Four Days Later.
"Are you ready?" Matthew asked as he came into Harry's room. Harry leapt to his feet and nodded.
"Does Tom suspect anything?" Harry asked. Matthew shook his head.
"Asleep, with the aid of a sleeping potion. We have two hours. He'll think that he dozed off." Harry nodded and pulled his cloak on while Matthew charmed himself to look different from the man everyone knew from the earlier chase in Diagon Alley. Matthew smiled and led Harry out of the house and Apparated to Diagon Alley.
"Where do we need to go?" Matthew asked Harry. Harry ducked his head and lead the way through the thinning early evening crowds of Diagon Alley. He stopped in front of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and entered, Matthew quick on his heels. He and Matthew browsed while Fred and George were completing a transaction with some younger children. Harry personally thought that they were Hogwart's students.
"Hello. How can we help you?" Fred asked, head invisible to the rest of the world.
"Hello. How's business?" Harry asked, lowering his hood. He readjusted it after allowing Fred a glimpse of who he really was.
"Harry!" Fred whispered. "Come on back. I'll have George done here soon." Harry nodded his head towards Matthew and went into the back of the store. "Agh, Fred! Don't jump over the counter!" Harry heard George reprimand his twin.
"Colorful people you know, Harry." Matthew said, taking in the back room of the joke shop. "Very colorful people."
"You should have met them in school. Without them, I would not have survived DADA last year. Professor Umbridge was the worst and then some." Matthew chuckled lightly.
"Oy, Harry! Nice to see you alive. You made it in a week, but let me tell you that it was not easy keeping this from Mum. She is highly suspicious, mate. We've caught her listening under our door with some of our Extendable Ears." Harry chuckled and took Fred's hand in greeting.
"How have you been?" Harry asked. Fred and George glanced at Matthew. "Don't worry about him. He's a bodyguard, here to make sure that I'm safe." Matthew nodded his head and smiled, trying to put the twins at ease.
"Right." Fred said, pulling out a wooden box. "We found your request quite a challenge, Harry. Quite a challenge. It kept us occupied for a few days, at least. Mum worried when we forgot to come down for dinner." Harry chuckled.
"Anyway, we've managed to come up with something that might be able to help you. We like to call them 'Playful Pantomimes', and they come in a variety of changes." Fred held out the box and Harry leaned over to look. There were several candies in each section, and each section was labeled. Eye color, hair color, height, weight, and skin tone. "Try one. We've tried all of them on our own and found most of them to work. Those that didn't, well, were scrapped and we started anew." Harry reached out a hand and took a candy labeled 'Red Hair'. He popped into his mouth and chewed.
"Hmm, cherry." Harry commented, approving the flavor. He heard a throaty chuckle from behind him.
"Why do I have a feeling that I'll be dealing with a strange looking teenager whom I do not recognize on a sugar rush?" Fred and George gaped at him before falling off their chairs in laughter. Harry checked to make sure they were okay before grinning back at Matthew.
"We figured that you were tired of chocolate after spending so much time with Madame Pomfrey." Fred said, again all business as he resumed his seat. Harry nodded in agreement and felt a tingling start on his head. "Gads! You could pass for a Weasley!" Fred gasped, staring at Harry's head. George brought out a mirror and handed it to Harry.
"Brilliant!" Harry pronounced. Fred handed him another candy.
"This undoes the change." Harry chewed and felt the change disappear.
"Fred, George. You guys are brilliant as always." Harry said, smiling at them.
"Don't call us brilliant yet." George said, retrieving a small box from a nearby shelf. "We made some scar ones, but haven't been able to test it, because neither one of us has scars, and Ron doesn't trust us, and Mum told us to leave everyone else alone. Would you care to try?" Harry reached out and took a candy. He was just a little hesitant. He smiled at the flavor, butterscotch, and felt a tingling on his forehead. The faces of Fred and George gave away their disappointment. "It didn't work." George told Harry, handing him the mirror.
