Title: Beware of Potions

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Summary: Fred and George create a new product in the summer before their 6th year, but when one of them samples it, they find that it has far different effects than they'd hoped for.

Chapter Two (3398)

The next day dawned sluggishly. It wasn't foggy, and it wasn't raining; there was just a lingering mist about which made everything damp and depressing. This sort of weather didn't worry the residents of the Burrow though. Once the morning passed, it would clear up and be a nice, warm day.

George was just waking up, looking forward to breakfast. He hated it when they made their mum mad enough to make them miss dinner. It didn't happen often, but she always seemed to do it when there was something particularly delicious for dinner that night.

Fred was still asleep in the exact same position he had fallen asleep in. George could smell breakfast being finished downstairs and nudged his brother. Fred rolled his head over to look at George blearily.

"Whadya wan?" He asked, not even half awake.

"Breakfast smells about done. Coming?"

Fred just moaned and rolled back over, pulling the blanket up over his head. George rolled his eyes at him and then opened and shut the door quietly. He walked into the kitchen to find that the only person there was his mum.

She didn't even acknowledge his presence even though she walked right by him twice. He knew he'd have to apologize – again – for what happened if he wanted her to speak to him. If he didn't, she'd give him and his twin the silent treatment until they did. After a minute, he took a breath and asked quietly, "Mum?"

She set the frying pan down and turned to look at him.

He met her gaze for a moment before looking down and saying, "I'm sorry about yesterday. You were right – we shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry that we got you so worried."

He heard his mother sigh and looked up in time to see her walk over and hug him. "George, it's okay. I just want to make sure that you're all safe, and with you two doing things like that, it's hard to ensure that you'll even live to become of-age."

George smiled and replied, "I promise that we will."

His mum smiled at him and turned back to the food she had been preparing. "Feel free to sit down sweetie, breakfast will be done in a few."

"Breakfast?" An excited voice rang from the doorway.

"Yes, Ron, food," George said, smiling and shaking his head. Ron just sat down and waited patiently. Well, at least as patiently as he could when there was food involved.

"Where's Fred? Isn't he coming down?" Molly asked.

"He's still sleeping," George replied as more Weasleys and other guests wandered over to sit at the kitchen table.

"Ah well," she muttered and then called to everyone, "breakfast is done! And if everyone will finish quickly, we'll be able to head out to Diagon Alley today."

The distinct sound of joy sprouted up from everyone at that information. Molly had decided that everyone had been cooped up in the house for too long, and that the perfect way to solve that was to take them out for a day. Then, when they got back, she would make them do the chores they missed.

Breakfast went by a lot better than last night's dinner had. Ron and Ginny were having fun giving George a bad time about last night, while Percy was still adding his opinions about their actions.

"Percy, nobody really listens to you, so why, and I mean why, do you keep talking?" George asked impatiently, looking across the table at his older brother.

Percy just sniffed indignantly at him and went back to eating his eggs. After a few more comments about Perfect Percy the Prefect, breakfast was over and everyone went to get their things.

"George, go get your brother, tell him we're leaving in five minutes," his mum told him.

He walked upstairs and went into their room, only to find Fred in the same position as before. Shaking his brother's shoulder, he said, "Fred. Get up."

Fred rolled over and asked, "Whas gonon? Lemme lone."

"Fred, are you feeling all right?"

Fred opened his eyes a bit more and looked at George. "I'm alright… so what's going on then?"

"We're going to Diagon Alley."

Fred moaned slightly and sat up, reaching over to grab his shoes. "Is mum still angry?"

"Nah, I apologized for us. The basic line of her response was 'please survive until you're seventeen.' But since she still hasn't seen you, you might want to be on the lookout, just in case."

"Great," Fred muttered, standing up. A moment later they were both walking downstairs and were standing in front of the fireplace with the rest of the group.

"Alright kids, we're going to go to the Leaky Cauldron, and then you can go look at the shops – but you have to stay with someone," Molly said, holding the bowl of floo powder out to them. Percy went first, followed by Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny.

