Chapter 17

Suzette greeted them at the door, and kissed each of them as they presented her with the gifts they had brought. She buried her face in the flowers George offered her and called him a 'sweet boy'. She had laughed merrily when Fred had given her the Sleep Inducing Sugar Cubes and whispered what they were in her ear, and then she had hidden them out of sight with a wink. Nigel's idea of a 'get together' seemed to be about a hundred people in semi-formal dress enjoying food, music, dancing and conversation. They found Rowan and Carly standing with their uncle, both dressed identically, and to the untrained eye, impossible to tell apart. One of the girls stepped forward and took George's hand, but George said, "Nice try, Carly, but Rowan had me first."

"Are you sure you've got that right?" Uncle Nigel asked him with raised eyebrows.

Fred eyed the other twin with mild suspicion, was this some sort of trick? George, however, was in no doubt. He simply said, "Positive." He stepped around the girl who had taken his hand, and leaned in to kiss her twin.

"How did you know?" Rowan asked when the kiss ended. "We can fool our own mother when we're really trying."

"I'd know you anywhere," George said in all sincerity. "But the ink stains on your hands are a dead giveaway."

Nigel seemed satisfied with George at last; as if the younger man had, indeed, passed some test. He smiled broadly, said, "Well done!" and draped an arm around his shoulders, jovially leading him off to meet some colleagues. George looked surprised, but pleased, and grinned over his shoulder at his brother, Rowan and Carly as he walked away.

"Poor George!" Rowan laughed, using her wand to change the shade of her robes from cream and gold to blue and gold to compliment was George was wearing. "He was afraid Uncle Nigel would never warm up to him - and now look!"

While George was shaking hands with a group of men about Mr. Winters's age, Nigel was looking around as if he had lost something. His eyes alighted on Fred and his nieces, and waved them over, as if surprised that they hadn't been right behind him the whole time.

"Don't let Uncle Nigel fool you," Rowan said slipping her arm through one of Fred's as Carly did the same on the other side. "He plays the innocent and slightly baffled act very well."

"But he's as sharp as they come," Carly finished.

"I don't think I'll underestimate him," Fred smiled, enjoying having the two prettiest girls in the room on either arm as he led them across the room. "He ordered three deluxe Skiving Snackboxes last week to get himself out of a series of boring business meetings. He's also been trying to find ways disguise a Canary Cream so that your aunt will eat it."

"Oh Fred! You haven't been giving those awful things to Mr. Winters, have you?" Molly Weasley had just caught the last of Fred's comment as she approached. She had been watching the little trick that Rowan and Carly had brewed up from across the room, and it had done her heart good. In her opinion, she couldn't have hand picked a better match for wither of her boys than the young women they were paired with now.

"He came to the store and bought them mum," Fred grinned. He stepped forward to kissed his mother's cheek, knowing it would make her smile. "You look pretty."

Carly and Rowan followed suit as they greeted her, and they were soon joined by George and Nigel who also kissed her cheek. By the time Arthur had joined them, he was clucking his tongue and saying, "Now look, Molly, I've gone and left you for five minutes, and you've already got other men trying to kiss you!"

Molly blushed and chuckled as she took the proffered flute of champagne from her husband. It was so seldom that they were invited to events that were not Ministry related; she was thoroughly enjoying wearing the pretty new dress robes that Arthur had insisted she buy, and mingling with the crowd. There were a lot of influential people here, including the new acting Minister of Magic, who was a long time friend of their hosts. She had liked Nigel and Suzette immediately, and looked forward to getting to know them better in the future.

"Well then let me even the score, Mr. Weasley," Rowan offered, stepping forward to kiss his cheek as well. "You look very handsome!"

Carly was a bit more reserved, but hugged Fred's dad warmly and reiterated Rowan's statement. "It's nice to see you again Mr. Weasley; that shade of green certainly suits you."

