It's been ages! I'm so sorry! I have a million excuses but I'm sure you'd rather just jump into the long awaited chapter.

I'll tell you now though... I really shouldn't have stopped where I did last chapter and it messes up this chapter a bit as it jumps straight in. I would suggest rereading the last chapter before this just to help you feel where we're at.


"Alright then, let's forget the candle for now. After five years of trying I doubt we'll figure it out in the next few minutes," said George.

"Yeah, but Hermione figured it out on her first try," Fred said, looking a little bitter.

I'm sorry, Hermione thought miserably.

"He may seem salty, but don't take it personally, Hermione," said George. "He's just jealous."

Jealous? Hermione and Fred thought together, looking at each other with honest remorse.

Thanks, George. Fred thought derisively. I had actually forgotten last night for a full five minutes.

"It's true," admitted Fred. "It's not you. It's that it's taken me so long and I still don't understand it."

"Right. Enough about the candle though. What do you plan on doing now?" George asked Fred.

"Well, I figure I'll get back to production, but I can't make anymore Decoy Detonators until we get more supplies," Fred answered.

"No problem," George said. "That ministry order isn't due for another two weeks. We're running low on love potions though. A lot of girls looking for summer romance, I guess."

Ugh. Of all the things they make, I think I hate the love potions most of all. Hermione silently grumbled.

"I know what you're thinking," said Fred with an amused smile.

What? Hermione thought in panic. He can hear my thoughts?

Her surprise must have showed on her face for George continued, "We both know how you feel about love potions, but they're good money makers."

Right. Just because they know what I'm thinking, it doesn't mean they can actually hear my thoughts. People are still readable by physical cues.

"Besides, wouldn't you rather a girl buy a properly brewed potion from us than try to make her own? A poorly made potion is dangerous and you know that if a girl has her mind set on using one, she'll do what she feels necessary," Fred reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hermione admitted. Just look at what happened to Ron because of those chocolates meant for Harry from Romilda Vane.

"Why don't you stay back here and give him a hand," George suggested. "Make sure he doesn't blow himself up again, or worse, try to kiss me again."

"Oh, shut it," Fred ordered, shoving George's shoulder. George laughed in amusement and disappeared with a loud kissing sound.

"Git," Fred chuckled. "Alright, shall we get started?"

"Sure, where do we start?" Hermione asked with a smile, looking curious and entertained at Fred and George's exchange.

"Well, let's start by finishing the clean up in here," Fred said. With a lazy wave of his wand, all the places Verity and Hermione had not yet cleaned, were vanished of ash and rubbish. "There we go. I'll go fetch the ingredients and, if you don't mind, do you think you could set up a size three cauldron?"

"Sure," Hermione answered.

Fred disappeared into the narrow door next to the bathroom and Hermione walked over to the corner, grabbed a cauldron stand, and walked over to a large assortment of cauldrons piled on top of each other lining the wall. Hermione smiled at the assortment; she'd only seen as many in potions class, but never like these. There was one as tall as her thigh and one as small as a grapefruit and every size in between, made of many different materials. The sight made her nearly giddy with excitement. An empty cauldron was a symbol of endless possibilities to her.

"Is pewter okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Fred answered from the cupboard.

Hermione bent over to look through the pile, finding the size three pewter cauldron buried beneath a small gold one and an even smaller pewter one. With a softly uttered spell and a wave of her wand, the stand and cauldron set themselves upon the center of the table. As soon as they were set up, Hermione had to step to the side to get out of the way of the several jars and bottles that were floating out of the cupboard and landing on the table.

"Okay, that should do it," Fred said as he reemerged from the cupboard. Oh, Merlin, I can't even look at her without getting butterflies. What's wrong with me? This is going to be a really long day, especially after last night. How am I supposed to work with her after the fool I made of myself last night?

Oh, no. I really need to talk to him.

"Fred?" Hermione started uncertainly. "About last night..."

"Hermione, I'm really sorry," Fred apologized earnestly. "It was really stupid of me to use that wafer, on you or Ron. I don't know what came over me."

