"You stupid git!" shouted George, throwing a relatively benign Color Change Charm across the living room. He watched in satisfaction as his brother's hair erupted into a shocking shade of electric blue. Fred's hands flew to his head and his mouth moved soundlessly for a moment.

"Rictusempra!" he finally yelled as he raised his own wand in retaliation, and flung the Tickling Charm across the room where it hit George square in the chest. Doubled over with laughter, George struggled to cast another jinx. All he could manage was a Trip Jinx and was rewarded when Fred fell to the carpet, tangled in his own arms and legs.

From the floor, Fred cast a Stretching Jinx toward his twin. George felt it graze his left arm, and watched as his hand stretched grotesquely toward his feet.

"Reducio!" he bellowed at Fred in blind fury. Fred managed to stand and stopped the curse with a well-placed Shield Charm; the curse bounced harmlessly off his invisible barrier, hitting the sofa instead and reducing it to the size of Ginny's old dollhouse furniture.

Fred was furious. "You prat!" he roared, and flung his strongest Bat-Bogey Hex at George. While it was not as powerful as their younger sister's, it still packed a punch; George ducked, barely avoiding the curse as he hit the floor as fast as he could. The curse hit the piano behind him with a tinkling of keys.

Hexes, jinxes, and curses continued: George was hit with a Stinging Hex as he stood, and retaliated with a well-cast Twitchy Ears Jinx. After calming his ears with a wave of his wand, Fred sent back a Leg-Locker Curse, knocking George to the ground. A minute later he was flailing about once more after George cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx that grazed his right side before continuing out the window.

Suddenly the twins found themselves dangling in midair by one foot. Their wands fell to the floor, their blood rushed to their heads, and they looked around wildly for the source of the spell.

To their dismay, Bill Weasley had just walked in.

He stood in the doorway to the kitchen, surveying the wreckage of the living room with an exasperated expression on his face. There were numerous holes in the wall, the piano was covered with flying bat bogeys, the sofa was a tiny toy, and several plants that been hit by the edge of the Jelly-Legs Jinx were dancing a conga on the windowsill.

With a wave of his wand, Bill froze the dancing plants.

"What's the big deal?" Fred shouted at his older brother, his arms swinging in the air.

"Put us down!" added a red-faced George.

"I don't think so," said Bill conversationally. He Transfigured the sofa to an appropriate size and sat down with an exaggerated sigh of pleasure. He watched his two younger siblings struggle uselessly.

"Come on, Bill!" said George irritably. "Get off it! Let us go!"

"Not yet," replied Bill, eyeing them closely. "First tell me what you're fighting about again." He immediately regretted asking, as both brothers began shouting loudly.

"He started it - "

"He said - "

"He tried to - "

"Silencio," said Bill with a lazy flick of his wand, and watched in amusement as the twins continued their tirade in silence. It took a moment for them to realize they had been muted.

"Much better! You don't look so good, though." Bill quickly picked up their wands and pocketed them in his robes. He released the spell that held them suspended in the air, and they landed hard on the floor. Both brothers gave silent grunts of pain while glaring daggers at their older brother.

"Yes, that's better. Now listen carefully." Bill cleared his throat dramatically. "I know we're all stressed out with the wedding preparations. But I'm getting married tomorrow, and I'm tired of you two fighting. Combine these two small problems, and here's what you get." He waved his wand at the twins, and with a look of intense concentration, cried, "Moveo Vita!"

George felt a strange sensation wash over him, as if he were floating out of his body. It passed quickly, leaving him disoriented and feeling slightly detached. Looking around, he was surprised to see he had moved and was sitting in a different position. He passed a hand through his hair, and was even more surprised to see that it was blue.

George gaped wide-eyed at Fred, who was sitting exactly where he had been moments before, and who was looking with shock at his red hair and overstretched left hand.

"Finite," said Bill. He grinned as the twins tried to puzzle out what had happened.

"What did you do to us?" asked Fred, his voice back but sounding much different. He was wearing a different shirt, and his pants felt much tighter than they had before. He also felt other strange sensations which he did not care to explore.

"Oh, I switched your bodies," replied Bill nonchalantly, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he watched the twins gawp at him in stunned disbelief. "A little trick I picked up in Egypt. We always get the new curse-breakers with it the first month they are there."

