So sorry about the wait. RL etc... I have enough to finish off second year, so wait for that.
Thanks to my beta breather. Fantastic soul~
Cheers to: The Keeper of Worlds, RedHeadsRock1010, R403, littleditto, Syl, Elfyliane, Mat, Anonymous Howler, Twinkledash, Dareagon, Guest 2 (09/22/16), Kat, chiharuSAICHI, allykrau, Thisisarealtagwhy, Smile-Evily, Zaralann, Syanka, MoonShadow396, and Anon (10/25/16)! I appreciate all the reviews and feedback. Some of y'all are close and not so for who's who...
Chapter 7: Ridiculousness is a Family Trait
Ace sneaks carefully and quietly down the corridors of the school. The only light is cast by the exceptionally dim torches. No one aside from Filch and a few ghosts are out and about at this time of night. And Ace. Not that anyone knows that, because he's sheltered by Luffy's invisibility cloak.
The reason for his late-night excursion is currently laid up in the hospital wing. He and Luffy had their first quidditch match for the season, and he'd say it went well — Ace, Angelina, and Alicia played an incredible game of keep-away from the Slytherins — except that there was a remarkably stubborn bludger honed in on his little brother. It's moments like that which make Ace eternally thankful to Shanks for his brother's resilient physical make-up. In fact, Ace is certain without his rubber abilities, Luffy would be considerably bloodied up. But, it's generally just sharp things and their shitty Grandfather who can actually do legitimate damage to him. The only issue is that no one else knows that in this world. So after seeing Luffy take a bludger to the head again, and again, and again, and again, Ace supposes it's natural for the nurse to want to keep him overnight for observation, even if there is no visible damage.
So Luffy's up in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey is as unyielding as ever when it comes to visiting hours. Again. Screw that. Ace will visit his little brother whenever he wants!
Ace thinks that they've been remarkably lucky that the nurse hasn't figured out either of their unique make ups, but he fears it's only a matter of time. He doesn't know what he'll tell her if it came to that, but he should probably be considering it...
The fire-user is startled from his thoughts by a strange sound, like air escaping a can. The sound is followed by a flash, like a camera. He turns the corner curiously, only to see something large and dark disappearing around the other corner. His heart leaps. It has to be the monster! The delight in his chest is tempered considerably by the sight of an all-too-still Colin Creevy. Shit. Not again. It's moments like these that Ace wishes he had his Observational Haki back to sense where the hell the creature went in the dark. He doesn't though, so Ace decides to just take the risk.
Ace creeps closer, trying to see if the young student is dead or just petrified. He exhales with relief when he sees that Colin's hands are frozen around the camera he was looking through, not limp. Ace sighs and rubs his face, wondering what to do. He could get a professor, but his late night escapade would be cut short. Another less attractive option would be leaving Colin for someone else to find; after all, it's not like Colin's going to go anywhere... Maybe that was tasteless of Ace, but Luffy definitely would have laughed. After a few moments, Ace decides he's overthinking this.
After clearing his throat, Ace takes a deep breath and lets out a long dramatic cry. He then retreats behind the corner, out of the way. As he expected, Filch comes hobbling down the hallway. Upon seeing Colin, he gasps and turns right around, no doubt heading for Dumbledore. Ace has a good idea where they're headed, so he waits for the professors to come running by the wall, well out of their way. They don't disappoint. McGonagall and Dumbledore appear, faces drawn at the sight of another victim of petrification. With a little wand work, McGonagall levitates her young student in the air and starts guiding him towards the hospital wing. Ace follows their solemn party as quietly as he can. Fred and George have always told him that Dumbledore knows everything, but if Dumbledore knows he's here, he does a damn good job of hiding it.
Ace slips carefully in after the group before they can shut the door behind them. He silently treads up to his brother's bed while keeping a keen ear out for their conversation. Though Luffy's eyes are closed, the furrowed brow tells Ace his brother is listening in just as he is.
As he suspected, Colin was just petrified, thankfully. Unfortunately, Colin's camera was melted by whatever creature attacked him, leaving its identity still unknown. Ace waits for the sound of their departing footsteps to fully vanish before tugging the cloak off of his head.
