Pranking hearts

"So Rhea...what do you have with my brother?" Rhea almost choked on the juice that she was drinking when Ginny asked the question. Until now Rhea was sitting on the couch in the living room of the Burrow, waiting for the twins, Ron and Mr Weasley to come back with Harry. She was excited to see the boy with glasses. But the real reason she was so persistently waiting for the boys to come was the fact that Fred and George were supposed to test their Ton-tongue Toffee on Harry's cousin and Rhea was excited to see how it would turn out.

Well, that was until Ginny almost literally attacked her here on the couch when she spotted her while retrieving a cup of water for her and Hermione. The two girls were upstairs talking, more like gossiping about everything and Rhea was glad not to be part of it.

"Merlin Ginny, you can't do that," Rhea scolded the younger girl, coughing a bit the remains of liquid that were in her mouth. Ginny seemed unbothered by the fact that she had almost drowned the older girl in the glass of pumpkin juice, she just wanted her answers. She yet didn't have time to ask Rhea the question she had been dying to ask since the day she saw Fred kiss Rhea when they were guessing her chapstick flavour. 

"So?" Ginny prodded, leaning against the backrest of the couch, her chin almost falling on Rhea's shoulder.

"So what?"

"What's between you and my brother?" Ginny asked once again. Eager to finally hear the answer. She has been dying to find out that Fred and Rhea got together finally. At first, she was betting her money on George but as time passed she realised that Fred was the right win in the bet that she now had with her other brothers. Those brothers meaning Charlie, Ron and Bill. They had a bet about who would end up with Rhea. Charlie and Ginny's money are on Fred while Ron and Bill are betting on George. While Percy is not so enthusiastic and says that Rhea would do best to find someone better suited for her who wasn't either of his brothers.

Rhea, oblivious to their bet just as the other two brothers in question were behaving the same way, as usual, having private, heartfelt conversations with George, while on the other hand, there were those subtle touches from Fred's side. That was something that kept the bet between siblings alive.

"Which one?" Rhea asked teasingly, but Ginny, far too used to this question wasn't going to get turned down by it today.

"Fred obviously, don't you think I didn't see how he kissed you last year? And that look on your face when he did so." Ginny ranted, making Rhea feel uncomfortable at that moment. She wasn't ready to be interrogated about those feelings just yet. And surely not by the sister of the said ginger. She was sure Ginny would be quick to yell the information out the moment she had it confirmed. And Rhea wasn't sure if that was what she wanted. Maybe it would be best if someone else knew first, before the whole world.

"I...um...I don't know what you're talking about." Rhea muttered, a blush creeping to her cheeks. She huffed seeing the knowing look on Ginny's face. "It surprised me okay? I didn't expect it. Anybody would react the same as I did." The blonde defended herself against the ginger. But the younger girl only leaned more to her getting straight in to Rhea's face.

"You so love him, don't you? Please tell me you do!"

"All right Gin, that's enough let the girl breathe." Bill, the oldest of the Weasley children said as he and Charlie walked into the living room. The two boys have been helping their mother in the garden and now they came inside to get some drinks and cool off from the burning sun. Even if Charlie was quite pleased by the information about the kiss between his younger brother and Rhea he noticed how uncomfortable Rhea was when Ginny was pushing her to answer and so he decided to step in with Bill.

"Yeah Gin, go upstairs to Hermione. Gossip about that Harry bloke that you love." Charlie teased with a wink sent Rhea's way as an encouragement. Ginny huffed, glaring at her older brother in annoyance.

"I hate you." She grumbled, pushing past the two tall gingers and going upstairs to her room to join Hermione there.

"Love you too little sis!" Charlie called up the stairs teasingly, knowing that Ginny could still hear him since the second after he said that the doors were slammed shut causing the ginger to grin. "Ah, I love doing that." Charlie sighed contently, leaning against Bill who merely shook his head but smiled nevertheless. He too loved teasing his younger siblings and as the oldest son of the family, he had quite a lot of targets and a lot of practice.

"Thanks, you two, she was quite persistent." Rhea laughed softly.

"No problem."

"Our pleasure." The two answered at the same time.

"Though you should be careful she won't drop it unless you answer her question," Bill warned as he pushed Charlie in the direction of the kitchen as the shorter ginger accidentally stepped on his foot.

