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The Lost Adventures of the Weasley Twins
Chapter 6 - The Marauder's Map

The Monday after the Quidditch match started off just like the previous Mondays; Fred, George, Lee, and Belle ate breakfast in the Great Hall and the boys answered Belle's many questions about the wizarding world. Then it was off to Transfiguration, where today they were supposed to be turning a straw into a pen. After that came History of Magic, where Belle and the twins slept while Lee scribbled notes furiously (it was his turn to pay attention today.) It was after this class that the twins' lives would change forever.

In the corridor on the way to Potions, Fred and George decided things were a bit too quiet for their taste. They told Lee and Belle to go on ahead of them; they'd never stand for their two best friends getting in trouble for something they, the twins, did.

"What've you got?" Fred asked, watching Lee and Belle walk away. George rummaged in his pockets and in his bag, then sighed.

"Nothing but ruddy Dungbombs. You?"

"Yeah, Dungbombs is all with me, too," Fred said.

"When's Bill and Charlie's next Hogsmeade trip?" George asked.

"Next weekend, I think," Fred said. George groaned.

"These'll never last!" he cried with exasperation. Fred shrugged.

"Well, let's make the best of what we've got." They were clearly not happy with having limited options, but that wasn't going to change their minds. This corridor needed a wake-up call.

"On three," said George. "One..."

"Two..." said Fred.

"THREE!" they cried together, then they threw down two Dungbombs, which exploded on the floor and their contents slopped all over everyone in the vicinity.

Unfortunately, the twins had forgotten to make sure that there were no adults in that vicinity - adults like Filch.

This wasn't their first go-round with Filch, and it certainly wasn't to be their last. Filch had been onto them ever since their stunt with the Sorting Hat, and probably would be for the rest of their Hogwarts lives. The twins waited gleefully for Filch's tirade, which they practically knew by heart now, but no tirade came. Instead he spat three menacing words at them.

"My. Office. Now." The twins led the way to Filch's small office; they'd spent nearly every day since arrival in here, and had had enough detentions for all the students in the school.

They sat down in their chairs while Filch stood behind his desk, and soon it was quite boring - they'd seen this scene far too many times before. But something had gone unseen by their keen eyes until this date, and the twins spotted it while ignoring Filch's tirade, which he was giving them now since he'd neglected to in the corridor.

What they saw was a drawer in a filing cabinet. And the label on this drawer captured the twins' attention like nothing else that day had.

The twins exchanged glowing looks while Filch went on about detention and disembowelment. George took a Dungbomb out of his pocket, holding it so that Filch couldn't see. Fred nodded.

"Are either of you even LISTENING to what I'm - "

George tossed the Dungbomb and it landed on Filch's desk, scattering the few papers that were on top of it and completely covered Filch, who had just changed into clean robes, with a whole new sheen of dung.

"Trust me, it smells better than whatever shampoo you're using," George assured him.

Filch gave George a murderous glare, then began screaming louder than ever. While Filch was concentrating on making sure George's eardrums ruptured, however, Fred slipped behind him to the file cabinet unnoticed. He quickly opened the drawer labeled Confiscated and Highly Dangerous and grabbed the first thing his fingers touched - a piece of parchment.

Fred took his seat again without Filch ever batting an eye. Finally, Filch calmed down enough to write out the twins' detention forms, but he was still so angry he assigned them detention on a day that had already passed. Rather than point this out to him, the twins left the office with a jaunty wave and headed for Potions.

"What'd you get?" George asked. Fred handed him the parchment. George turned it over in his hands. "Doesn't look all that extraordinary," he said finally.

"Yeah, I know, but c'mon George, it was labeled highly dangerous, it must do something. Don't worry, tonight in the common room we'll figure it out." This said, they walked through the door to Potions class to lose some points for Gryffindor.

Figuring out what was so dangerous about the parchment, however, was easier said than done.

They tried everything they could think of, different incantations and wand movements, but all the parchment ever did was insult them using the names Mr. Moony, Mr. Wormtail, Mr. Padfoot, and Mr. Prongs. The parchment constantly suggested that they keep their freckled faces out of other peoples' business, that they take their doubly ugly faces to someone who wanted them around, and that they douse the fire that was on their heads.

Many times their frustration nearly overtook them - on more than one occasion it took all of their willpower not to simply tear the parchment to shreds. Finally, however, the day came when their efforts paid off.

It was late at night in their dormitory, and the boys were once again prodding the paper and getting only insults in return.

"Please!" George begged. "We're not going to give you away! We want to cause trouble!"

"WE'RE UP TO NO GOOD!" Fred cried in frustration.

The parchment didn't respond right away. Finally, the words appeared, in what they now recognized as Mr. Prongs's handwriting.

Do you swear?

George growled viciously.

"YES!" he roared at the parchment. "I SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I AM UP TO NO GOOD!!!"

Ink blossomed on the parchment, and soon the twins were staring, wide-eyed and gaping, at an intricately drawn map.



The twins exchanged bewildered looks, then grins erupted simultaneously on their faces.

"George - this is - do you realize -? "

"Fred - can you believe -? Look at this!"

The map showed the twins Hogwarts and everyone in it, but that wasn't all. It showed them secret passageways. Seven of them. Two of these they'd already found, but to think that there were five more! For Fred and George Weasley, Christmas had come early.

"George, this is it, this is going to make us legends!" Fred nearly squealed with delight.

"Fred, look, we can sneak to Hogsmeade, we can do anything!" George was nearly dancing in his glee.

"And we won't get caught!" they said together, grinning so wide it was a wonder their skulls didn't split.

"Well, we might," said Fred.

"But not near as much," said George. "Oh, Fred, just think! Think what we can do with this map on our side!"

Fred raised the map to his lips and kissed it. "Thank you, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs! Noble pranksters and merciless mischief-makers!"

"Kings of a realm in which we are as yet mere peasants!" George continued, bowing to the parchment.

"Wait," Fred said, stopping George's grovelling. "Wait, George, how do we wipe it? How do we make it go blank again, like it was before? If Filch found this, and it was still the map..." Both twins shuddered at the thought of someone so unworthy getting their hands on such a treasure.

George looked to the map, as though it would provide him with an answer and, strangely enough, it did.

Next to George's dot on the map, a tiny speech bubble appeared. Within it, it said these words: Mischief managed.

George smiled, tapped the map with his wand, and said, "Mischief managed!" The map went blank, and Fred's eyes grew wide, to George's supreme satisfaction.

"How'd you know you were supposed to do that?" he asked, bewildered. George drew himself up with a Percy-like air.

