Note: This story was written for "The Potter Complexe: Season 1 - Round 1".

The challenge was: Your challenge is to create a story using time as a main theme. This could be through rapid ageing, time travel, etc.

My additional prompt was: Include multiple OCs

George Weasley can't believe it. He's been pranked. He, the king of pranks, who ran his own joke shop – had been pranked. And not by just anyone, but by his own son.

Maybe he shouldn't have called him Fred after all …

A few days before

It was the usual chaos in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. There was laughter, shouting, whistling and lots of talking. Children and teenagers crowded the shelves, pushed their way through the aisles and stepped on each other's toes.

Among them, Fred Weasley – the second. George Weasley's eleven-year-old son, who could hardly wait to finally get to Hogwarts. With him was his sister Roxanne, two years younger, and his best mate Joshua 'Josh' Entwhistle. Fred met him, how could it be otherwise, in the shop two years ago, and they became best friends in a heartbeat.

Josh had curly, dark brown hair, bright blue eyes and a face that always looked mischievous.

'Okay,' Fred looked at his sister and Josh, who was chewing bubble gum, said playfully seriously. 'Who're we gonna trick next? Name someone we haven't had yet!'

'The postman,' Josh thought aloud.

'Which one? We've already pranked a few of them.'

'Oh, you're right.'

Roxanne spoke up. 'How about mum?'

Fred looked at her aghast. 'Are you nuts?!'

'Okay, then I'll go with dad.'

Fred actually thought about that. 'Not a bad idea … I should prank him before I leave for Hogwarts.'

'She's not wrong, tricking your dad could be fun,' Josh finally said, nodding in confirmation.

Fred puffed out his cheeks. 'Great, an' how?'

'Oh, I think I've got an idea,' Josh said, grinning slyly and sticking his old chewing gum to a box in the hope that a customer would touch it.

'Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!'

Eddie fumbled a handful of coins into the till and looked up, annoyed. 'Not now, Fred! I'm working!'

Eddie was about the same age as Fred's father George, maybe a bit younger, Fred had never really thought about it. He was just an adult, and mostly a stressed adult who wasn't very skilful with his wand. Eddie took great care with his perfectly coiffed dark brown hair, which was sticking out in all directions halfway through the day. He had high cheekbones, he was a bit skinny, and his dark green eyes were always trying to look friendly, but usually seemed rather tired. His favourite thing to wear was this strange Muggle suit with a red tie and shoes that shone in the morning and turned completely filthy in the evening.

Fred liked Eddie, he was always up for a joke when he could find the time and was otherwise a really nice guy. Well, right now he obviously couldn't find time for Fred's mischief.

Fred stood next to him and bounced up and down on his toes. 'When're you taking a break?'

'When Elli comes,' growled Eddie, losing a galleon and rushing round the till after it, the customer sighed deeply.

'But Elli's always late!' grumbled Fred, picking up the galleon, thrusting it into Eddie's hand.

'Thanks. Well, then you know when I'll be on break.'

'I'll ask Dad.'

'He's busy. Leave him alone!' warned Eddie, stuffing the galleon into the till and digging out the change. The customer looked annoyed at his watch.

Fred stood on tiptoe and whispered conspiratorially: 'We need your help!'

'What?! It's so loud in here, can't hear a word!' shouted Eddie over the noisy children who had just stormed into the shop.

Fred yelled, 'WE NEED YOUR HELP!'

'WITH WHAT?'

'I can only tell you during your break,' Fred replied mischievously, grinning slyly.

He knew, Eddie loved secrets. He wouldn't be able to resist.

'Hm … Fine, I'll talk to your dad about my break.'

The next morning

Fred, Roxanne and Josh were sitting in the storeroom, each of them had grabbed a box and were slouching on it.

'Eddie always wanted to play a prank on George, he told me once when we were restocking,' Roxanne said, giggling.

'What? He never told me that!'

'He doesn't really trust you, Fred.'

'Slander!

'Anyway, we've got other things to worry about. If Eddie hands us the potion, we've got to give it to Dad somehow …'

'Put it in his coffee?' Josh suggested.

Roxanne shakes her head and shoos a spider off her lap. 'I think Dad'd notice it tastes differently.'

'Put a little sugar in it?'

Fred gave Josh a slap. 'No! Then the potion won't work, are you daft?'

'What do I know, am not a Hogwarts student yet!' Josh defended himself annoyed and rubbed his shoulder.

The three of them fell into thoughtful silence. The storeroom had turned out to be their place of brooding, without any of them being able to say why. From outside, the noise of customers drifted in; judging by the smell, someone had let off a stink bomb.

After another moment of silence, the penny dropped for Fred. 'I KNOW where we can put it in!'

'Where?' Josh asked excitedly.

Fred rubbed his hands together. 'Best of all, he won't even notice it tastes funny!'

