Three hours later, give or take ten minutes, Fred and George sat scheming in their room. "So, what say we liven this place up a bit?" Fred asked his twin, the look on his face showing that he had a plan.
"No point," George muttered. "Mum and Dad and Ginny and Ron have seen everything already, Harry and Hermione nearly have, Luna seems off-limits, and there's no way we're doing anything to Tonks unless we've really got a death wish."
"Of course, you left out the one person who could be really entertaining with what I've got in mind," Fred smirked.
"Oh, yeah - Neville, isn't it? What are you thinking?"
"Recall the story we heard three years ago about what happened when a flock of Cornish pixies got loose in Lockhart's classroom?"
"Yeah, and your idea is?"
"We see what gnomes will do when set loose in the house. Brilliant, isn't it?"
"It is, so long as there's a way to make sure Mum and Tonks have no idea what's going on."
"I've got it covered. We're going to turn a few family heirlooms into guinea pigs and have those two go chase them down."
"That won't work. Accio guinea pig works, remember?"
"Well, it's not like we're telling them the heirlooms are guinea pigs or anything like that. All I'm going to say is that we transfigured them into something. Since we've never tried anything like that, it'll take them twenty minutes at least to figure out that the small animal running across the floor used to be a 150-year-old vase."
"We're missing something - what about Hermione's cat?"
"It's supposed to stay outdoors until further notice. Who knows - maybe it'll find some gnomes for us."
"This is brilliant."
"Operation Gnome Drop begins... NOW!"
---
"I could have sworn there was a vase on that table just a moment ago," Tonks mused, believing the chaos had messed with her mind.
"As could I," Molly Weasley said, carrying a tea tray into the front room. "In fact, a vase has been on that very table for as long as Arthur and I have had this house. Fred and George are going to catch hell for this, mark my words."
"Perhaps I could help find whatever the vase now is," Tonks suggested, trying to be unimposing. "I'd say it'd be a good idea to look for a flock of guinea pigs."
"That's not like them, though," Molly reasoned. "A flock of birds, maybe, but not guinea pigs."
Of course, she was dead wrong.
---
Twenty meters from the house, the twins stood near a rosebush that had somehow survived the damage they had previously done to it. Hermione's cat sat near them, purring contentedly. "What do you think she'll do when she finds out we trained her cat to find gnomes for us?" Fred asked. This was a part of the plan he hadn't worked out, so naturally he was a little nervous about it.
"Do you really think it'd be a good idea to TELL her?" George replied. "C'mon, Fluffy, catch us some gnomes."
"Okay, George - you stick here and watch until it's got a dozen or so for us. I'll go back in the house and keep everyone else out of our hair."
Fred was nothing if not brilliant, that much was for sure.
---
"What in the name of all good things did you do with my vase?" Molly Weasley snapped as Fred sauntered into the front room.
"What vase?" Fred asked, faking innocence. He knew it wouldn't work on his mother, but it was worth seeing if anyone else fell for it.
"The vase that used to sit on this table."
"Oh, THAT vase. George and I were practicing Transfiguration. He did that one, I think. Probably a guinea pig or something along those lines, but I wasn't watching."
"I knew it," Tonks muttered, sending a knowing look at Molly and Fred. "I say we try to find them the non-magic way - it'll give us something to do, at the very least."
---
Ten minutes later, while nearly everyone else was scouring the house for guinea pigs, George sneaked in the back door. In his hand was a canvas bag that held ten unhappy gnomes, all of whom apparently lived in or under the rosebush. He slipped into the kitchen, undid the knot on the bag, and watched as the gnomes each went off in a different direction.
---
The effect was instant. "Yowch," Luna screeched, feeling a small bite on her finger. At first she assumed it was a guinea pig, as she had her hand stuck under a couch, but then she looked. It was not a guinea pig; instead, it was a very perplexed-looking gnome. "I didn't know the twins kept pet gnomes," she said, and seven pairs of eyes were staring at her.
"They don't," Ginny said, shaking her head. "They tried once, a few years ago, but Mum didn't like it. When I get my hands on them, though..." her voice trailed off as George entered the room, the canvas bag still in his hands.
"Has anyone seen some gnomes?" he asked, not noticing the piercing looks on everyone's faces. "I was going to get rid of them, but somehow they made it out of the bag."
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Molly asked, turning from the china cabinet to face the twins.
---
A/N: Please review and thank you if you have.