"Wild guess," he said, pretending to flick some dirt off his shoulder.

"Come off it, how'd you know?" George laughed, unable to keep his brother in the dark any longer.

"The map told me. A bubble came up next to my dot and said 'Mischief managed,' so I gave it a go and it worked." Fred shook his head in wonder.

"Remarkable. George, I'm telling you, this map's made our future at Hogwarts so much brighter." George nodded.

"Let's not tell Lee and Belle," he said. "This can just be for us; you and me." Fred nodded.

"Yeah, I agree. It can be our secret, no one else is allowed to know." Fred grinned. "Let's try it out tomorrow."

The Lost Adventures of the Weasley Twins
Chapter 8 - Of Mudbloods, You-Know-Who, and The Boy Who Lived

The next morning Belle was later for breakfast than usual. The twins began to worry that she might be sick, and Lee was just about to go check on her when she entered the Great Hall behind a group of laughing Slytherin girls. She looked puzzled and a little uncomfortable.

"All right, Belle?" Lee asked her as she took her seat beside him.

"Fine," said Belle, helping herself to some bacon and eggs. Then, addressing all three boys, she asked, "What's a Mudblood?"

Fred, George, and Lee stiffened and their heads simultaneously snapped up to look at her.

"I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "I'm sorry, I just - I didn't - !"

"Who called you that?" Fred demanded. Belle blinked, bewildered.

"Jolette Marks," she said. George began to rise from his chair, looking murderous.

"Not now," said Fred, yanking his brother back down. "Later."

"What? What does it mean?" Belle asked desperately.

"It's practically a curse word," Lee explained. "It's a foul word for someone with Muggle parents."

"Why's it matter if my mum and dad can't do magic?" Belle asked, looking offended.

"Well, there's some witches and wizards who think that because they don't have any Muggles in their family they're what they like to call pure blood, and they're better than everybody else," said Fred.

"Yeah, and some of 'em go to extremes, start saying things like everyone should kill all the Muggle-borns and half-bloods and whatnot," George said, shaking his head sadly. "It's sick. Racist."

"In short, next person who calls you that, give 'em a good solid punch in the mouth, got it, Bells?" Fred asked. Belle smiled and nodded.


In double Potions, Jolette Marks found an orange toad in her Forgetfulness Draft.


The next class after that was Charms with the Ravenclaws, and when Fred, George, Lee, and Belle entered the classroom, a group of Ravenclaw boys were deep in discussion.

"He's destroyed, though, isn't he? That Potter kid got rid of him, right?" asked Robert Abner.

"I don't think he's gone," said Harvey Dempsey. "I mean, think about it, he was one of the most powerful wizards that ever lived, and Potter was just a baby. Sure, maybe he got hurt and lost some of his original power, but I bet he's just regaining strength until he can come back."

"Yeah, that's what our dad thinks, too," said George, joining the conversation.

"Who are you talking about?" Belle asked.

"You-Know-Who!" said Harvey impatiently.

"No I don't, otherwise I wouldn't be asking, would I?" The Ravenclaws gave her odd looks, but Lee was quick to assist her.

"Er, he's a dark wizard, Belle. We don't like to say his name. He killed a lot of people a while back, had a bunch of followers..."

"He was the very embodiment of evil," Fred shrugged. "But he's gone now, so don't worry about it."

"But weren't you just saying he could come back?" she pressed.

"Well, yeah, but not any time soon," said George.

"How do you know?" asked a blonde Ravenclaw boy. George turned red but didn't answer.

"What stopped him, if he was so powerful?" Belle asked.

"See, now that's the mystery!" Fred said dramatically. "Two years after we were born, You-Know-Who went to kill this family, the Potters, which he did a lot in those days. He killed the dad and the mum, and he was about to kill their little one-year-old son, Harry, too." Belle clapped her hands over her mouth, and George picked up the story.

"But something happened when he tried to kill him. Nobody knows how, but somehow the Killing Curse didn't work, and You-Know-Who lost all his powers, instead! And so now Harry's all famous, because he was only a year old, and he ended You-Know-Who's reign of terror. Everybody calls him The Boy Who Lived."

"Some people think You-Know-Who died, but others, like our dad, think he's just biding his time and waiting for a good time to come back and start killing people again," Fred finished. Belle's eyes were like saucers.

"B-but what if he comes back? What will we do?" Fred, George, and Lee all took on ominous looks.

"Dunno," said Lee. It was at that moment that Professor Flitwick entered the classroom, and the four of them all scrambled hastily to find seats.

After Charms while they were walking to their next class, Belle continued her interrogation.

"Why don't you like to say his name?" she asked. "I mean, it's just a name, isn't it?" All three boys shrugged at the same time.

"Dunno, we were just always told never to say his name," said George. "Maybe it's supposed to bring bad luck or something."

"Well, I wish you could tell me what it was. D'you think you could write it down for me or something? I'll rip the parchment up right away, I just..." she let that sentence trail away.

Lee looked uncomfortable for a moment, then he hastily placed his mouth to Belle's ear and whispered the cursed name to her. George, standing on Belle's other side, overheard, and he shuddered involuntarily.

"Vol - "

"SHHH!" said Lee and Fred, and George clapped a hand over Belle's mouth.

"Sorry!" she said when George released her. "So sorry, I forgot!" She looked guiltily at her feet.

"It's all right," said Lee, patting her shoulder.

"Yeah, just don't do it again!" said Fred.

"I suppose it is a bit of a scary name..." she said.

"He's a bit of a touchy subject in the wizarding world," said George, sounding apologetic. "It wasn't really all that long ago, so a lot of people remember what it was like when he was around, and it's not something they like to be reminded of. Our mum and dad and even Bill and Charlie remember, but Bill and Charlie don't remember much, and Mum and Dad won't talk about it. Percy sort of remembers, because he was five, but we were only three, so we don't really remember anything."

Belle nodded. "Sorry. We don't have to talk about it anymore, if you don't want." Lee shook his head.

"No, it's okay. You do need to learn this stuff, I suppose."

They walked in silence for a little while. Then, just before they reached their next class, Belle asked, "Wait, that Potter kid, how old would he be now?" The boys stopped walking and thought for a minute.

"Well, we were three, and he was one, so... He'd be about nine now," Lee said.

"D'you think he'll come to Hogwarts?" The boys blinked.

"You know, I never actually thought about that!" George said.

"Nor I," said Fred. "I suppose he will. But blimey! That'd be wicked, we could ask him all sorts of questions - "

"Don't be ridiculous, Fred, he was a baby, he won't remember anything! Besides, he probably won't want to talk about it. You-Know-Who killed his parents, remember?" Fred and George exchanged glances. They knew Belle was right.

