"What's going on?" Harry demanded to know as he was lead up the stairs to the twins dormitory. They said nothing, both set in stony silence as they opened the door.

Lee was sitting on his bed, reading a book, and looked up when they walked in. Harry waved hesitantly at him, and Lee grinned back. However, when he saw the looks on the twins faces, he promptly stood up.

"I'll just leave you lot alone," he said, walking past and patting Harry on the shoulder before exiting the room to escape the quite tense atmosphere.

Once the door swung closed, Harry was promptly guided to sit down on the nearest bed, Fred's. The twins stood still for a moment, before George sat stiffly beside him, and Fred began pacing. Harry frowned, looking between the two tense young men.

"What happened?" he'd been around the twins most of the day, apart from in lessons. And Fred had been fine before Malfoy had collided with them. "What's wrong?" Their continued silence was setting him on edge.

"Something... happened," George finally said, clenching the covers beneath him, staring moodily at Fred's moving form. Harry frowned.

"Well, that was obvious. What?" He really wished the twins wouldn't act so serious, a change from his usual hope that they would actually try and act more serious than annoyingly mischievous. However, at that moment, he'd give anything for the pranks to come back.

"Umbridge," Fred nearly spat the name out. Harry gulped audibly – any collision with the twins and Umbridge wasn't good. Especially after just last night. Their vendetta against her had increased tenfold.

"She held us back after her lesson," George said when it seemed Fred couldn't go on, too worked up. Harry turned to George, scooting up on the bed so he was fully sitting on it with his legs crossed, and took one of George's hands in both of his own.

"What did she say?" With Dumbledore gone, there was no telling what she'd said. What she'd threaten them with. There was no one to stop her.

Harry hadn't thought of that before, and the realisation suddenly hit him. Dumbledore was gone, Dumbledore, his safety net. The Ministry was in control of everything, not good for people like him who tended to go and get in as much trouble as possible. Harry didn't go looking for trouble, it came to him.

But the twins? They went actively looking for trouble.

"The bitch... she fucking..." George's hand tightened around his. Fred stopped pacing, flopping down on the bed heavily behind Harry and resting his head on his back.

"She knows. All about us. Malfoy, that little bitch," Fred snapped. Harry groaned, feeling a chill crawling down his spine at the words. Umbridge with information equalled chaos. "She's known for months, couldn't really do much, though. That threat we had on her was pretty effective, because Dumbledore would be there to help. But now..."

"But... she wouldn't allow what she did to be exposed, would she? Ministry wouldn't listen to something like her harming students," Harry said. He had wrangled the story of the threat made on Umbridge out of the twins a few months ago. He wasn't happy, but it was useful.

"It's useless. Threats are useless. The Ministry is in control of everything." George reminded him gently, finally looking at Harry, who was looking down, ears drooping quite pitifully. George reached out and cupped Harry's chin, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Fred wrapped his arms around Harry, resting possessive hands on his stomach and hip.

"But... will she tell anyone? Does it even really matter? It's legal, even me being with you is legal," Harry exclaimed, making his point by lifting up his robes to expose his arm, which only had very faint traces of the marks, just a shade darker than his skin. Fred took his arm, raised it, and kissed it gently, watching as the marks darkened at the action.

"We can't risk you getting hurt. The Ministry can't do anything, but people take the law into their own hands," George told him, looking quite distressed. Harry bit his lip, looking down as his arm was lowered again. In the mad rush of the bond, the excitement of being legally together, he kept forgetting public reactions.

"So... we just keep out of her way, right? You stop... playing pranks," Harry said croakily, hating the suggestion that the twins had to be anything but themselves. George didn't meet his eyes.

"It's not as simple as that," Fred murmured in a dark voice. Harry tensed, tail flickering agitatedly between his and Fred's bodies.

"She didn't tell us because she wanted to intimidate us," George continued. Harry felt like he'd been kicked in the gut as he cottoned on to where this was going, why the twins had told Hermione they didn't care about getting in trouble. Getting expelled.

"... That's... no," Harry murmured, staring at George in the hopes that he'd got completely the wrong end of the stick.

"Sorry," George sighed. Fred didn't say anything, just began kissing Harry's neck, trying to soothe the very tense boy.

"I'll go with you!" Harry exclaimed, body ready to jump into action, to pack all his clothes and run away with Fred and George. Despite how much he complained about them always being there, stalking him, he couldn't imagine them not being around.

"No," Fred finally spoke up, shaking his head. "They'll just hunt you down, say we kidnapped you." Harry opened his mouth to interrupt. "If you say you wanted to go, they'll just assume you're a bit fucked up in the head and cart you off to Mungo's. They've been looking for a reason to for ages."

