Chapter three – Of magical beans and garish skin

Two days had passed since the 'incident' in the hallway, and Hermione had decided that the best solution to her problem would be to avoid a certain red-headed twin. Granted, she wasn't exactly sure what avoidance would achieve – but she sure as hell thought not seeing him at all was better than having to endure his laughter and teasing over the situation she had managed to get herself into. And laughing and teasing was what she was sure he would do. In fact, she thought it something of a miracle that he hadn't run straight off to warn Ron et al that they better not roam the corridors too early in the mornings, because he'd heard that a somewhat scary zombie wondered the halls – throwing itself into unsuspecting passers by. She shuddered again at the memory. So far she'd easily been able to find excuses to avoid George: she was going shopping with Lavender and Parvati; she had promised to meet Neville in Flourish and Blotts and give him a little potions tutoring before the new school year; she was tired and fancied a nap. Harry had suggested a few drinks with the twins last night, but she had stifled a yawn, feigning tiredness, and made her apologies before retiring to her room early.

George himself had not picked up on her purposeful avoidance of him, but rather felt a little unfortunate that she always seemed so busy. When he thought back to the other morning, he was certain there had been a spark – the way they had looked at each other, the way she had blushed so profusely. But then again, who wouldn't blush profusely at being seen half naked? She probably thought I was a right pervert, the way I was staring. He sighed, and proceeded to sit on his stool behind the shop counter and stare out of the window, thinking that it could do with a good clean because-

'You won't be able to see a thing out of that window in a few weeks!' a cheerful voice came from behind.

George spun around to see Fred stood in the doorway, his hair standing on end, his eyebrows slightly singed and his robes covered in something green, sticky and not at all pleasant looking. His mouth, however, was spread across his face in a grin, and the source of his happiness seemed to be gravitating from a small, red bean he held out in the centre of his palm.

'You, my dearest brother, are looking at the product of a genius,' he said, voice full of self-satisfaction, 'I have created something that is going to send Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes national…no, maybe even international! I can see it now, stores in Hogsmeade, Paris, New York…'

'Uh, Fred, do you want to tell me why you seem to have suddenly fallen in love with a bean? Please don't tell me you got it from a stranger you met on the way to market, in exchange for our cow daisy – wait, wait, will it grow into a beanstalk with a giant at the top who has a harp and a chicken that lays golden eggs and…' he trailed off as his twin was looking particularly unimpressed.

'Ha, ha-dee, ha! You won't be laughing when you find out what this bean can do! We'll be putting Bertie Botts out of business! Come to think of it, I reckon we could market this product beyond just the joke shop… we're going to be raking it in!'

'Look are you going to tell me just what it is you're so excited about, or do I have to guess? We might be twins, but I can no more read your mind, than Ron can chat up girls…'

'Patience, my dear brother, is a virtue. I need to go out, pay some visits – check a few wizarding laws. Need to know that this will all be above board-'

'Hold on a second! Check a few laws? Fred what exactly are we talking here, I mean it's just a bean!'

'Tut, tut – you should know by now never to underestimate anything! I think I'll leave a bowl of what are 'just beans', as you so observantly put it, for you to ponder over while I'm gone. But I wouldn't eat them if I were you…' he finished with a mischievous smirk on his face.

And before George had the chance to argue, he proceeded to place a bowl of multi coloured beans on the shop counter before sweeping out the store without a word.

Mouth agape, George stood still for a few moments before turning his attention to the bowl. He sniffed, prodded and poked at them, though he knew better than to ignore his brothers warning and have a taste. After five unsuccessful minutes, he decided to chance leaving the shop unattended momentarily – after all it had been a relatively quiet morning. He wanted to take a look upstairs in their makeshift laboratory – with a bit of luck he would find some clues in the mess he was certain his twin would have left behind.

Hermione was just deciding what she could do today that would avoid, at all costs, visiting 93 Diagon Alley, when a loud knocking came on her bedroom door.

'Just a second!' she yelled, finding her gown to cover herself up.

The knocking became stronger and more urgent, 'Hermione! Hermione open up, quick! Before someone sees me…' Ron's voice carried through the large oak door.

Now highly intrigued, she hurried over the door and pulled back the latch to allow him in. She was caught somewhere between horror, pity, and great, great amusement at the figure standing before her.

The figure was certainly recognisable as the person Hermione knew to be Ron: same towering 6 foot height, same flaming red hair, same robes – slightly frayed and worn from years of use before him. But there was something of a significant change in him this morning. This being that his usual pale, freckled skin was now a garish fuchsia pink, complete with bright blue spots. It seemed to extend beyond just his face, but was all over him, even his fingers. She stood there for a moment, her mouth twitching to smile, but her common sense telling her that it would not perhaps be the most sensible thing to do: she was certain there was an angry flush on Ron's cheeks, beneath the layers of pink and blue. Now inside her room and away from the exposure of the corridors, Ron didn't seem to know what to do. He just stood there in apparent disbelief at what he had woken up to see in the mirror this morning.

'W-What happened?' Hermione managed, stifling a giggle.

'It was Fred and George…I know it was – thought they were being a bit friendly with all the drinks they brought me last night – they're usually right stingy gits…' he moaned.

