Chapter 19. The Angry Weasley Couple
"What's the matter, Ron?"
Hearing a piercing scream, Mr and Mrs Weasley were startled and Apparated upstairs in a flash.
Duncan, Fred, and George were in a flurry, hauling Ron to his feet and brushing the little spiders off him.
"Are you all right, Ron?" Mrs Weasley asked anxiously.
"What on earth happened?"
"Spiders, Mum, there are spiders everywhere!"
Ron's voice had a sob in it, and seeing Mrs Weasley was like seeing a saviour.
He lunged out of the room, wanting to throw himself into Mrs Weasley's arms.
Mrs Weasley deftly stopped him.
She flicked her wand, and a gale sprang from nowhere, sweeping the little spiders off Ron, whirling them into a clustered vortex in mid-air, and sending them out through the stairwell window to where they ought to be.
"It's all right now, Ron."
Mrs Weasley patted his back gently.
"I've chased them all off."
Ron's shoulders heaved as he kept on crying, as though he still hadn't recovered from the fright.
"We've overdone it..."
Duncan, Fred, and George looked at one another, knowing their prank had gone too far.
Mrs Weasley shot the three of them a blazing glare, like a volcano about to erupt.
But glancing down at Ron in her arms, she forced her temper down, led Ron upstairs, and decided to deal with them later.
"Was this you lot?"
Mr Weasley swept his eyes over the three, his tone quite severe.
"Mm..."
All three hung their heads and murmured assent.
The spiders on the floor were still crawling towards the spot where Fred's liquid had dripped.
One after another piled up into a pitch-black ball, stark against the wooden floorboards.
"Whose idea was it?"
Mr Weasley frowned, swished his wand to send every spider in the room away, and cleaned the floor while he was at it.
"Mine..."
The three of them answered in unison again.
"It must have been you two who suggested it first!"
Mr Weasley knew exactly what his twin sons were like.
He pointed at Fred and George, fuming.
"Your prank was downright nasty!"
The three didn't dare answer back, letting Mr Weasley's spittle fly before their eyes.
After scolding them for a bit, Mr Weasley heard footsteps upstairs and said quickly, "Since you've got so much energy, go clean the kitchen and the sitting room on the first floor!"
"Oh!"
The three answered in chorus, edged carefully past Mr Weasley, and started down the stairs.
"Remember, no magic!"
Mr Weasley added, lifting his leg to go up.
Mrs Weasley came face-to-face with him, and they got jammed together in the narrow stairway.
"Arthur, where are they?" Mrs Weasley demanded, angry.
"They went too far today.
Ron was scared witless!"
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, clearly ready to go down and let the troublemaking trio see what she could do.
"I've already told them off and punished them," Mr Weasley said in a rush.
"They know they were wrong..."
Hearing the voices, Duncan and the others realised Mrs Weasley had been stopped upstairs, and they let out a sigh of relief.
If Mrs Weasley got hold of them, cleaning the sitting room and kitchen probably wouldn't be the end of it today...
"You've made trouble again?"
Ginny's door opened.
In her pyjamas, she stood in the doorway looking at them.
"Go back to sleep."
Fred wasn't in the mood to chat with Ginny.
He hustled her back into the room, shut the door for her, and the three carried on downstairs.
On the ground floor, George cast a lingering, nervous look upward.
"Good thing Dad held Mum back, or we'd be done for today."
"I didn't think your potion would be that strong..."
Fred sighed.
"I reckon it drew every spider near our house.
Never mind Ron, even I was startled."
"I've only used it once before," Duncan said.
"What about Ron?
He looks like he was really frightened."
Fred and George exchanged a look.
"We only meant to teach him a lesson, but we didn't expect to go overboard.
Erm... how about we make it up to him later?
When we've made some money, we'll buy him a new wand!"
"I think that'll do."
Duncan nodded.
"Besides that, we've got an immediate problem!"
Fred looked around the sitting room at the grimy floor under the dim yellow light, the dust-laden window sills, and the higgledy-piggledy clutter...
He sighed.
"No magic allowed...
We're in for it today...."
"Get cracking.
Do a proper job of it, or Mum won't let us off in the morning either."
George found the cleaning tools, tossed some to Duncan and Fred, and took a rag himself to set about the work.
Seeing the three hard at it, Pro felt it ought to help as well.
After pottering about for ages, it found a small scrap of cloth, hooked it with its little claws, and scrubbed hard at the footprints by the door.
It didn't manage to wipe off even a patch, but the thought was there.
Not until the bright full moon slowly sank did the three of them—and Pro—finally finish the cleaning, leaving the sitting room and kitchen spick-and-span.
"At last it's done..."
Fred kneaded his aching shoulders.
"I'm dead on my feet."
"Hope they get the message and don't call me.
I want a proper sleep," George said.
"All right, off to bed."
Duncan put the cleaning tools back, waited for Pro to crawl into his pocket, called softly, then dragged his weary body through the passage and struggled up the stairs.
After exchanging goodnights with Fred and George, Duncan went up to the top floor and stopped at a door with peeling paint.
A little sign hung on it, reading "Ron's Room".
Duncan eased the door open, tiptoed in, and ducked his head a little to avoid the slanting ceiling.
Ron's room was like a great furnace.
Bedspread, walls, ceiling... everything seemed a dazzling orange.
Posters of Chudley Cannons players were pasted on the walls, covering the shabby tablecloth.
Right now Ron was curled up in bed, clutching a duvet printed with Bludgers, sleeping soundly.
Duncan let out a breath, changed into his pyjamas, lay down on the newly made small bed beside Ron's, and stared up.
From above the ceiling came a rustling sound, as though some creature was moving about up there.
After a moment, there were dull thumps again, like someone singing while banging on the pipes.
"A ghoul?"
Duncan glanced to the side.
Ron seemed to be disturbed by the racket, his brows knitting tight.
"Mischievous thing!"
Duncan got up, his head against the ceiling, and hissed in a low, stern voice, "It's time to sleep.
Keep it down, or I'll come up there and give you a thrashing!"
After a while, no sound came from above.
The ghoul had backed down.
Only then did Duncan lie back to rest.
The price of today's prank was a bit steep...
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts