Chapter Four: Evil Cousins, Expensive Cars, and Erratically Moving Cakes

Disclaimer: See chapter one

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I'm not going to pretend that this a great chapter because I know it's not. So forgive me if this chapter REALLY sucks; it's just easier to write F/A.

While Angelina and Fred were waiting at Platform 9 ¾, Lee and George scampered off.

"Aww. They look so cute," George mocked as he and Lee walked away.

"Do you think they even realise that the other likes them back?" Lee asked after looking back at his friends.

"Nope. At least Fred doesn't."

"How can he not? Sug- er, Angelina fawns all over him every chance she gets." Luckily, George didn't hear Lee's slip. He silently thanked Merlin that he didn't have to explain what he was about to say, thus ruining the surprise ahead.

"He's so paranoid that he's driving me mad! He's accused everyone of fancying her, even me! And since you are so close to her, he really has it in for you," George ranted as they headed towards Lee's mum and stepfather.

So that's why he had been glaring at me lately. I wonder if Angie would be willing to pretend to be my girlfriend to piss him off, Lee thoughtThen he remembered the last time he made either Fred or Angelina mad and shuddered. Maybe not. The sound of George's voice drove his thoughts from his mind. "Why is that, anyway?"

"Why is what?" Lee enquired.

"Why are you and Angelina so close? I mean, she isn't Scottish, so you can't be neighbours or anything like that. There isn't anything going on between the two of you, right?"

"No, George. Do you honestly think I would do that to Fred? Besides, she isn't even my type. I like tall, smart, pretty girls."

"You just described Angelina, smartarse."

"No, I didn't. I described Samantha Lewis, that Ravenclaw blonde. And even if I had described Angelina, I would hope that my best friend would have the good sense to know that I would've been joking. But then, I've never witnessed anything that would prove that you have good sense."

"Shut up, you stupid, great prat. One thing's for sure, though; I don't like Angelina. Not like that anyway."

"Who do you fancy, anyway? After all, you seem to be ignoring the fair Miss Spinnet's attempts."

"There's no seem to be about it; I am ignoring her. I don't like her like that and I wish she'd take the hint."

They walk in comfortable silence until Lee swears under his breath. "Damn."

"What's wrong with you?" George asked, in a concerned (and very unGeorge-like) voice.

"You see my mum and stepdad?" George nodded. "You see the girl with them?" Again, George nodded. "Well, that's my cousin Marea. She watches me when my parents are working, since they don't trust me alone with the house-elves. She was last year's Head Girl at Durmstrang. And if you think Percy is a prick, then you definitely don't want to deal with Marea."

"A bigger swot than Percy? You must be joking."

"Wish I was. But… she's a lot of fun. If you know how to handle her, that is."

"In other words, prank her."

"Hell, yeah!"

"Tender," George said with a mischievous glint in his eye while rubbing his hands together. (A/N: I watch a lot of Recess when I'm not in class or practise.)

Just then, the two of them reached Lee's mum and stepfather. "Hullo Mum, Darryl," Lee said brightly in his thick northern accent. He looked over at his cousin. "Hello, Marea," he said through gritted teeth.

Marea looked just as happy to see Lee as he was to see her. "Hello, Chipmunk," she said, emphasising his childhood nickname that made him cringe every time he heard it. "I trust you had a good year at school. I hear Professor Dumbledore is a brilliant man, but he can't hold a candle to Professor Karkaroff."

George looked over at his wincing friend. Chipmunk? he thought. He could tell from Lee's body language that he despised that nickname. The poor boy was shaking with silent rage.

Apparently, Lee's parents noticed this, too, because they took charge of the conversation. "And you must be George," the tall woman said, extending her hand. "I'm Francesca, Lee's mother. And this is my husband, Darryl."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Madame," George said in a comically pompous tone. He then kissed the proffered hand, while Francesca, Darryl and Lee laughed. Only Marea appeared to be unamused. "And this vision of loveliness must be Marea. Lee told me so much about you." Not to mention how much fun torturing you is gonna be, he silently added.

Marea rolled her eyes. This kid was just as bad as Lee. Damn. Why couldn't the little brat make some friends that weren't complete idiots? "Whatever," she sighed, jerking her hand from George. Oh well, she thought. It could've been worse; he could have come home with Angelina for the summer. She cringed at the thought. Angelina, Lee, and this George boy in the same house? It's enough to make me AK myself right now. Now that she thought about it, where was the little hell spawn? She, Abigail, and Lee were usually inseparable. "Hey Chipmunk," she called, taking great joy in watching him squirm.

"What, Marea?" Lee answered back, irritably.

"Where's Angelina?" she asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

Why do you care? You hate her and Abby more than me. You've called her a spoiled brat more times than I can count, he thought. But out loud he said, "She just left with Toni." Merlin, I wish I was going home with her now instead of later.

George looked from Lee to Marea back to Lee. He could see the disdainful look in Marea's eyes when she asked about Angelina. What on earth could she have against Angie? Unless she's pranked her once or a hundred times.

Again, sensing the tension between the cousins, Lee's parents intervened. "So George," Darryl Jordan began, "Lee tells us that you have a twin. ("Oh great," Marea muttered under her breath.) So why couldn't he join us?"

"He needed a break from Lee's diabolical mind," George answered. Everyone laughed except Marea, who just rolled her eyes. "But seriously, he decided to spend the summer with our friend Angelina."

"Poor Jake and Gabrielle," came the mumbled words of Marea.

If anyone heard Marea's words, they didn't let on. Darryl looked at his wife and winked before turning back to George. "Well then," he began in his booming voice, "It's his loss."

Lee broke back into the conversation. "Oi, Mum! How are we getting back? George and I can't exactly Apparate."

"We bought an auto while you were away at school. Good, reliable…" Francesca said before Darryl interrupted her.

"Fast."

She sent a good-natured glare in her spouse's direction before continuing. "And FAST. I think you'll like it," she finished, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. And with that, the three adults walked off with Lee and George following closely behind with their trolleys.

"I wonder what kind of car it is," Lee wondered aloud to George.

"Why do you care? It's not like you can drive it."

"Hey, I'll be able to drive it in three years."

"As long as it's not a car like my dad's."

"What kind does he have?"

"An old, rusty Ford Anglia."

"I thought they stopped making those ten years ago."

"Exactly my point."

Suddenly Francesca, Darryl, and Marea stopped in front of an auto. A very nice EXPENSIVE auto. When Lee saw it, he let go of his trolley in excitement. Which sent it careening into Marea, knocking her to the pavement. Francesca and Darryl barely held in their snickers, while George didn't even try to hide his laughter. Lee was oblivious to the scene around him.

"Is that a BMW 325 iX?" he exclaimed, walking around the sedan as if he were appraising the latest broom at Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Do you have any idea how much these things cost?" (A/N: roughly 4127 Galleons in 1989; about $30,000 US)

"Obviously, you git," George said, finally containing his laughter. "They're the ones that bought it." Lee shot him a look before loading his things in the magically expanded boot and climbed into the backseat. George followed suit before joining Lee in the car, Marea sliding in after him.

"You know what?" Lee whispered to George.

"No. What?" George whispered back.

"Marea's birthday is in five days."

"Thinking of a good old-fashioned birthday prank?"

"Of course."

The pair continued the discussion of their plans for ruining Marea's birthday while Marea herself sat unaware, too involved in listening to her favourite band on her state-of-the-art portable wireless.

A Few Days Later…

Marea woke up and looked around. She had to be on her toes around Lee and George, but she had gotten used to that in her short nineteen years. Those two morons had set off Dungbombs in her bed, Filibusters in her closet, and turned her beautiful brown hair a hideous shade of neon orange. And this was only the fifth day. And no doubt Lee had told George that today was her birthday. All the chaos they had caused her was sure to come to a head today. At least Angelina and Abigail aren't here, she thought. She shuddered involuntarily.

