A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Again, my thanks to you all can be found at the end of his chapter!

My wonderful "nitpicker" Becca inspired this chapter, and so all kudos to her. It doesn't have much to do with the twins, but it is hysterical and it deals with the issue of a purple Hermione and how to cure her. So enjoy, and I hope you like!

Disclaimer: see first chapter, thank-you.

Love and War

Chapter Three: Muggle Malls

Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were seated in the kitchen just before dinner. The purple colored Hermione was in her bathrobe, having been coaxed out of her room by Ginny with the persuasion that Mrs. Weasley could cover up the damage Fred and George had done.

"I can't guarantee anything, Hermione dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she flicked her wand at the pot of stew. "But a good charm, preferably a Concealment or a Glamour Charm, ought to do the trick."

"Unless that's exactly what Fred and George used to make that potion irreversible," Ginny murmured. Hermione heard her and shot Ginny a nasty look. A loud snicker of laughter was heard in the other room.

"Well, it's worth a shot. Now hold still, and let's give this a try," Mrs. Weasley said. A faint call of, "it's not going to work!" was sing-songed from the other room. Hermione clenched her teeth, trying to ignore the twins.

"Ow!" Hermione yelled. Her check felt like it had been burned off.

"Oh, well this doesn't do any good. Let's try something different," Mrs. Weasley remarked as Hermione rubbed at the burn mark. Mrs. Weasley tapped Hermione's check, healing the burn, and then tried Hermione's hand this time, but a similar burning effect happened.

"Isn't there a muggle song about a Purple People Eater?" the voice on the other side of the wall asked.

"Well there is a purple, bushy-haired monster in our house, but I doubt she eats people. She likes dry food -"

"-Like books."

Hermione ran out of the room then in a fury, and two yowls of pain were heard in the other room. This was followed by feet running up the stairs and the slamming of a door a minute later.

"It's just as well," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Dinner's ready. And I doubt Hermione would want to eat in the same room with the two of them right now."

Indeed, Hermione did not come down to dinner at all. Fred and George couldn't help but crack jokes about her purple skin condition in her absence. It wasn't until Mrs. Weasley aimed a bowl of mashed potatoes at their heads that they finally stopped.

Ginny excused herself early to bring a plate up to Hermione. Fred and George, although quiet, still didn't look the slightest bit guilty about the incident. They were charming dinner rolls to skip around the table and fling butter at Harry and Ron.

Ginny felt funny knocking on her own bedroom door. "Hermione?" she called. "I have dinner."

The door opened a crack and a purple person poked their face out. "Come in," Hermione said quietly, and Ginny squeezed herself in quickly. Hermione was now sitting on the foot of Ginny's bed, still wrapped in her bathrobe and looking quite depressed.

"I don't want to return to Hogwarts looking purple," she moaned softly. Ginny walked over and took a place next to Hermione, handing the purple girl the plate of food.

"Well the good news is we can cover your body with jeans and a jacket, even gloves if we have to," Ginny offered as Hermione bit into the roast pork. "It's everything from the neck up that will be a problem."

Hermione chewed thoughtfully on her dinner for a moment and then put the plate aside as she jumped up and ran to her trunk. Ginny watched her curiously, wondering if Hermione was coming up with a plan.

The purple girl came and sat back down on the bed, rummaging through an odd looking book in Ginny's opinion. The pages were glossy and colorful, very much unlike the newspapers she read.

"Do you think make-up would work?" Hermione suddenly asked, tearing out a page from the funny looking book.

Ginny furrowed her brow. "Make-up?" she asked.

"Yes," said Hermione, tearing out another page. "It's a muggle product. Muggle women use it to enhance their beauty. Here," she replied, shoving a glossy page into Ginny's hands. Ginny was looking at a close-up of a girls face, an advertisement of some sort.

"What is this thing?" Ginny asked, poking at the paper in Hermione's hands and flipping through the pages.

