Chapter 48
Of Extension Cords and Other Muggle Items

Cassie woke up in the morning surprised at how light it was, glanced at her watched, and scrambled out of bed. She needed to see George this morning before he left for the store and she may already be too late. She ripped open her door to listen for the rumble of male voices and hearing them rising from downstairs she took a deep breath. She still had to hurry, though, they could leave at any moment. She stepped back into the room and her foot stepped on something soft. She glanced and smiled broadly. She picked up George's folded shirt and carried it back into Ginny's room. She unfolded it and held it up in front of herself. Yeah. This would be wonderful. A small note fluttered to the floor and she picked it up, wondering why he had written her a note instead of just talking to her.

"Dear Cassie, here is the shirt I wore on Saturday. I hope you don't mind, but I particularly wanted you to wear this one. I'd ask you to model it for me this evening when you put it on, but I doubt your mum or mine would approve. So, I'll just have to use my imagination. Love, George."

Cassie flushed as she read the last line. He could say the most outrageous things to her in his letters. He usually wasn't that bold in person, although he was certainly no shrinking violet or anything. Of course, maybe this explained why he had written the note. She put the shirt aside and grabbed some clothes, hurriedly changing into them but leaving her feet bare. She raced to the bathroom, quickly brushed her teeth, and then raced back to the bedroom. She grabbed the envelope her dad had sent with the money and ran down the stairs. All three Weasley males looked up at her as she descended and she adopted a more sedate pace almost immediately. All three of them were still eating so it was doubtful any of them would be popping out immediately. Although everyone was sitting calmly around the table, Cassie could tell there was some tension in the room, presumably because once again they were going out into the public, where they could be arrested at any time.

"Ah, Cassie, dear. How about some breakfast?" She nodded at Molly and another plate joined those already on the table. Breakfast this morning seemed to consist of a muffin as well as eggs and ham. She sat down next to Arthur, smiling as they all looked at her.

"Good morning. I was afraid you had all left."

"I'm leaving in a second." Arthur pushed his chair back from the table. "I don't know what will happen at work today, Molly. I'll try to let you know." Molly had a worried look on her face as she kissed her husband briefly.

"Thank you." She turned to her sons, who Cassie thought looked more solemn than she had ever seen them. "And you two do the same. Please."

Both boys nodded, Fred running his fingers through his hair. "We've got an escape route planned but . . . well, we don't have too many options of places to hide."

"Go to headquarters if you must. But if you do, please send word."

Cassie had been thinking the eggs and ham sounded good this morning, but her stomach suddenly rebelled at the thought of any food at all. "George, can I talk to you before you go?"

"Sure. Let's go in the other room." Once they were in the living room, Cassie smiled briefly.

"My dad sent me money."

"That's what you said last night. I was kind of wondering why, because it won't do you any good."

"Well, I was hoping you would exchange it for me - into Galleons. I need to buy some Christmas presents and your mum showed me some catalogs and things, but I need wizard money."

"I'll try. I'm not promising anything. Exchanging Muggle money can sometimes be problematic." Cassie looked at him with wide eyes.

"Do you think they would be likely to arrest you or anything?"

"No. If I have any problems exchanging the money, I'll just give you the amount you need."

"No, George. I don't want your money. I'll figure out something else if I need to." She took some money out of the envelope and handed the rest to him. He opened up the envelope and looked inside.

"This is so strange. Dad tried to explain to me how this paper is actually worth something, but I don't understand it."

"I'll explain it to you sometime. Maybe your dad didn't do a good job." They both smiled, acknowledging the fact that though Arthur prided himself on his thorough understanding of all things Muggle, as often as not, he didn't really get it.

"What really gets me is why the different colors are worth different amounts - he said it had something to do with the ink being more expensive but that didn't make sense to me." Cassie tried really hard to keep a straight face but the puzzled expression that George was giving the 20£ and 100£ notes he had taken out of her envelope just made her laugh. He scowled briefly and then laughed along with her.

