Title: The Boys Who Lived
Author: Shara Lunison
Beta: Batsutousai
Rating for this Chapter: K+
Pairings: Harry/Henry (OMC)
Warnings: SLASH, Eventual twincest!
Summary: The Potter twins are attacked by Voldemort and somehow defeat him. Now the Dark Lord has returned and they have to choose between light and dark. SLASH, Twincest, rated M for later chapters.
Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Two more chapters of year one! I can't wait to start year two already. Things are going to be quite different from what you expect. ^_~
Chapter Ten: Through the Trapdoor
The first of the year passed and the other students returned—classes resumed with a vengeance as the professors prepared the students for end of year exams.
The History of Magic notes project took a whole new level when the Slytherin first years decided to approach the upper years about the problem. With a few representatives from each class, it was agreed that over the next year and a half, the students from all four houses would team together to make a master set of notes separated by year. Binn's lectures never changed and everyone was sure they would be able to practically record every word of the boring old ghost's speeches. By the time the current first years were in their third year, they would have a set of notes for all seven years of Hogwarts, should they choose to continue with OWLs and NEWTs for History.
It was a cloudy evening in late April, only a few weeks left before exams, when the Potter twins were approached by the Weasley twins.
"Psst!"
Harry looked over and saw the red-headed twins hiding behind a statue of a humpbacked witch and nudged his brother.
Soon both pairs of twins were squished in behind the statue and George began to speak.
"You remember the three-headed dog on the third floor?"
Henry nodded.
Fred continued, "We were just in Hogsmeade getting supplies for the party we're throwing when Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup, and we saw Hagrid going into the Hog's Head with this strange cloaked bloke."
"So we snuck inside and listened to their conversation from a distance. The man in the cloak kept buying Hagrid drinks and asking him about what he does up here at the castle. Somehow he knew that Hagrid also has a thing for large and dangerous beasts," George supplied.
"Eventually, they got to talking about what sorts of creatures Hagrid has raised, and he said, 'After Fluffy, well, I think I could handle even a full-grown dragon,'" Fred cried.
"The cloaked man was very interested in Fluffy, asking how Hagrid had been able to handle a three-headed dog. And Hagrid said, 'Oh, Fluffy is a sweetheart once you play him a bit of music. Puts him right to sleep.'"
Harry looked at Henry aghast and then asked, "Did you see who the stranger was? Did he sound familiar?"
"Nah," Fred said. "He kept his hood up the whole time and left after he heard the bit about the music. Gave Hagrid some kind of book and a business card on black-market dragon eggs."
"This is bad," Henry muttered. "Whoever it is knows how to get past Fluffy now, and he's probably the most dangerous thing out of whatever protections the other professors put on the Stone."
"But as long as Dumbledore is here," Harry said, "then the Stone is safe. Right?"
The other boys all nodded in agreement. "We'll keep our ears open," George promised. "If we get wind of Dumbledore leaving the castle, we'll let you know."
"All right. Let's meet up with Ron, Hermione, and Draco to come up with a contingency plan if that happens," Henry said.
-o-0-o-
After much arguing amongst the Slytherin and Gryffindor sides of the discussion (for Henry and Draco still maintained that Snape was innocent, while Ron, Harry and Hermione could only compromise by saying they'd rather be safe than sorry) it was decided that they would go to find McGonagall if Dumbledore left the castle for any period of time.
It seemed only moments later that exams were upon them, and all thoughts of the Stone were driven from their minds.
The Slythindor Study Parties (as they had been reluctantly dubbed) had continued after the New Year, aiming this time to prepare both houses for exams. Copies of the History of Magic notes were provided to everyone and they all worked together to help each other with the various weaknesses each particular caster was prone to. By the time the first exam rolled around, everyone was feeling remarkably calm and relaxed about their chances (with the possible exception of Hermione, who would always obsess over her grades regardless).
Monday they took the written tests for Transfiguration and Charms and the Herbology practical exam. Tuesday were both the Defense written and practical tests, Wednesday Herbology written and Charms practical, Thursday Astronomy written during the day and practical at midnight, and on Friday morning they all stumbled through a Forgetfulness Potion for their practical and breathed a little easier through the written portion in the afternoon.
The last test of the year, all the first years were gathered in the Great Hall to take the History of Magic written exam. McGonagall, who was proctoring the exam, was used to students taking either forever to finish this test or turning it in after barely half an hour of pulling their hair out. This year, however, every single student took around forty five minutes to finish the test and handed it in with a confident smile on their faces.
