Disclaimer: Two bear attacks and a swarm of bees!
Chapter 8 (Enter the Weasley Twins)
Wednesday morning dawned brightly on the snow-covered street of Diagon Alley. A slightly disgruntled owl flew to the window of the building marked with a big bold '93', presenting its letter to the first redhead it saw.
Fred took the letter and read through it, distractedly giving the owl a treat.
"Oi, George!" Fred called, pushing his way through the back door of their shop and into the storerooms. His twin appeared from the far-most room—the work room—after a moment, an inquisitive look on his face. Fred held up a piece of parchment in his hand. "Just got an owl from Hermione, listen to this—" Fred held the letter before him importantly, clearing his throat. "Dear Fred and George—
"Pleasantries, yadda yadda… ah, 'I tried out your Daydream Charm the other day. I must say, it really is impressive magic… but I seem to have run into a slight problem with the charm.'—"
"What kind of problem? Does she say?" George interrupted.
"No, as a matter of fact, she does not. A mite curious, in my opinion."
"Indeed," George responded, grabbing the letter and reading it for himself. When he finished, he looked up at his twin, eyes shining with mischief. "Wants to know what spells we used, does she? We can't have that, bad for business that is, sharing our secrets."
Fred's eyes narrowed at his brother, wondering what he was thinking – for, contrary to popular belief, they couldn't read each other's thoughts. "True…"
George grinned, placing a hand on his twin's shoulder. "Fancy a trip to Hogwarts?"
Fred's expression suddenly matched his brother's. "Always."
An hour later, after they'd gotten Lee Jordan to watch the shop for them, they arrived in Hogsmeade.
"Uhh, George, how're we gonna get in?" Fred asked suddenly.
George gave him a look that implied he was questioning his brother's intelligence. "Have you already forgotten what day it is?"
"It's Wednesday– ohhh, of course. Sorry, my head's been more into shop advertisements than is healthy."
George nodded sympathetically as they neared the Hog's Head. "This trip will be good for us, I think."
The bar was practically empty when they entered, so their quarry was easy to spot. Though, that wasn't saying much, since he was easy to spot no matter where he was. Slipping easily into their 'two bodies, one mind,' act, they dropped into the empty seats that were opposite the large man.
"Hello, Hagrid," they chorused.
Hagrid started slightly, obviously surprised to see them. "Fred an' George Weasley! Wha're yeh two doin' up this way?"
"Oh, you know–"
"–just thought we'd pop by–"
"–visit our favorite gamekeeper–"
"–see how ol' Hogwarts is fairing–"
"–visit our little brother and sister–"
"–just the usual."
Hagrid gave a bark of laughter. "Wan' me ter let'cha in, do yeh?"
"Only if–"
"–you wouldn't mind."
"Naw, I don' see why not. Yeh can help me with a few thin's."
"We'd be–"
"–delighted."
'A few things,' turned out to be several large barrels, and a surprising amount of nondescript sacks.
"What's all this, then?" George wondered aloud, glancing at Hagrid.
"Jus' the necessities, see? Yeh got yer grog, yer flour fer hardtack, an' the p'taters o' course. Can' go without the p'taters," the half-giant chuckled, picking up half a dozen sacks of flour and loading them into a large cart.
Exchanging curious looks, the twins began levitating the supplies into the cart. Once the loading was done, Hagrid climbed up on the front of the wagon, taking up reigns that attached to thin air.
"Ah, would yeh mind lightenin' the load up a bit, boys? Don' wan' the Threstrals ter get too tired ou', yeh see," Hagrid said, sounding almost sheepish.
"Of course," they chorused, always eager to show off their magical skills. Once the lightening enchantment was in place, they clambered up beside him, and they were off towards the castle.
As they passed through the wards, Fred frowned. "Does it suddenly–"
"–feel warmer?" his brother finished, also frowning.