"Yeah, I know," Rhea muttered with a sigh. Letting the two boys leave her alone in the living room with her own thoughts. Was she supposed to tell Ginny about her feelings for her brother? Wouldn't she be weirded out? But then again she wouldn't be asking about it if she thought it was weird. And Ginny wasn't the one to be judging others based on who they liked. On the other hand, Rhea wasn't quite certain about her feelings yet. Sure she knew she liked Fred...she loves Fred, but was she willing to transform it into a relationship?

Because they have been quite good friends for something about six years and if Fred didn't feel the same way about her then it would surely destroy their friendship. That wasn't something that it would stand through. In her books, Rhea saw it many times. The friends-to-lovers theme appeared a few times in her library. The story was always the same, they were always afraid to admit it, scared to ruin their friendship only to find out that they were always feeling the same way. The only difference was that Rhea wasn't living in a book and things like that weren't set in real life. Anything could happen and a lot could go wrong.

For example, even if they would by some miracle get together, maybe one day they would fight, ending with the two of them splitting up. It was cruel to think that over something probably insignificant she would lose a lifelong friendship. She felt like her feelings weren't worth the risk at the minute. To trade for a few love-filled moments that she would cherish for the rest of her life her friendship with a boy that she always had a good time with was unthinkable.

Her train of thought got cut off as the fireplace started acting up, indicating that they were coming back from retrieving Harry. Seconds later, a tall ginger with hair reaching his shoulders stumbled out of the fireplace. Coughing up smoke and dust whilst laughing. Rhea immediately recognised him as Fred. The boy immediately raced over to her, collapsing onto the couch, and perching himself in Rhea's lap. His hair tickled the exposed skin of her thighs as she was wearing shorts.

"'Ello love." Fred greeted with a cheeky smile. A bit of dust still covering his freckled face. Rhea shook her head smiling down at him while trying to smudge the bits of black from the side of his face.

"How did it go?" She asked, referring to the experiment they wanted to try out on Harry's wretched cousin.

"I think it went well, waiting for my results." As he said that, leaving Rhea confused...George tumbled out of the fireplace, a trunk that Rhea recognized as Harry's tugging behind him. "So?" Fred asked, looking over at his twin expectantly while not showing any effort to lift himself from Rhea's lap. George looked over at the two with a grin. Abandoning Harry's trunk by the fireplace.

"I didn't see." He panted, running his hand over his face to get rid of the ashes from the fireplace. "Dad sent me off before I had the chance to see if he ate it." Fred groaned in annoyance, eager to learn if their newest invention worked. They already tried one of the sweets on Rhea, the poor girl had a sore throat for two days straight. She didn't talk to the boys for three days until they apologised and promised not to ever test their joke products on her again.

"It's gonna be fine," Rhea assured the ginger lying in her lap. Just then Ron arrived laughing his head off over something. Fred perked a bit the same with George as the two of them glanced at their younger brother.

"Did it work?" They asked at the same time, startling Ron a bit.

"He ate it all right. Though I didn't see the rest before I had to leave. But he did look quite uncomfortable." Ron chuckled in amusement. He went to the kitchen where his other two brothers were. George went to follow him in hopes of prying out some more information on Dudley's expression when he ate the toffee. Fred huffed, snuggling more into Rhea.

"Unbelievable, one would think that a lump like Harry's cousin would of eaten it in a blink," Fred muttered, slightly displeased by the fact that he didn't yet get his answers on his invention. Rhea chuckled, shaking her head at the impatience of the ginger.

"Just wait for Harry, I'm sure he knows what happened after Dudley ate it. Why else would he be taking so long now." Fred perked up at that. Finally getting some hope in earning some answers.

"Rhe, you are brilliant," Fred said, lifting himself from her lap to give her a kiss on the cheek. When Harry crashed on the ground, the ginger was quick to jump to his feet and rush over to him, leaving a flustered Rhea on the couch, flabbergasted.

"Merlin's beard," Rhea muttered to herself not realising that George was standing right behind her. Actually, a whole lot of brothers from the kitchen were watching her now. Having a great time from it.

"A bit flustered are we," George whispered into her ear causing her to shriek in fright. George pulled away, grinning in accomplishment.

"George!" Rhea yelled, standing up from the couch as she started chasing George around, unfortunately, the boy headed straight for the small kitchen where he had nowhere to run to. The kitchen being already preoccupied with the other three Weasley boys was quite full and it allowed absolutely no room for the other two to chase each other around.

