed open the door.
"Yeah, but –" Ron's mouth dropped in horror as they entered the carriage, suddenly distracted. "Oh, Merlin."
"What?"
"Look who are the Slytherin prefects," Ron said in disgust.
Hermione glanced toward the spot Ron was glaring at to see Draco Malfoy smirking as Pansy Parkinson flounced around him.
"Wonderful," she sighed.
"First years! First years, this way!" Hermione called, waving an arm to gather up the small, timid students who were all looking at Ron very apprehensively.
"Ron," Hermione hissed as Ron loudly declared that he had definitely been at least four inches taller than the boy he was talking to when he was a first year. Hermione spotted Pansy Parkinson snickering at them out of the corner of her eye.
"What? Oh, right. Come on, you lot."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him as they led the way up the moving staircases and through corridors to the portrait of the Fat Lady. By the time they reached the seventh floor corridor, the first years were looking a bit green from all the turning and walking after such a fine meal, but Hermione smiled, glad to be home.
"Ooh, first years!" trilled the Fat Lady kindly. "Nice to meet you all." Some of the first years looked startled at being addressed so directly, but others, likely purebloods or half-bloods, greeted the Fat Lady with a sort of starstruck wonder that could only be derived from hearing stories about her portrait.
"The password's Mimbulus mimbletonia," said Ron. The portrait swung open.
"Just remember that, and you'll be fine," Hermione said brightly. "If you have any questions about your schedule, which you'll be receiving tomorrow morning, don't hesitate to ask! We're here to help."
Hermione and Ron let the last of the first years trickle in before climbing in themselves. Ron yawned. "I think I'll go up to bed now. Harry's up already."
"Good night," she called after him.
Hermione, too, was about to walk up the girls' staircase when a not-so-quiet "Granger!" shot across the room.
She spun around, frowning at George as he bounded up next to her. "What?"
"Come, come," said George hastily, guiding her towards where Fred and Lee were wearing very smug expressions on their faces. "We're going to officially brand you into our group."
"Brand me? You're going to brand me?" Hermione tried to pull her arm out of his grasp.
"Er, no, not brand. It's just an initiation of sorts," blundered George with what he probably hoped was a winning smile.
"Classes start tomorrow, George. I don't have time for—"
"No offense, Hermione, but with both Harry and Ron as your friends, it's a wonder you have time for anything. Ah, here we are."
Lee got up from his seat and shook Hermione's hand. "So glad you've finally joined us," he said solemnly.
"Yes, Lee's been wanting someone clever on our team. As if we're not clever enough," said Fred dramatically.
"We just need someone who can put the final touches on our plans," said Lee earnestly. "Because these idiots tend to go right into the pranking; it's like their hormones have been rigged for pranks, not girls."
"Not true!" cried out George, looking rather wounded at the thought. "Not true, not true at all!"
"First of all, we do like to plan everything out. Nothing worse than a prank gone wrong! Forgive us if we don't go through all the meticulous details," said Fred.
"Though we do appreciate your cleverness, it'll help us," George said quickly to Hermione, who nodded numbly. Her mind raced with apprehension. She wasn't going to help them prank others, was she?
"Anyway," said Fred. "For your second point, we are most definitely attracted to girls, and it helps that the majority of the ladies are rightfully attracted to us."
"Yeah, Jordan, are you accusing us of not being manly enough? Because I'll have you know-"
"-that we-"
"-are very masculine, and if you want proof-"
They paused with identical smirks on their faces, and Hermione, who had no desire to know how they were going to prove their masculinity, leapt at the chance to break in and say, "Hate to ruin this riveting conversation, but could we get on with it? I would love to have some sleep before the first days of classes."
The twins blinked for a moment at her interruption, and then began to nod fervently.
"Of course, of course," ambled George, whipping out what looked suspiciously like one of the twins' homemade products. "Sorry, we got sidetracked. Don't worry, Hermione, this'll only take a couple of minutes."
