Nudge

Syn

PG-13

I do not own these characters.

Summary: Fred and George give Harry and Ginny just a little nudge...

Notes: Written for ladyg_funk.  Silly ficlet. 

 

****

 

"YOU ARE A JERK, HARRY POTTER!" Ginny screamed at the top of her lungs.  George winced and glanced at his twin, who was looking as impressed by their sister's vocal range as he was. "IF I NEVER HAVE TO SEE YOU EVER AGAIN, IT'LL BE TOO SOON!"

 

From upstairs, there was the sound of a door slamming, silence for a moment and then a frustrated bellow in reply. "WELL, GOOD!"

 

Another door slammed, rattling the Burrow. Fred steadied the glasses on the tables with an outstretched hand and looked over at George. "What in bloody hell was that about?"

 

"What, you didn't hear?" George said, putting a finger in his ear and giving it a jiggle. "I heard every word.  I guess Harry and Ginny are still fighting."

 

"Clearly," Fred said dryly. "Good thing Mum went to Diagon Alley or she'd be charging up there and washing both of their mouths out with soap.  Who knew Ginny knew THAT word?"

 

George snorted. "We taught it to her."

 

"Oh, right."

 

"Should we go after them?  I mean...I feel like we should do something.  I for one am tired of hearing them fight.  The sexual tension is killing me."

 

Fred pulled a face. "Did you just mention sexual tension in regards to our little sister?"

 

George rolled his eyes. "Oh please, she's seventeen now.  She officially a woman and official women have sexual tension whether her big brothers like it or not.  And right now, her big brother is tired of hearing about it."

 

Fred sighed. "You've got a point.  Those two are going to kill themselves or someone caught in the crossfire if we don't do something about it."

 

"So what do you suggest?" George said, scratching his chin. "We could lock them up in the broom cupboard?  That worked with Ron and Hermione last year."

 

"Yeah, well...they weren't ready to kill each other.  Harry and Ginny are damned close.  You heard her," Fred said, leaning back in his chair, his gaze on the stairwell. "Besides, Mum told us she'd kill us if we tried that again.  She found Ron and Hermione in there and as they weren't exactly clothed..."

 

George winced, remembering the incident clearly. "Good point.  So what can we do about Harry and Ginny?"

 

"You don't think maybe they're not ever going to get back together?"

 

"Fred, listen to yourself!" George said, scandalized. "Doubting our powers!  And besides, you know full well that Harry and Ginny are head over bloody heels in love with each other.  They're only fighting because Harry's being stupid and Ginny's being stubborn.  All they need is a nudge in the right direction."

 

"And what do you suggest, brother dear?  I could nudge them with my wand, if you want," Fred offered, brandishing his willow wand. George laughed.

 

"I think we need something a bit more subtle than cursing their heads off, much as I'd love to do that. No, I think we've got to be sneaky about this one.  We're good at the sneaky, you and I."

 

"Practically invented it," Fred nodded, leaning across the table at him. "So what do you have in mind?"

 

George thought a moment and then grinned. "There are two of us and two of them.  Divide and conquer."

 

"And how shall we conquer them?"

 

"Subtle manipulation.  They don't want to be around each other?  Well, we'll just see about that..." George said smugly.  Fred grinned.

 

"You're evil, Gred."

 

"Damn straight, Forge."

 

And they started to plot.

 

****

 

George managed to corner Ginny in her bedroom. He'd lost the coin toss with Fred down in the kitchen and it was with a sense of foreboding that he traipsed up the stairs to her bedroom.  She was definitely the touchier of the two and he knew for a fact that she wouldn't hesitate to curse him stupid if he made her angry enough.  He was shocked that Harry hadn't been cursed yet.

 

"Who put the Wartcap powder in your knickers?" he said at her door after she'd invited him in with a growl.  Probably not the best thing to say to her, but the best way to go after Ginny was always directly.  Beat around the bush and she'd likely beat you around the head.

 

Ginny glared at him. "No one!"

 

"If you ask me, no one's been a right arse lately," George said, closing the door behind him and sitting down next to his little sister. "I heard everything.  So just spill baby sister.  You can tell old George."

 

Ginny's gaze was distrustful. "Where's Fred?"

 

George shrugged, fighting a grin. "I'm working solo today.  So what's bothering you?"

 

Ginny sat there, staring at her hands. "Harry's a big jerk."

 

"So I've heard.  And why is he a jerk?"

 

"He..." Ginny looked at him, still distrustful. "Why do you care?"

 

"I'm your brother!  And if Harry's done something to you, I'd like to know."

