A/N: wow, this is a REALLY long one. I sort of got carried away with the story, and it's not even a romantic one. Blah. I hope it didn't drag on too long, and that it's still entertaining even though I ended up repeating a sizable amount of dialogue.
Thanks to iLoveRomance2o11 for reviewing again. It means a lot that you take the time to tell me what you think of every chapter.
Again, I remind you that suggestions and requests are welcome. Please enjoy the latest story. (It's too long to even attempt to call a drabble at this point.)
Was it you who caught me staring?
Lazily, Hermione flipped a page in Hogwarts, A History, the book she had decided to bring with her to the Burrow for the Christmas holidays. She was sitting sideways on the couch, one knee drawn up to her chest and the other dangling over the side, swinging gently. The crackling fireplace and the gentle laughter of her friends were immensely relaxing, and Hermione felt quite at peace. Mrs Weasley bustled in from the kitchen with a large silver tray, heavily laden with tea, cups, saucers, and various cakes. Everyone grabbed one of the mismatched sets of cups and saucers, Hermione ended up with a light blue flowered cup and a green saucer. Mrs Weasley bent to pour tea in her cup just as the fireplace glowed green and Fred tumbled from it, landing ungracefully on the hearth. Mrs Weasley spilled tea everywhere, (Hermione used a quick scourgify charm to mop it up) and then George came tumbling through the fireplace after his brother. "Geroffme," Fred's muffled voice said (George had landed on top of his twin), and George scrambled to get up, grinning at Harry and winking at Hermione. Fred also got to his feet, socked his brother's arm, and then shot a grin and a wink to Harry and Hermione. "Hello, boys," Mrs Weasley said, enveloping them in a hug, "Have you come for tea?" "No, mum," Fred said solemnly, "We've come to borrow a pair of Ron's socks." Hermione giggled. "Actually, we've come to borrow Hermione," George said, and Hermione, shocked, stopped giggling. "We need her potions expertise," Fred added, "but we promise to bring her back in time for supper," George finished. "So, how about it, Granger? Fancy helping some blokes in a right bind?" Fred turned to her, and offered his hand. She glanced around at Harry, who shrugged at her, and Ron who wasn't paying attention. "Oh, all right, then," she sighed, standing up without Fred's assistance. George grabbed some floo powder from the mantle and tossed it in the merrily crackling fireplace, then invited Hermione forward. "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," She said as clearly as she could, and stepped into the emerald flames.
Seconds later, she fell through the fireplace into the back room of Fred and George's shop. Hurriedly, she stood up, brushing the soot from her clothes as she got out of the way of the fireplace. Moments later, a whooshing sound and a thump let her know that one of the twins had arrived, followed closely by another whoosh and thump. "Geroffme!" Fred's voice, muffled, shouted from below his twin, again. Hermione watched, amused, as they scuffled on the floor a bit, she could just imagine them doing the same thing when they were younger. When it was clear that Fred had won (having pinned his brother down with his elbow), the twins scrambled to their feet, faces flushed and grinning. "What did you want my help with?" She asked, looking around the back room of their store interestedly. An empty cauldron stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by bottles of potion ingredients and an overturned stool. The rest of the back room mainly consisted of shelf after shelf of products, organized neatly by name. A table took up the back left corner of the room, directly across from the fireplace. The battered surface was covered in scorch marks, and a box full of something Hermione couldn't identify was lying on it as well. "Our new product," George said from her left, "Still in the testing phase, though," Fred added. George nodded, "There are still a few ah… unpleasant side effects we haven't managed to get rid of." Hermione wrinkled her nose and turned away from the table. "Actually, we wanted your opinion on this potion we're trying to make," Fred motioned to the cauldron. Hermione inched over and peeked inside. "It's empty," she called out, her voice echoing back to her. "I know," Fred said irritably, "I've messed it up three times in the last two hours and had to start over. That's why I want your help. Georgie's rubbish at potions, anyway," George made an indignant noise from somewhere behind her, "So, I came to my favourite bookworm." "I'm going to work on these," George motioned to the box on the table, "Since I'm so rubbish at potions." "Only joking, Gred," Fred lobbed an empty bottle at him, "Could you get me some more powdered mandrake root?" "Right-o, Forge," George grinned and disapparated with a crack.
