Harry sat bolt upright in his bed after rolling on his side. Letting out a hiss of pain he lifted his arm to check the bruise there. After a moment he lifted up the shirt so that he could actually see the bruise itself. It looked like it would be tender for the next day or two, but would heal, after all he knew for certain that Dudley hadn't broken his ribs again. That hurt a lot more.

Getting out of the bed, he shuffled his bare feet across the bed towards the bathroom. After relieving the heavy pressure that was foremost on his mind, he began to wonder about the time, and if he had enough time to shower before class. Looking around he found something he'd not noticed on his vanity, there was a huge clock set in the main mirror, that showed him the time was quarter past four, meaning he had plenty of time. Now just to find a shower. "May I help you sir?" a female voice spoke up causing him to whip his head around, and to self-consciously cover his boxer clad lower half.

"Err.... who's here?" Harry asked nervously while looking around.

"I am cutie, the mirror," the voice clarified, while a face replaced the clock. "I am glad to have gotten used again. You are very handsome, aren't you sweetie? You can call me Mirror, or just Mir is fine..."

"Oh... ummm Mir..." Harry started, while looking at the door. "Where're the showers, or baths?"

"Oh... I suppose you would like to clean before grooming..." Mirror answered with a glassed pout to her lips. "Go out your door, it's at the opposite end of the hall. Please do be quick. I really like it when such a handsome, virile, young man such as yourself needs my undivided attention, and your hair needs so much."

"My hair? Oh... I suppose it is a bit of a mess..." Harry muttered nervously while digging out some clean clothes, laying out his robes, and snatching up a towel. "I'll be back shortly..."

After finding slippers, he walked down the hall, finding the shower with ease. He'd never felt such wonderful hot water, nor realized just how many millions of scents shampoos and soaps came in, but he found himself wondering if he might just be getting too use to things. His return to his room, had him finding dozens of brushes, combs, hand mirrors, scissors, and what he guessed were grooming products waiting for him. "Mir? W... what's all this?"

"Oh hello there handsome, these are just a few tools to tease your hair... I think the mussed rake look would suit you well..." Mir called out with a lilting tone to her voice. "Now come and let us work to make you the star of Hogwarts!"

Twenty minutes of the most confusing, and tiresome work he'd ever considered doing on his hair, Harry was finally approved of by Mir. He snatched up his robes, and carefully put it on without messing up his hair. He'd managed to convince Mir that natural was best for his hair, and that covering his scar was his preference.

Getting to the common room, he was actually surprised he wasn't the only one awake. Fred and George were sitting there talking over the map, while pointing at various things. After they'd heard Harry's arrival, they prepared to pull out some books over as a cover. But once they saw who it was, they simply smiled. "Got assisted by your mirror did you? Never let on you have a lover, seven years is nothing compared to if your mirror refuses to see you."

"Oh I know dear! I once got in a fight with my mirror, and for an entire decade he would not see me at all. It was amazing that Helga let me come over with the sight I must have been," Rowena gushed worriedly, before looking over Harry with a trained eye. "There's a good lad, bright and early, and sharp as a tack that one. But where is my other dear Rebel... Oh there she is! And... she looks perplexed..."

Harry and the twins turned to look at Hermione, only to gawk with their jaws hanging open. Gone was the frizzy hair mass of brown, and in its place was a tight bun, with a pair of sticks stabbed through. The perplexed look on her face had Harry's heart racing, as he could only think one single thing. 'She looks good like that...'

"Oi, Hermione, what's the look for?" one of the twins called out, for the other to clarify.

"What's got you so confused?"

Harry remembered finally the mysterious ability to breathe, which he had somehow forgotten when his heart began racing. Sadly it was taken away by Hermione's answer, that had him and the twins laughing. "I've never been given homework by a mirror before..."

"What'd it assign you?" Harry asked after the chuckling died down, surprised that Hermione had actually joined in.

"Flect ordered me to first give my parent's name and number out to everyone, as I have the best smile he's ever seen, save for my buckteeth. He ordered me to find a potion recipe for a special pore refiner... and..." Hermione started before blushing heavily.

