A/N: This is my entry for the April challenge of the twin exchange, enjoy and don't forget to review and vote for it on the 21st!
Disclaimer: I don't anything but the plot idea.
Prompt: Gum
Pairing: Hermione/Fred
Theme: Fred and George Weasley's Birthday, April 1
Quotes: "Sodding bludgers"
Summary: Fred and George are working on a new product, gabbing gum and they need to test it out. Who better than their new uptight saleswitch? What they don't know is that she has a few secrets she doesn't want to spill. Can she keep them in or will the gum prove to be too much for her?
-o-O-O-o-
Fred was finishing cleaning the Pygmy Puffs cages when he heard a faint explosion from the back of the shop. His head shot up and whipped around, facing the shut door that led to the back room.
"Fred!" The voice coming from the backroom was the unmistakably excited voice of his twin. Fred lifted a wary eyebrow and withdrew his hand from the Pygmy puff cage before taking a small step towards the door. He wasn't a hundred percent sure he wanted to know what it was that had made his twin so excited, it couldn't be good. His curiosity won out and he walked the rest of the way to the back room.
"Freddie!" George called over his shoulder again, not noticing his twin was right behind him. A grin quirked Fred's lips up and he crouched over, assuming a sneaking posture he and his twin had perfected through years of pranking. He snuck up behind the unsuspecting victim, and then pounced on him at the last moment, causing George to yelp and fall off his stool.
"Happy birthday!" Fred exclaimed, standing and dusting off his magenta robes. George straightened himself up, sending a quick glare at his twin before laughing with him.
"Why did you call?" Fred asked once he regained his breath.
"I finished the gum!" George exclaimed, bouncing on his seat excitedly. Fred's eyes lit up as well and he sat down on the stool next to his twin.
"Excellent!" he exclaimed, as both their faces were taken over by mischievous grins. "Who are we going to test it on?"
"Ron?" George suggested. Fred shook his head.
"Nah, we just tested the skipping sneakers on him. He won't go near us for at least another month. How about Percy?"
"We tested the laughing lollies on him. How about Harry?"
"Nope, sneezing stickers, remember?"
"Wait," George said, a rather evil grin lifting his lips that made Fred all the more excited. "How about Hermione?"
She was perfect. The young bookworm had just started working at their shop as a saleswitch when she got bored with her job at the ministry. She would never expect them to prank her, she was to paranoid to let anything pass. If they could get the gum to her, then it would work.
"Are you sure?" Fred asked, frowning slightly at his twin. George nodded and rolled his eyes.
"Just because you've developed an odd attraction to the little bookworm doesn't mean she isn't begging to be pranked."
Fred flushed a bright red before shaking his fiery head of hair. "I do not like her, much. Anyway, I only meant that you won't be able to give her the gum. She won't take it from us and she won't buy anything from the shop."
"I'll find a way Brother-O-Mine." George said in a knowing manner. "I'll find away. I'll get her when she comes into the shop."
"Good luck with that then." Fred said, grinning. It would be entertaining to watch at least. Hermione was guaranteed to hex George if she found out what he was trying to do. She'd probably hex Fred too, just for good measures. "Just give me a little bit of notice before hand."
"Why?" George asked, lifting his head from the cauldron he had begun to stir.
"Because I want to be out of the way when she starts firing hexes at you." George threw the spoon at his brothers retreating back, laughing when he heard him yelp.
-WWW-
Hermione entered the twins joke stop a little more warily than usual. It was their birthday today, and if history proved correct, then there would be far more pranks than usual on account of it. Not that Hermione really minded. She found most of their pranks brilliant, and funny if she was really honest. She just didn't like the way they tested them on unsuspecting people.
Nor did she like they way they were always trying to prank her.
When she had first started working here, both twins had tried to prank her in earnest. She could hardly walk without finding a trap prank or two. They never succeeded though, she was too clever for them. Fred had stopped trying recently, but George had become more determined if anything.
It was a wonder she hadn't quit yet. Most people couldn't understand why she had started working at the shop in the first place. She was undeniably helpful to the shop. Her brilliant mind and expertise in charms had helped increase the productivity by nearly tenfold, and she was extremely good with the customers. She enjoyed working there because she knew she was valued, and she had fun.
It was not because she was completely smitten with Fred Weasley. No, not in the least.
Not seeing anything out of the ordinary in the doorway she stepped on through into the actual shop. She couldn't see either twin, so she assumed they were probably still in the backroom. She fixed her magenta robes and set about the shop, making sure everything was ready for them to open. She had just finished straightening up the display of skiving snackboxes when she heard someone walking up behind her.
"Fred?" She questioned, turning on the spot and facing the surprised twin. He stared at her incredulously for a moment before a bright grin lifted his lips.
"Right as always." He said chipperly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Happy Birthday."
"Thanks." He replied quickly.
"Where's George?" It was never good if she could only find one twin. It usually meant that the other was about to try and pull some sort of prank.
"Right behind you, Granger." Came George's voice. Hermione jumped and stepped to the side, turning so she could keep her eyes on both twins.