"It just made your scar stand out all the worse." Fred said mournfully, laying the box down on the table. George handed Harry the antidote and sighed.
"Well, no reason to give up. We'll keep trying." George said, putting on his smile again. "How else are we going to keep busy?" He asked.
"So do these interact with potions or anything else like that?" Fred and George thought for a moment.
"Nah, we didn't use anything that should interact with the standard healing potions. If you should lose any bones though, don't eat one of these. Anything else, we're not sure. Just don't take potions with these to be safe." Harry nodded.
"Come on up front and we'll wrap this for you." Fred said, taking up the larger box. Harry rose and Matthew followed.
"How much do I owe you?" Harry asked.
"This one is one the house, mate. The only thing we ask is the right to sell these as a regular item in the store." Harry nodded.
"Of course. I have no problem with that. Should be a big seller. Who doesn't want to look different from time to time?" Fred and George both shook Harry's hand and thanked him profusely for the rights to sell such an item. Fred jumped over the counter, earning another yell from his brother, and wrapped Harry's box and slid it into a bag.
"We'll keep working on the scar one and let you know when it's done." Harry thanked him and nodded. "You can get owls right?"
"We are easily found by owls that are not able to communicate their destinations." Matthew said.
"Well, that's Errol for you. He's lucky he makes it half the time. We'll use him or Pig." Matthew tapped his wrist to let Harry know that they didn't have much time left before Tom woke up.
"Thank you, the both of you. You just gave me a little more freedom." Fred and George bowed in Harry's direction and watched as he and Matthew disappeared down an alleyway.
"What do you think, mate?" Fred asked.
"He looks happy enough." George said, leading the way into the back. An alert stopped them and they turned to face their customer. "Professor Snape? Looking for a joke for the first years, sir?" Snape advanced on the twins and sneered at them.
"Why did I just see Harry Potter and an unknown man leave your shop?" Snape demanded of them. Fred looked to his brother. This was not good.
"What do you mean, Professor?" Fred asked, stepping forward. Perhaps they could convince Snape that they saw nothing.
"I saw Potter and an unknown man leave this shop not two minutes ago. I want to know why you did not alert someone to his presence here. You both are in the Order! You are not doing your jobs!" Snape told them, coming within inches of their faces.
"The oath we took we, and I quote, 'to aid Harry Potter in his fight against the evil threatening our world, and to assure his well-being and safety.' Sir, if you and Professor Dumbledore can't find him, well, the Dark Lord shouldn't be able to either." Snape glared at them.
"Where is your Floo?" Snape asked. Fred and George pointed behind them to the back storeroom. Snape removed a small bag from his cloak and pulled out some Floo dust. He threw a pinch in and waited. "Albus!" A head appeared in the flames.
"Yes, Severus, I am here. What is it?" Dumbledore said, trying to look past Snape into the shop beyond.
"Harry Potter and a man were just here, in the Weasley's joke shop." Dumbledore's face crinkled up, the twinkle dying from his eyes.
"I'm coming through." And with that, the headmaster stepped through the fireplace. Fred and George stood there, wondering what this could mean. He turned to them and smiled. "Now what is this I hear about Harry being here?" He asked the two.
"Harry was here, sir, with a man he called a bodyguard. He said the man was to ensure his safety. From what, we didn't ask." Snape glared and Dumbledore considered.
"What did he do while he was here?" Dumbledore asked.
"He talked with us, said that he was safe, and purchased a few jokes, mentioning something about them coming in handy when lessons were dull." George deadpanned, knowing that lying to Professor Dumbledore was next to impossible to lie to.
"Lessons?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Yeah, he didn't say anything else about them though." George finished. Dumbledore turned to Snape, as though he was asking his opinion.
"Did he seem nervous or upset? Pale? Tired?" Fred and George both shook their heads at Snape's questions. "Energetic? Too talkative?" Again, head shakes from both.
"He seemed like his usual self, sir, with less melancholy about him if you know what I mean, sir." Dumbledore looked thoughtful at this statement.