Hagrid glanced at them. "Aye, 'twas mighty unseasonable down a' the town. Don' un'erstan' it meself, bu' I never was much fer weather."
The twins exchanged another look. "Say, Hagrid–"
"–how long has Hogsmeade–"
"–been… different?"
"Oh, no more'n a couple days. I reckon 'twas fine when I wen' down there on Saturday." A look of confusion passed over his large face, but it was gone again quickly as he shook his shaggy head. "We're almos' ter the castle, now."
"Ah, right…. Well, it was–"
"–a pleasure to see you again, Hagrid–"
"Thanks for the ride," they finished together.
"Aw, 'twas nothin'. Bu' don' go interruptin' any classes, now, yeh hear? T'would be me hide if yeh do!"
The twins looked at him, identical expressions of innocence on their faces. "Would we do that?"
"Oi, don' make me regret bringin' yeh two!"
"Alright, alright, we promise to behave," Fred said.
Only George could see the crossed fingers.
They arrived inside the castle almost at the exact moment the lunch bell rang. They grinned knowingly at each other, heading into the Great Hall amidst the crush of students. No one seemed to notice the addition of two freckled faces in their midst, which was, for the moment, fine with the twins. There would be time for advertising the shop later.
Fred's eyes skimmed over the Gryffindor table as they approached, searching for the brown bush of hair that heralded Hermione's presence in a room. As usual, she was found easily, sandwiched between Harry and Ron.
Nudging his twin, Fred nodded in their direction. Wearing matching grins, they descended on the trio.
"–were you yesterday, 'Mione?" Harry was asking.
The twins sat down heavily on the open seats to either side of them, interrupting their conversation.
George, the one closer to Ron, stole a roll off their brother's plate. "You don't mind if I steal this, do you, ickle Ronniekins?"
"Oi! George, Fred, what the hell are you two doing here?" Ron asked indignantly.
"What, we can't come and visit our ickle siblings?" Fred asked, glancing at Hermione. Hermione was looking back and forth between them, eyes wide and mouth slightly slack, the perfect picture of shock.
"And if we–" George started.
"–make a few sales–" Fred picked up the thread easily, tearing his attention away from Hermione.
"–while we're here–"
"–then all the better!"
Harry shook his head. "So you just randomly decided to pay us a visit?"
George raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who shook her head very slightly.
"Yup!"
"Who's watching the store?" Ron asked, curious.
"I don't see–"
"–how that concerns you–"
"–but for your information–"
"–Lee is."
"Now, if you don't mind–"
"–we are going to enjoy this magnificent lunch."
As the twins filled their plates, Hermione was the first one to jump into conversation. "How are you two doing on your Transfiguration essays? They're due tomorrow you know."
At this, Harry and Ron groaned. "Couldn't you just–" Ron started.
Hermione huffed in exasperation. "No, Ron, I 'couldn't just' anything. You need to do your own work."
"'Mione," he whined.
George poked him in the side. "She said no, mate."
"You stay out of this," Ron said sulkily, stuffing his mouth full of food.
Hermione shook her head, and, quickly finishing her own lunch, she stood. "Well, I'm off to the library. Have fun at Quidditch practice, boys. Oh… and Fred, George, don't sell anything too dangerous to the students, alright?"
Harry and Ron sent her a blank look. "What are you talking about, 'Mione?" Harry asked. "What's Quidditch?"
"Is that some kind of Muggle sport?" Ron added.
Hermione froze, gaping at them.
The twins exchanged a look. "Ron, have you–"
"–gone completely–"
"–and utterly–"
"–barmy? Quidditch is only–"
"–the best–"
"–most thrilling–"
"–beloved–"
"–Wizarding sport–"
"–of all time!"
Ron blinked. "Never heard of it."
"Right, my mistake. What do you have scheduled for this afternoon?" Hermione asked quickly, before the gobsmacked twins could say anything else.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look, as if they were concerned for their friend's sanity. "We're going to watch the rigging monkey races, 'Mione, you know that. We've got good coin on Colin Salvo to win it."
