Hey guys, I am back with another chapter! It is shorter than the last few, but I am happy with it.

TW: Torture/Unforgivables. We are finally starting to see more Darkness to the twins and their family. I am having a lot of fun with it even if it can be difficult to get my vision down without changes occuring haha.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Please let me know if you did or didn't, or any mistakes I may have missed.


Harry groaned in frustration as Petunia screamed in agony when his attempt to use the Imperius Curse failed again. He had been trying for two days now, and every time he tried to wrap his core around the strings of connection, they would snap painfully. Every snap made Petunia feel like she had just undergone a lobotomy without pain medication or anaesthesia.

"FUCK!" he raged, green eyes darkening in his anger, giving in to the childish urge to stamp his foot, and only just stopped himself from throwing his wand. He completely ignored Petunia on the ground crying and turned to face his parents. It had been four days since he first tried the Cruciatus Curse, and he was already very adept at it and loved it. But the Imperius was slipping through his fingers every try. He didn't understand. Hermione wasn't having any trouble with it. It seemed to be the curse she picked up the quickest.

"Why can't I do it?" He whined. But he would deny he did if any of his friends asked. Cassi suppressed a coo at her son's forlorn expression, knowing he would not appreciate it.

"I believe your distaste for letting your Occlumency shields down is what could be stopping you from casting the Curse correctly." Tom hummed in thought. "You have been forming your walls since you were five and have had them solid and unmovable since just before you started at Hogwarts."

"Or maybe it's because he can't focus on anything for any longer than thirty seconds," Hermione teased with a laugh, skillfully dodging the Crucio her brother threw at her half-heartedly.

"Harry, don't curse your sister with Unforgivables," Cassi scolded. Her tone and expression say she never thought she would have to say that sentence.

"Hermione, don't wind up your brother," Tom sighed with an eye roll, knowing these two could devolve quickly.

"You are an emotional caster," Cassi soothed her frustrated son, "you have proven that with how quickly you picked up the Cruciatus and by casting it hot."

"Exactly, and you are already extremely skilled with the Cruciatus." Tom piped up, "Well beyond what your Mother and I expected. Unfortunately, the Imperius is very different from the Cruciatus, so I am not surprised it isn't coming as easy to you. Everyone has an Unforgivable that they find the easiest of the three, and many even have one they can't ever cast successfully. The Imperius takes a lot of mental fortitude and patience."

"Can the victim feel the connection and bond with the core like the caster?" Hermione asked head tilted to the side.

"Those with a magical core can," Cassi nodded. She was oblivious to the devious smirk on her daughter's face as she looked at her husband. "Muggles can't, and I don't believe Creatures, magical or not, can feel it, but I am not positive."

"Hermione," Tom warned as she raised her wand, but it was too late.

"Imperio" She whispered, her green eyes narrowed in concentration. The white glow emitted from her wand before encasing Harry just as he realised what she was doing.

Harry felt his entire body relax, and a quiet peace entered his mind. He didn't even remember what had him so stressed before this. He blinked. What had he been doing?

"No, that's not important right now," a soft command filtered through him. Those weren't his thoughts! He shook his head attempting to clear the fog, blinking furiously to try and see. But the only thing he could see was clouds all around him. He wanted to panic, but the surrounding warmth wouldn't let him. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing just like when he meditated, he could do this. He opened his eyes again and grinned.

"I know where I am," He proclaimed loudly. He thought he heard laughter at that, it was muffled as if far away. But he didn't care, he knew where he was. He was inside his Occlumency Walls. He had loved flying since he was a child, it was the first part of his magic that he had fully accepted. Flying with his Mother on her winged horse. Cassi had been given Epona when she had turned 17 and named her after the Goddess of horses, and the Patron Goddess of mares and foals. Harry and Hermione had flown with their Mother on Epona when they were little and couldn't sleep from nightmares. Then as Harry grew up he found a love with flying on a broom, taking to the skies was a blissful and powerful feeling. There had been no hesitation to make his Occlumency Mind Palace the place where he felt so at home.

