A/N- Just the usual stuff, please read and review! They really do make people write faster!
Disclaimer- Do you really think I'm JKR? "Excuse me, sir; yes this fan needs a room in St. Mungo's. Thank you." (This goes for the entire story since I'm too lazy to keep typing it over and over again.)
Harper Rowe was arguing with her brother. Again.
They were in their room at the Leaky Cauldron, and their shouting match could be heard from down the hall. People occasionally stuck their heads out of the doors, glaring at their door with clear irritancy before returning to their own individual pursuits.
Behind the door was a very interesting scene. A girl long, straight black hair was shouting at her considerably taller brother, who had clambered onto one of the beds and now stood there with a bag in his hands. He was rummaging through the contents, trying to ignore the shouting being done by the girl.
"Henry, I swear I will kill you if you don't give me that right now!" The boy, Henry, waved a dismissive hand in her direction.
"Calm down, Harper. I just need to borrow a Galleon or two for school supplies; honestly I don't see what your problem is."
"My problem," Harper said, planting a hand on her hip and jutting it out, "is that you think you can just rummage though all my stuff! What if something personal was in there?" Henry straightened up and looked at the cracked roof as if seeking patience.
"Harper, we're twins for Merlin's sake-"
"Don't even-"
"Godric, Harper! If you're this upset about something so simple-"he broke off, and then waggled his eyebrows at her. "That's a very interesting thought. What does my little sister have in here that's so mortifying?"
Harper scowled at him, and his eyes widened. A grin broke across his features and he started to chortle merrily. "Oh, it must be pretty bad if you're being all" he gestured towards her tense, angry body with his hand, "this about it. What could it be?"
Harper threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Henry, I'm a girl! I keep all of my stuff in there, stuff you don't even want to think about! That's my only bag you nitwit, I keep toiletries and such in there!"
The bag was hastily thrown into her arms, and Henry had a disgusted look on his face. "I am so glad I didn't find that out in a different way," he said, wiping his hands on his pants.
"And two more things," Harper said, throwing her bag onto the bed across the room. "One, Dad literally just told us five minutes ago that he was going to Gringotts for some money for school shopping." Henry smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, well, I guess I didn't hear him," he said. "We were eating breakfast at the time, weren't we?" With a roll of her eyes, Harper nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't listening. Oops."
"So I've noticed. The second thing is, you can hardly call me your little sister. You're only older by a few hours."
"Every little bit counts," Henry said, "and I am going to use it against you for the rest of your days."
"Oh, how lovely," Harper said sarcastically. "I get to suffer this for the remainder of my life." Henry jumped down off of the bed and ruffled her hair enthusiastically.
"You're welcome. And your hair's still red; you really need to control your temper." Harper scowled at him again and closed her eyes, adopting a look of concentration. There was a barely audible pop, and her hair was short, curly and brown; an exact replica of her brother's own hair. "Better?" she asked.
"I make it look better."
Harper rolled her eyes and her hair lengthened. She tied it back in a high ponytail just as her father walked in.
Scott Rowe had long, straight brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, a crooked nose (it had been broken by a Slytherin in his fourth year), and very bright blue eyes. His face was shaped rather like a rectangle, long and squared. His chin was covered in a short stubble, and crooked wire glasses were perched high on his nose. He raised an eyebrow at the two of them.
"I heard you two were arguing again." Henry and Harper looked at each other. They had evidently forgotten that they had neighbors just across the hall. Their father gave the two of them a knowing look. "Next time, try whispering angrily instead of shouting. I'll get fewer complaints that way.
"Now, you're mum's waiting at Fortescue's with Theo. After we get some ice cream we'll get school supplies. How's that sound?"
"I don't know, Dad," said Henry with a long-suffering sigh. "It'll be hard work, eating ice cream so soon after breakfast. Right, Harp?"
Harper looked at him like he was insane. "Speak for yourself," she said indignantly. Then she spoke to her father. "I'll eat his ice cream for him." Then she ran out the door.
She heard her brother's indignant yells mingling with her father's laughter, and she giggled to herself as she came to the top of the staircase. Checking the stairs for people and seeing no one, she clambered onto the railing and slid down, laughing. Unbeknownst to her, her hair turned a brilliant shade of lime green as she landed, excitement from the slide pumping through her. She ran to the door, narrowly avoiding a family of redheads on their way in.
When Harper thought the last of them had come in, she made to run out the door and ran smack-bang into two more of them. She almost toppled backwards at the contact, but the two boys grabbed her forearms before she could.
"Whoops- careful-"
"Sorry 'bout that!"
Harper had to look up a little to see the boys' faces. They were identical in every way, from their hazel eyes to their long, freckly noses. Their hair was like that of the rest of their family, a very noticeable shade of red. They both wore large grins.
