Guts and Glory - Trouble with Twins, Book 2

Detention

Throughout the week leading up to our detention, Fred was relentless in badgering his older brother. We all had so many questions. Why had Charlie given us up? What was 'Mum's gift'? Why the kitchens? We didn't get answers until Friday at breakfast. 

The entire Gryffindor team look much less awake than they normally did. Practice had been moved to the night before, as there would've been no point holding it when almost half the team would be gone. Because of this, everyone was forced to stay up much later finishing their schoolwork. Thomas looked the most groggy out of all of us; his ridiculous amount of N.E.W.T assignments were getting to him.

Finally, after days and days of keeping his secret, Charlie gave up his secret.

"Ask your questions." He said, yawning and taking a large sip of coffee. The three of us erupted at once.

"What'd you bring us to McGonagall for?" Fred demanded.

"What's Mum got to do with it?" George echoed.

"What's in the kitchens?" I asked, much more politely than the twins. 

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief, starting, "Those are easy. I brought you to McGonagall because I didn't want to get in trouble and you causing trouble was a very believable story. That's one reason. The other answers your question, George. Mum wrote to me on Christmas to ask me to try and keep the two of you out of trouble."

"Two?" I wondered, thinking he had made a mistake.

George chimed in, saying, ''Mum thinks you're an angel, she'll just blame us for trying to screw you up." His brothers couldn't agree more.

"Anyways, that's why I told McGonagall to send owls to her whenever you do something stupid, so she'd believe I'd actually done it,'' He paused before adding, "But I'm not stupid enough to believe it'll work." The smirk he gave us made all of us join in laughter. 

"And the kitchens?" I pressed.

"Oh, right. There's house-elves down there. Help them with their work, be nice to them, and they'll give you as much food as you can carry." That got our attention. 

"So, let me get this straight - you're punishing us... by giving us extra food... whenever we want." I had to admit, it was an ingenious plan. 

Fred leaned over George and I and called out, "See, Perce, sometimes breaking rules is a good thing."

Percy was not pleased. 

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After our Herbology lesson, it was finally time to head down to the kitchens for detention. I was oddly excited, not only for the food, but also to meet a bunch of house-elves. We were instructed to find the portrait of a bowl of fruit and tickle the pear. Walking past the Hufflepuff common room, it wasn't hard to spot. George enthusiastically poked the pear, which responded by giggling loudly and turning into a handle. 

I had to blink repeatedly once we stepped inside. It was a huge room that looked identical to the Great Hall, down to the tables and where they were placed. There were house-elves everywhere; at least, I assumed that's what these little creatures were. I had never seen one in person before. They were very small, with very big heads that looked a little funny on their tiny little bodies. Every one of them was very what looked like quite dirty material. One in the corner washing a dish looked like he had a pillowcase on, though it was much too big for them. 

As soon as we stepped in, a small group of elves came running towards us and bowed their heads.

"Are masters and mistress here for detention?" They chorused in their squeaky voices. Being addressed as 'mistress' took me aback, but I nodded anyways.

"Follow us!" Another chirped, before running away with their friends. They led us to a long line of sinks that were overflowing with pots and pans.

"Master Dumbledore says you is not to use magic. You is to wash by hand." The first elf spoke again, smiling politely before going back to what they were doing before. I watched one snap its fingers and cause hundreds of trays to line the lengthy tables. The house-elves rushed to begin making different kinds of food for the feast we would be missing out on.

I snapped my attention back to the masses of plates waiting to be cleaned. It suddenly seemed a lot higher now that I knew we couldn't use magic to make the process faster. It reminded me of the Burrow and my own home; the dishes cleaned themselves and we never thought about for two more seconds. This was how the muggles did it. 

We set to work. It was incredibly dull, which I supposed was the perfect punishment for a group of friends who loved nothing more than livening up boring situations. 

Deciding it was best to organize first, I started making stacks of dishes in my arms until I couldn't go any higher. This also, unfortunately, made it very difficult to see where I was going, leading to me tripping over a passing elf and dropping every single plate I had on me. They came crashing down onto the ground and shattered at an ear-splitting volume. Everyone in the room turned to stare; the elves didn't seem angry, they just wanted to fix the mess I had made. I looked over to see the poor elf I had trampled. He was sitting down, massaging his head, which now had a small bump protruding from it. 

I quickly knelt down, avoiding the broken glass surrounding me and offered him a hand. The elf just shook his head.

"No, mistress, yous is not here to serve us, we is here to serve you." He pushed himself off the ground and snapped his finger. All the glass shards floated into the air and came back together again. The pile landed gently exactly where it started, and the large group of elves scurried back to resume cooking. 

"I hope you're not stupid enough to try that again." Fred teased.

"They might never let us back in here - they'll think we're having too much fun." George snickered.

"You call embarrassing yourself in front of hundreds of house-elves fun?" I frowned at him, fighting back a grin.

"No, but watching you do it is very amusing." Fred added, causing me to lose my serious face altogether and join in on making fun of me. 

The rest of our time in detention was much more fun from that point. Now that I had confirmed the house-elves wouldn't turn on us for stupid mistakes, it was a lot more comforting watching them work. They looked happy; not a single one had a frown on its face. Imitating that behavior made even muggle cleaning at least somewhat exciting. Not to mention that it's quite difficult to be bored when you become witness to an impromptu bubble fight. I didn't mind doing most of the work if entertainment was provided. 

Much later, we had managed to get through everything we needed to (and without anything else breaking, I'll add). We finished in just the knick of time, too. The elves had finished preparing the food for the dinner feast set to be happening right above us. It was all being sent away, just waiting to be enjoyed by all our friends. 

The same group of house-elves that had greeted us at the door returned.

"Masters and mistress are free to leave now. We is going to tell Master Dumbledore all about yous and your help." Their voice got higher and happier when they mentioned the Headmaster. I couldn't resist the opportunity. 

Leaning forward, I asked them if there was anything leftover they could spare for us.

"And if you don't mind, we'd also appreciate some butterbeers." Fred put in that request so confidently I half-expected the elves to be offended.

They weren't. They simply jogged off merrily and returned moments later with leftovers and three glasses of Butterbeer. We took them happily and said our thanks before exiting the kitchens and leaving to go back to the common room. There was no point heading into the Great Hall; the feast was sure to be over soon.

We sat sipping on our drinks by the fire, waiting for everyone to return. When Charlie walked in, he smiled wide and joined us.

"I told you so."