Splat!

Thump.

Splat!

Whump.

First one redhead, then the second redhead found themselves buried under a large amount of loose snow that had been levitated across the courtyard. The twins dragged themselves out from under what could only be called a snowdrift.

"What the hell …"

"…was that?" They swore.

They were answered by girlish giggles, and a pair of blonde heads peeked around the edge of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

"You don't think they…?" One twin asked, eyeing the two girls.

"I do think they did." The second said, as he shook the snow from his hair.

"You know what that means?" The first asked.

"Snow fight." The second nodded.

6th February 1994

Titania and Luna looked at each other, eyes wide.

"That's…" Titania started.

"Desperate?" Luna asked.

"Yes, very. And not what I remember."

"What do you remember?"

"Black only slashed the curtains, not the mattress and pillow, too." Titania whispered. Paddy had suggested calling the local version of Sirius Black by his surname, much the same as the wizarding public were, and Titania's father, prior to his conversions, was to be called 'Padfoot'. It was the easiest way they had found to differentiate between the two versions of the one man.

"Why do you think he did it?" Luna asked.

"I don't think Black is as sane as Padfoot was." Titania sighed. "Everything he's done as been a little bit… wilder."

"Do you think he spent too much time in his Animagus form?"

"No, Padfoot spent just as much. I think it's more likely that Black is more affected by the Black Family Madness than Padfoot was." Titania guessed.

Luna tilted her head as she considered that. "Yes, that would make more sense. I mean, look at Bellatrix Lestrange."

"One Black in each sub-family, in each generation, is affected worse than their siblings. In Padfoot's case it was Regulus." Titania nodded. "But here? It seems to be the eldest child."

"So…? How is that going to affect your plans?" Luna asked.

"It won't." Titania replied. "Harry will go after him because he takes Ron and then learns the truth. Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper, not Black. Harry and Black will be targeted by the dementors and Black recaptured. Harry and Hermione will rescue him, then send him off on Buckbeak, before returning to the hospital wing." She shrugged. "That's when Da and I took over."

"I wonder what caused it?" Luna asked.

"I'm more concerned with what happened to local Harry and Black after we took over. I mean… I looked like me, like the Harry I grew up as, not local Harry. There were similarities between us, but we definitely weren't identical. So…? Where did he go? And I've no idea how much Da looks like Black. I mean the arrest pictures look much the same but they're twelve years old."

Luna blinked. "You don't suppose that Harry and Black went wherever you would have gone if you hadn't arrived here?"

"I don't know…" Titania whispered. "Possibly, but…? Where?"

"Where was the veil supposed to send people?"

"Depends on who you spoke to." Titania shrugged. "The Unspeakables said it was the veil of judgement, but others called it the veil of Death."

"What would Black have thought?"

"Oh…" Titania snorted. "He would probably thought it was the veil of Death, like most of the public do."

"And what would Harry have thought?"

"Nothing. He wouldn't have known about it at all." Titania shook her head.

"Would he have accepted Black's designation for it?" Luna wondered.

"Yes. Yes, he would have. He trusts Black. If Black said it was the veil of Death, Harry would accept that it was the veil of Death." Titania sighed.

"So, the chances are… local Harry and Black went into the veil and your Harry and Padfoot came to take their places." Luna nodded.

"I suppose so. That makes more sense than any other scenario that we've come up with."

"Which means, there's little to no chance that they'll be returning." Luna sighed.

"Pretty much." Titania agreed.

1st April 1994

"You'd think the twins would be happy to not be pranked on their birthday." Luna huffed.

"I think they're stressed, because they would prank someone else on someone else's birthday and so are expecting it to happen to them." Titania muttered as she dished up a slice of chocolate cheesecake for her dessert.

"Didn't we send them a letter saying that birthdays were important and we weren't going to interfere with them?" Luna frowned.

"We did but it seems that they, either didn't get the letter or they don't believe."

"Or they're thinking it's a ruse, to make them relax so they can be caught off-guard." Luna's eyes widened.

"Oh, crap." Titania whispered.

"We'd best send a quick note with a school owl and confirm it. No pranks on birthdays." Luna suggested.

