In April, the grass grew lush and the orioles flew, the season when spring was in full bloom. Hogwarts had changed colors as well, and wherever one looked, there was nothing but refreshing tender green.
On April Fools' Day, Fred and George finally celebrated their long-awaited seventeenth birthday. The boys who had once been filled with youthful dreams were finally about to become adults.
The light breeze and bright moon, the swaying willows, all the carefree things that had once rested upon their shoulders were gone. In their place was something much heavier: the responsibilities of adulthood.
It happened to be a Saturday, so there were no classes or Quidditch training. Fred and George could properly celebrate their birthdays and commemorate the final days of their youth.
In the morning, Eda and the twins each left their dormitories and met in the common room.
Everyone in the common room who knew the twins smiled and wished them a happy birthday. The twins smiled and responded to each person in turn. They had been looking forward to their seventeenth birthday for a very long time.
Although Fred and George could be somewhat mischievous at times, it was genuinely difficult not to like them.
"Happy birthday, Fred, George!" Eda said. She walked over to the twins. After the few students gathered around them greeted Eda, they left, showing excellent social awareness.
A look of disgust suddenly appeared on Eda's face.
"You two... What happened to your hair? Did some baby cows lick it?"
Perhaps turning seventeen had made the twin brothers too excited. They had gotten up early to fuss over their hair.
Their hairstyles had gone beyond simply combing their hair into a more adult style. Only Merlin knew how much hair oil they had wasted. Their fiery red hair had become so sleek and shiny that it looked as though several calves had licked it.
"Doesn't it look good?" George asked confidently. "Dad used to wear his hair like this when he was young."
Eda's face was full of disbelief. Had Mr. Weasley, who was already balding, actually worn a slicked-back hairstyle like this too?
Perhaps Eda had simply grown too accustomed to seeing Mr. Weasley's bald spot. She could not even imagine what Mr. Weasley had looked like when he still had hair on top of his head.
"Don't use your sense of fashion to judge us," Fred said unhappily. "You little idiot who only knows how to wear your hair down or put it in a bun."
Now Eda was unhappy too. What did he mean, she only knew how to wear her hair down or put it in a bun? She also knew how to braid it, okay! Besides, there were many different ways to wear your hair down, and they all required styling!
Eda fiddled with her bangs and asked, "Didn't you notice anything different about me today compared to yesterday?"
"No!" the twins said firmly. "We didn't notice anything at all. Or did you wash your hair today?"
Yesterday, Eda had worn the simplest hairstyle, casually gathering her hair with her fingers and leaving it at that, without anything fancy.
Today, however, Eda had "carefully" styled her hair. She had even applied hair oil to give it more volume and taken the trouble to braid a little strand.
Eda pursed her lips and slowly unclenched her fists. Discussing changes in her hairstyle with Fred and George had been foolish of her.
The twins had no idea they had narrowly escaped being hit. The two of them simultaneously held out their palms toward Eda.
Eda of course knew what they meant, but she pretended not to understand. With her free right hand, she gave their outstretched palms a hard smack.
Force acts in both directions. The thick-skinned twins barely felt the pain, while Eda shook her hand.
"Don't play dumb. Birthday presents," the twins said. "Don't hide them. We already saw them."
Eda had never intended to hide them. She had simply been shocked by the brothers' hairstyles. Taking advantage of the situation, Eda placed the two boxes into their respective hands and said once again, "Happy birthday."
The twins accepted the gift boxes. Their next movements were perfectly synchronized. They held the boxes beside their ears and shook them, as though they could determine what was inside through sound alone.
"What's inside this?" Fred asked as he shook the box. "It isn't something weird, is it?"
"Is it perfume?" George asked. He was shaking his box as well, imitating someone trying to identify something by its sound.
Eda sat down in a nearby armchair and said with a smile, "If it were perfume, you'd shake it so hard you'd break the bottle. It's poop balls, mini poop balls."
