IWSC: Season 3 Round 6

School: Durmstrang

Theme: Discovering the truth

Mandatory prompt: [emotion] Admiration

Secondary prompt: [dialogue] "I cannot begin to express the extent of my disapproval."

Word count: 1430

A/N: This story is an alternate universe. Severitus. Whatever you believe the timeline to be in Harry Potter throw it out. Harry is eight years old. The twins are fifteen.

A Feathery Day in Hogwarts

The twins sat with their hands folded in front of them. They stole glances at each other. They knew they didn't do anything wrong. Well, not on purpose. It was an accident. Who knew it would turn out that way?

The door crashed against the wall, making the twins jump.

Severus strolled into his office where Fred and George were sitting in front of his desk. He could see the tension in the boys' shoulders. Severus took his intimidation seriously. Being the head of Slytherin, he had a reputation to uphold.

Severus stood in front of the boys leaning against his desk. His arms folded across his chest.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Severus inquired, arching one eyebrow.

"It wasn't what you think," George said.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "It just happened."

"It. Just. Happened," Severus enunciated each word. "I think you had better explain why Harry is now in the Infirmary."

Fred and George looked at each other.

One thing Severus secretly admired about the Weasley twins was their ability to communicate without saying anything. The Weasley twins weren't the only twins that graced Hogwarts' hallowed halls, but they were the most memorable ones.

"We didn't mean for Harry to get hurt," Fred said.

"Yeah," George continued. "We didn't know he was there until it was too late."

"So, you didn't notice that you had an eight-year-old stalker?" Severus asked.

"Well," George shrugged. "When you put it like that, yeah, we knew we had a shadow."

"We just didn't think he would follow us today," Fred said.

"So, what happened?" Severus asked.

"We were trying out our newest theory," George said.

"And what would that be?"

"Could we change the color of…" George trailed off noticing Fred's subtle head shake.

"Of?"

"Now, we thought it would work," Fred countered.

"Well, after what I saw of Harry, I'd say it did work," Severus sneered.

"He wasn't supposed to be there," Fred emphasized. "We thought he was with you."

"You thought," Severus questioned. "Why did you think that?"

"You said yesterday that you were taking Harry out of the castle," George said.

"So, I can count eavesdropping to your list of misdeeds," Severus sighed, moving to sit down behind his desk. "For your information, had you came at the beginning of that conversation you would have heard that I was leaving with Harry the following week."

Fred lightly shoved George. "You said it was today," Fred whispered harshly.

"So, I was wrong," George countered, shoving Fred back.

"If you two are quite finished," Severus said. "Back to the matter at hand. How did my ward find himself in the infirmary sprouting feathers?"

Fred and George bit their lips as they tried their best not to smile. They didn't mean for Harry to get hit, the boy ran out too fast for them to stop. Though, Harry wasn't sore about it.

"Do you find this funny?" Severus asked. "Do you realize how much danger Harry was in?"

"Harry's fine," George said with confidence.

"Harry's cackling," Severus countered.

"He's laughing," Fred commented, no longer hiding his smile.

"I will not get into this with you," Severus said, rubbing his forehead. "What were you trying to do?"

Fred and George looked at each other. George sighed.

"We wanted to give Buckbeak a trim and a dye job," Fred said.

Severus couldn't believe what he heard. Buckbeak? The Hippogriff? One of the most dangerous creatures that had come out of the Forbidden Forest.

"I cannot begin to express the extent of my disapproval or anger at what you dunderheads have done," Severus said. "Do you realize how much danger you could have been in? What made you think that doing anything to Buckbeak was a great idea?"

Severus couldn't fathom what they were thinking. The two of them were about to speak when Severus raised his hand to halt them. The looks on their faces let him know it would probably be best if he stayed ignorant of this situation.

"You know what," Severus said. "I don't want to know. You just better hope Harry makes a full recovery."

Fred and George looked at each other. Though that statement sounded nonchalant, they both knew that it was a blatant threat. Not that it truly bothered them. Whenever they were home with their mom, they get threatened several times a day. What's one more?

"Out," Severus ordered.

The twins didn't have to be told twice as they rushed out of Snape's office.

_000_000_000

The twins headed for the Infirmary. Imagining Harry with feathers and clucking was funny, but they didn't mean for Harry to get hit with that spell.

Harry was sitting on one of the many beds in the hospital wing. He wasn't hurting. He actually liked the way he looked. He enjoyed reaching up to feel what should have been his hair. It was soft. He didn't have hair on his head. They were feathers. It was weird not being able to speak for a while, but he couldn't help laughing at how he sounded.

Harry loved the twins. There was never a dull time with them. They weren't like the other kids around the school. They all stayed away because they were scared of his daddy, but not the twins. Fred and George liked having them around. They didn't care that his daddy was the Potions Professor. They didn't care that he spent most of his time, while they were in classes, with the Headmaster.

They didn't see just a scrawny kid that they had to keep away from. They saw him as a friend. Harry hoped that they would continue seeing him as their friend.

Harry's inner thoughts were disrupted by the Infirmary doors opening. He couldn't help the grin on his face when he saw Fred and George walking in.

"Hey there, Harrykins," George said.

Harry loved his nickname. "Fine Forge," Harry replied.

The twins changing their names fascinated Harry. Harry crossed his legs on the bed so they could sit.

"Glad you're back to talking?" Fred asked, sitting at the foot of the bed. George sat on the other side.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "But I did like clucking for awhile."

"We tried to tell your daddy that," George started.

"He wouldn't listen," Fred ended.

"Y'all still be my friend?" Harry asked. He would hate it if he couldn't see the twins anymore.

"Nothing is going to take you away from us," Fred declared.

"Yeah," George agreed. "You're stuck with us."

"I like you two," Harry beamed.

"We like you too," the twins said at the same time.

"Now," George said. "Why were you following us?"

"I was bored," Harry shrugged. "I'm never bored with you."

"Aww," Fred said, putting his hands over his heart. "So sweet."

"Adorable, George agreed.

Harry laughed at how they were looking. This was why he loved the twins so much.

"Haven't I seen enough of you two?"

Everyone on the bed looked over at the Infirmary doors and saw Snape standing there. Harry had a huge grin on his face. The twins smirked and shrugged their shoulders.

"Look who came to see me, Daddy," Harry beamed.

"Oh, goody," Severus snarled. "Isn't that thoughtful?"

"Yeah," Harry said. Not phased by his daddy's tone. "They still my best friends. They said I was stuck with them. Ain't that wicked?"

"Yes… very wicked," Severus deadpanned. "Have you come to cause more trouble, Messrs Weasleys?"

"Of course not, Professor," Fred and George chorused.

"We've learned our lesson," Fred said. "Haven't we Forge?"

"We did, Gred," George answered.

Harry snickered. His blue and bronze feathers sway slightly.

Severus sighed. Why Harry had to get with the two menaces of the school, he'll never know. But he didn't have the heart to break up their friendship. When Harry came to be with him, the child was scared of his own shadow. He was beyond timid. It took Severus five months to get Harry out of his shell.

Then one day, when Severus and Harry were making their way to the Great Hall when Harry accidentally bumps into George. His first reaction was fear of being ridiculed. But that didn't happen. George and Fred Weasley did something in two minutes that took Severus five months; they penetrated the child's shell. The two of them gave Harry the best thing in the world: friendship.

As much as they are a bane of his existence, Severus will forever be grateful towards the twins for what they do for Harry.

Well, minus the odd prank backfire, of course.

THE END

A/N: I hope you enjoyed my story. Please leave a review letting me know what you thought.

Many hugs and kisses to you all!

Mandancie