"No, no, Fred," Hermione said fervently. "Don't apologize. I'm the one that's sorry. It was just a joke and I completely overreacted. I was just a bit overwhelmed and... It was just a joke and I had gotten it all wrong. I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have and I'm sorry. I beg you to forgive me."

"What?" Fred said in shock. You shouldn't be sorry. You just said what you felt... and you didn't get it wrong at all. "Hermione, you don't need to apologize..."

"Yes. I do," Hermione said seriously. "I'm so sorry for how I acted and what I said."

"You're... You're really not upset with me?" Fred asked cautiously.

"No, not at all," Hermione said solemnly. "W-what about you? Can you forgive me?"

Fred snorted with the tiniest smile. You are just too sweet. "Nothing to forgive. It's all behind us. Never happened."

"Right," Hermione agreed with a smile.

"So," said Fred with renewed spirit. "Let's get started. I think it's on page 56." Fred gestured to the soft leather book on the table in front of Hermione.

"Okay," Hermione replied, pulling the book closer to herself. "Er, it's blank."

"Oh, yeah," Fred chuckled. "Now, I know I really don't need to say it, but I have to anyway. That book-"

"Holds your secrets. I know. And, your secrets are safe with me," Hermione assured him.

"Of course. No one I trust more," Fred admitted. Even more than George. He can be unrelenting. Fred silently chuckled. He reached in front of Hermione and tapped his wand on the open book. "Mischief maker, through and through."

Yes, yes, you are. Hermione chuckled. And George is no more intransigent than you. She watched as ink began appearing in the book in neat loopy writing and other places with a quick sloppy scrawl. It's funny how I can see their pride and their excitement in their varying handwritings. She glanced at Fred and smiled, unable to hide her excitement. As soon as the writing had filled in, Hermione flipped back through the pages, stopping at page 56: WonderWitch 24-hour Love Potion.

"As you can see," Fred started. "The potion does include Ashwinder Eggs. Now, I know I don't have to tell you this either, but when working with Ashwinder Eggs-"

"We have to be careful that they don't thaw, so we'll probably be using them early on," Hermione interrupted.

"Right, or they'll burn down the entire street," Fred continued. "But, we also have to make sure that we don't add them until the Eel Mucus is in or it could explode."

"And burn down the entire street," Hermione added with a chuckle.

"Merlin, you have no idea how nice it is to be working with someone that's competent when it comes to potions," Fred said with delight.

"Don't let George hear you say that," Hermione grinned.

"Oh no, not George. He's as brilliant as I am… nearly," He said with a cocky smile. "But, I still vividly remember potions at Hogwarts. Snape used to like to keep George and I separate, so I was forced to work with loads of dunderheads, most of which couldn't tell wood lice from white rice."

"I know what you mean," said Hermione. "I'm rather excited to work with you. I've always been very impressed with your products and have often wondered just what you were like when working with potions."

"How so?" Fred asked curiously.

"Well… you take most of life rather lightly, but you've always shown great pride in your products. It's obvious that you put a lot into them; I imagine you're quite skilled. But I've only ever imagined you working," Hermione explained.

"Well, imagine no more," Fred smiled. "I know we start out with leech juice, but how much?" Fred grabbed the bottle from in front of them and swirled the dark purple mixture around the sides. Hermione grimaced at the bottle and looked down at the book, running her finger down the ingredients list.

"Don't much care for leech juice, I take it?" Fred asked with a grin.

"It's not just the leech juice. Working with the ingredients doesn't bother me, but it seems that no matter how long I'm in the wizarding world, I still cringe when I think that the combination of these disgusting substances are meant to be consumed."

Fred laughed out loud and Hermione felt as if she were glowing from the joyful energy that came from that hearty and genuine laugh. "It makes no difference how long you've been in the wizarding world. I still cringe when I think about it, too. The secret is, when brewing a potion, don't think about it being consumed, it's just a project. And whenever you need to drink a potion, never think about what goes into it," Fred instructed. "It's one of the reasons why George and I like to make so many potion products into candy form. It makes the unpleasant ingredients easier to forget. But as far as potions go, despite what goes into them, love potions are rather easy on the taste buds."

