Notes: Started playing the Tales of Symphonia HD remake with a group of friends. We've been moving through it a bit slow, but playing it with friends is definitely a lot more fun. Admittedly I underestimated just how energy-draining it would be.

Anyways, short-ish chapter this week. I'll try to get an omake in for the next chapter. There's still a couple of requests I have to write (which I haven't forgotten about, don't worry). As always, thanks to everyone that has been following this story and special thanks to those who have been leaving constant feedback.

Chapter 52: Weasleys Out

"So, remind me why I am doing this again?" Zidane said as he set off another series of enchanted fireworks.

"Because you are our dear pal." One of the twins began as he unloaded more fireworks from his school bag.

"Also, because if you don't your secret might accidentally get out." The other teen continued as he pulled out another package, this one labeled 'portable swamp'.

The genome knew he should have turned tail and run the moment he saw the twins. He could still remember how such an innocuous conversation turned sour so quickly.

..

"You see, we want to make you an offer you can't refuse." The other one said with a smile that suddenly seemed a lot more malicious and intimidating than it seemed just a few seconds ago.

'Well, crap.' Zidane thought, subconsciously stepping back.

"Let's take this conversation somewhere private, shall we?" The other twin said before each twin grabbed one of his arms and, quite literally, dragged him up the stairs to where the boy dormitories were, only this time, it wasn't the room he shared with Harry and the others. It was on the floor above where the sixth year rooms were, and judging by the room, it was the one that the twins shared with Lee Jordan.

"Geez, was that really necessary? I could have walked, you know." Zidane said, freeing himself from the two. Luckily, or unluckily, the room was empty except for them.

"Oh, but then you could have run away, and that wouldn't do." One of the redheads said as he closed the door and leaned on its frame, arms crossed as he looked at the shorter teen with a devious grin.

"We'll cut to the chase." The other one said as he sat on the bed. "We have a bit of prank we have worked out, but we're afraid we're short on manpower. We would very much like it if you were to cooperate with us."

"And what makes you two think I want to form part of this prank. What is it for anyways? What's the occasion? I mean, you two don't seem like the type to ask for help from others." The blonde asked, eyes narrowed.

"Quite the astute observation, my friend." The twin on the bed said, before getting up and wrapping an arm over his shoulder. "Normally we wouldn't, but given the urgent nature of this prank, we need all the help we can get."

"Why not Lee, or even Peeves? If it's a prank, I'm sure they would be up for it." The genome asked.

"Oh, they are in on it too, but we are thinking more of a Hogwarts-scale prank, so we still need people." The twin by the door said.

"Why the urgency?" Zidane asked.

"Why the interest?" The twin currently next to him said.

"Humor me." The blonde said with a smile.

"Harry asked for the distraction to get inside Umbridge's office, but other than that, we won't tell." One of the redheads said.

"That already said a lot. What exactly makes you think that I might not just blab this out to someone?" Zidane asked in surprise.

"You won't." The same twin replied earnestly. "You're not the type of guy. You didn't betray the DA, so we don't see why you would decide to betray Harry now."

"And what exactly makes you two think I'll just help you out and risk getting in trouble?" The cyan-eyed teen asked, raising a brow in question.

"Ah, well, it's simple, really." The other twin said. "You see, if you don't, then word about a certain secret you've tried so hard to hide, might accidentally…slip, if you catch our drift."

The blonde stiffened, though he tried not to make it show.

"And what exactly would that secret be?" Zidane asked, eyes narrowed.

"There have been rumors amongst the Hogwarts ghosts that they have seen an individual wandering through the halls at night. Then there has also been the case of several pranks that have taken place since the beginning of the school year." The twin next to him said, his face leaning closer to the blonde's as he spoke. There was a devious look on that face. "You've been doing a lot of disappearing since the beginning of the year, haven't you? I wonder what other things you might be keeping secret."

..

For the longest time, Zidane had been careful to watch himself in front of Harry, and others like Neville and Luna, who he had the most contact with. And in all this time, he had never expected the Weasley Twins to be the real threat. They had kept a keen eye on him for so long while never once hinting that they suspected anything. And now they had him right where they wanted him.

Unfortunately it was too late now. He had thought about taking on both of them by force and do something similar to what Kuja did to Hermione, but there was no way he could try anything like that. For starters, he still very much considered them his friends, despite the possible black mail. They were doing it for Harry, and to be perfectly honest, he would have probably done the same if he were in their shoes. Then there was also the matter of being in the dorms. His assault would not go unnoticed. If he did fail, which was likely at this point, then whatever semblance of trust and friendship between them would be lost; he might even be expelled. Well, if they didn't find out he was a genome of course, in that case, he could easily be taken away and studied, or deemed too dangerous and then executed.

