Harry woke to a dull, throbbing ache in his head, and the realization that he was laying on cold stone. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was and why. He could hear hushed voices somewhere off to his left, but the pain in his head wasn't letting him concentrate enough to understand the words. He opened his eyes, and then immediately squeezed them shut agian. The light stabbed straight into his brain, making the headache worse. Harry whimpered softly and threw an arm across his closed eyes, trying to block out the light. It helped a bit, but not as much as he was hoping it would. He was more awake now, though still couldn't quite concentrate on the voices he was hearing across the room. He remembered the start of the brand removal, and how much pain he had been in, how thick the air had gotten with magic. Djuran had told him it was going to hurt, but he hadn't realized what an understatement it had been at the time. As Harry was replaying the events in his mind, he suddenly felt a snap! in his head. It was as though a puzzle piece had clicked into place and he suddenly felt emotions he knew were not his own. They weren't strong or overwhelming, more like background noise until he focused on them. Worry. Fear. Confusion. Other things he couldn't name.

Harry managed to push himself up into a sitting position, eyes still closed and head bowed against the pain in his head. As he moved, the voices stopped, and he could feel eyes on him. Without conscious thought, he raised one arm, seconds later he felt a body slide under his arm and nestle against his side. And then a light touch on his temples, warmth flooded his head and the ache passed away as though it had never been. Harry slowly opened his eyes, the light didn't hurt him now, and the first thing he saw was Fionn's face. The Fae looked worried, sliding one hand around Harry's back, the other dropping to rest over Harry's heart. Harry pulled him a little closer.

"It's all right, I'm fine. No need to worry so." Harry spoke softly, nearly a whisper, then looked past Fionn. Ash was standing with her hands on her hips glaring at Rialyn. Not really a surprise there, but Harry did wonder what the red-haired Fae had managed to do or say while he was out to get on her bad side. Djuran was looking down at something Harry couldn't see because Ash and Rialyn were blocking his view. And then he realized he couldn't see the twins anywhere.

"Where are Fred and George? Is the brand gone? Completely?"Harry knew it was a bad sign when no one answered him immediately. Djuran spoke, but it was in that language Harry didn't understand. Rialyn answered, the words sounding defensive as he gestured between Harry and the floor behind Ash. Djuran sighed and rubbed his face with one hand, then turned towards Harry. Ash had her arms crossed and one foot was tapping impatiently.

"The brand is gone, you should have no more problems accessing your Demon magics. Fred and George... should be fine. They have not yet woken from the magical backlash." Djuran sounded tired, which was to be expected after all the energy he had poured into removing Harry's brand.

Harry didn't think he liked the way the Djinn had phrased things. 'should be fine' was not the same thing as 'are fine' after all. He tried to stand up to find out for himself what was going on with the twins, but his legs nearly gave out on him. His muscles felt much weaker than he could ever remember them, he trembled all over and the only thing keeping him upright was Fionn. He leaned against the Fae and closed his eyes a moment as his vision swam.

"Am I supposed to be this...tired?" He had almost said 'weak', but he didn't know Rialyn and Djuran well enough to be comfortable letting them know just how far gone he was. Even if he probably should tell them in case it meant something had gone horribly wrong. As he waited for the room to come back into focus, and for someone to answer his question, he felt a presence come up behind him. Before he could do more than think about trying to move to see who it was, Fionn spoke softly.

"Gideon, with Laric and Herne."

"You spent a lot of magic while we were removing the brand Harry. It is only to be expected that you will be disorented and tired for a while. You need sleep and food to help you replace what was lost." Djuran still had a slight edge of annoyance to his voice, but Harry was able to finally focus and see that it wasn't directed at him, but at Rialyn. Now he really wanted to know what he had missed.

Taking a deep breath, he started to take a step forward, determined to force his body to obey him. And nearly fell the moment he shifted his weight to lift the first foot. Fionn staggered slightly and tried to hold Harry upright, but a well-muscled arm slid around Harry's waist from the opposite side and steadied them both. Harry tilted his head up a bit to see who had caught him, and found himself looking up into ice-blue eyes.

Laric looked down at him, no visible expression on his face a moment, and then gave a very faint smile. "I do not believe you should be walking around as yet."

"I want to know what happened to Fred and George." Harry set his chin stubbornly, refusing to look away or back down. He just knew something had happened to the twins, and from how no one was telling him what it was, that everyone knew he wouldn't be happy about it.

Laric glanced from Harry to where Ash, Rialyn and Djuran were still blocking the view of the twins, then back down at Harry before sighing softly. Turning his gaze to Fionn he spoke again. "May I?"

