Double Trouble Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/27168397.
Rating: Not Rated Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Characters: Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Harry Potter, Amelia Bones Additional Tags: Character Bashing, Adults Never Listen, Fred and George Step Up, fun
with potions, Fred and George are Precious and Must be Protected, Fred and George are so Done with Dumb Adults, House Elves are Amazing, mentions of abuse
Language: English Series: Part 8 of Plot Bunnies Stats: Published: 2020-10-23 Words: 7,398 Chapters: /series/1532360
Double Trouble by DayDreamer315
Summary
It didn't take Fred and George long to figure out something was wrong with the home life of Harry Potter. For an entire school year they work to try and protect their seeker, it is the job of beaters after all, but no one will listen. All the adults are to blinded by the legend of Harry Potter to actually see Harry Potter the boy and ignore the twins when they try to get him help. Eventually the twins decide to take matters into their own hands in a way only they can.
Notes
See the end of the work for /users/DayDreamer315/pseuds/DayDreamer315
The First Task is Seeing the Problem
Fred and George Weasley were best known for the pranks they loved to play. And generally, that was how they liked it.
But now was not one of those times. Now they needed someone to listen to them.
It had all started the day they got on the Hogwarts Express. They had seen an extremely small boy with a Hogwarts trunk on the muggle side of the platform. They had been happy when their mum helped him find his way through since he had been alone.
When they had seen him struggling to get his trunk up on the train they had gone to help him. That was when they learned his name. Harry Potter.
It just couldn't be. Everyone in the magical world knew his name. Everyone had been told stories about how he was a great hero and was learning all kinds of magic while traveling all over the world, or so it said in the books. But most of all the papers always reported just how loved and protected he had been.
But that just couldn't be true. Harry was far too small. He had been alone with no clue as to how to get onto the platform. And when they had offered to help him he had seemed confused but also grateful, like no one had ever offered him such a thing.
After the train had left Fred and George had gone to talk with Percy. They knew he would have an idea about what to do to help the small boy. Percy could be a bit of a prat but they knew he would do the right thing, so long as it fell within the rules, and helping a student with a troubled home life was actually encouraged. They knew it was a problem, but at 13 they weren't sure how to go about it.
Percy had told them to try speaking with the professors about their concerns, and if that didn't work they could write to the Office of Child Welfare (OCW) at the Ministry. He said that if they had any evidence then they should send it directly to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE) so they could investigate.
After discussing it they had decided to write to the OCW first and just report their suspicions. They would need to spend a bit more time with Harry and get a bit more information from him before they could involve anybody else. They knew they were going to need more than just their suspicions to get the teachers to pay attention.
For a while they left things in the hands of the OCW, but it didn't seem like they had done anything.
Everything changed after Harry had been put on the quidditch team. That gave them a much better excuse to talk to him. It allowed them to get much closer to him than they had been previously. And in doing so they saw far more than they ever expected.
Harry was always the last to leave the changing room as he always made up some excuse not to shower with them and Oliver. It really wasn't a big deal, there were separate stalls, but Harry had always avoided it. Oliver had suggested that it might be because he was so much smaller and was embarrassed because he was scrawny, but the twins hadn't agreed.
The two of them had slipped back one evening after practice. They had wanted to talk to Harry, but upon seeing the layers of scars on harry's back when he had quietly stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist, they couldn't make a sound. Their minds just couldn't comprehend anyone doing that to someone so small.
They never managed to bring themselves to talk to Harry about it, not to say they didn't try, they did at least once a week, but just couldn't do it. They didn't want to hurt Harry by making him relive what had happened by telling them. They also weren't sure if he would even want to tell them. Their friend was just so hurt, and they didn't know how to help.
After that they started feeling out the professors. That had not gone anything like they had thought.
None of them would listen.
The teachers would be all concern and interest until they mentioned Harry. As soon as they said Harry Potter the teachers would brush them off, some told them not to joke about such things, and some even laughed before sobering to scold them for starting rumours about Harry's family like that. It didn't matter what they did, none of the teachers were willing to help, they had even gone to Dumbledore but he had just told them not to make up stories like that and that he had monitored Harry's home life so knew it wasn't true. They even wrote to the school governors and got the same responses.