He'd come to learn that wizards really didn't seem to like other species much, especially those that could wield magic.

'Calm down. You don't know if they are aware of that yet.' Zidane thought to himself.

He didn't know exactly how much they knew, but he could at least be certain that they knew it was him that had been pulling off several pranks since the beginning of the year. He'd been stupid to think they wouldn't realize who it was. This was their turf. It had been that way since their first year here, so if someone suddenly showed up pulling pranks left and right, then he would also suspect the newcomers. It was logical.

'But no, they just couldn't suspect some first year.' The blonde thought in frustration.

They were all just a bunch of goody-two-shoes that wouldn't even dream of standing up to an authority like Umbridge. Of course, nobody other than the Weasley Twins would reach that sort of conclusion, not with their experience.

'And I underestimated them.' Zidane thought with a sigh.

Perhaps this was not all bad. They were doing this for Harry, so if he did this job right, then Harry would be less likely to get in trouble. He had already thought about what the twins told him, and he had come to the logical conclusion that Harry was likely trying to contact someone, most likely the Order, or just Sirius. He initially thought it would be Dumbledore, but nobody really knew where he was, the Golden Trio included, and also, his relationship with Harry had been rocky at best this school year. Harry wouldn't really be in much of a rush to talk to Dumbledore after what the old man put him through.

"Alright, so now we just need to set this up in the fifth corridor in the east wing and we'll be ready." One of the twins said, handing him the package the redhead had taken out of his school bag. "Just set it on the floor and tap it with your wand."

"You'll want to get out of there quickly before it activates." The other twin said, clapping him on the shoulder before handing him a small piece of parchment.

"Oh and remember not to show yourself." The other twin said, giving him a small wink.

"Right, I got it." Zidane sighed. They probably knew about him being able to move unseen, though they likely thought he used an invisibility cloak like Harry or Moody. At least that gave him an advantage. "Where will you two be?"

Both twins looked at each other before smiling. "We can't leave our audience waiting."

It was with those cryptic words that both redheads left their hiding spot. Raising a single brow in question, the genome turned to look curiously at the piece of parchment the twins had given him.

"Your secret is safe with us." Zidane read in a low voice before cracking a small smile. Turning the piece of parchment around, the blonde noticed something else written in the same messy handwriting. "93 Diagon Alley - Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes."

The genome couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. All previous worry seemed to melt with just that single sentence. How did he know he could trust the two? He didn't, but his gut told him that he could, and his gut was hardly ever wrong.

'Well, I should get going.' The teen thought to himself as he charged the invisibility spell he'd been using for so long now. He had a swamp to plant.

….

"Look." Sirius said to him. Your father was the best friend I ever had and he was a good person. A lot of people are idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it."

Harry just looked at him, still unconvinced.

After the distraction that the twins set up, he managed to sneak into Umbridge's office undetected and use the fire to reach Sirius and Lupin, who were both back in Grimmauld Place. It was his first time using the Floo network this way, and though the feeling of having his head in the Black family's old, dilapidated house while having the rest of his body stay behind was…unnerving, it really was the least of his worries when compared to what Umbridge would do if she caught him in her office, though.

"How come mum married him?" The messy-haired teen asked. "She hated him!"

"Nah, she didn't." Sirius said, waving a hand in dismissal.

"They began going out in seventh year." Lupin added.

"And mum was okay with him hexing Snape?" The teen asked.

"She didn't really know much about it, to tell you the truth. James stopped hexing people for the fun of it, but Snape was a bit of a special case. He didn't miss a chance to curse James, either." Lupin said slowly.

"And it wasn't like he would take him along on dates with Lily and jinx him in front of her, did he?" Sirius said.

"Now that you mention it, how did Snape react when you saw all this?" Lupin asked, a faint crease between his eyebrows.

Of course, he told them exactly what happened in Snape's office that evening. How else could he explain having inexplicably acquired knowledge of what happened decades ago?

"He told me he'd never teach me Occlumency again." Harry said in a low voice.

"HE WHAT?!" Sirius shouted, causing Harry to jump and inhale a mouthful of ashes.

"Are you serious, Harry? He's stopped giving you lessons?" Lupin asked, frowning.

"Yeah but it's okay. I mean, it a bit of a relief, and I still have Professor Kuja giving me lessons as well." Harry said, attempting to reassure the two Marauders while attempting to cough out the ash from his lungs.

Apparently, that was not the right thing to say, judging by how they both suddenly grew quiet.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed.

The two exchanged a look, before Lupin finally spoke, still sounding unsure of what exactly he should say.

"Harry, promise me that you will be very careful around that man." Lupin said, speaking slowly.

"Why, I mean, I know he's not in the Order, he told me that himself, but Dumbledore trusts him, right?" The messy-haired teen asked. "I mean, he's not a Death Eater, is he?"

