A/N - Here it is, another chapter! Sorry it took so long to get this out. With starting college again this year I've been very busy and haven't had much time to write. This chapter is a lot shorter, more of a filler chapter to fill Fred and George in on everything Harry and Ginny know. Next chapter it should get more interesting again, although I can't promise when that will come out. Please favourite and review - it makes it all worth it! (Disclaimer in Chapter 1)
Chapter 13 - The Marauders Legacy
In the morning, Harry and Ginny woke up together after a much better night's sleep than the previous one, further instilling confidence in them that it was due to them being in the same bed. After a short while of just cuddling together, they headed out of the bedroom for the door to the third floor that they had entered the night before. As they had gotten a better nights sleep, they needed to get to breakfast quickly before it finished. However, as they passed through the main room, hand in hand, Godric cleared his throat from the portrait above the fire. The young teens paused and turned to look at him, expectantly.
"I've thought of a way you can add more people to the access list of this room so long as you have a connection of sorts to them. Also, they have to be touching either of you to gain access each time, but it is better than nothing. That means you are still unable to be found when you don't want to be, and are alone."
"How do we do it?" Harry asked, intrigued. It would be good if they could get the twin Weasley brothers into this room with them, so they could talk with the knowledge that no one could possibly overhear anything they had to say, that might be better off kept secret. Ginny was just excited at the thought.
"There is a slightly complicated spell, which I have no doubt either of you will be able to perform, and as far as I know it only works on family members for now. You must cast it on each person you wish to enter, but it is only needed once per person. The incantation is Familia add speravimus. From then on, they may enter with either one of you, but never on their own. I suggest you keep the number of people you add to a minimum. I'm sure you want your privacy." He chuckled.
Blushing, they thanked Godric, and headed down to breakfast, pleased with the knowledge that they wouldn't be the only two ever able to access Godric's Rooms. Walking in to the Great Hall hand in hand caused an increase in muttering, it was clear that somehow the Hogwarts rumour mill hadn't picked up yet on their current status as 'dating' and passed the news around the school. They weren't too bothered, the sooner everyone found out they were together the better.
Sitting down next to Fred and George, they muttered a request to speak to them after breakfast. All four then devoured their meal as quickly as possible, the Weasleys emulating Ron slightly in their desire to finish quickly, before the two third years headed up to the common room, having finished first. Harry collected his invisibility cloak, while Ginny made an appearance in her dorm to keep up pretences. It would be better if they were both seen in the dorm rooms at least periodically. They then headed down to the grounds, just outside the entrance hall, to await the Twins.
As soon as Fred and George arrived, the four teenagers headed over to a secluded corner. Harry pulled the cloak out, held it in front of him, and looked at it critically for a moment.
"Godric, is that an invisibility cloak?" Exclaimed Fred, or was it George? Harry made a mental note to at some point find a way to tell the Twins apart.
"Yeah, it was my Dad's. I don't think its big enough though, for all of us." He explained, "And I don't want to damage it - I don't know what casting an enlargement charm on it would do to the invisibility magic it contains."
"It shouldn't affect it." The other twin commented thoughtfully.
"Yeah, we've found that although our prank items..."
"... aren't generally good at holding more than one spell..."
"... magical objects themselves..."
"... or those mass produced for a purpose - don't forget, My esteemed brother!" George cut in.
"Yeah, or those, can hold more magic than they were originally designed with!" Fred finished triumphantly, while Harry just shook his head at the twin talk, trying to follow along, and Ginny watched on, used to it by now, having lived with it for the past twelve years.
"So you're suggesting it should be fine?" Harry confirmed.
"I would have thought so, young Harry."
Harry frowned slightly at the 'young', but nodded. Deciding it would probably be fine, he pointed his wand at the cloak and muttered "Engorgio". He held the cloak, and continued the spell until it looked like it would hold all four of them. He draped the enlarged cloak around the group, and whispered to the other three, "Remember, the cloak may keep us invisible but it doesn't make us silent - we can still be heard, or in the case of Mrs Norris, smelt." He then led the others up to the fourth floor, before pulling them to a halt where he and Ginny could see the entrance to Godric's Study.
