Lee Jordan looked warily at the box.
"I don't know boys. What did you say this does again?"
"Oh," Fred sighed as George finished wrapping, "Nothing too serious. Just a temporary location destabilizaion spell. I'm thinking of calling it the Amaranthine Apparator. Course I might be overdoing it with the alliteration."
His friend, and longtime conspirator, seemed less than enthused. George put a hand on Lee's shoulder.
"Relax Lee. It's not going to hurt him, it's just….going to give him a little jump. And maybe give us an afternoon off. It's like, 'Here you go Oliver. The whole team wanted to wish you a happy birthday.'" He passed the box off to Fred.
"Thanks George. What a kind and thoughtful gesture but I'm really cutting back to stay fit for our matches. Oh, well, maybe just one…" Fred pantomimed tipping the whole thing in his mouth. "Oy, how did I get to the Shrieking Shack? What am I doing in the Great Hall? When did I go to Honeydukes?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's all just a bit of harmless fun. Of course, we still need to work out the delivery. I'm not too keen on finding out what Oliver's idea of retaliation is."
The three boys looked at the package. It looked harmless, if you didn't know who it came from. The wrapping paper was a thick, high quality kind in a lovely olive green and George had tied it with a blue velvet ribbon.
"How does it look?"
Lee glared uncertainly out of the corner of his eye. If Oliver had them do the things they had done when he was happy, what would he do when he was angry?
"And what do you think your captain will do when he gets back? Late night practices? Lunchtime practices? What if your mum finds out?"
The twins looked at each other and then back at Lee. George was scowling, one hand on his hip and the other was pointing at Fred.
"Fred Ignatius Weasley! What were you thinking? Do you think that magic is to be played with?"
"Of course, Mum. Everything is to be played with."
"Ooooo," George/ Molly shook his finger at friend. "Don't you get smart with me! You go throwing your magic about and you're going to wind up in front of an Inquisitor trying to explain why there's a hole in the middle of London."
"That would never happen. Give us a little more credit," Fred replied. "We don't do death, dismemberment or destruction; just a little wide-scale mayhem."
Lee picked up the box and felt the weight of it in one palm. It felt like a million suicide drills. He couldn't help but think that if Fred and George put half the work into studying as they did into their "side business", they'd be top of the class. The two of them scared him a bit, but every genius was touched by madness.
"Alright, no harm in it I suppose."
He tucked the package under his arm, feeling like there was in fact great harm in it. But every day with the Weasleys was an adventure. The next game wasn't until next Thursday. It could have been coincidence that he had nightmares every night that week, but when he got it from under his bed that day, Lee could swear the box was starting to glow. Everyone was buzzing with excitement as they headed down to watch Gryfindor wallop Slytherin. There was a particular vicious edge today. Even on the best of days, the two houses could barely stand each other so any chance to work out some aggression was a welcome break.
"Hey, lookin' good Angelina! You must have used an imperius curse because I'm under your spell."
Her eyes rolled like marbles but a few of her friends smiled at him and laughed. The stands were filling up but he made a beeline straight to the locker rooms. Fred and George saw him first. Their eyes searched for the package. Lee patted his stomach where he had tucked Oliver's present. Everyone was still chatting in little groups so now seemed as good a time as any.
"There he is, the man of the hour!"
God, Lee thought, who talks like that? You absolute Cack.
Oliver grasped Lee's hand. Neither were sure whether he was going for a one-armed hug or a high-five, but he decided on a handshake.
"I'm a total wreck," He whispered conspiratorially. "We've been running drills non-stop but this match is a toss-up."
"Don't talk like that. You're going to crush that Slytherin scum. This is the greatest team yet!"
His smile said confidence but his eyes were not so sure.
"You're Oliver Wood, ain't ya? The same man that would rather lose his limbs than a game? Does anyone want it more than you? Are you going to let those Slythiworms beat us?"
"Over my dead body they will!"
This was a man he recognized; his accent thick and his eyes fiery. They shared a few jabs, just to get good and riled.
"It's almost time for the game. I oughtta motivate the troops. Thanks, Lee."
"I almost forgot. A few fans wanted me to give you something."
The package had held up remarkably well. Oliver seemed touched and it almost made Lee take it back.
"Ya fucking neep. Get out of here and stop giving me things, I've got a job to do."