A/N: Sorry, took a bit longer to write this than I was hoping. My muse took a decidedly naughty turn and that just wouldn't fit in this story! No, I didn't indulge my muse, so don't bother looking for naughty fics from me! :sticks out tongue: Someone asked me why Hermionewould have two boyfriends. Who wouldn't wantboth Fred and George? :gets a wide-eyed look: You can't have one without the other, ya know. The whole twins being a package deal, double your pleasure, double your fun and all that good stuff! I am an official Hermione/Twins shipper. Sorry to those that don't agree with that tripairing. :smiles: On with the story!
A black-eyed and tousled George Weasley was dragged into the dining room by Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Moody grunted, dropping the twin down onto someone's feet. George looked up, grinning when he saw a bruised Fred tied to a chair and gagged. Fred returned the grin around the gag.
"I always knew you were a kinky old coot, Mad-Eye." George mentally added another bruise to his count when Alastor whacked him upside the head for that comment.
"Now as fun as that was, you two aren't leaving me alone with these monsters." His magically eye swivelled around, taking in the kids still running rampant around the dining room. Thankfully he had sealed it before chasing down the twins. "First things first, we need to get these brats identified, they aren't as easy to tell apart at this age."
Just then a tiny mew came and the scratching sound of claws on wood caused Alastor to look down. The vein in his forehead throbbed again as he observed the tiny ginger fluffball with a bottlebrush tail using his wooden leg as a scratching post.
George chuckled and picked up the kitten. "Heh... Umm.. So I wonder who gave Crookshanks a biscuit?" Without waiting for an answer, George hopped up and untied Fred all in the same move. "Listen up kiddies! Now that you're at the Fantabulous Forge and Gred's Daycare, we need you to line up so we can all learn each other's names!" He held Crookshanks up to help catch the attention of the little girls in the room.
Fred jumped right in, holding up name tags that he had conjured on the spot. "I am the Fantabulous Gred, and this is my brother Forge." He pointed at George. "When we learn your name, we'll write it down and even give you a nifty nickname."
As George introduced the kids to Meanie Moody and Crooks, Fred cast several quick accio spells and soon had all of their wands in his possession. He handed these over to Moody for safe keeping. He was glad that their wands hadn't shrunk with their clothing when the chocolates had taken affect. Once that was done, he turned to help George. Kneeling, Fred found himself looking into the chocolate eyes of his girlfriend...
"This place doesn't look like any daycare I've ever seen before. Aren't we a bit old for daycare? We should all be in school, you know." The little girl put her hands on her hips. "My name is Hermione Jane Granger by the way." She proceeded to spell her name out for Fred as if he were a simpleton.
Fred couldn't help but share a smile with George before turning back to Hermione. "Well thank you, Miss Granger. I believe you have just earned your nickname." Pretending to use his wand as a pen, Fred wrote a name tag and pinned it to her blouse. "Now little Wildcat, think you can hold onto Crooks for us while we take care of the others?" He prayed she had been a teacher's pet even at her current young age.
"I suppose so, though I'm sure we're supposed to be in school." Hermione narrowed her eyes at Fred, snatching Crookshanks into her arms where the kitten immediately melted against his mistress though neither currently knew that. "I'll just go help round up the others... Though you might want to help those two out of their costumes, they seem scared." Pointing at little Neville and little Charlie, Hermione turned her nose into the air and swept off to round up the others.
Taking their mini-girlfriend's advice, Fred and George went over to Neville and Charlie. Taking a moment after picking the 'costumed' kids up, George whistled loudly. "Weasleys front and center!" As if used to such summons, three little boys and a little girl were soon standing in front of the twins.
"You look kinda like our dad. But not really." The twins looked horrified down at little Ginny. She grinned up at them with a sweet little angel expression. "I'm Ginny and this is my brother Ron." She pointed at the little boy that looked perhaps a year older than her.
