Chapter 9
"Cool!" Fred exclaimed as he watched the scene at the Burrow.
George grinned proudly. "To think you called this RUDDY."
Fred pointed at his younger self in the mirror. "Look! I miss those days, when we were still so ignorant, so innocent."
George snorted.
In the mirror, the Weasleys were having breakfast. Hermione and Ron were engaged in an earnest conversation, while the twins were trying to sneak up to Ginny, thinking that they were invisible.
"How stupid we were!"
"We weren't stupid, we were just too careless to forget to press the Invisibility Button, that's all!"
"No! In that case, we weren't the ones who were careless. The Time Turners forgot to include that in the manual. That's why we didn't know!"
"Excellent logic, Fred!"
When the twins were entirely satisfied with their conclusion, they turned their attention back to the mirror. They saw themselves trying to make up an excuse for their untimely appearance. They were supposed to be on holiday at Scotland after all.
Fred tried not to laugh. "A Make-Yourself-Younger Potion?" He snorted. "Everyone knows there's no such thing! I can't believe they are so gullible!"
"Shut up, Fred. Look. Harry's gonna propose to Ginny. Ah. But wait, before that, we are going to tease Ginny! Look!"
The twins laughed as poor Ginny blushed and stammered and Hermione stood up for her. Then Harry appeared at the Burrow by Floo Powder.
"Ginny dear, will you marry me?"
Ginny's eyes filled with tears, and she fell into Harry's arms. Hermione and Ron simply looked pleased.
"Why, Ginny, What's the matter?" an extremely startled Harry asked.
*switch to the twins in Scotland*
"She's happy, you prat!" exclaimed Fred.
"Can't you see it? It's so obvious!" George shook his head.
*back to the mirror*
I'm just so. happy! I really. don't know what to say! I love you, Harry!"
"So do I. oh Ginny. please stop crying! You scared me just now, I thought you were going to say no!"
*switch to the twins in Scotland*
Fred and George looked disgusted. "Ewwww." They couldn't help having the same thoughts even though this wasn't the first time they witnessed the proposal.
"Ah. Now we're going to find out about Angelina and Alicia. Then Hermione's gonna get so fed up with us! Then she's going to say," Fred mimicked a high- pitched voice, "'Fred! You also proposed to Alicia! And she agreed! And it was all on the same day as George too - you guys reckoned proposing was a twin thing!' Well, I still reckon it is," he grinned.
The twins could well remember the day they proposed to their sweethearts. They had never been so nervous before. Never. They were always composed before exams, never affected by the stress their peers so inevitably felt. Well, perhaps the only time they felt worse than this was when they learnt of the news that Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets. But no, it wasn't really nervousness then. It was just plain anger, anger at the heir of Slytherin, and anger at themselves for not fully undertaking the role of a big brother before that. They could still remember the time before they proposed. No one, except for their mother, could figure out the cause of the twins' unusual fidgeting and their stutters. They were always confident, or they tried to be. The rush of relief was too great to be described when Alicia and Angelina agreed to marry them. It felt like a great load was being taken off their shoulders.
"Mission accomplished." George tapped the mirror and said, "Apparendum Finitos." The image swirled and disappeared.
"Wonderful thing you've got there, George! At least we got to see what's happening there. I can finally put my mind at rest," commented Fred.
George suddenly wailed. "Fred! I just realised something. Angelina's not here at Dormien Dotshead! I mean, we saw them at the Burrow in the future last time, remember?"
Fred clapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh yes, I forgot! But my sources told me that."
George cut him off. "Either your sources are inaccurate, or she went back halfway through her trip here." George sighed. "Darn. I wanted to give her a surprise."
Fred chuckled. "Well, you sure gave her a surprise at the Burrow, when we appeared five years younger."
***
The twins walked about the streets of Dormien Dotshead, fascinated. Sleeping-giant Beach was only the first of their surprises. Nested within Darlington Lane, which was something like a slightly smaller version of Diagon Alley, were shops of all shapes and sizes (literally), selling all kinds of magical things. They passed by a "Judy and Jane's Multipurpose Jumpers" store, a round-shaped "Rivers' Rollingstone Records", and were glad that they did not see a joke shop at all. That meant that this busy little town will be the best place to set up a new branch of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. They were just passing by "Quimby's Quidditch Quirks", when a burly customer who was admiring his new broomstick collided into them.
