A/N: Heh… Sorry for the uh… late? Update... Don't hate me…..
|| (Disclaimer! Anything after this author's note written in bold belongs to J. please don't sue me, I have no money) ||
Harry pitied his younger counterpart. He knew the conversation about to be had would not be an easy one, but it was to be expected. He knew that bringing these books back would reveal some uncomfortable truths that he himself, was not yet ready to reveal, nor had he worked through himself having been so caught up in the war and Voldemort. He had never really taken the time to think about the Dursleys or his homelife.
Harry took time to gently pick up his crying godson whose hair had changed to a fiery red, looking very much like he would fit in with the Weasleys. "Shh now Teddy, its ok" He tried to sooth the destressed child, rocking him side to side slowly. He wondered if he was wrong for not telling Remus and Tonks that Teddy was their son. He didn't know how long he and Teddy would be in this reality, or any reality at all. Would he and Teddy cease to exist once they had finished reading the books? Would reality split and he and Teddy go back to where they came from? Or would they be stuck here forever and must pick up a new life?
Either way, Harry did not know what would happen once the books were finished, and changes started. Teddy deserved all the time with his parents that he could get. The other part of him, the selfish part that had never had anything to himself before, had wanted to keep his godson to himself for as long as he could.
He Logically knew that he couldn't keep Teddy to himself for the rest of his life, a child needed more than one person in their life, Harry had a complicated enough childhood and he wanted more than that for Teddy. Harry only ever had a small amount of people in his life growing up, at least until he got to Hogwarts and even then, there was always a wall between him and most people. He was either the "Chosen one" or the next dark lord.
No, he wouldn't be selfish, he would ensure that Teddy had a big family, filled with love. He can't guarantee that Teddy would never feel alone or scared or any other negative feelings, but he would do his best to make sure that Teddy never grew up like he did. And part of that was making sure that his two parents who sat oblivious to their parenthood lived to see their son grow up, something Harry's own parents never got to do. This, Harry would promise his godson.
That being said, it would be much more entertaining and dramatic to wait for the books to tell everyone who sired the little metamorphosis, though he wondered if they would figure it out beforehand. Yes, he would find it much more fun to wait.
He looked down at his godson's little face, his eyes had changed to match Harrys own green ones and he looked much calmer now as he suckled on the tip of Harry's finger. "This will be quite interesting Teddy" he chuckled, and hugged the baby closer to his chest, still allowing the small one to suckle on his finger. "Now, lets get you fed".
Just as Harry opened the door, the sound of his younger counterpart could be heard. "Why care now? Will it change anything? No. Will it somehow take everything better? No. So why are you asking all these questions now?" His younger counterpart had exploded on a seemingly unsuspected Remus and Sirius.
"Harry" a placating Remus held his arms up in surrender "We are just trying to help. We just want to get to the bottom of this" he finished by walking over to the younger Harry and putting an arm on his shoulder, only to be shrugged off by a red-faced Harry. The air around them was tense and the older Harry took the time to truly examine his younger counterpart. This Harry still had a part of Voldemort's soul inside him, causing the bubbling rage that he remembered only too well building up and coursing through him.
Harry had not yet forgotten how it felt, having only been rid of the horcrux for a few months now, but with it gone he already felt lighter, his moods had calmed and though he still had that dive in head forward compulsiveness, as this whole diving into the past proves, he no longer felt that charging unexplainable anger that always seemed inside him, ready to snap at any given moment.
Harry vowed to watch over his counterpart as he watched him storm past a frustrated Sirius who looked at the older Harry as though he held the answers they wanted. He did, but he was not ready to talk about it either, so he simply shrugged and followed his younger self into the kitchen.
"Let's continue reading while I make Teddy a bottle" Harry spoke to the rest of the group that had awkwardly shuffled back into the kitchen. "Why don't you sit down Harry with the others and ill make this little one a bottle, it's been a while but it's not something you forget easily after seven children" Mrs. Weasley fretted about, wiping her hands on a tea towel as she moved around the kitchen. She looked like she needed something to do so harry didn't argue and instead sat down at the table to join the others.
"Who is going to read next?" Ron asked looking around, oblivious to the tension, that or he didn't care "Since you spoke first, I guess its your turn" Hermione passed the book to Ron who groaned in return before reeding the title of the book and grinning
"Chapter Four, Back to The Burrow "
The Weasley children cheered, joined by Harry and Sirius.
By twelve o'clock the next day, Harry's school trunk was packed with his school things and all his most prized possessions — the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father, the broomstick he had gotten from Sirius, the enchanted map of Hogwarts he had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year.
