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“I am so tired of those three pranking us. They know I’m afraid of spiders, the wankers just had to put some in my bed this morning,” Millicent said, shuddering at the memory.
Daphne reached over and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. “I’m sorry. They’re starting to lose their touch though - they did that more than once this term.”
Pansy dropped to the floor of the Astronomy Tower dramatically and pulled a few bottles of butterbeer out of her bag, handing two of them to the other girls.
“We need to get them back before the term ends,” she said matter-of-factly, taking a swig from her bottle. “Draco, Theo, and Blaise need to know they can’t keep messing with us.”
“I agree but Pans, we’re terrible at pranks! They catch us every time.” Daphne responded morosely.
“Ladies,” a voice came from the dark alcove, “I believe we can be of assistance.”
Pansy whipped her head around and caught sight of the Weasley twins and their sidekick Lee Jordan leaning against the wall. The one who spoke, Fred she was guessing, had his arms folded across his chest.
“What?” She sneered at them.
He pushed off the wall, coming to his full towering height and walked towards her.
“I said, we can be of assistance.”
“Oh really? How?” She asked.
The other twin, George snorted and joined his brother. “Do you know who you’re talking to? We live for pranks. We are the king of pranks.”
Daphne spoke up from her spot on the floor. “What would you suggest then?”
“Well, the best pranks will affect someone personally. You know the ferret and his goons better than we do. What are they most proud of? What are they obsessed with?”
Pansy pondered the question.
“School marks?” Millicent offered
“I don’t want to cause any permanent damage,” Pansy resounded. “If we mess with their final exams that could affect their NEWT level classes and Draco would never hear the end of it from his father.”
The girls looked at each silently for a few moments.
“I got it!” Pansy exclaimed suddenly. “They’re all obsessed with their hair! They spend way too much time preening in front of the mirror every morning.”
“Excellent!” Fred said, clapping his hands together. “We have the perfect thing. A new product we’ve been working on that we need to test.”
“It’s not ready yet though. Do you think we’d have time to finish it before the term ends? We only have a few more days.” George pointed out.
Fred caught Pansy’s eye. “If you ladies are up for helping us, we can get it done.”
Pansy narrowed her eyes at him. “Why would you help us?”
“We never give up the opportunity for a good prank,” Fred laughed. “Plus, it’s Malfoy. It’s always a joy to mess with him.”
“Ok you have a deal,” Pansy said nodding her head.
“Excellent.” Fred and George said in unison looking at each other with identical grins.
“Meet us at the portrait to the kitchens after prefect patrols tomorrow night.”
**********
Pansy arrived at the portrait the next evening, alone, to find Fred waiting for her.
“M’lady,” he said, mock bowing at her feet.
She rolled her eyes and scoffed, a small smile on her face.
He grinned at her as he stood back up. He was quite tall. And cute. Pansy felt her face flush at the thought and she berated herself internally.
“Are we waiting for the other two out here?” She asked, glancing around.
“Nah. George got detention and Lee had to study for exams.” He looked behind her down the dark hall she came from. “What about you?” He asked.
“Not coming. They aren’t interested enough in payback to spend their spare time with Gryffindors.”
“But you are?” Fred said wiggling his eyebrows at her.
“Yes.” Pansy cleared her throat. “In the payback, not spending spare time with you,” she corrected quickly.
Fred grinned and canted his head towards the portrait. “We’ll see.”
Pansy huffed and moved past him into the kitchens as the portrait swung open.
He quickly joined her and offered a wave of hello to the house-elves inside as a few rushed over to say hello back.
Pansy watched in awe as he got down on their level and patted a few on the back, asking how they were as he pulled a few wrapped candies out of his pocket. She stood there awkwardly as the house-elves slowly noticed her presence and took a few steps back.
“She’s with me guys. We’re working on a plan to get back at the “blonde one”,” he said the last part out of the side of his mouth and a few of the house-elves covered the smiles on their faces.
Fred stood back up quickly and came to her, placing a hand on the small of her back and pointed to an area at the back. “Our workspace is back here.” He applied a bit of pressure with his hand to get her to move and followed closely behind.
“How long have you been working here?” She asked once the house-elves were out of earshot.
“Since our second year. We started working on the house-elves our first year but it took time to gain their trust.” He pulled a candy out of his pocket and handed it to her. “These helped. They provide a, uh, calming effect once consumed,” he said winking.
Pansy’s jaw dropped open in shock. “You get the house elves high?” She whispered at him.
He responded with a toothy grin, his brown eyes twinkling. “Let’s get to work.”
A few hours later, Pansy was exhausted but thrilled with the final product. It was amazing to watch Fred work; he was extremely smart and patient with the process. After a few failed attempts, he had finally found the right formula to produce their prank, along with the antidote.
“This is going to be perfect!” She exclaimed, watching as Fred’s normal appearance reappeared after swallowing a small vial of potion.
“I can’t wait to see it in action,” he agreed, giving a small chortle.
Pansy thought for a moment and frowned. “How do we get them to use it though? Daph was right, they catch us every time we try to prank them.”
