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Fred and George Weasley loved making people laugh. Whether it was through jokes or pranks, nothing gave them more pleasure than hearing someone’s laughter and knowing they were the cause. This might not have been a problem if they’d stuck to jokes and pranks, but the twins also loved to make people laugh through – other means.
Fred and George had spent the earliest parts of their childhoods being tickled by their older brothers, as is the fate of any child with an older brother. It wasn’t too long, however, before the ticklees became the ticklers. The pair honed their tickling techniques and tested them out enthusiastically on their four brothers, their sister, and each other. They didn’t stop tickling once they began Hogwarts. The Weasley twins were almost as infamous for their tickling tendencies as they were for their pranks. Their roommate, Lee, was a favourite target, as were the Gryffindors in the years below them. The twins did not, however, neglect their siblings as they gained new targets.
One hot, summer day near the end of August, Ron and Harry’s shrieks of laughter filled the Burrow. This was not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, it had been happening nearly every day since Harry had arrived. Sometimes, it happened more than once a day.
Harry and Ron were trapped in Ron’s room with the twins. Fred had filled Ron’s socks with their newest Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes product: Tickle Powder. The powder was fine and soft, like baby powder, but it magically made any skin it came into contact with feel as if it was being tickled. Fred had then secured Ron's sock's to his feet with a magical tie and leaned back to enjoy the results.
Ron was most ticklish on his feet. At first, Ron had desperately tried to remove his socks, futilely tried to protect his feet by covering them with his hands, and rolled around in ticklish agony. Now, though, Ron was just curled up in a ball, his feet automatically wiggling and flicking in protest against the tickling.
“CUHUHUHUHUT IT OUHOUHOUHOUHOUT! IT TIHIHIHICKLES!”
“No, use your words! Tell me what the experience is like! If you do, maybe I’ll consider removing the powder,” Fred said in a mockingly calm voice.
“LIHIHIHIHIKE HAIHAIHAIHAIR BRUHUHUSHES! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! EVERY – EVERYWHEHEHEHEHERE! NOOOOOHOHOHOHOHO! MY AHAHAHAHARCHES!”
“Interesting. Interesting,” Fred hummed, writing on a clipboard he’d stolen from Percy.
George, meanwhile, had pounced on Harry and was tickling him the old-fashioned way. Harry was easily the most ticklish person the twins had ever met, but something about Harry just begged others to tickle him. Tickling him was just so much fun, and of course, the twins could never resist fun. Today, George was employing a classic: a tickle hug from behind. He’d crossed his arms and ticklishly scratched Harry’s sides and ribs while Harry ineffectually clutched George’s arms and kicked.
“PLEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP! I’M TOOHOOHOOHOOHOO TIHIHIHIHICKLIHIHIHISH! NAAAAAHAHAHAHA!”
“But it’s so much fun to tickle you! You make such interesting noises!”
“I DOHOHOHOHON’T! I DOHOHOHOHON’T! NO MOOOOOOOOORE! AAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Judging that Harry had been sufficiently weakened by tickling, George changed his position a bit. He continued tickling Harry’s side with one hand and stuck a finger in Harry’s belly button with his other hand. Harry’s belly button was his death spot.
Harry thrashed around. “AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Around the same time, the twins finally decided their victims had had enough. Fred removed Ron’s socks and helped clean off the powder. George stopped tickling Harry and lingered for a moment to give him a genuine hug before letting go.
“You two are the worst,” Ron groaned.
“You couldn’t give us a higher compliment,” George chirped.
The twins fondly ruffled both Harry’s and Ron’s hair before leaving. They never meant to be malicious, and they did care for the two younger boys.
Harry and Ron sprawled out on the floor, catching their breaths after the ordeal they’d just survived.
“It’s going to get worse when we return to Hogwarts,” Harry said glumly.
“Maybe not. They won’t be as focused on us,” Ron said.
“But they’ll be able to use spells.”
Ron couldn’t reply to this. It was true.
“I wish we could give them a taste of their own medicine,” Ron said.
Harry snorted. “I don’t think anyone’s ever pulled anything over on the twins except maybe Dumbledore.”
Ron nodded, and the idea was temporarily dropped.
XXX
Hermione huffed as she exited yet another empty classroom. She couldn’t find Harry or Ron anywhere.
