Verity —
October 2, 2011: As a general disclaimer, I do not own Harry Potter and probably never will, unless J.K. Rowling decides to play stock market. Which I don't see why she would... Anyhow, this is another take on how Verity got hired, a bit of an abstract one, so enjoy!
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They were flying over Bristol when George posed the question. "Where d'you reckon we go, Freddie?" This said in a complacent, yet slightly anxious voice. Fred was on his tail, patiently trying to sever the iron chain that hung from his twin's broom with some well-aimed hexes. Unfortunately, flying while hexing things was more difficult than flying or hexing things, and instead of splinter through the iron he was chipping off bits and pieces of wood.
"I'm thinking," Fred replied, missing yet again and swerving wildly to avoid having a wood chip stuck in his eye. It fell into his mouth instead and he spat it out, watching as it spiralled towards the ground into a tree. "We can't go home, now right now, anyway," this said as he grabbed onto the end of George's broom again in an effort to steady his aim. George sat up a little straighter and relaxed his grip.
"You almost done with that?"
"Almost," Fred said delicately, when in fact the iron was still perfectly intact, albeit a lovely shade of orange from the time he'd mispronounced his hex (at least they were high enough to be mistaken for balloons, although if a Muggle plane came by both of them would have a lot more explaining to do once they got home).
"It still feels heavy," George noted. Fred gave up trying to sever the iron and began to Vanish it, link by link. He'd been thinking the chain would make a great keepsake for when he had kids and could tell them about his Escape Artist Adventures – for, of course, he had already named that particular chapter of his Hogwarts career. Then he wondered what would happen to George once he had children. Would George ever have children? That would involve George talking to a girl. Without him. They would be separate. With girls. Hopefully not the same girl. That would be weird… ah well, he still had Angelina's address somewhere…
"Watch out!" George's voice cut through Fred's musings, but it was too late – Fred had slammed headfirst into a tree and flung into the ground. George inhaled sharply, his face white, as he landed in a more dignified manner, only to find a woman with messy blonde hair staring at the two of them.
"Hello," Fred said, dazed, before his face split into a wide and faintly eerie grin, "What an absolute delight to meet you."
George cast a semi-anxious look in his twin's direction, but Fred ignored the look and went on, "I don't have any money for drinks, but I'm sure I have a few sweets in my pocket that would allow you to swoon into my arms."
The blonde woman and George cast simultaneously sceptical looks at Fred, who continued blandly, "They're called Fainting Fancies… hehe… geddit? Fainting… Fancies! I invented them!" And then, to the slight alarm of George, he giggled and passed out, his flaming hair standing out in stark contrast to the dark grass.
George and the blonde-haired woman exchanged slightly awkward glances. (Socialising was really more Fred's department, as much as George loathed to admit it.)
"I'm Verity," the woman said after a moment, sticking her hand out. George grasped it gingerly, wondering if Verity was her first or last name but not wanting to ask (again, Fred would have asked, but he wasn't Fred, no matter how many times his mother thought so). Instead, he let his eyes settle onto the form of his twin, who was now twitching feebly on the ground.
"George… George Weasley," George replied as gingerly as he had grasped her hand. "That's my brother, F—"
"Frederick Weasley the first," Fred interjected suddenly, sitting up a looking slightly less loopy. "I've heard of you… you're the one that accidentally set Percy's hair to start smoking every time he sounded angry… which is always."
Verity regarded Fred coolly with her dark eyes. Fred grinned back.
"We're opening a joke shop, see," Fred started in what could be described as a passing imitation of a businesslike tone. George stared at his twin as if he'd grown an extra set of ears.
"Freddie, are you sure about this?" George asked, not liking the way Verity had yet to blink during the staring contest that was still going on. What kind of person didn't blink? What kind of person hexed Percy's head to smoke and not smile to acknowledge it? Obviously, Fred wasn't considering this particular problem, as he never bothered to finish what he was going to say, instead changing tracks at lightning speed with an even wider grin.
"You're hired!"
"To do what?" George could only mutter, although not in a hostile manner, as Verity accepted this job with a cool nod.
It was only later, when Percy came by on 'inspection' and got himself right back out of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with what could be called frantic haste, that George saw what Fred was really going for.