"It's called a magazine. My mum stuck it in my trunk, she does so every year. Apparently she thinks I'll use it for reading material, or that I'll get some good beauty tips from it. This'll please her to know it finally came into use."

"And you want to know if this stuff," Ginny asked, pointing at the picture, "will work to cover your purple skin?"

"Yes. The only problem is I don't own any muggle make-up. So I'd need someone to go out and buy some. Do you think you and Harry could go? He can handle muggle money, and I'm sure he's been in muggle stores before."

"What?" Ginny nearly cried out. "You trust me to go with Harry to a place full of muggles and buy you a muggle product?"

"Well…yes," Hermione replied."

"No!"

"Ginny, please," Hermione nearly whined. "I'll give my money to Harry and the two of you can go -"

"Go where Hermione? We live outside of Ottery St.Catchpole. You do realize that the Burrow is nearly in the middle of nowhere? The closest thing to us is the highway!"

"So you can take the highway to a mall or a shopping center of some sorts, can't you?"

"I've never even heard of a mall before," Ginny remarked, somewhat exasperated.

"Ginny, please!" Hermione pleaded, ripping out another page from the magazine. She looked so utterly excited, Ginny was afraid to disappoint her, even if Hermione's pleading was scary. She forgot how the girl could get when she was struck with a clever solution. "Ginny, it won't take long, and you'll have Harry to handle the muggle money, and you could bring your dad with you - he likes muggle things, and I doubt your parents would let you and Harry go alone."

"Hermione, we don't even know if this stuff'll work," Ginny tried to reason.

"It's worth a shot though, isn't it? What else have we - well, I - got left to lose?" Hermione had a huge smile on her face, her last hope of recovering from purple phobia clutched in her hands. She giggled, a sign of hope, and Ginny shook her head and knew she'd better just get it over with.

Ginny shook her head, admitting defeat. "I'll go find my dad and Harry."

Hermione suddenly lunged at Ginny, hugging her tightly and smiling happily. "Thank-you Ginny!" she said, then picked up her plate of food again as the red haired girl left the room.


An hour later Ginny, Harry and Mr. Weasley were sitting in the backseat of a taxi and heading down the highway to a muggle mall. The taxi driver had been a bit confused about what they'd wanted at first, as Arthur Weasley was so excited he kept saying "We're headed for a Mallgle!" Harry had finally pulled Mr. Weasley aside and had explained that "muggle mall" wasn't one word, but two.

The ride had been a bit chaotic. Mr. Weasley was so excited that he kept pointing out things and Harry had to either explain or elaborate. The taxi driver kept glancing over his shoulder, eyeing his passengers as if they had just escaped from a mental ward.

"What is that dog doing?" Mr. Weasley asked after that had gotten off the highway.

"Umm…he's peeing on a fire hydrant, Mr. Weasley," Harry had replied, turning red from holding back laughter. Ginny had already given into her giggles.

"A fire hydrant? Why's that dog urinating on one…and what exactly is a fire hydrant?" The taxi suddenly swerved sharply as the driver looked over his shoulder in astonishment at Mr. Weasley. He said nothing, but his wide eyes were enough to make Harry and Ginny burst with laughter again.

"Oh look! A pet shop!" Mr. Weasley had suddenly cried out. "I bought Ron a puffskein from a pet emporium once…pity Fred shot the thing into the swamp during bludger practice."

"WHAT?" the taxi driver suddenly screamed, swerving and nearly hitting a lamp post as he turned to look at Mr. Weasley as if he'd gone mad.

"Sorry, he's a - he's not -" Harry began to say.

"Got knocked in the head by a horse, altered his speech," Ginny supplied. Harry tried to keep a straight face as the taxi driver studied all three of them. But Mr. Weasley's next words ruined it all.

"How extraordinary! A color changing box, look at it up there! What do those colors mean anyway?"

The taxi driver studied Mr. Weasley a moment. Then with a raised eyebrow, he asked, "You don't get out much anymore, do you?"

