Trios POV
"They seriously were going to try to investigate me after my brother practically came out of a coma! I so wanted to go all 2P on everyone in that room, but you doing it already looked suspicious enough. Besides I would feel really bad for having to send Arthur so many hospital bills". The trio heard Mathew grumble from the other side of the portrait.
"And besides they aren't even true friends, they didn't even come because I said they couldn't investigate you when you woke up and while all that in potions was happening they just stood back and watched."
"When they were in danger, despite the fact they have done nothing but interrogate us since we met, instead of hightailing it out like sane people, we pushed them it of the way and kicked the machines butt."
"He does have a point" Interjected Ron.
"And you know what thanks we got, more questions!"
Ron, Harry and Hermione dropped their head guiltily.
"They are all good points." Agreed Harry.
"That's really what he thinks of us?" asked Hermione in a solemn voice.
"Have we given him a reason not to?" answered Harry.
"Wow, we weren't even this relentless interrogating Draco or Snape" Ron added.
"So in other words we have been complete idiots and have made them hate us. We didn't even say thank you after they saved us from being pelted by fog goo, or congratulate them on being Gryffindor, or even offer to help Alfred when he passed out on the floor in potions. During all three we just stood there, asking questions that could send them into panic attacks." Hermione stated.
"And after all of that, Alfred still defended us to his brother".
"I have a feeling Alfred is too much of a 'hero' to hold a grudge, and will probably be bouncing on the walls again in an hour, but it will probably take a lot more for his brother to let us talk to them, let alone be friends".
"So what should we do?" asked Ron.
"We walk right up and apologize" stated Harry.
"Simple as that, if they don't accept it, we keep trying like Alfred until we wear him down enough to accept".
"Do you think he'll even listen? I mean he has lived with Alfred his whole life, you have got to get good at your ignoring skills" questioned Hermione.
"I'm sure if we keep doing it eventually he'll listen" Ron answered.
"So I guess we should stop procrastinating and just go." Harry concluded and with that they walked in.
Normal POV
Mathew felt a soft tap on his shoulder and turned to face it.
Assuming it was someone mistaking him for Alfred as usual, Mathew turned around ready to politely explain their confusion.
To his surprise and displeasure the Northern twin found himself face to face with people topping his 'please leave me alone' list.
"I am sorry, but as I said, Alfred will not be answering any questions." Mathew spat out with venom laced in his words.
It was clear that the three were not welcome at the moment, but they decided to pull an 'Alfred' and pretend not to notice.
"Mathew we came to apologize…to both of you."Harry began.
"I know that it is going to take more than that, but we won't stop apologizing until you say yes. I know living with Alfred you have probably very used to begging but…"
"WHAT!" Mathew yelled.
"Are you saying that my brother is too weak to stand up for himself? That he has to beg for what he needs?"
Even Mathew knew he was being unreasonable, but he just wanted a chance to yell and be heard for once.
They did hurt his brother though, so he wasn't that remorseful.
"Mathew that's not what we meant" Ron tried to say but was completely ignored.
"Or are you implying that just because he talks a lot, I stopped caring about what he says?"
"Mathew that is not what we were trying to say" Hermione pleaded.
Mathew jumped up staring the three in the eyes.
"I know that my brother is loud, arrogant, annoying and when he doesn't feel like trying he can completely ignore the basics of body language, but you know what?" He screamed.
"My brother is fine the way he is! He only chooses not to care about the atmosphere because if he actually listened to what people back home said to him, he would have chronic depression."
"And you know what else?" He continued.
"Just like you three and Draco they wouldn't care, they would continue to barrage him with 'fat so' and 'idiot' and 'hero complex'."
The three weren't sure whether Mathew was going to burst into tears or add a couple new stains to his hockey stick.
"You three" He spat out with as much hate as he could manage
"You three and the rest of the literal god damned world are the reason why he has to be an idiot."
"He stops being one for one minute to listen and look what happens."
The three tried to interject but Mathew cut them off before they even got out a syllable.
"But you know who they always run to for a quick bailout, or if anything goes wrong in their lives. And like the 'Hero' he forces himself to be, he always does. Regardless of what they have done to him."
Mathew then collapsed onto the couch next to his southern half.
"Although who am I to speak when I burned down his capital simply because I got jealous of him."