"Ace!" Luffy chirps.
"Shhh," Ace warns, finger to his lips. Madam Pomfrey's hearing is second only to Madam Prince's. Luffy scoots over without being asked and Ace settles in the hospital bed beside his little brother.
"Did you see what happened to Colin?" Luffy asks.
"I was there when it happened."
Luffy's eyes widen. "Did you see—"
Ace shakes his head. "Missed it by a few seconds. But I can tell you one thing."
"What?"
"It's big."
Luffy and he exchange wide predatory grins. Because they're going to put an end to these attacks themselves.
After Ace's near-sighting of the creature, both boys are downright antsy about finding it. They're just itching to take whatever it is down.
Spurred on by this desire, they spend more and more time in the woods. Since Luffy's most recent remembrance of his crew, neither have been able to sleep well outside of History of Magic. Ace attributes the success of HoM naps to a combo of having Luffy directly beside him, and Binns' hypnotic tone. Considering that their nights aren't very productive anyways, the duo decide to start using the late hours for practice. Every night they pull on Luffy's large invisibility cloak and sneak carefully out the castle into the Forbidden Forest.
Since Hermione joined their group, they had cut back on their training considerably. It didn't strike them until now where they could get that time back. Now that they've thought of it though, they're back to their daily (or rather nightly) visits to the dark woods.
Ace figures that they're back to the strength they possessed at this age, which is pretty impressive for this world, but still leaves both boys dissatisfied. They realize that there is a limit to how strong they can get their prepubescent bodies, much to their unhappiness. There are some skills they can work on, though. Haki stands at the forefront. Remembering back to the time with Bluejam and the great fire at Grey-Terminal, Ace knows that Haki, or at least Conqueror's Haki, is possible at this point. Interestingly enough, it seems like Armament will come sooner than anything else. They've had a few close calls where they manage to get a partial manifestation, but nothing too solid.
To practice Armament they have to do a lot of punching. Neither Ace nor Luffy complain about this, although the inhabitants of the forest certainly do. The crashes and explosions spur Hagrid to wonder concernedly about the monsters in the woods when they meet him for tea, and Ace and Luffy just exchange sheepish looks. Their destruction also leads a centaur to confront them and kindly ask that they not destroy so many trees. After the glitter and stars fade from Luffy's eyes, they both apologize to the centaur for the trouble and he's on his way. The downside to this interaction is that they have to be more careful with their strength. Considering they're training Armament, this is not conducive at all. So their training hits a small barrier, leaving both boys frustrated.
It's while they're in that mindset that the brothers stumble across a flyer for a new dueling club. While Ace thinks that he'll always find physical fighting to be most effective and easy, there's no harm in checking the club out and maybe learning a trick or two. The pair grin before dragging Hermione away from her homework to join them.
Her reluctance to abandon her studies vanishes when none other than Gilderoy Lockhart appears on stage.
"Ughhh," Luffy groans. Hermione quickly shushes him as she stands on tip-toe to get a better view.
Both brothers exchange unhappy looks and concede that this was a waste of time, though Ace will admit that seeing Snape send their ostentatious Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher spiraling into the wall was worth the time lost. It isn't particularly the way Ace wants to spend his evening though, so he gestures to the door in askance. Luffy's right about to agree when all the eyes in the room turn on him.
"Eh?" Luffy asks slowly.
"I said, Harry, my boy, why don't you come up here as a volunteer," Lockhart says grandly, willfully ignorant of the bits of rubble and dust on his shoulders from his collision with the wall.
Ace sympathizes, really he does, but that doesn't mean he can't find the utterly repulsed look on his little brother's face amusing as Luffy reluctantly goes onto the stage.
"Atta boy! Now for another volunteer. Ah, well, why don't we pick this young Ravenc—"
"Malfoy should be sufficient," Snape inserts smoothly.
"Er, yes, perfect. He'll do very nicely." Lockhart gestures to both of them. "Now then, I want your wands at the ready, and remember to use only disarming spells."
What that really means for Luffy is no physical attacks. Ace is actually a little anxious to see if his brother will pull it off.
