Rewritten chapter with some slight changes.
"So let me get this straight," Fred said, holding up a hand to stop Harry mid-sentence, "Sam has an awesome necklace that can give you whatever you want by just asking for it?"
"Well," Harry said, "you have to be assertive and all, but pretty much."
"And no one is allowed to touch it?"
"Yep."
"And he won't tell you how he found it?"
"Right."
"So," Fred frowned, looking at George who crossed his arms and shrugged, "what did you need us for?"
"You guys are good at getting Sam talking," Harry explained, "especially about pranks. I was hoping you might be able to get him talking about the necklace."
"Hmm," George tapped his chin as he walked around Harry and Ron, as if looking over them critically. Harry gave Ron a questioning look which Ron returned.
A week had passed since Harry had touched the necklace and been bitten by the snake. A long, boring week without his Ivanhoe book. At least his grades remained consistent and he was able to focus in class. Harry had actually tried to find a copy of Ivanhoe in the library, but when his father realized what he was up to, he had Madam Pince ban Harry from the Muggle Fiction section of the library. That led to an argument between himself and his father, which ended with Harry being banned from any fiction in the library. He had such a git of a father. After giving up on finding a new book, Harry had pestered Sam about the necklace for two days straight, but only received warnings to drop the subject. When he started up again the third day, Sam had literally nipped him in the bud. He had such a git of a friend, too. And this was how he found himself looking for the twins help.
Ron and Harry looked back at George, who had finished a full circle, standing next to Fred. "I don't know, Fred. What's in it for us?"
"Good point. What do we get out of this?"
"Err," Harry looked around as if something in the hall might give him an answer, "what do you want?"
"Hmm," Fred and George smirked at each other, nodded their heads in agreement, and looked back at Harry. "Your invisibility cloak," Fred said, "the one from James Potter. For a full twenty-four hours."
"Well," Harry thought about the cloak locked away in his father's room somewhere. "Are you sure you don't want something else? I mean, I would have to search for it and all, and sneak it out of my Dad's room. I'm grounded from it, remember? And if I go looking for it and Dad catches me, I'll be in for it, for sure."
"You were grounded from it before summer," George reminded.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "but its one of those grounded until mature enough to use responsibly kind of grounding."
"I see." George looked at Fred, they smirked once more, then looked back at Harry. "You give us the password to your father's quarters and will snatch it for you."
"Are you kidding me? Dad will obviously know I gave you the password!"
The password was a simple wand tap pattern on the doorknob, known only by a chosen few, including Sirius and Remus. The door otherwise opened to Harry, Severus, and Sam's touch, Sam being able to use a nose or hand, depending on his form. But to give that password to the twins to sneak into their quarters and steal from his father's room – was it really worth risking just for information on the necklace?
"Deal?" Fred asked, motioning Harry to make a decision quickly with his hand. "Our offer expires in 3 . . . 2 . . ."
"Okay, okay," Harry said. "Deal. The password to my quarters and the cloak for twenty-four hours in exchange for information from Sam on the necklace. You guys better not take anything else or wreck my dad's rooms or anything."
"It'll be fine," the twins smiled. "Trust us."
"Are you sure about this?" Ron asked Harry. "How do you even expect them to get information from Sam when even you couldn't?"
"We have our ways, little Ronnykins," Fred said.
"You know what it sounds like we need to do?" George asked, looking at his twin.
"I know exactly what we need to do," Fred smiled.
"What are you guys thinking?" Ron asked, a worried look on his face.
"We need to interrogate this fox," Fred said, "the hard way."
"Oh boy," Harry said aloud. "Are you sure that's the way to go about it? I don't think Sam is one to crack, especially not for kids."
"We're not kids," George argued. "You're kids. We're teens. And you're forgetting, we're experts at this."
"And you're forgetting," Harry fired back, "Sam is over three hundred years old. Don't you think he'd have a little expertise in interrogations?"
"Harry has a point," Fred nodded in consideration. "But it's either give this a shot or try and stroke his ego until he shares the information willingly, but I feel like you've already tried that and we'd like to avoid his teeth."
Harry blushed at that, regretting having shared that tidbit of information.
