CHAPTER 2.

CONVERTIBLES, BOOKS, AND BROTHERS

The car horn disturbed the family's morning breakfast. Harry ceased spreading butter on his toast, Aunt Petunia forgot that she was pouring Dudley orange juice, Uncle Vernon looked up suspiciously from the paper, Dudley stuffed his face. A period of silence reigned for about ten seconds before the horn sounded again. Harry cast a wild glance towards his aunt and uncle and gulped. Slowly, they both turned to glare at him, as if he himself was planting his hand on the car horn.

"I, I'm going to go get things for school today. My friend Ron's picking me up." Harry said through a dry throat.

Aunt Petunia pulled the orange juice pitcher up with a gasp as she saw the juice running all over the table from Dudley's overflowing cup.

"Dudley, why didn't you tell Mummy that she was spilling the juice?" She cooed as she sponged up the juice with a damp cloth.

Dudley looked up at her incredulously, his mouth full of jelly donut.

"I WATH EATING!" He said through his mouthful.

Harry curled his lip in disgust, but Aunt Petunia smiled proudly, called him 'her boy' as she kissed him on the head.

"Your friend, eh?" Uncle Vernon muttered. Harry nodded silently, crossing his fingers. "This wouldn't happen to be the same friend who destroyed our house last year, would it?"

"The Weasleys didn't destroy the house!" Harry insisted loudly. However, upon the remembrance of the destroyed fireplace and the living room covered in plaster, his tone became considerably quieter. "Not all of it anyhow."

Uncle Vernon's cheeks swelled till they were the size of pudgy turnips and his tiny eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at Harry. Harry however, could see the look of fear residing behind his uncle's piercing gaze.

"Well, are you just going to sit there?" Uncle Vernon demanded crossly. "I don't want those people setting foot inside this house, so get going before they get any funny ideas!" He roared.

Harry shook his head in disgust and grabbed his bag, rushing out the door with his toast in hand.

When Harry stepped outside his house, an interesting scene was spread before him. A rather old red convertible was pulled up crookedly in the driveway. One of the Weasley twins, Fred or George, Harry couldn't tell which, sat in the front seat, gleefully honking the horn over the span of two second intervals. His twin, sat beside him, plugging his ears, but urging his brother on, telling him to, 'make it louder!' and occasionally slapping the horn himself, making double the noise. In the back seat sat Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Ron's plugged ears were now scarlet as he stared murderously at his brothers from the back seat. Hermione was simply plugging her ears tightly with her fingers, her brown eyes cast towards the sky as she muttered something under her breath. Harry grinned and rushed down the Dursley's front walk towards the car, exhilaration filling him to the core as he realized how close he was to going home, to Hogwarts.

For a moment, Ron forgot about the horrendous noise his brothers were making and pulled his fingers from his ears, a wide grin spreading across his freckled face.

"HARRY!" He yelled excitedly.

Then another ear-piercing blast rang out and Ron winced, plugging his ears with his fingers once more. Harry smiled and opened the car door, slipping in beside Hermione.

"Hullo, Fred and George!" Harry yelled over the din.

The twins ceased honking the horn and turned around to face him with identical grins.

"How are you, Potter? Feeling up to another year of Hogwarts?" One of the twins asked.

"Or better yet, feeling up to driving with me and George?" Fred said, indicating his twin in the driver's seat.

"Feeling up to DYING more like." Ron muttered finally taking his fingers out of his ears.

Fred grinned evilly and planted his hand on the horn so that it shrieked louder than before. Ron didn't plug his ears, but simply glared at his brother. Fred took his hand off the wheel with a frown and eyed George with a puzzled look. George met his look with an identical one, but grinned and turned around to the front seat. As they jostled about looking for something, Hermione turned her warm brown eyes to Harry.

"How have you been, Harry? Been keeping up with your homework?" She asked seriously. Beside her, Ron scoffed.

"You know, Hermione, most friends just say, 'Did you have a nice summer?'" He said, rolling his eyes.

Hermione didn't respond, but simply turned to Harry and asked sweetly,

"Did you have a nice summer and did you keep up with your homework?"

Ron groaned loudly.

Suddenly, George and Fred both held up their wands with a flourish and waved them at the horn as they yelled, "AUDIETUS!!!", and slammed their hands on the horn.

