Hello my lovelies, again I'm proud to publish in time. This week the chapter will be a bit shorter. I had to make some decision at work and about work and it got me into serious overthinking for a while which left me little time to write. But I promise I will try everything to write you all an extra-long chapter in two weeks as a compensation (I promise to try, I can't promise I will manage^^). So, I hope you enjoy it and will forgive me. But I thought publishing at least a short chapter is better than publishing nothing at all and keep you hanging.

ooo ooo ooo

WHAT IF

Chapter 27 - You've Got Owl Post

The letter arrived announced by a loud shrieking owl on the second day after school had started again. No one paid any real attention as the owl dropped the letter and a medium-sized box in front of Hermione, who quickly put her book away. Carefully she placed the box in her lap to make space on the breakfast table and opened the letter. Hermione's heart skipped a little happy beat from looking at Fred's messy but beautiful handwriting.

Dear Hermione,

I hope you arrived safely back at Hogwarts. I know, I know, you will miss our jokes and pranks terribly since they're such extraordinary magic. Therefore I took the freedom to send you a selected range of our best products. I hope you enjoy them!

Hermione had to stifle her laughter as she slowly opened the package and uncovered the typical, brightly coloured wrapping from WWW. She tried not to draw too much attention to herself since she wasn't ready to answer noisy questions from everyone about why Fred Weasley was sending her a letter and a package with products. They hadn't talked if they wanted to tell people that... well, there was nothing to tell yet. And that's why Hermione preferred to keep it a secret for a while.

She threw a quick glance into the box and surely Fred had sent her all kind of stuff. Hermione first discovered the Patented Daydream Charms, which she had praised as extraordinary not long ago. She stifled another giggle at the memory and now getting why he had phrased his letter like that. Then there was a box of Canary Creams, a Weather in a Bottle and Skiving Snackboxes. The later one was something she would surely never use but it reminded her of their shared brewing session so many months ago and that alone made her smile again. She hoped Fred had sent it to remind her of this day and didn't actually think she would use them. Hermione Granger would never skive of class! The rest of the box was filled with her favourite chocolates from Honeydukes and cat treats for Crookshanks.

I know, now that you're back at Hogwarts you will surely spend too much time helping Ron and Harry with their homework. The chocolate is for soothing your poor nerves when they get exhausting. The Canary Creams are for when they get annoying. And the Skiving Snackbox, well I know you will never use it for escaping lessons but may I suggest using them when Ron is not only exhausting and annoying but also a right git? Experience tells me that he pisses you off at least once a year and since I'm not there to prank some sense into him… Well, I'm perfectly sure you can deal with Ron yourself but now you have a little bit of inspiration.

The cat treats are for Crooks and tell him they are from me. I want to get on the good side of the little beast.

Hermione rolled her eyes at that. Crooks was a perfectly fine cat and not a beast. He just preferred to be around women which he showed with cuddling with most of the girls in the dorm but lashing out again most of the boys. Harry and Neville - and sometimes Ron - were rare exceptions from that rule.

Okay, I think I'm rambling. I only wanted to write to you to wish you a wonderful start into the new school year.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

Fred

PS: Mum just floo-called and told us that a guy named Slughorn is teaching Potions this year? Should I send some fireworks to celebrate a Snape free school? I bet Harry did a little happy dance, please tell me he did. And that Collin made a photo which you will send me so George and I can decorate the shop with it. We could use it as an advertisement for a product! 'Want to be as happy as the Chosen One? - Try Weasleys' Instant Happiness!'! Well, the name could use some work but the idea... well, now I'm really rambling. Send me this picture.

"Hermione, what are you giggling about?" Ron asked from the opposite of her where he and Harry had been deep into some kind of Quidditch related discussion. And of course, they emerged from that just in time to ruin her little, happy moment.

"Just a letter from my parents and a few gifts for my birthday. They're going on vacation over my birthday and had to send it sooner," Hermione lied smoothly. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. Her parents were going on a vacation and had already sent her the gift. But it had arrived yesterday morning and neither Ron nor Harry had realised it.

"And what kind of interesting things your mother send you," Ginny peered into the box, chuckling a bit.

"What did she send?" Ron tried to get a sneak but Ginny brushed him off easily.

