It's Better If You Do

"One Bat-Bogey Hex, coming right up," cackled George under his breath, reaching inside his pocket for his wand. He would do this for Ginny, he decided fondly. Merlin knew how good she was at those hexes, and he figured that it would make her laugh quite a lot when he would tell the story to her. Frowning, George realized that his wand wasn't in his pocket... or his vest. After feeling around a little bit, he realized that his wand was no where to be found on him. A sudden flash of memory came to him and a low groan slipped from his mouth. He had left his wand on the Skiving Snackboxes table.

No doubt Bellamy had to fight off some mischevious little bugger who had grabbed it and decided to have fun. Cursing, he looked around and noticed a wand, that he assumed was Rose's, lying on the floor next to the blonde's trunk. He quickly walked over and scooped it up, an almost giddy look on his face. Stepping back over to his brother's bed, he made sure to aim the wand at Fred, and then muttered the hex under his breath.

Rose awoke with a start to the oddest and most startling sounds. There was a loud explosion that shook the room, the sound of a million loud, screeching creatures, and George's yells managed to be loudest of all. Fred had shot up with a frightened expression and looked around wildly, before a highly amused smile overcame his face and he began to laugh.

"This isn't- OW- funny, Fred! Help me out before they- ARRRGHHHH!" came the eloquent reply from the prankster, who was lying on the floor near the door, covered in a flurry of what seemed to be bats. Rose was so confused; she was still half asleep, and all this chaos was making her very disoriented. She looked over at Fred, who seemed to be rather enjoying the spectacle in front of him.

"Maybe if you hadn't been trying to hex us awake, I would help you!" he called back, a broad grin crinkling the corners around his eyes. "You stupid git. You couldn't have just woken us up, could you? You had to be all big and bad and use a spell that you obviously don't know how to use. Pathetic!"

"KNOCK IT OFF AND HELP ME!" George screamed back, his arms and legs flailing around him as he attempted to kick away the bats that were trying, to put it bluntly, steal his bogeys. Rose looked around for her wand to vanish the bats, but it was nowhere to be seen. She frowned, and looked at Fred, who had pulled his wand from his waistband and seemed to be contemplating multiplying the bats.

"Fred, aren't you going to help him?" she asked, her blue eyes wide. The boy gave a short sigh, as if she had spoiled the fun, and with a flick of his wrist the bats were gone. George stopped moving about, and raised his head hesitantly as if he were afraid the bats had merely gone into hiding. When Rose and Fred saw his head, they both gasped loudly, and Fred doubled over, laughing so hard it was silent. George began looking around suspiciously, but couldn't find any source for them to react so.

"What?" George snapped. "What's so funny?" His twin raised up, his face lit with happiness as if he had just found out Christmas had come early.

"Mate, you might want to look in the mirror before you try and woo Bellamy," Fred suggested, and George immediately stood, his face apprehensive. He started towards the bathroom slowly, and when he walked in, he let out a loud yell of shock that had Fred banging his fist against his knee while Rose stood and walked in behind the distraught boy. She didn't know how or why, but tufts of his hair were burnt off and his eyebrows were completely gone. His face was almost completely black, and he was scrubbing at it visiciously with soap. If she hadn't been biting her lip, she was sure she would have been laughing just as hard as Fred was. But, she decided against it and gingerly touched a few bald patches on his head.

"I'm sure Bellamy can whip up a hair replenishing potion this afternoon...What did you do?" she asked earnestly. George growled under his breath and sighed, still scrubbing away at his face, which wasn't showing many sign of improvement.

"I used a Bat-Bogey Hex on Fred, but apparently..." he trailed off suddenly, realizing that Rose would probably be extremely mad that he had used her wand without permission. It was an unspoken thing: don't use another's wand without asking. It was a major invasion of privacy and not many tolerated it well, if they tolerated it at all. He looked at her sheepishly in the mirror and Rose's eyebrows furrowed.

"What, George?" she asked and he sighed heavily, scuffing his shoes against the floor. He wasn't used to feeling bad over things he had done, but these girls had been doing it every day, it seemed like.

"I'm assuming... well, hold on," he said, walking out of the bathroom and picking up her wand off the floor. Fred's eyebrows raised and he gave his brother a look that suggested he start apologizing immediately. Rose saw her wand in his hands and her eyes narrowed. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked up at George and began to tap her foot. Grimacing, he said hurriedly, "I left mine back in the shop. It was the first wand I saw, and... well, I didn't figure it'd do any harm."

