Sorry it took so long! Holidays are crazy! How did everybody's go? Good I hope! n.n And thank you for all of the reviews! I really appreciated them! I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the last two. Hmmm....I'm still deciding what Weasley Hermione should end up with.
Oh! And I forgot to mention. Yes, after a year of being out of school and running a successful business (WWW), Mrs. Weasley still wants the twins to go back to school. She just doesn't seem the type to let a thing (like her sons dropping out of school) go. Everything else will be explained in the story.
Blame the Weasleys
Chapter Three
Wacky Winky and Skirmish of the Snow
One sliding gargoyle and three conveniently placed tapestries and paintings later, George had spent the day showing Hermione some of his favorite secret passages and rooms that did odd things. Now they were currently in the kitchens waiting for the house elves to finish baking the sweets George had ordered. All in all, she'd been having a blast hanging out with George.
The two sat beside each other on the hearth rug in front of the kitchen fire, two butterbeers sitting in front of them. George pulled out some egg-shaped candies from one of his robe pockets. "Look here, Hermione," he said, "We'll have some of those sweets I ordered sent to Ron. You can say they're from you as a gift, hoping he'll forgive you for your...foul actions." He grinned at her. "I'll add a few of these to the basket, assuring he'll eat one. And you know, he'll probably share the lot of it with Harry." He added thoughtfully.
"What do the candies do?"
"They should make the prats' ears grow big and floppy and their noses should turn into trunks. Fred and I have decided to name them Elephant Eggs."
"They're brilliant," she said, surprising George since she usually didn't approve of the twin's ever-growing line of merchandise.
"Why thank you, Hermy!" George gave her the trademark Weasley grin.
Hermione twitched. Unfortunately for the eighteen year old witch, her reaction to being called Hermy did not go unnoticed by George.
"So. Hermy." One of her eyebrows twitched again and a muscle below her left eye convulsed for a second George's eyes took on a mischievous glint. He could see that she was restraining herself from letting him know it bothered her to be called Hermy. George guessed that she probably thought he would tease her if he knew of one of her many weak points. How right she was.
"Please don't call me that." It almost sounded to George as if she had said that through grit teeth.
"Why not, Hermy? I find it quite," George sought for a word, "fetching!" He winked at her.
Hermione scowled and scooted a foot farther away from him. She yelped as George grabbed an ankle and pulled her back towards him.
"Why shouldn't I call you Hermy? Especially after all of those times you had me sent to detention for a few harmless jokes!" retorted George, faking anger.
Hermione glowered at him and tried to scoot away from him again only to have George quickly grab hold of her ankle again before she could move away.
"They weren't harmless jokes! A majority of them involved tricking Neville into testing your new creations that could have been deadly!"
George waved a hand. "Pfft, our creations are safe enough, just mild kiddie stuff..."
Hermione looked ready to say something nasty about that but noticed George still had his hand on her lower leg.
"George, could you please remove your hand from my leg," she said in an annoyed voice.
He blinked and looked down, realizing that indeed his hand was still resting on her ankle. He hadn't really given it any thought. George looked up at her and burst into laughter.
Hermione scowled and plucked his hand from her ankle.
"Did I really make you that uncomfortable, Hermy?" he asked, fighting to keep a straight face and obviously failing to do so. His ocean blue eyes crinkled up with laughter and he reached out to walk two fingers up her leg. He only managed to 'finger walk' up to her knee when she slapped his hand away.
"Ye--no! And stop calling me Hermy!" she said, her pulse starting to pick up. 'Is George Weasley FLIRTING with me?!' she thought, trying to convince herself that she was going crazy and/or thinking too far into it.
"I'm the great George Weasley, I'll call you Hermy if I want to," he said, giving her his best impression of a haughty look.
"Oh no you won't!" she retorted, trying with all her might to look domineering and serious.
"And how will you prevent me from doing that?" George asked, mimicking her attitude and rolling his eyes at her.
"I'll beat you into a pulp," she said matter-of-factly.
George nearly started laughing. "Oh, really?" he asked, amusement in his voice, sounding more like it was a doubtful statement than a question. He smirked at her and beginning tapping his fingers rhythmically on her knee, knowing it would fluster her.