What occurred then sounded like a thousand car horns blowing all around them. Harry couldn't even hear, the sound was so loud and painful. He plugged his ears and watched Ron and Hermione do the same. Harry squinted painfully and turned to Ron. He was obviously yelling, but with all the racket Harry couldn't hear a thing. Apparently, neither could Fred or George. They simply sat there in the front seat grinning at each other, their hands planted firmly on the horn. When they finally let go, Harry, Ron and Hermione let their fingers fall out of their ears in relief.

"YOU BLOODY PRATS! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Ron bellowed.

George frowned and turned to face Ron, a confused look resting on his face. Then he lit up and pulled what appeared to be a blue piece of clay from his ear. Fred did the same.

"Did you say something little brother?" George asked sweetly.

"Sorry we couldn't hear you, Ronniekins. It's our newest invention: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' Blab Blockers: block out all the blab you want today!" Fred said, throwing his arms out in the air with a flourish.

Ron said nothing, but instead fumed, glaring daggers at his brothers. George grinned and he and Fred chuckled as he backed the car out of the driveway. The trip was definitely one of the more interesting ones Harry had taken to Diagon Alley. On the way, the George almost hit a car pulling out of a driveway and inevitably was honked at. George almost cast the spell on the car horn again, and would have, had Hermione not frantically grabbed at Fred's shoulder. Before she could scold him, Fred grinned broadly and smacked George.

"Ron's girlfriend doesn't want you to push it." He said evilly.

Hermione grew red in the face and abruptly sat back in her seat.

Ron flushed red and sat up poker straight in his seat.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! SHE'S JUST MY FRIEND!" Ron yelled angrily.

Fred turned back to face his younger brother, an innocent expression lingering on his face.

"She's a girl and she's your friend, right, Ronniekins?" He asked. Dumbfounded, Ron nodded. "So she's your girlfriend." Fred said simply.

Ron would have begun to yell again, but stopped short when Hermione gently placed her hand on his clenched fist and shook her head wearily. Ron got terribly red in the face, but his fist unclenched and he slumped back into his seat. A faint blush made its way across Hermione's face as she released her hold on the boy's loosening fist.

Eager to take the attention off of his friends, Harry changed the subject.

"So, when did you get this car? It's different." He yelled over the wind that blew into their faces.

"Oh, Dad got it." Fred bellowed.

"Yeah, the Ministry said he deserved something for all his hard work, so he got this!" George said commented.

"Of all things he could have gotten, he got a Muggle car." Ron moaned.

"It's a nice Muggle car!" George protested.

"And plus, he did get Mum that new sewing-machine didn't he? The Aninreb 2001!" Fred pointed out.

"And a part-time house-elf!" George yelled.

Hermione turned to Ron with a fiery glance that made the former shrink deeply into his seat.

"How could you let your father get your mother a house-elf?" She demanded.

Ron shook his head and shrugged helplessly.

"Aw, come off it, Hermione. She only works during the summer, and only part time."

Hermione scowled and shook her head, silent again. Harry glanced at Ron, who was now staring wordlessly at the dingy floor of the car, his ears scarlet once more. Harry coughed a bit and began to speak to Hermione, eager to ease the tension that had amazingly been built within the past five minutes.

"So, Hermione, what were you muttering when I came out here?" He asked politely.

Hermione immediately brightened.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just reciting the list of important ingredients in Potions that Professor Snape told us to memorize for the beginning of fifth year." She said cheerfully.

Ron and Harry both turned to her and blanched.

"Wh-what list?" Ron asked, shock showing clearly his eyes.

Hermione turned back to him, a disapproving frown spreading across her lips.

"You don't know? Oh, Ron, you must remember! Professor Snape put such emphasis on its memorization!" She said, worry covering her disapproval.

Ron's mouth fell open slightly, giving him the look of a fish out of water. All of a sudden a laugh erupted from the front seat.

"You don't mean to tell me that Snape gave you lot a list to memorize?" George yelled over the wind.

Ron and Harry nodded wordlessly, but Hermione spoke right up.

"Oh, of course! Professor Snape said it was of GREAT importance that we memorize it, for we would be using most of the specimens this year." Hermione insisted.

George chuckled and shook his head.

"Well, Ronnie, you're in a bit of a spot aren't you?"

"Can't believe this. It's all a dream. It's just a dream. It IS a dream ain't it Hermione?" Ron pleaded, turning to face her.

She shook her head disapprovingly.

"Isn't, not ain't. And I can't believe you didn't remember such an impor-," She was cut off by a groan from Ron as he buried his hands in his red hair.