"Melancholy?" He questioned. Fred nodded.
"Yes, sir. He looks as though the world was lifted off his shoulders." George said. He waited until this seemed to absorb until he added his next comment. "He looks happy, sir. He and that man got along rather well. Even made a joke about the amount of candy Harry can eat if he puts a mind to it." Both men raised an eyebrow, almost making Fred and George burst into laughter. The expressions were identical. Snape could have been a younger Dumbledore. They restrained themselves, however, as Dumbledore nodded.
"Thank you, Fred and George, for your information. Should Harry return here, an alarm will sound in my office. Contrary to your belief, Harry could be in considerable danger, and we must save him from it. Please, contact us if you remember anything he might have said about his location or who he is with." The twins nodded and saw Dumbledore and Snape off through the Floo network.
"What do you think, mate?" Fred asked.
"Well, we're just going to have to meet Harry somewhere else." George replied. "Sadly, he cannot come back here. Let's send him an owl when we go home to tell him of what happened." Fred nodded in agreement and helped to close down the shop. Their youngest friend was in trouble.
Once back in the office, Severus sank into the chair offered and glared off into space. Dumbledore sat there, watching his protégé and wondered what was going through the younger man's mind. "Lemon drop for your thoughts." Dumbledore said quietly.
"Thank you, no; I will share them freely now that I've sorted them out." Snape sat forward in his chair and looked straight at Dumbledore. "It seems that there are several forces at work here." He told Dumbledore.
"How do you find that, Severus?" Snape sighed.
"You won't like it." He told the older man. Dumbledore motioned for him to continue. "It seems that in addition to any potions and spells they might have used, they have involved him emotionally somehow, calling in his Gryffindor kindness. They must have done something to invoke great faith in them once the potion and spell wore off. That, which may be highly likely, or terrified the boy into cooperating with their wishes through any number of means, perhaps through threatening his friends or family." Dumbledore mulled over his answer.
"Which do you think more likely?" Dumbledore asked. Snape considered. He had thought that Harry had a very liberal upbringing centered on his fame and importance to the wizarding world. The opposite was, in fact, true; the Dursleys were disgusting creatures. No wonder Voldemort disliked such Muggles if that had been his early experience. Harry reminded Snape of a boy that he knew long ago, cowed by a powerful family who cared for nothing but outside reputations, reputations so important that they forced their child to do what they thought needed to be done, regardless of the consequences. Snape shook off the feeling and turned to the headmaster.
"Do you think that Harry was abused, headmaster?" Dumbledore considered the question.
"I know that Harry's relatives were not ideal, but I do not believe that he was truly harmed, until his cousin had some practice at Muggle boxing." Snape wanted to call Dumbledore a fool for just a moment. He decided against it.
"I feel that he has, sir. And the kidnappers are preying on those past experiences. Potter may feel that alerting anyone, even someone he has trusted with his life in the past, to his location may result in his being sent back to an abusive home he wants to escape." Dumbledore thought back to Harry's requests to stay with the Weasley's and at Hogwarts for school breaks. They came at the end of every school year, made in the same hopeful voice, and the disappointment always colored Harry's face when his request was denied.
"Do you think me a fool for not realizing it sooner, Severus?" Snape shook his head slowly in denial.
"You, too, are human, Headmaster. You were a teacher before. You only had your house to care for. Now, you have the entire student body. You cannot be blamed for missing one student's actions out of all that. I, however, have had ample time to study Potter's reactions to family matters, especially when set upon by Malfoy. His family is a subject to be avoided at all costs." Dumbledore sighed.
"When we finally do rescue Harry, I will find a way for him to stay away from the Dursleys, even if it means that he stays here." Snape nodded, satisfied. "I only wish that I had had the power for you, Severus." Severus waved a hand.
"Water under the bridge, Headmaster. Now, we just have to wait for Potter and his friends to show their faces again. I am sure that we will catch them the next time." Dumbledore reached out and took Severus's hand.
"That we will." He told the younger man, showing his pride for his former student. "That we will."