Predictably, the little spar (and it doesn't necessarily fit Ace's definition of the word, but oh well) doesn't go as Lockhart planned. Both Luffy and Malfoy seem to be enjoying casting every other spell besides the disarming one Lockhart and Snape demonstrated. Ace knows it's because Luffy has no intention of ending their fight any earlier than he has to. As for Malfoy, well, it mostly has to do with his inability to land a single hit on Luffy. Ace snorts. He didn't see it going any other way.
It also has a little to do with Luffy's desire to experiment with the different spells they've learned. Seeing as they're still only second years, their repertoire isn't exactly extensive, which just means Luffy gets creative with Wingardium Leviosa and Flipendo. When Malfoy returns to the ground from his impromptu flight and subsequent impression of a piñata, he's absolutely livid.
Face curled with fury as Luffy laughs and dances out of the way of yet another spell, Malfoy shouts "Serpensortia!"
Ace hadn't expected the appearance of a large black snake on the table, but he's not worried. His brother has wrestled with meaner snakes than that little thing. Unfortunately the serpent doesn't go for Luffy. It heads for Justin Finch Fletchley, a Hufflepuff. Screams ring out in the room, and Snape and Lockhart raise their wands, spells on the tip of their lips—
Ace hears a soft hissing sound. He blinks, uncertain. Because it sounded like it was coming from his little brother, but why—
Luffy hisses towards the snake again, coercing it away from the trembling Hufflepuff. Incredibly, the snake hisses something back, making Luffy laugh brightly before he seemingly replies with another hiss. Luffy is speaking Parseltongue, isn't he...?
Ace face-palms as everything comes together. Typical. Not only is his brother a bloody Parselmouth, but he also seems delighted by the fact. He probably doesn't have the first clue what this means. Before Ace can say something to stop the display, the snake slithers towards Luffy. His brother extends his left hand, and after a moment of hesitation, the black snake curls itself around his brother's palm and slips up his arm, disappearing into his robes.
Luffy's laughter echoes in the absolutely dead silent hall at the ticklish sensation. After a moment, he leaps off the stage and runs up to Ace.
"Ace! Look! It's a talking snake!" Luffy grins. "Say hello!" The head of the snake pokes out from his brother's collar and hisses towards Ace.
The older brother groans. "It isn't a talking snake, you dummy!"
"What? But she's talking to me right now." Luffy's brow furrows and he hisses something unintelligible.
"Idiot. You're a Parselmouth! It means you can talk to snakes." Ace is all too aware of their captive audience, and he desperately wishes they could be having this conversation in private, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
"Oh." Luffy blinks. "That's cool."
Multiple Gryffindors facepalm and groan while a few Slytherins snicker. Everyone else is still too stunned to do anything but stare. Snape seems to have recovered himself though, seeing as he's billowing towards them dramatically.
"I'll be taking that snake, Mr. Potter."
"Eh?! But she likes me!"
"That does not change the fact that you cannot keep... her." Snape sneers.
"Why not?" Luffy frowns heavily. "She can be my pet!"
"The rules state that only a Cat, Owl, or Toad be permitted," Snape informs him snidely.
"Ace has a rat!" Luffy exclaims, almost accusingly. It's a testament to Luffy's consistent strangeness that Snape actually understands who he's talking about.
"Mr. Weasley's rat is not an incredibly deadly viper. Although considering its owner, rabid might not be out of the question." Snape mutters the last part, but not quietly enough for Ace to miss it and he feels a vein in his forehead growing.
"But I already have a name for her." Luffy smiles. "Snakey!"
Silence, followed by giggles, chuckles, and outright guffaws (courtesy of the Weasley twins) come from the student body present.
"That may be the stupidest name I've ever heard for a snake," Snape deadpans. And for the first and last time, Ace actually agrees with the dark haired man.
"She likes it, don't you, Snakey?" Luffy then proceeds to hiss to 'Snakey' excitedly. The hissing stops all of the sound in the hall again as the students resume fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Cat, Owl, or Toad," Snape grits out.
"Hey, Harry." Ace nudges his brother. "You can only have one. So you'd have to give up Hedwig."
Luffy's face falls. After a moment, he reluctantly extends his hand towards Snape, and 'Snakey' slides into his palm from the depths of his robes.