Of course, this made the stern witch somewhat suspicious and she immediately cast a spell on the tests to grade the multiple choice portions. Nearly every student had gotten more than eighty percent correct. It was unheard of. And the essay sections when she found the time to read them, were even better!
Several of the first years, despite this being their last exam, had hung around when she began grading the tests in the hopes of hearing or seeing their grades a bit early. One of these was Hermione Granger.
"Professor, did I do all right on the test? I've just been wondering, because we've all been studying ever so hard, and…"
"Ms. Granger, I cannot divulge your test score until it is owled to you when you return home. The number of first year students who have passed the exam this year, however, is unheard of. I'm going to have to make sure there was no cheating involved. I'll discuss it with Professor Dumbledore tomorrow when he returns from London. In the meantime, go outside and enjoy the fresh air. You've earned it." She gave the young girl, who had gone a little wide eyed towards the end of her speech, a rare smile and returned to her office.
Hermione ran outside to find the twins, Ron, and Draco and gasped out the news that Dumbledore was in London until the next day.
"WHAT!?" Harry cried.
The five children sat in a circle to discuss the problem.
"That's it then, Snape is going through the trap door tonight!" Ron groaned.
"For the last time, it's not Snape!" Henry and Draco yelled in unison.
"Regardless," Hermione snapped, "the Stone is in danger. We should go to Professor McGonagall right now and let her know what we've figured out."
They all marched back into the castle and found the Transfiguration professor in her office.
"Professor!" Harry gasped. "You've got to do something! The Philosopher's Stone is in danger!"
McGonagall gasped. "How on earth do you know about that?"
"Never mind that, Professor," Henry interrupted, "you said earlier that Dumbledore is going to be in London overnight, and we know that someone is after the Stone. Tonight is the ideal time for the culprit to strike, since the Headmaster is not here to protect the school."
"And how, exactly, are you so sure that someone is after the Stone?" she asked rigidly.
The five children exchanged glances. "Er… we know Snape went up there on Halloween and got bitten in the leg by the dog," Ron offered.
"We think that Professor Dumbledore sent Professor Snape to protect it that night, because the troll was a distraction to let whoever is after the Stone get a look at the protections," Draco interrupted the red-head before he could accuse Snape of being the culprit.
But McGonagall's lips thinned even further. "That is hardly strong enough evidence to suggest that the Stone is in danger. And regardless of what you five may think, there are many different protections on the Stone, including some created by Dumbledore himself. Now if you are quite finished, go back outside and enjoy the rest of the warm weather today, and leave the safety of the Stone to your professors."
They were ushered out of her office despite their many protests and everyone flinched when she slammed it shut behind them.
"So much for asking a Professor to help," Ron mumbled.
Harry leaned closer to the others and whispered softly to them, "Tonight, we go through the trap door ourselves. If McGonagall won't listen to us, neither will anyone else. We'll have to do this on our own."
Henry and Draco exchanged a look but nodded with everyone else.
-o-0-o-
The two Slytherin boys slipped away from their friends a little later that afternoon and made their way into the dungeons to find their own Head of House. Professor Snape was busily grading several racks of potions created by his students during their exams.
"Professor Snape, do you have a moment?" Draco asked as Henry closed the door behind them.
The man raised his eyebrows at their unusually serious attitudes before nodding slightly.
Licking his lips nervously, Henry began to talk, rattling off the whole long tale about their knowledge of the Stone and the fact that Dumbledore was gone and how McGonagall hadn't believed they had enough proof to warrant any action on her part.
The dark-eyed Professor simply sat and listened, barely raising an eyebrow during the whole exchange. Finally he whispered at the end of their tale, "Fifty points to Slytherin for attempting to notify a Professor, even if you picked the wrong one."
They winced, but Draco protested, "We wanted to tell you all along, Professor. But the Gryffindors seem to think that you may be the one trying to steal the Stone in the first place, no matter how much we tell them you would never endanger students."
Snape gave the barest glimmer of a smile. "I suppose that's to be expected, given how nastily I tend to treat my students. Still, I'm glad you came to me anyway. But this causes problems. I cannot help you without your friends knowing that you came to me, but at the same time I cannot let five first years try to protect the Stone by themselves." He tapped his fingers rhythmically on his desk. "Here is what I suggest. Take the Weasley twins with you." He raised a hand to stall their protests. "They may only be third years, but they are quite a bit smarter than they act most of the time. They'd have to be to get away with what they do. I will leave immediately to fetch the Headmaster back from London. With any luck, I will return before you have to leave for the third floor tonight."
