All a Dream
Chapter 8
It wasn't until ten at night at the Burrow that Harry realised he was tired. So, with much regret, he had to ask the Weasleys to tell him where he lived.
"Oh, we'll drop you off, dear," said Mrs.Weasley. "If you were intending to Floo over to your house, our fireplace is a little clogged, so I'll get one of the triplets to drive you home. Anthony, Fred, George! One of you drive Harry home this instant!"
"Can't we all go, Mum?" pleaded Fred (or was it George? Anthony?) "We didn't get to talk to him much, and his house is on the way to our flat."
Mrs. Weasley hesitated, thinking. Then, "Fine, just don't come complaining to me when you start driving too fast and crash."
"Thanks Mum."
"You're the best, Mum."
"You bring the very sun into our lives, Mum."
Harry couldn't help but laugh, watching the three brothers march him out the door.
Once they were in the car, the triplets interrogated Harry within an inch of hysterics (laughter, not panic) about the secrets of Hogwarts. Had he found any passages that they hadn't, had he made new ones, had he found the Room of Requirement? On and on it went, until finally Anthony, driving, said, "So, what do you want to know from us, Harry?"
"Just ask anything," added George (back seat left).
"Within reason, of course," said Fred.
"Okay, then," Harry replied. "How do you tell each other apart?"
"Well, Harry, we thought about that," said George.
"Decided not to waste a perfectly good afternoon doing work," Anthony chimed in.
"So we went to the tattoo parlour down the street from us in Diagon Ally, and we each got tattoos charmed so that only we can see them."
"So Mum wouldn't kill us, y'know. She actually wanted to get us different haircuts, we couldn't have that."
"What did you get?" Harry asked.
"I got a little blue star on my neck, George got some weird argyle pattern on his hand," listed Anthony, "and Fred got a little butterfly," he teased mockingly.
"Did not! It's a bloody fox, you dolt!"
Harry struggled to hide his laughter. "May I ask where it is?"
"It's on my wrist," Fred interrupted as George opened his mouth to reply.
.:. :.: .:.
"Well, here we are," said Anthony, stopping the car. "The humble abode of the Potters."
Harry stared out of the car window in amazement. His house was mostly hidden by the trees, but what Harry could see of it was perfect. It was a pale blue-green with white shutters and curtains. Two stories sprawled over the large amount of property. A small garden in front was becoming a little overgrown by weeds. As Harry walked up to the front step the lights on the top floor flicked on, and three pairs of eyes appeared on the sills of the windows, two pairs on the right, one on the left. Harry turned to wave goodbye to the triplets as they drove away, and then turned back around to find a small boy had opened the door. He was no older than eight, and he was the spitting image of Lily. The second Harry turned to face him, the boy jumped forward to hug Harry. "Welcome home, Harry," he said in a whispery voice that made Harry think the boy had a rather bad cold. Harry, realizing that this person was his brother, hugged him back, carrying him inside. Harry immediately recognised the couch from the picture he'd found in 12 Grimmauld Place. The rest of the room, however, was completely new to Harry. The walls were light yellow, and were decorated with wizard pictures of Lily and James, and other faces, some that Harry didn't recognize, but assumed were family and friends. Harry set his brother down on the floor, and said, "You'd better get to bed, before Mum and Dad find you awake, okay?"
"Okay, Harry," the little boy replied, beaming. "Come on, I'll show you your room."
Harry followed his brother up a winding staircase to the top floor of the house and to the first door on the left. The room that they entered was red with a gold stripe around the top, but the paint was obscured on one side with posters of rock bands and a Union Jack.
"You're sharing with Stew, but it's only for now." And, sure enough, Stew sat up on his bed, grinning. He looked more like James, but he was blond.
"Oy, nice to see you," he whispered, standing up and shaking Harry's hand. "I'm Stew, and I'll be your younger brother this evening."
A/N: Soooo...how do you like it? This chapter took me longer than usual due to a short computer ban, lack of inspiration, and me having to go to practise for the Grad Ceremony Band, and I'm sorry. Anyways, I should have the next chapter written by tomorrow, but I'm not sure what I'll be doing between then and now. We'll have to see.
