In all fairness, when George left Fred with the kids, the first thing he did was to see if he could find Moody. His search only revealed the dim glow of at least half a million locking charms and ward on the door of the room Moody used when staying at Headquarters. Chuckling at the mental image of the old ex-Auror barricaded in his room, wand at the ready and magical eye scanning for any hint of the kids, George moved along swiftly. After all, one never could tell if Moody would have a ward set up for if someone lingered near his room too long...
Making his way into the room he was currently sharing with just his brother, George paused as a shrill scream came from downstairs. A huge grin split his face as the sound of all Hell breaking loose came from below. Walking the rest of the way into his room, he closed and locked the door before heading over to the lab he, Fred and Hermione had set up in the small adjoining room. According to Sirius when he gave them the room, the room used to be for a baby and the small adjoining room was for the nanny. The small room made the perfect lab for those that didn't mind working in crowded quarters.
Whistling softly, pausing to grin when the occasional loud noise came from below, George got to work on antidotes. He had to find an antidote for both the Chip Off The Old Block Chocolates and the Childish Antics Powder then find a safe combination of the two. This wasn't going to be easy when his thinking partner was currently being tormented. Allowing himself a laugh at Fred's situation, George settled himself down to work.
Several hours later, George's stomach informed him that Fred had yet to show up for their swap. He frowned down at the potions he was working with and headed to the door. Opening the door, George couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at the eerie silence coming from the house. In a place that currently had twenty kids racing around, it was too quiet.
Gulping, George secured the door to the room and made his way out into the house. There were a few articles of various clothing scattered here and there that hadn't been out before and he curiously ventured forth. Downstairs it seemed as if the kitchen had exploded, the mess seemed to be leading toward the library. Opening the doors, Geoge took in the scene, his eyes growing wide...
"What in the hell is going on?"
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Let us now turn back time several hours. Timeturners at the ready? Good...
All twenty of the youthened witches and wizards were staring at him much like the kids in the Children of the Corn movie that Hermione had taken the twins to see last summer...
"Umm... So who wants to play Exploding Snap?" Fred held out the deck hopefully.
Fred hoped that some day he would see the humor in watching twenty pairs of eyes narrow in unison as the kids rose from the table...
It seemed as if the Order members turned children were waiting for a signal as they stood. Fred became a bit more confident when they did nothing; though the way they stared still gave him the creeps. After all, they had only just 'met' eachother the previous day, right? They were still in the 'getting to know each other' stage, right? ... Right?
Whatever Fred may or may not have said to the twenty youngsters would never be heard as in the precise moment that he opened his mouth, the signal they were waiting for arrived... In the form of a small grey tabby cat leaping up onto the table. The cat soon shifted back into the form of Mini-Minerva and the little girl pointed a finger at Fred.
"Get him!"
The signal given, for apparently McGonagall's discovered ability to turn into a cat gave her the role of Leader, the children charged.
Fred turned to run, a rather girly shriek coming from his lips when he tripped over... Neville? How had the little bear boy managed to sneak into such a place when he wasn't watching? Fred never got a chance to find out as a large thump hit his back, knocking the wind out of him. Turning his head, he saw blue...
"Charlie?" He managed to get out between gasps for breath. "C'mon! It's your little brother Fred! You wouldn't hurt your baby brother, would you?"
The dragonoid boy lowered his fang filled muzzle to Fred's ear. "As far as I know, you're just pretending. I remember my baby brother being just that... A baby!"
In the stunned silence from Fred, he realized that he had completely lost track of the other kids. He saw a little blond girl saying something that sounded rather like 'disgusting' as Bill, Arthur and Remus threw food on the ground to claim the tablecloth. The tablecloth was ripped into shreds by Ginny, Hermione, Kingsley and Molly. Before he knew what they were about, Fred was bound by the makeshift ropes.
"Hey, you can't do this to me! You said you'd behave..." Like that was going to work...
"No we didn't." That serene sounding voice belonged to Albus. "We never did answer, we just looked at you." He gave an impish grin, his blue eyes twinkling slightly.