"Um, why are we here? This is just a blank wall. We never found anything here, not even with the map." George asked.
"I sure hope you've not already found something we didn't." Fred continued.
Harry smiled slightly at that. "Just give me a second - I need to cast a spell on each of you." Receiving a pair of nods in acceptance, he pulled out his wand and chanted "Familia add speravimus" while pointing it at each of them.
"Wicked!" The Twins exclaimed in unison as the door appeared before them.
Harry quickly explained a bit to them. "This is a secret study, I will explain more when we are inside. Just know that you can only gain access when in contact with one of us, and will never be able to tell someone else about it without one of our permission." He then grabbed Fred, and Ginny grabbed George, before they entered the suite of rooms.
Fred and George slowly turned, taking in the main room, before being pulled over to the fire. Harry and Ginny once more curled up together in the loveseat, while the Twins sat opposite them on a couch.
Harry started speaking. "Right, this is called Godric's study. No one can get in besides a true heir of Gryffindor and their chosen mate. Hence me and Ginny. I am the heir of Gryffindor."
"And little Gin-Gin here can get in because of your magic bond thingy?" The twin on the left confirmed. Harry had been looking the other way when they had sat down so didn't know who was who.
"Yep, turns out that although Godric didn't have a soul-bond, his son did. It appears that he designed these rooms with his descendants in mind, knowing they'd want somewhere to go in the school. However most of them didn't know about it, only a true heir can find out. Which is probably good, how many more pranks would have been played if my dad had access to this room?" Harry asked rhetorically.
"What are the other doors for?" One of the twins asked.
"One is a library that Hermione wouldn't leave if she found out about. Another leads to a hallway, which will be explained later. The one on the far right is a master bedroom. The second from the left, well, go check it out yourselves."
The twins rose as one and went to open the door. "Wicked!" They exclaimed again when they saw what it contained.
"We thought this would be a great place to plan pranks. And that's what I mean. How much mayhem would have been caused had the infamous Marauders been able to access it? The spell we used on you to allow you access to this room hadn't been thought of this morning, but given Godric" Harry gestured to the portrait over the fireplace, "figured it out overnight for us, I hardly think it would have taken long had my dad needed it.
"Now, the door into the hallway. Do you happen to see the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy down the hall?" He asked as the twins looked out the door into the deceivingly empty hallway. He received a pair of nods. "Apparently, if you pace opposite it three times, while thinking of anything you need, a room will appear that can provide for you, called the Room of Requirement. The spell I used to let you in here only works on family members, so anyone outside the family can't access the study. If we ever meet with them, it can be done in that room instead, however it isn't as secret, as anyone can find it."
The twins followed Harry and Ginny back into the study, and they sat back down. Then Harry asked Fred, "Can I have the map please?"
After handing it over, Fred and George made a huge display, bowing down and chanting "We are not worthy, far be it for us to stand between you and your inheritance!" However they quickly stopped after a light slap on the head each from Ginny, (although she was silently giggling at the display and the frown on Harry's face), seating themselves back in their original places.
"Right. My dad told me about this spell in a letter, and asked me to cast it on the map. Potter Revelio." He said, holding his wand to the map. Suddenly, an extra fold of parchment appeared in the corner, on which several instructions were included about how the map operated. In addition to this, the names on the map changed, so they included middle names. Each name also now had a 'Yes' or 'No' next to it. The four looked at the new names, trying to spot a pattern. Everyone they could see seemed to have a 'No'.
"Wait a second, look at Professor McGonagall!" A twin exclaimed. "She's got a yes, and next to it, 'CAT - Rimmed Eyes'!"
They all pondered this for a minute, until Ginny gasped with revelation. "Something McGonagall has, but no-one else we can see? And in relation to a cat with rimmed eyes? The only thing I can think of that we know about is that she's an ani.. anima..."
Ginny was struggling with remembering the word from the start of her first year, having already been slightly under the influence of the diary, even then. Harry decided to step in to help her out. "Animagus?"
