Never Say Never

Never Say Never

Chapter 4, Breakfast with Gryffindors

I woke up early next morning and found Hermione fast asleep. I smiled to myself, thinking that I should wake her up. I hopped out of my bed and jumped into hers.

That usually wakes people up. No luck though, she still slept soundly. I then got up and started jumping on her bed screaming, "Hermione, Hermione, Hermione!" It was very annoying, but it woke her up.

"What?" she said still half asleep.

"Wake up, Hermione! Time to get up! C'mon, we've got class with Gilderoy Lockhart." That woke her up.

"Alright, we get dressed, ready for breakfast and then," she continued, "we'll get to see Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"Morning, Harry, Ron," Hermione said as she sat opposite them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Hardly anyone was there. There were just a few students and no teachers.

"Morning," they chorused sleepily.

"Morning, Harry, Ron," I said as I sat with them.

"Hey, Annie," Harry said.

"Morning, Annie," Ron said.

I looked around for the nearest jug of juice. It was near Fred ... or was it George? Well, one of the twins.

"Hey, Fred is it?" I said.

"George actually. You see, Fred has a different smile than mine. Oh, and he has a huge boil on his nose," George said.

I looked at Fred, sitting next to George.

Where was his boil? I was pretty puzzled.

All of a sudden, George burst out laughing.

"Only joking, Annie. I'm Fred. But yes, George does have a boil. Well, he is a boil."

He laughed.

"Oh, well, George could you please pass me the juice?"

"You heard her, Fred. Pass her the juice," George said to Fred.

"Oh, yes the juice," Fred said, passing the jug to me while smiling at George.

Something was weird here. Why were they being so odd about the juice? When I noticed George give Fred a wink, I looked at the juice more closely. Its color was an odd mixture of red and orange. I sniffed it, and it didn't have much of a smell. Then I remembered Ginny telling me about their latest invention, 'Fire juice'. When an unsuspecting victim drinks it, it feels like hot chilies are going down his or her throat. Ginny said that Fred and George tried it out on her over the holidays. It was so hot that she felt like an explosion of lava in her stomach.

I looked at Hermione and then glanced at the juice. Hermione understood and nodded. So they were up to something. Well, I hoped that they liked jokes too.

I whispered a spell and pointed my wand towards the juice in my goblet. Immediately, the liquid was gone.

Hermione smiled at me. She knew my plan.

I took the cup and pretended to gulp it down.

The twins, Ron and Harry looked at me astonished. I smacked my lips,

"That was delicious. The best thing I've ever had! More please George, Fred. Whoever is nearest to the juice!"

The twins looked at each other, surprised that someone actually managed to consume their 'fire juice'. They poured me another glass, full to the brim.

As the four of them exchanged confused glances, I quickly got rid of the juice and pretended to gulp it down again. Fred grabbed my goblet.

"It's empty, not a drop in sight!"

"Are you sure you like the juice?" George asked.

"More please. Oh, if you're going to fill it that slowly, I might as well drink it from the jug," I snapped. This was funny.

Hermione passed me a jug.

Ron, Harry, Fred, and George were watching me like hawks. I couldn't do the spell in front of them.

I nervously glanced at Hermione. She gave me an encouraging smile and nodded.

Should I drink it? If I didn't they'd find out what I'd been doing. I looked at Hermione for help.

She nodded at me again. "Do it." she whispered.

"Hey, Annie, aren't you thirsty anymore? C'mon drink up," George said.

I looked at Hermione, helplessly. She nodded again encouragingly.

"Look, guys, I don't think she's thirsty anymore. You shouldn't force anyone to drink a whole jug," Harry piped up.

"Yeah, she already drank more of it than you two put together," Ron said.

Hermione had a certain twinkle in her eyes. I'd seen that twinkle before, when she told me to trust her that I'd get into Gryffindor. Her gaze moved towards the jug. I smiled back at her and turned back to the boys.

"I'll drink it. After all, I love this juice."

I grabbed the jug and put it to my lips. I mean, how bad could it taste right? I took a sip. It tasted kind of normal and familiar. It was orange juice! That's what it was. Once I knew it was safe, I gulped it down. I thought I saw the twins eyes pop out when they saw me gulp down a whole jug. I put the jug down and smacked my lips again. The dumbstruck look from the twins was hilarious. I kept calm on the outside though on the inside I was about to crack up laughing.

Harry and Ron looked at each other in amazement.

"Thanks," I mouthed at Hermione.

She smiled. I tapped the side of my nose, which is a gesture I do when there is victory or just for fun. She did it too.

"So, what is this lovely liquid called?" I asked the twins.

"It's fire juice," they said.

"Really? Isn't it supposed to taste horrible? It tastes great! People who say it tastes bad, must be lying," I said.

"Yeah, right, everyone except you couldn't stand it," Fred said.

"Hey, think what you like. But how did I manage to drink it all? Are you scared to try it even though you invented it? That must be it. Oh, look at the time! We've got to go to our lesson with Lockhart. Ready, Hermione?" I asked.

She got up, and we both went off. We both had to hold our giggles in, at least till we were out of sight.

We stopped at the door and watched, waiting to see what the twins would do.

"Maybe it isn't that bad, Fred. She drank it, and she's a girl! Anything she can do we can do, too. In fact, we can do it better," George said, encouraging Fred.

"Yeah, you're right!" Fred said.

"Pass the fire juice, Ron!" George said.

Harry looked nervously at Ron.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Everyone always says how hot it is and usually spits it out when they drink it," Ron said as he passed them the jug over.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Ron." Fred poured the juice into both their goblets.

"Well, bottoms up!" the twins said before gulping it down. A second after tasting it, both their faces went as red as tomatoes. Next thing we knew, juice covered three unfortunate people whose backs were facing Fred and George. They started running around screaming, "Hot! Bloody hell, it is hot!"

Those few people there started laughing at them. Even Harry and Ron were laughing.

Those with the liquid on their backs got up and went away, softly cursing Fred and George under their breaths. Hermione and I couldn't take it anymore and started laughing from our hiding spot. They finally found jugs of water and gulped it down. They were panting, like they'd just been in a marathon.

"George, you idiot, it tasted horrible!!" Fred said.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" George said.

"You know, she must have known we were tricking her, and she got us back," Fred said.

"Ah, I like her thinking. But we have to get her back. It is essential for everyone to be pranked at least once by the Weasley twins!" George said.

"Yeah, we have to. I mean, she's different."

They looked at each other and sniggered. Then they walked out of the Great Hall, passing Hermione and I.

"We've got our eye on you, James. We'll be watching you," George said.

Fred did the 'I'm watching you gesture' with his hands before they left. Everyone cracked up laughing again once they left. Hermione and I laughed too.

"Great job, Miss James. Very well done!" she said.

"Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you. Miss Granger."

We both laughed. I turned to the Gryffindor table and saw Harry and Ron laughing.

Ron spotted me and gave me the thumbs up sign.