Chapter Three

The Weasleys Learn the Truth

Ron had been sitting on his bed polishing the new broom that his brothers Fred and George had bought him when Hedwig arrived with Harry's letter. The burrow was full to the brim this summer, with Charlie and Bill both coming home to be closer to the family during the coming dark times, so it was no surprise that when he entered the kitchen that his mother wasn't the only one there. Charlie was there as well and he was the first to notice his entrance and the stunned look on Ron's face.

"What's the matter little bro'? You look like someone just told you Santa Clause isn't real."

"They hurt him. The nightmares? They weren't about you-know-who they were about what they used to do to him. And that ASSHOLE KNEW!" Ron was shaking by this point and the fist that was clenching his best friend's letter was turning white.

Charlie was confused not understanding whom his brother was talking about but Molly Weasley knew. Her youngest son had confided in her about the nightmares that plagued his best friend. She had always had her suspicions that those muggle relatives had been worse to the boy than he let on, but to have solid confirmation broke her heart. "Who knew Ron? Who knew that the Dursleys were hurting Harry?"

"Dumbledore, the fucking jerk-off. He knew and he continued to send him back there. And now he's telling Harry that the only letters he's allowed to send are to snuffles and are to tell him how great his summer is, even though the jerk-off conspired with the muggle bastards to lock him up in an attic for the summer. I hate him, Mom, I truly do." Ron broke down crying at this point and Molly pulled him into her arms, her own cheeks stained with tears.

Charlie sat at the table in shock, "Harry's relatives hurt him?" Molly just nodded not being able to find her voice. "And Dumbledore knew?"

"Apparently." She said weakly

"Excuse me." Charlie got up from the table and walked out to the backyard.

In behind the Weasley's home was a large oak tree, this tree was said to be planted by Archibald Weasley some hundred years ago for his new born son so that the boy would have a tree that he could climb when he got a bit older. The tree sported the cursory tree house, which had been used by generation upon generation of Weasley children. That fall found Arthur Weasley commenting on how few leaves there were to clean up now that the tree was no more than a blackened stump, and no one ever wondered again why the oldest son got along so well with dragons.

When Charlie walked back into the house the number of people present had increased to include every Weasley that had been in a one mile radius during his temper tantrum. Meaning everyone except Dad and Percy who were currently working at the ministry. Ron was now sitting on the couch hugging his knees to his chest with the twins sitting on either side of him both sporting dark looks that did not bode well for one Albus Dumbledore. Ginny was sitting with Molly in the large overstuffed chair that sat beside the fireplace; the tears were still rolling down her face. Bill was sitting on one of the footstools glaring at the carpet like it was the cause of all Harry's problems. While both Charlie and Bill hardly knew the black-haired teen they had both accepted him as a member of the family and an affront to him was as good as an affront to anyone else in their close knit family.

"Charlie?" Ron's normally strong vibrant voice was quiet and shaky.

"Yeah, Ron?"

"What's a Dragon Clan?"

Of all the questions he had been expecting that was not one of them. "A Dragon Clan? Well, you see even though dragons on their own are strong powerful each breed has inherent weaknesses. Like the Ironbelly while large and able to crush many things merely by stepping on them it is very slow and if it gets injured is very vulnerable to attack from other creatures and wizards. It is believed that in order to make up for these weaknesses the dragon's form something best described as a clan which are made up of a variety of dragon breeds. If one gets injured then other dragons from his clan will come and protect him until he has healed. Also if someone, or some thing, attacks a dragon then the dragon will most likely call out to his or her clan and then the entire clan will come to their aid, and trust me you do not want to mess with an entire clan they are very protective of each other." Charlie paused for a moment and then asked "Why?"

"Harry in his letter said that to him we were his clan. Well us, Hermione, her parents, Professor Lupin, and umm someone else."

"Wow that's a really big compliment if he knew what it meant." Charlie responded rather stunned, he hadn't really known how strongly the boy felt about them.

"Hermione had described it to him and he said it fit perfectly with how he felt about us. And that no one would hurt his clan and get away with it."