"Yeah that. Do we know if anyone else in the castle is one?
"I don't think so dear sister ours." The left twin commented. "Although we secretly think it would be brilliant blackmail material if Filch was, and transformed into a cat similar to Mrs Norris..." Harry and Ginny visibly shivered at the thought.
"Ok then, we think that means they're an Animagus." Harry attempted to pull the conversation back on track. Looking at the instructions, Harry saw that they told him how to add areas to the map, hide areas from people who he didn't want to accidentally see them, and the same for names - which could be overwritten to say something else for most people. He immediately cast this spell to make the map read Ginny Weasley instead of Ginny Potter for all except those in the room. Ginny frowned slightly at this, but understood the need for secrecy. Harry felt a vague sense of annoyance, quickly followed by acceptance, but thought nothing of it.
"Now we need to talk about the Marauders. We know one is my dad. That's pretty obvious given the spell he gave me worked. The others I have an idea about. When we went to Gringott's, Ragnok informed us of my parent's will." He looked down and paused slightly, but Ginny laid a supporting hand on his arm. Still he made no motion to continue, so she took over for him.
"In their will, they had left money to three people: Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."
The reactions from those three names were almost comic. George was the first to articulate words.
"Remus Lupin, our DADA teacher?"
"I don't know of another," Harry acknowledged, "and it's not exactly a common name."
"Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew? That's strange..." Fred commented.
"From what Ginny told me about them, we believe that not everything is not necessarily as it seems when it comes to them. We're just not sure what the actual truth is. We asked Ragnok to look into it, along with what seems like a multitude of other things."
"You hear that, Gred?"
"Too right I do, Forge."
"It seems our lovely..."
"...wonderful..."
"...kind and caring..."
"...sister has been following in our footsteps..."
"...and has been listening in on our parents' conservations!"
Ginny blushed slightly, but smiled angelically. "Mum and Dad would never guess anything would be the fault of the only girl, their perfect little angel. Where did you think half the pranks against you originated from?"
"That was you?" The right-hand twin asked. She nodded slightly in confirmation, leaning into Harry's arm. She could fell him shaking in an effort to suppress his laughter.
"And you let Ron take the blame?" The other twin confirmed.
"That was positively devilish of you, dear sister ours!"
"Indeed, we can't wait to have you and Harry pranking with us!"
Harry again realised the conversation was quickly descending into madness, so jumped in to bring it to the matter to hand. "Guys, this is important, remember?" He asked.
The twins suddenly looked thoughtful again. "So, you think those four are the Marauders? That means we know one, and you're the descendant of another. What do we do about Professor Lupin though?" Fred asked.
"I want a conversation with him anyway, and I'm sure Ginny wants to be there, to ask him to teach us how to repel Dementors, and why he didn't let us face the boggart in our lesson yesterday." Harry replied.
"Well this does explain why you didn't talk about the map anymore on the train the other day." George stated, as Harry nodded in reply.
"Anyway, my esteemed brother and I were wondering just where you two got to last night... as all your stuff was in the dorms but your beds didn't appear slept in? That's what Ron and Hermione claimed, anyway. Needless to say, Ronniekins wasn't happy when he couldn't find either of you last night or this morning..." Fred asked.
"We'll tell you, but it goes without saying that Ronald doesn't find out, and you don't kill Harry here." Ginny replied, as Harry had looked down, a worried expression on his face. She pulled him into a reassuring sideways half hug, wrapping her left arm around his back. Receiving nods from the twins, she continued. "Fourth door." She said simply, pointing.
The twins rose as one, and peered through the door to see an obviously slept in bed. Closing the door, they sat down again solemnly.
"Harry." Fred started.
"Young man." George continued. Harry just looked, if possible, even more worried.
"You need to learn more spells before something like this." Fred laughed. Harry's scared expression turned confused.
"What?"
"That's right, our good man - to do something like this, there's one spell you need to know."
"Yes my good brother, one spell." They seesawed, as if presenting a new product.
"It's a secret of ours."
"I don't think many know of it anymore."
"No, it appears they do not."
