Who: Fred and George Weasley and Verity Ashford When: Circa May 17 Where: For the Lulz What: Working Rating/Warnings: Low - Talk of pregnancy Status: Complete
Verity came to work this morning wearing jeans with a thick, elastic waistband instead of her normal clothes. The jeans had room to grow, but she was definitely showing now. Especially considering how she’d lost a few pounds in her first trimester due to being sick so much. Her breasts were huge, though, and her tummy bulging under the maternity wear.
She was trying her best not to think about it. Finally the nausea was gone, and she was able to go for longer stretches without having to run to the bathroom. Hey, and now when she ran to the bathroom, it was just to pee. (Her little bladder was being crushed by that huge, expanding uterus.)
It was on the way back from one of said bathroom trips that she nearly ran into Fred.
Which wasn’t exactly much of a surprise, considering he worked there and all. Still, he’d been hiding in the back for a good portion of the day, catching up on work that needed doing. He’d been out in front of the shop a lot lately, as Verity had been out for so long. He squinted at her appraisingly. “Do I know you?”
“Think way, way, way back into your past.” Verity said, nodding and waving her hands just a little as she spoke--a surefire sign that she was starting to feel better. “I know I’m not all that memorable, but I think you’ll get it if you try.”
Fred considered this for a moment. He stared, crossed his arms, rubbed his chin, tapped his foot. “You know, it’s just not... Oi! George!”
For being such orange haired boys, George did have a way with melting out of the scenery into being. “Yes, Fred?”
“Who is this woman?”
George considered, playful. “Well, she’s not our sister...”
“No, definitely not a Weasley. I don’t have the hair for it, I’m afraid.” Verity said, lifting her hands to run her fingers through her locks. Over the last... however long it was... year or so? Maybe more? That she’d been working for Fred and George, she’d come to love them as her brothers. But she wasn’t actually a Weasley. “...though, I bet I could get my Weasley out of a box.” Red would be a nice color on her, wouldn’t it?
It certainly might! As much as they said she wasn’t their sister, they rather thought she was a bit like one. And older sister that tsked when they did silly things. Even though they were the bosses, they let her have her way more often than not.
“Oh,” said Fred, smiling fondly.
“We wouldn’t forget about you, Veronica.” finished George.
“I’m completely unforgettable.” Verity said with a smile and a shrug. “Where’s this new girl you’ve hired on to replace me?” Of course, no one could truly replace Verity. She kept the place in tip top shape. Sorta. When the Twins let her have her way and organize things. They were creative and intelligent businessmen... not always the most organized. Verity was Type A. She cleaned and organized practically in her sleep. Made for a pretty good combination.
“Not replace. Supplement. Well, the goddess of hot pink unfortunately had some family troubles and couldn’t actually start,” Fred said sadly, although in all honesty didn’t seem too sad. They’d hardly known Ty Lee, after all.
“But we found someone else. Abigail.” George said, perking up a little.
“She’s got a crush on George, I daresay,” Fred went on, smiling a bit fondly.
“Abigail, huh?” Verity said, giving a little nod. Then she laughed. “Why on Earth would she have a crush on George?” She added, teasingly.
“I really don’t know,” Fred said, although shared a glance with George at the exact same moment he said it. Secret twin language: it was always happening. “Because I’m definitely the better kisser.”
George just made a show of pinching the bridge of his nose.
“...er, right.” Verity said, making a face of absolute distaste. “I’ll take your word on that one.” She’d have to be really drunk to find out first hand which of the Weasley Twins was the better kisser.
They weren’t for everyone. Even though sometimes they definitely thought they should have been. They grinned twin smiles and shrugged at the same time. “She’s a nice girl though. No judging for taste, sometimes.”
“I’m sure I’m going to love her.” Verity said, giving a little smile. “So long as she doesn’t upset the way my t-shirts are organized.” She had a very particular way about folding the shirts and stacking them in the cubbies against the back wall. She may have actually growled once when a kid knocked the shelf over.
“Once everything smoothes out, we’ll probably keep her working on most of the online orders,” Fred said, appeasing the order of t-shirts.
The online orders took up a lot of time, and really, no one liked doing it. Sadly, it was a good half of their income so there was no getting around it.
The online orders were a bit boring, and Verity could tell that Fred and George hated doing it. She didn’t mind it so much, so long as she was able to come out for fresh air every once in a while. Of course, she’d much rather be doing almost anything else in the shop. Especially following along behind the twins and reorganizing everything. “I’ll make sure to tell her it’s the best job in the store. Gosh, I love white-washing this fence.” A little smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
They gave a sniff, as if they just knew she was thinking about how they were messy. They weren’t that bad. Mostly they just liked making a wreck of things to annoy her. “She likes organizing,” George said, and gave a face that said ‘yes, that is weird and we are shocked’.
“And filing. Filing.” Fred finished. “We had to hire her. She’s bloody insane.”
Verity wondered if this new girl was going to take all the fun jobs. The organizing, the filing... well, at least she knew that it’d get done while she was gone on maternity leave, or whatever else she had to do. (That thought was a bit terrifying.) “Well, hey, all the better, right? She’ll do the stuff everyone else hates to do. Busy work. Leave you two more time to invent.”
“Mmm inventing,” said Fred, giving a half a nod.
“Don’t worry,” George said, as if catching on to Verity’s inner plight. “We’ll leave all the screen printing for you. We know you like it best.”
Verity grinned. “You know me so well.”
“Excuse me,” a young girl was trying to get their attention. “Does this come in blue?” She asked, holding up one of the t-shirts from the back of the store.
“Yes, let me show you.” Verity said, then wandered off to help the customer. Because, well, someone had to do some work around here.