"Right, of course," she said weakly. "Anyway…you know where to find me."
The twins got up quickly, following her out.
Hermione was not having a good day. She'd spent the night, tossing and turning, thinking about Draco's apology. He'd seemed so sincere… and wasn't that what she'd wanted? For him to show remorse?
The whole thing was somehow surreal. 'I'm sorry, Hermione,' he had said. No matter how many times she repeated it in her head, she couldn't make sense of it. It was too blunt, too direct. It had to have some twist, some hidden meaning…. Slytherins just weren't supposed to be that straightforward… they were vague and cryptic… they never expressed guilt, as was inherent in an apology–
But that was a stereotype, wasn't it? She was doing it again, grouping all Slytherins into a single category. And even if most were like that, that didn't mean they all were, or even that they were like that all the time.
She wanted to forgive him– she really did– but there was still something nagging her about the whole situation. Something that she was missing.
How could someone change that quickly? Go from being an egotistical, bigoted, hateful prat, to being a charming, witty, attractive prat?
And then there was that kiss. That stupid, impulsive, thoughtless kiss.
What must he think of her? Had she telegraphed her feelings to him? What would he say? What could she say? What should she say? What if he thought her some kind of… scarlet woman? Well, she'd slap his mouth off his face, that's what, but all the same– Oh. But what if… what if he thought nothing of it, thought it was just a friendly kiss on the cheek– which it was, but at the same time it wasn't– but if that's all he thought, then she'd been avoiding him for nothing–
And she had been avoiding him all morning, primarily because of the kiss and her own speechlessness in regards to it. Avoiding him hadn't been difficult, of course, since they didn't have any classes together on Wednesday mornings, but she could practically feel his eyes on her in the hallways. She'd carefully made sure never to be alone… though that in itself had caused a problem, since the boys had noticed her absence the day before. Harry had already asked her twice where she'd been, and she knew she would have to have a really good story for next time, instead of another evasion. Really, it was lucky the twins arrived when they had… though she was still annoyed with them for showing up at all, rather than just sending her a letter....
Hearing footsteps behind her, she stopped abruptly and turned, crossing her arms as she waited for the redheaded duo to catch up.
"What the hell is going on?" Fred demanded once they reached her. "No Quidditch?!"
"You two weren't supposed to just bloody well show up!" she growled, glaring at them in annoyance. "Why couldn't you have just sent me a letter!"
"You were rather vague in your letter, love–" George frowned impatiently.
"–and if there's one thing you never are–" Fred continued, displaying his own annoyance at the situation.
"–it's vague," they ended together. They crossed their arms and glared, as if daring her to continue evading the question.
She ignored the dig about her usual wordiness, as well as their challenge. "You two need to leave. I don't know how long it'll take for you two to be affected– or even if you will be– but we can't risk it. Tell me what spells you use on your charm, then leave. Go back to your shop, where it's safe, okay? Please?"
They spoke so quickly that their words practically overlapped.
"Not until–"
"–you tell us–"
"–what's going on–"
"–around here–"
"–and probably–"
"–not even then."
She threw her hands up in frustration. "Fine! I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else, alright? If word gets out that everyone here is…" she struggled for an appropriate word.
"Deranged?" a drawling voice finished for her.
She didn't need to turn and look to confirm that it was Draco; one look at the twins' stiffened posture and murderous looks did the job. Glancing at the ceiling in a silent plea for patience, she turned slightly so that she could see both twins as well as Draco, hoping to avoid any outbreak of wandfire.
Before she'd managed to think of anything to say, Draco continued, "May I just point out, Granger, that you were about to have a private conversation in a public corridor?"
Fred and George jumped in, coming to what they probably thought was her rescue.
"And may I just point out, Malfoy–"
"–that we don't need twitchy little ferrets like you–"
"–butting into our business?"
