InsaneJournal

Who: Vicky Frobisher, George Weasley
What: Chatting. About stuff. And things.
When: Tuesday, March 24, 1998
Where: Vicky’s Flat
Rating/Warnings: Nope


When George journaled that he was on his way over, Vicky activated a couple of cleaning charms and flicked her wand at a few things around the flat to tidy up. Not that George would care if her flat was untidy, but she doubted he wanted to be confronted with the evidence that his brother spent the night here more often than not, either. She certainly didn't want to think about her brother or sister spending the night with anyone in a romantic way.

The flat was mostly tidy when George knocked on the door. Vicky deactivated the charms, flicked her wand at one last thing, and hurried over to open it. "Hey!" She bounced up on her toes to kiss George's cheek. "Come on in!"

George grinned. Sometimes it was a nice change of pace not to be the most enthusiastic person in the room. Vicky was one of the few people who could give him any kind of competition on that front. "Hey! I brought cookies. Mum's been in baking mode for some reason. Not that I'm complaining." He figured it was only fair to bring sweets, since he was planning to make use of a considerable amount of her charms expertise.

“You spoil me!” Vicky took the offered package and carried it over to the coffee table. Her purple pygmy puff was sitting on a stack of books, and she scooped it up and put it into their knitted nest. The first few nights after Fred had sent them over, they’d slept in her bed, but with Percy staying over more and more, that had to change. The pygmy puffs had started trying to crawl in before she finished knitting it, and hadn’t slept anywhere else since she’d finished.

“Want something to drink?” she asked once the pygmy puff was settled. “I was gonna make some hot chocolate.”

“Sounds great.” George did a double-take at the pygmy puff nest. “What is that?! Also, where can I get one?” He had mostly managed to keep the puffs out of his room at night, but Margaret tended to want to sleep in his hair--which, while endearing, was not exactly conducive to a good night’s sleep.

Vicky filled the kettle with milk and activated the warming charm. “It’s a nest! I made it so they’d leave me and--leave me alone at night. You can get one for your birthday, if you’re very nice to me. And help me figure out what to get Fred.” If George really wanted a pygmy puff nest for his birthday, that would make things so much easier. She loved the twins, but they were nearly impossible to figure out gifts for.

George very intentionally did not hear the name she dropped out of that sentence. “I’m always nice to you! It wounds me that you would imply otherwise, Vicky!” He clutched imaginary pearls even as he grinned. “I'll try, but I haven't even figured out what I'm getting Fred. Some years it's easy, but this year I didn't have any gift-related epiphanies."

“I said very nice, George. That’s nicer than regular nice. And maybe we can brainstorm a couple ideas together.” She winked, then poured the hot milk into mugs and added chocolate syrup. She handed one mug to George and sat on the couch, tucking her feet up under her. “So. What did you need my help with? Birthday shenanigans?”


"I brought cookies! That's a start, right?" Well, okay, those had been a bribe for the birthday help, but still. "Yes, birthday shenanigans! I don't want to give away all of the surprise, but...how familiar are you with Muggle literature?"

"It's a start." Vicky winked. As though she would consider not giving George the inky present idea she had so far. "And... some? I spent most of a couple summers exploring Muggle London and I read a few things from Hogwarts library. What book are you thinking of?"

"It's called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland? It's like a Muggle got completely pissed and then tried to write a wizarding story. With rabbits. It's brilliant." And full of the kind of mayhem that the Weasley twins loved, of course. George took a cookie, dunking it into his hot chocolate, then passed the rest to Vicky. "I think Charlie's going to help us with some of the outside setup, but I think the inside will need some serious charmwork. How are you with shrinking and enlarging things?"

“Oh, yeah! I remember that book. So weird. Brilliant. But weird.” She took the plate of cookies, snagged one off it, and set it back on the coffee table. “Do you want things shrunk and expanded ahead of time or set up to they shrink and expand on command?” She could do either, but the latter was far more complicated.

She took a bite of the cookie and slumped back into the couch, moaning with bliss. “Oh Merlin. Your mum’s cooking is the best.”

George’s eyes lit up. “I was thinking ahead of time, but on command would be so much cooler. Is it doable? Or is that way overreaching? I don’t think it has to be a lot of stuff, just enough to give the general idea that people are growing or shrinking.” He thought about it for a minute. “Maybe even have most things sized ahead of time, and then just one or two things that can change on command for effect? We could divide the store up into large and small areas, and have something that changes in the transition between areas.”

“I can do either. The on command bit is a lot more complicated, though, so just a few of those would be good.” She took another bite of the cookie and closed her eyes as she enjoyed it. “I can do some on command, though. How much of the shop are you transforming? All of it?” She tried to imagine the shop all transformed… and the amount of work it would take to do it. “What about the merchandise?”

