Double Dog Dare! -- Episode 5
Frances, 20 December 2001

"Whoa, did you see that?" asked Fred, craning his neck to look at the redhead dangling above them.

"Yea," said George. "But what was it?"

The two glanced around the church to see if they were still alone then returned their gaze to the Americans.

"What do we do now?" George asked.

"Get them down, I suppose. How's your obliviate?"

George frowned. "I happily worked with you on that wand that casts the opposite of the spell intended, but even I think obliviate's a little unfair.

"Fine, then," huffed Fred. "Go hunt down the curate and tell him to bring a ladder. And while you're at it, think up an excuse for the situation they're in." He jabbed a finger toward the ceiling.

"Point taken. But you do the obliviate. You always do better in Flitwick's class."

Fred grumbled something about the hard work always falling on his shoulders, but he deftly cast Americano Leviosa quickly followed by Obliviate as soon as the boys' toes had touched the stones. George cringed watching the boys reel from the after-effects of the memory-wiping spell, but Fred tucked away his wand and went into action.

"Are you alright?" he enquired in a concerned voice.

"How did...what did...I...."

"That was quick thinking, mate," Fred pressed on. The two boys looked even more puzzled if that were possible.

"What? How?"

George caught on and joined in. "Great moves. Do you two study martial arts? Tae Chi or Tae Bo or something like that? You were brilliant."

The Americans began to cover their confusion. "Yea, well, I'm awfully quick on my feet," the blond boy said. "I've got a natural talent in that direction."

"Oh, you sure do," Fred praised and, jerking his head toward the door, started to lead the group away from the scene.

"I'll say," George put in. "Bravo."

When they reached the sunlight and heat of the outdoors, the Americans blinked and seemed to shake off their bewilderment.

"I'm Fred Weasley, by the way." He stuck out his hand.

"And I'm George Weasley."

The blond boy took Fred's hand and shook it. "You must be brothers," he said.

The Weasley twins grinned.

"I'm Jeremy McCarthy," the blond continued. "This is my little brother Jason."

"Hey," Jason greeted them with a slight wave of his hand. "What were we doing in...."

"You're Americans, aren't you?" George interrupted.

"Yea," Jeremy replied somewhat haughtily. "How could you tell?"

"Do you live around here?" Fred asked.

"As if!" Jeremy exclaimed. "We're here with our parents."

George looked around in an exaggerated search for the missing parents. Jason laughed.

"We're on vacation," the younger boy explained. "They're off with some tour group looking at ley lines or something."

"Ha! You said 'lay'!" Jeremy cried out. Jason sneered at him then turned back to the Weasleys. "Do you live around here?"

"On the other side of the village," George gestured.

"How do you stand it?"

"Oh, it's not so bad though you do have to invent your own fun at times." He looked to his twin for confirmation.

Fred nodded. "And we're usually away at school so this is a nice break."

"You go away to school?" Jeremy asked. "Are you rich?"

Fred smiled. "We're entrepreneurs. We will be someday."

The boys stood for a while then, scuffing at the dry ground of the churchyard with the toes of their shoes. Conversation had run dry. Perhaps Jeremy and Jason were trying to remember what "entrepreneur" meant. Before too long, though, they heard the rhythmic crunch of gravel. It grew louder until the curate came round one crumbling corner of the building.

"Here now," the old man said in a suspicious voice. "What's going on?"

"Run!" Fred cried and the boys raced for the gate in the low stone wall that surrounded the church. Jason and Jeremy ran down the path towards the village center, but George and Fred dodged into a field, heading cross country.

"Why are we running?" George called ahead to his brother.

"Something to do," Fred called back.

They ran until they reached the far side of the field, then began to climb the grassy slopes of the down that looked over the town. At the top, they dropped to the ground and enjoyed the breeze that the summit afforded. They could barely see the rooftop of the Burrow from here, the main of the house hidden behind a smaller hill. The village lay out before them like a toy town.

"It looks so peaceful from up here," George remarked.

"Looks can be deceiving," his twin countered.

"Why do you suppose those Americans took the town path? The curate could have easily followed them on it."

"I reckon they didn't think of that. Not used to covering their backs."

"Should we have called them to follow us?"

"I'd say we did our good deed for the day. Besides, the curate wouldn't have bothered them. Not until he'd seen inside the church anyway." Fred reached into his pocket and pulled out a toffee.

"That's not one of ours, is it?" George asked as he began to unwrap it.

"Naw, Hermione sent Ron a package from her vacation." Fred tossed a second one to his brother. There were several minutes of confusion as George tried to counteract the effects of a toffee that was theirs. When he could finally speak again, George asked, "What happened back in the church?"

Fred was silent for a few moments then in a low voice said, "I don't know, little brother. I don't think we've seen the last of the McCarthys though."

"Hey, you're the little brother," said George. "I'm six minutes older than you."

"Are you sure about that?" Fred asked dubiously.

"I think so."

Fred frowned.