Okay, so in case you guys didn't know, Chapter 17 left us with 99 reviews. So if you're the 100th reviewer, you're going to have a chapter! Unless I already gave you one. Then you'll get a cameo in the 101st reviewer's chapter. We've gotta be fair here, people.
So, this chapter has been sitting on my brain for a while and is completely AU – no magic, regular high school drama. Yuck. But it's supposed to be a tad bit fluffy and very humorous. C: Tell me if I do it justice.
Fred waltzed through the hall, stopping to pull a door open and stick his head in, smiling when he found who he was looking for.
Hermione had her head bent over her mask, paint smeared on her face as she wearily traced her desired designs on it. Her curly brown hair was pulled back, headphones covering her ears so she didn't notice Fred sit down in the chair next to her, the corner of the table separating the two. She jumped a little, thankfully not ruining her mask, when he yanked a headphone away from her ear, grinning.
"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, smiling at her. His red hair, so much like his little brother and sister's but matched only his twin's, was trying to hide his blue eyes and many freckles across his face. She smiled back, setting the headphones around her neck and going back to her mask.
"Painting," she told him.
"So I see," he hummed, the two falling silent as Hermione wondered what he wanted. Her question was answered as he exhaled and leaned forward, frowning, "I need a favor."
"They're selling party favors on the corner of Main street," Hermione smirked, her eyes not leaving the mask, but she could feel his frown.
"You better be glad I need your help," he huffed, "Look, a while back George pranked me – "
"George pranked you?" she gaped, tearing her eyes away.
"Yeah! I know!" he agreed at her shocked appearance, "It's like that pact we made when we were seven didn't mean anything! Ahh – " he shook his head to clear it, "Anyway – George is actually secretly terrified of you."
"Really?" she asked, a small smile gracing her features, "That's information worth knowing."
He smirked back, "Patience. Now, all I need you to do tomorrow is stay after school until around three thirty-five and then continue on your merry way home."
"That's it?" she questioned, her mask forgotten all together.
He smiled and shrugged, "That's it. That's all I need you to do."
"Okay," she shrugged, "But if George pranks me back – "
"Don't worry, he won't," he waved his hand before standing up, "Thanks, Hermione."
"Anytime," she smiled, going back to her mask as she thought he was about to walk off.
He leaned down, brushing off some blue paint from her cheek, "Y'know, I think that's supposed to go on the fake face, not yours."
She turned and frowned at him as he righted himself and grinned, walking off with a wave.
Hermione was walking down the sidewalk next to the school after having killed a few minutes by re-organizing her locker and helping Neville – who was in her homeroom – find a few items that he'd lost. She wondered what Fred would have planned for her, then stopped when she noticed that he and George were walking side by side, making it harder for her to tell which was which.
"Hi guys," she smiled, wondering with uncertainty how this was going to work.
"Hey, Hermione," one said with a grin, "You get all the paint out of your hair?"
A hand jumped up to her hair as she blinked at him – which she guessed was Fred – and started to run her fingers through it, "I had paint in my hair?"
Fred chuckled as George smiled a little.
"Well, I gotta go turn this rectangular thing to Pince," Fred held up a book, making Hermione roll her eyes at him, "I'll be right back – why don't you two stay right here and we can walk the lady home?"
George shrugged as if there were nothing wrong with this, but Hermione wondered what the hell was really going on.
"Hey, Granger," George said, his voice sounding deeper as if he'd forced it to, but for reasons why she couldn't think of. He wasn't even looking at her, but at a point that was so close to her that one could've mistaking him for looking at her, "D'you mind helping me with something?"
"What?" she asked, gripping her own book tighter as she grew a little suspicious. Both Weasley twins asking her something within twenty-four hours?
"Oh, just a little experiment I want to do," he shrugged, his eyes on the sky now.
At the idea of helping with a school project, she perked up a little, "Oh, sure!"
His eyes finally met hers as he grinned, but she blinked as she'd never seen that kind of grin on his face before. She'd seen it on Fred's plenty of times, when he was trying to flirt with girls and –
She gasped a second too late, as Fred's lips were on hers, his eyes closed as he backed them into the wall, his arms up on either side of the wall so she couldn't run away. She made a small muffled noise of surprise, her face growing hotter before she did the first thing she could think of.
She broke the kiss and smacked him as hard as she could with her book.
"YE-OW! Holy mother of Godric Gryffindor, Hermione, that hurt!" he glared at her as she glared back at him, her book up like a baseball bat as if he'd attack her again – although, to be entirely honest, kissing definitely wouldn't be classified as an attack. If so, wars would be very, very awkward.
