Disclaimer: No characters belong to me, they go to the wonderful J.K Rowling along with some borrowed paragraphs
The Firewhisky seared Harry's throat. It seemed to burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense of unreality firing him with something that was like courage.
Harry awoke to find himself in a dark unfamiliar room that was slightly blurred.
He sat up slowly and rolled his stiff shoulders. He rubbed his eyes, wiping away the sleep, and realised he was not wearing his glasses. Harry frowned slightly trying to remember when he had taken them off or whether they had fallen off as he had slept.
He looked around and spotted his glasses on the desk beside the bed. He picked them up and pulled them on, the room coming into clearer focus instantly.
The room was beautiful, high roofed with the wooden beams that made up the ceiling exposed, the dark mahogany of the wood appearing even darker in the current light. There were several bay windows around the room allowing moonlight to spill in.
Harry stood up and looked around the room in closer detail. It reminded him more of a room in five star hotel than a common bedroom, there were several deep green couches with matching armchairs set around a fireplace in the corner of the room, a small yet warm fire crackling in the hearth casting an odd red glow into the dark room.
The bed was large, king-sized Harry would hazard to guess, and four poster like the ones at Hogwarts except the curtains were a bright emerald instead of crimson. Harry absentmindedly ran his hand along the curtain, the material was soft, the colour oddly familiar as well.
Harry began to walk around the large room looking at every portrait, every mirror, every couch and chair, every cushion and blanket, every desk and its contents, every dresser and its contents – he soaked up every detail of the room, his curiosity aiding his need to memorize everything of the room.
After some time, Harry found an en-suite bathroom hidden by the portrait of a young looking woman dressed in blue flowing robes dozing in her frame on the back of the door that itself was the same colour as the wallpaper on the walls beside it.
The bathroom was large and extravagant, it reminded Harry of a miniature version of the Prefect bathroom at Hogwarts, there was a sunken bath that resembled a small pool rather than a bath. The shower was large and walk-in with a glass door, the wall and floor black marble.
Harry could see the moon through the dozen or so windows along the far wall; moonlight was being reflected around the room by the marble floor and walls making the entire room glitter slightly.
For a while Harry looked around the bathroom, finding the room to be oddly calming. After a few minutes, of which he did not nothing but circle the bath a couple of times, he decided to have a shower.
He peeled off his clothes dumping them on the floor beside the shower along with his shoes and glasses. He stepped into the shower, the marble floor cold against his bare feet. He turned on the water and a torrent of hot water hit the top his head, trickled down his neck and down his back then across his chest.
The water was probably too warm, his skin would most likely be red when he left the bathroom but the feeling of the hot water beating down on his skin calmed him, he felt as if for a few blissful moments he was washing away all his worries and problems.
He pushed his wet hair out of his eyes and let the water wash over his face for a few moments before lowering his face, his hair falling into his eyes once again.
Harry took a deep breath; he really needed to get his head clear. He needed to think clearly, he needed to save Ron. He had to. Ron was out there somewhere, being tortured whilst he, Harry, was safe and relaxing in the Potter Manor.
Harry shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. He picked up a nearby towel and dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist and picking up his pile of clothes and heading back into the main room.
He walked over to where he had haphazardly dumped his trunk by the door several hours before; he set it down on the ground and pulled it open. He rummaged for a moment before extracting a change of clothes, a plain dark blue t-shirt, black jeans and a clean pair of boxers.
Harry quickly got dressed and pulled his glasses back on as well as his shoes. He dumped his half destroyed clothes at the top of his trunk and kicked the lid shut. He tossed the slightly damp towel over the back of the couch. For a moment, the teenager looked around the room once again before leaving the room.
It was silent in the corridor and dark like it had been in the room. Harry stood outside his door listening to the silence for a moment before he made his way down the dark corridor and in the direction of the dining room.
The house was rather eerie in the dark and even eerier silent, the only sound with him as he walked was his own breathing and footsteps. Harry slid his hands into his pockets as he walked, automatically wrapping his hand around the handle of his wand.
Within a few minutes, Harry found himself walking down a familiar corridor, heading in the direction of the dining room. He passed the open door of the kitchen only to double back a second later, his eyes widening at the sight he saw in the kitchen.
