Chapter two

The night seemed to be one that stretched on for ages. Neither Fred nor George got much sleep. They were too busy worrying about Harry. Hermione was right. Madam Pomfrey knew something and wasn't telling them. That and she also put on a false air about herself. Madam Pomfrey has always been known to throw people out of the infirmary without so much as a care. This time she had calmly told them to go to bed. There was something wrong with Harry. Something horribly wrong...

"Pssst! Hey Fred! Are you up?" George lay on his side in his bed, waiting for his brother to turn around and acknowledge him.

Fred almost immediately rolled over to look at George. It was obvious that he was wide awake. "What is it? Couldn't go to sleep either?"

"No, I'm too worried about Harry. Let's go see how he's doing. The Old Maid should be asleep by now, don't you think?" George, of course, was referring to Madam Pomfrey.

Fred nodded and sat up in his bed. "We can bring him some of our best stuff. He'll enjoy all of it when he wakes up." Quickly, the two grabbed their bathrobes and silently made their way out of the common room. Taking a series of passages ensured that they wouldn't be caught. In a few minutes, they had reached the infirmary. Fred placed his hand on the doorknob but George quickly stopped him.

He placed his finger up to his lips. "Shhh" Slowly, he took Fred's hand off of the doorknob. The two of them heard people talking inside of the room. It was no doubt Madam Pomfrey talking. But who was she talking to?

"His fever is getting worst. How did this happen? How did he get into the school??"

"At this time I cannot answer that question. I do not know myself...the real question at hand, Madam Pomfrey, is can you cure the boy?"

"...no. There's no cure that I know of. Albus, we can't let him...."

"You have my word that he won't. I will find some way to fix everything."

Fred frowned as he looked at George and mouthed out. 'Harry's going to die....!' George didn't have time to respond. The both of them heard the rustling of long robes coming toward them. Quickly, they ran down the hall and headed back for the common room. "Fred, do you think we should tell Ron and Hermione??"

The two stopped running when they came to the portrait in front of the common room. The lady in the painting yawned as she mumbled. "...password...."

Fred shook his head a little. "You heard Dumbledore. He's going to find some way to fix Harry. But if he doesn't...." George sighed as he slumped up against the wall. It took him a moment before he remembered the password. "Pumpkin juice." Slowly, the portrait moved out of the way, allowing the boys back into the common room.

"I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight." Fred huffed as the two of them walked up the stairs back up to their cozy beds. "I'm just going to go ahead and get dressed. Maybe I'll come up with something new for our shop."

George knew as well as Fred did that Fred's mind wasn't going to be able to focus on inventing anything funny. "...yeah, I'll help." The two of them got dressed hours before any of the other children began to wake up. Hermione was the first person down from the rooms.

"Oh, you two are up already? Thought I'd go to the library before class. There might be something somewhere in a book that'll help with fixing Harry..." She sighed a little then headed toward the entrance to the common room.

George looked at Fred, knowing that Hermione's attempts were just going to be worthless. She wasn't going to find anything, and the both of them knew it. George stood up and walked over to Hermione. "...wait, Hermione...." He waited for her to turn around. Her eyes looked as though she had been crying all night, but a glimmer of hope seemed to keep them alive and as brilliant as ever. He couldn't tell her. He just didn't have the heart. Instead, he brought her into a gentle hug and whispered into her ear. "...I hope you find something."

Hermione would have returned the friendly hug, but her arms just wouldn't move. She had to find something, anything. A small smile spread across her face as she stood back and looked at George. "Harry's going to be ok..." She nodded once, trying to reassure herself more than anyone.

The twins watched Hermione leave. She was taking this rather...hard. Their attention turned to the stairs as they heard someone else walking down them. "Morning, Ron. Did you sleep ok?"

Ron shook his head as he yawned and finished tucking his dress shirt into his pants. "Didn't sleep at all. Every time I closed my eyes I kept seeing this big green snake that just wouldn't go away. It didn't do anything either. It just stood there, and watched me..." He shuddered at the thought of the creepy snake.

Fred laughed at his poor disheveled brother. "It's alright Ron. We didn't get much sleep either. Let's go get something to eat. Maybe some food will make all of us feel better." The other two agreed and they made their way to the Great Hall. Just outside the doors they came across Draco and his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron rolled his eyes as he stared at the blonde. "And I thought things couldn't get any worst. What do you want?"

Draco smirked as he looked at the three red-heads in front of him. "Heard that Potter finally cracked." He kept that cocky grin on his face as he walked closer to Ron. "Is it true? The rumors? Has Potter's luck finally run out?"

Ron didn't dare move. If he moved, it would be like backing down from Draco. "You don't know what the bloody hell you're talking about, Malfoy!"

Draco backed away from Ron, his ever constant smirk never budging. "What's the matter, Weasley? Afraid your boyfriend is going to die?"

Fred and George knew instinctively to grab Ron, and they were right. Just as they grabbed Ron, he made a jump for Draco. Ron didn't struggle against his brothers, he knew that they could keep him back from choking the life out of Draco. "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth shut!"

Draco abruptly laughed as he looked to Crabbe and Goyle then mimicked mock fear. "Oooo, I'm shaking..." He smirked once more then walked into the Great Hall.

As soon as Draco was out of sight, Fred and George let go of Ron. Fred pat Ron on the shoulder and shook his head. "Don't let him get to you, Ron. It's not him that you have to worry about. Remember that."

Ron nodded a little. He knew that his brother was right. Right now all of his energy and concentration needed to go to finding a cure for whatever was wrong with Harry. "...I'm not hungry anymore. I think I'll go pay a visit to Harry. I'll see you two later..." Before his brothers could say anything, Ron walked off in the direction of the infirmary.