Hermione mouthed wordlessly, trying to think of something to say. It was hard to convince herself she was going to beat him into a bloody pulp when George was so close to her that their knees were touching. He looked particularly handsome with the orange flames of the kitchen fireplace reflecting off of his light brown eyes. 'And why is he tapping my leg?' panicked Hermione. He continued tapping her thigh, looking at her with an eyebrow cocked and a big smirk on his face. 'Wait, thigh? Is his hand moving up my leg?!'
o.O...O.O...O.o
Lee Jordan and Fred had been looking all over for George when they came upon Sir Codogan. He wasn't in his portrait, he was standing in the one right outside of the kitchens, and looking rather flustered at that. He, being the brash, idiotic, loud-mouthed little knight that he was, had admitted to following Fred's kin to make sure the scum didn't take advantage of the lady he was accompanying. ("Stupid git," Lee muttered, only provoking Sir Codogan's temper.)
Sir Codogan had already given away that George and the lady were inside, and for once, slyly thought up a way to fight back--he placed himself in front of the pear that when tickled, would make the portrait swing open, allowing access to the kitchens.
"Sir Codogan perseveres! Take that you...you...," Sir Codogan bounced around, jabbing at them uselessly with his sword, trying to think of a word, "you moat slime!"
Fred cursed. His patience was running thin--he had battle tactics to plan.
o.O...O.O...O.o
Hermione tried to swat George's hand away only to have him grab her wrist and pin it to the floor. The thick-haired brunette squeaked and tried using her other hand to push George away. Sniggering, he seized the retaliating hand effortlessly and pinned it down also.
Hermione gasped and looked up at George with wide eyes.
She stuttered, "This is completely and utterly inappropriate, Geor--" Hermione was cut off as a finger pressed against her lips--George had released one of her wrists but it still laid limp above her head on the hearth rug.
He winked at her, "Just playing with you, Hermione." George moved his finger from her lips and flicked her nose, grinning at her and backed away, giving her room to sit up.
She couldn't help but feel relieved. Although, she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she felt a little disappointed and annoyed. 'He shouldn't tease me like that, but then again,' she thought, 'maybe that's just how he is. I've never really gotten this close to him before, he might act like this with all the girls he knows.' Well, she could play his game, too. Little did he know, she had starred in three school plays, and was a very good actress to boot.
Instead of sitting up, Hermione continued to lay on the ground. She cocked her head slightly to the side and gave him a sly look.
"You were only playing?" she pouted, looking up at him through her long lashes, toying with the collar of his dark blue shirt, fingering the button he had left open.
"Hermione," George stuttered, sounding very much like she had a few moments ago.
She gingerly sat up and placed a finger on his lips. Hermione leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I was only playing."
Laughter broke across her lips but it died away when she saw the look on George's face. He almost looked disappointed but he shook it off quickly and smirked at her, rolling his eyes.
"You really had me going there, 'Mione," he said.
Hermione flashed a victorious smile. He'd forgotten to call her Hermy. "I did, didn't I?"
Unknown to them, a seriously drunken and deranged female house elf seeking revenge upon the girl who had set her kind free had snuck up on the two. For the house elf's size, she was impressively wielding a large, formidable-looking black pan.
Before anything else could be said, Hermione felt a gigantic pressure upon the back of her head and collapsed on the hearth rug, going unconscious.
"WINKY!" yelled George, yanking the pan out of the mental elf's hands and throwing it to the side.
House elves were already rushing forward to hold down the cackling elf.
o.O...O.O...O.o
Fred and Lee raged outside of the kitchens, trying to convince Sir Codogan to go run amuck elsewhere.
"Listen, I need in there NOW so I can discuss battle strategies with my twin!"
Sir Codogan's face noticeably took upon an immediate look of interest. Fred finally said the magic word. Battle.
"Battle strategies you say?" the fat knight looked at him skeptically. "What does this battle entail?"
"It results in us conquering vile evil," said Fred simply. His friend nodded enthusiastically.
"We have to rescue fair maidens, too!" Lee added. Fred gave him an amused look. Lee just shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
"Well! Why didn't you say so?" Sir Codogan roared, moving aside to allow them access to the pear.
"Hurry! On with your quest! There are damsels in distress as we speak!"
Fred rolled his eyes and tickled the fruit.
The portrait swung to the side, allowing the two teens access. Fred had barely stepped inside when George came rushing up to him, carrying somebody in his arms.
"What?.." Fred and Lee started.
"It was Winky! She's gone mad! She came up behind us and hit Hermione on the head! I've got to get her to Madam Pomfrey," said George hurriedly.
