disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella and her story. Hope you all like it!

Morning Pranks

The front door slammed.

"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"

They hurried through the garden and back into the house. Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was thin with a receding hair line, which was as red as the rest.

"What a night," he mumbled, fumbling for the teapot as they all sat around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned…."

Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed.

"Find anything, Dad?" asked Fred eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness…."

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George.

"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it... Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking — they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face... But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe —"

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"

Mrs. Weasley had appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. Mr. Weasley's eyes jerked open. He stared guilty at his wife.

"C – cars, Molly, dear?"

"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs Weasley, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."

Mr. Weasley blinked. "Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if — er — he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth. . . . There's a loophole in the law, you'll find. . . . As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't —"

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Arabella arrived yesterday and Harry arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"

"Arabella? Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley vacantly. "Who?"

He then looked around and jumped at the extra children at the table. "My lord," he then stood up and shook Arabella's hand, "Arabella Black," and then shook Harry's hand, "Harry Potter. Very pleased to meet the both of you, Ron's told us so much about –"

"Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" asked Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I – I mean," he faltered as sparks flew from Mrs. Weasley's eyes, "that – that was very wrong, boys – very wrong indeed…."

"Let's leave them to it," Ron muttered to Harry and Arabella as Mrs. Weasley turned red and began to swell up. "Come on, I'll show you my bedroom."

They slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow passageway to an uneven staircase, which wound its way, zigzagging up through the house. On the fifth landing, they reached a door with peeling paint and a small plaque on it saying, Ronald's Room.

Arabella's head almost touched the ceiling. Everything in his room seemed to be covered in some shade of orange and his walls were covered with pictures of The Chudley Cannons.

"I'm assuming you're a fan of the Cannons," said Arabella, smiling at the witches and wizards.

"Ninth in the league," said Ron. "What about yours?"

"Puddlemere United," said Arabella. "Second in the League."

Ron scowled at her. "At least we managed to defeat the Caerphilly Catapults."

"At least we weren't blown out of the waters by Applyby Arrows," snipped Arabella.

They continued to snip back and forth for a while, each defending their team quite animatedly, and then Arabella and Ron stopped, each red and scowling, and they looked at Harry to back them up.

But Harry, grinning widely, said, "This is the best house I've ever been in."

Ron's ears went pink.

Life at the Burrow was different than living with Remus. There were bursts of strange noises everywhere and it seemed to be considered perfectly normal, especially the small explosions from Fred and George's bedroom. Mrs. Weasley constantly fussed over them and always seemed to be piled more and more food on their plates, while Mr. Weasley seemed to like to talk to Harry about life with Muggles.

Arabella quite liked spending time with Mrs. Weasley as she was constantly moving around frantically. It seemed strange to her to watch the Weasleys, this big family. She always wanted one with siblings to play around with. Nymphadora was great, Remus and the Tonks tried their best, but she supposed it would have been different to actually have brothers or sister.

Perhaps that's why she spoke to Mrs. Weasley about pranking the twins.

"Really?" asked Mrs. Weasley, her eyes shining.

"If you're all right with it, of course," said Arabella, smiling at her. "Nothing too terrible, just some harmless ones."

Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips for a moment. "Normally I do not condone this type of behaviour – pranking and those sorts of tricks, but the idea of Fred and George finally meeting their match – I still can't believe they drove that car, and that one time they managed to set firecrackers off under Muriel's sofa, honestly – but I suppose, if you wish to partake in this, then you can, but I will not participate, and there must be certain limits, such as bodily harm, broken bones or in the case of blood."

Arabella nodded. It was all very reasonable.

Mrs. Weasley then gave her a small wink. "Do get them good, Arabella."

Now, it was time to recruit her companions. She gathered Harry, Ron and Ginny in the latter's room. Ginny turned red when Harry came inside, but there was no time to dwell on it. Harry and Ron sat on Arabella's bed, while Ginny sat on her own and Arabella stood up to explain.

