Hair Balls?
George opened the bathroom door early the next morning to an unexpected sight. There waiting for him were two sets of bright green eyes looking at him in curiosity.
“Look Lily! He has fur on his chest just like Daddy!” squealed Molly.
“No, Daddy’s fur is black. Uncle George’s fur is red,” Lily stuck out her tongue at her sister.
George’s mouth dropped open. He wasn’t used to an audience in the morning. But the banter gave him an idea.
“Eureka! A new product!” George exclaimed scooping up his nieces. “Hair Balls: guaranteed to grow hair on your chest. Just pop a furry gumball into your mouth, and presto!”
“I want a Hair Ball!” demanded Lily.
“Me too!” echoed Molly.
“Well, being that I just came up with the idea, thanks to you two, you’re just going to have to wait until I make some, won’t you?” George plunked down the twins and sauntered down the hallway. He paused momentarily to drum an earsplitting wake up call on Fred’s bedroom door. Handing the conjured drumsticks to the girls, he ran towards the kitchen, cackling.
Fred opened his door and peered into the hall, “Aha! I have caught the perpetrators! You can’t wake me up out of a sound sleep without consequences!”
The girls shrieked, dropped the drumsticks, and took off running. A merry chase ensued, ending only when Fred pinned them down and shouted, “Rictusempra!”
George walked into the room, fully clothed at last, carrying a tray of food. He released the girls from their giggle fest with a lazy flick of his wand. “Let’s eat breakfast so we can get to work. I want to start working on Hair Balls.”
“What are Hair Balls?” asked Fred.
George explained the idea the girls had given him. Fred immediately agreed, he liked the idea immensely. As George cleared the dishes Lily and Molly’s excitement began to grow at the prospect of going to work with their uncles.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” shouted Molly, throwing her hands up impatiently.
Fred laughed, “Well, if you want to go in your pajamas, that’s fine with me, but personally, I don’t think I want to wear mine to work.”
Lily and Molly dashed off to change their clothes.
An hour later the two sets of twins finally left the flat. Fred and George had never realized just how difficult it was to get two small girls ready to leave. Molly reappeared moments later wearing a purple sweater, green skirt, mismatched socks and rubber boots.
“Reminds me of a house-elf,” Fred had joked as he tried to tame the girl’s hair with a hairbrush.
“Dobby would be proud,” George agreed as Lily emerged from the bedroom. Lily was donned in jeans, a sundress and shoes on the wrong feet.
Fred and George could care less about the girls’ clothing, although George did fix Lily’s shoes. So the next step was the bathroom to brush their teeth. The men made a big mistake leaving the girls in the bathroom by themselves. Ten minutes later Fred entered to investigate and found a disaster area.
Apparently Molly had gotten toothpaste on her sweater. When she pulled the sweater off, the large glob of toothpaste had embedded itself in her hair. Of course the only solution in the three-year-olds’ eyes was to cut it out. So there Lily stood with scissors in one hand, and a large wad of Molly’s black hair in the other.
“What’s going on? George asked entering the crowded bathroom. “Oh dear,” he said half amused half frightened, “Ginny’s not going to be happy about this.
Fred tried reaffixing the cut hair with a charm, but to no avail. So the first stop in Diagon Alley was the barber shop.
The group flooed directly to the hair dresser down the street from the twins’ shop. The woman who ran the small business laughed heartily when Fred and George explained what had happened.
“Happens all the time, my dears!” The woman continued to tell Fred and George about the many small children she say regularly who tried to cut their own hair or a sibling’s. “Sometimes I get some who aren’t so young,” she teased with a wink.
The woman evened out the hair to a bob that came down to Lily’s chin, framing her face nicely. Fred and George thanked her heartily and handed over the appropriate coins.
“Here’s a tonic that will grow the hair back if her mother’s upset,” the woman said handing George a small bottle from a shelf behind the register. “But give it to her just before bed time. It works best when they’re asleep.”
