A/N: OMG! I AM SO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE THIS! thank you all for taking the time to read and review. i never realized how hard it is to keep up with updating... i will try so hard to post the next chapter sometime in the next week... thank you soo much, Read and Enjoy!

Chapter 3: What's Bowling? Really? Dad would love that!

The next morning Fred awoke to a loud tapping on the large bay window. It took him a minute to comprehend where he was. When he finally was able to pull himself from bed and drag his tired body over to the window he saw Weezy, the tawny owl he and George had purchased two summers before. He let the owl swoop into his bedroom and perch on his bed post before he freed the owl of his burden. Just as he was about to unfold his letter another owl swooped in and fell face first on the bed; it was Hermes. The first, that Fred still held in his hand, turned out to be a letter from George (who else?) it read:

Dear Gred,

How are you dear, dear brother of mine? Are you enjoying your time in muggle London? HAHAHAHAHA! Mum is having kittens, she's worried you're sleeping in a ditch, by the way, if you are, please take a picture for me. Anyway when Mum found out about the dare she made me promise to let you come home if you're having trouble. Though if you aren't you can't come back until July 26. I don't know why but I like that date. Ok well send word about how and where you are. Do it soon, Mum keeps whacking me upside the head every time she sees me.

Your Twin and Fellow Prankster Truly,

Forge

Fred pulled the second epistle from the unconscious owl's leg and unrolled it. It was from Molly. It read:

Oh Fred!

I'm so worried! George was an absolute idiot! I cannot believe he made you live in muggle London! You have no idea how to function in the Muggle World! I highly doubt you paid attention in your four years of muggle studies! Fred I want you to come home as soon as you can, I am so upset, I cant help imagining you, hurt, lying in a ditch somewhere. Please come home! Or at least owl back as soon as you receive this.

Love you,

Mum.

Fred grinned as he tossed the letters in his trunk and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and the quill Hermione gave him for Christmas the previous year.

Oh dearest brother thou art truthful, Mum sent me a owl also. She seems to be going bonkers. I'll write her as well and explain, but just so you know, I actually ran into a friend of ours: the one and only Hermione Granger. It was really quite strange, one minute I was completely lost in muggle London, the next Hermione is yelling at me and waving. So don't worry and be sure to assure Mum I am not sleeping in a ditch or lying hurt in one either. Actually I am staying with the Grangers for a while. It's amazing here, you should see it, they have this game room, Oh Merlin mate, I can't even describe it. Ok well I'll owl you later. Make sure you keep working hard inventing and testing nasty products in that disgustingly hot lab, while I hang out here, doing nothing relatively important but hanging out with one of my best friends and trying to be decent at DDR. Have fun…

Your incredibly lucky brother

Gred.

Fred rolled up the parchment and attached it to Weezy's leg before turning back to write a letter to his mother as his owl soared out of the window. He wrote to her explaining where he was and when he would be home. He made certain to guarantee his mother that he was safe and well. He began to dress as a still extremely exhausted Hermes dragged his old body over to the window and jumped. He plummeted to the ground before pulling up and taking flight only two feet from the earth.

When Fred had dressed in his favorite Ratty-just-woke-up-after-changing-the-oil-in-my-car-and-saving-a-kitty-from-a-tree-with-really-sharp-branches pair of jeans, and a navy blue polo shirt, topped off of course with a nice pair of white K-Swiss sneakers, he left his room and proceeded down the hall to Hermione's. When he knocked he could hear a muffled growl, a scream, and a very loud thud. Not thinking of the fact that he had not been permitted entrance, Fred threw open the door and barged into the bedroom. Looking around he saw a large pile of books that had fallen out of Hermione's closet. That must have been the thud, Fred thought to himself. As he looked closer he could see, peeking out from some of the books, a collection of shiny brown string… wait no… that wasn't right… "Hermione!" Fred exclaimed as he hurried over to the closet and began removing the books that had landed on top of her. "Hermione? Hermione can you hear me?" Fred asked somewhat desperately. When he had finally pushed all the books off her small form, Fred saw that she was unconscious.

"What happened?" a scared voice asked Fred from the doorway. He turned to see Hermione's flustered and worried parents standing behind him.

"I don't know" Fred replied truthfully, "I just finished getting dressed and I came to see if Hermione was awake yet, I knocked on the door and the next thing I heard was her scream and a thud. That's when I got worried and just came in. I found that whole pile of books on top of her. I don't think she's hurt, just knocked out." Fred turned back to Hermione's prone figure and pulled out his wand. He was about to say a spell to revive her when he heard gasps from behind him and Mr. Granger's voice.