Fred smiled. "It's very easy, too." He glanced around the common room. "And lucky you, there doesn't seem to be a lot of people around!"
Hermione raised her eyebrow. That did not sound promising.
"Don't worry, what you have to do is way easier than my initiation," said Lee. "Godric, these two were mercilesson poor little me. And what did they ever have to do to be initiated? Nothing!"
"Obviously, Jordan, you haven't lived with our mum," said George with a shudder.
"Besides," said Fred jovially, "yours wasn't all that bad."
"Though you're right, Hermione's got it a hundred Chocolate Frogs easier," said George.
Hermione gave a tight smile, not in the slightest relieved by their discussion. "And what exactly is it that I have to do?" she asked while suspiciously glancing at his hand.
"Thought you'd never ask!" George grinned, then revealed what he was holding with a flourish of his hand. "All we ask is that you trust us and eat this." And in his hand lay a small white stick of peppermint, no bigger than half his smallest finger.
Hermine did not have to think twice about her answer. "Absolutely not," she said firmly, subconsciously backing away from George's outstretched palm.
"We didn't poison it." Fred grinned at the thought.
"I didn't say you did," she said, though it had just crossed her mind. "But it doesn't take much imagination to think of a lot worse things you are capable of doing to it."
"You hear that?" George beamed, making an exaggerated thumbs-up. "She said we're capable."
Lee pushed George. "Idiot," he said, and Fred shook his head at George's antics.
George shoved Lee back with his free hand, and within seconds, the two were flapping their hands at each other in a rather feminine sort of brawl.
Hermione ignored them and instead warily watched the peppermint stick roll with George's movements.
"Go on," said Fred encouragingly. "Try it!"
Hermione shook her head. She was certainly not at the point of trusting the twins, and even less their candy.
"Why not?"
"I've seen some of your products," she said stiffly. She cast a wary glance around her. Indeed, there were only about four other people in the common room, but that felt like four people too many.
"Really, Hermione - ow - it won't be - sweet Merlin, Jordan! - too bad," George grunted from his seat. Fred leaned over and plucked the peppermint from his twin's hand.
He held it out to Hermione, who gingerly took it and sniffed. It did smelllike peppermint, but that didn't mean it was what it seemed.
"Do I honestly have to eat this?" she asked, eyeing the candy. "I agreed to training, and only because I have to. Nowhere in the contract does it say that I have to be your taste tester."
Fred looked horrified at the thought. "Oh, no, Hermione! You're not our tester, of coursenot! See, we perfected this peppermint ages ago; the only reason why we haven't got a bunch is because it takes a long time to make them. And we would never make our prankster eat potentially unstable candies." He paused, and added, "Yet." Catching her eye, he grinned. "Just kidding."
Hermione sighed, twirling the stick with her fingers. "But I don't see why I have to eat it, it's not part of the training." She made to give the candy back to Fred, but he put his hands behind his back, shaking his head.
"Oh, no," said Fred. "It's all yours."
"Come on, Hermione," called Lee. "Please?"
She shook her head and turned. "I'm going up to bed. Good night."
"Wait!"
"What, George?"
"Just wait a moment, here-"
Hermione irritatedly turned back, crossing her arms very tightly. "What?"
Fred, George, and Lee exchanged glances for a long time, evidently having a silent conversation with each other.
Finally, as Hermione was considering slipping away, Fred spoke up. "Okay, Hermione, we've come up with a compromise."
"We're willing to make a trade," said Lee carefully.
"What sort?" Hermione asked warily.
"We'll shorten your training by one month at the end if you eat the candy."
"A month?" It didn't sound like much time, but considering the events that had happened just today, Hermione realized how nice taking an entire month off of her ridiculous "training" sounded. She stared at the candy between her fingers. "How about two?"
"One and a half," said Fred after another silent conversation between the three.
Hermione bit her lip, rolling the peppermint back and forth.