"Nutter of an elf," Fred shook his head as they jogged down the hallway behind George.
o.O...O.O...O.o
(A.N.--This should have been the end to Ch. 3 but I've been such a bad updater..)
Seated in front of a fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione contemplated, smacking her lips occasionally (an annoying habit she'd caught from Neville), and scratching her head with her quill. She'd sat there for half an hour, appearing to be occupied with Professor Binns's latest assignment; in actuality, she was debating whether or not to go join the snow war going on outside. The noise being produced by the battle below was so loud that she couldn't have studied even if she wanted to.
The History of Magic assignment would take a good half hour to finish...
But then Ron's appalled face appeared in her mind. His words echoed through her mind once again.
'"You barbaric beast! You foully contaminated my precious pecan pudding!"'
Okay, so Ron hadn't said it exactly like that but all the same, it was cruel and very prat-like of him to react that way.
Hermione winced as she felt the sore lump on the back of the head. She had gaped in disbelief as Madam Pomfrey told her that Winky's hit had been near deadly! 'Why, oh, why did Winky have to get herself sloshed and decide that today was the day she'd seek revenge upon me? And just when I thought my day was looking up!' she thought exasperatedly.
Hermione stood up suddenly, took a deep breath and screamed loudly, her balled up fists flying everywhere. Ah, that felt good. She'd been dying to do it all day.
The snickering of a sixth year boy brought her back to reality, her face flushing crimson. She immediately ducked down behind the plush chair, pretending to be quite occupied with picking up all of her books and papers. 'I must be going insane! I really need to relax or take yoga, or something! Ron's little insult has pushed me over the edge!
Yes, her day hadn't been completely bad, though George had cheered her up considerably. But at the moment, she was so mentally frazzled by everything else that had happened before and after their little morning adventures together. On her way back from Madam Pomfrey's, she had passed Ron and Harry in the hallways. They looked as if they weren't about to even give the time of day to her if she had asked. 'Immature gits,' she had thought angrily. And then as if it wasn't bad enough getting attacked by Winky the house elf and being ignored by her two best friends, she was walking alone down a corridor when a large red water balloon landed right on top of her head. Peeves had then flown out from his hiding spot and proceeded to chase her clear down the hall, only stopping when he spotted a gaggled of first years. (Everyone knows that first years were Peeves's favorite victims. "Thank Merlin," Hermione had selfishly muttered, and she frankly didn't care that she was thinking insensitive thoughts.) And hey, hadn't George said he was going to steal her away for the entire day? 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I shouldn't put too much faith in his words, I mean, this is George we're talking about.'
Alas, a freckled grinning face surrounded by a long sheet of red hair appeared over the top of the chintz piece of furniture. The said person had witnessed Hermione's little screaming bout. Leaning against the chair, Ginny Weasley draped her arms lazily over the back of it and coyly raised an eyebrow.
"What boy, or more specifically, which Weasley has managed to get underneath your skin today, my dear Hermiekins?" What was up with people addressing her by nicknames?! 'Can't they just call me by my actual name?'
But she mentally dismissed what she had just thought. After all, her last boyfriend couldn't even pronounce her name right. Upon hearing the foul nickname, Hermione's eyebrow had twitched once again, only succeeding in making Ginny's grin grow bigger--Hermione could definitely see the strong resemblance to the twins.
Ginny continued. " I know it can't be homework that's worked you up this much! I know that frustrated look--it's the one you get after you've discovered Ron and Harry have skived off their homework to do it last minute, or when the twins have played a particularly nasty trick involving Crookshanks." Hermione shot Ginny a look when Crookshanks was mentioned.
Ginny's facial features faltered for a second, realizing that Hermione had never known about the joke that involved Crookshanks. "Not that they've actually..."
"Get to the point, Ginny" Hermione cut Ginny off, the annoyance in her voice growing.
"All right, sorry Herms, I was just concerned. It was just that I noticed you took that scene with Ron pretty hard this morning."
Hermione sat there, still being unreasonable and stubborn as an ass, "What else is new?"
"Well I think you're not yourself today, The Hermione I know wouldn't have let the thick-headedness of a boy get the best of her. To say it simply, get revenge. Get him back for what he did to you."
Hermione was about to tell her that Ron's earlier actions weren't bothering her that much any more but she couldn't help being intrigued by the word revenge. "How so?"
