Chapter 5

The group took a few days to travel around America before going back to the alleyway. Ron and Hermione pulled Alex aside when they saw him.

"Do you know any good places for pets? We want to get Rose a pet for her upcoming birthday," Ron said.

"Yes, I know a place, a few places actually," Alex said. "Any ideas?"

Ginny and Eric came over.

"We can help you decide. There's lots of options," Ginny said. "Besides, Mark's birthday is coming up soon too; we should start planning for that."

"What about the kids?" Ron asked. "We can't all go."

"They can stay at my place. As long as they don't break anything or get too nosy, it'll be fine," Alex said. "It's perfectly safe there. Nobody comes into that area anyways."

"Right, the rumors of it being evil and dark," Ginny said.

"They do seem to like your place, Alex. And Shadow is starting to warm up to them." Hermione said.

"As much as I don't want to leave them alone, I think it'll be okay to leave them at Alex's place as long as he's okay with it. And we'd only be a few hours," Eric said.

"I can Apparate them there." Alex muttered.

"Kids! Come over here!" Ron called.

Mark, Rose, and Hugo walked over.

"You three are going to stay at Alex's place for a little while," Hermione said. "There's something we need to do."

"Alex's place? Alone?" Hugo asked. "Why not the hotel?"

"I think you three would be too bored there." Hermione said. "At least at Alex's place, you can play with Shadow if she wants to."

"Don't worry; nobody will bother you." Ginny said. "Behave and don't mess around with anything."

"Okay," the three chorused.

"How long will you be?" Rose asked.

"A couple of hours," Eric said. "Alex will take you there."

The three clung onto Alex's arms and Alex Apparated. They appeared in front of his house.

"There's food in the kitchen if you get hungry," Alex said. "Shadow's in there too, so she'll keep you company."

"Yay! I like Shadow!" Hugo cheered.

Alex huffed slightly.

"Just don't terrorize her," he said.

"We won't; I make sure these two behave," Rose said.

Alex let them into the house.

"Are you three cold?" he asked.

"A little," Mark said, wrapping his arms around himself.

Alex lit the fireplace up.

"Sorry, I always liked it cooler," he said.

Hugo giggled childishly.

"You're weird," he said.

"Feel free to wander around the fields and forest, but don't go in too far," Alex said. "Your parents will come get you in a few hours."

Alex glanced around.

"Shadow's around somewhere," he said. "Anyways, see you in a few hours."

"Bye!" the three exclaimed in unison.

Alex closed the door and they heard a faint crack of Apparation.

"What should we do?" Hugo asked.

"We could explore the house," Mark said. "We didn't see it much last time we were here."

"Wouldn't Alex get mad at us for snooping around?" Hugo asked.

"He doesn't have to know," Mark said. "If we don't move anything, he'll never find out."

"We should go outside instead," Rose said.

Mark began moving to the other room.

"Come on, you guys," he said.

"Mark!" Rose protested.

"It'll be quick, promise," Mark said.

Rose and Hugo followed their friend into the other room. There was a simple bed, a dresser, and a bookshelf in the room.

"This must be Alex's room," Rose said, looking around.

Hugo looked at the bookshelf.

"Wow, there's so many books on Potions and Transfiguration," he said.

"There's an Arithmancy one all the way up there," Rose said, pointing to a thick book.

"Ooh! I want to look at it!" Hugo exclaimed.

"You're too short," Mark said.

"We could use magic," Hugo said, lighting up eagerly.

"We're not allowed to use magic outside of school," Rose said.

Hugo pouted, staring at the book he wanted sadly. Suddenly, he frowned.

"What's that book?" he asked.

"Which one?" Mark asked.

"That one, right there, the black one," Hugo said. "It doesn't have a title."

Hugo stood up on his toes and strained to reach the book.

"Almost there," Hugo gritted his teeth.

"Hugo, leave it," Rose said. "We shouldn't touch Alex's stuff."