"So… What's the problem?" Hermione asked, "And, what are you trying to make?" "Er… I thought maybe I'd just brew it and sort of… show you what's happening. It's a new potion I'm inventing for the store. Hopefully it's going to work a bit like Liquid Luck," "Felix Felicis?" "That's the one," Fred winked, "But it'll only make the user feel more confident. Sort of a fun thing to put in a chum's drink at a party," he explained. A crack signalled the return of George, and Fred caught the bottle that was thrown at him with a careless twitch of his arm. "Shall I get started then?" Fred asked, conjuring another stool for Hermione to sit beside him. She nodded, and he waved his wand to fill the cauldron with water. Hermione lit the flame beneath it with her own wand, and he reached for the first bottle. She watched him work for almost half an hour, interjecting every now and then with a suggestion. He would glance appreciatively at her before returning his focus to the cauldron. "There, look!" He said, twenty-five minutes after they had begun. "It's not supposed to be that colour." Hermione had to agree, as the potion turned a muddy brown and began to smoke. With a sigh, Fred waved his wand, emptying the cauldron of its contents. "Any ideas, Granger?" "Er… Did you add lacewings?" "Yeah, why?" "I think you should try stirring counter-clockwise every fifth stir once the lacewings have been added." Fred filled the Cauldron again, and Hermione watched for another twenty-five minutes as Fred re-brewed the potion. The potion turned a light blue this time instead of brown. Fred looked joyous and added the last few ingredients, turning the potion a light gold before extinguishing the flames and letting the potion cool. "You did it!" He shouted, picking her up and spinning her around. Bewildered, Hermione patted him awkwardly on the back. "Er… No problem." "He's been trying to get it to work for the last week," George chortled from his corner. "Almost done, Gred?" Fred asked cheekily, still holding Hermione in the air. "Fred?" She mumbled, "C-could you let me down?" He chuckled and set her on her feet, ruffling her hair affectionately. "It's almost time for supper, Gred," He called to his twin, "And we promised to have Hermione back by then." "N-no, we still have a little time. Here, let me see if I can help you, George," Hermione said, making her way to the table and pulling out her wand. Twenty minutes later, George's project was finished, too.
Or was it me who caught you?
The potion bubbled merrily, light pink and smooth, like it was supposed to. Fred stirred it exactly four times and reached for the bottle of lacewings. He carefully measured them and added them to his potion, stirring until it turned the right colour. He added the last of his powdered mandrake root and stirred again. The potion turned brown, and began to smoke. "Bloody Hell!" He shouted, standing up and tipping over the stool he had been sitting on. He waved his wand irritably and emptied the cauldron for the third time that morning. George looked up from the table where he was working, his wand-tip glowing. "You know what we need, Freddie? Granger." Fred stopped short. "You know what, Forge, that could be the best idea you've had all day!" George scoffed, "I have all the good ideas." "That means I have all the good looks," Fred replied, grinning at his brother. "Speaking of good ideas," He glanced out the window at the near-blizzard that had been going on all day, "I fancy using the floo network so we don't have to walk half a mile in the snow." "Let's get a move on then… We might be able to pop in just in time for tea," George laughed, putting his wand away.
Moments later, Fred came tumbling through the fireplace and into the Burrow. As he had suspected, his mum was in the process of pouring tea for Hermione, and had spilled it all over the table. "Wicked," he murmured to himself, just before a rather large weight landed on him, squashing him flat. His brother had come just a little bit too quickly, and had come to a halt right on top of Fred. "Get off me," He shouted, but it sounded muffled and more like, "Geroffme!" Sighing, he pushed George off, who was already in the process of standing up, before getting to his feet. He socked his brother in the arm, who just grinned merrily at him, sent his own grin to Harry, and winked at Hermione. His mum, who appeared to have recovered from spilling tea on the table, hurried over to them. "Hello, boys!" She hugged them, "Have you come for tea?" feeing a bit exasperated, he said in mock-solemnity, "no, mum, we've come to borrow a pair of Ron's socks." Laughter. "Actually, we've come to borrow Hermione," George said. "We need her potions expertise," Fred added, "But we promise to bring her back in time for supper," George finished. "So how about it, Granger? Fancy helping some blokes in a right bind?" He offered the girl his hand, but she didn't take it. "Oh, all right then," She sighed, closing her book. Hermione went through the fireplace first, and, after chucking a bit of parchment off the floor towards Ron, Fred followed.
