Chapter 3: Breakfast at the Burrow
Things at the Burrow weren't much less harried than those at the Dursley's that particular morning, though with seven people in one house things never were.
Molly Weasley rushed about her kitchen as usual, frantically trying to 'conjure' up breakfast for her family who were notoriously late for anything important.
"Arthur dear, are you getting up or must I bash you over the head with a frying pan!?" yelled Molly loud enough for the whole upstairs to hear.
"I'm up Molly," said Mr. Weasley as he stumbled down the stairs sleepily, though already dressed, "I've an hour until work yet…"
But Molly seemed not to hear him as she yelled up the stairs yet again for her twin nineteen-year-old sons. "Fred! George! If you plan on actually ever having your joke shop you'll be down here in two minutes! Your meeting starts in half an hour and you still haven't eaten!"
"Have off mum, we're apparating!" yelled Fred down the stairs.
"Molly…" began Arthur again.
"Well breakfast won't eat itself!"
BANG! Smoke began to pour down the stairs as a few loud guffaws and the voice of one very irate Ron Weasley mingled together in a loud argument.
Startled, Molly dropped her wand with a yell and rushed towards the bottom of the stairs. "Great Merlin's ghost WHAT HAVE YOU TWO DONE NOW!?"
"Why does it have to be us?" said George through stifled laughter as he peeked his head around the corner at the top of the stairs.
"Who ELSE would it be!?" yelled Molly, "What HAVE you done!? Get down here now!"
George laughed heartily as Ron shoved roughly past him and began angrily stomping down the stairs. His red hair was blown back from his forehead as if he'd been caught in a wild wind and ash covered his face and hands as if a small blast had gone off near him.
"Ronald! What in Merlin's name…"
"Exploding Elves Mum," Ron growled as he walked past her, averting his eyes in barely controlled fury, "Exploding Elves. The newest, latest, and greatest…stupid ugly prats…"
Fred joined George at the top of the stairs and both fell on each other bellowing with laughter as Ron stalked huffily away.
Molly scowled fiercely at them. "Was that necessary!?"
"We had to try 'em out on someone Mum!" said Fred grinning and wheezing for breath," We can't very well show them to Japes and Gambol without testing 'em first!"
Japes and Gambol Joke Shop in Diagon Alley was closing its doors, and Fred and George were eager to snap up the business, should the owners deem them worthy to sell to. The money they would make would finally allow them to move out on their own, and it was a move that was desperately needed.
Molly closed her eyes, attempting to control her madness, though it felt like a losing battle. Insanity was not far behind… "Just GET down here and eat! Breakfast is ready…and pinch up Ginny for me; I don't know what the girl's up to."
"Aye aye, Mum!" said George winking and giving his mother a stiff salute.
Molly pinched the bridge of her nose and turned slowly, walking back towards the kitchen table and dropping heavily in her chair.
"Oy, Ginny!" said Fred pounding on her door, "Stop primping, you! Breakfast is waiting!"
"Who exactly do I have to primp for!?" shot back Ginny's muffled voice, "Tell Mum I'll be down in a minute…"
Fred shrugged and made his way down the stairs.
Once again, Ginny made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and balled up her note, sending it to the already large pile of wadded paper in the corner.
"Try to sound excited, but not overly eager; open, yet enticingly aloof; charming, but not smarmy…"
Ginny sighed and slapped down her copy of Witch Weekly. This weeks "Charms for the Charmed" section was aptly named "A Witches Guide to Winning her Wizard: Love Letters." Brilliant for her since she was trying to answer her second note from the boy she desperately had a crush on, and whom she felt must feel the same, no matter how detached he seemed. She smiled almost deviously. She was a determined witch…you had to be to live in a house with all male siblings.
She poised her quill to write again and smiled.
"Dear Draco,
I was so pleased to get your last letter…"
Fred and George finally made it to the breakfast table, trailed shortly by Ginny, and the seven Weasleys tucked in for a quick bite before each were off, save Ron and Ginny, who had no particular place to be.
"Finally, you!" said Molly to her daughter as she passed around the biscuits, "What've you been up to this morning then?"
"Nothing mum, just a bit of a late start," lied Ginny, purposefully avoiding her mother's gaze. She had swiped Pig, Ron's owl, after he had come down stairs for breakfast, tied her letter to Draco securely on the owl's tiny leg, and let him out to deliver his post.
She sighed as she took a rather small bite of sausage and moved the rest of her food around on her plate. She hoped the letter didn't seem too eager…
"Excited about your meeting boys?" asked Arthur Weasley around a mouthful of eggs.
"We're corkers!" said George excitedly, "This's the opportunity we've been looking for, aye Fred?"
Fred nodded enthusiastically. "Just have to prove to 'em we've got the stuff to run the business. We've a whole load of jokes and pranks loaded up to take with us. That oughtta show 'em…"
"Yeah it'll show 'em," muttered Ron into his glass of pumpkin juice, "Slimy gits…"
"Aw, don't be mad Ronniekins," said George grinning and pinching his younger brother's cheek. Ron slapped his hand away with a *pop* and a large scowl. "We hadn't tested the elves yet. We needed a willing subject…"
"I WASN'T WILLING!" yelled Ron, slamming his glass back down hard enough to splatter pumpkin juice all over Ginny.
