Switching Hour
Miranda Shadowind

"On your birthday, …let me give you a bit of advice Mom once told me.
I sure as heck won't be using it!"
-Greeting Card

A/N: Stupid writer's block… Ah well here's Chapter 4 at last, longer as compensation. Dunno if the quote's completely accurate, I can't find the damned card to check. Spread the good news! Order of the Phoenix'll finally be out on June 21st!!!! WHOOHOO!!! Nevertheless, even if I don't finish this story by then, I'll continue. It's AUish in its own right, after all.

Chapter 4: A Bit of Advice

Out in the hall, Bill breathed a sigh of relief. Good, the twins hadn't knocked each other senseless, although Percy would claim they had no sense to be knocked out in the first place. Neither sounded happy, but then Bill couldn't blame them. The badge's arrival had been a complete shock for the pair, whose main joys in life seemed to be breaking rules and wrecking havoc.

Not that Bill had been an absolute stickler for rules and regulations in his final year like Percy had. But unlike Fred and George, the eldest Weasley brother hadn't had a complete disregard for that which he was supposed to uphold.

The continued silence that had followed the yelling on the fourth landing had given their parents another reason to worry. Bill had volunteered to bring up breakfast as an excuse to check on his younger brothers. Not that he needed one, but he figured that some advice from a former Head Boy might ease the conflict. Advice from Percy would only make matters worse, so it was up to Bill to console the twins first. He shifted the tray of food to one arm and slowly opened the door ("Gred and Forge's Room, Enter At Your Own Risk").

The room was in its usual state of organized chaos: clothes strewn all over the place, random objects and bits of parchment scattered about the carpet, which was half-covered in burn and splotch marks. A partially spilled bag of dungbombs lay on the desk next to Fred's camera, undoubtedly abandoned just before Percy's latest victimization. Underneath the camera was a large dark brown album with green lettering on it that he couldn't discern.

The twins were perched on the front edges of their beds, sulking and facing away from each other. The trunk on Bill's left read "F. W.," while the right trunk read "G. W." Across the carpet between their beds, up both walls, and even on the ceiling was a magically drawn red line.

Bill had no clue of the irony represented by that simple line, but hated to see Fred and George divided like this, it just wasn't right. They were individuals, and yet most of the time they functioned as a unit, a team. You rarely saw one without the other, and when you did it usually meant one twin was in great peril or they were planning something big that required splitting up.

"Breakfast anyone?" Before either boy could respond, their stomachs answered for them in identical complaint. Between harassing Percy, the badge, and what had followed, breakfast had been completely forgotten.

The only other response was silent shrugging, so Bill heaved a sigh and handed over the trays, which were immediately scrutinized. "George" stole a glance at "Fred's" breakfast and scowled even more. "Hey! How come he's got a grapefruit and I don't?!"

"George you're allergic to grapefruit, remember?"

The elder boy's head was turned, so he didn't see the real George nudge the sour fruit away with his fork, silently panicking. Said allergy was one of the more subtle differences between them, one that could expose the plan if they didn't act fast.

Fred realized this immediately, having momentarily forgotten in his attempt to portray an overzealous version of his beloved twin. "Are you sure? I always thought it was him! I'm always treated second best, it's not fair!"

"You want it? You can have it!" George picked up the grapefruit with a napkin and hurled it at Fred, who ducked and let it splat on the dresser mirror behind him.

"Oh yeah?! Take this!" Fred threw a piece of marmalade-d toast at George. He laughed as it slid down his brother's angry face.

George growled and loaded a small handful of scrambled egg onto his spoon. He bent the spoon back, then let go, catapulting the eggs across the gap and hitting Fred between the eyes.

The food fight would have continued if Bill hadn't stepped between the beds yelling "Enough, both of you!!!" This didn't save him from being hit on both sides with food particles, however.

"Whoops…"

However, instead of blowing up like their mother might have, Bill simply sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't have to be this way you know." He put the messy food trays aside and stood in front of the nightstand so he could keep an eye on both twins.

"Of course it does! He's been using me to gain power all these years! Just look where it got him!" Fred insisted, going off of George's earlier accusations.

"I have not! You just don't get it, do you?!" George, sensing the direction his twin was leading the conversation, went along with the "renewed" argument, swapped roles aside.