“They’re probably putting off revising again,” Hermione grumbled, opening the door to another classroom.
There, she saw Ron, his wrists bound from a high point on the wall, leaving his arms stretched. One of the Weasley twins – it was George, although Hermione couldn't tell – was using electric toothbrushes to tickle Ron’s armpits. Why did a wizard even HAVE electric toothbrushes?
“Oh my god. Again?!” Hermione complained.
“HERMIHIHIHIHIONEHEHE! SAHAHAHAVE MEHEHEHEHE!” Ron cried. He wished he was revising instead of enduring this.
“Do you want me to report you again?” Hermione asked George.
“Keep your shirt on. I was just finishing,” George said. With a wave of his wand, he freed Ron's hands, and George sauntered out of the classroom.
Hermione noticed Ron’s knees trembling and hurried to support him. “It feels like they’re tickling everyone more this year.”
“You’re telling me,” Ron groaned. “How much do you want to bet the other one has Harry?”
“I’m not taking that bet,” Hermione said grimly, and the two set off to look for their friend.
They eventually found him and the other twin – Fred, although they couldn’t tell – in the twins’ dorm room. Fred knew a tickle spell that targeted a person’s most ticklish spot and then intensified every fifteen seconds. It was said to be nigh unbearable to the average ticklee after a minute, and Fred had never let the spell run longer than that. Today, though, Fred was determined to find out what happened if the spell ran longer. He kneeled on Harry’s arms, keeping them over his head, and cast the spell.
“Auget Titillationem!”
To Harry, the spell seemed unbearable the moment it was cast. He did an unwilling hula in an attempt to stop the tickling in his belly button. “NOOOOHOHOHOHO! NOT THEHEHEHERE! OOOHOHO GOHOHOHOHOD! STAAHAHAHAP!”
After 30 seconds, “PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEEASE! I’LL DOHOHO AHAHANYHYHYTHIHIHING!”
By 45 seconds, he couldn’t even beg anymore. Harry’s struggles became even more frantic, and tears poured from his closed eyes. “AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Fred leaned forward excitedly and didn’t stop the spell.
A minute and fifteen seconds in, Harry’s eyes opened wide. His entire body froze, his mouth agape. Then Harry screamed as if he was being murdered. He struggled like a man – or boy – possessed.
This was when Hermione and Ron walked in.
“What are you doing to him?!” Hermione cried.
“Just some scientific research,” Fred replied. “Aren’t you always saying we need to focus more on academics?”
Unfortunately, the distraction of Hermione and Ron coming in meant Fred left the spell on longer than he’d intended, and the minute-and-a-half mark came. Harry’s wails became louder, and his face turned an alarming shade of red.
“Oh, sorry. Finite Incantatem!”
Harry turned boneless, gasping for breath.
“Sorry, mate. Got a bit carried away there.”
Fred helped Harry stand on knees even wobblier than Ron’s had been and helped Hermione and Ron get him back to his own dorm. Despite this show of concern, he winked at Harry as he left and said, “Think we can go for two minutes next time?”
Harry shuddered once he was alone with his two best friends. “I’ve never felt anything like that before. I didn’t know anything could tickle that much in the world!”
“Why do the two of you let them get away with that?” Hermione demanded.
“We don’t let them do anything! No one can stop them!” Ron protested.
“I think you should give them a taste of their own medicine,” Hermione sniffed.
“That’s what I said!” Ron cried.
“But how could we pull that off? This is Fred and George we’re talking about,” Harry said.
“Hmmm. Let me think about that,” Hermione replied, and she turned on her heel and left her two best friends gaping after her.
XXX
Frankly, most of the plan was Hermione’s doing, but she refused to participate in executing it. “I don’t want to get in trouble with the professors,” was her excuse.
That being said, she came up with a way to trap the twins, helped Harry and Ron study tickling techniques, and asked Ron just the right questions to help him see that he knew more about the twins’ ticklish weaknesses than he realized.
At first, Harry wasn’t certain about the plan. Harry had just never tickled anyone before, and he felt a little uncomfortable about the whole thing. However, there was no way he was going to abandon Ron, and Ron was very enthusiastic. What cinched the deal, though, was that both of the twins caught Harry before the plan was finalized and tickled him senseless again. Harry got through by focusing the entire time on how he would pay the twins back, and by the time the twins let him go, Harry was fully onboard with the revenge plan.