Snape retrieves the snake with a disdainful look to Luffy, who looks very upset. It'd be a moving scene, were Luffy not still hissing what Ace suspected to be tearful goodbyes to the serpent.
After Snape disappears down the hallway, Ace goes up beside his brother and wraps an arm around his shoulder. "I'll get you a snake for your birthday. That way you can keep it over the summer, okay?" Ace says quietly. Luffy gives him a slight small smile before nodding.
Hermione shows exactly how well she knows her friend when she innocently breaks the silence to ask, "Isn't it dinner time?"
Luffy immediately perks up.
"Food!" he cheers. "Race you, Ace!"
And he's gone from the hall, leaving Hermione and Ace to make a considerably more awkward exit, guided by their peers' stares and silence (in addition to the twins' persistent chuckles). He and Hermione jog to the Great Hall, and when Ace spies Luffy sitting at the table, cheerily eating, he walks over and proceeds to bop his brother over the head.
Luffy looks up from his plate curiously. "Did you want me to wait for you? I told you it was a race."
"That's not it, we—" Ace runs a hand through his hair. From the corner of his eyes, he sees students from their little seminar floating in, flocking towards their other friends who weren't present— no doubt to gossip. His suspicions are confirmed when moments later, a considerable number of eyes turn his brother's way.
"Harry, being a Parselmouth is an incredibly rare ability," Hermione starts in lecture mode now that they're away from the crowd.
"Really? That's neat," Luffy comments mildly, biting into a biscuit.
"The most well-known Parselmouths are Salazar Slytherin, the founder of the Slytherin house, and You-Know-Who!" Hermione finishes heatedly.
"Ah." Luffy slows his eating as he processes this.
"People are going to think you're the Heir of Slytherin!" Ace finally says.
Luffy blinks. "That's stupid. I'm not the heir."
Hermione rolls her eyes. "We know that. It's everyone else you should be concerned about."
As Ace predicted, Luffy just laughs the issue off and finishes eating.
"Nothing gets to him, does it?!" Hermione exclaims incredulously, all too aware of the stares their little group is generating.
Ace takes a deep breath and sighs.
"There's nothing for it," he says, calm now.
"At least he's consistent," Hermione manages, still looking slightly cross at Luffy's easy dismissal.
"Isn't that the truth?" Ace grins.
Ace wishes he could say that he manages to keep his cool, relaxed façade up while the topic dies out, but that would be untrue. In the coming week, his frustration mounts as he hears story after story, each more unbelievable than the last about Luffy's 'true origin.' Ace worries about how the rumors are affecting his younger sister, but she doesn't seem too phased. In fact, he doesn't see her very much these days. Hopefully it's because she's made friends already. He should try and check up with her more often.
Speaking of family, Fred and George aren't making the situation any better, capitalizing on the opportunity to make a good joke. They walk in front of Luffy, declaring to make way for 'the Heir of Slytherin.' Admittedly, Luffy doesn't help, because he takes great joy in hissing at people every time the twins make the proclamation.
Though Ace wishes he wouldn't – if only to stop the nefarious rumors – Luffy's cheerfulness is a welcome change from the generally dark campus. Ever since the blood was found on the wall, the school has taken on a gloomier tone. Students have been warned by their professors to stay in groups for their own safety. Ace thinks it's a tad overdramatic, but considering how young all the kids are, he can't fully blame their fear. (Not that he understands, mind you. A mysterious monster roaming the hallways? Sounds awesome to him. Even when he was first twelve, he'd still think it was the best thing to happen to the school since the troll he and Luffy found last Halloween.)
Even as they enter the Great Hall for breakfast, Hermione scolds Luffy for his continual rude behavior towards Lockhart, but Ace knows she's grateful for the normalcy. Noting the muted air surrounding the other tables, where Luffy's lighthearted smiles can't quite reach, Ace knows that all of them could do with a little normalcy.
"I've been thinking," Hermione begins once they sit down, drawing Ace from his thoughts. "Instead of focusing on tracking down the monster, why don't we try to discover who the Heir of Slytherin is?"
"Because humans don't put up as much of a fight as monsters," Luffy answers plainly. Ace shakes his head in disagreement as he starts loading his plate.
