A/N: I know I'm not the first person to do this, but I figured, why not try anyway? Also, this story is rated for corporal punishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
"There he is, Forge," Fred Weasley whispered. He and his twin, George, were lurking just outside the doorway of their older brother Percy, who was sitting on his bed reading, his long legs stretched out in front of him. "Just look at him, reading his favorite book..."
"...with not a care in the world," finished George.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah. That prat needs to pay for snitching on us."
Earlier that day, the twins had crept into the kitchen with the intention of sneaking some biscuits from the jar on the counter. Fred had climbed on top of George in order to reach it and had been just about to grab a biscuit when he'd heard a noise from the doorway. He'd quickly jumped down from George's shoulders, and both boys had turned around to find Percy standing there, a smug smile on his thin face and his arms crossed over his chest.
Please don't do it, George had silently prayed; unfortunately, that prayer had not come true, for Percy had taken a deep breath and shouted, "MOTHER!" while pointing at the twins.
Molly had immediately rushed in, glaring at the sight of her twin sons in front of the biscuit jar. "Fred and George Weasley! What do you two think you're doing?! You know the rule - nobody touches those biscuits till after dinner!" With that she'd seized Fred and George by the ears and dragged them to their room, where she'd ordered them to stay until dinnertime.
Now, as the seven-year-old boys continued to spy on Percy, they took a moment to concoct the perfect prank to pull on him. The only problem was, they would need Ron's help and it would take a lot to get his consent - for as much as Ron disliked Percy, he wasn't willing to risk getting into trouble with his mother.
"Hang on," whispered Fred. "I think I know how we can pull this off. But first we'll need Dad's wand..."
Meanwhile, Arthur had just finished talking to Amos Diggory through the fireplace and was just about to head out to his shed to make some improvements to an electric juicer he'd recently procured when he realized his wand was nowhere to be seen. Strange, he thought. I could've sworn it was on the table. At that moment he heard voices coming from the sitting room. He immediately went to investigate - and his ears reddened with anger at the sight before him.
Ron and Fred were sitting on the floor and facing each other while George had a wand pointed at their linked hands - a wand Arthur recognized as his own wand.
"Ronald Weasley," said Fred. "Do you promise to do anything me and George tell you to do?"
"FRED! GEORGE! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Arthur stormed into the sitting room and forcefully pried his wand from George's fingers. "HAVE YOU NO IDEA WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?!"
Fred and George looked up at their father, shocked. They had never seen him fly into a rage like this; it was usually their mother who yelled. "You two stay right there," Arthur told them before rushing upstairs. He reappeared a few seconds later with an old belt and proceeded to give each of the twins twenty lashes, starting with George.
"You - must - never - do - that - again - do - you - understand - me?!" he shouted, whacking George's bottom with each word. When he was done he started on Fred. "And - if - I - ever - catch - you - playing - with -my - wand - again - you - will - be - in -even - bigger - trouble!" Fred and George were both sobbing uncontrollably by now, and Ron was hiding fearfully behind the sofa.
"To your room, NOW!" yelled Arthur, and the still-crying twins hurried up to their room, rubbing their sore bottoms. "You are both grounded for a month! And no pudding for a month!" His expression softened as he then turned to Ron, who was still trembling and crying quietly. "Come on out, Ron."
Ron sniffled and shook his head vigorously.
"Ron, you're not in trouble. Come on out." Very slowly, the five-year-old boy stepped out from behind the sofa, his face streaked with tears.
"T-they were g-gonna m-make me do it," sniffled Ron.
"I know, son," his father replied, giving him a gentle hug. "And I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't usually spank my children, but Fred and George needed to learn the error of their ways. And Ron, next time your brothers try to get you to do something dangerous, just say no, all right?" Ron nodded. "Now let's go to the kitchen for some pumpkin juice; that'll make you feel better."
As the two of them were sitting at the table drinking their juice, Ginny appeared in the doorway clutching her stuffed hippogriff. "Fred and George are in their room crying," she informed them. "I asked them what was wrong but they told me to go away."
"They'll get over it," her father reassured her; he decided it was better she didn't know what had actually happened. "Would you like some pumpkin juice too?" Ginny nodded happily and went to sit next to Ron.
Molly, who had been outside tending to the chickens, came in a few minutes later; Arthur quickly led her to the sitting room to talk. "What's going on?" she asked. "What did Fred and George do this time?"
"Well..." began Arthur before whispering something into his wife's ear, and not five seconds later...
"WHAAAAAAAAT?!"
The worst part was, Fred and George never did get to prank Percy that day.