"That proves it, you aren't yourself today," Ginny started to undercut her again but quickly changed key when Hermione shot her a glare. "Come on then! Let's go find our snowsuits!"
o.O...O.O...O.o
Fifteen minutes later, two rather puffy-looking marshmallows, er, girls flew out of a Gryffindor dormitory window. They took up most of the broom's length; it was barely visible.
"This is the perfect sneak attack!" said the younger girl excitedly, flying through the air with ease. Hermione sat behind the her, clinging on to Ginny's waste for dear life.
"If I can't manage to let go of you to throw snowballs at them, then what good will it do us?" screeched Hermione as Ginny dived suddenly, spotting the group of Gryffindor boys on the opposite side of the grounds.
"Don't worry, Hermione! You'll be able to do it!" said Ginny, trying to give her a boost of confidence.
o.O...O.O...O.o
Lee ducked below a wall of snow, narrowly being hit by a nicely projected snowball. He dramatically dove on the ground beside Fred who was crouched down, feverishly making snowballs.
"What's the report?" Fred quickly asked.
Lee hastily sat up. "Their ranks are growing! Dean and Seamus have just joined them! We need to think of something quick!"
"Make a snowman!" commanded Fred. "Now! And make it a good-sized one! Not some piddly three-footer! George and I will try to hold them back till you're done!"
Lee looked at him with a dumbfounded expression on his face but saluted Fred and did as he was told anyways.
o.O...O.O...O.o
Ginny leveled the broom out in the last possible second, landing behind some lightly frosted evergreens. Hermione let go of Ginny and nearly tipped sideways off the broom, wondering if it was possible for her to be having a heart attack at such a young age.
"Hurry and make snowballs, Herms!" Ginny already had two snowballs made, working on her third.
Hermione pulled herself back together. "Right!"
Five minutes later, the two girls had successfully made a nice lot of snowballs.
"Now, how are we supposed to bring these with us if we're going on the broom?" worried Ginny.
"I can solve that--Leviosa and a cling charm!" Hermione smiled and got out her wand. She gave it a little wave and muttered a few words. The snowballs lifted off the ground and floated to the right of Hermione.
"Brilliant! Have I mentioned recently how much I love you?"
Hermione laughed, "Yes! I believe you proclaimed your love for me two different times just yesterday!"
Ginny grinned and shrugged, "Well, you're a wonderful friend, Herms! Are we ready to go then?"
o.O...O.O...O.o
Hermione had just thrown about twenty snowballs as fast as she could aimed straight at Lee Jordan. She cackled evilly as she anticipated seeing Seamus Finnigan covered in snow. Before she could see what happened to him, a very wet snowball thrown by Dean Thomas sloshed right into her face.
Ginny reached behind her and grabbed a snowball floating at Hermione's side. "That's the way, Herms!" She had just repressed it to make sure it stick together nicely when she accidentally dropped it. "Ah!" Ginny grasped for it but it was too late. Still watching the falling snowball, Ginny reached back to grab another but froze as she watched the snowball's descent.
The said snowball had actually stopped falling; it was floating in midair. It stayed like that for a second and then came hurtling back towards her. It smashed into a snowball that was floating lazily at Hermione's side. Little flecks of snow floated down to the ground. Panic coursed through Ginny's mind as she put two and two together.
"HERMIONE! Your cling charm!" Ginny quickly shouted, "It's going to cause the snowballs to come back at--!" Ginny got a hard mouthful of snow.
Hermione felt a quick wave of horror shoot through her as she turned her head slowly and saw out of the corner of her eye a massive wall of white hurtling straight at her. She barely had time to scream.
The impact of the snowballs ruthlessly knocked her sideways off of the broom.
"GIN---" Hermione shrieked and before she knew it, she was engulfed in snow up to her waist; she had landed head-first into a spectacularly fluffy snowdrift.
"Take her prisoner!" Ginny heard Dean Thomas cry.
She looked back at him, "Lay one hand on her and I'll pummel you into next week!"
Seamus Finnigan looked genuinely scared for a second but kept tromping his way through the snow towards Hermione, Dean Thomas egging him on.
Ginny jerked her broom around, focused completely on Dean and Seamus, ready to give them a piece of her mind and fists when a flying winged creature smacked right into her.
Hermione could hear the thumping of footsteps coming her way, and then, the girliest scream she had ever heard. A second later, she was being plucked easily out of the snow by an unknown savior. She wiped the snow off of her face.
"George?" she asked.