Fionn looked up at the Warrior for a long moment, then back at Harry, before finally nodding silently. Before Harry could ask what was going on, Laric had scooped him up into his arms as though he weighed nothing and began walking towards where the others were standing. Gideon and Herne moved slightly in front of them, their stances protective. Rialyn and Djuran finally moved out of the way, and Harry got his first look at Fred and George. Laric carefully set him down on the ground, and Harry promptly allowed his wobbly legs to collapse so he could get closer to the twins.

He couldn't think of anything to say at first, his mind was in too much shock. He barely noticed the Warriors and Ash moving around to block Rialyn and Djuran away from him, or Fionn settling down beside him. Harry reached out tentatively and touched Fred's wing. It was real. This wasn't a dream, the twins were really Demons. He looked at George and was reassured at the fact that his chest was rising and falling as he breathed, Fred's as well. But...how had this happened? They were past the age of inheritance, so this shouldn't have been possible. Never mind the fact that his life was full of impossibilities, it wasn't supposed to branch out and effect other people!

"How did this happen?"

"We're not exactly sure Harry. There was so much magic in the room, you were glowing so brightly. And then some of it shot out and hit the Wizard who branded you, and the magic just kept growing. Then more shot out and hit the twins. We could hear them screaming but couldn't get to them, and it got so bright we couldn't see anything. After it was over, they were as you see them now." Ash said quietly.

"But you think it was Rialyn's fault." Harry said flatly. "I saw the way you were all looking at him when I woke up."

"I didn't do it! I don't have that kind of power, and why would I bother if I did? Do you have any idea how much energy that would take?" Rialyn sounded put out, and as though he had already said the same thing numerous times.

"But you were the one facing them, why wouldn't both of you be facing Dumbledore? That would have made more sense, keeping the magics focused away from the others and focused on us?" Harry was tired, but he was forcing his mind to function for just a little bit longer. He wanted to know what had happened now, not later.

"The way the magic was wrapped around you, it had to be unwoven. We couldn't let any remain, and so each of us faced a different direction so we could spin the magic around and off of you and feed it back to the Wizard." Djuran explained.

"Only there was a lot more magic than we were expecting. Your magic was not happy about being bound, and when it combined with the Wizard's magic, it pretty much exploded. You didn't really look at the room, did you?" There was a slight smirk in Rialyn's voice when he said the last.

Harry blinked. The room? Why should he have looked at the room? He craned his head to see around the bodies standing around him and his mouth fell open. It looked like a war had been waged in the room, he hadn't known rock could melt. There were cracks and pieces missing, and some of the holes looked like he could fit his entire head inside of them. Maybe... Maybe it wasn't Rialyn's fault? Maybe it was his own fault? Whatever had done it, he hoped Fred and George would forgive him for it and not be too upset.

"Merlin..." It was all too much to take in, in his current state. All he wanted was to fall on his face and sleep for a week or two. But he couldn't seem to let himself yet. "Why aren't they awake yet?"

"Their bodies shut down while they get used to their new species Harry. Yours did the same after your inheritance. They most likely won't wake up until tonight or tomorrow morning. They'll be fine, they just need time to recover, just like you." Ash reassured.

"What about Guides? Are you going to be their Guide as well?"

"No! I mean, I don't think I'm up to teaching three people at once Harry. Uh... we'll have to find a Guide or Guides for them after they wake up." Ash looked a little disturbed at the idea of taking on Fred and George, Harry snickered at the look on her face.

"Laric and I could do it, if you'd be willing to take over occasionally when we are called elsewhere milady." Gideon spoke up for the first time since Harry had woken.

"I suppose I could do that..." Ash said a little reluctantly, but at least it wouldn't be full-time. "I think it's time to get them back, Harry is about out and while Fred and George can't feel it right now, sleeping on stone isn't the most comfortable of places."

Gideon stepped forwards and lifted Fred with as little effort as Laric had lifted Harry earlier. Herne picked up George, and Harry felt himself being lifted and cradled against Laric's chest once again. Fionn resting a hand on Harry's ankle and giving it a gentle squeeze. Harry thought he should be more upset about being carried like a child, but he was too tired to dredge up enough effort to care. And it was surprisingly comfortable to be held this way, the Warrior was warm, and he found himself sliding down into sleep with his head resting against Laric's shoulder. His last thoughts before sleep claimed him, was that he was glad he had run into them his first day. He didn't know Laric well, as the Warrior didn't speak much, but the others were turning out to be people he thought he could be friends with.

AN: Review responses for the previous chapters are on the forum. Which can be found by going to my profile. Thanks for all the reviews!