By the time they had finally accepted that none of the staff were going to do anything to help it was Christmas. After that they started writing to the DMLE and to OCW once again, but they never heard anything back, from them at least. They had been called up into the Headmasters office and been shouted at by their mother in February. Apparently the DMLE and OCW had contacted the Headmaster and then he had told their mother. They tried to explain to their mother but she had refused to listen. Instead they were informed they were going to be serving 2 weeks of detention at school and then would be grounded for 2 weeks at the beginning of summer.
Finally they accepted that adults were useless, not that they hadn't already suspected that, now they just had the proof.
And that was when the twins decided it was time to take matters into their own hands.
How to Drug the Wizarding World
Oddly enough it was Percy that ended up being the biggest help in their plans, not that he knew it. Percy had been going over some work prepping for his OWLs and for some reason had decided to tell them some of his studying techniques. He said that one of the first things he did when he learned a new spell was to think of 5 ways it could be used based on its description, but a further 2 that would be different.
The example he used was the tickling charm. It's name gave away its intent rather clearly. But Percy said it could also be used on a pet and would give them the sensation of being petted, or even used to kneed dough slightly, something he would neither confirm nor deny trying.
That got them thinking. Maybe they didn't need to create something new since they hadn't found anything up until that point, but they needed to think outside the box. Don't just look at the intent, but other ways it could be applied.
And luckily enough they found just the thing when they were in Hogsmeade one afternoon in April. They had seen a man bending over like he was in pain. They had asked him if he was ok, but he had just said his wife was pregnant. They started questioning why that would make him feel pain, and he explained about the Lefly potion.
Apparently a witch named Berit Lefly was a potions mistress some hundred years or so before they were born. When she had been pregnant it had been hard on her but her husband had made light of it and said it really wasn't as bad as she was making out. Using the irritation of an angry expecting mother she went to work and had developed a new potion in less then 2 months. If she took the control potion and her husband took the subordinate potion he would be able to feel everything she did.
And with that, the twins had what they needed.
If they could brew the Lefly potion, get Harry to drink the control and somehow get the subordinate potion into all those who had refused to help they could force them to see something was wrong. It would also help to ease the twins desire for revenge on their friends behalf for the callous treatment he had gotten from those around him and the complete disregard for his safety and happiness.
As the twins started the month and a half long brewing process they also had to figure out how to get the potions into people. Harry was a genuinely good person, they didn't think he would want anyone to feel the same kind of pain as him simply because he didn't want others to hurt. There was no way he would drink the potion if he knew what it would do.
Then there was how to get it into the professors. None of them would ever drink anything Fred or George gave them willingly. There was also the issue that Snape was a potions master so giving him a potion was difficult, not impossible, but difficult. They also kind of wanted those at the Ministry to get it too since it was their job to help and they hadn't.
The answer came during a midnight snack at the beginning of June. Both twins hit themselves on the forehead for not thinking of it before. House elves.
House elves were notoriously loyal, but that didn't mean they wouldn't help, it just needed to be presented properly.
When the twins explained that they knew a student was in a home where he was hurt and the staff at the school had refused to help him and then explained what the potion did the elves agreed to help them. The twins reasoned that if they were wrong, and Harry did have a good home life, then the professors wouldn't feel anything since Harry wouldn't be hurt. But if they were right then they would learn why you shouldn't leave a child in an abusive home.
The house elves at Hogwarts were bound to the castle, not any one particular person. Their main priority was to care for the children so they considered potentially helping to protect one from an abusive home fell within their job description. It also helped that the Headmaster had never ordered them not to take part in a prank, and the twins were calling this a prank, even if only in the loosest terms. The elves had even agreed to giving it to the school governors during the meeting they held at the beginning of each summer.
When they had been talking they had questioned the elves if they knew any way to get the potions into the Ministry workers and the elves had been happy to help. The Ministry employed a staff of house elves in the cafeteria. If the elves made up a dessert trey and served drinks in each office they could just add the potion and anyone from the offices they targeted would get the potion.
As June was coming to an end the potion was finished and an elf came to collect the potion for the Ministry workers. Fred and George were angry to hear the very night they had been bottling the potion Harry had been hurt and was in the hospital wing. It would have served the schools staff right to have to share his pain since it was their job to protect the students and they had so clearly failed. But they contented themselves with the fact that if Harry got hurt at all during the next 9 months, anyone who was given the potion would feel it.
Getting Harry to drink the potion before they got on the train the morning after the leaving feast had actually been extremely easy. All they had had to do was tell him they had made the potion to help him and ask him to take it.
Harry had seen their confused looks after he had downed the potion. He explained to them he knew they wouldn't consider a prank successful unless there was a certain level of sneakiness. Just walking up to him and giving him a potion wouldn't be a prank they would ever do. It was simple for Harry, he trusted the twins that they were honest in their desire to help him so didn't argue.
Fred and George were grateful to be trusted like that. Not even their own parents had that kind of faith in them. The fact that it was an 11 year old they had known for less than a year kind of hurt. But they were just happy there was someone in the world that saw them as worth listening too. The night before, during the leaving feast, Fred and George knew that the elves had added the potion they made into the drinks of every professor other than Snape. For Snape the elves had had to get tricky. They had used their magic to take a bubble of the potion and surround it in a
hard shell of dark chocolate. Apparently the professor had a weakness for dark chocolate covered coffee beans. They had slipped it into the hand full he had been eating and when they saw him put it in his mouth they had used a little push of magic to make him stumble forward, accidentally swallowing his potion filled treat whole. He didn't notice the potion since he had never gotten to smell or taste it hidden as it was in the dark chocolate.
All that was left was for the twins to wait and hope that Harry would be ok. They had both enjoyed when Harry mentioned that his relatives didn't know he couldn't use magic outside of school since it meant he would have at least some type of defence.
A Slow Summer Picks Up
Chapter Notes
I moved Dobby's arrival up to better fit what I wanted.
As soon as they had arrived home for the summer Fred and George had gotten to work trying to convince their parents to let Harry come and stay the rest of the summer with them. Their mother, who was still angry at them for lying, in her mind, about Harry being abused was still furious with them and yelled at them for not just leaving Harry alone and had then sent them to their room. Even Percy got yelled at when he said that he too had concerns about Harry's home life.
The night after they arrived home Fred and George had slipped some of the extra potion they had brought home with them into their parents evening tea. They deserved to feel what Harry felt since they had refused to help him just as much as the staff had.
Thinking about it, Fred and George both took a dose. They wanted to be able to understand what was going on with their small friend. If they knew his pain they hoped they might be able to help him better.
The extra doses came in handy during the first week when Hermione had come to visit Ron. Fred and George had spoken with the two and tried to get Ron to talk to their parents about Harry coming to stay with them but the two had been just as bad as the adults.
Ron had gone on about how Harry was probably having too much fun being rich and famous to come and visit, a fact he backed up with the fact they hadn't heard from him. Ron went on and on about how lucky Harry was that he was famous and how he would probably not want to even visit the odd house they lived it.
Hermione just talked about how the Headmaster had said that Harry needed to stay with his relatives. When questioned about when she had talked to the Headmaster Hermione had told them he had spoken with her and Ron before they left for the summer because he wanted them to know that Harry needed to stay with his relatives for the summer, she hadn't noticed the rage and disgust on the twins faces. She told them they should just leave Harry alone and let him enjoy a quiet summer with his family, the Headmaster had said that was how it should be, so to her that was how it should be.
Both Fred and George were furious. They knew that Ron had always been a jealous prat, but this was his best friend they were talking about. How could Ron have shared a dorm with him for a year and still been so blind? But it was Hermione that really got to them. She was smart enough to know that something was wrong, they had even heard her questioning Harry's home life before she had gone home for Christmas. But all it had taken was the Headmaster
to say something and she turned her back on her friend, and even ignored her own instincts about a friend being in danger.
They hadn't even needed to discuss it. Both twins had gone up to their room and grabbed 2 more doses of the potion. If Ron and Hermione thought Harry's treatment at home was fine so long as he was famous and the Headmaster said so then they were sure they wouldn't mind getting to feel what he did.
While Fred and George tried everyday to get Harry to be allowed to come over nothing came of it much to their growing irritation.
