Title: Harry Potter Advent Challenge: The Trouble with Twins Pt 2/24

Author: Deathangelgw

Disclaimer: They aren't mine, but damned if I didn't wish that they were.

Warnings: AU, silliness, sap, fluff

Pairings: Twins’ turn! George and Fred!

Rating: PG at the worst…

Summary: Day two of the Advent Challenge-> The twins give new meaning to ‘the joys of Christmas’

Beta: none since I want to get this posted right away, so any mistakes are all MINE!

A/N: This is for an Advent Challenge that I had posted/taken up. Each day will be a different person/pairing from Harry Potter. I'd like to thank Iniquity for keeping this up and wish everyone a blessed Christmas! Enjoy! Please review!

‘thoughts’

“Mum! Have you seen my ornament?” Ginny’s voice floated out from the living room of the Burrow as Mrs. Weasley went about the kitchen, cooking a large feast for the upcoming Christmas. She rolled her eyes and stopped stirring the gravy she was making as she looked over while her daughter entered the kitchen in frustration.

“No I haven’t, dear. Did you check in the upstairs box?” she asked distractedly as she went back to her stirring, adding some spices after taking a taste.

“Yea I did. And it was my favorite one too!” Ginny whined as she stomped her foot and left the room to go find Bill, who was busy with their father in making the fairies cooperate on the tree.

“Mum! Have you seen that garland that Harry and Hermione had given me?” Ron asked in confusion as he came in, scratching his head.

“No I haven’t, dear. Did you check your room?” Mrs. Weasley replied absently as she waved her hand over her shoulder, never stopping though in her stirring.

“I did three times, but it’s not there. I’ll go check elsewhere,” Ron mumbled in disappointment as he left the room to go towards the den.

“Mrs. Weasley? Have you seen my favorite sweater with the ornaments and holly on it?” Hermione queried distractedly as she ran in, looking around frantically as she tried to put her hair up into a messy bun.

“No dear. I had put it back into your trunk after washing,” Mrs. Weasley informed her as she looked over, frowning. This was the third person missing stuff! What was going on?

“Oh…but it wasn’t in there…” Hermione sighed as she ran out and upstairs.

Taking the gravy off of the cooker, Mrs. Weasley frowned in thought as she went over what had been claimed as missing. Bill had complained of missing his favorite brush set from Egypt. Charlie had asked if she had seen his snow globe of a fire breathing dragon, a gift from his best friend. Then Ginny, Hermione, and Ron complained of missing things that were valuable to them. And, by the way that Harry was looking around sadly as he wandered by, she knew another had fallen victim to the disappearing valuables. And now that she thought of it, she and her husband had both wondered what had happened to a special Fabregée egg that had been given to them on their wedding night and had held a perfectly preserved moving statue of their wedding vows. ‘All of us have lost something precious. All except…’ “The twins. I should have known…” she murmured in realization as she glanced over towards the den.

She sighed and shook her head, allowing the twins this minor reprieve from her anger. She had a feeling they were doing something as a surprise and, while she didn’t know what it was yet; she knew it wouldn’t be something mean. Christmas was their favorite time of the year…why would they ruin it with a nasty trick?

Smiling fondly, she returned to her cooking before setting it with help from her two eldest sons. She sighed inwardly at the empty place setting that should have been for Percy, but her stubborn son was still not talking to them. She pushed aside her sad thoughts and refocused on her family as they gathered around the table. She glanced at the twins, giving them warning looks that spoke of her knowledge of what they were up to. Innocent looks answered her, but she knew the message had been received. But all such matters were put aside as they came to table and began the feast that was before the opening of presents, something all of them were looking forward to. The usual familiar banter, teasing, and idle chit chat floated around the tiny dining room that somehow fit them all. Harry and Hermione were there as well, since Hermione’s parents were visiting France for Christmas. Harry was in need of having their family around him in his effort to continue dealing with his godfather’s death.

Remus was also present, a welcome invite since he had taken more of an active role in caring for Harry in trying to keep his best friend’s son sane. He was smiling gently at them as he quietly ate, his eyes the warmest they had been since his last friend’s death. He had been more and more involved with the Order, but that hadn’t stopped him from enjoying the holidays with his makeshift family.

As dinner ended and the table cleared off, several of the Weasley brood went into the living room to await the opening of presents. Mrs. Weasley set the dishes to clean before joining them, sitting on her husband’s lap as Ginny and Bill, as the youngest and oldest, began passing around the gifts. Squeals of laughter and joy sounded around the room as the sounds of ripping paper and exclamations raised the volume. It ended almost too soon…or so they thought.

“Hold those thoughts!” George cried suddenly as he and Fred ran in, having snuck out during the frenzy of last minute present opening.

“We have something else for all of you from us,” Fred added with an impish grin as they handed over first the missing items, then smaller presents, the twins sat down to watch them expectantly.

Slowly and suspiciously, they opened their gifts while eyeing the twins warily. But all suspicions were dropped as soon as the gifts were open. With mingling gasps of shock and incredulity, they all pulled out crystal versions of their most treasured objects. The crystals sparkled with varying degrees of color, capturing the light and reflecting it to make rainbows on any surface. The details were to the smallest particulars, even including the little smile on Molly’s face as Arthur declared his vows to her.

Awed thanks and hugs were given to the twins as they watched, smiling. Molly wagged her finger at them. “How did you do this?”

“It was an experiment that we stumbled upon. The crystals are malleable up until a certain level. So, before that, it can take the image of whatever is before it and copy it completely. Then, it hardens to something tougher than diamonds, so your precious memories will never break,” Fred explained shyly, threading his fingers nervously.

“Wow! So you weren’t pranking us by stealing our things?” Ron asked with a wide grin, earning some chuckles from the family.

“Now why would we do that?” George shot back innocently, winking as everyone broke into laughter. The twins winked at each other, feeling more than accomplished. Even their tricks could bring joy.

~Fin