"Don't you think that's rather rude? You should at least ask Hermione first, maybe she doesn't want you to look." Ginny scolded while Hermione used the chance to quickly store the letter inside the package, which she sealed with a small charm.

"You looked without asking!"

"But I'm a girl. Hermione doesn't mind if I see something that might be personal or intimate," the way Ginny pronounced the words suggested clearly that Hermione's mother had sent her something girly, which was always something that made Ron nervous and he instantly blushed. Of course Ginny knew about the new deal Hermione and Fred had made in the backroom of the store weeks ago so she was a wonderful ally for these kinds of situations.

Ginny had also been the one that had suggested not to write Fred first. Well, maybe she had even threatened Hermione a little bit with one of her hexes.

"This time it needs to be him who makes the first step. You confessed, you waited far too long. He suggested it and now he needs to write first."

Hermione had found it childish to play such games since Fred already knew about her feelings. She didn't really have the option of playing hard to get. In the end, she had been afraid of appearing clingy and so she had followed Ginny's advice. But Hermione was more than happy that she didn't have to wait long. Of course, Fred had written while she stayed at the Burrow, she had already guessed that, so it hadn't been hard to wait there. But if he had waited for more than a week or two of her being in Hogwarts, she would have been worried. All the more happy she was now looking at the package in her lap, knowing about the letter inside.

Hermione smiled again, ignoring the bickering sibling at the table, and stood up.

"Well, I think I will go to the library before classes to answer them. I want to thank my parents soon for those wonderful gifts."

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

Dear Fred,

Thank you for the box and the interesting assortment of products.

First I should mention how impressed I am that you managed to get the box inside via owl at all. As you probably know – you have to know since you prepared the box – Filch is searching owl post and students for your products. It's not as bad as it was during Umbridge's reign but Filch is like a hound, trying to sniff everything out. And he manages to catch quite a few people. So, I really am impressed even though as a prefect I don't want to know how you did it. Let me live in innocent bliss.

But I have to admit that I'm not sure if my inner prefect will allow me to use any of the more joke related products… Maybe I should sell them instead on the striving new black market? I heard that Canary Creams have tripled in worth since Filch found a large batch with Colin and Justin. But the chocolate will surely be very helpful as soon as Ron and Harry start to with their Quidditch training.

Did you hear? Harry is captain this year; Dumbledore lifted the stupid Quidditch ban. Ron and Ginny both want to try out for the team again this year. Ginny as a chaser this time. I'm sure they both get into the team if Ron just keeps his cool. Unfortunately the show-off McLaggen is running around and telling everyone that he will be the new Gryffindor keeper and it makes Ron nervous even though the try-outs are only in a few days. Maybe I will use one of your products on McLaggen? He would deserve it.

Well, in any case, I expect it will become very difficult to motivate Harry and Ron to do their homework when they're both on the team.

Well, I wish I could send you a happy dance picture of Harry but… Well, Snape is the new DADA professor. And sadly that makes both Harry and Snape even more vicious against each other. Since Harry is actually very good at Defence Snape has a hard time humiliating him but it seems like he only puts more effort into it. Which of course leads to Harry talking back even more. During the first lesson this week Harry and Snape had one of their usual fights and when Snape reminded Harry to call him sir, it didn't end well. Snape repeated something Harry said in his usual sarcastic way and added a sir to remind Harry of the correct way to address a professor and well… Harry said 'There's no need to call me sir! Of course, Harry has a detention this weekend. But I think I never saw Neville so impressed and happy at the same time.

Luckily the new potions professor Slughorn is actually a good teacher, maybe a bit eccentric and he also has favourites but at least he's not downright mean to anyone. He showed us some very interesting potions during the first lesson, among them Amortentia and Felix Felicis. And he taught us how to brew the draught of the living death, which was fascinating but the real surprise was that Harry managed to do it perfectly and even won a bottle of Felix Felicis. But I also did fairly well and now Professor Slughorn invited me to his little Slug Club (it sounds creepy, I know) which apparently is a meeting for students Professor Slughorn sees potential in. Harry and Ginny are also invited so at least it should be fun to go with them.

I was really happy about your last letter and I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Hermione

PS: Crooks didn't want the treats after I told them they're from you. Seems like you have a lot of work ahead of you with him.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

"Stop behaving so creepy," George tossed a sofa cushion against Fred's head. "You look like a bloody lovesick idiot staring at her letter like this. Write her back, you fool."

