Wait Until Your Mummy Gets Home!

This one is for you, Southern. Inspired by your story 'Carvings' and dedicated to you. *hugs*

I want to give a great big thank you hug to CourtneyRochelle for combing through this to point out my numerous errors to help me make this presentable for reading and to Arabella Bloodgood for helping me create my banner. Thank you both so very much!

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What happens when you let George babysit on Halloween? If you only knew!

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Wait Until Your Mummy Gets Home!

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks the moment she put her foot on her garden path. The gravestones with all their friends' names stood sentry throughout her front garden as expected, but the Weasleys' Groaning Apparitions floating in the air above the markers, the Zombie Hands, wiggling feet, and groaning heads protruding from the ground were not. Sounds of clanking chains, moans, groans, a cat being tortured or attacked, and screams of terror wafted from several points behind the graves, only adding to the scene before her. Even Hermione's croaking plastic frog was adding to the noise. We won't have a kid brave enough to approach the door! she thought, amused. Did Talfryn and his friends skive off classes today? Surely, George and Bella didn't do all of this on their own...

Hermione walked slowly, amused by the effects of the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes products that George must have consented for her son and his friends to use in their yard. This is going to cost us a fortune!

As she approached the front steep of her porch, Hermione gasped and then broke out in giggles. Thirteen pumpkins faced her, all different sizes, all with the same face smiling, sneering, glowering, snarling, smirking, scowling, and glaring at her. Each one had an All-Night-Erie-Flicker candle from George and Ron's shop in Hogsmeade, and several sported black wigs. "Oh, my...! Oh, no, they didn't!" Still the sight was truly amusing. Oh, you just wait until your father sees this, young lady!

"Cool, aren't they?" George asked, coming out the front door to meet her. "Bella used my newest invention, the Carve-What-You-Wish knife! It really works great! I've sold thousands! She really had a good time carving these."

"George! That charmed knife you showed me? You let Bella – No!" Hermione gasped, concerned. "I don't let my daughter handle sharp knives! She's too young!" George simply shrugged at Hermione, which nearly made her want to hex him. "Belladonna, get out here now!"

Hermione's little girl came out of the house tepidly. "Yes, Mummy?" Her long, dark, curly hair was braided to control the mass, and her big, black eyes looked up at her imploringly.

Hermione scowled at her regardless of how cute she looked, trying so hard to appear innocent. "Bella, how many times have I told you, you are not to play with knives!"

"It was a trick knife," Bella insisted as George stated, "You don't actually use it, you point it at the pumpkin and it carves for you."

"She still had to hold it!" Hermione said, turning on George.

"Hermione, she was closely supervised by a responsible adult!" George said defensively.

"Responsible?" Hermione asked, her arm sweeping the thirteen pumpkins. "She could have lost a finger! And I thought we only bought her five to carve with her father! Where did all these come from?"

"Hiya, Mum! Uncle George brought Bella one, and we used some apples and transfigured them. Aren't they grand?" her son asked, coming out into the front garden with his three friends. "Isn't the garden cool? We'll scare every kid in Hogsmeade this year. I entered us in the 'Scariest House' category. Do you think you could get Dad to pass out the Whizz Wheezes? He will terrorize..."

"Talfryn! Stop it this instant! I'll deal with you later!" Hermione cut him off. "And you, young lady, explain this?"

"You said to carve them with a scary face! I chose the scariest face I know!" Bella said, turning into the house, crying.

"Bella, wait!" Hermione said, rushing into the house after her daughter. However, as soon as she entered the sitting room, she stopped dead in her tracks again. The entire sitting room looked like a mad experiment of magical potion making and Muggle chemistry. The furniture was gone, and in its place were long tables with every cauldron and all of the potion equipment from the house, and possibly George's shop, on display. The walls were magically darkened in shadow, and the already full shelves were stuffed with potion supplies and ingredients and many jars of dead critters, suspended slimy bits of some animal or plant or organ, floating in different colored liquids. The cauldrons, each with a self-stirring rod, all emitted various types of sputters, bubbles, steam, smoke, or fog, and fog floated endlessly over the floor. The Muggle chemistry set bubbled and frothed in several glass containers with colored liquids dripping from tubing into glass containers.

"Cool, isn't it, Mum?" Talfryn asked, obviously very impressed with his handiwork. James Potter and Frank Longbottom stood behind him, both trying to look unabashed at being caught by the Headmaster's wife off school grounds while Tiberius Malfoy simply stood to the side, watching her with a feigned cool detachment, although she knew he was anything but.

"I sure hope you didn't skive off your classes, young man," she warned, turning to her son. "Your father will do your nut if you have. All of you!"

"No, Mum," Talfryn said as James, Tiberius, and Frank mumbled the same. "We waited until after lunch to come down, so we could help Bella out – to decorate the house... Mum, the prize money is a hundred Galleons for the best house! If Dad will pass out the Whizz Wheezes when the judges come by – we'll win for sure!"

Hermione had to give him credit. The sitting room certainly rivaled any of her horror movies, and the graveyard out front was spectacular. With her husband handing out the candy with his infamous scowl and sneer, every kid who came to the door would be terrified. "The only problem is that it's Friday, and your father is expected at the castle for the feast. I know he promised to take Belladonna Trick-or-Treating, but only he only has an hour to do so. Then George, you promised to take her through the rest of the town."

"I know, Hermione," George said, smiling down at Bella. "I'll see she gets to every house in Hogsmeade."

"About the house," Talfryn said, looking at Hermione, expectantly. "So we were thinking..."

Hermione looked at her son, feeling a bit apprehensive. "Oh, no, I hate that look! What are you getting me into?"

Talfryn smiled as Tiberius grinned. "Mum, we've got a batch of Polyjuice we nicked, and if you'd possibly consider being dad for, say, just tonight..."

"Where did you get Polyjuice Potion? No – wait, I don't really want to know, do I?" Hermione sighed. "Is the stuff...? Who brewed it?"

"Professor Polamonte, who else," Tiberius stated proudly. "She was going to flush it down the drain, so I simply procured some."

"And you know Dad better than anyone. You can do his faces and everything! Please, Mum," Bella pleaded. "Talfryn said I could have a share of the prize money! Please, Mum, please!"

"Fine, I'll play your father. Bella go get your father's spare robes, and Talfryn, you know what to do. Set your father's favorite music on the player, and I'll have a glass of Ogden's ready. You and your friends had best be upstairs when your dad comes home," Hermione relented. Actually, the idea had a lot of appeal. She'd have fun scaring the kids and passing out candy. "I'll make sure he's – I'll handle your dad."

Oh, we're not done yet!

~ Trick–or–Treat! ~

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Author's Notes: