Chapter 35

Unfortunately, neither Bill nor Charlie could stay very long after Percy's dramatic exit. Bill had mainly come over to watch the tournament and he'd already stayed much longer than planned helping with an organisation called the Order of Phoenix. Charlie had just come over for a quick visit to see how everyone was and what he could do to help, so it felt like the family had barely seen the two oldest boys before they were leaving again.

As if that wasn't saddening enough, the front page of the Daily Prophet the day after Percy had left had a huge picture of Bianca on it and an article all about her and her 'father'. The picture was from the photoshoot before the Triwizard Tournament and showed her nervously smiling at the camera. Mrs Weasley hadn't wanted her to read the article, but Bill had told her it was about she was using her evil descent to avenge her father and her allegiance with Harry Potter to try and convince everyone that Voldemort had returned was secretly the beginning of some wicked plot. Then it had said how she was a liar and a traitor who was unstable after the events of the tournament and couldn't be trusted. It essentially said all the bad things that they'd previously said about Harry.

Fred and George were absolutely furious, storming around the house, complaining about the ministry and Percy and anyone else they could think to blame. Bill had ripped off the front page and thrown it away, but most of the paper had odd snide comments. It was only when there were still horrible articles being printed a few days later that the family decided to stop reading the paper altogether.

They were all shocked that Percy had started these rumours and even though Mrs Weasley hadn't wanted to believe it, there was no one else it could have been.

One evening after Bill and Charlie had left the Burrow to return to work, Mr Weasley came home late, followed by Remus Lupin.

"We have to move," he said solemnly over dinner, "Dumbledore has organised headquarters for the order and it'll be better if we all go there for a while. At least until school starts for you all in September."

"Why?" Ron asked, "We're safe here, aren't we?"

"Of course we are, dear," Mrs Weasley said, "But there's a lot that needs to be sorted out now that…" she trailed off.

"It's better if the order is all together," Lupin explained, "Especially when there are so few of us who actually believe in what's going on. Dumbledore wants everything organised."

After dinner, everyone went up to their rooms to hastily pack some bags. When Fred opened the door to his, George and Bianca's room he gasped and Bea, unable to contain her giggles any longer, burst out laughing. All of the twins' possessions, from their beds to their clothes, were bright pink and covered in white floral designs.

"What have you done?" George asked in shock.

"You were being too serious," Bianca said through her laughter, "I thought you needed loosening up. And what better way is there to cheer up the kings of pranks than by pranking them?"

Fred picked up a pair of trousers, "I quite like it," he said thoughtfully, "Everything matches."

"We'll be completely coordinated," George agreed, moving his duvet, just to find his sheets and pillows also pink, "Maybe we should ask mum to knit us jumpers this colour and pattern for Christmas."

"There's no need," Bianca opened the wardrobe and tossed them both their jumpers from last Christmas, "I didn't miss anything."

Fred held up his jumper. The once red wool was the same hot pink as everything else and the large 'F' on the front had purple butterflies all over it.

"I wonder which set of pyjamas I should pack," George said, "This pink pair with the white flowers, or this pair that has white flowers on a pink background? What do you think Fred?"

"Ooh, tough choice," Fred said, putting a hand to his chin, "Why don't you mix and match? Take the top from one pair and the bottoms from the other. Then you can have both."

"But won't they clash?" George asked, "I'd hate to have unmatching pyjamas."

"They're for sleeping in, it's hardly a fashion show," Fred laughed.

George turned to Bianca, "White and pink or pink and white?" he asked.

"Just put a pair in," Bianca said, "There are more important things to worry about."

"Like what?"

"Which tops you'll bring," Bianca said, throwing a pile of shirts at him all of which, naturally, had all been decorated too, "Make sure they go with your trousers."

"Oh no," George said, "I'm going to be here forever. Think of all the different outfits I could make. This top with these jeans, this jumper with these trousers." He held up several different combinations, all of which looked exactly the same.

Bianca laughed, collecting her own things from around the room. She'd left all of her own possessions untouched and only charmed anything that belonged to the twins.