"I work in London, but I take a very different way there. Your lot has the most interesting gadgets though."

"Right," the taxi driver said, his eyes wide and scared. He seemed to think Mr. Weasley was rabid and would attack at any moment.

When they finally made it to mall, Harry and Ginny were suppressing so much laughter that they nearly fell over when getting out of the taxi. Mr. Weasley had insisted on handling the money himself to pay the taxi driver, who seemed grateful to be rid of such strange folk. Once paid, the three of them began walking into the large muggle building.

"Simply fascinating!" Mr. Weasley had proclaimed as they walked in an automatic door. He stood in front of the door for a moment, then backed away and waited for it to close. He then stepped in front of it again and watched as it opened for him.

"Umm, Mr. Weasley?" Harry had prodded. Ginny couldn't help but start giggling all over again.

"How extraordinary like magic this is!" Mr. Weasley had proclaimed. With a strong tug on each arm, Ginny and Harry managed to pull Mr. Weasley away. Quite a few people were staring by then.

The three of them wandered around until Harry found a department store that looked familiar. He remembered going in one once with Aunt Petunia and Dudley years ago, and he had seen women apply make-up to elderly and wrinkled old ladies. He also remembered Aunt Petunia getting sprayed with a nasty smelling perfume that had lingered on his own clothes for days, much to his dismay.

Harry led the two Weasley's towards the department store, keeping a strong grip on Mr. Weasley's forearm. Ginny followed enthusiastically, although she wasn't making as big a fuss over everything the way her dad was.

"What do you call that thing over there?" Mr. Weasley had asked Harry, pointing quite noticeably across the mall.

"That's a man in a dog costume, Mr. Weasley."

"Is that similar to an Animagus? Are they registered?" Mr. Weasley seemed to want to go talk to the man and began tugging on Harry's arm in that direction.

"Mr. Weasley, it's a costume!" Harry tried to say as indiscreetly as possible, attempting to pull Mr. Weasley back. "If he were an Animagus wouldn't he look more like a dog?"

"Dad, come on!" Ginny urged, pointing to the department store again. "We're here to help Hermione from the mess your twin sons made, remember?"

But Mr. Weasley had pulled out of their grasp and was striding over to the man in the dog costume. The dog was standing outside a toy store and was waving for people to come in. Currently, a few small children were surrounding him and he was petting their heads with his paws.

Mr. Weasley waited kindly on the side until the dog-man noticed him. He smiled at the dog, and then the dog opened his arms wide and began walking towards Mr. Weasley, who wasn't sure what to do. The dog hugged him, and Ginny, laughing uncontrollably again, nearly fell into Harry at the look on her dad's face.

When the dog finally pulled away he patted Mr. Weasley on the head too. Mr. Weasley smiled, and then asked the dog, "is the transformation difficult?"

The man in the costume tilted his head to the side, completely bewildered. Harry and Ginny came rushing to stand on each side of Mr. Weasley, and tugged on his arms again.

"Come on dad, we're here for Hermione…" Ginny was saying, but Mr. Weasley didn't hear her.

"You don't look much like a dog, but I guess the transformation process got botched. Usually when people turn into dogs they walk on four legs. Do people make fun of you for -"

"Mr. Weasley, come on!" Harry pleaded.

"Sir, what on earth are you talking about?" a woman nearby asked. She was shielding her son with her arm, keeping him away from Mr. Weasley. The man in the dog costume nodded his head, waving his hands at his side as if he were asking the same thing as the woman.

"Sorry about him," Ginny said quickly, placing a hand on her father's arm. "He doesn't get out much."

"Obviously," another woman retorted. "You should teach him some manners or something. My poor little Timmy will be asking questions all day about transformations and the like!"

"Your poor little Timmy should read a book," Harry snarled, eyeing the little ten year old. "Transformations are a part of life, kid. Its called puberty."

"Harry!" Ginny said, appalled. The dog man hurried into the store and began talking with a cashier.

"How dare you!" the outraged mother of little Timmy declared, and then hurried away.