The two boys nodded reluctantly and turned to leave.
"And Henry?" He turned to face his Head of House. "I believe the culprit is quite a bit more than you may believe. You and Harry should be especially careful."
He nodded again and he and Draco left the room. Inside his office, Severus Snape opened a tall, narrow cupboard behind his desk and pulled out a light cloak and his broomstick. He just hoped that he and Dumbledore would make it in time.
-o-0-o-
Both Henry and Draco joined their three Gryffindor friends in the tower common room, eventually joined by the Weasley twins when the Slytherins explained that they might need the help of some older students. All seven of them loitered around and played several nervous games of Exploding Snape (an altered set of the cards created by the twins) as the rest of the Gryffs slowly filtered away and disappeared into their dorms. Finally, it was just them at almost midnight and Harry dashed upstairs to fetch the invisibility cloak and he and Henry's flutes that Hagrid had given them for Christmas.
The five first years crowded under the cloak while the red-haired twins cast disillusionment charms on themselves. Together they exited the portrait hole and made their way through the darkened castle to the third floor corridor.
A quick alohomora cast by Hermione opened the door to Fluffy's room and the Potter twins immediately began to play on their flutes, stilling the giant dog mid growl and creating a strange sort of nightingale/owl harmony in the dark room. The other five worked together to lift one of Fluffy's giant paws off of the trap door, then opened it and dropped down one by one. They were followed by Henry and then Harry.
The landed in a pool of water covered in beautiful yellow flowers on long stems that floated above the water. Hermione was looking around worriedly as she treaded water, "These look familiar…"
Fred swam a little closer to one to get a better look when he was suddenly sucked under the water with a swift 'bloop'.
"Bladderwort!" Hermione screamed, "Don't move! Each one of these plants has half a dozen pods hidden under the water."
George didn't listen, too worried about his brother to stay still. He was sucked under a moment later.
"George! Fred!" Harry screamed. "Hermione, how do we get them out?"
"Bladderwort, bladderwort… it's like a venus fly trap underwater. If we can trigger the response mechanism, they might be able to escape!"
"But how do we do that without getting captured ourselves?" Ron yelled.
A bubble of water appeared about where Fred had gone down and moments later the red-head popped back up gasping for air.
"Fred!" Harry yelled. "George got pulled down too, how did you get out?"
"P-premo vita!" he gasped.
Henry aimed carefully at the place where George had disappeared and repeated the spell, "Premo vita!" A second whoosh of released water surged up from the bladder he had hit and George came coughing and spluttering to the surface a moment later.
"Are you two all right?" Ron asked his brothers worriedly. They nodded, wiping the water from their eyes.
"Right, no one move." Henry ordered. "Hermione, any ideas on how to get out of here?"
She spoke slowly, "This plant exists in the muggle world, too. I remember reading a study that said that if you cut the stalks of the flowers, the bladders will no longer trigger when you brush against them."
"Right," Fred said, "Leave that to us. No one move, I wouldn't want to sever any heads."
The twins began casting cutting hexes at each of the flowers. Soon the surface of the water was covered with floating flowers.
"I think that's all of them. I'm going to try moving out of the pool now, I'm counting on you guys to bail me out if that didn't work." George started swimming slowly to the edge of the pool. He could feel the underwater stalks and bladders from the plants as he brushed past them but none of them reacted to his presence and he reached the edge and pulled himself out. "I think it's worked. One at a time now, swim this way."
They each swam to the edge and helped one another out of the pool. Draco looked down at his sopping wet clothes in disgust and proceeded to cast drying charms on everyone.
"Thanks." Ron smiled.
"No problem," Draco answered.
Wondering what else this place had in store for them, they followed the only open hallway into the next room. As they all crowded through the doorway, they entered a long and narrow room that appeared at first glance to be empty. But as Henry stepped onto the long royal blue and bronze rug that stretched across the length of the room, a pile of dust at the other end quickly rose up and created the shape of a very familiar and diminutive figure.
"Professor Flitwick?" Henry asked.
The dust figure raised its right arm where they could see the long straight shape of a wand grasped in its clenched fingers, and then it bowed and paused in that position as if waiting.
Ron gasped. "It's a wizard's duel. You have to duel Professor Flitwick to move onto the next room."
