Blessed is the cox man, who finally came and fixed my internet!
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"RON?"
Harry stared at the frog that was now sitting by his sneaker. The frog squatted; staring at him for a moment, then began to hop towards him. Harry leaned forward and looked at him, his eyes huge.
It looked just like any ordinary frog. Its skin was a dark shade of green, except for the area under its chin, which was a light, whitish-yellow color. Harry wasn't sure he would have known it was Ron except for one thing, its eyes. Instead of the dark, black eyes that frogs usually had, this frog's eyes were pale blue, the same shade Harry would almost swear Ron's were.
"How the…." Harry began, leaning forward slightly, and studying the frog in wonder. "Who would………..?"
Harry actually had a very good idea who would, but he couldn't imagine how they had done it. As far as he could remember, he hadn't seen either of the Weasley twins do anything at dinner that could have caused Ron to turn into a frog. The only other person he could imagine having any reason for doing it was Hermione, and, knowing Hermione as he did, that was extremely far-fetched. As much as she might have wanted to turn Ron into a frog, (or worse, Harry thought. He was sure Hermione could be much more imaginative than that if she felt like it), he could ever see her actually enacting any vengeance upon him.
"Harry?"
Harry was interrupted from his thoughts as he heard a voice call his name from the hallway outside of Ron's room. It sounded like several pairs of footsteps were heading towards them.
"Harry?"
This time, Harry recognized the voice that was calling his name. It belonged to George, and Harry was sure the other pair of foot steps he heard with George's were Fred's.
"Harry!"
The door to Ron's room swung open wide, and in entered George, followed by, as Harry had guessed, Fred. But with them was someone that Harry hadn't expected. The youngest of the Weasley children, Ginny, was there with them as well. Harry shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the tightening sensation he felt in his chest.
"Well Harry?" George asked, looking at the boy who lived expectantly. "Where's Ron? Is he a frog yet?"
So it WAS Fred and George, Harry thought, glancing down at Ron. But Ron wasn't by his foot anymore. Harry looked around, trying to figure out where he had gone.
"Yes….." Harry responded, scanning the ground for his friend. "Though I don't know where he's run off to."
"Hopefully to find Hermione," said George. "That potion he took…."
George stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the frog, which was now hurling itself against his foot, head butting his shoe. "Well," George said, crossing his arms, and glaring at his now shorter, greener younger brother. "That is just totally uncalled for. It's unjustified aggression."
"Well, you did kind of make him make," said Harry, gesturing to Ron.
"Us?" Fred exclaimed, looking offended. "What did we do?"
"You mean, besides turn him into a frog?" Harry asked.
"What's wrong with turning him into a frog?" asked George, as he moved his foot to avoid Ron's rage-induced onslaught of his shoe.
"You mean besides the fact that Ron isn't technically supposed to be a frog?" Harry asked, staring down at amphibious form of his best friend.
"We were only doing it to help him!" exclaimed Fred defensively. "And how does he repay us? With unnecessary aggression! I mean look! He's attacking George's footwear!"
Fred sighed and reached down, picking up Ron by one webbed foot just as he was to launch another attack. He held the frog out in front of him, dangling him upside-down in the air.
"Don't make us get harsh Ron," Fred warned. "We could always send you to the Beauxbaxons like this, I'm sure they'd love a dinner of frog's legs…….."
The frog in Fred's hand stopped croaking immediately.
"That's better," Fred nodded. Harry wasn't exactly sure, but it now seemed now like although Ron had stopped squirming, his froggy eyes were glaring at his older brother. Knowing Ron, he probably was.
"How did you guys turn him into a frog?" Harry asked, looking from Ron to the two older Weasley twins. Fred grinned. "With a beautiful concoction we've been experimenting with for the shop!" he said, as George pulled the small vial Harry and Ron had seen earlier out from it's hiding place in his sleeve. "Frog Prince Potion, we call it."
"Works like a dream, doesn't it?" asked George. "I mean, just look at Ron's now voluptuous froggy appearance!" he exclaimed, motioning to Ron in much the same way as Harry had seen Vanna White do on Wheel of Fortune.
"How did you get him to take it?" asked Harry. "I never saw you guys do anything during dinner that could have made him take that stuff."
"Easy," said George. "We had an accomplice."
