Edit: Forgot to mention that both the beta and I missed the misspelling of Prewett in past chapters, has been fixed in this and future chapters. Thanks to HJP265 for pointing that out.

To say that dinner was an awkward affair, would be like saying that Voldemort really should have skipped over the Potter's on Halloween night in 1981. Fred and George seemed dead set to avoid the gaze of their younger protégés, whilst the younger two couldn't figure out why they were so uncomfortable all of a sudden. They'd been like this since the declaration that the younger two would never trust them again if they found out the truth. Which was utterly preposterous to the two first years, as they hadn't shown any other reasons for such a notion.

At first they were going to press for an explanation, but then the Hufflepuff students started streaming past, and they let it pass as a private matter for the Rebels to discuss later on. Instead, they just walked up to the table silently, Fred and George arguing quietly between themselves, while Harry and Hermione just watched on curiously.

They got to the table, and started eating, with a distinct lack of conversation amongst themselves that more than a few eyes and ears noticed. The first to notice was Professor Flitwick, who wondered if his little fledglings had had a falling out. Then there was the Headmaster Dumbledore, whose concern was that Harry was going to lose his friends so shortly after getting some. But it seemed that Ms. Granger was still by his side, so he wasn't overly concerned, and turned his thoughts to wondering who in Hogwarts could possibly be the hissing man and the stutterer. His primary concern was that Harry might have Parselmouth ability, and that the hissing man was actually a snake.

Unlike many in the Wizarding World, he considered such a gift as the mark of an exceptional wizard, not the one of a dark wizard. Perhaps he should look into creating a spell to mimic the ability of a Parselmouth. It would do much to help others get over the silly believe that all Parselmouths are evil.

Another that noticed the separation was Professor Snape, who merely frowned and went back to work on the grading he was doing. It was none of his concern after all, even if it was Lily's son. The boy had to learn to deal with people properly. Besides, those Weasley twins had been troublesome thorns in his side since they had started school.

The final eyes of 'importance' that noticed the silence was one Draco Malfoy. He liked seeing Harry suffer like this. He didn't know how, but he was certain that Potter had been in on the loss of points he had caused for his house. He would get his revenge, and then Potter would know who the true prince of Hogwarts was. Oh yes, he was going to get that arrogant, raven-haired, emerald-eyed, soft, tender, adorable Harry Potter, and then he was going to crush him under heel, and make him his slave! But first, his father was going to have to deal with Dumbledore taking all those points off him.

Harry and Hermione left the table first, which was normal for the group, going to the common room, where they settled in on the couch and let out a synced sigh.

"I don't know what to do Harry... we can't go on like this... it's only been an hour, and it's already driving me crazy..." Hermione whispered, curling up on the couch.

"Hermione... I... I think maybe we should tell them that we trust them, and that what someone else is doing will not change our minds," Harry offered quietly, his eyes focused on the flickering flames in the hearth. "They're our friends, right? So... let's trust them."

"I suppose... but only on everything but pulling pranks on us..." Hermione agreed after a moment of thought. Pushing herself up off the couch, she walked over to the stairs that led to her room. "I'm going to write a note to my parents about Christmas. Would you like to send them one? I think it would make a better impression if you asked as well... and I suppose I should see if the twins want to write one too..."

"Sure, just let me get some stuff and I'll write a letter..." Harry agreed, keeping up the warm, pleased smile up until he made it past the seventh year boy's rooms. A letter to a parent he didn't know, this was bad, he'd have to word it perfectly or they wouldn't let him come over, and Hermione would be upset.

Every step he took seemed to thunder in his ears, as he circled the tower's inner column silently in thought. Anyone watching him would have sworn that he was marching off to his own execution, rather than just his room. Even the act of gathering up a ballpoint pen and some paper seemed to be a grand resistance to some invisible hand of fate beckoning him towards the gallows.

He made it back to the common room just after Hermione, and he found her sitting at the table by the window, idly tapping a pen to her chin in thought. As the fading light of the setting sun fell upon her, he couldn't help but wonder if that rosy glow surrounding her was real or all in his imagination. Blinking away the image, he walked over to the table and sat opposite of her.

The two worked quietly, the only sound being the occasionally crinkling of a page before Harry tossed in the fire. Hermione seemed to be having no problem, as her letter was currently on the fifth page, and still going strong. Swallowing deeply, Harry decided to try once again.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger,

You don't know me, but my name is Harry Potter, and I am Hermione's friend. She has been so nice as to extend an invite for me to visit over Christmas. I was hoping that it would be alright if I accepted. If you would rather not have me, I understand. If you would have me, I would be very grateful and would help out with chores. You do not need to get me anything, because just being able to visit would be more of a gift than I could ever imagine.

Best Wishes,

Harry Potter

Rereading the short letter, he fidgeted nervously. It was the first time he wrote to ask anyone anything. Even when he was younger, he never got to write a letter to Santa, so he didn't know the proper way it should read. Maybe he should redo it again, being less forward.

The decision was taken out of his hand quite literally by Hermione, who read over the note, and nodded with a slight frown. It seemed that although she wasn't too happy about it, she found it acceptable. That was a good thing right?

"Harry... I'm sure they'd love to have you over," Hermione assured him as she tucked the note in with her own letter. "Just wait and you'll see."

"Okay..." Harry agreed, before looking around, noticing that it was a lot darker than it had been. "The twins haven't come back yet?"

"Oh, I asked them to write a note while you were so busy with yours... they decided to do it in their rooms apparently," Hermione explained while setting the envelope to the side. "They were very excited and happy to be coming over, even if it meant up to two weeks without magic. I hope that my parents accept having so many boys over, but dad's always saying that he wished he had a son and mom always wanted me to have friends over. Maybe they'll like the three of you so much that they'll invite you over for the summer, and you'll never have to worry about those dreadful relatives of yours again..." Hermione trailed off as she noticed Harry's pained expression.

"Oh Harry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring them up, it's just that I don't like how they treated you, after all you're a wonderful boy, and my first real friend, so I thought that maybe you could spend the summers with me, but I can understand if you'd rather not hang out with a bookworm girl like me for the entire summer, so maybe it would be better for you to ask the twins as well, you could spend half with me, and half with them. After all, they said they had a big family, so I think that it would be interesting to see what that's like since I'm an only child, and to hear them talk about it, their siblings are all so very different, it's hard to imagine them all being one family. But then again, look at Percy, Ron, and Fred and George..."

"Hermione..." Harry cut in softly, slamming the breaks on her rambling speech. "It's okay... it's all happening so fast, that I am having trouble keeping up. I'm glad I have you and the twins by my side to help me out."

Hermione blushed and shifted her gaze to her feet, squirming a little under Harry's warm, open smile. She knew that he meant every word, but after being ostracized for so long as the bookworm of the group, she couldn't get over someone being nice to her. "Well... I... I think that the twins should be down soon, and if we hurry, we can get to the owlery and back before curfew..."

"Well then, if you'll read over out little missive, we'll be off..." Fred cut in, holding out a two page letter to Hermione's parents, one from each of the twins.

George meanwhile pulled Harry away from the table and leaned in to talk with him privately. "Listen Harry mate, we believe the two of you deserve an explanation, and we know a room just outside the owlery that won't have curious ears about..."

Harry blinked as he filtered through what George had just told him, before nodding slowly in agreement. At that George gave him a small, half-smile of apology, before continuing. "Only problem is that it only unlocks after curfew, but it's well hidden, so we won't be found easily if we stop there for a bit."

"Oh?" Harry asked curiously, before shaking his head. "Don't tell me, we'll see it when we stop by and talk. Are we using the map tonight?"

"Fred's got it," George assured Harry, just as his twin lifted out the piece of parchment, and showed it to Hermione. After a minute the map was tucked away again, and they were heading out. Fred and Harry took the lead, while Hermione and George were only a few steps behind them.

At the owlery Hedwig was more than happy to see Harry, and nuzzled her beak against his neck tenderly. Of course that meant that her feathers brushed against the rest of his neck, causing him to start laughing lightly. "Hello Hedwig... I know I should have been by sooner..." Harry answered at the hurt look and plaintive hoot the owl shot him. "I'll make it up to you... but would you mind making a trip for me and my friends?"

At the curious look, Harry indicated the trio of other students, especially Hermione who was holding out the letter tentatively. Hedwig looked between the three students, hooted softly with a nod before nibbling Harry's ear affectionately. "That's great Hedwig, I'm sure they'd love to be your friends too..."

"Of course I would..." Hermione assured the owl, while holding out the letter. Hedwig hopped over and nibbled Hermione's ear softly, before taking the letter and flying away. Hermione reached up and rubbed her ear gently. "She's really nice, isn't she?"

"Yeah... I have to use her some more I think... she's probably lonely..." Harry answered, watching the snowy owl flying away into the growing darkness. He could hear the others, and while it didn't fully register what they were saying, but he could feel the reassurance that it was affirmations. Turning away from the glassless windows and found Fred and George hunched over the map planning something. "Right, let's get to this room before we're caught..."

"We have a problem there mate... Filch is on his way up here, and there's five minutes left until curfew," Fred supplied while pulling open the door, and ushering everyone out. "Let's get moving mates, we're on a tight schedule, and if we don't stick to it, we're in hot water."

The quad dashed down the hall, heading back the way they came. George was in the lead, indicating turns and keeping an eye on the people represented on the map. Fred kept to the back, making sure that the younger pair remained in step and ready to act as decoy, since he knew how to get back to the room if needed.

As they turned the corner of the hallway, the bells rang loudly outside, signaling that curfew had just started. Fred lifted his head, and called forth with a loud caw, almost perfectly mimicking a raven. Halfway down the hallway, a torch flickered in a breeze no one felt, and threatened to extinguish itself. What caught Harry and Hermione off-guard most was the fact Fred leaped up, grabbed the torch holder and flipped himself up through the ceiling.

Harry was setting up for a copy of the flip, when a ladder lowered itself out of the ceiling. Looking up at the still solid stone protectorate from the elements, Harry couldn't help but remember the passage to the Hogwarts express. Taking one side of the ladder, he held it steady as Hermione scampered up like a squirrel. Apparently he was right, as Hermione slipped through the stones easily, and then it was his turn.

He was up the ladder faster than he'd ever thought possible, and found himself in a room. The floor was covered in pillows, indicating how Fred managed not to get hurt. Above them, rafters supported the roof, which had a nice view of the night's sky played out on the underside. If it wasn't for the giant eagle painted on one wall, and a raven on the opposite, while between them was an empty portrait, Harry would have thought it was just an old abandoned attic room.

Before he'd even finished one full inspection of the room, George was up with them; the ladder hooked to his left foot. As soon as he'd undone the supports to the ladder, a slab of stone appeared magically back in place, sealing the room. "How'd we do Fred?"

"Made it with half a minute to spare, Filch is right under us," Fred proclaimed proudly, while giving his twin a hearty handshake. "Oh, it's alright to talk you two, there's a very curious spell on this room that makes any noises heard down below sound like birds scuttling about up here. Lady Rowena was a genius to set these hideouts all over the school."

"Wish we could mark them on the map..." George spoke with a soft frown. "Still haven't learned how to add information like that on the map. I hope we can talk to one of the Marauders to work it out..."

"Who were the Marauders?" Harry asked, having gotten his wind back before Hermione had. "And should we start going on morning jogs before breakfast?"

"Not you Harry, not yet anyhow... we can talk to Madam Pomfrey to set up something like that..." Hermione answered, pausing a moment to catch her breath occasionally. "But a healthy body would be a good thing to have..."

"Part of why we want you two on the team..." Fred countered with a wide, beaming smile. "If you were, there'd be nothing odd about working out throughout the day... and if a prank happens to go off somewhere nearby..."

"Mums the word," Harry answered with a smile as he settled into one of the pillows, marveling at how comfortable it was. "I can understand me being seeker, like you two were talking about... but what position did you think of for Hermione?"

"I was reading up on the teams, and with my... problem flying... I don't think I could be good at any of the positions..." Hermione stated shyly, while settling in next to Harry. "You said a muggle position... what position's that?"

"Why manager and assistant coach of course," Fred answered as though it was the most obvious thing. "We think that you'd make an absolute fantastic strategist, and maybe help us to get an advantage to the other teams..."

"We did our research, and found out about these devices that allow people to talk to each other at distance..." George explained while he and Fred spread out on the pillows. "We'll show you the drawing for it sometime; maybe you can help us figure it out..."

"But that's not why we're here tonight..." Fred answered with a deep frown. "Harry... Hermione... The PrewettPrewett family used to be rather large and influential..."

"Until the war..." George added sadly while he sat up and looked remorsefully at the younger two, almost as though he was saying goodbye forever to long term friends. His voice remained grave and heavy as he continued. "During the last war... the only two remaining Prewett male heirs, Gideon and Fabian, were killed by You-know-who..."

"Voldemort?" Harry asked, causing the twins to flinch, "Sorry..."

"No... It's alright, Professor Dumbledore does it too, so we should get used to it..." George answered before clearing his throat again. "Anyhow, their older sister Molly survived the war, and went on to marry. We've heard tell that the money from the Prewett family dried up after she married, probably because of the head of the family not liking her husband too much..."

"She went on to have several children... six sons, and a daughter," Fred continued while George started looking increasingly uncomfortable, it was hard to tell with Fred as he remained laying down, his eyes closed. "One of those sons is your age Harry... and we overheard him proclaiming how he was going to befriend you on the train..."

"But I don't remember anyone like that when I was on the train..." Harry answered with a puzzled look on his face. "The only people I saw where Hermione, her parents, and... your... family..."

"Spot on there Harry, Miss Prewett is none other than Molly Weasley... our mother," Fred answered while George turned away in shame. "We figure she's been plotting to get her hands in your bank account to return to the life she lived before marrying dad..."

The silence that descended over the four of them that was broken only by the sound of their breathing, which was how one could tell that they still lived. After nearly a half-hour passed, a single voice broke through the stillness, to ask one question. "Why wouldn't we trust you?"