Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun

Fred and George Weasley were two of the most popular blokes at Hogwarts, as everyone knew, and they were just as popular even after they left, if not more so, because of their shop. The duo had opened Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes after leaving school and had hired a girl called Verity to help them with managing the register, but the trouble with having left school was not having anyone to help them experiment with their products. They had each other, of course, but it was nice to have a few people around so the two of them didn't have to partake in all of the testing on their own. Verity had told them straight away that she wouldn't be a guinea pig for them, which had temporarily dampened their spirits, but the ever positive twins kept searching.

They were starting to develop wonder witch products and though they were comfortable with each other, the effects of the potions and such were fairly long lasting and even though they didn't mind being seen in makeup or such things, they would have liked to find someone more willing to help them out. They decided, therefore to advertise for a girl tester, hoping to get a bit more of a response than just putting it out there that they would probably be having blokes made up and smelling like flowers. Signs went up in their windows, but nearly a week went by without any interest.

Fred reckoned that older witches and wizards had other things on their minds than earning a bit of money from testing WWW products. George pointed out that all the younger witches and wizards were still in school as well. The boys took down the help wanted ads and sent out flyers instead, hoping to draw attention to students who were perhaps thinking of leaving school. Another week went by without offers of help and the twins were at the point of testing the products themselves, when a hope stepped through the door in the form of a curvy girl with dirty blonde hair and dark eyes.

"Someone here to see you," Verity called into the backroom of the shop where the boys were working on vomiting hats. "I think you want to take this."

Fred and George reluctantly stepped away from their product, scourgified their robes and entered the main part of the shop. "Hello, love," Fred greeted the girl.

"How can we help you?" George asked.

"I came to see if you were still looking for product testers," she told them. "I hope I'm not too late."

"You're not at all," Fred replied. He stepped to one side of the girl and put an arm around her shoulders, George flanking her on the other. "We've got room for help."

"Have you any problems with doing ridiculous things?" George asked.

"No."

"Good. You're perfect for the job," Fred told her. "I'll get you some robes and we can get started."

"What's your name?" George asked. "You look familiar."

"Mary," she replied. "And I'm familiar because I had twenty-eight detentions with you before you left school."

"Oh…right. You were roaring. Have you done something different with your makeup?" Fred asked.

"That was the last straw, actually," she told them. "That witch transfigured my face because apparently I got her favorite boy into trouble. Malfoy kept hitting on me in transfigurations class and getting in trouble with McGonnagal. It was my fault, apparently. McGonnagal couldn't fix it…"

The twins were outraged. "That BITCH!" Fred raved.

"Wait, Darkbow?" George asked. "From Ravenclaw?"

"The one and only," Mary replied.

"I think we can fix it," he told her.

"You remember exactly what she looked like?" Fred asked. "If you don't, you'll bugger it up so there's no fixing it."

"I have it. Besides I have a picture of us with her somewhere in my room."

"What were we doing with her?" Fred asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Dancing on the quidditch pitch," she replied. "I have a copy."

"Dirty mind, brother mine," George grinned.

"Well go get the photo," Fred winked.

Within ten minutes Mary's nose had shrunk back to its original size and her cheekbones shifted. She looked exactly like the girl the boys had known. "Well it is you!" Fred exclaimed.

"You've left for good then?" George asked.

"Definitely. I'll not have that hag or her toe rag Malfoy causing me any more grief."

"Good on you. What will your Mum say?" Fred asked.

"Nothing. She's run off to join the Death Eaters."

"Really?" George asked. "Didn't see that one coming."

"Too bad. You're with us now, though."

"Right. You have a job and I suppose we can let you stay on the couch."

"Brilliant idea, George," Fred said with a smile.

"Great!" She smiled at the pair of them. "When do I start?"

"Now," the boys said in unison. She followed them back to the back room and took a seat, watching them perfect the finishing touches on their hats before they prepped her for the first experiment.

"Right, let's start with the hair coloring potions," Fred said as the twins settled Mary into a chair in the middle of the room.