George and Fred walked over to her and both of them grabbed some powder. Molly looked at Fred carefully and he said, "Do you still remember what George told you this morning?"

"Yes, Fred, I'm not so old that I wouldn't remember."

"Well, ditto to what he said then," Fred said, smiling slightly at her.

"Ah boys," she said, hugging them both, but pulled back and held them at arm's length as she said, "Just don't do it again!"

In a moment the group was standing in the Leaky Cauldron and they were splitting off to go look at the shops.

Fred and George both wandered off on their own, intending to visit Zonko's. They walked in and George immediately went over to the table full of new jokes or tricks and listened to what people were saying about them. It was a great way to get ideas for new products that could be made.

As they wandered around, George kept an eye on Fred. Something just didn't feel right. Fred was hardly paying attention to any of the jokes. George walked over to him and motioned for him to follow. They walked through the alley and looked in at different shops. George glanced at his twin, who had been fairly silent all morning.

"Are you alright Fred? You've been really quiet all day," he asked.

Fred looked over at him and replied, "Yeah, I just feel funny… Not physically, but just like my mind is really fuzzy. I dunno…"

"Do you think it's that potion?"

"Could be," Fred said, thinking about it.

"Should we tell someone?" George asked, looking concerned.

Fred noticed his expression and smiled and shook his head, "Nah, it'll probably go away soon enough anyways. Besides, mum would kill us if something actually happened because of it."

"This is true."


The next hour passed quickly enough, just as a trip to Diagon Alley usually seemed to. Fred and George spent the time looking at various knick-knacks and suggesting ideas of how to use them in ways they weren't designed to until the shopkeepers kindly asked them to stop. There was always far too much to look at and explore than there was time in a day, even for someone who'd been there numerous times like any of the Weasleys. Everyone had been told to meet up at noon for lunch and two hours still remained until that time.

Fred still felt a bit off and, seeing as it was worrying George, decided to put more effort into concealing it. Upon realizing that they had two hours left of potential havoc-wreaking time, he suggested to George that they find someplace completely new that neither of them had seen before. The idea was intriguing to both of them and they set off down the alley in search.

Not even twenty minutes had passed them by before they realized that very little in the alley (aside from Knockturn Alley, and they both knew their mum would definitely kill them if they went there) was going to suffice as entertaining enough. Fred motioned towards the gate that led to the Leaky Cauldron and, from there, muggle London.

"I know it's slightly better than going into Knockturn Alley," commented George, "but I think mum will still have a fit if she finds out that we've left the alley."

"Oh come on, we'll just go out for a couple of minutes. We've still got over an hour left anyways. She'll never need to know!" Fred exclaimed, already walking backwards towards the barrier.

"Wait, do you have any muggle money?" George asked.

"Why would we need that?" Fred responded, stopping in his retreat.

"Well, if we're going to have an adventure, we may as well get a souvenir."

"True… Do you think they may trade us some in the pub?" Fred asked.

"Only one way to find out!" George replied and gestured for Fred to go ahead of him. He was glad to see his brother acting more the norm than he had been all morning, even if what he was suggesting would only get them in trouble again. It wasn't like they weren't used to it anyways.

George looked behind him to make sure no one they knew saw them and then followed after his twin. The two entered the Leaky Cauldron and carefully made their way to the bar. Once there, George signaled for Tom the barkeep to come over. The twins asked him if he would trade some galleons for muggle notes.

Tom eyed both of them and said, "I will, this once. However, you should know that I am not a bank." He took their galleons and gave them what looked to be about twelve pounds in notes and coins. The twins glanced at each other with a look that wanted to question the exchange rate, but a long glance from Tom told them to accept it and enjoy it.

The two exited the pub after thanking Tom and looked around. Thankfully, they had worn muggle style clothing, so they wouldn't have a problem on the outside. They watched the cars and pedestrians go by for a moment before Fred turned to George and said in a lofty and arrogant voice, "Well, dear boy, where to now, eh?"

George held his hand out as if he were drinking tea, complete with the pinky finger extended, and replied in the same voice, "Why, I do believe it's near enough to tea-time, don't you? Let us make haste to fantastical place!"