“Now, you both remember what you’re supposed to do?” Hermione asked a little bossily.
“Yes, yes, we’ve gone over it a million times,” Ron groused, pulling nervously on the sleeves of his robe.
“All right then. Good luck. Let me know how it goes.” With that, Hermione left Harry and Ron alone.
The plan worked around their weaknesses. No one could deceive the twins, so Harry and Ron didn't try. The Golden Trio acted secretively but not too secretively. They let the twins figure out on their own that the three were researching something and sneaking away to do mysterious things.
Today, Harry and Ron whispered about their plans together in the Great Hall. They couldn't hide their nerves about what they were going to do, and the twins noticed. When Harry and Ron left, the twins covertly followed as they had several times over the last few weeks.
Harry and Ron cautiously made their way to an abandoned corridor and slipped into what had probably once been a teacher's lounge. Fred and George crept up to the double doors and put their ears against them.
They noticed immediately that something was wrong. They tried to pull away from the doors, but their hands and ears stuck to the wood. The outsides of the doors were covered in Sticky Potion.
The twins slid and scrambled as the doors pushed open.
“Quick! Petrificus Totalus!”
Both twins froze in place under the spells. Harry and Ron grinned. They couldn't believe they'd managed to catch the infamous Weasley twins. Still, they couldn't relax yet.
They both poured the antidote to the Sticky Potion over the twins to unstick them from the doors and levitated them into the abandoned room. Hermione had helped them set up two long tables with restraints for the twins' wrists and feet stolen from Filch. Harry and Ron set them down on the tables, but before they restrained them, they stripped the twins down to their underwear. It was nothing Ron hadn't seen before as their brother, and Harry had watched the twins change many times in the Quidditch changing rooms.
Next, Ron and Harry maneuvered the twins into their restraints. They even had special ties for the toes that left them splayed open and unable to so much as wiggle. When they were finished, the twins were each tied in an “X” shape on the tables as if on a rack, every possible ticklish spot was exposed and taut. Finally, they removed the Body-Bind.
“Well played, good sirs! Well played!” One of the twins cried.
“But what exactly are you hoping to accomplish with this?” The other asked, raising one eyebrow. Neither of them seemed nervous enough given their current situation.
Harry and Ron raised their chins with false bravado.
“We have gotten very sick of you tickling everyone – especially us – all the time, and we reckon it’s time you got a taste of your own medicine,” Ron said.
The twins both raised their eyebrows mockingly.
“You’re going to –“
“—tickle us?”
“Yes,” Harry and Ron said together.
The twins looked at each other. If either felt nervous, neither showed it. All Harry and Ron could detect was a faint air of tension. Finally, they both looked back at Harry and Ron and said in unison, “Do you worst!” Then they both stuck their tongues out.
“Er, right then,” Harry said and immediately wanted to kick himself. He should have said something confident, like, “Oh, we plan to,” but it was too late now.
Harry and Ron looked at each other uneasily, uncertain where to begin. After a few moments passed, Ron took charge.
“Let’s start with a simple question. Which one of you is Fred, and which one of you is George?”
“I’m Fred!” Both twins shouted in unison. Then they both looked at each other, and again in unison, “No, he’s George!”
“We’ll get the truth out of you,” Harry said.
Harry approached one twin’s feet while Ron approached the other twin’s feet. Harry held two feather quills handy, while Ron cracked his knuckles. In their practice, Ron and Hermione had declared Harry “adequate” when it came to tickling with his fingers, but he was much better with tools. Ron, on the other hand, could drive even Hermione crazy with his fingers, but he was a bit clumsy with tools.
“Last chance. What’s your name?” Ron asked his twin.
The twin could no longer hide his nervousness, but he just said, “I’m Forge, of course.”
Harry asked the same of his twin, who also looked nervous now. “What’s your name?”
“Gred.” And he blew a raspberry at Harry.
Harry sighed and began to gently feather the balls of the twin’s feet with the feathers. The twin’s face immediately scrunched, his shoulders hunched as much as he could, and he started to giggle. “Heeheeheeheehee!”
Ron also started light, gently scratching the pads of his twin’s toes. This twin had a similar reaction, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning his head back with a grin. “Heeeheeeeeheeheeheeheehee!”
