Revenge Gone Wrong

Chapter 3

The sun peered through the windows of the Gryffindor tower, finding Harry passed out on the sofa and Hermione asleep in a chair underneath a pile of books. Harry groaned, rolled over, and sat up. He ran a hand through his hair, adjusted his glasses, and made an attempt at rubbing a sore spot between his shoulder blades. Out of reach. Of course. He crept up to where Hermione was sleeping.

The morning light fell gently on Hermione's face, illuminating the subtle gold and red highlights in her frizzy hair. Harry watched as Hermione's chest ever so slowly rose and fell. As he stared at her gently parted lips and the faint blush on her cheeks, he began to become aware that the heat was beginning to rise in his face. ...So beautiful... Harry tentatively reached his fingers out and inched them towards Hermione's face.

"You do know that if she wakes up and finds something bad written on her forehead, you'll be lucky to get away with all your limbs, right?" Harry spun around to see Neville in the doorway, grinning. "Although, it would be funny."

Harry grinned back. "Yeah. I'll just tell her you did it." Neville laughed and headed up the stairs toward his room.

Hermione stirred and opened her eyes. "Ohhh... I have got a seriously bad crick in my neck." She rubbed the offending part. "But I think," she said, as a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, "that I have a solution."

"Brilliant! Ron'll be ecstatic! It doesn't look like that color's going away anytime soon."

"Harry, it's not a solution to that. I'm afraid he's either going to have to go see one of the professors or maybe even Madam Pomfrey. What I found has to do with getting Fred and George back."

"Well, he's not going to be too happy, but, not much else we can do, I guess. So what is this 'solution' of yours?"

Hermione grinned. "It'll effectively take away the twins' muse."

"Do what?"

"If we can get this potion made and get them to drink it, they won't be able to come up with any more of their twisted little ideas. Any product they make for the next two weeks will be something that they'd totally hate, like... candies that make you obey your elders or something."

Harry plopped back on the couch. "That's it? That's your nefarious plan?"

Hermione sniffed. "Well, I think it's plenty evil enough." Harry still didn't look convinced. "Trust me, Harry. When they can't come up with their infamous ideas, it will drive them crazy." She thought for a minute. "How about this: after we pull the potion off successfully, we can do something completely sophomoric like make them grow boobs?"

Harry hooted. "Bloody brilliant, Hermione!" He stood up and stretched. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go shower and dress and get something to eat, because I'm famished."

As Harry headed up the stairs, Hermione watched. The part of her mind that she tried so hard to keep down was watching and admiring. She rolled her eyes at her own behavior, pushed the mountain of books off her lap, and headed up to her own dormitory to do the same.

About an hour later, they met each other in the Great Hall, where most of the students were finishing their breakfasts. Harry and Hermione sat down next to a glum-looking Ron, who was staring at his plate.

"Ron, I've got good news and bad news."

Ron pouted. "I don't even like the mention of bad news, but go ahead."

Hermione leaned forward. "The bad news is that you're going to have to go see Madam Pomfrey or one of the professors to get rid of your...problem. I tried every source I could think of, but your brothers covered all their bases, and I can't get it to go away on my own. However..." She turned and gave Harry an impish grin. "The good news is that I found a neat way to get them back."

Ron sat up. "I'm listening."

"I've found a potion that will take away all their good ideas for products and replace them with really bad ones, like candies that will make you listen more to your parents."

"That's it?"

Harry patted Ron on the shoulder. "It's okay, mate. Once we get the potion working, then she says we can make them grow tits."

Ron nodded. "Much better. So, Hermione - what do we do?"

As the rest of the Great Hall emptied little by little, Hermione laid out exactly what she'd need both boys to do...