Struggling, attempting to see just how good these ropes were, Fred soon found himself being picked up by the two strongest of the kids: The Dragon-Hybrid Charlie and The Bear-Hybrid Neville.
"He's still a bit heavy..." Charlie commented, tottering slightly.
Fred couldn't help but feel a bit indignant. "Hey! Are you calling me fat?"
"Yes..."
"Oh, well as long as you realize I'm going to remember this when you're cured..."
"We need more strength here!"
"Can't you see we're busy?" That was Nymphadora who was leading some of the youngsters in carrying the food that hadn't been ruined to a 'safer' location.
Minerva looked about at her workers, having declared herself Queen of the proceedings as Princess Fleur sat and watched. "Are we witches or what?" The boys sent their 'Queen' glares. "And wizards..." The glares stopped. "Surely more of us have magic like me, Rumble and FireEye..." Apparently she liked the nicknames.
"Sure we do... Remember the nametags? I bet all of us given special nicknames can." That was Severus, pointing to the nametag he still wore with the Severus 'Nightshade' Snape legend.
"Oh yeah!" Minerva bounced a bit, clapping her hands. "That's great, everyone with nicknames try and turn into something."
Harry looked at his nickname. "It would be easier if we knew what our nicknames meant..." He didn't look as comfortable as the others. But since some of the kids had immediately started treating him like their hero when they learned his name the previous night, he was trying to fit in.
Fred, who had still been struggling against the surprisingly sturdy bindings, looked worried. "No... Some of you just liked nicknames when you were older. Think about it, Minerva... You didn't have a nickname, but you turned into a cat."
Frowning at this, Minerva looked down at herself. "Why didn't I get a nickname?"
For one horrible moment, Fred thought she was going to start crying. "You didn't like your nickname." He remembered a name Sirius called her sometimes and hoped it would work; he really couldn't stand girls crying... "You were called Whiskers, but you hated it..."
Minerva's frown deepened, she narrowed her eyes at Fred and pointed her finger at him. "Silence the infidel!"
Before Fred could say anything else, Hermione stuffed a roll into his mouth and tied it there with a strip of the tablecloth. He shot her a betrayed look, but since she was already skipping over to the self-elected Queen, there was little that could be done.
"You know, he might have known what the nicknames stood for..." That was Kingsley, looking amused as he helped Luna carry a rather large chunk of ham out of the room.
"I should have thought of that..." Minerva was distracted for a moment as Fleur said something in French. "Yes, that makes sense." She rounded on Hermione. "You heard her! Your nickname indicates a type of cat. Start thinking!"
No one seemed too concerned that Neville had gotten tired of waiting and had dropped Fred. Charlie, not to be outdone, dropped him as well. Both hybrid boys ignored Fred's muffled yelps as they turned to watch the Wildcat.
"Me? Do you have any idea how many kinds of cats there are?" Seeing that the Queen wasn't going to relent, Hermione huffed and started thinking... "How did you turn into a cat?" She hoped that Her Majesty would have some pointers.
"Dunno, just wanted to." Well that was helpful.
Little Hermione was rather cute as she tried to concentrate on various kinds of cats. Unfortunately, she wasn't getting anywhere... At least not until she had a hissy fit over her lack of progress. Her face had gone from concentration, to annoyance, to frustration, to fury in a matter of five minutes. When she hit fury, that was when her Animality hybrid form was triggered and she grew, shifting before the wondrous eyes of the others.
"Wicked!"
"Bloody brilliant!"
"Teach me!"
Hermione, startled by the sudden shouts, looked down at herself. She was a bit taller, a lot stronger looking, and had a tail! "Cool!" She flexed. "Now I can play with the boys!" This seemed to delight the girl and she skipped over to help Neville and Charlie.
"Onward!" Minerva led her group out of the dining room.
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In a dark room somewhere in the house...
"This is going to be wonderful... Soon I'll pay them back... I'll pay them all back!"