"How much is all this worth - in real money, I mean?"

She laughed again. "I think the exchange is between 4-5 Pounds to the Galleon, so really not all that much." She had worried that her dad may not be willing to give her all the money she had asked for, but he had actually been more then generous. Probably to help ease the sting of her not being there for Christmas this year. And she wouldn't have been surprised if her mum had forced him to give her more as well. But, considering that all that money would not really translate into that many Galleons and how expensive things generally were, she hoped she could make it stretch. She had some gifts in mind that were definitely Muggle and she hoped she had kept enough actual money to purchase those. George may call the Galleons and sickles that he was used to spending "real," but to her, they seemed more like play money that would come in a game - it was hard for her to think of them as real currency.

George stuffed the envelope into the pocket of his robes. "Well, I'll do the best I can. By the way, if you need anything from our shop, I'll get it for you."

"Okay, a discount would be nice. I'll probably wind up getting my brothers more of those wet-heat firework things. Matthew loved them."

"It's not wet-heat, it's wet-start, no-heat. Wet-heat makes no sense." It was her turn to scowl.

"Well, sorry. I wasn't trying to insult your merchandise." He laughed.

"All right, I'll bring you home a package or two. Is that enough?" He hugged her, lifting her face for his kiss.

"Actually, could you make it four? I think it's going to be my main gift to both of them. Along with those huge lollipops I got them at Honeyduke's."

"Sure. I guess I better go. Fred will be anxious."

"All right."

"You going to be okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" George looked like he was going to answer, but Fred burst into the living room looking rather harried.

"Come on! Stop snogging her and let's go!"

"We weren't snogging," George retorted but followed his brother back into the kitchen with an apologetic glance over his shoulder. A second later she heard the two distinctive pops and Cassie knew they had left. She sighed to herself and walked into the kitchen, where Molly was sitting at the table, eating a muffin, but Cassie thought that she didn't look like she was enjoying it very much. She sat down at her plate again and concentrated on eating the food she had previously taken. Now that George was gone, Cassie felt slightly uncomfortable with just Molly. She could not, of course, let her know about overhearing her "discussion" with George the night before, but she couldn't forget about it either. Molly did not like her "liking" George and Cassie felt as though she had to prove her "worthiness" to even stay in the house, although if she were to ever mention that idea to George, he would tell her she was being ridiculous. She stared at her plate as she ate her eggs. Finally, when the food was gone and neither of them had said anything to the other, she spoke.

"That was very good, Molly. Thank you. I still feel bad I haven't helped with breakfast, though. You must get up very early to do it all yourself."

"There really is nothing you . . ." Molly stopped and smiled. "Actually, I do get up fairly early, around 6. But I'm used to it so it doesn't bother me. And you have been very helpful with the other meals and cleaning up, so there's no reason to feel badly." Cassie smiled in response to what was an obvious effort by the older woman to accept her offers of help.

"My mother always had me help her in the kitchen, so I'm used to it. Of course, cooking at your house is a little different." They both chuckled a little as they stood. They worked in easy companionship as they cleaned the dishes and tidied the kitchen and although Cassie knew this was only a beginning rather than an indication of the end to Molly's wariness around her, she still enjoyed herself. It was very much like being back at home with her mum.

"So, Cassie, what did you want to do today?"

"If you don't have any major plans, I really need to go shopping."

There was a long silence. "Shopping?" Molly twisted her hands together, indicating that she was unsure what to do next. "But . . . I don't know how I would take you to the Alley and I really don't think it's safe for you there. I thought you had found enough in those catalogs."

"The catalogs were very helpful in picking out Christmas gifts, but I don't need that kind of shopping. I just need a few items from Boots."

"Boots? I . . . well, I think Ginny has left a pair here that you could use. If they're too small, I can enlarge them a little. I'd hate for you to spend a lot . . ." She looked completely bewildered and Cassie realized that she had not explained very well.

"I'm sorry, Molly. I just meant the store Boots. It's just a drug store chain, uh, it sells little items that are helpful around the house. There's a lot of them around." Molly's confusion lessened slightly. "I thought maybe we could go to the village. There is one nearby, isn't there?"

"Well, yes. But I never go there. I'm not sure if they would have a Boots store like that. And how would we get there?"

"I'm sure they would have something that has the items I need. And I thought maybe we could walk. Is it terribly far?"

"I don't actually know. I've never walked there, obviously. I guess we could always try. If we get worn out before we arrive, we can always turn around. If you need to shop, well, that's what we'll do." Cassie glanced at her watch. It was after 8 now but there was no guarantee anything would be open for another hour or so. She didn't want to take Molly all the way into the Muggle village only to be standing around waiting for the stores to open. That would be embarrassing. And possibly dangerous.

"That sounds good. Thank you. I would go myself, but . . ."

"No. Absolutely not. Albus would have my head and rightly so. I'm nervous enough about taking you outside the wards, but if we go quickly, I think we'll be okay."

"All right. I'll go upstairs and finish getting ready." She glanced down at her bare feet and so did Molly. Cassie explained that she had hurried downstairs this morning so she wouldn't miss George and Fred.

"Of course, dear. I understand." She appeared to think for a moment and then asked Cassie another question. "Arthur loves things like plugs and cords and batteries. Do you think they would sell those sorts of things?"

"It would depend what sort of shop we find, but if it's a Boots, they would."

"I'll look around, then. That would be a nice surprise for him."

Forty-five minutes later, they were walking along a narrow lane leading to the village. According to the street sign they had just passed, it was only about 10 minutes more to the village, which made the entire walk a little more than 20 minutes. Not too bad, really, although it was cold out and her feet were wet. She wished she had taken Molly up on her offer of the boots. She didn't have a coat and so was wearing her thick winter robes. She thought that the two of them probably looked a little strange walking down the road - both wearing thick long cloaks and Molly in a rather peculiar-looking collection of what she called Muggle clothes. All I need now, she thought to herself, is my Hogwarts' uniform hat before even the Muggles are convinced I'm a witch. Molly had her wand, having not dared to leave the house without it and Cassie could understand that. And tucked into Cassie's pocket, wrapped securely in a dishtowel, was one other thing Molly refused to go without - the ugly little statue that was the emergency portkey to headquarters, wherever that was.

"I can apparate by myself but I couldn't very well leave you standing there. It's only for an emergency, of course. Just undo the towel and grab it. You can keep it hidden in your pocket. No one will notice." Cassie had to suppress a grin. She was right. No one would notice the ugly statue, but they would probably notice her sudden disappearance into thin air.

They didn't talk much, although the silence was not really strained. Cassie looked around at the countryside and enjoyed being outside. The air was chilly, appropriate for a week before Christmas, but it was not unbearable. Much improved over the biting cold on the Hogwarts' grounds. She had no idea where she actually was. Ginny had told her the general area of Britain that her family lived in, but her abrupt departure from Hogwarts had not given her any chance to inquire for more specific details. She wondered if this village would even show up on a map, it was obviously very small. She was sure she had never heard of Ottery St. Catchpole and, though she really didn't know how far away they were from London, she imagined that if it were of any substantial size, she would have heard of it at some point.

They arrived at the village without incident, talking a little about Ginny. Cassie told Molly how much Ginny had come to mean to her when she was at Hogwarts and how impressed she was with the girl's skill at magic. Molly was appreciative and enjoyed the anecdotes that Cassie shared about some of their classes. As Cassie expected, the village was small but they did have a shopping district of sorts and they headed that direction. They actually did find a drug store quickly, and Cassie pointed it out to Molly. "Okay, that looks like the type of store that would carry what I need. We can head over there and -" She stopped suddenly with a squeal of alarm and surprise. Molly had started across the street to the store Cassie had indicated but had not checked for traffic. A bright yellow car had slammed on its brakes and avoided hitting the witch by mere inches. Molly was scared, too, hopping back up on the curb but the damage was done. The driver, obviously reacting to what was presumably his biggest scare all day, jumped out of his car and started yelling. Cassie didn't understand everything he was saying as his accent was extremely thick, but she was fairly sure that she got the gist of it. Any doubt she had about certain parts was banished by his rude hand gestures. Molly reached into her sleeve and Cassie knew what she was doing. Her eyes wide, she stepped between the two older people.