The Slytherin sneered and opened his mouth to reply, but Hermione wouldn't– couldn't watch her friends snipe at each other all day.
"He's right," she said quickly, addressing the twins. "We should go someplace where people can't accidentally walk in on us. C'mon."
Fred and George exchanged one of their cryptic looks as she turned to lead the way. She could practically hear their thoughts: Did she just agree with Malfoy? In front of him? Has she gone mad? Well, that would be what Harry and Ron would think, anyway. It was hard to judge, with the twins. For all she knew, they were wondering when they'd be able to go back to the Great Hall and steal more food.
Before she was able to take even one step forward, she realized that her chosen path had an obstruction: Malfoy. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, and for a long moment, she wasn't sure what to do.
Why was he here? Wasn't he the one who wanted to keep their… friendship– ugh, she hated that word. It was just so uncomplicated… it didn't fit, not at all. Whatever it was, he was the one who wanted it secret, but here he was, dragging it out perilously close to the light of day, where people could notice it…. Did he want the twins to find out? Or was he there merely to torture her for avoiding him all day?
She deserved it, if he was. He'd apologized, and she'd just left him standing there without a definite answer– only that kiss, that kiss that still made her lips tingle, that kiss that he might consider to be nothing– and then she'd avoided him, would still be avoiding him if he hadn't found her.
And suddenly she needed to say the words, to tell him that she forgave him– that she'd forgiven him long before he apologized, long before her mind began to dig up the reasons why she shouldn't have– but she knew she couldn't, not there or then.
But she still didn't know what to do, how to react to him in the presence of the twins.
Draco stepped aside, and she blinked, startled out of her frenzied thoughts. How long had it been? Two seconds? Less? Surely not enough time for the twins to suspect anything
She started moving swiftly, not wanting to linger in the hallway any longer. Draco fell into step beside her immediately, and she glanced at him alarmedly. "What are you doing?" she hissed, glancing over her shoulder at the twins, who seemed to be practically vibrating with tension.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" he responded levelly.
She started to reply, but one of the twins decided to speak up.
"Hermione, why are we letting this git follow us?" Fred asked loudly.
"That's strange," Draco responded dryly, glancing over his shoulder nonchalantly. "I was under the impression I was leading you, Weasley, being in front and all."
Both sets of the twins' ears started to turn red in anger, hands twitching as if they wanted to go for their wands. Hermione glared at the blond beside her, wondering how he could be so annoying and yet so amusing at the same time.
"It looks like you're here simply to annoy the twins," and me, "which isn't helpful."
Draco glanced at her, an inscrutable look on his face. Then he shrugged, returning his gaze to the space ahead of him. "Professor Snape said to get the information at all costs."
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. What the hell did that mean?
"Hermione?" the twins asked– obviously demanding an answer– just as the four of them turned a corner, bringing their destination into view.
She glared at Draco, wishing she had one to give. "I'll tell you inside," she told them, glancing over her shoulder.
"Inside where?" they asked, eyebrows rising synchronously.
She stepped forward, holding the door open for them.
The three men stopped in their tracks.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Well?" she prompted.
"That's a loo," the twins said simultaneously, looking at her as if she was insane.
"A girl's loo," Draco added, eyebrows twitching upwards.
She almost pointed out the fact that they were agreeing on something, just to see what they'd do. "Oh, well spotted," she said instead, with much sarcasm. "I would've never known. Now would you three get in here!"
The twins exchanged a look before one bowed to the other, holding one arm out towards the door. "After you, my good sir."
"Oh, no, no, after you!" replied the other.
"I couldn't possibly!" said the first.
"Nutters," Draco muttered, watching them 'squabble.'
Then they both turned to Malfoy, though whether they'd heard his mutter, Hermione couldn't tell. "After you; we insist."
Draco narrowed his eyes. "I think not."
They recoiled in theatrical injury.
"You wound us, Malfoy!"
"Suspecting us of foul play?"
"How dreadful!"
