Escaping Destiny Chapter 1: Summer at the Weasley's, a harry potter fanfic

"Harry! I'm so glad you've come!" Hermione cried as she flung her arms around Harry's neck.

"Hermione let go of him! If you almost kill him now, he'll never want to stay or come over again," Ron said, and Hermione promptly dropped her arms.

"Hey Ron, hey Hermione," Harry said after he caught his breath that had escaped him during the hug.

"Hey Harry, how was your summer?" Ron asked coolly as he led Harry and Hermione back into the burrow.

Harry's expression darkened but he kept his light, "Aw, the same as always I guess. The muggles are a real pain still." Neither of his friends noticed the slight change in his mood. "How were your summers?"

"Well…" Hermione started, blushing. "I actually stayed here most of the summer. But nothing interesting ever happens without you Harry."

"She's right you know," Fred said as the three younger teens walked into the kitchen.

"It's almost like-," George started.

"-They have no brains at all-,"

"When your not here."

"That's not true!" Ron protested. "We could do lot's of stuff without Harry! But we don't because it's not any fun."

"That's exactly-,"

"-Our point!" The twins replied as they walked out of the small front hall and up the stairs to find something more interesting to do then pick on the little kids.

"Aw don't worry about them," Ron said as he glared at his brothers' backs. "They're just happy that they have someone else to pick on and bother. A summer of bothering the same people gets old fast."

"Poor them," Harry said sourly, not even hiding his dark feelings as they rubbed this all in his face.

"Oh we're sorry Harry," Hermione said. "Is there anything you want to do right now before Mrs. Weasley realizes that you're here?"

"Hmm… Not really. I'm actually kind of tired," he said as he glanced at the clock that actually told time.

"Really?" Ron asked incredulously. "But it's only eight o'clock!"

"Ron, leave him alone!" Hermione said sternly. "If Harry wants to go to bed now then you had better let him!"

"Alright, Hermione. I was just making sure that he wanted to."

"Thanks 'Mione," Harry added gratefully.

"You still know where my room is don't you mate?"

"Yeah, I should be alright," Harry yawned. "Are you sure that you guys don't want me to stay up with you?"

"No that's alright Harry, go get some rest. Mrs. Weasley is gonna be really excited that your finally here, so your gonna need as much sleep as possible," Hermione said kindly.

"Yeah I guess your right," Harry said as he turned towards the stairs. "G'night!"

"'Night!"

'Hmm…' Harry wondered, 'was Ron's room on the forth floor or the fifth floor? I'll try the forth first since it's closest.'

Harry Climbed up three flights of stairs and the he arrived at the forth floor landing. He walked down to the very end of the hall and turned to open the door on the left hand side. A noise on the other end of the door made him stop. It sounded like people… but he couldn't quite comprehend who they sounded like or what they were doing. They hadn't noticed his arrival at the door so they must not be paying much attention. He reached out and grabbed the doorknob. Slowly he turned the knob and gently pushed the door open.

"Bloody he-," he started, but was hit by two stunning spells at once.

"Oh it's just Harry," Fred whispered.

"Should we mess with his memory?" George whispered back.

"I don't think he would snitch on us."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"But how do you know?"

"Come on George! We've known Harry forever!"

"Yeah you're right," George said as he raised his wand to remove the stunning spells. "Harry are you alright?"

"Yeah I think so," Harry murmured. "But I don't think that I'm awake."

"Of course you are," Fred replied coolly.

"So you mean to tell me-," Harry started.

"Yes," they replied in unison.

"And you guy's are-,"

"Yes."

"But you guy's are-,"

"Yes we know."

"Wow," Harry said, shocked. "How long?" And why that?"

The twins looked at each other a moment before answering. "Well Harry-," George started.

"We've been doing this-,"

"For about six years-,"

"Oh," was all Harry could manage at this point.

"And of course-,"

"We do this-,"

"Because it is the most fun-,"

"That we've ever had!"

"So you see-,"

"It was only logical-,"

"That we didn't stop," Fred finished, looking at Harry intently for his response.

"So you mean to tell me-,"

"Yes."

"And you guy's are-,"

"Yes Harry! We've already been through this!" George stated, getting annoyed.

"Your right… I'm just caught up on the one fact," Harry said as he shook his head as if to shake the confusion away. "But there's one thing I don't understand…"

"Yes?" Fred pressed.

"Don't you ever worry that someone will walk in and see you?"

"Well actually, Fred replied. "Percy already has before."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," George replied as he smoothed out a wrinkle from his dress. "But we had to erase that memory form his mind. Unfortunately, something went wrong and now he forgets what happens to him on the third Tuesday of every month."

"You're not going to do that to me are you?" Harry asked, his casual tone laced with underlying fear.

"Of course not Harry," Fred replied as he adjusted his wig in a conjured mirror. "We know you won't rat us out."

"We trust you more then we trust some of our own family."

"Thanks guys," Harry said, appreciating their trust and the fact that they weren't going to mess with his mind, that would be scary thing. "Can I ask you one thing thought?"

"Yes."

"Is it fun?"

"Is what fun Harry?" George asked, confused by the vague question.

"Uhm… Dressing up as a woman," Harry replied blushing.

"Why of course it is!" Fred replied enthusiastically. "Would you like to try it too?"

"No thanks," Harry said, blushing a deeper scarlet. "But could you tell me where Ron's room is? So I don't run into anymore… surprises."

"Of course," George replied, a little disappointed that Harry didn't want to play, but not so much that he wouldn't help. "Fifth floor, last door down the hall on the left."

"Oh so it was the fifth floor…" Harry murmured to himself. "Thanks guys."

"Come back anytime Harry," Fred called. "You're always welcome to play dress up with us."

"I'll remember that," Harry laughed, a faint blush staining his cheeks. "Good night!"

"'Night, Harry!" the twins called out after him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Where were you?" Hermione asked in a stern voice as soon as Harry walked into his and Ron's room that they were sharing. "I've been worried sick!"

"Hermione, where do you think I could have gone? You guys would have known if I had left, I would have had to walk right past you," Harry replied as he slipped off his shoes and sat on his bed.

"Oh… You still didn't answer my question though," she muttered, a blush reddening her soft features.

"I was talking to Fred and George."

"About what?" she asked suspiciously.

He looked at her incredulously, and said, "We were talking about upcoming pranks this term. Why the third degree?" He was surprised at how easy it was to lie to one of his best friends.

"Oh… it's nothing. Just curious you know?" she lied. Harry noted that it wasn't her that made it easier to lie, since she obviously couldn't. But then what could it be?

"Sure," Harry said letting the subject drop. Hermione sighed in relief. "So, where's Ron?"

"Oh Mr. Weasley asked him to help retrieve something from the attic. That ghoul up there can be pretty vicious."

"Oh, alright." Well," he yawned. "If you don't mind I think I'll turn in."

"Oh sure, good night."

"G'night." Harry whispered as Hermione left, shutting of the light and closing the door on her way out.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

About an hour later, Ron walked into the small bedroom that they shared. "Harry are you asleep," Ron whispered as he lay down on his bed.

Harry didn't reply. He had things to figure out and it would be easier to do if Ron thought he was sleeping.

"Oh," he heard Ron whisper, and not long after he could hear the soft snores of his sleeping friend.

This new emotion that Harry felt towards his friends was odd and a bit unsettling. He'd never imagined that he would feel this way towards the two people he cared the most about. It was strange. It wasn't as strong as hate, but it was a distance that he knew wasn't there before. Like their friendship was starting to fade. Almost like they didn't know each other as well as they thought they did before.

Harry knew that he would have to act fast if he wanted to save his slowly disintegrating friendship with Ron and Hermione, but was it even worth it? Would they even care? Was it them not wanting to be his friends anymore?

There was only one way to find out. He'd have to test their friendship, but how?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Harry are you awake?"

"No," Harry murmured from underneath the covers.

"Well then get up! Mom is throwing a fit because you're not up yet! She's blaming us for keeping you up all night with questions about your summer," Ron said from the doorway, obviously irritated by his overreacting mother.

"'Time's it?" Harry asked groggily, still covered up and not willing to move anytime soon.

"Almost ten o'clock. Are you still tired?" Hermione asked as she appeared out of nowhere and sat on the edge of the bed.

"No I'm gonna get up," Harry said as he sat up. "Could you get out?"

"Oh sure," Hermione said and she fled the room.

"Be downstairs in ten minutes or else we're gonna come up and here and drag you down there," Ron threatened, as he shut the door behind him.

About eight minutes later, Harry found himself in the middle of the hectic Weasley kitchen. On either side of him was Fred and George – who had faint traces of eyeliner their eyes, but it seemed that Harry was the only that had noticed – and across from him was Ginny, Hermione and Ron. Mr. Weasley was at work already and Mrs. Weasley was bustling around the house tidying up things.

"So," Hermione started, trying to make conversation. "We should be getting our letters soon, anyone looking forward to going back to school?"

"Not really," Ron replied. "As long as I get all my classes with either you or Harry, I don't think it will be too bad."

"Ron," Hermione scolded. "You have to be open minded. There might some classes that Harry and I get into, but you won't."

"That's not very likely," Ron said stubbornly. "I've always been in the same classes as Harry!"

"Well that was before you had to get certain grades to get into classes!"

"Oh," Ron said, blushing at the fact that he had forgotten such an important fact.

"We're looking forward to school," Fred said enthusiastically.

"Just think of all the cool pranks-,"

"We could play on everyone."

"Especially the teachers-,"

"Since it's our last year there."

"Well obviously," Hermione stared. "You won't be getting away with your plans."

"Why wouldn't we?" George scoffed.

"Well because-," she started, but was cut off by a small flock of Tawny owls that had, at that moment, flown into the kitchen. Each owl dropped a letter into someone's lap, and then flew off.

"Our letters!" Ginny cried as she picked hers up and tore into it. Everyone else followed her lead and did the same.

"Oh," Hermione squealed. "All O's except for Defense and Transfiguration! What did you get Ron?"

"All E's except for potions I got a P. Well At least I don't have to take potions again. What about you Harry?" Ron asked quickly after seeing the disapproving look on Hermione's face, so she couldn't say anything.

"All O's except for Divination, but that doesn't really matter. It was all a bunch of garbage anyway…" Harry started at the look on his friends' faces, Ron looked shocked and Hermione looked like she was confused on whether she should be shocked or upset by what ever it was that Harry had said. "What's wrong?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Nothing," Hermione replied, deciding that she was going to be upset since the shock had worn off. "It's just… You have better grades then I do."

"So," Harry said, not understanding why she was so upset, or upset at all for that matter. "We already knew I was better at Defense-," Hermione cringed, Harry pretended not to notice. "- nut maybe I'm better at Transfiguration, too," she cringed again.

"That can't be right," she murmured to herself, although Harry still heard her. "Maybe they made a mistake."

This pissed Harry off. How dare she think so much of herself that she couldn't accept the fact that she got lower grades then her best friend? "Hermione, why do you think they made a mistake? Can't you accept the fact that you might not be as smart as you think you are? Or are you so full of yourself that that you think that no one can be better then you at anything," Harry sneered, not caring about the way Hermione cringed at every one of his venom laced words. Hermione was almost in tears.

"Don't talk to her that way!" Ron shouted, angry at the way Harry had talked to her like she wasn't worth anything at all.

"And why the hell not?" Harry snapped. "Is the poor little genius afraid of getting her feelings hurt?" Harry yelled. Magic started to swirl around Harry, a breeze began to blow his hair around, getting stronger by the second.

"Come on Harry," Fred said as he and George grabbed Harry's arms. "I think we could use some fresh air."

