Of Weasleys and Turveys
The day went off better than anyone at the Weasley's would have expected. So much that Molly was initially suspicious. Much to the conspirators' bowel shifting worry. However, the relief of having a relaxing morning was more than enough to get her off their backs. Thus, they began scurrying like rats about the place, moving and rearranging the place for the party. It was to the point where Molly thought they were actually cleaning the house.
"Hey Gin-Gin? Can we invite those Becker chaps? They seemed nice." Fred asked his younger sister, putting an elbow on her head to get her attention.
Ginny shrugged. "I don't see why not." she replied.
"George! Warm up the express typewriter! We need this out stat!" Fred yelled to his twin.
"You warm it up this time! Do you realize how hard that thing is to hand crank!?" George called from one of the closets.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'll crank it this time…!" she called, heading to find the typewriter.
Harry looked at Ron in disbelief. "Why do you lot have a…?" he began to ask before Ron cut him off.
"Dad brought it home after work one day. Something about 'examining it before going to lock up at the Ministry.' I think that was like two years ago now." Ron explained, confusion of his own setting in his voice.
Harry gave a deadpan look to his best friend. "Of course. Will Ginny need any help carrying it?" he replied.
"Carry that monstrosity? It weighs as much as a giant's belt buckle. That thing isn't going anywhere." Ron replied with surety.
"Giants are… never mind. I'm not going to ask another stupid question." Harry replied in a deadpan tone.
"Right, let's get to it. I think mum's out of the kitchen finally. I just hope Peevish Percy and the sinister help's distraction works long enough." Ron said, as if bemoaning the fact he must rely on their aid.
"If it doesn't, we'll have to work fast." Harry replied as he and Ron each put on an apron, rolled up their sleeves, and got to work.
As the boys got to work, Arthur himself was hard at work in his garage. Before him lay a great pipe organ that had taken up a full corner of the garage… after some finagling of his already cramped garage. Molly did warn against putting too much in the Gringotts vault. He considered it a wonderful inheritance to his children personally. Even if they did not want it, they could sell it for a fortune if needed. It was at that when his watch caught his eye, and specifically the date.
His mind flashed back to the day he met her. At that he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small locket. Opening it, he saw a picture of a far younger Molly and himself, happily wrapping their arms around each other for the photo. It brought a smile to his face as he lovingly closed it and put it in his pocket.
'No doubt everyone has something planned as always. If not, then the old reliable option is there for later.' Arthur thought to himself. 'Now where to put the next part of the charm chain?'
"You can afford your very own pipe organ?" a familiar voice asked from the door of the garage.
"No. It's on loan from the Ministry." Arthur said without turning to look at who said that.
"What does it do besides play music?" the voice pressed, allowing Arthur to identify the owner of the voice.
Turning around, he saw Harry standing before him, looking over the scene. "Oh, well I am working at creating the world's first automatically playing pipe organ." Arthur proudly said, finally getting someone around here that was interested in his work.
"But we already have those in the Muggle world." Harry said, cutting him off.
"Ah, but this one can, through the use of magic, turn that music into a visual story!" Arthur said proudly, in a slightly showman like way.
"… wait… it turns the music into a visual story? Like a tele, but with music?" Harry asked, actually amazed to hear about this.
"Indeed, young Harry, indeed. And dare I say with far better image quality than any Muggle tele." Arthur answered with a smile. "The trick is just getting the ordering of the charm chain right…"
"Well, I won't distract you, Mr. Weasley. You're obviously creating something incredible, and I'd hate to interrupt." Harry replied with a genuine smile.
"Oh, you're no bother at all. Honestly, it's kind of nice to get someone that is actually interested in what I'm doing here." Arthur answered him, waving off his concern.
"Well, either way, I'd love to see it in use once you finish it. This thing is going to be bloody brilliant; I can already tell." Harry said, walking up to look the pipe organ over.
"Thank you, young Mr. Potter. I'll make sure to let you know when I'm done with it." Arthur replied.
Harry then turned to get back to work with Ron but then realized something as he looked up at the doorway. "Wait… how did you even get it in here?" he asked, both confused and amazed.
"The Shrinking Charm, of course. You should learn it this year in your Charms class. As long as the curriculum hasn't changed too drastically since I was there." Arthur explained with a smile at the boy's naivety.
Harry grinned a bit at that. "I love magic…" he replied happily.
Meanwhile in the garden, Molly Weasley was hard at work in the garden. Days like this at the end of summer, where the sun was not so oppressive and the cool breeze blew, she was at peace. After she pulled a weed from between her roses, she paused as she looked inside with the commotion of activity. She knew the kids were up to something. If they were not, then they would not be doing nearly as much. They all would have scampered off to do something else with their time.
However, as much as she should not probably have, she feigned ignorance. It warmed her up to know her children cared so much to go through the trouble. They probably thought, even if wrongly, that they did not do anything on their anniversary. That, however, was not true. Her and Arthur always went to a delightful little dinner club in town for the evening, before returning home to go to bed. It was not fancy, or showy, but it felt right for them. Gone were the days of the endless energy of youth they both had, and the rigors of adult life truly kicked in. But that did not change between them. They still loved each other the same as they had when they first felt it.
Hours passed, and Percy and Mafalda had been taken by two adults to distract them. Things were going completely without a hitch. The food was nearly ready, the decorations were set up. All owls were wrangled. Nothing could possibly go wrong… until Ginny heard something trying to get through the rat hole. Looking down, she was horrified at seeing a gnome try to force it's great, bulbous head through it. With concerned-looking Scabbers nearby.
"We forgot to De-Gnome the garden!!" Ginny yelled as they all began hearing scratching and clawing at doors and old holes.
"Oh, bugger. I knew we were forgetting something." George groaned.
"Ron, Harry! To the garden!" Ginny cried as the three rushed off.
"We will hold down the fort here! No Gnome is getting the best of me!!" Fred said, stancing up with his wand at the ready.
"One literally gave you a wedgie when you were six." George dryly pointed out.
"Justice for my six-year-old britches!" Fred roared; his wand held ready for a gnome to come in.
As the trio of Hogwarts students rushed out into the garden, they saw the gnomes running amok. Eating flowers, trampling bushes, hijacking the wheelbarrow and joy riding it around the garden. They were even bathing in the bird bath. When they saw the three, however, they stopped and looked at them, before they all rushed to dive into their Gnome holes.
"CHAAAARGE!" Ginny called out, rushing in at the gnomes.
"Let's get them!!" Ron yelled, charging after his sister.
"Why don't we just use the Leviosa Charm?" Harry asked as the two Weasleys rushed after them.
"They won't stay still long enough! Just get the Knockback Jinx ready to daze them!" Ron told his friend as he got his wand out.
Harry looked as one of the gnomes got in the hole before him. Pulling out his wand, he made the correct gesture for Leviosa. Like clockwork, the gnome, to its utter shock and horror, began to float on up. Once it was in the air, Harry rotated his wand to spin the terrified Gnome around, before with a simple flick sending it flying. This shocked Ron and Ginny at the ease it worked as Harry went from hole to hole sending the poor things clear into the next county. Or at least that was what it looked like to them.
"... Why didn't we think of that?" Ron asked, legitimately confused at their lapse in judgment.
"... I don't know. But let's get to it! I'll grab a shovel since I don't know the Knockback Jinx or the Leviosa spell yet." Ginny replied, going to grab a shovel to bonk the gnomes on the head.
This change of tactic caused the gnomes in the garden to go into an utter panic. Their one defense was useless against the new charm they faced. Yet, if they tried to stay above ground and run, Ron and Ginny hit them with jinx and shovel. Seeing no other option, the remaining unhurled gnomes fled the garden in complete panic, forcing themselves through the hedge in a tide of unwashed masses.
"Good job, Harry! I don't think I've ever seen gnomes so terrified in my life!" Ron cheered with a smile before punching his friend in the shoulder.
"And stay gone, you dirty, little buggers!" Ginny roared after the gnomes, shaking her shovel up and down like a spear.
"Wait… what about the twins?" Harry asked.
"OUT! OUT, YA' LITTLE GITS!" George's voice rang out from within the house.
The three realized in an instant that some gnomes got through and rushed inside. What they saw before them… was utter calamity.
Fred and George were taking cover behind an upturned table, like soldiers down in the trenches. The gnomes were launching rapid fire plates, bowls, and utensils of all kinds using rubber bands as a makeshift slingshot. The plates, bowls, and utensils battered the twins' makeshift wall as they poked their heads up between shots to fire back jinxes and curses at the little beasts. Taking cover to avoid a kitchen knife that was flung at their heads, the twins saw the knife stick into the doorway, missing Ron by a mere centimeter as he yelped.
"BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" Ron screamed in fright.
"TAKE COVER!" Ginny called out as she and the two boys dived to the floor.
"About time you slow little buggers showed up! We've been pinned down by these gits the whole bloody time, and they've eaten half the snacks already!" Fred yelled as George fired back some red sparks at them, taking pot shots when he could.
"Ron, Harry! Cover me! I'm going in!" Ginny called out, grabbing a pot cover to use as a makeshift shield.
Ron and Harry nodded before starting to fire Knockback Jinxes at the gnomes to cover Ginny as she used her makeshift shield to block fire from the gnomes' makeshift ballista. Soon, she grabbed a large kitchen knife and began using it as a makeshift combat knife as she dueled with an opposing gnome.
"Back! Back, ya' little bugger! Get out of our kitchen!" Ginny called out to the sneering gnome, blocking knife slashes with her pot cover while slashing at the gnome's knife-wielding hand.
"That's it, girl! I'll give you cover fire! Go for the contraption!!" George yelled, blasting several gnomes with red sparks charm bolts.
"Right!" Ginny called out, blocking a knife slash from the gnome and going for the rubber band ballista.
Letting out a yell, Ginny slashed at the rubber bands keeping the contraption together. The knife scythed through the rubber bands, cutting them, and bringing the contraption down. Seeing their main weapon destroyed, the gnomes took cover before the biggest one let out a loud growl that sounded like a call for retreat. Nodding, the gnomes made a hasty strategic withdrawal out the open door. As this happened, they heard the door get knocked on. Looking out the front door, they saw the Beckers standing there with some food in hand. However, they stood there in shock at what they just witnessed and the utter carnage that laid before them.
"Uuuuuhhhhhhhh…" Garrett said as his mother had to close his mouth for him.
"Did… did you all just go to war with a bunch of gnomes…?" Christine asked in disbelief.
"Yes… yes we did…" Ginny panted, before falling back onto the couch in exhaustion.
"Little gits wrecked the party and ate most of the snacks Harry and I prepared…" Ron grumbled, assessing the damage.
"You all get to work cleaning up. I'll handle fixing up some snacks to replace them." Christine said simply as both she and Garrett put the food down on the table.
"You don't have to do anything…" Harry tried to say, before Christine cut him off.
"Nonsense. You all put a lot of work into trying to make your parents a good party for their anniversary. Garrett, my little strudel. Do help them clean up." Christine said.
Hearing his mother's nickname made the boy blush with embarrassment. "... Yes, mother…" Garrett said sheepishly before getting to work.
After several hours passed, Molly and Arthur finally arrived back. Percy and Mafalda kept their nervousness hidden the best they could, as they did not quite know what was waiting for them on the other side. Opening the door, to their shock, was a table full of food and drink, streamers, and even a banner wishing them a happy anniversary. All with the kids and the Beckers waiting for them.
"Happy Anniversary!!" The group cheered for them.
"Oh heavens, children. You didn't have to go through all the trouble." Molly said, putting a hand on her heart as the couple walked in.
"I am quite tickled by all the effort." Arthur said with a smile as he took off his hat.
"It's no trouble at all, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. We wanted to help you celebrate right." Harry told them both with a nervous smile, hoping that they did not notice the residual chaos from the Battle of the Kitchen.
"Wait a minute… why are there punctures in my table?" Molly said as she ran her finger along a line of them.
"... Mum. You wouldn't believe us if we told you…" Ron told her sheepishly.
"... You forgot the De-Gnome the garden while setting up the party, didn't you." Molly asked with a deadpan look on her face.
"... So, you would believe it if we told you…" The twins replied nervously.
"Honey don't get too angry with them. They put a lot of effort into this." Arthur said, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"In retrospect, we probably should've had Percy help with the planning and preparations instead of distracting you…" Ginny noted, nervous about their mother potentially getting angry.
"Finally. I get recognition for my planning skills." Percy said as if he closed the door behind them.
"Well. You all set up the party. Let's get this party started!" Arthur called out, getting a massive cheer from everyone else as the party began. The stress and hardship of the day melt away in a matter of moments.