A/N: Here you go, as promised. A bit more of the twins, which are so much fun to write about, and a little insight into platinum boy. Thanks again to my dear Beta, Dementor149 who listens to all of my frustrated ramblings and helps me to get back on track again when that dreaded writers block seems to hit. A big hug to all of you reviewers who have stuck with me; I love all of the comments and thoughts you send my way.
Thanks to JKR for creating this world that I can play in, and thanks to the Internet for allowing me to "fix" what I perceive as wrong, and share it with others…
Chapter 22
Boys and Their Toys
"Alright, where did you send him?" Ginny asked. "Mum's not going to be very happy if you've sent him somewhere dangerous."
Both Fred and George grinned.
"The temptation was there," Fred said.
"He is so very gullible sometimes," George explained.
"So where is he?" Hermione asked again.
"Three Broomsticks," Fred laughed.
"Bets on whether he will stop for lunch before coming back?" George asked.
"No, he'll come straight back, and he'll be pissed," Fred replied.
"And plotting our demise," both twins said at once.
"Well, I think it's positively brilliant," Harry grinned, looking at his badge.
"Yes, well, we've been trying to get rid of our dear brother for years," George laughed.
"Keeps returning though, like a bad sickle," Fred chimed in.
"I meant the portkey," Harry sighed.
"Wait until you see what else we have," George said.
Just then they heard the front door bang open and customers exclaiming as they were pushed out of the way. Ron barged through the curtains, and Fred threw a small ball at the floor in front of him. The ball exploded, and a fine powder clouded the entrance. It enveloped Ron, and he froze in place.
"Petrificus Totalus Bombs," George said proudly, as he walked towards Ron.
Ron's eyes followed George's actions as he carefully pried Ron's fingers open and took the portkey away.
"Now that I have your attention Mr.Weasley," George smirked as he looked at his younger brother, "we will not allow you to manhandle our paying customers. If you continue to do so, your shopping privileges will be revoked. Do I make myself clear? Good. I'll take your silence as an affirmative."
Ron's eyes blazed in anger as George walked away from him.
"Don't you think you should release him?" Hermione asked.
"Be our guest," George replied.
Hermione pulled out her wand. "Finite Incantatem," she said, pointing her wand at Ron.
Nothing happened.
"It has a timed potion attached to it," explained Fred. "It should wear off in the next minute or so. It's good for five minutes."
"What else do you have?" Ginny asked as she looked in the box.
"That, dear sister, is an excellent question. We have the Confundus Cloud, the Conjunctivitis Bomb, the Incendio Bomb, the Silencio Silencer, the Stupefy Stunner and the Rictusempra Ripper."
Fred beamed proudly at the row of little bombs now line up on the table.
"What do you want a tickling bomb for?" Hermione asked.
George shrugged. "We figure it would be fun."
Suddenly they heard a thud and turned around to see Ron sitting on the floor.
"Sorry mate," George chortled. "Slight side effect of the bomb."
"Ha ha. Very funny. Use me again as a human guinea pig, and I'll inform Mum," Ron sputtered as he got up.
"Ooh, Ronniekins is going to run to Mummy," Fred teased.
"Sod off," grumbled Ron as he headed back to the front of the store.
"It seems to me, dear brother, that our younger sibling doesn't have much of a sense of humor," George announced.
"What would you expect?" Hermione asked as she headed for the front of the store. "If it had been me, I would have hexed both of you. We'll meet you outside Harry," Hermione said as she and Ginny left.
Harry watched her go before turning back to the table where the twins were packing everything away.
"One last thing we want to show you, mate. We made this especially for you. It's a belt, but it has two small pouches on it. Good for holding shrunken items and such. Here, try it on."
"It's not going to transport me anywhere is it?" Harry asked warily.
"Merlin no, Harry! We wouldn't do that to our best client and supporter," George replied grinning.
As Harry put the belt on, Fred shrunk down several of the bombs and handed them to him.
"They're not going to go off, are they?" he asked as he carefully put them in the pouch.
"No, we have the sensitivity turned down really low. The first few batches were too sensitive and…well…lets just say we learned that they need to be much more stable," Fred winced from a past memory.
"They need to be thrown. If you just drop them or bump them, they won't go off." George added.
Harry snapped the pouch shut, and it suddenly vanished. He looked down in surprise and felt for the front flap, opening it up again. The pouch materialized once again.
"Pretty impressive, hey?" Fred asked proudly.
"That's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed as he shut the pouch again.
"We call it the Invisipouch. Though it up after Mum used to confiscate all of our inventions. It's not on the market yet, so besides us, you are the only one who has one," George announced.