George jumped over the chair, putting it in Rhea's way to block her from catching him. While she was climbing over it, which didn't take long since she was quite agile for such a short girl, he used Ron as his personal shield. The younger ginger screeched when his brother gripped his shoulder to keep him in place. Bill and Charlie were watching the show in front of them. Charlie thought of how great Rhea would be as a Dragonologist since people like that needed to have a flame in them and Rhea seemed to have a whole forest fire.

"George, don't use your brother as a shield," Bill said in a bored tone. He was just trying to do his job as the older brother since Ron looked quite frightened by how Rhea was trying to pass him to get to George. The young Weasley was sure to have a fright of girls bigger than his fright of spiders. Though Bill's...attempts came as futile because George wasn't quite listening as he tried saving his life.

It was rare for the brothers not to listen to the two oldest. The four youngest boys always idolised their older brothers. Well, except for Percy, he only idolised himself and was idolised by himself. But that was his own fault since he always distanced himself from his siblings. Bill looked over at Charlie, knowing that the second oldest's louder voice was sure to get the attention of one of the twins.

"George," Charlie scolded. The tall ginger let go of his younger brother, pushing him at Rhea while sprinting in the other direction. Rhea gently dodged Ron darting after George.

"Fred help!" George yelped when he noticed Rhea almost reaching him. Harry and Fred had just appeared in the kitchen. Harry looked as confused as ever while Fred had to act quickly to catch the blonde from attacking his brother.

"Oi, let's calm down now, shall we?" Fred said keeping Rhea from touching the ground, to let her calm down. Harry meanwhile got to know the two oldest Weasley sons whom he didn't know yet. "You calm?" He asked looking down at Rhea. She was still glaring daggers at George who was standing a few feet away from them for safety measures.

"Yeah," Rhea muttered annoyedly. Not wanting to chase George around anymore. He will come to her on his own eventually. Fred let go of Rhea, setting her gently on the ground. Before anyone could say anything, there was a faint popping noise, and Mr Weasley appeared out of thin air at George's shoulder startling his son a bit as he jumped away, coming to stand next to Rhea. The girl used the opportunity to elbow him in the gut. "Vengeance." She whispered to him as he breathed out a strangled breath from the pain.

Fred, even though he would love to, didn't have time to laugh. His father was looking at him with anger radiating from him. No one knew that the usually perky man could look so angry. It still wasn't the level of Mrs Weasley but it was enough to make others calm down.

"That wasn't funny Fred!" he shouted glaring at his son. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," Fred said, with another evil grin. One of those that Rhea adored so much. "I just dropped it...It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to." Fred shrugged, smirking Rhea's way. The girl merely shook her head but couldn't help but agree with her ginger friend.

"You dropped it on purpose!" roared Mr Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet..."

"I didn't..." Rhea muttered. She wasn't even fully sure what being on a diet meant. She never experienced such a term in her house. It would be unpractical seeing as her uncle's solution to any emotional trouble seemed to be chocolate.

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly, rocking on his feet awaiting his father's answer.

"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!" Arthur Weasley answered his son's question, unknowingly causing a sense of achievement to rise inside his two twin sons. Rhea, Harry and the Weasleys roared with laughter again. The image of the chubby boy with his tongue rolling all the way on the ground seemed too funny not to laugh. "It isn't funny!" Mr Weasley shouted. "That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons..." Mr Weasley didn't even get to finish his sentence before Fred cut him off.

"We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" Fred said indignantly. Frowning his father's way.

"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," George added. "Isn't he, Harry?" He elbowed the younger boy with glasses who nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, he is, Mr Weasley," Harry said earnestly.

"Honestly I would have done worse after all that Harry told us about them," Rhea stated, defending the actions of her two best friends. True their testing on oblivious muggles was a little over the top but if anyone deserved it more than Dudley then it was Harry's uncle. From what Rhea heard he was one nasty man.

"That's not the point!" raged Mr Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother..."

"Tell me what?" said a voice behind them. Mrs Weasley had just entered the kitchen. She was a short, plump woman with a very kind face, though her eyes were presently narrowed with suspicion. Fred and George were quick to hide behind Rhea as soon as they heard the voice of their mother. They did it very subtly, only both of them standing behind the shorter girl. To be safe but not appear suspicious just yet. "Oh hello, Harry, dear," she said, spotting him and smiling. Then her eyes snapped back to her husband. "Tell me what, Arthur?"

Mr Weasley hesitated. It was obvious, however angry he was with Fred and George, that he hadn't really intended to tell Mrs Weasley what had happened. The whole household knew that Fred and George had been on thin ice with her since their reports came. She wasn't one bit happy with the two of them. So finding out about one of their joke products being used on a Muggle was sure to tick her off. There was a silence, while Mr Weasley eyed his wife nervously.