"Ouch!" the wizard picked himself up and frantically checked his broomstick for signs of damage.
"Hey! Watch it!" Fred said crossly. "Can't you see where you're - " he broke off halfway, gaping at the wizard. "Oliver!"
The wizard glanced at the twins, startled. "Fred! George!" His face broke into a grin. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, we're on holiday," replied George. "Great to see you here, Oliver. Never knew you lived here!"
"Yep," Oliver said proudly. "My hometown, Dormien Dotshead. My house is at Bridget Estate. Feel free to pop in anytime! This place is wonderful, isn't it?"
"Never heard you talk about it at Hogwarts though," said Fred, grinning.
"Yeah, the only things you ever said were Quidditch, Quidditch, and Quidditch. You were never much of a talker, Oliver."
"Except during Quidditch practices - "
" - or before matches - "
" - or after matches, perhaps - "
"Oh shut up."
The twins shut up, but not for long. Their attention was diverted by the gleaming mahogany broomstick Oliver was holding.
"Whoa, don't tell me that is a - " started Fred.
" - a Galaxy Glider?" whispered George incredulously.
Oliver nodded, beaming.
"Oliver! That broomstick's probably worth 500 galleons!" Fred said faintly.
Oliver couldn't stop beaming.
Fred turned to George. "I have a feeling he's not telling something."
Oliver laughed. "Well, I'll tell you now, then. I bought this broomstick with some help from the Quidditch Funds-providing Association and my first official paycheck. I'm playing keeper for Puddlemere United now, no longer a reserve."
The twins stared in surprise, then started babbling in excitement.
"Congratulations, Oliver!" Fred tried to shake Oliver's hand pompously, in a manner similar to Percy's sometimes. "Very, very nice meeting you!"
George shoved Fred aside and shook Oliver's hand vigourously. "Spiffy! May I please have an autograph, Mr Wood? Name is Gred, Mr Wood, Gred Weasley, can't tell you how excited I am to meet you at last!"
"Stop it, you two," Oliver responded. "Not much of a change, eh? Still the same old mischief-makers. Jessie's been telling me all about the success of your joke-shop at Hogsmeade. Well, good for you! But I've always thought that you would make a superb pair of beaters. I was hoping that you would try out for a position in an international team, you know, like the Kerfuffle Kookaburras, or the Guardian Finches. The Exotic Eagles would also be a good choice, since it is ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that your skills are much better than their beaters, once honed up, of course. But of course, in my opinion, the best team would be - "
"Oh stop it, Oliver," Fred pretended to blush.
"You're embarrassing us!" said the twins in unison.
"And you're still as crazy about Quidditch as ever," quipped George.
"Old habits die hard," added Fred.
"And who's Jessie, by the way?"
"Oh," Oliver blushed slightly. "You mean Jessica Rivers? She's my - "
"Wait a minute," interrupted George.
"You don't mean JESSICA RIVERS?" Fred frowned, thinking hard.
"Jessica Rivers, Puddlemere's seeker?"
"The brainy and pretty one?"
"The raven-haired girl with brown eyes that can pierce right through you when scrutinising people?"
"The one who used to be our neighbour?"
"Our childhood friend, Jessica?" the twins chorused.
"The only one who can defend herself against the Weasley twins' pranks? Yes, I think you mean me," greeted a female voice.
The twins whirled around to find themselves face-to-face with a young woman in her early twenties, wearing snug Muggle clothes - a lilac op, light grey pants, and a pair of sneakers. There was a wide grin on her face that bore a faint resemblance to that of the twins', and she spoke with a slight Irish lilt.
"Jessica!"
The twins charged towards her, flung themselves on her, and Jessica found herself muffled by two over-sized, bright-coloured parrots in no time.
"Argh! Get off me! I know you missed me, and you haven't seen me for years, but you don't need to be so. welcoming!" yelled a strangled Jessica.
Fred and George just stood there, wearing identical grins on their faces.
"What are you doing here?" asked Fred curiously.
"Did you actually move here? Everyone was really surprised that you and your family just moved away without any notice at all. We tried all means possible to contact you, but we just failed!"
"Oh." Jessica's eyes suddenly clouded over. The twins had an impression that Jessica was trying very hard not to cry, but they said nothing. Oliver took Jessica's hand and forced some cheerfulness into his voice, "Come on, let's go to my house. I'm sure we have loads of catching up to do."
With that, the four of them set off to Bridget Estate, an awkward silence ringing around them.
***
The twins settled themselves comfortably on a couch and looked around 15 Bridget Estate. It was a house with a Georgian style, two storeys high, classical yet simple. Flames cracked merrily in the fireplace, their crimson bright colours matching the mahogany furniture. The twins couldn't help feeling at home at Oliver's quaint living quarters.
Jessica sat down in an armchair by the fireplace, and silence swept across the room, an indication for Jessica to start her narration.
"One night, while I was still living beside you two," she pointed at Fred and George, "my dad died."
She paused for a moment, trying to recall some facts.
"That was before I even went to Durmstrang." She noticed the twins wince, and added quickly, "It's not a bad school, you know, if you have self- discipline and all that. It's true that we learn quite a lot about the Dark Arts, but we don't go all bad just because of that. Besides," she continued sniffily, "I don't think most of the students there are half as bad as those Slytherins from Hogwarts." She grimaced. "From what I've heard from friends who went to Hogwarts, like Oliver, the Slytherins are really an unpleasant and unbearable lot." The twins nodded their heads vigourously.
She continued, "Back to the story. As I said, Dad died, but Mum didn't want the whole world to know, so we moved to Scotland almost immediately, without a word." Her usually expressive eyes were empty, betraying none of her feelings. "That's why I'm here now," she ended curtly.
She took her cup of tea and drank from it, shielding her face from her audience.
"B-but. but how? Why?" Fred stared at her.
Jessica bit her lip. Oliver could see her clenching and unclenching her fists on her lap.
Oliver started, "Don't ask so much, Fred. Some things are better left untold - "
"He got killed. Killed by the Dark Lord," she spoke slowly with a trembling voice, "He was an active Auror, and he capture many Death Eaters. But he still died in the hands of his enemy. My mum decided that publicity was not what we needed. N-neither was pity. That's why." her voice trailed off as the floor suddenly became very interesting. As much as she tried to control herself, drops of tears still leaked out of her soft brown eyes onto the floor. Before she knew it, she was sobbing uncontrollably onto Oliver's shoulders.
"Er - Jessie?" asked George.
"W-we're sorry." said Fred gently.
"We really didn't know."
The twins glanced at Jessica helplessly.
"It's o-okay." came Jessica's muffled voice. She dried her tears, blew her nose, then looked apologetically at the twins.
"Sorry for that outburst. just that. I haven't really cried for years. I guess it was good to let it all out. So sorry, Oliver." She gave a weak smile, then composed herself once again.
"So how are your parents and siblings now?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, they're fine, don't you worry about them. Mum and Dad are still a loving couple, they enjoy going on honeymoons," said Fred, snickering.
"Percy is married to Penelope Clearwater, and he's totally obsessed with his work. He's under the Department of International Magical Co-operation in the Ministry of Magic," grinned George.
"Charlie's still working with dragons in Romania, Bill's breaking curses at Gringotts," Fred ticked off names with his fingers, "and Mum's annoyed at them because they haven't got girlfriends. Or so she thinks."
"Ron's engaged to Hermione Granger, his supposedly best friend at school, and both of them are training with Ginny and Harry to become Aurors." George noticed the question look on Jessica's face and explained simply, "Harry Potter. I think he just proposed to Ginny a few hours ago this morning."
"And you two?" Jessica's eyes sparkled mischievously.
Fred and George stammered and coughed, their faces reddening.
"Er - us? What about us? There's nothing interesting about us!" Fred's face turned into a crimson shade of red.
"You know, things like your career, your love life." Jessica smirked.
"Uh - um."
"Actually, we erm. we are also. uh. engaged."