The evil laughter following that whispered statement went unheard...
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BONK!
"HAHAHA! Did you hear the sound his head made?" Charlie seemed delighted every time they bumped into a corner and Fred's head made the hollow bonking sound.
Fred didn't seem to appreciate his big brother's sense of humor... Not to mention he had been feeling a bit woozy since the third time Charlie had accidently bumped him into something!
"Oh look! We're here."
"Finally!"
Fred was unceremoniously dropped to the ground, facing into... The Library? He looked around, tables were laden with the food from the dining room and things had been pushed aside. A fire was burning merrily in the fireplace and... The portrait of Mrs Black was smiling as it talked to little Sirius and Severus?
Luna, Albus, Bill, Molly, Nymphadora and Harry soon arrived from their most recent assignments; their arms laden with various clothing from several wardrobes. Minerva was delegating members of her court. Apparently Ginny and Fleur were her Princesses while Ron, Draco and Bill were the Princes and, from the sound of things, she was going to hold a battle to determine the King!
Feeling a bout of laughter coming on, Fred nearly choked on the roll in his mouth before a rush of fear arose... Along with him! His carriers had picked him up again and before he knew it, Fred's ropes were threaded over a pole and he was set up near the fireplace! He couldn't help struggling as Neville and Charlie turned him on the improvised spit!
George! Fred tried telepathy. After all, twins were supposed to be able to manage that, right? Why was the voice in his head laughing at him instead of agreeing? George help! They're turning me into grilled Fred-ka-bobs down here!
Thankfully, Fred's career in Quidditch insured that such things as being turned around on a spit didn't make him dizzy and he was able to continue to watch the really rather fascination process of determining the King... All while trying to ignore the encouragement Mrs Black was giving to the kids for their attempts to cook him!
The Princesses and Princes were all regally adorned in various fancy garments that had been brought down from the bedrooms. The Queen, dressed in the fanciest of the oversized clothing, paced in front of several boys while her henchmen worked the spit and her henchwomen Hermione and Nymphadora kept the boys in line.
Sirius had abandoned his talk with his mother and was standing with Severus, Remus, Kingsley, Arthur, Colin and Harry in an effort to try their luck at becoming King. Molly was off to one side, writing some tips from Mrs Black as Sirius had asked her to and Albus had appointed himself as Supreme Mugwump to the Queen... Whatever that was! Luna had decided that she was the Queens spiritual advisor, a position that apparently Minerva liked as Luna was now garbed in almost as fancy oversized clothing as she wore!
Fred's spinning was stopped long enough for Charlie and Neville to adorn what Minerva called the HenchWear, this ended up being oversized green tee-shirts that looked like dresses on them. Nymphadora and Hermione were matching shirts and all four delegated 'Henches' had belts ripped from the tablecloth holding the shirts in place. Charlie didn't appreciate the wardrobe change, and ended up destroying his shirt before he managed to get his wings in place...
"Now, all those wishing to become my King must carry out several daring tasks..." Minerva stood atop one of the recliners, staring down at the line of boys. "Those of you with nicknames must find out what your nickname stands for..."
"I can tell you mind now." Remus piped up, looking bashful. "Mine has to do with the full moon... Cause I'm a werewolf."
Remus' confession brought gasps from all the other kids. These were soon followed with looks of awe and Remus found himself the center of attention which only made him blush and try to hide.
Minerva, suitably impressed, nodded. "Those that don't make King will all become Knights in the Royal army!"
Her declaration delighted the other boys. After all, being a knight was cooler than being King because they got to go out and do the cool quests while the King just sat on his lazy bum...
"For your first tasks... I need..." She paused to count the boys. "Seven different things, not found in this room, that are red!"
At her words, the boys scattered...
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Quite some time later, while Minerva and her royal court thought up tasks for the impending crowning, Fred had been forgotten. Charlie and Neville had gotten bored of cooking him and moved the spit just far enough away from the fire that Fred wouldn't get too hot... However, he was still dangling from the pole.
