A Veela's Mate || Draco Malfoy

Tᴀʟᴋs

Bill Weasley Flooed into his twin brothers' apartment, surprised as always at the tasteful decor of the place. Somewhere along the way, the two clowns of the family had grown up. Oh, they would always be a pair of pranksters, and Bill would never fully trust them around food or drink; nevertheless, they had grown up.

"Greetings and salutations," he called cheerfully as he brushed the soot off his clothes. Clean again, Bill made his way to where the others were sitting. "So, what are we going to do about that prat of a brother of ours?" he asked, sitting down on the couch next to Charlie, accepting the mug of cocoa one of the twins was handing him. Giving the mug a suspicious look, he took a sip nevertheless.

Fred barked a laugh, but there was little humor in it. "Who would have thought that Ron would turn out to be an even bigger idiot than Percy? Dear Merlin, but what is wrong with those two? It can't be that they are blinded by ambition, because we all have that, and in spades, and we aren't stuck-up prats like those two are."

"Bad genes, they are bound to show up in even the best of families," George said with a fatalistic air, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't particularly concerned; he had the best of his family gathered around him. The only one missing was Ginny, and it was due to her warning that the brothers had gathered here tonight.

"I understand that you have already made your displeasure with our youngest brother known?" Charlie asked, sipping on his hot cocoa. He would have preferred something stronger, but knew from experience that hard liquor and discussing prats did not mix well. At least not for him.

"Yeah, you should have seen it!" Fred said, his eyes lightening up with delight. "It was priceless. Wait, I'll get the pictures," he added, bounding out of his armchair.

"Pictures?" Charlie asked, glancing wearily after his energetic brother. "What exactly did you two hellions do?"

George grinned, bouncing slightly in his chair. "We sent Ronnikins a letter filled with Bubotuber pus. We knew he'd be too thick to check it out for unfriendly fire. Apparently, we got him but good!"

Charlie groaned, shaking his head.

"We had charmed the letter to explode in his face, taking care to make sure it wouldn't harm his eyes of course. He might be on our bad side, but we'd never do anything to damage him permanently. He is family, after all. Unfortunately," Fred sighed, handing his older brother a small stack of photos.

Unprepared for the sight, Charlie choked on his cocoa, forcing Bill to pound his back to unclog his airway. "Merlin and his beard, what did you two do?" Charlie asked while, beside him, Bill was busting a rib laughing.

"We told you, we-"

Charlie waved the explanation aside. "You already told me that, but that doesn't explain these," he said, waving the photo of a bald Ron around.

"We charmed the pus to go everywhere, but especially into his hair. The treatment for Bubotuber pus doesn't react well with human hair, so for Pomfrey to be able to treat the wounds on his scalp, she had to vanish his hair first. Personally, I think that look suits him," George said gleefully.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Bill said, sending the twins an admiring look.

"Just don't hurt those who are family," Fred said, waving the look aside. "So what do we do about Ron? He is the biggest threat since he is in school with Iris and has the easiest access to her."

"I'm not so sure he is the biggest threat, although he is certainly the closest," Bill said musingly.

Charlie nodded. "I agree with Bill; you haven't been around much lately, but Mum is sprouting off nonsense to anyone who wants to hear it. She has actually grown worse since the Prophet revealed that Percy was involved with that Dementors' attack on Iris."