"So what do I owe you for all of these items?" Harry asked.
Fred put his hands up and shook his head. "Your investment has been re-invested, Harry. We have set up an account for you at Gringotts. You get ten percent of all our sales as a silent partner."
"I told you I didn't want it," Harry explained.
"Harry, wars cost money. You are going to need it. We will just take anything you owe us out of the account. No argument," George said as Harry started to protest again. "You've been good to us and the whole Weasley family. This is our way of saying thanks."
Harry sighed in resignation. "Thanks guys. You are like a family to me too, you know."
"Aww," sniffed Fred as he brushed imaginary tears away. "Time to get back to business, before I tear up."
Harry grinned as he followed them out to the front of the store.
"We'll send everything up to the school for you, Harry. Let us know where to set the portkeys for and we'll send those along too," George said.
Just then Ron came in looking very grim and determined.
"Uh oh," George teased, "our little brother is back to scold us again."
Ron ignored him and went to Harry.
"Guess who we just spotted?" he said quietly.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"The platinum boys, skulking around the Hog's Head."
Harry couldn't believe the knot of anger that seemed to form in his chest. He looked out the door.
"Where's Hermione and Ginny?" he asked suddenly.
They should have been following Ron into the store.
"You didn't leave them alone did you?"
The knot suddenly changed from anger to fear.
"They stayed behind to trail them. We need to find Lupin and Tonks," Ron explained. "I told the girls not to approach them and stay where it was busy. One of us had to come back to get you. Neither one of them wanted to let the Malfoy's out of their sight, so I gave in."
"Do you want us to come?" Fred asked.
"No, you lot stay here. Too many people might scare them off and we need to find out what they are up to. If we need you, we'll send up sparks," Harry said. "Let's go."
***** ***** *****
Hermione and Ginny were crouched down between two stores with their wands out, watching the Hog's Head entrance.
"Wish we had those invisibility cloaks," murmured Ginny.
"It certainly would make things easier," replied Hermione.
Suddenly there was a crash behind the store.
"I'll go check it out," Hermione replied.
She sidled down the wall of the building and disappeared around the corner. Ginny watched her go, thinking about a conversation she had with the brown-haired witch back at the Burrow. Ginny had realized then that Hermione had not been aware of the way Harry felt about his female best friend, and Ginny had not told her. Ginny blamed Harry for their break-up, and figured that if she couldn't be happy, then why should he?
Ginny was listening carefully for her friend, her eyes never leaving the bar across the street. She still considered her a close friend, and didn't really want anything to happen to her. True, Hermione had given her advice in the past on how to attract Harry's attention, but somehow, she really didn't feel like reciprocating. Suddenly she heard a `thud' and turned to look towards the back of the store.
"Hermione?" she called quietly, but there was no answer. Fearful that her friend was in trouble, she slowly crept down the alley in the direction that Hermione had disappeared. When she got around the corner, she saw Hermione slumped against the wall. Ginny quickly scanned the area, but couldn't see anyone. She slowly moved towards her motionless form, eyes darting to the shadows, looking for any sign of trouble.
Suddenly, a gloved hand covered her mouth and she was pulled up against a hard body, a wand pointed at her head.
"Hello, Red," a voice drawled, and she knew who it was immediately: Draco Malfoy.
"Now, we are going to make a deal. You promise not to scream or try to hex me, and I'll remove my hand from your mouth. Agreed?" Draco asked.
Ginny nodded as her eyes searched for any way out of this predicament.
"Good. Oh, and lets pocket the wand. I wouldn't want to have to knock you out like I did to Granger."
With her eyes on Hermione, Ginny slowly put her wand back in her pocket. Draco's hand moved off of her mouth and down around her neck, seemingly caressing it.
"Let go of me, Malfoy, what are you doing here?"
"Now is that any way to greet an old school chum?" Draco asked as he gently caressed her arm with his wand.
Ginny closed her eyes and shuddered as she tried to ignore the odd sensations from being held and touched by Draco.
"Fine. Good afternoon, Draco. It's been a while since we have seen you. We should really get together over tea some time. Now will you let me go?" Ginny replied sarcastically.
"I don't think so," Draco murmured huskily. "I trust you about as much as you trust me. Besides, this is nice," he smirked.
"If you think I'm going to stand here while you grope me, guess again. What do you want?" Ginny said as she tried to get away.
"Now, now, Red, I just want to talk," Draco said as he tightened his hold on her neck.
Ginny stopped struggling as she again felt his wand against her temple.
"Good girl. I have a message for your boyfriend, Harry," he stated.