The beginning of the summer had actually been relatively good for Harry. Because his Aunt and Uncle didn't know that he was barred from using magic outside of school and because of that they were to afraid to really hurt him.
He was still required to do some chores, but no where near the amount he had had to before. Now all he was supposed to do was mow the lawn every other day, take care of Aunt Petunia's garden and cook 2 meals a day rather than the 3 he had had to do in years past.
He still didn't get a lot of food and was often hungry, but it was still slightly more than he got in years before. It was both easier and harder for Harry that summer. He had gotten used to being able to eat as much as he wanted when he was at Hogwarts so it was difficult to go back to little food, but he was also used to hunger pains so he knew he could manage.
All of that changed about the middle of July. Some barmy thing called a house elf had showed up in his room, announced he had been taking Harry's letters and tried to convince him not to return to Hogwarts. And when Harry refused to not return to Hogwarts the elf had crashed a cake on the head of one of his Uncles guests.
And from that one horrible moment Harry's summer when up in smoke.
A letter had arrived informing him, and his delightful family, that Harry was getting a warning for doing magic outside of school. His relatives finally learned he couldn't use magic.
That very night, not even ten minutes after the warning letter had arrived, Uncle Vernon had grabbed him by the hair and dragged him into his room and proceeded to whip him with his belt until he was too exhausted to keep raising his arm. Thankfully Vernon was out of shape, but he had still done a lot of damage as he had specifically ensured the metal buckle hit Harry's back.
As the first week since the warning moved into the second Harry felt himself fading. His entire body ached, he had received some kind of beating everyday. He knew he had at least three broken ribs, and he was pretty sure his arm was fractured from when Dudley shoved him off the back steps earlier that day.
But what was actually the worst was the lack of food. During the school year he had still had pain, so his pain tolerance had never really diminished all that much. But Harry had gotten used to being able to eat, his stomach was no longer as shrunken as it had been in years previous. Before he had been allowed to eat at least something three times a day, but now he got a can of cold soup every other day, and he tried to give the vegetables to Hedwig since she was locked in her cage so she wouldn't starve to death.
Harry was fading away and he knew it. He had seen himself in the bathroom mirror on his 2 daily allowed trips. His skin was getting waxy, his cheeks had hollowed, and there were dark circles forming under his sunken in eyes. If he didn't start getting at least something with decent nutritional value soon Harry actually wasn't sure if he was going to make it back to Hogwarts.
Adults Only Notice Things that Affect Them
There were many adults in the magical world that were suffering from some strange illness and no one could figure out what it was. Ever since the end of June St. Mungo's had been getting many people coming in for checks and all of them had the same complaints and it had been getting worse.
Unfortunately for them no one ever even considered that it wasn't a curse, spell or illness. Since the Lefly potion was completely legal, there was no standard test to detect it at the hospital. Everyone just figured it to be an illness of some kind when all the tests that were run came back negative. But nothing anyone was doing was helping them.
Madam Amelia Bones felt awful. Ever since the beginning of summer she, along with everyone else that worked in the office had been experiencing the same symptoms. The only members of her office that escaped what ever it was that was affecting them was the field aurors. All those who worked out of the office and were responsible for actually capturing the criminals were fine.
The more she thought about it it didn't make any sense from a criminal stand point. If this had been a targeted attack then it would have been those that worked in the field that would be the greatest targets. But it was only those in the office, and that was confusing. What could they possibly have done to get someone to do this to them?
And it wasn't just them. Every single member of the Office of Child Welfare and the staff and governors of Hogwarts were also going through the same thing. She was just trying to determine what the connection was.
They needed to figure out what was going on, she wasn't sure how much longer everyone could keep going. She herself was already starting to worry she was becoming addicted to wide-eye and pain reliever potions, not that either were working to there usual degree. No matter what she, or any of the others did, it never really stopped the pain, exhaustion, and hunger.
It wasn't even lunch and she was ready to crawl into her bed and curl up into the fetal position until the pain went away, or she died, which ever came first. She wanted a warm cup of tea but didn't have the energy to go to the cafeteria to get it. No, that was a lie, she wanted a glass of fire whisky, but knew she wasn't allowed to drink while on shift. She knew she had to settle for the tea and just called over to the cafeteria and requested to have an elf bring her a cup.
