This is a betaed chapter. Thank you so much, my dear Beta Blind_Alchemist! XD

Enjoy!

Contrary to the Wizarding public's widespread belief, the Dark Lord actually liked sweets.

Or, to be more accurate, he was able to at least tolerate them.

Well, alright; maybe, deep down, he knew he hated them, but he still could eat them. Especially sweets like cupcakes. With colourful icing on top of them. Yes, he could eat something like this. This was truly wonderful.

Because Harry had made it.

Marvolo stared at the box of cupcakes on top of his table in great concentration. Maybe he could use his magic to turn the cupcakes into something more bitter, or saltier. Surely turning a sweet cupcake into a bitter cupcake could not possibly be that hard? A cupcake devoid of taste would be wonderful as well. Well, the truth was, he didn't really care about the taste. The tricky bit was to change the taste or the substance in those cupcakes without altering the outer appearance at all, or the shape of the whole thing… it was akin to changing a vial of mature Draught of Living Death into a Wolfsbane potion, without touching the vial or adding any ingredients. That was so difficult, even trickier than drafting a plan to raid Hogwarts, for his Death Eaters.

And that was the moment Duddley Dursley came into the office.

"…What are you doing?" the whale of a boy hissed in Parseltongue. "…Are those cupcakes?" he asked, looking interested, but then scowled when he realized his mouth was leaking drool.

Covering up his embarrassment for being caught staring at some—Harry's—cupcakes, Marvolo cleared his throat in disgust and stood up. "Why are you here? I thoughtI told you to stay with Annana in the Chamber!"

The boy looked positively sick. "I am just bored, alright? And this body feels really disgusting. The feeling of hunger this boy experiences every single second is unhealthy. And… have you heard anything from Harry?"

"What?"Marvolo focused back on his Horcrux—who was currently residing inside the spare body of Harry's pig of a cousin—when he heard the word 'Harry'. "Why?"

The obese boy closed the walls of his mind and shook his head. "Never mind. I cannot wait until we merge. You owe me one."

Marvolo sneered at his Horcrux. The body of Harry's despicable Muggle cousin, which he'd taken with him the last time he'd visited 'number 4 Privet Drive,' was finally proving useful. By putting Tom inside the boy's body, Marvolo was provided ample control over the younger soul of Tom Riddle. Since it was the body of Muggle, Tom wouldn't have access to any magical sources and thus, even just performing 'Lumos' would be very taxing for him. It was the perfect non-magical jail to contain his first Horcrux before the year's end. But still, because he was basically still the descendant of Slytherin, Annana's stare wouldn't kill him.

It would be the perfect jail for Tom Riddle, until the day Marvolo finished his day job as a teacher in Hogwarts.

"Can I have one cupcake? This body is craving for sugar."

"No."Marvolo was surprised at how fast he answered, and how possessive he felt towards the cupcakes. He hated the sweets alright, but it was a present Harry had given him, and no, he wouldn't share even with his younger self.

"Fine. Suit yourself."The fat boy left through the hole, trying clumsily to climb up. Marvolo sneered. He had wanted to knock Tom into a state of obliviousness that would last until the day his teaching contract was finished, but then again, angering his younger self would be troublesome for his re-emerging emotional stability. Everything always turned out to be so complicated. He knew himself the best, and he could rightfully say that his mind was more complicated than a can of twisted flobberworms.

Realizing he had spent too much time thinking about stupid matter like cupcakes, Marvolo opened his drawer and pulled out the magical briefcase filled with documents and letters he needed to read before his debut at the Ministry of Magic. Lucius had done his job perfectly and when the time was right, the world would welcome Thomas Marvolo Riddle back as their behind-the-stage-King. But now he needed to set his affairs in order and the amount of documents he had to read was enormous. He hated paperwork. But if he wanted to control the Ministry from within, using their own elements, then pushing paperwork constituted a major component of the job's requirements.

His debut stage was already nearly prepared: he would start his Ministry career as the Head Deputy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—a.k.a., the Auror Department—just one seat under the Department Head, Amelia Bones. Lucius had bribed and pulled so many strings to get his Lord in this coveted position, and he'd succeeded in giving Marvolo the best seat he could obtain: not too low for the prospect of quickly climbing up the Ministry ladder, but not too high that people might start immediately suspecting something about it.

Thus, he was waiting patiently until the end of the term. By then, he would have the Tom Riddle Diary Horcrux, Hufflepuff's Cup, and maybe either the Locket or the Ring (it didn't matter which one became his last Horcrux, as long as the main part of his soul had returned by then, and he would be back to his former glorious, cunning and attractive self) and then he would have his original body back. Hopefully with all the natural hairs attached.

So he needed to be patient until the end of the year. He had already achieved his goal of getting the Diary back. Yet he couldn't use Harry as his emotional and mental outlet, his "escape" anymore. Since the duel with Serverus, Marvolo had sensed that the Potion Master had long last realized, or at least, had suspected who he really was. The Potions Professor had since then taken great measures to avoid him and Harry. Now, Marvolo also felt Dumbledore's watchful eyes on him most of the time. Marvolo then knew that Serverus had gone to Dumbledore and had confided in him his suspicions. Thus, to reduce the others' suspicions, he should refrain from lavishing too much attention on Harry. It was a pity, though. Harry was the only source of amusement he had in that castle. Nevertheless, he would return to Harry when he'd gained his body and most of his soul back. At that point, he would openly give the boy one of his deepest wishes: a hug.

And maybe then, he could apologize… No, he was the Dark Lord, and the Dark Lord never apologized! But he felt guilt eating away at his chest, especially when he saw how Tom's disappearance had hurt the child. Harry's tears were so honest. And the boy, as usual, refused any sort of help. Marvolo had been so worried, but he couldn't search for the child, as he had another class after.

He was relieved when he saw Harry at dinner time. The boy looked pale and dejected, and he was fussed over by his Slytherin classmates. The attention made the boy look uncomfortable. Marvolo silently sneered behind his mask, cursing those imbeciles who tried to get closer to his Harry. They didn't know Harry at all, like how Marvolo knew Harry. All they did was cause the boy to alienate himself even more. True to his predictions, he watched as the boy closed himself away to the world again. Tom Marvolo Riddle wasn't the poster boy for adolescent mental health, but he knew that if Harry kept doing this, someday he would go completely insane, maybe to an even more severe degree than what Marvolo had undergone in making his six Hocruxes. The boy was practically killing himself slowly. And Marvolo would never let the child achieve his death wish. Never.

But the weird thing was, every time he tried to get closer to Harry, somehow random obstacles and various hindrances would come up, get in his way, and prevent him from talking to the boy. It happened every single time. Whenever he saw Harry in the corridor, somehow, somebody always managed to pass him by at that exact moment and distract him; or another teacher or student would call to him and ask him about something; or he'd suddenly remember that he had something to do, that would steer him away from the direction of Harry. Even in class, he couldn't assign Harry any more detentions because of Dumbledore's aroused suspicions. Honestly, it seemed like the only time they could actually talk was when Harry himself wanted to approach Marvolo. Even then, Harry would immediately jet afterwards, like when he ran straightaway after delivering the cupcakes. Marvolo suspected that Snape had something to do with everything, but since he couldn't jeopardize his current position by adding to the growing list of suspicions of the Potions Master, Marvolo just kept to himself, trying to be content with just watching Harry as much as he could from a distance.

He just hoped that Harry still remembered his promise to stay alive for 'Marvolo' until he could get his body back. And then, he would take Harry under his wing.

