fresh
by Pares
He was standing on the ceiling. His red hair wasn't quite long enough to hang straight down, but instead looked ruffled like an owl's feathers. A bucket hovered by his shoulder, and Hermione hoped that, for his victim's sake, it was only full of water.
"I don't think you should be doing that."
"Oh, I know I shouldn't," he grinned. "But I can't seem to help myself."
Hermione didn't think she'd ever seen one twin without the other before; she waited a moment and when no red-haired brother materialized, she asked, "Where's Fred?"
"I'm Fred," he said stoutly.
She squinted at him.
"No, you're not."
He smiled at her, and crooked one eyebrow.
"I think I'd know better than you."
"Maybe so, but you're George. What's in the bucket?"
"Never you mind. Go on now. If you were going to get Filch, you'd have done it already. In fact, at this point you're colluding." He looked very pleased at this idea, and beckoned to her. "Here, I'll give you a hand up. You won't want to miss his face."
Hermione caught herself thinking about it, about reaching up to take George's hand, and hanging from the ceiling... with her robes falling in her face and flashing her knickers to every passerby--
"How d'you keep your robes from falling down?"
"SeerSucker charm. Very handy for wallcrawling. Have a go?"
And she found herself nodding, and reaching for his hand.
"Pegarsemos!"
She floated up gradually, until her hand was caught in George's. Then she was abruptly upside down, and George was making little sputtering sounds.
"Your hair's very nice, Hermione, but there's quite a bit of it, isn't there?"
Her blush was disguised by the simple fact that all her blood was rushing to her head. When she realized that George was still holding her hand, she blushed even harder.
"What's in the bucket?" She asked again, standing on tiptoe to peer into it. When she turned her head to hear George's answer, his face was very close to hers.
"It's only water. After all, he is my brother."
Hermione wondered which one. If Ron came through that door, he'd be livid for a week.
"Then why are you dropping a bucket of water on him?"
"Because surprise keeps a relationship fresh," he said sagely, and he kissed her so quickly, she hardly had time to notice it before the door swung open.
George dumped the bucket on Fred with a mad hoot, and the two of them stared down into the pure double of George's face, gobsmacked and gaping.
Then George tugged her hand and together they fled, flying along the ceiling, with Fred's outraged shouts echoing behind them.END
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