"He's probably referring to you-know-who." Ginny spoke up from her mother's side

"Yeah, he told me once in second year that he's worried that you-know-who will come after us since we're the closest thing to family he's ever had." Fred said with smile

"Yeah, other than a certain someone he really has no other family."

"Okay, I've gotta ask who is this other person you keep referring to, though never naming, and why would Harry consider Professor Lupin a part of his clan? He only taught us for one year just like every other defence teacher we've had." George spoke out sounding slightly exasperated

"Umm, Mom?" Ron looked to his mother not sure whether or not he should spill the beans about Snuffles

"It's probably best they know, this way when they do meet the man they don't hex first and ask questions later." Molly smiled reassuringly to Ron and turned to the rest of her children. "The other person Ron keeps referring to is Harry's godfather, Sirius Black." The five children who had no knowledge of Sirius' innocence sat up ramrod straight and looked in disbelief at their mother, surely the woman wasn't serious.

"Mom, Sirius Black is a murderer! He's the one that betrayed Harry's parents! The other's may not be old enough to remember what happened but me and Bill are, there is no way in hell that he should be considered part of the clan." Charlie had quickly accepted the idea of them being a part of a clan involving Harry and the Grangers, but Sirius Black? That was just ludicrous!

"Charlie, this is why we are telling you this now and not waiting until you have the opportunity to meet Sirius. Sirius Black is innocent." Five jaws dropped at this statement. "Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper, they switched at the last minute. Sirius went after him to get revenge but didn't realise that he had a wand hidden behind his back. Pettigrew then accused Sirius of betraying Lily and James before cutting off his own finger, blowing up the street, and running off into the sewers in his animagus form."

"His animagus form? But I looked up the six animagus after McGonagall gave that lecture and Peter Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list." Ginny asked

Ron spoke up at this point, "Peter and Sirius along with Harry's father along became illegal animagi in their fifth year in order to keep their best friend Remus Lupin company on the nights of the full moon."

"Which is why Professor Lupin is part of the clan." George said understanding

"Right."

"What were their forms?" Bill asked speaking up for the first time

"Well Harry's dad was a stag, Sirius is a large black dog that looks remarkably like a grim, and Pettigrew," Ron spit out the last name "was a rat."

"Wow, a stag, a dog, a rat, and a werewolf. Now that must have been an odd sight to anyone who saw them." Charlie commented

Ron couldn't resist letting out his last tidbit of information, everyone was so upset about the news about Harry and the twins reactions would be priceless. "Yep, they had nicknames too. Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony." He broke out in a grin as the twins started sputtering.

"You mean Harry's dad and his friends were, are Prongs Padfoot Wormtail and Moony."

"Yep. Also known as the Marauders." He responded his grin growing even wider. Molly caught on to what was happening the marauders started Hogwarts when she was in seventh year but they had already gotten quite a name for themselves as practical jokers by the end of the school year. It figured that those two would find out about them and most likely idolize them.

"I don't believe it."

"The little brat."

"Why didn't he say anything?"

"Harry's dad was Prongs."

"That makes Harry a true second generation marauder."

"Wait a minute, Professor Lupin was a marauder? Quiet, gentle Professor Lupin? No way."

The twins probably would have continued had Ginny not interrupted. "What's the big deal? I don't get why you two are flipping out over a couple of nicknames."

"A couple of nicknames? These are no ordinary nicknames my dear Ginny. No these nicknames belong to legends, heroes, gods among men. Every prankster worth anything at Hogwarts knows of the great Marauders. They are idolized; they completed feats beyond those of we mere mortals. They went to places more perilous then one's mind can imagine and lived to tell the tale. They played pranks that were so grand, so well thought out that entire houses were put to shame. No these are no mere nicknames, these are the names of great men whose stories will live on through out the ages as those to be worshipped." The twins switched back in forth through their soliloquy of sorts, and Ron was on the floor laughing by the end.

"Oh god. I wish Harry could have been here to hear that. He would of just died." Ron wiped the tears away from his eyes as he sat back down on the couch.

