The Disaster Day

"Avada Kedavra!" spat the hooded man with white, spider-like fingers. A cold chill ran down Fred's spine. He woke up in a panic. His skin felt like ice. He looked down to see that his body actually was covered in ice. He had been sweating, but a small window in the shop had been left open, and the cold air must have frozen the sweat.

"Hmm, wait a minute, I thought sweat couldn't freeze because of the salt content," he thought, his mind clearing. If sweat could freeze, then the No-Freeze Freezer Custard Trick Treats couldn't possibly work! It dawned on him, George! He had to have performed a freezing charm. Fred felt a breeze from the window blow over him. Probably wasn't difficult with that dratted January air coming in.

"Curses on Angelina, 'Oh, a January wedding, that will be gorgeous,' Humph, a January wedding will freeze me arse off."

Fred sat up wondering why he gave into Angelina's every whim for all of two seconds before a goofy grin appeared on his face. He knew exactly why he gave into her--she'd hit him if he didn't! No, really, he loved her, and he couldn't deny her anything.

"Well that's another love myth buggered," he thought. "Love obviously can't melt ice. Ventus Cierrus," Fred mumbled after grabbing his wand, and the offensive window closed against the harsh winds. "Iglia Inflamare," he said. The ice immediately melted off him. Looking pleased with himself, Fred walked the two paces to his trunk, and he pulled out a set of warm, fur-lined robes. He had bought them fifth year from a Durmstrang student.

"Ding, Ding, Ding,..." He didn't want George to wake up to the clock, so he dampened it with his cloak. He had something much better in mind for his irritating tosser of a twin. Fred walked over to the closet, and he pulled out a violently pink robe. It was awful, and he grinned just looking at it. He quickly put it on, and arranged his hair in a very prim style. When he stared into the mirror, he reminded himself distinctly of Percy. He promptly re-did his hair. Fred knew that George had put a Remembrus Charm on their calendar. George looked at it everyday, and everyday he was reminded of exactly when his wedding would be.

"Hmmm, Finite Incantatum! No? Tempus Serendo! No again." Fred stared quietly for a moment at the calendar, and after ten or fifteen seconds, the calendar glowed orange. Fred smiled smugly to himself. George was getting married two weeks after him, and now the calendar had been befuddled into believing that was today. "Perfect."

"Oy, George, Get up you prat, or do you want to be late?" Groaning came from a lump of mustard yellow sheets.

"I'll get Ginny, and she'll perform the Bat Bogey Hex on you!" Yet more groaning. Time to bring out the secret weapon.

"George, I'll get mum, and she'll..."

"I'm up, I'm up!" George shot out of his bed like a bullet. "Now why did you see fit to wake me up at O'dark thirty in the morning!" George shouted as he was blinded by a ray of unfiltered sunshine.

"That's sad, even for you mate. It's noon!" Fred exclaimed.

"Well that still doesn't explain why you're waking me up when your wedding doesn't start till this evening."

"My wedding? Are you alright? My wedding was two weeks ago; today is your wedding." Fred had trouble keeping the smile from his face as he saw George's eyes flicker to the pink Best Man's robes and then to the calendar.

"Oh, no, I'm going to be late. Dreena will kill me! Why didn't you wake me up earlier you slimy git!" Fred watched as George flew into a whirlwind of action. He had never seen George do so many things at once. A comb was trying to brush his hair as his shoes danced around his feet. George threw on his matrimonial robe, and was halfway out the door when he heard Fred snickering a few feet behind him. He turned slowly to face his twin. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Fred replied with a grin, "Just thought you ought to know that today is my wedding after all." A low growling noise issued from George's throat. Fred couldn't deny that he was their mother's son. George looked almost exactly like her.

"What was that for!?" exploded George.

"The Freezing Charm."

"What are you talking about? I didn't put any charm on you," George said with an astoundingly convincing face.

"Oh, yeah, well then who did?"

"Like I know!"

Fred hated to admit it, but it was possible he was wrong. The more he thought about it, a quick and easy Freezing Charm wasn't George's style. George typically went for the more elaborate and fancy pranks. Fred had always been partial to the simple ones.

"Er, sorry mate. Of course you didn't do it, but who did?" Fred asked, more to himself than his twin. All of a sudden, both twins' faces lit up. They both exclaimed, "Angelina!" It made sense. She had picked up the fine art of pranks from Fred. She was actually quite good. She had even taken on some of Fred's simple style. Fred chuckled to himself, "Good one Angelina, good one." As if she had heard him, Angelina apparated into the tiny flat with an obnoxious pop. Fred wondered if it was louder than usual.

"Did I miss something?" Angelina asked as she looked at the two boys. She could tell them apart, but this only confused her more. Why was Fred wearing the Best Man robes and George wearing the Groom's robes? She caught them grin at each other.

"Okay, whose prank? No wait, let me guess. This must be the work of my darling Fred," she said, but she stared pointedly at the twin she knew to be George.

"Geez woman, and you're going to marry him. That's Fred--I'm George!" As soon as the words left his mouth George sighted her grin and knew she had only been joking. He blushed slightly before grabbing a pillow from his twin's bed and throwing it at her. She was good. He had to admit it.

"I'll be proud to call you wife Angel," Fred stated. He let a sarcastic grin grace his face at the nickname. He knew she hated it. Indeed, she turned a dangerous shade of pink, and threw a well-aimed punch at Fred's arm.

"OW!"

"Nice Job!" George said as he high-fived Angelina. Fred glared at him, but not for long. He couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, nice one baby." Warmth flooded Fred's body as Angelina leaned in for a kiss. I might have to rethink my position on the Love Can Melt Ice Myth, he thought. George left the flat, and climbed down the stairs to the store below. He flipped the sign to read, Open. It was almost a half-hour before Fred and Angelina came down the steps. They had finally parted lips when they heard an explosion downstairs. It turned out to be someone trying to steal a box of Puking Pastilles. Fred and George had quite a lot of problems with pickpockets. Their products were reasonably priced, but many people just didn't have the money they did before the war. While the twins were flattered that people liked their stuff so much, they knew they had a right to profit from their inventions. They had taken several months developing the Undetachable Exploding Trackers. The only way you could leave the store with a product was if you paid for it and one of the employees removed the tracker. It was actually pretty brilliant. They had gotten the idea when their father showed them a muggle ink tag. They had originally intended to make the Trackers screech, but when they started exploding instead, the twins decided that was more fun anyway. The twins only left the shop open for a few hours. Once Bill and Charlie showed up, they closed and went up to their room.

"Percy is supposed to show up for the wedding," Charlie said in a would-be casual voice.

"That pompous git! He'll spoil everything!" Fred shouted. Percy had apologized several years ago, but he still treated the family like dirt most of the time. The only people who seemed to want Percy to be around were his parents.

"Now Fred, I'm sure he just wants to show his support," Bill interjected. "Of course, it's more likely he's going to bring some huge expensive present to lord his wealth over us," mumbled Bill while Fred and George were examining their robes. Percy had done very well for himself under Scrimgeour. It helped that he seemed to always be in the right place at the right time. He had gotten the position of Head Apprentice to the Minister by his amazing timing. He was already a shoe-in for being the next Minister.

"Bill, you'd better get your robes on. We have to leave in a few minutes," Charlie warned. Bill looked at his face in the mirror. He had gotten used to the scarring, but whenever a wedding came up, he couldn't help thinking about his own. He could still feel the stares and hear the gasps. He quickly threw on the green and purple polka-dot robes to hide where his thoughts had strayed. Fred had picked the robes out himself. Bill smiled. Angelina was going to have a fit when she saw. At least Fred had chosen a rather attractive set of Groom's Robes in a dark blue. They would match Angelina's pale yellow ones beautifully.

"Three, two, one..." Dust shook from the ceiling as the four brothers apparated out of the room.

"Hello mum!" the four brothers called out heartily when they appeared in the kitchen. The once familiar space was a disaster area.

"Mum! What happened?" exclaimed Charlie.

"Oh no! Did someone find those old Exploding Frisbees we made in second year?" asked a very concerned Fred.

"No, no, nothing like that. I was a little overwhelmed, what with Angelina's robes getting eaten by Markelaks, and two of the Bridesmaids aren't here. Also, no one can find the rings, oh, don't panic dear, they'll turn up," Molly responded when Fred looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Did the Markelaks get into the kitchen?" George asked, his confusion registered on his face.