"I'm DOOMED! Doomed I tell you! I'm going to die! Snape's gonna do me in! Bloody hell! How could I have been so blind?" Ron continued to mutter into his hands as Hermione stared at him. Finally she shrugged and turned away.

"Pathetic." She said simply, allowing that simple word to speak volumes.

Harry grinned. It was good to be with his friends again.

After exceeding the speed limit twice, going the wrong way down a one way street, and turning left on a red light, the twins finally parked the convertible a few blocks away from Diagon Alley so they wouldn't look suspicious.

"You know, just in case someone's watchin' us." Fred said as he got out of the car.

"Not like we've been doing anything noticeable though!" George commented cheerfully.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes. Harry followed the Weasleys as they slipped into the pub, The Leaky Cauldron, whose secret entrance was sandwiched between a book shop and a busy record shop. Harry ignored the stunned looks he received from the wizards and witches as he stepped into the pub. The bald, toothless landlord Tom, looked surprised as he caught sight of Harry, but a moment later cast him a knowing smile and went back to his business. Ron practically had to drag Fred and George away from the pub as they began to bring forth their wares for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and show them to the occupants. Fred came very near to jinxing Ron when he pulled him away from an elderly wizard purchasing the new Blab Blockers, but other than that, the twins made it out several galleons richer.

"I could have gotten that old gent to buy three more, Ron, if you'd let us hang about a bit longer." George muttered as he tapped a brick in the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron.

"What would that old man want with three more pairs of Blab Blockers?" Hermione asked.

"For his friends!" Fred said with a grin as the wall parted to reveal the entrance to Diagon Alley.

As the group slipped into Diagon Alley, Harry breathed in deeply the sights and sounds flashing past him. This was where he belonged, surrounded by people who were just like him, who didn't think he was a moron or a freak. He looked around at his friends, at Ron who trudged down the road, his hands in his pockets, looking uninterested in anything that was happening, at Hermione who was carefully checking over her list of things to get for the school year, and of course at Fred and George who were sniggering about the color of passing wizard's robes.

"He looks like a Canary Creme!" Fred chuckled.

"No! More like vomit, I'd say!" George countered before the two burst into horribly audible chuckles.

No, Harry wouldn't want to be anywhere other than right where he was at that moment. As he gazed at the Weasleys, Harry frowned. Something was wrong with the picture before him, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. It was like looking at a picture with one section of it missing. Suddenly, inspiration came to him. Someone was missing from the group.

"Ron, where's Ginny?" He asked suddenly.

"Oh, she's got a cold and Mum didn't want her coming out and chance giving it to everyone else, so Fred n' George are supposed to be getting her things. Good luck." Ron muttered, watching as Fred 'dropped' a Ton-Tongue Toffee on the ground right in the path of a wandering wizard child.

"Ron!"

Ron quickly turned to face an incensed Hermione.

"Why didn't you tell us your sister was sick? Don't you care at all about her? Don't you think we care?" She demanded.

Ron stared at her in confusion and looked to Harry, throwing his hands in the air.

"You didn't bloody well ask me where she was, Hermione!" Ron protested.

Hermione shook her head at both of them.

"If you're going to be such a pig I might as well, well, walk with Fred and George!" She said picking up her pace.

"Why don't you then? I dare you!" Ron yelled.

A glint came into Hermione's eyes and she tossed her head, quickly walked up to Fred and George and began talking to them. Ron stared at her in disbelief.

"Did she just," He asked aloud.

"Yep." Harry finished for him.

Ron simply shook his head as George laughed at something Hermione said.

"Girls." He muttered.

Harry turned around as a sudden scream spread down the cobblestone street. Hermione and Ron whirled about, identical looks of horror on their faces. However, Fred and George stared straight ahead, trying to keep impish grins from spreading across their faces. Behind them, the small wizard child had obviously picked up the toffee that the twins had 'dropped' and his tongue was growing longer and wider by the minute. As the lolling tongue rolled down the sidewalk, Harry and Ron both ran up to where Fred and George and Hermione were quickly walking away.

"You both are sick! Sick!" Ron whispered fiercely.

Fred and George both turned to him with identical, triumphant smiles.

"Why thank you, dear brother. Glad you realize our genius!" George said with a flourish.

"Delighted!" Fred concurred.

Ron shook his head, disbelief and embarrassment spreading as rapidly as a rainstorm across his face.

"Oh, go stick your heads in a toilet! Can't believe I've got such gits for brothers." Ron muttered.