"Fuck it, I don't care! We'll go to headquarters, wait it out there. No one'll find us," Harry said, determined. George smiled fondly at his sudden eagerness, and petted his ears, pulling his face until it was buried in his chest.

"We can't do that to you, Harry," he said, stroking his ears gently. Harry shook his head against his chest, but didn't pull away, even though he'd known from the start that all his suggestions would get denied. "You wouldn't be happy."

"You're needed here," Fred informed him.

"But I need you." Harry instantly flushed with mortification at what had just slipped out of his mouth. Fred and George shared blinding smiles – Harry rarely confessed his feelings, so when he did, it made it all the more special.

George watched Harry for a minute, still staring quite desolately at the quilt, and then he sighed. Fred frowned at him, as if realising what that sigh meant. "All right," George said quietly. Harry looked up at him, confused. "You can come with us, if that's what you really, really want." Harry grinned, opening his mouth to say something, but George laid a finger on his lips. "But we're not going yet, there's still a few days. I want you think, really think, about whether you want to leave this school, put yourself at risk from the Ministry and Voldemort." Harry scowled – he already made his decision.

"We treasure your safety above everything," Fred told him, tense at the option George was giving him. Clearly, he didn't think it right. "But I suppose, in the end, it's your choice. We'll go with whatever you decide."

"You make it sound like you're going out to die," Harry muttered sardonically, trying to change the subject. Fred laughed, nibbling on his human ear, overcome with love for their little kitten. Harry grabbed one of his hands and held it tightly.

"I assure you, Harry, we are immortal," George said, and finished the sentence with a strong kiss.

Making love was strange when you knew it may be one of the last opportunities for a long time, Harry mused as he lay in bed, wide awake as the twins slept on either side of him, breath heavy and calm and fluttering his hair, blowing in his cat ear and making him squirm with discomfort occasionally.

If he didn't go with them... he would really miss the twins.

XxXxXxX

The twins had been planning their leaving for a week, wanting to get it just right. In between, they played as many pranks as possible and made certain to shag Harry each and every day.

"Mm, Fred, stop," Harry moaned quietly as Fred's body ground slowly against his own, that sinful mouth licking and biting every available part of his neck. "Occlumency-" he was cut off when Fred pressed his thigh against his cock. Harry's head fell back against the wall with a breathless gasp.

"Screw Occlumency," Fred growled, one of his hands giving an ass cheek a firm squeeze that had Harry bucking and groaning softly. They were in alcove in the corridor leading to Snape's office, where Fred had cornered Harry for some more fun.

"Or you can screw me," Harry replied cheekily in a short burst of sexual confidence. Fred groaned loudly, hoisting Harry up the wall and wrapping his legs around his waist. Harry gasped quietly, wrapping his arms around Fred's neck as he was pressed to the wall, Fred drawing out his wand to spell his clothes off.

"Mr Potter, here you are," a silky voice drawled suddenly. Harry nearly screamed with shock. Fred sighed very loudly and lowered Harry to the ground, turning to Snape.

"Professor," he grit out, crossing his arms. Harry discretely cast a concealing charm on his robes to hide his quite obvious arousal. Snape sneered back at Fred, before beckoning to Harry.

"We have a lesson to conduct. Send your pet weasel on its way," he said, smirking at Fred, who growled angrily. Harry grasped Fred's arm and squeezed it.

"Sorry," he whispered to Fred. "See you later?" Fred nodded, and then wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, sweeping him into a powerful kiss. When it ended, Harry was left breathless, and Snape was flushing, eyes turned away in disgust.

"See ya, kitten," Fred murmured, smacking his arse, and then sauntering away with all the confidence in the world, in the hopes of finding George. Harry blushed violently, arse smarting.

"Shall we?" Snape hissed, ire rising. Harry gulped – Occlumency that night was not going to be pleasant.

And he was right, it wasn't.

XxXxXxX

"I need to speak with Sirius," Harry told the twins. They were sitting together on Fred's bed, Harry curled up and purring as George rubbed his ears and Fred stroked his tail. It was possibly moments like these that he loved the best.

"... Letter?" George suggested, not exactly knowing what to say to the abrupt decision. He didn't even know why Harry needed to talk to Sirius so urgently. Fred snickered, kissing his twin on the lips.

"No, it's really important. Umbridge's checking the mail, so that's out." Harry sighed, not knowing how he was going to talk to Sirius, just knowing that he needed to. Seeing Snape's memory in his pensieve had left him with a sick feeling in his stomach. He had to know – was his dad always like that?

Was Harry like that?

"Why do you need to talk to him?" Fred asked, turning his face gently so he could look into his eyes. Harry stared at his nose instead – he hadn't divulged the memory to anyone, not even Ron and Hermione, who he told everything to. He merely said Snape thought he was good enough that he didn't need lessons anymore.