"Well it seems that I'm going to have to take my wife out of temptation's way and indulge myself at the same time. Molly?" He offered his arm, and Fred and George watched fondly as their father escorted their mother onto the dance floor. They rarely saw this side of their mother and father, and were reminded strongly of moments from their childhood when they would sneak out of bed and catch their parents dancing in the living room by the firelight. They hadn't understood it all then, but they didn't miss it now.

"They love each other," Carly said in Fred's ear, as if she had read his thoughts. "It shows."

"It always has," he agreed. He offered his arm as well, and guided her into a slow waltz with steps he'd practiced meticulously for days. Soon George and Rowan, Suzette and Nigel and many others joined them on the floor.

The evening was going well, and passed, for the most part, without incident. There were actually a number of Order members in attendance that nodded politely when introduced to Fred and George and pretended that this was their first meeting. It wasn't until nearly ten o'clock that Fred overheard Suzette whisper to her husband.

"I don't know who that is. Maybe the guest of a guest?"

Curiosity had him turning to see Mundungus Fletcher as Fred had never seen him before. He was clean-shaven, for one, and his ginger hair was pulled neatly into a leather thong at his neck. His robes looked as though they had come from the most expensive of shops, but seemed just a shade too large for him. What is going on? Surely he wasn't on the guest list. Fred thought to himself, and excused himself from the group he had been standing with to move closer. George joined him a moment later, and gave each other apprehensive looks as Dung made his way through the crowd and headed straight for Arthur.

"Uh-oh," George muttered under his breath. "Looks like trouble."

Mundungus was walking briskly to a quiet corner with Arthur and Molly and speaking earnestly, if his body language was any indication. They casually looked to see Rowan and Carly engaged in conversation with a group on the other side of the room, and then made their way toward their parents.

"No," Mundungus was saying quietly, "It has to be now. Dumbledore's already called all available members to Hogsmeade and the school. Bill is waiting at headquarters, but he won't wait long."

"But what if it's not a trap? What if he really does want to..." Molly sounded fearful, but Arthur cut her off.

"Well have to take the risk either way." His face was as grim as his voice, and as he spotted the twins openly eavesdropping, he nodded at them to come closer.

"What's up, Dad?" George asked quietly.

Mundungus looked to Arthur for guidance as to whether or not to include the twins in the conversation. They weren't technically members of the Order, but knew more than many of their 'official' members did. Molly looked as though she were about to protest, but Arthur looked at her and simply said, "This is a family matter, Molly. They deserve to know what's going on."

"Is everything all right?" The sound of Nigel's voice from behind them made all five of them jump.

"Oh, Nigel," Arthur said. "I'm afraid that Mundungus here has come to deliver some news to us. We're very sorry, but we'll have to take our leave to deal with a family matter."

"Of course," Nigel said smoothly, recognizing the threat of tears in Molly's eyes and the worried expression on everyone else's. "I'll have your cloaks brought out. I hope that you'll let us know if there's anything at all we can do to help."

"We will, and we appreciate it," Molly said sincerely. "It's been a lovely evening."

"I hope you will join us here again very soon." He answered sincerely, motioning for a house elf that had been stationed nearby. He gave instructions to the elf to retrieve the cloaks, and then stayed with them until she reappeared.

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Fred said to his father. His tone said that he would brook no arguments on this point. "We need to tell the girls that we're going."

Rowan and Carly had accepted that the Weasleys had to leave due to a family emergency, but had argued that they wanted to come to lend support. It wasn't until Fred promised that they would be contacted as soon as the family knew exactly what was happening, that they agreed to stay behind. The boys had left the house after making their excuses, and walked to the edge of the front garden and past the wards that made it impossible to apparate on the grounds.

Before making the trip to Grimmauld Place, George put a had on Fred's shoulder and said, "Dad said it was a family matter. Dung said that Dumbledore's called for reinforcements at the school."

"Mum said something about a trap," Fred added. "What do you think we're walking into?"

"Let's go find out." George said.

With a loud crack he was gone. Fred looked back toward the house where he had just left Carly before taking a determined breath and the he, too, disappeared.