There was someone sat down by the counter and sprawled across it with what appeared to be an empty bottle of Firewhisky resting under their arm. If that wasn't odd enough, who was sat there unconscious was even more startling.
It was Snape.
Harry openly gaped. His Professor, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a man who hated him – unconscious in his Fathers kitchen with an empty bottle under his arm. If Harry wasn't so sure he was awake he would think he was dreaming.
He walked quietly into the dark kitchen, rather keen on not waking Snape. He approached the counter cautiously and looked at Snape, his greasy black hair sprawled across his face, his mouth slightly agape.
Harry looked around the kitchen as if a sign of what on earth to do would suddenly appear in the dark room. He had no idea how to deal with this, how on earth did you deal with it?
He was interrupted from his half panicked thoughts when he heard a snatch of laughter from the corridor outside.
Snape jerked slightly in his sleep, his face scrunching up at the sound. Harry quickly moved to the doorway and looked down the corridor to see the twins descending the stairs at the end of the corridor. God, they laugh loud, Harry wildly thought.
"Fred, George," Harry half whispered, half hissed, "Shut up for a moment,"
The pair exchanged amused glances as they made their way down the corridor. They were dressed plainly, in jeans of the same colour and chequered shirts of different colours, Fred being in green and George in blue. The bandage was still wrapped around George's head and over the place where his ear had been.
"What's going on Harry?" George questioned the younger teenager, his brow crinkling slightly.
Harry jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen as an answer. The twins exchanged another glance and a half shrug before walking into the kitchen past Harry who remained stood in the doorway.
"No way," Fred said a grin growing on his face.
"Don't you dare laugh," Harry warned them both as glee filled grins enveloped their faces, "Your laugh echoes for miles,"
Fred rolled his eyes, "It's not that bad," he defended.
"That's not important," George said waving a dismissive hand, "This…is unbelievable,"
"Can I take a picture?" Fred asked.
"Knock yourself out, you can join Snape," Harry commented dryly,
Fred smirked, "Did you do this Harry?"
"Yes Fred, I decided to knock out Snape in my Dads kitchen and place an empty bottle of Firewhisky under his arm to make it look like he'd drunk himself into unconsciousness,"
George chuckled lowly, "I reckon the map has worn off on his Freddie,"
"So do I Georgie," Fred said with a grin, "Been getting it to insult people for the past couples years have you? I have to admit, we did the same thing to Lee for ages, drove him mad,"
Harry grinned, "I bet and it's not the map, probably more the fact I'm the son of Prongs and Godson of Padfoot,"
Simultaneously, the twins looked around and stared at him.
"You tell us this now?" They chorused their voices rising dangerously to the point that Snape jerked in his sleep again.
"Shush," Harry said quickly, "And I didn't find out until the end of the year really,"
"You've kept this quiet for two years?" Fred asked incredulously, "How?"
"I'm rather good at keeping secrets guys," Harry said.
George glanced over at the still sleeping Snape, "He'll be fine," he said after a moment, "Come on; we'll go talk about this somewhere else,"
Fred nodded in agreement with his twin, "Young Harry has neglected to inform us of several important developments,"
Harry rolled his eyes as the twins led the way out of the room, he followed them but not before glancing back at Snape a million questions running through his mind as he did.
Fred and George led the way to the living room, which was not an easy task given the size and dark of the house, if it weren't for Harry's directions they would have surely ended up lost in the Manor.
When they walked into the living room, George waved his wand at the lights around the room causing them to light a second later.
"So, Harry," Fred said putting an arm over his shoulders, "You're the son of a Marauder then?"
"Yes," Harry replied simply.
George chuckled as his twin shot Harry an irritated look at his answer, "We're gonna need a bit more than that Harry,"
"All right, short or long version?" Harry asked.
"Short," The twins chorused.
"So, you know where Remus is a werewolf?" Harry began waiting for the twins nod before he continued, "Well, when he was at school he was friends with my Dad, Sirius and Wormtail. When they found out about him being a werewolf they decided they were going to help him, they learnt to become Animagus's. Dad becomes a stag, hence the name Prongs. Sirius as you've seen becomes a dog which is why he's called Padfoot and Wormtail becomes a rat, and well…his nickname is Wormtail already."
"And Remus is Moony because of him being a werewolf?" George guessed.