He didn't mention Snape screaming at him to leave and never come back.

"No reason. Just... something I found out," he mumbled. Fred rolled his eyes – they always knew when he was keeping things from them – but didn't push him, just lying back down and continuing to stroke his tail while Harry resumed purring.

"Floo?" George asked after a while. Harry perked up a bit at the idea, before sighing, remembering one big catch to that suggestion.

"Umbridge is watching the floo network, too," he pointed out, then groaned and flopped onto the bed, ducking away from George's hands on his ears so he could be miserable for a moment. George grinned conspiratorially and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, dragging him closer. Fred's eyes widened at his expression, before narrowing gleefully.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Forge?" he asked, voice full of mischief. Harry groaned again and buried his face in the bed – they were up to no good.

"I do believe I am, Gred," George confirmed, a grin on his face. Harry sighed – so long as their mischief making helped him get in contact with Sirius, he supposed there was no point in trying to stop it.

"Kitten, we have a plan."

XxXxXxX

"You ready?" Harry jumped a mile in the air as he exited his classroom with Ron and Hermione. He turned to glower at George, who lounged against the wall right next to the door, not looking his usual cheerful self.

Harry walked up to him and pressed a kiss to his tense lips. George squeezed his hand, looking slightly more relaxed at the reassuring touch. The twins had been on edge for the past couple of days as they, along with Lee Jordan, formed a plan for making a grand departure from Hogwarts. Harry hadn't joined them, he didn't want to make the twins irritated – they already didn't agree with Harry leaving school.

"Yeah, what's going to happen?" he asked quietly. He was, in all honesty, having doubts about leaving, just as Fred and George had probably predicted he would. Hermione and Ron didn't know what he was planning, and he felt guilty for even thinking of leaving them. They were his best friends.

Not to mention, he was Harry Potter. If he jumped ship, everyone would think they were doomed; all the people who believed in him, the disbanded DA.

"We're gonna leave via broomstick after creating a diversion for you to, you know," George replied, lowering his voice, pretending to be kissing Harry's cat ear so that people didn't think they were conspiring – useless, considering everyone knew Fred and George always conspired.

"Broomstick? But aren't they in Umbridge's..." George pressed a kiss to his lips, his own mouth spread in a grin.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that." He pulled away finally, passing Harry his invisibility cloak that he and Fred had been using earlier in the day to make necessary preparations. "Put that on as soon as you're out of sight, and be careful."

Harry scowled at him. "I'm not a kid," he muttered. George laughed and slapped his ass before walking away, not even bothering to deign that with a reply. Harry shot death glares at his back before hurrying away, Hermione and Ron following after him.

"Harry, don't," Hermione whispered hurriedly – they knew that Harry was going to be using Umbridge's fire to contact Sirius at Grummauld Place, an extremely risky plan, but Harry had to do it. If he and the twins were going to be on the run, there was no guarantee they'd take him to Grimmauld Place – Dumbledore would be furious if he found out.

And if Harry stayed at the school, he wouldn't get another opportunity to break into Umbridge's office, and hers was the only one with unrestricted floo.

"Sorry, Hermione," Harry whispered to her and, on impulse, surged forward and wrapped her in a hug, getting a mouthful of bushy hair in the process. He then pulled Ron into a hug with a pat on the back, and used their stunned stillness to escape, pulling on the cloak once he turned into an empty corridor.

The castle shook a bit, the unmistakable sign that the twins had already gotten down to business. Harry reached Umbridge's office, seeing her hurry out, muttering about disruptions and students who would get what's coming to them. Harry slipped into her office, ready to talk to Sirius all about what he'd seen in Snape's pensieve.

XxXxXxX

Filch eventually disrupted his conversation with Sirius, that had soothed a lot of his frazzled nerves. Muttering about whippings, he rummaged through Umbridge's draws as Harry stood still under the invisibility cloak, trying not to breathe.

As soon as Filch exited, Harry followed after him, hoping it wasn't as bad as he thought it was – permission for whippings? The twins, it seemed, had broke the final straw on the camel's back.

The corridors were deserted as he followed Filch, and he realised why when he saw what had to be the whole school gathered in the Entrance Hall, in a huge circle. Harry ripped off his cloak and pushed his way through the crowd until he reached the scene getting so much attention.

Fred and George stood in the middle of the circle, looking very smug with themselves. Umbridge was glaring at them, fuming, and Filch handed her the forms he'd retrieved from the drawer. A satisfied smile spread across her face.

It was just like the night with Trelawney.

"So!" Umbridge began, folding her arms. The twins gave her their undivided attention. "So, you think it's amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

Harry groaned under his breath, even as a laugh bubbled up in his throat. Of course they would choose the most ridiculous, disruptive and dramatic way to leave the school.