"Oy Ron!" yelled Ginny huffily, swiping her face and slapping Ron on the arm.
"Blame them!" said Ron irritably, "My aims a little off today…Can't imagine why!"
"That's enough!" said Molly slapping her fork down with a loud clang, "You three are WAY too old for this! Especially you two…" she waggled her finger in the twin's direction.
Arthur cleared his throat; time to intervene… "It'll be a tough day at the Ministry today I reckon…" he said eager to change the subject to a less sensitive one.
"What was that dear?"
"A tough day…at the Ministry…" repeated Arthur into his teacup, eyeing her from above the rim.
Molly relaxed a little, relieved to be talking to an adult. Sometimes she thought she might soon need one very white jacket with particularly long wrap-around sleeves. "Oh…why is that?"
Fred, George, Ron and Ginny relaxed back into their meals. Their dad always knew how to calm their mother, or at least shift her attention…
"Elvidell Pritchman's house's been raided…seems he was caught trying to bewitch some of his appliances again; of course that falls under Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. More paperwork for me…"
"That wizard is a menace!" exclaimed Molly as she summoned more tea from the kitchen. The pot floated over and hovered over her cup pouring another for her. "Wasn't it he a few months back that tried to charm that old Muggle stove of his into working again? Nearly burned his whole house down…Hmph! Electrical short indeed!"
"Well Molly, technically we've a few charmed appliances around here as well…"
"But he SELLS them!" She spat out in frustrated amazement, "I know you remember the article in the Daily Prophet last year about the Muggle who found himself with one of those, Arthur…Honestly! Who has a refrigerator that reminds you you're on a diet!? It took a whole slew of memory charms to erase that one, it did!"
"Yes well," began Arthur, smiling at his wife's exuberance, "Like I said, it won't be an easy day, but I'd rather shuffle paperwork than have to deal with what Magical Wildlife Services does."
George swallowed a large mouthful of food and shoveled another in before speaking. "Wha's tha' then?"
Arthur took another swallow of his tea. "Well, it seems there's been quite a few animal disappearances in the Forbidden Forest lately…Population's getting a bit thin; could start a problem with the eco-balance if the problems not found out soon."
"What sort of animals?" piped up Ginny.
Arthur set his teacup down absently. "Unicorns."
Suddenly there was a clatter of forks and a few dropped cups around the table as the Weasley children sat up straight in shock. The silence that ensued was enough to make both Molly and Arthur extremely suspicious, and they glanced around the table at their children, frowns prominently displayed.
Ron looked positively ashen. "D…did you say unicorns, dad?"
Arthur answered slowly, a look of confusion playing on his ruddy features. "Quite a few of them actually. Seem to have been slaughtered…at least the ones they found; drained of blood. Can't seem to figure out what could've done such a thing. Ron, you look pale…"
The Weasley children seemed to have suddenly lost their appetites. Even the twins were unusually silent.
"Uh…may I be excused Mum," said Ron rising quickly, "There's something I need to do…"
Ginny slid her chair out noisily. "Me too…"
"Yes, of course," said Molly slowly, eyeing them. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her youngest children sprang up and bolted for the stairs.
"Ron! Ginny! What's going on!?" yelled Molly after them, but they had both already disappeared up to the second floor.
"What's with those two, then?" Arthur asked the twins as he rose uncertainly to leave, but Fred and George rose as well.
"Uh, dunno…daft I guess," said George quickly taking a last swig of his pumpkin juice, "Well, we best be off too, Mum. Don't want to be late!" Both boys stepped back from the table and grabbed up the trunk filled with their inventions, each holding one side.
"Wait, I'm not through with you!" exclaimed Molly.
"We'll be late Mum, sorry!" With a pop, both boys disapparated, leaving a bewildered Molly and Arthur in their wake.
Molly threw up her hands in exasperation. "What in Merlin's name is going on!?"
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Ron, Ginny following, threw open the door to his room and made straight for his owl cage perched atop his school trunk, but found it empty to his dismay.
"What!? Where's Pig!?"
Ginny looked sheepish and stuttered out a reply. "Sorry Ron, I…I borrowed him."
Ron whirled around, fixing his sister with a glare and she took a step back, guilt flooding her freckled face. "Ginny, this's important!" he said in exasperation.
"I KNOW Ron, I'm sorry! We'll have to use Errol…"
Ron sighed angrily. "He's too slow! We don't even know if he'll make it!"
"Well we haven't got a choice, have we!?" Ginny shot back.
Ron shook his head, growling impatiently, but made his way to George's room where Errol was living out the rest of his existence. He had his own perch and no cage. Being actually almost too old anymore to perform his post duties, he simply wiled away his days flying wherever he wanted and returning when he wanted, though to be honest, he rarely flew very far from home nowadays.
Ron plopped down at Fred's messy desk, impatiently shoving aside the makings of what appeared to be another prank and took out a parchment and quill, poised to write. He turned to Errol, gazing at the owl pointedly.
"This's very important Errol…you'll need to fly your very best, ok?
As if the owl could, Ginny could've sworn that Errol gave Ron a look of derision mixed with disbelief, but a soft hoot was his only reply. Ginny continued to stroke him as Ron began composing one of the most important notes he had ever written.
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