Charlie lifted his head, the shimmery blue skin and long, dark blue hair and spikes making him seem anything but a Weasley. "You can't be Ron." He narrowed his crimson eyes at the boy named Ginny called 'Ron'. "Ron's just a baby, Mum only had him a month ago." His eyes seemed to catch fire and he looked at the boy with longer red hair. "Bill! That's not Ron, is it?"
"Bill?" Little Ron sounded outraged. "Bill's taller! And he's supposed to be in school! I'm gonna tell mum!"
George gnawed on his lower lip, he should have known something like this would happen. Sharing a glance with his twin, they both knelt down so that the Weasleys and Neville were in a huddle. "Listen, we all know about magic, right? Well something happened and things have changed. That's why Charlie here looks like a dragon." He carefully stretched out one of Charlie's leathery wings. "And why Neville here looks like a bear." He patted the cub's head. "But see, Wildcat over there." Here he pointed to where Hermione was talking to little Harry and little Kingsley. "Her parents are muggles and we haven't had a chance to tell her about magic yet. We'll explain later, okay?"
When Neville and the Weasleys nodded, Fred smiled. A wave of his wand and they all had nametags... Some of which had nicknames.
"Blu... Blood...Paw! That's so gross!" Ginny made a face.
"Socks! Ha! They named me after socks!"
"FireEye? Wicked!"
"No fair! I don't have a nickname." Bill pouted.
Before much more could be said, a shrill screech came from across the room. They turned to see a terrified Hermione staring at a grey tabby kitten and a little black haired boy with emerald eyes fainting.
"She turned into a cat and killed him!" Hermione screeched.
Fred and George shared another look. Rolling their eyes, they said one word in unison.
"McGonagall."
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The kids all now had nametags and were seated around the dining room table that was suspiciously free of chocolate chip biscuits. The rest of the feast was still there, though and the kids were eating as they listened to 'Forge and Gred' explain things. Of course trying to make a five to nine year old child understand that they really should be anywhere from sixteen to a hundred and fifty years old isn't an easy task...
"Magic isn't real..." That was Harry, looking very skittish and ready to fly off at the drop of a knut. Good thing he didn't yet know he was capable of doing that. "Where's Aunt Petunia?"
Fred considered this question carefully. "Harry... I know this won't be easy for you, but you don't live with your aunt and uncle anymore. You actually live here."
A gasp came from one of the other boys and Fred turned to see Sirius staring at him. "But... This is my house!" Tears started to well up in Sirius' grey eyes. "If he lives here, where do I live?" His lower lip trembled.
Fred panicked, glancing quickly at George. George rolled his eyes at his brother and walked over. Taking a deep breath, he kneeled and hugged Sirius. "Don't worry, Sirius. You live here too. We all live here..."
"Really?" Sirius sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Once he received a confirming nod from George, Sirius turned to Severus. "You hear that Sev! You finally get to live with me!"
Both George and Fred nearly fainted from shock when Severus cheered and threw his arms around Sirius. The two black haired boys did a little happy dance while the twins twitched as if mentally disturbed. Once the boys finished their dance, the twins turned back to the matter at hand.
"Now, Harry... And Hermione. I know this is a greater shock to you two because you come from non-magic families, but trust me, you two love it here."
Hermione, ever the shrewd young lady, narrowed her eyes at the twin and he couldn't help but gulp and take a step back. After all, he was well trained in Emergency Wizard Survival Tactics... "What do you mean we 'love' it here? I certainly don't remember being in this place before today. Don't you mean we 'will love' it here?" One of her brows raised questioningly.
Clearing his throat, George nodded. "Right... See, that's the other thing. A magic spell enchanted all of you. You're actually older... In some of your cases much older than you are at the moment." George looked around, nineteen young faces staring blankly at him while one stared off at one wall with a dreamy expression. At least some things never change...
"That's bloody stupid. You can't make someone younger." George gaped at his miniaturized girlfriend as a dangerous expression grew on her face. "I demand to be returned to my parents! If you return me now I'm make certain you aren't thrown into jail too long for kidnapping me!"
