"You should not take a fellow eight years old and make him swear to never kiss the girls" -Robert Browning
"Georgie, wake up! Bill and Charlie are coming home today!" Six year old Fred Weasley bounced onto his twin's bed and shook him awake. "And Christmas is almost here!"
George sat up and rubbed his eyes. His red hair was sticking up all over the place and Fred knew his own hair probably looked similar, but he didn't care. His two oldest brothers were coming home from Hogwarts for Christmas and in two days it would actually be Christmas. There was too much excitement going on to worry about bed head.
Fred sat back on his heels and grinned at his twin as they both turned to look at the calendar hanging on the wall in between their beds. The night before, they had crossed off another day, leaving only two more blank squares until they reached December 25th, circled in bright red.
"What time is it?" George asked.
"I don't know. I didn't bother to check," Fred shrugged.
The two of them scrambled to get dressed before rushing up to the bedroom at the very top of the house: Ron's room. They barged in and bounded onto the bed of their four year old brother. "Wake up, Ronnie!" Fred yelled.
"Why, what's the matter?" Ron mumbled, rolling onto his stomach and pulling his pillow onto his head. He worshipped sleep almost as Fred and George did, but there were some occasions where sleep could wait.
"Nothing's the matter," George said, bouncing a little harder, "but Bill and Charlie are coming home today so wake up!"
Without waiting for a response, the twins jumped off the bed and ran from the room. They ran until they reached Ginny's room. Instead of jumping onto her bed, they gently shook her awake. "Come on, Gin," George said gently. "Wake up."
"Bill and Charlie are coming home today! Aren't you excited to see your big brothers?" Fred asked.
Ginny blinked her eyes open and grinned up at Fred and George. "Billy and Charlie?" she asked excitedly, sitting up and looking around as if she expected her brothers to be hiding somewhere in her room.
"Not yet," George whispered, taking the hand of his three year old sister. "We have to go wake up Percy first, okay?" Once Ginny had slid out of bed, they began to walk to the door with Fred in tow.
"Percy wants to see Billy and Charlie too?" Ginny asked.
Fred nodded. "Of course he does, but we have to wake him up first so that he can be ready when they get here. That's why we need your help." They reached Percy's room and the twins knelt down to look Ginny in the eyes.
"We have to be really quiet at first," George explained. "And then we go crazy and jump onto his bed."
"Okay," Ginny nodded, looking excited. "Can Kirby come too?" She held up her small stuffed hippogriff.
"Sure," Fred said quickly, excited to hurry and wake Percy. He was definitely the most amusing to wake up. Ron almost always went back to sleep and Ginny always woke up willingly. Percy, however, would flail around like a fish out of water and scream like a little girl.
The three siblings tiptoed into Percy's room until they were a few feet away from his bed. They paused for a fraction of a second.
"Now?" Ginny asked.
Fred and George took a deep breath. "Now," they whispered together.
With that, the three of them let out loud whoops and flung themselves onto the bed of their third oldest brother, who let out a loud yell, as predicted. His limbs were flailing and his eyes were squeezed shut, even though he was most definitely awake now.
"Tickle him!" George yelled and three pairs of hands ticked every inch of Percy they could find.
"Stop it! Get off!" Percy cried, but it was no use. Fred grinned. This was entirely too much fun.
Finally, with a loud thud, Percy rolled off the bed, his blankets wrapped around him like a toga, his long legs and bare feet sticking out at the bottom. Frowning, he crawled towards his nightstand and fumbled for his glasses as Ginny, Fred and George looked down at him from the bed.
"Morning, Perce," Fred said gleefully.
"Good morning!" Ginny said, bouncing slightly, Kirby the stuffed hippogriff clutched tightly in her hands.
"I wouldn't call it 'good,' exactly," Percy muttered, finally finding his glasses and sticking them on his nose, still frowning.
"Why not?" Ginny asked, climbing off the bed and into Percy's lap. "Want to hold Kirby?" She offered Kirby to her brother, who finally cracked a smile and hugged her.
"No, that's okay, Ginny." He looked up at the twins and raised an eyebrow. "What's all the excitement for anyway?"
"Bill and Charlie are coming home today!" Fred exclaimed.
"I'm aware, but it's only, "Percy glanced at his watch, "seven in the morning. They aren't expected until at least eleven thirty."