He motioned to Ginny, who upon until now, had been silent. Harry looked at her, amazed, surprised, and very impressed. "You did that?" he asked, motioning to Ron.
Ginny flushed slightly and nodded. "When mum asked me to help her serve the food. Before I gave Ron his drink, the top of the vial just happened to be open, and sort of, you know, spilled into his glass." She grinned mischievously. "I thought it would be rude to say anything to him."
Harry looked at the guilty expression on her face. This was a side of Ginny he had definitely not seen before. And he had to admit, he kind of liked it.
Ginny seemed to notice him staring at her, and, taking his stare of admiration for one of disapproval, added quickly, "I mean, I know it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but you should of seen how upset Hermione was! All because of how he had to act like a big prat because she talks to Victor Krum through owl every once in a while!" she turned her head and glared at the frog Fred still held in his hand. "As far as I'm concerned, he's gotten just what he deserved."
She turned back to Harry and smiled, causing his stomach to lurch slightly. He smiled back at her, but then noticed Fred and George looking at Ginny and himself, knowing smiles curling up on their faces. Harry stopped smiling and then turned back to Ron, who hung dangling in Fred's hand. "Ahem….whether he deserved it or not," he began, looking down at Ron. "You can't leave him like this. I mean, you all want him make up with Hermione," Harry stated. "How's he supposed to do it like this?"
"AH! And therein lies the genius of the Frog Prince Potion!" Fred exclaimed. George nodded. "For if Ron really wants to go back to his old, boorish, unattractive….."
The frog in his hand croaked angrily.
"…..hairless, scrawny, unappealing, lanky, scarecrow-like self," George stated. "He'll have to do what all frog princes do. Kiss someone."
CROAK!
All heads turned as the heard a cry of indignation come from Ron. Harry looked up at the twins in horror. "You're crazy," he said, staring at the twins in shock.
"Hurmmm……..not particularly," mused George, looking back at him. "But hopefully Hermione is, for I can't imagine anyone wanting to kiss Ron in his regular state, much less when he's like this." He said. "I mean you've seen the way she reacts to green-why, look at her hatred for Slytherin!"
"Everyone hates Slytherin," Harry pointed out.
"A detail," Fred said, now tossing Ron from hand to hand like a baseball. "A truthful, but unimportant detail." George, noticing what Fred was doing, nudged him and motioned towards the now greener looking Ron. Fred, realizing what he was doing, stopped immediately. "Whoops! Sorry about that Ron!" he said, looking at the frog apologetically. Ron responded with a weird gurgling sound.
Harry looked at the twins and Ginny. "You can't expect him to do that. That…that would be suicide! Ron would never stick his neck out like that!" Harry exclaimed, as Ron croaked in agreement.
Ginny sighed. "Then we've got a problem."
"Not really," George said, looking at both Harry and his younger sister. "This is a very romantic potion. If Ron wants to go back to himself, it's his only choice. He has to kiss Hermione, or else he stays a frog. It's that simple."
Ron began croaking and thrashing around wildly in Fred's hand, as if trying to get to Fred and bite him. Fred held him carefully away from himself though, preventing Ron from inflicting any pain on him.
Harry meanwhile, seeing his friend's distress, sighed and looked back at the twins and Ginny. "Isn't there anything….?" He began. "……..anything else he could change back? I know you think you're helping, but look at him," Harry gestured to the frog, who was still thrashing wildly in Fred's hand. "I mean, Ron has enough trouble dealing with girls, particularly Hermione, in human form. Can't you turn him human again?"
"The guy has a point," mused George, glancing down at his frog of a brother, than back up at Harry. "Ron does not have the Weasley suaveness that we do with women."
"Unfortunately for him," sighed Fred. Ginny gave a snort from behind them, causing Fred and George to give her reproachful looks. She rolled her eyes and muttered a few comments under her breath about "Weasley Suaveness," under her breath, which Fred and George apparently chose to ignore.
"I suppose……" George began. "We could come up with an alternate solution, one that would please both parties involved here, so to speak."
"Really?" Harry asked.
"Well, no," Fred admitted. "Mostly, it would probably still benefit us, but I'm sure it would be an upgrade for Ron as well. Better than being a frog anyway."
"Anything's better than being a frog," Ginny pointed out, moving from behind Fred and George and standing closer to Harry.