The coast seemed clear, but Marea only trusted her cousin as far as she could throw him. Looking at her slim frame, one could assume that she couldn't throw Lee very far. They're planning something,she thought. "Come out, you two. I know what you're up to." Not even an answer. Something is definitely up.

She got out of bed and walked toward Lee and George's bedroom. It seemed to take forever. (Why does everyone in this damn family live in a castle? Why can't we live in a modest house?) The terrible twosome was sound asleep, looking like little angels. "Pity they don't sleep twenty-four hours a day," she muttered before Apparating downstairs to make breakfast.

When they were sure Marea was gone, Lee and George sat up in their beds. "Okay, Jordan. I agree that it's a great idea, but how are we going to pull it off? We can't exactly do magic outside of school."

Lee raised his eyebrow. "Since when do you care about rules?"

"I don't. I just don't see a way to do this without getting in trouble with the Ministry. Or worse, Mum."

"If we don't use our wands, how would the Ministry know?"

"B-b-but that's impossible," George sputtered.

"Is it? You and Fred are always inventing stuff to get around that rule, so what makes you think we can't do it now?"

"But that's all potions and the such. You are talking wandless magic. It can't be done."

Lee laughed. "George, remember when I told you my half-sisters were the Queens of Pranks?" George nodded. "Well, one thing I learned from them is that a wand only serves as a channel for the spell. If you concentrate hard enough, you can perform spells by merely thinking about it."

"Fine. But how do we keep the Ministry from finding out?"

A devilish grin appeared on Lee's lips. "The Ministry has records of every UK wizard's wand and the signature it produces."

George understood instantly. "So they track the wand signature. Which is why they find you so quickly."

"Exactly, my friend."

"Wicked." Then another thought appeared in George's head. "You have done this before, right?"

"Yeah. Loads of times." Then as an afterthought he added, "It's a little erratic, though. Instead of hitting the cake, the charm might hit Marea and she'll go flying through the air instead."

"Wicked!" the boys exclaimed in unison.

That Night…

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Marea. Happy birthday to you!" rang the voices of Francesca, Darryl, Lee and George as they sat in the dining room. In front of them was a huge mocha-flavoured cake spouting nineteen candles.

"C'mon, Marea. Make a wish," Darryl whined playfully.

Francesca mockingly punched her husband. "Last time I checked, there were only TWO children in this house."

Marea bent over to blow out the candles. She glanced at Lee and George out the corner of her eye. They'd been silent all day. She was worried. I wish that they'd go ahead and get whatever they're up to over with.

"So what did you wish for," George asked. Lee punched him in the shoulder.

"Don't ask her that, you idiot. Then it won't come true."

Francesca handed her niece the knife. "It's time to cut the cake."

Lee and George looked at each other. Lee slyly showed George three fingers. As he silently closed his hand, the two boys began to concentrate on the cake. And when Lee's formed a tight fist, they thought Wingardium Leviosa as strongly as they could.

The spell was a success. Sort of. Instead of just flying through the air, as was intended, the cake levitated straight up. And hit Marea in the face.

Suddenly, easy-going Francesca was ever the strict parent. "LEE! GEORGE!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

"Sorry, Mum/Mrs. Jordan."

In the background, Marea was busy trying to wipe mocha cake off her face while her uncle laughed wildly.

I know this was a little rushed but I was trying to make my third update this week. That and I was trying to keep a loyal reviewer satisfied. ::Looks pointedly at Faye:: I'm in the midst of finishing the last chapter of Leaving and rewriting chapter five of this fic (it took me so long to write this one that I don't like it anymore). AF says that he's almost done with chapter 10 of WtWS and I'll post it when he e-mails it to me. (I've already laid the foundation for chapter 11.) Let me know that my hard work doesn't go unappreciated. Review!