AN: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 14

"Aren't those the same pajamas that attacked your mom the other day?"

Harry Potter had just cracked open a wardrobe that they could have sworn that they hadn't cleaned out yet. The colours were different, the placement in the room was different, and it was across the hall as the other wardrobe. However, the style was the same, and the layer of dust was the same. However, it looked like the contents of the wardrobe were half copy and paste from the previous room.

The pair of pajamas that sat innocently on one of the shelves looked like an exact copy however.

"Use a broom handle and see if it attacks the broom?"

That questioned suggestion came from Ron, who was part of the group that had gathered when Harry had cracked open the wardrobe.

"I guess that's one way."

"I don't think we should be putting the junk from the floor onto the clothing, even if they are really dusty."

"Well, I guess the handle side, not the... the end you sweep the floor with."

"Did you mean the bristles?"

"Yup. I forgot the word."

"Okay," Hermione handed the broom over. "Here you go."

The pair of pajamas wrapped around the broom handle, slid down it as Harry tilted it more upright, and fell on the floor crumpled around the end of the broom.

"Well, I guess that worked?" questioned Ginny.

"I would say so," said Hermione.

Ron shrugged as Harry used the joint of the head of the broom and the handle to hook the pajamas on and slid them into the bag with the rest of the laundry from the wardrobe.

With that excitement out of the way, the group split up, tackling different parts of the room. Harry and Hermione stayed at the wardrobe.

"Hermione, I wonder if more of the uncleaned bedrooms would have a pair of attack pajamas in the closet."

"It's an interesting thought."

"I wonder if it's a spell in one of the books in the library."

"Oh, so we can find the counter spell? I wonder what type of magic it is."

"Probably not something the Weasleys would use regularly, but apparently something the Blacks would."

"That's obvious. Well, I guess we could ask Sirius. I mean, he grew up here so that might be something he would know or know what book it's in."

"Is he here, though?"

"Obviously, since he's stuck here unless he breaks out when no one else is looking."

"Right. Stupid question."

They quickly finished cleaning out the wardrobe and put the bag of dirty clothing to the side.

"You know, I wonder if we could salvage any of the clothing. The Black's were supposedly rich, and none of us are against wearing hand-me-downs if the quality of the fabric is still good. There's got to be some sort of preserving charm they put on clothes regularly. I mean, remember the age of the dress robes that Ron wore last year? They weren't falling apart, just really out of fashion."

"I think the only person besides you that would wear some of the colours in the bag would be Snape if he wore colours. I mean, we know how anti-Slytherin Sirius is, and Ron."

"Hey, what are you saying about me?" asked Ron, from where he popped up at Hermione's elbow.

"That you wouldn't be caught dead wearing a Slytherin patterned shirt or robe," said Harry, half laughing as he held up a green shirt with silver pin stripes that had been on the top of the clothes in the bag.

"Nope, no, no way," gasped the youngest male red head, shaking his head as he did so. "I mean, I guess it goes with your hair and eyes, so maybe you could wear it, mate, just don't make me wear it."

Ginny looked over and burst out laughing.

"If I make a bet with you and you lose, could that be your forfeit?"

"Only if you have to do something similar."

"I don't know. I might want to borrow Sirius' brother's Hogwart's robes just to throw people through a loop." said Ginny, shaking her hair behind her head before turning back to the window she was scrubbing after killing the previously escaped doxies.

"It sounds like you'd have too much fun with that."

"I don't know. I haven't walked around with a Slytherin robe on at school before," she mused.

There was muttering from Ron's spot where he was scrubbing the bed frame.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin are at each other's throats all the time," said Hermione, "Only, Hufflepuff seems to back Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw as well half the time. So you've got over half the school taking the side of Gryffindor, including the Headmaster, while Slytherin seems to mainly stand on their own. I wonder how much of the war they would have given up if they weren't stuck in an 'us vs. them' mode."

Everyone else froze.

"Well, think about it!" she huffed, "If you are constantly fighting somebody, how often do you think that what they are saying is correct? Harry, I know that you've started seeing the not so good side about your dad in Sirius' stories, but did you believe it when you heard it from Snape? Of course not, you were fighting each other from the get go, and stuff that was correct, even if exaggerated from an emotional stand point, was tossed out the window metaphorically because of who said it. I know your relatives aren't good examples of this, Harry, since they hardly seem to tell you anything honestly, but you see what I mean?! No wonder it seems that Slytherin automatically rebels against the government. They're having to go against the same person in charge whether an adult or a child and his mind set hasn't changed between locations."

"Huh."

"I guess that makes sense."

"What?"

"Do you want to know why Malfoy did not become my friend first year? It's because he insulted the other person in the train compartment who was also wearing hand-me-downs.

They quieted down as they heard adult voices talking and making heavy footsteps down the hall way. The quieted talking ceased as a foot came down heavily on the floor over a creaky floor joist.

"I didn't quite understand what was being said as I was far enough away, but please remember to be quiet," Remus Lupin stuck his head into the doorway of the room they were in, "You were within hearing range of the front door and you woke Walburga's portrait."

"It's fine where we set you guys up," stated Sirius, "Just please remember not all of them are, unless you were wanting me to go yell at my mom."

"Sorry, we just got a little into what we were discussing."

"Oh, what's up?"

Sirius's face was suddenly excited curiosity

"Were attack pajamas a common thing you had to fend against when you lived here?"

"Not part of the house needing to eat then?" teased Sirius.

"I don't know, these didn't fight a lot. Just, this is the second pair, and they look almost exactly the same."

"Don't yell at Kreacher!" burst out Hermione.

"Why not?"

"Just, do you know the counter spell, and could you teach us?"

"You sure you want to know? I mean, it's not something that people would regularly want to use... away from here."

"Well, we're here," burst in Ron, "Sorry for being blunt, but we are here, so therefore we need to know the counter."

"Fine," sighed Sirius, "Just make it so I can cast at it so I can do the counter."