Ron began to lightly draw figure eights on the soles of his twin’s feet while Harry sawed the feather between his twin’s toes. Both twins squirmed a little more and kept up a steady stream of giggles, only occasionally interrupted by an, “Oh, Merlin,” or an, “It tickles!”
“Ready to tell us which is which yet?” Harry asked.
“Ihihihihis thihihihis ahahahall youhouhou’ve gohohohohot?” his twin giggled.
“Thihihihihis ihihihihis nohohohohothihihihing! Oh, Merlin!” Ron’s twin added.
“Oh, you want us to step up our game? You only had to ask!” Ron said.
With that, Ron scratched and scribbled more purposefully, and Harry switched to the quill end.
Ron’s twin giggled a little more frantically, “Hahahahahahaha! Heeeeheeheeheeheehee! Cut it out!”
Harry’s twin whimpered a little and struggled harder. “Ohohohoho, sweet Merherherherherlihihin! Ooooohohohohohoho!”
Ron brought out his full scribbling power, causing his twin to laugh harder and start to bounce in response. “AAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Harry, however, realized that a more deliberate touch drove his twin crazy. He “wrote” on the tips and pads of his twin’s toes, drew slow circles on the balls of his feet and his heels, and dragged lines up his arches and insteps. To Ron’s jealousy, while Ron’s twin was laughing harder, Harry’s seemed to be getting more desperate. Every part of his body that could move was squirming, and he broke first.
“Eeeeeeee! Stohohohohop ihihihihit! Nohohohoho mohohohohore!”
“What’s your name?” Harry asked.
In unison, both twins cried, “George!”
Ron tickled more furiously at his twin’s heels in retaliation, causing him to shriek with laughter and swear. Harry returned to his twin’s toes, using the quill end on one foot and sawing the feather bit between his toes on the other foot, causing the twin to howl and for tears to start leaking out of his eyes.
Harry was surprised by how much fun tickling was. He felt powerful, and he found the twin's reactions to the tickling delightful. Ron focused on getting payback for all the times the twins had tickled him through his entire childhood, and revenge was sweet. They both got lost in the rhythm and continued tickling the twins’ feet for a long time.
Finally, though, Harry jerked and remembered that they had more planned. “Phase 2, Ron,” he said.
Ron nodded, and reluctantly, both slowed their tickling to a stop, each with one last slow, agonizing stroke. Both twins giggled for a while and caught their breaths.
“I’d say you’re even now,” Ron’s twin said.
“Not even close,” Ron glared.
Ron and Harry nodded at each other. “Looks like there’s only one way to tell which is which,” Ron said.
Ron knew the death spots of both of the twins, and they were different. George’s were his underarms, while Fred’s were his thighs.
Together, Ron and Harry moved to the twins’ upper bodies. They made claw shapes with their hands. Harry’s finger tickling was good enough for this.
“Three, two, one!” Harry counted. On one, they both dug into their twin’s underarms.
Ron’s twin squealed, laughed, and instinctively tried to pull his arms down. Tickling like this was enough to drive anyone crazy. He was obviously quite ticklish under his arms.
Harry’s twin, however, screeched, arched up, and frantically tugged on his arms despite Harry being less skilled. “NOOOOOHOHOHOHOHO! NOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE! EEEEEEEEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!”
“I think we know which is which now,” Harry said, smirking.
“But just to be sure -- “ Ron trailed off menacingly.
They both continued tickling for a few more seconds, and then moved downward.
“Three, two, one!” On one, both began to ticklishly squeeze their twin’s thighs.
Harry’s twin squawked, laughed loudly, threw his head back, and jiggled his legs up and down as much as they could. He was obviously quite ticklish on his thighs.
Ron’s twin, on the other hand, shrieked and thrashed about as much as he could. “OKAY OKAY YOU WIN! STAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! NAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“So you’re George –“ Ron pointed at Harry’s twin.
“ – and you’re Fred!” Harry pointed at Ron’s twin.
The correctly identified twins caught their breaths.
“Ickle Ronniekins is more observant than I thought,” Fred gasped.
“’Ickle Ronniekins’ is going to tickle you to death,” Ron growled.
Harry put his arm on Ron’s shoulder. “No, let’s switch. Please?” It was part of the plan, but Harry also had had enough of tickling George and wanted to tickle Fred for a bit.