It took time, but knowing where he was, that was a start. He started walking with purpose through the cool and damp clouds. He allowed himself to relax fully, using all his bravery to lower the clouds. It was the only way to find out what was happening. As he walked, the clouds slowly got thinner and the light from the sun started getting brighter. He started to run towards the sun ignoring the strong echo that was back.

"Listen to me," it said, Harry shuddered but forced himself to keep going without looking back. His body hair was sticking up in fear as it got louder.

"Stop!" With the last of his energy, he closed his eyes and bolted the final bit, leaping forward into the sun. The surrounding warmth vanished entirely, and he gasped like he hadn't been breathing, desperately sucking in the air as his knees hit solid flooring.

"Harry!" His Mothers's panicked voice had him finally opening his eyes. He blinked quickly to focus his eyes. His Mother was directly in front of him, her hands running over his face, and her grey eyes watery as she asked if he was okay. Behind her, Hermione was grinning widely at him, their Father behind her with his hands on her shoulders. He was looking at Harry with pride and wonder like he had done something incredible.

"I'm fine," He croaked with a smile at her, "honestly, Mum I am okay." he promised.

He looked up at his twin sister sitting on his haunches. "You fucking cursed me," he said.

"Language!" his Mother scolded immediately, although her fussing and worry took away any heat from the scolding.

"Yes I did," Hermione smirked, "And you fought me off in less than three seconds." Harry blinked shocked, it had felt like an hour to him. "Maybe now that you know what that connection feels like and fought it off you can follow it when you use it."

"You should have told us all what you were going to do!" Cassi shrieked as she waved her wand over Harry. "Iniuriam Revelare!" she chanted, sighing in relief when the all-over body scan revealed no magical damage.

Harry however, was ignoring his Mother screeching about how they would send her to an early grave and how she never thought she would have to tell her children to NOT curse each other. let alone as often as she did, and Unforgivables at that! Harry was instead focused on Hermione's words, he had felt the warmth and connection, and he had even heard her. He was sure that the laugh he had heard in the clouds was Hermione, perhaps he had said his thoughts of "I know where I am" out loud and that's what had made her laugh. He turned his eyes to Petunia and saw her lying on the floor where she had landed after the last attempt. He shook himself mentally, took a breath and opened his mouth.

"Imperio!" He chanted, throwing his concentration into the curse as the light flew across the room and hit Petunia. He allowed the clouds to thin out again, following the golden string he could see, wrapping his magic around it and allowing it to soak. Petunia immediately stood up, eyes wide as she stood stiffly. Unlike John under Hermione Petunia looked very much like she was attached to puppet strings and was wooden. But the connection was there.

"Turn around," Harry ordered shakily as he tested the curse. He couldn't believe it when she promptly turned.

"I did it!" He shouted, punching the air with his fist in excitement. Hermione just smirked and gave a playful huff when he stuck his hand out for a fist bump, but she gave him one with an eye roll.

"Well done," Tom praised as he ruffled Harry's hair and Cassi kissed his forehead and cheeks.

"I knew you could do it," she murmured. "And just because it worked doesn't mean you aren't in trouble for cursing your brother with no warning," she said louder without even looking over at her daughter.

"Oh come on," Hermione whined quietly.

"What are you going to do now that you have control of the curse?" Tom asked Harry.

"I'm not sure," Harry admitted with a hum, "Everytime I talked about finally learning the curses, I always said I wanted to learn the Imperius and make people do embarrassing things. But now I am using it, and I am at a loss for ideas. The Cruciatus just came so much more naturally."

"That's perfectly normal," Cassi soothed her son, "Theory is veritably different from practical, and so many people find spells they thought would be one way end up the opposite."

