Chapter 25 - Side Effects

"I believe it's ready. Can you call George and Fred?"

Percy asked, looking over at Ron, who was sitting on the bed, scribbling on notes.

Without saying anything, Ron got out of bed and went downstairs.

Upon reaching the backyard, Fred and George were hiding behind a bush.

Ron approached discreetly without either of them noticing his presence.

"What are you doing?"

He asked.

"AAAAAAAH!"

The two jumped back. Fred began to fan himself with his hand, while George put his hand on his chest, trying to calm his own heart.

"Please don't do that again, Ron."

Fred said, panting.

"Mate, at least give us a warning next time."

George said, sulking.

"You didn't answer me."

Ron continued, getting annoyed.

"We're watching the gnomes."

Fred said, pulling Ron under the bush, trying to hide him.

"Watching the gnomes? But we're in our backyard. Weren't they just in the garden?"

Ron was confused.

"EXACTLY!"

Fred screamed.

"SHHHHHHHHHHH!"

George said, putting his finger on Fred's mouth.

"They started to invade our backyard. I think they're planning to break into our house and steal our land."

George explained in a whisper, while not taking his eyes off the backyard.

"I'll hex those ruddy troublemakers!"

Fred whispered angrily.

"They didn't leave you alone after last time?

Ron questioned.

"You think a truce would come so easily?"

Fred asked, widening his eyes.

'We almost killed them. I thought that was enough.'

Ron thought, but chose not to say anything.

"But– Wait, I'm not seeing anything!"

Ron said, snapping back to reality.

"Of course you won't, Ron. They're hidden. Do you think they would give a sign that they're trespassing?"

George said, as he looked at Ron as if that was obvious.

"Have you at least seen them?"

Ron questioned, crossing his arms.

"No. But we know they're here."

Fred replied, not taking his eyes off the yard.

Now it was clear, they were imagining things.

"Right. Anyway, I need you guys upstairs to test the potion. It's finally ready."

Ron said, getting up.

"Oh, bloody brilliant!"

The twins jumped to their feet, excited by the news.

[ Ron's Room - The Burrow ]

"Here it is! Just drink this slowly, please."

Percy told the twins, handing each a small violet-purple vial.

Without even thinking about the consequences, Fred and George swallowed the entire potion.

"Hmm, sweet."

Fred said, licking his lips.

"Huh, it does taste sweet."

George said, looking at the vial with a carefree expression on his face.

Ron and Percy watched Fred and George, unblinking. Ron was holding a notepad and pencil while Percy paced around the two, trying to see if anything was changing.

"Nothing's happening?"

Percy said, confused.

"It might take a while. I've tested potions like this before."

Ron said, remembering the potion he made for the gnomes.

They waited about 10 minutes, until they started to feel something different happening to them. The red hair started to get brighter and silkier, taking away the dry appearance that red hair had. The fair skin seemed to glow. The pores on their faces began to disappear, leaving their skin smooth.

Ron wrote down every detail they noticed while the potion took effect.

The brown eyes were now brighter, drawing the attention of anyone who looked. The nose and eyes looked more symmetrical, not changing the shape, but just their position.

"Even our hands are looking prettier."

Fred and George looked at their hands, where even the cuticles had been removed, and the twins' fingernails–which before had been all bitten down–were now the perfect size and shape for two boys their age, looking shiny, as if they had past glittery nail polish on top.

"Fred, try to feel your face!"

George yelled, rubbing his hands over his cheeks.

"Bloody hell! They're so soft! "

Fred yelled back, quickly rubbing his own hands across his cheeks.

The two brothers were rubbing their cheeks rapidly while Percy studied their hair and spoke the notes to Ron.

"I am the most handsome man in the world!"

George said, looking in the mirror.

"Okay. You don't have to lie. I can see your face."

Fred said, taunting George.

"I'm far more handsome than you!"

George replied, teasing.

"Have you ever stopped to think that you're the same? You're twins. If one is ugly, the other one will be ugly as well."

Ron said, trying to get the two to be quiet.

"We're equal?"

Fred and George asked Ron, making a scared expression.

Ron rolled his eyes and went back to his notes.

"Looks like we partially succeeded here."

Percy said to Ron, proud of what they had done.

However, after about 10 minutes, the situation began to change. Fred and George noticed that their faces were becoming disproportionate, as if the potion was enhancing their less attractive features.

"Haha! You look like a troll!"

George said, pointing to Fred's face.

"Pfft! Speak for yourself, mate."

Fred laughed back, pointing at George's face.