"Look George, I don't know why Dumbledore chose Fred to be Head Boy either. But as an ex-Head Boy I DO know that it's not all about power and responsibility," Bill stated, sitting down next to Fred.

Fred cracked a faint smile. "Try telling Percy that."

"Seriously, though, it doesn't mean a big emotional change is required." On a lighter note, he added, "Plus just think of all the points you can take off of Slytherin! Though I wouldn't abuse that power TOO much…"

"Mmm, right…" George. 'I almost forgot about that! We'll show Snape not to favor his bitches!'

'Oh yes, Potions is about to have a point war on its hands.'

The two grinned devilishly at each other for a moment, then George resumed and twisted the subterfuge by making an ugly, teasing face at Fred, who scowled. Again, they faced away from one another.

Bill smacked his forehead and moved toward the other bed. Just when he seemed to be making progress, Fred had had a change of heart and decided to flaunt his new power after all! He'd never understand those two…

"And here I thought you wanted to make amends, but that's not helping one bit," he told George. "Mum's really worried about all this, you know."

"Really now?" Fred asked in an annoyed tone, arching an eyebrow. "Seems to me she was proud that one of her 'hellion' twins seemed to have secretly deviated from his normal behavior pattern."

"You act like I asked for all this, which I didn't!" George snapped.

"Come on, can't you two at least be civil with each other?" Bill put a hand on each of their shoulders. "This whole badge thing doesn't have to change your relationship, you can still pull pranks together. Just try not to bring the entire school system down in the process." He looked at Fred again. "As for the equality issue, maybe you'll get picked to be Quidditch Captain. It's not the same, but at least it's SOME power…"

"True…" Fred bent his head in thought.

So did George, mostly to hide his evil grin. 'Bwaha! TWO more ways to keep Slytherin on their toes! Oliver Wood eat your heart out!' After all, there wasn't much of a reason for him not to be picked for the position, as Quidditch skills were quite prominent in the Weasley bloodline. Charlie and the twins were living proof of that.

'Hell yeah! Got to keep up Gryffindor's winning streaks after all.'

'Streak…'

Fred bit back a laugh as the more perverse meaning of the word came to mind. A smile was still noticeable, and Bill returned it, mistaking it for a sign that he'd finally gotten through to his younger brother. "There, that's better. Now are you two ready to kiss and make up?"

The twins looked at each other, then at Bill as if he'd gone mad.

"I don't swing that way!" George cried indignantly.

"Neither do I!" agreed Fred.

Bill groaned. "You know what I meant!"

"Right." Both got up and advanced toward one another, only to be separated by a red transparent barrier that suddenly appeared, generated by the red line. 'Forgot about this stupid thing.'

'You nix it, otherwise Mr. Councilor over there might get suspicious.' Their eldest brother had jumped back in surprise and crashed onto the bed.

"Finite Incantato!" The barrier faded, red line and all.

Bill sat up, dazed from what had unexpectedly happened, but grinned when he saw his brothers in a loose embrace. "That's the Twinsies I know." He glanced around at the newer mess caused by the food fight. "Let's get this cleaned up. Mum wants to head to Diagon Alley today for school supplies, if you're up for it."

"New robes for both of us?" Fred queried, nibbling on what remained of his breakfast.

"Of course." Anything to keep the peace. "You two need Graduation Robes anyway since it's your last year at Hogwarts."

"Ah…"

The food quickly disappeared by one means or another, and Bill left the room to tell the others that the conflict had been resolved. Little did he realize that his "reasoning" only helped their latest scheme along.

"Glad that's finally over." George reached under his bed and fished out a heavy sack of Galleons – Harry's more than generous donation to the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes fund. The Boy Who Lived's one request regarding the gold's use came to mind. "D'ya reckon Ron'd look good in fuschia?"

Both twins laughed, but Fred shook his head. "Both he AND Harry would kill us. Besides, he'd shame the family name if he looked like a drag queen at this year's Yule Ball." More laughter.

"See what I mean?" Bill asked his mother. She had come upstairs to investigate only to meet her eldest son on the second landing. Therefore, the laughter overhead was quite audible. "They've made up."

"I hope you're right dear…" Mrs. Weasley replied warily.