Lucid Licorice
Hermione was overwhelmed with emerald green flames. She was afraid that they would burn her, yet amazed when she didn't feel her skin melt from her body. As she muttered 'The Burrow' her body was transported through the fireplace. She watched multiple entrances to peoples' houses flash before her eyes. She clamped her eyes shut as a wave of nausea enveloped her body. As soon as it started, it was finished.
She met her destination with a pretty hard collision. She slid out of the Burrow's fireplace into the living room completely covered in soot. Her entire backside was bruised from the force of the landing. She rubbed the ashes out of her eyes and slowly stood up, taking in her surroundings wide-eyed. She didn't know what to expect. She was met with a short, stout red-headed woman. The woman came scurrying over to her and embraced Hermione with a bone-crushing hug. Hermione struggled to breath, yet let the innocuous woman hug her, even though she had no clue who she was.
"Mum, let her breath. You're going to kill her," Ginny said nudging her mother a bit with a playful smile on her face. Molly Weasley reluctantly let go of Hermione and wiped the thin layer of ash from her apron, shifting away from the filthy Hermione.
"Sorry Hermione. I didn't mean to squeeze the life out of you. Anyway, how are you dear?" Molly said, excitement lighting her eyes once again.Hermione looked at the red-headed women bewildered. Something about her reminded her about her own mother. How she wished her mother could be so warm and welcoming, like this woman, yet never was. She was amazed that she remembered this woman and her own mother. Her heart jumped in joy. This must be Ron and Ginny's mum she thought. She wouldn't tell anyone about her new realization; she didn't want to raise anyone's hopes higher just in case she didn't fully recover. She came back to her senses with the woman's authoritative voice.
"Sweetheart. Are you all right?" Molly asked with concern.
Hermione shook her thoughts away. She looked the woman in the eye and nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit tired, that's all," Hermione finished with a sigh. She was startled when Ron and Harry flooed into the living room.
"Boys! Harry!" Molly screeched, running over to give Harry one of her infamous hugs, then she moved on to Ron.
"Mum, please. Stop!" Ron barely managed to say. She let go, leaving a beet-red Ron. Ron gave a furtive glance towards Hermione and quickly averted his gaze elsewhere with his face turning even more scarlet. Hermione caught this action and tilted her head slightly sideways and gave a confused look.
"Come on dears. You must be hungry," Molly said, gently grabbing Hermione's arm, leading her to the kitchen.
They reached the kitchen and Hermione stopped in her tracks. She was completely lost for words, when she saw that the dishes were washing themselves. Her eyes were the size of saucers with her jaw wide open. Everybody followed Hermione's gaze and found it locked on the magically-induced dishwashing. They all gave a knowing smile. Ginny walked over to Hermione's awestruck form, lifting her jaw back into place with her index finger. Ginny released a small chuckle.
" 'Mione, it's just magic," she gave a reassuring smile. Hermione gulped and smiled back at Ginny, which turned into a wide grin.
"I'm really going to love this magic," she said pointing at the dishes. At that moment, she spotted a frying pan cooking, eggs and bacon. She gave an audible gasp. "I want to see more," she said sounding like a toddler. She looked out the Burrow's window into the backyard and spotted two lanky red-haired boys, who seemed to be twins, fighting with really small men. One of the little men got really mad at one of the boys and bit the boy on the ankle. The same boy pointed a stick or wand as Draco told her and seemed to freeze the little man. The boy grabbed the stunned creature and swung him over the garden.
"What are those boys doing?" Hermione asked no one in particular, pointing outside to the Weasley twins.
"Who…Fred and George?" Ron asked back, waiting for Hermione's confirmation; she nodded. "They are getting rid of garden gnomes."
Garden Gnomes. She wondered what they were. She couldn't believe that the world of what she thought 'make-believe' actually existed.
"What are gnomes?" she asked. A spark of information came to her. They are little dwarf-like men that like to reek havoc on home gardens, eating and destroying everything in sight. She couldn't believe she knew what they were. "Never mind."
"Wait, you know what they are?" Harry asked bemused.
"Yes," she answered simply.
Harry mouthed 'cool' and smiled.
"Who are those boys anyway, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked already knowing who
this lady was because of the descriptions she received from both Ron and Ginny.
"They're Fred and George, the Weasley twins, and my little brats…well they're not really little now as they own they're own joke shop," her faced scrunched up in disgust at the name of the twins' joke shop. "They're here to see you. They live in the apartment above their shop," she finished.
Hermione nodded her head in comprehension.
Mrs. Weasley sauntered over the back door, opening it up and peeking
her head out the door. "Boys! Get in here now, Hermione's home," she hollered over to the preoccupied boys. They both jumped in surprise.
"Yes, mum," they both said in unison.
Mrs. Weasley came back inside followed by two handsome red-haired boys with a huge grin plastered on both of their faces.
" Hermione!" they both bellowed, embracing her into a brotherly hug. They both towered over her small stature. She was happy to see them, even though she didn't know who they were. A feeling of security wrapped around her body, when she was at the Burrow. She didn't know why, she just felt like she was…home. She couldn't help, yet let a sigh of relief escape from her throat.
"Guess what? We've come up with a new product," a beaming George said.
"Yes, we did it for Hermione. Since, you know, she is having trouble remembering who she is," Fred continued enthusiastically.
Mrs. Weasley gave the twins a look of consternation. The boys gave her a comforting smile. She let them continue. Hermione gave the boys her full attention. She wanted to know what they made. Maybe it would help her. She knows that magic can't help her recover fully, only her mind can do that on its own. There could be things to help her have a smooth transition.