"Witchys and wizys still not learning."
Amelia almost missed it, but she had learned early in her career to keep her senses open. Her eyes snapped to the little female elf that was sadly shaking her head.
"What does that mean?"
The little elf seemed to know she had been caught and got very nervous as she tried to quickly leave.
"Stay." Amelia snapped, knowing the elf couldn't deny the direct order as she was a head of department and was on duty. "You are going to explain to me what you meant by saying we 'aren't learning'. What is it you think we need to learn?"
"I… I…" Elf Tibby was absolutely terrified of the grumpy Bones lady.
"Do you know what has been making everyone feel so horrible?"
Tibby nodded.
"What is it?"
"Potion." Tibby whispered.
"How did we get drugged with the potion?"
"Elvsies did it." Tibby shook under the glare.
"Why?"
"To remind yous to do yous jobs."
"What do you mean?" Amelia was confused, they were doing their jobs.
"The elvsies of Hoggywarts came to us. Red twinsies mades the potion. They says they know about little wizy in bad home. Theys tries to get helps for little wizy, buts no one helps." Tibby started to sob at the thought of a little wizy being hurt. "No ones listen to red twinsies. They says they is lying. So twinsies found potion to help.
If big witchys and wizys bes right they feel no pain. But if theys wrong and little wizy is hurt they feels his pain. Twinsies say it was to remind the big witchys and wizys they are supposed to care for little witchys and wizys. If yous learns and save hurt little wizy pains go away."
Amelia was stunned, this couldn't be right. If a report of child abuse had come into the office it would have been checked, it was the law. Amelia knew she was going to need to get the information from the 'red twinsies' since they were the ones who had brewed the potion and knew about a potentially abused child.
"Do you know how I can get in touch with the red twins? If I am to help the little wizard I will need them to tell me where he is."
Tibby stopped crying and smiled as she started to bounce in joy. No elf liked to see a witch or wizard in pain. "Theys papas is heres. Nice sir works on muggles stuff."
Amelia thought for a moment. Of course. "Arthur Weasley. It's the Weasley twins I need to see."
Tibby nodded enthusiastically.
"Thank you, you can return to your work. I will go and see the Weasley twins now."
Amelia grabbed a few things, got one of her aurors to accompany her just in case and headed over to Arthurs office.
When Amelia had arrived at Arthurs office and explained that his twins were involved with what had been happening the man had been defensive. He was willing to admit that Fred and George were troublemakers, but they had never been cruel.
Amelia had settled him when she said she didn't think they had intended to truly harm anyone and their intentions were noble if it really was how she was informed it was.
From there they had flooed to the Burrow. They hadn't even finished explaining that Amelia and the auror she had brought with her, Kingsley Shacklebolt, needed to speak with the twins before Molly was screaming up the stairs for them to get down there.
Molly was in a towering fury as the twins came into the room. She was tired, hungry, and her body was in agony but that wasn't enough, no, the twins had had to spend the morning trying to convince her Headmaster Dumbledore was wrong again. And now aurors were there to talk with them. She had no idea what she was going to do with those two.
Fred and George gave each other a knowing glance as they walked into the kitchen and saw aurors. It would seem they finally took notice that something was wrong.
"Boys, Madame Bones and Auror Shacklebolt would like to have a few words with you." Arthur said sternly as he looked to his twins. He wasn't sure what was going on. The twins weren't true criminals, sure, they broke rules, but they weren't bad kids.
"And what is it…"
"We can do for you?" Fred and George went to sit at the table, opposite of where the others were.
No one missed the three pre-teen faces peaking into the room. Hermione had once again been over to visit and the three had been in the living room until they heard that aurors wanted to talk with the twins. None of them could resist watching what was to happen.
"You three, upstairs." Molly snapped.
"But mum…" Both Ron and Ginny whined.
"We don't care…"
"If they stay." Fred and George shrugged.
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny quickly rushed into the room and sat down at the table. Molly gave them a stern look, but didn't try to force them out again. Percy also came down the stairs to see what all the noise was about.
