All Bets Are Off

Chapter 2

July 2002

Hermione jogged up the empty street to the joke shop. It was nine o'clock on a Saturday night and most of the shops had been closed for hours. Fred and George were out for the evening, at a Quidditch match, and Hermione figured she'd take advantage of the quiet store to go balance their books. She had been doing the job for three weeks now and, while she enjoyed it, the task took twice as long if the twins were there. Inevitably the three would end up talking, goofing off, and ordering in dinner. Admittedly, it wasn't the worst way to spend an evening.

She let herself into the shop, quickly locking it again behind her. Kicking her trainers off at the counter, she bent down to the second shelf to grab the ledger and receipts only to find it empty.

"Where in the world could it be?" Hermione muttered to herself. She sifted around the other shelves, coming up empty. She made her way back to the stock room, lighting the lamps and looking around for the familiar purple leather book. As she reached up to a top shelf, a loose jar of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder toppled off. The jar went crashing to the floor and she was plummeted into darkness, and a sudden coughing fit.

It took several minutes for the powder to dissipate and allow Hermione to see again. Deciding that the book was nowhere in the shop, she dug the keys from her pocket as she climber the stairs to the brothers' flat. She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and was immediately aware that she was not alone.

Pleasurable moans filled the room. A pair of long, brown legs were sticking up from the sofa. Bright red hair and a blindingly white bum were bobbing against the legs.

"Oh jeez! I-I-I'm sorry!" Hermione squeaked, turning quickly and bolting back down the steps before she could register which twin she had just interrupted.

She leaned against the counter, trying to get her breathing back to normal. Whether it had been Fred or George, it didn't seem like she had thrown a wrench into the works. No one came barreling after her, so she patiently waited for the couple to finish up. As she waited, she desperately attempted shut up the voice in her head that kept pleading for it to not be Fred.

Twenty minutes later, footsteps could finally be heard on the stairs. A very casual George Weasley sauntered through the curtain, wearing nothing but a pair of green pajama bottoms. Hermione's heart gave a little leap seeing his mischievous grin. It wasn't her twin! Wait, her twin? She shook her head vigorously. She didn't have a twin.

"Sorry about that Hermione," George said, leaning against the wall. "Wasn't expecting visitors tonight."

"I'm the one who should be sorry. Very sorry," she murmured. "I should have knocked before I came in. I just thought you were at the Quidditch match and came by to do the bookkeeping. The ledger isn't down here though, hence why I unknowingly barged in on your moment."

"It's alright. You didn't interrupt anything. The Quidditch match got boring, so Ang and I buggered off early to make our own fun." George jerked his head toward the stockroom. "Come on up. I think my git of a brother took the ledger up with him today and forgot to put it back."

"How did he feel about you ditching him to go have shag?" Hermione asked, following him up the steps.

"Eh, he's used to it. It's not like he's alone anyway." George opened the door and pointed to the kitchen table. "There it be."

Hermione walked to the table, trying to keep her face expressionless. "Who's he with?"

"An adorable witch named Cara, from Gringotts. Bill set him up."

"Adorable, huh?" Hermione whispered. She couldn't help but be a little disappointed. She hated when she let herself get into these cycles. It was during the summer, before her fourth year, that she started taking notice of Fred Weasley. At that time he was in his sixth year and, while he was always nice to Hermione, she knew he saw her as nothing more than Ron's best friend that came around for holidays. So, she kept a lid on her feelings and admired him from afar.