"Yeah, well I can't believe you didn't formally introduce us to Hermione sooner! I mean, Ron, she's got the entire recipe figured out for an idea we just thought of for our joke shop!" George said excitedly.

"What?!" Ron bellowed.

"Yeah! Exploding jelly-beans! Explode in your mouth, not in your hand!" Fred recited happily.

"I don't believe this!" Ron moaned, smacking his hand against his forehead.

"After all these years! We'll finally be able to get our stuff out faster and more efficiently! All thanks to Hermione!" George said triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air.

Harry chuckled as Hermione merely blushed and tilted her head in Ron's direction, smiling rather smugly as they stepped into 'Flourish & Blotts.' When Hermione wanted to make Ron regret his words, she certainly made him regret his words.

The bookshop was alive with wizarding folk of all sizes, children, adults, teenagers, all there for their books needed for school.

"Hogwarts, fifth year, please." Harry said as he walked up to the counter. The saleswoman behind the counter nodded and smiled, going off to get his books.

"Could you get two more fifth year sets please?" Ron yelled to her as he walked up behind Harry.

The saleswoman smiled and nodded, not at all put off by Ron's yelling. Harry smiled and shook his head as Ron and Hermione stepped off to the side and began to argue once more about Fred and George. However, his comfortable mood began to quickly slip away. A sharp pin-prick of pain that had started at his scalp, now coursed its way to a certain spot on his forehead: his scar was burning with a white-hot fire. He rubbed at it frantically, eager be rid of the pain. The pain was becoming unbearable. Smooth, but sharp, the pain pierced him over and over. He was now doubled over in pain. He stumbled over to the stairs leading into the bookstore's balcony so as not to attract attention. There he remained doubled over rocking slowly back and forth, his head in his lap, his hands buried in his black hair. Through pain, Harry felt footsteps stop close beside him. Slowly he looked up and found the cool, gray eyes of Draco Malfoy burning into his own green ones. A new shock of pain besieged his head and he bent back over, gasping through the pain. He saw Draco move closer, and surprisingly felt the pain in his head intensify. Harry glanced up at Draco just in time to see a smirk cross his pale face.

"What's the matter, Potter? Got an itch?" He sneered.

"Stick your head in dragon dung, Malfoy." Ron said, stepping up protectively next to Harry, eyeing his twisted face with concern. Harry winced as the pain flared to an even greater measure. It seemed as though Malfoy's very eyes were burning into him the longer he stared at him.

"Oh, please. Is that the best you can come up with, Weasley?" Draco scoffed, finally turning away from Harry to eye Ron scathingly.

"At the moment, yes. But obviously, the size of your head is swelling. You might want to leave before it blows up the entire ruddy building!" Ron retorted.

Draco's eyes narrowed and he sighed dismally and turned swiftly from him to eye Harry. The moment he did, the pain in his scar intensified to a horrific level and he gasped in pain.

"See you at Hogwarts, Potter." A sly smile slid across Draco's lips and he cocked his head and stared almost curiously at Harry. "That is, if you even make it. Maybe You-Know-Who will finish you off this time. Good riddance."

Draco then turned about abruptly and stalked out of the store, his black robes billowing around his tall figure. Harry stood still, gasping in pain, but a moment later, he straightened. He tenderly reached up and felt his scar. Nothing. The pain was gone. The pain had receded with Draco's absence.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." He whispered.

"What?" Ron asked, turning towards him, but not before scowling at the door by which Draco had exited.

"My scar. It doesn't hurt anymore." Harry repeated. Ron's eyebrows raised.

"You mean, completely?" He asked quietly.

"The minute Malfoy left it stopped hurting."

"That's curious, Harry. Real curious." He whispered. "What do you suppose,"

"Here are your books, dears." The saleswoman said cheerily as she set down three piles of books on the counter.

Ron stopped speaking abruptly and thanked the woman. As he did this, Harry made a move to turn around but stopped and squinted off into the distance. A few feet away stood Fred and Hermione, both eagerly looking through a book called, So, You Want To Be An Inventor, by Albert Repertour. However, George Weasley was not paying attention. In fact, he was standing a little way away from his brother and the girl. In fact, he was standing quite close to the door of the shop. His blue eyes were eerily still, unblinking as they stared fixedly out the large bay windows that looked out onto the busy street. Strangely enough, as Harry looked closer, he realized that the Weasley boy's eyes weren't blue anymore. They were a startling black, with a tinge of blue around the edges. Harry blinked and adjusted his glasses. It appeared that George's pupils had grown greatly, and it wasn't due to lack of light as the shop was full of sunshine.