 

Ginny sighed and capitulated.

 

"Well, we went out, you know...last year and then we broke up.  He ignored me all summer!  All summer!  And then I went back to Hogwarts and...when I came home for Christmas, it was right after that big fight in Godric's Hollow.  I was about spare over him and...and when I tried to...well...  He just BRUSHED ME OFF!"

 

"He did?"

 

"YES!  And then, if you please, once he kills Voldemort, what does he do?  He comes running back to me.  He starts talking about how much he missed me and all of that rot!  Can you believe the NERVE of that bastard?  He spends nearly a YEAR ignoring my very existence and then he suddenly wants to go out again!"

 

"I can see why all the shouting," George said gently, patting her leg. "So you hate him?"

 

Ginny looked disturbed. "No!  Might be a bit easier if I did!"

 

"But I, erm...couldn't help hear that whole, 'never want to see you again' bit.  What was that about?"

 

Ginny sighed. "It doesn't matter.  I'm angry with him.  He's angry with me.  We're just...hopeless."

 

"Hopeless?  Really?  Then why did I see a certain someone hovering outside this very door earlier?  He looked like he wanted to knock, but he walked away.  I think he's tired of dealing with someone so unreasonable."

 

"UNREASONABLE!" Ginny exploded. "How can you say that after what I told you!  He's the one who messed up, George!  He's the one who treated me like an afterthought!  For an entire YEAR he didn't even look me in the EYE.  NOT ONCE!"

 

George cleared his throat. "Ever think maybe he just couldn't look you in the eye?"

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Well, I've heard the break up story and to me it sounds like he broke up with you because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to.  Maybe he couldn't look at you because he knew that if he did, he'd forget all about his noble reasons?" George said lightly. "Ever think of that?"

 

Ginny's mouth snapped closed. "No, I hadn't..."

 

"And maybe after Godric's Hollow, he really did want to go to you, but maybe he was too scared.  I mean, he did almost lose Ron and Hermione.  It probably brought home his reasons for breaking up with you in the first place.  Ever think of that?"

 

Ginny was looking a little ill.  He felt immensely proud of himself. "Didn't think of that...  I just thought he was...being a jerk..."

 

"A jerk would have strung you along, Ginny.  This whole year, you know he didn't think he'd survive that last battle.  Maybe he was afraid of getting your hopes up?"

 

Ginny went pale and slumped her shoulders, looking pretty miserable if George had to say so himself.  She looked at him with that distrust in her eyes again and rightfully so. "So why are so interested in me and Harry all of a sudden? 

 

"I don't know, could it be the shouting match heard 'round the world?" he shot at her, standing.  He was going to go for her throat. "But you know, I wouldn't worry about Harry.  I heard him say something to Fred about going 'round the pub later and cruising for birds.  I guess he's tired of trying to get the attentions of a girl who's not interested...  I mean, he did defeat the most evil wizard of all time, you'd think he'd get some sort of a break once in a while.  But I'm sure since you don't want him, some girl will..."

 

And with that, George walked out of the room, leaving Ginny behind on her bed, looking completely and totally horrified.  He grinned smugly.

 

Oh yeah, he was evil. 

 

****

 

Fred's little sojourn into Harry's foul mood went about the same.  George listened at the door, Extendable Ears plugged in and peaked.  He listened to the conversation with a gleeful expression on his face. 

 

Harry was arguing, telling Fred his reasons for breaking up with her when he snuck one of the flesh-colored strings through the crack between the floor and the door of Percy's old bedroom, which Harry was staying in for the time being. 

 

"You don't get it, Fred!  I broke up with her to keep her safe!  I thought she understood that, but this whole year all she did was tempt me!  It got so that I couldn't even be around her!  I was going out of my mind and then, if you please, when I finally DID manage kill the son of a bitch and come back to her, she tells me off!  I guess a year was too long to ask her to wait for me, because she's certainly over me!  If she was ever...er...UNDER me."

 

"First off," Fred was saying, "bad choice of words.  Secondly, did you ever think about how SHE was feeling, Harry?  To her, it must have been like you abandoned her.  You got to go off and have adventures and she got left behind.  Must have been hard on her."

 

"I never said it wasn't!" Harry protested, but Fred overrode him.

 

"AND you didn't even want to be around her?  Sounds to me like you made her feel like she was unwanted to me.  No wonder she's so angry.  You all of a sudden want to go out with her again, after a year of avoiding her.  You're lucky she hasn't cursed her head off by now."

