I would like to apologize for taking so long in getting this chapter up. Hey, at least it's here. Please enjoy it, and if anyone has any comments, then leave a review. Thanks to everyone!
Chapter 4: The Invitation
It was almost a year later when something surprising happened. Fred and George had invited Lee and I to go to the Quidditch World Cup with them. I had learnt about Quidditch last year when Fred, George, and Lee had forced me to come watch them play and commentate. Admittedly, it was pretty interesting. I had also learnt about many other things last year which had allowed me to further acclimatize to the wizarding world.
For one, I had learned that Sirius Black, an escaped murderer from Azkaban, had been the one that those disturbing dementors were after. I had learned a few useful spells that were helpful when Fred and George would attempt to jinx the pants off of me. Literally.
Another useful thing was that it was a good thing to be friends with Fred and George. They were good for a laugh and weren't afraid to attain revenge when needed. Draco Malfoy would be a prime example there. He had been trying to grasp my attention with a few of his suave moves while I was alone in the hallway with a ton of books weighing me down, but George had popped up from around the corner and hexed Malfoy another nose. I don't think you would like to hear the details though. Or maybe you would. They are pretty funny. Anyway.
It was nearing the end of summer now, maybe a couple of weeks left, and Lee and I had been thinking of new prank ideas. Well, he thought of them while I wrote them down and shook my head dismally. I still did not approve of their pranking and what-not. Sure I laughed, but I would always disapprove of their antics. But that's beside the point. Lee had tested out a prank idea on Mrs. Jordan which ended quite horribly on her part. Let's just say Mrs. Jordan wasn't happy about having to throw away her favorite sundress, so she ended up grounding Lee until the start of school. This had Lee in a funk, so the only thing left to do was homework. Lee and I were working on our transfiguration essays when an owl ran straight into Lee's window.
Thump. Both of us jumped at the sudden sound, and looked towards the window. A large brown owl was sitting on the sill, shaking out its loose feathers.
"Errol." Lee muttered. He stood from the floor and walked to the window to let in the windswept bird. It flew over to the desk and scrambled to land gracefully before me. It stuck out its leg while trying to keep balance with its wings. I took the piece of parchment of off its stick leg and Lee gave it some leftover toast from breakfast.
"Errol?" I questioned while giving a pointed look to Lee. He shrugged and grabbed the parchment out of my hand.
"Errol is the Weasley's owl. Very clumsy." Errol tried to take flight again, but flew into the wall instead. It regained composure again and flew out the window this time.
"I see. Who's the letter from?" I asked him. He had unrolled the parchment and was skimming it over, his eyes growing wider and smile widening while doing so. He threw the paper down in front of me and punched the air while yelling.
"Yes! The World Cup! Incredible!" Lee kept jumping up and down in ecstasy while I calmly (if not a bit scared) read the letter.
Dear Lee and Maeve,
Hope Lee's been corrupting our dear Maeve. We need her ready to prank if necessary this upcoming year.
But that's not what we wanted to discuss. Dad's just earned tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, and Mum said we could invite you guys.
Please hurry to write back with your answer, cause you'd have to come over tomorrow. Hope to hear from you two soon!
Your favorite pranking duo,
Fred and George
After I finished the letter, Lee grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me.
"You know what this means right?" He looked at me expectantly. I shook my head no. "We get to see some of the greatest players of all time play!" His grin grew even more, letting his teeth blind me momentarily. A thought crossed my mind though.
"Lee, I thought you were grounded. Are you sure you can go?" His face fell at my words. He slumped over to his bed and fell down on it.
"Your right Maeve! I can't go! Bollocks!" I jumped at his curse. I really felt bad for him.
"Lee, I'm really sorry. So, we could just spend time here doing homework." He looked at me confused.
"What are you going on about Maeve? Your going. If I can't go, you have to. You have to tell me all about it. Come on." He bounced up. "Let's go ask Mum if you can go. And seeing as how you're a little miss goody-two-shoes in front of her, the chances are she'll say yes." He grabbed my hand and tore me away from my seat, making me drop the letter to the floor. We continued down the stairs to ask Mrs. Jordan. She said yes to me, and no to Mr. Icky-spider-boy. He he. See? I have a sense of humor too.
Lee and I went ahead and sent the letter to the Weasleys saying I could go. We got one back almost immediately back within the same hour. We unrolled it and read.
Dear Lee and Maeve,
Congrats on being grounded Lee. You don't know how proud we are.
As for Maeve, we're happy to hear that we have another prankster-prankster in training-coming with us. You should come tomorrow after lunch. Floo will work fine.
Bring extra clothes. We'll be camping.
Still your favorite pranking duo,
Fred and George
I smiled at the letter. This might actually turn out to be a fun experience. Lee then pulled me from my seat and dragged me to my room. He walked to my dresser and started taking clothes out to throw into my rucksack located next to the bed.
"Hey! Lee! Those are my clothes!" I shouted at him while scurrying to pick up the strewn jeans and sweaters.
"I know. We're packing for tomorrow." He said over his shoulder.
"We? You mean you. This isn't even packing! Let me do it!" I said. I shoved him out of the way to put my armful of clothes back in the drawers. He just started plucking more clothes out, and I had to pick them up. It soon turned into a game to see who was the faster person. In the end, clothes were strewn all over my room, and Lee and I were laughing uncontrollably on the floor.