“Oh, I’ve already thought of that. It still works if applied topically instead of ingested. There is one final Quidditch match before the term is up; we’ll sneak into the Slytherin changing room and add it to their showers before the match.” He grinned and winked at her again.
“Excellent!” She exclaimed before slapping a hand over her mouth. She wasn’t used to showing so much emotion; she had a reputation to uphold.
“I see I’m rubbing off on you,” he said, chuckling as her cheeks turned rosy.
She stood quickly from the workbench and straightened her skirt. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Fred just chuckled again and flicked his wand to clear their mess.
He led the way back to the portrait, whispering goodbyes to the few house elves that were still awake.
Once in the hall, she turned to tell him goodnight but he spoke before she could.
“I’ll walk you back to the dungeons if you’d like. The castle can be a bit creepy this time of night.”
Pansy blinked at him silently as he held his arm out for her to grab. She flounced by him, refusing his arm but allowed him to walk her back. They walked in silence but she was grateful for the company, he was right; the castle was creepy this late.
As they reached the Slytherin common room, she turned to face him. “Thank you,” she said quietly, not looking him in the eye.
Fred shuffled his feet nervously, both his hands in his pockets. “Of course.”
As she turned towards the portrait, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand in his. She locked eyes with him, shocked, as he quickly brought her hand up to his mouth, giving it a swift kiss.
“I had fun tonight, Parkinson,” He said, his mouth a breath away from her hand still, his eyes looking at her intently.
“I, uh, I did too,” She stuttered quickly, pulling her hand from his grasp.
He bowed before her again, as he had at the beginning of the night, and turned on the spot to head back down the hall towards the Gryffindor common room.
Pansy clasped her hands in front of her, hundreds of emotions flooding her mind.
Get a grip! she told herself before giving the password and rushing to bed. He was a Weasley for Merlin’s sake!
**********
Two days later found Pansy, Daphne, and Millicent standing outside the Slytherin Quidditch changing room being lookouts as Fred, George and Lee went inside quickly to place their prank.
They could see the Slytherin team sauntering towards them and Pansy glanced over her shoulder to see the three Gryfinndors running to their changing room. Fred looked over at her and gave her his toothy grin and winking combo and she felt her pulse quicken.
She spent the entirety of the following game trying to convince herself it was from almost being caught by the Slytherin team and not from the look from her new favorite redhead.
The match was boring by Pansy’s standards but she had never enjoyed the game. She would rather die than admit she had spent most of it watching Fred. He was passionate about the game and Pansy admired him.
After what felt like an eternity, Potter caught the snitch, sealing the Gryfinndor victory and Quidditch Cup for the year. As the rest of the Slytherin house grumbled their way back to the castle, Pansy, Daphne, and Millicent headed towards the changing rooms and hid behind the stands to wait to see their prank in action.
“This is it!” a breathy voice said in her ear, causing her to yelp in surprise. She turned to find Fred, George, and Lee standing with them to get a good view as well. Fred and George were still in their Quidditch gear, sweaty and dirty, and Pansy turned red at the thoughts that invaded her mind looking at Fred.
A few moments later, they heard blood-curdling screams come from the Slytherin changing room and watched as Draco, Theo and Blaise emerged, wrapped in bathing robes, looking for the pranksters.
Draco was sprouting a full head of flaming red hair, still sopping wet from the shower, while Blaise’s short dark hair had turned a shocking neon pink. Theo, on the other hand, emerged balder than the day he was born. The three boys looked at each other and screamed again, rushing back into the changing room.
Pansy was laughing so hard she fell to her knees, propped up by the other girls who were doubled over and clutching their stomachs.
George and Lee howled, their heads were thrown back, faces pointed towards the sky. Fred crawled over to Pansy, his face now red with laughter, tears streaming down his face.
“That--was--hilarious--” Pansy sputtered out, trying to catch her breath between laughs. Fred barked out another round of laughter and fell to the ground on his back, his arms and legs spread wide. Pansy sat back and took a deep breath, wiping tears from her own eyes.
“Thank you for helping us, you guys,” she said grinning at the 3 boys.
Daphne and Millicent nodded their heads in agreement, still laughing too hard to speak. They turned and ran towards the castle to tell the others what they had seen.
George and Lee put their arms around each other and headed towards the Gryffindor changing rooms leaving Fred and Pansy alone.
Pansy looked around to make sure no one could see them and she laid down next to Fred, her head resting on his outstretched arm.
Fred sobered up quickly and took a deep breath. “I know Slytherin lost, but if you’d like to have a good time, you should join us in the Astronomy Tower for the Gryffindor celebration.”
Pansy rolled to her stomach, her side pressed firmly against his. “I’d like that,” she said with a small smile.
Fred placed his hand on her cheek and smiled back. “I’d like that too.”
“Before I forget,” Fred started, reaching into his pocket with his other hand and pulling out a vial. “Here is the antidote for them.”
Pansy pushed herself onto her knees, took the vial from him and tossed it to the side.
“I think it can wait,” she said, crawling towards him.
He watched her keenly as she grew closer and stopped to hover just above him.
Before he lost his nerve, and before she changed her mind, he reached up and pulled her down by the back of her head and he kissed her.
And she kissed him back.