"And how would you know that?" Hermione asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Never forget, George and I are always the first test subjects for our products," Fred reminded her.

Hermione chuckled. "Is that when you tried to kiss George?" she asked as she remembered their earlier exchange.

"Not try… I did," he said, looking terribly disgusted.

"Potion didn't work very well at first then?"

"Oh no, the problem was that it worked too well. The first test, it was so strong that George fell in love with the cauldron. And never had a cauldron been so well cared for either." Fred and Hermione laughed together and Hermione shook her head. "I was the next test. It was better, but still too strong. I kissed George and he slapped me across the face then locked me in the closet."

Hermione's eyes widened in horror.

"Don't worry; there are no hard feelings between us. I probably would have punched him had he done it to me," Fred chuckled.

"You do have a good antidote for it though, don't you?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Of course," Fred answered as though it were an absurd question. "We couldn't use it that time though because we needed to see what the natural duration was. Possibly the worst 24 hours of my life… one whole day being locked in the closest with romantic feelings for my twin. It's scarring. I was so humiliated that I could hardly look at him for a week. It wouldn't have been so bad, I guess, if George hadn't taunted me so much. I got him back though."

I don't think I want to know, Hermione told herself. ...but I can't help but ask.

"What did you do to him?"

"The next batch we tested, we added a bit of the person we wanted him to fall for. He thought it was a girl down the street that was on holiday that weekend, but I used a hair from that old lady that works at the Apothecary. He brought her flowers and wrote her poetry. It was hilarious. He stopped teasing me immediately. He still makes me go to the Apothecary for supplies though," Fred laughed. "Enough reminiscing though. We've got to get started on this. So - leech juice."

"Leech juice... two ounces," Hermione read from the page.

"Oh, sorry, we're doubling it. So four ounces," Fred said, pouring out the desired amount. "Care for a sip?" he offered playfully.

"I'll pass, thanks," Hermione grimaced again. "So, if you've tried a lot of different potions, which do you think is the worst?"

"Hmm... worst effects or worst tasting?" Fred asked.

"Tasting," Hermione clarified.

"The potion we use in Fever Fudge. Terrible. I mean absolutely disgusting. Luckily it's potent enough that the fudge only needs a couple drops to work well. But, put a couple drops on your tongue and your body shudders involuntarily," Fred told her seriously. "What about you? What's the worst you had?"

"Hm... I think I'd have to say Polyjuice Potion," she decided.

"Really? I mean, you seemed pleasantly surprised with Harry's... wait," Fred stopped as he thought about the night of the seven potters. "You said he looked tastier than Goyle... How did I not really catch the meaning of that then? Did you turn into Gregory Goyle?"

"No," Hermione said as she smugly denied his accusation. "Harry did. And Ron was Crabbe."

"So you were...?"

"No one. Mine failed. I used a cat hair by mistake," Hermione brooded.

"Your second year! That's what happened to you?" Fred asked excitedly. "I asked Ron and Harry a hundred times and they refused to tell me. Dear, dear, Hermione, you never use Polyjuice for animal transformations."

"I know that, thank you," Hermione snapped playfully. "I told you, it was an accident. I learned to be a lot more careful brewing potions after that."

"That was in your second year though. Truly impressive," Fred acknowledged. "So that was the worst then?"

"One of. The taste varies depending on who... or what, you're turning into. Bellatrix's Polyjuice Potion was absolutely foul, tasted worse than Gurdyroots. But, even the better tasting ones like Harry and Mafalda Hopkirk, are still terrible. The texture is all lumpy and just putting it to your lips makes you want to vomit," Hermione explained.

"Bellatrix Lestrange? You turned into Bellatrix Lestrange?" Fred asked in astonishment.

"How else was I supposed to break into her vault in Gringotts?" Hermione asked with a sly smile.

"Ah, finally ready to share your tale?" Fred asked excitedly.

"As a storyteller? No," Hermione said seriously, her smile beginning to fade.

In time, Fred thought. No rush. I like learning little tidbits like that about you. No matter how long I've know you, you always have the ability to surprise me. I love it.

Hermione blushed and glanced at Fred. "We should probably get back to the potion before those eggs start to thaw."