"I just want to see what the book is," Hugo protested, straining even further. "I'll put it back when I'm done; I promise."

He was about to touch the black book when a different hand caught his wrist.

"What do you three think you're doing?" a new voice asked.

The three turned around and screamed. A tall young man hovered over them. He wore black robes with a dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck. He had messy black hair with long bangs that hung over his eyes and face. His skin was abnormally pale and he was very skinny.

"Well?" the man asked, tightening his grip on Hugo's wrist.

Hugo whimpered in pain. Suddenly, they heard a meow. Shadow came forward and rubbed against Mark's legs and then Rose's legs, purring. The man hummed before releasing Hugo's wrist.

"Well, she seems to like you three," he said. "My apologies, little child."

The man pulled out a darkly colored wand and flicked it, healing the bruise on Hugo's wrist.

"W-who are you, mister?" Rose asked bravely.

"Call me Harry," the man said.

The man, Harry, pulled the black book from the shelf.

"This is a dangerous book. You shouldn't go near it. I don't know why Alex put it here," he said.

Harry shrunk the book and placed it in a pocket. He ushered them out of the room and closed the door.

"Why are you in Alex's house?" Hugo asked. "Alex said nobody would be here."

"Nobody that doesn't already live here is what he really means," Harry said. "He just didn't say he had a...roommate of sorts."

"How come Alex didn't say anything about you when we came over the first time?" Mark asked.

"He has his reasons," Harry said. "You should leave it at that."

Harry took out a clip and brushed his bangs back, clipping them to the top of his head.

"Hey, you look just like Alex!" Rose exclaimed, pointing.

Harry hummed.

"It's rude to point, you know," he said.

"Why do you look like Alex?" Hugo asked.

"I suppose I could tell you the truth. I'm his younger twin brother," Harry said.

"But Alex said you died," Rose said. "Why did he lie to our parents? Wouldn't they be happy to see you're alive?"

"The reason why they don't know I'm alive is the same reason why Alex has to disguise himself," Harry said quietly. "Why are you three here anyways?"

"Alex and our parents went to do something, so we came here because the cat was here and we like her." Hugo said. "It's probably because Rose and Mark's birthdays are coming up soon."

"Oh? When?" Harry asked.

"I was born at the end of June. Mark's is beginning of July," Rose said. "And Hugo's is all the way in December."

"My and Alex's birthday is at the end of July," Harry said.

"Really? You're like dad then! He was born on July 31st," Mark said. "Did you know our parents too? Like Alex?"

"Indeed," Harry said. "We both went to Hogwarts after all."

"What house were you in?" Rose asked.

"Ravenclaw."

"Wow! You must be really smart!" Hugo exclaimed.

"I was very studious, that's for sure," Harry said.

Rose looked closely at Harry.

"You look identical to Alex," she pouted. "If you two stood side by side, I wouldn't be able to tell you apart."

Harry chuckled in amusement.

"We may look identical from a distance, but if you look closer, you can tell us apart easily. For starters we have different eye colors," he said. "Alex's is blue while mine are green."

"You're right!" Hugo exclaimed.

"I also wear a scarf everywhere I go," Harry said. "And Alex's bangs are short enough that he doesn't need to clip them back like I do. Another thing, if you look closely enough, Alex is slightly taller than I am."

"Really? You both seem so tall," Hugo said.

Harry chuckled.

"Maybe so, but Alex has always been taller than me. Anyways, do you guys want anything to eat?" he asked. "I can whip something up fast."

"Okay!" Hugo said cheerfully.

Harry went into the kitchen. The three kids followed him. Hedwig meowed, rubbing against Harry's legs.

"Hey look! Shadow has different colored eyes!" Rose said, pointing to the black cat. "I thought Shadow had blue eyes."

Harry looked at her, an unreadable look in his eyes.

"You're awfully observative," he said.

"I've been told I get that from my mum," Rose said, smiling proudly.

