**
I am (obviously) not Jo Rowling. This is all for my amusement, and hopefully... yours. Thanks to Gina/Gmariam for her wonderful help and encouragement with this scene.
Babe Magnet
“I thought Fred and George were exaggerating,” Hermione told Ron as he grabbed her hand and helped her climb up onto the landing.
He grinned and shook his head. “Not this time. You aren’t going to believe it.”
Together they crawled back to the edge of the platform, where the others watched in relative silence. They were twenty or more feet above the set, watching from a large piece of scaffolding used by the light crew to make adjustments. Hermione inched forward on her stomach and squeezed in between Ron and George. On George’s other side was Fred, and next to him, a stony Ginny. They lay side by side on their bellies like matches in a box, with their heads peering down onto the set below.
“It’s the subway scene.” Hermione clearly didn’t see what all the fuss was about. “I read this in the script.”
“Yeah,” said George, barely containing his laughter, “but it didn’t read like this. Watch.”
The Director below called for action, and Harry began to read the newspaper while Diner Girl watched him and eventually approached. When Hermione caught the tone and the looks passing between the two, she stiffened. “Oh, my,” she managed.
Both Ron and George were shaking with repressed laughter on either side of her.
“Shut up! They are going to hear us!” It was Ginny’s voice, and she was not happy.
Fred quickly cast Muffliato over the area, and everyone relaxed.
“Am I to believe Harry is picking up girls in the subway?” Hermione wanted to know.
“Wait,” Ron said, laughing. “It gets better.”
“Here it comes,” Fred said.
They all leaned in a bit more, just in time to see Harry check his breath with his hand and pull a mint from his pocket.
“Noooooo,” Hermione said with an unbelieving smile, finally beginning to enjoy herself.
“I’ve watched them shoot it five times now, and I never get tired of it,” George said.
Hermione turned to Ron. “I’m surprised Harry didn’t say something. He must be embarrassed having to do this.”
“Oh, this is nothing compared to what we’re going to do to him later,” Fred said as his brother nodded enthusiastically.
“We’re never letting him live this one down. Harry’s a Ladies Man.”
“This is just horrible,” declared Hermione in a disapproving tone. “He would never do this.”
“Hermione,” Ron said with as much patience as possible, “that’s why it’s so funny! Harry’s rubbish with girls”as bad as me.”
She mumbled a sarcastic retort and rolled her eyes in his direction.
“What’s that for?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” she said in a haughty tone, “I’m just inclined to agree with you.”
“Is that so? Well, I managed to get your attention, didn’t I?”
“Ron,” Fred began, “normally, we would love to hear you and Hermione get into it, but right now--”
“--the main show is Harry the Babe Magnet,” finished George. “Pipe down.”
Hermione lifted up a bit and looked past the twins. “Ginny,” she said gently. “You all right?”
The response was little more than a growl. “Fine.”
Ron nudged Hermione’s shoulder with his own. “They shot the scenes out of order, so we already saw what happens next.”
“I know. Harry goes with Dumbledore to recruit Slughorn.”
George laughed again. “Not before Dumbledore tells him to take his arm, and Harry looks back at Diner Girl trying to decide if he wants to go with Dumbledore or stay with her.”
“Are you saying, that he considered staying with the girl rather than obeying Dumbledore’s command?” Hermione’s eyes were wide as the twins nodded in unison.
“And then,” Fred added, “after the Slughorn scene, Harry says he plans to go back to that diner and make some excuse to get another go at her!”
Everyone laughed except George, who suddenly yelped in pain. Ginny was sitting up, glaring at her brother with her wand out.
“You hexed me!” he said to her.
“Shut. Up.” Her glare was murderous. “All of you.”
“Fred’s the one that said it, not me.”
“Yeah, Ginny,” Fred said easily. “Credit where credit is due, if you don’t mind.”
“Have it your way,” she said menacingly, as she flicked her wand and let loose another Stinging Hex. Fred grabbed his bum and glared at her.
“It’s not our fault your boyfriend’s on the pull for random Muggle girls.”
“Well, it’s really not Harry’s fault either,” Ron said in Harry’s defense.
“She can’t very well hex The Director, though, can she?” Hermione sat up and faced Ginny again. “Harry cares about you, Ginny. Try not to be angry. I’m sure he’s not enjoying himself.”
“Are you kidding me?” Ron demanded, sitting up and rounding on Hermione. “Where was this understanding attitude last week when you read the scene about Slughorn’s party?”
She narrowed her eyes. “That was an entirely different situation.”
“There is so much entertainment all around us,” George began.
“It’s hard to know where to direct one’s focus,” said Fred.
Just then, a pair of heads popped up from the ladder. “Wotcher, Weasleys… Hermione. Are you getting a better view from here?”
Remus was right behind her. “We can’t see anything from down below… they’ve blocked it off.”
Just as they were squeezing in to share the view, The Director yelled cut and everyone began to walk off the set.
“It’s over,” Ron said, his voice filled with disappointment. “Oh, look. Harry can’t seem to get away fast enough.”
Indeed, Harry was moving quickly from the set in the direction of his dressing room, his eyes on the floor.
Fred’s expression radiated mischief. “You’ll never escape this one, Harry.”
“Oh, please leave him alone,” Hermione begged the twins, who were looking at each other, obviously plotting evil. “He must be simply mortified.”
There was a scuffle, and the group turned to see Ginny making her way back down the ladder in a hurry.
“Good luck,” called Fred.
“Make sure he takes one of those mints first, little sister,” added George, getting big laughs from everyone except Hermione, who looked quite distraught.
Ginny lifted up, peering over the edge of the platform only long enough to eye her target before casting the deadly Bat Bogey Hex at her twin brothers. They split the effects between them, precisely as she had intended.
“We taught her well,” George said, his voice a mixture of pride and frustration.
“Right you are,” Fred agreed, attempting to clean himself up magically.
Ginny suppressed a grin of satisfaction as she lowered herself out of sight, and walked off to search for Harry.
**
Taking Direction by WeasleyMom
Chapter Notes: The book characters observe the shooting of a scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Chapter Endnotes: Let me know what you think!