"What are you going to do to her?" He asked fearfully.

Fred smiling reassuringly up at the man and replied, "I'm only gunna try and wake her up, it won't hurt her. Mr. and Mrs. Granger nodded and Fred turned back to Hermione. "Enervate!" Fred said clearly. As soon as the white light from his wand hit Hermione her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled.

"Morning Fred!" she said brightly.

Fred smiled down at her, "good morning Mione. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, why do you ask? Wait! Why am I on the floor?" Hermione looked around and realized she was laying in front of her closet her head resting comfortably on Fred's lap.

Fred still smiling said, "Oh it seems as though your books decided today was the perfect day to stage a revolt. Nasty little buggars attacked you right out in the open too." He was absentmindedly stroking Hermione's hair as he spoke to her, softly joking. This did not go unnoticed by either of the elder Grangers.

Hermione laughed softly with her eyes shut as she enjoyed the feeling of Fred's hand brushing her bangs from her forehead, "I was trying to get down my shoes. I would have gotten them too if the whole shelf hadn't decided to come with them. Do you see them anywhere?" she asked as she sat up and looked around. Fred's hand fell from her head to her back to help her sit up, afterwards however he forgot to move it and subsequently began rubbing little circles at the small of her back. Neither minded in the least. Hermione was still glancing around the floor for her shoes when she realized they were still in her right hand. She held up the box they resided in and smiled triumphantly at Fred, "I win!"

Fred laughed joyously as he stood up and helped Hermione stand with him.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger who had been quietly watching the display between their daughter and her friend looked relieved when she stood soundly.

Hermione who had only just spotted her parents smiled warmly and greeted, "Morning Mum, Morning Dad!"

Mrs. Granger who was finally able to breath again captured her daughter in a motherly hug, "Oh Hermione dear, I knew all those books piled in there was a bad idea I knew you'd get hurt, Oh I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

Hermione hugged her mother back and said comfortingly, "It's ok mum, I'm fine." When mother and daughter pulled away Hermione continued, "Anyway haven't you ever heard the expression 'beauty is pain'?" Everyone laughed and Mr. and Mrs. Granger went back downstairs. Fred stayed with Hermione to help her clean up the mess of books, as they worked they talked about everything and anything.

"I cant believe I got knocked out by books!" Hermione exclaimed during a lapse in conversation.

Fred began to howl with mirth as he remembered the morning's events.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked trying to sound irritated but failing miserably."

"You… hahaha… and then… haha… growling…hahahaha… SHREIK!... haha… hahahaha… thud…" by this time Fred could barely stand up. He was, once again, clinging to Hermione for dear life.

She glared as best as she could and asked, "Oh would you stop?" he didn't, "Ok fine, be that way, but I smell breakfast so I'm going downstairs to eat pancakes, sausages, eggs, bacon, muffins…" she left off when she realized Fred stopped laughing, as was her plan. Instead he was standing with a dazed expression plastered over his face as he stroked his belly, and licked his lips. "Come on," Hermione rolled her eyes as she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out of her bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen.

When they got downstairs the table was set for four people and was piled with everything Hermione had mentioned and more. The two teens sat down across from each other and immediately began piling their plates with everything in reach.

Mrs. Granger, who sat across from her husband with Hermione and Fred on either side said, "So what do you two have planned for today?"

Hermione and Fred looked at each other and shrugged, Hermione then seemed to remember something and said, "Riley and everyone were planning on going bowling today but I…" Hermione left her sentence hanging as the telephone began to ring. She got up and went over to the counter where it was placed, "Hello? You've reached the Granger residence." A muffled voice sounded from the telephone. Fred was impressed, he had seen a telephone and knew how they worked but he had never seen one used the way a muggle would. It was strange to him that Hermione seemed to go back and forth from witch to muggle so easily. "Hey Riley I was just talking about you…" Hermione was continuing the conversation and smiling at Fred. "Oh really?... ok great… yeah… actually I have a friend staying with me for a while… no Ron's older brother… one of the twins, Fred… yes older…what does it matter?... 20… yeah why?... RILEY!... I'm hanging up now… ok bye… yeah 11… ok we'll be there, bye"

Hermione came back to the table still smiling, she sat down and looked at Fred. "You want to learn how to bowl?"

"What's that?" Fred asked blankly.