"So what? Aren't you excited at all?" Fred asked.
"Even a teeny-," George continued.
"Tiny-,"
"Itty-,"
"Bitty-,"
"Okay, okay, stop," Percy interrupted, holding up his hand. "I never said I wasn't excited. I just said it's too early to be woken up to such noise."
"It wasn't noise, Perce," Fred sniffed.
"It was the wonderful sound of excitement," George concluded.
"Does excitement always have to be so loud?" Percy asked.
"I don't know. What do you think, Gin?" Fred asked, looking down at his sister.
"Loud!" she repeated, clapping her hands.
"We win," the twins said together, identical grins spreading over their faces. They marched out of Percy's room and down the stairs to the kitchen, where they found their mother cooking breakfast. "Morning, Mum," they said.
"Morning," she answered. "I know you just got downstairs, but can you go wake up the others? Breakfast is almost ready."
"We already did that," George said, standing beside his mother at the stove, gripping the counter with his hands and stretching up on his tiptoes to look at the bacon she was making. He snatched a piece out of the pan and bit it. His mother sent him a glare, but he just smiled.
"Everyone's awake except maybe Ron," Fred said, climbing into his seat at the table. "He might have gone back to sleep."
"I'll go get him, then. Where's Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley moved the bacon from the stove to a plate and set it on the table.
"With Percy," the twins answered simultaneously.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and headed up the stairs. Fred and George looked at each other. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Fred asked.
"I think I am," George answered with a smirk. With that, they nodded their heads as they made their decision. Fred grabbed the bacon lying on the plate and he and his twin took off to a corner of the living room. It was their favorite corner, made into a perfect hiding spot by a chair that was situated just perfectly so that it would hide them from view.
"One for me, one for you, one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you," George said, counting out five pieces of bacon for each of them. They had barely started on their first pieces each when they heard their mother yelling for them. "Fred! George!"
"We're caught," Fred whispered.
"We need to hide the evidence," George said.
"Where?" Fred looked around. There was nowhere they could possibly hide the rest of their bacon.
George got a mischievous glint in his eyes and began sticking his bacon under the cushion of the chair in front of them. Fred immediately followed suit before they jumped out of their hiding spot and ran to the kitchen, where their mother was situating Ginny at the table. Ron was already sitting. He had his chin on the table as he patiently waited for his breakfast.
"Where did the bacon go?" Mrs. Weasley asked at once.
Fred and George shrugged. "We don't know."
"I know you know," Mrs. Weasley said. "You were the only ones down here. I put the bacon right here on the table. Now it's gone. Where is it?" She straightened up and looked at the twins sternly.
"Gone," Fred said simply.
"Gone," she repeated, raising an eyebrow.
The twins nodded. "It was eaten," Fred said.
"By Percy," George finished.
"Percy," Mrs. Weasley finished. "The same boy who is upstairs at the moment and hasn't been down here all morning?"
"Yes," George said. "He's the only Percy I know."
"I see," Mrs. Weasley said. She gave them another stern look before sighing and turning back to the stove. "I suppose I'll have to make some more."
"Yes, you'd better," George said.
Mrs. Weasley turned and sent him another stern look. "I wouldn't have to if it wasn't for you two."
"We told you it was Percy," Fred said, trying hard to contain his grin.
"You're always blaming everything on Percy," Mrs. Weasley said. "It's not going to work forever."
"What did I do this time?" Percy asked, entering the kitchen.
"Apparently, you stole the bacon right off the table," Mrs. Weasley answered.
"Oh, of course I did," Percy said. He rolled his eyes and sat down, pulling the Daily Prophet towards him. Fred and George looked at each other. Percy was always reading the Daily Prophet. He always read a lot of anything, actually. He read more than any other eight year old that Fred and George knew. Then again, he was the only eight year old that Fred and George knew.
"That means we get to eat his bacon since he already had plenty," Fred said, while George nodded excitedly at his side.
"No way!" Percy said, looking up at once.
"I'm making enough for everyone, but if you two," Mrs. Weasley sent Fred and George a glance, "don't sit down, I'll make sure you don't get any."
"We're sitting," they said, climbing into their seats.
Mrs. Weasley put a plate of eggs and newly made bacon in front of each of the children sitting at the table. Fred and George ate quickly, Percy began eating while still looking at the newspaper and Ginny began slowing eating the pieces of bacon that her mother had cut up for her.