"Well, it'd be cool to talk to him all the same. To think, The Boy Who Lived, here at Hogwarts!"

"Yeah, that would be cool," Belle mused. Then Lee said, "C'mon, we're going to be late," and they ran to their next class.

The Lost Adventures of the Weasley Twins
Chapter 10 - Halloween

Special thanks to Mariposa85, without whom this chapter would not have been possible! She provided me with prank ideas and spells, and she's a genius! This one's for you, Mariposa! THANK YOU!

As the month of October waned, the excitement within the castle waxed. Halloween was approaching. Belle's nails were now painted orange and black, and in the Great Hall where mere candles once floated were jeering jack-o-lanterns. One could almost taste Fred's and George's anticipation on the air, and their enthusiasm was matched only by Peeves the poltergeist's. All three pranksters had taken their troublemaking down to almost a complete standstill, which only served to make everyone else even more anxious. Lee and Belle could often be found exchanging nervous glances as they watched the twins in the corner of the common room, their heads together, plotting a Halloween fiasco.

On the morning of that fateful holiday, Belle was unusually silent as the scraggly foursome walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The twins were quiet, too, but knowing smirks were plastered on their identical faces. Lee was only quiet because the other three were quiet, but the twins could tell he was bursting for some conversation.

When they reached the great hall, the mouth-watering aroma of baking pumpkin floated on the air. Letting out moans of desire, the four of them made their way to their end of the Gryffindor table and began helping themselves to hefty servings of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, baked pumpkin seeds, and more.

They ate in silence for as long as Lee could stand it, then he finally blurted, "So what are you two planning for today?" The twins exchanged knowing grins.

"You'll see," they said in unison.

Lee looked as though he was about to ask another question, but as soon as he opened his mouth to do so the post owls began soaring into the Hall carrying various parcels and envelopes, as was custom at Hogwarts. A barn owl dropped the Daily Prophet next to Lee's plate, and he slid a Knut into the owl's money pouch. Then a tawny flew low above Belle and dropped a brightly wrapped package in her lap.

"What's that?" Fred asked. Belle was blushing deep crimson.

"N-nothing, just a - "

Lee snatched the envelope that had been taped to the top of the parcel and tore it open.

"Hey! That's... mine..." Belle turned even redder and she bowed her head so that her face was hidden by her long hair.

When Lee was finished reading the card he looked up at Belle, looking surprised and guilty. Fred snatched the card from him and read. Then he, too, looked at Belle.

"Today's your birthday?" he asked. George choked on his pumpkin juice. Belle nodded, not meeting any of their eyes.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Lee asked. "I would've gotten you something!"

Belle mumbled something that sounded like "No big deal."

"Oh, yes it is!" said Fred. "You're our friend, we're not just going to skip on over your birthday! I'll find that Zonko's catalogue Bill got us, and you pick anything, anything you want - " Fred was interrupted by George clearing his throat. Fred turned to his brother, who had turned out his pockets.

"Oh, er... That is, anything you want under thirty Sickles..." Now it was Fred's turn to blush. Belle lifted her face a little and shook her head.

"No, it's all right, I don't want anything," she said.

"But it's your birth - "

"It's fine, really," Belle insisted. "I didn't tell you because I knew you had plans for today and I didn't want to mess things up." She didn't fully blush as she said this, but she went slightly pink.

"Didn't want to mess things up?" George repeated, looking incredulous. "Bells, we're all about messing things up!"

"Besides, our plans aren't going to last us all day," said Fred matter-of-factly. "We'll work in a birthday party for you!"

"Oh, that really won't be necassary - "

" 'Course it will!" said Lee.

And the twins began to sing loudly and obnoxiously: "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear BELLE! Happy birthday TOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

They sang the last "you" as a high-pitched howl that drew many stares from the surrounding students. Belle buried her face in her hands, but the twins were delighted to see that her shoulders were shaking with laughter.

Cedric Diggory, who had been walking by, gave the twins a look that was mingled curiosity and amusement. Then he turned his eyes to Belle.

"Is it you they're singing to?" he asked. Belle looked up, and when she saw who was speaking and that he was indeed speaking to her, her eyes went the size of Galleons. She nodded wordlessly. Diggory smiled warmly. "Wow. Cool. Wish my birthday were on Halloween. Well, happy birthday, er..."

It took a while for Belle to find her voice, but finally she squeaked, "B-Belle."

Diggory's smile widened. "Happy birthday, Belle."

Lee scowled at Diggory's back as he walked to the Hufflepuff table, and Belle was in a state of shock for the remainder of the meal.



That afternoon, during their lunch hour, Fred and George left Lee and Belle in the Great Hall on the pretense of going to use the bathroom. They felt slightly sorry for leaving the two of them in such an uncomfortable silence (though Belle had regained the ability to speak, Lee was still in quite a sour mood), but they knew that in order to make this the greatest Halloween ever, they had to do this now.

They hid behind a statue and George took the Marauder's Map out of his pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Fred murmured, tapping the map with his wand. The boys scanned the map for a few seconds, then Fred said, "There! Third floor corridor, d'you see him?"

"Yeah, I see him," said George. "C'mon, let's go."

Using the map to find the safest route, the twins made their way up to the third floor corridor, where a certain poltergeist was drawing glasses and mustaches with chalk on all the statues and suits of armor.

"Peeves!" the twins shouted together in their Bloody Baron voices. Peeves whirled around, his look of fear quickly melting into his malicious grin once he saw the twins, bent double with laughter.

"Naughty naughty, you'll get caughty!" he said in his horrible sing-songy voice, chucking a piece of chalk that hit George squarely between the eyes.

"Ah, shut up, Peeves, we haven't come here to torment you. At least, that wasn't our main insentive for coming here," said Fred, still grinning.

"Good," said Peeves, turning back to the statue he had been defiling, "because I was under the impression that tormenting was my job."

George nodded, casually wiping the chalk off his forehead. "Too true. And yet, it's our job, as well. We have come here, Peeves, to strike a deal."

Peeves cackled wildly and threw more chalk at the boys.

"A deal? Ickle twinsies want a deal with big bad Peevsie?" He cackled some more.

Fred and George waited patiently for Peeves to finish, then George said, "We've brought some bribery, if you're going to force us to resort to that."

Peeves looked interested immediately.

"Oh, really? And what are you planning to bribe me with, exactly?"

At the same time, the twins put their hands in their pockets. From his pockets, George withdrew a sack of Dungbombs, and Fred took out a large box of Dr. Filibuster's fireworks.