"Absolutely not," said Ron instantly. Arabella felt a little deflated. "Have you gone mad? These are the same two who transfigured my teddy into a giant spider once."

"Really?" asked Harry.

Ron turned red as Ginny giggled. "It's not funny. You wouldn't like it either if you woke up and saw a giant spider near your head."

Arabella grimaced at the image. "But just think about it, Ron…. Getting back at them for your spider teddy, and it will be loads of fun. You can even help me with the first one."

"First?" asked Ron. "You're planning on getting them more than once."

"Well, yes," said Arabella. "I am going to assume that they would get back at us, and I am ready and prepared for that."

"How exactly are you prepared for that?" asked Harry. "They're Fred and George, while it's just the four of us."

Arabella snorted. "Well, my mother used to pull pranks when she was at Hogwarts, and so did my godfather, and my cousin. If you met my cousin, you would know why."

"Mr. Lupin?" asked Ron. "You're going to tell me that your quiet godfather was capable of practical jokes and tricks?"

"Well, I suppose growing up rather does tame a person," said Arabella, shrugging. "But that doesn't mean that somewhere deep inside is a seventeen year old boy that once set off five wild hogs in Hogwarts just for laughs."

"Really?" asked Ginny, grinning.

"Yes," said Arabella, "and he once told me that my mother once filled McGonagall's office with balloons that reached the ceiling, and if you tried to pop them, the balloons would shouted profanity at you. I believe that we are learning from some capable hands."

Ron started to grin as he and Harry shared a look.

"Do you think he did this with my dad?" asked Harry.

"You might want to ask him," said Arabella. "He doesn't talk much about his time at Hogwarts, unless I ask. So, are you lot in or not?"

"Definitely," said Ginny, giddy.

"Me too," said Harry, smiling. "I'm in."

They all looked at Ron, the person who has had the most experience with the twins in the room.

"They're still Fred and George," said Ron. He slowly began to beam at them. "But… I'm with you guys."

Arabella smirked at all of them. "Excellent. Now, Harry, I want you with me on this one. It will just be the two of us, and we're going to sneak into his house."

"What are you going to do?" asked Ron.

"I'm not going to tell you yet," said Arabella. "Tomorrow at breakfast, I want you reactions to be authentic. I want them to think it's just me and Harry doing pull their legs. While you guys act neutral, don't give anything away. You're my secret weapons."

And with that she clapped her hands together.

"So, do you want to do it now?" asked Harry.

"What time is it?" asked Arabella.

"Ten o'clock," said Ginny.

The four of them waited for three hours. Ron and Harry urged to get it done at midnight, but Arabella wanted to wait a little longer, just to be sure. It was exciting as they sat in Ginny's bedroom, waiting for the right time. Eventually, after Arabella's urging, Ginny and Ron went to bed as Arabella and Harry stood in the corridor, waiting for the right moment.

For added protection, Harry brought along his Invisibility Cloak with him. They smiled as Harry threw the Cloak over their shoulder.

Ginny was the one who woke her up that morning. Arabella stretched her muscles that morning before the both of them headed downstairs for some breakfast. Percy, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already there. Ginny took a seat neat to Percy and Arabella next to her.

After a couple minutes later, after some eggs and sausages –

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Forks and knives clattered against their plates. Mr. Weasley and Percy jumped in their seats while Mrs. Weasley gave Arabella a look. Arabella merely shrugged as Mrs. Weasley went out to get their loads of clothes. Within seconds, two pairs of feet came running down the stairs.

Ginny let out a delighted and shocked scream, while Percy gapped at the pair and Mr. Weasley had an amused and enchanted smile. Arabella drank her orange juice, hiding her smile behind the cup.

Fred's hair was sporting a lovely shade of green with silver highlighted tips while George, on the other hand, had curly bright violet hair that stuck out everywhere wildly. Behind them came Ron and Harry, the latter looking quite tired. Ron's eyes bugged out while Harry clutched his ribs, laughing quietly behind Ron.

"All right, which one of you lot did this to us?" demanded Fred. "Perce?"

Percy looked insulted. "As though I would engage in such childish games."

George rolled his eyes.

"Green and silver, Fred?" asked Arabella, twirling her cup in her hand. "How very… Slytherin of you."

Fred and George looked at her for a moment, accusation written all over their faces. Their noses were flared, their faces red and Arabella felt as though she might have over-stepped her boundaries, but what happened next made those feelings go away.

"You," George said in disbelief.

"Me," said Arabella simply. "Took about two hours or so to get it done just right. You lot snore quite loudly and kept rolling around in your beds, but looking at it now, Harry and I did a pretty good job."

"Harry?" they said together, twirling around to look at the boy just behind Ron.

Harry grinned at the pair and gave a single wave. He then pointed at Arabella and said, "All her idea. She just needed an extra pair of hands."

Fred and George seemed to be staring at them for the longest time. Arabella could see the wheels turning in their minds before Fred finally said, "All right, fair play, I suppose. This was quite good –"

"For a bunch of amateurs," finished George.

Arabella's smile disappeared instantly. Her eyes flashed when she said, "Amateurs?"

The pair smirked at her, knowing that they managed to get to her.

"You heard us," said George.

"The colours are a nice touch, but we," said Fred, pointing to himself and George, "are practically professionals, while you and Harry, well, it's just child's play."

Arabella looked at them for a moment, hammering her fingers against the wooden table. She then smirked. "Child's play? Oh, boys, is that the best you've got?"

Fred narrowed his eyes at her. "I've got my eyes on you, Arabella."

"And the same goes for you, Harry," said George.

Arabella leaned forward. "Do your worst."

She grinned broadly as the twins made their way upstairs to their rooms. Percy rolled his eyes at the display and went back to his room as well, while Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Harry began to talk about their little trick last night.

"That was amazing," whispered Ginny. Her brown eyes were twinkling. "Do you have any more tricks?"

"Of course," said Arabella, putting her arm around Ginny's shoulder. "I have a lot more, if they're planning on getting back at us."

The rest of the day wasn't as eventful as breakfast. Mrs. Weasley was quite shocked at the twin's appearance, but managed to advert it back to their original red hair. For the rest of the day, Fred and George kept looking at Arabella and Harry, and whispering behind their hands at each other. She did not like the whispering one bit, but she understood their little game, and she was more than prepared for them.

The rest of the day went by as they helped Mrs. Weasley with the chickens, folding some of the clothes, and just playing some wizards chess. She also talked animatedly with Mr. Weasley about the little potion she and Remus created, and the different components they used to get the colours just right. He found it very exciting, and Arabella hopes he likes the rest of her plan.

That night, she went to bed with one eyes open. She pushed the bed into the corner and sat up right, her face leaning against the wall and facing the door. She managed to hold off sleeping for a while, but sometime around the night, she had fallen asleep with one side of her face pressed against the wall and her mouth wide open. When morning came, she was lying down on the bed with the blanket up to her neck.

A loud gasp from Ginny woke her up. Her eyes fluttered for a moment and she saw Ginny's hands cover her mouth. Her eyes were as large as saucers. Arabella lifted her head an inch off the pillow, about to ask what was wrong, but she felt an odd breeze around her head and ears, and for some off reason, she felt a little lighter, as though a weight was literally lifted off her shoulders.

She ran towards the bathroom and found that her hair – the hair that she inherited from her mother, dark and brown and to her shoulders – was gone. All of it was completely gone. There was barely a stubble left. It shined off the light brightly. She blinked at her reflection a couple times, feeling a sort of fire flare up inside of her. If it's a war they want, it's a war they're getting.

"FRED! GEORGE!"

She ran down the stairs, taking two at a time. Everyone was already there and Ginny was whispering something to her mother when Arabella arrived.

"Oh my," whispered Mr. Weasley, shocked.

Ron nearly chocked on his bacon while Harry's porridge fell down his shirt. Percy looked astonished, Mrs. Weasley stared at her for a moment, as though enticed by the shine of her head, while Fred and George looked proud of themselves.

"My hair?" she said, fuming as her nose flared.

"You're one to talk," said George, snorting. "You dyed our hair."

"Dyed," emphasized Arabella. "I changed the colour of your hair, I did not make you both bald!"

Fred shrugged. "Tough luck."

Arabella's eyes widened. "Tough luck?"

"Fred!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Come here, dear, I'll try my best to fix this."

Arabella glared at the pair of them.

"You wanted a war, Arabella," said Fred, leaning forward, mirroring her actions the previous morning, "and you've definitely got one. If you can't handle it, just let us know."

Arabella glared at them for the rest of the day as Mrs. Weasley did her best to fix her hair the whole morning and afternoon. By dinnertime, Arabella had managed to get her hair back, and it was the same colour and length. She almost cried when her hair returned and vowed for revenge, dragging Harry, Ron and Ginny with her.

And that is exactly what happened for the next couple days. Fred found himself stuck to the toilet one morning while Harry's mouth was nearly one fire when they switched his mint toothpaste with serrano flavoured toothpaste. George had burn marks on his backside when he found extra-stick tape covering his back (now he doesn't have any more back hair!), Arabella woke up with an air horn, and it followed her for the rest of the day with each step she took (that was quite impressive, but it got old really quickly).

Arabella, Harry, Ron, and Ginny managed to turn the twin's room upside down the Muggle way, leaving the bed set alone. They had some help from Percy when it came to lifting the mattress and the tables. It took almost the whole day and they were glad they were spending some time with Lee. Unfortunately, they found out that hard way where Fred and George actually were.

After they had turned the room upside down, they went into the living room to take a break, but Fred and George had managed to turn their bodies into their couches. They had cut out holes for their noses and bodies. They had waited for nearly six hours patiently to grab them by the ankles, making each one of them jump up and scream in fright.

Arabella nearly had a heart attack but she had some new found respect for them. They were patient and crafty.

The next morning was one she hoped would settle everything. She woke up extra early and helped Mrs. Weasley set up for breakfast. Mrs. Weasley suspected that she was up to something, but after the last couple days, Arabella knew that she was truly getting tired with all of them. She sat down and began to eat her eggs when the others began to show up.

Ron was the one who was going to add the 'special ingredient,' and all they had to do now was wait.

"Does Mrs. Weasley know?" whispered Harry.

"I think so," said Arabella. "I just think she wants this all to end soon."

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course," said Arabella. "Remus and I made and tested this. Two bites of their eggs, tops."

Ginny quickly came down the stairs and took a seat next to her. "They're going mental," she whispered to only Arabella. "They're checking everything in their room, from corner to corner, and the bathroom. They haven't found anything, but that's not helping their suspicions."

Arabella smiled. "Perfect." She nodded towards Ron as he added three drops of the liquid on top of Fred and George's eggs. Nothing in the appearance of the eggs changed as the twins bounded down the stairs.

"Morning," said Fred and George, as pleasant as they could.

"Good morning," said Arabella. She then put down her fork and sighed. "Let, George, Fred, this has honestly gone on long enough, and after yesterday, and I speak for all four of us, we're done."

Ginny, Harry, and Ron stared at her in shock. Arabella didn't run this by them, but it was necessary.

"Really?" asked George, skeptical.

"What makes you say that?" asked Fred. "Exactly what about yesterday?"

"Well, you both waited quietly for six hours!" said Arabella. "You stayed still and waited for us like that! It was quite amazing, and brilliant. The patience, the planning, the discreetness from the two of you on this. It was something else. I – I – well, I applaud the both of you."

"Arabella –"began Harry, curious.

"Harry, don't," said Arabella, almost regretfully. "I've got nothing left in my bag and neither does Remus. Leave it be, will yeah?"

