AN: A million Thanks! for the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised and am still on cloud nine. As a first timer, I never expected to get more than 1 or 2 reviews.

As always I would like to thank GOTIMTM and IRSHGIRL whose constant encouragements keep me motivated to write.

I also need to make a special mention of my brilliant BETAs GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen and Arianagleek whose editing has made this chapter a much better read than the actual work.

DISCLAIMER: I would be a fool to assume that I own any of the characters or the HP world. I would only claim the effort I put into writing this story as my own.

Chapter 2: Fred and George meet their Match.

A year had passed and the Weasley kids were all at home, excluding Bill, their eldest son, who was in Egypt working as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. Mrs. Weasley had prepared a humongous buffet for Charlie as part of his graduation party, for he had completed his education at Hogwarts. The party soon turned as noisy and boisterous as could be expected whenever Fred and George were present at the same table.

Molly, who always suspected that Charlie would never do a desk job, was curious to know what her son would choose as a career. Her curiosity couldn't be reined in further as she asked, "So Charlie, have you had any thoughts about what you would like to do now?"

"Err…" said Charlie, sounding a little scared.

He knew his mother wouldn't easily agree to what he had in mind. Across the table, Fred and George were entertaining Ginny with jokes, while Ron, as usual, was busy stuffing his mouth. His dad seemed lost in thoughts, but he knew his dad better than that. Charlie was pretty sure that his dad was closely following this conversation.

Percy, who even as a kid dreamed of being the Minister of magic, said, "I would suggest taking up a job at the ministry," then put on a smug face as he continued with a hint of sarcasm, "You should probably try the Department for Care of Magical Creatures seeing as you will probably get a NEWT in that."

Fred and George snorted, spraying food all over the table.

"Ew…that's gross," said Ginny with a revolted look on her face.

Molly pulled out her wand and tidied up the mess. Ron looked up for a moment, wondering what all the ruckus was about. He smiled at the annoyed look on Charlie's face before diving into the desserts. Charlie, meanwhile, stuffed his mouth with some bread and drained down a goblet of pumpkin juice as he sought to buy some time.

He was still glaring at his brother, Percy, when Molly, who wasn't easily discouraged from pursuing the topic, asked again, "Charlie, don't try that trick on me. What is it you have on your mind? I would appreciate knowing what career my son wants to pursue."

"Mum, give it a rest. I am just out of Hogwarts. I need time to think over it," Charlie replied. He wanted to put this off as long as possible.

Molly was sure that her son had already decided on some dangerous and risky career. She was about to say so when Arthur said, "Molly, he will tell you when he's ready."

It was a statement and not a suggestion. She looked into her husband's eyes and after a few moments of deliberation, decided to give up. Molly was soon caught up in her thoughts. She missed having Bill around, and now Charlie was about to start working. Like every mother she wanted her children close to her.

Charlie murmured, "Thanks Dad," and escaped from the kitchen on the pretext of being tired, before Molly could corner him again.

The next day, around noon, Molly was taking a midday nap. Charlie, who seemed hell bent on avoiding a confrontation with his mother, had gone to the nearby village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Fred and George were locked up in their room as usual. Occasional loud bangs and explosions could be heard from inside, but the Weasleys by now had trained themselves to ignore any sounds from the twins' room. Ginny Weasley however was unaccounted for: She wasn't in her room and nor was she anywhere within the house.

A few hundred meters away, Ginny was holding Charlie's broom in her hand and peeking through the cover of the trees to see if anyone had noticed her absence. She saw smoke coming out of the twins' window and was sure that they wouldn't be surfacing from their room for a while.

After taking one more peek at the Burrow, she mounted the broomstick and kicked at the ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air whipped her face, soothing her nerves. She had seen her brothers fly around in the garden, but being the youngest, and a girl to boot, had its disadvantages. It wasn't as though she was mistreated - in fact it was the opposite. Every Weasley treated her as though she were a delicate work of glass, something that would shatter at the slightest touch. It was pure torture.

Ginny was a natural on the broom. She flew a few feet up, and after making sure that she was still blocked from view, she started flying around slowly in circles. For a while she kept at it trying to get a hang of the broom. She was thrilled as the wind blew on her face, washing away her thoughts. She zoomed in and out of the trees as her confidence in her flying abilities increased. She decided then and there, that it was what she wanted to do when she grew up. She was going to play Quidditch.

After about an hour, Ginny made her way down and started heading back to the shed. Unfortunately for Ginny, the broom was taller than she was and she ended up accidentally dragging it all the way to the broom shed without realizing it. The tail of the broom was completely covered in mud and a few tail twigs were sticking out by the time she reached the shed to put it away.