"You mean," continued Fred, reluctantly fascinated, "that I'm in George's body, and he's in mine?"

Bill nodded calmly.

"Forever?"

Bill raised his eyebrows. "Of course not. But like I said - I'm getting married tomorrow, and I'm tired of you two fighting all the time. We need some peace around here. So here's the deal: you make it through dinner, and I'll switch you back. However, I keep your wands until then, and if you tell anyone, I'll switch them too."

Bill stood up and stretched. "Well, Mum will be home soon, you should clean up in here before she sees what a mess you've made." He casually flicked his wand at the plants on the windowsill, and they started a new cha-cha. "Don't forget those, Mum hates it when they do that."

He walked out, leaving behind two very bewildered brothers.

"Excellent," they finally chortled together, and began to plot their revenge.

---

After the wedding rehearsal was over a large group of guests sat outside in the Weasley garden, enjoying a home cooked meal under the stars. An oak table long enough for two dozen people had been conjured and set with flowers and live fairies. Bill and Fleur sat at the head of the table with both sets of parents. Charlie and Gabrielle, Fleur's younger sister, joined them as best man and maid of honor. Several members from the Order of the Phoenix filled in the middle section of the table. Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione were seated near the end of the table, and as far away as possible sat Fred and George. The twins were unusually quiet, hunched over the table and whispering secretly.

"So how is the shop going, Fred?" asked Hermione as she sipped some pumpkin juice.

"Oh, it's good," answered Fred enthusiastically from George's body. Hermione gave him a strange look; George elbowed his own body and Fred choked on his butterbeer.

"It's going very well, thank you," said George, in Fred's body.

"Hey, how's the line of shield clothing coming along?" asked Harry. "Anything new?"

"No, nothing new, Harry," replied George, casting a furtive glance at the head of the table before turning back to Fred. "Same old, same old."

Ron frowned as he polished off a second helping of mince pie. "George said you had developed some new shield boots. I'd like to try something like that," he added.

"I did?" replied Fred in George's body, and felt a kick under the table. "Yes, I did mention something about that, didn't I? We're still testing it out, right now the right boot keeps tripping the left boot."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at her older brothers. "All right, what's going on? You two have been acting stranger than usual all night. Spill it."

George tried to pull his most innocent look on Fred's face. "Nothing's going on. We're just happy for our brother, that's all."

"You're planning something," Ginny accused.

"Not really," said Fred, shaking George's head while trying to hold back a grin.

"You had better not spoil their wedding, everyone's worked really hard - " began Hermione with a worried expression.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Spare us the hand-holding, Hermione. We know better. Mum would have our hide if we did anything during the wedding."

"What's that dear?' asked Mrs. Weasley, coming up behind them with a smile. "Enjoying yourselves?"

Fred and George avoided her gaze and glanced at the head of the table again. Harry and Hermione thanked Mrs. Weasley for inviting them as Ron helped himself to more pie and Ginny watched the twins closely.

"Fred," said Mrs. Weasley, "I just noticed something - why are you wearing George's clothes? And George, you've got on Fred's shirt." She sighed. "You're not trying to confuse the Delacours, are you? Because they're going to be family now, and really - aren't you a little old to be pretending you're the other twin?" She clicked her tongue and walked away. The twins had a strange expression on their faces; they looked fit to burst.

"Hey George?" asked Ginny suddenly.

"Yeah?" answered George from Fred's body.

"Where's Fred?" she asked, a suspicious expression on her face.

"Right here," replied Fred, forgetting that he was in George's body.

Ginny looked back and forth between her brothers and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Ron, as Ginny doubled over, clutching her stomach. He glanced at Harry, who seemed just as confused. Hermione was shaking her head, a small knowing smile playing across her face.

"Shhh!" said Fred. "Don't let Mum know! She'll be furious."

"How did you do it?" asked Hermione curiously.

George shrugged. "It happens when you run a joke shop."

Ginny caught her breath and wiped tears from her eyes. "Let me guess - Bill?"

The twins exchanged a telling look. "Were you fighting then?" she continued, and both boys nodded somewhat sheepishly. Ginny burst out laughing again and this time Hermione joined in her laughter.