"Nice hair."
"Yeah, that's not a color you see every day."
With a gasp, Harper grabbed some of her hair and brought it in front of her eyes. The bright green was almost blinding, and definitely more noticeable than she was comfortable with. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, and her hair coloring rapidly changed from lime green to magenta; the boys' eyes widened in surprise, their grins slipping a bit.
"Er- whoops," she said in a small voice. They twins (because that's what they obviously were) didn't move. "Well, ah, I have to be going now, so…." She forced her way between them and out into the alley. Harper didn't stop running until she standing, and breathing heavily, in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.
Her mum found her with her hair still a bright shade of magenta, and she gave a small smile. "Your hair, dear. It's magenta again." Harper groaned, and it returned to brown.
Her mother held out a Galleon with an inviting smile.
"Buy an ice cream, sweetheart. I'll find you again when your father and brother get here."
"Thanks mum." Harper mumbled, accepting the gold. Her mother kissed her forehead and pushed her towards the counter.
Not two minutes later she was licking a Strawberry-Chocolate Frog cone, pondering her encounter in the Leaky Cauldron's doorway. She licked her cone pensively, nearly toppling out of her chair when she felt someone spin the chair around. Or, to be correct, two someones.
"Well, isn't this interesting! I seem to recall running to into this selfsame lady not twenty minutes ago! Do you recall, Gred?"
"I most certainly do, Forge, though if my mind serves me correctly last time she had green hair, didn't she?"
"Indeed she did! And then it changed from that striking color to something quite different, magenta actually."
"I rather liked the green better."
"As did I. what's your preference, miss, magenta or green?"
It took Harper a moment to realize that he had addressed the question to her. "Oh- er, well- I don't know, I haven't really thought about it before." The boy closest to her shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh well, that's okay. That was just small talk." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair.
"Yes, now we can get down to more serious business." The other boy moved a little closer, putting a guiding hand on her back. They both directed her to a booth, pushing her lightly onto one bench while they sat on the one across from her. Harper licked her lips apprehensively.
"What serious business?" They gave her a knowing look.
"We saw your hair change madam. We want to know why we haven't noticed a Metamorphagus at Hogwarts before."
"So we'd like you to answer some of our questions for us, to see where we went wrong." They both leaned a little closer. The one on the left opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand, licking her ice cream.
"Before you ask me any questions," she said, licking her cone again. "I get to know your names." The twins shrugged their shoulders indifferently.
"Fair enough," they chorused. The one on the left pointed to himself. "I'm Fred, and he's George." When he introduced his twin he pointed to him. As soon as his twin finished saying his name, George added "the better looking twin."
Fred patted his brother's shoulder consolingly. "In your dreams, Georgie my boy. Now-" he stopped mid-sentence and stared at his nose, where a smear of strawberry ice cream had suddenly appeared. He then looked at Harper, who shrugged her shoulders. "I need to be able to tell you apart," she said by way of explanation, and George chuckled.
"Anyways," Fred started again, wrinkling his nose at the feeling of cold stickiness. "Question time. Name and house you were Sorted into?"
"Harper Rowe, Gryffindor," she replied promptly. Fred looked at George, who shrugged and shook his head saying "I don't recognize the name."
"I don't either. I feel rather ignorant though. A Gryffindor Metamorphagus, and we never noticed? Shame on us." George looked pensively at her, tapping his chin with a finger. His eyes had a faraway look in them. He was the one who asked the next question.
"Didn't you have a brother? I could've sworn there were two Rowes when we were Sorted…" Harper nodded in response.
"I'm a twin, too. I have a brother, but he's in Ravenclaw." George pumped his fist. "One to Forge," he said. "Score: one to zero."
"Wait a minute, we're keeping score?" Fred asked.
"So long as I'm winning, the answer to that question is yes."
"So if I'm winning, we aren't keeping score?" George pretended to ponder his brother's question, and then he nodded jovially.
"Sounds about right." Fred stuck his bottom lip out and pouted.
While the duo was distracted, Harper (who had finished her ice cream cone by this time) decided she would try to sneak away. Throughout the conversation she had been edging steadily closer to the open aisle way, and now she made a break for it. Standing up she began to work her way to the door.
When she had reached the doorway the twins finally noticed that she'd gone. They whipped their heads to look around the shop and saw her slipping out into Diagon Alley.
"Oi!" Harper heard one of them call. "We still have questions!" she turned and saw them vacating the booth and quickly ducked into the Quidditch supplies store next door. The boys rushed out of the doorway, necks craning for a glimpse of her, but she remained hidden. Thinking they had spotted her, they both rushed into a quill store some ways down the street. Sighing thankfully, she walked out of the crowded Quidditch store and went to find her mother.