"Flirted with you?" Harry asked, remembering everything Mir had said to him. It would make sense that the did so as well.

"Well... in a way... originally I had thought that he was..." Hermione trailed off while looking down and fidgeting. "He had a lisp, kept talking to me about boys... it was... weird..."

It took Harry a few seconds to figure out what exactly that was supposed to mean, and instead decided to look at the main door. "Umm... when can we go get our schedules?"

Fred looked up at the time piece on the mantle and sighed. "If we walk slow, the ten minutes will pass before we get there. Orrrr...."

"We could use some help planning out this little prank..." George finished holding up the map teasingly. As twin growls emitted from their stomach the pair looked at each other sheepishly. "Right, to breakfast it is... Professor Flitwick will pass them out to us while we eat."

"Didn't you use the silencing charm on the train?" Hermione asked curiously, while shifting her robes slightly. "Is there somewhere we can leave our bags? I don't want to run late because I had to go up to my room and switch out my books..."

"Oh that?" Fred asked before looking up at Rowena, who gave a warm smile and a stately nod. "This is a Rebel only secret, if you tap the fifth brick on the left side of the mantle, the one facing the window there, while stating your name quietly. A house elf will appear, you tell them what books you need from your room, and they'll bring you it. Only three times per term per person."

"Oh, and do leave them a little something as thanks. We usually leave them little flowers, as they don't get out much, and Lady Rowena has given them the love of flowers," George explained softly while looking around curiously. "As you two are both muggle-raised, we should explain something..."

Hermione and Harry sat down on the couch, knowing that it would take about five minutes to get to breakfast, if they needed to rush that is. Once they were settled, Fred sighed and tapped the map, muttering "Mischief Managed" before tucking it away and standing in front of the first years. "You could equate the house elves in general to a race of slaves," Fred started, before holding his hand up to stop Hermione's protest rant. "But they're not. In fact, all the elves employed here at Hogwarts are freed elves, released by their owners, or the death of the same."

"Most forget this, but the servitude of the elves originated after they sided with the goblins in the last war. What this servitude actually did was two-fold in nature. It fulfilled the almost compulsive need to clean for the elves, and it was supposed to build a lasting relationship of trust..." George explained with a frown as Rowena looked away in shame.

After a moment, the portrait picked up the lesson. "Sadly, pureblood families bought up almost all of the contracts of house elf clans, and distributed them amongst themselves. Some, such as the Weasley's were excellent masters, and treated the house elves as family members, rather than slaves. Others..."

"Worse than death some of them... they were freed right enough, but there are a few that beat and torment their elves..." Fred explained, looking like he swallowed an entire cart load of dung. "With the current administration, it's impossible to get leverage to improve and I quote 'the inconsequential treatment of filthy magical creatures'. End quote."

"That's the ministry's official stance," George continued, slinging his arm over his brother's shoulder. "However, that is the worst case scenario... it's sad but the purebloods run the show, and of them, the richest and most influential tend to be like the Malfoys... you've met Draco."

"There was a couple hopeful sorts, one being the most noble and ancient house of Potter, and judging by the look on your face Harry, I think we wouldn't even have to ask for your help..." Fred stated warmly with a sad smile as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder, and George put one on Hermione's "There's nothing we mere students can do, as the elves here are all more than happy, and love working here... but I ask that both of you keep in mind their plights in the future..."

"Right you lot, off to breakfast now," Rowena ordered with a warm smile. "There are others coming."

The quad walked out without another word, taking a long route in order to let Harry and Hermione think things through. It was curious just what they were thinking about though. "There should be a class for muggles about the Wizarding World..."

"Hmm?" Fred asked curiously, while they rounded a corner, and started down one of the main shifting staircases. "A class for you to learn about the Wizarding World? Isn't that all of them?"