The two laughed and started down the street. They walked down about three blocks and stopped to look around.

"I don't see a shop around that sells tea, dear boy," Fred noted.

"Hmm… Perhaps we should observe the locals for a wee bit?" George answered.

The two snickered and watched as a number of muggles walked by on the sidewalk they were on. As they stood there, a voice rose up over that of others around it, effectively catching the twins' attention.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," the voice, which belonged to a man their father's age, stated. "No, I'm on my break, so I'm just heading up to Starbucks now." The man paused and then said, "Yeah, that'd be great - meet me there. We can get a coffee and catch up."

The man had just passed the twins and George turned to Fred.

"Did you hear that?"

"I did, dear boy," Fred answered.

"Operation: follow muggle who talks to himself?"

"I think he was on a fellytone, actually."

"Or was he?" George questioned.

Fred looked at him with comically wide eyes and said, "Well, now we have to follow him, just to find out if he's sane or not!"

The two took after the man and listened to snippets of his conversation (with himself or another person, they still hadn't decided) as they took turn after turn and got further from the Leaky Cauldron.

"Look, George, he's got some sort of false ear," Fred whispered, pointing to the man's left ear where a strange device was attached.

"Muggle disease, you think?" George reckoned.

Fred nodded, still staring at the thing which had a blinking light on it. The man ahead of them was oblivious to his audience and kept walking on. "Could be. If it's not, we should get one."

Finally, they arrived at the mysterious Starbucks. The man they had followed there had started throwing glances their way; obviously he had noticed that they had been following him. Apparently pointing, whispering, and stalking were suspicious enough to garner such looks. Neither Fred nor George paid him any mind though. They read through the list of beverages on the wall behind the registers.

"What on earth is a frapp… frappu…. Is it said 'shino' or 'chino,' what do you think?" George asked.

"No idea… What do you think a 'ma-chi-atto' is?" Fred asked.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," George muttered. "But on the bright side, they do seem to have good ole coffee and tea."

"Why stick with that when we can try something completely different?"

As they tried to pick out a drink that sounded good, a girl who seemed a bit older than they were in front of them was asked for her drink. "Yeah, I'll have a grande peppermint latte, no foam and with whip cream, thanks," was her reply.

Fred and George watched her get her beverage as the man they followed got a regular coffee. Fred looked at George who shrugged, and then both were interrupted by a young woman behind the counter.

"Hey there! What would you two like to drink?" She was very cheerful and seemed like she'd been sampling the coffee a bit much. Her hair was styled in pigtails with a small plumeria hair tie on each side of her head. There was no doubt that her personality fit her part-time job quite well.

George pointed at the girl with the peppermint latte who was walking by to leave while Fred stopped her and asked, "Is that delicious?"

The girl looked at him and smiled and replied, "I should hope so, for how much they charge me."

"But is it delicious?"

"Do you like peppermint?" She asked in answer.

"Yes," Fred and George both replied.

"Then yes, it is very delicious," she laughed and walked outside.

Fred turned back to the girl behind the counter and said, "Right, we'll have exactly whatever it is that she ordered! Two of them!"

After exchanging the strange muggle money (the girl laughed at them when they seemed confused by the notes before plucking the one she needed) the two boys waited near the counter for their drinks.

When the lattes arrived, the twins each took tentative sips before smiling widely and loudly thanking the girls behind the counter for making such wonderful concoctions. Everyone in the shop stared at them until they walked out, including the man they had followed who was sitting with another person (he must not have been insane after all!).

Once outside the shop, George turned to Fred and suggested that they head back to Diagon Alley.

Fred sipped his latte and then said, "Great plan, dear boy! Which way is it?"

George looked around and answered, "I have no idea. That way, maybe?" He suggested, pointing to their left. Fred shrugged his shoulders and they walked together for a few blocks before George stopped.

"This doesn't even look familiar," he commented, staring at the buildings around him in confusion.

"We could ask someone where the Leaky Cauldron is," Fred suggested.

"But everyone here is a muggle."

"And they can't see it."