Realizing what he said but still not caring, Mathew raised his again and looked at the others as if daring them to question him.
Knowing better than to take the bait the three just sat across from.
Mathew calmed down and put his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry" he muttered in his usual tone.
"This has just struck a nerve from home."
Hermione desperately wanted to ask what he meant by 'burning his capital' and where 'home' was but she gritted her teeth and resigned herself to silence.
"Sometimes I truly wonder which one of us has it worse, me who once got sat on by Ivan for an hour because he didn't notice me, or Alfred who can't even breathe without someone giving him a snide comment." Mathew complained.
"I remember when everyone was fighting over us, when we were the symbol of new prosperity."
"Now it's as if I don't exist and everyone hates him, despite the fact that he has never turned down anyone in need." He continues.
"Even his big brother has tried to kill him multiple times after he left home."
The three cringed when they heard 'kill', but figured now wouldn't be the best time to ask.
They looked at each other the back at Mathew
Canada had his head buried in one of the cushions on the couch and had a monotone look on his face of pacifistic anger.
His brother was still passes out next to him, a pained expression on his face.
"Mathew" Hermione stated cautiously, like when you a wounded tiger.
"It's ok, we see you, even if we occasionally forget your name, and we like Alfred. I promise that we will stop with the barrage of questions; it was completely unfair and uncalled for. You have been nothing but kind to us and we have done nothing to reciprocate it. We also never told you a thing about ourselves but expected you to spill your life story. We are really sorry and hope you can forgive us."
Mathew slowly but surely quieted down and lifted his head from the pillows.
"We forgive you" he sighed.
"It's just been hard that's all, I just needed to vent, sorry you had to be the 'ventees'."
"Anytime" answered Harry perkily.
With the tension in the air released (not as though America would have noticed… if he wasn't passed out) the four sat in a comfortable silence.
They remained that way for a few minutes until the lump next to Mathew started to stir.
"Alfred!" the four squealed at once.
Alfred sat up groggily and latched his hand on to Mathew's shoulders to steady himself.
"Bloody hell, I've got a mighty kraken in head bangin' around, Mathew lad could you be a dearest and fetch me a glass of ale to quit the throbbing in me' head."
The three looked questionably at Alfred but held their Tongue, not wanting to throw away the apology so soon.
Canada saw the threes faces and figured telling them this much wouldn't hurt,
"When he's tired or dizzy or hung-over he starts to act like his older brother, all British... or in this case, Scottish."
He looked over wearily at his brother.
"You don't have to stay if you don't want; he's not going to be much better when he's fully awake."
"No it's fine" Hermione assured.
"I'll grab some water, I don't think we have ale, especially since were fourteen" Ron stated walking over to the fridge in the corner of the room.
"I'll message the teachers that we'll be missing our classes today."
"Really guys its fine, you don't have to miss for us." Mathew assured."I've handled him at worse times than this."
"Really, it's no trouble" answered back Hermione.
"Besides the nurse said to watch you anyway" added Ron, walking over to Alfred with a bottle of water.
"Ugh stupid bloody migraine, I told you Mattie lad to never pull Nantucket, but no you had to do it four bleeding times in two days! I swear next you do I won't hesitate to pull Quebec" Alfred grumbled with his hand shielding his eyes from the light.
Mathew paled at the memory of when France accidentally pulled Quebec; he suddenly felt a lot guiltier than he had in the past few days.
"Sorry, It had to be done" Mathew answered apologetically.
Alfred huffed in response and leaned back on the couch.
"So lad, what caused me to get my knickers in a twist so badly you had to put my lights out."
The other four looked at each other nervously, debating whether the full truth was necessary.
"Long story short" Mathew began breaking the silence.
"Malfoy yelled something, you passed out, me and Draco pulled a 'black sheep of Europe' style fight, me being England and him France, then I chased him around with my hockey stick and he was yelling, then you woke up went all 2P and attacked him and to stop you from gutting him for Oliver's 'cupcakes' I pulled Nantucket. Oh and the trio apologized for all the questioning and we forgave them." He finished off with a flourish.
If Hermione, Harry and Ron hadn't been there to witness the live event, they wouldn't have believed what Mathew said.
Strangely though Alfred didn't react surprised or even mildly upset, he just simply asked
"Revolver or bat and how much am I going to have to fork out for hospital bills."
