DISCLAIMER!!: EVERYTHING ISN'T MINE!! EXCEPT FOR THE FLOATING MICROPHONE, RANDOM PEOPLE IN THE CROWD, AND THE UNNAMED DEPARTMENT STORE WHICH SPEAKS IN ALL CAPITALS AND PUTS TWO EXCLAMATION POINTS AT THE END OF EVERY SENTENCE!!
AUTHOR'S NOTE!!: I'VE FINALLY UPDATED, AND HERE IS THE LATEST PRESSING LITTLE QUESTION!! I HOPE IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT!! PLEASE REVIEW!!
Those Pressing Little Questions7- Long-Term Effects
Why does Ron Weasley hate maroon, but get a sweater and socks in it every year?
Molly Weasley was sick of blue. She was sick of red. She couldn't stand yellow. There was no possibility in green. And orange was completely out of the question.
There are disadvantages in having a large number of children. But where others might think the most pressing of these would be finding enough money to feed them all, or taking care of them all, Molly was facing a very different problem.
She had given birth to another baby boy, and, as usual, she was going to decorate everything of his in a color. Bill was orange, Charlie's room was completely yellow, Percy's was red, Fred was blue, and George was surrounded by green. Now the problem was that baby Ronald was color-less. What color could she give him?
Purple? That looks awful on a boy.
White? Too easy to stain.
Black? How plain.
Aquamarine? Too close to blue and green.
Brown? That would never do.
Molly was out of colors. There were so many colors that just wouldn't work. Well, she wasn't getting anywhere worrying herself out at home. She would go shopping, and find a color that suited Ronald.
Putting Ronald in the very worn baby carriage, Molly Weasley used Floo Powder to travel to Cimmera's, a large department store. Blinking as the room came into view, Molly was left in a room with a green fire crackling merrily behind her and a roomful of confused customers ahead. Pushing her way through, she walked through the store, looking for the right department.
Wand care and repair (does the wand perform any better?)... Building tools (Oh, I'd better not let Arthur get over here)... Pesticides and pet care (They're selling dragon food?!)... Household Accessories (Of course they're accessories, they can't sell houses here... oh, this is where they'll sell what I'm looking for.)
Molly Weasley turned the baby carriage into the isle and passed the paint, picture frames, pillows, and oddly shaped rubber items you could place around your house. Getting to the cloth section, she stopped.
SALE!! SALE!! YOU CAN'T RESIST!!FROM EVERYONE'S FAVORITE DEPARTMENT STORE COMES THE BEST DEALS EVER!!
HERE WE HAVE WONDERFUL BOLTS OF MAROON CLOTH!! ISN'T THAT JUST THE BEST COLOR FOR HOME DECORATION?!! IN FACT, IF YOU CONTINUE, YOU'LL FIND EVERYTHING MAROON IS... 50 OFF!! WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY TO RE-DECORATE THE HOUSE!! SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!
THIS AD IS HERE TO ADVERTISE THIS ONE-TIME SALE FROM EVERYONE'S FAVORITE DEPARTMENT STORE, THE ONE THAT ALWAYS USES ALL CAPITALS AND PUTS TWO EXCLAMATION POINTS AFTER EVERY SENTENCE!! EVERYTHING'S GOING FAST, SO BUY NOW!!
This very large ad was backed up by a floating microphone, which was reading the sign again and again with such enthusiasm that you could hear the double exclamation points after every remark.
"...IN FACT, IF YOU CONTINUE, YOU'LL FIND EVERYTHING MAROON IS... 50 OFF!!" called the microphone before turning to Molly. "DO YOU WANT SOMETHING?!!"
"Um..." said Molly, rubbing her ears. She looked at the maroon cloth. It was a nice color, not really close to anything else she'd picked. And it was cheap... "Can you show me what other items you have in this color?"
"OF COURSE!!" said the microphone. "WHY DON'T YOU COME THIS WAY, MADAM?!!" Are those two exclamations even grammatically correct? wondered Molly. But, leaving her baby carriage by the very large ad, she followed the floating microphone.
Ronald Weasley looked at the ceiling without interest. It wasn't very interesting, after all, being all grey. Struggling, Ronald somehow made the baby seatbelt weaken its hold, until he could crawl out of the very uncomfortable position to look around. A very big W was right in front of him. Ronald reached out his little hands to try and pick at the paper.
No one watched him reach. Subsequently, no one saw him tumble out of the baby carriage.
Molly, on the other hand, was filling a shopping cart full of many things- maroon pillows, maroon wallpaper, maroon crib coverings, maroon comforters, maroon carpeting...
"Where's Ronald?" she asked distractedly.
"YOUR CHILD IS BY THE VERY LARGE AD ADVERTISING MAROON!!" the microphone advised.
Molly Weasley ran to the empty baby carriage and started to freak. Within seconds, the entire section was in turmoil.
"A lost child?"
"Oh, let's look for the kid. Can we, dad?"
"EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL!!"
"You could scar the kid for life, you know."
Ronald Weasley heard the noise and began to whimper. It was so loud... and there was all this maroon... too much maroon... Still, no one noticed the baby-shaped lump wrapped up in the large bolts of maroon cloth at the bottom of the maroon display.
"Ronald? Ronald, where are you?"
"Is that the kid's name? Ronald? Ronald! Ronald!"
"Sounds like that guy on Muggle TV- what's his last name again, McDonald?"
"Hey, kid! Ronald, or whatever! Where are you? Hey, how old is this child, anyway?"
"Um... maybe we should stop in a different section, mom. This one looks a little... packed."
Maroon... maroon... Ron couldn't take in anymore. A suddenly hushed department store heard the cries of a very distressed redheaded baby.
"Ronald? Oh, Ronald, my sweet, there you are!" cried Molly, hurriedly unwrapping Ron from the cloth. Ron cried harder, now being blind and unhappy.
"Is that the kid? In a bolt of cloth?"
"Hmmph. Let's get out of here."
"Excuse me, madam," said a man, tapping Molly on the shoulder. "I am a child psychologist, and I would like to inform you that the time your child has spent in the cloth may have adverse effects- allergies to maroon, for instance..."
"Psychologist?" asked Molly. "Psycho, more like it!" She returned to comforting baby Ron, who had finally stopped crying.
"Hmmph," said the psychologist grumpily. "See, Sparky?" he asked one of the voices in his head. "You try to help people, and this is what you get."
"Quite right," the child psychologist, being Sparky, answered himself.
The rest of the crowd backed away very slowly, and a few people from St. Mungo's began to inch closer.
"THANK GOODNESS YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR CHILD!!" said the microphone, momentarily forgotten. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURPOSE YOUR ITEMS, NOW?!!"
"What? Oh, sure," said Molly, distracted from Ron for a few seconds. Then she turned back to Ronald. "See, Ronald? Look at all the things Mommy's bought for you!"
Looking at the numerous maroon items, Ronald Weasley burst into tears.