Gred and Forge and the Time Machine

The twins gaped at them unbelievably, while Ron and Hermione glanced at each other and smiled, giving a look that plainly said, "It's about time they got together!"

The twins, who still haven't recovered from the shock of being visible to their friends, were even more shocked at Harry's proposal. To them, Ginny was still their baby sister. And here was Harry, proposing to her! They looked at Ginny for her reaction.

Ginny's eyes filled with tears. She trembled. Then she fell into Harry's arms and cried.

"Why, Ginny! What's the matter?" Harry was startled.

"I'm just so... so happy! I really... don't know what... what to say! I love you, Harry!"

"So do I... oh Ginny... please stop crying! You scared me just now, I thought you were going to say no!"

"Ewwwwwwwww..." thought Fred and George. They tore their eyes away and turned back to Hermione, while Harry disentangled himself from Ginny and murmured some comforting words to her.

"Hermione," Fred began tactfully.

"What?"

"Since I have some memory problems, you know, because of that potion, can you help me by answering some of my questions?"

"Okay."

"Well, to begin with, where's Angelina?"

"You really should ask George that."

"Why?"

"Because he just proposed to her a few days ago and she agreed."

"I - I did?" spluttered George. Fred glared at him.

"How could you? You know perfectly well that - "

"Fred! You also proposed to Alicia! And she agreed! And it was all on the same day as George too - you guys reckoned proposing was a twin thing!" Hermione practically shrieked. She then stomped up to Ron's room and slammed the door shut. "How could they be SO forgetful? I really suspect they are playing a trick!" Hermione thought.

Meanwhile, in the dining room, Ron was stuck in the middle of Fred and George and their relationships.

"Fred! How could you?" George glared at Fred. (Alicia was George's girlfriend in the present)

"And how could you do that too, George?"

"Okay guys," interrupted Ron, "I know last time Fred liked Angelina and George liked Alicia, but that was like... so many years ago! When you guys were still at Hogwarts! But haven't you guys figured out your relationships? I thought you did, some days before the proposal!"

"We did?"

"Yeah! Fred, George, are you sure you are okay? I'm seriously worried for you! And don't look at me so unbelievingly."

"Where does Angelina stay?" asked Fred.

"Where does Alicia stay?" enquired George.

"I'm not telling." Ron crossed his arms. "I can't help it if you can't even remember these things! You should really blame yourselves for trying out that dumb potion and losing all your memories!" Ron stomped up to his room, obviously deeply affected by Hermione's mood too.

Fred and George sighed. Things in the future were definitely more complicated than in the present.

"Okay, I want to find out where Angelina lives."

"And I want to find out where Alicia lives."

"It's a good thing we brought the Marauder's Map with us!"

Fred and George sat under a tree near the Burrow. They still had about 2 hours left to roam in the future.

"Hey look! Alicia and Angelina are moving towards..."

"The Burrow! You mean they are coming here?"

"Oh no! It's already too bad that we aren't invisible, something must have went wrong! And now they are coming to see us? Imagine what will happen if we just disappear! It means that we have to receive them at the Burrow!"

"Sigh. What should we do, George?"

"Well, I don't know! It was actually your idea to come here, so you should be the one solving it."

"Hey! How can you do this to me? You were part of this whole idea too!"

"But you were the one who saw this absolutely stupid time machine! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WANTED TO SEE WHO YOU HOOKED UP WITH IN THE FUTURE!" George bellowed.

"Are you guys quarreling again?" a voice gently asked.

The twins whirled around to find Angelina and Alicia staring at them.

"You guys really look a lot younger," said Angelina.

"Are you trying to remember the old times?" asked Alicia.

"Hermione said they had some memory losses because of the potion." Said Angelina.

"I thought you two have reached an agreement not to quarrel anymore? Don't you remember that? Or has the potion caused you to forget all about it?" Alicia slipped her hand into Fred's. Fred jumped away and stared at her.

"Fred!" Alicia said angrily, obviously provoked by Fred's hostility.

"George, what's happening here?" Angelina asked.

"Erm, nothing, Angelina dear." George thought he might as well act more convincingly since Fred almost screwed up the whole thing. He put his arm around Angelina. Angelina smiled at him, while Fred glared at him with invisible smoke coming out of his ears. Then he thought of the sweetest revenge he could have.

"Hey Alicia darling, I'm really sorry. I'm sure I'll never quarrel with George from now on." Fred gave Alicia a hug, while she kissed him on his nose.

"I'm really glad you guys have agreed not to quarrel anymore," she whispered.

It was George's turn to fume.

"Now why don't you girls go into the house while Fred and I discuss something?" George looked positively daggers at Fred.

Oblivious to the twins' rivalry, Angelina and Alicia went into the Burrow to discuss with Hermione about Love Potions.