 

"Don't I know it?" Harry mumbled. "But I don't know how to fix it!  I've tried!  She's unreasonable!"

 

"She's a girl!  Of course she's being unreasonable," Fred snorted.  George did too, quietly, listening intently on the Extendable Ears. "But anyway, enough with her.  Ginny's obviously not the girl for you."

 

Harry was indignant, which made George nearly crow in triumph. "WHAT?  What do you mean?"

 

"Oh, come on, Harry," Fred said. "If you really loved her, you'd march up to her, grab her, kiss her and tell her you don't care if she's mad at you, you love her and you're going to wait until she's stopped being an unreasonable brat.  And then you'd duck the hex she'd shoot at you, because if you really knew her, you'd know that that's exactly what she'd do.  And since you haven't done any of those things..."

 

"Well, it's not like I don't WANT to do them!" Harry said. "I'd love to!"

 

"Then why don't you?  What's stopping you?"

 

George could almost imagine Harry's gaping mouth opening and closing like a fish on the other side of the door. "I don't know."

 

"If you don't know, then find out," Fred said heavily. "And for Merlin's sake, quit acting like RON!  I don't want to have to lock the two of you in a broom cupboard to get you together!"

 

George sniggered and withdrew the Extendable Ears as Fred opened the door.  George caught a quick glimpse of Harry standing in the middle of the room with a horrified expression on his face.  Fred closed the door behind him and grinned at his twin.

 

"This is too easy," Fred said and George whole-heartedly agreed.  Now it was only a matter of time before they made up...

 

If only!

 

****

 

Fred and George were concentrating on a game of Exploding Snap when the shouts from upstairs started up again.  The house gave a rattle and the stacked cards between them on the table tumbled down with a great KER-BANG! George was rocked backward in his chair, his nose singed and his face covered in soot.  He coughed through the smoke and spotted Fred with a disgruntled look on his equally sooty face.

 

"What in bloody hell?" he said, his gaze upward, where the shouting hadn't even faltered. "Is that who I think it is?"

 

George growled and slammed his hands flat on the singed table.  He stood fluidly, his teeth bared. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm definitely going to get to the bottom of it!"

 

And he stalked off toward the stairs, Fred on his heels.  They ran up several steps before something small and red-haired came barreling down them, knocking both George and Fred out of the way.  Something much larger and dark-haired followed.  They were both bellowing at the tops of their lungs.

 

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR ME, GINNY!"

 

"HOW ABOUT THIS?  I DON'T CARE!" Ginny shot at Harry as she hit the bottom step and whirled on him, her fists clenched at her sides. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO TO THE PUB WITH FRED AND GEORGE AND HOOK UP WITH SOME STUPID SLAG WHO'LL APPRECIATE YOU PROPERLY!  YOU CAN TRY AND KISS ONE OF THEM!  DID YOU THINK I WOULDN'T FIND OUT ABOUT THAT?"

 

Harry looked taken aback and rightfully so.  After all, George and Fred had made up the bit about the pub, just to spark Ginny's jealousy a bit.  Looks like it backfired on them.  Instead of striking a spark, they'd started a forest fire. Fred exchanged a horrified look with him, which clearly told George that Fred was putting the blame for this on HIS shoulders.  George cursed.

 

"What are you talking about?" Harry said, stunned. "I'm not going to a pub!  Especially not after girls!"

 

"That's not what George said!" George winced as she pointed at him. "What does it matter anyway?  I don't care if you date a hundred girls!  I don't want anything to do with you, Harry!"

 

"Yeah, well maybe Fred was right!  Maybe you AREN'T the girl for me!" Harry shot back at her. 

 

Fred cursed, loudly, as George put his hand over his eyes. This was going to get ugly.

 

"Fred told you that?"

 

"Yeah!"

 

Ginny turned on Fred and glared at him. "And why is it your business?  Fred?  George?"

 

Fred's mouth opened and closed several times and then he looked at George, pointing at him. "IT WAS ALL GEORGE'S IDEA!"

 

George flipped him off. "Oh, great!  Thanks for the help, mate!"

 

"What idea?" Harry said, looking between Fred and George.  George stepped between Harry and Ginny, holding up his hands.

 

"Okay, look...we're both tired of you fighting.  We figured you both needed to talk about it, so we decided to..."

 

"TO WHAT?" Ginny exploded again, her face red. "TO MEDDLE IN MY LOVE LIFE?"

 

"Well, not so much meddle as nudge..." George said, but the look on Ginny's face stopped him up short.

