Chapter 10: Weasleys Wizard Wheezes
The week had gone by quickly, and soon Leigh found herself trudging her way down the Hogwarts grounds on her way to Hogsmeade for her second ever meeting with the Weasley twins. Her classes had ended for the day, and while she was tired she also enjoyed the fresh air and a walk after having been inside for the whole day.
The news of the Hogsmeade excursion that was soon to come, in about one and a half weeks, had been the topic of discussion for most students, and she almost felt sneaky as she made her way to the destination before everyone else. She hadn't checked with McGonagall if her going to Hogsmeade to meet the twins was permitted, but assumed it was considering the task she had been assigned.
It really wasn't a long way to walk, and she was surprised that not more students sneaked off school property to go visit unattended. Or maybe they had, she just hadn't heard about it. She made a mental note to ask the twins about such mischievous behaviour – if anyone would know about it, it's them.
It was quicker to walk than expected, and soon enough she walked between the quaint houses of Hogsmeade, peeking into shop windows curiously. She considered stepping into Honeydukes to get herself some treats, but soon decided against it. It was already late enough, and she was sure the shops were closing any second.
She looked around for a few seconds before her eyes finally landed on what she was looking for: something orange. The building where Zonko's was previously situated was now orange, and 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' was spelled out in big, orange letters. Quite an eye watering view actually, and not in a good way.
Against better judgement, Leigh stepped towards the building, raising her fist and softly knocked upon the closed door. For a second she thought about turning away, running for her life and hiding behind a bush, but she came to her senses and stood in place.
Just before she was going to knock again, the door swung open, revealing one of the twins with a wide, toothy smile. "Welcome!"
Leigh still had some trouble telling the twins apart, much to her embarrassment. She desperately tried to look for any tells she had thought of before, and quickly whacked herself over the head when she remembered their different hair. The twin in front of her had slightly shorter hair which didn't quite curl along his neck like the other's.
Realizing she had probably stared at his neck for way too long, she flushed red, and he grinned in amusement before opening his mouth again.
"George." The two of them uttered simultaneously, and Leigh could feel her face heating up even more. This interaction proved to be more embarrassing than she thought. However, George didn't seem to share her view.
"Aha!" George continued with a grin, "You're learning!"
Before she had an opportunity to reply, or apologise for staring, the door swung open and George did a small bow to playfully invite her to step into the shop.
"Thanks," she mumbled before scrambling through the door, internally begging her cheeks to calm down and turn back to normal colour. Once inside, she really wasn't sure what she was looking at. At the minute it looked like a construction site; paint was halfway applied to the walls, pieces of wood were lying around, and various colourful decorations were spread messily throughout the room.
"Don't mind the mess," George said with a chipper tone. "Just started fixing everything today. Exciting!"
Leigh hummed in supposed excitement. Her eyes found a sign on the floor reading 'puking pastilles' and she scrunched her face up in disgust. Who would voluntarily take one of those?
"Where's your shadow?" She asked him absentmindedly, gaze tracing the various other signs across the floor.
"Ah yes, the lesser twin. Should be down soon," he shrugged. Again, his smile grew, and his eyes squinted above his grin as a result. "In the meantime, would you like a toffee?" He asked, swiftly lifting a bowl of sweets from the table nearby.
She looked down at it and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Last time I accepted a candy from either of you it really didn't turn out that well, did it?"
George snicked, but was quick with a reply. "Now that wasn't me, was it? That was Fred. A nasty little bugger that one. Horrid behaviour sometimes." He shook his head in fake disappointment, still gazing at her with wide, anticipating eyes, smiling cutely. "I saw you eyeing the Honeydukes window before. Go on. A toffee's not gonna bite you."
"You never know," she grumbled. "In here a toffee could do anything."
A carefree laugh escaped his lips, and he nodded to himself. "I take that as praise," he said with a smile, "and that's not a bad idea actually..." he trailed off as he considered her words.
He didn't look like he was scheming.., Leigh thought to herself as she eyed the bowl for the 50th time. After a few seconds she sighed, reaching her hand in the bowl and taking a toffee. In her defense she was craving one, and George looked kind of trustworthy. At least more trustworthy than Fred. She had just stepped in the door - he probably just wanted to offer her something since she was a guest. They were located on the same street as Honeydukes so of course they were bound to go over and get normal toffees every now and then.