"Besides," George added, "Sam isn't an easy one to get info out of. Maybe a little good cop, bad cop?" George looked at Fred.
"I was thinking bad cop, bad cop," Fred said.
"How do we plan on catching the fox?"
"We've got the potions. And the rope."
"And the perfect location to interrogate."
"You guys," Harry shook his head, a big grin on his face, "are really bad."
"Thanks," they said simultaneously.
Harry and Ron followed the twins to a small room on the second floor. It looked like it had once been a closet, but it was all cleared out save for several recognizable Weasley products. Floating candles were lit for light, and Harry smiled at the Weasley claimed space, admiring the shelves of potions and powders, joke products and sweets, ropes and tools, and much more. Harry looked back at the twins, who were busy moving a chair to the center of the closet. Then, the boys gathered a rag, potion, and rope, drenching the rag in whatever potion was in that vial, leaving the rope on the chair.
"What's that?" Harry couldn't help but ask, pointing at the rag.
"Sleeping draught," Fred answered, "when drank, it makes you fall into an instant deep but temporary sleep."
"But when smelled," George added, "it instantly but temporarily knocks you out. We'll probably only have minutes when we get this on Sam."
"It's like chloroform," Harry concluded."
"Like what?" the twins asked simultaneously, raising eyebrows.
"Never mind." Harry hoped he didn't just give the boys something new to look into and potentially start using. "How do you plan on getting Sam to smell it?"
"He is a fox, you know," Ron spoke up, "he'll probably catch the slightest whiff of it a mile away and avoid it."
"And he's Sam," Harry added. "He won't exactly be easy to take down if we try to force it on him."
"You'll see," Fred said, "George will stay here with the ropes ready. You two will come with me to find Sam."
"I could just bring Sam to us," Harry said. "He comes when I call out for him with my mind. I think he's in human form today because he wanted to practice some techniques he hadn't done in years or something like that."
"Well, that makes this a lot easier," George smiled. "Could you imagine trying to catch him if he was a fox? He'd slip right out of our hands and everything."
"Great!" Fred exclaimed, holding out the rag. "Bring him here, Harry, and us three will distract him and drug him! George, be ready with the ropes."
"You got it, brother."
Sam, Harry thought, I need your help. I'm on the second floor.
Harry and Ron followed the twins out the closet and sat in the hall for a few minutes, Fred playing around with some parchment while Harry and Ron whispered to each other, debating how this plan was really going to work out. Harry hoped the twins could help cure his curiosity, so he could move on and forget about the stupid necklace. But at the moment, the necklace was all he could think about when he wasn't in classes or working on homework, though even then it was still a small spark in the back of his head. What was so terrible about it. Ron came up with a theory that Sam broke it right out of a dragon's mouth. Draco was convinced the tooth actually belonged to Grindelwald and Sam had stolen it, and one day, the dark wizard would come back and fight Sam for the tooth back. Hermione didn't care and told them all that it was none of their business. Harry didn't know what to think.
"You called?"
Everyone turned their heads and looked directly at Sam, who was in human form wearing pants and a tee, and staring down at them, a curious look on his face and his ears perked up in his hair.
"Hey, Sam," Harry greeted, then faltered. What was he supposed to say now? He had said he needed Sam's help but with what exactly? It wasn't like he had his homework or anything to use as a distraction.
"We created a new potion," Fred said, holding up the rag. "We need testers though."
"I am not testing anything you've created," Sam said, narrowing his eyes at Fred then at Harry. "Is this why you called me up here?"
"Kind of," Harry said. "You just need to sniff it and tell us if it smells like your favorite food. It's . . . supposed to be able to make your brain think it smells your favorite food."
"Nifty," Sam commented dryly. "I'm not smelling it."
"Oh, come on, Sam," Fred stepped closer to the fox, holding up the rag to Sam's nose, who stepped back, pulling his head away. "For us? We have an idea for the perfect "quiet your growling stomach in class" solution, but we need to make sure it works. And everyone knows you love food the most here at Hogwarts. You'll probably smell the most food and that will let us know sooner than trying it on twenty random students."
"You are out of your mind if you think I'm trying something of yours," Sam swatted Fred's hand away before frowning and pointing at Fred. "Wait a second, isn't there usually two of you?"