Harry nodded in conformation, "Yeah,"
"This is why I wish Lee was a werewolf sometimes," Fred said.
George rolled his eyes and shook his head as Harry stared at him, "What?"
"We'd have a valid reason to become Animagi then," Fred replied with a shrug and a smirk, "And plus he already has enough hair to pass for a werewolf,"
"How do you cope with him?" Harry asked George,
"With great difficulty Harry," George replied in a solemn voice.
Fred shot George a mock hurt expression, "You wound me Georgie!"
George rolled his eyes, "My sincerest apologises Freddie," he said with a smirk.
"Accepted," Fred said with a light laugh.
"You know, you guys really should have noticed this earlier," Harry said, "They do call each other Prongs, Moony and Padfoot all the time, and no one calls Wormtail Peter anymore,"
"He does have a point," George said after a moment.
"We don't pay attention to that type of thing though," Fred said.
"Good point," George said.
"What should we do about Snape?" Harry questioned.
"I still say we should take a picture," Fred said with a smirk.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Okay, after you take a picture, what then?"
"Leave him there?" George suggested.
"I'm hungry," Fred said.
"Wake him up?" Harry asked.
"I'm not getting that close to Snape," Fred said flatly.
"Yeah, neither I am really," Harry agreed.
"Then we should just leave him there then," George said with a small shrug.
"But Georgie, he's near the food," Fred said, "And we have to eat that,"
"You always moan this much?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yep, he does," George replied with a long suffering sigh that caused Harry to laugh.
"I don't like you with only one ear," Fred told his twin causing him to grin.
"So, why is Snivellus unconscious in the kitchen?" Said a voice behind the three causing them to jump and Harry automatically draw his wand and point it at the speaker.
It was Sirius, leaning against the doorway with a smirk on his face.
"Hello to you to Harry," He said in an amused voice.
Harry lowered his wand, "You didn't need to scare us like that,"
"So much more fun though," Sirius said with his bark like laugh.
"He's right you know," The twins chorused with grins.
"So," Sirius said, standing up straight, "Someone gonna explain the Snape thing?"
"I found him like that," Harry said, "Then these two kind of kidnapped me to get me to explain the Prongs, Padfoot and Moony thing,"
"Ah, finally caught on did you?" Sirius grinned.
"We lived with you and didn't notice," Fred and George said in synchronisation coupled with a shake of the head.
"Not my fault," Sirius said with a small shrug, "But we really need to figure out what to do with Snape,"
"I said take a picture," Fred said.
"Been there, done that," Sirius said tossing Fred a camera.
Fred caught it with a smirk, "This is going to work as excellent blackmail,"
"Okay, so now you have a picture," George said, "What are we gonna do with him? We can't leave him there,"
"Kick him awake?" Fred suggested.
"Tempting but no," Sirius said, "Levitate him outside?"
"Kick him outside," Fred added.
George pointed his wand at him, "Silencio."
Fred glared mutinously at George who flashed him a smirk before turning to Sirius and Harry, who exchanged amused glances.
"Now that he's not talking, we can figure out what to do with Snape,"
"We need to wake him up," Harry said.
"I can see that going well," Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Well we can't leave him there," George said ignoring his twin as he mouthed countless curses and swear words at him, "Everyone else will be waking up soon,"
"Right, good point," Sirius sighed, "We'll wake him up and deal with a cranky hung-over Snape then,"
"We always get the fun jobs don't we?" Harry said.
George laughed, "Yeah, we really do,"
"Come on, lets get this over with, I'm starving," Sirius said before leading the way out of the room.
Harry and George followed him with a mutinous looking Fred following them, glaring at the back of his twins head.
"You gonna take the spell off him?" Harry questioned George.
George grinned at his brother who flipped him off in return, "Definitely not, I need a bit of peace and quiet now and then,"
"I would have thought only having one ear would do that," Sirius smirked.
"You would think," George said with a low chuckle.
The four of them headed into the dark kitchen. Snape was still there asleep, snoring slightly where he was lay sprawled across the counter.
"Anyone got any ideas?" Harry asked quietly.
"None," Sirius replied just as quietly.
Harry rolled his eyes and looked to the twins.
"Usually with Fred we just kick him awake," George replied lowly with a small shrug.
Fred shot him another glare and silently huffed before crossing his arms over his chest and glaring ahead at the far wall.