Henry gulped, but raised his left wand arm and bowed back to the dust specter. After a moment the shadow of Flitwick stood straight and took a dueling pose. Henry followed suit. In the air between them, a large glowing blue '3' appeared, then counted down to '2' then '1'. As the number faded from the air, Flitwick shot out a shadowy maroon spell that Henry just managed to dodge in time.
"He's casting silently!" George cried. "If you don't recognize one of the spells he casts, you'd better dodge, mate!"
"I think I'd figured that out myself!" Henry yelled back, dodging what he suspected what a stinging hex at the same time. "Stupefy!"
His spell struck a light blue barrier that appeared around the specter after a short wave of its wand. Moments later the tell-tale blue beam of a disarming charm struck Henry on the left side of his chest and his wand was ripped from his fingers and flew into Flitwick's waiting hand. A red counter appeared in the air in the middle of the room, counting down second by second from '60'.
"What's that mean?" Henry asked Ron, dodging the spells that Flitwick continued to cast.
"You have sixty seconds to get your wand back before you're considered incapacitated." Ron answered, wincing as his friend got struck my a mild tickling charm.
"Well that's not exactly fair, is it George?" Fred asked his brother.
"No, brother mine, it really isn't. I mean, some wizards are able to cast spells pretty reliably without a wand."
They exchanged a glance and then drew their own wands and dove into the fray, firing off a succession of spells against the shadow of their Charms professor. Most of them were blocked, however one of Fred's Exhortation Curses managed to strike the diminutive figure in between several casts of its Protego Charm.
"Oi!" Ron tried. "You can't just barge into the middle of a wizard's duel! It's against the rules!"
"Sorry ickle brother," George answered, dodging a spell cast his way, "But the rules of this particular duel were already being broken by Professor Flitwick here."
The remaining three first years shrugged at that, drew their own wands, and entered the duel as well.
The timer in the air was still counting down, however, and as it reached '1' and then '0', Flitwick paused and held up Henry's wand between both hands and raised it as though it would break it in half.
"No!" Hen screamed, making a mad dash towards the figure to save his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" cried four different voices. George, Fred, Draco, and Hermione all struck their professor with the spell at the same time and Hen found his wand flying towards him as though it had wings. The power of the combined spell smashed the specter of a wizard into the opposite wall, where he slowly crumbled down into a pile of dust.
Everyone drew a deep breath (Henry was hugging his wand as though they had been separated for ten years), dusted themselves off (pun intended), and made their way across to the door… to find it locked.
"I told you we shouldn't have interfered with the duel!" Ron cried. "It probably only unlocks if you beat Flitwick according to the rules.
"Relax." Fred admonished him from where he was studying the professor's remains. He held up an ornate bronze key, "You just have to defeat him to get the key from inside of him."
They unlocked the door and proceeded into the next room. It was pitch black inside until they stumbled onto the edge of a raised platform. Then, the lights flashed on brilliantly and revealed a giant chessboard complete with larger than life pieces.
"Can we just walk across?" Hermione asked. In response, the pawns of the white pieces across the way drew their weapons and barred the walkways between them. "I guess not," she muttered.
"We have to take their places and play," Ron said.
The others all exchanged glances and then the twins appeared on either side of their brother. "You know ickle brother," Fred began.
"You're the best chess player we know," George finished.
"They're right," Draco admitted reluctantly. "You're even better than me, and no one in Slytherin can beat my set."
Harry and Henry clapped their friend on the shoulders encouragingly while Hermione just smiled confidently at him.
"Right." Ron took a deep breath. "Harry, you be the King. Hermione you're the Queen. Fred, George, you take the King-side Rook and Bishop. Henry, you're the King-side Knight. I'll be the other Knight, and you can take the other Bishop, Draco."
Everyone nodded and the pieces he had specified left the chessboard to let the children take their places.
"White always moves first," Ron said. Moments later, a white pawn moved from in front of the King and took two paces forward. Ron cleared his throat. "Pawn to G4." The pawn directly in front of him took two paces.
And so they continued. Ron did his best to keep all the human pieces out of danger. Their other rook was taken early on to free Hermione from the clutches of the White Queen, leaving them with nothing but pawns that could safely be lost.
Finally it came about that Henry, Ron, and Draco were all in danger of being attacked on the next turn. Ron studied the board desperately, trying to find a way to save all of them and still win.
"Ron," Draco called from across the board, "move me to B5!"
