I feel so awful!! I'm really really really sorry it took such a looooong time for me to update! I bet that when you receive the mail with the story alert, you're gonna read the name of the story, and you're gonna go like "What story was that again?". And if you do remember my story, you probably hate me for being such a slow updater.

But believe me, my life has been crazy. The last month of school I was busy with finals and everything, and then, when summer started, I had the intention of update, since the only plans I had for summer were a 2-week summer camp, but only in the morning, so I had all the evening free. But then, my mom decided to sign me up for stupid swimming lessons, ALL summer long. When the camp ended, I started writing the chapter, and almost finished it, but then, I got grounded me, and I wasn't allowed to use the PC. I finished the chapter on paper, and when my punishment was over, I typed it, but I didn't have time to browse it 'til today.

So, once again, I'm really sorry, I promise you it will never take this long for me to update ever again!!

Enjoy the chapter!!

Disclaimer: Yes!! I own Harry Potter!! Oh, wait. Damn, that was just a dream!! In real life, Harry Potter belongs to the amazing J.K. Rowling.

Of love and bets

Chapter 6

Pranks

"AHHHHH!!" everyone could hear Ron yelling while he ran downstairs "Help me!!"

Everyone at once stood up and run to the living room to help Ron, including Fred and Hermione who wanted to see the results of their masterpiece.

A second after everyone got to the living room, Ron came in running.

There were spiders all over him and he was unsuccessfully trying to shake them off, completely panicking.

The reaction was immediate. George, Fred, Ginny, Hermione and Harry burst out laughing at the scene.

"But what the bloody hell are you all laughing at??" Ron yelled angry "Help me shake them off!!"

Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley got their wands out and start trying to remove the spiders off. Bill and Charlie, hesitated a moment before helping too, they were trying hard not to laugh too.

"Damn you all hurry up!!" Ron kept yelling, at the useless attempts of his parents and brothers "Harry!! Hermione!! Would you care to help too instead of just stand there uselessly??"

"Sorry, Ron" apologize Harry while he got his wand out and start murmuring spells. Hermione followed him and pretend to help, but unlike Harry, she just moved her lips without saying any spell at all. As everyone was too busy with Ron, no one noticed it, except for George and Ginny who exchange a look of surprise.

"Zis is not working" said Fleur, who had join the others helping Ron

"You think!!" exclaimed Ron angry, looking more frightened each minute

"You do not 'ave to be so rude" Fleur throwed him a dark look

"I don't know if you noticed, but my whole body is covered in SPIDERS!!" snapped Ron terror drawn in his face

"Yes, and we are trying to 'elp you, I don't know if you noticed" snapped Fleur back

"I think it would be better if we take him to St. Mungo" said Mr. Weasley giving up the spells and incantations "Bill, Charlie help me out here" Bill and Charlie move closer to Ron and helped Mr. Weasley take Ron to the fireplace

""You all stay in here" commanded Mrs. Weasley to the kids as she walk to the fireplace, followed by Fleur "We'll be right back"

"I want to go" said Harry then he turned to Hermione, expecting to hear her say the same, but Hermione didn't respond.

Mrs. Weasley thought it over for a moment before agreeing "I guess Ron could use some support" nodded Mrs. Weasley "Do you want to go too Hermione, dear"

"No, I'll stay with Ginny. I don't quite like hospitals" respond Hermione shaking her head. Mrs. Weasley seemed to have been taken aback by this response, but she recovered quickly and nodded. Harry threw Hermione a questioning look, and Hermione gave him an I'll-explain-later look. He followed Mrs. Weasley and Fleur and disappeared in the flames.

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, until Ginny broke the silence by asking

"Well?" she looked at Fred and Hermione

"Well what?"

"Aren't you gonna tell us?"

"Tell you what?" Fred asked pretending to look confused by Ginny's sudden questioning

Ginny rolled her eyes "Either you think I'm stupid or you're stupid" she snapped impatiently "About the prank you two pulled on Ron"

Hermione exchanged a nervous look with Fred. She didn't want anyone to know that she helped with the prank. After all, they were Ron's family, and she was just a friend. She had no right to pull pranks on someone from the family in their own house.

"Oh, c'mon Fred. Tell us. We won't tell anyone, and you know that" assured George

Fred knew playing dumb wouldn't help, they already knew it was them. But still, he decided to try something else. He looked at Hermione for a moment, before answering.

"Oh, ok. It was me who pulled the prank on ickle Ronnienkins, but Hermione had nothing to do with it"

Hermione looked up surprised. She couldn't believe Fred had covered up for her. But Ginny and George didn't buy the lie.

"Seriously, do you think we're stupid?" asked Ginny obviously annoyed

"Yeah mate, you were more than obvious…"

"The looks you exchanged…"

"The knowing smiles…"

"The lack of worry about Ron…"

"The whole totally fake act actually…"

"Oh, and that extremely lame excuse. I mean, seriously Hermione, since when are you so scared of hospitals?"

Hermione blushed "Fine, I admit it" She sighed "Are you mad at me?" she asked looking directly at Ginny's eyes for the first time since everyone left. Ginny stared back at Hermione for a moment.

