Love and War

Love and War

Chapter Two: You're a Maroon

A month had passed since Mrs. Weasley had yelled her throat raw at Fred and George about the two of them dropping out of school. Hermione, having threatened the living daylights out of the twins as well, had kept her guard up for over a week. But when nothing happened, she finally relaxed a bit, if only because Fred and George had been out of the Burrow making arrangements with Angelina Johnson to watch the shop while they returned to Hogwarts. Angelina didn't blame Mrs. Weasley one bit, but she felt bad for her friends, and so agreed to keep shop for the year.

The week before their return to Hogwarts was utter mayhem. School books and supplies needed to be bought, and Pigwidgeon had swallowed one of Fred and George's experimental sweets. For about four days, poor little Pig was randomly turning green and orange and giving off a strong smell of moldy cheese every time he opened his mouth to release putrid looking bubbles. When asked what kind of treat he'd eaten, the twins merely said, "one in its early stages of badness."

Ron was quite angry with his older brothers while Pig recovered. Ron feared his room would never smell the same again, but Mrs. Weasley cured that with an air freshening charm. Hermione glowered more fiercely at the twins now, her eyes narrowed, daring them to try something on anyone. She knew they wouldn't pull anything drastic as long as they were inside the Burrow.

It was the day before they would leave for Kings Cross Station when Fred and George were suddenly nowhere to be found. Mrs. Weasley thought that this was wonderful since the boys had been nothing but trouble to her all summer long. The younger sort though began to wonder what they were planning all of a sudden.

"They haven't pulled any pranks all summer," Ginny remarked.

"What do you mean?" Ron demanded. "Look what they did to Pig!"

"That was an accident Ron," Ginny replied soothingly. They all looked over at Pig in his cage, back to his regular feathered color and no longer stinky. "But come to think of it, they have been more annoying this year."

"I recall them clearing out the gnomes in the flower beds and dropping one of the potato-looking rascal's in Charlie's old room," Ron said. "What a disaster that was."

"I seem to remember Fred and George accidentally using explosives in their room and singeing off their eyebrows. It's a pity they grew back," Harry added.

"How about when they replaced mum's meatballs with dungbombs?" Ginny reminded them. "I don't think mum will ever forgive them for that one."

"But really, what can they possibly be planning so late in the summer that will be far worse than what they've already done?" Hermione asked.

"Anything," Ron and Ginny said in unison.

Hermione huffed. "They're just two eighteen year old boys with lots of red hair and freckles! They've got to mature one day!"

"Hey!" Ron said with an indignant look on his face.

"You're sixteen, pipe down," Ginny replied. Harry suppressed a laugh at Ron's expression.

"I mean, really," Hermione continued, "so what if they are planning a whole lot of pranks? I'll threaten them again if I have to."

"I don't think they really care Hermione," Harry remarked kindly.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah, Fred and George will call your bluff again. They're not going to take you seriously. And besides, even if you are serious, they still won't care, simply because they were born rule breakers."

Mrs. Weasley's voice called out to them from downstairs just then. "I sure hope you lot are packing up there!" Ginny rolled her eyes, but obediently stood up and went downstairs to her own room to begin packing before they left tomorrow. Hermione followed, watching as Ron and Harry began shuffling around the piles of laundered clothes.

As Hermione passed Fred and George's closed door, she thought she heard them murmuring and moving things about. Curiosity getting the better of her for the moment, she leaned up close to the door to listen,

"Did you get it?" she heard one of them ask.

"Yeah, it's right here." She heard some rummaging around and then something that sounded like breaking glass.

"Watch it!" she heard one of them yell. "That stuff'll burn a hole in the floor."

"Mom'll fancy that," the other voice added.

"Quick, hand me my wand." A mumbled "Reparo!" followed by a "Scourgify!" followed this demand. But then the sounds from within stopped, and Hermione backed away from the door quickly.

"Silencing Charm," she muttered, and then strode off to Ginny's room to finish packing.

"What do your brothers have that can burn a hole in the floor?" Hermione asked as she walked in. She sounded almost thoughtful, but she was feeling quite apprehensive. After all, she was still afraid that Fred and George would try to do her in ever since she'd threatened them.

Ginny glanced over at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. "I have no idea what type of weird things they concoct in that lab that they call a bedroom. But in truth, I don't want to know."

Hermione nodded, not feeling the slightest bit better about things.

The girls had an easier time packing than the boys did. Their clothes weren't haphazardly scattered around the room, and in a matter of minutes Hermione had successfully locked her trunk. She looked over to see Ginny doing the same thing, struggling a bit more to cram everything into it. She hadn't quite packed everything as neatly as Hermione had.

"Do you think your mum will mind if I shower before dinner?" Hermione asked Ginny.
The red-haired girl was now sitting down on top of her trunk, panting a bit from heaving it closed.

"No, go ahead," she wheezed.

As Hermione was about to enter the bathroom though, a freckle-faced twin came out and almost collided with her.

"Oh, sorry Hermione!" he said, and Hermione stood there, blinking a moment as she tried to figure out which twin she was talking to.

"Fred?" she asked. The twin shook his head. "George?" she asked, sounding more confident, but then he shook his head again. "Well make up your mind! Which one are you?"

"Fred," he replied. "Going to take a shower?"

