Now George knew his brother had had his hands full with his revenge-turn 'win Hermione' plan, so he hadn't bothered to ask for his help with his revenge on the Slytherin quidditch team. It had been going on for a few weeks now.

Unfortunately one of the beaters from the Slytherin quidditch team had seen Fred when Hermione's spell had made him act like a toddler and felt it was so funny that he told the rest of his team. At first Malfoy had replicate the toddler jinx on Katie Bell with her crashing into the keepers goals and a nasty cut appearing on her head, the result being Angelina and George hexing Malfoy into the hospital wing. From then on, the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams had been at war. George had gotten a black eye from a concealed punching fist jinxed into his beaters bat, the Slytherin beaters both received an ultimate wedgie (literally hanging from the keepers middle goal hoop from their tightie whities). Harry had his robes tie around him mid flight so he couldn't catch the snitch. Malfoy flew into a hex that made him break out in angry blisters. Angelina had had her hair cursed so that it was like real snakes attacking her face - that had been one of the worst and the reason George was so angry at Malfoy.

While Fred was finally realising his feelings for Hermione; George, Harry, Ron, Katie, Alicia and Angelina had snuck into the Slytherin change rooms and hexed, jinxed and charmed their way around the room to cause a lot of mess and embarrassment. It had resulted in a lot of mud flowing from the showers, stink sap in the taps, and letting a blast-ended skrewt into the change room once the Slytherin team was running around trying to remove the mud from their eyes and sap from their skin. Of course they had received detention for a week from McGonagall, but seeing Malfoy in his elastic white underwear covered in mud and sap, screaming in terror, running onto the pitch followed by half his team members had been definitely worth it.

As this had been the prank to end all pranks, George had relaxed as a ban of revenge had been established between the two teams by Dumbledore himself. Dumbledore!

Yet that was not going to stop Malfoy, he had been seen in his underwear! Oh no, this was asking for trouble, and he knew which person he was going to take it out on. He just had to get to their broom…

0-0-0

The Gryffindor team had just returned from practice, placing their brooms in a big pile by the door while they went to wash off and laughing still about their revenge on the Slytherin's. Fred had been horrified not to have been included, but congratulated his team on such an excellent prank. While they were all in the shower cubicles, Angela thought she heard someone at the door shifting the brooms around, but by the time she had wrapped a towel around herself and run out to see, there was no one there. Shaking her head and being very relieved her braids were no longer attacking her face, she went back into her shower cubical.

0-0-0

That night Hermione sat in the great hall by herself, avoiding everyones stares and pointing, bright coloured badges still affixed to their uniforms. Malfoy had run into the hall and began to sing a horrible song. Of course the rest of the Slytherin's joined in. Hermione tried to ignore it, focusing on her dinner, but she was so hurt and angry. She had barely survived Potions that afternoon, her head and heart swirling with pain and confusion. Then the guys had headed off to training, leaving her to face the rest of the school by herself. She thought she was strong enough to sit and eat her dinner without showing emotion, but she'd been wrong. The song was mean. It hurt. When she finally cracked, she stormed from the dining hall ready to hex Fred into oblivion. As she thundered down to the quidditch pitch, Malfoy's song reverberated in Hermione's ears.

"She'll be as fat as his mum

If that's possible (Pansy chimed in as off key as possible)

But more ugly as she is a mudblood, a mudblood? A mudblood!

Their kids will be losers and grow up in the mud mud mud"

Yes it didn't rhyme well, but it hurt just as much as the most eloquently lyrics could! She wiped tears from her eyes and pushed the rest of the horrid lyrics from her mind as she blasted the quidditch change room door open and stormed in.

'Hermione!' Ron gasped, pulling his towel up to his chin. Half of them where out of the showers now, Harry was dressed along with Fred, well mostly, Fred was in the middle of pulling on his shirt, but Angelina was wrapped in a towel and was looking shocked at Hermione's entrance.

'Fredrick Weasley!' Hermione yelled 'How could you be so heartless!' she cried, tears spilling down her cheeks.

'What?' he looked alarmed, what had he done? Besides plastering posters all over the school telling her he liked her…oh...

'Calm down Hermione' Harry stepped forward

'No!' she flicked her wand and he was flown backwards and hit the wall, sliding down to the floor (valid it wasn't as hard as the curse was meant to be, Harry was her best friend, but she was so angry that she had to have him out of the way or she would hurt him more on accident)

'Hermione!' Ron yelled horrified, lunging forward to take her wand off her till she calmed down, but she sent his wand flying instead into Harry who was standing up and shaking himself only slightly dazed.

'Stop this!' Fred said with force. He knew Hermione was not violent; she must be hexed or cursed to be acting like this.

'YOU stop it! Stop your teasing, mocking, torture and utter embarrassment! This was meant to be a FUN game, not cruel!' she cried. She really wasn't sure where this was all coming from, she knew she must seem deranged and she loathed herself for that, yet at the same time was incredibly proud for sticking up for herself. Her emotions had taken control, and once they took over, she just had to buckle in for the wild ride.

'What?' He stammered

'Hermione' Angela started forward, but Hermione was too fast and spun her into George's arms, (not that he was complaining)…Hermione the cast protective spells over everyone, except Fred.

'I could take the vanishing tank top…' she breathed hard 'and the shower screen in the common room…' she flicked her eyes around the room to make sure no one was actually hurt. Ron was holding Harry back, he knew that she had to have her say or things would just get worse. He was Ginny's brother after all.

'I could even take the badges!' she sounded very emotional 'And posters…but what I can't take is you taking this stupid revenge game SO far as to intentionally hurt me!'

'I didn…' he still only had half his shirt on, one sleeve still sitting on his shoulder waiting to be stretched over his arm.

'I have been insulted all day, called mudblood in front of the whole school at dinner by all the Slytherin's...' Harry snarled in utter anger 'threatened with explosion by Umbridge!' Ron gripped his hands ready to punch someone 'openly mocked and my intelligence demeaned by Snape...I can take it from all of them, Snape, Umbridge, even Malfoy! But I never expected it from YOU! I cannot handle you mocking me…' Her voice had broken

'I didn't…' he said in a small voice completely lost, she looked in utter pain and it hurt him deeply.

'Mocking feelings Fred?…I thought that would be beneath you' she swayed and turned to go.

And then the truth hit him like a ton of bricks.

She thought he was making fun of the idea of liking her, that she was unlikeable…she thought he was mocking her by saying he liked her…which meant that she valued and cared what he thought of her…OH! He had been SO stupid! He'd gone about this the complete wrong way...

'Hermione! Wait' He went to chase after her, but she hastened to keep out of his reach and tripped over the bunch of broomsticks by the door.

That was when all hell broke loose.

0-0-0

It was clear to George (still protectively holding onto Angelina) what happened. Malfoy had jinxed his broom as revenge for the mud bath. Instantly, as soon as the broom touched skin, Hermione was sucked to George's broom like a magnet and her shoelaces, jumper and hair latched around the long handle. The broom, with a restrained Hermione, rocketed from the change room with her screaming in fear and frustration.

'Hermione!' Everyone screamed after her, Harry, Ron, Angela, George, Katie and Alicia (who had just managed to get out of the end cubical - it had a tendency to lock) where knocked back by Hermione's protective jinxes.

'She's terrified of flying!' Harry said in panic fighting the invisible forcefield.

'Got it' Fred ran forward and picked up the first broom he could, Harry's Firebolt. And tore after the girl he liked, he'd had accidentally insulted and who was now in mortal peril.