A/N: Little Bill and Charlie get into trouble. Bill is 5 and Charlie is 3. Mrs Weasley is currently pregnant with Percy. RxR. FxF.
Submission for:
Fanfiction Scavenger Hunt Competition: A childhood fic
The Animal Challenge/Competition: Laughter and curiosity. Write about children.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
The smell of baking cookies and treats wafted through the Weasley household, distracting the two little boys playing in the living room. Bill and Charlie looked up from crashing their miniature Quidditch players into each other. It smelled like blueberry muffins, banana bread and their favourite, chocolate chip cookies.
Bill jumped up to his feet and ran into the kitchen, followed closely by Charlie. They peeked their heads into the kitchen to see their mum sending all the mixing bowls and baking tins to wash in the sink. The muffins and the banana bread were cooling on the kitchen table, while the cookies were still baking in the oven.
They ran into the room to scramble up their mum's lap, who was sitting at the table fanning herself with her hand. Baking really made a room heat up, even with the windows open. She was surprised by the tugging on her dress and soon two bums were on her lap. "Be careful, boys," she warned. Soon there would be no more space on her lap for them to sit.
"Mum, mum, mum," they chorused. "Can we have a muffin?" Bill asked while reaching for the plate. Their mum swatted his hand, "Not yet. They're still hot and it's not even dinner time. They're for after dinner."
They both pouted, sticking out their bottom lips as far they could go, but she was firm. She reiterated, "They're for after dinner."
She picked them off her lap and stood. She clutched her stomach with a grimace. With a strained voice, she said, "Go back into the living room and play. It'll be dinner before you know it. I have to go to the bathroom. Don't touch those muffins." Then she ran off, the nausea following her all the way.
The boys stood in the middle of the kitchen, watching her retreating back. Bill turned to Charlie, "Come Charlie, let's get those muffins!"
"But mum said no," Charlie said sadly but Bill had already made up his mind and was climbing onto the chair their mum had just left. "Bill!" Charlie called out from the floor, looking nervously over his shoulder if their mum should return.
"Stop being such a baby, Charlie," Bill said, standing on the chair and leaning towards the plate. He picked one up and it burnt his fingers, causing him to drop it to the floor, right at Charlie's feet. Charlie reached down, picked up the squashed muffin and took a bite. "Mmmm."
Bill took another muffin from the plate, more careful with his fingers, and made to jump off the chair before his mum came back. But something went wrong: his hands and feet got caught up in the tablecloth. He fell to the floor painfully on his knee, the muffin rolling out of his hand. The tablecloth fell with him, pulling the plate of muffins and the banana bread off the table and onto Charlie's head.
Both boys cried out, loud wailing for their mum, who had just come out of the bathroom. She rushed to the kitchen, fearing the worse and saw a sight to behold: Bill lying in a heap of checkered fabric, Charlie sitting on the floor covered in crumbled pastries and the floor covered with the remains. Both boys had tear-streaks on their cheeks and were wailing.
"Bill! Charlie! What did I tell you?" she scolded while approaching her sons. She extricated Bill from the tablecloth and brushed the food off Charlie's head. His face was red from the crying and the hot bits that touched his skin.
With a sigh, she pulled the two boys out of the kitchen and to the bathroom. Charlie would need a bath and Bill would need a bandage. Raising boys was hard, and to think she had another one on the way. Hopefully this one would be calmer.