A/N: Fair warning, my favorite ship is Hermione/Twins. If you don't like the prospect of that tripairing, how on earth did you manage to get this far into the series? In any event...
It turned out that George and Fred were so willing to goof around the previous night because they had finally found the cure. At least that's what everyone assumed when the grown up, grumpy looking Crookshanks bounded into the kitchen the next morning. The ginger monstrosity paused, looking up at his mistress with an expression as close to disbelief as a cat could manage before hopping up onto Hermione's lap.
"Wow... Magic kittens sure do grow fast..." Harry's innocent comment drew a few 'awws' from Alicia and Katie.
Breakfast went smoothly, one of the few meals they had without a food fight, and soon the twins bounded up to their lab to get the cure...
Unfortunately, the twins are easily distracted...
"George... Whatever happened to Dobby? Or Moody, for that matter?"
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Neville whirled in place, his black beady bear eyes scanning for something. His eyes narrowed, a frown coming to his small muzzle as he searched.
"You felt it too, didn't you?"
With a startled yelp, Neville twisted around to find Hermione standing nearby. His gaze moving around, Neville found that all those in partial animal forms had perked up as if sensing something. "I... I think there's a ghost here."
"A ghost? Really..." Hermione looked more thoughtful than disbelieving.
Neville nodded. "I saw a shadowy thing around last night."
"I thought ghosts were supposed to be silver, not shadowy." Albus seemed thoughtful as he adjusted the lay of the frilly cravat tied around his neck. It gave him an old fashioned look that he insisted completed his wardrobe.
"Maybe it's a ghoul?" Arthur's suggestion was met with thoughtful expressions as he wagged his long, fluffy red tail, the white tip drawing more than one hybrid's attention.
Looking around, Albus saw Oliver and Katie had drawn Angelina and Alicia into a discussion about having a friendly reunion type Quidditch match, leaving Remus as the only one really watching the adults. At the moment, Remus was talking with Minerva, Luna and Ginny about something or another.
Thinking, Albus turned to the nearby children. "Why don't we go hunt down this spectre?"
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Neville and Nymphadora caused the distraction. It wasn't completely an accident when Nymphadora tripped over her own feet and went tumbling into the bear cub. Neville was bowled over by the smaller girl hitting him at an awkward angle and started wailing. The wailing was mostly fake, the loud sounds drawing the attention of all the adults as well as most of the girls. In the fuss to tend to Neville, the others slipped out of the room.
Severus, Sirius, Kingsley, Albus, Arthur, Hermione, Charlie, Bill, Colin, Draco, Harry and Ron moved quietly into the large house... Well, as quietly as a group of kids could manage.
"Ow! That was my tail!"
"Well sorry! I'm not used to people having tails!"
"Everyone has a tail, most of them are just too small to notice."
"Shhh! Do you want to get caught?"
"Don't shh me!"
Eventually, the group made it a safe distance from the house. They were ready to scatter at a moment's notice should they be caught. The hybrids were leading the way, noses in the air as they sniffed for traces of anything unnatural.
"I think I've found something. It's been in the house all along, but it doesn't smell like anyone we see all the time." Charlie's thick, spade-tipped tail wagged as he gestured to the area where the scent seemed to be coming from.
The others joined in, reaching the conclusion that there must be some ghost or ghoul on the other side of the door. Sirius reached to open the door, since it was his house after all, but it was locked.
"Are we wizards or what?" Ron seemed annoyed and amused.
"We are, but we don't exactly have wands, do we?" Bill shook his head. "Are you certain that you're our brother?"
Ron's ears turned red. "Ginny didn't use a wand when she turned Percy's hair green."
"Yes... Wands aren't that common back home." Albus looked thoughtful. "Let's just direct our energy to opening the door."
The group, save for the confused Colin, Harry and Hermione, turned toward the door. They focused their magical energy and, before they knew it, the door was blasted off it's hinges revealing a startled man standing on the other side.
"It's the Meanie Man! He's the ghoul!"
"Ghoul? Get him!"