"Hey, I wanted to ask the dog if he was registered or not with the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley declared.

"Dad, Harry…we should be going," Ginny urged. Harry looked over her shoulder and saw mall security heading towards them. Ginny began pushing on her dad's arm, hoping he would get the hint and start walking away.

But Mr. Weasley had noticed that the man in the dog costume was coming back, and as he walked away Ginny nearly fell over. Harry quickly caught her, and the two of them watched with baited breathe as the security officers began to talk to Mr. Weasley.

"Sir, what seems to be the trouble here?" the shorter guard asked Mr. Weasley.

"Nothing, I was just - say, do you hit people with those little sticks on your belts?" he asked excitedly. Ginny slapped her hand to her forehead.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Are they useful? Do you have a - oh, what do you call them? Your type use them to shoot other people. A gum, do you call it?"

"It's a gun Mr. Weasley," Harry said, coming up to stand at his side. He then looked up at the officers. "Sorry about him. Got kicked in the head by a horse and he doesn't get out much," he said, using Ginny's excuse from earlier. "We'll just be going now."

Harry shoved Mr. Weasley hard and away they went. The small children and their mothers that still lingered around the front of the store were all pointing at the strange man, and the dog man was waving an angry fist.

The security guards followed the three of them until they found the store they wanted. Harry and Ginny, each on one side of Mr. Weasley to lead him along, walked in and began to wander up and down aisles, until Harry saw a counter that jogged his memory.

"This way," he replied, and steered Mr. Weasley and Ginny to the right.

The lady behind the make-up counter immediately reminded Harry of Rita Skeeter, only with black hair instead of blonde. She had fingernails that looked lethal and painted a shocking pink that matched her lipstick perfectly. Ginny looked frightened of the women, especially when she turned around and smiled at her.

"Hello," she replied, a nasty, nasally sound that had no hidden qualities of niceness. "Can I help you find something?"

Harry and Ginny exchanged a quick look that seemed to say that their bravery to come here was all for Hermione.

Mr. Weasley though, was the first to speak up. He had wandered over to a counter to the right and was poking at some eye-shadows. "How do these work? Do you stick them on your body or something? They look like paint." The woman turned to him with a very confused and angry look on her face. Ginny hastily walked over to her dad and nudged him away from the counter.

"Actually," she said, looking at the lady behind the counter, "we're looking for some mescotics -"

"-Cosmetics," Harry whispered under his breathe.

"Yes, cosmetics," she said, correcting herself. She pulled the pages that Hermione had ripped from her magazine out of her pocket and showed the woman. "This type of stuff, if you have it…"

The woman took a moment to examine the pages. "Oh, I understand," the women replied, a large smile suddenly covering her heavily made-up face. Quickly, she came out from behind the counter and walked over to Ginny, wrapping a pink-talon hand around Ginny's upper arm. "Come right this way sweetie. If you wanted a make-over, all you had to do was say so."

"But, I -"

"Have a seat, darling," the woman replied, hastily shoving Ginny into a chair. Harry stood there on the other side of the counter, trying not to laugh at the outraged look on Ginny's face.

The woman took Ginny's chin in her hand, critically examining the young red head's complexion. "Not a bad tone, quite pale actually. Soft skin, small pores, not a trace of ache. My, you could a very pretty girl if only you knew how to apply make-up!" The woman turned around and Ginny passed Harry a quizzical and very scared look.


Mr. Weasley had wandered off. Harry and Ginny had become so preoccupied in the make-over the woman had offered that he figured the two of them wouldn't know he'd gone off for a minute or two.

He turned a corner and came across an aisle of hair-care products. Little boxes were on the left side, all covered with pictures of un-moving women.

Mr. Weasley poked on. "How strange that they don't move," he muttered to himself. A woman a bit further down the aisle passed him a curious look. Mr. Weasley smiled at her.