Her family was still outside Fotescue's, getting their own ice cream cones. Her mum saw her and smiled, waving her over. Harper wove her way around the witches and wizards doing their shopping and to her mother's side.
"Henry and your father just got here, so we're going to buy their ice cream really quick." Seeing her daughter's restless face, Celeste Rowe dug into her pockets with her free hand (she was holding four year-old Theodore's hand so as not to lose him in the crowd; he tended to wander about given the chance to) and shoved some Galleons into her daughter's hands. "Why don't you go start your shopping; see if any of your friends are here, I'm sure you'd love to see them." Harper smiled gratefully.
"Thanks mum." Her mother tugged her forward and kissed her forehead before shooing her off.
"Just remember to behave, dear. Have fun!" Harper waved and then she had disappeared into the crowd.
She quickly acquired her quills, ink, robes, potions ingredients, and books before heading to a small, secluded store in a quiet section of the alley. It was a candy store, Wilmington's Sweets by name, and it was very small and rarely busy. Harper stepped in with a smile as the friendliness and sugary sweetness of the air pervaded her senses.
Though the store front itself was small, the inside was much bigger than it appeared to the naked eye. The walls, stacked with all of the sweets anyone's heart could possibly desire, seemed to soar upward. The helpers were dressed in soft caramel colored robes and were very cheerful. Harper took a deep, contented breath through her nose, her smile widening. She was in heaven on earth; who wouldn't be?
She saw some new chocolate candies by the windows and made her way over, picking up a package to examine the label. She was completely relaxed, and then she heard a familiar voice outside the window.
"We've looked everywhere, Fred. She's obviously gone." Her head shot up, and there they were: the red-headed twins, Fred and George.
As her head shot up, one of them turned to look at the window in passing, strawberry ice cream smeared on his nose. Fred. Through the o in Wilmington's, they made accidental eye contact, and Fred's face split in a large grin. He tugged on his twin's arm, pulling him back. "I don't think we should give up just yet, George."
"Oh? And what makes you say that, brother o'mine?" Fred pointed to the window. George's eye followed the path his twin's finger took, and when he saw Harper he grinned as well. He waved cheerily at her and she blushed. She had really been trying to postpone any second encounters. The twins made their way to the candy shop door, throwing it wide and making the small bell that announced customers ring merrily.
"Why hello, Harper! If it isn't just the person we were looking for!"
"Yes, we lost track of you for a while there, didn't we?"
"We did indeed! But that's no matter now, because we've found you again!"
The way Fred and George talked was making Harper dizzy. They kept switching back and forth without pause, and so smoothly that it could be believed that they had rehearsed it. A moment later they were by her sides, linking their arms through hers.
"So shall we pick up where we left off? If I recall correctly I'm still winning." Harper wrenched her arms away from the boys and made to walk away, but Fred jumped ahead of her before she made it five paces.
"Not so hastily, now, one might almost think you were trying to get away from us!"
"I am." Fred placed a hand over his heart and staggered backwards as though mortally injured.
"I am sorely wounded," he said in a faux pained voice. "You do me a great injustice." Harper pushed past him, starting to get rather irritated. Her brown hair darkened slightly, but no one noticed. She made her way to a barrel on the other side of the store and made a show of inspecting the label.
There was no sound of them following her, and she began to think that they had left her alone. She relaxed a little, only to tense up again when someone pointed a hand over her shoulder.
"What are these?" George asked, peering around her. Fred craned his neck so as to see past her.
"I don't recognize them. Must be really old or something." Harper waved their hands away and took a small paper bag from a hook on the wall. She began to fill the paper bag with a small scoop, Fred and George breathing down her neck the whole time. She felt the end of her short patience drawing closer. She could practically see the edge where it turned into fiery words of frustration.
"So what are they Harper?" George piped up, and she sighed. It's really quite hard to ignore people when they ask you a direct question.
"They're like an older version of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. They're not that much different, but I prefer these." Harper pushed past them again and went to a stand of red Licorice Wands. They boys followed her, apparently not noticing her steadily darkening hair.
"You like Red Licorice Wands?" Fred's incredulous voice sounded from behind her. She could practically feel her hair turning black. For Merlin's sake, couldn't they just leave her alone before she lost her temper?
"Yes," she muttered through gritted teeth. "Why do you even care?" Though no one could see it, her eyes flashed an ice-blue color before turning hazel again.
"We're just curious people."
"No need to bite our heads off about it, sheesh." The last part was barely muttered under George's breath, but Harper still heard it, and she finally snapped.
