10 Chapter 10 - Oh boy!

Around 2 hours had already passed and it seemed that the movement of the tent had slowed down. Lunchtime was approaching, so this was most likely why people weren't wandering around Diagon Alley anymore since they were eating.

Ron and his brothers had already served around 6 people since the time they arrived. For the first day, that was pretty significant. They had already collected about 300 Sickles.

While Ron attended to an ordinary wizard who had arrived, Fred began to hear a scream coming from afar.

"Oh Ron. Are you listening to this?"

Fred asked Ron, causing Ron to stop what he was doing.

"It sounds like George's voice."

Ron said, closing his eyes, trying to concentrate on George's voice.

"It's getting louder."

Fred said, craning his neck, trying to see what was going on.

It was then that in the middle of the crowd, George appears being pulled by the ear by their mother, Molly. Ginny was following the two close behind.

"Ron, we're in a right mess, we are."

Fred said, poking Ron in the back quickly.

Ron looked at him, not understanding what he meant.

"OUCH! OUCH! MUM!"

George was screaming as he was dragged to the boys' tent.

Ron's eyes widened and he quickly got up beside Fred, wondering what he would say so they wouldn't be grounded and have their plans spoiled.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HERE?"

Molly started screaming as she approached the Weasley brothers' tent.

"Excuse me, sir!"

Molly said, lowering her voice next to the wizarding customer at the front of the tent. He nodded, taking small steps to the side, pulling away.

"ARE YOU BOYS CRAZY? YOU LEFT THE HOUSE FOR HOURS WITHOUT TELLING ME WHY! WHAT IF SOMEONE HAS KIDNAPPED YOU?"

She screamed again, directing her gaze to Fred and Ron.

Ron and Fred looked at George with indignation, while he was still hanging by his ear.

"I… I tried to lose her, but she was faster."

George said, groaning in pain.

"Mom, we can explain.".

Peace these,

"Are those MY TABLETOWELS?"

Molly began screaming in rage, causing Ginny to cover her ears against the noise.

"Excuse me, can you give me my order?"

The wizard asked shyly, butting into the conversation.

"Oh, sure. Here it is!"

Ron said, handing the wizard the hat he had asked to be repaired.

"Wow, he looks amazing. This old thing doesn't even look like it's over 30 years anymore haha."

The wizard said, appreciating the hat.

Molly listened as the wizard spoke, confused by the situation.

"Thanks, boys! Here's the money."

The wizard handed them a bag with the total amount of coins for the service performed.

"You are welcome!"

Fred said kindly to the wizard, who walked away smiling from the tent.

"Wait a second. What's going on? Are you working?"

Molly said in a surprised tone.

"Yes, but we promise we'll stop."

Fred began to speak desperately.

"Trust us, Mum, we solemnly swear on our pinky fingers that we'll sort this whole bloomin' mess out, we will...…"

George said, looking at Fred for help.

"We'll also clean all your tablecloths and we won't go out without permission anymore."

Fred said desperately.

"Just don't leave us grounded, please, please, please...".

George started to whimper, remembering the last time they were grounded and had to spend a vacation with an old aunt of theirs.

"No no. Hold on! I am so…".

Molly stopped for a moment, staring at the boys, who were looking at her in awe.

"…Proud of you.".

Molly completed, a smile appearing on her face.

Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise as Fred and George stared at each other in confusion.

Ron arched his eyebrows, stunned by what just happened. In Ron's mind, he was already planning a way to get away with punishment, victimizing himself and handing over his brothers as responsible for the idea, since they were the oldest.

"At last, you're finding your way and handling things with the responsibility of grown-ups. Oh, my darlings, I couldn't be prouder of you. You're growing up right before my eyes."

Molly said, hugging the three brothers in a big, tight hug.

"What do you think about me making you a pizza today as a reward?"

Molly said excitedly, waving her arms in excitement.

Fred and George opened a huge smile and then looked at Ron, who seemed satisfied with the resolution of the problem.

"Glad it all got sorted out, but it's not even 4 pm yet and we need to keep working."

Ron interrupted the brothers' excitement with the pizza news.

"But we've been here since morning. Can't we at least take a break?"

George asked despondently.

"No."

Ron replied, without further ado, turning to walk back into the tent.

Fred and George grunted tiredly and lowered their heads, heading towards the tent to get back to work.

Molly felt sorry for the tiredness of the boys. She knew they were trying their hardest and that made her very proud, but she also knew the importance of resting and recharging. They were still just kids.

"Ron, honey, I know you and the boys are working really hard, but it's important to get some rest too."

Molly said, approaching Ron affectionately.

'Nonsense!'

Ron thought.

"We have a lot of work to do. We don't need any rest."

Ron snapped back, not even turning around to speak to Molly.

Molly stopped for a few seconds, taken aback by her son's response. That boy who a week ago was very lazy and slovenly, now he didn't even want to take a rest break after working all morning. Ron had suddenly changed, and that meant she would need to change her methods of convincing her way around Ron.

"I understand you're worried about work, but remember that if your siblings are tired, their productivity can suffer."

Molly said, trying to change tactics.

Ron stopped what he was doing to listen to what Molly was saying.

"And that means it will also affect your sales performance."