"We don't think so, but you must remember that there is evil out there, sometimes even worse than Death Eaters." The Animagus said.

"So Professor Kuja is evil?" Harry surmised.

"That's the thing. We don't know where he stands, which makes him all the more dangerous." The werewolf said.

"What he said is true, though. He's not a part of the Order, but is affiliated to one of its members." Sirius said, looking at him with a straight face. "Dumbledore made a deal with him. What exactly it entails, we don't know. Supposedly he means us no harm, but with Dumbledore gone, you can say that we truly don't know what to expect from that man."

"Who is this Order member that is affiliated to him?" Harry asked with curiosity, mostly because he just couldn't picture Professor Kuja hanging out with anybody from the Order, except maybe Dumbledore due to his position.

The werewolf then gave Sirius a warning look, not at all dissimilar to the one he got from Mrs. Weasley when he began to talk about the weapon the Order was guarding before the start of the school year.

"I'm afraid I've already said too much." Sirius admitted. "For now just be careful, and remember that nothing is more important right now than you learning Occlumency. We'll have a little talk with Snivellus."

"Rather, I think it would be best if I were the one to talk to him." Lupin told the Animagus. "You should too, Harry."

Harry sighed. "Okay, I'll-"

The teen fell silent. He could hear footsteps approaching.

"Is that Kreacher coming downstairs?" Harry asked.

Both men frowned.

"No, it must be from your end." Sirius said, glancing behind him.

Harry almost felt his heart stop.

"I'd better go!" The teen said hastily as he removed his head from the fire. His head spun for several moments before he found himself kneeling in Umbridge's office once again, the last of the emerald flames flickering and dying.

"Quickly, quickly." He heard a voice he recognized too well. It was Filch standing just outside the office door. "Ah, she left it open."

Harry made a wild dive for his father's Invisibility Cloak, managing to put it on just in time for Filch to enter the room.

Talking to himself, the grouchy old man began to rummage through one of the Toad's desk drawers before pulling out a pink piece of parchment with a clear show if victory.

"There it is, Approval for Whipping!" Filch said, before hugging it to his chest. Harry heard the Squib muttering about them having it coming for years as the old man slammed the door shut behind him and wobbled out the hall once more, moving faster than Harry had ever seen him move.

Making sure that his cloak fully covered him, Harry wasted no time in leaving the office as fast as he could. He was not going to try his luck this time. Once he deemed it safe, the teen then quickly removed the cloak and stuffed it into his school bag. There was a great deal of shouting coming from the Entrance Hall, and once Harry made it down the marble staircase, he found what looked to be most of the school assembled there.

He had a sudden flashback of when Trelawney was sacked, and for a moment he was worried that it would be Hagrid's turn now. It was then that Harry noticed the sticky stink-sap substance on the walls and many of the students, as well as the presence of the Inquisitorial squad, all assembled there and looking as pleased with themselves as ever. And there, in the middle of it all with Peeves floating over their heads, were the Weasley twins, both wearing the unmistakable look of someone who had just been cornered.

"So!" The Toad said victoriously as she made her appearance. She was standing quite close to him in fact, looking down upon all of them from her perch on the stairs like some kind of predator. "You think it's amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah." Fred said, looking up without the tiniest hint of fear.

"I've got the form, Headmistress!" Filch said, almost crying in happiness as he elbowed his way towards Umbridge. "I've got the form…I've got the whips waiting…oh, let me do it now!"

"Very well, Argus." The toad said before looking at the two redheads. "You two will learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"You know what?" Fred said. "I don't think we are."

He turned towards his twin.

"George, I think we have outgrown full-time education." The redhead said.

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself, Fred." George said lightly.

Before the toad-like woman could even register what had just happened, the twins already had their wands raised in the air.

"Accio brooms!" The two of them said in unison.

There was a loud crash and suddenly two broomsticks appeared, one of them still trailing the heavy chain and iron peg with which Umbridge had fastened then to the wall in her office.

"We won't be seeing you." Fred said, mounting his broom.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch." George followed.

"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to Diagon Alley- Weasley Wizarding Wheezes." Fred began, speaking loudly for all the students to hear.

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they will use our products to get rid of this old bat." George continued as he pointed at Professor Umbridge.

"STOP THEM!" Umbridge shrieked, but it was too late. By the time the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, the twins were already floating up in the air.

"Give her hell from us Peeves." George said.

The poltergeist gave them a salute just as the twins wheeled around the cheering crowd of students for applause and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Harry found himself cheering happily along with everyone else.

To be continued…

A/N: I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this, but I really like the Weasley Twins. Fred and George are amongst my favorite HP characters.

Anyways see you guys next week! As always, if you have any questions or comments you can review or just PM me.