AN -Wow, thank you so much in all the interest in this story. I wasn't too sure where it was going at first, but with all this interest I've mapped out from now until the end how it will go.
Secondly; many thanks to PreciousJewel01, Cassia4u and vlascoD14 for your lovely words in reviews. I know not everyone has time to review so I'm not going to beg - review if you like, don't if you don't :)
A week later, Fred and George were sitting in the common room trying to convince Hermione Granger to eat a tonne tongue toffee prototype.
"There is no way I'm eating anything the two of you offer me." She huffed, returning to what the twins assumed was the 1800th time she has read Hogwarts, A History.
Fred quickly spotted a lone first year and was poking his brother in the ribs when Hermione spoke again, "And don't even think of making that poor first year eat it!" she scolded, not lifting her eyes from the text on her current page.
George sighed and glared at Hermione, "Fun sucker." He muttered, turning his attention back to his twin.
Fred was still scanning the room for a taste-tester, unaware that his brother had already selected his next victim. As he observed the common room he was absentmindedly eating from a packet of Jumping Jelly Jubes he had bought from Honeydukes on the weekend before he had been burned.
George cocked an eyebrow at his brother's unknowing back as he levitated a small square of the toffee into the pouch of candy while Fred wasn't looking. Now George waited, sooner or later Fred would pick the toffee and all hell would break loose. All he could hope for now that the anti-curse they had been practicing actually worked.
It took longer than George expected for Fred to eat the toffee. It was almost what the twins would have deemed 'bed time' when Fred picked the last few small sweets [and the small toffee] and threw them in his mouth.
Fred was chewing madly when suddenly he stopped, turned and glared at his brother.
"You son of a mountain troll!" he had tried to say but halfway into his rebuking, his tongue began to swell. It crawled almost life-like out of his mouth and grew so long it was almost as long as he was tall, "Ah – ate – oo." He mumbled as he continued to glare at his twin.
George was trying not to laugh, "It was just too easy. That was only a small piece. Can you imagine what a whole piece will do to someone?" Fred said nothing, not that he would be able to anyway with such a large obstruction in his mouth and continued his icy glare at his brother, "Not to worry, let dear ol' brother fix you up." George was still giggling as he waved his wand to perform the counter curse.
Nothing happened.
"AH!" Fred yelled panic stricken, "IX E!" Fix me!
"It's not working!" George was worried now too.
"EELY?" Really? Fred's limited speech was sarcastic.
"You made the counter curse!"
"OO ADE E IKE IS!" You made me like this!
George sighed, "Hospital wing?"
Fred nodded, folding his long tongue up as much as he could as he and George exited the common room. The walk to the hospital wing was silent; if you didn't count the squelching noise the Fred was making as he tried to keep his saliva in his mouth.
Fred, however, was scared out of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't think that someone couldn't fix his tongue; it was that that 'someone' would probably be Evan. She had seemed rather annoyed at him after their last encounter and when he had tried to start a conversation with her during breakfast one day in the Great Hall, but she had expertly ignored him. Fred seemed to be seeing her everywhere in the last week; she was stuck in his mind.
George opened the doors to the infirmary and both twins laid eyes on Healer Hollander who was actually sitting on her desk, her hair messy and a bottle of ink open near her foot. She didn't look up, but shook her head slightly.
"I knew you'd both be back." She said, still looking at her book and adding a quick note to the bottom of the page with a quill.
"Ullo," Fred gagged as a greeting.
The gag was the thing that made Evan look up. Spotting George, who looked normal in his Gryffindor coloured pyjamas she looked to Fred and almost jumped.
"What did you do?" She asked, scrambling off her desk and ushering the twins to a bed.
"E ed e uh oee." Fred tried to answer.
Evan rolled her eyes, "That was not directed at you Fred!" she huffed and looked at George, "Well?"
"Right," George said, clapping his hands together, "We needed someone to try a toffee we'd been messing around with and Fred was the only one who volunteered."
Fred gurgled again, "E EED OT OUEE!" I did not volunteer!
Evan rolled her eyes at Fred, "You are not allowed to talk." She then turned her attention to George, "You are lucky I don't owl your mother and tell her you're still doing this sort of thing!"
George and Fred both went wide-eyed, "Our mother?"
"You don't think Madam Pomfrey hasn't told me about you two? She and your mother have a lot of things to talk about. You're lucky I convinced her not to owl your mother about your accident with the 'fire'." Healer Hollander levitated a small spell book over to where she was now sitting next to Fred's bed.
Fred had so many questions, but she wouldn't allow him to ask any. After what seemed to Fred like hours [but then again, with a tongue almost six foot long and choking on it every few minutes would seem like an age for anyone.] Hollander waved her wand, muttered something and Fred's tongue shrunk back to its original size.
George smiled at his brother, "I'm sure that feels better, right?"
Fred looked irritably at his brother, "I still hate you."
"You may hate me dear brother but now at least Hollander can tell us what the counter curse is!" George smiled expectantly at Evan.
"What makes you think I'll tell you?" She said, clearly still irritable at the two boys standing before her.
George was no longer smiling; Evan was good at making him feel remorseful… she was just like their mother in that respect.
"I only did it because I knew your superior healing skills would be able to fix it." George said defensively, "You know that, right Freddy?" George turned to his brother and saw him nod slightly.
"Georgie, can you give us a minute?" Fred asked, looking between him and Hollander.
George's eyebrow furrowed, "Sure mate," he nodded, "I'll meet you back in the common room." Before he left, he turned to Evan and nodded, "Hollander."
"George." She nodded back, "Go get some sleep."
George took one last at his brother and left the hospital wing,
"I think I need to say sorry." Fred started, still sitting on the infirmary bed.
Evan moved and sat back on her desk, dragging the large book, her quill and ink onto her lap and not looking Fred in the eye. "Go on."