"You thought wrong, it'd seem," she said coolly, taking the wand from him. It gave of a shower of pale blue sparks, as if it was overjoyed to be back in it's owners hands. Rose turned it over and over in her hands, checking for any damage and trying to figure out why it would have gone off on George the way it had. Obviously, the hex he was going to use was destined for her and Fred, but instead directed itself at him, singing his hair and face in the process. Her lips turned down into a frown and the brothers shared a furtive glance.

Without looking up, Rose asked, "Is there a wandmaker around here?" This apparently was not the question that the twins had been expecting, and their faces mirrored each other's even more than usual as they looked at her confusedly. She sighed, and said, "I need to see if there is anything wrong with it. Ordinary wands don't just explode at people if they try a spell. Bellamy's used my wand plenty without my asking, and this had never happened to her."

The blonde's tone had taken a rather sharp edge to it and George looked down, feeling even more guilty now that he might have messed up her wand. She gave a huffy sigh and ran her fingers through her messy, slept on hair, feeling rather exasperated with the entire situation. Fred nodded, watching Rose's agitated movements.

"Yeah, Ollivander's. He's the best wandmaker around, so everyone says. He'll know what to do. We can go during lunchtime, if you want. Get a bite to eat afterwards," he said in an easy tone, and she nodded.

"That's fine. I don't know if he'll be as good as Foulques, but I can't apparate to France just to fix my wand," she muttered absently, holding her hand out and tapping it with her wand. It immediately disappeared and she nodded once more, before making it reappear. The twins, curious boys as they were, perked up at the sound of this Foulques.

"Who's he?" Fred asked, and Rose looked up at him, smiling slightly.

"Foulques Roux's one of the most reknowned wandmakers in France. His repuation is superb, though he's very hard to get ahold of. Mama knew him from when she lived in Paris, so she took Bellamy and I to get our wands when it was time. He is one of the more... experimental wandmakers," she said, now looking at her wand with a fond smile.

"Experimental?" the twins asked in unison, and she nodded, a bit of a gleam in her blue eyes as if something were rather amusing.

"Yes," she said simply. "Most wandmakers stick to the traditional cores: dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix feathers. Well, Foulques likes to try all sorts of creatures. Fur from a Chimaera's mane, stinger of a Manticore, whisker of a Nundu, feather of an Occamy... those are just to name a few." The boys looked at each other, awe-struck. All of those animals were highly dangerous; most people died just being near them.

"What's your wand, then?" Fred asked eagerly, his eyes full of wonder as he stared at the light colored wand she held in her hand.

"Hawthorn and Siren scales," she answered, looking thoughtfully down at her wand. George nudged Fred, who shook it off looking a bit wary. Rose didn't seem to notice, and continued in a contemplative tone, "Foulques told me the story behind how he got the scales, and it's always fascinated me. He was on the beach of the Mediterranean one day walking along, and he came across a Siren that had been caught up in a muggle's net. She had obviously been there for quite some time, and she was near death. When he came up to her, she told him that she would give him anything he wanted, so long as he saved her. So, he levitated her back into the ocean, and asked for a long row of her scales. She hadn't been expecting that, and she gave them very grudgingly. Sirens scales have many magical properties in them; they literally alter whatever substance they've been put upon.Very dangerous, if you use them incorrectly."

George nodded and asked, "What's Bellamy's wand core?" Rose shrugged, looking over at the door. Her sister was all alone in the store, probably livid that George had been taking so long... but she shook the thought off, remembering he had asked her a question.

"I'm not sure... Why don't you ask her?" she suggested sincerely. George gave her a highly skeptical look and she merely smiled back.

"Yeah, right. Me ask her something without her biting my head off? That'll be the news of the century," he grumbled. Fred clasped him on the shoulder, but didn't say anything, for fear he would let slip that Bellamy knew about him fancying her. Rose hummed quietly to herself, and tucked her wand into the pocket of her jeans.

"We probably better be getting back. Bellamy'll be furious if we don't," she said a bit nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear. The boys nodded, knowing what she said was true, and they followed her out of the flat, wondering how exactly the brunette had been handling the shop in their absence.