Sliding back through the tunnel and into the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle was well aware that he was not amused. He was trapped inside a whale of a boy's body and now he was without his usual magic as well. The only capabilities he'd retained were his ability to speak Parseltongue, and his Slytherin-endowed blessings. Annana had long given up trying to eat him, and since Tom wasn't as 'adorable' (that was the exact term Annana had used) as Harry, the serpent had chosen to ignore the younger self of Marvolo. He hated the body so much, especially after Marvolo told him whose body it was. His older self was utterly disgusted by the Muggle boy and his Squib mother, and Tom had no choice but to agree with him when he heard the story behind Harry's 10 years of abuse in their household.

Tom himself wanted to torture the boy, but he would do it once he re-merged with Marvolo. He would burn this body slowly—until the fat deposited under the skin of the belly melted away, slowly and painfully. He would cut the boy's eyelids so that he himself could watch how he burned in the dancing flames on top of his stomach… oh, there were so many possibilities, Tom was almost giddy from excitement.

But it would all come later. Revenge—it would be so sweet. Now he was still trapped inside this foolish body and his older self was keeping him down in the dark with Annana, in the Chamber of Secrets. It was very boring for Tom. The only thing he could do all day was immersing himself in the books from Slytherin's library, of which he had already read most of. He chose to re-read these books, or he would be spending all his time instead trying to eat as much as humanly possible, because this disgusting body felt hunger all the time.

There was actually one thing he didn't want his older self to know. He actually went once to the Room of Requirement, to get a library book. The Room of Requirement granted one unlimited access to any Hogwarts library book, as long as the book wasn't taken out from the room. Tom needed to research for the Necromancy questions Harry had asked last time, and so he went there hoping that he could gain something.

Imagine his shock when he saw Harry come out from the room. Both were shocked at the sight of the other, and neither moved an inch for several long seconds. Tom could see how pale and dejected Harry was. His eyes were red and cracked; it seemed like the boy had been crying and crying. Of course, Tom was instantly curious as to why Harry had been crying, but he was robbed of his chance to ask when Harry turned and ran away, so fast, away from him. Tom in his current obese body couldn't stand a chance of catching up. And now that he thought about it, it was good that Harry had gone away before he could ask the boy what had happened—he could have easily blown his cover. With this, at least Harry could dismiss his sighting of Tom as a figment of his imagination, or a hallucination.

He was very sure that if his older self knew about the incident, he would be very angry. His older self had a serious issue with controlling his temper about certain matters. Especially whenever the matter concerned Harry, the boy. He wasn't sure why. And his older self had only promised to explain why once they merged.

A bit of a suspicious thought filled his mind. There was this one nagging notion about the weird, uncharacteristically emotional acts of his older self: couldn't it be possible that Marvolo, the Lord Voldemort, actually loved one little orphaned boy called Harry?

Ridiculous. It couldn't be. He huffed, cursing again the excess fat that was currently hindering his movement. He really would torture this body when he was finally freed from it.

Hogwarts was eerily empty. Most of the teachers had gone back to their respective families and homes for the holidays, leaving the castle silent and dark.

Harry walked along the corridor by himself. It was very silent—making him feel as though he were the last person on Earth. The silence was more welcome than the usual attention he got from his peers. Harry wished the castle he could stay like this, silent and empty, forever. He didn't want to be around other wizards anymore. All they ever did was eventually leave him and hurt him. Marvolo, Tom, Dumbledore, and now even Professor Snape. Professor Snape had showed so clearly how people eventually got bored of Harry. The Professor hadn't said a single word to him ever since the end of final exams, and now he wasn't sure what to do.

Watching his friends enter the Express in delightful, cheerful moods, Harry couldn't help but feel empty inside. His friends had families and homes to go back to. He had no such thing. This emptiness was akin to those initial feelings of watching the owl post pass him by during the first few lonely mornings of the school year, all over again. Furthermore, he was forbidden to board the train by Professor Flitwick, who was on duty. Professor Flitwick had said that Harry was supposed to stay at Hogwarts, and had even asked Professor Snape how he should proceed.