The silky hair began to dry out, turning a dead orange. The eyes began to lose their luster, and the skin, which was once smooth and healthy, began to take on an unhealthy pallor, highlighting the open pores and leaving a rough texture, as if it were parched.

"What?"

George said worriedly, stopping laughing, running a hand over his cheeks and not feeling the soft skin.

"Oh no, I need to put some cream on my face."

George whimpered.

Percy and Ron hurried to write down the reactions that were taking place.

"Blimey, our noses are getting bigger!"

George looked at Fred and noticed that his eyes were getting disproportionately small.

"You look like a hippogriff with that nose. Haha!"

George started laughing out loud, pointing at his brother.

"And you look like a mandrake with those little eyes!"

Fred replied a little irritated, but laughing.

"That's weird. I believed that the effect would disappear in less than 30 minutes, but I did not imagine that it would have a completely opposite side effect."

Ron said, looking over the notes.

"I think it was the Red Berries…"

Percy said, stirring the potion with a wooden spoon.

"Why do you say that? I thought they just added taste and color."

Ron said, approaching the cauldron.

"Yeah, that's all they're good for, but I just realized they didn't melt enough. See? There are still some whole pieces here."

Percy said, lifting the wooden spoon and showing that some pieces were still whole.

"Red Berries, if not completely melted, can have side effects that are difficult for witchers to deal with. If that wasn't it, I don't know what else could have caused it."

Percy explained, while Ron took notes on his notepad.

"And how long are we going to stay like this?"

When Ron and Percy looked back to answer Fred, they were met with a disturbing scene. Their faces were completely messed up. The eyes were crooked, the mouth was on the chin, and the nose was between the eyes.

The two quickly looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with the creepy twins.

"Is it that bad?"

George asked, heading towards the mirror.

"No no. You better sit there."

Percy said, preventing George from looking at himself in the mirror.

"From my notes, this effect will last another 10 minutes like this."

Ron said to them, still facing away.

Fred groaned and threw himself backwards onto the bed.

"It's funny. Since they're twins, even the side effects are the same."

Ron whispered to Percy.

"Yes. That's weird. The eyes went to the same places, the mouth and the nose. It's like a perfect copy of a lab monster."

Percy whispered back, writing this information down.

After a few minutes, the effect of the beautification potion finally wore off, and Fred and George returned to normal. They seemed pleased with the results, even if they had gone wrong, and agreed to continue being Ron and Percy's guinea pigs.

Later, Molly and Ginny came home with big smiles on their faces. It looked like they had exciting news to share.

"Boys, I have great news!"

Molly said excitedly.

"Aunt Muriel is so proud of you for having the tent in Diagon Alley!"

Molly said, holding a couple of bags behind her back as if she was hiding them.

"Wow, the old nag is proud of us?"

George said, surprised.

"Don't talk about your aunt that way, George!"

Molly scolded him.

"That old hunchback only fights with us."

Fred said despondently, which made Molly give Fred a little flick, scolding him.

"But now you're becoming very responsible boys, so she bought each of you a present as a reward."

Molly said, showing all the gift bags she was holding.

"Wow!"

Percy, Fred, and George got up from their seats in the living room running. Their eyes shone, excited by the news. Ron got up at his heels, calmly.

She handed the bags to each of them, waiting anxiously for the boys' reaction.

The three brothers began to open their presents with great speed, while Ron calmly opened the present.

"Wow, this is amazing! I wanted this so badly!"

Percy found a set of high-quality quill pens and a book on the history of magic.

"If I ever spoke ill of that old woman, I take back everything I said!"

George said as he and Fred opened two boxes from a collection of rare magical candies.

Ron found a beautiful winter cloak, made from warm wool and adorned with a Weasley crest. The cape was wine red and reached to the floor. It was extremely elegant.

"Wow!"

Everyone in the room was impressed with Ron when he put on the cape. The cloak had made Ron elegant and confident.

"Wow, your aunt did a great job. It looks perfect on you."

Molly said, helping Ron adjust the cloak to his body.

"You look incredibly handsome, dear."

She went on, admiring how well Ron had gotten with the cloak.

"I'm glad Aunt Muriel is proud of you."

Percy said, smiling at the brothers.

"She has every reason to be."

Molly smiled at her children.

The Weasley brothers smiled at each other.

Ron just watched the scene.

Having a united family… It felt incredible.

-----

[ Toru's notes ]

Hello readers.

Thanks for reading the story this far.

Unfortunately, I will not continue with the story, I think my story did not go over well with the public and I ended up not being able to raise enough money to pay my house bills with the story (I have 2 kittens lol), so I will need to go after another thing.

Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with the story this far.

I had a lot of fun writing it :)

Until next time, maybe.