"AND WHAT HAVE THE INGENIOUS WEASLEY TWINS thought up this time, you might wonder?" Fred spoke to the crowd.
"An Ageing Potion, brewed by yours truly!" George motioning to his brother and Lee.
"That's what we're worried about," Mallie heard Katie Bell murmer from somewhere behind her.
The three boys pulled the corks out the small vials and clinked them together in a celebratory manner before downing them in one go.
The three stood exchanging glances and looking very proud.
The crowd began to spread as they made their way to the Goblet, Fred stealing the piece of toast that Mallie had nearly forgotten about out of her hands.
At this point there was no defending her food any longer.
Fred shoved the last of it into his mouth and chomped happily as he stood at the perimeter of the circle, Mallie shook her head at him and leaned up to give him a friendly peck on the cheek.
"This is going to backfire, you know that?" Mallie said.
Fred said nothing, but grinned and ruffled Mallie's hair.
Angelina stood next to her, lips pursed in disapproval.
"This is a bad idea." She mumbled again.
Fred rolled his eyes at the two girls before looking at George and Lee on either of his sides and he licking his fingers clean of marmalade.
George came nearer and nonchalantly bumped Mallie's shoulder,
"And do I get a good luck token?" he said, leaning down and opening his cheek for her to plant a kiss there.
Mallie blushed furiously but pushed it aside and brought her hand up to George's cheek and offered him a slightly forceful tap there.
"Tell you what," Mallie proposed,
"You make it out alive, and then I'll give you your token."
George grinned mischeviously,
"Sounds like a deal."
The crowd stepped back and the boys looked at each other,
"Ready gents?" Fred asked.
"After you two." Lee said, motioning for the twins to enter.
The twins huffed,
"You're a baby, Jordan." Fred joked,
"But sure, see how it's done."
The twins took hands like schoolgirls and stepped in together.
Mallie had instinctively covered her face, partially because she didn't know if she wanted to see, but mainly because she half expected something to explode.
Looking at Angelina, it seems she had the same idea.
But it seemed that the two had made it to the other side without incident.
They smiled and high fived each other.
Fred looked back to offer everyone a thumbs up and George sent a wink in Mallie's direction, who got a suggestive shove in the side from Angelina who was standing close enough to see her blush.
She didn't even have time to defend herself when things started going horribly wrong.
Fred had begun bargaining prices for the recipe with members of the crowd when, before their eyes, the twins were catapulted out of the circle and across the room in seperate directions.
Fred landed and rolled off a dining table and George flew straight into a wall and hit the ground with a thud.
Lee grinned, still standing outside the perimeter of the circle:
"Every man for 'imself."
Mallie's eyes were wide and she glanced between the two opposing corners of the room, where each half of the Weasley twins lay, probably unconscious.
Angelina touched her arm, "I'll check Fred, you get George."
Angelina was already halfway to Fred when Mallie registered what the Gryddindor had asked and quickly made her way in the opposite direction.
George was face down on the stone floor and unmoving.
She leaned down beside him, a crowd slowly growing around her.
"George.." Mallie tried to coax him to open his eyes as she rolled him over into his back.
There was a gasp from the surrounding crowd and Mallie's eyes widened: George was sprouting a thick white beard and it was growing faster the longer they looked.
Mallie was startled to silence but soon started to laugh and looked over to where Angelina was,
"Angelina ..." She called.
"Beard too?" Angelina yelled back between fits of laughter.
George's eyes began to open slowly, cringing at the noise around him and looked curiously up at Mallie who was holding his head,
"What ... is it?" He asked as he surveyed everyone's faces.
She leaned down and whispered close to his ear, "Uh Georgie, you've got a beard."
Georges eyes grew wide and he grasped at the white hair.
"Oy, old man!" Fred seemed to be up on his feet and laughed as he caught sight of his brother.
George still sat on the floor and most of the crowd had dispersed, now full on the day's antics.
"My head hurts." George mumbled as he lay back down on the floor, the length of his white beard now grazing his knees.
"Well that's what you get for being thrown 15 feet and slammed into a wall." Mallie deadpanned.
"I'll be right back," She said and walked over to Angelina.
"All good over here," Angelina clarified Fred already describing the experiance to Lee in elaborate adjectives.
"And there?" She asked.
Mallie rolled her eyes, "I think George might have a concussion, I'll take him to the hospital wing to check."
Angelina nodded, "Yeah, best check. I heard him hit that wall hard."
Mallie nodded at her, "Care to join me?"
Fred caught Angelina's eye and shook his head profusely, she smiled mischeviously at him;
"We'll follow you guys in a sec, I think Fred wants to to go show Mcgonagall his beard."