"Good choice," George said with a grin.

"What will it do, exactly?" Mary asked.

"Well ideally it'll change your hairstyle and color depending on your mood," Fred told her, taking out a bottle of silvery liquid.

"But we've had a few mishaps," George continued.

"At first it wouldn't change," Fred said.

"My hair was bubblegum pink for a week."

"But then the effects didn't last longer than an hour."

"And it kind of smelled like Mum," George said, pulling a face.

"Which is stew and roses…not our favorite combination."

"It should be alright now though," George assured her.

"We've added perfume and a few slight modifications to strengthen the power of the stuff," Fred added.

"But we haven't worked out a reversal yet," George told her. "My hair's still pink under it all…I have to use Muggle hair dye every few days to stave off the effects.

"His hair lightens or darkens, though, now, which is cool," Fred told her brightly.

"Since you're a girl, you can probably pull of some of the more feminine colors in case it sticks."

"Not many blokes want pink hair."

Mary had to laugh. She took a deep breath and nodded her consent to Fred, who poured half the contents of the bottle on her head. George started to rub it into her scalp with dragonhide gloves protecting his skin. "How long will it take to work?" she asked. The twins were grinning at her as she looked from one to the other.

"Well it's working now…what mood are you in?" Fred asked.

"I'm pretty relaxed," she told him.

"You're hair's gone blue," George told her, holding up a mirror. She saw herself in the reflection and could hardly believe her eyes. Her hair was it's normal style, hanging halfway down her back, but it had taken on a royal blue hue.

"It's fantastic," she said, running her fingers through the already dry locks. As she became more excited, her hair color started to shift and she watched in anticipation as it shortened to just below her ears and went lime green and wavy.

"We've done it," Fred exclaimed, hugging her side. George joined in the group hug on the other side and Mary's hair brightened to lemon and went into tight banana curls.

"It's brilliant!" George agreed happily. Mary barely saw his hair brighten and laughed a bit. "We've perfected the power of Tonk's hair tricks. At least for moods."

"Right. She'll get a kick out of this, I'll bet."

"Or she'll kill us," George put in.

"What are you going to call it?" Mary asked.

"Mood Enhancing Color!" they told her in unison.

"We can have it on the shelves by Monday if she doesn't get any adverse reactions," Fred said, clapping George on the back.

"Ginny will be pleased with her birthday gift," George added with a wink.

"Let's move on to our next witch potion. Unless you're uncomfortable," Fred asked, looking at Mary.

"Nah. Go ahead and get it ready." She was looking at the curious color of orange that her hair had taken on, no doubt caused by her curiosity about the next product. The hair was also short and spiked in the back.

George held up a bottle of yellow sparkling potion and looked at his brother. "We have to ask," Fred told her, "if you're with child or on your monthly flow."

"No to both," she replied, her hair going shaggy to her shoulders, the color going white with pink tips.

"I like embarrassment," George commented putting the yellow potion away. "It's interesting. "We'll have to save this one for later, though."

"Are you going to need me to be pregnant?" she asked, more than a little surprised. Her hair was bright purple—short in the back with bangs covering her eyes.

"No that one is for…well witches on the rag," Fred explained. "It's supposed to make them less moody and more comfortable…we couldn't very well test that one ourselves, though."

"Ah…"She relaxed a bit and her hair started to go back to the blue that it had become first.

"It would be nice though, to have the experience," George said offhandedly. Mary's locks went black and dropped straight to the floor and he nearly swallowed his tongue. Anger was not a good look on her, he thought. "Just kidding." He held up his hands in surrender.

"Don't lose us our help on the first day, George," Fred scolded, sounding a bit like their mother. George rolled his eyes and they went back to searching through their products.

"Should we try out one of the love potions?" Fred asked after a moment. Both boys looked over at Mary and quirked their eyebrows.

"Your hair's all white and pinkish again," George commented. "Something wrong?"

"Not at all," she replied. "Bring on the love potion."