"You just pulled the meanest prank I've ever seen on my brother" declared Ginny with a serious face and Hermione looked down. A second after Ginny burst out laughing and said

"Of course I'm not mad at you! Don't be silly! I mean, sure, he's my brother, but he can be a jerk. I know that if you prank him, it was because he probably deserved it" Hermione sighed relieved and smiled

"Well, now that we all agree that pulling that prank on Ron was the coolest thing ever, can you tell us how you did it?" asked George

A smirk formed in both Hermione's and Fred's faces and they exchanged a knowing look

"Well, it wasn't really easy, you know? It took quite some work" declared Fred and Hermione nodded in agreement

"First, we had to find something we could transfigure into spiders. Then, we had to manage to make the spiders float in the air, until Ron would come out. Finally we had to find a spell that would make them stick to Ron when they'd fall" Hermione explain

"But the trickiest part was making sure no one could see them and that they would stick only to Ron, in case someone would go to Ron's room. I mean, do you know how much trouble we would be in if the spiders would have stuck to mum instead?"

Everyone started laughing at the image, and the laughter was only broken by George after a while, when he said

"Well Hermione, I never thought I would say this, but you're a great prankster! I didn't know you had it in you!"

Hermione blushed at the compliment, and suddenly Fred put his arm around her and squeezed her softly while he replied grinning

"Neither did I! But she obviously had a lot of potential! I'm glad I was the one who discover her unknown talent!" This only make Hermione blushed even more, something that didn't go unnoticed by Ginny.

"So, Hermione, do you plan to help my brothers with their pranks from now on, or what?" asked Ginny

"Oh no!" Hermione shocked her head freeing herself from Fred's arm "My career as a prankster started and ended with this prank. I'm pretty much done with it"

"Oh, c'mon Hermione. You know you loved it. I could tell you were having fun the whole time. And like I said, you're great at it" grinned Fred

"Look, this whole prank was just to teach Ron a lesson and nothing else"

"So, you're saying you didn't enjoy?" asked Fred smirking "You didn't have fun at all?"

"Ok, ok" Hermione gave in. For some odd reason, she found herself unable to lie to Fred "Maybe I did have fun"

Everyone laughed at Hermione's confession, even her.

"Well, I hate to be the one who ruins the fun, but what are you going to tell mum?" asked Ginny

Hermione and Fred stopped laughing altogether and suddenly looked serious

"Ginny's right, you know? She was too worried about Ron to yell, but when she comes back, she'll figure out, and you'll be in big trouble" agreed George

"Not to mention the fact that we were all out, you and Ron were the only ones who were home. It's not gonna be really hard for mum to realize it was you two who pulled the prank" added Ginny

Hermione was speechless. Why didn't she think of this before? How could she possibly have forgotten about Mrs. Weasley? Of course, it was bound to happen she would eventually found out who had pranked one of her sons. And she would not be happy about it. After everything the Weasleys had done for her, this was how she pays them back, by pranking Ron? She felt ashamed of herself. Fred noticed the worried look on Hermione's face, and tried to calm her down.

"Don't worry about it Hermione. Everything will be ok, I…"

"Don't worry?! Are you kidding me?! How can I not worry about it?!" Hermione cut him "How do you think your mum is going to react when she founds out the girl she's letting stay at her house pulled a prank on one of her sons? I don't know about you, but if I were her, I would be pretty mad" Hermione was on the verge of tears by now "I should have never done this" she said shocking her head "What am I gonna do now?"

George and Ginny exchanged a look of sadness and helplessness and Ginny said

"I'm sorry Hermione. I should have never brought this up. I didn't mean to upset you"

"No, you don't have to apologize. It was going to happen anyways, so you might as well have asked"

"Hermione, I promise you everything will be alright" said Fred, but before Hermione could respond anything, a loud "PUFF" was heard, and two seconds later Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Harry and Ron materialized in the middle of the living room.

"Eet is incredible 'ow long you 'ave to wait to see a doctor. In France you did not 'ave to wait for long. Zhey would attend you in just a few minutes" complained Fleur to the four children in front of her.

"It sure took a while" agreed Charlie "And I'm starving"

"Well, it is pretty late. We should go and have dinner" Mr. Weasley said turning to look at his wife.

"Of course, of course. But first I would like to talk to the kids"

"But Molly, dear, it's very late, and everyone is hungry. Don't you think it should wait until after dinner?"

"No. It has to be now. But the rest of you can go on and have dinner" answer Mr. Weasley

"But Molly…."

"Arthur. This won't take long, and as soon as I'm done, the kids will join you. Actually, Ron can go with you"

"Ok, dear" Mr. Weasley finally agreed, although he sounded somewhat reluctant

Everyone except for the twins, Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Mrs. Weasley went to the living room to have dinner, not really wanting to be there when Mrs. Weasley would start yelling.

"I think all of you know what I'm about to ask, so I'm gonna give whoever pulled the prank a chance to confess, before I find out by myself. So, anyone wants to confess?" asked Mrs. Weasley looking at everyone in the room, but no one spoke up "Very well, I'll figure it out by myself then"

Fred gave a quick look at Hermione. She was pale and trembling a little. It was very obvious she was really nervous.

"The last time I saw Ron, was this afternoon, but it was after Harry, Ginny and George left. So, that leaves Fred and Hermione" All the eyes turned to look at them, who happened to be standing next to each other. Fred dared to look at Hermione once more, and he saw she was about to crack. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. He had promised her everything would be fine, and he always keeps his promises. So he did the only thing he could think of.

"I did it" he said softly

So, how much did you hate it? To be honest, I didn't like it that much, but like I said before, I'm not really good coming up with this magic pranks, I had a bit of writer's block, but I knew you guys deserved an update, and didn't have time to come up with another one.

Please review, so I can know you don't totally hate me, ok? Your reviews really make me feel awesome, no matter how bad my day is going.

I really promise you I'll update more often.

Love ya lots!!

Samy