"Are you ready?" Matthew asked as he came into Harry's room. Harry leapt to his feet and nodded.
"Does Tom suspect anything?" Harry asked. Matthew shook his head.
"Asleep, with the aid of a sleeping potion. We have two hours. He'll think that he dozed off." Harry nodded and pulled his cloak on while Matthew charmed himself to look different from the man everyone knew from the earlier chase in Diagon Alley. Matthew smiled and led Harry out of the house and Apparated to Diagon Alley.
"Where do we need to go?" Matthew asked Harry. Harry ducked his head and lead the way through the thinning early evening crowds of Diagon Alley. He stopped in front of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and entered, Matthew quick on his heels. He and Matthew browsed while Fred and George were completing a transaction with some younger children. Harry personally thought that they were Hogwart's students.
"Hello. How can we help you?" Fred asked, head invisible to the rest of the world.
"Hello. How's business?" Harry asked, lowering his hood. He readjusted it after allowing Fred a glimpse of who he really was.
"Harry!" Fred whispered. "Come on back. I'll have George done here soon." Harry nodded his head towards Matthew and went into the back of the store. "Agh, Fred! Don't jump over the counter!" Harry heard George reprimand his twin.
"Colorful people you know, Harry." Matthew said, taking in the back room of the joke shop. "Very colorful people."
"You should have met them in school. Without them, I would not have survived DADA last year. Professor Umbridge was the worst and then some." Matthew chuckled lightly.
"Oy, Harry! Nice to see you alive. You made it in a week, but let me tell you that it was not easy keeping this from Mum. She is highly suspicious, mate. We've caught her listening under our door with some of our Extendable Ears." Harry chuckled and took Fred's hand in greeting.
"How have you been?" Harry asked. Fred and George glanced at Matthew. "Don't worry about him. He's a bodyguard, here to make sure that I'm safe." Matthew nodded his head and smiled, trying to put the twins at ease.
"Right." Fred said, pulling out a wooden box. "We found your request quite a challenge, Harry. Quite a challenge. It kept us occupied for a few days, at least. Mum worried when we forgot to come down for dinner." Harry chuckled.
"Anyway, we've managed to come up with something that might be able to help you. We like to call them 'Playful Pantomimes', and they come in a variety of changes." Fred held out the box and Harry leaned over to look. There were several candies in each section, and each section was labeled. Eye color, hair color, height, weight, and skin tone. "Try one. We've tried all of them on our own and found most of them to work. Those that didn't, well, were scrapped and we started anew." Harry reached out a hand and took a candy labeled 'Red Hair'. He popped into his mouth and chewed.
"Hmm, cherry." Harry commented, approving the flavor. He heard a throaty chuckle from behind him.
"Why do I have a feeling that I'll be dealing with a strange looking teenager whom I do not recognize on a sugar rush?" Fred and George gaped at him before falling off their chairs in laughter. Harry checked to make sure they were okay before grinning back at Matthew.
"We figured that you were tired of chocolate after spending so much time with Madame Pomfrey." Fred said, again all business as he resumed his seat. Harry nodded in agreement and felt a tingling start on his head. "Gads! You could pass for a Weasley!" Fred gasped, staring at Harry's head. George brought out a mirror and handed it to Harry.
"Brilliant!" Harry pronounced. Fred handed him another candy.
"This undoes the change." Harry chewed and felt the change disappear.
"Fred, George. You guys are brilliant as always." Harry said, smiling at them.
"Don't call us brilliant yet." George said, retrieving a small box from a nearby shelf. "We made some scar ones, but haven't been able to test it, because neither one of us has scars, and Ron doesn't trust us, and Mum told us to leave everyone else alone. Would you care to try?" Harry reached out and took a candy. He was just a little hesitant. He smiled at the flavor, butterscotch, and felt a tingling on his forehead. The faces of Fred and George gave away their disappointment. "It didn't work." George told Harry, handing him the mirror.