"Sounds good." Titania nodded.

"But tomorrow, they're fair game."

"Definitely." The two girls grinned at each other.

27th May 1994

"I hate exams." Titania whined and let her head rest on the desk in front of her.

"Hello ickle secondies." A redhead peered around the doorframe of the classroom that the girls often used as a study space, closely followed by a second redhead then a mess of black dreadlocks.

"Ah. If it isn't my favourite red birdies and chocolate kitty." Titania let her head roll to one side to see the three boys standing in the doorway. "To what do we owe this honour?"

Fred and George mock-growled while Lee just grinned and meowed at her. He rather like the idea of being a Caribbean based cat, his Havanna Brown Animagus form was exactly the same shade of brown as his skin and the little patch of pink under its mouth gave it a similar expression to the smirk that he frequently wore during quidditch games. Particularly when Gryffindor was wining.

"If you think you hate exams, now, Miss Kitten, wait until you hit fifth year." Fred taunted Titania by using her own Animagus form as a nickname. When the twins had been dosed with the potion, to avoid any chance of her being blamed, a number of students in different houses and years had been dosed, including her and Luna.

"Not looking forward to it." Titania whined. "And nice dodging the question, by the way. What's up?"

"Well… Um…" George grimaced.

"Your dad was home schooled, right?" Fred asked and when Titania nodded, he went on. "We want to know, is he an Animagus?"

"Or would he be interested in learning to become one, with us?" George added.

"See, we worked out that the animals we were all turned into at the Leaving Feast, last year, were our Animagus forms." Lee said.

"It was Snape of all people that gave us the final piece to the puzzle…" Fred said.

"… when he said there was a difference between the Animagus identifying potion…" George went on.

"… and the Animagus initiation potion." And Fred finished the comment.

"And we want to try it." Lee said. "But everything we've found is warning against doing it unsupervised."

"And by unsupervised they mean …" Fred grinned.

"…without someone capable of using the reversable charm." George waggled his eyebrows.

"Then… we got thinking." Lee waved to include himself and the twins. "About who else was changed."

"A couple of Ravens. A couple of Puffs. But mostly lions. Some seventh years. Some fourth years. Us." George ticked them off on his fingers.

"And you pair." Fred squinted at the two girls.

"So, we go thinking a bit more." Lee said. "About who's family members were already an Animagi but as far as we can work out, there's no-one. Except we couldn't find any records in McGonagall's office about your father. So we wondered if he was home schooled. Then it was, was he an Animagus? And if so, how do we find out? If not, is he interested in learning with us?"

"That would get us out of the Burrow during the holidays." Fred said.

"We could say that he was giving us some extra tutoring in life skills." George added.

"Things that Hogwarts doesn't teach." Fred huffed. "It would quiet down, mum."

"Things like? Bookkeeping. Business management. That sort of thing." Lee shrugged.

"Add in, a few school-related stuff, too." Titania suggested.

"Runes, charms, transfig, how to use them in everyday life and a bit more in-depth detail on a select few, aiming to gain extra credit on your NEWTs." Luna offered.

"But yeah, Da's an Animagus and he's already offered to teach me and Luna, but not until this summer." Titania shrugged. "Something to do with needing time in blocks of hours, not minutes?"

"Can we write to him and get him to set something up with our parents?" Lee asked.

"Sure, we can send them along with ours." Luna offered.

29th May 1994

"Kitten? Kitten, you there?" Paddy called through the green flames, his fingers rubbing at his forehead.

"Hey, Da. What's up?" Titania flopped down onto a cushion in front of the fireplace.

"I just had a very interesting conversation with Molly Weasley. Care to guess what about?" Paddy said sarcastically.

"Ooh, I know, I know." Luna dropped down beside Titania.

"That would be about lessons for the twins, right?" Titania sighed. "I sent you a letter, I even enclosed their letters for you."

"Right. I haven't got them, yet." Paddy sighed. "School owls are so slow."

"I bet the twins went to the Owl Post Office in Hogsmeade to send theirs to their mother." Luna said. "The Weasleys only have one owl and Errol is ancient, so they wouldn't want to send him."

