Harry and Ron avoided each other like the plague that first week at the Burrow. Niamh and Ginny stuck around Harry like faithful bodyguards, the two of them glaring at Ron whenever they saw him. Mika stayed out of the middle of everything while Hermione ran back and forth between Harry and Ron, trying to get them to apologize. It wasn’t until Niamh made if quite clear on Friday how the situation could be fixed that Hermione calmed her efforts.
“Harry isn’t going to forgive Ron until he apologizes. Only Ron has a damn reason in the world to apologize and if he doesn’t, I will make his life a living Hell.” She had looked coldly at Ron as she said this, making the boy shiver and turn away.
On Saturday morning before they left for Diagon Alley, Fred and George took a good look at the six younger people sitting in the living room. Ron was sitting in a chair on one side of the room, Hermione sitting in another chair beside him. Ginny and Niamh had made claim on the couch on the other side of the room and eyes Ron coldly; Harry sprawled casually on the cushion between them, Hedwig curled up on his lap. Mika was sprawled on the floor between the groups in a half-doze, Jardin standing by his head and messing up his hair.
Fred turned to his twin and asked, “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Not a clue. They’ve been like this ever since Harry and Niamh got here.”
“I know. Harry, Niamh, and Ginny all in one group; Hermione and Ron in another. Mika seems to be staying out of whatever’s going on.”
“The question,” said George, “is what is going on?”
Fred shrugged.
“I don’t know. But I bet you a Canary Cream Harry’s right at the heart of it.”
“He always is.”
“Should we ask him?”
“Of course.”
“Today?”
“Today,” said George, grinning.
Fred grinned as well and the two of them slunk off.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
“May I mention how much I hate Floo travel?”
“Ye just did,” said Harry blandly.
They were wandering about Diagon Alley now. Ron and Hermione had gone off on their own as soon as they arrived, Mika trailing behind them. Which left Niamh, Ginny, and Harry together as the twins had already taken off.
“Hey, look! They’ve got a new broom!”
Niamh, of course. The girl ran swiftly over to the Quidditch supply store where a crowd had gathered around one of the windows. Harry and Ginny followed, Harry in a little better mood at the thought of a new type of broom.
When they finally got up to the window, they found Niamh there with her nose pressed up against the glass, blue eyes wide as saucers. Harry casually leaned on her shoulders, knowing she was too out of it to notice, and read the sign in the window.
THE FIREBOLT
This state-of-the-art racing broom sports a stream-lined, superfine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twin in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles and hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable Braking Charm. Price on request.
Harry looked at the broom in the window and arched his eyebrows. It was a fine looking broom but the Nimbus 2001 his father had given him was quite fine and had never failed him. After a few more moments of gawking, he forcibly dragged Niamh away from Quality Quidditch Supplies and to the Apothecary, Ginny trailing behind. He had come here several times with his father over the summer hols so he now knew the shop from top to bottom and the owner (a distant cousin of his father’s) very well.
“Good mornin’, Basil.”
“Good morning, Harry. School supplies, I presume?”
“Yeh.”
Basil ran a hand through his silver-shot, black hair and pushed his wire-frame spectacles further up on his rather hawkish nose as he came out of the back room. His sea-green eyes brightened as he saw Niamh and Ginny flanking Harry.
“Ingredients for all of you?”
Harry nodded and Basil set to work. In no time, he had replenished their supplies and was taking their money. As Harry paid, the man whispered, “I’ll just put this on Severus’ tab and make sure this gets back in your vault.”
“No…”
“Harry, m’lad, its fine. I know Severus won’t mind, so don’t you be worrying.”
Harry frowned but nodded anyway.
“Alrigh’. Ye know ye can mention Da ‘round them.” He motioned at Niamh and Ginny, who were studying an unidentifiable pickled creature in a jar.
Basil nodded at something over Harry’s shoulder.
“But not in front of them, I think.”
Harry turned and saw Draco and his father standing in the Apothecary doorway. He scowled then turned back to Basil.
“Definitely na.”
Basil nodded and said loudly, “Have a good day, Mr. Potter. Ah, Mr. Malfoy and young Master Malfoy. What may I do for you today?”
Lucius brushed past Harry, not even looking at him. Draco however sneered at Harry, who happily replied with a dark scowl. He grabbed his potions supplies and walked swiftly over to Niamh and Ginny, who had also noticed Draco. The three of them cast dark looks in his direction before they left.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
Harry, Niamh, and Ginny were walking back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet back up with the Weasley’s when two pairs of hands grabbed Harry. Niamh and Ginny let out surprised yelps as he vanished without a trace. They looked frantically around but nothing was around them but store fronts and a wall.
Meanwhile, Harry drove his elbow hard into the gut of one of his captors. They had pulled him through a wall, which was – in reality – only an illusion. Whoever it was grunted and released him. As he spun and aimed a high kick at the other one’s head, a pained voice growled, “So much for being friends.”
Harry blinked and twisted in mid-kick, sending himself spinning to the ground. Hedwig made a rather violent complaint from his wrist while he regained his bearings.
“Fred? George?”
“Now, he notices,” grunted George, who was the one Harry had jabbed in the stomach.
Harry pushed himself up off the ground and brushed himself off. After telling Hedwig such a think couldn’t be done with a wand, he glared at the twins coldly.
“Wha’ in the bloody heck was tha’ for?”
“We want to talk to you,” replied Fred.