Ron huffed. “Fine.”
Harry and Ron switched twins. It was time for Phase 3.
Ron expertly began to knead George’s waste, right above his hips. George bucked up, then tried to jerk away, but Ron easily followed his movements. He used just the right amount of pressure for maximum torment. “HAAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA! ROHOHOHOHOHONN!! STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Harry took a paintbrush and circled the rim of Fred’s belly button. Fred grinned anxiously and giggled, tensing up his stomach.
“Let’s see how you like it,” Harry said, dipping this paintbrush into Fred’s navel.
Fred squealed and began a similar unwilling hula that he loved to watch Harry perform. It had been a long time since anyone tickled his belly button, and he’d forgotten just how ticklish it was. It was like a little bundle of ticklish nerves all clustered together, and Harry hit every single one. “EEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! OHOHOHOHO SWEET MERHERHERHERHERLIHIHIN!! THAT TIHIHIHIHICKLES! ENOUHOUHOUHOUHOUGH!!”
“Not enough,” Harry corrected.
Harry shoved a few firm pillows under Fred's back. Fred groaned as this arched his back up, making him more taut, more vulnerable, and more ticklish. Harry had learned this particular technique from the twins as they'd done it to him multiple times.
Ron worked up George's sides and began counting his ribs.
“One, two, three...”
“ROHOHOHOHOHOHON! GEHEHEHET OHOHOHOHOFF!”
“Oh, no! You made me lose count! I'll have to start over. One...”
“AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Ron shook his head. George really should know better. After all, he'd been playing this game on Ron since Ron was three.
Harry got out some bristle hair brushes and buffed circles on Fred's stomach. Fred tried to twist back and forth. “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! GAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Reckon it's time for Phase 4?” Ron asked over the laughter.
“Yeah, all right,” Harry agreed.
Harry approached Fred's armpits while Ron moved down to Georges thighs. The twins shared wide-eyed looks. It was not lost on them that Harry and Ron were targeting the other twin's death spots.
“Just a little taste of what your twin will be experiencing shortly,” Harry taunted.
Then they both attacked.
Harry scrubbed Fred's underarms with toothbrushes that Hermione had gotten from her parents via owl. Fred jerked from side to side. The tickling was electrifying. “IHIHIHIHIHIHI SWEHEHEHEHEAR IHIHIHIHI CAHAHAHAHAN FEEHEEHEEHEEHEEL EEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE EVERY BRIHIHIHISTLE! STOHOHOHOHOP!”
Meanwhile, Ron goosed up and down George's thighs, squeezing and pinching. George jiggled his legs up and down and back and forth. Each squeeze sent a ticklish jolt up his spine. “ACK! OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! GEROHOHOHOHOHOFF! HAHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! TOOHOOHOOHOO MUHUHUHUHUCH!”
Each twin squirmed and struggled. While these weren't their personal sweet spots, it seemed to make the tickling more intense knowing that it was their twin's most ticklish spot. Worse, whether it was part of some twin connection or just some weird psychological thing, each twin felt faint, phantom tickling on their own sweet spots, and it just heightened the experience even more. The ticklers watched in amazement as Fred's legs began to twitch and jerk and George started to try and pull his arms down.
The twins felt like an eternity passed before Ron cried, “Phase 5!”
Finally, the ticklers moved to their targets’ death spots.
“Oh, come on. Aren’t you going a little too far?” George whinged nervously.
“Just payback for all the times you went too far with us,” Harry replied sweetly.
Ron realized by now that a slower, more calculated touch worked wonders with George, and he scratched slowly but deeply into George’s underarms. George didn’t start with the same explosive reaction as last time, but it quickly became apparent that it was driving him crazy. “NOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO! OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY! OOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHO! STOHOHOHOHOHOP! PLEEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!! AAAAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!”
Harry’s approach was slightly experimental. Ron knew that Fred reacted badly to people squeezing his thighs, but Hermione insisted they should also try stroking Fred’s inner thighs or the backs of his thighs. Ron had never thought to try that before, but Hermione insisted her research suggested this might have good results.
With this in mind, Harry took two feathers and began to tickle Fred’s inner thighs. The sound Fred made was almost inhuman. He couldn’t even beg. “NAAAAAAAAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! NAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! NAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
George went beserk as the tickling under his arms continued. It seemed to last for an eternity, and George felt his sanity slipping. “HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEEEEEHEAHEAHEAHEAHEASE!”