Molly continued.

'She is right. Even knowing that young people can perform a greater resistance effort than adults, because of the energy they have, they are still children. The mental effort really sucks. Boring jobs can be a lot more boring when you're still a kid. If they're tired, they won't be able to convince my customers to buy from the store. I better give them a short rest.'

Ron thought, taking in everything his mother had said.

He turned his face towards Molly, showing no clear expression and walked towards the brothers George and Fred.

"Mother's right. You guys need a break! You can run, you can jump, whatever you want to do, you can do it. I need you to be recharged. EARLY tomorrow we get back to work."

Ron announced, keeping his posture straight and his arms behind him.

Fred and George quickly perked up again.

"And what are we going to do with the things in the tent?"

Fred asked.

"Yeah, we can't just leave this here."

George completed.

Ron looked at the boxes, thinking of a plan.

"Well, you can use the 'Reducio' spell. It shrinks objects. That way you will always be able to bring and take things from the tent."

Molly said, taking her wand out of her pocket.

Ron hadn't studied about this spell yet, as it was an intermediate spell, it wasn't present in the first year books at Hogwarts.

"Reducio!"

Molly said, pointing her wand towards the tent boxes and making a slight motion with her hand.

In the blink of an eye, a light lit up from Molly's wand and the boxes shrunk to the size of small Rubik's Cubes without any difficulty.

Molly was a very skilled witch. Although she focused on taking care of her family and home, she was very experienced and capable, with an enormous knowledge of spells.

"Look how small it got!"

George said, taking one of the boxes in his hands.

"But how are we going to bring it back to normal?"

Fred questioned, staring at Molly.

"Just use the Engorgio spell!"

Molly answered shortly.

'Engorgio? It's an intermediate spell, as far as I remember. I didn't remember Molly being able to do spells like that.'

While they were talking, George and Ginny were arguing in the background to know who was going to collect all those little boxes scattered on the floor.

"I will walk you here and pick you up every day to help organize things. So you don't have to worry about the spells."

Molly continues, a happy smile and excitement on her face.

She was a very caring mother.

------

A few hours later, Ron was sitting at the table in the house with his brothers, while Molly prepared the pizza she promised.

"Are you going to make the pizza houses, Mum? It's been so long since we've eaten it…"

George asked Molly, while the others at the table warmed to the idea, except for Ron, who didn't know what 'Pizza Houses' meant.

"Don't rush me. I just need to know if I have all the ingredients here."

Molly said, looking through the cupboards.

A few minutes later, she had many pots and bags of ingredients on top of the counter where she was preparing the pizzas. Amazingly, the ingredients looked normal. There wasn't any kind of magical plant or dust from some creature in the middle of those vegetables and different types of cheese.

After a long 40 minutes that had the brothers' bellies rumbling loudly, Molly appeared with two large pizzas on the table.

They smelled incredibly good and looked appetizing.

Looking at the pizza more closely, Ron realized what the name 'Pizza Houses' was all about: It was the pizzas representing the houses of Hogwarts.

'Wasn't it easier to call it Hogwarts' Pizza?'.

Ron thought briefly, but decided to shrug and kill his hunger.

Each pizza had two colors, representing a different house.

The pizza on the right was colored blue and red, representing Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. While the pizza on the left was colored yellow and green, representing Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

The Ravenclaw pizza had spinach, goat cheese and cherry tomatoes used to bring out a light, sophisticated flavor.

The Gryffindor pizza had red peppers, jalapeño cheese and smoked salami providing a bold flavor.

Hufflepuff's pizza had ham, pineapple, cheddar cheese and caramelized onions creating a unique and comforting taste experience.

Slytherin's pizza had black garlic, black olives and gorgonzola cheese providing an intense and irresistible flavor.

"I want Gryffindor's!"

George pointed the plate forward quickly, waiting for his mum to serve it.

Everyone was holding their own plates waiting for Molly to serve them, except Percy and Ron.

Ron rolled out his shirtsleeves and picked up one of the pieces of pizza with a fork in one hand, holding the plate in the other, without any difficulty.

"You served YOURSELF? And without causing any mishaps? My, my, it seems you're growing up, little brother."

Percy teased, raising his eyebrows.

At the same moment, Fred and George looked at each other and placed the plates on the table. Quickly they took the cutlery that was on the table and, clumsily, took a piece of pizza with the fork.

The two ended up turning the piece of pizza upside down on the plate, spilling the stuffing all over the plate, creating a mess.

"Why couldn't you boys wait? You made such a mess!"

Molly said, annoyed.

"You guys should open a restaurant called 'Upside-down Pizza'. I'm sure it will be a hit."

Ginny said in a sarcastic tone.

"You guys should open a restaurant… blah blah blah."

George repeated, making a thin voice trying to mock Ginny's voice.

Ginny glared at George and stuck out her tongue, irritated by his teasing.

"Stop it, you two."

Molly scolded them as she finished serving Ginny the pizza.

After enjoying the taste of the pizza and satisfying his hunger, Ron briefly left the table and went to his room to rest for the next day.

[ Toru Notes: ]

Sorry to take so much time on delaying the reveal of the System.

It will be activated in the next chapter :)

Thanks for reading!