'Why?' Roxanne asked curiously.

'Well …'

Two days later, Eddie strolled into the storeroom with a casual air, his hands in his trouser pockets, acting so conspicuous that Fred finally decided that Josh should let off a charge of Instant Darkness Powder as a precaution so that George wouldn't get suspicious.

Thanks to the all-encompassing darkness, it had taken Eddie a little longer to find his way into the storeroom, but eventually he arrived. Blackened by the powder, his otherwise immaculate appearance thoroughly messed up.

'Sorry 'bout that, Eddie,' Fred apologised, trying not to laugh. He could clearly hear that Josh hadn't been successful with it. Fred had once seen a picture of a Muggle chimney sweep and had to say that Eddie looked now a lot like one.

Exasperated, the cashier coughed up some powder. 'Yes, yes, never mind, just a normal Monday. Here.'

He handed Fred a small vial.

'Don't you dare tell your dad you got this from me!' hissed Eddie. 'And don't forget the picture!

As soon as Fred held the vial in his hands, Roxanne and Josh crowded around him with wide eyes.

'Sure, you know I keep my promises, Eddie.'

'Good, good. have to get back to the till. Elli's taking over for me, at least I hope so …'

George thought Angelina's green smoothies tasted … special, to put it diplomatically. Every morning she persistently pushed the stuff on him.

'It's healthy!' 'You need it, you work so much!' 'Are you feeling different already?' 'Y'know, if we play a bit more Quidditch again, it'll give us an edge.' 'Drink it up, all of it, don't just sip!'

Sighing, he put the glass that Fred had already placed on the table to his lips and drained it in one go. If it was that important to his wife ...

Angelina sat at the breakfast table and prepared George's cup of coffee. 'I tried a new smoothie recipe today.'

'I've noticed...' George grumbled and dropped into the chair. Getting up early would never become a habit, no matter how old he got.

Angelina looked up curiously. 'Did you like it better today?'

'Erm … I think so.' He decided he'd rather keep to himself that the aftertaste was suspiciously close to Ageing Potion.

Angelina pushed his coffee across the table and he gratefully accepted the steaming cup, leant back and sipped it. His wife looked at him a moment later with a puzzled expression on her face.

'George …'

'What? Not another smoothie, please …'

'No, not that … you … you're getting old!'

He furrowed his brow. 'What you don't say, but do you have to tell me so reproachfully?'

Her eyes grew as big as saucers. 'No! I mean, now! Right now, at this moment, you're aging!'

'What?!'

George jumped to his feet (still holding his cup) and dashed off towards the bathroom, Angelina close on his heels. He pushed open the door and stared at his rapidly ageing reflection. In no time at all, his hair had turned snow-white and he had grown an impressive beard.

'You should re-work your smoothie recipe, honey …' George croaked in horror, the cup in his tremblin hands.

Angelina had pressed both hands to her cheeks. 'I drank it too! That's not my recipe!'

They were both distracted by George's reflection in the mirror when they heard the click of a camera and the roaring laughter of their son Fred. He stood in front of the bathroom and took one picture after another, laughing so hard he could hardly keep on his feet.

'Fred! What have you DONE!' Angelina shouted angrily and stomped towards her son.

'You pranked me?!' George said in horror, Fred backed away from his mum laughing and nodded.

'I – I knew …' Fred could hardly keep from laughing, 'you wouldn't notice anything when I spice the smoothie!'

George scratched his increasingly long beard. 'Well played, my boy, well played …'

'What're we gonna do?!' Angelina exclaimed in horror, clapping her hands over her head.

George shrugged. 'Probably nothing. The potion wears off by itself after a while.'

'Yes, but who knows how much Fred gave you!'

Fred switched off the camera and cleared his throat. 'Not that much. It'll be over in a few hours.'

'Well. Fred, tell Eddie I'll be a bit late.'

'And then, young man, you come back here and clean the kitchen!' demanded Angelina, her eyes flashing.

'What?!' exclaimed Fred in shock.

'You heard me!'

'But it was just a joke!'

'Do what I say when I say it!'

'Dad!'

'Listen to your mum.'

'Damn!'

After Fred had gone down to the shop and Angelina had disposed of the rest of the smoothie as a precaution, George sat silently in front of the mirror, looking into a face that was far too familiar.

Back then, so many years ago ... The Triwizard Tournament … His brother Fred and he, who had been desperate to participate and had taken an Ageing Potion to get over the age line – along with Lee. How that had backfired badly and they had sprouted magnificent beards back then too.

If George had known that this would be the only moment in his life when he and Fred would grow old together... Even if only for a few hours. The Ageing Potion had been Fred's idea, most of the ideas back then were his, or at least he was usually the first to speak them. Together with Lee Jordan, they had secretly brewed it in Myrtle's girls' loo (funnily enough, they hadn't been the only ones to misappropriate a toilet cubicle for the purpose. It was agreed that everyone would keep quiet). They were good at brewing potions, Fred and George, if only they cared enough.