 

"WHERE THE HELL IS MY WAND?  I'M GOING TO CURSE YOUR MOUTH CLOSED!"

 

George's eyes widened as he saw her searching her robes for her wand.  Panic hit him.  He knew she'd do exactly what she said she would. 

 

"FRED!  PLAN B!"

 

"Right-O!" Fred said, leaping down the stairs, grasping Ginny by the arm and hauling her toward a low door beneath the stairs.  George grabbed Harry by the scruff of the neck and hauled him forward.  The pair of them struggled, but George and Fred were much stronger than they were, even in their anger. 

 

Fred shoved Ginny inside the broom cupboard and George did the same with Harry.  The door slammed shut behind them and Fred and George leaned their weight on it. 

 

"LET US OUT!" Ginny screamed as they banged on the inside of the door. 

 

"NO WAY!" George called back. "Not until the two of you work out your differences!  You're going to stew in there and listen to what we have to say, since the two of you obviously can't work it out on your own!"

 

Fred laughed. "Yeah!  So here it is!  We're tired of listening to you fight over something so stupid!  Ginny, you ARE being unreasonable and you know it!  Harry HAD to leave you.  He had no choice."

 

"THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE HIM TREATING ME LIKE THAT!"

 

"Harry, Ginny has a point, you should have at least talked to her once in a while!  Just ignoring her like that was pretty crappy!" George said and was relieved when the pounding on the door quit.

 

"Look, I wanted to!  But I couldn't even look at her, I was out of my mind missing her!  I thought that if I even looked at her I'd do something stupid!  I'd end up hurting her even more!  I didn't even know if I was going to live, let alone plan a future with you, Ginny!"

 

"Plan a future?" Ginny said, sounding surprised.

 

"Yeah," Harry said gently. "I wouldn't even let myself think about you, Ginny.  Every time I did, it was like I was being torn in two.  I hated being away from you...I'm sorry you thought I was ignoring you, but every time I was in the room with you, there was nothing I wanted more than wrap you up in my arms..."

 

"Oh, Harry..." Ginny said, her voice softer still. George caught Fred's eye and they both smiled a little. "So you...you did all that...for me?"

 

George rolled his eyes.  Hadn't he, George, said all of this in Ginny's bedroom?  Guess she needed to hear it from the horse's mouth.

 

"Yeah," Harry said. "I can understand if you're...over me, Ginny.  But I'm not over you.  I'll never be over you."

 

"Harry, I'm not over you!" Ginny said. "How could you think that?"

 

"Gee, let me think?  The constant death threats?" George said to Fred in a low voice that Harry and Ginny, still trapped in the broom cupboard, couldn't hear. Fred snorted.

 

"Do you forgive me?" Harry was saying.

 

"Yes!  Oh, Harry!" 

 

There was silence on both sides of the cupboard door and it took George several moments to realize what was going on on the other side of the cupboard door.  He caught Fred's eye and they both made faces. 

 

"I can almost hear the smacking," Fred said, his lip curled. "How revolting.  We got what we wanted."

 

"I told you," George whispered, pressing his ear to the door, "never doubt our powers."

 

"Yeah, well, you said all they needed was a little nudge.  Broom cupboard prison isn't exactly little."

 

George shrugged, lifting his head. "I can't help it they're both idiots.  Anyway, let's let them go.  They don't need two pervy guards listening in on them.  They'll come out of there when they're ready."

 

"I bet it'll be a while," Fred snickered as they walked back into the kitchen and sat back down to their Exploding Snap game.  George was feeling rather smug.  Things might not have worked out exactly according to plan, but they'd got the same results.  Harry and Ginny were together again and hopefully not fighting any longer.  Nothing was likely to ruin his good mood now.

 

However...

 

When their mother arrived with the shopping a few minutes after their victory, George rushed to help her, his good mood all-encompassing.  That is, until his mother dropped an egg on the floor.

 

"Bother!  I'll just get the mop..."

 

George's heart leapt.  He caught Fred's eye and saw panic written there.  Both of them leapt for the cupboard door, but Molly had already swung it open.  Out spilled, not a mop of course, but Harry and Ginny.  They landed in a tumble on the ground, looking disheveled, flushed and stunned.

 

Molly looked at them, her eyes bulging and then, before Harry or Ginny could say a word, she swung on the twins.

 

"FRED!  GEORGE!  HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU?  MY BROOM CUPBOARD IS NOT A BROTHEL!"

 

George glanced at Fred and saw him point at George. "IT WAS ALL GEORGE'S IDEA!"

 

George just groaned.

 

(end)

 

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