"Mollywobbles," Arthur Weasley said, addressing his wife as he stared at the dark ceiling of their bedroom, his hands behind his head.
"What is it?" She asked rolling over and nestling against his side, not minding that in doing so, her head was resting in his underarm area.
"Tomorrow is bring your child to work day at the Ministry, whose turn is it this year?"
Molly smiled, recalling that even during the war, Arthur had been allowed to take one of the boys to work with him, much to their children's delight. Last year, a seven-year-old Percy had gone, and as a result, he had talked of nothing but his day with Arthur for at least a week.
"Don't you remember who went with you last year? Or are you going senile on me?"
"Of course I remember, Perce went with me, and he loved it."
"I know he did, he's aspiring to be like his Daddy, love. They all adore you, but anyhow, this year its Fred and George's turn." She replied, placing her hand on his abdomen, her ring and little fingers resting on the waistband of his pajama trousers as she kissed his side.
"You're joking, right? I don't have to take them both tomorrow do I?"
"It would be easiest, dear, you know how they get when we separate them for one on one time with us."
Arthur sighed, his wife was right. Fred and George were trouble when they were together, but when he took one to his shed or out to the makeshift Quidditch pitch for father-son time while Molly spent mother-son time with the other, the twins were close to impossible to handle, no matter how good his and Molly's intentions were. They had decided when Bill was born that they would set aside an hour or two to spend with their children individually to nurture their personalities as well as strengthen their bonds with their children.
"Is there a problem with you taking them both? You're allowed to take two aren't you?"
"Yes, but Molly…are you crazy? They'll destroy my office and I'll get sacked." He said in a heated whisper, making an extreme effort to keep his voice down, it wouldn't be to his advantage if he woke the children.
"Arthur, really, you said last year there was a set of twins and they didn't cause harm."
"Well, yes, Molly, but those were James' twins over in the payroll department, and they were nothing like our twin hellions, they're two of the sweetest things to walk this Earth."
"They just take after their uncles love, you know that."
"That I do, Molly-girl. But James' twin girls are so well behaved and sweet."
"Really, so you're saying you'd rather have his children than your own?"
"No, Mols. I just don't see how the Ministry-or I- for that matter will survive an entire day with them."
"I've done it for six years now, Arthur. I'm sure you can survive for one day, they're not that bad."
"Not that bad? Molly, they've been torturing poor Ron with their tricks."
"They're not torturing him, teasing him yes, but torturing him no. I never said I approve of it, but they're all brothers. Fabian and Gideon did things like that to me all the time, and from what I've heard about your upbringing, Kevin and Brian were like that as well with you."
"Yes, but—"
"No buts, Arthur. You're taking the twins tomorrow and that is that. Good night, dear."
Arthur sighed and lowered his arms around his wife, turning his body towards hers, as he rested one hand on the small of her back and the other on her cheek.
"I'm sorry for arguing with you, Molly." He whispered, tilting his face towards his wife's, his lips reaching out to kiss her. Molly returned the kiss, smiling as she removed her hand from his abdomen to rest it on his cheek as well.
"It's quite all right, love. I half-expected it, really."
"You did, did you?" He asked playfully, caressing her cheek softly.
"Of course I did, the twins drive me up the wall, and even though you are patient and mostly a big kid yourself, I know they push your buttons on occasion. Its just one day though, dear."
Arthur smiled and pulled her roughly to him, kissing her again. "I know I'll survive, Mols. Good night."
Molly returned his smile, kissing him briefly. "Good night, you set your alarm, didn't you?"
"Of course, though I don't know why I bother, you're always up before me and cooking breakfast; half the time I'm up before the alarm anyway."
"I know, and someone has to get up to cook you breakfast, you're hopeless otherwise."
"I know I am, Molly-girl. Go on to sleep, I'm sorry."
Molly just smiled and cuddled closer to her husband, closing her eyes.
The next morning, Arthur awoke to the sounds of his children playing in the sitting room and the smells of breakfast from the kitchen. He quickly showered and dressed before making his way downstairs.
"Good morning, Weasleys." He said cheerily, as he made his way to the kitchen where Molly was standing at the stove. He smiled as he heard the familiar chorus of "Morning Dad" from his children and the single "Morning, Arthur," from his wife. He slid his arms around her, pressing a couple of kisses to her neck.
"A-Arthur, stop it, I'm trying to cook." Molly exclaimed, swatting at his arms as she tried to squirm away from him before turning the sausages. Arthur just smiled and held her close for a moment longer before herding his children around the table. He then helped Molly serve breakfast before taking his usual seat across from Molly. When he had finished, he stood up and appraised the clothing Fred and George had put on, and decided that that their outfits were appropriate for a day at the Ministry. He scooped them up, resting one on each hip.
"Your working men are off, my dear." He said, leaning down to kiss his wife.
"Hold on just a minute, Arthur."
"What?"
"First off, you didn't clear your breakfast things, secondly do you have crayons and parchment to keep those two occupied?" Molly asked, amidst the snorts of the children, as they knew their father had just gotten himself into a spot of trouble with their mother. Arthur shook his head and put his sons back down, clearing his breakfast things as well as Fred and George's before retrieving a fair bit of parchment and two boxes of crayons from one of the drawers, slipping the items into his pockets.
"All right, Fred, George." He said, scooping his twins back up. "Give Mum a hug and a kiss," he continued, bending his knees so Fred and George could reach their mother. Molly swiftly hugged them both, before allowing the two of them to place rather wet kisses on her cheeks. Arthur then kissed his wife briefly, ignoring the moans from his children, and made his way to the fireplace.
"Goodbye, Arthur dear. Fred, George, you behave yourselves and mind your father."
"Yes, Mum." Fred and George chorused, holding onto their father tightly as he entered the fireplace.