"Oh don't worry Ron he'll be able to hear it, as will we again and again and again." Charlie held up a small recording device that he kept on hand just in case. "I recognized the names, from the stories that were still popular when I started at Hogwarts and I figured these two would have heard of them and started hero worshiping them."

"Sweet. I'll have to send a copy of that along with my reply."

"Wait, how do you know all of this?" Bill asked

"Remember when Sirius escaped azkaban and everyone thought he did it so he could kill Harry?" Everyone nodded in response. "Well it turns out that when Fudge went to check on the prisoners he had a copy of the Daily Prophet and when Sirius asked him for it he gave it to him. The reason Sirius asked for the paper was because on the front page was a picture of a family, and sitting on the shoulder of one of the boys was Peter Pettigrew in his animagus form."

"You don' t mean…." Ginny trailed off

"Yep, scabbers. When Sirius realized that his godson was sleeping no more then a few feet away from the man who betrayed his parents during the school year he knew he had to get out and save him. With that in mind he slipped out of azkaban in his animagus form and made his way to Hogwarts, with a slight side trip to Privet Drive where he scared the crap out of Harry."

"So when he accidentally attacked you in the dorms instead of Harry, it really wasn't an accident he was just going for scabbers not you?" Fred piped up

"Yep."

"That still doesn't explain how you guys found out about all this." Bill pointed out

"Well on the night that Buckbeak was to be executed, that was Hagrid's hippogriff that had attacked Draco Malfoy earlier in the year," he clarified for Charlie and Bill who wouldn't know the story surrounding the creature, "me, Hermione, and Harry went to visit Hagrid and while we were there Hermione found scabbers hiding in a cup. After we left his hut scabbers tried to get away and I was attacked by a large black dog that dragged me off through the tunnel under the womping willow. Harry and Hermione followed and by the time they got to the end of the tunnel the dog had transformed into none other than Sirius Black. The three of us fought him thinking he was trying to kill Harry, he had taken our wands but we managed to get them back and Harry was standing there his wand pointed at Sirius' heart when Professor Lupin came in. He had seen Sirius and Pettigrew on a map he had," Ron gave Fred and George a quick look each confirming that he was talking about the Marauder's map, "he took our wands for a bit until we agreed to listen to what him and Sirius had to say. Eventually, with a short interruption from Snape which resulted in him being knocked unconscious, they explained how they had become illegal animagi and how Pettigrew had actually been the secret keeper."

"You mean to say you were attacked and kidnapped by someone thought to be an insane mass murderer, you fought with said insane mass murderer, watched your best friend nearly kill said man,"

"I would have helped him if my leg hadn't been broken, I did help a bit but it standing on it made me kind of woozy." The others just looked at Ron like he'd grown an extra head. "We thought he'd killed Harry's parents and had come back to finish Harry off, you think we were going to just let him?"

"Okay you helped your best friend, whom we consider to be part of the family, almost kill someone. You knocked the most hated teacher in the school, don't try and deny it Ron I saw your eyes twinkle as you said that. And you NEVER TOLD ANY OF US!" Fred finished off with a shout.

"Well, Mom knows." Ron said meekly

None of the Weasley had heard their mother snort before and it was quite the odd sound. "I know because two weeks ago when I was in hospital wing with Harry, Dumbledore," all seven faces darkened at the mention of the headmasters name, "told me. Not because you saw fit to tell me." Ron looked at his mother meekly knowing she had him. "Is there anything else you've been neglecting to tell us Ronald?"

"Umm, okay first year. Fought a troll in the girl's loo, Quirrel tried to kill Harry by hexing his broom, ended up in a small room with a giant three headed dog, looked in the mirror of Erised that Harry found, Harry ran into you-know-who in the forbidden forest though I wasn't actually there for that, snuck past said three headed dog, got stuck in some devil's snare, played in giant life size chess game set up by McGonagall and ended up having to sacrifice myself so that Harry could go on and fight you-know-who who had been inhabiting Professor Quirrell's body. Gave Harry and 'mione a pretty good scare when I got knocked unconscious by the other sides queen. Uhh, second year let's see are we starting once school officially started or before hand as well?" At the glare he received from everyone he decided to start from before school officially started.