"I don't really fancy kicking Snape awake though," Harry said softly.
"No, neither do I," Sirius agreed, "We could just make a shit load of noise and wake him up,"
"That could work," Harry shrugged.
George looked over at Fred, who glared at him return mouthing what appeared to be death threats. George waved his wand at him, muttering the counter curse.
"I'm going to rip your mother fucking head off George!" Fred suddenly yelled.
Snape suddenly sat bolt up, the bottle under his arm spinning to the floor where it shattered.
"Or we could just do that," Sirius said.
Fred clipped George round the back of the head, "Ow! What was that for?"
"You silenced me you prick!" Fred retorted.
"With a good reason!" George snapped.
"Guys," Harry cut across them, "Bigger things to worry about,"
He gestured to Snape, who he had expected to be glaring and yelling at them by now for waking him up, but instead he was looking around the kitchen in a daze, his eye were unfocused and he looked rather confused and disorientated.
"Yep, he's definitely hung-over," Sirius said offhandedly.
Harry pointed his wand at the bottle on the floor, "Reparo," he cast and the bottle repaired itself instantly. He picked it up and replaced it on the side.
"He needs a hangover potion," George said knowingly.
Harry raised his eyebrows at him, "That actually exists?"
"Nah," Fred replied, "Its just several potions mixed together to get rid of hangovers, it's the best thing in the world,"
"Hang on," George said suddenly, rummaging in his pocket, "I think I have one here…"
"You just carry one around?" Sirius asked, "Smart,"
"Fred's a drinker," George said simply.
Snape groaned and put his head in his hands.
"You make me sound like an alcoholic," Fred grumbled as George pulled a vial out of his pocket filled with a dark green liquid that was bubbling slightly.
George rolled his eyes as he handed the potion to Harry, who raised his eyebrows at him.
"Less chance of him strangling you," George said.
"He hates me," Harry pointed out.
"But you can move quicker," Sirius said with a shrug, he put his hands on Harry's shoulders and steered him towards Snape, "Have fun,"
Harry shot him a glare, "You're a bad Godfather,"
Sirius only smirked and chuckled in reply.
Harry sighed and turned to look at the Potions Master; he was still sat with his head in his hands and groaned slightly when Harry walked closer.
"Er – Professor?" Harry said awkwardly, "We have a potion for you…"
"It better not be poison, Potter," Snape said sharply.
"Even hung-over he's still a tool," Fred muttered behind Harry.
Snape lifted his head to shoot Fred a dark look, his eyes were still unfocused but cold nevertheless.
"Just take the potion all right?" Harry said somewhat impatiently handing Snape the vial.
Snape snatched it from his grip and pulled out the stopper, he quickly drank the potion as Harry stepped back rejoining the others.
"Well…this has been an eventful morning," Fred said after a moment.
"It's evening," George corrected him.
"Hence why it is dark out," Sirius said causing Harry to laugh.
Snape suddenly stood up and without so much as glancing at the four of them; he swept out of the kitchen his robes billowing behind him as he did.
"You're welcome!" The twins yelled after him.
"Leave it, he's always gonna be an ungrateful overgrown bat," Sirius said.
"Very true," Fred agreed with a dark nod.
"Come on," Sirius said after a moment, "We should go to the dining room; the house elves will bring us food there,"
"Why did we not think of that?" Fred asked George.
"We're idiot that's why," George said with a shrug.
Fred laughed, "Yeah, that's true,"
Sirius rolled his eyes at the pair before he walked out of the kitchen. Harry followed him still trying to desperately figure out why on earth Snape had ended up unconscious and hung-over in his Father's kitchen. It made absolutely no sense!
Sirius led the way to the dining room, Harry was rather glad he was with them and leading the way because despite Harry remembering the way to the kitchen he honestly couldn't remember the way to the dining room.
The four of them entered the extravagant dining room; moonlight was shining through the roof of coloured glass panels lighting the dark room slightly with eerie beams of coloured light.
"Misty," Sirius called out into thin air.
There was a loud ringing crack and the house elf Misty appeared out of nowhere, she wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing over her snowy white towel embroidered with the Potter crest. She looked up at the four of them with wide blue eyes.
"Masters called Misty?" She asked.