"Percy, when you're done, would you mind clearing the table?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Percy just shook his head. "No, I don't mind. I'll do it."
"Thank you," Mrs. Weasley said. "I need to get started on the housework." With that, she headed into the living room.
Fred and George shot each other a look. "Do you think she'll find…?" Fred began.
"I hope not," George answered.
"Fred and George Weasley!" their mother yelled from the other room.
"Run," Fred hissed. The two of them scrambled out of their chairs and were outside before their mother could yell another word.
"Fred, George, go tell Bill dinner's ready," Mrs. Weasley said that night. They had picked Bill and Charlie up from the station that afternoon and now it was dinnertime. Bill had been up in his room practically all day. It was very odd. He had been fine at the station, but once they had gotten home, he had retreated to his bedroom.
The twins had a race to see who could get to Bill's room first. George won by a fraction of a second and Fred aimed a playful kick at him, which George dodged.
"I wonder what's up with Bill," Fred asked, now serious.
"Well, why don't we find out?" George asked. With that, instead of knocking, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Bill was sitting on his bed, chewing on a fingernail and looking at the ceiling with a slight frown on his face.
"Mum says dinner's ready," Fred said. He and George were still standing in the doorway.
"I don't understand," Bill muttered.
"Has Hogwarts made you forget what food is?" George asked. "Mum made dinner and it's ready now. You have to come eat."
"Unless you want us to eat it for you," Fred added. "We can do that."
"Or we can tell Mum you're sick," George said.
"For a Galleon," Fred said.
"Each," George added with a smirk.
Bill shook his head. "You're the most manipulative six year olds I know, but that's not it. I just don't understand—well, never mind, you're too young to get it."
"We are not young!" the twins pouted, folding their arms. They hated whenever someone wouldn't tell them something because 'they were too young'.
"Fine, well get out of the doorway, and shut the door," Bill said, gesturing for them to come in.
Fred and George did as they were told and took seats next to Bill on his bed. "So, tell us, Bill," Fred ordered.
"Well, the thing is, I like this girl-,"
"Why? Girls have cooties." George said.
Bill actually smiled. "They grow out of them."
"No, they don't. It's impossible," Fred said.
Bill gave a small laugh and shook his head. "Anyway, I like her, and we're friends, but lately she's been acting really shy and sort of, I don't know, different. I don't know, it's really a lot more complicated, but I wish things were simpler and I wish I knew how she felt about me."
"Maybe she's acting weird because you told her you liked her."
"No, but I didn't tell her. Unless she found out another way, or she just suspects it, she has no idea I like her."
"Oh," the twins said together. They really didn't know what to say.
"And I could tell her. I was going to, but I don't want to if she's just going to reject me."
"But you're so dashing Bill," Fred said dramatically.
Bill laughed again. "Anyway, it did feel good to talk about it, I guess, even if it was to my six year old brothers." Fred and George beamed up at him as he stood up and headed for the door. "You know, sometimes I wish you two could stay young and not have to go through any girl confusion." He turned and gave them a wink. "Now, I don't know about you, but I think mum's cooking smells delicious."
"You know, George," Fred said, as they left Bill's room and headed for the kitchen. "I think Bill's right. That confusion over a girl really messed him up. He was nearly late for dinner!"
"Yeah," George agreed. "It does seem very confusing and not very fun."
"Girls do have cooties anyway," Fred said defiantly. "I know they do. Even Ginny, but we're her brothers so we're immune to her cooties."
"Mum has cooties too, I bet. I wonder if dad knows."
"Oh, he knows, but I'm sure he's immune or else he would have stayed away," Fred said knowingly. "But really, who needs girls if they leave people confused?"
"Yeah, who needs girls?" George repeated, sticking out his tongue.
"Not us," Fred said, throwing his arm around George's shoulders. "It's always going to be the two of us forever. Girls just complicate things. Let's promise right now: no girls."
"No girls," George agreed. They turned towards each other, crossed their arms at the wrist, and shook hands. Fred couldn't help but grin. Life was going to be so much easier without girls.
A/N: I've been working on this story for a while and I think it's about time I started posting it. I was actually for a while considering not posting it because I wasn't sure about it, but I decided to give it a try. Make sure to review and tell me what you think. :)