"Oh, no, I told Ron he was supposed to clean the hall closet out, but well, anyway..."

"Mum, you still haven't explained what happened to the kitchen. There wasn't an, an attack, was there?"

"Oh, no, it's really nothing to worry about, he was just trying to be helpful. He felt so honored when Harry told him he could, and he didn't mean to."

"Mum, mum! It's okay, you can quit rambling, and just tell us!" Fred interrupted his mother's frenzied monologue.

Molly Weasley took in a large gulp of air, "I was so busy, and Dobby asked if he could help, so I decided to let him do some cooking. He wanted to do something special for your cake, so he decided to mix up some special frosting, only he used the Floo Powder I had stored in the cupboard. He thought it was sugar. The cake exploded."

"Is that all? Mum, we'll help you clean up the kitchen," Bill said as he let out the breath he had been holding.

"Oh, boys, it can wait until after the wedding. I had to get a caterer though. I just won't have time to cook with all the robes needing adjustments and everything."

"Well, that sounds like a plan to me, but how's Angelina taking it?" Fred grinned.

"She's pretty upset, but it'll only upset her more if you go to see her. You know she holds with all those Muggle superstitions about not seeing each other until the wedding."

"Okay, so what can we do?" asked Charlie.

Molly sent the boys out to the backyard to set up the chairs and reception area. Once the yard was set up, the boys decided to hang out until the ceremony began. They didn't have to wait long. The guests began arriving almost immediately. First came Hermione and her parents, and then Harry and Ron came out after his father ensured them no one would laugh (naturally, they all laughed hysterically). They had been chosen as Groomsmen, and wore the same polka-dotted disaster as Bill, Charlie, and George. Percy had not been chosen, but Molly had insisted on inviting him to the ceremony. Fred had wanted to completely exclude him. Ginny came out wearing a set of silvery gray robes with royal blue adornments. Once all the guests arrived and were seated, Angelina came out. She looked stunning in pale yellow robes with royal blue adornments. It was good she hadn't seen the Groomsmen robes before the ceremony. Her day hadn't been so good, but she knew she couldn't do anything about the robes now, so she decided to laugh it off exactly like Fred. Besides, she could lay into him later, for now she just wanted to marry him.

"If there is anyone who opposes the union of this couple in holy matrimony, let him speak now or forever hold his peace." Angelina had always wondered about the use of these words. What did it matter if anyone disagreed? Besides, if they did, they would surely voice their opinion before the wedding.

"I oppose their union!" The voice of Percy Weasley rang out from the audience. Angelina stood with a shocked expression on her face, but Fred had been expecting this, and he practically flew at Percy. A whole string of curse words being spat at Percy made the women flinch, the children cry, and his mother swell up. She was going to explode any minute, but Fred didn't care.

"What is the meaning of this?" Fred screamed at the top of his lungs. He was enraged, and except for George, Ron, and Harry all holding him back, Percy's look of fear would have been turned into a grimace of pain in seconds. Percy took a breath and began to talk. "Everyone here knows that I work for the Ministry." He paused to swell up his chest. "Well, I came across some papers about a week ago. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but my sense of honor got in the way. Even family is not worth risking the safety of the Wizarding population." Fred snorted loudly.

"You're just sore because I wanted to exclude you from my wedding! Besides, family has never meant anything to you anyway!" Molly gasped and was all set to admonish her son, but Percy spoke first.

"I'm not sore; I am honor-bound. After all, the only reason you were trying to exclude me was because you were afraid I'd tell everyone what I know," Percy yelled back in response. His usually prim hair was strewed everywhere. The crowd now hung on Percy's every word. What was he talking about? Fred was a perfect citizen in every way, and certainly not one to ever be a threat to the Wizarding world. Percy, not one to leave an audience waiting, began talking again. "The Minister was out on business, and I happened to be doing some work in his office. I was sorting through the Death Eater files, putting them in three piles: at large, captured, or dead. An interoffice memo came from the Aurors' Office. No one could have been more shocked than I at the face that peered up from the file they had sent. Fred's picture was there, his status: Death Eater at large." Gasping from the audience greeted this announcement, but Angelina chose to stick by her fiancé.