Peeves's eyes widened greedily - it had been years since anyone had been foolish enough to let Peeves within range of either of these most sacred trouble-starters.

"Promise to help us make this a Halloween no one will ever forget, and these're all yours," George said. Peeves licked his lips, appearing undecided for a moment.

"Fools," he muttered. "You have no means of holding me to this; even an Unbreakable Vow wouldn't work, seeing as I can't die - "

"But we feel confident that once you hear what we've got planned, you'll be pleased to help us out," said Fred, smiling wickedly.

Peeves leaned in closer, and the twins knew they had him, they'd enticed him at last.

"So, what exactly did you two have in mind?" Peeves asked. The twins exchanged knowing grins.



Lee and Belle were sitting in Potions class, trying desperately to identify the different poisons Snape had set before them and wondering where the twins had gone, when a large crash, followed by Peeves's gleeful shouts, was heard through the ceiling. Professor Snape ignored it, and so did the students. Then there were more crashes, and they appeared to be getting closer and closer.

Finally the bell rang, and the students filed out of the classroom. Once they were gone, Snape hurried up the corridor in search of Peeves, in order to put a stop to whatever he was doing.

Exactly five minutes after the hem of Snape's cloak had vanished around the doorframe, two identical red-haired heads appeared there.

"Brilliant, he's gone!" said George.

"Great, let's go!" The twins made their way over to Snape's store cupboard and opened the doors wide. There, carefully organized on the many shelves, were various ingredients needed for potion-making.

"I've wanted to do this all year!" Fred said giddily. The twins hastily gathered up vials and bottles, anything their hands could reach, and began ripping off the labels and switching them around. And, for good measure, they even mixed a few of the unknown ingredients together, occasionally causing small explosions and filling the classroom with an assortment of strange aromas.

Finally, when they were sure the cupboard was disorganized beyond all recognition, they set off to prepare for their next prank.

"It's time to pay our favorite caretaker a little visit," Fred said airily. George nodded.

"Righto, dear twin. After all, he has always made absolutely sure that we have been disciplined for our childish pranks and foolish acts of trickery. It's only fair that we pay him back, for without him, we wouldn't be the fine young gentlemen we are today!"

Snickering, the twins raced eachother to Filch's office.

"Er, Mr. Filch?" Fred and George had composed their features into looks of undeniable innocence. Filch looked up and groaned when he saw who it was.

"What do you want, Weasleys?" he barked.

"Only to inform you, sir," said George in a calm, placating voice, "that Peeves appears to be setting off Filibuster fireworks in the Astronomy Tower - "

"He's WHAT?" Filch looked livid. Muttering murderously, he stood up and limped as fast as he could down the corridor toward the Astronomy Tower.

Once Filch was out of sight, the twins hurried into his office, closing the door behind them.

"I'll do the Dungbombs," said George. "You go look in the drawers and find something for Belle."

"Good thinking!" said Fred, and he promptly opened one of the drawers of confiscated items behind Filch's desk. Meanwhile, George set to work covering every inch of Filch's office in Dungbombs, and then placing Permanent Sticking Charms on them all. The Permanent Sticking Charm was beyond first year level, and had taken nearly three weeks for the twins to master without proper instruction, but, motivated by the prospect of desecrating Filch's office, they had finally prevailed.


Finding a birthday present for Belle in Filch's filing cabinets, however, proved to be a little more difficult.

"None of this stuff is really... Belle," Fred said after George had finished wrestling him out of a necklace that tried to strangle its wearer.

"Yeah, well, it's not really the best place to look, it's true," said George. "It was just a suggestion. If we don't find anything here, she can just have a look at that catalogue. Where is it, by the way?"

Fred shrugged, pulling what looked like a broken Sneakoscope out of one of the drawers. "Dunno mate, I thought you had it."

George shrugged, too, then went back to work.

Fred closed the drawer he had been searching and opened the one on top of it. Within this drawer lay only a single item - a bracelet.

"Hope this isn't more murderous jewelry," he said, and he reached in and took the bracelet out.

It was made of black and silver beads, and the black beads were inscribed with hyroglyphics of some sort.

"Hm... It's kinda pretty... Oi, George! You think she'd like this one?" George looked up at the bracelet that Fred was holding cautiously with his thumb and forefinger.

"It's nice, but we'd better find out why it was confiscated before we go giving it to her," he said. "Hold on, just let me finish up these last few spaces..."

While George finished placing Dungbombs on every surface of Filch's office, Fred scrutinized the necklace. Then, without warning, the hyroglyphics glowed gold and the bracelet began to vibrate.

"Er... George?"

"What?"

"Look." George walked over and took the bracelet from Fred.

"Hm. Well fancy that. Wonder what it means?" Fred shook his head.

"I'd better check the map," he said. George nodded and handed the Marauder's Map to his brother. Fred tapped it and said the magic words, then he groaned. "Filch is headed this way," he said. "He's just out of earshot. C'mon, we'd better get a move on."

The twins raced toward the common room.



"Happy birthday, Belle," said George, handing the bracelet to her. She blushed predictably.

"Oh, thank you," she said. "It's beautiful."

"We found it in Filch's office, in one of the drawers," Fred explained. "We haven't exactly figured out what it's supposed to do, but we figured you or Lee might..." he trailed off, looking embarrassed. Belle smiled.

"You know, it's the funniest thing, I was looking in one of our spellbooks and I saw a Charm to reveal the properties of a magical object, I'll just find it again and see if it works!"

The twins beamed. "Brilliant!"

"What's going on? Who gave you that?" Lee was looking at the bracelet as though it had said something extremely rude to him.

"F-Fred and George," Belle said, looking unsure of what to make of Lee's expression.

"Oh," said Lee, deflating. "Good. I thought maybe - but nevermind."

"Hey, Lee, you have your Standard Book of Spells?" asked George.

"I - well, yeah. Why?"

"Belle needs it, go fetch it," said Fred.

Lee retrieved the book from his bag and handed it to Belle, who leafed through the index quickly, then turned to a certain page.

"Ah, here it is... Hm... Should be easy enough..." She cleared her throat, then said, "Specialis Revelio!"

Immediately the whole bracelet began to glow bright gold, then green words appeared in the air above the bracelet. The words were "Intruder Charm."

"An Intruder Charm," Fred murmured. "That's why it was glowing and vibrating back in Filch's office! Because Filch was coming! Bells, it warns you if someone's coming, the inscriptions on it glow and it starts shaking around like a hyperactive gnome!"

"It's not shaking now, and there're people all over!" said Belle.

"Then it must only work if it's someone you don't want around," said Lee, taking the bracelet from her. "Blimey, that's clever, you two. Where'd you get it?"

"Nicked it from Filch's office, of course!" they chorused.

Lee laughed. "Of course."



The foursome walked into the Great Hall for dinner, Lee and Belle laughing at Fred's and George's tales of the day's escapades.

"Can't wait to see Snape's face," Lee was saying, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Brilliant you two, absolutely wicked."

"I can't believe you bribed Peeves!" Belle said, her voice full of awe. "He's probably the one being in this school who's the least likely to listen to a student, and you two, first years, got him to do you a favor! It's fascinating, really!"

"Oi, Allgood!"

The four of them turned to see Jolette Marks, surrounded by a group of her friends, approaching them.

"Born on the day You-Know-Who was destroyed, eh? A right pleasant day to have fixed to your person, no doubt," she said, sneering. Fred, George, and Lee drew themselves up to full height, but Belle's posture sank a little.

"I think so, yeah," she said, but her voice was barely to be heard.

"A right nice little Mudblood you make," said Marks. Lee tried to launch himself at her, but Fred and George restrained him. Marks's posse laughed.

"Gonna hit a girl, Jordan?" she said. Then, still laughing, she went to sit at the Slytherin table.

"Wait - for - it!" George panted. "We've got it under control!"

When Lee had finally stopped struggling, the four friends sat at the Gryffindor table.

"I'm sorry," Belle muttered. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't let her get you riled like that, she's just - "

"She's making fun of you, Belle!" Lee shouted. "You can't just lie down and take that, you know?"

Belle's face turned scarlet and she murmured some apology to her plate.

"Hey, Belle, we've got something that'll cheer you up," said Fred, exchanging a glance with George. Belle raised her head a little.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Fred looked at his brother again, then both twins glanced at the staff table to see that no one there was watching them. Then they both pointed their wands at the pumpkins hovering over the Slytherin table and said, "Finite Incantatem!"

SPLAT!

The pumpkins toppled out of the air and landed on the Slytherin table, spattering the Slytherins in pumpkin goo.

Fred, George, Lee, and Belle were quite silent for a moment. Then they saw Marcus Flint angrily wiping orange globs off his face and Jolette Marks screeching in revulsion, and the four of them toppled out of their seats, laughing uncontrollably.

The Lost Adventures of the Weasley Twins
Chapter 12 - Home for the Holidays

The weeks passed, and fall slowly blended into winter. A blanket of snow covered the vast grounds, and the spirits within the castle were high as Christmas Break drew nearer.

Rather than taking the troublemaking down as they had done with the approach of Halloween, the twins were now at an all-time pranking high. They never had a day when they weren't causing absolute bedlam, and they never had a night when they weren't stuck in detention.

Eventually, Lee started helping the twins with their pranks and schemes. At first he'd only taken small part - an offhand suggestion here and there, maybe lending an extra Sickle so the twins could buy more Dungbombs. Then, as the year progressed and Lee's friendship with the twins grew stronger, he became a bigger and bigger part of their mischief until he was spending nearly as much time in detention as the other two. Even Belle, shy and docile though she was, was beginning to play parts in their pranks. She was often recruited as lookout because of her Intruder Charmed bracelet. On December 16, Lee and the twins had a party in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate Belle's first ever detention.

Finally, however, the Christmas holidays were upon them. It was the first time in the twins' lives that they didn't want Christmas to come.




The ride to King's Cross Station was a pleasant one until Percy busted into the foursome's compartment and yelled at them for half an hour for attempting to turn his rat, Scabbers, yellow. By the time Charlie came and dragged Percy away, the twins, Lee, and Belle could barely breathe for laughing. Finally, however, the dreaded moment came - the train pulled into the station, where many wizarding families were waiting with smiles on their faces for their children.

"Make sure you write us all the time," George said, handing Belle a piece of parchment with the Burrow's address on it.

"Yeah, maybe you can come over sometime!" said Fred, giving Lee the address, as well.

"But I haven't got an owl!" Belle said.

"Oh, don't worry - we'll send ours, then," assured George. Lee and Belle exchanged addresses, then the four of them exchanged awkward goodbyes and got off the train to rejoin their families.




"Bill! Charlie! Boys! Over here!" The five Weasley boys whirled around to see the rest of their family smiling and waving at them through a thick crowd of people. They shoved their way through and were accepted by crushing embraces from everyone.

"Oh, Fred! George! Oh, I've missed my twins!" Mrs. Weasley crooned, banging Fred's and George's heads together in a tight double-hug.

"Ow! Mum!" they cried.

"Let them breathe, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. He grinned at his identical sons. "So, what d'you think of Hogwarts? It's something, eh?"

"It's brilliant!"




On the way back to the Burrow, the twins eagerly told their family about their adventures at Hogwarts, omitting certain details to avoid their mother's wrath, of course. Percy eventually, however, gave Mrs. Weasley a full report on what they had done, and the twins earned a long, loud lecture and de-gnoming duty for the week.




Ron and Ginny were positively bursting with questions about Hogwarts, which wasn't anything new. But Ron's questions were somewhat more eager this year; it was almost as though he trusted the twins' opinion of things more than the three eldest, bless him. Unfortunately for him, this wasn't a wise judgement.

That night after dinner, Ron, Fred, and George were all in the twins' room playing Exploding Snap while Ron bombarded the twins with his neverending questions.

"So, what's Hogwarts like?" he asked again. "Like, really?"

"Oh, brilliant!" said George. Then, with a sly look at his brother, "If you survive the Sorting."

"Th-the Sorting? But Bill said it wasn't a big deal!"

"Well, it wasn't before," said Fred, picking up on the joke immediately, "but they've changed it this year."

"It's like a test of sorts," said George. "An evaluation of your magical skill."

Ron gulped. "We're supposed to have magical skill already? But we haven't even got wands yet!"

The twins nodded. "I suppose you'd better start practicing, then. There're three parts to the Sorting," Fred said. "First, you have to wrestle a mountain troll with only your bare hands."

"Your bare hands!" Ron screamed. "But what's that got to do with magical skill?"

The twins ignored him. "And then," George continued, "you have to play a game of Wizard's Chess, only on a giant chess board. And you're one of the pieces!"

Ron's jaw was on the floor and his eyes were the size of pies. Fred exchanged a glance with George.

"And in the end, you have to go into the Dark Forest and ask a giant spider which House you're in." Fred finished.

Ron was sputtering incoherently, and the twins exchanged looks again. Our work here is done.

