Fred Weasley looked up from the blocks he was playing with when his mummy dropped onto one of the sofas, groaning.
"Dear me," she said. "It's only noon and my back's already aching."
Fred bit his lip, shooting a look at his twin, who nodded, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
Baby.
Last year, Mummy had said the same thing, and then stinky Ron had come along.
Fred knocked over the tower in disgust.
He didn't need no more brothers! There was Bill, nearly big enough to go to Hogwarts, and Charlie, who was always playing on that stupid toy broom, and Percy who thought he was so smart, just 'cause he was in kindergarten and could read and was four years old, a big boy, while he and George were the second youngest, and only two.
"Mummy, why is your back sore? D'you need us to kiss it betta?" George asked, blue eyes innocently wide.
Mummy laughed. "I spent all of yesterday hauling boxes into the attic, Georgie, so of course my back hurts."
George nodded. "'Kay." He looked over at Fred.
Quickly, Fred spoke up. "Mummy, we're hungry."
A lusty howl was heard from upstairs.
"Sounds like Ronnie's hungry too, Freddie." Mummy grinned. "I'll feed him, then you." As she headed upstairs, George kicked the primary-coloured blocks.
"More babies," he said bitterly.
"No," Fred replied stubbornly. "Not this time. No more brothers for us."
"What we gonna do?"
"Dunno, yet." Fred began to pile the blocks back up again. "But I'll fink of somefink."
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"'Kay," Fred said after dinner that night while they splashed in the bath. Percy was s’posed to be watching them, but he was doing his homework instead. Not that the twins cared. "I gots an idea."
"Hmm?" The dinosaur George was playing with flew through the air. "Vroom vroom ..."
"Well, the stork puts the baby in Mummy, right? So ... Mummy ain't fat yet. We gots her just in time. So we just wait up ev'ry night 'til the stork comes, an' we tell him we don't want the baby. We don't need no more brothers."
"Okay. Veroom …"
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"Fred," George whispered that night.
"Wha'? 'M tired," Fred groaned.
"We're s'posed to be stayin' up, 'member?"
"Oh yeah ..." Fred did his best to wake up, then scrambled out of his bed and into George's.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"I'll stay ‘wake ’wake better with you next to me," Fred replied drowsily, already drifting back off.
"M'kay."
The next thing the twins knew, it was morning, and Mummy was downstairs, humming along to the radio.
"More coffee, Arthur, dear?" They heard her ask, clear as if she was in the room with them.
The twins didn't know why, but they could always hear what people were saying if they wanted to. Or if they were tired.
"Yes, love," Daddy answered merrily.
"We fell 'sleep," George said glumly.
Fred nodded. "An' we're too late. Mummy an' Daddy are doin' their happiness thing 'gain."
"Like they did Hal'ween last year?"
"'Zactly like that."
George got up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Guess we gots a new brother comin'."
"Well I'm gonna tell Mummy an' Daddy we don't want no brother," Fred announced.
"No, Mummy would cry and Daddy would get mad. I don't want Daddy to get mad with you, Fred," his twin said sternly.
Fred sighed. "Okay. Just for you."
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Nine months passed, and neither twin grew any more excited over the prospect of another screaming baby brother. Their third birthday came and went, as did Ron's first. Just as Percy's fifth was approaching, Mummy's fat tummy got even bigger, and one day she called Daddy at work and told him the 'little one' was coming.
Everything had been a rush of activity, then. Bill, getting ready for Hogwarts, threw aside his books and sent a fire-call to something called a middle wife.
"Is a middle wife someone who looks at your tummy?" Fred had asked, George nodding encouragingly next to him. "'Cause Mummy's tummy looks like it's 'bout to 'splode."
Bill had just shot the pair an irritated look and called for Charlie.
Charlie abandoned his broom to hustle Percy and the twins outside, and even had an apple-throwing contest with them. Ron cried and cried, with no one answering him.
And then, two hours later, there was another Weasley, and the middle wife was leaving, looking very smug.
They were all hustled inside to see him.
"What's his name, Daddy?" George asked shyly, looking at his newest brother, for some reason wrapped in a pink blanket.
Brown eyes blinked back at him, and a tiny pink mouth opened in a yawn. Unlike Ron, this one didn't cry.
"Her name is Ginevra Molly Weasley," Daddy said, beaming. "You have a little sister."
"Oh." Fred bit his lip, his hand finding George's as they drew comfort from one another at this new development. "Is a little sister better than a little brother?"
"Definitely." Bill ruffled the twins' hair. "Little sisters aren't half as annoying. And they don't stink." His blue eyes twinkled.
The twins absorbed this new information, staring at their red-haired little sister.
Quickly making a decision, Fred scrambled up onto the bed, pulling George up behind him. Carefully, he touched the baby's petal-soft cheek.
"Ginny Weasley," he murmured. "I like it."
Mummy and Daddy smiled.
"Well, that's good," Daddy said. "Because so do we."