Fred and George looked at all of them for a moment, skeptical, before slowly smiling.

"Finally come to your senses, have you?" asked George.

"Cheer up, Arabella," said Fred. "Nothing wrong with admitting defeat. You did nicely for yourselves, you know – "

"For some beginners," finished George.

Arabella smiled tightly as they both picked up their forks and began to dig into their food. She acted as though nothing was happening, but she could see the effects of her little potion. She and Remus had gotten the idea from a Muggle comic, and it was working in full affect. She could see that the inner arms of Fred were turning blue, as well as George's neck. The roots of their hairs lightened, and within minutes, they turned yellow.

Arabella let out a bark of a laugh, and the rest followed in suit. Fred and George sat in front of them with blue skin and bright yellow hair. They had no idea why they were all laughing until they looked at each other. Their eyes widened almost comically. For a while, they were in shock.

"Well, played, Arabella, well, play," said George, probing his arms and hair.

"You had us going there for a while," said Fred. "Admitting defeat –"

"Praising us," said George.

"And then this," said Fred, gesturing towards them. "My lady, this is truly one of you best."

"But you forgot one little thing," said George, smirking.

"And, pray tell, what is that?" asked Arabella.

"We're Fred and George," said Fred. "George and Fred. We're always one step ahead."

"Or two steps behind works out in this case," said Arabella, picking up her fork. "Just admit it, boys, I got you beat."

The moment she dug into her sausages, it felt as though a bomb went off. Her sausages exploded, splattering on the walls and, most importantly, on Arabella's face. Her eggs unfortunately exploded as well and bits of yolk hit her face. It was quite something as Harry wiped the meat off his glasses.

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley let out a small scream as Percy ducked for cover. Ron yelled and covered his face while Mr. Weasley seemed almost unfazed by any of this as he continued to read his paper.

She began to laugh as she wiped the food from her face.

"That's it!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, slamming her spatula on the table. "I have had enough of all of this. This is the last day or I promise you…."

She began to wiggle her finger, jabbing it towards the twins.

"Now I want you all to clean this up right now from top to bottom, spotless."

The six of them began to clean up the mess as they tried their best to hide their laughs and smiles. Arabella caught Harry's eyes as they both finally started to laugh, leaning against the wall, supporting each other. The others followed in suit as they agreed that this was their truce.

For a moment, it felt as though Arabella and Harry were officially part of the Weasleys. Fred and George treated them just as they did with Ron and Percy while Ginny was a delight to be around, whenever she did not drop her porridge on the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley accepted them without question, and it was nice to be wanted, to be accepted like this without question.

"Are you sure you're done with them?" asked Ginny later that night.

Arabella cracked open the door, waiting for the explosion. "Just one more, I promise, and it's really easy to clean up. I already told Mrs. Weasley and she made me promise that this will be my last one, or else she was going to have a very long talk with Remus."

"I still can't believe that you learned everything from Mr. Lupin," said Ginny. "He seems to quiet."

"Everybody always says that," said Arabella, grinning over her shoulder. "And they're always surprised…"

Just then there was a loud explosion that rattled the walls a little. Arabella and Ginny looked at each other and stepped out of the room and up their stairs. The grinned as Mr. Weasley and Percy went to go see what the noise was.

"Honestly," said Percy, sighing, "what now?"

They opened the door to see Fred and George covered in different types of colours that seemed to be splattered on them, while their room was covered in black paint. Their hairs seemed to be standing up and there was a little fog surrounding them.

"Wicked," said Fred, grinning madly.

Percy and Mr. Weasley looked flabbergasted, as Arabella and Ginny began to laugh. Arabella could see Harry and Ron at the top of their stairs and they gave her the thumbs up.

"Does this come off?" George wondered aloud.

Arabella and Ginny looked at each other and quickly walked back to Ginny's room.

Thank you all for reading! Tell me what you think!