Before Fred had time to reply, Hermione started measuring out the Eel Mucus. She felt, rather than saw, Fred's smirk as he looked at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about what a cute little kitten you made and wondered what you'd look like now you've grown," mused Fred. "I say we give it a try."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. Without thinking she stuck her hand into the jar of Eel Mucus and flung a glob at Fred.

"No…" said Fred in disbelief. "Tell me you did not just fling Eel Mucus at me."

Hermione covered her mouth in horror. "Oh Merlin, I can't believe I just did that," she said in shock. She pulled her hand away and pinched her lips together to contain the giggles that were threatening to escape.

"Neither can I," Fred said in pure astonishment. "Try to pay a girl a compliment and she throws mucus at me."

"A compliment? Is that what that was?" Hermione laughed. "Well then, I was just thinking that you looked cute and wondered how much better you'd look covered in Eel Mucus," she mocked him.

"And?" Fred chuckled.

"And it looks good on you," Hermione laughed.

"Well then, thank you," said Fred with a sly smile. "I shall return your gesture of appreciation." Before Hermione could make sense of what he was saying, Fred scooped up a handful of beetle eyes and tossed them at Hermione.

"No! You didn't!" Hermione cried. "You got them down my shirt!" She grabbed the front of her robes and jerked them forward to allow the beetle eyes to fall to her feet. "Ugh, they're in my bra even!" Hermione pinched her bra through her robes and shook more to the floor.

"Want me to give you a hand with that?" Fred chortled.

"No, thank you," Hermione said derisively. "I can manage just fine."

"You're right though," Fred said as he brushed a few beetle eyes from her hair. "One does look rather fetching covered in potion ingredients."

"Oh, you think so?" Hermione asked with a sly smile of her own. "Well then let me spruce you up." Before Fred could properly defend himself, she had taken a large pinch of Goosegrass and tossed it in his face.

Hermione laughed out loud as Fred looked up with yellow strands of grass in his hair and a few sticking to the mucus on his neck. Fred wiped the mucus and grass from his neck and flicked it to the floor.

"Oh, it's on now," Fred said with a malicious smile.

Hermione gasped as Fred picked up the bottle of leech juice again. "No… No, Fred. Don't. You wouldn't. Fred, No!" Hermione squealed as Fred poured the rest of the leech juice right over her head. "OH! I can't believe you did that!" She sputtered and blew out her mouth as the malodorous liquid ran down her face. She wiped it away from her mouth with the sleeve of her robe. Her eyes were squeezed shut as it continued to run down her forehead. She felt irritated at first, but Fred's insane laughter was too hard to deny and she began to laugh herself. She wiped the liquid from one of her eyes and peeked down at the table. She smiled as her hand closed around the neck of the bottle nearest her. She knew that Fred was laughing too hard to notice her action and she didn't give him the chance to as she splashed the liquid in Fred's direction.

His laughter died immediately as he gasped in shock. Hermione quickly wiped the remaining juice away from her eyes. She looked up at him and burst into laughter. He stood there with his arms out like a limp scarecrow, his head and the front of his robes dripping with Octopus Ink.

"Oh… oh, is that how it is? Sneak attack? Oh, it's really on now," Fred bit his lip in determination and reached for the jar closest to him. Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed a jar near her. Not another word was uttered before the ingredients started to fly. The room was filled with shrieks and scoffs as the ingredients were tossed, flung, and splashed in each other's directions. Hermione slipped on the mess under her feet and fell directly into Fred's arms.

"Oi, Fred, do you know if-?" George's speech stopped the instant he stepped into the back room. Hermione and Fred looked up at him in shock, but their surprise didn't even come close to his. George's eyes were nearly as wide as his gaping mouth as he stared at the disheveled pair, both dripping with strange putrid smelling substances. "What in the name of Merlin's sock monkey happened to you?"

Fred and Hermione both squeezed their lips shut swallowing their giggles. They glanced at each other and burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

"Well, it's good to see that the two of you are enjoying yourselves," George said in amusement.

Fred helped to steady Hermione on her feet again and forced his laughter to subside. "She started it, you know."