“And ye couldn’t do it outside?” Harry closed his eyes for a moment then reopened them, growling, “Ni is going to kill ye two for this.”
“We’ll survive,” said George. “We want to talk to you about why you and Ron aren’t talking.”
Harry scowled.
“Why?”
“We want to know what ickle Ronnikins could have done to keep you two from talking and made Ginny angry at him,” replied Fred.
Harry growled and spat a curse. He snarled something in Elven or Parseltongue after that – he wasn’t sure which –, making Fred and George look at each other nervously. Scowling at them, he inwardly berated himself for telling his friends his true parentage at all. Perhaps he should have listened to Jardin….
Which posed a question; why had Jardin not wanted him to tell them? It simply wasn’t to keep it secret.
Harry shook that thought off for the situation at hand.
“I doan know what yer talking about.”
“I’m ssssure they’ll believe that,” hissed Hedwig from his wrist.
Fred and George looked at him skeptically.
“You know what we’re talking about, Harry,” said Fred.
“C’mon, you can tell us,” said George.
“I don’t trusssst them,” hissed Hedwig.
“Tha’s because they tried tha’ potion on ye,” muttered Harry to the snake. Hedwig hissed irritably in response but said nothing. Harry scowled at her and George blinked.
“I know.”
“Know wha’?” asked Harry, narrowing his eyes.
“Know what you told Ron and them,” replied George. “You’re Snape’s son, aren’t you?”
“How’d you guessss?”
“Shut up,” spat Harry to the snake.
Fred gaped, “Its true, isn’t it?”
Harry sighed and nodded slowly. “Yeh. Its true.”
“No wonder Ron blew up,” said George. “He hates Snape more than Malfoy.”
Harry blinked at the two of them.
“An’ ye two don’t?”
“Us?” said Fred innocently. “No. Not in the slightest.”
“We enjoy his class.”
“A lot…”
“Annoy him to death…”
“…and of course, get lessons in our spare time.”
“Potions lessons?”
“Yep,” said Fred with a nod. “Turns out Snape’s not such a slimy git after all – no offense, Harry. He’s been helping up make potions since our second year.”
“Seems he was quite a prankster in school, too. Some of our stuff comes from him.”
Fred waved a hand and said, “But enough about us. We’re talking about you.”
Harry snorted then asked, “How did ye two know?”
“That you’re his son?”
Harry nodded.
“Well,” said George, “we didn’t really know; just suspected.”
“For a long time.”
“A very long time.”
“How long?” asked Harry.
“Since we met you,” replied the twins in unison.
“What?!”
“Yep,” said Fred, nodding. “You and Snape have the same scowl.”
“Right scary, that is,” added George.
Harry shook his head, shaking with silent laughter.
“So – ye two ‘ave known – suspected – all this time?”
The twins nodded.
Harry shook his head then froze when a hand reached through the ‘wall’, followed swiftly by a furious Niamh. Ginny followed her, smiling when she spotted Harry. Niamh scowled at Harry and snarled, “There you are. I ought to kill you for doing that to me!”
Harry pointed at the twins and said, “They did i’.”
Niamh whirled, eyes narrowing to cold slits.
“You two…”
The twins looked at each other nervously then back at Niamh.
“Now, c’mon, Ni…”
“We just wanted to talk to Harry.”
“Nothing harmful.”
“Just talk.”
“About what?” growled Niamh.
“Ni, they know.”
“How in the sodding hell do they know?”
Niamh spun to face Harry again, eyes wide, then turned back to Fred and George. Ginny moved over to Harry as she began to interrogate the twins.
“Are you okay?”
Harry nodded and looked down at Ginny, watching Niamh out of the corner of his eye.
“Yeh, I’m fine. I elbowed George when they grabbed me, so I doan think they’ll try tha’ again.” He glanced at Niamh and grinned. “An’ I doubt they want to incur Ni’s wrath again.”
Ginny giggled and nodded.
“So, you two have known since you met Harry? Why didn’t you say a fragging thing?”
“We told you, Ni…”
“…we didn’t know for sure.”
“We simply…”
“…suspected.”
“STOP FINISHING EACH OTHER’S SENTENCES!!”
The twins simply grinned while Niamh glowered at them. Harry smacked his hand against his forehead and let out a low moan then jerked as Ginny let out a tiny shriek.
“Oh God! Mum’s going to kill us!”
The twins looked at their watches then at each other and even Niamh paled. All of them had gotten on Mrs. Weasley’s bad side with the exception of Harry, who simply arched an eyebrow at them then walked out of the illusion into the street. Ginny followed him, eyes darting about nervously, and the other three followed her.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
“Where have you five been?”
“Erm…”
“Well…”
“Y’see…”
Mrs. Weasley placed her hands on her hips and glared up at her sons before turning her piercing gaze to a twitching Niamh and Ginny before flashing it to an unnerved Harry, who was almost as tall as the twins.
“Well?”
When no one else answered, Harry sighed and said, “Ginny dropped ‘er stuff an’ we had ter pick it up.”
Niamh gaped at him. It wasn’t often that she heard him lie. He flicked a half-scowl and she pulled her jaw back up.
Mrs. Weasley frowned at Harry for a moment then at the other four before turning back to her other children, Hermione, and Mika. She then grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the mantle above the fireplace in the pub and threw it in. Ron scrambled in first and the rest of them followed swiftly.