"You should have realized that sooner," Fred said, and just as the last word left his mouth, George jumped on Sam from behind, holding another rag to his nose. Sam's eyes widened, and his hands flew to grab at George's wrists to yank the away, but before he could, his eyes closed, and he fell. George and Fred supported him before he hit the floor.
"And that, trainees," George said to Ron and Harry, "is how you catch a kitsune."
"You two had that planned all along!" Ron frowned at his brothers.
"Of course. You didn't think we'd tell you the whole plan and have one of you ruin it on us, did you?" George clicked his tongue. "That's just not how Gred and Forge work."
Fred and George lifted Sam by his legs and shoulders and carried him into the closet, Harry and Ron worriedly following. Sam had gone down pretty quickly. Harry hoped the potion didn't have any adverse reactions on the kitsune. He watched as the twins sat Sam in the chair and tied his wrists together in the back before wrapping rope around Sam and the chair and tying a tight knot in the back. They stood back and waited.
"That's going to hold him, right?" Ron asked.
"Of course," Fred assured his younger brother, ruffling Ron's hair. "Have some faith in us."
After another minute, Sam groaned and blinked. He pulled against his restraints, realizing his situation. He growled under his breath, fighting to free his hands. Pausing in his efforts, his eyes snapped to the twins and he glared at them.
"What is the meaning of this?" he growled, his sharp canine teeth flashing. "Untie me!"
"We'll untie you when you start talking!" Fred said, putting on his most intimidating voice. Sam raised his eyebrows, looking more amused than anything else.
"What are you up to?" he asked.
"What are you up to?" Fred returned. "What's up with that necklace around your neck?"
"The necklace?" Sam looked down at the dragon tooth before his eyes fell on Harry. "Is that what this is about? Did you put them up to this?"
"I just want to know about the tooth," Harry said. "Honestly. But you won't tell me anything."
"With good reason. Your father will be highly displeased to hear the lengths you are taking just to hear the silly story about the tooth."
"You don't have to tell him. I just want to know why you can't tell me. It can't be that bad."
"I'm respecting our father's wishes, now you four, untie me now and I might let you all off with a warning."
"Untie you or what?" George challenged. "You are at our mercy! We know your weakness."
Fred held up a bottle of firewhiskey, bringing it close to Sam, who visibly leaned back in the chair, pulling his head away. Sam glared at Fred, his ears flat against his head, "You wouldn't dare."
"Yeah, you're right, we wouldn't," Fred said, dumping the bottle on Sam's head, soaking the fox. "It's just water."
Sam shook his head, spraying water everywhere and puffing his hair out, then gave the twins a weird look, and Harry wasn't sure he was following the twins' tactics either. They seemed to be playing around more than anything else. Perhaps they were just having their fun before getting to the real interrogation mode.
"You've never interrogated anyone in your life, have you?" Sam questioned.
"Well, we have," Fred began.
"But our victims tend to crack as soon as we touch them," George added.
"Especially since they're mostly young students."
"But we'll find ways of making you talk, fox."
"We'll start simple: can you please tell us about where you got the necklace? Pretty please?"
Sam looked between the two boys, glancing at Harry and Ron, then back at the twins. He tilted his head, frowning at the twins. Harry wondered why Sam seemed so calm all of a sudden, and why he was no longer trying break free of the restraints.
"No," Sam finally said.
"Okay," Fred sighed. "Looks like we'll have to bring out the big guns, George."
"I hate to do this," George shook his head, "but you leave us no choice, Sam."
Sam watched warily as the twins searched the shelves for something, Harry and Ron watching as well. Fred found what they were looking for and nodded to George and the turned back to Sam, hiding whatever the object was behind their back.
"You know, Sam, I've always liked you," Fred said, "you remind us of ourselves: your personality, you're a prankster, your Weasley red hair."
"I think his red is darker than ours," Ron commented.
"It's close enough," Fred continued, stepping closer to Sam. "I like your hair; it defies gravity and sticks up. I guess that's useful when you want to hide your ears."
"A shame it would be if anything happened to your hair," George added, leaning casually against Sam's chair.