Fred, after watching for a few moments, decided to speak. "Hermione, dear... Do cats fly?"
Startled by the odd question, Hermione turned her best 'are you stupid?' look on Fred. "Of course they don't fly. Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby?"
"Possibly." Fred admitted easily. He whipped out his wand. "Windgardium Leviosa."
With the incantation, the orange fluffball feline that had been sitting next to Hermione on her chair rose into the air. Crookshanks didn't take too kindly to the sudden change and was hissing as he twisted around in place four feet above everyone's heads. Hermione gave a startled yelp and tumbled off the chair. Poor Harry looked as if he were about to faint again.
Wincing, Fred lowered the cat back down and went to check on Hermione. Helping her up, he knelt to look into her eyes. "Hermione. If cats don't fly, what do you call that?" He could see the battle in her eyes. She hated being proven wrong. Good thing she didn't seem to hear the snickers coming from some of the pureblood kids. "Trust me. I would never lie to you."
Giving Hermione a kiss on the forehead that thankfully sent the girl into a flustered blush and rendered her temporarily incapable of arguing. Fred was thankful for small favors.
"Now, everyone lives here..." Ok, so maybe he did lie from time to time, but he wasn't exactly going to send Albus, Minerva and Severus to live at Hogwarts in their condition!
"And everyone here is really a grown up." Not entirely true for Ginny and Luna who were still technically underage.
"We're trying to find a way to turn you back, so until then, we'll need all of you to help us."
Was George the only one to find it disturbing that Sirius and Severus were whispering to eachother while sending evil looks toward Hermione and Harry?
"Do you all think you can help us?"
Wasn't there supposed to be a charm on the house to keep the cricket chirps out of the building?
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The rest of dinner had gone surprisingly smoothly. Fred and George were quickly reminded that this was because the younger one was, the more sleep they required. Though they hadn't been able to laugh about it at the time, they would never forget finding Draco Malfoy slumped against the table with his perfect hair in the gravy. Though that could have been because Fred had slipped a mild sleeping potion into all of their goblets...
Having seen neither hide nor hair of Moody since the ex-Auror had vanished earlier, the twins were left to carry the sleeping kids up to their beds. Though this reminded them of yet another problem they had forgotten.
"George..."
"What is it, Fred?"
George had been holding Hermione since she had fallen asleep and didn't seem inclined to set her down. Fred didn't even question the paternal look on his twin's face since he knew it was on his own. If there was something Weasleys were good for, it was this type of situation.
"We need to come up with new sleeping arrangements. We can't exactly get through the wards on some of the rooms and I don't think Hermione or Ginny would appreciate waking up in their current beds."
Giving a reluctant sigh, George nodded. "Will stick the girls into the room Ginny and Hermione used back before the switch then."
Fred scooped Ginny up into his arms and the twins carried the girls up the stairs. "Wonder where Moody went off to." He looked around as if the paranoid Mad-Eye were going to appear at any moment.
"Dunno, but remind me to make sure we slip him one of those biscuits when this is all over." George placed Hermione on the bed, brushing her hair out of her face. Giving his girlfriend a kiss goodnight, he went back downstairs to collect one of the other girls.
Later, as they were finishing carrying the boys upstairs, George frowned when he realized he was carrying Severus Snape. "Am I going mental or was Sirius acting as if Snape was his best friend earlier?"
Giving a soft chuckle, Fred agreed. "We're going to have to find Colin's camera and take pictures. This will be good blackmail for later." After a few moments, he looked thoughtful. "Though I wonder what happened to cause them to hate eachother so much."
"The world may never know..."
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Meanwhile, in another part of the house, an sinister chuckle could be heard rumbling within the confines of a dark room...
A/N: Sorry this wasn't better. My muse has been acting strangely... And Iwas too lazy to run it through a spell check.I'll try to do a bit better in the next chapter. Oh yeah, I know I said thatsneak peek would be in this chapter, but I just plain changed my mind as I was writing. I'll add it in soon, promise!Please be kind..