Author's Note:
See my profile for any copyright information.
For every story in this Christmas series, the setting is slightly Alternate Universe (AU). These stories do not match up completely with the books. In these stories, Harry is in his 5th year at Hogwarts and the twins are in their 7th year, before they drop out.
Each part of this series has correspondent story on Alexifulamendris's profile, so go check them out! ( u/4462061/Alexifulamendris)
George reluctantly let his body wake up. He was still tired and wanted more than anything to go back to sleep, but he decided it was probably time for him to wake up. He sat up, stretched, and threw the covers off of him, which he immediately regretted. "Blimey, that's freezing!" He desperately wanted to be back under the warm blanket, but forced himself not to give in to the urge. He heard someone turning over in their bed before he opened his bed curtains. Fred was still in his bed. He glanced around at the other beds; all of them were empty. Everyone else had gone home for the holidays, leaving the twins in complete solitude. George missed his friends. Christmas break had been a bit boring without them. At least I still have Fred. He thought. He turned back to his brother's four-poster bed.
"Fred? Are you awake?" He whispered. He didn't want to wake his brother up, but he had hoped Fred would have already been awake. He tried again. "Come on, Fred, wake up." Silence, except for slow breathing. He sighed and made his way towards the bathroom for his morning shower.
George turned on the water, turning the knob closer to the warm water than he normally did, and let the water warm up. When it was the perfect temperature, he stepped in and immediately felt relieved. This is much better. He thought, not missing the cold drafts that always came into the castle during winter. He performed his normal shower routine. When he was done, he was once again hesitant to leave the warmth. He eventually turned off the water after enjoying the heat just a while longer, quickly wrapping a towel around himself. The surrounding cold air made him shiver. He stepped over to the mirror to comb his hair and instantly yelled in anger.
His reflection was exactly the same as always, but instead of his dripping, wet hair being the famous flame-red, it was a deep royal purple. He cursed his brother. I know this was his doing! He thought furiously.
He banged open the door to the room, ready to violently shake his brother awake, but Fred was no longer in his bed. That little toad! He was faking it! He thought as he strode over to his bedside table for his wand before returning to the bathroom. He pointed it towards his hair. "Aquamenti." A small jet of water spilled out of his wand and onto his hair. He looked in the bathroom mirror, but his hair was still purple. He cursed again. "Colovaria." He had hoped the spell would change his hair back to red, but it did nothing. Running out of spells, he used the towel around his waist to scrub his hair dry, hoping to rub off the purple color. To his dismay, his hair was successfully dried, but the color was the same. He returned the towel to his waist and stormed into the room, searching his trunk for anything that could help. Upon finding nothing useful, he slammed the trunk close and stomped out of the room and down the stairs leading to the common room.
As he expected, Fred was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the blazing fireplace, a wide grin sprouting across his face.
"What did you do?" He demanded. He folded his arms and realized he was still wearing nothing but a towel. He was glad that the common room was empty save for them. Fred's laugh infuriated him even more. "I'm serious, Fred! I've tried everything to change it back. This isn't funny."
Fred sniggered again. "That's a lie." He said, forcing his face to assume a serious composure. He sat up in the chair. "You know if it was anyone else, you would be laughing too."
George refused to admit that his twin was right. "Tell me how to fix it."
"Alright, I'll fix it for you." Fred said as he stood. The grin formed across his lips again and George knew he was up to something again. "But you'll have to catch me first!" Without hesitating, Fred ran out of the common room and into the hall.
George sighed as the portrait closed behind his brother. He calmly made his way back to the dormitory. He knew Fred would quickly become bored if he didn't follow him. He thought of how to get revenge on his brother as he removed clean clothes from his trunk and dressed. He began searching the trunk again for anything that could reverse whatever Fred had done to his hair. He still didn't find anything helpful, but his eyes came across the potions they had used to make people sick in order to get them out of class. They had been the beginning of their plans for a joke shop and they were a huge success. Their current project was a set of fireworks. Suddenly, he smiled. I know the perfect way to get back at Fred. He thought gleefully. He gathered some items, having to use the Accio spell to borrow something from Harry's dorm, and quickly made his way down the stairs and out of the common room.
