Calamity

Never again. Never would they ever invent something so unappealing, so sinister. Well, that probably wasn't true but the Twins were furious with themselves for creating something so injurious. It was a nuisance, a constant irritation and had been since before the initial concept drawings. Everything, from the first enchantment tests to shelving, had been a consecutive nightmare. Some form of bad juju surrounded its atmosphere wherever it went. Early on the Twins took notice but brushed the thought aside as merely a series of coincidences. Nothing more.
Now, as they watched their product ooze slime-like vomit over a dead man's agape mouth, the twins were outraged.
Vomit Mops be damned.
"George t-that's not-" Fred asked.
George shook his head in agreement. "It-it is," He said. "Who knew? Your weapon of choice last night was better than I thought."
When a crowd started forming, heart beats ran rampant through the eldest twin. Fred ignored the insult. He yanked at his brothers identical shirt in order to find a more private place for them to chat.
"George, listen mate." He said when they had entered the alleyway. "You are sure that you protected the shop last night?"
George slapped his brothers head. "Of course I did you tosser!" George said. He crossed his arms.
Fred rubbed his stinging head and shrugged. "Well I did head off to bed befo-"
George sighed. "I am capable of doing things on my own." He said.
"All right." Fred said. "I wasn't suggesting anything. "
The twins watched as the medics took away the body. The Auras were analyzing the mop carefully. "No one was getting into the shop last night." George said. "Not after I left."
"You're sure?" Fred asked. The younger Twins glare caused him to wince at the sight.
"I undid the charms this morning!" George said. He grumbled something inaudible, but Fred could fill in the blanks. It had been awhile since he had seen his brother this angry. He wondered if there was something George wasn't telling. Being twins made it redundant to try and explain everything. They could easily infer what the other was thinking and if not it was unusual for them to keep something from one another. Therefore, if Fred's hunch was that George was hiding something, he was probably right.
"We can't leave Marine again." George said before his brother could ask. "She's sick of working for us as it is."
Fred let his twin stalk back to the shop. He would ask about it another time. Perhaps when George had cooled down.
An itch hit his leg but Fred ignored it. There was something odd about having so many suits down Diagon Alley. It felt unnatural. Like time was moving backwards. The itch reappeared in his calve so he rubbed it with his shoe.
It wasn't that he didn't trust his brothers word, but that was surly their mop and soon someone would be there to ask questions again.
Frantic yelling came from the back bend of the alleyway. Fred spotted no one and chalked it up to old Mr. muddle having lost his cat again.
Suddenly the itch in Fred's leg barked. White, wolf-like fluff stood pawing at Fred's feet. The annoyed pup grunted and pulled at his shoelaces in order to gain his attention. A lime-green, braided collar peaked from beneath the dogs fur.
"Hello Shop 9," Fred said as he pick the dog off the ground. "What was your name? Sam-Smory-Swing?"
"Swatch?" A young man said as he poked his dark, auburn head around the back corner of the alley.
Fred beamed gleefully. "Swatch, I knew it the whole time." He said.
"Sure 'ya did Man." The stranger said. He chuckled and ruffled the pups fur causing Fred to laugh at how annoyed the dog was by it. Swatch grunted and attempted to remove the fur from his eyes before Fred started helping him.
"There you go, Little Mate." Fred said when the pup could see again.
"Such a diva," The young man smiled and shook his head. "I'm assuming you've met the little bastard?"
Fred nodded and handed Swatch over. "Kind of." Fred said and shrugged. "He spent last night rummaging through our shop, nearly gave-," Suddenly, at the thought of last night's actions, Fred's Gryffindor pride grew like a weed. "M-my brother George nearly had a heart attack from him."
"Dude, gosh I'm sorry. I keep telling my 'lil sis that he's a bit of a Houdini. Dunno how y'alls pets around here haven't picked him to shreds yet," The man said as he placed Swatch back on the gravel and told him to stay put. Swatch huffed in frustration but sat anyway. "Shame huh," The young man said as he gestured to the poor dead man's fate. Fred gave him a sullen nod. "Oh, i'm Jasper. " He added. A bright smile beamed through the young man's grey eyes, quickly replacing his frown from merely moments before. "Jasper Harver."
Fred took his hand and shook it firmly. "Fred Weasley. " He said. "So your the new owner of shop 9?"
Jasper nodded. "One of 'em." He said. "It's a bit of a mess right now, But it'll be epic once we fix 'er up."
Fred thought for a moment. He could have sworn his brother mentioned something about a girl at shop 9. "Oh Right, your sister is friends with George-uh, my twin.." He said as he remembered what Jasper said about a 'lil sis'.
"So she's told me. Only met him once. Seemed 'kinda flustered at the time." Jasper said. He attempted to flatten his dark, wind-swept hair. Fred found this amusing because it only made things worse.
"That's been Georgie lately. " Fred said as he thought back to his brothers strange attitude.
A bark came from below the two. Swatch grumbled again and began kicking rocks at his owner with his back legs.
"Alright you, lets go get some grub," Jasper said. He pulled the pup back into his arms and waved the dogs fluffy paw at Fred. "Say goodbye, Swatch."
"Nice meeting you two." Fred said as he gave Swatch a final pet.
"Likewise man." Jasper said. He gave Fred a cool-man's 'fist bump' before jogging back down the alleyway. "Oh, and Fred?"
"Yeah?" Fred called back. Even from this far he could see that Jasper was beaming like a giddy child.
"Your store's wicked awesome!" He said.
Fred smiled at the compliment. "Thanks a lot, mate. Stop by anytime!" He said.
Jasper nodded and with a final wave the energetic young man disappeared down the winding crevices of Diagon Alley.
Fred shook his head and laughed a bit at the comical guy. He wandered back to Weasley Wizarding Weases and had a hard time shifting through the massive crowd. "Death does tend to make for great sales." He thought as he maneuvered his way up to the counter.
"Merlins fucking beard! Where have you been?" George said as he rushed over to the eldest twin. Concern drenched his identical face. Sweat forced his hair into odd angles and there was fear in his brothers brown eyes.
"George, calm down I was ju-"
George shook his twin violently. "Damn it, Fred!" He shouted. Water filled the creases of the young twins squinted eyes. "They've taken her. They've taken her and I couldn't-"
His brow furrowed. "Georgie, your not making sense." Fred said. His attempt to stabilize his brother failed as George fell to his knees. "Who took who where and why?" he asked.
"Marine," George said. A panic prone adrenaline had clearly shaken him to his core. "Muledy took her off to Azkaban!"