Fred was quite an amazing wizard, though he didn't let it show, preferring people to see his trickster side and love him for his trouble maker status. But now that Hermione had made him ride his broom backwards and act like a toddler, humiliating him in front of his own team, he intended to humiliate her in return. He wanted to be the one that won; he wouldn't let her beat him, that's why he decided on the following plan. Katie had mentioned in passing that Hermione wasn't always so tightly strung, and that she was pretty sure she had once heard her singing while washing her hair last year.
It took him two full weeks to figure out how to manage his payback.
0-0-0
On Saturday night, after a long day of study in the library, Hermione traipsed up to her dorm and grabbed her shower gear and changed into her bathrobe, she walked to the Gryffindor girl's bathroom and put her basket of shampoo and things down on the marble bench that ran along the wall in her favourite shower cubical.
Just before this happened, Fred was feverishly flicking his wand, casting all the necessary spells and charms to make his payback work. Then ran back to the common room and tried to act innocent as she had walked past.
0-0-0
Harry, Ron, Ginny, George and Fred sat around the common room fire; Harry was being smashed by Ron in their game of wizard's chess. After a moment or two of content silence, a puff of blue smoke erupted in front of them all, and an image of a shower block seemed to hover in front of them. Ron was too busy directing his pawn to 'Smash him' to notice. Ginny looked weary, George intrigued and Fred tried to look innocent. Then footsteps could be heard and to Fred's delight Hermione walked into the cubical in her bathrobe on the blue screen. Ginny froze…she instantly knew who was responsible.
'Fred!' she hissed
'Wasn't me' he said immediately
'Stop this, she will kill you!' She spat, Ron was still egging on his pawn.
Hermione placed down her bathroom bag and pulled out her towel, she hung it on the hook next to the shower and then placed a bottle of 'Wonder Witch- Defrizz' shampoo on the shelf. She then untied her bathrobe and hung it on the second hook. Harry and Ginny acted instantly. They shouted a spell and a haze seemed to engulf the middle of the screen.
Fred yelled "I already did that! You won't see anything, I know I already crossed the line with the shirt thing'
Ginny looked at the foggy image then back at her brother,
'Just to be safe' she glared and cast a fourth haze spell over the screen. This made the image in the middle completely blank and only the the top with Hermione's shoulders were visible through the slightly misted lense - like looking through a fogged window at Christmas.
By this point the rest of the common room that hadn't been watching, which was very few, looked up. The whole common room watched in half amusement, and half shock, no one had a clue what was going on, except Ginny , Harry and Fred and George. Hermione turned on the shower then yelped
'yuwch' she muttered to herself and the Weasley boys laughed
'Fred!' Ginny spat
'She jinxed me! I was a toddler!'
'Not the point' she hissed
Hermione stepped into the shower once she had adjusted its temperature. As her bushy hair became soaked from the blast of water, it began to hang down her back into the completely blocked image. Yet on the top of her right shoulder blade a mark was visible. Most people looked closely at it, confused and intrigued
'Is that a sunflower?' George asked
'Looks like it' said Ron
'Ron!' Ginny snapped
'What?'
0-0-0
Hermione stepped into the shower and felt the refreshing warm water soften her study sore muscles. She dipped her head under the waterfall and felt her bushy hair become wet and sleek, running smoothing down her spine, her hair was so much longer when wet. The water pulled down the curl; she liked the change, even if it only lasted a little while.
She rolled her shoulders then pinched her right with her left hand, a slight ache from writing a very long essay for Professor Snape was the culprit. Her fingers then traveled to the small henna sunflower on the top of her shoulder. She had gotten it the last time she was home, her muggle friend Elizabeth (who she had gone through all muggling school until Hermione's Hogwarts letter had arrived) had done it for her. She smiled at the memory. They had been out in London for the day, at the markets getting fresh salad ingredients and bread for their parents along with catching up with each other. Elizabeth had found a small stall with bangles and beaded necklaces along with Indian ink and henna. She had thought it a marvellous idea to both get a small henna tattoo, just a temporary but fun experience. Hermione had been a bit cautious at first, but once remembering if she didn't like it could charm it off, laughed at the idea and joined her childhood friend.