"It just made your scar stand out all the worse." Fred said mournfully, laying the box down on the table. George handed Harry the antidote and sighed.
"Well, no reason to give up. We'll keep trying." George said, putting on his smile again. "How else are we going to keep busy?" He asked.
"So do these interact with potions or anything else like that?" Fred and George thought for a moment.
"Nah, we didn't use anything that should interact with the standard healing potions. If you should lose any bones though, don't eat one of these. Anything else, we're not sure. Just don't take potions with these to be safe." Harry nodded.
"Come on up front and we'll wrap this for you." Fred said, taking up the larger box. Harry rose and Matthew followed.
"How much do I owe you?" Harry asked.
"This one is one the house, mate. The only thing we ask is the right to sell these as a regular item in the store." Harry nodded.
"Of course. I have no problem with that. Should be a big seller. Who doesn't want to look different from time to time?" Fred and George both shook Harry's hand and thanked him profusely for the rights to sell such an item. Fred jumped over the counter, earning another yell from his brother, and wrapped Harry's box and slid it into a bag.
"We'll keep working on the scar one and let you know when it's done." Harry thanked him and nodded. "You can get owls right?"
"We are easily found by owls that are not able to communicate their destinations." Matthew said.
"Well, that's Errol for you. He's lucky he makes it half the time. We'll use him or Pig." Matthew tapped his wrist to let Harry know that they didn't have much time left before Tom woke up.
"Thank you, the both of you. You just gave me a little more freedom." Fred and George bowed in Harry's direction and watched as he and Matthew disappeared down an alleyway.
"What do you think, mate?" Fred asked.
"He looks happy enough." George said, leading the way into the back. An alert stopped them and they turned to face their customer. "Professor Snape? Looking for a joke for the first years, sir?" Snape advanced on the twins and sneered at them.
"Why did I just see Harry Potter and an unknown man leave your shop?" Snape demanded of them. Fred looked to his brother. This was not good.
"What do you mean, Professor?" Fred asked, stepping forward. Perhaps they could convince Snape that they saw nothing.
"I saw Potter and an unknown man leave this shop not two minutes ago. I want to know why you did not alert someone to his presence here. You both are in the Order! You are not doing your jobs!" Snape told them, coming within inches of their faces.
"The oath we took we, and I quote, 'to aid Harry Potter in his fight against the evil threatening our world, and to assure his well-being and safety.' Sir, if you and Professor Dumbledore can't find him, well, the Dark Lord shouldn't be able to either." Snape glared at them.
"Where is your Floo?" Snape asked. Fred and George pointed behind them to the back storeroom. Snape removed a small bag from his cloak and pulled out some Floo dust. He threw a pinch in and waited. "Albus!" A head appeared in the flames.
"Yes, Severus, I am here. What is it?" Dumbledore said, trying to look past Snape into the shop beyond.
"Harry Potter and a man were just here, in the Weasley's joke shop." Dumbledore's face crinkled up, the twinkle dying from his eyes.
"I'm coming through." And with that, the headmaster stepped through the fireplace. Fred and George stood there, wondering what this could mean. He turned to them and smiled. "Now what is this I hear about Harry being here?" He asked the two.
"Harry was here, sir, with a man he called a bodyguard. He said the man was to ensure his safety. From what, we didn't ask." Snape glared and Dumbledore considered.
"What did he do while he was here?" Dumbledore asked.
"He talked with us, said that he was safe, and purchased a few jokes, mentioning something about them coming in handy when lessons were dull." George deadpanned, knowing that lying to Professor Dumbledore was next to impossible to lie to.
"Lessons?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Yeah, he didn't say anything else about them though." George finished. Dumbledore turned to Snape, as though he was asking his opinion.
"Did he seem nervous or upset? Pale? Tired?" Fred and George both shook their heads at Snape's questions. "Energetic? Too talkative?" Again, head shakes from both.
"He seemed like his usual self, sir, with less melancholy about him if you know what I mean, sir." Dumbledore looked thoughtful at this statement.
"Melancholy?" He questioned. Fred nodded.