"What did you guys make?" Hermione said encouraging the twins to finish their news.
"We made Lucid Licorice," George replied.
"It's is supposed to help clear your mind, when you're confused. In this case, we thought it may help Hermione figure out her thoughts a lot easier," Fred added on to George proclamation.
The boys waiting for everyone's reactions. The awkward silence was ended surprisingly by Mrs. Weasley commending voice.
"That is brilliant boys," she exclaimed with excitement lacing her words. Everyone crowded around the twins to give them praise.
"Thank you," a grateful Hermione muttered.
The twins looked over at Hermione and patted her gently on the back. "No problem," George said.
"We'd do it for any of our sisters," Fred said briskly.
Fred pulled out a satin blue bag and handed it over to Hermione. "They work really well," he said.
"Better than we expected," George added.
"Here," Fred said placing the bag into Hermione's hand. She opened the bag. Inside there were about a hundred of opal-colored licorice wands. The bag looked too small to hold all of them. She figured that the bag was magically-augmented to withstand the amount of candy in the bag.
"These should help you think clearer. They will even make you see what is right," Fred explained. " They keep your mind in a lucid hold. You see and think everything better and clearer. When things seem confusing or a decision is hard to decide, eat one of these and everything will become a whole lot easier for you. The obvious becomes obvious," he finished.
"Try one!" George said energetically.
"George! Leave her alone. She just got here and must be dreadfully exhausted," Molly scolded her son. George dropped his head down in shame.
"Sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to pressure," he apologized.
"It's perfectly all right. Anyway, like Fred said, I have to feel confused. Right now, I feel fine. Thank you for making me this," she said lifting the satin bag.
She really did appreciate the gift. She wondered if they would actually help her. She thought she had lost all hope of a full recovery, yet the twins' unexpected gift revived her spark of hope and made into a full-fledged raging fire. She would definitely try them later. She felt especially odd about her feelings for Draco. It felt so wrong, yet so right. She wasn't entirely sure.
"Come on dears. Let's eat some breakfast," Molly said rounding up the horde of young adults in her kitchen. They all sat down at the table. Hermione sat in between Fred and Ginny. Ron sat next to Fred, which was a big mistake because Fred put some chocolate spiders on his plate, yet enchanted them, so they would crawl around his plate. Ron nearly had a heart attack. Hermione couldn't help, but crack up into fitful giggles. She did feel bad for Ron, if that made things better.
The food was absolutely delicious. Later on, Ginny showed Hermione to her room. They came to a decision that Hermione would stay with Ginny, just in case anything went wrong.
--
"So what do you think about the twins' gift" Ginny asked Hermione furtively.
Hermione turned her attention to the red-haired girl behind her. Over the last couple of weeks she has come to be one of her best friends, which is good considering they were best friends before her accident.
"It's wonderful. I truly mean it. I hope it works," she said expectantly. Her thoughts came to Hogwarts. "When do we go back to school, " Hermione asked inquiringly.
"In five days," Ginny replied completely oblivious to Hermione's concerns.
"Do you think I should continue my duties as Head Girl, considering my situation?" she asked dubiously.
Ginny didn't know the answer. It would be a tough decision. Hermione has know recollection of her life as a witch, yet that doesn't mean she isn't bright. She would be able to handle her duties. She was after all a brilliant person and nothing could ever take that away from her.
"I don't know what to tell you. I would say 'yes', yet the decision comes down to you," she replied truthfully. " You are a very smart girl and will always make the right decision in my eyes," she finished.
Hermione appreciated Ginny's response. She thought about the decision set before her. What would she do? Deep down inside she felt like being Head Girl was the correct thing for her to do, yet she didn't want to let anybody down. She anticipated her duties and her return to Hogwarts. Well, she didn't recall past years. She came to a conclusion, she would eat one her Lucid Licorice wands.
She opened up her top dresser drawer and pulled out the blue satin bag. The moonlight creeping in from the open window shined off the bag creating an enchanting atmosphere. She opened the bag and pulled out a single licorice wand. Ginny watched Hermione in amazement; she was anxious to what Hermione response would be towards the creation.
Hermione dangled the wand above her mouth and quickly devoured it. It tasted, like chocolate, which was weird considering it's opal sheen. A strange sensation went through her body. It was a tingling, warm feeling. It stopped in her head. It left her head feeling light and oddly…clear. All of a sudden her decision for being Head Girl became apparent to her. She knew that it was her job and only her job to complete. As of that moment she knew that being Head Girl was her destiny and nothing could change that. She felt like snogging Draco. She was shocked at her own thoughts. She wanted to snog Draco? It became very obvious that she had strong feelings for this boy that she just met…well in her case, she just did.
"Ginny, these things really work. I feel like I can do anything. I will be Head Girl and when we get back to Hogwarts, I am going to kiss Draco senseless," she snapped her mouth shut when she realized she said that. " I-I mean, uh…" she finished with her face turning a crimson color.
"Slow down tiger. That's great, I knew Head Girl was for you. As for Draco…don't take it too fast," she said patting Hermione's back supportively.
Hermione nodded her head in understanding, her cheeks still ablaze from embarrassment.
"Now, lets try to get some shut eye. We have a big day tomorrow. We're going to Diagon Alley, the greatest place on earth…well second to Hogwarts," she explained climbing into her over-sized bed. Hermione did the same. She was quickly overcome with slumber.