Harry allowed himself to be pulled away. He fought the smirk off his face as he watched Hermione burst into tears. 'Serves her right,' Harry thought. 'Maybe she won't think of herself so highly anymore. I don't understand what made her so upset though. It's not like I'm an idiot.' Then he realized he wasn't moving anymore so that must have meant Fred and George must have led him to where ever they were taking him and let him go.

"That was bloody brilliant! Way to go Harry!" George said, clapping Harry on the back.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, shocked at their odd reactions. He was expecting something a little more… angry and upset.

"It's about bloody time that someone put her in her place. She was getting rather annoying, thinking that she was better then everyone else."

"Oh," was all Harry could manage, he was still shocked.

"Now don't get us wrong," Fred said. "We still love Hermione like a sister-,"

"But sometimes she can be a bitch."

"Are you alright?" Fred asked. "You looked like you were about ready to blow up the kitchen."

"Yeah I'm alright," Harry said calmly. "So what grades did you get?"

"Oh it doesn't matter-,"

"We're not going to need the grades."

"Instead we're gonna run-,"

"That joke shop you helped us start."

"Oh," Harry said. "That sounds like more fun then school. But who's gonna terrorize the school with you two gone planning for your joke shop?"

"Oh we're sure someone will take our place," George said winking at Harry.

"But until someone does," Fred sighed dramatically. "We'll have to do our best."

Harry laughed. "So what are we gonna do until Hermione has cooled off?"

Fred and George looked thoughtful for a moment, and then they faced each other and grinned evilly. "Oh we know what to do."

Harry was confused at first but then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "No, wait; maybe we should do something else!"

"Not a chance Harry." They said as they grabbed his arms and dragged him away.

"This is ridiculous!" Ron said to Hermione. "Why would Harry do that!? It was so unlike him."

"Not really," Hermione said. "I was being rude and he reacted to that."

"But he still shouldn't have exploded like that! He's never done that to us before! Maybe we should tell Dumbledore that he's been acting weird lately."

"No Ron. He wasn't acting weird, he was just being himself. He had every right to act that way because I shouldn't have handled things the way I did. And he's never done that before because this is an unusual situation that we're not usually in. So just drop it all right?" she said her tone clearly stating that the conversation was over.

"Fine," Ron said, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "Should we go find him?"

"No I think we should give him a chance to calm down before we look for him."

"Alright," Ron sighed as he pulled out a chess set. "Wanna play to pass the time? Or would you like to do something else?"

"No, I'll play chess," Hermione replied.

"Can I leave now?"

"No."

"…"

"Are you done yet?"

"No."

"…"

Does it matter if I'm uncomfortable?"

"No!"

"Argh!" Harry sighed. He had been standing on a conjured stool for the last 35 minutes. "My feet hurt!"

"Pain is beauty-," Fred started.

"And beauty is pain." George finished.

"Well I don't want to be beautiful anymore! I feel ridiculous! And how long does it take for two people to do make-up?"

"Don't rush perfection Harry," George warned.

"And guinea pigs don't talk," Fred added.

"Oh that's right," Harry stated sarcastically. "By the way, why am I wearing silver?"

"Cause it looks good on you," Fred said.

"Now shut up, we're almost done!" George added.

Harry stood there for another five minutes muttering disapproving things and getting withering looks in response to his complaints.

"Alright Harry-,"

"We're finished."

"Good. Can I see what you guys did to me for the last forever hours?"

"Sure put it wasn't nearly that long," Fred replied as he conjured a full-length body mirror for Harry to see himself with.