Sam's eyes widened, and he swung his head back and forth between the two, looking at their hands. Harry and Ron also realized what the twins must have grabbed, and Harry wondered if he should intervene and call the whole deal off.
"If either of you touch my hair . . ." Sam trailed off, giving the two a warning look.
"Then you better start talking, or we'll give that hair a much-needed trim!" Fred threatened, holding up a pair of scissors for Sam to see, snipping them a couple times in the air. "So speak, fox. Where did you get that necklace?"
Sam's warning look turned into an unamused look and his eyes narrowed.
Ten minutes later, Harry found himself on the floor, his wrists tied behind his back by rope, himself tied to the twins and Ron in a circle back to back with a larger piece of rope, and his own sock shoved into his mouth, his shoe tossed to the side with three other shoes. How Sam had moved so quickly was beyond him, but he did realize his mistake: they had forgotten to disarm the fox after tying him up.
In human form, Sam kept his tanto knife in a satchel tied to a belt loop. And Sam had managed to sneakily remove his knife and cut himself free while the twins failed to interrogate him. He had jumped to his feet, tied up the twins' wrists first, then Harry's and Ron's, forced everyone to sit and tied them all together, then took his time to remove a shoe, pull off a sock, and shove it into the respective person's mouth. And unluckily for the boys, due to the autumn season, they were all wearing thick wool socks that filled up every bit of space in their mouths. And then, just like that, Sam had left the closet, leaving the boys stuck tied together with socks shoved in their mouths. The twins had tried to pull away in an attempt to loosen the rope to free themselves, even wriggling their wrists, but to no avail.
Harry had been too focused on trying not to salivate. The sock in his mouth, even if they were clean that morning, tasted like dirty feet and it was making his mouth feel dry. He had tried to spit it out but he couldn't pull in enough air through his nose to spit it out. Nor did he think he could. He would probably have to salivate more to moisten the sock and smush it down in his mouth to spit it out. And that was something he didn't want to do. The taste was revolting enough. And so the ten minutes had passed with the boys sitting on the floor, stuck together, trying different ways to break free, the twins mumbling muffled words to each other.
Then, the door to the closet opened, and Hermione stepped in, pausing in front of the boys.
"Sam told me I'd find you all in here," she said. "What happened?"
Harry grunted out a noise to indicate the sock in his mouth. Hermione frowned, knealing in front of Harry. She pulled out her wand and levitated the sock out. "Eww," she said, letting the sock fall to the floor. Harry spat bitterly, grimacing, glad to be free of his own revolting sock. Ron mumbled over his sock and Hermione did the same for him, her face contorting into one of disgust.
"Pleh!" George spat, propelling the sock in his mouth out and to the floor. "Finally. That took forever."
Fred spat his sock out next, spitting, then grinned at his brother.
"We have got to make a sock flavored candy!" he smiled.
"I was thinking the same thing. Whose sock should we use, yours or mine?"
"We'll have to figure out which taste worst!"
"Really, guys?" Hermione's face was green now.
"Hermione!" they exclaimed as if they were just seeing her. "Care to free us?"
"I should really leave you here," she said, crossing her arms. "What happened?"
"We were trying to interrogate Sam," Harry said, "about his necklace, but it didn't work. He got free."
"Someone," Fred said loudly, looking over his shoulder at Harry, "forgot to tell us to remove the knife."
"Someone," Harry returned, "forgot he had it."
"We'll take that password now, Harry," George said, "and we should get forty-eight hours for this."
"You're not getting anything! I remember the deal was the cloak in exchange for information on Sam's tooth. You didn't get anything out of him."
"Ah, he was a tough nut to crack. You should at least give us twelve hours for effort."
Harry glared, though he couldn't really turn to glare at the twins. Hermione rolled her eyes and flicked her wand, loosening the rope and pulling it off them. As everyone stood, she began untying the ropes around their wrists. When Harry was free, he made a disgusted face at his sock and decided just to go sockless until he got back to his dorm.
"What were you all thinking?" she scolded. "Interrogating Sam? You guys are crazy! Madam Pomfrey should check your heads for infectious insanity. I don't want to catch it next."