Fred seemed very happy with the presented idea.
"'Right there, Freddie?" Mallie called out to Fred who was now downing a glass of pumpkin juice.
He nodded from behind the goblet.
"Get the git to the hospital wing, please Mal. It looks like he's had a bottle too much of Firewhiskey." The ginger motioned to his brother who had pathetically attempted to stand.
Mallie rushed over and caught him right as he was about to fall. George gazed dreamily up at her,
"My hero..." he mumbled.
"Alrighty then," Mallie blushed, "let's get you to Madam Pomfrey."
George gave Mallie a dazed smile as she managed to get the tall boy onto his feet and walk him out of the hall.
"Can I get my token now?" He asked, leaning heavily on her shoulders.
"Don't even think about it Santa Claus." She scoffed playfully.
George pouted, "Santa Claus? Wha'ss that?"
Mallie shook her head, purebloods.
"Nevermind then. I'll explain when you lie down."
They neared the hospital wing and managed to swing open the door, Mallie almost losing balance with the giant she was holding up like a toddler.
She dropped him flat down onto the nearest bed and he lay back with a groan.
It wasn't even another moment before Madam Pomfrey walked in.
"Ah, Mr Weasley. I thought I'd be seeing you today. The beard I assume?"
He shook his head faintly.
"He was slammed against a wall Madam Pomfrey, I think he might have a concussion..." Mallie let out.
The nurse sighed, "In that case, I'll be right back. Ms Johanson, keep him busy, he mustn't fall asleep."
And she left the room.
George's eyes started to fall closed, but Mallie jumped into the chair next to the bed and smacked his forehead lightly.
"Hey, hey! You heard her, can't fall asleep Weasley."
He made a grumbling noise but didn't open his eyes.
"Guess that little bottle didn't work as well as you thought, now did it?" Mallie said trying to start a conversation.
A small bubble of laughter spilled out from George's closed mouth, "I reckon."
Mallie huffed at the fact that George's eyes were still closed.
She rolled her eyes and came to a conclusion.
He was being difficult but a promise is a promise so Mallie leaned forward to George and placed a soft but lingering kiss on his cheekbone trying to avoid the white hair that tickled her chin.
Her lips tingled slightly and she leaned back to see George's open eyes, grinning.
If it wasn't covered with thick white hair, Mallie may have noticed that George's face had turned a tinge of deep pink.
It looked as if he was about to say something when Madam Pomfrey walked back in towards George's bed and Mallie quickly got off the stool beside him so that she could examine him.
George went to sit up while Madam Pomfrey flashed a torch in his eyes and made him take a large gulp of a fizzing liquid to which he pulled a sour face after swallowing it and Mallie tried hard not to laugh but George noticed her facial expression, blowing a rasberry at her when Madam Pomfrey looked away.
"And where is the other Weasley? I am smarter than to assume you did this on your own."
George, who himself didn't know, looked at Mallie with a puzzled look.
"He is rather enjoying his new beard, Madam. Fred will only be by later to have it removed." Mallie explained.
Madam Pomfrey gave a hearty laugh before shaking his head and handing George another glass,
"This one's for the beard."
George looked at the murky green medicine with disgust and looked up to give Madam Pomfrey a pleading look,
"It's Peppermint flavoured, Mr Weasley. It won't be as bad as the last." She urged him.
George seemed convinced enough and took the glass, gulping the contents down.
He came out spluttering and coughing,
"What kind of peppermint is this!" he said between coughs.
Madam Pomfrey sent him a sly smile and told him he needed to rest and that Mallie was welcome to stay until he fell asleep.
Within moments of George drinking the peppermint concoction, the beard had slowly started to fall away, turning to specks of white ash and disintegrating before they hit the floor.
Mallie sat attempting to get George to rest, "You took a hard hit, George. You need to sleep."
But George, although, barely conscious, suddenly didn't feel like sleeping and proceeded to act like a sugar high three year old.
After several futile attempts, she sat back in her chair and gave a large huff of defeat.
"Fine." George eventually said,
"But only if you stay with me."
George was feeling especially vulnerable after asking Mallie that, surely she had better things than to sit in the hospital wing all day while he sleeps.
Why would he ask her that!
She could go flirt with Edgar Vlark all day ...
George was pulled out of his sarcastically sour thoughts as he noticed that Mallie had smiled at him and nodded her head:
"Okay." She said, "Now, sleep."
××××
hi amigos!
Wheeeww! Wrote these last two chapters in the last couple hours and feeling super accomplished.
Let me know if you have any ships so far ... ;)
As always, love you all millions and billions and trillions,
-mel