Picking up one of the boxes, he began to read what the product was. He was astonished to find that it was some sort of potion that changed your hair color! How marvelous! This was just what Hermione needed! He scanned the boxes, looking for one that would bring Hermione's hair back to its normal color. Once satisfied, he poked the box again, just to make sure the woman on it wasn't teasing him. The woman further down the aisle smiled to herself at the strangeness of Mr. Weasley.

"Does this box change the color of one's hair?" he asked the lady. She walked over, glanced at the box and nodded.

"Indeed, but are you sure that color will cover your red hair?" she asked him.

"Oh, it's not for me!" he explained. "My daughter's friend had an accident and we have to figure out how to change her hair color back."

The woman nodded in understanding. "What color did her hair become?" she asked.

"Purple," Mr. Weasley replied. "My twin sons played a prank on her."

"The poor dear!" the woman exclaimed. "Well if this doesn't work, I saw some gorgeous hats over that way that should cover her hair," she added, pointing.

"Why thank-you!" Mr. Weasley replied, and off he went, clutching his box of hair changing potion. He walked down a few isles, accidentally finding shoes. Once he emerged though, he found what the woman had said. He picked up a big, red, floppy one, and examined it a moment. He could have his wife change the color of it later, he thought to himself, and clutching his box of color changing hair potion and a new hat, he headed back to find Ginny and Harry.


"I don't think red is my color -"

"Nonsense, now close your mouth."

"But - phelgh!" Ginny cried, getting a mouthful of face powder. She stuck her tongue out and gagged a moment. Harry backed another step, not wanting to be covered in the stuff.

"Almost done, sweetie," the woman declared. Ginny had nearly given up on trying to explain to the bird brained woman that she needed no such make-over. All she'd received for her stubborn trouble was pain and nasty tastes in her mouth, as well as multiple pokes in the eye.

"There," the make-up artist proclaimed. "You look absolutely lovely now!"

Ginny could tell from the way Harry was smirking that she was in for a mighty big surprise as the mirror was shoved in front of her face. And if this muggle mirror had been gifted with speech, Ginny knew it wouldn't have anything kind to say about her reflection.

Ginny's eyes widened at the sight. She let out an audible gasp, and the woman took it for a sign of pleasure. "Oh, I knew you'd like your new look! Doesn't she look marvelous!" the woman asked, turning to Harry.

Harry was clutching his side, and chocking back large gales of laughter. Ginny glared at him and then turned back to look again at the damage that the make-up woman had inflicted upon her face.

She had bright red paint on her lips, a color that contrasted horribly with her hair, and enough eyeliner to mark a charms essay with. She had lime green eye paint on, the color brought all the way up to her eyebrows. The good news though was that Ginny knew she could no longer see her pale complexion or her freckles, which would be good enough for Hermione.

Jumping out of the chair, Ginny stalked over to Harry. "Pay her for the stuff, but forget the eye paint," she mumbled. Harry walked over and did as he was asked, just as Mr. Weasley came back. He was clutching a box in his hand, as well as a very large red hat..

"It's a hair changing potion!" he told Ginny excitedly. "I thought Hermione could use it on her hair. And the hat as well."

Ginny actually smiled, then took the box and the hat and handed it to Harry. "Pay for this as well," she told him. "Then let's get out of here."

A few minutes later they had departed from the department store. Harry knew of a closer exit than the one they had come in, and was grateful that it avoided the toy store from earlier. So they headed off in a new direction.

Ginny was finding it oddly enticing at the looks people passed her. A few times teenage boys would do double takes, and she smiled a bit, feeling slightly confident at this sudden change of events. Muggle women obviously knew what they were doing with this make-up thing! Harry noticed the people staring too, and looked from the staring boys to Ginny, wondering what was going on.

"Harry, how does this work?" Mr. Weasley asked, snapping Harry out of his thoughts.