The group charged into the room, intent upon capturing the ghoul. Unfortunately they didn't realize the 'ghoul' was going to defend himself and soon they were dodging as he tried to send spells at them. Fortunately for them, the 'Meanie Man' underestimated the speed of the pint sized Order members.
"Argh!" Thud. Crash. Bang...
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"What was that?" Katie looked up as if the ceiling were about to fall.
Alicia looked up as well, shrugging before turning her attention back to Neville. But something caught her eye. "Umm... Guys? Where are the other kids?"
Turning around, they found only half of the children that were supposed to be present.
"Uh oh."
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"Meanie Man has been sneaking around here!"
"He was supposed to help Gred and Forge..."
"He should be punished!"
"He killed Harry!"
Turning, the kids saw Harry lying sprawled on the ground near Colin. Thankfully Harry wasn't dead, merely stupified and roused when Colin's panic brought forth the Muggle-born boy's magic with a silent enervation.
"He lives!"
"Wow, no wonder they called him The Boy Who Lived last night! He just won't die!" Sirius was impressed.
"Meanie should be punished! He didn't help the twins and tried to kill Harry!"
"I have the perfect idea... It's something I've wanted to do since this mess started." All eyes turned to Severus.
Sirius grinned. "Is it the thing we've been talking about?"
"Oh yeah..."
Moody's magical eye rolled frantically as he searched for some escape. Who the blasted hell had taught these kids how to tie ropes and gags so well anyway?
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Leaving the women to tend the fort, so to speak, Remus and Oliver headed out into the house to search for the sneaks. That is to say, Remus followed his nose and Oliver followed Remus. It didn't take them long to track the kids upstairs and down the halls, especially since they could hear giggles and muffled screams coming from the room Alastor Moody used when staying at Headquarters.
Exchanging a glance, Remus and Oliver tiptoed over to the doorway and peered inside. Their eyes went wide when they saw Alastor strapped to a chair while Sirius and Severus took turns shaving off his hair!
A snort of laughter escaped Oliver. Thirteen pairs of eyes whirled around, twelve of which widened as they spied the adults standing in the doorway.
Remus backed up slowly. "Move slowly... Don't make any sudden movements..." He was murmuring softly to Oliver as he attempted to escape. "If we're lucky, we'll get away..."
The previously widened eyes narrowed.
"Forget it! Run!" Remus turned tail and unashamedly ran from the terrors.
Oliver wasn't as lucky.
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Fred and George finally emerged from their lab to find Remus glaring at them.
"Just what were you two doing that took so long?"
Exchanging a glance, the twins spoke in unison. "Needed to make sure we had enough for everyone."
Giving the twins a suspicious glare, Remus finally nodded acceptance. "Take care of the ones in the den first. Then they can help us subdue the wilder ones."
George gulped slightly. "Do we even want to know what they're doing now?"
Surprisingly, Remus smirked. "Probably."
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"Bill! Charlie! Ron!"
The three in question froze automatically at the sound. Only one thing could get that kind of reaction from the three Weasley boys. Turning, they saw the intimidating figure of their mother standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at them.
"Y-Yes, mum?" Charlie was a bit braver than the other two.
"What do you three think you are doing to those men?" Molly gestured to Alastor and Oliver. "And the rest of you as well!"
With the arrival of a mother-figure into the situation, it wasn't just the Weasley brothers that had frozen. Arthur had dropped the quill he was using to draw on Alastor and had hidden behind the bound man. Albus was scuffling his feet and looking quite repentant. Harry looked as if he were about to bolt for a hiding place while Hermione who was protectively blocking both Kingsley and Colin from view. Draco had hidden beneath Moody's desk as soon as the first shout penetrated the room. Severus was trying to pass the blame on to Sirius who, in response, suddenly turned into a little black puppy that whined and whimpered in such an adorable way that it was impossible to be angry at him.
Standing behind Molly were Fred and George, both looking as if they were trying not to laugh at the scene. Remus was there as well, his face a mask of neutrality.
"All of you, march your rear ends down stairs at once!"
