Chip Off the Ol' Block
"Daddy, what's a prank?"
Fred's eyes opened wide as he stared down at his four year old son. Oh, please don't let George know about this! "Ur… why do you ask?"
"Cousin Roxy said she pranks Cousin Fred all the time."
"Why didn't you ask Roxy about pranks?"
"I did! But she laughed and ran off to tell her daddy."
Damn. "Go ask your Mum what a prank is."
"I did! But she said that boys my age didn't need to know about pranks."
Fred sighed deeply. "I can't tell you about pranks."
"Why not?" Gideon stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "Don't you know?"
"Of course I know. Unfortunately, I promised your mother years ago not to encourage our children to be hellions."
"What's a hellion?"
"Never you mind," Fred sighed again, before perking up. "You know what I can do, Sport?"
"What?"
"I can give you examples of pranks I played in the past and you can figure out what a prank is yourself."
"Okay!"
Fred smiled at his oldest boy. "Remember when I charmed the tree in the back yard to drop a spider on Uncle Ron's head every time he walked underneath it?"
Gideon nodded.
"That was a prank."
"So making Uncle Ron scream is a prank?"
"That's just an example. Remember when I charmed the stove to start smoking whenever your Mum tried to bake something?"
"Yeah."
"That was a prank."
"So making ANYONE scream is a prank?"
"Kind of. Do you remember when I turned your Grandma Weasley's hair blue and all the family laughed?"
"Uh-huh."
"That was a prank, too."
"Okay. So pranks make one person scream and everyone else laugh?"
"Sure. More or less."
"I got it now, Daddy."
"Great. Now you give me an example of a prank."
"Me pretending not to know what a prank is to get you to admit charming the tree, the stove, and grandmum's hair, while Mummy records your confession to play for the family at brunch tomorrow. That's a prank right?"
Fred's eyes widen once again. He looked around the room and saw Hermione standing in the doorway with a digital camera. Damn. "Yeah, Sport," he replied with a self-deprecating smile. "That's a prank."
AN: Winner of the fwhgldws challenge for the prompt: Prank.