"Already done." Fred tied his letter to Hedwig's leg, who had delivered Hermione's response. She had probably asked Harry to use his owl since they were never enough school owls in Hogwarts at the beginning of the term when all of those icky, homesick firsties wanted to write to their parents. And of course, the students could now use the owls to order fresh Weasley products. Which was necessary when Filch was so keen on confiscating them again. Well, they would find ways to get their products inside the school. Sending Hermione this box had actually been some kind of test run.

"Wonderful," George rolled his eyes. "Does that mean I now have to endure you waiting for her answer? I swear, I will hex you if you start to stare longingly out of the window while-"

"Nope," Fred tossed the cushion right back. "The mooning and sighing and longing is more your thing."

"Ow! Low blow," George snickered as they both made themselves comfortable on the bright, purple sofa.

Living in the flat was so much better and easier now that they were fully furnished and the chaos of the first weeks after opening the shop had ebbed down a bit. Since all the children were back to school again their main business was through owl orders and these were so much better manageable than having a shop full of people. The only thing that always came short was buying groceries and cooking.

Fred and George were both fairly good cooks if they had a good recipe. The problem was that they both treated cooking like experimenting and that often resulted in terrible dishes. But through trial and error, they had also developed some really amazing recipes, they only lacked time to buy ingredients. So they often ended up with ordering take-out or going out to eat. This evening too they had decided to take something home from this amazing muggle place right outside of Diagon Alley. It served the best noodles they had ever had and an amazing dish called pizza, which came with countless variations of toppings.

"Hermione wrote that the box with our products made it through Filch's searching," Fred reported as he grabbed a piece of pizza. It was his favourite one with hot sausage, bell peppers, and extra cheese.

"Perfect, that means I can send the first round of owl orders out tomorrow."

They lazed around in their living room for the remainder of the evening, relaxing from a busy day of producing products and restocking the shelves. While George was busy with reading a book about charms for their next product idea - oh, the people would be shocked to see them actually researching - Fred pulled Hermione's letter out again to skim over the words.

He was a bit sad that he couldn't be at Hogwarts this year. It felt kind of odd to not be part of the chaos, the excitement, and everything else. Reading about Harry, Ron and Ginny all probably playing on the Quidditch team together made him want to be there too.

Fred grinned as he read again about Hermione suggesting to prank McLaggen - Fred remembered the guy and he was a terrible show-off - or selling the products on the black market. He knew Hermione would never do one of those things, she was too nice. Okay, now that wasn't the right word. Hermione could be downright scary when she needed to. But most times she was really proper and only broke the rules if necessary. And Fred thought that maybe they weren't so different after all. He also only broke the rules if necessary. It was only their definition of necessary that differed slightly.

His heart skipped a beat again when he read the part about Amortentia. Fred wondered what Hermione smelled. She had told him she was in love with him but that didn't mean she also smelled something that represented him, right? Merlin, why did he have to overthink this so much? She had said she liked him, he said he wanted to write a letter and get to know each other better. He should concentrate on that inside of questioning everything all over again. George and he had discussed it lengthily and the outcome was the same every time: he liked her and this was worth going for it.

"What are you doing?" George asked drowsily when Fred suddenly jumped up.

"I'm going to create a cat treat that even that little beast can't withstand," he declared with a grin. Fred only heard an annoyed groan from his twin shortly as an answer and then made his way to the workroom.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

My, my Hermione,

That does sound like a lot is going on this year in Hogwarts. New professor, even though that's not surprising, but Snape as DADA professor? Seems like Dumbles finally ran out of idiots who wanted the job. Want to make a bet on how long Snape will have the job? After the experience of the last few years, I bet a galleon that Harry will be the reason he loses the job. And maybe then we will get a little happy dance?

Slug club… that really sounds a bit fishy, to be honest. Don't tell me he came up with the name by himself? I would have chosen something more creative and, more importantly, something more flattering. How did Ginny manage to get an invitation to this? Harry I get, he's the chosen one and everything. And you're simply bloody brilliant! But as far as I know, Ginny is maybe a fairly good student but takes more after George and I. Is Slughorn also collecting troublemakers? Maybe I should introduce myself then.