Fred really didn't understand how he always ended up getting squished by his brother, who always, always followed too quickly through the floo network. In a fit of frustration, Fred had begun tussling with his twin, who, though confused at first, took to it with the same enthusiasm they had as boys. Eventually, Fred managed to pin George with his elbow in a very lucky manoeuvre, escaping with only a few bruises. Laughing, his frustration at the morning's wasted work gone, Fred scrambled to his feet. Hermione was examining the room, gazing at the cauldron and the shelves with interest. "What did you want my help with?" She asked, now approaching George's table gingerly, and peering at the box. "Our latest product," George informed her. "Still in the testing phase, though," Fred added. George nodded, "There are still a few ah… unpleasant side effects we haven't managed to get rid of." Hermione wrinkled her nose and turned away from the table. "Actually, we wanted your opinion on this potion we're trying to make," Fred motioned to the cauldron. Hermione informed them that it was empty, her voice echoing as though to prove her point. "I know," Fred's irritation was returning, "I've messed it up three times in the last two hours and had to start over. That's why I want your help. Georgie's rubbish at potions anyway," George spluttered indignantly, "So I came to my favourite bookworm." She looked pleased by the compliment. "I'm going to work on these," George motioned to the product still on the table, "Since I'm so rubbish at potions," He winked quickly at Fred, who remembered that he'd used the last of the powdered mandrake root. "Only joking, Gred," He lobbed the empty bottle at his twin, "Could you get me some more powdered mandrake root?" "Right-o, Forge," George answered cheerily, disapparating with a crack.
"So… What's the problem?" Hermione sounded generally interested, "and what are you trying to make?" Fred explained their new product to her, remembering to himself how George and he had thought of it- all the confidence of alcohol without the consequence the morning after. It had been George's idea, and Fred's potion skills that created the first batch. They had both been under the influence of firewhiskey at the time, of course, and Fred had been unable to recreate it again the next morning, or any of the following mornings, for that matter. He had been trying to make it for a week now, without success. Hermione knew, of course, what liquid luck was, and she seemed impressed that they had been able to come up with the idea. Once George had returned, lobbed the fresh bottle back to Fred, and returned to his table, Fred turned to Hermione, conjured her a stool, and asked, "Shall I get started, then?" She took the seat, and he filled the cauldron with water. She set the flame beneath it, and he lost himself in the magic that potion making had always held for him. Every now and then, Hermione would offer up a suggestion, in a quiet, unassuming sort of way that he didn't think her capable of. He accepted her suggestions without question, and he thought maybe she'd fix the problem without seeing exactly what the problem was. Indeed, the potion was a rosier shade of pink then he'd ever seen it. He reached for the lacewings, hoping that this time everything would work out. He stirred the potion, and it looked fine- Pearlescent green and bubbling merrily. Exhaling slowly, he reached for the mandrake root, measuring it swiftly before pouring it in and stirring the required four times. He almost cursed as it turned the same muddy brown colour. "There, look! It's not supposed to turn that colour." He waved his wand and emptied the cauldron for the fourth time, before turning to Hermione. "Any ideas, Granger?" "Er… did you add lacewings?" "Yeah, why?" was he missing something to do with lacewings? "I think you should try stirring counter-clockwise after every fifth stir once the lacewings have been added." Well, it couldn't hurt to try, could it? He filled the cauldron a fifth time and set about re-making his potion. Heeding her advice, he added a counter-clockwise stir after the lacewings had been added, and to his delight it turned blue instead of brown after adding the mandrake root. He quickly added the last few ingredients and the potion turned light gold, just the way he remembered it. He put out the flame and rushed over to Hermione, unable to resist picking her up and spinning her around joyously. "You did it!" He said, happily. "Er… no problem," She patted his back while George informed her, "He's been trying to get that to work for the last week." "Almost done, Gred?" Fred asked his twin, smiling innocently. "Fred?" Hermione asked, "C-could you let me down?" Fred had forgotten he was still holding her, and let her down gently. He couldn't help but to ruffle her hair in an affectionate sort of way. "It's almost supper time, Gred," He called out, "And we promised to have her back by then." Hermione surprised him by offering to help George with his project, and when she turned her back, Fred pocketed a small vial of the light-gold potion. This was going to be a very, very fun Christmas dinner.