The two Harry's smiled fondly as others looked at them bemusedly, Sirius grinning madly as he noted he was responsible, or at least partially responsible for the items Harry prized so much.
He had emptied his hiding place under the loose floorboard of all food, doublechecked every nook and cranny of his bedroom for forgotten
"Why would you need to hide your belongings?" Fred asked the younger Harry only to get a shrug as a response. He turned his eyes to the older one who just looked away. Seeing as they weren't going to get a response from either of the Harry's Ron continued reading.
spell books or quills, and taken down the chart on the wall counting down the days to September the first, on which he liked to cross off the days remaining until his return to Hogwarts.
The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable.
Everyone rolled their eyes at this and Snapes sneer seemed more prominent than before
Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the Weasleys would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day.
Harry, young and older, and the Weasleys that had gone to pick up Harry that day grinned. The Dursleys did after all have a very good reason to be worried about what was coming.
"I hope you told them to dress properly, these people," he snarled at once. "I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all."
Harry felt a slight sense of foreboding. He had rarely seen Mr. or Mrs. Weasley wearing anything that the Dursleys would call "normal." Their children might don Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley usually wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness.
The Weasleys and the Harry's all winced at the description as everyone shuffled awkwardly not quite knowing what to say. Thankfully, a red-faced Ron hid his face in the book and continued reading loudly before anyone could say anything.
Harry wasn't bothered about what the neighbors would think, but he was anxious about how rude the Dursleys might be to the Weasleys if they turned up looking like their worst idea of wizards.
"Honestly" The older Harry interrupted "Any wizard or witch that showed up would be considered the "Worst idea of wizard" so don't take too much offence" he flashed everyone a small grin.
Mrs. Weasley took the time to hand Harry the bottle she prepared for Teddy. "Here you go love, don't fret Harry, we won't hold it against you for what those awful muggles think" she grinned and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear
Harry just smiled at her and started feeding Teddy who had been happily sucking on the tip of Harry's finger until switching to greedily suckling on the bottle offered to him. The girls in the room sighed dreamily as they watched the older Harry with the small baby.
Ron rolled his eyes and continued.
Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of welcome, but Harry knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating.
Harry rolled his eyes, as if Vernon could be intimidating to anyone old enough to tie their shoelaces.
Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a full-grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers,
"When exactly was this?" McGonagall spoke for the first time, her lips pursed tightly in disapproval. The younger Harry spoke first "Its nothing professor, it was so long ago now" he said trying not to get Hagrid in trouble. McGonagall looked at him sternly but let it go. She would investigate this later.
and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London. It wasn't altogether surprising, therefore, that Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy.
McGonagall frowned again.
Lunch was an almost silent meal. Dudley didn't even protest at the food (cottage cheese and grated celery). Aunt Petunia wasn't eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry.
Remus and Sirius threw a glance at each other. The talk they had with Harry earlier lead to nowhere and the feeling that something was not right in the Dursley household only grew the more they read. The older Harry caught sight of this and just shook his head, pulling Teddy up to burp him.
"They'll be driving, of course?" Uncle Vernon barked across the table. "Er," said Harry. He hadn't thought of that. How were the Weasleys going to pick him up? They didn't have a car anymore; the old Ford Anglia they had once owned was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts.
"Is it really?" Mr. Weasley looked excited until he caught the glare his wife and McGonagall and decided rather wisely that this was not the time to have this discussion.
But Mr. Weasley had borrowed a Ministry of Magic car last year; possibly he would do the same today?
"That probably would have been smarter looking back" a blushing Mr. Weasley said scratching the back of his neck
"I think so," said Harry. Uncle Vernon snorted into his mustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and expensive their cars were. But Harry doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head at her husband before he could speak but the younger harry spoke up "It's a brand of car Mr. Weasley" Harry grinned at him "Much like how there are different kinds of brooms"
Harry spent most of the afternoon in his bedroom; he couldn't stand watching Aunt Petunia peer out through the net curtains every few seconds, as though there had been a warning about an escaped rhinoceros. Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry went back downstairs and into the living room.
Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and Harry was sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car.
"Paranoid much?" Fred joked grinning at the older Harry who chuckled and nodded "He had every reason to be with hooligans like you two coming around" Harry winked at Fred, happy to see one half of the twins joking once more.
Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry couldn't take the tension; he left the room and went and sat on the stairs in the hall, his eyes on his watch and his heart pumping fast from excitement and nerves.
"Oh Harry" Hermione sighed at him with a smile on her face to show she was only joking "You really must work on that patience"
But five o'clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly. "They're late!" he snarled at Harry.