"Harry's not-" Ginny started.
"I don't care if Harry's not interested in what I have to say. You have to pass this on."
Ginny snorted. "And why should I trust you?"
Draco sighed. "Look, I don't have much time. Just hear me out and then we can go our separate ways."
"So what's the message?" Ginny asked, irritated by the way she felt by being held by him. Her arms were covered in goose bumps, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was sure that he could feel it as well. She hadn't felt this way since…
"Have you heard about the people who have gone missing?"
"Yes, and you were with them at the time," Ginny said, mentally shaking off the image in her head.
"It's not what you think. Anyways, the Dark Lord isn't just recruiting to strengthen his ranks. He's using them to strengthen himself. He's found a way to use the Dementors to suck souls out and feed on them. You have to tell Potter and the school. Cancel the Hogsmeade weekends. You aren't safe."
"Why should I trust you? Why do you care?" Ginny interjected, a grim picture of the Dementors entering her mind.
Draco sighed and turned Ginny to look him in the eye.
"This isn't my war, and this isn't what I wanted."
"So what do you want?" Ginny asked as she watched his eyes lose their hard glare. She hadn't ever really noticed how grey they were before…
"It doesn't matter," he muttered as his eyes roamed over her face, seemingly to memorize it. "You can do what you want with the message. I've done my part." He let go of her arms and moved to leave.
"Wait," Ginny said grabbing his arm. "What happened, Draco? Why did you do it?"
Ginny saw him stiffen.
"You think I chose this?" He snarled as he yanked his arm away. You, of all people should know about being
brought up as a `pureblood'. Being told things, and being brought up not knowing about any other way of life. I
didn't have a choice! When the
Dark Lord calls you into service, you either comply…or die."
"I'm sorry-" Ginny said quietly.
"I don't need or want your sympathy, Red, so forget it. Just-" Draco whirled as he heard the sound of running feet. He grabbed Ginny again and held her in front of him.
"Behave yourself, and we'll all get out of this alive," he growled as he began to back up.
Harry and Ron came around the corner and skidded to a stop at the scene before them.
"Malfoy!" Harry snarled as he pointed his wand at him. Ron followed suit.
"Back off, or the Weaselette dies," Draco said as he moved past the prone figure of Hermione.
Harry took in her unconscious form, and the anger almost overwhelmed him. "What did you do to Hermione?" He said as he moved in synchronization to Draco.
"Let her go, Malfoy! Ginny! Are you all right?" Ron called out to his sister.
"I'm fine, Hermione is just stunned," Ginny replied as she watched the two advance.
"Stop where you are," Draco said, and Ginny could hear some of the fear in his voice.
She looked at Harry and could see why: given the chance, he would murder Draco Malfoy where he stood. Draco began to pull Ginny down the next alleyway, out of range from Ron and Harry.
"Time to go," he whispered in her ear as soon as he was around the corner, and she felt a lurch of fear that he was going to take her with him. "Remember what I said before," he said as he released her.
She turned to look at him in surprise at her freedom as he backed away from her.
"Oh, and, Red? Make sure you stay safe. Maybe I'll see you again."
He smiled sadly, and with a `crack' he was gone as Harry and Ron turned the corner.
Ginny stood in shock looking back at the place where he last stood.
"That slimy bastard! I should have killed him when I had a chance!" Harry seethed.
"Did he hurt you, Ginny?" Ron asked as he hugged his sister.
"I'm fine Ron. He…uh…he had a message." Ginny said as she watched Harry searching the area. She wished it were someone else hugging her, someone with raven hair and glasses.
"I need to check Hermione," Harry said, storming past and not hearing Ginny. "I'll kill him for hurting her." He stalked off back around the corner.
When Ron and Ginny came back around the corner, Harry had awakened Hermione and they were standing together, holding each other and talking quietly. Ginny stumbled to a halt.
She knew: Hermione knew how Harry felt.
She could see it in the way they stood, the way they held each other. Ginny noticed the tenderness in the way Harry touched her cheek, and realized that he had never held or looked at her like that. She felt a slight pang of jealousy and hurt at the thought that they were meant to be together. It had always been Harry and Hermione, not Harry and Ginny. It had been all she had ever wanted, and she watched as her dreams crumbled. She hugged herself and rubbed her arms as she suddenly remembered the feeling of Draco's body pressed against hers.
"Ahem," Ron cleared his throat, and they quickly moved apart.
Suddenly they heard a loud explosion and turned to see a large plume of smoke rising from somewhere in the town.
"Come on!" Harry yelled and he broke into a run, the others following.
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