"Don't go believing anything he says. I know Fred better than most people here. Only his mother knows him better than I do. I have been dating Fred ever since before the beginning of the war, and trust me when I say, he is no Death Eater," Angelina exclaimed passionately.

The crowd seemed to settle at her statement, but then Percy began to talk again. "I knew that people may not trust me, after all, I've made some poor decisions in the past. That's why I brought the file as proof." He pulled the file from a pocket in his robes. Molly Weasley had worked her way to the center of the mob, and she was first to grab the packet. When she fainted, Arthur grabbed it. His face turned pale as he looked at the picture and then at his son. "Fred, is this true?" Arthur's voice cracked. So much sadness had come about from the war, and now, now that he finally felt the world might be a safe place again, there was this?

The look on his father's face crushed Fred's strength to fight. "Dad, listen, I can explain." Fred tried to ignore the hurt look on Angelina's face. "About a month ago, I was confronted by a Death Eater, Dominic Nott. He was threatening to kill everyone I loved if I didn't surrender the location of Harry. I told him that even if I could, I wouldn't. He said they were trying to avenge Lord Voldemort's death and the loss of so many Death Eaters. I...I told him I was going to tell the Ministry about his appearance, and...and he put the Cruciatus Curse on me." The crowd gasped. "An Auror who had been trailing Nott caught him, but he thought I was a Death Eater, too. I only just got away. I didn't want to tell anyone because I was afraid it would scare you, and I already had a date set up to plead my case to the Minister."

"He's lying!" shrieked Percy. "I know what I saw! Give him Veritaserum--I know he's lying!" Percy felt like he had on that occasion years ago when he turned his back on his family. He felt like everyone was against him--he felt trapped. It was a simple mistake, surely they would understand. Fred never told him. Wait, Fred never told him! He must be lying! "If Fred is telling the truth, why didn't he just tell me when I confronted him a few days ago!" Percy yelled, triumph gleaming in his eyes.

"I didn't trust you. It has been my opinion for a year now that you are a Death Eater. I mean, you always managed to be in the right place at the right time. You are almost never home, and when you are around, you act shifty and nervous," Fred stated bluntly.

"How could you! How...How dare you!" Percy shrieked. He felt four strong arms pulling him back as he lunged at Fred. Ron and Arthur were holding him back.

"I know how to solve this once and for all!" yelled Harry over the crowd. "Ginny, go get the bottle with the clear liquid from that old, dirty sock in the bottom of my dresser. Bring it to me." Ginny sprinted off to the room she and Harry shared when he stayed at the Burrow. They had been married last year, but the Weasley's were Harry's family, and he stayed over frequently.

Curious glances followed Ginny, and then settled back onto Harry. "I was given that bottle of Veritaserum to use just in case, during the war. I never used it," Harry replied to their stares. Ginny apparated back to Harry's side. He immediately performed the Witticus Suspendus on Fred. This would stop him from doing anything to avoid the effects of the Veritaserum. Harry poured the clear liquid down his throat and muttered the countercurse. "Why are you listed on a Ministry memo as a Death Eater at large?" Harry got straight to the point. At first, the audience hung on every word, but the story was the same, only more detailed. Once Fred was back to normal, he noticed that Percy had been taken away.

"So, what's all this murmuring about? Don't you people know you're supposed to be reverently silent during a wedding?" Fred said with his old, roguish grin. Angelina knocked the wind out of him when she hugged him. The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. Well, there was one hitch. Dobby ran into the table with the cake. The beautiful three-tiered cake that Angelina's mother had bought at a Muggle bakery was destroyed. Bill took the honor of conjuring up a new one. A cake with Fred and Angelina's faces appeared, and Charlie added the final touch. He conjured a bright yellow and purple polka-dotted Dark Mark onto the Fred on the cake's right forearm. Everyone got a laugh, and for the first time sense the first war, no one was afraid of a silly old mark. So what if it was outrageously done, it was a big step for the Wizards at that wedding. All of the guests left towards midnight feeling great, but no one felt as great as the newlyweds did. Fred and Angelina went to France that night. They would always remember their wedding day. Angelina would always refer to it as disaster day, but it was still the best night of her life.