Chapter 4

"For the love of Merlin..." Molly trailed off. But that didn't even cover it. What lay before Ron, Hermione, and Molly was nothing short of disaster. Fred had apparently managed to destroy every piece of furniture in the house, including a vase that had belonged to Molly's mother ("Oh my! The last heirloom...") and the wizard chess set ("Damn. That was a good one...all trained and everything.") Audrey appeared from the kitchen, gasping and out of breath. Percy emerged behind her, appearing in the same manner.

"He-he said that he wanted to-to go..." Audrey panted, trying to explain what had happened.

"Fred wanted to go to Bill and Fleur's, but when we told him he had to stay here, he sort of balled his fists up and..." Percy, too, seemed at loss for words.

"He made everything explode. All at once." Audrey finally managed. "Then Percy and I tried to look for him, but we couldn't find him anywhere..."

Mrs. Weasely, who had at first appeared so furious she couldn't speak, now cleared her face of anger and, most surprisingly, gave a large smile. "His first time! He used magic!" she squealed, quite unlike her normal self. Suddenly, Ron and Hermione knew what had happened.

"So now he'll be accepted to Hogwarts?" Ron asked.

"Yes, yes in several years time. He's only 4, but it seems he is developing his magic early." Molly smiled. "We will have to inform George and Angelina when they return! They will be so pleased!"

For the time being, however, they had to clean up. Fred appeared shortly after they had begun repairing the furniture, after hearing from behind the annihilated couch that he would not be scolded. "Just try to keep better control, dear!" Mrs. Weasely had told him happily.

The adults split up to repair the furniture. Shouts of "Reparo!" could be heard from all over the house. Once, when Ron and Hermione had found themselves alone in the same room together, had begun to kiss passionately. They only stopped when Fred had unknowingly walked in, and the pair was forced to part ways for the time being and continue cleaning. At last, most of the mess had been tidied up, and the family dragged themselves into the kitchen for a well-deserved dinner.

"Well, that took some time, didn't it?" Molly sighed, lowering herself into one of the chairs. "After cleaning up that vase, I put and Unbreakable charm on it. That should hold it together for awhile, don't you think?"

"I'm really sorry, everyone," Fred said feebly. "I didn't mean to...I didn't even know I could do that."

"Oh, no, dear, it's quite alright. You couldn't help it." Mrs. Weasely comforted. "In fact, your mum and dad should be home any minute now..."

And, as if on cue, George and Angelina appeared in the room, next to Fred.

"There you are!" Molly cried happily.

"Here we are!" George exclaimed, equally joyful, although not entirely sure what all the excitement was about.

Angelina bent down towards Fred. "Hello, dear. Had a nice day?" she cooed.

At this Percy looked ruffled. He coughed, and his wife gave him a dirty look. Angelina and George, unaware of what had happened, looked on slightly confused. Upon seeing his parents' faces, Fred looked down at the floor guiltily.

"Well you see," began Hermione, but was interrupted by an excited Mrs. Weasely.

"Fred has done his first bit of magic!" she exclaimed. "He destroyed all the furniture, down to bits!"

Ron chuckled, having never seen his mum so excited about this bit of information.

"Really?!" Angelina gasped, looking disbelieving from Molly to Fred. She smiled and gave her son a tight hug, from which he let out a muffled "Oof!"

George, too, seemed elated. "That's my boy!" he exclaimed, giving Fred a second, large hug.

The Weasely family sat about a while longer, talking excitedly about the days happenings, before Ron and Hermione decided it was time for them to be heading off to bed. "'Night, everyone!" called Ron, before taking Hermione's hand apparating with her, back to their cottage which they now called home.

--

Laughing, Hermione pulled Ron close to her once reaching the vicinity of their cottage. "I love you." she whispered in his ear.

"I love you too," Ron whispered back.