"No, those are about magic... and History of Magic, but what I mean is the society in which we are entering, both feet into a pool over our heads as it were..." Hermione explained while they waited for the stairs to align so they could continue on. "I read up on Muggle Studies, which is available for our third year, but there is nothing of the equivalent for muggles entering into the Wizarding World..."

"Yeah..." Harry answered with a puzzled frown of his own. "I mean that was a potential landmine issue you just helped us avoid..."

"What's on your mind Harry?" George asked as they finally reached the ground floor, and started heading for the Great Hall.

"If I'm from a very rich family like you said... I should probably man up and take the reigns of my finances..." Harry answered quietly, his hands rubbing together nervously. "I'm not entirely certain what good that would do... but I would like to try..."

"We could help you get started..." Fred intoned suggestively, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"For a small favor in return..." George continued almost as if they shared the same thought, and certainly did share the same twinkle.

"Get Hermione to help too," the twins flat out demanded before pushing open one of the doors each, to a very empty Great Hall. "Oh we are early ones are we not?"

"That's fine... let's get our food and find a seat..." Harry offered while looking around. "I guess they're going to serve us similarly to the feast last night..."

"I imagine so Harry," Hermione answered, as she started walking towards the table with the twins. "It would be far more practical than having a buffet if you think about it. No chance of students running late due to lines..."

Harry nodded silently, and took a seat at the end of the table, careful to have his bruised side towards the outside, so that none of his friends could accidentally hit it. Hermione took the seat on his side, while the twins claimed the seats opposite of them. "Eggs, sunny side up, and chewy bacon please" Fred called out, just before a plate appeared before him, filled to the brim with eggs and bacon.

"French toast and sausages, please," George ordered, getting his plate filled as well, a smaller plate of butter and a pitcher of syrup arriving next to his goblet.

"That's rather brilliant, isn't it? Everyone is happy, and plenty of food for the growing student..." Hermione remarked while she looked at the plates. "I think I would like some oatmeal please, with a sliced peach inside it if it wouldn't be too much trouble..."

Harry watched in wonder as a large bowl of oatmeal with more peach inside it than he'd ever considered possible. He knew that if he ordered something like that, he'd be sick for the rest of the day. That's when he thought of something curious he'd always liked to try. "Could I get a couple slices of light toast with strawberry preserves, please?"

The trio noticed their friend's light eating habit again, but wrote it off as nerves, however when Cho accidentally bumped into him, and he flinched in pain, the others felt something was up. "Alright there Harry?" Fred asked curiously while Harry straightened himself up.

"Yeah, just slept wrong I guess..." Harry answered, without looking at his friends.

This didn't sit well with the trio, but they decided that it would be a better idea to leave it for the moment, instead of pressing the matter. If Harry felt like trusting them, he would talk to them about what was really happening, but if they pressed, he'd bottle it away, and possibly avoid them.

Breakfast continued in silence, Harry never once meeting any of the others' eyes, instead seeming too focused on his plate. About two bites away from everyone finishing their meals, Flitwick arrived and gave them there letters. "Didn't expect you kids to be so early... but I should have known better than to not expect the unexpected from the twins... and you two as well if last night was anything to go on..."

"Was that why you fell off your chair last night professor?" Fred asked curiously, "I mean we know about Professor Quirrel fainting dead away, but you were a surprise..."

Flitwick's cheeks deepened into a maroon hue while he fidgeted slightly under the gaze of his students. "Actually... I was so surprised that I got the Harry Potter in my house that I slipped... not that I noticed for laughing so hard... Oh and 100 points to Ravenclaw for that excellent spellwork last night, and who helped you write that song?"

Hermione shyly raised her hand, with a faint blush tinging her cheeks. "Oh marvelous! Another 50 points for such a wonderful tune, and in such a short time-frame too. I'm sorry that Dumbledore's making me take off the 30 points for the prank last night boys, and you too Miss Granger, but I thought it was an excellent start of the year. So much less stuffy than most, and more sensible than Albus's 'few words' trick..."

Harry opened up his schedule as Flitwick walked away to continue dropping off the schedules to the rest of the students. "Double DADA with the Hufflepuffs first thing this morning, and then we have charms with Professor Flitwick..."