She removed the wrapper and placed the piece of candy on her tongue, and to her relief it tasted like a regular toffee. Quite a good one actually. George seemed to notice she was pleased with her decision to eat the toffee after all, and put the bowl down on the table softly.
"Wasn't so bad, now was it?"
"I thuppose nout," she mumbled, mouth stuffed with toffee.
As if choosing the most unsuitable moment to join, Fred appeared from a staircase in the corner of the room, carrying a box full of...some product Leigh had never seen. His gaze fell on her and he smiled faintly, putting down the box against the wall.
"You made it."
Leigh nodded in response, gulping the toffee, purely by force at this point, down her throat. "Yeah, thought it'd be good to see where the scheming will take place."
"Thorough, you. Wouldn't expect anything less!" He responded gleefully.
As if remembering she was supposed to have a bone to pick with the man, Leigh suddenly furrowed her brows. Speaking of expectations... "What you did to Ron wasn't very nice." Her hands planted themselves on her hips. "You know he's petrified of spiders!"
"Oh yes we know," Fred replied with a proud grin, George following suit. "Who do you think made that happen?" When silence ensued, Fred started waving his hands in front of him, pointing to himself and his brother while boldly miming 'we did'.
Leigh narrowed her eyes at them. "You two are just horrible."
George bowed towards her before pretending to wipe the dirt off the shoulders of his shirt with a proud expression on his face. "Thank you, thank you."
"You have to agree it's an amazing product," Fred pushed. "We call them 'Forget me shocks'. Scare the target, and get rid of the evidence." He wiggled his fingers in front of him.
Leigh remembered how the spiders seemed to simply disappear into nothingness after a while.
Fred continued. "Left with nothing but the fear, what's to say it wasn't all in his head?" He spoke in a ghostly manner.
"I was there," Leigh said, unamused.
"What's to say it wasn't all in your head?" George retorted, lifting his finger to poke her in the forehead. Her frown deepened.
"It wasn't on your products list," she said instead, realizing she had been thrown off balance.
The two twins looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. "Oops," Fred started.
"Terribly sorry," George butted in.
"It's truly just all innovation here."
Leigh looked at Fred with narrowed eyes, letting her gaze move between him and George. They were not off the hook, but she couldn't figure out what else to say.
"Thanks for the letter, by the way," Fred said with a smirk, moving to lean against the wall. "Truly made our day."
Again, Leigh felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment and she internally cursed at her own reaction. "I– Er, I was angry," she mumbled. First after she sent it with the owl she realized she might have been a bit too blunt after all.
"Oh, we noticed that," George said with a snicker.
Fred lifted his hand to point to the wall beside him. "We framed it."
Leigh's chin almost dropped to the floor as she looked at the letter which was framed not far from where Fred was leaning against the wall. "You did not," she said in disbelief, taking a few steps closer. She again flushed red as her gaze ran over the letter. She really had been in a sour mood when she wrote it.
"We did," George giggled. Leigh's gaze reached the end of the letter. Her name had been covered. "Yeah, we covered your name. Didn't want to see the whole school after you." He admitted.
"Gee, how thoughtful," Leigh huffed as she rolled her eyes, although it was a relief, even if she would never admit it.
Fred had been quiet for a few seconds, merely observing from his place slightly in front of Leigh. He had been studying her face, seemingly enjoying seeing her reactions. Leigh met his gaze, as if questioning his silence, and his mischievous smile just grew, much to her bewilderment. He enjoyed teasing her, that much was clear.
The plan to show her around the shop was quickly abandoned seeing as they had barely had time to move in as it was, and showing the girl empty rooms and plain walls really wasn't that exciting.
Once they had sat down and the twins had, reluctantly, supplied more information on the 'forget me shocks' line of products, there was not much else to do. Leigh stood up, grasping her notes in her hand, and was prepared to leave. Fred quickly followed suit.
"I'll walk you."
Leigh looked at him, confused. "It's like 10 minutes, that really isn't needed." She replied, although Fred seemed to ignore her words. He was already by the door, waiting for her to follow. "Alright then..." Leigh whispered, mostly to herself. George delivered a grin her way, stating his goodbye before moving into a room Leigh had not yet had time to enter, probably to continue preparing for the grand opening. Speaking of, she still hadn't been told when that would be. The twins didn't seem to know either.
"You really don't have to walk me back, it's fine, really. I know you must have a lot of do in preparation for the opening and everything–," Leigh started, but was soon interrupted by Fred.
"Ah, it's fine," he replied hastily. "I wanted a moment with you anyway."