He actually seemed quite annoyed at the end, as if this I a regular occurrence.
Although for all they knew it was.
"Bat and I pulled Nantucket before you swung." Mathew answered, just as indifferently.
Once again biting their tongues and ignoring the questions racing through their heads the three didn't say a word.
Alfred looked to the side and jumped as if he didn't know they were there.
"Bloody hell, when did you three gits get here" he shrieked.
Everyone just rolled their eyes and he huffed.
Mathew looked towards his brother and gulped knowing he was going to have to tell him and England exactly why they passed out.
Knowing it was better to rip the bandage off when he didn't have enough strength to lift up and throw the entire building he asked the other three to leave the room.
On the way out he shouted to Hermione.
"Um well, Hermione if you don't mind can you please write a letter to Arthur for us. I would do it but he needs to know the whole truth and I know the two of us would try to soften it for him."
Hermione nodded and walked out the door with the other two trailing behind her.
When they left Mathew turned back to his southern brother and began explaining.
"Look America, I am going to explain to you why you passed out in the first place. I know you will want to again but please try not to OK"
Alfred nodded and gestured for him to continue.
"Okay, so apparently Harry's last name isn't a coincidence."
Alfred froze then began tremble, but stopped himself from passing out.
"You mean…" he whimpered.
"Yes America, Harry Potter is Lily and James sun, who we inadvertently killed."
Alfred looked like he was about to cry.
Mathew felt awful but knew this had to be done and at least it was better than him full out fainting.
"This is so unfair" Alfred cried out now screaming. "Why is he after us!"
"It's just not fair, even when we were just colonies it was always US. What is so special about us that the dark lord himself has to hunt us down? If he wants twins why doesn't he just go after the Italy's, not only do they not have Atomic Bombs! But they would instantly surrender."
"You know he doesn't just need twins, he needs us, but there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to make sure he doesn't find us till we know enough magic to defend ourselves. I don't think guns will be much when battling him considering it would go right through him."
Alfred, who had been leaning against the wall, now sunk down it exasperatingly.
"So he's alive" he stated eyes glazed over with a faraway look.
"I don't know whether to jump with joy or cry because we're the reason he grew up an orphan."
Mathew walked over and put an arm around his sibling, pulling him into a one arm hug.
"It wasn't our fault" Mathew tried to sooth. "We didn't do anything wrong, it was the ghosts' fault okay. We had nothing to do with that and neither did Arthur or Harry or Lily or James. It was the stupid dark ghost."
America looked towards his brother, who was currently crushing him with his arm, and let put a loose smile.
"You know, when did you become the strong one." He teased.
Mathew playfully punched him on the shoulder and smiled back.
"Who said I wasn't always, I am the older one and as China always says 'you an ass aru."
Both brothers burst out laughing, turning red in the face.
"Oh oh wait" Alfred panted between laughs putting on a corny French accent "Why is he stronger, because DUH! He is Canada! I recognize him from his sexy hair because it is so much like my own. But not as good."
"Well you can suck my jingle bells" Canada shouted right back.
Both collapsed back onto the floor clutching their sides, lost in old memories.
Memories that did not involve a man in a black cloak watching them from the woods.
No, that, like usual, they forced into the back of their minds.
Trios POV
"It is taking every fiber of my being not to storm in there right now and demand answers." Ron complained while walking next to Hermione.
"I mean come on how much more suspicious can you get! We aren't giving up on investigating them right? We only stopped questioning them so that we could get closer to spy, right?"
Hermione nodded and Harry cringed and looked down at the floor guiltily.
"And because we actually want to be their friends" Harry added.
"Yes but solving this is our first priority, but by that being our first priority, being friends must come first" Hermione stated.
"English please" Ron sniped at Hermione.
She rolled her eyes but answered anyway.
"I mean to find out about them we have to befriend them so; yes Harry being friends comes before spying."
Then she sat down at the table in the library and pulled out a parchment and quill.
"Now if you're not going to help me with the letter, please go and see if you can find out anything about 'Flying saucers in New Mexico' and 'Quebec'. Also I'm willing to bet that Texas and Toronto make seeing potions and Quebec makes sleeping ones, but I'm not sure so check that to."
Dismissing them away with her hand, Harry and Ron went off to do their assigned tasks and Hermione began the letter.