"I know," said Harry. "Maybe — er — the traffic's bad, or something." Ten past five . . . then a quarter past five . . . Harry was starting to feel anxious himself now.
"We would never forget you mate" Ron spoke up to the younger Harry who now seemed to be trying to melt into the chair he sat on as his face flushed with embarrassment.
"I know that" he mumbled under his breath. But for a moment, Harry had indeed worried that they had forgotten all about the boy who once lived under the stairs.
At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room. "No consideration at all." "We might've had an engagement." "Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late." "Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, and Harry heard him stand up and start pacing the living room.
"Honestly how rude" spoke Fred "So presumptuous" George repeated equally as dramatic as his brother "It's a wonder we even bothered at all!" Fred spoke again without missing a beat.
"Boys!" Molly sent them a look that told them to quiet down. "Sorry mom" the spoke in unison, sending her their best impression of an innocent look. But their banter had don the trick and the tension that had built with the talk of Dursleys had lessened and the room seemed calmer. A few were even chuckling at their antics.
"They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d — AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!" Harry jumped up.
"That would be us then!" Spoke Mr. Weasley cheerfully calming down the now on edge room
From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified.
Mrs. Weasley sent Mr. Weasley a stern look at this.
"What happened?" said Harry. "What's the matter?" But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen.
The youngsters including Sirius, Remus and the older Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image.
Harry hurried into the living room. Loud banging's and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it.
"What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?" But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could
be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.
Ron paused to turn the page but was interrupted by a crying Teddy. The elder Harry looked down in surprise, the baby had been sleeping not long ago but now seemed to be looking at Tonks and wriggling in his arms, trying to reach for her.
Harry felt a pang in his chest as he looked at the boy trying to reach his mother "What's this here then, Teddy?" Harry tried to sooth the baby, but he was having none of it. "Would you mind Tonks? He seems to want to go to you" Harry blushed as Tonks readily opened her arms out for the child.
"Oh, you are most definitely the cutest AND the smartest baby out there, aren't you?" Tonks cooed at the small child as she held him in her arms, earning a large giggle from Teddy. "You know who the best person in the room is, that's all" she sent a teasing wink to Harry who sent her who pretended to glare at her back, only chuckling moments later.
"Well then" Ron said as he continued with the book
"Ouch! Fred, no — go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake — tell George not to — OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron —"
The Weasley men blushed "Maybe we could skip this-" "No" Harry interrupted Ron before he could finish the sentence. "You never know, it could be something important" The younger Harry finished for his older counterpart earning a groan from Fred, George, Ron, and Mr. Weasley as they remembered this embarrassing part
"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad — maybe he'll be able to let us out —" There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire. "Harry? Harry, can you hear us?" The Dursleys rounded on Harry like a pair of angry wolverines.
Harry winced at this but was unnoticed as they continued to read.
"What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?" "They — they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, fighting a mad desire to laugh.
Both Harry's and most of the room were not fighting said desire now, much to the chagrin of the four men that had been stuck in the fireplace
"They can travel by fire — only you've blocked the fireplace — hang on —" He approached the fireplace and called through the boards. "Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?" The hammering stopped.
Somebody inside the chimney piece said, "Shh!" "Mr. Weasley, it's Harry . . . the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there." "Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"
"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained. "Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say?
"Oh Arthur" Mrs. Weasley sighed "Was that really the time?" "Suppose not love" he responded with a chuckle, wrapping an arm around her shoulders
With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... Let's think . . . ouch, Ron!" Ron's voice now joined the others. "What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?" "Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."
Ron blushed as everyone chuckled
"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.
"Boys, boys . . ." said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do... Yes . . . only way . . . Stand back, Harry." Harry retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.
"Wrong move Vermin" Fred and George both muttered under their breath darkly. It was a strange thing to see since they are both usually so joyful. Not even Mrs. Weasley said anything, too surprised by their reaction.
"Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to —" BANG. The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings.
"You four certainly know how to make an entrance" Chuckled Dumbledore, causing Snape to sneer in disapproval and McGonagall to purse her lips as she tried to contain her mirth. "Hell yeah they do" Sirius patted a blushing Mr. Weasley on the back. "Good job mate!"
Mrs. Weasley wanted to be mad but after reading the books and remembering some of the things the boys had told her about these Dursleys, she was getting a rather sinking feeling in her stomach that she had been overlooking something when it came to Harry's homelife.
Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys, all of whom had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle.
"What!?" Fred and George shouted before looking at each other and pretended to both fall back off their seats away from each other "Ahh!" the screamed again "We're identical!" causing the room to burst out in laughter.