Harry uneasily bit his lip, because he knew that the Potions Master wouldn't want to see him. Harry didn't want to anger the Potions Master any more than how he already had. Especially now that his relatives had rejected him and made clear that he wasn't welcome him in their house anymore. Professor Snape had told him during their last holiday that he would now be his guardian, and that he would protect Harry. But now, it seemed this was just another empty promise. Adults always gave children empty promises. He had been deceived again, as usual.

If Professor Snape refused to take him in, then where should he go…? Would he become a ward of Hogwarts ward, and clean the place with Mr. Filch? Or maybe he would be expelled from Hogwarts, and he would need to find one of the shelters the Goblin had told him about last summer. Maybe he should start a business or something to sustain himself. He could open a cleaning or housekeeping service; he knew he excelled at this, thanks to his life-long 'education' at the Dursleys'. Or the worst-case scenario yet—and the most possible, since his luck was always bad—Harry might end up being sent to an orphanage.

This last option was the most plausible outcome that might happen. Harry bit his lip. Was there any orphanage for magical children? Or would he go to a Muggle one? If that were the case, could he still return to Hogwarts next year? He was sure that his marks were good enough to pass onto the next level. He didn't know that he actually held the second highest marks in his year, only behind one Hermione Granger.

He was heading straight to the strange Room of Requirement at floor 7, and when he found it, he searched for the Mirror. Maybe he could soothe himself by looking at the images of his parents. It didn't matter that they never talked or responded to him. Just seeing them was enough.

The Mirror was still standing in the same place. Harry smiled and watched his own reflection standing across him from the other side of the mirror, smiling back at him. Behind his image were two adults, his father and his mother. After taking a deep breath, Harry let go of everything, all his pent-up emotions, and spoke.

"Father, mother… I might be expelled tonight and I will be leaving soon from Hogwarts. I am not sure where I will go, but I just want… I want to say thank you. It is always nice to see you. At least now I finally know how you both used to look like."

The images both nodded at him, and suddenly, they disappeared. Harry sighed. Maybe the Mirror knew of his wish. He had given up on meeting his parents through the Mirror. And that was why the Mirror turned greyish and nothing was reflected anymore. Because now Harry James Potter had nothing else to wish for. He had given up. He couldn't even find the solution of death he'd always wanted. Pathetic.

So then he walked out and began waiting inside the library, silently reading as much as he could before everything came to an end. So many books teetering around him, making Harry realize how precious time for studying was. He was immersing himself in the world of knowledge when suddenly Dobby came to him and asked him to get dinner in the Great Hall. Harry complied and went. Now he was sitting amongst the handful of teachers left in the castle, including Serverus Snape and Pomona Sprout. Throughout the dinner, Harry kept sending wayward glances towards the Potions Master. It seemed that Professor Snape wasn't paying attention to him at all, and he ignored all of Harry's signals. So Harry braced himself before following the professor out of the Great Hall, and asked as him his question as politely as possible.

"Professor, when am I going to the orphanage?"

The professor was stunned and he stopped walking towards the dungeon. He turned back instead, to face the boy. "Orphanage…?"

"Because you have revoked your guardianship of me, and so I am now without home or guardian, so I can only assume that I am going to the orphanage. Is there any magical orphanage, or am I going to a Muggle one?"

The words pierced Serverus Snape's chest. He suddenly felt so guilty. The child was asking him when he would go to an orphanage! Harry believed that Snape didn't want him anymore, and so, the boy would be sent to orphanage. That was why the boy had been so silent throughout dinner. That was why the boy had looked like he was waiting for something.

Harry was waiting for his verdict. He was waiting to be sent to the orphanage. He was waiting to be abandoned again.

Serverus clenched his fist. He was making the same mistake again. He had promised to protect the boy, but now he'd been ignoring the boy until the boy himself asked him when he would be abandoned. And those eyes, Lily's eyes, were watching him in trepidation, waiting for his verdict, ready to accept whatever Severus would say next.

"Harry, I… I am sorry. You definitely won't go to any orphanage, child. Your place is inside this castle, with me, or inside my house. I am still your guardian."

Harry stared sceptically at the Professor. What did he mean by that?

"You don't need to force yourself to do anything, professor. I can see that you are already fed up with me. I understand and you don't need to lie, Professor. I am just wondering when would I be sent away, and how should I pay you for everything you have done for me? I am very thankful for everything, sir. Is money acceptable?"

Snape took a deep breath and kneeled down until he was at Harry's eye level. He caught the look in the child's eyes and saw the despair and submission in those eyes. The boy was showing no emotion in his face, but his eyes were too honest to lie. And his posture was that of a defeated man. The boy had concluded that Snape loathed him. The boy had lost his faith in Snape. Harry had even wanted to pay him to show his gratefulness. What had he done?

"Harry… I am really sorry. I wasn't ignoring you; I was too busy being wrapped up in my own research and investigations. I was trying to protect you from Lockhart, because I have a suspicion of who he really is, that I must confirm. I am sorry that I gave you the impression that I was ignoring you. I didn't mean to do anything of the sort."

"…So you didn't ask me to come back to your quarters… not because you started to loathe me?" Harry whispered softly.

Snape nodded. "I was too immersed in my thoughts to recognize your needs. I am truly sorry; would you forgive me? Please come back to my quarters now, and you can stay in your room for the remainder of the holiday."

"Are you sure, professor? I don't mind if you send me away. I understand if you do—even my blood relatives find me worthless and ungrateful. Maybe I… I can pay for the room I have in your quarters? I don't want to be a burden to you, sir."

"I am sure, Harry. This is my entire fault; please forgive me. How about I come with you to get your things from the Slytherin dorm? Come, child."

Harry nodded. His head was filled with scepticism. Maybe the Professor was just embarrassed to be reminded of his lie and that was why he apologized and suddenly became cordial again. Harry didn't understand the way adults thought. They continually betrayed their own promises and then when they were confronted about it, they always came out with another handy lie and tried to bury their mistakes. Was this true for all adults? Why couldn't they just forget their pride and be like his uncle, who wouldn't refrain from saying the hurtful truth to him? At least Uncle Vernon never lied to him. Knowing that he would never get a definite answer to his question, the boy gave up. Instead, Harry followed the Professor in silence, and together they went back to the Slytherin dorms.

Serverus Snape was at a loss. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. It was his fault, to ignore and neglect the child throughout the entire semester. Truthfully, after the duel with Lockhart, Snape began to develop a suspicion that maybe the DADA teacher wasn't at all what he looked like on the outside. When Snape had witnessed Lockhart unbelievably speaking to the snake in Parseltongue, Snape was forced to relive the scariest memory he had ever acquired, when he was still an active Death Eater—every single meeting with the Dark Lord had been was filled with those hissing voices traded between the Dark Lord and his serpent familiar.

He knew that the ability to speak to serpents was very rare, and the only one currently recorded to be able to use such language was the Dark Lord himself. To hear Lockhart hiss it easily towards the snake made his skin crawl and his mind open up to a possible epiphany. Maybe the Dark Lord was possessing Lockhart. He would expect no better from Lockhart, as the wizard was a useless idiot, but then again, it was out of character for the Dark Lord to lower himself and possess such a lowly, degrading individual.

Yet, when he linked everything back to the weird attention the man had lavished upon Harry since the start of the semester, it had all seemed to add up. The real Lockhart would have only paid attention to Harry due to Harry's fame as the Boy-Who-Lived. But if Lockhart was being possessed by the Dark Lord, then the act of sitting together (which Snape had caught him doing, red handed, last time), where the DADA Professor had showed such a vulgar, possessive attitude towards the boy, made more sense. The only plausible explanation was that the Dark Lord wanted to get closer to Harry, to deduce the boy's weaknesses.

And so he tried his best to protect the boy. He delved into his research heavily and produced a certain kind of talisman. This talisman was supposed to protect the bearer very subtlety—instead of giving outright magical protection, it emitted a compulsion charm that would hinder the attacker by introducing distractions, and other subtle tactics. This talisman served well for both him and Harry—he couldn't risk his cover being blown away if Lockhart was really the Dark Lord, but he needed to protect his charge. It seemed the talisman was working perfectly, as he didn't hear about any more private detentions between Harry and Lockhart.

Yet that wasn't all. Snape had actually gone to Dumbledore with his suspicions. The Headmaster had listened to his Potions Professor this time, perhaps because he didn't want to further damage his relationship with the Potions Master. That, and the fact that the Potions Master was always serious about Harry's well being.

Thus, he was busy doing everything possible to protect Harry, from behind the scenes. And in the process, he had managed to neglect the boy's well being. He forgot to engage the boy in their usual conversations. And Merlin knew the boy needed the interaction so much. He had failed the boy now, and as a result, Harry had lost his faith in him.

Now they were inside Diagon Alley, sitting at one of the tables inside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Snape was trying to cheer the boy up by spending his day off with his charge, but so far his efforts were proving to be unsuccessful. The boy was stubbornly non-responsive, and it took 15 minutes for Snape to persuade the boy to choose his own ice cream flavour. The boy looked devoid of emotion and interest, and was watching Snape closely, as though trying to obtain as many silent cues as possible on how to behave.

In the end Snape offered to choose the flavour for him. Harry agreed and he took out some Sickles from his pocket, giving them to the professor. Snape cursed himself and clarified that he didn't want Harry to pay. To that, Harry only nodded and took his place at one of the tables after Snape ordered him to do so.

The boy hadn't talked much ever since the dinner from four days ago. He seemed continuously lost in his own thoughts. They didn't talk at all while eating the ice cream, as Snape didn't know how to start a conversation and Harry didn't seem like he wanted to talk at all. Ever since the dinner from four days ago, the boy had quietly, mechanically come and gone to and from his quarters. When Snape would ask what he'd done the whole day, Harry would answer that he was studying in the library. Snape had a nagging suspicion that the boy was trying to avoid him as much as possible; perhaps he was worried about irritating Snape with his very presence.

Thus, on his free day, Snape had taken Harry out for the day. But so far, Harry was still closed off to him. His ice cream was left mostly untouched. The boy watched shoppers coming and going from the alley instead.

"Harry?"

They both turned to see a red headed young man stand in front of the ice cream table with a long haired brunette girl beside him. Snape needed several moments to realize that the speaker was the oldest Weasley boy, who was currently still studying at Hogwarts. Harry suddenly greeted him back in pleasure.

"Percy! Why are you here?"

"I am here with Penelope. We are on, uhm… a date." Percy Weasley turned beet red when he realized that the person sitting in front of Harry was the Potions Professor. Snape sneered and ignored the red head. Instead he watched as Harry smiled and his face lighted up.

A strange feeling struck him in his chest. He missed that those smile.

"Hey Harry," Penelope smiled. "It is a coincidence, yes? Are you having a day out with your guardian… oh, hallo, Professor Snape." The girl blushed as well, just now realizing that the boy she adored so much (and was familiar with only because of her proximity to Percy) was accompanied by the strict Head of Slytherin.

"Mr Weasley, Ms. Clearwater. It is nice to see you here," Snape answered in his usual snide tone. Both students looked embarrassed, but Harry was already standing.

"Sir, can I talk to Percy for a moment?"

Snape nodded, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. The child looked happier upon running into Weasley, than when he was with Snape all that time.

Harry ran towards Percy and Penelope, and soon the three of them were chatting it up. Percy and Penelope let Harry choose their ice cream flavours, while Harry happily obliged and gave them three scoops of vanilla, chocolate chip, and Belgian chocolate. Snape watched in silence, then compared the choices to the ice cream he had chosen for both him and Harry, which were on the table: Liquorice for him and Strawberry delight for Harry. He was forced to admit to himself that he had chosen the wrong flavour. And somehow it made him want to berate himself for being unable to choose the right ice cream flavour for Harry.