"Can they feel pain under the Imperius?" he asked curiously, tilting his head much like Hermione had earlier. His green eyes stared at Petunia who was just standing there, waiting for orders. Vernon was stuck against the wall with John, the two hovering above the ground. They couldn't do anything but watch, unable to say anything with the lip lock jinx on them. But their eyes were expressive, John's brown eyes filled with fear and grief, and Vernon's blue screamed his levels of fear and anger.

"Yes," Cassi nodded, "Similar to the Full Body Bind, the Imperius does not block off the nervous system. When under both curses the victim can feel everything happening to them, but they cannot react to the pain and in the case of the Imperius, they would just keep going."

"Interesting," Hermione hummed thoughtfully, making a note in her journal which she remembered to bring after regretting leaving it behind on the first day. Only four days later, and she had already filled six pages so far, three for each the Imperius and Cruciatus. She was excited to move on to the last curse, the Killing curse, Avada Kedavra. But with Jean already dead, she didn't want to end John's suffering right away, and the mental games she was playing with the man were extremely enjoyable. She had taken great pleasure in waking him up this morning with the news that Jean's body had been found by the police, and they were looking for John as a suspect while questioning his family.

"Lacarnum Inflamari," Harry grinned, using one of Hermione's favourite spells. Small blue flames rip out of his wand and latch onto the bottom of Petunia's pants burning away. He felt the Imperius slip slightly at the distraction of casting a secondary spell, so he clamped his shield down on the bond and sent his magic to wrap around the connection again.

"Stay still," he ordered Petunia, smirking when she went ramrod straight, her eyes wide and teary and mouth open in a silent scream at the pain. He ended the spell before the flames could do too much damage, but he kept her standing on the burnt feet. He pouted when he noticed she had passed out from the pain and was only still standing due to the subconscious the Imperius was controlling.

"My turn," Hermione smirked, "might as well let the weakling recover," Harry snorted, waving his wand absently and sending Petunia to lie down next to Vernon on the wall.

"Oh please," Harry grinned, bending over his waist, "be my guest princess." he winked. Hermione rolled her eyes as he chuckled.

"Oh shut up," she muttered as he teased her with their father's nickname. But her brother just grinned wider at her before nodding his head at Petunia who had Vernon looking down at her trying to yell for her, but he was still silenced.

"Shall we practice the Avada?" he asked smirking, "we won't get it right the first go anyway correct?" he said, directing the end question to his parents.

"Most likely not," Tom nodded in agreement, "We could always practice on rats or rabbits," he was interrupted by two very annoyed and disgusted no's from the twins. He smiled before continuing, "But I know what your answer is regarding that. So taking turns on Vernon is probably the best next thing." Cassi nodded beside him and waved her wand releasing Vernon from the spell keeping him up against the wall, and he floated over to be placed in front of the twins. His blue eyes were wide in fear, he didn't understand what they were talking about, but he knew it couldn't be good news.

"Avada Kedavra is the darkest curse in the wizarding world." Tom started his lecture, smiling as Hermione whipped her notebook and self-inking quill back out of her pocket.

"It not only kills the victim instantly with no trace or damage if used correctly, but it also has no countercharm or shield that will stop it. The only true known way to avoid it is hiding behind something solid. But even then, if the caster is powerful and precise, the object will either explode or disintegrate after the first hit."

"So make sure you have more than one boulder to hide behind," Harry muttered with a cheeky smile, laughing when his mother and sister rolled their eyes in unison.

"Just like the other two unforgivables there is no wand movement needed," Cassi spoke up, "although Dumbledore likes to say that the cursed wound Henry Potter got on his forehead is the shape of the wand movement."

"What an idiotic theory," Tom huffed, "Not only is his scar not even a real curse scar, but it is the shape of an arrow. Do you know how long it would take to make an arrow shape with your wand and still hit the target?" he continued to rant, "I mean the logistics just aren't there! Every spell that has a wand movement has to take into account where the shape ends!"