Thinking the sun must be a part of the problem with his vision, Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. But when he settled them back on his face and squinted for a better look, he jumped as George had moved to stand close to him and was now looking at him with a grin on his mischievous face.

"Need help getting your stuff, Harry?" He asked cheerily.

Harry blinked, then stared at the boy's eyes. The blank stare had gone, his eyes restored to their normal clear blue.

"No, no I don't think so. Thank you though, George." Harry stuttered, finally moving his eyes away from the boy's face and grabbing his books off the counter.

He didn't speak for a long time, not even when the twins suggested ice-cream on them. Fred, George and Hermione all walked ahead of Ron and Harry, talking eagerly among themselves. The twins were quite obviously ecstatic at the fountain of knowledge that made up Hermione Granger and weren't taking any chances of losing her. Any time Ron tried to make conversation with Hermione, the twins glared daggers at Hermione and refused to allow Hermione to be distracted from them. So Ron was left to stare at their backs and fume. Harry on the other hand didn't look at them at all, but simply stared blankly ahead of him, deep in thought.

"I don't get it. Why here? Why Diagon Alley?" He wondered aloud.

"Bloody prats. They're just a bunch of, of, gits that's what." Ron muttered, his narrowed eyes fixed on Hermione, Fred and George.

"What?" Harry finally came out of his reverie and turned to look at Ron. Ron gave no sign of having heard Harry's previous questions. His bright blue eyes were intense and fixed solely on Hermione and his brothers.

"Look at them. They're all just a little happy family! Why don't they just slobber and get it over with, for goodness sake." He scowled.

"Ron!" Harry said loudly. Ron finally brought his gaze away from his brothers and Hermione and turned to Harry.

"What?" He asked, a tinge of annoyance lacing his voice.

"Can you forget about them for a moment and help me figure this out?" Harry asked desperately.

"Figure what out? Oh! The thing with Malfoy. Well, we've always known he was a bugger. Shouldn't surprise me at all if he's a Death Eater or something. Dunno if they start that early, but still." Ron said casually, already shifting his gaze back to his brothers.

"It's just so strange. It started when Malfoy came in, ended when Malfoy left." Harry murmured.

"Tell you what, mate." Ron said, offhandedly. "Why don't we just ask Dumbledore or someone for some, some, oh, I dunno, spell or something to get rid of Malfoy. Like, ah, Death-Eater-Be-Gone or something. People make that right?"

Harry stared incredulously at Ron, who blushed and shrugged helplessly.

"Hey, boys what flavors do you want?" George yelled over to them from the front of Florean Fortescue's ice-cream parlor, that he, Fred and Hermione had just approached.

" 'Peanuts and Creme'! You know that, you pillock." The first sentence was yelled by Ron, the second hidden under his breath.

"Could I have 'Strawberry-Mint'?" Harry called.

George nodded and waved enthusiastically as he ran inside the parlor, Fred and Hermione following close behind. As Ron and Harry followed them, Harry saw Ron's eyes narrow as Fred turned to Hermione with a gracious smile and asked,

"And what would you like, Hermione?"

Harry suppressed a chuckle as he saw Ron's fists clench and unclench slowly as Hermione laughed and answered,

"Oh, 'Jelly-Bean Snap' I think." She said with a smile.

Fred nodded and relayed the message to George. Harry took a close look at George as he bent over to watch the wizard scoop the ice-cream. His red hair looked the same as it always had, a little longer perhaps so that it fell in his fair face. It was the same red, his freckles as pronounced as usual. There was no difference between him and Fred, except that George wore a blue shirt and Fred a red one. Both had on blue jeans. But George had changed only a few minutes ago.....

"Here's your ice-cream Harry! Don't let it melt." George added cautiously as he passed the cone to Harry with a grin. Harry started, but smiled as he took the cone from him and settled down on one of the tables that were scattered about the place. He licked it thoughtfully, not turning to look as Ron sat down beside him. Ron turned his head as Hermione received her cone from Fred and called to her.

"Hey, Hermione! Wanna sit with me an' Harry?" He asked. Hermione turned her brown eyes to him and observed him thoughtfully.

"No, I think I'm going sit over there with Fred and George." Harry stifled a chuckle as Hermione followed the twins outside the shop to sit on a bench across the street and sat down with them. Ron's jaw jutted forward as he sat back in his seat, and his blue eyes looked very much to Harry as though they could spit fire at any moment. A moment later, he caught Harry's amused gaze and his eyes cooled slightly.

