A/N: This story has been rewritten. If you have not started at Chapter 1, please do!

Chapter Three
Pack Up
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag…

The girls and I chatted for another half-hour, giggling and catching up, carefully and pointedly avoiding any mentions of my love life or plaid, redheads, quaffles or anything else Scottish or Quidditch related. Eventually, noticing the suspicious lack of noise emanating from downstairs, Angelina decided it would be best for us to go check on the boys, and make sure no one had died yet.

"Boys?" Angelina carefully pressed an ear to the door, hand brushing the knob. "Hello…?"
I blinked in confusion and turned to Alicia. "…What are we doing? Are we concerned about….walking in on them or something? Is that why I've never thought Ol's interested…?"
Alicia giggled. "No! It's just best to be… cautious entering their study. You never know what might—"

"GET DOWN!"

Angelina knocked us both back. There was an ear-splitting blast and a cloud of dust and… the door fell in splinters around us.
I blinked and sat up.
There was a definite ringing in my ears.
I looked around. Alicia seemed to be mouthing at me.
Odd.
Whooooosh.
Sound came back with a loud "Dammit, Fred!"
Angelina was already sitting up, picking woodchips out of her hair. "I just had that door refitted, too!"
Twin ginger heads poked out the gaping hole of a door, identical grins on identical faces.
"Wasn't us!" They said, cheerily, in unison.
"Oh, bollocks," Angelina said, grumpily, flicking a woodchip at Fred's face.
"What on earth did you explode this time?" Alicia asked, rubbing her face wearily.
"Nothing!" George replied, his hair standing on end.
"Not a single, flammable object." Fred added, equally disheveled and smiley.
A sudden sneaking suspicion came over me.
"Boys? Where's Oliver?"
Angelina's and Alicia's heads snapped back to the twins, whose heads retracted sharply. We exchanged frantic glances and leapt up to follow them haphazardly into the study.
It was carnage. There were splatters of some nasty green liquid all over the walls, the table had cracked in half and there was a settling layer of glass powder over every surface. A stunned Oliver sat in the center of the room, covered head to toe in green slime, dribbling slowly on to the carpet.

"It was all him." George said, cheerfully. "He just picked it up, and we just couldn't stop him!"
"We tried and we tried, but it was all just too fast—" Fred continued before Angelina shushed him.
"Ol? Are you okay?" I cocked my head, stepping closer. He blinked up at me for a moment, then turned to Fred and George.

"You." He hissed. The effect was somewhat ruined by slime dripping off his nose.

The twins waved, beaming at his apparent fury.

"You said that was perfectly safe. You said that was quaffle polish…" His words trailed off as he looked down at his arms. "Is this… is this dye?"
Fred and George smiled wider. Great patches of Oliver's skin was slowing turning green as he rubbed the slime away, eyes widening.
"Our newest project!" George said happily.
"Color bombs!" Fred added. "Plus, look at what it does!" He waved his wand, and Oliver's skin began to glow patchily, first green, then blue, red, purple – cycling through an entire rainbow of colours.

George began to laugh. "It's like a human disco ball! Brilliant, Fred!"

They high-fived.

I giggled. Oliver glared.
"I-" he spat, advancing menacingly on the twins, "look like a bloody moron. Change me back, before I make both of you bloodier morons."
I piped up, grinning. "Oh, I don't know, Ol." I smirked up at him. "Green – well, blue. Purple. Red. Er. Rainbow suits you."
He glowered. "Shut it, you."
I grinned impishly and ducked as Oliver attempted to playfully whack me on the head. "Come on, Ol. Really." I reached up and wiped some goo away from his eye, smiling at my now-glowing thumb. I felt him tense ever so slightly under my fingers.

I turned quickly to Fred and George, feeling Oliver's eyes on me. "This really is excellent, boys. Can you make it permanent?" I smirked up at Oliver.
He rolled his eyes, clearly sick of all this, and waved his wand to fix his clothes, his skin still flashing. "Prat." He looked reprovingly down at me. I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Arrogant berk."
"Git."
"Jerk."
"Imp."
"Troll."
"Fairy."
"Goblin."
"er...er...pixie!"

"..."

"Did you just call me a pixie?"
"Ok, I was running out, and 'pixie' was better than 'bloody-shorter-than-me-person."

I raised an eyebrow, and suddenly noticed the total silence around us. Oliver frowned. We both turned to see the twins, Alicia and Angelina watching us raptly. "Oh, no, do continue, please." George grinned. "Rather entertaining, really." Fred turned to Angelina, "You see, Angelina, that is the dialogue of two people fancying the hell out of eachother, but are far too daft to actually notice." Angelina smirked and raised her eyebrows in agreement. Oliver and I spluttered at exactly the same time.
"WHAT?"

xoxox

Alicia and Angelina coerced Fred and George into resetting Oliver's skin, but not before they had profusely thanked him for being "our tester! Really, you should come by, Ollie. It could be your day job!", to which Oliver spluttered and glared, and we all agreed to head into muggle London to get lunch.

I walked huffily down the street, still annoyed at Fred's tactless comment. Bloody stupid moronic...

Alicia and George were walking side-by-side up ahead, looking insultingly couplish and sweet. Angelina, on the other hand, was dashing back and forth, trying to control Fred, who decided today that he want to act like a particularly difficult puppy. "Fred-NO! What are you- augh!" I watched, bemusedly, as Angelina ran over to Fred, tugged him away from whomever he had been pestering, and spun him round. Then of course, because everyone was out to utterly confuse me today, she kissed him.

Come again?

Fred looked slightly dazed. Angelina looked up at him, and didn't let go of his shirt. "Behave?"
"Yes, ma'm," Fred whispered, grinning dopily down at her, wrapping an arm around her waist, and pulling her, giggling now, down the street.

I sighed.

"Okay there?" Oliver murmured to me, questioningly. I'd almost forgotten his solid presence at my shoulder. I looked up at him. His eyes were crinkled in concern. "Oh, yes. Fine." I answered, slightly wrongfooted.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
I smiled slightly. He knew me too well. "Really. It's just – well. They're so…" I gestured vaguely at the couples ahead of us, "…coupley. And cute. And so on. And here I am, fifth wheel."
Oliver laughed. "Is that was you're put out about, then?" he asked thoughtfully. "Well, I take offense at that! I'm here too! We can be… we can be the fifth and sixth wheels! We won't be unnecessary fifth wheels – we'll be useful! We'll turn the whole car into a lorry!" He tugged me closer, an arm slung around my shoulders, laughing at his own jokes. I leant into his side, giggling as we walked down the street, feeling the slightest twinge at the brotherly way his arm rested on my shoulders, companionable and familiar and just like I was his little sister. I wrapped an arm around his waist, lengthening my step to keep up with his strides. His arm tightened and I smiled to myself, tucking my head in closer.

Rewritten & updated! Please R&R! =]
Pack Up – Eliza Doolittle