Dear Arthur (or Iggy as Alfred calls you)
Hello I am Mathew and Alfred's friend, Hermione Granger.
I have some unfortunate news to tell you, I also recommend you have a seat because if you have anywhere near a reaction they did, you might pass out.
I'll spare you the details of the conversation and just get to the point.
When I said Harry Potter is the boy who lived they both passed out so we brought them to the infirmary
We picked them up from the infirmary later and brought them to class.
During class a kid named Draco Malfoy (I'm sure one of them has mentioned him, you already know him as the kid in the gun mishap) shouted the same thing out, and Alfred fainted and Mathew started chasing after him with a hokey stick, with some questionable stains on it.
Eventually Alfred woke up and started to act strange.
His skin and hair and eyes (basically everything about him) started getting darker and he glowed with a blood red aura.
Then he pulled out a baseball bat with nails hammered into in at was about to attack Draco until Mathew pulled his cowlick.
Mathew already explained to us that he went what he called '2P'.
Anyway they told me to write this letter to you because they thought they would "leave stuff out".
They also said to say "yes he is alive and this is who you think it is."
Alfred is currently recovering (by the way apparently when he's groggy, he acts British?) And Mathew is taking care of him.
I really hope that you take this well after reading this and Harry apologizes if he did anything to upset you a long time ago.
Sincerely
Hermione Granger for Mathew and Alfred
Hermione sealed up the letter and placed it in one of the many mail bins around the library.
By the time she walked back to her seat, Harry and Ron were already there, smiles on faces and holding a pile of books.
"I think this is the first time I've seen you happy to do research" she said teasingly taking her seat.
Ignoring the jab, they both took the seats across from her and laid out the books so she could see.
"That one" Harry said pointing to a book with a cover that said America, The Space Race And Alien Encounters. Says,
"An object looking like a U.F.O crashed in Roswell New Mexico. This news surprised not only America, but the entire world. This which was due largely in part to America suddenly announcing 'dude a U.F.O just totally fell out of the sky at my place'. However a few hours later they claimed object was merely a weather balloon, or an aircraft, or a military training exercise utilizing holograms. But it was most certainly not a U.F.O".
"Wow" Ron snorted "Americans even say 'dude' in their books."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron and turned back to Harry.
"So do you think Alfred's friend Tony is alien?" she asked.
"Considering Mathew told me his other best friend is whale, I wouldn't be so surprised" Ron answered.
Ignoring him Hermione turned back to Harry.
"Anything else?"
"Yeah"
"This one" he said pointing to a book with a cover of the Canadian flag and said Magic Canada and its provinces.
"That says that Quebec is similar to Nantucket in that it makes sleeping potions, and Toronto makes seeing potions and according to google, Texas is the same".
"So Ron, did you find anything?"
Ron who had been daydreaming looked back at Hermione and then popped
"I looked up the same things as Harry, he's right".
"Thought so" She said smugly.
The three sat proudly at how much they figured out, until they heard a voice behind them.
"Bravo, Bravo" Draco clapped behind them.
"Now what are you going to do with that new found information."
Harry rolled his eyes and glared at him.
"Don't you have anything better to do than stalk us, like maybe finding some body guards to protect you when Alfred decides to murder you?"
Malfoy visibly shuttered, but quickly recovered.
"I can take him" he exclaimed proudly. "I was just taken off guard by the fact that he went from having daisies surrounding him, to a bloody bat. And I don't mean bloody as in stupid I mean LITERAL BLOOD, I was just shocked!"
"Keep telling yourself that" Ron sneered also giving him a dirty look.
Malfoy glared right back but continued.
"Besides, once I know where 'Nantucket' and 'Quebec' are I won't even need to fight. I could just make them pass right out. Not that I can't already, but then I could with you know… less murder afterwards"
Worrying for the Twins sake, they hoped Malfoy never would.
"So as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted" Draco pressed on ignoring them.
"Now that you figured that out, what do you plan to do with the information?"
The three looked at each other realizing that he had a valid point, they really solved nothing.
"It is hilarious really, I'm going to find their secret before you three twits, and I don't have to go through the act of being nice to them."
"Hey" Harry jumped up, "We aren't just friends with them because we want information!"
"We aren't?" asked Ron, genuinely confused.
Hermione smacked the back of his head then stood up with Harry.