"The incantation is apparent dormio."
"What does it do?" Ginny queried.
"Why it makes your bed appear slept in of course - perfect for our nighttime wanderings and prank pulling and it seems like just what you need. Just be sure to use it after everyone has gone to bed but before they wake up. It even goes as far as to close the curtains around your bed, so if those in your dorm wake in the middle of the night they don't see an empty bed."
"Brilliant! How did you find it?"
Fred replied, "As strange as it may seem, we read!" He said haughtily, turning his nose up as George assumed a similar posture.
"You're OK with us sleeping together here then?" Harry checked. Then he blushed as he realised what he had said.
The twins couldn't resist an opportunity to tease him though. "Sleeping together?" One asked.
"I thought you were just sleeping next to each other in one bed."
"This changes things, dear brother."
"Fred, George..." Ginny started warningly. They paused their twin talk.
"That's not what I meant guys and you know it. We're way too young to be thinking about... that!" Harry protested. "I'll try again. You're OK with us sharing a bed here then?"
"Of course, you're married and besides, we have to keep on our beloved -"
"- favourite -"
"- loving -"
"- sister's good side - that bat-bogey hex of hers is mean!" George continued after more seesawing, while Ginny smiled, once again angelically, at them.
"However, we do have to wonder why you feel it necessary?" Fred asked.
"Surely you've seen Ron's reaction to the news we are dating, and Dumbledore doesn't appear to have our best interests at heart. We believe he knew what was happening last year, but didn't do anything to stop it." This statement caused both twins to gasp in horror. "So, we are taking matters into our own hands."
"What are you going to do?" The twins asked in unison, looking uncharacteristically solemn.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in the high winged-back chair located behind the desk of the Hogwarts Headmaster's Office, thinking. It was something he did a lot lately, he realised, but quickly put that down to the unique young couple currently in his school, and their role in the future. The subjects of his pondering were of course Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.
Seeing them as they were yesterday, willingly holding hands after the need was gone, and publicly displaying their relationship, Dumbledore decided that it needed to stop. He had observed, and listened into, the confrontation with the youngest male Weasley from afar, as he studied the evolving relationship between the two third years. While it was good to see Harry starting to stand up for himself, it was unfortunate that the change had come at such an inopportune moment.
As it was in the Headmaster's mind, Harry would need Ronald to help with his troublesome task in the future. Even now, the thirteen-year-old's logic and planning -demonstrated through his natural ability at Wizard's Chess - were obvious to the Headmaster, and it was clear that in order for his carefully laid plan to work, those skills would be vital to help Harry in his role. As would those of Miss Granger - her research skills and motivation ability, while certainly a unique method, would prove indispensable to Harry in the future. While the young boy would not realise it now, Dumbledore believed it would soon become obvious to him that he needed his two best friends.
On the other hand, the ageing wizard could not determine what, if any, skills Miss Weasley brought to the table. In his mind, the only purpose she could play would be to distract Harry from his true role as Vanquisher of the Dark Lord. After all, with the prophecy in mind, the only people who fit the criteria as those who love him most could possibly be himself, and Ron Weasley. He thought of himself as a grandfather-figure to Harry, and as his best friend, Ron would be able to be there for Harry when no one else could. This was the main reason Dumbledore was so worried about their apparent break from friendship, an issue that must be resolved quickly. And once again, the problem was facilitated by Ginevra's presence in young Harry's life. Had they not bonded, Ronald and Harry would never have had a falling out.
Dumbledore refused to even entertain the idea that he could be wrong. He had run through hundreds of different possibilities in his head, to try and find the most likely outcome, as well as the most preferable and how to achieve it. Due to his determination that his interpretation of the Prophecy was correct, the only possible solutions were those in which Harry was not romantically entangled with anyone. He vowed to start on his plan to separate Harry and Ginny on Monday, he would need to head to Diagon Alley tomorrow to pick up a mild love potion, that should be enough. After all, he, Albus Dumbledore, was the self-proclaimed leader of the light and widely acknowledged as the greatest wizard of the age. Why would he be wrong?