George Weasley or maybe Fred (laughingmatter) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-03-31 17:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, fred weasley, george weasley, hermione granger |
Who: Hermione Granger, Fred Weasley and George Weasley
When: Last week in March
Where: For the Lulz
What: A visit
Rating/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete
Hermione didn’t want the same mistake to happen with the rest of her friends that happened with Harry. Somehow, in her newlywed bliss, the two of them hadn’t talked, and she hadn’t told Harry that she and Jim actually married. Now she felt like the worst friend ever, and Harry was still mad at her. She didn’t blame him at all, really. She was mad at herself. And Jim was mad at himself. It was a whole mad ordeal.
So, Hermione stopped by For the Lulz to see Fred and George, wanting to make sure that the bonds of friendship were still strong. She didn’t want to lose anyone else.
She came in through the front door of the shop after class one day, and poked her head around, looking for the familiar Gingers.
Luckily for Hermione Granger, there was very little anyone could possibly do that would ever bother them enough to not remain friendly. They’d even been pretty nice to their prat of a brother lately (although, admittedly, it probably had more to do with their curiosity over his boyfriend than anything else. Maybe.).
“Hellllooo,” Fred greeted as Hermione popped her head in -- he was sitting in his usual spot on top of the counter by the register, and had a clipboard in his lap that he was very clearly looking for a reason to ignore. “Wotcher, Mione?”
“Hiya, Fred!” Hermione called out with a wave of her hand and a bright smile. “Or, wait, sorry. Hiya, George!” She corrected herself. “How’s business?” She asked, moving further into the shop. “Things selling well?”
Fred giggled at that, and did not correct her one way or the other. That was something that the twins did often -- and seemed to rather enjoy. Confusing others was oddly rewarding on occasion. Okay, on most occasions. “Can’t complain,” he said in reply, even as he gave a mostly lazy shrug and set his clipboard aside.
“He’s underplaying it!” came a voice, loud and clear from one of the aisles -- the other twin, obviously. “It’s a great part of the year to own a joke shop!” A pause. “And hi Hermione!”
“Hello, Fred!” Hermione called out toward the other voice. She frowned just slightly. “Or George!” She added, now rather unsure which was which. ...then again, did it really matter? They were both good friends of hers and she really should have known one from the other, but it always seemed to make them happy when she couldn’t tell them apart.
“Getting ready for the big day? This is like, Christmas in a Joke shop, right?”
“Indeed it is,” said Fred, a bit smugly.
“Including the birthdays of our lords and saviors,” George chimed in -- suddenly popping up from behind the closest rack of things. He did that, sometimes.
They might have been pushing the analogy a bit, but hey, where was the fun in not pushing?
Hermione laughed. It was almost a guffaw. “Are you allowed to say such sacrilegious things about the day after Easter?” She teased. It was remarkable how alike they looked, the two of them. They really were one person split in two.
“I thought we were talking about Christmas,” Fred said, innocently. George only moved closer to the two of them, smiling in a way some might have considered sweet. Some -- but not anyone who actually knew the twins.
“What brings you to our humble shop?”
“Suuuure you did.” Hermione said, giving Fred a grin. She turned to look between them again, taking note of the smile on George’s face. It was a little unnerving. “Oh, I was in the neighborhood. Wanted to drop in and check on my favourite Weasley twins. Lest you think I’m ignoring you, or something.”
“Are you ignoring us?” Fred asked, vaguely amused that that was even something someone could think.
“Should we be offended?” George seemed just as amused as Fred -- because, as always, they mirrored each other nearly perfectly. The twins were rather well known for being sort of flakey all on their own -- hot and cold with the attention of anyone but each other. It wasn’t that they didn’t care, or consider other people friends -- it was just that they had their own set of priorities, and not many other people fell into their set columns as probably should have. Love interests fell by the way-side accidentally and friends found that they’d have to visit the shop in order to see the two boys. It was just how they were, and probably how they would always be.
Hermione didn’t mind that. She liked that whenever she came into the shop, it was as if no time had passed. She loved the whole Weasley family, because for the most part they felt like her own family. Fred and George were no exception to that rule.
“No no, nevermind,” she said with a little smile. “I’m just glad you’re not about to bite my head of for me not mentioning getting married. Oh, did I mention I got married?” They knew that, right?
Had she mentioned? Fred pondered, and George shrugged -- a little lazy, but definitely amused. “Happy Birthday,” one of them said, because why the hell not.
“Who’s the lucky man?” asked the other. Probably George.
“Jim Kirk.” Hermione responded. “We eloped over New Years, and … it’s been crazy. I haven’t told many people... at first we were kinda keeping it secret,” she said, blushing a bit. “It was more fun that way, I guess. And then I just... got busy with school and those crazy dreams, and sort of forgot.”
“I got married once,” Fred said, rubbing a finger over his chin playfully, before giving a pause. “Wait. No. No I didn’t.”
“We always forget, too,” supplied George, who moved to hug Hermione. “But really, congratulations. That’s quite cool.” They were clearly nonplussed over having been kept in the dark.
“What? No. No, wait,” Hermione said, though she laughed and returned George’s hug with a relieved sigh. “I didn’t forget I was married, you git. I forgot that I didn’t tell everyone. It’s obvious to me, why shouldn’t everyone else just... know? Why do I have to go around and tell people? So much effort.” She said, though she was mostly kidding. Mostly.
“Thanks, Fred.” She said to George, though she had a feeling she was calling him by his brother’s name. “Now, where are my wedding presents?”
Git. How funny, that Hermione was developing accents and slang she might not have otherwise used here in the OC. The twins tittered, amused at it, but said nothing on the subject.
“Wedding presents?” Fred asked, eyebrows raising sharply.
“They’re in the mail as we speak,” George cut in smoothly.
“Brilliant.” Another word that Hermione would have used had she not moved to California a decade ago. It was coming back to her, the more she dreamed. The very British-ness of it all. She didn’t mind it, though. With every dream she got closer to knowing how the story ended. With every dream she became more competent with magic.
“Now. What’s this I hear about a birthday party?” Hermione asked, glancing from one twin to the other.
The twins gave identical Cheshire grins and nodded. “Our birthday,” said Fred, as if it were obvious.
“Expect good things,” said George. “And bring your husband.”
“Where is it? Here at the shop? On Monday, right?” Hermione added. She couldn’t help but grin as she looked between the twins. Their Cheshire grins were infectious. She knew that Jim was going to love these guys. For sure. It was funny how a lot of things in her life had become about how Jim was going to react. Not bad, just different. She was really starting to think of someone else before herself consistently for the first time in her life.
“Monday,” one agreed.
“We’ll post where on the net soon. This place is too small for a party.” The other said.
“You got it. I’ll bring Jim along. I want him to meet you guys, anyway.” She said, softly. It was true, she’d kept him to herself for far too long. She wanted her friends to love him almost as much as she loved him. But definitely not that much. She didn’t want to fight her friends over him.
“What do you guys want for your birthday, then? Something reasonable? Unreasonable? Chocolate covered?”
“Yes,” they both said at once, and grinned a terribly, nearly predatory grin. At their age, they shouldn’t have expected or been so excited by the prospect of presents; but they definitely were anyway.
“Surprise us,” said Fred.
“You got it.” Hermione said. Now she had to come up with something interesting. Maybe Jim had some ideas. “Just don’t expect too much,” she added, though she was grinning. She’d get them an amazing present if it killed her. And she sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t.
The twins only smiled at that, and one of them shrugged. But then the bell on the door jingled, signifying a real customer, and their attention immediately shifted from Hermione to prospective money. They really were just brilliant businessmen.