"Generally." In their old life, humans were threatening as hell, but here, the mythical creatures are where the good fights are at.
"Generally," Luffy amends.
"Aren't either of you at all curious about the heir?" Hermione presses.
Luffy takes a large bite. "No," he says through a mouthful of food.
"Alright Hermione, out with it," Ace says, eyes keen. "Who do you suspect?"
"I don't suspect anyone," she says sternly. After a moment she leans closer. "I do, however, have a hunch."
Ace barely suppresses a snort at her behavior. "Alright, who's your hunch?"
"Malfoy," Hermione whispers conspiratorially.
Ace and Luffy exchange looks before breaking out into snickers.
"What?!" Hermione's face goes red with frustration.
"Malfoy?" Ace asks, incredulous.
"I don't see why you're laughing," she says primly.
"He's pathetic," Luffy says plainly.
"And he's, like, twelve. Not exactly prime material to be the Heir of Slytherin," Ace adds.
"And he's pathetic." Luffy nods.
Hermione frowns. "Age isn't necessarily relevant."
"Then why not do it last year? Why wait a year if age doesn't matter?"
"Maybe he wanted to be more familiar with the castle," Hermione tries, but Ace can tell that even she's not fully convinced.
"Plus, he's pathetic," Luffy says once more.
"Luffy has a point." Ace shrugs. "I just don't think Malfoy actually has it in him." He's known plenty of killers and violent human beings in his life, and Malfoy doesn't have that same abandon and lack of sympathy that those people have.
Hermione makes a short sound of frustration. "Won't you even consider it?!"
Luffy and Ace exchange noncommittal gestures.
"Well, if not Malfoy, then who could it possibly be?" Hermione asks. It's rhetorical, but both boys answer her anyway.
"Upperclassman," Ace suggests idly.
"A teacher."
Hermione and Ace's eyes whip to Luffy for completely different reasons.
"That's actually a pretty good suggestion, Lu," Ace says thoughtfully.
"It is not!" Hermione splutters, absolutely scandalized.
"Won't you even consider it?" Luffy echoes her earlier words innocently.
The older brother sees their third friend is about to blow her top, and makes a concession.
"Okay, so let's say that maybe Malfoy might possibly potentially be the heir. What do you want to do about it?"
Her eyes light with something eager that makes Ace decidedly uncomfortable.
"I've been reading about a potion that lets the user transform physically to match another human being."
"And?" Luffy asks, not understanding.
"We could pretend to be a few of Malfoy's friends and ask him about the Chamber!"
"...How long have you been sitting on this plan?" Ace asks, running a hand through his hair. Though her willingness to break the rules is refreshing, this kind of plan is incredibly typical for her.
"A few days, but what does that matter?" she asks. Her eyes are triumphant, and Ace has a feeling this can only lead to bad things.
"Do you honestly think Harry could go undercover?"
Hermione winces, and Ace grins.
"Well, we'd both be there to cover for him—" She pauses for a moment. "Where's Harry going?"
Ace turns to his side and notices a gap in the air that should be occupied by his little brother. His suspicions are panning out much, much sooner than he anticipated, as Ace watches with muted horror as his little brother trots over to the Slytherin table, right up to their platinum blond classmate. Malfoy greets his little brother with something likely derisive, but Luffy remains unfazed. After the blond finishes talking, Luffy opens his mouth, and even though Ace can't hear what he's saying, he already knows.
The Slytherin table goes dead silent, and several of the surrounding people's mouths fall open at the straightforwardness of Luffy's question. In direct reaction, the other tables fall quiet, watching curiously what's going down at the Slytherin table.
"What?!" Malfoy asks incredulously.
Luffy frowns. "I asked if you were the Heir of Slytherin." In the sudden silence, the words are like a shout.
"Hurry, go calm them down," Hermione urges.
Ace stands up and makes a b-line to his brother. Time to diffuse the situation before it escalates too much.
"What business of it is yours, Potter?!" Malfoy spits.
"Just curious," Luffy replies simply.
"I don't owe a mudblood like you anything!" Malfoy says with a sneer. Somehow, the already quiet hall gets even more silent. Maybe that's just Ace though, because all he hears is the blood rushing through his ears.