"Shall we enter together, dear brother?"
"Yes, lets!"
And they linked arms, entering into the girls' toilet together. On the way past, George linked his arm through Hermione's as well, pulling her from the door, then proceeded to kick the door as it started to swing shut.
A muffled "ow!" was heard from the other side, causing the twins to smirk.
Scowling, Hermione pulled her arm loose from George's, punching them both on the shoulder. "That was awful! You shouldn't've done that!"
"You have yet to tell us anything, Hermione, let alone why we shouldn't hex Draco sodding Malfoy to kingdom come," George said, earning a nod of agreement from his brother.
"How about the fact that, for once, we're all on the same side?" Draco drawled, tucking his wand away as he entered the room. His eyes flickered from the large crack in the spotted mirror, to the chipped stone sinks, to one of the wooden stalls, whose door was hanging from its hinges. An expression of distaste crossed his face briefly before he suppressed it, leaning against the door nonchalantly, arms crossed.
The twins eyed the blond warily before looking at Hermione, as if seeking confirmation. She nodded slowly, glancing at Draco; she was still confused as to what to reveal and what not to. His expression was less than informative.
"Well, that settles it," Fred started, glancing at his brother.
"We've obviously stepped into an alternate dimension," George nodded.
"First, no Quidditch," Fred ticked off on his fingers, "now this. Next, you'll be telling us that Dumbledore is the Dark Lord and You-Know-Who is the good guy, right?"
Hermione rubbed the back of her neck, sighing. "Well, no. At least, I don't think so. It's hard to tell…. But this isn't an alternate dimension."
They stared at her disbelievingly. Fred shook his head, as if to clear it, while George blinked hard, as if not believing what he was seeing. "Hermione, in case you didn't notice–"
"–that is Draco Malfoy–"
"–Slytherin scum–"
"–Death Eater-in-training–"
"–Muggle-born hater–"
"–and general pain-in-the-arse."
"Surely you haven't forgotten all those years that he spent, taunting you–"
"–insulting your friends–"
"–bullying just about anyone that it struck his fancy to bully–"
And they called her wordy. "No," she interrupted loudly, forcing the twins to stop their tirade. "Ignoring the fact that not all of what you've said is true, I haven't forgotten anything." She paused, her eyes seeking out the grey ones that she was only just starting to get to know. "I haven't forgotten, and I'm not likely to, but I have forgiven."
A/N: Okay, so... in my last author's note I said that I was going to use four characters that I have trouble writing, but you might've noticed only three little-used characters in this chapter. (Fred, George, and Hagrid.) This is because I pushed the fourth character's appearance to chapter 9... if she appears at all. (Anyone who's been paying attention should be able to figure out what character I'm talking about.#) I'm not sure if having her show up would be worth the agony of trying to write her... x_x
Anyway, tell me what you thought of Fred and George and Hagrid. (And the rest of the chapter of course.)
Few more things: A) I've started co-writing a parody series with one of my readers/betas/friends called "The PlotBunny Made Us Do It" (by Evil Narrator Ladies, because we couldn't decide who's account to post it on.) You all should go read it and leave us lots of nice reviews.
B) When I was said I was tired of the previous chapter, I just meant I was tired of trying to prefect it. I actually really like the chapter itself. Thank you all for your concern though ^_^
C) I wanted to post a new one shot I've been working on yesterday (Halloween) but as usual, I missed my deadline because it's become longer than I intended. I still plan to post it as soon as it's done, even though it's technically a "Halloween fic" because it's awesome and I love it.
D) I'm currently recovering from a cold (which is part of why my Halloween fic missed the deadline) and it's kind of sapped some of my creative energies. Reviews might help recharge them though.........*hint hint*
As ever, thank you to all my wonderful reviews and my three (3) Betas. You all rock, and are saints for putting up with me and my excuses and my random update schedule with the minimum of death threats.
-Lild.
(# Moaning Myrtle)