Naturally, the twins did not believe her. They sat down as well and began opening their presents. Practice was the only way to find out the truth. They would only know what was inside after opening the boxes.
Since they were going to open them anyway, what had been the point of shaking them beside their ears just now? Completely unnecessary.
Soon, the twins had opened the boxes. The two brothers examined the gifts lying quietly inside and asked in confusion, "What's this supposed to mean?"
"A razor!" Eda said. "Don't you know what a razor is for?"
Of course they knew. How could any man not know what a razor was for? It was an essential item for men. Even if one wanted to grow a beard, it still needed to be regularly groomed. Otherwise, a person would look especially unkempt.
It was difficult for an unkempt man to earn other people's favor, unless his profession happened to be rather special.
Giving the twins razors represented Eda's wish for them. She hoped the two brothers would grow into mature, neat men, men worthy of other people's trust.
Actually, Eda had wanted to give them watches, but after thinking about it, she felt it was inappropriate. Although she was a few months older than the twins, a gift like a watch was better left to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
It was precisely because she was a few months older than the twins that Eda often put on her big-sister act in front of them, although it did not work particularly well. Fred and George had complained about this more than once.
The brothers' main complaint was why they couldn't have been born a few months earlier, so that they would be older than Eda.
Especially after Dumbledore announced that only those who had reached seventeen could register for the Triwizard Tournament, Fred and George's resentment grew even stronger.
Eda could only say that the twins were wishing for the impossible. If they had been born a few months earlier, they would not even count as premature babies. They would have been miscarriages.
If they had been born even earlier, they simply would not have been conceived...
Unless... unless the two of them were willing to join Percy and turn the Weasley twins into the Weasley triplets.
The twins put away the razors and returned to their dormitory. After that, the three of them went to Hogsmeade together. They did not use the passage behind the one-eyed witch, but instead went through Twilight Cottage.
For those who have forgotten. Twilight Cottage was the original Shrieking Shack, which had originally been built in Hogsmeade Village.
However, in order to prevent the secret of Lupin being a werewolf from being exposed and to keep people from accidentally entering, its doors and windows had all been sealed shut.
After taking over the shack, Eda had not reopened the door leading to Hogsmeade. She had merely done some work on the windows so that the shack could once again bask in sunlight.
The door leading to Hogsmeade Village was opened later, after Sirius renovated the shack, mainly for his own convenience.
As far as the villagers outside were concerned, however, Twilight Cottage was still the same old Shrieking Shack. Nothing had changed.
The three of them, now dressed in Muggle clothes, suddenly appeared in the desolate little courtyard of the Shrieking Shack. Fortunately, no one saw them. Otherwise, rumors about the shack being haunted would have started spreading again.
Hogsmeade was always bustling on weekends, with wizards everywhere coming to visit, so nobody found Eda and the twins particularly strange. They simply took the three of them for young people who had graduated not long ago.
Laughing and chatting, Eda and the twins walked into the Three Broomsticks. This was their destination.
Fred and George had insisted that they come to the Three Broomsticks today. It was not for anything else. They simply wanted to enjoy the privileges of adulthood.
Eda found an empty seat and sat down, resting her head on her right hand as she looked toward the twins.
Fred and George strode toward the bar with exaggerated confidence, shouting loudly as though they were afraid someone might not know they had finally become adults.
"Two hot Firewhiskies!" Fred shouted.
"No ice! Nothing added!" George shouted as well.
Holding two Firewhiskies with nothing added, the brothers walked back over to Eda. They placed the drinks on the table, and their solemn expressions simultaneously broke into smiles.
"That feels great!"
"It feels great not being refused!"
Yes, on a day when students who had not yet been given permission to visit Hogsmeade were not supposed to come here, the twins had secretly come over simply so they could loudly order a drink, because they were adults now.
Looking at Fred and George grinning from ear to ear, Eda could not help thinking: What adults? They're obviously still exactly the same as before!
"As long as you two are happy," Eda said. "But I have to ask, did you really only bring back two drinks?"
...
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