He quietly ran down several sets of staircases until he was on the fourth floor. At the end of the hall hung a golden tapestry, behind which was a secret passageway leading down to the second floor. Only the twins knew about this passageway. He took the secret stairs two at a time, making sure not to make any noise. At the end of the staircase, he pulled out the Marauder's map again, making sure Fred's icon was still pacing this corridor. He waited until Fred was at the far end of the corridor and facing the other way before he moved the tapestry and silently, but swiftly walked a little way into the hall. He gently placed three fireworks on the floor and whispered the spell that lit all three of them. He glanced up. Fred was still making his way towards the opposite end of the hall. He then quietly shot a charm towards the end of the hall near his brother. The spell was silent and transparent. Feeling satisfied, George turned to his post behind the golden tapestry and waited.
After a while, George heard his brother speak. "It won't work, Georgie. These were my idea after all." George covered his mouth as he sniggered. They were your idea. He thought amusingly. But I perfected them. They aren't the fireworks that you're used to. He heard Fred attempt to vanish the fireworks and a laugh escaped George's lips. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand and watched his brother's movements on the map. He could hear the fireworks multiplying, all of them lit and about to explode. George held his excitement as he waited.
He watched as Fred's icon ran towards his hiding spot. I'm sorry, Fred, but you aren't getting out of this that easily. He thought and whispered the spell that would keep the tapestry in place no matter how hard Fred tried to move it aside. He listened as his twin tried desperately to claw his way behind the tapestry.
"George! George, I know you're there." Fred cried. "I'm sorry. I'll fix your hair, just let me in." Fred waited, but George had no plans to let him escape. "You wouldn't want your favorite brother to get incinerated by fireworks, would you?" He banged on the tapestry that was now solid as a rock. George remained quiet. He could hear some of the fireworks finally erupting; he could hear the smoke hissing out of them. "Fine!" Fred yelled. "But now this is only just the beginning!" After a moment, George heard his brother's running footsteps fading in the distance. He waited until Fred's icon was out of the corridor before performing the counterspell on the tapestry and sneaking away from the fireworks littering the floor.
He used the other secret passages to make his way down to the first floor without running into Fred. He had placed the map into his cloak's pocket, no longer needing it. He knew these passages by heart. He swiftly walked into the corridor leading to the kitchens. When he approached the painting of a bowl of fruit, he tickled the pear in the picture with his finger. The painting swung open to reveal the entrance to the kitchen. He stepped inside, stooping in order to not bang his head on the low doorway.
As soon as he entered, a house elf wearing several layers of clothing hurried over to him. "Harry Potter's friend!" He exclaimed. George smiled at the familiar elf. "George!" Ah, so he can tell us apart. George thought happily. It was fun for George and Fred to swap places in order to mess with people, but they were always glad when someone knew which twin they were talking to without having to ask. "Is there something Dobby can do for you?"
"I've got it, Dobby." He replied. The house elf nodded and joined the other elves in preparing for the Christmas feast scheduled for that night. The other elves paid no mind to him, which didn't bother him a bit. He wasn't here to socialize with the elves.
"George?" A booming voice called. "Why are yeh in the kitchens?" George glanced in the direction of the voice and was surprised to see Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Care of Magical Creatures professor, scooting around tables and chairs on his way over to him.
"I could ask you the same thing, Hagrid." He answered. A silvery figure moved in the distance behind the large man. George focused his attention on it and realized it was none other than Moaning Myrtle. She was a nice girl, despite the many times she had tried spying on him in the bathroom. Although many students didn't like her, he was actually fairly fond of her. She enjoyed playing tricks on students, which George could appreciate full-heartedly. "Merry Christmas, Myrtle!" He shouted over to her, waving.
"To you as well, George." She replied with a shy smile, waving in return.
"How do you…nevermind." Hagrid had been watching them with a look of confusion on his face. "What are yeh doin' in here? And why's yehr hair purple?"