"Please, sir, calm down. There's no reason to yell, no damage was done!" He continued to rant, but Cassie persisted, sending frantic signals to Molly to please not pull her wand out. Not that the idea of it scared her, she just wasn't sure how a regular Muggle would react being confronted with a magic wand. It took about five minutes for the man to finally get back in his car and drive away. When Cassie turned to Molly she could see the conflicting emotions of anger and embarrassment on her face.

"I'm sorry, Cassie. I'm not used to having to watch out for those infernal machines." Cassie nodded in sympathy. "I know Arthur likes them. Did you know he had one once?"

"Arthur owned a car?"

"Yes. A blue Ford Anglia. It was a lovely color, and so roomy inside, too." Cassie laughed at that, but then realized Molly was being serious, and tried to turn it into a cough. She didn't succeed too well, but Molly was discussing the car and didn't notice. " . . . . saved their lives, Ron told me, second year when they were talking to the man-eating spiders who seemed adverse to the idea of their leaving." Cassie blinked. Was she still talking about the car? Molly didn't say anything more, and Cassie decided not to ask for further details. She would ask Harry if she remembered.

"Uh, well, gee. That, um, sounds like a handy sort of car to have around."

"Yes. I do hope it's happy in the Forbidden Forest. I sometimes worry about it - I mean what does a wild car do to keep itself occupied in a forest?" Cassie was spared having to answer that question as they crossed the street safely and entered the store. It was small, but well-supplied and Cassie was able to pick up the things that she needed.

First, she found some old sponge-type curlers and managed to get a large bag at a reasonable price. She was sick of flat hair. She also found a small battery-powered alarm clock and a set of batteries to go inside it. Molly was following her, exclaiming in what to Cassie seemed like a loud voice about all the interesting and weird items on the shelves. Other shoppers would glance at them and Cassie would smile back. She usually received a raised eyebrow or smirk in return, but she didn't let it bother her. She found a lighter, a long one designed to light candles that she hoped would work to go down that skinny chimney of the lamps and save her having to light them with matches, which was fast growing old. Along with that, Cassie found a small torch and batteries, which she knew would come in handy when she woke in the middle of the night. She was tired of having to light the lamps when she only needed the light for a few minutes. She had had one at Hogwarts but she imagined it was still under the mattress where she had last left it. Dobby, of course, had not known about its existence and so had not packed it with the rest of her things. Molly examined the torches and Cassie suggested getting one for Arthur, remembering how excited he had been about the one in her house the first time he had come. Molly considered for a few minutes, not convinced that this was unique enough for Arthur to really enjoy. Cassie also noticed, in the small kitchen area, a potato peeler and picked that up as well. When she turned back to Molly, she was not there. After a moment's panic, she heard her exclaiming over something in a nearby section. She hurried over there, to find her rapturously looking through the extension cords.

"These are wonderful. Like really thick rope - only they obviously have something to do with plugs. And this has both the cord part and the plug part, all on one thing."

"Yes, but Molly, Arthur won't be able to use it for anything Shouldn't you get him something useful?" But Molly's mind was made up. She selected a bright red extension cord. "I'll go ahead and pay for that, Molly, you don't need to worry." She placed her purchases on the counter and the clerk rang her up. Cassie pulled the bills out of her pocket and proceeded to count out the correct amount. Molly, just like George, was not used to paper money.

"Oh, I've heard about that paper stuff. Does it really work? Can I see some?" The clerk gave Cassie a rather surprised look, and she just smiled back, but then handed Molly the bills she received as change.