"What?" Hermione cried incredulously. Fred raised his brows in challenge and Hermione chuckled again at the sight of him.

"Yes… I guess I did, didn't I?" she giggled as she lightly brushed a piece of Goosegrass from Fred's cheek.

"Well, I'm sure he deserved it then," George smirked.

"Aw, look. George feels left out," Fred teased, picking up the jar of beetle eyes again.

"No, I'm good," George assured him.

"Just if you're sure," Fred chortled, setting the jar back on the table.

"Positive. I'll catch the next one," George smiled and shook his head. "Anyway, I came back to ask if you know if we have a good supply of Whiz-Bangs. Godric's Hollow is putting on a firework display tomorrow. It's really last minute and Gambol and Japes doesn't have the supply of Filibusters they were looking for."

"Oh, we've got plenty," Fred assured. "Mr. Minxus changed his mind about his last order so we have more than enough. Hey! Try to sell them a Cavort Cannonblast. Or better, offer it free if they purchase a lot. It'd be the perfect advertising."

"Alright then," George smiled "I'll let their representative know."

"Fantastic. That's just the kind of order we needed," Fred said excitedly. He looked at Hermione and chuckled again. I got so excited that I forgot that we were a mess for a second. Ah, but that was an amazing event. I never knew she had it in her. Nah, I always suspected it. She's got that mischievous sparkle in her eyes. She may try to hide it, but I've always known it was there. "Alright. Playtime's over I guess. Best get cleaned up. Scourgify." Fred slowly dragged his wand the length of Hermione's body, cleaning her from head to toe.

Hermione looked down at her freshly clean robes and combed her fingers through her soft clean curls. "Thank you."

"What? No splatter of mucus to display your gratitude?" Fred teased.

"You didn't compliment me," Hermione chortled.

"Right, I'm going to have to keep my opinions to myself from now on," he smiled.

"You could never succeed at that," she joked.

"Are you saying that I talk too much?" Fred asked.

"No, just that you're very opinionated," Hermione explained.

"Too true," Fred agreed. "Scourgify." Fred ran his wand down his own body and admired his clean robes.

Hermione snorted in amusement. "It's still in your hair. Here. Have a seat and I'll clean it for you," she offered as she summoned the chair from the desk.

Fred plopped down in the chair and Hermione stepped up behind him. "Scourgify. There, much better." She chuckled and ran her fingers through his shaggy ginger hair. Wow, it's even silkier than I thought. "It's so uneven."

"Yeah, well, half of it got burnt, so I had to cut off the singed parts before I regrew it. I'm sure it's all lengths," Fred explained. "Mind giving me that trim?"

"Oh, well, um... I've never cut anyone's hair before. And I've never even seen it done with a wand," Hermione admitted nervously.

"That's alright. You're a talented witch; I'm sure you'll do just fine," Fred encouraged.

"Are you sure?" Hermione said apprehensively.

"Yeah. I can't just walk around like this."

"Um, I guess I could try," Hermione replied hesitantly. "I mean, if I do terrible, you can just regrow it again, right?"

"Stop worrying. You'll do fine," Fred persisted. Hermione cast a quick freezing charm at the untouched jar of Ashwinder Eggs. "Good call," Fred commended her.

"Okay, how do you want me to cut it?" Hermione asked, ignoring the eggs now.

"However you like," Fred said simply.

"You want that mohawk?" Hermione taunted.

"I think I'll pass on that, although it would be fun..."

"Do you want it like George's?"

"Really, however you like. Your choice," Fred insisted.

"Okay..." Hermione said, slowly walking in front of him, eyeing him appraisingly. "Well, I don't like it too long, but I like it when the front comes down near your eyes," she said thoughtfully as she ran her finger from his hairline down to the side of his eye.

Fred's breath caught as her finger ran softly over his skin. Oh, Merlin... That felt so good. How is it that such an innocent little touch can erupt such feelings? It makes me feel guilty. I can't let her touch me like that again. I want her to, but that will only make this harder. Oh, shut up Fred. You're thinking on this small touch too much. She's just giving you a haircut.