He grabbed her mittened hand, "Nope, I'm Fred." He pulled her back towards the fort. She looked back in time to see a gigantic snowman pounce on a retreating Seamus Finnigan.
Fred turned his head to see what she was looking at, "Ah, yes, that's our secret weapon. Thought that one up by myself, I did."
Ginny laid sprawled on the ground and slowly opened her eyes. She grumbled and started to sit up.
"What the hell was that?" she muttered, wiping snow out of her face. She froze when a shadow overcame her.
A figure stood over the redhead, the bright sunlight blinding her for a few seconds. The only thing she could make of the person was the reflecting of light off of a maniacal grin.
Harry cackled gleefully and grabbed Ginny's ankles before she could do anything, dragging her across the snowy ground to evil's lair.
"HERMIONE!" Ginny slowly and dramatically yelled as if in slow-motion, fruitlessly holding an arm out to Hermione.
"I'll come for you, Ginny! I will!" Hermione valiantly called to her as if she were proclaiming undying love. She tried crawling over the wall of snow she was behind but George held her back.
"Don't go after Ginny! They'll capture you, too!" said Fred.
"Do as Fred says, Hermione! It's too late for me! I've been captured!" Ginny gave up struggling and giggled, swiping her hand across the ground and throwing the wad of snow at the back of Harry's head.
"Besides, it looks as if she enjoys being Harry's prisoner," said George, rolling his eyes.
"On second thought, you better get her back," said Fred, his brotherly possessiveness shining through.
Hermione laughed. "Oh, let her be."
"Who here is tired of this?" said Fred. "I say we continue this another time."
"I second that," said Lee and George.
"Me, too. I've got snow all down my back.
"I could help you get that out, you know," said George as innocently as he could.
Fred didn't even try to look innocent. "Or I could," he supplied with a perverted smirk.
Hermione's eyes widened and she had to give a half-laugh. "You two are terrible!"
"HA! You think we're bad?" said Fred incredibly.
On cue, Lee stepped up. "Fancy a shag?" he asked her with a serious expression, looking at her as if he had just asked her if she wanted a cup of tea.
Hermione stared at him for a few seconds and then reached her arm up to whap him on the shoulder. Lee grabbed her arm and burst into laughter. He let go of it quickly and pulled her into a friendly one-armed hug.
"You should have started hanging out with us sooner, Hermione! You're already starting to loosen up" She blushed slightly and gave him a sheepish smile.
Both of the twins' faces lit up.
"How about we make a trip to the kitchens to get us some hot chocolate?" Lee asked.
The group quickly agreed on Lee's idea and started walking back up to the castle. Ron, Dean, and Seamus were scared out of their wits to notice them leaving; the towering snowman had them cornered. Hermione noticed that Harry and Ginny weren't anywhere in sight.
Deciding it was better to distract the twins' attention she asked, "Say, did you three receive those weird invitations about a party in the Head bathroom?"
"Yeah, that's tonight, isn't it?" asked George in a somewhat uninterested tone.
"Of course we're going to it! Babes in bikinis! Or less!" said Fred in a happy tone, looking very hopeful and nearly drooling.
"But of course, you probably have to study, don't you, Hermione? And you wouldn't risk getting caught," teased George.
"Actually, I planned on going!" she blurted out. The three boys stared at her.
Hermione gave them an annoyed look. "You forget who I've hung out with for the past six years."
"But still, Hermione Granger going to a most likely scandalous party?"
Hermione faltered for a second, they were right about her. "Well," she stammered, "I thought it'd be good revenge on Ron."
They seemed to believe it and brought up again how much of a prat they thought Ron was but Hermione wasn't really listening.
'Good lie!' she thought. In truth, she just didn't want to seem like such a goody-goody. After all those years of breaking a million rules with Harry and Ron, everybody still thought she was more than reluctant about getting into trouble. If they'd known just how many ingredients she'd stolen from Snape over the years and what she did to Rita Skeeter, they'd definitely change their opinion of her. Well, tonight Hermione Granger was going to prove herself.
She gulped as the group made their way into the castle.
o.O...O.O...O.o
Holy frick! 4,374 words in this chapter! I hope you're happy! And oh, I might change the name of the story so look out. And one more thing, I am in bad need of a beta reader. . I'd be very grateful for some help!
Well, ta for now! And remember to review! I refuse to update if I don't get at least twenty more reviews. .
Maddy