Harry nodded slowly, thinking. "I suppose…….." he said finally, looking up at the twins. "At least he would be able to converse with her, instead of just croaking, like a, well…." He paused, searching for a better word then the oblivious. "….frog. But what would he have to do?"
Wide grins spread across Fred and George's faces, causing Harry to shift uncomfortably where he was standing. This couldn't be good…
"Not much really," George said, taking Ron from Fred. "Just what we tell him. Exactly what we tell him. His approach with girls, or with anything, doesn't seem to be very effective, so we want him to try things our way," George stopped speaking and held the frog up so it's eyes were level with his own. "What about it Ron?" he asked looking at his younger brother. "It's either that, or give Hermione warts. Will you let us help?"
Ron was silent for a few moments, as if considering George's proposition. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind, and gave an affirmative-sounding croak. George smiled, and Fred grinned, while Harry and Ginny sighed with relief. "Good," said George, setting Ron down on the floor. He pulled another small vial out of his sleeve and opened it. George held the vial over the frog and dumped it on him.
"I'd stand back a bit," warned George, taking a few steps backward. Fred, Harry and Ginny followed his example.
"Well?" Harry asked expectantly, after nothing happened.
"We wait," George said.
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Meanwhile, in Ginny's room, Hermione sat on Ginny's bed, trying to concentrate on reading Hogwarts: A History, for the dozenth time. As hard as she tried though, she couldn't focus on it. Her thoughts kept straying back to Ron.
She still could still hear his voice yelling at her, spitting out mean, spiteful things. Everything he had said to her was still stinging, she couldn't believe sometimes how cruel he could be. She sighed, and flipped through the pages of the book in her hand.
They had always fought, what friends didn't? But she could never understand why her friendship with Krum irritated him so. If she even brought up his name he would tense up, no matter where they were. Every letter from she received from Krum caused Ron to give her spiteful glares, as if he thought she and Krum were conspiring against him. She couldn't count the number of times she and Ron had gotten into a fight over her friendship with Krum.
Normally, she got over these fights fairly quickly. But this time…..
She bit her lower lip. This time Ron had just gone too far.
She closed Hogwarts: A History, and turned the book over in her hands.
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Pop!
Fred, George, Harry and Ginny jumped slightly as the potion George had poured on Ron finally kicked. It had been several minutes since he had poured the elixir on Ron, and all had just started sinking into boredom when the noise startled them. All four looked down at the floor to see Ron sitting on the floor, looking up at them. His hair was a mess, and his skin still had a slightly greenish tint to it, but other than that he seemed to be perfectly fine.
"Ron?" asked Harry, looking down at his best friend. "Are you ok?"
Ron blinked up at Harry for a moment, as if coming out of a daze. "Yeah," he nodded slowly, reaching an arm up and rubbing his head slowly with his hand. "I feel fine."
He sat there for a moment, scratching his head absent mindedly. Then he caught sight of Fred and George.
"YOU!" he fumed, his face growing bright red. "Turn me into a frog will you? Why I'll……….."
He lunged for them, but Fred was too quick for him. Fred whipped his wand out from his pocket and pointed it at Ron. "Jelly legs!" He shouted. Ron faltered for a moment, wobbling, then tipped over on his side.
Ron grunted, and tried to move his legs to get so he could try to beat the pulp out of Fred and George again, but it was no use. He had lost all control of his legs. He glared up at Fred and George from the floor. They grinned back down at him.
"Harry," Ron said, seething as he lay helpless on the floor. "If you're my friend, you'll hex them now! Her too," he said, pointing at Ginny. "She helped them frogify me!"
Harry sighed. "Sorry Ron," he said. "I would, but I do think they are genuinely trying to help you this time." He shrugged helplessly. "Sorry."
Ron glared and crossed his arms. "Everyone's against me," he muttered. Fred rolled his eyes. "Believe what you want," he said. "Either way, we have a deal to complete, and…." He said, looking at Ron's dishelved appearance. "….A lot of work to do."
Ron grunted at him and looked at the floor.
"Great then!" Fred exclaimed, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "It's good to see you're so excited about this! Now……." He continued, taking out his wand to unhex Ron's legs. "Let's go handsome you up for Hermione!"
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Now, off to write the next chapter! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!