7.
Define maturity
GINNY; " Well...it almost worked."
FRED; " That is because you didn't let us..."
GEORGE: " Organise it to begin with."
GINNY; I think the two of you did quite enough.
FRED; oh we did do..but we didn't do enough.
GEORGE; Right. If we had done, all that we would do, they would be shagging each other right now, instead of moping around in the garden.
GINNY; George Weasley, what a ghastly thing to say!
FRED: I could say worse.
GEORGE: Go on, I could outsay you anyday.
FRED; Never1 For instance, I could say-
GINNY: I don't want to hear it!
ARTHUR: Hear what, Ginny girl?
GINNY; Fred and George are being most offensive.
GEORGE: She is just upset that she lost her day.
ARTHUR: Oh dear, then the bet is still on?
GINNY: Not because I didn't try!
FRED: Temper, Temper.
GEORGE: I thought you had outgrown that nasty petulance.
MOLLY; Children! Try to behave a little more like adults.
SNAPE: And what particular part of this farce even remotely suggests maturity?
MOLLY: Oh, Severus, it's all in good fooling.
TONKS: It is funny too. Trying to set them up. I could never manage it...could you just imagine the disaster?
SNAPE: Yes.
FRED: And besides being loads of laughs, five thousand galleons is a bloody lot of money! "
SNAPE: FIVE thousand!
GEORGE: Yes. The tickling episode yesterday seemed to have spurred some new enthusiasm amongst the lagging bettors.
SNAPE: Fascinating.
That weekend;
Hermione gave Fred and George a lecture on the dangers of their candy, and they pretended to be humbled by her words, when in fact they were nudging each other and winking whenever she turned her back. To show how sympathetic they truly were, they gave her a certificate that stated she was entitled to any free Weasley prank product, good for a year and charmed against theft or misuse.
Ron and Harry never told anyone that it was indeed they who had been tampering with the canary creme...Had it actually turned her into a bold temptress, as they had planned, they would have split the pool between them, since she was supposed to eat it on Monday, which was Ron's day. It had been his idea, but Harry's spell work. Since it was a failed experiment, with rather embarrassing side effects...they wisely kept it quiet.
Well, they told Bill. And Bill told Charlie. And Charlie thought it was so funny that he bought an entire case of canary cremes from a slightly suspicious George...and gave them to Harry and Ron with strict orders to try to perfect that idea, because he was just looking for the perfect birthday gift to give to Tonks...
Remus had to lock himself in the basement for the full moon, and Hermione spent three days idly wandering about, avoiding her cauldron, and writing in her diary. She still wasn't allowed to go to work, because her swooning was considered hazardous.
And Severus Snape finally allowed Dumbledore to convince him to put a few galleons down on the excruciatingly probable chance that the two ignorant Ex-Gryffindors might make a blatant public display of affection.
Getting paid for it seemed like the only good reason to allow such a thing to happen, in his opinion. But, being who he was, he decided immediately that he would win, at all costs, because if he didn't..then one of the other fools might. He practically rubbed his hands together at the thought of how shocked everyone would be when it was he who got to pocket winnings.
Now...he only had to find a way...