"You just kissed me! You set this up so you could kiss me!" her brain didn't even register that there would be a reason as to why he kissed her.
"Umm, yeah," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head where she'd hit him and wincing, "George didn't really know though. He really actually had to go return a book."
She glared at him more before shaking her head, "Fred Weasley, you stay the bloody hell away from me from now on!" She began to walk away, towards her house where she could gripe about the bloody boy to her cat.
"Aww, c'mon, Hermione, don't be like that," he said this in disappointment, but was smiling a little as he realized just how riled up he could get her.
She walked off without another word, right when George decided to come back book-free.
"What's with Granger?" George asked, blinking.
"Nothing," Fred shook his head, hardly disappointed at how his plan had worked out. "C'mon, Ginny'll blow her top if we're not there to save Harry's arse from Dad."
"It's nothing bad, really," George shrugged, "It's Mum he's got to worry about."
"That's what he gets if he wants to date our sister," Fred chuckled.
"Hermione, c'mon, get in the car," Ginny pleaded, driving the convertible she, her brothers and father had fixed, deeming it hers as they had accidentally painted it a light yellow instead of white.
"No, thank you," she huffed as George arched an eyebrow at Fred, who was squished between Ron and Lavender, Harry having called shotgun gleefully. Fred only rolled his eyes and took off his seatbelt, catapulting himself over Ron and Lavender onto the sidewalk.
Ginny screeched at him, "Do not stand up when the vehicle is in motion!"
"Stuff it, Ginny," Fred said, walking next to Hermione as she attempted to ignore him and his family, "C'mon, Hermione, talk to me."
"I told you to stay the bloody hell away from me yesterday. There, I talked to you – for the last time, I might add," she huffed at him, gripping her books tighter.
Fred saw this and rolled his eyes, stepping in front of her to stop her. He grabbed the books, bringing them down so he could have most of the leverage of them, and kissed her again, making Ginny, Harry and Ron yelp and have Ginny slam on the brakes. Hermione gasped and yanked back, leaving Fred with her books.
"Stop doing that!" she ordered, her face red as Ginny and Lavender stared intently at her, George and Harry doing the same as Ron gleefully moved over with the proclamation of "ROOM!"
"No!" he grinned, tossing Hermione's books to George so he could turn back to her with his arms across his chest, mimicking her, "Look, Hermione, I don't know what your problem is. All I did was kiss you. It's what people do. Look ... I'm sorry if I made you mad. I don't know what I did wrong. I just gave you a kiss. I mean, just ... why not give me one back? It's the polite thing to do, you know, get a kiss/give a kiss, very fair. Just ... give me a kiss, Hermione."
"Aww," Lavender and Ginny cooed, George rolling his eyes at the two girls.
She frowned at him for the longest time, making him think that maybe this was all a terrible decision that would only end in death – his death – when she reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing him down to her height, placing her lips on his and leaving him the one with his eyes wide open in shock. Ginny and Lavender cooed again before realizing that, oh, wait, they hated each other – Ron was gagging and Harry was laughing with George.
Hermione pulled back and looked thoughtful at him as he blinked at her before grinning, running a hand through his hair.
"See? Polite. And extremely fair, I might add."
She arched an eyebrow at him and smiled, making Fred practically beam from this as it meant progress, "You're practically insane, aren't you?"
"Little bit," he said before turning back to Ginny, "Hey, uhh, Ginny? Why don't you all go home? I think I'll walk with Hermione."
"Mmkay," Ginny said gleefully, waving to Hermione as she began to drive off, but not before George stood up – making Ginny squawk her rule again and slow to a crawl.
"I look forward to being your brother-in-law, Granger!" George waved, making Harry, Ron and Ginny laugh before they finally left the two blushing and glaring at the redhead.
"Sorry," Fred winced as they began to walk, "Umm – you might have to deal with that a lot more now that we're…."
"Dating?" she smiled as he grinned and nodded, taking his wrist and using it to pull his arm over her shoulders, "That's alright. Just means you'll have to meet my dad."
Fred winced before sighing, "That's what I get, I guess."
Hermione chuckled, reaching up to peck his cheek, making him smile back at her.
The 'get a kiss/give a kiss' thing was from the school play I'm in, Almost, Maine. It's not even in my scene, but it fit so well, so… Hehe.
Anyway, the 100th reviewer gets a chapter! Woohoo!
Love,
Birdie