Hermione walked into the store, which was almost empty aside from a few stray kids she had seen at Howarts. She saw Verity, the twins' assistant running the register, and another girl working on the floor, restocking shelves magically. She knew the boys wouldn't be working, as their mum had insisted that they take a few days off for the holidays, and their assistants were more than happy to take on the responsibility to run the shop alone. She hoped they were in their flat though. She had a score to settle. She'd show Fred and George. How could they do that to her? Sure, they teased her and she scolded them, but she thought they had come to an understanding. She thought after their conversation, Fred might actually care about her. After the way he seemed to notice her and the things she did or liked, she was sure he at least had kissed her because he wanted to. Not because of some lost bet. She walked to the back of the store, despite the girl she hadn't seen before protesting. She was glad to hear Verity explaining that she was family. When she reached the stairs, she was even angrier than before. She stomped up the stairs before banging on the door. "Frederick Gideon Weasley, you get your butt out here right now and talk to me!" she yelled as she knocked furiously. She almost hit the twin who answered, a confused look on his face.

"Mione, what-"

"Don't you dare call me Mione!" she poked him in the chest hard. "You owe me an explanation," she glared as she followed him into the living room.

"And what exactly do I owe an explanation for?" he frowned. Was she really so mad he had kissed her? Sure, she ran off, but he didn't think she was actually angry with him. Why wait until this morning to come yell at him?

"For using me!" she shouted, her face turning red in anger.

"Using you? Mione, I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," he looked genuinely confused now.

She glowered at him, wondering how he could possibly sit in front of her and ask what she was talking about. How could he sit here and lie to her? "How could you do this to me? How could you sit there and let me think you had feelings? Make me consider-" she stopped, feeling the a hot stinging in her eyes. She was certain her voice was on the verge of cracking. "I thought you were different Fred Weasley," she shook her head.

"I thought you were too," he frowned, staring at her. She couldn't even be bothered to tell him why she was so mad. She had never struck him as crazy, or clingy with a guy. But maybe Hermione wasn't the confident young woman he had thought. She was over here acting like every other bird he had ever spent a night with. But with Hermione they had barely kissed. How could she already be crazy? "You're absolutely mental! You do realize that, right?"

She snapped her head up, looking as though she wanted to punch him. Honestly, she kind of did. She remembered the amount of pleasure she took in punching Draco Malfoy. It had let out so much of her aggression, she was honestly considering it at this point. Her hands were shaking at her side.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by George walking in. He stared between the two of them, looking as though he was contemplating heading back to his room to avoid the argument between the two. "So I did hear someone," he smiled nervously. "Mione, how are you this lovely morning?"

She turned her narrowed eyes on the other twin. She had a score to settle with him too. "You're not off the hook either, George. Just because you're not the one who kissed me doesn't mean you're not the one in trouble!" she crossed the room so she was suddenly face to face with him. "I always thought you two thought higher of me than that. Couldn't you have used someone else to settle your bet?" Her face was softer now. Despite her determination to keep it hidden, her eyes betrayed her. She was hurt. More than she'd like to admit.

He sighed. "Oh, Mione, don't be mad. Seriously, I can explain everything," he reached out to touch her shoulder, but she flinched and moved away. "You talked to Ron, didn't you?" his brows furrowed. When she nodded slowly, he continued. "Listen to me. I was trying to help you two. After you ran off and Fred came back here, we had to talk Ron out of apparating over here to curse him. So I ended up telling him a little white lie to calm him down. I told him Fred had lost a bet and that was why he kissed you. I tried to tell you last night but you wouldn't let anyone in," his eyes were pleading with her to listen. He was relieved when her face softened. "I made him promise not to tell anyone, to make it seem genuine. I figured this way you two could work everything out together without Ron to worry about. Clearly the git couldn't wait to tell you so he could make sure if you had any feelings for Fred that would change," his eyes darkened.

Fred turned to George. "Why didn't you tell me? A little heads up would have been appreciated," he crossed his arms. His tone was lighter now, but he still seemed upset.

"Well, it wasn't my highest priority last night. I was tired. I had to think of this whole elaborate web of lies on my own last night because you were all hurt that Granger ran away from you," George huffed, insulted. He turned back to Hermione. "No offense, Mione. But I really was going to tell you both today. I didn't think he'd run off to you and tell you right away. I thought I'd have time to explain it to Fred before we went home and to you once we got there."

Hermione looked at George, caught between wanting to smack him for telling Ron such a thing, and wanting to hug him for making her problem temporarily go away. She found herself unwilling to look at Fred. She felt quite foolish. She hadn't even given him time to explain. She decided smacking George was what she should have done when he grinned and muttered something about leaving two lovebirds alone before shutting himself back in his bedroom. When she finally looked at Fred, he was half smiling. "Still think I'm mental?" She raised an eyebrow, not forgetting his previous comment.

He laughed. "Oh, absolutely. But not for the reason I thought before. You really thought George and I would use you to settle a score? I know we can be difficult, but we'd never do anything to hurt you. Especially when you're so deeply in love with me," he wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed, despite herself. "Now who's mental?"

"Made you laugh though, and you don't seem to want to kill me anymore, so it's an improvement," he shrugged, still smiling, but his face turned more serious as he spoke again. "So now that you understand that I'm not some slimy git, would you like to talk about us?"