"Yes, you certainly are Hermione's daughter. It's a good skill to have...and also dangerous," Harry said. "Be careful in the future, Rose; it could very well kill you."

"...How do you know my name? We never told you our names," Rose said.

"Alex told me about you three," Harry said. "Everything he knows, I know."

"So why does Shadow have gold eyes?" Mark asked, glancing down at the cat.

"Shadow? So that's what Alex told you her name was," Harry said, smirking in amusement. "He was never good at coming up with good names."

Harry set a plate of biscuits on the table with four mugs of tea. The three kids dug in.

"Aren't you going to eat, mister?" Hugo asked.

"No," Harry said, smiling in amusement. "And you can call me Harry."

"You're nice," Hugo said. "And you smile more than Alex."

"The word 'nice' is not the word I would use to describe me. But yes, I've always been the more...expressive between the two of us," Harry said, sipping his tea.

"Can we meet you again sometime soon?" Hugo asked.

"Sure," Harry said. "I think we'll be seeing each other again in the future."

Suddenly, Hugo's head hit the table, dead asleep.

"Hugo?" Rose asked.

She blinked as a wave of fatigue suddenly came over her and she began nodding off, Mark following her a few seconds later. Soon, they were unconscious as well. Harry took another sip of his tea before standing up. He flicked his hand and levitated the three kids into the living room, setting them down on the couch. One by one, he went into their minds and erased the memories of them seeing him, seeing the book, and seeing Hedwig. He created new memories in place of those ones.

Then Harry picked up Hedwig and left the room quietly.

The three were woken up by a shaking sensation. They blinked their eyes open blearily and saw their parents hovering over them.

"Mum?" Hugo asked, rubbing his eyes.

Hermione smiled.

"You guys must've had too much fun if you're this tired," she said.

Mark yawned and Ginny ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Let's get you three back to the hotel," she said.

"Thanks for letting them stay here, Alex." Eric said.

Alex nodded. Eric picked up Mark.

"Come on buddy, you can sleep more when we get back to the inn," he said.

Mark mumbled a reply, still sleepy. Hermione picked up Hugo while Ron picked up Rose. Ginny hugged Alex and said goodbye. Then they left the cottage. Alex stood there in the living room. He felt the four adults Apparate away. He felt a presence behind him a second later.

"What did you do to them?" Alex asked immediately, turning to face his twin.

Harry smiled slightly.

"They're sweet kids," he said. "But a little bit too nosy."

"Harry," Alex said in a warning tone.

"Relax, I didn't hurt them," Harry said. "They were about to discover a certain book and I had to stop them from touching it. Then I slipped them the Sleeping Draught and erased their memories of me and the book as well as of Hedwig. Don't worry, I was careful about it. Next time, tell me before you do something like having the kids staying over for a few hours."

Harry held up the black book.

"You should've chosen a better hiding place for this," he said.

"Hiding it in plain sight was a good idea. I suppose I could've put it higher on the shelf though," Alex said, sighing. "Did they discover the lab?"

"No," Harry said.

Alex relaxed, relieved.

"That's good," he said.

"Don't let this happen again, Alex. We can't afford any mistakes or we'll get caught. We were lucky this time," Harry said. "But if those kids had managed to read this book, who knows what would've happened. This book is very dangerous in the wrong hands; not to mention, it is cursed and could've killed them."

"I know that. Sorry," Alex said.

"What did you expect us to do if those four came back to see their children dead? We could erase their memories, sure, but then we would also have to find and erase the memories of everyone that knows of the three kids. That's a suicidal and near impossible thing to do and it'll only up revealing us both."

"I was more careless than usual. It won't happen again." Alex said.

"No, it won't happen again, because I'll be keeping the book with me from now on." Harry said, tugging his scarf down slightly. "Be more careful in the future, Alex."

Harry left the living room. Alex slumped into a chair, inwardly relieved his twin was gone for the moment.

He couldn't deny that Harry scared him a little.