"It's a revolving door," he answered. "Watch me." Harry then stepped into the door, turned it and came out on the other side. He then came back, saying, "it's easy, come on." He took Ginny's hand in his, and they came out together on the sidewalk outside. Mr. Weasley followed, but he didn't have Harry to guide him, and so he kept spinning around inside. He was smiling, enjoying the sensation and the gadgetry muggles had come up with. Finally though, Harry managed to get Mr. Weasley out, who was beginning to look a little green.


"What on earth happened to you Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley asked as the three of them came in through the front door.

"Scary muggle woman with make-up," she mumbled. Harry started laughing again and ducked up the stairs to Ron's room. Ginny, scowling after him, hurriedly walked into the kitchen and was surprised to find Hermione sitting at the kitchen table. She looked to be eating an apple tart.

"I was hungry," Hermione replied, answering before Ginny could ask. "And Fred and George left to go check on their shop, so I figured it would be safe to leave your bedroom." Hermione then noticed Ginny's face, and quickly covered her mouth to block the laughter. "What happened to you?" she asked, standing up get a better look.

Ginny scowled, and then set the shopping back on the table next to Hermione's apple tart. "The things I do for you, Hermione," she mumbled.

Hermione examined Ginny's face. "Did you get a make-over to show me if it would work or not?" she asked. "Because I can't see a single freckle on your face! This is marvelous! Oh, it's bound to cover the purple!" Hermione shrieked in glee and then sat back down and began pulling items out of the bag. The first item she pulled out was the box of hair dye that Mr. Weasley had found, and she let out another happy shriek, raising her hands into the hair and dropping the box onto the table.

Ginny smiled. "Glad to see you're thrilled, but how do I get this stuff off my face?"

"Scrub it off with water," Hermione suggested. "I would hope that would work.

Just then, Fred and George appeared with simultaneous cracks! Hermione spun around and glared at them. Ginny, who was just about to begin scrubbing the make-up off, splashed water down her front.

"Hey Ginny, what happened to your face?" George asked.

"What's it to the two of you?" she snarled.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Fred asked, turning to look at Hermione innocently.

"You both cause enough trouble," Hermione declared, then grabbed the bag of newly bought cosmetics and left.

Ginny glared at her brothers. "She's still rightfully angry at the two of you for what you did." She turned back to the sink to wash the make-up away.

George noticed the box of hair dye left behind, and he nudged his twin. Glancing at Ginny to make sure she couldn't see them, he examined the box and then smiled wickedly. Pulling out his wand, he quickly tapped the box three times, and then set it back down on the table. Apparating again, they left the room.

After Ginny had dried her face off, she snatched the hair dye that Hermione had left behind and hurried off to find Hermione. She checked the first bathroom, the one in which she had been turned purple and then checked the second bathroom with more luck. Hermione was sitting on the closed toilet lid, hugging her knees to her chest.

Hermione looked up as Ginny closed and locked the door. "I'm going to have nightmares about the other bathroom for months," she replied.

Ginny giggled. "Here," she said, handing Hermione the box of hair dye. "Do you want to try it?"

Hermione nodded enthusiastically. "I do not want purple hair, even if it only lasts for thirty six hours! Let's give this a try."

And so they set to work. Hermione began to read the directions off of the back of the box as Ginny set to the task of de-purplizing Hermione's bushy mane. Neither of them had ever dyed their hair before and weren't exactly sure if they were following the steps correctly, but when they'd finally finished, Hermione's hair seemed to have regained it's old color.

"I think it worked," Ginny said, watching as Hermione rubbed a towel through her wet hair. Hermione was actually smiling a bit, looking at her locks of hair with hope.

"We'll find out better in the morning," she replied, but she looked rather excited by the turn of events. Fred and George were not going to get the better of her!

Packing away the supplies, they scurried back to Ginny's room and put away their things, leaving the make-up in the shopping back on top of Ginny's wardrobe. Crawling into bed, they turned out the lights, both of them feeling better about returning to Hogwarts tomorrow.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Chapter Four should be out soon and it's going to be loads of fun! Hogwarts Express and lots of mayhem in store! Stay tuned, and please review this chapter!