"We would request that…"
"Someone cast a privacy spell…"
"As this involves…"
"Someone underage." Fred and George were more serious then they had ever been in their lives and it unsettled their family.
Amelia gave Kingsley a nod of approval and he placed privacy wards around the room. No one would be able to give any specifics without the express permission of Kingsley.
"So what is it…"
"We can do for you this fine day?" The twins looked to the two law enforcement workers innocently.
Amelia didn't buy the innocent look for a second, although she had to admit they were good. "It was recently brought to my attention that you somehow convinced the elves working in the Ministry cafeteria to put some kind of potion in something we ate or drank. The elf I spoke with said you told her that you were trying to teach us a lesson…"
Fred and George just nodded. There was no question there so they didn't feel the urge to answer.
"YOU DID THIS!" Molly, Ron, and Hermione all screamed at the two. They had all been miserable for weeks.
Fred and George just glared at them.
"Let's let Madam Bones finish her discussion with the twins before anyone else interrupts." Arthur said tiredly. He was just to tired and in too much pain to want to deal with anymore yelling. He was disappointed that the twins were the ones responsible for his pain, but more than that he didn't know why they would go out of their way to hurt so many people.
"That would be appreciated." Madam Bones gave those who shouted a hard look before turning back to the twins. "As I was saying, it was to teach us. What I need to know is why it is you felt the need to teach us and what you did? She said that it involved abuse of a child."
"Oh not this again." Molly growled but shut up when Arthur grabbed her and pulled her away from the twins and hushed her.
Fred and George sent their mother a glare before looking back to Madam Bones and speaking together. "Yes, the elf was right."
"So who is it you think is being abused?" Kingsley asked.
"Harry Potter." The twins once again spoke as one.
Both Madam Bones and Kingsley gave the boys disbelieving looks. Molly threw her arms in the air and would have started berating them if not for Arthur. Hermione fidgeted slightly while Ron just scoffed.
"Harry is rich and famous, he has a great life." Ron said as he often did when his brothers brought up Harry.
"Maybe if you ever thought about anything…"
"Other than food or yourself, Ronnikins…"
"You would have noticed." The twins were furious as they kept glaring at their brother.
"What is it that makes you think he's being abused?" Amelia questioned.
"He's way to small…"
"Like he doesn't get to eat properly."
"He doesn't like anyone coming up behind him."
"He shies away from any physical contact."
Fred and George examined the others in the room for a moment. They knew Harry would be uncomfortable if they mentioned the scars.
Hermione huffed. "I noticed all those things too. It's why I went to speak with the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall about it. They explained that although Harry's relatives might not be the most loving they would never hurt Harry. He has been watching over Harry since he placed him there."
Hermione actually flinched back at the looks of disgust the twins sent her.
"You know for someone who is referred to as the brightest witch of her generation…"
"You certainly spend a lot of time proving you're just a dumb little girl."
"Boys!" Molly snapped. "You apologize to Hermione this instant."
Madam Bones could see from the looks on their faces neither boy had any intention of doing so, so she continued her questions. "While I can understand your suspicions that doesn't seem to be enough." She saw the boys exchange a look. "What else did you notice?"
"Harry's the seeker on the quidditch team."
"He always waited until the rest of us were gone to shower after practice."
"One evening we went back to talk to him."
"He didn't notice us and came out of the shower with just a towel around his waist."
"There were… There were scars all over his back."
"They looked like whip marks."
"Some were old and scarred white."
"But others still looked like they had only just started healing."
Fred and George didn't like having to tell Harry's secrets, but they just wanted to help him. No one should have to live with people that did that to them. They also were glad for the secrecy wards since they knew Ron didn't have a filter and would have ended up telling others, the same with Granger given how much she ran her mouth.
"And did you tell anyone?" Amelia asked. She was already making plans to conduct a full investigation of whoever it was Harry Potter lived with.
"Of course." Both twins said.
"We had already written to the OCW…"
"But they hadn't done anything…"
"So we wrote to them again…"
"And we wrote to the DMLE."
"But nothing was done."
"And we went to every single professor…"
"And Madam Pomfrey…"
"And the school governors…"
"And our parents…"
"But no one would listen." The twins said together.
"So we decided to teach you all a lesson."
"Just because your adults doesn't mean…"
"That you're always right."