"Morning, Granger." George said, taking a small step towards Hermione at the same time as Fred. She took a small, nervous step back , bumping into the display stand and causing some of the skiving snackboxes to open and spill onto the floor. Before either of the twins, or Hermione, could do or say anything else, the bell over the door rang, alerting them to the first customer of the day. George flashed Hermione a mischievous smile before heading to the customer while Fred headed towards the cash register. Hermione straightened up the snackbox display before heading to the back room for a broom to sweep up the spilt candy.
She reached into her pocket on the way back and pulled out the single piece of gum she had. She like to chew on it before she had to talk to customers, just to be sure that she had good breath. She popped the mint flavored gum in her mouth and began to chew it as she swept up the fainting fancies and puking pastilles, completely missing the victorious grin that George shot Fred.
She started to hum a tune as she chewed, unable to keep quiet. After a moment she began to softly sing the words to the song, not thinking anything of it until she went to put her broom up.
"My what a mess this place is, it's a wonder the twins ever get anything done." She mused aloud, before promptly clamping her hand over her mouth in horror. Why had she just said that aloud? She heard her self say the question aloud as well, unable to keep her mouth shut. A horrible thought dawned on her and she spit the gum out, her heart sinking as she realized it was now blue, not the green color her gum normally was.
She had been pranked.
"George?" She called stepping out of the back room. He was standing next to Fred at the cash register, laughing at something. He cringed when he heard Hermione's angry voice, but couldn't stop the grin as he heard her keep talking, seeming unable to stop speaking for even a moment.
"What did you do to me? Why can't I stop talking? Answer me, I need to know. How do I stop? Merlin, help!" She kept talking, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound so she could hear the answer.
George started laughing, far too hard to answer her. Fred straightened up from where he had been leaning against the counter and took mercy on the poor bookworm.
"It's gabbing gum." He started. Hermione moved her hand from her mouth so her questions could be heard.
"Gabbing gum? What is that? How does it stop? How long does it last? Has it already been tested?" She clamped her hand back over her mouth and Fred continued, fighting a laugh.
"It's a prank gum, it makes it where you can't stop talking about whatever comes to your mind until it wears off. You have to keep talking, so you end up spilling secrets. It'll last for an hour for every two minutes you chew it." Hermione's eyes widened painfully as she realized that she had chewed on that piece of gum for nearly twenty minutes.
"Godric's ghost!" She exclaimed, turning pale. "Why?"
"Because it's bloody funny!" George finally managed, choking on his laughter.
"Sodding bludgers!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening at her own use of language. She couldn't help it though, she couldn't stop talking!
"Language, Hermione." Fred mock scolded, trying to stop himself from laughing as well. Hermione turned on her heels and left the twins, terrified she might spill the beans on what she was planning tonight. She'd been working on this surprise party for over a month, she couldn't let herself give it away now because of some stupid prank. The twins followed her though, sensing she was trying to keep from spilling a secret.
"What is it, 'Mione?" Fred asked, stepping up to her right while George stepped to her left.
"You know you want to spill the details."
"I can't tell you what I've been-No!" she clamped her hand back over her mouth, muffling the words as she aimed her wand at her throat. 'Silencio!" She gasped, hoping it worked.
"I CAN'T SPILL MY SECRET, IT'LL RUIN THE SURPRISE! WHY AM I YELLING?" Her hand flew back to her mouth as her eyes narrowed into a glare. George let out a louder laugh and Hermione rounded on him, poking her wand in his stomach.
"Silencio won't work." He gasped out through his laughter. "It just makes you louder."
Hermione's eyes grew wide again and she let her eyes scan the store frantically, she had to find something to distract her before she gave everything away. Her eyes fell on an image they had next to the cash register. It was of the quidditch team the year before they left school. A wild thought occurred to her, a memory of an annoying song that made her think of something she could do to keep her mouth occupied for a while, at least until she came up with something else.
" KING WILLIAM I 1066-1087, KING HENRY I 1100-1135, KING STEPHEN 1135-1154, EMPRESS MATILDA 1145,"
"What in Merlin's name is she rambling about?" George asked, cocking his head and staring at Hermione in surprise.
"Forge," Fred started, looking thoroughly impressed. "I believe she is listing off the kings and queens of England in chronological order. That'll keep her mouth busy for a while."
"Nice!" George exclaimed, laughing again. Hermione shook her head. She was already to the thirteen hundreds and had no idea how she was going to stop talking.
"Don't worry, Freddie, she'll crack sooner or later." George said, stepping away from Hermione and walking towards the back room. "And we'll be listening when she does." Hermione gave Fred one last helpless look before turning and heading towards the back of the shop, still shouting out names of kings and queens.
-WWW-
"Thanks for doing business with us!" Fred called out, shutting the door to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It had been a long day, busier than normal because of April Fools day and he was glad to finally lock the shop up. He could hear Hermione yelling something in the distances and he gave a tired smile. She had moved onto Goblin wars after the king and queens, moving onto the classification of magical animals after that. She'd not spilled one secret, and it honestly astounded him. Only Hermione could yell about potion ingredients, animals, and books for eight hours.