Half asleep, Fred only seemed to rouse when the kids cheered as the champions returned from various tasks and one by one the champions dropped out, becoming Knights as they failed their tasks... Finally, the loudnest cheer yet arose.
"I give you, King Colin!" Minerva kissed the new King on the cheek causing Colin to blush a bright red.
Somewhere during the coronation party, Minerva's attention finally wandered... This just happened to be when the fire turned green and a body came tumbling out of the fireplace, smacking into Fred.
"Fred! What the hell is going on in here? Who are all these kids?" Lee Jordan looked around, amazed at the scene that greeted him.
The twenty kids had gone silent as they stared at the newly arrived Lee. He gulped, noting that Fred seemed to be helplessly tied and took a step back. "Um, I'll just be going then, shall I?"
Colin raised a hand, finger pointing at Lee. "Stop him!"
The newly named Knights of the Cat pounced on Lee from all sides. Since they didn't have the items to build a second spit, they were forced to tie Lee to a chair. Lee, unaware that Fred had been in place for several hours, took it all as some simple game.
"So.. Did I come at a bad time?" Lee asked the gagged Fred, chuckling at the growl he received in response.
"No talking!"
Turning his head, Lee found himself looking into the familiar amber eyes of the twins' girlfriend. "Hermione? What happened to you?" He looked around, recognizing some of the more obvious children, such as the Weasleys and the hybrids. "What..." Lee never got to finish his question as he soon found a roll stuffed into his mouth by Nymphadora.
"He's cute." Nymphadora remarked, her skin turning a shade of black and her hair forming into dreadlocks until she was a mini-female-Lee.
Lee's cheeks burned at the comment and the use of Nymphadora, aka Shift's, powers. His slightly wild eyes looked around the room as Minerva stood atop a table.
Mrs Black was whispering something to the young witch and Minerva was agreeing. After a few minutes, she turned to face her court. "Now that we have crowned King Colin, we shall have a party!" With those words, Minerva threw cookies a handful of cookies into the air.
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It took less than an hour of the 'party' for Lee and Fred to decide that kids, when not properly supervised, were completely nutters. Though Fred may have come to that conclusion several hours before Lee...
Minerva's elegant ballroom style party lasted perhaps five minutes before Sirius and Severus started disco dancing in the middle of the room. Neither of the two adults in the room would ever know where the mirror ball came from, but somehow or another, one was hanging from the ceiling. The mirror ball seemed to have a strange effect on Remus that some of the other partying kids found amusing...
Remus was... Dancing... Butt naked... With pink warpaint streaking his body...
Apparently the other kids thought this was hilarious as they were cheering Remus along.
Neville and Nymphadora were curled up in a corner sleeping while Luna, Colin and Ginny looked as if they were going to be joining them soon. Minerva was praising the skills of her 'most energetic Knight' while Harry and Arthur danced with Molly. Fleur had decided that the party was too wild and was looking at the pictures in a book which Albus attempted to translate for the little French witch. Hermione was wrestling with Charlie, the two hybrids finding the game particularly amusing as much giggling was involved from both parties. Kingsley, Bill and Ron were eating like savages from the feast.
Minerva and Molly's shrill squeals of amusement and loud cheers soon revealed that someone else had joined Remus in his tribal dance... Little Draco Malfoy, his platinum blond locks, bouncing with soft angelic curls, wore nothing but purple war paint as he joined Remus in a wolfish dance beneath the sparkly mirror-ball.
And that was the scene that met George's stunned eyes when he finally emerged from his room...
A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. I know I had fun writing it! Though I was once again too lazy to send it through the spell check. :offers sweets to her reviewers: Whenever I think of little Minerva, I can't help but think 'Mini-Me' for some reason. Entirely due to her name, I'm sure. But still amuses me... Oh yeah, for those that haven't figured it out yet... Charlie and Neville still have their hybrid forms because they plan on taking the Advanced Animality Potion. They still have to be in their current hybrid forms about another month. I figured people would have noticed when I made that note in Hermione's notes...