"We'll get you back for this by the way," Fred said, shoving multiple pairs of identical socks into his bag, "Now we're done moping about Percy."

"I thought you liked it!"

"King of pranks, remember," George said, finally deciding on his very varied outfit choices, "As beautiful as everything is, we can't have you getting away with this."

"Just don't do anything potentially dangerous," Bianca said, "Mum would kill you."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Fred said, "You even did our school robes?" he exclaimed, holding up a tie and Hogwarts robes.

"Of course!" Bianca burst out laughing again.

"You're buying us new ones," Fred decided angrily.

"Am not," Bianca said, "They're your robes. Besides I can change them back… probably."

When the three dragged their cases down the stairs half an hour later, everyone else was already waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Mrs Weasley demanded.

"We had to make sure we had everything," George said innocently.

"If you've got stupid Wizard Wheezes products or whatever they're called, then-"

"Not now, Molly," Arthur said, "It's late, we need to get going."

Their mother glared at them while Lupin said, "We'll be taking the Floo network. The address is number 12, Grimmauld place."

Number 12 Grimmauld place was not particularly luxurious as the family found out relatively quickly. They appeared in a dusty, dark kitchen and were greeted by four adults.

The first person Bianca saw sent shivers up her spine, even though she knew there was nothing really to fear. The real Mad-Eye Moody stood next to the fireplace and was roughly pushing everyone out of the way so they could all fit into the kitchen. He passed the bags to a young woman Bianca didn't recognise but who had fabulous pink hair. Once all of the Weasleys were squished into the kitchen, the other people started introducing themselves.

"This is Nymphadora," Mad-Eye said, indicating to the woman with the colourful hair.

"It's Tonks," she said angrily, but then turned and smiled at everyone.

A tall man stepped forward and shook everyone's' hand, "Kingsley Shacklebolt," he said, "Nice to meet you all.

"Kingsley works at the ministry with me," Mr Weasley said, "He-"

"Sirius?" Ron interrupted, spotting the final stranger in the corner of the room.

"Hello, Ron," the man smiled.

Bianca looked at George. She assumed this was the man the twins had told her about. Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather and, up until recently, the only other person who knew who her father was.

"Lovely to see you all again," Sirius said, "And nice to meet you properly," he said to Bianca with a cheeky smile. The twins sniggered and she looked up at them, brow creased in confusion.

"We didn't tell her," Fred chuckled.

"Tell me what?" Bianca demanded.

"Not here," George said, "You'll get embarrassed. We'll tell you later."

"You'd better," she said, glaring.

"Come on," Lupin said, ushering everyone out the room, "Let's get everyone settled into their rooms, it's a bit crowded in here."

In the twins' and Bianca's room, there was a double bed and a single bed which had been moved in for their sake. The boys immediately flopped onto the king-sized bed, smiling as it bounced slightly underneath them, leaving Bianca to sit on the single.

"Tell me," Bianca said, as soon as they'd got sorted.

"It's a bit dusty in here," Fred observed, ignoring Bianca to irritate her.

"Could definitely do with a clean," George agreed.

Bianca got up and gathered some dust up from the window ledge before going over to the twins and blowing it in their faces to bring on a huge sneezing fit.

"That wasn't f-fair!" Fred said before sneezing loudly.

"Tell me what happened!" Bianca wined.

George sniffled and said, "Fine. After the final task, we were all in the hospital wing with you and Harry."

Bianca sighed. She's been told and teased multiple times for her loopy state after the tournament but couldn't remember any of it.

"As you know, Sirius was there with Harry," Fred continued, "And he's an animagus. So you saw him turn into a human from a dog and got all excited, screaming about puppies and whatever and Sirius thought it was hilarious so once Harry had gone to sleep he turned back into a dog and went over to you."

"You were obsessed," George sniggered, "Kept trying to stroke him and pet him. I think at one point you asked if anyone had any treats for him because he was 'such a good little doggy'. Well, I think that's what you said, it was quite difficult to translate your drunken-like slurs."

Bianca groaned and put her face in her hands; she was beginning to wish she hadn't asked.