"It also doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to kids."
"Just because we're younger doesn't make us wrong."
"Oh wait, that's wrong…" Fred said suddenly.
"Something was done, that's right brother mine." George finished in a sarcastic voice.
"We got points deducted…"
"And weeks of detention…"
"And grounded for the first few weeks of summer…"
"Because rather than doing your blasted jobs…"
"You told Dumbledore and our mother about our reports."
"So we made a plan." The twins said as one.
Amelia was furious at the clear evidence of people not doing their jobs, even those in her own department. It was law that both the OCW and DMLE investigate every allegation of abuse. Abuse wasn't something that was tolerated in their world.
"What did you do?" Kingsley asked the boys seeing Amelia was thinking.
"Percy had been telling us about how he studied…" George was the one to start, not that anyone other than themselves, and possibly Percy, could tell.
"He said to think of other ways to use spells…"
"And not just what was suggested…"
"We needed to think outside the box." The twins said jointly.
"And then we found a potion." Fred continued.
"A very brilliant potion…"
"The Lefly potion." They said together.
"The Lefly potion?" Amelia was confused. "The potion used during pregnancy?"
"We're PREGNANT?" Ron shouted.
"It's not that kind of potion Ron." Arthur told Ron, he was finally seeing that they should have listened to the twins and was feeling bad. "The potion allows a man to feel how his wife does during pregnancy."
"Not just that." George smiled.
"It allows for the other to feel everything."
"We mixed up a lot of the subordinate potion…"
"But only one dose of the control."
"And we gave the control to Harry just before we left on the train."
"If all the adults were correct…"
"And Harry's home life was fine…"
"Than none of us would have felt anything."
Fred looked to his mother in anger. "Every moment of hunger you've felt is what you've subjected an 11 year old boy too because you refused to hear one word against what your precious Dumbledore said."
George looked to their father in equal anger. "Every time you complained you were exhausted was because you couldn't be bothered to help a small boy."
Fred looked to Ron in disgust. "You go on and on about how Harry is YOUR best mate, but you are so blind you don't even know him."
"You don't see how uncomfortable he is with all the attention…" George picked up.
"You think that because he's famous and has money his life is perfect."
"Well, how do you like it Ronnikins?"
"Does feeling famous feel good?"
"I bet you love how it feels."
"And your parents didn't even need to die for you to feel it."
"Because, you do understand that's why he's famous, right?"
"So, if fame really means that much to you all you have to do is hope your parents are murdered."
"And then get thrown away to live with muggles for 10 years."
Then the twins turned their attention to Hermione.
"And you, you might be the worst of the lot." George glared.
"You knew something was wrong, you said it yourself."
"You actively chose to let your so-called best friend suffer."
"Tell us Granger, if Dumbledore and McGonagall say it's ok for Harry to feel like this…"
"Then why are you complaining?"
"Or is it just because…"
"It's you that is feeling bad."
"Do you think it's only wrong…"
"Because it's you and not just him?"
Neither boy gave the girl a chance to answer as they turned to the other two adults in the room.
"So…"
"Are you going to do your bloody jobs…"
"And remove a child from an abusive home?"
"Or do you think this is acceptable?"
"Why didn't you use the potion on your elder brother or the aurors that worked in the field?" Kingsley questioned. He hadn't understood why they hadn't received the same treatment since they were just as guilty of failing an abused child. It was obvious other than himself the only ones in the room that weren't feeling the pain were the Weasley daughter and the eldest Weasley boy.
"Percy tried to help." George said.
"We went to him just after the train left the station in September."
"He told us to contact OCW and the DMLE as well as tell the teachers."
"He also wrote to your office, and OCW…"
"When it was clear you weren't taking us seriously."
"As for the aurors like you…"
"We really wanted too…"
"But agreed that it wouldn't work."
"You guys were out of the office working…"
"And we didn't want to risk criminals…"
"Getting away because of something happening to Harry."
Amelia nodded her understanding, pleased the boys had thought like that. Given how she had been feeling lately she didn't think they would have managed to catch a single criminal unless they arrived at the DMLE offices and turned themselves in. "Can you tell me where it
is Mr. Potter lives and who with? I will contact my counter part in the muggle government and we can go and collect him today."