"There you go." Molly handled the paper with interest and then realized that the other people in the check-out line were looking at her.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass. . . "

"No reason to apologize. I'm finished. Let's go." They walked out of the shop, Molly still holding the bills in her hand which she sheepishly handed back to Cassie, who took them. "I'll explain the idea of the paper money to both you and George, if you're interested. He told me what Arthur told him and he didn't get it quite right." They both grinned indulgently at the thought of Arthur's often muddled explanations of Muggle items. From what Cassie had seen, he usually got things right about how they were used, it was often just the reasoning behind why they were invented or used certain ways that seemed to elude him. And, she supposed, that made sense as he could actually see the things work, while he could not see the thought process behind their use.

"Did you want to look around, dear? I'm in no particular hurry to get back to the Burrow."

"No, thank you. I don't need anything else. Let's just go back." They started back down the lane toward the Burrow. The sky was now overcast and Cassie wondered if they would get rained on. Molly didn't seem concerned at all, so maybe she had some sort of charm that would keep her from getting cold and wet. If she did, Cassie hoped it was one she could cast on her as well. They arrived, however, with no rain falling and Cassie was grateful as she was extremely cold even dry. The temperature was not that bad, not nearly as cold as it had been at Hogwarts, but she was still glad to get into the house, even though it was almost too warm inside.

They had soup for lunch and Cassie was grateful for the warmth of it, not complaining at all either when, after the two bowls had been washed and returned to the cupboard, Molly suggested she curl up under a blanket and read or nap. Cassie looked at the overflowing bookshelves in the living room for something that sounded interesting. Although all the titles were new and unique to her ears, they were all seemingly about magical housekeeping and Cassie wasn't sure she would be able to stay awake through them. Molly told her that all of the bedrooms had bookshelves if she wanted to look there for something more to her liking.

Cassie checked Ginny's room first. She had noticed the bookshelf the first day but had not yet examined the titles. She was pleasantly surprised that along with the old textbooks she no longer used, Ginny had quite a collection of what her mum called dimestore novels - paperback romances. Of course, these were not any of the type she was used to seeing in bookstores and libraries at home. These all seemed to be magically related and set in the wizarding world, which made sense, really. She picked out a few promising ones and stepped back into the hall. She descended three steps when a sudden urge entered her brain and she smiled. Did she dare? Why not? She set the books carefully down on the landing, making sure they were out of the way, and climbed the next set of stairs. She opened the door to the twins' room carefully, hoping that it wasn't set up to play some sort of trick on anyone who crossed the threshold. She knew George hadn't warned her about any such thing, so she wasn't too concerned. Once inside, she stopped and looked around. Everything looked very much like it had when George had been showing her around, with one rather glaring exception. The posters. The ones above Fred's bed were still there, even the one with the skirt-lifting witch, although she was asleep at the moment, which made Cassie laugh. But the ones above George's bed were all gone. She spotted the bookcase in a corner and headed that direction.

There was no collection of unused textbooks here, and Cassie imagined that this was because any books they were done using got passed down to Ron and then to Ginny. The books on these shelves, though, looked almost dangerous. There were books about magic trickery with titles such as "'Did I Do That?' Devious Destruction Techniques," and "Magical Practical Jokes that Will Blow the Pants off Warlocks and Wizards." There were books about fixing damage done such as "The Nuts and Bolts of Repairing Blown-up Items" and "How to Keep your Parents from Finding that Big Hole in your Ceiling." The ones that worried her the most, though, were the ones dealing with how to fix damaged people - they were obviously well-used, judging by the tattered covers. She picked up one called "All of Me: Restoring Lost Ears, Noses, Arms, and Legs" and almost got ill at the pictures inside. There were notes in almost all the margins, many of them in George's handwriting. This did not give her a happy feeling. She tucked that back in the bookcase and picked up "When Good Spells Go Bad" which was equally gory with papers stuck in several places in the text commenting on how well certain suggestions actually worked. With a growing feeling of dread, she picked up the most well-used book on the shelf "Emergency Healing Spells." Both boys had left notes and papers in this one and she glanced at them with interest. This book was not as graphically illustrated and was much more pleasant to look at, although reading the various cures for the emergencies was quite intense enough. She put that back in the shelf also and was about to leave the room, when she noticed a small area with books about Quidditch. She gave a sigh of relief and looked them over carefully. Picking up the most interesting looking one, she left the room; Then she descended to Ginny's landing, collected her novels, and continued down the stairs.