"Well," Hermione said, "it's a muggle teen pastime, see you go to this place, called a bowling alley… What it is basically is long slippery lanes that you toss a ball down, and try and knock things over."

"Ok… I guess," Fred said uncertainly, "Umm… who was that?" He asked referring to the person Hermione had been speaking with moments before.

"Oh! That was Riley James, she is like one of my oldest and best friends, we used to go to school together… well that is until Hogwarts."

"Oh. How does she know who I am?"

"Oh, well I've told her about you," Hermione blushed deeply at this and then quickly continued, "well all the Weasley's actually. Harry too. She met both of them and Ginny last year. Well I've told her everything I can… she knows I go to a school for the 'gifted' I told her it was called Brigham's Academy in Scotland, and that it's very exclusive and you can't even apply to it, you have to be selected. She bought it."

"Well aren't we the sly one."

"Well how do you think she would have reacted had I gone up to her and said, 'oh by the way Ri just so you know, I'm a witch. I go to a school to learn magic, and one of my best friends is famous for disembodying an evil dark wizard when he was just a year old. My favorite teachers have been a half giant, a werewolf, and woman who can turn herself into a cat. Not to mention the ghost who no one pays attention to.'" She finished off her rant with a fake smile and a mock-glare.

Fred chuckled and said, "alright, alright. Why did she want to know how old I was?"

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes at the memory, "Oh she thinks older guys are hot, and was congratulating me for it, I don't really know why but that's just Riley."

Fred raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and asked slyly, "She thinks older guys are hot does she?"

"Oh dear," Hermione said. "Well anyway they expect us around eleven and it's already ten. So I just have to go finish getting dressed and then we can head over there." She stood up from the table and headed back up to her room.

Fred called after her, "LOOK OUT FOR ANGRY BOOKS!"

"HA HA HA!" Hermione called back sarcastically.

Hermione hurried back to her bedroom still chuckling, Why is it that even the stupidest comments from Fred make me want to laugh hysterically, when if they come from anyone else would make me want to hurl? She asked herself as she stood in front of her full length mirror holding up a t-shirt. Because you love him? That small annoying voice in the back of her head that she had nicknamed 'Bitch Who Must State The Obvious', whispered back to her. Yeah yeah yeah! Leave me alone… She finished getting dressed and hurried down stairs, I hope he likes my friends, she thought nervously as she spotted Fred sitting on the couch in the family room reading. Shouldn't it be you hope your friends like him? Little miss bitch said in her ear, does it matter? She responded in her head, apparently…

Fred had sat himself down on the family room couch to read so Hermione could finish getting ready, I have no clue what else she could be doing to herself she looks gorgeous no matter what. Fred looked up as he heard a light thumping coming from the stairs, he knew immediately who it was. "No scary books this time?" he asked before he even saw her emerge.

"Oh don't you wish!" Hermione said playfully as she materialized from the staircase.

Fred was stunned, how can she take my breath away by just coming into the room? Hermione came gliding into the room a broad smile spread across her –in Fred's mind- flawless face. She was dressed in a pair of well fitted jeans, her feet were donned by bright red converse low tops. A thick matching red leather belt was wrapped around her small waist, just visible under a navy blue printed tee. Across the chest was the image of a face peeking out over the top of a book, inside a circle. Her hair was pulled up in a high flowing ponytail; her bangs were swept lightly off of her face which was dusted delicately with makeup. As she turned to pick up her purse that was lying on a table by the stairway Fred noticed that the back of her shirt had "Go read a book!" written in the same red as on the front. She turned back and grinned at Fred, "Shall we go?"

Fred stood automatically and held out his arm, which Hermione took in a second, "We shall milady."

They walked outside and climbed into Hermione's navy blue MiniCooper. After about ten minutes on the road Hermione pulled into the parking lot of a large building, the sign read "Long Lanes Bowling Alley." Hermione climbed out and watched as Fred gazed with his now infamous wide eyes, I love that look. Fred stood still next to the car, not moving. Hermione rolled her eyes as she walked around the car and grabbed the stunned boy's hand. "Come on…" she pulled him through the door and smiled as she heard Fred's amazed gasp. They stood inside the front door to the building as Hermione looked around for her friends and Fred took everything in. Just as Hermione spotted a large group of people by the back of the building, Fred regained the ability of speech.

"What is this place?" He asked as Hermione started to pull him towards her friends.

"It's a bowling alley." Hermione said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's bowling?" Fred asked pointing to the many lanes, and the people crowded around them.

"Yes, why?"

"DAD WOULD LOVE THIS!"