"You two did all that?" Ron finally managed.

The twins puffed out their chests and, in a dead-on impersonation of Percy, said, "Why, yes, young Ronald. As a matter of fact, both of us passed this silly Sorting affair with great ease. I daresay you've misjudged our strength."

"Boys!" came Mr. Weasley's voice from down the stairs. "Bedtime!"

Ron got up to go to his attic bedroom.

"Hey, tomorrow we'll tell you about Potions class and the insane ex-murderer we have for a teacher, okay?" George called after him. With a fearful look at the twins, Ron raced up the stairs, leaving his identical brothers in fits of laughter.




After that, Ron spent many sleepless nights, which the twins encouraged with their tales of stealing eggs from dragons, saving a helpless damsel from the merpeople in the Black Lake, and going through an impossible maze filled with terrifying enchantments.

"Of course, Charlie helped us with the dragon," Fred was saying to Ron and Ginny over breakfast two days before Christmas. "But we had to do the merpeople and the maze by ourselves."

"What are you two talking about?" The twins, Ron, and Ginny looked up to see Charlie, still in his pajamas, walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Uh, we were just telling them about how you helped us steal an egg from a dragon!" said George, giving Charlie a look that he hoped said Play along!

"What? I never - " Ron and Ginny were looking at Charlie, and both twins took this opportunity to shake their heads rapidly. "Oh - oh, yeah! Yeah, sure, I er... I told them how best to approach the dragon so that it wouldn't attack." Ron and Ginny looked back at the twins, their eyes wide. Charlie winked at them, and they fought to keep their serious expressions.

"Yeah, it attacked anyway, though!" said George dramatically. " 'Cause we got the worst one! It was a... a..." He looked at Charlie.

"A, er... a Hungarian Horntail!" Charlie said, blurting out the first dragon that came to his mind.

"Yeah, that's what it was. And it attacked us, and I pulled George out of the way just in time - !"

"No way! You didn't save me!" George said, looking disgusted.

"Fine, then, he pulled me out of the way just in time," said Fred, determined to keep the story dramatic. Fred was drawing breath for his next sentence when Charlie burst out laughing.

"Don't believe a word of it, you two," he said to Ron and Ginny.

"Charlie!" Fred and George groaned. Laughing and shaking his head, Charlie left. Ron stopped asking the twins questions about Hogwarts after that.




On Christmas morning the twins were awake before everyone else, as was custom. They sat up in their beds at exactly the same time and simultaneously yawned, sleepily ruffled their hair, and looked at eachother. They exchanged sly smiles, then tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen. Rather than turning off into the sitting room where the presents were, the twins opened up a cabinet and each took out a pan. Then they opened a drawer as quietly as they could and each drew out a wooden spoon.

"Let's hurry, I can't keep quiet for much longer," Fred whispered to George. George nodded, and the two of them made their way back to the bottom of the stairs.

"Ready when you are," George whispered. Fred burst into a grin, then both twins bolted up the stairs, slamming their feet down as hard as they could and banging relentlessly upon their pans with their spoons.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" they screamed as though trying to inform England as a whole. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS MORNING! IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

It took Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Percy to silence the gleeful shouts of Fred and George.

"All right," Mr. Weasley yawned once the twins had ceased their holiday wake-up call. "Down to the sitting room, you lot. Gift-opening time!" The nine merry Weasleys made their way down the stairs and into the sitting room to open their Christmas gifts, talking and laughing as they went.




Everyone got one of Mrs. Weasley's special sweaters, which she made for them every year. Fred and George put theirs on immediately upon opening them, and then they wrestled Percy and Ron into theirs. Once everyone had on a Weasley sweater, Mrs. Weasley had them all pose for a family picture before the gift-opening could resume.

Fred and George had never been more excited with their Christmas pile. Their parents had gotten them each new brooms; they'd obviously been purchased second-hand, but they were definitely an improvement compared to their old brooms. Bill and Charlie had both chipped in and gotten them an assortment of Zonko's merchandise and Honeydukes candy, Ron had given them one of his only Sickles, and Ginny had made them both new pairs of gloves.

"Mummy showed me how to give them grips on the fingers, she says they'll be good for Quidditch!" she had said excitedly when they'd opened them.

Lee had gotten them a variety pack of Dr. Filibuster's fireworks (Mrs. Weasley groaned at the sight of them) and Belle had gotten them a Muggle card game, which Mr. Weasley examined with interest.




Once the presents were all opened, George asked, "Hey, Dad! Can me and George go try out our new brooms?"

"As long as Bill or Charlie goes with you," said Mr. Weasley distractedly as he tried to decipher the meanings of the numbers and symbols on the cards.

The twins automatically turned to Charlie, who grinned. "Yeah, I'll come, just let me get my coat."

Ron and Ginny both stood quickly. "Can I come?" they chorused.

"No," the twins chorused in return.

"Boys," said Mrs. Weasley in warning tones.

"Fine, I guess Ron can come," said Fred. "But Ginny definitely can't."

"But why?" Ginny whined.

" 'Cause you're a girl!" George whined back. "Girls ruin everything!"

"You said one of your friends at Hogwarts was a girl!" Ginny cried. The twins blinked. The fact that girls ruined everything had long been their only defense against Ginny's constant pleas to tag along. Now that one of their best friends was a girl, they were going to have to narrow it down a bit.

"Er... Well, little girls ruin everything!" Fred said.

"Yeah, little sisters ruin everything!" George improved.

"Fred and George Weasley that will be quite enough!" Mrs. Weasley said sternly. "It's Christmas Day and I'll have none of this bickering. You're to let your sister play with you outside. Do I make myself quite clear?"

"But mum - "

"Do I make myself clear?" The twins took a step back. Their mother had that dangerous look in her eyes. Fred and George sighed, looking crestfallen.

"Fine, Ginny can come, too..." George muttered.

Ginny smiled triumphantly and tossed her long, flaming hair. "Right, then. I'll just be a moment - I've got to fetch my coat."




They played Quidditch out in the paddock for two and a half hours; Charlie, Ron, and Ginny were on one team and Fred and George were on the other. Charlie's team won the first game and the last game, and the twins won the games in between. Eventually, however, they were completely numb, so they went inside to a welcome dose of Mrs. Weasley's delicious hot chocolate.

"Oh, Fred, George, there were a couple of owls here for you," said Mrs. Weasley, and he slid a couple of envelopes down the table toward them.

"Bet those're from Lee and Belle!" said George. The twins reached for them, then Fred stopped.

"Hey, Mum, were's Dad?"

