falcons captain, writing a fic in gambol and japes

betaed by Missing Mommy/Sam

1255

When they were six years old, Fred and George's mother made a huge mistake.

The family was out shopping for Bill and Charlie's school supplies in Diagon Alley and all the younger Weasleys got to tag along, from eight year old Percy to little three year old Ginny.

Percy and Ron went with Bill, Charlie, and their dad to get actual school supplies— Percy couldn't wait to be old enough for Hogwarts, and Ron absolutely adored Charlie— while Fred and George dragged their mother, with Ginny tagging along, refusing to leave their mother's side, to a shop called Gambol and Japes. The pretty lights and colors attracted them.

As soon as they walked in, some type of toy literally snapped at Ginny. The toddler started crying.

Their mother picked her up and turned to Fred and George.

"Stay right here, boys. I'm going to bring your sister outside for a bit and walk her around to calm her down. Do not leave."

"Okay, Mum," George responded.

Fred was turned around, looking at the hectic shop, but he mumbled a: "Yeah."

Their mother walked outside with Ginny and the twins were given a free roam of the place.

It was a small space, or maybe it was actually a big space, but it was so filled with products that there was hardly any room to walk around.

Someone had made a small path in between boxes and shelves, but it was so small Fred and George had to walk single file down it.

There were too many things to look at.

There was a whole corner things that looked like explosives and the twins headed there first. There were tiny rocketships that grew warm in their hands, little multicolored balls, and a huge rocket that was bigger than Fred and George combined.

"Ah, nice eyes you have, going straight for the explosives. Don't worry, I like them too." A tall man was suddenly next to the twins, dressed in a purple pinstriped suit, a matching top hat that made him look even taller, and a wide grin.

"I'm Japes, of Gambol and Japes. Pleasure to meet you." The tall man, Japes, bowed down, even though there wasn't really room to bow down.

"Now then, these different colors do different things."

The new voice made Fred and George jump. It made Japes grin even wider.

A second man appeared on the twins' other side, but he looked the opposite of Japes. This man was very short, just slightly taller than the twins, and he was wearing a green polka-dotted suit with a matching fedora.

Whereas Japes looked professional and put together, everything on the short man everything clashed. The only similarity the two men shared were matching grins.

"I'm Gambol, of Gambol and Japes. Pleasure to meet you," the short man said very fast. He stuck out his hand.

Fred and George backed away.

"Now, as I was saying," Gambol continued. "Each color does a different thing." Japes nodded, also very fast.

"Yes, yes. For instance, these red balls?" Japes continued in place of Gambol. "They're actually flashbang pellets. Do you two know what a flashbang is?"

Fred and George both shook their heads.

"This ball will release a huge burst of light, disorienting whoever you throw it at," Gambol picked up.

"Oh, oh!" Japes picked up a handful of multicolored balls. "And all of these balls with more than one color one them? These our are patent-pending food bombs."

"Patent-pending? We're getting a patent?"

"Nope! Why would we need a patent?"

"Exactly! Nobody would steal our inventions! So why'd you say it?"

"It sounds more official."

"Hmmmm. Patent-pending. You're right."

The two men were speaking so fast, that trying to look at them when they spoke was giving Fred and George whiplash.

"Um," Fred interrupted their banter.

"What's a 'patent'?" George asked, carefully sounding out the new word.

Gambol and Japes laughed and ignored his question.

"Now, look," Gambol said, picking up a blue ball with red polka-dots. "If I throw this over here—"

Gambol threw the ball at Fred and George's feet and it started to shake. The twins tried to back away, but Japes was now standing behind them.

"Oh, don't be scared! It won't hurt you," he reassured them.

"Nope. The last time we hurt a minor was a very sticky situation, almost lost us the shop."

"You can't be scared of the prank!"

"You've got to learn to be the owner of it!" As soon as Gambol finished saying the word 'it', the ball in front of the twins exploded into—

"Popcorn?" George asked, confused.

"Buttered popcorn!" Japes corrected.

"I know, I know." Gambol waved his hand. "It's a little bit slow."

"But we're working on it!"

"So, if the blue ones with red polka dots makes popcorn," Fred started.

"And the red ones are flash bangs," George picked up.

"What do all the other ones do?" The twins were starting to pick up a few habits from the two men standing in front of them.

"Oh, excellent question!" Japes put up a finger.

"Yes, yes, excellent indeed!" Gambol agreed, nodding his head.

"But we don't want to ruin the surprise."

"No, that wouldn't be good."

"Instead how about you two take one of each?"

"Test them out on people."

"For free?" Fred asked. George cocked his head.

"Yes, of course."

"We're always happy to help young pranksters!"

"But, remember, there's so much more here."

"Yes, yes, come along to other sections."

Japes snapped his fingers and a bag appeared in his hand, which he gave to Fred.

"Here's one of each of the balls for you too."

"Now then, let's continue."

Gambol and Japes led them to another section. This part of the store held many different animals.

There were cats of many different colors, dogs of many different sizes, and lizards of many different textures.

"Pick any animal here," Gambol instructed the boys.

"Um, that one?" Fred pointed to a cage that was on top of five other ones. Inside was an all black cat that was lounging around. It looked up lazily and meowed when Fred pointed at it.

"Ah, very good choice," Japes said. He walked over to the cage and unlocked the latch. "This is Volantes."

Volantes stood up, stretched and walked straight out of its cage.

Fred and George watched the cat with wide eyes, sure it would just fall to the floor. It didn't.

Instead, the cat hovered in the air for a bit, before flying higher and going away from them.

"He's very well behaved, naturally," Gambol noted, a little twinkle in his eyes.

"We trained him ourselves. We trained all the animals here."

"He'll come back when we call him, but we keep all the animals in cages so that it won't be chaotic in here."

"So that it won't be chaotic in here," Fred repeated, amused. It was already very chaotic in the store.

George was about to ask a question about the dogs, but at that moment a bell rang, signifying someone coming into the store. It was Fred and George's mum, with a Ginny in tow.

"Boys?" she called.

Fred gripped the bag Japes gave him and the twins turned around to thank the store owners, but they were gone.

"We're here, Mum!" George called. The boys ran back to the entrance.

"Come along, boys. It's almost time to meet up with your brothers and father."

"Mum?" Fred ventured.

George continued his brother's thought. "Could we come back here again?"