"Hmm. That sounds fair." Paddy sighed.

"So, what's the verdict?" Titania said.

"I'm going to meet Molly, tomorrow." Paddy replied. "I did tell her, she and Arthur could speak to Amos Diggory about us. He's been here a few times."

"And Hagrid, too, Da." Titania added.

"Oh, yes, that might help." Paddy nodded.

"Oh, and Da?"

"Yes, kitten?"

"Luna and I found a clutch of Storm Raven eggs."

"Storm Ravens?" Paddy blinked. "And you want to keep them?"

"Not me, Da. Luna." Titania shook her head. "Hagrid's looking after them for the moment, but he said one of the hatchlings is likely to be her familiar, as one of the eggs changed colour when she touched it."

"Ask Professor Dumbledore to check for a Bond. If he says there's one, I'll agree to it and try to get a message to Xeno." Paddy advised.

"Where is daddy, now?" Luna asked.

"He took off for Mongolia just after Easter and I haven't heard from him, since. Have you?" Paddy replied.

"I did, Uncle Paddy." Luna nodded. "But not for a few weeks." She tilted her head in thought. "Not since the beginning of the month."

"Well, three weeks is still better than seven weeks." Paddy huffed. "Oh, well, I have Crisis Guardianship, so that satisfy Dumbledore, Amos and probably Molly, too."

"And what about Lee's family?" Titania asked.

"Thought it better to meet with Molly, first. Then I can tell the Jordan's that the twins already have permission." Paddy grinned. "Make it seem as though Lee is going to miss out, if he can't join them."

"Don't push too hard, Da, they're muggles." Titania warned. "They may not want him to learn something like that."

"I'll ask about extra lessons, before I give them too many details, kitten." Paddy agreed.

"Let us know the outcome?" Titania asked.

"There's just one thing, kitten."

"Yes…?"

"There's a good chance that the boys will figure out that you and Luna are the Princesses of Pranks."

"That's fine, Da, we had planned on telling them that, anyway." Titania shrugged again. "Not about the Harry stuff, but definitely about the Princesses."

"Oh good. But I'd think about the Harry stuff, too, it might be a good idea for later." Paddy suggested.

"Maybe later, but not while we're at school." Titania objected.

"Eh, that's fine, just something to think about." Paddy shrugged.

2nd June 1994

"So, it's tonight." Luna said, stretching her legs out on her bed.

"Yeah…" Titania whispered.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Titania nodded towards the note on her pillow.

"What time does it start?"

"Dobby, or rather the unturned version of Dobby, won't tell Harry about me, until a couple of minutes before 3am." Titania said. "A few minutes after three, I'll call the unturned Dobby and give him the note for Harry. Then there's nothing more I can do." She frowned for a few moments. "No, that's not quite right. Harry's leaving letters for people, but I can leave memories."

"Memories?"

"Yeah. I can leave the memory of destroying the horcruxes, Sirius wasn't visible for that, he was asleep on the sofa and I was behind it, I couldn't see him. And there's a way to take memories, that leaves the memory on a flat surface, like a photo."

"Who would you send that to?"

"Well…" Titania grinned. "That's the best part. It only copies the memory, not removes it, like sometimes happens when you take a memory for pensieve viewing, and as it only copies, I can copy it as many times as I like."

"But won't that make Harry even more famous?"

"Doesn't matter to me, I'm not Harry, I'm Titania." She grinned and waggled her eyebrows.

"Okay, then. So, who will you send memories to?" Luna grinned back.

"Dumbledore, of course, he needs to know that Voldy's gone and gone forever. Madam Bones is the Head of the DMLE, she should get a copy."

"And a copy of your memory of confronting Pettigrew." Luna added.

"Yeah. That might get Fudge to back off on the hunt for Black." Titania nodded. "No likely, but Madam Bones is a stickler for following the rules, so it's possible."

"Anyone else?"

"Moody, Shacklebolt, Remus, McGonagall, Snape, Malfoy, Fudge and Gringotts." Titania said. "And…?"

"And…?"