"Yes, I asked my father about your mother. Muggleborn. It's disgusting! The rumors about you being the heir to Slytherin are a joke!"
"Huh?" Luffy tilts his head.
Malfoy laughs nastily. "Of course a mudblood like you wouldn't even know what I'm talking about!" The Slytherin table is quick to echo the sentiment. It only makes Ace's hands clench. By the time he reaches Malfoy, he has two perfect fists ready at his side.
"What did you say?" Ace asks lowly, dangerously.
Malfoy arches an eyebrow. "What's it matter to you? Oh, that's right, your parents are blood-traitors, aren't they? Muggle-lovers."
"I asked. What. You called. My brother." Ace states lowly.
"Brother? Doesn't your family have enough children?" Malfoy asks. More laughter. "Doubt you can afford another."
Suddenly, his fists don't seem adequate for the job. Quick as a flash, he grabs his wand from his robe.
Malfoy draws out his own, a challenge in his eyes.
"What did you call him?" Ace asks one more time.
"Mudblood." Malfoy draws the word out with a foul grin. "Wouldn't be surprised to find out your family has mud in their blood too. After this generation, certainly. No proper pureblood would marry into a family like yours. So I suppose it's fitting that he's your broth—"
With a single thought, flames gather around the two of them. Screams and gasps of panic resound from the hallway. And suddenly, there is no laughter. Malfoy's eyes are blown wide with fear as he looks to either side and finds only the thick, searing embrace of flames. Nothing from outside the fire can be seen, and only shrieks of panic can be heard.
Ace walks up to him slowly, predatorily, with a promise of pain in his eyes.
"Listen to me, Malfoy," Ace says calmly, a single flame dancing idly in his palm. "If I ever hear you talk about my family like that or call my brother mudblood again, they're going to have to cast an identification spell on your ashes to find out who you are when I'm done with you."
"M-my f-f-father—"
"You really think I give a fuck about who your father is?" Ace leans in close, bringing the flame up with him so it hovers just beside Malfoy's cheek, singeing a few blond hairs.
"Never speak about my family like that again. Or your parents will need to find a new heir for their fortune."
Malfoy nods hastily, tears hovering on the edges of his eyes.
"Aqua Eructo!"
Suddenly, a torrent of water shoots out at them, extinguishing the flames. Ace smothers the flame in his palm. He shakes his wet hair out before examining the rest of the hall. Everyone's eyes are wide, staring at him with shock and fear— well, everyone except the rest of the Weasley family whose mouths are open with surprise, Hermione, who looks pissed, and his little brother who's smiling at him.
He finds almost every professor lined up in front of him. It's McGonagall who has her wand extended towards them. Beside him, Malfoy collapses, trembling. Ace doesn't spare him a glance.
"What is the meaning of this!?" she demands sharply.
Malfoy starts muttering accusatory things his direction, but his volume hasn't come back to him yet, so they're mostly whispers.
"Malfoy called Harry a mudblood," Ace explains.
"And so you cast a high level fire spell and almost burn this building down?!" she cries.
"I—" Ace is about to say 'hell yeah,' when his eyes meet Katie Bell's, and he suddenly realizes that if he gets in trouble he'll miss their first quidditch match. He should probably at least try to get out of it. Not like he can dig himself any deeper.
"I didn't do anything," he lies, straight-faced. From the floor, Malfoy splutters, and dozens of other students are clamoring over each other to explain what they each saw.
"Enough." Snape's dark tone cuts through the hallway. A sly look enters his eyes that Ace does not like. "There are easier ways to settle this matter. Wand, Weasley," he orders, holding out his hand.
Ace doesn't know what's going on, but reluctantly extends his mangled willow wand to the professor. Snape looks disdainfully at the magic tape holding it together, but points his own black wand towards it.
"Prior Incantato." A malicious grin spreads over the potion's professor's face... but after a moment it falters. Because a wispy image of a feather appears in front of Ace's wand. He frowns, and casts it again. Another feather appears.
"Prior Incantato, Prior Incantato, Prior Incantato!" Feather after feather appears. It doesn't mean anything to Ace, but from the bemused looks on the professors' and some of the upper class students' faces, it means something to them.