"Really?" Jessica tried not to giggle. She could hardly imagine the Weasley twins as dutiful, doting husbands, manipulated by their wives. "So who are the - uh - unlucky ones, then?"
"Unlucky?" spluttered George.
"They must be the luckiest women on earth!" Fred protested.
Both Oliver and Jessica laughed. They could well foresee the predicament those 'luckiest women on earth' would find themselves in. Jessica had only lived NEXT to the twins last time, and she could hardly survive. Thankfully, she only knew the twins too well, and learnt several ways of protecting herself from their tricks and pranks.
"Well, so who are they, then?"
"Alicia," mumbled Fred.
"Angelina," mumbled George.
"Ah, I see," Oliver nodded his head knowingly. He turned to Jessica, "Those two were chasers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team last time."
"Doing well with that joke-shop of yours?"
The twins brightened up at the mention of their joke-shop. They felt that they were one of the lucky few who were really proud of their careers. It was something they were interested in, after all.
"Oh, of course! We've had so many new inventions recently. There's the old time favourite - Canary Creams - they turn you into a fluffy yellow canary bird for a while, and they're still selling well. Then there's Harry's Hullabaloos - it turns you into the famous Harry Potter momentarily for the thrill of it - it's a tribute to Harry. He provided us with money to start our business with."
George continued, "And of course, there are Tickled Teardrops - a kind of sweet that tickles you until you cry and drop onto the floor laughing, hence the name - it's really popular, I wonder why."
"And of course. The most brilliant one of them all - the Sugared Snitch. We got this brainwave from Harry, when he swallowed the Golden Snitch at one Quidditch match. We figured that making Snitches edible would be interesting. But this is no normal sweet. Upon consumption, you shrink into a tiny ball, sprout wings, and zoom all over the place. But we've made loads of improvement on it, ever since someone ate it, zoomed above the Hogwarts lake, and transformed back into a human then and there. A bit of nasty shock for that Hufflepuff." Fred grinned.
The four of them laughed till their sides ached.
"We're even thinking of setting up a branch here," added George dreamily.
"A branch?" Oliver said thoughtfully. Then his face brightened as an idea formed inside his mind.
"Cool!" Fred exclaimed as he watched the scene at the Burrow.
George grinned proudly. "To think you called this RUDDY."
Fred pointed at his younger self in the mirror. "Look! I miss those days, when we were still so ignorant, so innocent."
George snorted.
In the mirror, the Weasleys were having breakfast. Hermione and Ron were engaged in an earnest conversation, while the twins were trying to sneak up to Ginny, thinking that they were invisible.
"How stupid we were!"
"We weren't stupid, we were just too careless to forget to press the Invisibility Button, that's all!"
"No! In that case, we weren't the ones who were careless. The Time Turners forgot to include that in the manual. That's why we didn't know!"
"Excellent logic, Fred!"
When the twins were entirely satisfied with their conclusion, they turned their attention back to the mirror. They saw themselves trying to make up an excuse for their untimely appearance. They were supposed to be on holiday at Scotland after all.
Fred tried not to laugh. "A Make-Yourself-Younger Potion?" He snorted. "Everyone knows there's no such thing! I can't believe they are so gullible!"
"Shut up, Fred. Look. Harry's gonna propose to Ginny. Ah. But wait, before that, we are going to tease Ginny! Look!"
The twins laughed as poor Ginny blushed and stammered and Hermione stood up for her. Then Harry appeared at the Burrow by Floo Powder.
"Ginny dear, will you marry me?"
Ginny's eyes filled with tears, and she fell into Harry's arms. Hermione and Ron simply looked pleased.
"Why, Ginny, What's the matter?" an extremely startled Harry asked.
*switch to the twins in Scotland*
"She's happy, you prat!" exclaimed Fred.
"Can't you see it? It's so obvious!" George shook his head.
*back to the mirror*
I'm just so. happy! I really. don't know what to say! I love you, Harry!"
"So do I. oh Ginny. please stop crying! You scared me just now, I thought you were going to say no!"
*switch to the twins in Scotland*
Fred and George looked disgusted. "Ewwww." They couldn't help having the same thoughts even though this wasn't the first time they witnessed the proposal.