Ron studied the move and realized what Draco was asking. "No! I can't, Draco. You'll be killed!"
"If you move me to B5, I'll be taken, which leaves you free to checkmate the King." Draco smiled nervously. "Don't worry about me, I've got a hard head, remember?"
Ron glanced over the board once more and made a decision. "All right." But before Draco could move, he took one step forward and two right, forcing Draco's plan to work in reverse. The White Queen stalked towards him across the board and raised the stone fan in her hand, bringing it crashing down on Ron and sending him into a crumpled heap on the floor.
"NO!" Draco and Hermione both screamed at the same time, almost walking out of their squares before they remembered themselves.
Then Draco, with tears running openly down his face, took the three diagonal squares necessary to checkmate the White King, who dropped his crown at the blond Slytherin's feet.
Everyone rushed immediately to Ron's side. "He's all right." Hermione said with relief, noting that Ron seemed to have a bump on his head and a few minor cuts, but no severe damage.
Draco hoisted the red-head's arm over his shoulder and stood with the burden. "You all go on ahead. I'm going to take Ron to the hospital wing and try to find a professor to help us."
Henry smiled, knowing now that Draco had truly come to like the Weasley under his arm. "All right, Draco. Good luck!"
"Good luck to you," Draco answered softly, worried for his friends despite the need to get Ron to Madam Pomfrey.
They parted ways and the remaining five members crossed the rest of the chessboard and entered the next room. Inside they were struck by a horrible odor and turned a corner to see an even bigger troll than the one the first years had faced on Halloween.
"I'm glad we didn't have to deal with that one," Harry said, holding his robes over his nose to block the smell.
They moved on through the next door and found a single table with seven bottles standing on a raised plinth in the center of the round room.
The five of them crowded onto the raised ledge and looked at the bottles and the bit of slightly burnt parchment next to them. Hermione lifted it so that she could unfold the paper and see what it said, but the moment she did flames shot up around the room. Black flames covered the doorway to the room ahead, purple ones to the room behind, and around the edge of the rest of the room a ring of emerald green flames sprung up and moved in a strange slow motion—acting not at all like real fire at all.
She read off what the parchment said aloud so everyone could hear:
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven, will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number, hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the pois…"
She trailed off, looking at the bottles in horror. The green flames around the edge of the room roared a little higher and began to creep across the floor towards the center of the room.
"Well, what's the rest?" Fred asked, noticing the flames licking across the floor. "We're all going to roast unless we figure this out fast enough."
"There isn't anymore," Hermione whispered, showing them the parchment. "Whoever got here before us burned off the list of clues. All we know is that two will get us through the flames, two are wine, and three are poison."
"Right," George said grimly. "Leave this to us."
The twins began unstoppering each of the vials, taking sniffs of each one and setting them back in order, though often with one forward here or back there. Fred conferred with his brother about the smallest bottle, and they both seemed to agree that they had no idea what it was. The same seemed true for the bottle furthest on the right.
The flames encroached on the plinth where they stood. Leaving would now mean jumping over them to reach the exits.
"Okay!" Fred announced, pointing at each bottle in line from left to right, "Poison, wine, potion of some sort, poison, poison, wine, another potion."
"That means the two potions are the ones that get you through the flames on either side!" Hermione said with excitement.
"Yeah, but we can't tell which is which," George admitted.
Harry quickly took the smallest bottle and pressed his finger against the tiny opening and upended it to see what it looked like. It was black. Harry grabbed the other potion and did the same, seeing it was purple. The five children exchanged looks.
"There's only enough of the black one for maybe two people to pass through," Harry admitted, inching away from the flames that were trying to climb up the side of the stone below them.
"You two go," Fred said firmly.
"But!" Hermione protested.
"No, he's right," George said. "The twins have a much higher stake in all of this. Whoever is in there is probably trying to bring back You-Know-Who."
The three first years looked at him in surprise.
"Don't tell me it didn't occur to you?" Fred asked. "You-Know-Who is number one on my list of people who might want a stone that grants immortal life."
"You're right!" Hermione gasped.
"Drink," Fred and George told the twins sternly.
Harry and Henry took the smallest bottle and drank a sip each before leaping through the flames circling the plinth. Strangely, the green flames didn't even feel hot now that they had the potion in their system. They walked through the black flames, which felt like a warm tickle along their exposed skin, looking back to see the twins and Hermione jumping into the purple flames across the way.
Pressing forward, they entered the last room and found an unexpected person waiting for them.