Fred turned to George. "So if Peter Pettigrew is really supposed to be sleeping in Percy's room, how come Bill doesn't know about it?"

George frowned. "The only way I can figure it is if he doesn't use his actual name. He was adopted or something and goes by a different name."

"But he never legally changed it and so the map still thinks he's Peter Pettigrew," Fred said. "That makes sense."

"I'm starting to be glad that you volunteered us to help Miss Pettigrew go through the trophy room," George said. "He's got to be a relative of hers. Pettigrew's not a common name."

"Maybe he's Peter Pettigrew Jr.," Fred said thoughtfully . "If the first Peter Pettigrew was deep into the war effort, he might not want lots of people knowing that he had a kid. One less target for the Death Eaters, right? Then he dies and the kid gets found by muggles. They call him John Smith or whatever and by the time he gets to Hogwarts he asks to go by it."

"But he doesn't legally change his name?" George asked. "And if he's Percy's age... when did the first Peter Pettigrew die?"

"Dunno."

"Because if he was any more than a baby when his parents died, you would think he'd know his own name," George continued. "At least his first name. But then why didn't Bill say Peter Pickering or..."

Fred shrugged. "Maybe his new last name doesn't look much like Pettigrew, so Bill didn't think we would have confused it."

"Yeah, but you'd think he'd be thrilled to use his father's name after years of not having a family," George said. "And now that I think about it, it doesn't make much sense for him to have ended up in a muggle orphanage at all. Peter Pettigrew Sr. would have had to have someone else helping him take care a kid."

"He didn't have to," Fred said. "He could have-"

"Left a little kid alone for hours on end?" George gave Fred a level look, not unlike the look their mother would give them when she caught them trying to sneak out at night.

"Well, not when they were little little," Fred continued. "He had to have had a wife, right. Or..." Fred paused for a second, chewing on his lip. "The wife raised the kid, and didn't tell anyone about him. Junior using her maiden name and that's why he didn't want to change it!"

George shook his head. "It works better than the muggle orphanage, but I find it hard to believe that she wouldn't have gone back to the truth after the war was over... And that no one wanted to know who her baby's father was."

"Maybe they thought it wasn't any of their business," Fred said. He leaned back in his chair and adopted an expression of smug superiority. "I've figured it out. Admit it, George."

George frowned, a flicker of doubt creeping into his mind. "Do you think that maybe this isn't any of our business?"

"Of course not," Fred said. He swung forward. "He's sharing a bed with our older brother, isn't he? It's our solemn duty as little brothers to find out everything we can about him so that we can tease Percy about it."

George took a deep breath. There were some things that Fred just seemed to get. "Sharing a bed is awfully serious. I'm starting to think that we should tell Mum about this, or Bill at least. Especially since Percy took another girl to Hogsmeade."

"And how are we supposed to explain that," Fred said. "Short of showing them the map, which is a surefire way to get it confiscated."

"Bill might let us keep it," George said.

"I don't want to bet on it." Fred looked around, trying to think of anything he could change the subject to, but his mind was fixed on Peter Pettigrew and how come Bill didn't know him. "You know, I think you're right about Mrs. Pettigrew. People would have talked about her lack of a husband, if nothing else."

"Unless she was living in hiding," George said. "Which would have been wise. Charlie says he wasn't allowed out for most of the war, and it was only Mum's brothers doing the actual fighting."

Fred made a face. "With just herself for company?"

"She'd have had the baby," George reminded him.

"You know, that makes it less believable," Fred said. "Who wants to deal with a baby all by themself? At least Mum had her knitting circle."

"Maybe a couple of her friends knew," George said. "Somebody had to, unless Senior was the one who delivered Junior."

"Yeah, but then they'd have to keep her secret after the war," Fred said. "Also, new problem. Why did Mrs. Pettigrew keep him secret after the war? Once she started taking a five year old round with her everywhere-"

"-people would have wanted to know about his father. And that's assuming that not very many people knew that she was married," George said. "We're starting to go in circles, mate."

"And if we go in circles long enough we might think of something new," Fred said. "Plus I can't really think of anything else, not with a mystery like this to chew on."

"Alright then, we get started on the other mystery," George said. "Why is perfect, rule-abiding Percy, asking some girl to go to Hogsmeade with him for Valentine's Day when he's already got a boyfriend?"

Fred shrugged. "Maybe Percy's got a secret sneaky side. He doesn't think Bill would approve of his boyfriend- I know that Bill wouldn't approve of how far they're taking their relationship- and the Hogsmeade date is a red herring to throw Bill off of the scent."

"You're assuming that Bill digs into Percy's life the way we do," George said. "He's Head Boy and has N.E.W.T.s coming up, he doesn't have time for that."

"Then what's your better idea?"

"I dunno." George scratched his head. "We don't know what Percy and Peter are doing, just that they're spending a lot of time sitting very close to each other-"

"Because that's not suggestive at all."

"Let me talk, Fred. Maybe they're not together. Maybe, I dunno, Peter has nightmares or something and it helps to not be alone at night?" It came out as more of a question than a statement, but George tried to look as though he really thought it was possible.

"Still doesn't explain why he doesn't go to meals," Fred said. "Or why Bill doesn't know about him. I want to figure that out, even if he's not dating Percy. You do too, don't you?"

George nodded reluctantly.