"Those boys will be the death of me" Mrs. Weasley sighed but looked at her sons fondly. Harry on the other hand couldn't tear his eyes away. It was strange for him.
It hadn't been all that long in reality since Fred had died, at least to him. It had only been a few months. But the last he saw of the boy, well, by then Fred had been a man, was when he lie on the Hogwarts battleground lined up with the rest of the dead.
No, Harry would never again take for granted the people around him. Their laughter, their smiles, the life that they had in their eyes and the lightness that he hadn't seen in them in so long.
"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah — you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!" Tall, thin, and balding, he moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia.
"You have to hand it to him" the younger Harry spoke bemusedly causing everyone except his slightly older counterpart to look at him like he was insane. "What?" he asked looking around "As scared as he is, he still tries to protect Aunt Petunia, even if there was noting to protect her from"
Everyone rolled their eyes, though Dumbledore held a slight twinkle in his eye as he looked at the young Harry Potter. "Quite right you are Harry" he spoke in his usual grandfatherly tone
Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and mustache and made him look as though he had just aged thirty years.
"Er — yes — sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end.
I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see — just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking — but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me.
"Is that legal?" Ginny asked looking at her father who was now avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room.
I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate." Harry was ready to bet that the Dursleys hadn't understood a single word of this.
"No doubt there" The older Harry spoke "But then again, I sometimes wonder if they understand basic English" he finished with a cheeky grin on his face, only to be high-fives by Siris moments later.
They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle Vernon. "Hello, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?" "It's upstairs," said Harry, grinning back. "We'll get it," said Fred at once.
"What are you boys up to?" Mrs. Weasley looked at the twins suspiciously as they tried and failed to look innocent
Winking at Harry, he and George left the room. They knew where Harry's bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the dead of night. Harry suspected that Fred and George were hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Harry.
The twins looked at each other with matching grins, they will get all the details now pf how their little experiment went
"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very — erm — very nice place you've got here." As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.
"Your relatives really are afraid of magic, aren't they?" Tonks spoke to the older harry, a small, confused frown on her face as she hugged a now sleeping Teddy to her chest, Teddy whom seemed to revert back to his natural appearance now that he slept had ashy brown hair that seemed oddly familiar to Tonks, but she refused to think on it further.
"People tend to fear things they don't understand" Harry spoke, sending a quick glance to Dumbledore before looking away, the hurt he held towards the man still bubbled in his chest whenever he looked at hm
Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles. Harry could see him itching to go and examine the television and the video recorder. "They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon.
Harry found Mr. Weasleys interest in muggle things highly amusing, and he promised himself that he would perhaps find some non-harmful muggle item to gift Mr. Weasley this Christmas. Possibly a rubber duck.
"And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are." Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack.
"Can never be too careful with Mr. Weasley running around" Harry said cheekily "Didn't you attack Lucius Malfoy in a bookstore once" he continued with the same impish smile on his face. Mr. Weasley spluttered and blushed as everyone laughed around him, surprisingly not waking the small child in the room.
"Oh, do continue reading Ron" Mr. Weasley chuckled as he managed to compose himself, his face still tomato red.
Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could hear the clunk of his trunk on the stairs and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father.
Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley. "Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.
"Yep," said Harry, "that's Dudley." He and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly looked away
from each other; the temptation to burst out laughing was almost overwhelming.
Again, the rest of the room was not struggling with the same thing as Ron had to speak louder, fighting to contain his own laughter as he remembered.
It was quite an odd thing to watch, nobody had really ever been afraid of the Weasleys before, except perhaps Fred and George, as they usually were know to be the most friendly wizarding family.
Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behavior. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.
The Harry's smiled, the Weasleys really were his favorite people.
"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly. Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside. Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry's school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins.
Mrs. Weasley sighed and put her face in her hands, she had no doubt that whatever her husband had come home all flustered about was going to be revealed to her, but after hearing how awful this family was, she couldn't find it in her to be as upset as she once would have been
"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then." He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one. "Incendio!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him. Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours.
Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever. "Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley. "Coming," said Fred. "Oh no — hang on —" A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction — big, fat toffees in brightly colored wrappers.
Sirius and Remus caught on quick and while Remus lent back in his chair, his hand covering a large grinning smile, Sirius openly leaned forward with glee, ready to hear whatever prank was about to unfold on the horrible muggles
Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!" Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.
"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk." Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.
"See mom! We did nothing" "Nothing at all" Fried and George looked at her with false innocent grins. The only response they got was an exasperated and suspicions roll of her eyes.