Sensing her borderline acceptance, George said eagerly, "And the candy - really, Hermione, it's not bad at all."
"It's not going to make me break any rules," she stated stonily.
"No," Lee promised.
"I'm not going to explode."
"As if we'd do that to our prankster," Fred smile.
"And training will be over in May."
"Correct," said George. "Well, unless it ends up you love being a prankster so much that you want to spend another month and a half with us…"
Hermione inspected the glossy white surface of the mint silently. She really needed to get up to bed, or she'd fall asleep in class tomorrow. And the twins and Lee's terms didn't seem too bad… "If I end up making a fool of myself," she warned, "I will take House points away."
Fred shrugged. "Agreed."
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Hermione said almost sadly. It seemed that was becoming a common phrase for her to use in accordance with her prankster training. Before she could back out, she put the little peppermint stick into her mouth.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, and Hermione's heart lurched with hope. Perhaps this was all a hoax by the boys; maybe there was nothing in the peppermint at all.
But then the tickling sensation hit her body.
Starting from her toes and up, Hermione suddenly found that she was on the ground, rolling and squirming with laughter, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. The tickles seemed to laugh right along with her, and she vaguely thought that this was what a Cheering Charm would feel like.
And then just as quickly as the tickles came, they left, leaving Hermione on the ground, laughing until she realized there was no reason to anymore. She twitched her fingers to make sure she wasn't a bird (she'd become rather terrified of their Canary Creams). The peppermint was still in her mouth, and as she looked down at herself, she wasn't a canary, or painted in a shade of blue, or anything like that. She seemed to be normal enough.
"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Fred said knowingly as she slowly lifted herself off the floor, straightening her clothes and her hair. She blushed as she noticed the other four Gryffindors in the room watching her curiously.
Hermione nodded uncertainly, brushing invisible dust from her shirt. She rolled the peppermint in her mouth with her tongue. After a few moments of concentrating on the candy, Hermione dared to ask carefully, "Er, was that it?"
George beamed while Fred and Lee nodded. "Certainly was!"
She raised her eyebrows. Surely that could not be it? She glanced down, turning her arms to be certain nothing had happened to them. She peeked through the corner of her eyes at her hair, which was still its plain brown color. "That's it?" she repeated. She'd expected something much, much worse.
"Yup!" Lee said very cheerfully. "We just thought we should put you in a good mood, see, for classes tomorrow."
"Everyone needs a moral booster before the start of school," Fred explained, grinning at her.
Part of her wanted to be angry at them (she did categorize rolling around on the floor like a lunatic as "making a fool of herself"), but perhaps she was too tired, or perhaps she really did feel like the candy had lifted her mood, but Hermione just nodded cautiously, and decided to test her luck. "Er, so I can leave?"
"Sure, sure!" said George easily, a remarkable difference from his protests before she'd eaten the candy.
The thought that that was it was too good to be true was paired with her relief that the the initiation was over. She bid the three a wary "Goodnight," and went up to her dorm, every few seconds, checking to see if she was turning into a bird. No feathers started forming, so she took that as a good sign.
Though there did not seem to be anything wrong, as she changed into her pajamas, Hermione cast a Revealing Charm over herself, thinking perhaps while she was laughing, the boys had put some sort of charm on her. However, no secret charms were revealed, and Hermione put her wand on her bedside table, content that her "initiation" really hadn't been more than eating a bit of candy that made her laugh. She crept into bed thinking that perhaps the training was not going to be as bad as it appeared.
This optimistic thought did not last long, as, the next morning, Hermione woke up to find a great, colorful tattoo on her right forearm that said "Our Prankster in Training! Love, Fred, George, and Lee".
It smelled faintly of peppermint.
I'm not going to promise that the next chapter will be up soon, but I do expect it won't take as long for me to update this time (I can practically feel myself learning well-needed time management skills). But next chapter is when the training really starts, so I'm super hyped up about that!
Thanks again for all the feedback, everyone!
xo, Summer