"Harry lives with his Aunt Petunia…"
"Uncle Vernon…"
"And cousin Dudley."
"And they live at…"
"Number 4…"
"Privet Drive…"
"Little Whinging…"
"Surrey." Fred and George were happy someone was finally going to do something.
"You can just bring him here." Molly announced, she felt horrible for not helping the poor boy before, but she had, and still kind of did, trust Headmaster Dumbledore. "He's supposed to be spending the last few weeks of summer with us, Headmaster Dumbledore said."
"No." Amelia said. "Given how I've been feeling we are going to be taking him to St. Mungo's. He will most likely have to spend some time there." She looked to the twins. "I will see about allowing you two in to see him once he's settled."
"What about us?" Ron demanded.
"We're his best friends." Hermione said in their defence.
Amelia glanced at the two children. "I think for now Mr. Potter is going to need some rest. It would be best to keep the number of people visiting him low. And given how much the twins have done to help him I think it should be them."
"I have one more question, how did you get the potion into us?" Amelia asked. She had an idea, but she just wanted to clarify it for the record.
"House elves." The twins both shrugged.
"We took the issue to the Hogwarts elves…"
"It is their job to look after the children…"
"And they are much more competent than the teachers…"
"They agreed to give the potion to the staff…"
"And the governors when they had their end of year meeting…"
"Then they put us in touch with the elves…"
"That work at the Ministry."
"They also didn't like the actions…"
"Of the adults."
"Children are important to them…"
"So one being hurt because you lot weren't doing your jobs…"
"Was enough to get them on our side."
Kingsley took down the wards once the twins finished.
"Will you be pressing charges?" Arthur asked.
"What charges are there to press?" Amelia asked. "The potion they used is perfectly legal. I personally also agree with their rationale. We all did need a good kick in the pants to get us to remember we are not infallible and to do our jobs. As far as I am concerned, they did the right thing and I will not be punishing them for that."
Amelia and Kingsley were on their way to the door when Kingsley stopped and looked back. "I actually have one last question to ask. Why did you take the potion yourselves? You knew Potter was being abused and you had tried to help, why did you feel the need to punish yourselves?"
"We weren't punishing ourselves." Fred said.
"When we first found out we tried…"
"To talk to Harry."
"But we didn't know what to say."
"Our family may look down on us and mock our dreams…"
"But they've never physically hurt us."
"We wanted to understand better…"
"So we could help Harry."
"Thank you." Amelia gave the boys a sad smile, not missing Arthurs reaction at what they said about their family. "I will owl the two of you if you can visit Harry."
Once the two were gone Fred and George stood up and started to leave the kitchen.
"Where are you two going?" Arthur asked.
"Our room." The twins said together.
"Boys, I think it's safe to say neither of you are grounded anymore." Arthur felt ashamed he hadn't listened to the twins. It was a shock to the system to see just how wrong Headmaster Dumbledore had been, as well as just how brave and caring the twins were.
"We might not be grounded…"
"But we prefer our room."
"I have to get back to work, but I think we are going to sit down and have a long chat this evening." Arthur nodded to the boys who quickly left the room before turning to the floo and leaving.
"So when is the pain going to stop?" Ron questioned. "People are doing something now, so why is the potion still hurting me?"
"Because Ronald, Harry is still with his relatives." Percy sighed, knowing Ron didn't understand how the potion really worked. "The potion makes you feel anything Harry is feeling. Once Harry is in the hospital and healed you will begin to feel better. Let's just hope the teachers are better at making sure the students are safe next year."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione questioned.
"The potion is intended for pregnancy." Percy pointed out. "It lasts for 9 months. It was given at the end of June, it won't be wearing off until the end of March. How many times did Harry end up in the hospital wing last year?"
Percy turned and left the others alone.
End Notes
I've been going through some of my files and have found a bunch of old fics I never got around to posting so I'm going to be going over them and adding them over the next few weeks. This is one of them.
Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their /works/27168397/comments/new
Preface
The First Task is Seeing the Problem
How to Drug the Wizarding World
A Slow Summer Picks Up
Adults Only Notice Things that Affect Them
Afterword