'Did you just wake up like…like that this morning?'

'Yeah, just this morning…though for all I bloody well know I've bee like this for hours…in fact – hang on a second-'

'What?'

'I thought Harry couldn't look me straight in the face when we came up last night – guessed he'd just had too many butterbeers – the bloody git, I bet he was in on this too!'

'Well I think it's just a simple charm…have you, er, tried to, you know, get it off?'

'Tried! Hermione, I've been scrubbing since I got up this morning…my skin is raw!'

'Oh Ron you are so useless, I meant tried with magic! As if a bar of soap is going to do any good'

'Well, miss-know-it-all, since I, and you, are not yet of age, magic has not exactly been an option yet! I was hardly going to sit on my arse and attempt nothing!'

'I suppose…well you'll have to go to the twins. I'm sure they'll have an antidote – I'd imagine they just slipped something in your drink last night, probably a new product'

'In case you hadn't noticed, I'm hardly fit for human interaction right now, Hermione! There is no way in a million years I am leaving this room now…'

'Well then you'll just have to stay that way!' she said, getting annoyed. What exactly did he expect her to do?

'Uh, well I was thinking you could go and see them. Get the antidote, or else drag one of them back here to fix me!'

Oh she thought.

'Hermione? What are you looking like that for?'

'Well, um, why doesn't Harry go…or…or…we could just wait to see if it wears off…' I stumbled.

'What? You said it yourself that it would take a charm or something to get this off. And why would Harry go if you're here right now…what's going on?'

Realising how stupid she was sounding Hermione snapped out of it.

'Right, right, well I'll be going then. Be back as soon as I can…' she said.

Ron, looking somewhat dazed by his friend's behaviour, seemed to decide his own situation was more important right now, and proceeded to wave her off, telling her to be as quick as possible.

The irony that she now had no choice but to visit the one place she was trying to avoid was not lost on Hermione. It seemed the fates were not through with the embarrassment she had faced so far. It was only when she reached the shop that she realized it was past eleven and that she had managed to miss breakfast altogether this morning. Her stomach rumbled at her, and she thought longingly of the big, greasy fry ups that The Leaky Cauldron would surely have stopped serving by the time she got back there. This day had certainly taken a turn for the worst.

Sighing, she soon found herself before the grubby door of Weasley's Wizarding Weezes. Summoning every bit of energy she had – and bearing in mind she hadn't eaten for quite some time this was not much – she pushed the door open and prepared herself.

Empty. The shop is empty!

Feeling slightly relieved, almost as though she'd just found out her execution was to be postponed a further few moments, she took stock of the situation and tried to decide what to do next. She assumed that at least one of the twins had to be upstairs – in a back room or something – and therefore that they would have to come down soon. Pushing Ron's image out of her mind momentarily, she decided that there would be nothing to gain in intentionally calling for them or going upstairs herself – they were most likely busy. Instead, she busied herself, browsing the tall shelves, packed with innocent, naïve looking objects, which most who came in the shop knew to be anything but. Bearing this in mind Hermione's next action was somewhat surprising. Having known the twins for a good five years, and having been the victim of enough of their 'jokes' over that time, it was even more so. Yet it's quite amazing what an empty, starving stomach can cause the mind to forget. Seeing the bowl of what she assumed to be Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on the shop counter, she absent mindedly picked up a red one – in the hope that it would be strawberry – and popped it in her mouth. And then the blacked out.

Upstairs, and still having no luck on the What's-Fred-Invented front, George heard a crash, and realized with a jolt that he had left the shop floor unattended for quite some time: what if that had been someone making off with half their stock? Cursing himself for his stupidity, he dashed downstairs and saw an unconscious Hermione lying amongst a pile of canary creams and other such things. Quickly he ran to her side, and checked her pulse and that she was breathing. They all seemed to be fine. He spoke her name several times, but nothing seemed to be getting through. Now panicking slightly, he tried to look outside – wondering if, perhaps, she had been stunned or cursed and her attacker had made a run for it. But just as he was considering going to get some help he looked back down and saw that her eyes had opened.

And they were staring straight back into his own, with what was undoubtedly, what was undeniably, pure desire and lust.

A/N: Mwahaha. But of a cliff-hanger I would say…:-D Well I shall be updating soon – with a but of luck in the next few days, but it all depends on how much work my teachers decide to give me tomorrow.

Thank you so much to all my reviewers:

Libsey, mm4ever2gether, BlackGoldSilverTiger, Julesdom, Park White, babygirl1832z, DarkRoseMaiden

queen-of-monkey-magic – glad you like! Chapters may get loner, but if I keep them averaging 3-4 pages (ms word) then I can update more!

sandiwandi – George is hot isn't he:-D with a bit of the luck each new chapter will better the last!

AmberJupiter – the quick updates were as a result of it being the weekend, and at the expense of my sleeping habits – I was knackered at work today being up half the night writing! Can't guarantee to always be that fast!

redheadlover – I'm on your favourites list! After two chapters, I'm honoured! Hpe chapter three doesn't make you wipe it off…

Love you all

Shellxx