"At least we know what doesn't work with Sam," Fred muttered, rubbing his wrists. "And he gave us an awesome idea." Fred elbowed George, waggling his eyebrows. George grinned. We should get right to work. Everyone not a twin, out!"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry were pushed out of the closet, the door locking behind them. Hermione rolled her eyes again then glared at Ron and Harry.
"If you guys ever get into something like that again," she threatened, "I'll leave you there all night."
"Understood," Harry and Ron said.
Later that same day, Harry decided to pay his father a visit. He hadn't seen his father since his argument over the library books, and he wanted to end his week on good terms with him. Besides, he felt guilty for ignoring his own dad. He could never outlast his father in the silent treatment.
"Hey Dad," Harry greeted as he entered their quarters, immediately spotting his father on the sofa.
"Son," Severus returned, setting aside a book he was reading. "How was your day?"
"It was okay," Harry said, heading for his room to put his bag down.
"Just okay?"
"Yeah, nothing exciting happened, really. Just worked on homework in the library with Hermione, Draco, and Ron." Which was true. Draco had been very entertained about what had occurred in the twins' closet though.
"So what's this I hear about kidnaping Sam and interrogating him?"
Harry froze, his heart skipping a beat. Sam told on him? Even after he had thoroughly punished the four of them with the rope and sock thing? Harry gulped and turned around to see his father giving him a stern look.
"That's what I thought." Severus pointed to the chair across from him. "Sit."
Harry set his bag down in the hall leading to the bedrooms and slowly walked to the chair to sit down. He looked down at his feet, biting his lip as he wondered how much Sam told his father. Maybe Severus didn't know about the tooth being the point of the interrogation? Wishful thinking.
"I want the truth from you, young man," Severus said, drumming his fingers on the arm of the couch. "What exactly happened this afternoon with Sam and the Weasleys'?"
"Well, it was just a joke," Harry said, hoping Severus didn't know about the tooth. "It was going to be a prank and that was all, but I think we took it too far."
"Took it too far?" Severus raised a eyebrow. "I heard you drugged him."
"We didn't drug him!"
"You used a rag to cover his nose and he passed out. What do you call that?"
"It was just a Sleeping Draught. It only knocked him out for a few minutes."
"Because that makes it all the better. And then the joke with fire whiskey?"
"It was just water!."
"Whether it was water or not, it certainly wasn't something to joke about. I guess I was mistaken when I thought alcohol could have devastating effects on kitsune. Perhaps you were merely offering him a drink."
"I didn't know the twins had the bottle or that it was just full of water.. I would have said no to that if I knew they were going to bring that out. I'd never threaten Sam's life like that, you've got to believe me."
"I believe you," Severus said in a softer tone, "but you did nothing to stop the twins. What was this interrogation about that they would go to such great lengths to get answers?"
"Nothing important. It was just a prank."
"A prank, maybe. But you had a clear intention in mind. Obviously, you had some kind of goal in mind. And I think I might know what that could have been." Severus's eyes darkened considerably. Harry swallowed. "Even after I said to let it go, you disobeyed me. And then you have the audacity to lie to me repeatedly. I think I know what your goal was."
Harry looked down at his hands intertwined in his lap, trying to ignore how sweaty they were starting to feel. Why couldn't his dad just ground him and be done with it? Clearly Severus had put all the pieces together. Why did he have to make him feel so bad about it?
"Here's what I think your goal was," Severus leaned forward slightly, glaring at his son. "You wanted to get revenge on Sam."
Harry's head shot up and he blinked at his father, frowning.
"After the incident with the black mamba, even though it was your fault, you thought you could make Sam pay for his tooth causing you pain. So you drugged him, tied him up so he was helpless, just like you were that day, and then threatened to use firewhiskey on him. And even shave his hair! You wanted revenge."
"That's not what I wanted!" Harry snapped, hating that his father would think of him doing such a thing. "No, I just wanted to learn about the tooth, honest, Dad! And I'm really sorry, but I don't understand why you won't let him tell me the story. I just thought maybe the twins could help interrogate him and I guess they were a little overboard, but Sam got us back. But it wasn't for revenge, it was just for stupid information about that dumb tooth. I shouldn't have done it and I'm really sorry. I never meant to put Sam in any harm, and I feel awful now that I did." Harry took a deep breath, calming himself down a bit. Now he really did feel awful. What if the water had been firewhiskey and it had spilled on Sam? That would have been terrible! Or if Sam had had a bad reaction to the Sleeping Draught? Harry fought back a tear and peered up at his father through his fringe. "I am sorry. Don't be mad."