"Prior Incantato—"
"That's enough, Severus."
Every head whips around to Dumbledore, who silently entered the room during the spectacle. The professors quickly part, allowing him to the front where the drama is taking place.
"Suffice to say, young Mr. Weasley has not cast a fire enchantment any time recently." Dumbledore looks piercingly at him over his half-moon spectacles. Ace keeps his expression flat, and eyes forward.
"We saw him draw his wand," Severus snaps.
"Oi! Malfoy drew his wand too!" Fred pipes up from the Gryffindor side of the room. The rest of the table is quick to back him up.
"Silence!" Snape barks. He turns back to his superior with a much more controlled tone. "Surely you don't think Mr. Malfoy has anything to do with it."
"I do not think anything. As it is unlikely that Mr. Weasley cast a silent and wandless high level fire spell, we can only assume he is innocent." Dumbledore raises a hand when Severus opens his mouth to protest. "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."
"Is anyone hurt?" McGonagall asks, interrupting the staring contest between the headmaster and potions professor.
She receives murmurs of 'no' and shakes of heads.
"Very good." Dumbledore nods. "Then I think it best if all the students head back to their dorms to regroup before class. This can be investigated further later, but as no one is currently aware of any injuries, we shouldn't keep them here any later. Classes await." Turning his pale blue eyes towards the student body, he says, "Dismissed."
Everyone starts with surprise, before scrambling out of their seats and congregating into little groups. They're whispering, but Ace can practically hear every word being said. He rolls his eyes. At least Luffy isn't the center of attention this time. Speaking of, his brother is standing before a malevolent looking potions professor with his hand extended.
"Wand?"
Severus looks about ready to give him a piece of his mind, but McGonagall's stern gaze keeps his jaw firmly in place. He shoves the wand into Luffy's hand before spinning on his heel and disappearing down the hallway. Luffy then happily returns it to his brother.
McGonagall then turns to them and says quietly, but seriously, "I don't know what happened here, boys, but I don't want to see a repeat incident. Violence against another student can warrant expulsion. And I don't mind telling you that after your stunt earlier this year, I'd be much less inclined to forgive another incident like this."
"Yes, Professor," Ace and Luffy say in tandem. With a curt nod, she too heads out the doors. Most everyone has emptied out of the Great Hall, except Hermione, who's waiting for them by the Gryffindor table, toe tapping impatiently and arms crossed.
"That was so incredibly irresponsible of you, Ron!" she hisses as they head out of the Great Hall.
"I know, I know." It was probably a little far considering, as he said earlier, Malfoy is only twelve. Ace is impressed he didn't shit his pants, to be frank.
"I told you to calm them down, not start a fire!" she continues.
"We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning," Luffy quips plainly.
Ace blinks as Hermione's face becomes sourer.
"Harry, now is not the time for jokes!"
"What—" Ace begins.
"Muggle thing," Hermione says, waving the question away. "It doesn't matter. What does, is your behavior! You could've been expelled."
"You heard what he called Harry," Ace protests mildly.
She bites her lip. "I did."
"What's mudblood mean?" Luffy asks.
"It's a derogatory way of referring to people with nonmagical blood. Muggleborns, like me, or halfbloods with only one magical parent. They call them dirty blood," Hermione explains.
"Rude!" Luffy exclaims, looking rather irritated now that he understands. Ace knows that had he not already gotten payback, Luffy would turn right around and find the blond Slytherin.
"I'm not going to let him call my friends that." Ace shrugs his shoulders and says to Hermione, "If he'd said it to you, I'd have done the same thing."
Her face glows and a wide smile spreads over her lips. After a moment, Hermione catches herself and reigns her expression back to a scolding air.
"Still incredibly irresponsible," she says again. Ace can only smile.
"What's this, Fred? Our little brother is getting into fights?"
Ace, Luffy, and Hermione whip around to find Fred and George waiting by the entrance of the Great Hall for them. Between the twins is a very upset looking Percy.
"I dunno George. Seems awfully unlike him."
"But he's got a temper, that he does," George points out, nudging Percy.
"Indeed he does," Fred agrees, poking Percy's shoulder.
