The One That Got Away: A Fish Story
By: PhelpsFan04
Chapter One: A Spell Gone Wrong
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: Just a crazy story that popped into my head about Fred and George and another one of their crazy get rich quick schemes. SO R/R!
"George, will you hurry up with those nets?!" shouted Fred Weasley from the bottom of the stairs. He heard a loud crash and then muffled cries before his twin brother emerged at the top of the staircase. Fred smiled as George shook the dust out of the red hair that was identical to his own. Looking at his brother was like looking in a mirror, identical to the last freckle. George came down the stairs, two large fishing nets dragging behind him.
"It's about time," said Fred, mockingly frowning at his brother.
"Oh, that's nice," smirked George, shoving a net into Fred's arms. "We better hurry; it'll be getting dark in a couple hours..."
The pair walked out the back door of the Burrow and into the dimming sunlight. The sky was draped in light shades of blue and golden yellow and the wind was lightly blowing the leaves that were scattered along the ground.
The twins were headed to a pond at the back of the woods behind their house to catch some fish for their...er...experiments.
"So let's go over this again, shall we?" Fred asked, extracting a piece of crumpled parchment from his pocket. He cleared his throat and George rolled his eyes.
"If we must," George sighed. Fred ignored him and began reading.
"The plan is to catch fish and turn them into those red candy fish that Muggles rave about so much (although the fish flavor will remain). Then we'll sell them in the shop and become filthy rich as planned." Fred returned the parchment to his robe pocket. The shop he was referring to was, of course, the infamous Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, where any witch or wizard who was looking for a good laugh was welcome. And that was what Fred and George were best at: Making people laugh.
The pair entered the woods, joking and laughing as they walked, leaves crunching beneath their feet. The crisp fall air nipped at their cheeks although it was still somewhat warm outside.
Finally, Fred and George entered the clearing where the pond was located and were met with three familiar faces. Harry, Hermione, and the twin's brother Ron were a little ways down the pond, out on the small dock that extended over the water.
"Hey! What d'you think you're doing?" yelled George. Ron looked up from where he was fixing the line on his fishing pole.
"Um, going fishing?" Ron replied, shrugging.
"A ha! A likely, story but I happen to know that it was you in the kitchen with the candlestick!" Fred said, pointing accusingly at Ron. Harry and Hermione shot each other worried looks. George rolled his eyes again and threw his fishing net over Fred's head.
"Since when do you like fishing?" asked George.
"Since mum threatened to turn my hair bright pink if I didn't get some fish for her to cook for dinner."
"Ah."
Fred took the net off his head and eyed Harry and Hermione.
"So you decide to take these two out here and have them share your pain? Wow Ron, anyone would want to be your best mate..."
Harry and Hermione remained standing there inconspicuously as Ron walked to the end of the dock.
"Sure. Whatever, but I'm taking the boat," said Ron, gesturing to the small wooden boat that was afloat in the water. "You're going to have to find somewhere else to fish...or what ever it is that you are doing." He started helping Harry and Hermione shakily into the boat. Once the three were safely on board Ron turned to look at his brothers. He had always known that the twins were close and he could tell that there was a mental conversation going on between them now.
"Nah, way to risky. Even for us," Fred said smirking at his twin. Ron didn't know what the twins were thinking but he was thankful that Fred had decided against it. He sighed with relief as the twins walked away.
The twins, somewhat disgruntled about not being able to use the boat, settled underneath a shady weeping willow on the other side of the pond. The pond was fairly large and all they could see of Harry, Ron and Hermione was a shadowy outline.
"Of all the days mum wanted to cook fish for dinner she had to choose today," Fred said lazily, sitting at the edge of the pond and dipping his net into the water. "Ah well. Let's begin, shall we?"
George dipped his net in the water beside Fred's and they waited.
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...
After about an hour and a half with not so much as a ripple on the water, Fred stood up.
"This is pointless!" he said loudly, awaking George who had dozed off after the first ten minutes. "We're fully qualified wizards! What are we using nets for?" And with that, he threw his net aside and whipped his wand out of his pocket.
"Accio fish!"
A gray fish flew out of the pond, disturbing the water's smooth surface. It landed, wriggling and squirming, into Fred's outstretched arms.
"Ack! George, c'mere and help me with this!"
George came over and held his net underneath the struggling fish. Fred dropped it and the fish flopped about in the bottom of the net.
"Hurry up and do the spell Fred! This little guy is putting up a fight!" Sure enough, the fish was moving so violently that George was having trouble holding onto the net. Fred wiped a fine layer of slime off of his wand and then pointed it toward the fish. He hesitated.
"What's...ugh...the matter?" asked George, still struggling with the fish.
"I can't remember the spell," Fred admitted.
"You gotta be kidding me!"
"Well, I think I remember it...it was like, fisweeth or something like that."
"Well, if it doesn't work it's...er, just a fish, right?" said George desperately.
"Yeah, bu—"
"Then do it!"
Fred raised his wand again and pointed it at the fish in the net.
"Fisweeth!" he said in a loud, clear tone. A jet of sea green light shot out of the end of the wand and at the fish.
"AAAAHHHH!!" The fish gave a very violent jerk and George dropped the net, allowing the fish to flop happily back into the water. The spell missed the fish and hit George square in the chest. He fell flat on his back into the tall grass, out of sight.
"George!" Fred yelled. "George, are you ok?!" He ran over to the spot where his brother fell and let out a small yelp. In the grass, lie not George, but a slimy, flopping, gray fish.
Fred had to stop himself from laughing out loud.
"George," he started, "You're a fish!"
"Yeah thanks for clearing that up for me, Gred," replied the fish. Fred jumped back.
"You talked!! In my head!"
"Yeah, Fred," said George the fish. "We've been doing it since we were five."
"Oh. Yeah."
Suddenly, George in the fish's body went limp.
"George....?" There was a moment of silence and then...
"GET ME IN THE WATER! GET ME IN THE WATER! GETMEINTHEWATERNOW!!!!!"
Fred jumped and then lunged for the fish. He grabbed him and quickly threw him into the water. No sooner did George hit the water than he jumped right back out onto the shore.
"What now?" Fred thought to his brother.
"Gimme my wand," said George. Fred laughed.
"George, I don't know if this fish brain is affecting you, but you have no arms."
"I'm aware, just throw it over here."
Fred shrugged and picked up George's wand. He tossed it down in front of George the fish.
"Thanks."
Then George, in his slimy fishy body some how got the wand into his mouth and smirked (well, as much as a fish can smirk anyways). Then, in as loud a voice as he could get from his head to his brothers, he screamed "FISWEETH!"
Fred yelped and landed face down the grass, his body slowly shrinking into the form of a fish identical to his brother. When he was finally down to the size of a fish, flopping and wriggling on the ground, he spoke menacingly to his twin.
"Do you realize what you just did?!" he yelled.
"Yes. And no we are both fish incapable of using wands because I dropped mine and yours is five feet away," replied George.
"Yeah. That and we are out of the water."
There was a split second of silence.
"WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER!!!!!!"
And together they flopped into the lake.