Chapter 9
The silence was unbearable. Harry wanted to say something but he found that his mouth would not work. Finally, Mrs. Weasley spoke.
"I love it, dear," Mrs. Weasley said with a wide smile. "Just warn me before you go making these changes."
"Yes, ma'am, of course," said Shannon. "How about we do it at ten tonight?"
"Yes, please do it before Arthur gets home," Mrs. Weasley said. "Well let's get packing. Now where did I put those boxes? We're going to need something to put all of our shrunken things into."
"I have bags we can use, mum," Bill said.
"Oh good," Mrs. Weasley said.
Bill Disapparated and was back within seconds. He handed each person a bag and they proceeded to their room.
"Shannon, I think Fred and George need their voices back to do this," said Ron.
"Oh fine," Shannon said removing the bottles from her necklace. "But no more booms or bangs. Just drink the liquid inside and you'll have your voices."
The twins did as Shannon instructed and soon they were shrinking everything in their room. It didn't take very long to shrink and gather everything in the house.
As they waited for the sun to go down, they sat outside talking and playing a game that Shannon had learned in America. This game was Truth or Dare. They sat in a large circle so that they could see each other. The circle went Shannon, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Harry, Hermione, and back to Shannon.
"This is how Truth or Dare goes," said Shannon. "I'll start by asking someone if they want a truth question or do they want a dare."
"So if you choose truth you have to answer the question truthfully?" said Ginny.
"Exactly and when a dare comes up, please be nice to that person," Shannon said. "No mean or embarrassing dares or any truth questions that make someone break a promise they made to someone. Shall we begin?"
"Sure," said Hermione.
"Okay we'll go to the left," said Shannon looking at Ginny. "Ginny, truth or dare?"
"Um...truth," Ginny said.
"How many boyfriends have you ever had while attending Hogwarts?" asked Shannon.
Ginny's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Three," she said.
"Now you ask Ron," said Shannon.
"Okay," Ginny said turning to her older brother. "Truth or dare, Ron?"
"Dare," decided Ron.
"Um...I dare you to not speak until ten tonight," said Ginny with a grin.
"Uh-oh," Hermione said. "How is Ron suppose to ask Fred?"
"He's going to have to write it down," said Bill as a sheet of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink appeared out of thin air. "Should we take Ron's voice away so that he can actually perform this dare?"
"Yes," Fred and George said.
"Okay, open your mouth, Ron," Shannon said taking out her want. "Vocal Extract."
Ron opened his mouth and a pale blue mist slowly wafted out. Shannon held out her hand and a small bottle appeared with the initial 'R' clearly marked on the front. The pale blue mist entered the bottle and became liquid once the cork stopper was firmly placed in the top. Then, Shannon placed the small bottle on her necklace and they continued.
It was now Ron's turn and he quickly wrote, "Truth or Dare?"
Fred thought for a moment and said, "Truth."
Quickly, Ron wrote, "Where did you and George get the money to start your joke shop during the summer of your six year."
"From a friend," Fred said.
"Does that count?" asked Ginny. "Or does he have to tell us who gave it to them?"
"That's the truth right, Fred," said Shannon.
"Yes," Fred said.
"Then it's valid," said Shannon. "Ron didn't ask who gave them the money. He just asked where did they get the money. If you want to know something specific, be specific in your question. Ok, Fred, your turn."
"Truth or dare?" Fred asked George.
"Dare," said George, his eyes bright.
Fred thought for a moment and then said, "I dare you to go two days without your voice."
George's eyes narrowed as he said, "Fine."
"Vocal Extract," said Shannon pointing her wand at him.
As George opened his mouth, a dark maroon mist wafted out and went into a small bottle sitting in the palm of Shannon's hand. Once the cork was placed in the top, the mist turned into a dark maroon liquid. Quickly, Shannon placed the small bottle on her necklace.
"Your turn, George," smiled Shannon.
George took the parchment, quill, and ink from Ron and wrote, "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," Bill said.
George gave him a sly smile as he quickly wrote, "I dare you to go without your voice for two days."
"I should have known," Bill said turning to Shannon.
"Vocal Extract," Shannon said pointing her wand at him.
Bill opened his mouth and a dark blue mist wafted out. Once inside the bottle, Shannon corked it and placed it on her necklace. Bill then took the writing supplies and turned to Charlie.
"Truth," Charlie said before Bill could write something down. "Come on, hurry up."