"GEORGE WEASLEY, LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU ANYTHING. GO LOCK UP THE BACKROOM. I'M GOING UPSTAIRS TO MAKE YOUR DINNER. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He heard a laugh, a bang, and then a door slam. He went to see what was going and found a furious Hermione standing in front of the backroom door, her wand drawn as she yelled at the door.
"Woah, Hermione." He said, holding his hands up in surrender.
"I WILL NOT 'WOAH', FRED WEASLEY. MY THROAT IS KILLING ME AND I CAN'T STOP YELLING, DON'T TELL ME TO WOAH!" She kept yelling, but he wasn't listening anymore. His eyes had gotten caught on her lips as she spoke, the way they kept moving was almost hypnotizing. He shook his head to clear his head and aimed his wand at her throat. He muttered a spell under his breath so that she wouldn't hear it, and grinned as the yellow light wrapped around her throat.
"What did that do, Fred? Oh my god, thank you! That is so much better, I can't believe I haven't gone hoarse yet." She was no longer having to yell, and his ears were practically twitching in relief.
"It's another aspect of the gum, it makes it impossible to lose your voice."
"Of course." She muttered, rolling her eyes at the twin. "I'll just go upstairs before I blab anymore of my deep secrets. You know, like the fact that I lo-" Her hand clamped over her mouth, muffling the end of the word as her eyes grew even larger. Her face grew bright red and she ran upstairs to George and his flat, slamming the door behind herself.
He watched her leave with an upraised eyebrow. What had she almost said? It must have been good to make her blush like that. Shrugging it off he went into the back room to help George finish locking up. Once the store was secure they made their way up to their flat.
"Nice of 'Mione to fix dinner for us." Fred commented, reaching for the door to their living room.
"Yeah, we better watch what she makes. She might try to poison us." George commented wryly.
"Not me, Georgie. She's mad at you, she knows you're the one that gave her the gum."
"Maybe." George admitted as Fred opened the door. An explosion went off in the room and both twins leapt back, letting out an exclamation as the smoke cleared. A banner was now strung across the ceiling, bearing the words 'Happy Birthday Forge and Gred,' along with streamers and balloons everywhere. Friends and family were standing in the room all shouting out 'surprise!'
"Awesome!" Fred and George exclaimed together, stepping into their flat with huge smiles.
"Happy birthday, I hope you like it, I've been planning for weeks." Hermione rambled, smiling at the twins as they were swarmed by their friends. Fred managed to break away, a huge grin lifting his lips.
"It's awesome, 'Mione." He gave her a hug, not missing the way she shivered in his hold or how her rambling got faster.
"You're welcome. I was happy to do it for you." She continued, smiling even wider. "Would you like some cake? It's chocolate because that's your favorite. I got strawberry ice cream for George, but I got the bubblegum flavor you're crazy about." She kept talking about the food as she dragged him to the cake. George was already there, and together they blew out the candles. Hermione served up the cake, smiling as she handed him his slice.
"Thanks, love." He said, grabbing his fork and plate from her.
"You're welcome, I love you." Her eyes grew wide and she dropped her cup, her mouth dropping open in shock as she realized what she had just said. She'd gone the entire day without letting out any secrets, and now she had just given her biggest one away! She stepped back, still rambling about something, but she wasn't paying attention anymore. Fred's eyes were wide as he looked at her, and she felt like crying. It was ruined, she'd have to leave the shop and stop seeing Fred. She'd reached the door now and twisted the knob, letting herself out of the flat. Fred finally unfroze and ran after her, stopping her before she could apparate away.
"Hermione!" He called, grabbing her arm and turning her around. She looked up at him with large, watery, eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"
She dropped her eyes from his, her bottom lip quivering as she answered him. "I thought you would laugh at me-or think I was too young."
"Really? Why? I've felt the same for a while."
Hermione snorted, a look of disbelief on her face. "You don't have to lie, Fred."
"I'm not." He answered earnestly, taking hold of both her hands. She looked up at his eyes earnestly, scared to believe him.
"Really?"
"Yeah, have for a while now." Her eyes lit up but he could tell that she still didn't fully believe him. acting on the moment and the fact that he had indeed liked the little book worm for a long while he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. She was still beneath him for a moment, shocked by his move, but then she relaxed and pressed back, kissing him eagerly and bringing her arms up to his neck.
Breaking apart Fred felt like shouting in joy. Hermione grinned back at him, her eyes bright and her cheeks slightly pink. Fred opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an explosion from the next room. Hermione let out a laugh and dropped her arms from his neck, brining one up to cover her laugh.
"What?" He started, she shook her head, pointing towards the door. He stepped towards it, keeping one of her hands in his as he opened the door. What he saw brought a huge smile to his face as he laughed.
In the center of the room a little canary was flying around wildly, everyone was laughing around him and a plate of cake and strawberry ice cream was on the floor.
"He shouldn't have pranked me." Hermione whispered at his side. Fred looked over and gave her a big grin, laughing as his brother chirped.
A/N: Well, I'm glad I actually managed to finish this. I have a really, really, really, hard time with anything but first person writing. I don't know why, I just do. I hope you all enjoyed this story, and please don't forget to leave a review if you enjoy this fic.
Once again, thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review with your impressions, suggestions, and such.