"I've got the whips waiting, headmistress," Filch told her, hoarse voice full of excitement, and Harry shuddered, hoping the twins escaped before anything of the sort could happen.

"Very good, Argus," Umbridge praised, spotting Harry out of the corner of her eye and smirking at him creepily. Harry hissed back. Fred and George threw her twin glares. "You boys are about to learn what happens to wrong-doers at my school," she went on, returning her attention to the twins.

"You know what, I don't think we are," Fred said, as if he held all the secrets in the world and Umbridge was never going to discover them.

"I do believe we've outgrown full-time education, don't you think, Harry?" George continued, turning to Harry. His eyebrows went up, telling Harry that this was his chance, his choice. He could leave with Fred and George, away from Umbridge's oppressive reign. Sure, Dumbledore, Sirius, Mrs Weasley, everyone would be furious at him, at them.

But he could be so happy.

Or he could stay here, with Umbridge looming over his shoulder, and show his true colours, his loyalty, to those who doubted his sanity thanks to the Daily Prophet.

He could add fuel to the rebellion against Umbridge.

He could show he wouldn't abandon Hogwarts.

But it was his choice, and the twins weren't going to make it for him. He had to face up to his responsibilities.

"I think you have," Harry said quietly. George smiled slightly – it was sad, but proud. He knew what Harry was planning. They'd known all along, really. "I'm sure we'll be fine without you somehow."

No, he wouldn't be.

But it was only for a few more months, and he would never be fully separated from the twins – he had the faint marks on his arms, the bond thrumming in his heart, to keep him close to them. And he had Ron and Hermione to always be there for him.

"We'll always be in reach," Fred told him, in a mere whisper no-one could hear. Harry's sensitive hearing caught it, though. Harry grinned at him, then at George.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" George said loudly, once again resuming with their ridiculous conversation, although without as much joviality as before.

"Definitely," Fred replied, holding up his wand. Umbridge flinched back, as if he'd pointed it straight at her. "Accio brooms."

Harry's ears picked up a faint crash in the distance, and he couldn't help but laugh as he realised what Fred was doing. Looking to his left, he ducked just in time, as three brooms came trailing along, chains dragging on the floor.

Fred and George grabbed theirs, and then George took Harry's, and shrunk it. He winked at him. "For safe keeping." Harry smiled back at him, glad they had it, and not Umbridge.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Umbridge, swinging onto his broom as George did the same. Then, the two twins drifted over to him. George bestowed a kiss on Harry's lips, and Fred ruffled his hair, real longing in his eyes. Harry reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," George said, raising his voice to Umbridge, as they began to drift up higher, above the crowd. There were awed whispers beginning to break out from the deadly silence, and Umbridge looked like she was going to explode from embarrassment and frustration.

"If anyone fancies buying a portable swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to ninety-three, Diagon Alley – Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes," Fredd said in a loud voice. "Our new premises!"

Harry made sure to ingrain it into his memory as George rattled on about discounts for students while Umbridge screamed at Filch, at anyone, to stop them, but it was too late. She pulled out her wand, but Harry had already slunk over to her, anticipating this reaction, and yowled loudly in her ear. She yelped and dropped the wand in surprise, and he melted into the crowd, sending a wink at the twins, who laughed.

Peeves was floating near them, looking quite distraught at the loss of his favourite pranksters. George smiled at him comfortingly. "Give her hell from us, Peeves."

Peeves, looking proud at his order, did what no-one had ever seen him do before. He swept his belled hat from his head and saluted, tears in his yes.

There was a roar of applause from the students down below, and the twins flew away, out of the windows of the school, and far into the night, with this sound whistling in their ears. Harry quickly escaped before Umbridge turned on him for the yowl.

XxXxXxX

"Are you going to be all right?" Ron asked as he and Hermione caught up to Harry. Harry smiled at them faintly, feeling tears in his eyes the moment he was out of the public's sight. Ron and Hermione smiled at him sadly, each wrapping an arm around him as they walked.

Harry felt warmth in his chest as he looked from Ron to Hermione. "Thanks. I think I'll be all right."

XxXxXxX

Haha, sap, for once... Apologies for the lack of smut, just not in the smutty mood, bizarrely O.O

Hopefully I didn't use too much from the book this chapter, although I know I did in the one before, and the one before that. Unfortunately, I kind of had to, really, but I apologise to those who didn't like it.

And sorry for not answering reviews! It'd been pretty busy and I figure I'd better put the chapter up instead. However, I do really appreciate the response I get for this story, so don't think I don't care ;)

Hope you enjoyed! Tell me if there's anything I needed to improve on again :P