Three Grumpy Gits and a Baby

Chapter 2

"What do you mean 'Harry's a baby now'?" cried Sirius.

Sirius, Remus, Mrs Weasley, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron and Ginny had assembled in the kitchen to discuss the situation. At first, Sirius was convinced that the twins were playing a prank on him— that is until he saw the baby in Mrs Weasley's arms. They transfigured a bouncy chair for Harry and sat him atop the large, oak kitchen table, each of them staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and fear.

"How did this happen?" asked Remus wearily.

"It was an accident!" protested George desperately. Fred nodded vigorously.

"We were just mucking about with some potion ingredients in one of the spare bedrooms. Harry must have spilt some on himself when he came in to have a look."

"Clumsy beggar," mumbled George, shaking his head. Mrs Weasley slapped both twins on the back of their heads and they winced.

"Oh no, you don't!" she warned. "This is your fault! I told you to cease and desist your little experiments, but no— you two thought that you knew better than me. Daft old mum doesn't know what she's talking about, does she? There's no talking your way out of this mess, not this time. And you!"

She rounded on Sirius who sank lower into his seat as she loomed over him. "You knew what they were doing and you saw fit to go over my head and encourage their tomfoolery!"

"Molly—" he began, but Mrs Weasley cut him off.

"Don't 'Molly' me! You encouraged my sons to disobey me and look what's happened as a result! Well, I hope you're proud of yourself."

Sirius stared at his shoes and said nothing, his pale face flushed red with shame. Remus placed a reassuring hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"The real question is, can we fix it?" he asked.

Fred and George glanced at one another.

"We're not sure," George admitted.

The kitchen erupted into chaos at this revelation.

"You mean he might be stuck like this?" Ron cried in horror.

"What happens if You-Know-Who finds out about this?" despaired Mrs Weasley.

"Well to be fair, he hasn't fared well against infants in the past," Fred pointed out, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Nobody laughed.

"This is no time to joke!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "This is serious! Merlin, what will Dumbledore say?"

"What about school?" asked Hermione shakily. "We're supposed to be starting back next week, and it's our O.W.L.S. year, Harry can't afford to miss out on any of his lessons."

"I think class attendance is the least of his worries, Hermione," said Ron. "He's not even old enough to attend Hogwarts anymore. He hasn't even got teeth yet!"

Harry squealed and kicked out his tiny legs happily, oblivious to the seriousness of his situation.

"Has anyone contacted Dumbledore about this?" asked Remus. Sirius rose to his feet.

"I'll go write him a letter. Explain the situation as best as I can."

"You do that," sneered Mrs Weasley. "Try not to do any more damage between here and your bedroom!"

Sirius paused as though he were going to reply to Mrs Weasley's jibe, but thought better of it and hurried out of the kitchen.

They weren't waiting long before Professor Dumbledore arrived closely followed by Professor Snape. The Headmaster strode into the kitchen and paused abruptly when he saw Harry dozing in the bouncy chair.