"Yeah, we are nice to them because we like them."
"Oh so mudblood has a crush" Draco said pretending to look off dreamily.
"Oh which one is cuter, I love blondes, his Canadian accent is so dreamy, and Alfred's big blue eyes oh, how to choose?"
He snickered and looked back at Hermione.
"Oh I wonder if they're fight over me because I'm so smart and perfect."
Now Ron was positively fuming.
"Hey!" he screamed jumping up and walking over to him.
"That was low even for you frog face*. Maybe your just jealous that youre not the one in power huh? Or once you cant just walk around and buy and scheme your way out of your problems. Just admit it Malfoy, you have met your match".
"W-well" He stuttered out trying to come up with a comeback, but ultimately failing.
"That's what I thought" Ron said smugly.
"What NO!" Draco yelled.
"You know what, I'm leaving, I was just trying to help you twits." and with that he stormed out of the library.
The other two just stared at Ron wide eyed.
"Well…" Hermione trailed.
"That was, um, interesting"
"Yep" Harry agreed. "Well Ron if you were trying to shock everyone more than the twins, you succeed."
"Well I couldn't let him just get away with degrading Hermione like that" he huffed. "Who does he think he is, the queen of England?"
"He acts like it" agreed Harry.
"Let's just get back to work" Hermione said grudgingly.
"Sadly turning Draco into a frog* won't help the situation."
So they went back to pouring over books, trying to find a reference for every word the twins had said.
After a few hours they decided to end it and get ready for dinner.
Alfred and Mathew were already at their usual seats in the cafeteria.
"I don't know why they don't just make these assigned, no one moves anyway" Alfred stated, while chewing on his burger.
Looking to avoid an argument, Canada just nodded and ate his pancakes.
America had made a comment earlier about his food choice and Mathew just said he felt like breakfast for dinner.
The two ate in a comfortable silence, enjoying the surprisingly good English food (they probably used magic), when their friends walked in.
"Hey" Harry waved sitting across from Alfred.
"Hey" the others said taking their place on either side of him.
They filled their plates with some stew that was being passed around and began to eat.
"So did you send the letter to Arthur?" Mathew asked.
Hermione nodded "Yes and it should be arriving about now".
He thanked her and went back to his lovely, maple drowned pancakes.
After about twenty minutes or so Draco stalked into the cafeteria stomped over to the slytherin table, plopping in his usual seat without even making eye contact.
"Well what crawled up his butt" Alfred asked.
"Well…" Harry started, wondering how they will react.
"He insulted Hermione, I called frog face and insulted him back, he threw a temper tantrum and run off and Hermione threatened to turn him into a frog". Ron stated simply.
Harry expected them to go "ok" and be a little weirder out or maybe a little chuckle since it was kind of funny, but it definitely wasn't enough to warrant the reaction he did get.
"You called him frog face" Mathew called out rolling in the floor with his brother doubled over in laughter.
"Oh My God, we've officially got Francis number two." Alfred screeched.
"Poor Arthur, he's losing what little sanity he has left, with just one Frenchman, eh" Mathew panted back, still laughing.
The two stayed like that for three whole minutes, the entire cafeteria staring at them like a bunch of lunatics.
So did the three, just staring at them waiting for them to get up.
Eventually they did, wiping tears from their eyes and sat right back at the table still giggling.
After another full minute the twins calmed and they (well Mathew) saw the confused look on the trios faces.
"Family joke" Mathew said to them, "Arthur calls Francis Frog all the time just like he calls Arthur 'Anegleterre', oh and Francis is my older brother. It's just hilarious because that fight I had with Malfoy was exactly like one Arthur and Francis had, so to hear that the similarities keep going is hysterical."
For once actually fully satisfied with the answer they went back to eating.
"I'm sorry for making you guys miss your classes" Alfred apologized.
"It's fine" Ron assured. "We got to skip class and get thanked by the nurse for it, I should be thanking you."
Alfred smiled and nodded and said "Me and Matt are gonna hit the hay if that's alright with you."
They nodded and the twins headed up to their rooms, got into their beds (their own this time) and drifted off to sleep.
But not before Mathew turned on his nightlight.
Not too much later Ron and Harry did just the same.
Hermione went to sleep also, but not before looking up what 'Anegleterre' meant and wondering why everyone calls the twins elder brother 'England'.