"Anyway, Sirius got bored and turned back to his human form but then you recognised him from all the wanted posters and panicked," Fred continued, "So, like any sane person would do when they're faced with an alleged mass-murderer, you threw your pillow at him and tried to ward him off with a chocolate frog."

"A very dangerous weapon, might I add," George said with a grin.

"So then when Sirius went back to sit with Harry, you calmed down and went to lie down again but forgot your pillow wasn't there, whacked your head off the wall and knocked yourself out," Fred finished.

"A great first impression," George concluded, now rolling around on the bed because he was laughing so hard.

"Please tell me you're lying," Bianca said, looking at them between her fingers, "This is your way of getting me back for the pink bedroom, right?"

"I'm afraid not." The door opened and none other than Sirius Black himself was standing there smiling, "It was quite the introduction."

"I'm so sorry," Bianca said, blushing a very deep red.

"It's fine, I wasn't particularly injured by your pillow missile," Sirius chuckled, "I think you did yourself more damage. That wall was pretty solid and you hit your head pretty hard."

"That was impeccable timing," Fred said.

"Your mother sent me up to tell you that you're all having one last hot drink before bed. She wants you in the kitchen," Sirius said, still smirking at Bianca's embarrassment, "Maybe if you get down there fast enough, you'll get a treat for being good."

Fred and George started laughing again and followed Sirius down to the kitchen.

"Be quiet when you pass this," Sirius warned them, pointing to a huge pair of worn curtains, "We don't want my mother waking up."

The three shared a confused look and tip-toed past the curtains into the kitchen where Mrs Weasley was handing out hot chocolates to everyone. Tonks was morphing her face into different shapes to entertain Ginny. "She's a metamorphagus," Sirius said to Bianca, "I'm sure she could do a dog if you asked."

"Will you ever-"

"No," Fred, George and Sirius all said at the same time, "Absolutely not."

Bianca sighed and purposefully sat as far away from them all as she possibly could to have her drink.

"Boys," Mrs Weasley scolded, "Don't be mean."

"You don't even know what happened, mum!" Fred said, "We were just teasing. It was very much deserved and not at all mean. Bea knows we're kidding, right?"

"I can't even remember doing it!" Bianca said, "I didn't mean it."

"Personally, I don't blame you," Sirius said, "I'm just irresistible."

"Sirius," Lupin said, "Leave the poor girl alone. She'd had a rough night."

"So had Harry but he wasn't petting me or throwing bedding at me."

"Maybe because he was unconscious and incapable of doing those things," Bianca retaliated.

"Have your drinks and go to bed quickly," Mrs Weasley said, "Hermione's coming tomorrow, Ron sent her an owl earlier on. There's lots we need to do."

"Hermione's not that special," George said, "We don't need to tidy everything just for her."

That just earned him a sharp slap across the back of the head, "We all have to live here for several weeks, it'll be nicer if it's not full of dust."

By the time everyone had finished their hot chocolates, it was after midnight and they were all exhausted. Mrs Weasley sent them all upstairs, leaving Mr Weasley in deep discussion with Sirius, Lupin, Kingsley, Mad-Eye and Tonks.

"Quietly now, up you all go. Sleep well."

"Fred!" George exclaimed loudly when they got into their room.

Fred looked at him, panicked, "What's wrong?" he asked, "What happened?"

"Which pyjamas do I wear?"

Fred sighed, "You're sleeping on the floor for that," he said seriously, "You scared me."

He then proceeded to lie on the bed, spread out like a starfish so there was no space for George. One he too had his pink pyjamas on, George looked at Fred and then jumped up and landed so he was directly on top of his twin. Much to Bianca's surprise, they were both fast asleep a few seconds later, lying on top of each other, limbs tangled together. She shook her head and lay back on her own bed.

Bianca lay awake for hours, unnerved by the creepy house they were staying in. She'd tried to ignore the house elf heads and years of mould and creaky stairs, but the entire house was so horrible, it was difficult to feel safe, especially when she still had the horrible newspaper articles and the family row with Percy in her mind.

It was nearly sunrise by the time she finally fell asleep, but unfortunately for her, when you share a room with the Weasley twins, there's no such thing as a lie in. When Fred and George woke up the next morning and untangled themselves, they were faced with the difficult decision of choosing what outfit to wear.