Fred was in tickle hell. He went in and out of silent laughter. “Stopstopstopstopstopstopstop!” He gasped. If he could leap out of his skin, he would. Fireworks of ticklish sensation blew his mind over and over and over.
They tickled the twins’ death spots until the two pranksters were well and truly desperate. Finally, they gave Fred and George a break.
“We are going to tickle you two so bad when we get out of here,” Fred groaned.
“I don’t think you two have learned your lesson yet,” Ron said.
“This next part is really your own fault,” Harry added. “Time for Phase 6.”
“Why? Oh, no,” George said, his question answered when he saw what Harry was holding.
Like all their pranking products, Fred and George sold Tickle Powder to other students. Hermione had paid a Ravenclaw student to buy Tickle Powder on their behalf so Fred and George wouldn’t know they’d sold tickle powder to Harry and Ron. Now the twins were going to be tickled by their own invention.
Not that this was the first time. They’d tested the powder on each other, of course, before trying it out on their siblings and Harry. As such, they both knew exactly what they were in for. They both gulped.
Harry and Ron switched twins again so that Ron had Fred and Harry had George. They both dipped soft brushes into the Tickle Powder and, starting at the feet, began to apply it. They covered both twins’ soles and toes, making sure to get between the toes. The brush itself tickled quite a bit, so both twins giggled before the powder could even do anything. Next they dipped behind the twins’ knees and coated their inner thighs. Fred whined like a puppy and trembled as the paint brush tickled his death spot. Next were their stomachs, making sure to get inside their belly buttons. George squirmed extra as Harry tortured his belly button, having also forgotten how ticklish his belly button was. Next were the twins’ sides, ribs, and underarms. George babbled, wondering how Harry could make a single brush tickle so much. Finally, in a fit of inspiration, Harry brushed some powder on the shells of George’s ears and dipped into them. Ron followed suit on Fred.
By the time they finished, both twins were shifting and giggling as the powder started to work.
“All right. Harry and I need to go for a bit. We should be back in about an hour,” Ron said, clapping his hands like a primary school teacher.
“Or maybe two,” Harry added, stretching his arms.
The twins’ movements became more frantic.
“Whahahahahat? Don’t leheheheheheave us lihihihihike thihihis!” George cried.
“Cohohohohome bahahahahahck!” Fred laughed, shaking his legs.
Harry and Ron left the room and managed to keep it together just until the door closed behind them. Then they both burst out laughing.
“Oh my god! I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Harry cried.
“This is wicked! Come on, let’s go see how they’re doing!” Ron said.
They were not, of course, just going to abandon the twins. There was a secret passage that allowed them to spy on this room. The two quickly entered the passage and peered through the peek holes.
By now the powder seemed to be in full effect. Both twins jerked and thrashed about, their bodies unable to figure out how to move to escape the tickling. Their laughing and screaming contrasted nicely with their smug attitudes at the beginning of this session.
George cried through his laughter. It was so confusing. He was being tickled everywhere! Somehow, though, it all just seemed to enhance the tickling under his arms. It was like pure ticklishness being pumped directly into his brain through his underarms. “I CAHAHAHAN’T STAHAHAHAND ANOHOHOTHERHER MIHIHIHINUHUHUTE, LEHEHEHET ALOHOHOHONE TWOHOHOHOHO HOURS! NAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“MAHAHAHAHAHAKE IT STOHOHOHOHOP!” Fred screamed. His eyes crossed at the intensity of the tickling. He was drowning in tickling sensation no matter where he turned. He especially couldn’t stand it in his ears. He shook his head frantically. Even this, though, was overwhelmed by the tickling on his inner thighs. George had been tickled plenty under his arms, but no one, not even Fred, had realized how ticklish his inner thighs were. Fred couldn’t handle this prolonged tickling in such a ticklish spot.
Harry and Ron watched in fascination as the twins struggled, laughed, screamed, and begged. Neither could look away. They watched, enraptured, as the tickling went on and on and on. Finally, they noticed the twins were getting hoarse and having trouble breathing. To their surprise, they’d left the twins with the tickle powder for almost an hour. That on top of the tickling before that meant the twins had gone through quite the ordeal.
