Ron looked nonplused. "Really? But I mean, the spider thing wasn't that bad."
George just pointed to the charred stump in the corner of the room.
"Oh. Right." Ron blushed.
"What else are we going to do at the arena tomorrow?" Ginny said eagerly. "Besides the Quidditch moves, I mean."
And that was all it took. Animated discussions about the highly anticipated treat erased any lingering ill will, and in fact the trip to Featherbee's was every bit as wonderful as the children had anticipated. There were helpful staff to coach Hermione and Neville, and so many non-flying activities that the children ran out of energy long before they had exhausted all the arena's attractions. Harry and his friends had a wonderful time, and the older children did as well. Even Bill and Charlie found a surprising number of activities to enjoy, as well as plenty of attractive witches to chat up.
There was only one minor crisis when the twins, intoxicated by conversation with two pretty American teens, decided that impressing their new acquaintances took precendence over fair play. Ron, Harry, and Draco wanted to try the "Fly Through A Hurricane!" ride, in which you attempted to pilot your broom through a simulated windstorm, but the twins were blocking the ride's entrance, too occupied with their conversation to notice anyone else.
"Oi, George, Fred! Shove over. It's our turn!" Ron demanded, pushing at the nearest twin. He stepped back in surprise at the angry glares that were instantly turned his way.
"Children!" Fred said with an overly casual laugh as he turned back to the American girls. "Such little pests."
"Get lost," George snarled through gritted teeth before returning to the witches with a bright smile. "So - where were we?"
One of the girls, a blonde, giggled. "We were just saying how much we're enjoying our trip here."
"We just love your accents," gushed the other. "Say something for us!"
"Well, we think your accents are rather cute too," Fred said, trying to drop his voice into a deeper register.
"Silly! We don't have an accent!" one told him, batting playfully at his arm.
"So, erm, where do you go to school? We go to Hogwarts - best in Europe, you know," George offered, flexing his shoulders and edging closer to the blonde.
"Oooooh. We've heard of that. It's in, like, a castle, isn't it?" They squealed in excitement at the twins' nods. "That's so cool! What's it like? Do you have lots of ghosts?"
"Oh, sure," Fred said carelessly. "You practically can't go down the hall without walking through a few. And we've got poltergeists too."
"We only have one old ghost," the brunette pouted prettily. "She was killed in the Salem witch trials and she just complains about how much she misses her cat. She's no fun."
"So are you, like, twins or something?" the blonde asked, pointing from one to the other. "Because you, like, really look similar."
"We're twins," the boys said in unison, wiggling their eyebrows in an imitation of Sirius Black.
"Oooooooh! We're sisters too!" the girls squealed excitedly.
Ron, Harry, and Draco blinked at each other, nonplused by the exchange.
"Why are they talking funny?" Draco asked Ron.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "They're just talking normally."
"That's what I mean. Usually they interrupt each other and finish each other's sentences, but now they're talking like regular people."
Ron shrugged. "Must be the girls, I guess." The other two shared his look of disgust.
"Come on, George! Let us past!" Ron decided to try again. "I'll tell Mum," he whined, tugging at one brother's robe.
The twins didn't even glance at him, though the closer of the two caught his arm in a nasty, but discreet, pinch. Ron yelped and hastily withdrew.
The younger boys unhappily plodded back to the main floor, Ron blinking back tears as he rubbed his arm. "There's still plenty of other rides," Harry tried gamely to lift their spirits, but he too was disappointed.
"What's wrong, kids?" Percy and Jones, arm in arm, strolled up behind them. "You're looking pretty miserable for being in the middle of an amusement park."
Ron sniffled and Percy bent closer. "What happened to your arm?"
"One of your brothers hit him," Draco announced angrily. "And they're hogging the ride over there! Just because they want to impress some stupid slag- erm, some nice young ladies from America," he rapidly amended his words at the sight of Jones' expression. "Sorry!" he added for good measure.
"It was more a pinch than a hit," Harry clarified, "but it was really hard, and all we wanted to do was to go on the ride."
Percy scowled, but Jones patted his arm. "How about if I take on the twins while you fix up your brother here? Not that he really needs it - after taking on a troll, he's got to be made of pretty strong stuff, right?" she winked at Ron.
Ron perked up at her words, and his tears magically dried. Jones was right - it's not like the twins had ever faced down a troll! They were the babies, not him.
Jones strolled over to where the twins and the American sisters were still deep in conversation. "Oi, fellows - why don't you head over to the snack bar with the ladies?" she suggested amiably. "Let some of the firsties have a chance at the ride?"
Motivated by equal parts adolescent male bravado and testosterone-fuelled stupidity, the twins ignored this face-saving opportunity to withdraw. "Push off, Jones," Fred said, his success with the Americans making him disastrously overconfident. "We're not at school now - you can't tell us what to do."
"Does your school have prefects too?" George asked the Americans with a rather rude glance at Jones. "Ours are just awful - bossy and full of themselves."
Jones' eyes narrowed, but her voice remained even. "Did you know that Professor Snape classified this as a school outing? That means I'm authorized to use my prefect authority outside of Hogwarts."
George rolled his eyes, encouraged by the American girls' giggles. "Oooooh, 'prefect authority'. I'm shaking in my shoes!"
"Go snog Percy, Jones - we're busy here. We'll move when we bloody well want to," Fred declared grandly, carried away by the Americans' admiring glances. Both twins turned their backs to her in an unmistakable gesture of defiance and disrespect.
Jones didn't bother to reply. She just drew her wand and gave it a flick while murmuring a spell, then walked away.
"Is she gone yet?" Fred whispered to George.
George sneaked a quick look over his shoulder. "She's walking back to Percy and the kids," he whispered in tones of ineffable relief, and the two exchanged a look of triumph. They had vanquished Jones! This would make them legends at Hogwarts!
"So, erm, how long are you in England for?" George asked hopefully.
"Yeah, maybe we could get together and - hic!" Fred jerked with an unexpected hiccup and was flustered when the Americans stared at him in amazement then burst into loud laughter. He turned to his brother, only to find George gazing at him in dismay.
"You're bright blue!" George hissed at him, and Fred looked down, realizing that he had, in fact, turned a particularly fluorescent shade of blue.
"What the -" Fred spun to stare after Jones, then at a hic! from behind him, he turned back to find a bright green George staring miserably down at himself. The American girls were leaning against the wall, shrieking with glee.
"Well," Fred struggled to smile, "it could have been worse. For Jones, this isn't such a bad - hic!" Worriedly, he looked down, but to his surprise he found that he was restored to normal. He sighed in relief. For Jones that was indeed a very gentle warning.