Lost in thought, George stroked his old, wrinkled cheek and silver-white beard. Beautiful and at the same time painfully happy memories slid past his inner eye.

Fred, who had 'rescued' a fire salamander and whom they had fed Filibuster's fireworks to see what would happen.

The Quidditch matches together, where they were an unbeaten team as beaters, and the year they had to keep that bludger off Harry's back.

The time they spent degnoming the garden together, throwing gnomes with their siblings and Harry.

The countless nights in the castle, with the Marauder's Map in their hands (years later, Harry told him who created it).

The first steps of their Skiving Snackbox … Dudley and the Ton-Tongue-Toffee, Neville, who had turned into a canary thanks to their Canary Cream and shortly afterwards yellow birds were constantly flitting around the common room.

One of the best memories: how they got back at Umbridge, her horrified face when they let off the fireworks. Best school leaving in the history of Hogwarts – George was still terribly proud of that.

He sighed deeply and stood up with groaning knees.

'Fred, me brother. I'm gonna do what we should've done when we had missed that chance last time,' he grumbled to himself, a wrinkled smile spreading across his face.

Arching his back, he waddled out of the bathroom towards the stairs, down to the shop.

'George? George, what're you doing! Wait until the potion wears off! I was already thinking about sending you to St. Mungo's to speed up the process before you become incontinent or something,' Angelina shouted and hurried after her husband.

'Leave me!' crowed George. 'I'm as old as I feel! Let go of my arm, young thing, I can walk down the stairs myself!' said George, winking mischievously at Angelina.

It took her a moment to understand, his aged face made it difficult for her to read him. Then she gave him a warm smile and stroked George's arm.

'See you later, love,' and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

Step by step, George struggled down the narrow staircase, steps really were a challenge once you were over 100! The shop was quiet, it was still early in the morning, and the first waves of customers usually arrive around lunchtime.

Eddie, as well-groomed as ever, was already standing at the till, stroking his old-fashioned waistcoat, when he looked up and saw George. His face changed from surprise to amusement and shortly afterwards to feigned seriousness.

'George! What's happened to you? You shouldn't be here – erm – well, you should be upstairs resting – with a hottie, I think …'

'Fiddlesticks! I'm still in good shape!' mumbled George in a cracking, unfamiliar voice. 'Y'know, Eddie, I wonder how Fred got his hands on an Ageing Potion ...'

Eddie looked at George with wide eyes. 'Yeah … really good question – Fred's responsible for … this?' he asked innocently.

George looked at him with flashing eyes. 'Of course he was! And you're on storeroom duty for the next month.'

But Eddie couldn't answer, his mouth forming a silent Oh. George laughed in a raspy voice.

'Go on, go on, off to the storeroom with you. I'll be at the till today.'

'A-are you sure?! The customers will –'

'I'll teach them to respect their elders. Shoo, shoo,' he shooed Eddie away from the till, who couldn't help but grin as he walked to the storage.

'Very nice beard, George.'

'Thanks. Oh, there should be a walking stick in the storage, be so kind and bring it to me.'

'What was that, young lady? My ears aren't what they used to be …' George shouted exaggeratedly at his own mother, who looked at him in horror.

'George!' said Molly Weasley in shock. 'What on earth has happened?!'

'Oh, well, you should ask Fred, y'know.'

Fred, Roxanne and Josh were not far from the two of them in the shop, having a royal laugh at George's performance as a funny old geezer.

George shouted phrases through his shop like 'Get off my lawn! … Oh wait, I haven't got any …' 'That means sir, you naughty brat!' 'Offer old people a seat! What? There are no chairs here? Humbug.'

'You'll have to speak up if you want something from me, girl!'

The 'girl' was already in her early 50s.

Fred had been cleaning the kitchen at lightning speed, Roxanne had been kind enough to help him, but before that Fred had sent his mate Josh a note that said 'the eagle had landed'. At the moment they were communicating via code words. It was cool! And Uncle Harry had said that's what Aurors do.

After five hours, the fun was over and George was young again (or at least 'slightly' younger, as Roxanne put it). He shaved off his beard, his white hair turned red again and some wrinkles receded.

Fred couldn't help and teased his father with puns about old age and ageing in general.

George grinned at his son and patted him on the shoulder. 'Y'know, I should tell you three a story.'

'Cool! About Ageing Potion?' Josh asked curiously. 'Have you ever put sugar in it?'

'No, not that …'

And while there was the usual hustle and bustle in the shop (and Eddie was transferred back to the till because Elli was running late again), George told Fred, Roxanne and Josh about the olden days back then when his brother and he grew old together when they were young.