Thank you dearest reviewers!

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CHAPTER 14.

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Hermione had decided that as a thank you to Fred for covering for her last night, she would help out at the shop. He didn't know about this yet and she planned on surprising him by dropping by after class.

The twins were at Fleur's; playing with Victoire and probably would stay until dinner. And since she wasn't very tired, she apparated directly to the shop.

"Hi Lee. How are you?" Hermione greeted the 3rd prankster from the trio.

"Hey there Hermione. You gave me a scare. I wasn't expecting you here today." Lee said.

"A very good afternoon to you too Lee." Hermione smiled. "I wasn't expecting to be here either. I finished early from school so I thought I'd help Fred and you with the shop."

Lee raised his eyebrow curiously as Hermione made her way confidently to the back room, no doubt to look for Fred. Hmmm. Lee thought suspiciously grinning. I've to have a talk with Fred. Till yesterday, Fred had been talking about Hermione Granger nonstop. Ever since they were living together everything reminded him of Hermione and she kept creeping into various references. And today she actually walked into the shop.

That was really surprising. Especially since Fred had not even mentioned her since the morning. Even when he'd asked about Dan and Bruce and Hermione, Fred had mumbled something inaudible and retired to the back room to work.

Lee shook his head and got back to a customer in the Wonder Witch aisle.

Hermione knocked on the back room door.
"Why the hell are you knocking Lee? I almost dropped the weedhistle without measuring. Don't startle... "He trailed off when he saw Hermione peeping in through the door.

Her tentative smile suddenly lit up the room and Fred forgot he was sulking. Hastily putting everything that he had in his hand on the desk, he wiped his palms on his shirt and looked concerned.

"Hermione. Is everything ok? Are the kids ok? Why are you here?" He rambled.

She came closer and smiled again.

Damn that smile. Why does it feel like the sun shining through clouds on a rainy day? Need she smile so much?

"Fred. Relax. Breathe. The kids are ok. Playing with Vicky and Teddy at Fleur's. Possibly will stay there till dinner." She explained.

Fred let out a breath. He relaxed and looked questioningly at her.

She had never come to shop just like that ever. And seeing her so had left him a bit shocked. Especially since thoughts of her had plagued his mind since last evening. Again he had had an unsettling night and not slept well. So he decided to drown himself in work to lose all random thoughts.

And here she was smiling. The restlessness he had been feeling since yesterday mitigated a tad bit. Then curiosity took over.

"What brings you here Hermione?" he asked.

"Just. I finished class early and I thought I'd come help you in the shop. You said Verity was on holiday for the week as well. Even the kids aren't home. Besides," she said joking, "I've always wanted to learn a few secrets about your products".

"Why Granger? Want to open up a joke shop of your own now? What about your poor school then?" Fred teased.

"Who says I'll open another shop? Maybe I'll co-own this one itself", Hermione said pretentiously.

Fred knew she was joking but still her statement caused him to blush and he could feel the warmth of it at his neck. Blasted Weasley blush, He thought. He quickly turned and pretended to arrange something on his desk to let the flush pass.

"Tsk. Tsk. And here George was almost ready to owe you a life debt for keeping his kids. And all along you've been plotting to usurp his throne." Fred chuckled.

"Damn. And I thought I was being clever." she mock sighed.

They continued they playful banter for a few more minutes after which Hermione actually managed to convince Fred that she had indeed come to help. So Fred gave her some basic potion recipes to make which would be used for his various sweets and pies etc.

As Hermione sat studying the recipes, she realised that most of them were original and very meticulously planned. They must have had many many trials and errors before they could actually come up with a perfect recipe without any side effects. She suspected that they would have borne the brunt of most of the trials as well as the errors. Since they had to try the products on themselves first.

As she sat thinking this, she remembered her years in Hogwarts when she was a Prefect and the pranksters would try their products on poor first years and the amount of grief she had given them for it. But she had learnt a few days ago that they had always tried only their finished and self tested products on the children. They were as good as the ones they would sell in the shop. Besides they always carried antidotes and had always explained the effects of the products to them before hand. Plus they paid them.
So technically they had never taken advantage of the first years or harmed them in any manner. She had had a newfound respect for them after hearing this. Had she known this then she probably would've been more lenient with them in their testing's.