"Maeve! Come on! Get out of bed already!" I woke up to the sound of Lee's nagging. I kept my eyes shut and turned over. "If you don't get up, I'll sick my spider on you. You know how much he loves you." I bolted out of bed, not appreciating the idea of a spider in my bed. Lee started to guffaw, and I shoved him out of my bedroom. I showered and changed quickly into jeans and a green sweater. I grabbed my tiny rucksack and skipped downstairs, happy that I'll have something other to do than homework.
I came to the end of the stairs where Lee and Mr. Jordan were standing by the fireplace. I could hear Mrs. Jordan bustling around in the kitchen. Mr. Jordan was holding onto a bowl full of a powdery essence.
"Good, you're here, Maeve. To get to the Weasley's, you're going to travel by Floo-" Mr. Jordan started.
"-By fireplace." Lee cut in.
"Yes, by fireplace. You're going to scoop up some floo powder," He pointed to the bowl in his hands. "Step into the fireplace, and state very clearly your destination. Easy enough?" He pushed the bowl my way, and I grabbed a handful. I stepped into the fireplace, ducking my head as I did so.
"Okay, the place you want to go to is The Burrow, okay?" Lee told me. I gave him a confused glance, but he ignored me.
"You have fun, okay Maeve?" Mr. Jordan told me. Mrs. Jordan then hurried into the room. She looked a bit disheveled and gave a pointed glare to Lee. Ah, another prank gone awry, perhaps? Most likely. Mrs. Jordan faced me.
"Sweetheart, you have a good time. And make sure to thank the Weasleys once you get there. Bye darling." Mrs. Jordan waved to me. Lee just nodded at me.
"I know you'll have fun. Just don't eat any of the candy that Fred and George give you. Remember what happened last time?" He asked me. I grimaced and nodded.
"What happened? What have you boys been doing to this poor girl?" Mrs. Jordan snapped at Lee. But before she could yell at him anymore, I interrupted.
"Bye. I'll see you in a couple of days." They all waved at me as I threw down the powder and shouted out.
"The Burrow!" And after I was swallowed by the green flames, everything was a mess to me. I whizzed by other fireplaces, seeing other people occupying them. I shut my eyes and willed the nauseating feeling to go away. I finally stopped abruptly and stumbled out of the fireplace. I stumbled forward until I hit a solid object in front of me. I opened my eyes to see what I was grasping onto so tightly. It was George. Or, I think it was George. He had a mole on his neck. Anyway, I was grasping his shirt. I immediately let go, stepping back while letting my brown hair hide my red face.
"Sorry George." I muttered. He shrugged.
"Hey Fred, guess what? I got Maeve to fall for me!" He shouted behind him. I heard chuckles behind his tall form. I blushed even more, knowing I had an audience.
"Nice going, George. Hey, if you two go off to snog, maybe Georgie here could slip one of our products into Maeve's mouth, hm? It is getting hard to find new testers." Fred said while walking up beside George. My eyes widened and I blushed an even deeper ruby color. They both laughed at my face and pulled me into a tight group hug. I wrapped my arms around their necks.
"Nice to see you two also. "I murmured to them. They let go and stepped apart to show Ron Weasley sitting at the kitchen table. I had met him last year when Fred and George introduced me to everyone in Hogwarts. I think every student knew my name by the end of that day.
"Hi Ron." I said.
"Hi Maeve." Fred and George then proceeded to drag me into the living room. They sat me down on the old patched-up couch and seated themselves beside me. Fred then bent over to look in the cuff of my jeans while George checked the other leg. Fred then reached for my sock, and George leaned back to push me slightly forward. I wasn't quite getting what they were doing, and wasn't planning on asking until I felt a hand slide into one of my butt pockets.
"Hey! What are you two doing?" I asked angrily. They just gave me innocent looks.
"Nothing. We were just searching for something Lee was working on." Fred said. I gazed at them with a blank look.
"Well, why would I have it?"
"Because Lee said in his letter that he would plant it on you to bring over." George said offhandedly. I stared wondrously at them.
"You smuggled products on me?" They shrugged.
"Well, there's no need to get your knickers in a twist-"
"Just tell us where you think it is." They said. I sighed. There was no use arguing with these two. I pointed to my rucksack sitting by the couch. They dove for it and started digging through it. I just sat down next to them while they pocketed something away. I looked at their innocent faces and just shook my head, something I was getting accustomed to doing.
"Mum!" They called out. I jumped. My heart started to beat a little faster. I admit I was sort of nervous to meet their mother. I hope she's nice... and not a prankster.
A woman came bounding down the stairs, but stopped short once she saw us. She had a motherly feel about her and had bright red hair. I'm going take a wild guess and say this is their mom.
"Oh my! Hello dear. You must be Maeve. I admit, when Fred and George told me their friend was coming, I was expecting trouble," She glanced at them warily. "But you don't look like trouble at all. It's nice to meet you. I'm Molly Weasley." She wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
"Mum!" One of the twins said behind me.
"There is absolutely no need-"
"To insult our guest-"
"By saying she's not trouble!" They finished. I had to hide a grin as they said that. I thought it was funny. Mrs. Weasley didn't quite think so.
"Oh, honestly you two! Maeve, why don't you go and have a spot of breakfast. As for you two." She pointed a finger at the boys. "You two will be going with Ron and your father to get Harry." The twins grinned at each other while Mrs. Weasley shuffled us into the kitchen. "Oh, and boys, Bill and Charlie are coming today. Make sure your room is cleaned out before they get here." She told Fred and George. They grimaced and sat down at the table, pulling me down too. And as Mrs. Weasley set down a large plate of food in front of me, I knew coming was a good idea.