"We'll be home in time for dinner, Molly-girl." Arthur said, turning to face her. Molly threw the Floo powder into the fireplace for him as he had his hands full, and he spoke their destination clearly. Within seconds, they arrived in the lobby of the Ministry.
"All right, you two stay close." He set them down, grasping one of their hands in each of his as he guided them to the lifts, hoping they didn't have any ideas on how to make his day hell.
"Good morning, Arthur. Who are these guys you've got?" Perkins asked as Arthur entered the cramped Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.
"These little guys—"
"We're
not little!"
"We're big boys!" Fred and George protested,
interrupting their father.
"Quiet, boys. As I was saying, these guys are Fred and George, my twins."
"Oh, hello boys, I'm Perkins, I work with your father." Perkins said, bending down to their level and shaking each of their hands. "I thought you were only bringing one this year, Arthur?"
"I thought so too, but the wife said I couldn't split up the twins and I couldn't just skip them and move on to Ron and Gin."
"Ah, yes of course. So these are the two you're constantly telling stories about?"
"Yes, these are the two human tornadoes Molly and I managed to have." He replied, sighing heavily, as he sat Fred and George in chairs at either end of his desk before taking his own seat.
"Quite the mischief makers, then?"
"Oh yes. I'm hoping they'll behave themselves somewhat while they're here."
Perkins nodded, sitting down at his desk as well. Arthur handed his sons the spare parchment and crayons, smiling as they immediately began occupying themselves in a quiet manner. As soon as he reached for the pile of paperwork he needed to complete, however, they began to cause trouble. Fred had decided that now would be great time to tear any and all parchment within his reach, while George picked up his crayons, and started drawing on the wall in the areas that were bare and that he could access. Perkins smiled as Arthur sighed and ran a hand down his face as he stood.
"Fred, George, you told your mother you'd behave, you don't want me to take you home already, do you?" The twins weren't listening to a word their father was saying, carrying on with their behaviour, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Arthur was even speaking to them.
"I'm sorry, I tried to tell Molly they wouldn't behave."
"It's quite all right, they're being quiet." Perkins said, not looking up from his own stack of paperwork.
Arthur sighed again, hardly believing his coworker hadn't looked up at the sound of tearing parchment, but then again, he believed Perkins did have a point. At the very least, even though they were destroying his work area, Fred and George were being quiet. However, he would much rather have a clean and somewhat orderly workspace rather than two quiet sons. He quickly scooped George up, depositing him back in his chair and placing a light binding charm on him to keep him there. He then removed all parchment from Fred's reach, excluding the parchment he had brought from home to draw on, and as a cautious measure, he placed a light binding charm on Fred as well before taking his seat again as he continued to put the office back to right, vanishing George's artwork from the walls.
"Honestly, Arthur, I don't see why you have so many horror stories about these guys, they're no worse than Bill or Charlie or Percy when you brought them."
Arthur rolled his eyes, "Well, according to Molly these two get into anything and everything at home." Deciding he'd play along with the illusion Perkins obviously had about his sons, he added, "They're probably only behaving themselves because of how small this office is."
"You've got a point there, lad."
Arthur just nodded, glancing from side to side; satisfied his boys were quietly amusing themselves with their drawings. He was relieved when his lunch break came around, as his morning had been quite eventful. Besides their earlier escapades, Fred had managed to spill an entire bottle of ink over his nearly completed paperwork, and George had somehow gotten hold of some documents that were ready to be filed and had colored all over them, doubling Arthur's workload. Arthur removed the spell that was holding them to their chairs, and grasped them each by the hand again, leading the way to area where he usually ate his lunch, before he remembered that he had left his at home. Swearing under his breath, he stopped and bent down to his children's level.
"Boys, we've got to go home for a bit, Mum forgot to give us our lunches." He said, hoping they wouldn't repeat that sentence to Molly, it wasn't her fault he had been absentminded. After they had ate at the Burrow, they returned to work, and Arthur hoped that the afternoon would go more smoothly than the morning had. To his immense surprise, Fred and George began to take an interest into what it was he was doing, and apart from a few minor mishaps on their part, Arthur found himself enjoying the company of his children. However, when it was about time for them to leave, something exploded in his office, and he knew that Fred and George had only been good so they had been given the chance to leave the Ministry with a bang, and he was fuming by the time they arrived back at the Burrow for dinner.
"MOLLY!" Arthur called as he stepped out of the fireplace, sending Fred and George to play in the sitting room, knowing Molly wouldn't approve of their children overhearing their argument.
"What is it, Arthur?" She asked, coming downstairs, her arms full of laundry that needed to be done.
"Molly, when is dinner, and I need to talk to you about your twin sons."
Molly was taken aback by her husband's tone, and after depositing the laundry into a basket; she stood in front of him, her hands on her hips.
"Arthur Weasley, firstly, I do not wish to be spoken to in the tone that you are using, secondly, dinner is in the oven, it should be done within the hour, and thirdly, what is it that Fred and George did?"
"They completely destroyed my office, which I told you they would."
"What did they do? Surely they couldn't have done too much damage, they're a pair of six year old wizards for Merlin's sake!"
Arthur then related the day's events to his wife, and to his immense surprise, she just smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing, love. It sounds like all they did was give you some more work to do."
"Yes, they did. It's going to take me two days to finish all the paperwork that they destroyed, and we've got raids scheduled for the next three days."
"Well, if it really is that bad, you can work some overtime tonight to get it done, but I expect you to be home on time as usual, tomorrow."
"Of course, Molly. I worked enough overtime during the war, I would much rather come home to nice home-cooked meal than stay in that bloody office for Merlin knows how many hours."
"I know, now, go wash up and gather the children so you can at least eat with us before you go back in."
"Yes, dear."