And here she was now; in the twins' shop back room helping them make batches of the very things she had confiscated loads of times.

Fred stood making some complicated looking fireworks and cushions that bit you the moment you put your head on it. The charms required for it were rather advanced and when she had seen Fred's collection of books, she realised that they may not have completed their NEWTS and never given schoolwork much importance, but the knowledge they had and the magic they used to make their products was only a result of painstaking study and research and practice.

And of course, trial and error.

It was then that Hermione understood their full potential. They were smart. Probably would beat the Ravenclaws if they put in half the effort in exams. That's when she started respecting what they did even more.

Making people happy and brightening their lives with jokes especially in times that were dark and sinister was reason enough for her to respect the twins' endeavour. But when she realised the degree of commitment and hard work each product required, she was stunned.

She had imagined the twins living the true bachelors' dream when they shifted to the flat. Working in the day. Partying at nights. Freedom to do everything they wanted and no nagging on their mum's part. But the truth was, as she had learnt one night during their many nightly desserts and conversations, that for the first 10 months they worked nonstop with no regard to day or night and often losing sense of time. Sometimes even up to 18 hours a day.

They couldn't afford staff then so it was just the 2 of them. Lee would occasionally help out for a few hours. So the mornings and afternoons would be spent in the shop and lunch hours would be a hurried sandwich or soup and then they would start working in the back room for more products till it was time to open again.

After closing they would continue replenishing their stock and inventing new products well into the night until they would fall asleep from exhaustion. And they were always running low on products. Business did really well, thank Merlin. And they deserved every bit of success they had achieved till date.

A surge of pride ran through Hermione as she saw Fred working so diligently on his biting cushions. She had misunderstood them so much in school. Although she had enjoyed most of their pranks but as a Prefect, she had felt responsible to keep them in line. Except when it came to Umbridge. She had given them a free reign to do whatever they wanted to her.

She laughed as she remembered the fireworks and the grand exit the twins had planned. That was one of first times when Hermione had truly started appreciating the level of skill the twins possessed.

Fred looked at her quizzically as she laughed to herself. She looks so free while laughing. She never did that in school. I guess studying for classes and taking care of Harry and Ron took a toll on her. She barely had a childhood. Maybe that's why she loves working with kids now. She's probably searching for her own lost childhood and trying to make up for it. No wonder she's so cool about the prank war. I'm glad she can be free and feel what she really feels and be what she really wants to be in front of me. I want to continue to make her laugh, Fred thought.

Again he caught himself thinking about her. Deciding not to ponder on it since he never got any straight answers, he continued to look at her. She was studying a recipe with great concentration now. A red pen was stuck in the bun she had tied her hair into, and a blue pen was in her hand, the end of which she was chewing on. This was a sight he was pretty familiar with since this was her homework grading pose.

He enjoyed watching small curls escape the hold of the pen from the bun and slowly snake its way to rest on her side locks. When did her hair start looking so good? Dangerous territory Fred. Shift focus. Shift focus. He chanted to himself.

He was always amazed by her use of muggle pens. She did use quills, although he had noticed that she was rather fond of the ease that pens offered her. Instead of dipping the quill in ink every time and waiting for it to dry, she used pens which were more convenient. They also made her handwriting better, she claimed. Like she needed to improve her writing, Fred thought with a smirk.

But Fred had started using pens lately and he was surprised to note that they indeed were much more comfortable to use than quills and he had nicked quite a few of hers. He had also decided to incorporate it in a new product and add features like colour changes and paints etc to it.

It had been barely 3 weeks since she'd pranked Fred for the first time and she had already helped the shop with 2 new products. Hermione Granger was extremely profitable for the shop, he thought smiling. She may just end up owning stakes in it he thought.

They quickly finished up in the work room and went out to the shop. Only half an hour was left before closing, so Hermione decided to help Lee out as well.

As she took his place at the cash counter, Lee noticed Fred looking better and definitely livelier than he had in the morning. He even joked as usual and flirted good naturedly with young mothers who came for some Wonder Witch products.

He didn't miss the easy conversations nor the easy periods of silence shared between him and Hermione.

Smiling conspirationally he decided that he definitely needed to talk to his friend sooner than he had imagined about this new development.

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Just a little something that gives an insight on the changing opinions of Fred and Hermione about each other.

Nothing terribly exciting but still required I feel.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!

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