"Yeah, we were wondering if there's any food," Sirius replied, "We're starved,"
"I could eat a horse," Fred added and George rolled his eyes.
"Misty and some of the other elves could find a horse in one of the fields if Master wishes," Misty said slowly turning her crystal ball like gaze onto Fred.
"He was joking Mist," Sirius said quickly, "Any food will do,"
Misty nodded, "Misty will go inform the others you is needing feeding," she squeaked.
"Thanks Misty," Harry said.
Misty beamed at him, "Tis Misty's pleasure young Master Harry,"
She bowed deeply to him making Harry feel rather uncomfortable before she vanished with another loud crack that echoed through the large room.
"You have horses round here then?" George questioned.
"There's some in the fields around the house," Sirius replied, "They don't come near the house much though, we only found them here once at a Full Moon,"
Fred looked faintly alarmed at this, "Wouldn't Remus… well – er- kill them?"
"Nah, Moony isn't bothered by other animals," Sirius replied, "Its why we became Animagus's so that we could be around him, plus Prongs and Padfoot keep him in line because they're big animals and so do horses really,"
"I'd pay to see a horse kicking a werewolf in the head," Fred said.
"You have no filter do you?" Sirius asked in amusement.
"Nope," Fred replied popping the 'p' as he spoke.
"And you wonder why you were in detention so much last year," George said with a shake of his head.
Harry quickly looked at the pair of them, "Detention? With Umbridge?"
Fred and George exchanged glances as Sirius frowned slightly and looked at Harry curiously but Harry ignored the curious look as he fixed his gaze on the twins.
"You had detention with her as well," Fred stated rather than questioned.
Harry nodded and lifted his right hand and showed it to him, a beam of green light hit the back of his hand and lit it making the words forever carved into his skin, I must not tell lies, shine.
"Umbridge did that to you?" Sirius growled.
"You got off lighting," Fred said with a grimace.
He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and Harry's eyes widened when he saw his arm. Like the back of his hand, words were carved deep into the flesh of his arm yet they ran from his wrist and to the top of his arm part way disfiguring his arm.
"Holy shit Fred," Sirius cursed, "What the hell did you do to piss her off?"
"Where to start?" George said dryly.
"Well first it was walking down a corridor-" Fred began.
"-then it was snogging Ange in a corridor," George added.
"-then I was talking in class-"
"-then he blew something up in her class-"
"-after that I threw parchment at her for the whole of a class-"
"-and then he fell asleep in class," George concluded.
"Hang on," Fred said, "You're forgetting the time I called her a bitch,"
"Do you have a bloody death wish or something?" Harry demanded.
"It's one of the other reasons why we left," George said, "He was having too much fun pissing her off daily,"
"She deserved it," Fred said bitterly.
"She really did," Harry agreed grimly, "Though not to the point you nearly cut your own arm off,"
"I have a bad habit of pissing off the wrong people," Fred said with a slight shrug, rolling his sleeve back down.
"Really? What gave it away?" George said sarcastically earning him an eye roll from his twin.
"You guys are mad," Sirius said with a shake of his head.
"You can't say anything," Harry pointed out.
"I'm not as mad as them though," Sirius argued gesturing to the twins, "Well, Fred seems to be that twin,"
George chuckled, "He really is, I'm the responsible one,"
Fred raised his eyebrows at him so George quickly amended, "Okay, the more responsible one out of the two of us,"
Sirius chuckled, "Better," he said as he sat down.
"Umbridge really was a bitch," Fred sighed.
"You can say that again," Harry murmured.
Despite Sirius now being alive, he was still furious at Umbridge from preventing him from getting to the Ministry sooner. If they had no wasted so much time maybe then Sirius wouldn't have perished, no matter for how long.
Then again…thinking about Harry wondered whether Dumbledore would have told him about the Prophecy even if Sirius had lived. His stomach churned at the though of the Prophecy.
He glanced up at the twins and his Godfather; they were talking and oblivious to his distraction. If only he could be as oblivious to the future that now lay before him.
A/N So chapter fourteen is here! At last! I am so bad at updating my stories but hey what the heck, it still gets updated! Hope you guys like this chapter, Fred and George will be getting a bigger part in my story than they were originally as will other characters so keep an eye out for them. REVIEW! Ta, Mischief Managed! ;)