Author's note 1: An AU of Harry's first time using the floo network at the Burrow. Instead of ending up at Borgin & Burkes in Knockturn Alley, Harry ends up somewhere close to Diagon Alley and meeting some more friends.

Carrow Twins

Harry slid out of an old fireplace after a minute or so of whirlwind sounds and cyclone-like emerald-green flames. After coughing and sputtering some of the ash out of his mouth, Harry got back onto his feet and checked his surroundings. he immediately knew that he didn't speak his location clearly because he couldn't spot Fred and George through the flames at the other end. He saw that the building he was in looked all abandoned like nobody had been there for years. Harry also walked over to a window and looked out to see some kind of white tents in two rows all lined up within the vicinity of a stone wall which had an archway entrance with a sign saying 'Orphan Alley' above it. The place looked utterly depressing because there didn't seem to be any pleasant sounds or atmosphere wherever he ended up at. Harry spotted the entrance door, approached it ans slowly opened it to leave. All of a sudden, some kind of alarm went off that was heard from somewhere upstairs.

'Shite!' thought Harry as he quickly darted outside and jogged away from the building.

He felt his heart pounding that he had unwittingly disturbed someone who was more than likely inside the seemingly abandoned building. Harry frantically tried to find a way out of Orphan Alley, but he had no idea where to go because it didn't look like he was anywhere near Diagon Alley due to the surrounding environment looking too unfamiliar. The only thing Harry could do was just find another abandoned building that wasn't occupied and hide, knowing that the Weasleys finding him would be one-in-billion at best since they didn't know where he was. Harry didn't yet know that he had been spotted, until...

"What are you doing here?" asked a couple of unexpected voices.

Harry jumped in surprise and turned around to find twin girls about his age behind him. They both had brown hair, with one of the twin girls having her hair in a ponytail and the other one had her hair hanging down. They both even had a beautiful set of blue-gray eyes. They were both dressed in short-sleeve crew-neck gray t-shirts, green cotton shorts, and were barefoot. The twin girls had neutral expressions on their faces, making Harry wonder if they were in the building that had the alarm go off.

"Came about here by mistake," Harry told the girls, feeling uncertain if it was going to be convincing. "It was my first time using the floo network. I was with the Weasleys and we were going to Diagon Alley to get our school stuff. I didn't say the destination clearly and now I have no idea where I ended up."

The girls before Harry just stood there blankly with their arms folded across their chests. Harry sighed inwardly, believing the girls were unconvinced of his explanation. However, the girls began examining Harry by darting their eyes up and down, getting a good look at his outfit. If he knew where he was and if he was anywhere close to Diagon Alley, he would leave. Even if that was possible, Harry felt his legs refusing to walk away because of the feeling of twenty pounds of gel being added to them.

"That does explain why you got covered in soot," the twin girls spoke in unison. "You need a big brush to get rid of that more efficiently, Harry."

"But where can I find one?" asked Harry.

"Follow us!" the girls instructed.

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement and followed the twins. They led him over to the tents that were lined up and they stopped right in front of the second tent from the right. The twin with her hair in the ponytail pulled the tent flap back and gestured for Harry to go right in.

"The tent would be too small for the three of us," said Harry in bewilderment. "Besides, I'm very adamant on the ladies first policy."

"You'll be surprised to see the inside, Harry." the twins informed him.

Harry approached the open flap and peeked inside the tent, his eyes widening as his jaw dropped open in shock. The inside of the tent was bigger than the outside. It consisted of a cozy living room with a dark-green sofa that had a coffee table in front of it, two green fluffy armchairs, an indoor tent flap that led to a kitchen, and one that led to the bedroom or bedrooms, and a bathroom. The girls finally stepped inside and encouraged Harry to take a seat before asking if he'd like anything to drink, with Harry informing them that he'd like water. Then the girl who's hair was hanging down went into the kitchen. She came back with a glass of water for Harry and went back to get herself and her sister glasses of grape juice. Then the girls sat down on the sofa so that Harry was sitting in between them. Harry felt his heart beating faster because he didn't know what to expect, but the twin girls weren't harming him so he had no need to complain. Plus, the girls were being friendly to him.

"I'm Flora Carrow, Harry!" the girl who's hair was hanging down introduced herself, holding a hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Flora!" Harry replied as he shook her hand.

Flora's sister introduced herself as Hestia Carrow, with Harry shaking hands with her as well. The twins were rather good-looking, even though they weren't drop-dead gorgeous like some of the female Hogwarts students, such as Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis (both who were the best looking girls, regardless of them being in Slytherin, in the school, according to the gossipers). The Carrow twins were still pretty in their own way and that was what mattered more.

"Were you the ones inside that building that had the alarm go off?" Harry asked the twins.

"Yes, we were," Hestia confirmed. "One of the house elves that overlooks the orphans stays in there. Flora and I like talking to the one in that building. That house elf is a female named Daisy because she loves flowers, with daisies being her favourite kind of flowers."

"Hestia and I go out to pick flowers as much as we can," stated Flora. "Since they help to give us some cash. Daisy even has a small garden in the backyard of the building she stays in she allows us to grow different kinds of flowers."

"Oh, nice!" Harry replied in admiration. Then he asked, "But why do it in your lounging clothes when you can dress in gardening clothes?"

"We don't get enough money for that, just enough for food, beverages, and clothes that are necessary," stated Hestia. "Besides, we don't have a problem being in our lounging clothes when we're picking flowers. It's not like going out in public. We also have a tendency to be barefoot when we do pick flowers, since the feeling of the dirt on the bottom of our feet feels relaxing."

"Oh, just remembered to get you a brush, Harry. You're still covered in soot." said Flora as she got up and walked over to a closet.

Flora quickly returned to the living room, asked Harry to stand up and she proceeded to brush away the soot that was still covering Harry. Then she gave her sister the brush so she could have a turn, much to Harry's surprise. Once the twins felt certain that Harry was free of the soot, Hestia walked over to the same closet and put the brush back in. Then she returned to the living and sat down on the sofa next to her sister. Harry had no idea what to ask the girls sitting on either side of him, since the Dursleys always told him never to reveal their treatment towards him to anyone else or face brutal beatings.

"The reasons Flora and I live here is pretty sad, Harry," Hestia began telling him the story, as Flora nodded her head to confirm it. "We've been living in Orphan Alley since we were like nine-and-a-half. We turned eleven on the first of March. Our parents didn't love us at all, they just ignored us and the only times they'd turn their attention to us would be to yell at us and degrade us in any way they could. Carmichael and Alecto are the names of our biological parents and they were death eaters. Flora and I knew because our parents were always so devoted to the dark arts and never once thought about us. So Flora and I had only each other and our bond strengthened alot because of our parents never once focusing on us. One day in mid-September, when Flora and I were already nine-an-a-half, our parents even told us that they would sell us to the black market once we turned ten. It did frighten myself and Flora because we knew what would usually happen to children who get sold to the black market. But our so-called parents gave us a chance to leave by telling us that we had until our tenth birthday to leave on our own free will or face being sold on the black market. So Flora and I used the floo network to make it to Diagon Alley and over to Orphan Alley. Since then, we've been here and it's been almost two years since we've lived here. We knew leaving our biological parents meant there was no going back, but we didn't want to be sold on the black market. We had enough seeing or even hearing about Voldemort and his death eaters. Our uncle Amycus wasn't any better, he's our mother's brother and he was also a death eater."

"Oh my! I'd hate to be sold onto the black market myself." Harry responded in a nervous voice, his body shuddering at the thought. Then he continued on, "I'm surprised you said Voldemort's name instead of You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, since most of our community is afraid to speak the name."

"We've dealt with fear before we left our biological parents' house for good," said Flora. "Not only that, but it was just a name. We know that fear of name only increases fear for the thing itself."

Harry nodded his head to show that he understood. Since the Carrow twins poured their heart to Harry, he felt it was right to return the favour. So Harry proceeded to tell the girls about his life with the Dursleys: how he had to do all the chores, how he'd get beating for any infraction or for no reason at all, how he had to get barely-passing grades in primary school or else get yelled at or beatings, how he was forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs until he got his acceptance letters, how he was locked in his room around the clock while his window was fitted with bars to prevent his escape, how he would've been locked indefinitely if Ron and his twin brothers didn't rescue him, how he was given next to nothing in return for the chores he was forced to do while Dudley would get all kinds of rewards for being lazy, how he was given small meals while Dudley ate huge amounts of junk food and drank excessive amounts of soft drinks, and how his uncle's sister allowed a dog to terrorize him anytime she came to visit. Flora and Hestia put a hand over their mouths as their eyes widened in horror and quickly filled with tears to find out that Harry's life was, in some ways, worse than theirs. Then they engulfed Harry in hugs, with Harry doing the same to where they were giving one another a group hug. When they finished their group hug, the three pre-teens pulled away. Harry had to look at the ground when he saw Flora and Hestia with puffy cheeks and red eyes, since he never couldn't handle a girl crying really well.

"You ought to stay away from your relatives, Harry," said Hestia matter-of-factly. "Since they could kill you at anytime if you went back."

"Dumbledore forced me to go back, claiming I was safer there than anywhere else," said Harry. "And yet, he doesn't take that seriously, so it seems like he wants me to do something for him without even talking to me about it first. He doesn't want me placed with a loving and caring family."

"It wouldn't be surprising that Dumbledore wants you to feel as miserable as possible." said Flora. Then she suggested, "Why don't we go into Diagon Alley and get our school stuff purchased. Hestia and I will be starting Hogwarts this year."

"Oh, krud!" exclaimed Harry as he remembered. Then he continued in a calmer voice, "I just remembered that the Weasleys will be looking for me. Are we anywhere close to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, we're pretty close even in walking distance." assured Hestia. "Flora and I will show you the way after we get dressed into clothes meant for going out in public."

So Harry leaned back on the sofa as the girls got up to go to their respective bedrooms and get changed. Despite being twelve, Harry couldn't help noticing how good-looking the twins' legs were. Harry also found himself getting a good peeked at Flora's and Hestia's arses as they lefted the living room. Still, Harry shook his head a couple times as a way of reminding himself that he should go for inner beauty more than outer beauty. Harry still didn't have a full understanding of girls because of his relatives. he was able to overhear some of Uncle Vernon's talks with Dudley several weeks before the disastrous dinner party with the Masons, where Uncle Vernon told Cousin Dudley about the upcoming teenage hormones. It didn't take long for the Carrow twins to return. Flora was dressed in a green short-sleeve blouse with white polka-dots, a pair of white pedal pushers, and brown sandals. Hestia was in a green cap-sleeve shirt made of silk, also in a pair of white pedal pushers, and brown sandals.

"Is green your favourite colour?" Harry asked the twins, rather curiously.

"Yes," the twins confirmed. "We're open to other colours, but green being our favourite is the colour we prefer."

Harry followed Flora and Hestia out of the tent, then they put an arm around Harry's shoulders. Then Harry put his arms around both girls' shoulders (since he was in between them) before they started heading for Diagon Alley. Harry knew he was going to have an interesting story to tell the Weasleys once he met up with them at Flourish & Blotts (since that was where they planned to go first and get their schoolbooks). Ron and Hermione were especially going to question Harry why he showed up with Flora and Hestia. Harry sighed inwardly, knowing it was going to seem like an eternity for him to explain.

The End!

Author's note 2: I'm going to leave Harry's explanation of Flora and Hestia tagging along with him for the Weasleys and Hermione up to you to imagine.