"Yes, I -"

"Well enjoy," Fred smiled, and walked back to his and George's bedroom. Hermione stood there in bewilderment a moment, but then walked into the bathroom and hurriedly locked the door. She looked around the bathroom a moment, and then decided to make sure nothing looked jinxed before she showered. She was relieved to find that the towels weren't fake, the soap did not contain frog spawn, and the shampoo was not a Shrinking potion in disguise.

Turning on the water, Hermione stepped under it and was glad to feel the warmth taking away her aches and pains. She ducked her head under and stayed like that for a moment, then finally reached for the shampoo, closing her eyes as she began to wash her bushy hair.

It wasn't until Hermione had almost finished her shower that she thought something was wrong. Looking down at her hands, she blinked for a moment, and then looked down at her legs. Something had gone wrong, and she knew Fred and George were going to die.

She was purple. Her legs, her hands, her arms - everything was a bright, maroon color, the kind you usually see on eggplants or Easter eggs. She jumped out of the shower and ran to the mirror, wiping a purple hand to clear away the condensation. Yes, her face, and - oh no! - her hair was purple too. Everything but the whites of her eyes had become one big, maroon blob.

An ear-piercing shriek suddenly shook the Burrow. The next minute, Hermione had thrown open the bathroom door and was hollering outside Fred and George's closed one. She had hastily thrown a towel around her body and she was dripping water droplets all over the floor, but she didn't care. She was going to kill the twins.

Their door opened, very slowly in fact, but the twins came out and dared to look at Hermione's ruby colored face while wearing huge Cheshire grins on their own. Ginny had come out of her own bedroom and was gapping at Hermione, and Ron and Harry were staring with a bit of shock. It wasn't until Mrs. Weasley came up from the kitchen that she let out a short shriek, and then started berating the twins.

"What did you do to her?" she screamed. "Why in Merlin's name is she purple?" She hurried over to Hermione at the same time that Ginny did, and she began to look her over, wondering how on earth every inch of her body had changed color.

"We didn't lay a hand on her," George replied. Their grins didn't fade the slightest.

"What did you do to the shower?" Hermione shrieked. Mrs. Weasley turned her head to look at the open bathroom door, and then bustled over to it when she heard that the water was still running.

"It's just a simple -" Fred began, but Mrs. Weasley's yells sounded over his.

"The entire shower stall is PURPLE!" she yelled. She reappeared in the hallway then, and the grins of the twins faces vanished. Ginny scurried over to stand by Harry and Ron and the three of them drifted into the shadows on the staircase. Mrs. Weasley looked absolutely livid, her narrowed eyes turned to slits. Her wand was pointed angrily at her twin sons.

"Is all the water in this house now going to turn everything purple?" she shrieked.

"No, no!" George said, waving his hands before him in defense. "We only put it on the shower stall. Your kitchen and the other bathroom are fine!"

"What in the world were you thinking?" she demanded next, still brandishing her wand at them. "What did you use to make Hermione turn purple?"

"It's a potion with a specific charm performed on it," Fred said weakly. His eyes were following his mother's wand as she waved it under his nose.

"You better fix it before you lot go back to Hogwarts tomorrow!"

At this, Fred and George traded looks, each with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Mrs. Weasley looked from one to the other, her face growing almost as puce as Hermione's.

"Explain yourselves! Can you fix her?" she ordered, her voice rising even more.

"Uhh...no," Fred said.

"What do you mean NO?!" Hermione shrieked, running up to them. She pulled up the towel that was wrapped around her body and glared at them.

"It's an experimental spell, you see, and we haven't figured out how to change the color back yet," George said.

"But don't worry," Fred added. "You'll only be maroon for about thirty-six hours."

At this, Hermione's eyes widened in shock. She looked rather creepy actually, with only the whites of her eyes unchanged by the shower water. Fred and George backed up another step.

"Thirty-six hours?" she said quietly. "I'm going to be bright purple for my first day back at Hogwarts." Then she turned away slowly and walked back to the room she shared with Ginny. Ginny hurried to follow, and as soon as the door was closed behind the two of them, Mrs. Weasley waved her wand one more under their noses in a threatening manner.

"If I hear one complaint from anyone when you return to Hogwarts, you are both in for serious trouble!" Then she hurried back downstairs to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

Harry and Ron finally decided to emerge from the shadows. "Hermione is not a force to be reckoned with," Harry advised. The twins merely glared angrily at them.

Ron narrowed his eyes at the twins. "You better watch your back, you know. Hermione and I are Prefects."

"Oh no, ickle Ronnie's gonna give us detention!" They both pretended to quiver in fear.

"Oh, shut-up," Ron grumbled. "But you two had better be careful, or Hermione will find a way to get back at you.

"She could never out-do us!" Fred replied, waving his hand dramatically.

"You do realize she's the cleverest witch out of Hogwarts?" Harry asked

"Or that she's probably read nearly every single book in the library?" Ron added.

"Or that she scored "Outstanding" on all of her OWLS?" Harry said, ticking off Hermione's accomplishments on his fingers.

"Alright, alright!" George said.

"We'll walk on eggshells around Hermione from now on, trust us," Fred replied sarcastically, pretending to prance around on his toes as him and George went back into their room, laughing their heads off.