Bill, Charlie and Ron scrambled out of the room at high speeds, being caught at the bottom of the stairs by Minerva and Ginny and directed in the appropriate direction. Soon after the others came charging down only to be snared by Neville, Luna, Nymphadora, Katie, Alicia and Angelina. With the new adults to kids ratio, none of the little ankle-biters managed to escape.
Upstairs, Molly muttered profuse apologies to Alastor and Oliver. Once they were untied, Alastor handed Molly the wands he had taken at the beginning of the situation and clomped out of the room, vanishing from sight. Oliver was whining much like a little girl as he ran his hands over his bald head.
"Now, now dear... We'll get a hair growth potion whipped up in no time!" Molly soon bustled everyone out of Alastor's room and downstairs.
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Taking the potion was easy enough and soon everyone was back to normal. Sirius and Severus had glared death at each other before both swept off to separate parts of the building. Neither would ever speak of the ordeal again. Remus was still mortified over his naked wolf dance, while that same dance seemed to amuse the Hell out of Draco. Hermione was trying to make amends to Fred for helping tie him to a spit. Bill had gone to find Fleur. Charlie thought the entire thing was hilarious and talking to George about marketting the chocolate chip biscuits that had caused the whole mess.
Basically, everyone was doing their own thing. Some opted to go home and some remained to help clean up the place and have another celebration party... Sans chocolate chip biscuits.
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Later that night, as the party dwindled down, the original Animalities were lounging around the fire in the den. Taking up one couch for themselves were Fred, Hermione and George. George was lounging against the arm furthest from the fire with Hermione snuggled against him and Fred snuggled against her from the other side. Ginny was cuddled on Harry's lap as he sat in an oversized armchair. Ron was seated on a smaller couch absently brushing his fingers through the fur between Draco's ears. Draco was in his full wolf form and sprawled out on the couch with his head resting on Ron's lap. All seven were staring absently at the fire, enjoying the peaceful moment.
"Hermione?"
Rousing from her trance-like state, Hermione made a soft questioning sound at George's soft murmur.
"There's something we want to ask you..."
Fred's imput got Hermione's attention and she rose slightly to better take in the twins from her sandwiched position. "What is it?" Feeling something against the side of her that was pressed against the couch, Hermione turned and found both twins pulling something from a pocket. Her eyes widened.
Held between their joined hands, Fred and George were offering Hermione a ring. The ring was a Celtic twist of two thin golden bands that supported a polished, cut amber that sparkled like a cat's eye. As she gazed at the ring, Hermione seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
"Will you marry us?"
It wasn't just Hermione. Though the twins question, spoken in unison, was quiet, everyone in the room had heard and they were all holding their breaths as they waited expectantly.
Hermione's gaze turned from one twin to the other. She chewed on her lower lip as she considered the offer. Finally, she smiled. "Yes!"
The others erupted into cheers and howls as the newly betrothed trio shared in kisses.
Draco's telepathic voice brought amusement to the group. "It's about damned time, too!"
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Moving away from the door where he had just witnessed the engagement, the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore turned to the sound of approaching footsteps. "Hello, Alastor. So glad to see that you found the hair growth potion Molly brewed."
Moody grunted and held out a camera. "Here's the blasted thing you wanted. Though why you tricked Dobby into grabbing those chocolate chips I'll never know."
The two men walked off into the house together as Albus secured the film from the camera. "Ahh, Alastor... There is much to be said for a chance to momentarily relive one's youth..."
"Albus, are you ready to head home?"
Nodding farewell to Alastor, Albus walked over to Minerva. "Of course I am, my dear Minerva."
Minerva turned a smirk to Albus as she reached for the floo powder. "That's Queen Minerva to you!"
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A/N: I hope I didn't make anyone think the twins were perving over little Hermione like icky pedophiles. I was trying to hint that their girlfriend, not to mention all the little red head kids running around, was bringing out their paternal natures. I'd think that most, if not all, Weasleys would easily fall into parental roles. Anyway, the prologue for the third installment of the Animality Series has been posted! Check out "Apprentice of a Meddling Old Coot" if you wish to continue following the Animalities!