"I want to get something for Fred, but I need to be able to mix a potion into it without him noticing. This hair is compliments of him, actually." George didn't mind confiding in Hagrid. The half-giant was terrible at keeping secrets, but if everything went according to plan, he wouldn't have time to spoil his prank. He noticed a plate of cookies sitting on a table behind Hagrid. These will be good enough. He thought as he reached for them.
"Then why're yeh grabbin' cookies?" Hagrid inquired. "There's nothin' teh mix it in with and he'll be able teh tell they're soggy. Here." He grabbed a platter of cupcakes that had been on the same table as the cookies and handed it to him. "These will work better. He shouldn' be able to taste it in the frosting."
George's face lit up. Why hadn't I thought of that? He wondered, taking two cupcakes off the platter and placing them on a small plate that he found nearby. "Thanks, Hagrid!" He took out the vial of the yellow potion from his other cloak pocket.
"Wait. I shouldn'ta told yeh that, George. Stop it." Hagrid tried reaching for the plate in his hands, but he quickly poured the potion onto both cupcakes before the large man could take them away. He looked up at the half-giant.
"It's nothing bad, Hagrid." He replied and he smiled innocently. "I'm just trying to keep my brother warm."
"George, I've known yeh too long teh think yeh mean that in an innocent way." Hagrid frowned. George continued to smile. "I still don' believe yeh. It won't be anything too bad, willit?"
"Of course not, Hagrid. He's my brother, after all." He reassured the large man. "Now, if it were Umbridge…"
"Yeh can't talk like that." Hagrid attempted to sound serious, but a smile crept onto his face. "Anyway, get that potion in there and get outta here." Hagrid turned around to sit back down with Myrtle, but he turned back around to add, "And if anyone asks, I didn't see you."
"Of course not." George replied, returning the empty vial to his pocket. "Oh, and Merry Christmas, Hagrid."
"Merry Christmas to yeh, too." The large man replied before actually making his way back to his table.
George left the kitchen with the plate of enchanted cupcakes, waving goodbye to Dobby with his free hand. He wondered where Fred would be now. He knew they had woken up late and both of them had most likely missed breakfast, so he assumed his brother must be hungry. He checked the Great Hall, but it was completely empty. Perhaps he hasn't come here yet. He thought as the grand doors closed behind him. If I wait on the stairs, maybe I'll intercept him. He decided it was a good plan. He sat on the second-to-last step at the bottom of the large staircase, carefully set the plate of cupcakes on the floor while he pulled out the map to check Fred's location. It took him a while to find the two footprints that belonged to Fred Weasley on the map. He was on the fifth floor. He probably thought I had gone back to the common room. He thought, laughing. Boy, is he in for a big surprise.
He watched Fred walk through the castle until he came to the second floor. He then quickly folded the old piece of parchment and returned it to his pocket before picking up the plate of devious cupcakes. He could hear Fred descending the staircase behind him. He turned around to face him.
"Hey." He said to his brother and patted the space next to him for Fred to join him. He complied and George offered him the plate of sweets. "I couldn't find you." He lied.
"Yeah right." Fred remarked, taking a cupcake from the plate. "You had no problem finding me in the corridor." He peered at George out of the corner of his eye. "And Snape had no trouble finding me when I got out of there." George smiled. He had known Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy were nearby. They had most likely heard the fireworks exploding. He hadn't expected for them to be there, but it played into his plan nonetheless. "He thinks he found you, though." Fred added.
George glared at him angrily as Fred took a bite out of the cupcake. I might have felt bad for tricking you with that cupcake, but I no longer do. You deserve this, you prick. He thought. He smiled as he anticipated Fred's reaction to the cupcake.
"Alright then." He said to Fred. "I got these cupcakes for us as a truce. I guess we really are even now, right?" He picked up the other cupcake, but stopped himself from eating it. They did look and smell delicious. The elves were great bakers, but he had covered both of the cupcakes, unsure which one Fred would have grabbed.
"I guess we can be. I still can't believe you locked me in a hall of fireworks, though." Fred said. George grew excited as his twin took a second bite. "These are really good. Thanks." George couldn't help his smile from widening.
"No problem." He replied, still grinning. To his amazement, Fred actually finished eating the entire cupcake. His brother sat there scrutinizing him until the effects finally took place and his face lit up with shock. Fred reached for his own hair before noticing the blisters forming on his hands. George's smile grew even wider. The potion was heat-inducing. He knew Fred felt as though he were burning up from the inside and his body was even reacting like it was actually being cooked. He hadn't lied to Hagrid, though; the potion was harmless and it would only last a few minutes.
"What did you do?" Fred demanded as he stood. George backed away from him.
"Well, I thought since you gave me such a nice hairstyle, I should return the favor. Now your flaming red hair is actually, well, flaming." He smiled. "You should feel some pressure in your ears soon. Don't worry, it's just smoke."
Fred lunged at him, but anticipating an attack, he was already running for the large front doors. His brother was hot on his trail. George led him all the way to the now-frozen-lake's shore where he finally stopped running to catch his breath and scooped up a handful of snow, which he quickly formed into a ball. He chucked it at his brother, landing it squarely in his face to George's amusement. "Perhaps you should cool down!" He joked.
Fred glared at him with a half-smile and he knew that he had just started a war. His brother squatted by a nearby snowbank. A few moments later, several snowballs flew towards him at once. Two of them hit him in the chest. George glanced around and found yet another snow embankment close to the lake.
"You can't win, Georgie!" Fred teased as George bent to form several of his own snowballs. He enchanted them with a homing spell before throwing them at his brother, who was still standing behind his snow fortress.
George watched as his brother tried to dodge the snowballs. He saw one of them hit Fred in the shoulder before the wall of snow hid him from view. He knew the other six snowballs had found their target as well. "I think I can, Fred!" He replied.
He quickly stooped to make another snowball and threw it at Fred as another one hit him in the stomach. Instead of falling apart on contact, the snow stuck to him and melted into his clothes. He shivered and instantly missed his hot shower from that morning. As he continued to mess with his wet clothes, he was hit in the shoulder with another snowball. This one exploded upon impact. What? He wondered. That was my snowball. I threw it at him. I must have been too preoccupied with my clothes that I didn't even notice it didn't detonate on his side. He noticed Fred drop behind his snowbank and quickly followed suit.
"What are you two doing?" A voice asked.
George peered over his snowbank and saw his younger brother standing a few paces away with Harry. "Brother of mine!" He exclaimed. "We're waging a war, obviously. Come and join me, and together the three of us can defeat the evil Fred!" The two boys glanced between the twins.
"Or you could join me." Fred offered. "We all know I'm going to win anyway."
Harry and Ron exchanged looks, both of them smiling ruefully. "Or, we could team up and defeat both of you." Ron proposed. Harry then used his wand to create their own wall of snow. The two boys ducked behind the wall and quickly appeared again, shooting snowballs at both of the twins.
Oh, it's on now! George thought, smiling at the amount of fun this had become. The snowballs they threw at each other were far from simple. In fact, as time went on, the snowballs became more and more complicated. Harry and Ron had apparently started using a point system between the two of them by coloring their snowballs. Unfortunately for the twins, the color left a mark when the snowballs hit them. One of them had created snowballs that would wait for its target to stand up before continuing on its path. He himself had invented a snowball that was completely invisible and successfully hit his twin brother with it in the chin. Fred made a snowball that became larger the longer it flew in the air. Harry had been hit with one of those and George couldn't help but laugh as Harry was knocked over.
Eventually, the snowbanks were no longer used as defense systems for they all had ways of stopping the snowballs with magic. The snowball war continued on for quite some time. George began to notice that Fred and he were losing against Harry and Ron.
"I think we can call a truce now, George." Fred shouted to him.
"I was thinking the same thing." He responded. George used his wand to cause their snowbanks to grow in length until they met in the middle, creating one long, half-mooned snow wall. George ran to stand next to his twin. "Are you ready to win this thing?" He asked.
"You bet I am." Fred answered.
Fred began coloring their snowballs, stealing the idea from Ron and Harry. All of Fred's snowballs were now orange and all of his snowballs were now lavender. For a moment, George just glared at his brother for the color choice. He eventually accepted it and the two of them pelted the younger boys with their newly formed ammunition. "GRED AND FORGE!" They yelled in unison.
After a while, the two of them had the great idea to charm their snowballs with jinxes. They both laughed as Harry was hit with a Jelly Leg Jinx snowball. Now they were only up against their youngest brother.
It wasn't long before their war was yet again interrupted, this time by a feminine voice.
"What do you think you're doing?" They all turned in the direction the voice had come from. Approaching from behind Ron and Harry were Hermione and Luna Lovegood.
George didn't understand why everyone questioned the obvious. "We're having a snowball fight." He answered at the same time as Fred.
Hermione shook her head disapprovingly. "This isn't a snowball fight. This is barbaric."
"Oh no!" Luna exclaimed as she ran towards a tree near Harry and Ron. "This is a where the Perifaeries live! You're ruining their home!"
They all stared at Luna with confused expressions on their faces. Luna was known to say weird things that no one else knew about. The girl was ignoring them as she carefully examined the frosty tree trunk.
"The what?" Ron was the first to voice the question that had been on all of their minds.
"The Perifaeries." The blonde girl repeated. "They're tiny faeries that live under the bark of trees. You have to stop."
"Luna," Harry tried soothing her, "I'm sure it's so cold that the Perfaeries are gone. The tree is iced over, after all."
Luna shook her head. "You don't understand, Harry. They're not very smart to begin with, but they're also faeries. They don't mind the cold."
"Luna, I'm sure the iced-over bark will protect them from the snowballs." This time it was Fred who tried calming the girl.
Luna shook her head once again. "If you won't stop, then I'll have no choice but to protect them." She then determinately sat in front of the tree.
"Do you want to join us, Hermione?" Fred asked. "I know you would love to hit Ron in the face. This is your chance." Both of the twins winked at her.
"'Mione wouldn't fight against us!" Ron piped up. "She'd help us beat you."
"Come on, Hermione. Have some fun with us." Harry added. "It's Christmas."
Hermione looked from the twins to Ron and Harry and back to the twins, chewing on her bottom lip as she did so. "Fine." She sighed and joined Harry and Ron.
"Hermione." George and Fred whined at the same time."
"Welcome, 'Mione." Ron greeted. He bent down behind the snowbank and came back up with a pink snowball for her.
The twins glared at her from across the field.
"Don't blame her." Harry said to them. "We do everything together, just like the two of you."
George chuckled. "Everything, huh?" He couldn't help himself.
"That's kinky." Fred added. Hermione's cheek turned ruby red.
The joke seemed to bring some spirit into her as George and Fred had a tough time deflecting her snowballs. Luna didn't leave her post and continued to protect the tree from snowballs with a magical barrier whenever one came too close. Fred quickly used her invisible barriers to his advantage by bouncing snowballs off of it and subsequently hitting the trio from behind. However, Hermione was too smart to be fooled by their tricks and she quickly enlarged their embankment so that the three of them could be away from the tree.
After a while, Hermione transformed the snowballs into animals that would run across the field and attack the twins with their freezing cold bodies. From above them, a snow dragon swooped close to them, breathing a flurry of snow down upon the two of them. George told his twin that they must remember the dragon; it could help with their business.
A few moments later, a giant bird of snow appeared in the sky above them. George was impressed by Hermione's skill and he was about to tell her so when he noticed the trio were just as surprised as he was. He turned to Fred, who also looked shocked and amazed. Suddenly, the large bird exploded into many snowballs which then pelted all of them. Luna protected the tree harder than ever. When it ended, the five of them all stared at each other and began laughing before continuing their snowball war.
George pushed his brother out of the line of fire as several snowballs were headed his way. He noticed that his brother's blisters were long gone. He knew that boiling his brother would have gotten him to go outside. Fred had been bored all Christmas break and being cooped up inside the empty castle was only making him feel worse. Of course, he hadn't expected Fred to have pranked him, but he wasn't surprised that he did. The two of them were always pranking each other. Sometimes their lives got dull or too depressing, so they kept each other's moral up by tricking each other. It was never mean. They both appreciated it. The same was true for today. George knew that their pranks on each other are what made their Christmas brilliant.