Severus glared at him and then Sam jumped up from behind the couch, leaning on the back of the cushions, smirking at Harry.
"And that," Sam said, "is how you interrogate someone."
Harry blinked, looking from Sam to his father to see the man smirking as well.
"You –" Harry spluttered, too shocked to think coherently.
"Yes, I," Severus agreed, his smirk turning into an amused grin, "I just helped Sam with payback."
"Payback's a . . ." Sam stopped himself, clearing his throat, "well, you know the saying."
"I don't believe this," Harry shook his head. "My own dad and best friend."
"Yeah, well," Sam jumped over the couch, plopping down on the cushion next to Severus, "you kidnapped your "best friend," so this is all fair."
"I am sorry, Sam," Harry told the kitsune. "I didn't think the twins would get a bit carried away."
"When do they not?" Sam questioned, flicking his ears at Harry, making the boy smile. "And I forgive you. It was nothing I couldn't handle."
"You can say that again. The twins are working on a sock flavored candy now."
Sam sighed in exasperation, looking at Severus and saying, "Some kids just don't learn."
"Oh they learn," Severus said, "just not what you want them to." Severus looked at Harry now. "And I hope this was a good lesson for you as far as pushing for information on that necklace. If I hear any more about it, you and I will have a discussion you won't enjoy, do I make myself clear? It is none of your business and not something you should concern yourself with."
"Yes, Dad."
"Good. Now that our interrogation is over, how else was your day? Was it really so dull?"
"Well, kidnapping Sam had been fun," Harry smiled, looking at Sam cheekily. Sam sent the boy a mock glare, flattening his ears even.
"I'm sure," Severus smiled. "what assignments did you work on with your friends?"
"Just Transfiguration, mostly. Hermione insisted we at least talk about Herbology. Draco just wanted to finish his chest game with Ron. Do you know they've been at it for three days?"
"True strategists at work," Severus commented, "How about you and I have a game?"
"You'll win. Ron's beat me five times in one day before."
"You've improved. I'll set up the board."
"I'll get snacks."
"Of course, you will."
Harry rolled his eyes at his father's sarcastic remark and left for the kitchen.
"I'll help him," Sam said, jumping off the couch and following Harry to the kitchen. Sam sniffed around before jumping up and grabbing a bag of beef jerky from a top shelf. Harry smiled at him.
"I sometimes think that you forget that you're in human form sometimes," Harry commented. "You jump around and sniff for things and even scratch at your ear as if you were still a fox."
"I do not," Sam said, using his hand to scratch his ear in the same manner a paw would. Harry laughed, and Sam frowned. "Bad example. Catch. I'm going to shift back."
Sam threw the bag of beef jerky at Harry and left the kitchen. Harry set the bag on a tea tray and gathered the necessary items for tea: sugar, honey, cream (which only he and Sam used). A hot teapot appeared on the tray, courtesy of a house elf, along with chocolate biscuits. Harry quickly popped one in his mouth, knowing his father would tell him how many he could have once he sat down in the living room. He chewed and swallowed as he carried the tray out to the living room.
"Here, Dad," Harry poured his father a cup of tea, adding a teaspoon of sugar and just a few drops of honey, just how his father liked plain tea.
"Thank you," Severus finished setting up the chess board while Harry poured his own tea and tea in a bowl with extra cream, honey, and sugar. He also piled beef jerky on a plate. He both bowl and plate on the floor for Sam and sat down across from his father, eyeing the biscuits pointedly.
"You may have two," Severus said.
Harry smiled and picked up one, taking a savoring bite, the chocolate melting in his mouth and on his fingers.
"And don't think I don't know that you snuck one while out in the kitchen," Severus suddenly said, nearly making Harry choke.
"How did you know?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.
"I didn't," Severus smirked at his son. He winked at Harry as he said, "But I do now."
"You are good at interrogating," Harry grumbled, earning a hair ruffle from his father.