Elizabeth had looked delightedly through the artists books of designs and picked out a pretty sunflower for Hermione while the latter chose a unicorn for her friend as she knew she liked horses, a topic they actually didn't agree on. Elizabeth had laughed and said 'No Mione, something real, not a fairytale' and Hermione had had to keep a straight face as she remembered a few care of magical creatures lessons that proved Elizabeth quite wrong.
It had been a lovely day, and the small memento, while fading slowly, was still visible on her shoulder, though not through her school blouse as her hair would always be covering it, she really didn't know why she was so shy about it. It was special to her.
While reminiscing about her muggle friends from primary school, well before she had found out the special things she could do were magic, she remembered the silly elements song Elizabeth had tried to teach her as they worked around the markets trying to locate squash and cherry tomatoes. Elizabeth wanted to be a scientist. Hermione often sang it in her head without realising, it was very catchy after all, and at the moment didn't notice she was singing it out loud.
0-0-0
Fred looked at the small sunflower tattoo and it made him smile a bit, his Hermione was a bit of a rebel.
Wait…his Hermione?
She started to hum as she combed shampoo through her hair with her fingers, and George chuckled, Ginny was still tense and Ron was back to egging on his chess pieces.
'Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium….Beryllium, Boron, Carbon' Hermione sang on the hazy blue screen
The common room started to let out small chuckles as all the witches and wizards couldn't have imagined the study hard Hermione sang. As she washed the soap bubbles out of her hair she began to sing it with more gusto and silliness that only the knowledge of being completely alone in the shower would have allowed her to do. Lee laughed, George looked like Christmas had come early, Ginny was mortified for her friend and Harry was worried that he didn't think Hermione had ever told him how to stop a blue haze charm or if she had, he hadn't listened. Probably the latter.
As Hermione started to sing at the top of her voice, sure that she was alone and finally able to be completely relax for a few moments, Ginny jumped up and stood in front of the screen
'Fred! Stop this now!' She held her wand at him, read to hex bats at him if he didn't 'This is too embarrassing. It's an invasion of privacy'
'Come on Ginny, you can't see anything' Fred said, flicking his wand to show her he was willing to take her. Harry sprung up
'Fred' Harry said in a warning voice. He was very protective of his friends, Hermione was like a sister to him, yet something else seemed to be making him more angry…was it Fred challenging Ginny?
'Fine, fine, revenge wreckers' he flicked his wand and the screen with Hermione dissolved into the air around the fire place. Leaving Harry and Ginny's three spells still hanging protectively in the air.
0-0-0
Hermione dried her hair as best she could with her towel as she stood in her pajamas, a t-shirt and long check pants. She then wrapped herself up in her dressing gown and picked up her toiletries basket. She headed back into the small corridor that led to the common room, if she was quiet, like she always was, she could sneak the short distance to the girls door without being seen. Unlike Lavender who would drop something or giggle to catch the boys attention as she traipsed in her revealing attire as she crossed to the girls staircase.
Yet when Hermione had slide the door open and was halfway across the room Lee called out with a smirk
'I didn't know you liked sunflowers Granger'
She looked puzzled, but figured something about herbology. She shrugged and started up the girls' staircase.
As she began to walk up the stairs half the common room began to sing her muggle chemistry song.
'Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium….Beryllium'
Only a few lyrics into it, Fred heard her basket drop and a pounding of footsteps.
Victory!
'Fredrick Weasley! I will kill you' she yelled as she flew down the stairs into the common room, her dressing gown flying behind her, only to see him laughing as he jumped out of the portrait hole while Lee and George supported each other as they cried with delight.
Apples and Beckett