George accepted the bottle and tucked it in his pocket with a bright smile. The woman interpreted the smile as gratitude and held the door open for the foursome. Fred on the other hand read the expression correctly. It was very likely this tonic would more likely find its way into the new Hair Balls experiment.
Stores were now open as Fred and George walked down Diagon Alley with the girls. Windows were filled with merchandise and brightly colored signs advertising sales. There was no store brighter or more wildly colored than Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. The orange awning was currently flashing the purple logo. An assortment of joke items sat on display in the window. Including a Deluxe Relative Repeller, that was guaranteed to get rid of any unwanted family.
Magenta robes swirling, George performed a series of complex charms to unlock the front door, ending with a pirouette. When the door swung open, Molly and Lily dashed inside.
Number ninety-three had been magically expanded to house five floors. Three contained merchandise, the fourth floor a laboratory. The top floor was the original flat Fred and George lived in when they first opened the store over a decade ago. It was now used as a break room; although, periodically, Fred or George stayed the night to give the other a bit of privacy. There were two moving staircases, one going up and the other down. They were a constant source of fascination and entertainment to Arthur Weasley. It had taken nearly a year to enchant them to work properly; only after finally consulting with Professor Flitwick.
Everyone boarded the stairs and rode up to the fourth floor. Lily reached for the door handle to enter the laboratory, but Fred stopped her before she had opened the door.
“Do you solemnly swear you are up to no good?” asked Fred.
Lily put her hands on her hips, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good!”
Molly echoed her, sticking out her tongue.
Fred opened to door and ushered the girls inside. The silver countertops were barely visible, littered with gadgets and test products. The walls were pained a metallic purple and covered from ceiling to floor with shelves. A faint smell of gunpowder hung in the air, and a notice was pinned to the wall, warning of firework testing in progress.
George pulled the tonic the hair dresser had given to him out of his pocket and placed it on the countertop. He pulled down other ingredients adding to the cluttered counter as he started to discuss how he would make the Hair Balls.
The door opened once more and Lee Jordan walked in, carrying what looked like an enormous pair of socks, “Morning Fred, George. We’re going to have to put some more work into these, not quite ready for customers yet.” He paused, and sniffed the air, “Do I detect the aroma of little girls?”
Molly and Lily began giggling as Lee pounced on them.
“Just the ingredient I need to complete my potion! Little girls’ toes are perfect!” Lee scooped up both girls and began running towards a large cauldron that was bubbling merrily in the corner.
“Don’t forget to add the slug juice first!” Fred called after him.
George added, “Or the house-elf ear wax!”
Both girls shrieked and began squirming when they realized their uncles would not be helping them. The commotion was interrupted when the door to the laboratory suddenly swung open and hit the wall with a bang. “It’s time! Ginny is having the baby!” Verity dashed into the room and began hugging everyone within arms reach. Lily and Molly squealed in delight, and finally wiggled out of Lee’s grasp.
“We’re going to be big sisters!”
The waiting room was full at St. Mungo’s. The entire group of people was waiting for Ginny to give birth.
“What happened to Molly’s hair?!” exclaimed their grandmother the moment she saw the two sets of twins. While Fred and George took turns explaining what had happened the girls escaped from their uncles in an attempt to find their parents
Mrs. Weasley took over watching the girls from there on out. Only the anticipation of a new grandchild had prevented her from unleashing a full head of steam. It was bad enough that the girls had found the welcome witch and given her untested Weasley products; but she had been replaced with a surly looking wizard. Who looked anything but welcoming.
After a couple of hours, Arthur took Molly and Lily to the gift shop so they could buy a present for the baby. They returned shortly with a stuffed banana the girls had declared, “the bestest gift ever.”
Finally an exhausted but excited Harry entered the waiting room, grinning like a madman. He cleared his throat, “The newest Potter has arrived!”
A/N: Yes, I know this was a short chapter, but I wanted to update so the story didn’t get deleted. Hopefully the next chapter won’t take me 7 months to write! Big thanks to Amanda for all her help with this chapter! If you email me with a babysitting horror story, it might just happen, hint hint!