"Sounds like a good way to start off the week, nice and light..." Fred said helpfully as he leaned over to look over the schedule. "Looks like your flying lesson will be on Wednesday..."

"Lesson?" Hermione asked confused, before the other word filtered through. "F... flying? Uhh..."

George saw the fear filled look on Hermione's face and patted her shoulder gently. "Don't worry Hermione, there's a sticking charm on the brooms, a cushioning charm on the Quidditch pitch, and the brooms they use are so old that you can't get too high."

"Oh? So... it's safe?" Hermione asked nervously, her hands fidgeting slightly around her schedule. "There should be more than one lesson... shouldn't there?"

"They expect the students to get enough of that at home..." George answered dryly. "And those that can't are supposed to use their free time to train. Madam Hooch is always available for extra lessons, but they never tell anyone not on the Quidditch teams... don't know why..."

Fred leaned in and whispered softly to the others. "It's the Pureblood conspiracy... think about it... only those with Wizarding parents in Wizarding only society are able to allow their kids to ride broomsticks whenever they want..."

"You know Fred... I've been thinking... our little Harry is rather nimble... maybe he should try out as a seeker next year..." George replied, while rubbing his chin in thought. "I dare say he would be an excellent one... now we just need to see him fly."

"Pity it won't be for another two weeks at the least..."

"Aye... and we'll likely be in class..." George answered, with a devious smirk on his face.

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she looked at the twins, sarcasm dripped from every letter as she hissed out. "I'm sure that's stopped you before..."

"Before you judge us, sit through History of Magic, that's what we have on Wednesday," Fred offered with his hands raised defensively before him, as though warding himself from Hermione's fury. "I promise if you don't agree, we'll attend every single class, and ask for double homework from Professor Binns."

"Deal, but I must warn you, it will be difficult to make me agree..." Hermione answered with a smirk of her own. "And should I end up agreeing with you?"

The twins smirked at each other, before nodding and facing the younger girl properly with a huge, devilish grin on their faces. "You invite us over for a week during Christmas," they stated in perfect unison, making them seem like they had only one brain.

Hermione was about to comment on that, when a loud and grating voice came over from the Gryffindor table causing the Rebels to look over in disgust at the youngest Weasley brother. "Oi, I'd like some scrambled eggs, french toast, waffles, hard eggs, pancakes, sausages, bacon, wheat toast with butter, beef steak, soft eggs, pork chops, white toast with grape preserves, Eggs Benedict on an English muffin, mashed potatoes, hash-browns, and some blood pudding with pumpkin juice."

Hermione was about to comment about the vomit inducing amount of food that Ron had just ordered, when Harry bolted from the table, with a nasty green shade to his face. Fred was right on his heel, as George helped Hermione clean up the area a little bit. "Sorry about the prat, he is a bottomless pit..."

Fred helped Harry gather himself after emptying his breakfast into the toilet. "Sorry about him mate... you alright? I've known his diet to make one uneasy... but..." he trailed off while swirling a hand in the air.

"I'm fine... it's just nerves Fred..." Harry lied, giving him a nervous grin before washing his face in the sink.

"Harry... Can we cut the crap? That wasn't nerves when Cho ran into you, and you don't eat enough for a kid half your size... Look mate... I know it's personal... but if you ever need to talk... my door is open, I won't judge, nor would I tell George or Hermione anything if you didn't want me to..." Fred started off seriously, before turning sensitive and tender. "They saw it too mate..."

Harry looked Fred in the eyes for a moment before sighing and lowering his gaze. "They saw huh? Alright... after classes tonight... I'll meet you in the great hall... if you can take us somewhere we can be alone... have them meet me there..."

"Harry... mate... you don't have..." Fred started, his voice worried and full of concern.

"I know I don't... but I think it might help to talk about it..." Harry answered sadly, while giving Fred a weak smile. "Now let's get our books, and we'll meet up later..."

"Sure mate..."