This was getting ridiculous.

"Professor." Suddenly a voice called out to him. Snape looked up to see Percy Weasley standing beside him, looking very uptight. "Can Harry come to visit me sometime in this holiday?"

"…Yes, if your parents give their consent."

Weasley smiled to him. "Thank you sir! Let me tell Harry!" and with that, he ran back towards Harry and Penelope. Harry looked positively radiant when he heard what Percy said, and they all laughed together.

Why did the whole thing make Snape feel so forlorn?

Two days afterwards, Harry arrived inside the Burrow through the Floo network.

Harry landed flat on his face, and his nose hurt quite a bit. He didn't like the method of transport at all. A pair of hands suddenly pulled him up, and when Harry looked up to say thank you, he saw two identical faces in front of him.

Each looked like a mirror image of the other. And both of them looked like they were assessing Harry closely. Harry felt awkward and subconsciously took a step behind him. The twins suddenly grinned. One of them spoke out loud.

"Twirl around."

So Harry, being Harry, obeyed the direct order and twirled around. The soot from the Floo scattered around him, making some kind of mild sandstorm. The twin on the right then smirked.

"Jump up."

Harry jumped. Some remainder of the soot fell from his boots. Then the twin on the left smirked.

"Your hand."

Harry put his hand on top of the left twin's hand. And it was quite a contrast between his small hand and the twin's wide palm.

The room was silent for a few seconds. And suddenly Harry was hugged by both of the twins.

"Forge, this is so bad! He is too innocent and obedient! We need to protect him!"

"Yes, Gred, this puppy is too adorable! Look at his beautiful eyes! Percy would eat him alive!"

"GUYS!" Percy shouted from their back. "Stop it! Harry is not a dog!"

The twins replied by making some faces towards Percy, but they still wrapped their hands around Harry as they did so. The boy was suffocating in the middle of the twin sandwich, and he was so embarrassed from having being pranked (or played with) by the twins. Harry was blushing so deeply and looked so red that everybody stopped screaming to each other.

Percy looked mortified. After succeeding in rescuing Harry and pulling the younger boy into his own room, Percy apologized.

"I am sorry for their attitude. They are uncontrollable, and it is very impolite for them to play you like that. I hope you can forgive them, Harry. They should learn from you. I wish you were my little brother, instead of them…"

"PERCY! OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!" Suddenly the door started banging around. Harry jumped in surprise. "The twins told me that Harry Potter is here! Is that true?"

"Stop it, Ron! You'll break the door! And NO SWEARING in the house!" Percy yelled back and opened the door, revealing the gangly teenage known as Ron Weasley. Harry's eyes went wide and he braced himself for any insult. When Ron saw the black haired boy, he turned a bit pink and he stuttered.

"Why…Why is the Slimy Slytherin here?"

Percy growled in annoyance. "Ron, watch your mouth. Harry is my guest and I won't let you insult him while he is in our house."

"But…But… It's not fair! Why did you get to invite him as your friend and I didn't…! Ah, I mean…" The youngest Weasley boy went beet red, "Why do you even want to invite him, of all people!"

Harry hid behind Percy and watched as the two brothers argued with each other. The arguments escalated when the twins came along and started to insult both Percy and Ron. They also tried to kidnap Harry from Percy. Ron suddenly defended Harry from Fred, while Percy shielded Harry from being taken by George. It ended up being a sort of tug of war between the twins and team Percy-Ron. Harry was in the middle, arms stretched as he was pulled by two sides. His arms hurt, he couldn't take the pulling anymore, so, using his magic, he fended off both sides with a snap, and all of them ended up tumbling on the floor.

And he didn't know why, but it felt so funny that Harry started laughing. The twins followed and soon all five of them were laughing their hearts out. It was then that Harry realized something. The boy felt for the first time how it was like to be in a family. A happy family.

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