Hermione emerged from a cubicle and made her way to a sink to wash her hands. She hoped that Harry was faring well with Weasley in Snape's classroom; the ingredients and concoction for the potion they were working on wasn't all that complicated, she recalled. But then again…what was basic to her usually was strenuous to others. Her inflated intellect had a tendency to blind her to the fact that not everyone was as studious and well-informed as she was. She exited the lavatory, her gait quick, as she wanted to get back to Potions before Harry or Weasley caused their potion's brewing any costly blunders.
It was when she was midway down the corridor that she sensed two pairs of feet stalking in her wake. An amused, masculine giggle floated towards her from behind, making her white-knuckled as she quickened her pace. It soon became evident that these two students were tailing her, their presence still being detectable by Hermione as she walked through the particular route to the dungeons verifying that they were following her. Hermione swiftly withdrew her wand, whipping around to irately address her quiet pursuers.
They were two red-haired twins wearing Slytherin robes and duplicate sneers promising of mischief. "Would you look at that, Fred? We've ruffled the little Muggle-born's feathers before so much as exchanging words with her," one of them mockingly declared.
"That has to be a new record indeed, George," replied the other twin. The exact apprehension Hermione had felt in Marcus's company was doubled in the presence of the mysterious twins. She felt like she was in that American horror film The Shining, staring down the hall at two creepy twins eerily calling for her to come "play" with them.
"I don't know either of you," Hermione growled, "but if you're hoping for a game of skin the Mudblood I promise I will - !"
"Ah, so you really are a Muggle-born," George said, seemingly intrigued.
Hermione kept her wand at the ready. "What do you both want? Who are you?"
"Fred and George Weasley," they responded in velvety unison, "Twin Terrors of Slytherin House! Pleased to make your acquaintance!"
Weasley?
Hermione slowly lowered her wand. "Are...you both related to Ron?"
"Oh, you know our little badger kid-brother!" Fred said. "How many times has he tripped over his own feet and fallen on his face?"
While the Weasley Slytherins laughed, Hermione chastised herself for having not noticed the obvious: red hair and freckles...of course they were Ron's kin.
But still...
"What is it that you both want with me?" she asked more calmly than she had earlier.
"Well, certainly not to force you into a broom closet, or anything," George answered. "So you can put your wand away. We just had to see for ourselves if the news was true. If there really was a Muggle-born in Slytherin this year."
This was becoming quite annoying and ridiculous now. She knew it was a rare happening, but was a Muggle-born being put in Slytherin really that much of a huge deal? In the mere two days she'd been at Hogwarts, she'd felt more like a sideshow attraction than an equal student.
"Well, here you both are, the news has been confirmed," she sourly retorted, tucking her wand back into her sleeve. "Now if you'll both excuse me..."
"Wait a second!" called George. "Don't be so hasty, Granger! We have a proposition for you!"
Proposition? Fred and George may have been fellow Slytherins, but she hadn't been aware of their existence before just now. What business could they have possibly had to discuss with her?
With uncertainty building in her chest, she stood before the brothers. "What are you saying...?" she demanded.
In response, the boys grinned widely at her.