"And we can't remember…"

"Mum's going to kill us," Fred moaned quietly, stepping closer to the road to avoid a group of schoolchildren that were hurrying past. His eyes widened as he saw that the two adults with the small children had apparently tied all the kids together. Although the real reason was to ensure they would stay together and not wander off, he immediately thought much worse.

"George, look at that!" He whispered dramatically, pointing at the kids and the two adults, who were giving them strange looks.

"Do you think Filch works a summer job down here at a muggle school, perhaps?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Fred responded. The kids turned the corner and he sighed and shrugged his shoulders at George.

George looked up and down the street they were on and then towards the one they'd just come across. "Well, we could go left or right on this one – maybe it'll lead back?"

"Let's go right this time. Left didn't work out so well last time," Fred said. George nodded and they took a right. Once again, nothing was looking familiar and the two were starting to get worried that they wouldn't find the pub in time to meet their parents.

They stopped again and Fred sighed loudly. "Whose dumb idea was this?"

"Yours."

"Shut up."

George laughed at his twin but stopped when Fred didn't join in. "Well, on the bright side," he started in the effort to cheer Fred up, "we did get to try these delicious drinks."

"Hn… Too bad we'll never live to try another one after mum finds out we've gone and gotten ourselves lost in muggle London," Fred replied, staring at the ground.

"Okay, it's gotta be right around here. We couldn't have walked that far from it, right?" George said, hoping that Fred would play along.

Fred looked at him and then sat down on the curb. He took another drink of the latte and said, "How many lefts and rights do you think we took before? I can't even remember… We could split up and look for it."

George had been counting in his head the turns that he remembered but the thoughts stopped at Fred's suggestion. Split up? He stared at his twin for a moment and opened his mouth to say something that would question the other's intelligence, but before he could, a familiar voice reached them.

"What on earth are you doing here!" George twisted around quickly to see his father and Percy walking towards them. He felt his shoulders relax at the thought that they wouldn't have to split up to find the pub, but they tightened again at the look on his father's face.

Percy also decided that it would be important for them to know his opinion on the matter. "You two have to be the most idiotic pair of wizards to ever exist, do you know that? I mean honestly, leaving the alley, which is a stupid thing to do in and of itself, and then not having a single clue as to how to get back?"

George bristled and replied, "Oh bugger off, will you Percy? Just because we got a little confused doesn't mean-"

Their father interrupted him and said, "Don't you tell him to bugger off. You knew that you were supposed to stay in the alley! For Merlin's sake, do we have to lay everything out for you in black and white every time we come here? Do you have any idea what would've happened if the wrong people saw you out and about in muggle London?"

George sucked in a breath but didn't know what to say. He glanced at Fred and was surprised and a bit irritated to see that he hadn't even turned around to watch the argument. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists before turning back to his father while opening his eyes to glare at the ground.

"We didn't mean to-"

"Of course you didn't mean to!" Arthur shouted, attracting the attention of a few passing muggles. "You never mean to do anything that you end up doing. You boys need to think before you act for once in your life before…" The older man trailed off, not wanting to get any angrier than he already was, and turned to march back in the direction that the pub was probably in.

Percy took the opportunity to tilt his head up and stare down at him in a haughty manner. "You're just lucky that we found you before-"

"Percy I swear I will strangle you if you don't shut up," George growled at his older brother. Percy huffed and turned to follow their father who was about half a block away at that point.

George rounded on Fred and questioned, "What was that all about?"

Fred just looked at him as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"You could have helped me out a bit there, pal," George said, sounding offended. And truly, he was. He and Fred always worked together, even when the going got tough, like it did a few minutes ago. That Fred would let George face it alone like that irked George more than the imminent lecture they were sure to get from their mum.

Fred never replied to him, opting to walk down the street to where their father was impatiently waiting. George sighed and followed after, wondering for the first time what was going on in his twin's mind. It was a foreign feeling for him after years of knowing exactly how the other would react. He wasn't sure what caused it all, but he knew one thing: he didn't like it at all.

To those that review, thank you very much! (I giggle like an excited schoolgirl whenever I get one) To everyone else, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it. Let me know, either way!