Then two girls appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs Weasley. One, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, was Harry's and Ron's friend, Hermione Granger. The other, who was small and red-haired, was Ron's younger sister, Ginny. Rhea took a little step back when she saw Ginny. She was not ready to be interrogated about her feelings by the younger ginger quite yet.

"Tell me what, Arthur?" Mrs Weasley repeated, in a dangerous sort of voice. Most likely already suspecting it was something bad on the way the whole company grew quiet.

"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr Weasley, "Fred and George just...but I've had words with them..." Mr Weasley stuttered. Appearing as if he was also afraid of his wife. Fred and George both ducked behind Rhea. Knowing how their mother adored the girl she wouldn't dare hurt them when they were behind her.

"What have they done this time?" Mrs Weasley asked already glaring at the twins. "If it's got anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes..." Rhea had to admit the name was impressive. The whole effort they put into their shop idea and their product was quite remarkable. Since she knew the twins they never showed any ambition to do anything or to reach some goal. She had never seen them work quite as hard on something, so now that they were so into their idea it was fantastic. But their mother didn't have the same idea.

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione from the doorway. Probably noticing how thick the atmosphere was in the room.

"He knows where he's sleeping," Ron dismissed enjoying the show, "in my room, he slept there last..." Rhea sighed at how oblivious Ron was.

"We can all go," Hermione said pointedly.

"Oh," said Ron, finally catching on. "Right."

"Yeah, we'll come too," George said quickly about to follow the group of four towards the stairs when his mother's icy stare froze them.

"You stay where you are!" snarled Mrs Weasley glaring at her son who immediately ducked behind Rhea again. Once the four left the room and Bill left to the garden with Charlie, Mrs Weasley started scolding her two sons who both felt angry and embarrassed at the same time. The way she was insulting their joke products was enough to send Fred into defensive mode.

"Mum, that's not fair we spent a long time working on those products. They are not stupid." Fred defended with a frown on his face. He was very protective of his inventions.

"Yeah, we put a lot of effort into those," George added. Mimicking his brother's actions. Mrs Weasley only lashed out at them more.

"Such a gruelling effort you put into something utterly useless. Why couldn't you focus like this on your schoolwork for change?" She shouted at the two who simultaneously rolled their eyes at the mention of school. Rhea was feeling completely out of place there. She didn't want to be there and witness Mrs Weasley yelling at her sons. But those said sons were her best friends and she needed to support them. "Just look at Rhea." And at that sentence, Rhea wished to be able to disappear. Maybe grab Harry's invisibility cloak or something. Just simply get out of there. "Tell me, darling, how did you do on your O.W.Ls?"

Rhea sucked in a breath. She didn't yet tell the twins her score on the tests and she was sure that her achievement would only make them angry more now. But since Mrs Weasley was asking, she had to answer her. It would be inappropriate to ignore her question.

"I um...I got all O's," Rhea muttered. It was a score that anyone would be proud of but not Rhea. For some reason, she was almost embarrassed to say it in front of the twins. The two gingers shifted slightly behind her.

"How amazing! Why can't you two be like Rhea?" Mrs Weasley asked the two boys sternly. Rhea shifted in her spot, wanting nothing more but to get out of there. She was sure the twins were hurt now. But it wasn't yet given whether it was because of Rhea's score or because she didn't tell them. "Go outside help your brothers set for dinner." She dismissed the two boys angrily. The three not missing on the opportunity to leave the room were out in the garden in a matter of seconds.

Rhea was glad for some fresh air. The room they were in before was almost suffocating with all the tension that it was filled with. Being in the same room with Mrs Weasley when she was angry wasn't the best place.

"So, Miss Perfect..." Fred started from behind her. When she turned around to look at them she could see both boys standing tall with their hands crossed over their chests. Staring at Rhea with unreadable expressions.

"Why didn't we hear anything about that perfect score of yours?" George quizzed, tilting his head to the side.

"When you two told me your scores I didn't want to seem like I was bragging with mine," Rhea explained, looking down at her shoes. Fred frowned, walking over to her and bringing her into a hug.

"Oh come on love, that is something worth bragging about. I wouldn't be even angry about it." He said soothingly. "Well, the first two times you'd mention it at least." Fred joked. Almost choking Rhea with the hug. Something like payback for being left in the dark about her score and then being embarrassed in front of his mother.