I'm glad you liked our products and the chocolates. Just write to me if you run out before the first Hogsmeade weekend and I will fill up your stores. A girl can never have too much chocolate, right? Especially a girl who studies as much as you do. By the way, do you already know when the first Hogsmeade weekend will be? I might come around if you want me to…

Hermione thought her heart would stop at those words. Bloody idiot, did he actually think she would say no? Of course, she wanted him to come to Hogsmeade.

Well, I hope you can overcome your inner prefect and actually prank the hell out of McLaggen. I remember the git – excuse my language – and even though I'm always on board with taking the mickey out of Ron I don't remember giving McLaggen permission to do so. You have my blessing to sabotage the guy as much as you want to. And tell me about it later!

And if you want to sell our products on the black market, well, I would gladly employ you as our unofficial Hogwarts dealer. What better camouflage than having a THE prefect on our side?

Hoping to lure you into pranking and mischief,

Fred

PS: I'm working on a special treat for Crookshanks. He will have no other choice than to love me.

With a little happy smile, Hermione carefully stored the letter away and made her way to the Quidditch pitch. The letter had already arrived two days ago but she thought it would be best to write Fred after the try-outs. Then she could hopefully write to him the good news about two of his sibling making it into the team. The prank products she left in her dorm. The urge to actually use them on McLaggen had been strong in the last few days and she didn't want to temp herself.

"Hello Hermione, Hello Neville, wonderful morning, isn't it?" Luna greeted Hermione and Neville as they arrived in the stands. It seemed like the majority of Gryffindor house was trying out for the team this year so Neville and Hermione had decided to enjoy the spectacle from the stands. And of course to cheer for Ron and Ginny.

Curiously Hermione eyed the full stadium. There seemed the be more people in there than Gryffindor house even had. And sure enough, just after five minutes of starting Harry had to send a group of students from other houses away.

"Oh my," Neville sighed. "Seems like most of them are here to get a look of Harry and not for the team. He will have a hard time." And Neville's assumption was right, as it became clear during the morning.

Most of the students were unconcentrated, giggled and talked the whole time, and tried to get Harry's attention. It was a mess and Neville had to stop Hermione a few times from storming down there and yell at them. But she knew it wouldn't help Harry's authority if she intervened.

When finally the annoying ones were sorted out and send away the try-outs got serious. It took the most of the morning to get through all the practice trials but one after one Harry decided who to set on which position. Of course, Ginny was soon set as a chaser, along with Katie and Dean. Hermione knew her friend was a fierce player and flyer and she wasn't surprised that Ginny didn't show any nerves.

The keeper try-outs came last and Hermione cursed as she saw how pale Ron was. The chaos of the day and the many people in the stand, who were watching and cheering, made him even more nervous. Merlin, she would never understand why he wanted to be on the team so badly if he was so nervous and uncomfortable about it.

But to everyone's surprise, Ron did better as his nervousness suggested. He actually was the best keeper so far. And then it was Cormac McLaggen's turn.

Hermione's frown was etched deep into her face as she watched how McLaggen mounted his broom and flew a special round through the pitch to show off. And with rising horror, she watched how he managed to hold the shots easily, even though Ginny tried everything to shot as difficult and hard as possible.

Her heart almost stopped when McLaggen held the fourth shot and grinned confidently. He even had the nerve to throw a wink in the direction of the stands. Hermione shuddered and on a whim, she grabbed her wand. The confundus spell left her lips so softly that it was barely hearable and a moment later McLaggen missed the Quaffle spectacularly by flying to the opposite direction.

With a satisfied grin, Hermione watched how Ron was announced as the new keeper of the Gryffindor team and Harry almost glowed with happiness. She couldn't wait to write to Fred about it. She hadn't done it to impress Fred but his idea of sabotaging McLaggen had stayed in her head ever since she had first read the letter.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

Fred let out a booming laugh. She had hexed McLaggen! She actually had confuded the git and helped Ron to get on the team. With a proud grin, he handed the letter to George and showed him the paragraph where Hermione described the try-outs.

"Merlin's saggy balls," he groaned in playful annoyance. "Do me a favour and just marry the girl. She's obviously perfect."

"Yes, she might be," he admitted and read the last line again.

I would love for you to visit me at Hogsmeade.

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