The small boy's mouth puckered up into a grimace as Sirius gently held him over the water. Beside him, Remus Lupin was anxiously hovering over his shoulder.
"Maybe the water's too hot…or too cold….Are you sure that's how you hold a baby, Sirius? Maybe he's hungry….or thirsty…." Remus prattled on.
"YES, Remus, I watched Lily do this hundreds of times, I know what I'm doing!" Sirius said, grinning as the man became more and more flustered.
"Maybe there's a book on the subject…yes of course there would be…do you think there's a book on parenting, Padfoot?" Remus' pallid complexion was turning redder and redder as he spoke, wildly waving his hands in the air.
"It's done, Remus," Sirius smiled, handing a clean, dressed and sweet smelling Harry to the werewolf.
"Oh, how…nice," Remus grinned back at him. "It's a good thing I knew what I was doing,"
Elsewhere, another baby boy was in desperate need of a bath, but one was not forthcoming. The smell of putrid waste filtered out to the nearby street, but the manager of the orphanage, a Mr Ferrego, claimed that the stench was caused by a backlog in the pipes. Ronald, so used to high hygiene and clean living conditions was not handling his new situation well. His eyes were encrusted with filmy yellowing gunk, and fleas bred rapidly in his thin hair, causing his tiny body to break out in red bites. Faeces, both fresh and old, clung to his body and to his sheets, but there was no one to come and love the tiny boy.
'Ferrego institute for Orphaned Children' was not a very nice place, and to live within its dull brick walls could not be called nice either. Children stayed up until the age of 18, when they were sent to find work out in the 'real' world. However, very few managed to survive up to that age, and the institute had the highest death rate of all the orphanages in Britain.
Fred and George warily eyed Mr Ferrego, who leered luridly back.
"Now, I want you both to forget your last name. Your family is gone, dead, and there's no one to come and help you. Your best chances of surviving this place are to act like your other life never existed," he stated bluntly, scratching down their names on the files as he spoke.
"But they did too exist!" burst out Fred suddenly, as George nodded beside him.
A sharp snap echoed through the room, as the quill Mr Ferrego held snapped in half.
"This matter will be discussed no further! You will be called by your number until you are adopted into a loving," he coughed as he said that word. "Family,"
George looked ready to retort, but a sharp jab in the ribs stopped him. His twin was shaking his head.
'Later,' he mouthed.
"Yes, sir," sighed George.
"You may go, 193, and you also 194, see to it that you don't bring any attention to yourself in the next few years boys…because you will not enjoy the consequences," Ferrego threatened in return.
"Please sir, our brother, Ron…?" asked Fred before they left the room.
"The baby didn't make it through the night. You would do well to forget him also,"
A solitary tear trailed down each twins face.
"Yes, sir," they whispered in unison.
"Oh, and one more thing, the potions, by the door, drink one each before sleeping tonight. I will know if you disobey my orders. That will be all,"
"Psst, Fred," hissed George to his brother, who was about to clamber into the neighbouring bed.
"I managed to swipe this. I think…I think that potion will make us forget who we are. We can't forget, Fred, mummy wouldn't want us to, I know it. Daddy taught us letters last year, let's write down our names so we never, ever forget!" he said all this in a rush, realising they didn't have much time before Ferrego would realise they hadn't taken their potions yet.
"We'll keep them inside here, ok?" George motioned the small teddy bears he and his brother had smuggled in.
"Ok," replied Fred, starting to scrawl in childish writing on the paper George had stolen.
The twins hastily stuffed the bear with the two pieces of paper, before stuffing them under their pillows.
"Goodbye, Fred," said George sadly.
"Goodbye, George," his twin replied.
Orphans number 193 and 194 quickly settled into their new lives quickly, but certainly not quietly. The two were known as troublemakers from the start, although the first incident was simply not their fault. A big, Bulky boy of their age called Montague tripped Fred as he was walking back with his breakfast tray on the very first morning. Now, he was not too upset at losing his food (If grey lumps covered in a peculiar fuzz could be called 'food') but unfortunately it landed on an angry looking woman who introduced herself as Mrs Ferrego. It was not long before the twins learnt that threats from her husband weren't just idle threats.
"It hurts, 193," moaned Fred, nursing his arm to his chest.
His arm burned like fire, and he felt certain that if Ferrego had continued to torture him at the rate he had been going, that it would definitely be broken by now. His brother simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Blood had caked over his eyes and ribs, and his ribs were definitely broken.
"Someone's coming!" hissed Fred as footsteps neared the door.
"You two, 193, and 194. Mr Ferrego wishes to see you," a severe looking woman with icy blue eyes glared down at the two small huddles.
"I suppose he's made it so you can't walk, eh?" she waved her wand and the two boys were healed.
"Well, come on, hurry up. It's not every day that a couple comes in looking for twins,"
Fred and George hastened to obey.
"Ah, here are the two little scamps now!" exclaimed Mr Ferrego as Fred and George walked into the room. His eyes were twinkling, and although he was smiling, the twins alone knew the menace behind that smile. A woman with long chestnut hair turned to them, her green eyes lighting up as she appraised their appearance. They were dressed in identical brown pants, and green sweaters, clutching one another's hands for comfort. Her husband too turned to look at the boys. His hair was the colour of wet sand, and he had a ready smile and a deep booming laugh.
"Oh, but they're adorable," the woman stood and quickly crossed the room to get closer to them.
"Mandy would just LOVE two older brothers, they're perfect! What are your names?" she spoke quickly, sounding excited.
Fred and George stared at each other, bewildered. They had expected to always live in the orphanage; their real parents were dark blurs in their memories.
"Ah, Mrs Brocklehurst, we do not name out children here, they simply answer to numbers," The pair looked surprised as Mr Ferrego explained his filing system to them.
"It simply makes it easier for adoptive parents to find names for their new children," the horrible grin never left his face.
"Oh, oh I see," said the woman. "How soon can we sign the papers?"
"Well, right away of course, 193 and 194-" Mr Ferrego failed to notice the couple flinch. "Can go home with you right away,"
"Yes, we'd like to do that now then," replied the man.
Before the Brocklehursts left with their new children, Mr Ferrego asked to speak with 193 and 194 one final time.
"Drink," he ordered, thrusting more potions into their hands. "This will make you forget the events of recent days. Now get out of my sight, you're lucky I even allowed this couple to interview you,"
The twins quickly left the room, both gently touching their pockets to ensure their bears were safe. They could not remember WHY the bears had to be with them at all times, or why they were so significant. All they knew was that, deep in their hearts, those bears were the most important thing in the world, and they would never lose them.
So, after a few short days in the orphanage, Fred and George were free. Of course, they had to take their new parents last names, as well as receiving new first names. Karin and Tregryve named their new sons Steve Brocklehurst, and Andre Brocklehurst. Unbeknownst to them, faraway, in Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the names 'Fred and George Weasley' were erased from the school records, to be replaced by their new ones. And unbeknownst to them, back at 'Ferrego institute for Orphaned Children' a young boy called Ronald Weasley had been left behind.