"Oh, he went to pick up your friends."

"Sorry?" the twins said together. Mrs. Weasley looked up from the dishes she was cleaning.

"Your father went to go get your friends, the two who sent the owls. Oh, dear!" Mrs. Weasley slapped her forehead and smiled. "That was supposed to be a surprise! Oh, I'm so sorry dears, but yes; your father has gone to get your two friends - they're going to be spending a few days here, and their parents are staying for Christmas dinner."

The twins were silent for a moment. Then they exploded into joyful whoops.

"This is going to be the best Christmas ever!" they cried.

The Lost Adventures of the Weasley Twins
Chapter 14 - Muggle Pranks

Fred couldn’t tell how long he’d been asleep before the creaking of his bedroom door woke him up – all he knew was that it felt like two seconds. He opened his eyes blearily. A short, thin figure with long brown hair was poking its head in the doorway.

Fred shot into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes and trying to wake himself up.

“Hey Belle,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”

Belle tiptoed timidly into the room and gently shut the door behind her. She had her pillow and her sleeping bag bundled up in her arms.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I kept hearing this clanking and groaning…”

Fred laughed. “Oh. That’s just the ghoul. We’re just used to it, I suppose.”

Belle gave him a puzzled look. “A… ghoul?”

“Yeah,” said Fred. “He likes moaning and rattling his chains. It’s a bit of a hobby of his, one might say.”

Belle smiled, then jumped when George groaned in his sleep. Fred giggled.

“Watch this,” he said, pointing at his twin. George sleepily rolled over and slammed his head hard into the wall. Belle cringed and Fred stuffed his fist in his mouth to keep from bursting into laughter.

“Ow,” George yawned, sitting up and rubbing his head.

“He does that all the time,” Fred said, grinning.

“Which is why I keep asking to switch beds,” George muttered, yawning again. George rubbed his eyes and opened them, jumping when they landed on Belle. “Belle! Hey! What’re you doing here?”

“She couldn’t sleep because of the ghoul,” Fred explained.

“Ah,” George said, sneering a bit. “Scared, were you?”

Belle blushed. “Shut up,” she muttered.

“A retaliation!” Fred hissed. “We have a retaliation!”

Belle giggled, then said, “Ginny won’t be completely heartbroken if she finds I slept in here, will she?”

“Yeah, she probably will,” said Fred, cringing.

“Unless we tell her that we kidnapped you,” George suggested.

“Or that Lee kidnapped you,” Fred said, bursting into a grin. George and Belle laughed. Then Lee stirred in his sleep. George went to nudge him awake, but Belle hissed, “No!”

The twins gave her questioning looks.




Belle’s brow was furrowed in thought and her mouth was twisted into a guilty kind of smirk. The twins exchanged grins of anticipation. Could Belle be thinking of actually pulling a prank?

It was then that Belle asked the most random question the twins had ever heard.

“Do you know if there’s any aftershave in your house?”

The twins blinked. “Aftershave?” they asked.

Belle nodded urgently. “Yeah, yeah – you know, it comes in a spray can, it’s all white and foamy?”

“This wouldn’t happen to be a Muggle thing, would it?” Fred asked.

Belle nodded again, a bit impatiently this time. “Do you have any?”

The twins thought about it. “Dad might,” George said. “He’s always collecting Muggle stuff.”

“Why?” George asked.

Belle’s smirk widened and she murmured something too quiet for either of the twins to hear.

“Come again?” they chorused. Belle took a deep breath.

“There’s a Muggle prank I want to play on Lee.”

The twins stared at her, dumbstruck. George was the first to break the silence.

“A Muggle prank?” he asked. Belle nodded.

“I used to do them all the time before I learned that I was a witch,” Belle said. “Only…”

“Only what?” Fred asked. Belle blushed.

“Well, since I in fact was a witch, sometimes they went a little… different than planned.” Belle was blushing bright red and the twins began to grin.

“You were a prankster, Belle?” George asked. “There’s no way. I refuse to believe it.”

“What made you stop?” asked Fred.

Belle’s smile faltered as she thought of Fred’s question. “N-nothing. It doesn’t matter.” There was a short, awkward silence which Belle broke by smiling and saying, “So – do you know where your dad might keep some aftershave?”

The twins knew that she was just trying to swivel the subject, but they let her.

“I’ll be right back,” George said, slinking silently out the door.




Fred and Belle waited in silence for a couple of minutes, and then George returned, a spray can in his left hand. He closed the door gently behind him, then handed the can to Belle.

“This what you were talking about?” he asked. Belle looked at the can. Fred and George could tell that she was trying not to laugh.

“Well, this actually isn’t what I was talking about,” Belle said, “but it will still work.” Belle shook the can up, took the lid off, and sprayed some of the foamy white substance into her mouth.

“Wait…” said Fred. “Is that..?”

Belle nodded. “Wuh reem!” she said through a mouthful of foam.

“What?” asked George.

“Whipped cream!” said Fred, grabbing the can from Belle and spraying a hefty amount into George’s mouth. “In a spray can! Ingenious!”

“Oo soun lah da!” George attempted to say. Fred stared at his twin blankly and George struggled to swallow the whipped cream. “You sound like Dad!” he said again. Both twins laughed.

Belle was finally able to swallow hers, but she couldn’t seem to stop giggling. “Don’t waste it all!” she hissed at Fred between soft laughs. “Give it here!”

Fred handed Belle the can. “Great,” she said. “Now, do either of you have a quill around?”

“I’ll be just a moment,” Fred said, promptly crawling under his bed.

Many bangs, grunts, and small squeaks were heard as Fred maneuvered the jungle that resided beneath his bed. Lee shifted a little, but otherwise showed no signs of being disturbed by all of the commotion Fred was making in his quest for a quill.

“My, but he’s a heavy sleeper, isn’t he?” George said conversationally.

Belle nodded. “That’s good for the prank, though,” she said.

“Got it!” Fred called.

“Shhh!” George and Belle hissed.

“Sorry!” Fred whispered as he slid back out from under his bed. “Here,” he said, handing Belle a tattered, dust-covered quill. Belle wrinkled her nose at it.

“I sure hope Lee isn’t severely allergic to dust…” she mumbled. “Right then, George – take this and spray it into Lee’s hand,” Belle said, handing George the whipped cream.

“Into his hand?” George asked.

“Don’t question the Muggle prank extraordinaire!” Fred hissed. “Just do it!”

George shrugged, then sprayed a nice amount of whipped cream into Lee’s left hand.

“All right, now Fred, take this quill and tickle his nose with it,” Belle said, giving Fred back his quill.