Merlin, it made me feel funny, too. Hermione thought nervously. It's nothing, just silly. Just do this so Fred can stop feeling uncomfortable. She moved behind him and ran her fingers through his hair again, trying to decide on a good length.

"Just a severing charm?" Hermione asked.

"Yep," Fred affirmed.

Hermione took a deep breath, slid her fingers down his hair, pinched like scissors, and ran her wand under her fingers, severing his hair about midway down his neck. She bit her lip nervously. No going back now. I can do this though. Hermione continued this action, moving around to the front.

"Don't look at me," she ordered. "It makes me even more nervous."

Fred gave a lopsided smile, but obediently closed his eyes. Her fingers slid down near his eyes again and his falling hair tickled his cheek. Finishing the front, Hermione started redoing the sides, angling them down toward the back. Fred hummed silently. This is much too intimate for us right now. Innocent on her part, but this is too much for me. I should have had George do it.

I'm sorry. Hermione apologized. I'm just about done. She took a deep breath and moved in front again to have a good look at him.

"Well?" Fred asked as he looked up at her.

"I-I think I did well," Hermione said anxiously.

"That confident?" Fred asked.

"No," Hermione said firmly, straightening up. "You look good. It looks good. It's about the same style you had in my third year, er, your fifth year."

"You are satisfied with your work then?" Fred asked. "I look alright?"

"Yeah," Hermione said distantly as she followed his ginger strands from its roots down into his sparkling hazel eyes. Huh... I never noticed, but his eyes are so detailed. Hazel is hardly the word for them... they're so many colors, almost a bit of everything. Honey, Amber, and flecks of green... incredible...

Wow, her eyes are so deep, I feel like I could just dive right in. Fred thought. Hermione gasped and looked away quickly. Great, Fred. Just go ahead and scare her off like that. She's never going to want to see you again if you can't get a grip. Pull yourself together, Fred. She's your brother's girlfriend. She's your brother's girlfriend. She's your brother's girlfriend.

No, I'm not. And it's not you that's scaring me... I'm scaring me now. What am I doing looking at him like that? Feeling funny when I touch him? Do I fancy him, too? No, I can't just jump to that conclusion. I'm too confused right now. Hearing all his thoughts is confusing me. I don't know what I think or feel about him. I'm too overwhelmed by his thoughts to have a genuine one of my own. Just because I feel funny doesn't mean that I like him. I'm just flattered. Yes, but that doesn't mean that I don't have those feelings either.

She's your brother's girlfriend. She's your brother's girlfriend.

No, I'm not. Hermione protested silently. I can't let him keep thinking that.

"Fred," Hermione said tentatively. "About last night..."

"I thought we decided to forget about that," Fred said in a forced casual voice. Damn it, you really made her feel uncomfortable.

No, Fred. Merlin, what have I done to him? I'm killing his confidence. "We did, but I still feel sorry. I should have never said that you were jealous of Ron. There was nothing to even be jealous of. I mean, Ron and I aren't even together. So... it was really stupid for me to say... and I'm sorry."

"You and Ron aren't together? But he was-" Fred said uncertainly, a funny ache rising in his chest.

"Ron thought that there possibly could be something between us, but I don't feel that way. That's why I got so upset with you; I wanted to talk to him about that, but I couldn't when I was speaking Russian," Hermione admitted to him. "I talked to him this morning though, so I really did overreact last night. I'm sorry."

She's not with him? Why is she telling me this? She's not interested so this doesn't mean anything. And, she still knows that you like her. Nothing's changed.

"It's okay. I'm still sorry too. It's behind us though," Fred reminded her.

"Truly forgotten now," Hermione agreed.

"Now then, let's finally make this potion," Fred said with a smile. Hermione nodded and finally reached for the Ashwinder Eggs.


There it is and I'm sorry it took so long. I know where i want this story to go, but I'm just having such a hard time writing it anymore. Hopefully there will be more to come soon.

Thank you, as always, to the incredible HG4eva for sprucing up my writing. And a big thanks to IWGHWY for the Fred/Hermione desktop wallpaper! I really appreciate it. ^^

Please let me know what you think - Please review! Please!