"She's just getting back at me you know. She's just sore." He said firmly, as if trying to convince himself.

Harry nodded, putting on a serious face for the sake of his friend. Ron nodded determinedly, but a moment later stole another glance towards them. Hermione sat in between Fred and George, talking eagerly with them and they with her. Harry cocked his head as he noticed what was so different about the three of them. Hermione was happy. Truly happy. For once, she wasn't being interrupted with sarcastic remarks about how it wasn't good to be a braggart and a know-it-all. Fred and George were actually listening to her and were appreciating what she was saying. When Harry turned to Ron, he knew that he realized it too, for there was a somewhat guilty look on his face as he licked his ice-cream.

"You know what else it is?" Ron asked, licking a dribble of ice-cream that slid down his fingers. "She's getting older. Ginny's been acting like that too. Real irritable, stuff like that. Mum says just to leave her alone and be nice. All she'll say is that it's hormones." Ron took another lick of his ice-cream. "I'll never understand girls, Harry. Never." Ron said with a sigh.

Harry forgot about Draco and the odd business with George very soon after that, for Fred and George's talk with Hermione had made them ambitious. They took every chance they could to drop their items about for people to find: Canary Cremes, Ton-Tongue Toffees, exploding candy-wrappers, you name it, they dropped it. Every time a small explosion occurred either just behind them or a few blocks away, the twins tried hard to stifle their laughter, and failed miserably. They even managed to get a smile out of Ron when a teenager they had seen from Hogwarts (who happened to be in Slytherin), fairly pounced on the rubber bouncy ball, covered in an exploding candy wrapper that stated that inside resided a, "CHUNKY CHOCOLATE BALL". The boy yelled loudly as his fingers undid the wrapper and it exploded in his hands with a sharp crack and a wisp of smoke. Fred and George held each other as they tried to compose themselves, but it was too hard. To them, they were successes. But unfortunately, the boy had seen their action and had strode up to them angrily.

"Say! What the hell was that for?" He yelled, looming menacingly in front of Fred and George. The twins smiled at him as they wiped tears from their eyes.

"Sorry, mate. They say the candy chooses the eater." Fred said, hiccoughing loudly.

"Yeah, and sometimes the candy chooses to explode!" George said, breaking out into hysterical laughter again.

Fred started up as well and they both grasped each other for support. Ron put his hand over his mouth to hide his grin that threatened to spill all over his face and Harry did the same. Hermione simply smiled sweetly and stepped forward.

"You see, what's your name?" She asked. The boy turned his intense gray eyes down to her.

"Martin Wothes." He said coolly.

"You see, Martin Wothes, you have taken part in an experiment that is sure to make you famous."

The boy's gaze did not falter.

"Oh yeah?" He said.

"Yes. You see, these two gentlemen are the future creators of "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes", a joke shop which will surely be famous."

"Fred and George Weasley. A pleasure, I'm sure." Fred said tearfully as he and George extended their hands at the same time. Martin eyed them as they shook his hands heartily.

"So you see, this is an experiment to see if their joke shop will be a hit. Do you feel that you've been amply tricked to your satisfaction?" Hermione asked calmly.

Ron abruptly leaned over to Harry and whispered,

"She's acting like one of those ladies on the news."

Harry smiled at the idea of Hermione being a newscaster, or a reporter like Rita Skeeter. To their surprise, a smile slowly stretched across Martin's face.

"Yeah, I would say so. I'd take a nip into you fellows' joke shop if it was ever made. That was a pretty neat trick. Although I was hoping for some chocolate." He said, eyeing the rather scorched bouncing-ball in his hand. Fred quickly dug around in his pockets and held out his hand towards Martin.

"Here. One of them is chocolate, one of them is our own creation, a Ton-Tongue Toffee." He said with a smile, placing the round candies in Martin's palm.

"Makes your tongue grow." George added.

Martin's grin spread across his face and he pocketed the two candies.

"See you boys at Hogwarts." He said before shaking his head with a laugh and walking off.

"Well he sure didn't act like a Slytherin." Ron commented.

"No, indeed. He was quite polite." Hermione agreed.

"Nice fellow." George said simply.

"He didn't guess which one was which." Fred muttered with a frown.

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Author's Note: If you really are into disclaimers, see Chapter 1, 'cause that's the last time I'm gonna say that. ;-) Input appreciated as this is my first HP fic. Love ya'll!

T.H.