"What gave you that scare on your left shoulder?" wrote Bill. "You know the two holed one."
"A gardening tool," said Charlie.
"That scar," said Shannon putting her hand to her lips.
"Truth or dare, Harry?" asked Charlie.
"Er...truth," said Harry.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Charlie.
"Yes," Harry said.
Everyone looked at Harry with astonished looks. Harry could feel his cheeks reddening as they watched him.
"Okay, Harry, it's your turn," said Shannon breaking the silence.
"Truth or Dare," said Harry turning to Hermione.
"Truth," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes.
"Um...were you jealous of Cho for receiving a lot of my attention while she and I were together?" Harry asked.
"No," Hermione said turning to Shannon. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," Shannon said with a sly smile.
"I dare you to take away Fred, Harry, and Charlie's voices until tomorrow night," said Hermione.
"Okay," Shannon said looking at each of them. "Fred first."
Fred glared at Hermione and reluctantly opened his mouth.
"Vocal Extract," Shannon said.
A light maroon colored mist wafted out of his mouth and into the small bottle with a large 'F' clearly printed on the front. Once it was corked, Shannon set it in her lap and turned to Charlie.
"I'll get you for this, Hermione," Charlie said opening his mouth.
A light blue mist wafted out of his mouth and into a small bottle labeled with a large black 'C' on the front. Once it was corked, it, too, joined Fred's voice.
"Your turn, Harry," Shannon said opening her hand to reveal a small bottle with a large 'H' printed on it.
Harry opened his mouth and a green mist wafted out. Once the mist was in the bottle, it changed into an emerald green liquid. Shannon corked it and placed it with the others.
"Okay, Ginny," said Shannon as she stringed the bottles onto her necklace. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare," said Ginny.
Shannon looked back at the house. "I dare you to go inside and grab each person a Butterbeer," she said.
Ginny gave her a mischievous look as she stood up and hurried into the house. They waited only a couple minutes before the youngest Weasley came running outside back outside with an arm full of bottles. As she sat down, Shannon and Ron began to disperse the drinks.
"Did you get caught?" asked Shannon.
"Almost," Ginny said. "Mum was in the kitchen cooking cookies when she needed to do something in the other room. I had just grabbed one last Butterbeer when she came back, but I heard her coming and was able to close the door and be out of their before she noticed me."
"You're just as bad as your brothers," accused Shannon with a smile. "Good job."
"Thank you," Ginny said beaming with pride.
"Shall we do something else before all of us are voice less?" asked Hermione.
The guys all looked at her and frowned. "I think your right," said Ginny. "Let's go inside and help mum."
"That's a very good idea," said Shannon. "See you guys later."
Hermione, Ginny, and Shannon stood up and strolled off back to the house leaving the guys to their own pleasures. Bill, who still had the parchment, quickly wrote down an idea he had.
"We need to get those bottles away from her," Bill wrote.
"But how do we get them away from her," Fred wrote.
As the hours passed the guys devised a plan to retrieve their voices back. Mrs. Weasley found this to be a very wonderful change of pace. The peace and quiet that filled the house seemed to change her into a completely different person. Her face looked brighter and she seemed to look several years younger.
As the ladies helped Mrs. Weasley bake, the guys gathered in Ron's room and talked- or more like wrote- about their plan. It was almost dinnertime, and the girls had retreated to Ginny's room to talk.
"We'll wait until they head down for dinner," wrote Bill. "We'll use our wands to levitate the necklace from around Shannon's neck."
"I thought we were going to use the sleeping spell," Ron wrote. "That way we don't have to worry about Shannon using anything against us."
"Good point," wrote Bill.
"We can't cast any spells since we don't have our voices," wrote Fred.
Ron and Harry looked at each other and smiled. "We know how to get it," wrote Harry as he turned towards where his trunk use to sit. "We shrunk my trunk."
"Well let's think of something quick," wrote George. "Charlie, you share the bed with her at night."
Charlie looked at his younger brother with a puzzled look. Once he realized what George was talking about, he shook his head vigorously. They all looked at him.
"That's not an option," Charlie wrote. "She'd give me boils and then leave if I tried it. Then we wouldn't get our voices back for a long time."
Then they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice call up to them that dinner was ready. They all marched out of the room with sorrowful looks on their faces. As they reached the stairs, the door to Ginny's room opened and the girls marched out. Each had changed their outfits and looked very different. They gave them looks of amazement.