“Probably just some of the furniture, tables and shelves and such. Enough to give the general feeling that you’re big or small, but not enough to make it hard to get around or get to the merchandise.” He drummed his fingers on the side of his mug, thoughtfully. “I don’t want to get too carried away, because I know it’s going to take a lot of doing to get the outside set up the way I want it. Plus there’s some merchandise I want to make specifically for this, so I don’t want to get too carried away and run out of time for everything.”

Vicky mimicked the movement, tapping her fingers on her mug as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. “Hmm. All as a surprise on the first, I assume?” She tried to think about how much time she’d need to get stuff ready. “Any chance you’re going to close early the day before so you have time to set stuff up?” That would make it easier to get stuff done, but she doubted they would. Not if this was all supposed to be a surprise.

“I can figure out the charms in advance, then it’s just a matter of casting them. Depending on how many things I need to charm, I can probably manage if you don’t.” It would probably take most of the night, but it would be fun.

"I'd rather not if we can figure out a way around it. Obviously people know we're up to something, but part of the fun is making it look effortless, you know?" George patted his pockets for a minute, then pulled a little notebook and a stubby pencil out of one--he was going to need to start making notes. "The shrinking could happen ahead of time--we can stash that stuff somewhere in the back room. Same with the stuff that changes on command. It's just the enlarging that will have to be done that night..."

He scribbled a bit, thoughtfully. "I kind of wanted to do some sort of costumes, but I think we've already pushed Percy as far as he'll budge on the uniform thing."

"As long as it won't be missed, I can absolutely shrink ahead of time. I'd rather wait on the stuff that changes on command, though. I'll want to test it, and I'd hate for someone to accidentally trigger it and give away the surprise." Vicky took another cookie. She was starting to see why George had brought them. Oh well. She was definitely bribeable.

"As for Percy..." Vicky bit her lip as she thought about it. Chances were, she could get Percy to wear whatever, but there were limits as to how far she was willing to push him, especially when it came to his brothers. "What kind of costumes did you have in mind?"

"The White Rabbit seems appropriate." Fussy, bossy, and obsessed with punctuality? Check. Not that Percy would ever actually be late for anything. "Maybe I could just get him to wear a pocket watch with the tuxedo. Do you think?"

"Actually...." Vicky drew out the word as she thought about it. The white rabbit wasn't a bad costume for Percy, at least not how George described it, but it lacked the flair of everything else they'd discussed. She appreciated how he was clearly trying to respect Percy's boundaries, but this was his birthday. "I bet if you got a nice pocket watch, you could use it to bribe him to wear a top hat that turns his ears into rabbit ears while he's wearing it." She could probably convince Percy to do that, if George couldn't. After all, she had tricks up her sleeve he didn't.

George's eyes lit up. "That would be brilliant. I still don't know if he'd do it...but I mean, I could ask, at least." He gave her a considering look. "Or you could ask. I mean, it was your idea and you know he'd take it better coming from you. I bet Dad's got at least one cool Muggle pocketwatch he'd be willing to let us have, although knowing him it might be one I have to reassemble first."

"I can ask him next time I see him," Vicky agreed easily. Percy would take it better coming from her, anyway. If George asked, Percy might say no just because it was George asking and just see it as a way to humiliate him rather than include him in the fun. "So, I'll convince Percy to wear the hat. And I'll charm things to expand and shrink and have some of them do it on command. Anything else you need me to do?"

“That’s probably more than enough! I really appreciate the help. Fred and I probably could pull this off by ourselves, but it wouldn’t be as good and we certainly wouldn’t be having as much fun by the time it was all managed.” There was a fine line between keeping as busy as the Weasley twins liked to and getting in over your head. George was pretty sure with Vicky’s help, and Charlie’s--even Percy’s, not that he really got a choice about giving it--that they’d stay on the good side of the line.

"Awesome." Vicky would do more if Fred and George needed it, of course, but it was already going to be a lot of charms work. And a lot of convincing Percy to do what she wanted, but that part would be fun. "So what color nest do your pygmy puffs want? And what should I give Fred? I can't give you a present and not have anything for him!"

“Just Margaret, really. The other ones aren’t allowed in my room. What do you think about orange?” The second question was harder. It wasn’t that Fred was hard to shop for per se, just more that George didn’t know what would be good until he actually laid eyes on the right thing. Trying to come up with ideas for other people was daunting. “I don’t usually know what to give Fred until I see it. Why don’t we go window-shopping?”

“Orange it is.” Vicky finished the rest of her hot chocolate, and snagged another cookie before she pulled the cover back over the plate. After a moment’s thought, she charmed it to stay put so the pygmy puffs wouldn’t get into it, and bounced to her feet. “Window shopping? You’re speaking my language, George. Let’s go.”