"Well me and Harry took Dad's car to get to Hogwarts that year cause a house elf had sealed the gateway to the platform. We nearly got run over by the express on the way there, then the car's flying mechanism started fail just as we reached the school, we ended up landing in the womping willow which didn't take to kindly to that, a jinxed bludger nearly killed Harry. Ummm, we used polyjuice to find out if Draco Malfoy was the heir of slytherin, we had defence with Lockhart that was pretty dangerous at times, Hermione got frozen by the basilisk, me and Harry went into the forest following spiders under Hagrid's direction. I love the half-giant and all but I'm never trusting him when it comes to creatures again, seeing as his directions ended up with us in the middle of an acromantula colony," Ron gave shiver at this memory, "the car saved us that time."

"You all know how we went down into the chamber then to save Ginny and Lockhart tried to perform a memory charm on me and Harry but it back fired cause my wand was broken. You all know about everything that happened in third year with Sirius and all except when the dementor's made Harry fall off his broom when he was like fifty feet up in the air, Professor Lupin almost ate me when he transformed on the way back to Hogwarts, though it really wasn't his fault and he feels really bad about so don't get upset with him. And oh ya, the dementor's tried to give me Harry and 'mione the kiss when they found us with Sirius. Last year was pretty quiet really, Harry and I were fighting most of the year cause of the tournament, so other then a few fights with Malfoy nothing really happened."

"Bloody Hell, Ron!" Bill exclaimed jumping up from his stool. "That's it I'm writing the school to offer my services for the defence position just so I can watch over you three. In four years you guys have had more near-death experiences then most Aurors! I can't even count the number of times you've nearly been eaten and these are just the incidents that you find note worthy enough to remember at the moment. Merlin knows what else you three have been up to, that has just been noted mundane compared to everything else."

The four youngest Weasley's just stared up at their big brother with hopeful eyes, "Really Bill? You're really going to take the defence position?" Ron asked hoping with all his might that he had heard his brother right.

Bill looked at his younger siblings, "You guys didn't hear a single word I said after that did you?" All four shook their heads.

"Please Bill."

"You'd be soo much better than all the others, well except for Professor Lupin maybe, he was really good."

"Come on Bill you gotta, you can't just tease us like that."

"We promise to pay attention and not act out." Fred finished off, "Right guys?" He looked around to the other three who were all nodding their heads so hard that they would have fallen off, had that been possible.

Bill looked at his younger sibling and knew he couldn't deny them this little joy, and hell it would allow him to look after the little buggers. "Sure, I'll write the school later today though I'm not sure I qualify for the position."

"If an idiot Gilderoy Lockhart can get the job then I'm sure you won't have any trouble dear." Molly told her son, grimacing at the name of the idiot who nearly got her daughter killed. It comforted her to think of one of her eldest being at the school to keep an eye on things.

"Well then, I guess I have a letter to write." Bill said heading off upstairs.

"Yeah, me too I'm going to write Harry. Can you make a copy of the twins' reactions Charlie so I can send it to him?"

"Sure thing. I think I've got some books and stuff Harry would like to read. You know I might just write him a letter myself, if I'm a member of his clan then I should probably get to know him a bit better. Do you mind if I send it along with yours?"

"Of course not, Harry'll love it."

"Let me know before you send everything off Ron, I'm going to make Harry a basket up. If he can't come to the burrow then a bit of the burrow will come to him." Molly said as she headed into the kitchen making a mental list of everything she wanted to put in the basket and decided to write a letter of her own to the boy she considered to be her eighth child.

"I'll help you Mom." Ginny said following her mother into the kitchen.

"Us too Ron. We've got some stuff for Harry too might as well send it all together." Fred, or was it George? Piped up, at their brothers' looks he added "No tricks, just a letter and a journal we found in Diagon Alley the other day we thought he would like."

"Great, it'll be like an early birthday for him."

"Tell him I'm honoured to be part of his clan and that I hope to see in the fall at Hogwarts as his new teacher."

Ron jogged up the stairs to his bedroom; he absently pushed the new broom off the bed as he got down to the business of writing his best friend.

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