"And I'm wondering whether I should add in the memory of listening to Snape arguing with Trelawney? Outside the hospital wing?"

"Yes. Definitely." Luna snapped. "She's a fraud and she's got it in for Harry. She gives Seers a bad name."

"It could likely get her arrested." Titania warned.

"I don't have a problem with that. Maybe they'll question her under veritaserum, that should bring all sorts of things to light." Luna tilted her head as something occurred to her. "Could the prophecy be as fake as she is?"

Titania's eyes widened. "Ooh… that… ooh… If I question it in my letter, Madam Bones might ask about it. Harry's dead, it won't matter if it comes out, especially as the rest of the memories show the horcruxes destroyed and Harry saying, 'only me left'. It might just work."

"If it doesn't, you're no worse off, right?"

"Right." Titania snapped her fingers.

"What about the pictures? The ones Trelawney was blackmailing Snape with?" Luna asked. "Do we need to get them?"

"No, we don't. we don't need to do anything other than send out the memories and give Dobby the note for Harry." Titania replied.

"Have you got enough spare phials?"

"No, I don't think so, but if I act now, I can get Da to send our Dobby, with some from home. And he can even deliver them." Titania grinned, climbing to her feet and heading for her trunk.

3rd June 1994

Both girls waited until they knew that some of their housemates were up and about before heading down to the common room.

"Good morning, ickle secondies." The twins chirped brightly, while Lee just nodded, he wasn't a morning person at the best of times.

"Good morning, kites and kitty." Titania grinned at them. "Breakfast, boys?"

"Coffee, you mean?" Lee grunted, his eye still half shut.

"Coffee for you and breakfast for us, then." Luna shrugged.

"Yeah, I can do that." Lee nodded.

"Let's go." The twins scooped up Titania between them and linked their arms through hers. A quick spin and they were out through the common room's door and into the fifth-floor corridor.

"Here, switch with me." Lee grabbed at George's arm and nodded to Luna. "You two are going to drag Titania off her feet and then she won't want to hang out with us anymore."

"Nah, won't happen." George disagreed, but he did drop Titania's arm and offer his to Luna. "Miss Lovegood? Might I escort thee to the Great Hall?"

"Why thank you, kind sir. I would greatly appreciate the company." Luna replied graciously, before exchanging a look with Titania and laughing. "Come on, let's go, I'm hungry."

Down in the Great Hall, the staff table was practically empty, the only Professors present were Professors Sprout, Sinistra and Vector and Madam Pince.

"Hmm…" Fred hummed. "I wonder what's got the Professors going at this hour?"

"This hour?" Titania snorted. "Fred, my dearest Fred, it is after eight, classes start at quarter 'til nine. If they don't hurry up, breakfast will be over."

As she spoke the last word, Professor McGonagall marched into the Hall and up to the staff table, she stood in front of the table and rapped her knuckles against the table's wooden surface.

"May I have your attention, please. First, second and fourth years, your end of term exams are complete. Third years, the last elective exam is today, that of Ancient Runes. OWL students, your exams start on Monday. NEWT students, yours start Thursday. There will be no classes today but I expect those with exams coming to be studying. The rest of you, please be courteous to them and to any other people you may see around the school." She indicated to the back of the Hall where the students could see a tall black man in Auror robes waiting for her. "Thank you. Prefects? Please notify any student that is currently not in attendance. Good morning." She nodded and retraced her steps, not even acknowledging the students as they nodded to her.

"I wonder what brought that on?" George muttered.

"No idea, brother mine." Fred shook his head.

"Whatever shall we do in the meantime?" George asked.

"Our exams aren't due to start until Monday, Miss Kitty and Miss Love-dove's are done." Fred added.

The twins exchanged a long speaking look and nodded.

"Let's go to their classroom and read through our notes." Fred said.

"Do we have to?" Lee muttered.

"If we don't do well, mum's not going to let us go to Titania and Paddy's over summer." George warned.

"Notes it is." Lee nodded quickly.

6th June 1994

It wasn't until Monday that the students found out what was happening.

As they waited for the morning's mail, which was late, Professor Dumbledore stood up and called for their attention.