Harry gasped. He didn't recognize himself. The only things that he recognized were his eyes, the same shocking green that they had always been. His raven colored hair fell just below his shoulders in silky waves. He had a thin line of charcoal eye-liner around each eye, with an off-white-into-green on his eyelids, the two colors together made his eyes pop. His long curly black eyelashes curved perfectly, framing each eye as if drawn there by the most careful to detail artist. He had the lightest shade of pink on his cheeks that he wasn't sure was make-up or not, and his full pink lips were coated in a shimmery layer of clear lip-gloss. A beautiful flower hair clip held his long bangs out of his face. The dress he wore was a silver silk that really brought out the color of his hair and eyes. It reached a little past his knees revealing strappy silver heels. It was cut low withy shimmery, white silk coming down just off of the shoulders as sleeves. It flared at the bottom so that when he spun in a circle it formed a wide O. On his chest, there was a wide triangle with the point at his waist, of the same white silk that his sleeves were made of. It was laced with a silver ribbon laced almost like a corset, only much more delicate in a way. Around his waist was a silver sash it was held in place by a metallic clasp shaped like a heart.

"Wow," Harry breathed.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Fred asked at Harry's amazed expression.

"Absolutely," Harry said. "It's so lovely, how did you come up with the design so fast?"

"We've actually had these designs for you for awhile now Harry, we were just waiting for the right moment to show you," George said calmly.

"Wow," was all Harry could say. After a few moments of gazing at himself in the mirror he spoke again. "Fred, George?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Do you think… well maybe we could… um… take a picture of me?"

"Why of course Harry," George said enthusiastically.

Fred got out a camera, while George showed Harry how to pose. They took three pictures, one with Harry just standing there smiling, one with him looking up at the camera from an overview shot, and one of him sitting on the ground, knees bent and legs off to the side, and hands folded gracefully in his lap while looking to one side instead of looking directly at the camera.

Once they were done taking pictures, they copied them so that they could each have a set. Harry put a non-damageable charm on them and then put them into the pocket of his jeans that were lying on the floor.

"So," Fred said, clapping his hands together. "It's time for you to change back into your own, normal clothes."

"Yep," Harry said, already un-strapping the heels so he could get them off. "So how do we do that?"

"Stand up and hold still, alright?" George asked.

"Alright," Harry replied as he stood up without his heels.

The twins murmured a few quick spells and Harry felt he was wearing his own jeans and t-shirt again. He reached down and felt his pocket, the pictures were still there.

"Thanks," Harry said looking at the twins. They were suppressing laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Fred said as he handed Harry a small, hand-held mirror.

Harry looked at his reflection for a moment, dropped the mirror, which shattered, and screamed. I'm not talking about a manly scream either; I'm talking about an all out screech. Though the sound didn't escape the room because of the silencing charms the twins had put up at the beginning.

"What did you two do!?" Harry shrieked.

"Nothing Harry, just calm down-."

"Calm down, calm down!? What do you mean calm down? Look at this! How am I supposed to explain this!? They're all going to notice and then what am I going to do!?" Harry was in hysterics, total melt down mode, hyperventilating and everything.

"Stop!" George yelled and hit Harry with a stunning spell. Harry froze and Fred caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Now listen, Harry," Fred said calmly. "We didn't do anything permanent to your eyebrows. All we did was pluck them so they wouldn't be so bushy. Now we understand that they may look a little too girly for you, and that's why we were trying to tell you how to grow them back."

"Now," George said. "Are you going to listen?"

Harry moved his eyes up and down in an odd way to show that he understood.

"Good," he said as he removed the spell. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he said as he sat down on the bed.

"Good, now all you have to do is concentrate your magic on growing back your eyebrows."

Harry thought about this for a second and then began to concentrate. After a couple of minutes, Fred tapped him on the shoulder, signaling that him that he should stop before his face was nothing but eyebrow.

Harry picked up a piece of the broken mirror again and sighed in relief as he looked at his reflection. His eyebrows were back to normal. "Thanks guys," Harry said, relieved.

"Any time Harry. You're always welcome to be our guinea pig," Fred said and they all burst out laughing.

George cast a quick tempus charm. "Oh great, it's almost dinner. They're bound to think we've killed you with an experiment by now."

"Why would they be thinking that?" Harry asked, unnerved by the statement.

"It's a long story."

"Oh… Okay then. I guess I have to go face Hermione now," Harry sighed as he headed to the door with them right behind him, and then they headed to the kitchen.