"Oh crap! Charlie's going to kill me," muttered Ginny as she returned the broom to its place in the broom shed. Maybe I can just put it off on Fred and George, she hoped. She then returned to her room.

After a while, Charlie had returned from the village and was soon heard shouting, "FRED! GEORGE! I am going to kill you!" as he came running into the kitchen gripping his broom.

Molly who was up by now and preparing for dinner sighed as she asked, "What did they do now?"

"Look at my broom, Mum. I just polished it yesterday, and now it's a muddy mess!" exclaimed Charlie who looked ready to kill.

Fred and George made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, looking confused. Ginny followed them down and stood behind them looking equally confused and curious.

"Who took my broom out from the shed?" asked Charlie. It was clear from his face that he would have strangled his brothers if his mother wasn't in the room.

A still confused Fred was the first to answer, "We didn't, did we George?"

"No we didn't, at least not since we heard Charlie had blisters you know where," said George with a wicked grin.

"It's not blisters. He has a rare fungus, George," Fred reprimanded his brother with mock seriousness, the grin on his face, identical to his twin's, betraying him.

Charlie couldn't stand it any longer and dived at the twins. Molly, having expected it earlier, threw herself in between the boys and grabbed Charlie by the shoulders, effectively restraining him.

"How did you know that, Freddy?" George said raising his eyebrows. "No wonder you skipped dinner the other day," he added before turning to the now murderous looking Charlie.

Ginny, who until now was pretending to look innocently curious, started snickering. Ron, on the other hand, stopped reading his comics at the kitchen table and rolled about laughing.

Molly was slightly amused, but she placed her hands on her hips and said, "Now tell me, who did it? Or both of you will end up doing the dishes for the rest of your summer," as she gave the twins a stern look.

"Mum! We didn't do it! We have our own brooms", complained George. "Moreover, who wants nasty big blisters on his rear?"He asked, with the grin still plastered on his face.

Charlie was already red with anger; it now looked as though steam would soon pouring out of his ears.

Ron gulped as Molly turned towards him and questioned, "Did you take it out, Ronald?"

"No mum! I was in my room since morning, I only came down for lunch," said a frightened Ron. Out of all the Weasley kids, Ron was the laziest one and was highly insecure. Molly was pretty sure Ron wouldn't have done anything, but had to ask him to try and placate Charlie.

Ginny was the only other Weasley left in the room. She was sure her mother, or her brothers for that matter, wouldn't suspect her for one moment. But wanting to be sure, she put on an innocent face as she said, "Mum, I saw Fred and George lurking near the broom shed this afternoon, when I opened my window."

Fred and George, who until now had smug grins plastered to their faces, suddenly looked as though they were whacked on their heads with a club as they both turned their heads to stare incredulously at Ginny. Her innocent expression didn't give away anything, and the twins swore silently. They had never managed to hoodwink their mother and were failing to grasp how their baby sister could.

Molly missed this exchange and continued to stare sternly at the twins as she ordered, "Both of you will polish the broom again to your brother's satisfaction and will also de-gnome the garden, first thing tomorrow morning." She then returned to cleaning the kitchen.

A smug looking Charlie turned towards the stairs as he said, "I will go get my broomstick polishing set so that you both can get started. You will polish it until I can see my reflection in it and I don't want to see a single spot of mud on my broom."

Fred and George simply shrugged it off as they continued to stare at their baby sister. Ron had returned to his comics. There was absolutely no doubt in Fred or George's mind as to who the culprit was. As Ginny tried to make her way out of the room, the twins cornered her.

"George, can you think of anyone who only speaks about marrying Harry Potter or playing Quidditch?" Fred asked.

"Not anyone I can think of", said George, pretending to rack his brains for an answer."Wait! There's this redhead I know, but it can't be her."

"Ginny do you know anyone who matches this description?"Fred asked.

Ginny, who hardly seemed to be bothered by the twins, answered sarcastically, "No, I don't." She paused a moment before adding, "But I do know someone who put a certain powder in Charlie's knickers the other day," before elbowing them in their guts to move past them.

A shocked Fred and George stared incredulously at each other. Ron, who was listening in on them by now, couldn't understand the looks on the twins face. But, he decided that from then on he would be very careful around little Ginny Weasley.

END OF CHAPTER

AN: In case you manage to read through it. Please please leave a review. It would help me a lot to know what you didnt like and what I lack in my writing. Any constructive criticism or suggestion you have will be of great help.