"Ah. Now we're going to find out about Angelina and Alicia. Then Hermione's gonna get so fed up with us! Then she's going to say," Fred mimicked a high- pitched voice, "'Fred! You also proposed to Alicia! And she agreed! And it was all on the same day as George too - you guys reckoned proposing was a twin thing!' Well, I still reckon it is," he grinned.
The twins could well remember the day they proposed to their sweethearts. They had never been so nervous before. Never. They were always composed before exams, never affected by the stress their peers so inevitably felt. Well, perhaps the only time they felt worse than this was when they learnt of the news that Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets. But no, it wasn't really nervousness then. It was just plain anger, anger at the heir of Slytherin, and anger at themselves for not fully undertaking the role of a big brother before that. They could still remember the time before they proposed. No one, except for their mother, could figure out the cause of the twins' unusual fidgeting and their stutters. They were always confident, or they tried to be. The rush of relief was too great to be described when Alicia and Angelina agreed to marry them. It felt like a great load was being taken off their shoulders.
"Mission accomplished." George tapped the mirror and said, "Apparendum Finitos." The image swirled and disappeared.
"Wonderful thing you've got there, George! At least we got to see what's happening there. I can finally put my mind at rest," commented Fred.
George suddenly wailed. "Fred! I just realised something. Angelina's not here at Dormien Dotshead! I mean, we saw them at the Burrow in the future last time, remember?"
Fred clapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh yes, I forgot! But my sources told me that."
George cut him off. "Either your sources are inaccurate, or she went back halfway through her trip here." George sighed. "Darn. I wanted to give her a surprise."
Fred chuckled. "Well, you sure gave her a surprise at the Burrow, when we appeared five years younger."
***
The twins walked about the streets of Dormien Dotshead, fascinated. Sleeping-giant Beach was only the first of their surprises. Nested within Darlington Lane, which was something like a slightly smaller version of Diagon Alley, were shops of all shapes and sizes (literally), selling all kinds of magical things. They passed by a "Judy and Jane's Multipurpose Jumpers" store, a round-shaped "Rivers' Rollingstone Records", and were glad that they did not see a joke shop at all. That meant that this busy little town will be the best place to set up a new branch of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. They were just passing by "Quimby's Quidditch Quirks", when a burly customer who was admiring his new broomstick collided into them.
"Ouch!" the wizard picked himself up and frantically checked his broomstick for signs of damage.
"Hey! Watch it!" Fred said crossly. "Can't you see where you're - " he broke off halfway, gaping at the wizard. "Oliver!"
The wizard glanced at the twins, startled. "Fred! George!" His face broke into a grin. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, we're on holiday," replied George. "Great to see you here, Oliver. Never knew you lived here!"
"Yep," Oliver said proudly. "My hometown, Dormien Dotshead. My house is at Bridget Estate. Feel free to pop in anytime! This place is wonderful, isn't it?"
"Never heard you talk about it at Hogwarts though," said Fred, grinning.
"Yeah, the only things you ever said were Quidditch, Quidditch, and Quidditch. You were never much of a talker, Oliver."
"Except during Quidditch practices - "
" - or before matches - "
" - or after matches, perhaps - "
"Oh shut up."
The twins shut up, but not for long. Their attention was diverted by the gleaming mahogany broomstick Oliver was holding.
"Whoa, don't tell me that is a - " started Fred.
" - a Galaxy Glider?" whispered George incredulously.
Oliver nodded, beaming.
"Oliver! That broomstick's probably worth 500 galleons!" Fred said faintly.
Oliver couldn't stop beaming.
Fred turned to George. "I have a feeling he's not telling something."
Oliver laughed. "Well, I'll tell you now, then. I bought this broomstick with some help from the Quidditch Funds-providing Association and my first official paycheck. I'm playing keeper for Puddlemere United now, no longer a reserve."
The twins stared in surprise, then started babbling in excitement.
"Congratulations, Oliver!" Fred tried to shake Oliver's hand pompously, in a manner similar to Percy's sometimes. "Very, very nice meeting you!"
George shoved Fred aside and shook Oliver's hand vigourously. "Spiffy! May I please have an autograph, Mr Wood? Name is Gred, Mr Wood, Gred Weasley, can't tell you how excited I am to meet you at last!"
"Stop it, you two," Oliver responded. "Not much of a change, eh? Still the same old mischief-makers. Jessie's been telling me all about the success of your joke-shop at Hogsmeade. Well, good for you! But I've always thought that you would make a superb pair of beaters. I was hoping that you would try out for a position in an international team, you know, like the Kerfuffle Kookaburras, or the Guardian Finches. The Exotic Eagles would also be a good choice, since it is ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that your skills are much better than their beaters, once honed up, of course. But of course, in my opinion, the best team would be - "
"Oh stop it, Oliver," Fred pretended to blush.
"You're embarrassing us!" said the twins in unison.
"And you're still as crazy about Quidditch as ever," quipped George.
"Old habits die hard," added Fred.
"And who's Jessie, by the way?"
"Oh," Oliver blushed slightly. "You mean Jessica Rivers? She's my - "
"Wait a minute," interrupted George.
"You don't mean JESSICA RIVERS?" Fred frowned, thinking hard.
"Jessica Rivers, Puddlemere's seeker?"
"The brainy and pretty one?"
"The raven-haired girl with brown eyes that can pierce right through you when scrutinising people?"
"The one who used to be our neighbour?"
"Our childhood friend, Jessica?" the twins chorused.
"The only one who can defend herself against the Weasley twins' pranks? Yes, I think you mean me," greeted a female voice.
The twins whirled around to find themselves face-to-face with a young woman in her early twenties, wearing snug Muggle clothes - a lilac op, light grey pants, and a pair of sneakers. There was a wide grin on her face that bore a faint resemblance to that of the twins', and she spoke with a slight Irish lilt.
"Jessica!"
The twins charged towards her, flung themselves on her, and Jessica found herself muffled by two over-sized, bright-coloured parrots in no time.
"Argh! Get off me! I know you missed me, and you haven't seen me for years, but you don't need to be so. welcoming!" yelled a strangled Jessica.
Fred and George just stood there, wearing identical grins on their faces.
"What are you doing here?" asked Fred curiously.
"Did you actually move here? Everyone was really surprised that you and your family just moved away without any notice at all. We tried all means possible to contact you, but we just failed!"
"Oh." Jessica's eyes suddenly clouded over. The twins had an impression that Jessica was trying very hard not to cry, but they said nothing. Oliver took Jessica's hand and forced some cheerfulness into his voice, "Come on, let's go to my house. I'm sure we have loads of catching up to do."
With that, the four of them set off to Bridget Estate, an awkward silence ringing around them.
***
The twins settled themselves comfortably on a couch and looked around 15 Bridget Estate. It was a house with a Georgian style, two storeys high, classical yet simple. Flames cracked merrily in the fireplace, their crimson bright colours matching the mahogany furniture. The twins couldn't help feeling at home at Oliver's quaint living quarters.
Jessica sat down in an armchair by the fireplace, and silence swept across the room, an indication for Jessica to start her narration.
"One night, while I was still living beside you two," she pointed at Fred and George, "my dad died."
She paused for a moment, trying to recall some facts.
"That was before I even went to Durmstrang." She noticed the twins wince, and added quickly, "It's not a bad school, you know, if you have self- discipline and all that. It's true that we learn quite a lot about the Dark Arts, but we don't go all bad just because of that. Besides," she continued sniffily, "I don't think most of the students there are half as bad as those Slytherins from Hogwarts." She grimaced. "From what I've heard from friends who went to Hogwarts, like Oliver, the Slytherins are really an unpleasant and unbearable lot." The twins nodded their heads vigourously.
She continued, "Back to the story. As I said, Dad died, but Mum didn't want the whole world to know, so we moved to Scotland almost immediately, without a word." Her usually expressive eyes were empty, betraying none of her feelings. "That's why I'm here now," she ended curtly.
She took her cup of tea and drank from it, shielding her face from her audience.
"B-but. but how? Why?" Fred stared at her.
Jessica bit her lip. Oliver could see her clenching and unclenching her fists on her lap.
Oliver started, "Don't ask so much, Fred. Some things are better left untold - "
"He got killed. Killed by the Dark Lord," she spoke slowly with a trembling voice, "He was an active Auror, and he capture many Death Eaters. But he still died in the hands of his enemy. My mum decided that publicity was not what we needed. N-neither was pity. That's why." her voice trailed off as the floor suddenly became very interesting. As much as she tried to control herself, drops of tears still leaked out of her soft brown eyes onto the floor. Before she knew it, she was sobbing uncontrollably onto Oliver's shoulders.
"Er - Jessie?" asked George.
"W-we're sorry." said Fred gently.
"We really didn't know."
The twins glanced at Jessica helplessly.
"It's o-okay." came Jessica's muffled voice. She dried her tears, blew her nose, then looked apologetically at the twins.
"Sorry for that outburst. just that. I haven't really cried for years. I guess it was good to let it all out. So sorry, Oliver." She gave a weak smile, then composed herself once again.
"So how are your parents and siblings now?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, they're fine, don't you worry about them. Mum and Dad are still a loving couple, they enjoy going on honeymoons," said Fred, snickering.
"Percy is married to Penelope Clearwater, and he's totally obsessed with his work. He's under the Department of International Magical Co-operation in the Ministry of Magic," grinned George.
"Charlie's still working with dragons in Romania, Bill's breaking curses at Gringotts," Fred ticked off names with his fingers, "and Mum's annoyed at them because they haven't got girlfriends. Or so she thinks."
"Ron's engaged to Hermione Granger, his supposedly best friend at school, and both of them are training with Ginny and Harry to become Aurors." George noticed the question look on Jessica's face and explained simply, "Harry Potter. I think he just proposed to Ginny a few hours ago this morning."
"And you two?" Jessica's eyes sparkled mischievously.
Fred and George stammered and coughed, their faces reddening.
"Er - us? What about us? There's nothing interesting about us!" Fred's face turned into a crimson shade of red.
"You know, things like your career, your love life." Jessica smirked.
"Uh - um."
"Actually, we erm. we are also. uh. engaged."
"Really?" Jessica tried not to giggle. She could hardly imagine the Weasley twins as dutiful, doting husbands, manipulated by their wives. "So who are the - uh - unlucky ones, then?"
"Unlucky?" spluttered George.
"They must be the luckiest women on earth!" Fred protested.
Both Oliver and Jessica laughed. They could well foresee the predicament those 'luckiest women on earth' would find themselves in. Jessica had only lived NEXT to the twins last time, and she could hardly survive. Thankfully, she only knew the twins too well, and learnt several ways of protecting herself from their tricks and pranks.
"Well, so who are they, then?"
"Alicia," mumbled Fred.
"Angelina," mumbled George.
"Ah, I see," Oliver nodded his head knowingly. He turned to Jessica, "Those two were chasers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team last time."
"Doing well with that joke-shop of yours?"
The twins brightened up at the mention of their joke-shop. They felt that they were one of the lucky few who were really proud of their careers. It was something they were interested in, after all.
"Oh, of course! We've had so many new inventions recently. There's the old time favourite - Canary Creams - they turn you into a fluffy yellow canary bird for a while, and they're still selling well. Then there's Harry's Hullabaloos - it turns you into the famous Harry Potter momentarily for the thrill of it - it's a tribute to Harry. He provided us with money to start our business with."
George continued, "And of course, there are Tickled Teardrops - a kind of sweet that tickles you until you cry and drop onto the floor laughing, hence the name - it's really popular, I wonder why."
"And of course. The most brilliant one of them all - the Sugared Snitch. We got this brainwave from Harry, when he swallowed the Golden Snitch at one Quidditch match. We figured that making Snitches edible would be interesting. But this is no normal sweet. Upon consumption, you shrink into a tiny ball, sprout wings, and zoom all over the place. But we've made loads of improvement on it, ever since someone ate it, zoomed above the Hogwarts lake, and transformed back into a human then and there. A bit of nasty shock for that Hufflepuff." Fred grinned.
The four of them laughed till their sides ached.
"We're even thinking of setting up a branch here," added George dreamily.
"A branch?" Oliver said thoughtfully. Then his face brightened as an idea formed inside his mind.