Author's Note: I was looking over this story the other day, and I noticed a few areas in each chapter that needed a bit of improvement, so I went back and made some changes. I hope it reads a bit smoother now!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but this story is really only about Fred, George, and Lee, so the fact that I don't own him isn't really important, is it? (Oh, and I don't own Fred, George, and Lee either.)
IMPORTANT:
This story takes place the summer that Harry got his Hogwarts letter, so Fred, George, and Lee are about 13 or so.Chapter 1: A Chase and a Choice
"Really excellent of my cousin to give us a discount on all those Dungbombs, eh?" said Lee brightly as he, Fred, and George followed Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Ron, and Ginny back into the Leaky Cauldron after a morning of shopping at Diagon Alley, the highpoint for the three boys having been their visit to the local joke shop.
Lee, who was staying with the Weasleys for the summer, had a cousin who owned the joke shop and always let the three of them shop at half price. Fred and George nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, can't wait to set them off in Snape's class," said Fred dreamily.
Most unfortunately, Percy, the newly elected boy prefect of Gryffindor, overheard him. "You'll do no such thing!" he said bossily, fixing them with a threatening glare.
George gave a very loud yawn in response and Fred, struggling to keep a straight face, said, "You know, Perce, I reckon you're spending way too much time with Mum--"
"--because that's exactly what she told us when she overheard our plan to see if the giant squid would eat that Slytherin git, Marcus Flint," finished George.
Percy scowled and opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment, his new owl, Hermes, screeched loudly and caught his attention instead. While Percy was busy with his owl, Fred, George, and Lee snuck away from him and headed over to where Mrs. Weasley was handing Ron and Ginny some Floo Powder from her purse so they could all go back to the Burrow.
"All right, who's next?" she asked, turning as Ginny vanished into the green flames.
"I'll go, mother," said Percy in a stuffy voice, casting one more haughty look in the three boys' direction before moving over to the fireplace. "Someone will need to bring Hermes with them. My hands are full with my new robes," he added smugly, causing Fred, George, and Lee to roll their eyes.
Percy'd gotten Hermes and new robes for being made prefect, and he seemed to love to remind everyone else of this fact whenever possible.
"All right, dear," said Mrs. Weasley fondly, handing Percy his Floo Powder.
As he too vanished into the flames, Mrs. Weasley turned to Fred, George, and Lee.
"I'll go through with our shopping now. One of you will need to bring Hermes when you come. Here's your Floo Powder, and mind, you are to come home, not off to Zonko's like last time! You'll be able to go there once you get to school," added Mrs. Weasley warningly, shifting the many packages she was carrying and handing each of them a small handful of Floo Powder before she tossed her powder into the fireplace and was soon whizzing off to the Burrow.
"You take Hermes, Fred. I'm not carrying Percy's owl," said George, picking up the owl's cage disdainfully and tossing it to Fred, who caught it roughly as Hermes gave a loud screech.
"Oh no you don't! I'm not carrying anything of Perfect Percy's," said Fred, screwing up his face in disgust and tossing the cage to Lee instead.
Lee, who had been rather amusedly watching Fred and George toss the now highly disgruntled owl around, was caught off guard as Fred threw Hermes to him. He tried to catch Hermes' cage, but missed, and, with a loud clatter, the cage fell to the floor, bursting open on impact. Screeching indignantly at the three of them, Hermes flew out and soared out the door as a witch walked in, nearly knocking her hat off as he did so. For a moment, Fred George, and Lee just gaped at each other in horror, then, all at once, dashed outside after the owl.
"OI! HERMES!" bellowed Fred as he led the way outside, attracting several curious stares from passing Muggles as he yelled.
"There he goes!" said Lee, pointing down the street to where the owl was sweeping over the sidewalk.
The three boys sprinted after him. They kept up the chase for nearly fifteen minutes, following the twisting and turning streets of London as they pursued Hermes.
Finally, they were forced to stop for a moment and catch their breaths, during which time Hermes promptly vanished from sight.
"P-Percy's...gonna...kill us," gasped George, clutching at a stitch in his side.
"Stupid...owl," grumbled Fred. "No wonder why...why Percy picked him; they're...both thick gits."
"He'll probably...probably head to your house," said Lee, who was leaning with one hand against the side of the building next to them as he bent and tried to catch his breath.
"Yeah, and now, that's where we've got to go," said Fred grimly. "I don't reckon Percy'll be too thrilled when we tell him about this."
George, however, was looking around, an uneasy look replacing his winded one. "Er...do either of you remember the way back to the Leaky Cauldron?" he asked.
Fred and Lee looked at each other, then turned to George and shook their heads.
"All I remember is that we came from that way," said Lee, jerking his thumb in the direction they'd come from.
"Hm...don't expect that Mum'll be to pleased when she hears about this one," said George, frowning slightly.
Fred, however, was looking ahead of them, a slight smirk beginning to twitch at his lips in spite of the situation.
"Up to doing some sight-seeing before we try to find our way back and get yelled at?" he asked lightly, turning back to face them.
George raised his eyebrows to show that he was interested. "What d'you mean, exactly?" he asked.
"Well, we've never been to Muggle London, not really," said Fred. "It could be interesting."
Lee, however, was looking slightly uncertain. "What about your mum?" he asked, looking quickly over his shoulder as though expecting to see Mrs. Weasley storming up to tell them off right then and there. "George even said that she won't be very happy when we go back, and we get yelled at enough while we're at school."
"True," said George, looking from Lee to Fred as though not sure who had the best point.
"Look," said Fred quickly, "We can either go back now and get yelled at for not coming right home, or we can have a bit of fun and then go back and get yelled at for not coming right home, so why not take our time heading back?"
George and Lee were silent for a moment, then--
"C'mon, what are you two waiting for?" said Lee suddenly, as though Fred and George were holding him up. "Muggle London awaits!"
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Yeah, it's short so far, but I think some of the later chapters'll be longer. Oh, and don't forget to REVIEW! :)