"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley. "See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared. Now Harry and Mr. Weasley alone remained. "Well . . .'bye then," Harry said to the Dursleys.
They didn't say anything at all. Harry moved toward the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.
The younger Harry couldn't hold back a wince. While it was true that he was used to the lack of care from the Dursleys, it was another thing to have everyone else know. The older Harry notice this and moved his chair over as to sit next to his younger counterpart.
It was strange to the older harry to look at his younger self and think of him as, well, himself. So instead, he felt a sort of responsibility for the boy, thinking of him as a younger brother.
The older Harry wrapped an arm around his younger self in comfort, a weird sense of ease passing through the two of them at the contact and in a surprising act of vulnerability that the younger boy usually didn't allow, he sank into his older counterpart's side.
The rest of the room looked on curiously but nobody dared mention anything, especially with the look the older Potter was giving everyone.
"Harry said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear him?" "It doesn't matter," Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care." Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder. "You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"
"They didn't even want to say goodbye?" Mrs. Weasley's voice reached a new high pitch. She couldn't understand how someone could treat a child so horribly, especially a child they raised.
"Don't worry about it Mrs. Weasley" The younger Harry spoke up tiredly "I'm used to it" Mrs. Weasley was at a loss for words, her eyes tearing up at how horrible these muggles were. She, as well as everyone wondered what life with the muggles were like before these books.
Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."
"See you," said Harry, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream.
The Weasley twins edged closer on their seats, excited to hear about their handywork. While those that didn't already know looked concerned.
Harry wheeled around. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth.
"All right!" the twins high-fived each other before looking at their slowly growing red mother and decided for the sake of having any sort of future to sit back in their seats and at least pretend to look ashamed, though they still exchanged another fist bump under the table.
Sirius however did not show any restraint and sat laughing loudly, smacking his leg in delight as he mentally pictured Dudley running around with a long tongue dangling behind him
One bewildered second later, Harry realized that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue — and that a brightly colored toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him.
The rest of the room had caught on now and had started snickering profusely, even Snape looked a little less sour. Molly just sighed and put her head in her hands, vowing that she would talk to her children and her husband later. For now though, she didn't feel too sorry for the Dursleys.
Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off.
This caused a new round of laughter all round.
Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to
make himself heard. "Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.
"Oh, stop it woman, you're being ridiculous now" McGonagall rolled here eyes and huffed to herself. Nobody dared to tell her that she was talking to a book.
"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process — it was the toffee — my son Fred — real practical joker — but it's only an Engorgement Charm — at least, I think it is — please, I can correct it —" But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic-stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out;
"Sometimes Pup, with those muggles raising you, I'm amazed that you have any shred of brains in you" Sirius huffed at the stupidity of the Dursleys and wondered not for the first time how someone as smart as Lilly, could have a sister like Petunia.
Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.
"That oaf did not just throw something at my husband like a toddler!" Mrs. Weasley bristled at the book. Harry couldn't say for sure, but he was sure the room around them seemed to warm up by a few degrees under Mrs. Weasleys fiery glare
"Now really!" said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing his wand. "I'm trying to help!" Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament. "Harry, go! Just go!" Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand on Uncle Vernon. "I'll sort this out!"
"Probably best you did get out of there pup" Sirius sent the two Harry's a grin
Harry didn't want to miss the fun,
"Harry!" Hermione rolled her eyes and facepalmed herself while the two potters blushed
but Uncle Vernon's second ornament narrowly missed his left ear, and on balance he thought it best to leave the situation to Mr. Weasley.
"Rather good idea really, best one we've had to date" The younger Harry said cheekily, glad that the Dursleys would be out of the picture for at least a little while now.
He stepped into the fire, looking over his shoulder as he said "the Burrow!" His last fleeting glimpse of the living room was of Mr. Weasley blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of Dudley, and Dudley's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python.
But next moment Harry had begun to spin very fast, and the Dursleys' living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green flames.
"Thank god" The younger harry sighed, still leaning against his older counterpart's side. "I couldn't agree more" spoke the older having no choice but to agree.
The war had given the older Potter an appreciation for life, and Dudley and he had made a sort of truce but that doesn't mean he wanted to hear any more about his family than he had to.
"Whelp" spoke Ron "That's the end of the chapter, when is dinner?" he rubbed his stomach as he stretched. "One more chapter and dinner will be ready. Ill cook while you lot read I should think "Mrs. Weasley sighed as she stood up, rubbing her hands on her apron.
"Who shall read next?" Ron looked around the room holding the book out "I will" McGonagall levitated the book out of Ron's hand and into her own
"Chapter 5, weasleys' wizard wheezes"
