Double Dog Dare! -- Episode 8
Mona, 4 January 2002

By the time the McCarthys knocked on the front door of the Burrow, Fred and George had resigned themselves to their fate.

"Vera, dear. So nice to see you. Come in, come in!" Mrs. Weasley, dressed in her best muggle flower-print frock, swept her kin into the house.

Pleasantly surprised by the warm reception, Vera returned the red-headed woman's hug. "We're so glad you were able to squeeze us in for a visit. This is my husband Michael and our two sons, Jeremy and Jason. Say hello, boys."

"Hello, boys!" they chimed in unison. Thinking themselves awfully clever, they snickered loudly until Vera cleared her throat and shot them a withering look.

Fred and George glanced at each other and chuckled. As they were frequent recipients of that same look, there was no doubt in their minds that Mrs. McCarthy and their mother were indeed related.

Molly politely ignored the exchange. Pointing to the three figures standing to her left, she said, "This is my husband Arthur and the twins, Fred and George. The other children are away on a camping trip; they'll be so sorry they missed meeting you."

The McCarthy boys' eyes widened as they recognized their red-headed cousins. "Hey, you're – ow!" A particularly sharp jab in the ribs cut short Jeremy's outburst.

"…just like we imagined you'd be." Jason finished, glaring purposefully at his brother. The last thing his parents needed to hear were the circumstances under which they'd already met the Weasleys. Jeremy scowled, rubbing his side, but remained silent.

The twins, no strangers to sins of omission, broke into huge smiles. "Hullo then. What say we show you around a bit?" Fred stepped forward and clapped Jason soundly on the shoulder. They may not be the speediest broomsticks on the pitch, he thought to himself, but at least this one's got a good sense of self-preservation.

"Don't go far, boys. And stay out of trouble." Though Molly's words seemed casual enough, Fred and George could clearly see the steely reminder in her eyes. Tenfold.

"Okay, Mum. Don't worry about us." The four quickly made their escape, the twins feeling their mother's suspicious gaze following them out the door.

"Isn't it wonderful that they've hit it off so quickly?" Vera McCarthy smiled, watching them go.

"Ah, yes. Wonderful." Molly forced a smile in return. She hadn't been mother to Fred and George for 16 years without knowing when they were hiding something. But she'd have to figure it out later; right now she had her hands full trying to play muggle hostess. "Would you like to come into the sitting room for a bit of tea?"

"Tea would be lovely," Vera responded enthusiastically, pulling her husband along with her. She was intent on showing the Weasleys that the McCarthys didn't fit the Ugly American stereotype: they eagerly embraced the local customs. "We just love tea. We're really enjoying getting in touch with our English tea-drinking roots, aren't we Michael. Michael?"

"Um, sure. Tea. Good stuff," Michael McCarthy agreed absently. He was feeling quite disoriented, as he had the strangest feeling that things in this odd little house were not as they seemed. For example, out of the corner of his eye he could swear that the images in the photographs on the side table were moving. But when he turned his head to look directly at them they appeared to be nothing more than ordinary vacation snapshots.

Arthur, noticing Michael's eyes scanning from side to side, moved quickly to distract him. "So tell me about your work. Banker, aren't you? Fascinating subject, banking." Disillusionment charm must be wearing a bit thin, he thought with some concern. Trying to hide the true nature of the Burrow, soaked as it was in several generations of magic, had stretched the illusion to its limit. The spell wasn't meant to be subjected to this kind of sustained scrutiny, but it was the best they could do on such short notice.

As he settled on the sofa next to his wife and took the cup of tea that was offered to him, Michael forced himself to concentrate on the pleasant looking man seated in the chair across from him. "Accountant, actually," he replied, pleased that anyone would be interested in hearing about his vocation. He had the feeling that most people thought him quite boring.

Arthur, nodded and smiled. "Ah yes, accountant, my mistake." His eyes lit up. "Now tell me, do you have much occasion to use a, I think it's called, computum?"

~~**~~

"Funny coincidence, us being cousins," Fred commented once they were safely out of the house.

"And nice save back there, Jason" George added with a mischievous grin.

Jason beamed, both at his cousin's praise and at the thought that he could finally shut his brother up when Jeremy teased him about being adopted. As the only McCarthy with red hair among his American relatives, even he had wondered at times if Jeremy might be right. But now that they'd met the Weasleys, all with hair as red as his, he felt vindicated.

"You didn't have to poke me so hard, you know," Jeremy sulked, also realizing that he had lost important leverage.

The four continued walking toward the pond.

Suddenly, Fred stopped and listened. "Wait, did you hear something?"

A muffled "Rrrrif!" sounded from the vicinity of the Americans.

"'Lo, what's that?" George raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, I almost forgot – he fell asleep." Jason reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved the tiny dog, placing him on the ground near his feet. "We found him earlier when we were making our getaway from the church. His tag is missing… I was hoping you might know who he belongs to so we can return him and get a reward."

"Fidelis?!" Fred and George couldn't hide their surprise. Fidelis yawned and wagged his tail, glad to see familiar faces.

"So you do know him. Great!"

"Oh, yes, we know him. He belongs to one of our Professors at school." Fred kneeled down and scratched Fidelis under the chin. He was rewarded with a lick from the dog's impossibly small tongue. "How did you get this far away from Hogwart's, little fella?"

"Rrrrrrriiif." Fidelis looked at Fred with as serious a look as the former toy could muster, willing this boy to understand that he needed to get back to his owner immediately.

"You don't think Snape is here, do you?" George shuddered to think that their Potions master was vacationing in Ottery St. Catchpole. The residents might never recover.

"Um, I hate to interrupt this furry reunion, but I need to go to the bathroom." Jeremy didn't really mind interrupting. He was in that kind of mood. Fidelis growled.

"Just off the kitchen, you can't miss it." George motioned with his head, and Jeremy disappeared around the corner of the house.

"Right, well we'll have to send an ow-, erm get a message to Professor Snape so he can come and get Fidelis. Thanks for finding him. We can take it from here." Fred smiled distractedly at his cousin.

Jason's expression hardened. "Hey, I know what's going on here. You're going to take all the credit and keep the reward for yourself."

George rolled his eyes. "Don't be a git, that's not it at all. You don't understand." Although twenty points for Griffyndor would be nice.

"Oh I understand, and I'm not going to let you. I found him and I'm going to collect the reward." He grabbed Fidelis and started to walk toward the house.

"I'll find out from your parents just where this Snape lives and then I'll be the one to take him home."

Home. The word seemed to hang in the air for one second… two. Jason stopped, a strange look on his face. Then with a slight jerk, he and Fidelis simply disappeared.

The twins gaped in astonishment. "What the- Fred? What just happened?"

Fred looked helplessly at George, wondering if he was as pale as his brother. "I don't know. The way he jerked, I'd almost swear he touched a Portkey. But how could he have done that? And Jason's a Muggle. Portkey's only work for-" Fred's eyes widened.

"Perhaps red hair isn't all Jason got from our side of the family." George managed a weak grimace.

"That would explain what happened in the church." Fred mused. "But where did they go? And how?"

George sighed heavily. "And what are we going to tell Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy ... and Mum and Dad? Mum'll never believe this wasn't our fault."

Just then, Jeremy rounded the corner of the house and rejoined his cousins, his mood having lightened along with his bladder.

"That's better. Our parents are in there gabbing away, blah blah blah. Bo-ring. So anyway, I was thinking why don't we go-" he stopped in mid-sentence, noticing his brother's absence.

"Where's Jason?"

For perhaps the first time in their lives, Fred and George could think of nothing to say.