Of Lion and Serpent
Prologue
Red and green, Gryffindor and Slytherin, are opposites in every way. As colours, they are said to complement each other, but when it comes to people, they are enemies. If you are one, you must turn away from every part of you that is another. To a Gryffindor, the term Slytherin is an insult, and vice versa. Yet, we only know a few of each, and we base our decision on those. This is the Alternate Universe story of two brothers who are split apart, one to each house, and told to hate each other. But, really, how different are they?
The Weasleys are a family firmly on the light side of the war. Not only has there never been one to join the Death Eaters, there was never even one to be a Slytherin. The Weasleys are as firmly red as their hair. But what if one, just one, was sorted into Slytherin? How big an effect would that have? You may say that it would never happen, but what if it did? Two brothers, as similar as brothers can be, are just slightly different, and that is the small thing that makes all the difference.
"Fred."
"George"
"This is going…"
"…to be a very…"
"…good year.."
"..for pranks!"
They finished their sentence together, to the amusement of the boy who was standing just outside their compartment. Lee, as his name was, knocked quickly and opened the door. Inside, there were two red haired boys who were identical to the last strand of hair that hung over their freckled faces.
"Can I sit here?" asked Lee.
"Well…" began one of them.
"we don't see why not…." the other continued.
"but it's at your own risk!" finished the first one.
Lee sat down near the door, and looked at the twins.
"So, who are you guys?" He asked, by way of greeting.
"Fred and George Weasley" replied the one on his left.
"I'm Lee Jordan. And I tell you two apart by…?" asked Lee with a slight grin.
"Standing on your head and farting out canaries" replied the one on the right.
The twins cracked identical grins, and then told him that it was impossible, and that even their own mother mixed them up. However, their baby sister had a knack for figuring it out quite quickly and they didn't know how she did it.
The three talked for the rest of the train ride, and by the time they got to Hogwarts they were good friends, or, as they put it, "partners in crime". However, when they got out of the train, Lee noticed that one was snickering and the other was hiding a grin.
"What?" he asked.
"Just remembering something." Replied one of them, who was actually Fred.
Guessing that it was an inside joke, Lee kept walking, and didn't notice George lean towards Fred and whisper in his ear.
"Fred, my dear brother, I thought we didn't prank our friends."
"Well, he wasn't when he first sat down, was he?"
George wasn't so sure of the logic of this, but he still grinned with Fred and they both hurried to catch up with Lee, who was following the huge man who was shouting for "firs' years". Well, it was funny, anyways, for someone to have a note reading "Kick me. Aim here!" on their ass, and what Fred said was true. Meanwhile, Fred was thinking something similar and deciding that Lee was now considered a partner in crime, and was immune to their pranks.
"So, what do you guys know about this hellhole of books and teachers?" asked Lee as soon as they reached him.
"Well," replied George, "There are secret passages, hidden rooms, moving staircases, trick stairs, and even fake doors…."
"…not to mention all the pranking opportunities!" finished Fred. The three of them grinned and started quietly planning pranks. They quickly came to a decision, and traded a few objects for the other person's use. George quietly snagged the note off Lee and stuck it on the nearest student, then pointed it out to his twin and his new friend. They snickered and hurried to the front of the group. Ahead, they saw a cluster of boats floating at the edge of a huge, dark lake. Quickly grabbing a boat for themselves, they chucked an item called a "stink-bomb" that belonged to Lee into the nearest boat, resulting in an entertaining argument over who had farted. As they got out of their boat, they moved carefully towards the group of their latest victims.
"Oh, jeez!" exclaimed Lee, doing a perfect choking act.
"Yeah, what's that bloody smell?" demanded Fred.
"Hey, did one of you guys fart, 'cuz it smells like rotten food of some sort!" demanded George, turning to the unsuspecting victims of the moment.
All four of them started talking at once, and continued to do so after the trio hurried off. The first years walked up to the gigantic door of the castle, which was opened by a strict looking woman who had her lips pressed together. Fred flashed her an innocent smile and asked her if she had something in her teeth, and was about to offer her a toothpick and tell her that it worked better than trying to suck it out, when he saw her glare. By that time, though, the innocent smile was gone and all three of them were hiding grins.
"I'll take them from here, Hagrid. Everyone inside." The woman demanded in a crisp voice that echoed in the entrance hall. They followed her through the entrance hall and towards a set of large, wooden doors that clearly held the Great Hall that Charlie had told them about, as the noise seemed to come from there. The woman who had opened the door introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and proceeded to tell them about the house system at Hogwarts.
"There are four houses at Hogwarts; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. While you are here, your house is like your family, and you will respect it as such. For good work, you will gain your house points, and you will lose your house points for any misbehavior. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the house cup. I hope that each of you will be a credit to your house. Now, form a line, and I will see if they are ready for you."
As they formed a line, Professor McGonagall entered the Hall and came out again quite soon after. She told them to follow her, and, when they did, they saw one of the most amazing sights they had ever seen. Through those doors, there was the biggest hall any of them had ever seen, even bigger than the entrance hall, with four long tables surrounded by students wearing black robes. Over these tables, and throughout the room, thousands of lit candles floated in mid-air, lighting the room. Each table was set with golden plates and goblets, not yet holding any food or drink. At the front, there was a raised platform with a smaller table with a group of adults that were presumably the teachers along the side opposite them. But none of this was what made the room so special. The ceiling was dark blue and covered in stars, exactly matching the sky outside, and smoothly blending into the walls and arches of the room. This ceiling was charmed to match to sky outside, no matter what happened.
At the front of the room, there sat a small wooden stool, with a dirty old wizard's hat, looking strangely out of place. Suddenly, the rip in the hat opened and it began to sing. It sang of the four houses and the founders and the Sorting. When it fell silent, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and looked at her list. The room fell silent, and the Sorting began.