She knew she didn't really have any reason to, but she could get ticked off very easily by some things and the twins had been pushing all the right buttons to make her explode. Her hair was suddenly all black and extremely straight, and when she turned to see the wide eyed duo her eyes were icy-blue and clearly showed her irritation. Harper had become rather frightening within the space of a few seconds, and the twins took a step back upon seeing her sudden transformation.
"Honestly," she hissed through her teeth, "in the name of Godric, just tell me what you want and go away!"
Before the shell-shocked boys could react, some one called her name from the doorway.
"Harper!" Harper was suddenly attacked by two girls her age, one with blond hair and the other with auburn. She was soon lost in a flurry of hugs and flying hair, and someone else grabbed the twins arms from behind, dragging them towards the door. Once they were out in the alley and safely away from the ticked off teenage girl she turned to face them both.
She had long, straight, shiny black hair that fell down to the bottom of her shoulder blades and warm brown eyes. Her skin was smooth and tanned, and she looked athletic. She reminded the twins a little bit of their friend Angelina Johnson.
"They should calm her down a little, or at least make her forget that she was mad at you guys for now." She said, gesturing to the candy shop.
"So we're not going to get killed?"
"At least not soon, at any rate?" The girl smiled at them.
"Not just yet she won't. Just watch which buttons you push around her. Anyways, My name's Angelica, and I assume you two are the Weasley twins?" Fred and George seemed pleased that they were recognized, puffing their chests up proudly.
"That's us, the most charming-"
"handsome-"
"intelligent-"
"amazing-"
"fascinating-"
"What they meant to say was that they are extremely irritating, loud and obnoxious." Said a voice from behind them, and Fred and George spun around.
Harper stood with her hands on her hips, her hair still black and her eyes still pale. The twins immediately hid behind Angelica.
"So much for safe," George muttered under his breath. Harper heard his muttered comment and glared.
"Aw, c'mon," said Fred cajolingly, poking his head out from behind Angelica. "Are you really going to kill us Harper?" She just looked at him, and he winced. "Ouch. Well, I hope you'll at least introduce us to your pretty friends first."
"Yeah," George agreed enthusiastically, poking his head as well. "I think that's an excellent idea!"
"Well," growled Harper, "I don't, so I think I'm just going to kill you now and then-"
"Oh come on, Harper, be a doll and introduce us. Its good manners," said the blond girl. Harper didn't say anything, so the girl introduced herself and her auburn-haired companion. "Alrighty then, I'll do it for you. I'm Peyton Piccard, and this lovely lady," she said, pulling the other girl forward, "is London Caulaincourt."
"Pleased to meet you," said London, holding out her hand. Fred looked at it, considering taking it, but Harper was still glaring daggers at him and his twin, so he decided against it.
"Pleased to meet you as well," Fred said, "I'm Fred, this is George-"
"and we would take your hand, but you just so happen to be in a very close proximity to Miss Harper right now, and we're fairly certain she'd still love to rip our heads off." George finished. London giggled, and George beamed at the noise.
"As it so happens, I need your help finding some of our course books," Angelica said, stepping away from the twins and towards Harper. "So let's be off. And fix your hair, you're scaring people," she added, dragging the Metamorphagus away to Flourish and Blott's.
"You owe her big time," said Peyton once they had disappeared into the bookshop, Harper's hair once again brown and curly.
"Yeah," London agreed, "she is not fun to deal with when she's angry."
"We most definitely learned that today," George agreed.
"Yeah, we'll watch ourselves next time," said Fred. Peyton looked at them disbelievingly.
"After that you're still going to talk to her? She'll rip your lungs out!" Fred waved a dismissive hand.
"We'll be careful. She seems like loads of fun." London shrugged her shoulders noncommittally, and George cocked and eyebrow.
"Are you trying to tell us that she isn't fun?" he asked, and London shook her head.
"No, she's fun, but only if she's comfortable around you. Otherwise she can appear a bit dull."
"Yeah right," Fred scoffed. "A Metamorphagus, dull? Impossible." Peyton looked at her watch and yelped.
"London, we've got to go! You're parents are waiting for us!" London clapped a hand to her mouth.
"Merlin's beard, I completely forgot! Sorry boys, we've got to run! See you on the train!" and they ran off, disappearing into the throng of people. George watched them go with a smile, and Fred elbowed him, raising and eyebrow.
"You fancy one of them already, George? Godric's ghost, that didn't take long!" George elbowed him back frowning.
"I don't fancy her, she just seems interesting, and that's all!"
"Whatever you say, Georgie. I bet you'll be snogging one of them by the end of the term."
"Shut it. Race you back!" And with that they tore off through the crowd, heading for the Leaky Cauldron.