"Students, I have the sad duty to inform you of a death of a fellow student. Thursday evening three students were involved in assisting two of our Professors in apprehending the known fugitive, Sirius Black." He paused while the students gasped in shock. "Yes, Black was captured. And subsequently escaped, again. However…" He paused again. "In the time since Black's second escape, new information has come to light to exonerate him of any wrongdoing in regard to the deaths of James and Lily Potter." More gasps were heard and many students looked stunned. "We now believe that the reason that Black broke into Hogwarts was not kill Harry Potter but to protect him from the true offender, Peter Pettigrew. Mr Pettigrew's involvement is a matter for the Aurors and I shall not be discussing the matter with students." More gasps and a few dropped pieces of cutlery. "Having said that… It is my sad duty to inform you that Professor Trelawney has been arrested for blackmailing Professor Snape and for the attempted murder of Harry Potter and Sirius Black." There were a couple of thuds as some fainter-hearted student collapsed and were quickly gathered up by older students. Some of the Slytherin students hissed their displeasure. "Thank you. I also have to tell you that Harry Potter is dead." Silence filled the Hall but was quickly dispelled by anger and fear. "Mr Potter's death was only broadly connected to that of Mr Black. Professor Trelawney failed in her attempt to harm Mr Potter, but it put him in a dangerous position. Yet again, Mr Potter was forced to confront Voldemort's soul as it attempted to regain a body." More thuds and a few younger students began to cry. "Yet again, Mr Potter was victorious and Voldemort was defeated." He sighed and leant heavily against the table. "Unfortunately, this victory cost Mr Potter his life."

Dumbledore raised a hand rubbed at his forehead. "Mr Potter must have been aware of the severity of the situation before he entered it, and the likelihood of his demise, as he wrote letters for a number of people and left memories as evidence of his actions." More student began to cry. "He left a message to you, all of you and asked me to read it out." He carefully adjusted his half-moon glasses and pulled a single sheet of parchment from his pocket.

"To the students of Hogwarts. This place, this castle is as much our home as the places we grew up in, and for some of us, it is far more home than anywhere else. Voldemort was the same as us, he went to classes in the same rooms as us, he ate his meals in this Hall, he slept in our dormitories. He wasn't born evil, he made the decision to be evil. He was never taught right from wrong. Don't be another Voldemort. The students around are your family, maybe the ones in your house are closer, but all of them are family. Yes, even the Slytherins. The man who betrayed my parents was a Gryffindor and the man who killed them was a Slytherin. Which is worse? Betrayer or killer? Voldemort couldn't have killed them without Pettigrew betraying them, likewise, Pettigrew wouldn't have had betrayed them if Voldemort hadn't wanted to kill them." Dumbledore sighed.

"This castle is our home, the students in it are our family. Are you going to let some bully hurt our family?" The Headmaster let the sheet of parchment fall to the table, he sat down and let his head fall into his hands. The students could see his shoulder shaking and those closer could see the glistening wetness of tears.

"Harry Potter is dead. He died to save us. Are we going to let him down?" A Puff stood up and Titania wasn't all that surprised to recognise Cedric Diggory. "Are we?" He asked again.

"NO!" The cry began as first one person stood, then two, then four, then whole groups leapt to their feet.

"This is our school!" Cedric yelled.

"Ours!" The students yelled back.

Hands began to smack tables and feet began to stamp on the tiled floors. And whispers became roars.

"Harry! Harry! Harry!"

Dumbledore lifted his head and held his wand up, the tip lighting up. One by one, the other staff left their seats and formed a line down the centre of the Great Hall, one by one they raised their lit wands and one by one they let their tears fall. They were quickly joined by students from every house. Cedric lead the Puffs, Cho Chang lead the Claws, Percy lead the lions and, in a move that shocked Titania, Draco Malfoy lead the Slytherins. Soon the Hall was filled with light

Titania leant into Fred's side and the older boy wrapped his arms around her, as she sobbed. He wasn't aware that her tears were from relief not sorrow, but tears were tears and he knew what to do with a crying girl. You held on and you didn't let go.