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"What are you wearing?!" Hermione exclaimed when the twins made their appearance atop the staircase of their new shop, resplendent in their shiny red suits.
"Why Granger? Should I take it off," Fred teased with a wink, making her blush to the roots of her hair, because now, Hermione could not help but imagine him in his birthday suit.
Whirling around to avoid the embarrassment, Hermione scuttled to the back of the shop where violent shades of pink stopped her dead in her tracks, half expecting to see Umbridge lurking around the ludicrous display. Curious, Hermione picked up a small bottle called the Daydream Draft which promised to induce a vivid dream and drooling. Hermione smiled at the inventiveness of the twins. To think of all the great things they could achieve… they chose to give witches a way to live out their fantasies?
"Interesting choice," a voice murmured in her ear.
Startled, Hermione dropped the vial, but a familiar freckled hand caught it.
"Fred!" Hermione exclaimed as she turned around. "Don't sneak up on people like that."
"Fred?" he repeated, raising a brow.
"Cut it out. I know you're you." Fred's other brow rose, as if he was genuinely surprised she could tell. "Because George is much nicer."
Fred took a step back, hand over his heart.
"How you wound me, Hermione," he intoned dramatically, earning himself giggles from the witches nearby.
"To prove you wrong, here, take this," Fred said, pushing the vial into her hands before leaning over her to add in a whisper: "And think of me."
Hermione watched Fred weave his way back to his twin's side, mouth agape, then at the "gift" in her hand. Was he flirting with her? Or just teasing her again?
Back at The Burrow, potion in hand, Hermione still didn't know what to do with it. Just because Fred told her to drink it while thinking of him didn't mean she should. In fact, she should think of anyone else, just to spite him, like… Ron? Hermione grimaced at the thought. As much as she liked Ron, he was a real prat sometimes. Harry was like a brother. Viktor maybe? Chances of seeing him anytime soon were slim to none, which suited her fine, because if this dream embarrassed her, the trigger would not be around anyway. Drinking the potion was a stupid idea, but at least her plan was sound.
Finding a quiet place at The Burrow to daydream was not easy, so Hermione chose to sit against the willow in their garden with a book under her arm so everyone would know not to bother her. She drank the potion in one go before she could think better of it, the taste not half bad, like fresh strawberries and butterbeer. Hermione closed her eyes and recalled those few days with Viktor, talking despite his broken English, walking around the lake, or hiding around the castle to avoid his fans. It was all great fun before Ron made an ass of himself, yelling at her about fraternising with the enemy until his face was as red as his hair.
With a sigh, Hermione opened her eyes. This was not working. It should. The twins' products always worked in one unexpected way or another, but they never were a bust, so she checked the label behind the bottle.
Effective after five to fifteen minutes depending on the drinker.
But by then, her mind had strayed towards the inventor of the potion more than her Bulgarian friend, so when Fred materialised in front of her and started undressing, Hermione knew she had messed up.
"Don't," Hermione said, covering her eyes… which… if she was daydreaming, didn't make any sense. Was she a dream herself? She was so aware though… this was brilliant!
Except the figment of her imagination that was this Fred was down to his pants when Hermione chanced a peek through her fingers.
"What are you doing?" Hermione squeaked. "Stop taking your clothes off!"
"I thought you wanted to see me in my birthday suit?" Fred replied with a raised brow.
Hermione had never said that, but she had thought it. However their Daydream Draft worked was ingenious, although used this way felt wrong, as if she was ogling a half naked Fred without his consent. It was all in her head though, right? No harm done...
Hermione shook her head.
"I don't like this," she muttered to herself, and with a dramatic puff of smoke, the fake Fred vanished.
Hermione blinked, unsure whether she was still in her daydream or not, so she pinched her arm. It hurt, but if she had expected the pain, she could have imagined feeling it too.
Things were bad when you couldn't tell reality from dream, so Hermione ran back to The Burrow, relieved when she found Ginny first. She explained her predicament, but despite Ginny's assurances that she was not dreaming anymore, Hermione could not be sure and was starting to panic.
"Wait here, and don't let mom find you like this," Ginny cautioned before she ran out.
A few minutes later, Fred walked in.
"Not this again," Hermione wailed, regretting she had ever drank the damn potion.
"Count on you to turn me into a nightmare, Granger," Fred joked, although he looked more worried than she had ever seen him before. "Tell me what went wrong."
Hermione did, with extreme embarrassment, but not once did Fred make fun of her.
"I see," he said. "You triggered the safeguard when you said you didn't like what was happening. It brought you out of the daydream immediately."
"Oh... Smart," Hermione replied, unable to look Fred in the eye.
"Was it that bad?" Fred asked.
"Not… bad. Just… not for me..."
"I guess this is a bad time to ask you out?" Fred ventured, and after a stunned silence, Hermione burst out laughing.
"The worse, Fred. The absolute worse," she replied, but it did make her feel a lot better.