star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER FOUR

After being woken up by Olivia and getting ready for the day, Fred and George went down to Ron's bedroom to wake him up. The two stood on either side of their younger brother's bed, staring down at him as he snored.

"Which one of us is gonna do it?" George asked.

"I'll do it. You've already been violent today, it's my turn," Fred said. With that, he flicked Ron on the forehead, earning absolutely nothing from the sleeping fifteen-year-old.

"Freddie, do you realize who his wombmate was? A flick is not going to wake this man up."

"Yeah, you're right." Fred went on to slap Ron across the face.

Ron jolted awake, rubbing his cheek and looking at Fred with a mixture of hurt and shock upon his face. "Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" he exclaimed.

"Had to wake you up somehow," Fred said, shrugging.

"Didn't feel like sitting here and shaking you for hours," George added.

"Now we pass the torch onto you, little brother."

"You get to wake up the girls!"

"Good luck," they said together before exiting the room.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Ron questioned, looking up at the ceiling as if directing his question to the gods. As if in response, he heard thunder rumble outside. "That bad?"

He grudgingly got up out of bed and got ready for the day before heading down to the first floor to his sisters and Hermione's bedroom.

"Get up!" he yelled upon entering.

His yell startled Hermione awake. She quickly sat up in bed, frantically looking around until her eyes fell on Ron standing in the doorway.

"What...?" was all she could muster, trying to slow her breathing now that she realized nothing was wrong.

"I said 'get up.'"

"Yes, I heard you, Ronald! That's a very rude way to wake someone!"

"You think that's rude? You should've seen what Fred and George did to me. Now I just have to figure out how to wake those two." He pointed at Arabella and Ginny, who were still fast asleep.

"How are they still asleep?"

"Hermione, you've met the people we've grown up with. If we hadn't learned to sleep through yelling from a very young age, we would've never gotten any sleep. I guess now it's come back to bite me." He walked over to his twin.

"What are you going to do?"

Ron shrugged at her. He looked down at Arabella and seemed to think for a moment. Then, he began to repeatedly poke her cheek. "Bella. Bella. Bella. Bella. Bella. Bella."

Before even opening her eyes, Arabella grabbed her brother's hand and began to squeeze it very hard. Then she got up and the two ran out of the room, Ron trying desperately to defend himself against her blows.

Hermione rolled her eyes before getting out of bed and going over to a sleeping Ginny. "Ginny, come on, wake up," she said, shaking the girl. "Please don't make me poke you."

Ginny's brows furrowed in confusion as she woke up. "Why would I make you poke me?" she asked.

"Oh, never mind. Just get up."

Down in the kitchen, Arabella was still smacking Ron, ignoring his protests.

"What in the devil are you two doing?" Molly asked, just finishing cooking.

"He poked me!" Arabella roared, red in the face.

"Oh, God forbid someone poke you, Arabella."

"At least I didn't slap you!" Ron pointed out.

"Excuse me?" Arabella screeched.

"I'm just saying, that's what Fred and George did to me!"

As Molly rounded on her eldest twins, Fred said, "Thanks for ratting us out, Ron."

"Greatly appreciated," George reiterated.

"And why would you slap your brother?" Molly asked them.

"We did it to wake him up," Fred said.

"Honestly, Mum, it was the easiest way. He sleeps like a rock," George said.

"I'd like him a lot better if he was a rock," Arabella said.

"Okay, settle down, all of you. You've got a breakfast to eat, and I'm fairly sure no one wants to listen to you all bicker this early in the morning," Molly said, serving them all the breakfast she had prepared.

"Why are we up so early, anyway?" Ron asked.

"Because this house still needs a lot of cleaning. That house-elf can only do so much."

"House-elf?" they all questioned.

"Oh, yes. His name is Kreacher. Miserable thing, he is."

"With a name like that, who wouldn't be miserable?" Arabella said. "It's almost worse than Ronald Bilius."

"Oh, yes, because Arabella Cedrella just rolls right off the tongue," Ron retorted.

"Stop it! I would appreciate it if you two didn't insult the names that your father and I gave you!" Molly said.

"Oh - sorry, Mum," they said, digging into their breakfast.

[word count: 810]
[written: 6/13/20]
[published: 6/28/20]