Harry and Ron quickly returned to the classroom. As soon as the twins saw them, they both began crying, “PLEASE! WE’RE SORRY! HELP!”
Harry and Ron both cast, “Aguamenti!” and washed the powder off the twins. The twins gasped and shuddered in relief as the tickling finally stopped. Harry and Ron washed the twins for a couple of minutes to give them time to catch their breath and make sure all the powder was gone.
“All right. I think that’ll do for now,” Ron began.
“Wait. I want to do one more thing,” Harry interrupted.
“What?” This was not in the plan.
“Please no more,” George begged.
“We’re sorry!” Fred added.
Harry still remembered the spell one of the twins had used on him that had tickled so badly. He’d learned how to cast the spell himself, and now he wanted to try it. He felt a little bad. The twins had both already suffered so much. However, he knew he might not ever get another chance.
With that, Harry cast the spell. “Auget Titillationem!”
“NOHOHOHOHOT AGAIHAIAHAIHAIHAIN!” George laughed as the spell tickled his underarms.
“NOHOHOHOHO MOHOHOHOHORE!” Fred laughed, his inner thighs attacked once more.
Fifteen seconds in, both twins shrieked as it intensified.
“NOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” George cried.
“PLEEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEEHEESE!” Fred begged.
Forty-five seconds in, they were both sobbing again.
“I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAHAHAKE IHIHIT! I CAHAHAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAHAHAKE IHHIHIHIHIT!” George had never spoken truer words in his life.
“MAKE IT STOHOHOHOHOP! MAHAHAHAKE IT STOHOHOHOHOP!” Fred begged.
A minute in, neither could beg anymore. They both just shrieked with laughter. George clenched and unclenched his fists, even tried to kick. Fred desperately tried to close his legs in a futile quest for protection. Ron shifted nervously. Harry didn’t lift the spell.
A minute and thirty seconds in, Fred, similar to Harry, froze completely. his eyes bugged out, and his mouth dropped open. He didn’t know anything could tickle this much. He’d never felt anything like it in his life. His brain couldn’t comprehend it. He couldn't hear George becoming louder next to him. Then he began his struggles anew, trying his best to convey the ticklish agony he was experiencing.
“Harry…” Ron began.
“One more,” Harry said.
At a minute and 45 seconds, both twins froze, silent and still, as the tickling intensified to an even more unimaginable level. Neither twin could handle it. Their brains just weren’t equipped. With that, they both fainted dead away.
Harry and Ron also froze, but for different reasons. Neither had ever seen someone tickled to the point that they passed out. Frightened, Harry cast Finite Incantatem, and both boys rushed to untie the twins. Both twins seemed to be breathing okay.
“We can’t take them to the Hospital Wing. We’ll get in trouble,” Ron said.
“I think they’re all right. They just need to rest,” Harry said.
“I hope so,” Ron replied.
Harry’s eyes widened. Hermione had been very specific about the last step of their plan.
“Ron, Phase 7!”
“What?”
“RUN!”
Because, of course, the twins might decide to retaliate immediately as soon as they were free. Both Harry and Ron ran as fast as they could to the library, and they spent the rest of the day hiding there. Hermione was proud, later, of the amount of homework they accomplished.
XXX
For a few days, the Weasley twins and the Golden Trio held a tense truce. They did their best to avoid each other when possible, and when not possible, they were curt but civil with each other.
After four days, though, Harry’s conscience got the better of him. Ron felt bad too, so they approached the twins in the Gryffindor common room.
“Hey, guys. We’re sorry we went so far the other day with – you know,” Harry started.
“Yeah. Not sorry about the whole thing, but we did go a little too far. Sorry,” Ron added.
The twins looked at each other, having a silent conversation, then turned back to Harry and Ron.
“Not gonna lie. That was a lot,” Fred said.
“But we understand that we went too far with you first, and we understand how easy it is to get carried away when tickling,” George said.
“So we accept your apology,” the twins finished in unison.
Ron and Harry grinned in relief.
Fred and George clapped the younger two on the shoulder, then both leaned in and whispered into their ears in unison. “We’ll get you back for it later.”
Harry and Ron swallowed, eyes wide as Fred and George strutted away. Suddenly, the concept of tickling the twins didn’t seem quite as good as it had when they’d planned it.