She found a wonderful window seat to curl up in where she could see the garden and the rain which was now falling steadily. She tucked the blanket in around her still-cold feet and spent an enjoyable afternoon reading. Molly was knitting as well as doing some other chores around the house. She also left the house a few times, just briefly in each instance, to take care of some business, which Cassie didn't ask about. They never heard from either of the twins or Arthur, which was good news as far as they were concerned.

Molly fixed fried chicken for dinner and Cassie helped make the mashed potatoes, showing Molly the potato peeler in the process. "That would be very useful if I couldn't make the knife peel them itself. Seems fairly handy. Good thing you picked one up." Molly had wrapped Arthur's present and by the time dinner was ready, she was fairly bursting at the idea of how excited he would be with it. Everyone arrived on time for dinner and no one spoke much as they all devoured the food. Cassie enjoyed the chicken also, and supposed that the much better day everyone had had today as far as the threat levels at work make them all much hungrier than they had been the night before. George and Fred explained that there had been no problem today at all at the shop or anywhere in the Alley, and that most people's thoughts seemed to be turning to Christmas, now a little more than a week away, rather than worrying about whether or not the Order had tried to eliminate Fudge.

"I suppose," Fred opined as he finished the last of his chocolate cake after dinner, "Nightscall hasn't given up on his campaign. But like Dumbledore said, it is definitely more worrisome if the main population is against us, rather than just the Ministry. I, for one, feel a lot better about things." Arthur wasn't so sure it was going to be that easy, but even he seemed considerably more relaxed than he had last night. George volunteered to do the dishes with Cassie if his mum wanted to go sit down and after a few incredulous looks from both Molly and Fred, the two of them got to work.

Cassie realized quite quickly that although Molly made the dishwashing, drying, and putting away spells look extremely easy and did them with an almost lazy grace, that they obviously weren't that basic. George had quite a bit of trouble at times using the magic and it was with a lot of laughing and giggling that Cassie finally started drying the dishes by hand as his plates kept sliding into the cupboard still dripping wet. He acted all offended, insisting that they were supposed to be like that, but grabbed a dishtowel and started helping her after a minute. She loved being with him like this, when there was no pressure on either of them to be anything but themselves and they could laugh and giggle and kiss if they wanted to. She had to show him how to wash a pan by hand as he just could not get it clean with magic and then she also showed him how well dishwashing liquid could get the grease off your hands if you needed it. He was standing there looking appalled as she dried the pan and put it away. "This is gross."

"Just use the dish soap. It takes grease off very well. That is, after all, what it was designed to do." She squirted some on his hands and then turned on the water, rubbing the soap in as she held his hands under the warm stream.

It was only when he said, in a rather hoarse voice, "Is there anything else greasy I need to wash?" that she realized what she was doing and withdrew her hands quickly leaving him to finish rinsing off the soap. He dried his hands on the towel as he had seen her do, and then intertwined his fingers with hers. "I missed you today."

"I missed you, too. I borrowed a Quidditch book from your room, I hope that's all right."

"You went up into my room?"

"Yeah. I thought you said I could."

"Well, I . . ."

"Your collection of emergency healing books was very enlightening to say the least. I take it that you and Fred have used most of them?"

"Yes. . . . they are very handy when we have an accident or something."

"And does this happen often?"

"More often than you probably want to know." Cassie nodded.

"You're right. Don't tell me." She squeezed his fingers. "I also noticed you took down the posters. You didn't need to do that, but thanks."

"Somehow, they had lost their appeal." He smiled down at her and pulled her into his arms. "So, you were reading about Quidditch, huh?"