"Remember the time we turned his stuffed animal into a spider?" Nudge.
"Wouldn't talk to us for ages." Poke.
"Fire's new though." Nudge.
"So is tricking snippy-Snape like that." Poke.
"We couldn't be prouder," they finished as one and jab Percy in unison.
Their older brother snaps and smacks both their hands away. Face red with anger and clearly flustered, he turns to Ace.
"Ron, I hope you know how inappropriate your behavior was today! Threatening a fellow classmate! It's a miracle that no House Points were taken away. If I ever see you engaging in this kind of behavior I will be certain to take them away myself. It was just so—so—"
"Incredibly irresponsible," Ace finishes dryly for his brother.
"Exactly! Be aware that our parents will be hearing about this. Now hurry on back. I've a meeting to attend with the other prefects. Stay out of trouble." With one last stern look, Percy takes off the opposite direction, Head Boy pin gleaming in the torchlight.
Ace shakes his head. Percy's unique for sure. Though he really hopes Percy wasn't serious about telling their parents. Howlers should have a one year use clause.
"Pray tell, little brother, how exactly you pulled that one off?" Fred asks draping an arm over Ace's shoulders.
"Pulling the wool over Snape's eyes like that—" George starts, arm over his opposite side.
"And beating that enchantment?"
"Share with the class!" George finishes.
Ace snorts before worming out of their grasps.
"Tell you how I did that? As if; you two get into enough trouble without adding fire to the mixture."
Hermione nods approvingly while Luffy lets out a cheerful laugh at their downtrodden expressions. They perk up immediately, and turn their attentions on Luffy.
"Ronnie-kins is keeping so many secrets from us Fred." George sighs.
"First the secret behind his last trick—"
"And now the existence of our long lost brother!"
Ace flushes a little as he remembers his slip, but shrugs the feeling off. He's glad that everyone now knows not to mess with Luffy anymore. Besides, it feels good to claim him again. Beating someone up on his behalf doesn't seem right if he can't excuse his actions by explaining the right of older brothers to defend their little brothers. Luffy smiles wider.
"He might as well be a member. Humiliating the Malfoys is now a family tradition," Ace says, grinning.
"Oh?" Fred inquires.
"Do go on," his twin encourages.
"You remember that fuss in the papers about Mr. Malfoy casting on a child?"
Their eyes widen with remembrance and their combined gaze darts to Luffy.
"Him?"
"Oh yeah. He screamed 'stranger danger' so loud, they probably heard him in the deepest Gringotts vaults."
"Welcome to the family, Harry," George declares holding out his hand to shake. Fred extends his over his brother's, making Luffy twist to shake both of them at the same time.
"Ginny's going to be delighted," Fred says as they head up the enchanted staircases.
"Or will she? You know how society views those kinds of relationships between family members," George says, tone dramatic.
"You mean you still haven't told them... about us?!" Fred asks, gasping.
Ace rolls his eyes at the display. He's all too happy to reach the Fat Lady and end the twins' little production.
"Wattlebird," he says shortly. The minute the portrait opens, Ace steps through it— and into a mob of people. Dozens of questions ring out, one on top of the other in a cacophony of sounds. Ace blinks before sighing and pushing his way through the throng, ignoring the disappointed exclamations as he tugs his little brother along. Finally they reach their door and Ace is glad to shut it behind them. Or at least he would be, if Neville, Dean, and Seamus weren't waiting to pounce on him.
Before they can say anything, Luffy opens his mouth.
"I'm ready. Let's go to class," he announces.
"But—" Neville starts.
"Ready," Luffy cuts him off.
Seamus tries, "We just—"
"Class." Luffy intones.
"Harry, come on—" Dean is equally unsuccessful.
"Now." His blank gaze and flat tone brook no argument.
"You heard him," Ace grins as he grabs his textbooks for Transfiguration and Potions.
Three dispirited youths abandon the attempt with low, disappointed mutters.
Ace knows that Potions with Snape today will be a hellish experience, but Merlin, the fearful look on Malfoy's face was so worth it. Exchanging one last grin with his brother, they head out for the day.
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See you all next week...
Leave a review if you like! I'd enjoy reading it~