"Look, Fred, Alicia's my girl, so I don't think - "

BEEP! Fred and George was startled, and they only calmed down when the found the source of the loud beep. It came from the watches they had on their wrists, which they did not really notice at first.

"Oh no, only 5 more minutes to go back to the present! We'd better rush back!" exclaimed Fred.

The horrible thoughts of being left stranded in the future united the twins. They pressed the glowing red button on their watches and were knocked out almost immediately.

"Ouch..." the twins stirred. They opened their eyes and looked around them, only to find themselves in the Time Machine. They walked out of it and discovered that they were in the spooky house in the present. Glad that they were finally back to the present, they smiled and were about to walk out of the house when the three scientists, Heather Minnite, Astee Ower and Graham Daye, towered over them. They were discovered again.

"Uh-oh..." whispered Fred.

"Do we modify their memories again?" whispered back George.

"If we do we'll be expelled!"

"We may be able to explain. We could say that we were exploring but muggles found us so we had to modify their memories..."

"Muggles?" Heather Minnite interrupted. "Don't tell me..."

"Are you wizards?" Astee Ower asked.

"How - how do you know?" gasped the twins.

The three scientists smiled. "Because we are wizards too!" They exclaimed in unison.

"You - you are?"

"Yeah! So, what school do you go to?"

"Erm, Hogwarts." Fred answered.

"Really? I went there too!" said Heather Minnite.

"Oh, I went to Durmstrang," said Astee Ower.

"I was in Gryffindor. So was Heather," said Graham.

"Really? Wow, do you remember the Fat Lady?" asked George. The twins finally recovered from their shock.

"Yeah, she's quite cute, not at all fat at that time," said Graham, a dreamy look on his face.

"Oh well, you'll be disappointed. She's really fat now," said Fred. He continued, "Anyway, you mean the time machine works by magic? That's why you guys are working in a deserted area so that muggles will not find out?"

"That's about right. We saw your house but we thought it was muggle! That's why we did our experiments here, not knowing that wizards live nearby!"

"So we actually apparate? Into another time?"

"Yes, this machine actually works by the concept of the Time Turner. I'm sure you've heard of it?"

"Yeah, our friend Hermione used it to go to all her lessons - she signed up for all the subjects you see."

"Hmm... you were thinking of the Memory Charms, weren't you?"

"We thought you were muggles..." muttered George.

"Well, if the Ministry knows, they will expel you! But I thought they would give a warning first... don't tell me you have modified our memories before?" gasped Heather Minnite.

"Yeah..." murmured Fred.

Astee Ower sighed. "You kids really will do anything to get out of this trouble, huh? So I suppose you have seen your futures."

"Yes, but we weren't invisible! And we could talk to the people in the future! Why is that so?" inquired George.

"You must have forgotten to press the "Invisible" button before you set off," Graham grinned at them. "I used to do those stuff last time too, Heather, Astee! Let's just let them go for once, on account of my mischief when I was still a little kiddie like them."

"Okay then, we certainly don't want them expelled!" said Heather and Astee. They smiled.

"Hey, we are not kiddies!" said Fred indignantly.

"Proud to present the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes!" said George.

"You are Weasleys? Arthur and Molly's kids?" exclaimed the three scientists.

"Yeah... please don't tell our parents about this!" begged Fred.

"Okay... but we may pay them a visit. We are their great friends!" winked Heather.

"Okay."

"So, what are the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes?" Astee motioned to them to sit down on a nearby sofa to chat comfortably.

"Well, we like to invent joke stuff. Look, try this Canary Cream!" said Fred.

Graham eyed it suspiciously, then popped it into his mouth. A few seconds later, he turned into a Canary, then back to human again.

"Wow! Trick stuff! My favourite!" said Graham. "Are there anymore samples?" Graham was very excited.

Heather and Astee groaned. Not jokes again!

The twins pulled out some fake wands, more canary creams, ton-tongue toffees... while Graham gazed at it in wonder.

"Hey! Why don't you sell some of these to me?"

"Here's an order form. You can make duplicates of it yourself. Place your order by owl, send us the money, and we will post you our products!"

"Really, this is great!" Graham grinned.

"I think we'd better go now. Mum will be wondering where we are for ages!"

"Okay then. Remember to send me the jokes when I place my order!" said Graham.

"Bye, twins!" said Heather and Astee. "It's been a pleasure meeting you!"

Fred sighed. He couldn't believe he was going to marry Alicia in the future. Across the room, George was thinking of the same thing.

"Well," started Fred. "I guess we'll have to just go on with our lives and accept what is ours."

"Yeah," said George. "I guess Angelina's not that bad."

"Alicia's not that bad either."

"Do you remember the look on Ginny's face when Harry proposed?"

"Oh my... hahaha! That was priceless!"

"Yeah! Now what we have to do is to get them together!"

"C'mon George, let's start planning!"

The twins grinned at each other wickedly.