"A little bit. It's a great game to watch although I don't really understand all the maneuvers and everything. I'd love to see another game. Are the professional teams playing now?"

"No, they play in the spring and summer."

"Too bad."

"Maybe I can take you to a game at Hogwarts again."

"Maybe." But even as she said it, she knew it would most likely never happen. Once this danger was passed and the culprits were identified, she would go home, and that would be the end of her ever watching Quidditch or going to Hogwarts. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him as hard as she could. He coughed and then laughed.

"What was that for?"

"Just because."

"Come on, Mum and Dad are probably wondering what's taking us so long."

"And your mum has a present for Arthur."

"A present?"

"We picked it up today in town."

His brow furrowed. "You took Mum into the village - Why?" he asked when she nodded.

"I needed a few things to make my stay here a little more comfortable."

"Like what? I would have -"

"George, it's nothing you failed to do or anything. I just needed stuff - well, like this potato peeler for example. And a torch."

"A torch?"

"Yeah, I'm sick of lighting the lamps when I just need to see something really fast. Come on, I bet Molly's getting anxious." They walked, hand in hand, out into the living room and Cassie noticed that Molly tried really hard not to stare at their linked fingers as she watched them come through the door.

"Arthur," she stood up and grabbed the wrapped package off the mantel. "I bought this for you today in the Muggle village. I think it's something you will really like." Arthur looked very surprised, but took the package.

"What's the occasion?" He had a sudden look of terror cross his face. "It's not our anniversary or anything, is it?" Cassie practically snickered. Molly just looked disgusted.

"No."

"Oh, Molly! Did I forget your birthday?"

"Why would I be getting you something on my birthday, Arthur? Honestly! And our anniversary is in April! Remember? I just got you something I thought you would like, but if you don't want it, I can certainly return it!" She made to take the package back, but Arthur didn't let go of it, and a lighthearted tug of war developed over the wrapped parcel. Fred and George took sides, George cheering for his father and Fred for his mum while Cassie just laughed until she cried. Wands came out, then, and a few spells were cast in an attempt to gain the advantage. Finally, however, Molly gave in, and with a heartfelt kiss to his now-glowing wife, Arthur opened the package.

At first, he just stared at the red plastic rope in his hands, but then turned it and noticed the outlet end. "Oh! A socket! But this is the strangest thing I've ever seen it on! Marvelous!" He uncoiled the entire five feet and then saw the plug. He did a double take, looking at the outlet end again. "Well, I never! A plug and a socket! Together on the same device?" He picked up the plug in his left hand and held the outlet in his right, inserting the plug and removing it a few times quickly, finally leaving them connected. "I see how this works, but I fail to see the purpose of it." Before Cassie had a chance to explain that he was going about it all wrong, she glanced at George and saw that his face as well as Fred's were both bright red as they attempted to hold in obviously uproarious laughter.

"What?" Fred just shook his head, afraid to speak. George, too, shook his head, indicating that Fred should be the one to tell Cassie. She scowled, wanting to ignore them, but they started laughing loudly then and she had to admit that she was curious. Arthur was exclaiming happily over his new toy, slipping the now-circled cord over his head almost like a necklace. "Well, are you going to tell me or not?" she whispered as he again tried the plug and socket connection, and they burst into renewed hysterics. Fred, apparently, was the one who lost whatever process they had for determining who had to do the next unpleasant task because he glared at George and took Cassie by the arm, bending his head very close to her ear.

"When Dad does that plug/socket thing like that - well, we think it looks obscene!" Cassie's eyes grew very big as she suddenly realized that it certainly could. Then she flushed.

"You two have very dirty minds!" But despite herself, she laughed. She walked over to Arthur. "These aren't meant to actually go together, although of course if you want to keep it that way, it's fine with me. It's sort of, well, we call it an extension cord." She explained the purpose behind it, and Arthur listened carefully, nodding and thinking. But, when he went up to his room to put it away, she told George that she really didn't think he had understood the general idea.