"Yes, sir. He looks as though the world was lifted off his shoulders." George said. He waited until this seemed to absorb until he added his next comment. "He looks happy, sir. He and that man got along rather well. Even made a joke about the amount of candy Harry can eat if he puts a mind to it." Both men raised an eyebrow, almost making Fred and George burst into laughter. The expressions were identical. Snape could have been a younger Dumbledore. They restrained themselves, however, as Dumbledore nodded.
"Thank you, Fred and George, for your information. Should Harry return here, an alarm will sound in my office. Contrary to your belief, Harry could be in considerable danger, and we must save him from it. Please, contact us if you remember anything he might have said about his location or who he is with." The twins nodded and saw Dumbledore and Snape off through the Floo network.
"What do you think, mate?" Fred asked.
"Well, we're just going to have to meet Harry somewhere else." George replied. "Sadly, he cannot come back here. Let's send him an owl when we go home to tell him of what happened." Fred nodded in agreement and helped to close down the shop. Their youngest friend was in trouble.
Once back in the office, Severus sank into the chair offered and glared off into space. Dumbledore sat there, watching his protégé and wondered what was going through the younger man's mind. "Lemon drop for your thoughts." Dumbledore said quietly.
"Thank you, no; I will share them freely now that I've sorted them out." Snape sat forward in his chair and looked straight at Dumbledore. "It seems that there are several forces at work here." He told Dumbledore.
"How do you find that, Severus?" Snape sighed.
"You won't like it." He told the older man. Dumbledore motioned for him to continue. "It seems that in addition to any potions and spells they might have used, they have involved him emotionally somehow, calling in his Gryffindor kindness. They must have done something to invoke great faith in them once the potion and spell wore off. That, which may be highly likely, or terrified the boy into cooperating with their wishes through any number of means, perhaps through threatening his friends or family." Dumbledore mulled over his answer.
"Which do you think more likely?" Dumbledore asked. Snape considered. He had thought that Harry had a very liberal upbringing centered on his fame and importance to the wizarding world. The opposite was, in fact, true; the Dursleys were disgusting creatures. No wonder Voldemort disliked such Muggles if that had been his early experience. Harry reminded Snape of a boy that he knew long ago, cowed by a powerful family who cared for nothing but outside reputations, reputations so important that they forced their child to do what they thought needed to be done, regardless of the consequences. Snape shook off the feeling and turned to the headmaster.
"Do you think that Harry was abused, headmaster?" Dumbledore considered the question.
"I know that Harry's relatives were not ideal, but I do not believe that he was truly harmed, until his cousin had some practice at Muggle boxing." Snape wanted to call Dumbledore a fool for just a moment. He decided against it.
"I feel that he has, sir. And the kidnappers are preying on those past experiences. Potter may feel that alerting anyone, even someone he has trusted with his life in the past, to his location may result in his being sent back to an abusive home he wants to escape." Dumbledore thought back to Harry's requests to stay with the Weasley's and at Hogwarts for school breaks. They came at the end of every school year, made in the same hopeful voice, and the disappointment always colored Harry's face when his request was denied.
"Do you think me a fool for not realizing it sooner, Severus?" Snape shook his head slowly in denial.
"You, too, are human, Headmaster. You were a teacher before. You only had your house to care for. Now, you have the entire student body. You cannot be blamed for missing one student's actions out of all that. I, however, have had ample time to study Potter's reactions to family matters, especially when set upon by Malfoy. His family is a subject to be avoided at all costs." Dumbledore sighed.
"When we finally do rescue Harry, I will find a way for him to stay away from the Dursleys, even if it means that he stays here." Snape nodded, satisfied. "I only wish that I had had the power for you, Severus." Severus waved a hand.
"Water under the bridge, Headmaster. Now, we just have to wait for Potter and his friends to show their faces again. I am sure that we will catch them the next time." Dumbledore reached out and took Severus's hand.
"That we will." He told the younger man, showing his pride for his former student. "That we will."