"I can't wait for mum to see these," Fred said, looking at his pink jumper, trousers, underwear and socks.

"She'll probably think they're some prank or something," George said.

"Technically it was," Fred said, looking over at where Bianca was still asleep, covers pulled up high so it looked like she was hiding in them. "You know," Fred continued mischievously, "Mum would kill us if we woke her up- she's still 'recovering', after all."

"But she said herself she's sick of being treated like she might break at any moment," George smiled, "It's only fair that we treat her like we normally would, especially seeing as we have to wear this." He indicated to their floral clothing.

Sharing a look, the twins got to their feet and walked across the room only to be stopped by the door opening and a small house elf entering. He walked around the room, completely ignoring Fred and George's presence, mumbling, 'Blood traitors everywhere you turn. If only mistress could see the state of her beautiful house.'

"Good morning!" Fred said cheerfully, "Can we help you?"

The house elf looked up at them, "Here are the identical freaks, strutting around as if they own the place."

George looked at Fred, "Does he know we can hear him?"

Next to them, Bianca groaned and rolled over, stirred by the commotion. She looked at the house elf, "Who's that?"

"Don't know," Fred said, "Nice hair."

Bianca scowled and moved her hands up to her hair. The bun she'd thrown it into last night had come undone and was mimicking a bird's nest on her head.

"What have you got living in there?" George laughed, "How many families of birds?"

"Shut up," Bianca said, finally noticing their matching outfits, "Liked the pattern that much, eh?"

"Don't know how to turn them back to normal," Fred shrugged, "I think pink suits us anyway."

"Don't lie to yourself," Bianca got up and started getting dressed, "It clashes horribly with your hair."

"It's a statement," George argued, "Everyone will be doing it soon. But right now, I want breakfast."

Fred and George looked at each other, smirked and disapparated. Bianca shook her head and moved around the house elf who was still mumbling to himself, before heading down to the kitchen. The twins were standing in the doorway, giggling to themselves and hiding from view.

"What took you so long?" Fred asked her cheekily.

She ignored them and pushed past them into the kitchen, asking Mrs Weasley of she needed any help cooking breakfast and sitting at the table next to Ginny who was talking to Tonks. Sirius and Lupin were having a hushed conversation a little way down the table with Mr Weasley, but all talk stopped when Fred and George entered.

"What are you wearing?" Ginny asked in horror.

"Whatever do you mean, dear sister?" George said innocently.

"Your jumper," Ginny said, "It's pink."

"You noticed?" Fred said sarcastically.

"And so are your trousers!"

"You really are observant, aren't you, Gin?" George said.

"What happened to your clothes?" Mrs Weasley demanded, turning away from cooking breakfast to look at the twins. She stormed over to Fred and studied his shirt, "George, what's going on?"

"I'm Fred, mother," Fred said angrily, "And it's just a little joke."

That was the wrong choice of words, "Is this something for your shop?" Mrs Weasley demanded, "Is it going to explode or squirt water at us?"

"No mum, it was just Bianca messing around. She can fix it, we just fancied being colourful today."

As it turned out, today became several weeks. Bianca turned one piece of clothing a day back to its original state, starting with things like a sock, that no one really saw and waiting until the final few days of August to fix their school robes. Over this time, the three continued to work on products for their shop. They'd started with Extendable Ears because they were so curious about the order meetings and then worked on their Skiving Snackboxes which were a combination of all their sweets that make you ill. They all tried each of their products but wanted to check for effects on other people. Obviously, when they were living in the same house as their mother, they couldn't really do that. The three had already had to change their testing system when Mrs Weasley had come investigating after hearing several thuds of them falling over after trying Fainting Fancies.

Overall, Bianca, Fred and George had a very productive summer. There were lots of places to hide their products in the old house where their mother wouldn't find them, and the size of the house meant that it was easy for them to disappear for a few hours to work without anyone noticing. In fact, they'd made so much progress, it took several shrinking charms to allow space for everything in their cases and they were reluctant to leave their room on the first of September.