“Tickle his nose - ?”

“Don’t question the Muggle prank extraordinaire!” George said in a snide and mocking voice. “Just do it!”

Fred stuck his tongue out at his brother, then began brushing the quill’s feather end lightly across the bridge of Lee’s nose.

At first it seemed that Lee wouldn’t notice, but then Lee lifted his hand and tried to bat away the quill. The only problem was that he lifted his right hand.

“Oh no!” Belle whispered. “Lee’s right-handed.” Belle bit her bottom lip, then gently grabbed Lee’s right wrist. “Try again!” she said to Fred.

Fred tickled Lee’s nose again, and this time when he tried to bat the quill away Belle held down his right hand so that he had no choice but to use his left. The three of them held their breath as Lee smacked himself in the face with a hand full of whipped cream.




At first they thought that Lee would simply go on snoring, which would have been funny anyway, but then Lee began to stir. He opened his mouth to yawn and immediately started coughing and choking on whipped cream.

“What – what the - ?” Lee sat up and wiped his face off in bewilderment, and Fred, George, and Belle tumbled over onto their sides, laughing hard.

It didn’t take long for Lee to realize what had happened. “That’s not funny, you three!” he cried, though he was smiling.

That was when a light in the hall came on.

“Quick, Belle, under here!” George hissed, gesturing beneath his bed.

“I’m not going under there!” she hissed back, cringing.

“Suit yourself, we don’t care if you get in trouble,” George said, shrugging. Belle wrinkled her nose in distaste and slid underneath George’s bed.

The moment the hem of Belle’s nightgown disappeared, the twins’ bedroom door burst open and an infuriated Molly Weasley stood in the doorway.

“Fred and George Weasley!” she hissed in the most menacing whisper she could muster. “What on earth have you done to that poor boy?”

“Just having some good old-fashioned sleepover fun, Mum,” Fred said as he and George gave her identical complete-and-total-innocence faces.

Mrs. Weasley glared at them for a moment more before smiling good-naturedly upon Lee. “Come here, dear, let’s get you cleaned up,” she said to him in her mother-hen voice. Lee stood and walked over to her, and Mrs. Weasley resumed glaring at her sons. “I’ll deal with you two later,” she growled. With that she scuttled off to take care of Lee.

Fred and George waited until they were sure their mother was out of earshot before bursting into laughter. “You – you can – you can come out now, Belle!” Fred said between snickers.

Belle shot out from beneath George’s bed with unprecedented speed and immediately began shaking herself off. “Ugh! George, your bed is a breeding ground for dust bunnies!” she moaned, cringing and brushing herself off obsessively.

“That – that was – so – brilliant!” Fred exclaimed, giving his brother a high-five.

“Yeah!” agreed George. “Maybe Dad’s not a nutter after all – Muggles have got style!”

“The best part about Muggle pranks, though,” Belle said, “is that they don’t use magic, so we won’t get in trouble for underage magic like we would if we did wizard pranks.”

Fred and George exchanged wide-eyed looks. She was absolutely right.

“Teach us more!” the twins chorused, shifting in their beds so that they were closer to where Belle sat on the floor. Belle smirked.




The next morning, Fred, George, Lee, and Belle stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen, yawning and rubbing their eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already awake, but everybody else appeared to still be in bed.

The four of them said dreary good mornings to the two adults, then took their seats at the table.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Mrs. Weasley said sternly, pulling Fred and George’s chairs out from under them.

“Hey!” they cried as they tumbled to the ground.

“The two of you have double-chores today!” she said. “Because of your childish behavior last night!”

“But MUM!” they groaned, standing and rubbing their backsides. “We’ve got friends over!”

“You should’ve thought of that before you decided to cover your friend in whipped cream last night!”

“Dad!” the twins cried, materializing on either side of their father, who was still half-asleep and trying to read the Daily Prophet and drink his coffee.

“You can’t let her punish us while we’ve got friends over!” Fred whined.

“Yeah, how are we to entertain our guests if we’re doing double-chores?” George pleaded, putting on a pair of puppy eyes.

Mr. Weasley sighed and rubbed his temples. “They’ve got a point, Molly,” he said tiredly.

“And they’ll keep coming up with them, if you give them occasion!” Mrs. Weasley snapped. “No no no and no! You two each have double-chores and that’s my final word!”

“But Mrs. Weasley, it’s my fault!” Belle cried. The twins looked at her in bewilderment. Belle never stood up for herself – and here she was standing up for them. “I taught them that Muggle prank – it was my idea, please don’t punish them!”

Mrs. Weasley blinked rapidly, looking unconvinced. She smiled at Belle gently. “It’s very kind of you to stand up for your friends, dear, but you don’t have to resort to lying. You weren’t even in the room, dear!”

Belle blushed deep red and muttered something.

“Sorry dear?” Mrs. Weasley said sweetly.

“I was under George’s bed when you came in,” she whispered, blushing madly. “I was in there the whole time; I was teaching them Muggle pranks.”





There was complete silence in the kitchen as Mrs. Weasley digested this. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again. “You were… teaching them… the twins… Muggle pranks?”

Belle’s blush was now so deep that she looked like a tomato with long, brown hair. She nodded, shifting her eyes to her feet.

George had taken advantage of this moment to inch over to the sink, and was fiddling, unnoticed, with the faucet when Mrs. Weasley took another deep breath, then exhaled, seeming to deflate.

“All right, then. Boys, only regular chores today. As for you, Miss Allgood,” Mrs. Weasley set her eyes upon Belle. Her gaze was kind and warning at the same time. “As it’s your first visit here, I won’t punish you, but I will ask you, dear: please refrain from teaching them any more Muggle pranks.” Mrs. Weasley’s tone was half-commanding, half-pleading.

Belle smiled shakily. “I promise, Mrs. Weasley,” she said.

George slinked back over to where his brother and Lee were sitting, and all three of them smirked, trying not to laugh.





Mrs. Weasley smiled at the foursome. “Right then! What’s everyone want for breakfast?”

She went over to the sink to fill a pot with water to boil. When she turned the knob the water, instead of calmly falling into the pot, sent jets of freezing water straight at Mrs. Weasley’s face.

Belle covered her gasp with her hands and the three boys collapsed out of their chairs, laughing.

“FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!!!” Mrs. Weasley shouted.

The twins stopped laughing long enough to see their mother approaching, looking mutinous. The smiles slid off their faces as they scrambled to their feet and sprinted out the door and into the yard.

“Off to de-gnome, mother!” they called. Lee and Belle joined them soon after, choking on their laughter.