"Oh!" said Ron, looking at the twins with a sudden look of understanding. Then he grinned. "Excellent."

Harry nudged him. "What's going on?" he asked quietly. Fred and George made frantic hushing motions; Ron quietly told Harry what Bill had done to the twins.

"Nice one," said Harry, grinning. "You look good as each other." Even Fred and George joined in the snickering as their entire end of the table burst out in gales of laughter.

"How did you know what they were talking about?" Harry finally asked Ron, helping himself to another butterbeer.

Ron stopped laughing abruptly. "Well, um, no reason. Just a guess," he muttered. He grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice to hide the blush creeping up his face.

"Bill got us once," said Ginny quietly, leaning over the table so no one else heard them. "When we were fighting a few years ago. It was . . . horrible." She gave a fake shudder. The twins looked at Ron with almost fiendish glee.

Ron immediately got defensive. "It was worse for me!" he said hotly, his face still flaming. "It's not easy being a girl, even for a day."

The laughter continued until Charlie Weasley walked down to their end of the table. Everyone went silent, trying to cover up smirks and smiles with cups, coughs, and more mince pie. Charlie clapped Fred on the shoulder. "Hey George," he said cheerfully. "How are you doing in there?" They all cracked up again.

"So do you know how to reverse the spell?" Fred asked Charlie once everyone had settled down.

The older Weasley shook his head as he joined them. "No, that's a Gringotts secret. But don't worry, Bill will change you back before the wedding."

Fred and George exchanged another look. "Doubt it," they said with identical smirks.

Suddenly the other end of the table exploded in a flurry of feathers before anyone could ask them why.

"Gotta go," said Fred, standing up.

"See you later," added George.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU! HOW COULD YOU - "

Bill Weasley sat at the head of the table, now patiently preening his gleaming yellow feathers, and pecking at his plate. Fleur struggled with her reaction: it seemed as if she didn't know whether she should laugh or cry at her fiancé's sudden condition.

"- A FWOOPER! HE'S GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW! WHY - "

Charlie Weasley was practically falling off the bench from laughing so hard. Remus Lupin had a small smile on his face, and Arthur Weasley was trying to hide his grin by coughing into his hand. Bill let out a loud chirp.

"- LIKE A FEATHER PILLOW EXPLODED EVERYWHERE - "

Mad-Eye Moody snorted. Nymphadora Tonks started laughing, and Gabrielle Delacour followed soon after. Fleur gave up trying to cry and joined her younger sister; even her parents began laughing as Bill ruffled his tail feathers.

" -IN FRONT OF OUR GUESTS ON SUCH AN IMPORTANT DAY - "

Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined in the merriment as Bill took off and flew around the table, swooping in and around the guests before landing next to Ginny. "Show off," she laughed, and Bill gave a great squawk.

"- IF YOU DON'T PUT HIM BACK RIGHT NOW I'LL - "

With a POP, Bill suddenly appeared on the bench next to Ginny. He was laughing, and Ginny threw her hands around his neck. "Good show, Bill!" she cried.

"Thanks," he replied with a broad grin. "Must be a new line of canary creams - I should've known they would have something up their sleeve."

"Always use protection on your wedding, big brother," said Charlie with a smirk from across the table.

"So where are they?" asked Bill, looking around for the twins.

"Are you going to change them back?" countered Hermione.

Bill winked. "Someday," he teased.

Hermione looked ready to protest, but Ginny cut her off. "They went inside," she said. "Get 'em good."

Bill gave her a mock salute as he stood. "Yes, ma'am. I know just the spell for them."

As Bill walked toward the house to find Fred and George, Fleur came up behind them. "Boys," she said with amusement, tossing her silvery blond hair and smiling.

"Not for long!" called Bill from the porch. With a wave at his guests, he went in after the twins.

And with a shout, Mrs. Weasley ran hopelessly after him.



* * *



A/N: I am so glad I came across this challenge in the Great Hall! It was both fun and challenging to write and I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks to Ritta (also know as mugglemathdork,) who beta-read this story for me quickly in order to meet the deadline. I am so glad she agreed to work with this piece because her comments and suggestions were a big help. She also came up with the fun title - thank you!!

And as always — thank you to J.K.Rowling for Fred and George and the delicious Weasley sense of humor.