"Alright, apparently this is a trigger for you," Cassi said wide-eyed as she glanced at the twins who were barely holding onto their amusement. "Moving on dear," she said, patting his arm, turning to the twins she flicked her head in a tilt to her husband and her flicking her eyes at him incredulously. Her eyes and smirking lips said clearly, 'can you see what a drama queen your father is? This is what I deal with'

Harry snorted loudly before composing himself quickly when Tom looked at him suspiciously. Only for Hermione to elbow Harry in her amusement causing Harry to lose his cool and laugh loudly. Within seconds Hermione had joined him. The twins become useless in their joy, hunching over and leaning into each other for support to stop themselves from ending up on the floor.

Vernon watched it all, eyes darting around the room, constantly looking for a way out, even though he couldn't move with the magical binds created by the runes on him. He couldn't understand how they were so joyful hurting them, monsters to the core. He could see his wife out of the corner of his vision, she was still lying against the wall, unconscious. He felt an anger bubble in his gut, it simmered there almost daily these days. They did not deserve this. Everything he did was to protect his family. Despair filled him, he had failed. He no longer believed his friends would find them, the daily use of magic to harm him had made him face up that magic could very well be hiding them from rescue.

"Yes, Yes," Tom sighed sarcastically, "laugh at my pain." he rolled his eyes as they just simply laughed harder, but shared an amused glance with his wife.

"Now," he started when they had finally stopped laughing long enough to listen, "the Avada is just like the Cruciutas, it is an emotional spell, one that will draw from your need and want. You have to desire the death of the recipient." Vernon jerked at that, death?

"But it is a lot harder to master than the Cruciatus," Cassi warned them, "Do not get frustrated and angry if it takes time. It's very much like Cruciatus in many ways, but in some also like the Imperius." Harry groaned at that, he had only just cast it for the first time! That was barely mediocre progress in his mind.

"You need to let your emotions flood your core and soak the bond with your wand. It requires much concentration and focus." Tom elaborated.

"Don't they mean the same thing?" Harry asked with large innocent eyes, but his parents could see the twitch of his lips and he tried to hide his cheeky smile.

"They can be used in place of each other but technically don't mean the same," Hermione immediately went into knowledge mode. "Focus means prioritising small and large goals. Like for example doing everything you can to complete your exams at the end of the year with good grades." Harry rolled his eyes, of course, that was her example. Not something he could relate to, although he could replace that with winning a game of quidditch or bringing down Dumbledore.

"However, concentration means directing your energy to particular tasks, ideally, in the hopes of it helping your goals."

"You ate a dictionary for breakfast didn't you?" Harry teased. "I told you Mother, Father, that we needed to be careful with how much she loves her books and 'consumes' knowledge."

"Stop teasing your sister," Cassi scolded him, "Or her curse may land on its target this time."

Harry started cackling as he noticed Hermione fiddling with her wand, eyes dark. To many, it would look like she was angry and upset at his mocking. But he knew he hadn't gone too far. He could still see the twinkle of faint amusement mixed with friendly exasperation in her left eye, the look he knew was mirrored in his right eye when the roles were reversed.

"Let's move on, and try this before you two end up duelling and practising even more unforgivables on each other" Cassi sighed, making sure to step between them. They had the most peculiar relationship, one that she could not understand, she was not a magical mirror twin, nor did she suffer the way they did. Yes her Mother had been horrible, but her sisters and Father had sheltered her enough and smothered her with love. She had known she was loved from her birth. The bond the twins formed from that alone would have made it, so she could never truly understand it, but after the blood adoption, she had seen them glow as a bond of magical mirror twins formed. It was true and pure magic. But so far beyond the magic that anyone knew. All she knew was she was grateful for it, and she also knew her husband was too.

"Now, Harry, because you were kind enough to offer up Dursley, even at the risk of knowing he could die earlier than planned, you can choose to go first or second." Cassi smiled, "However, I do suggest going second, purely because not only were you using the Imperius quite a lot and using your core on a difficult spell, but also because you were then placed under the Imperius and then on top of that, used it correctly for the first time. It can take a moment for your core to balance after it all."

"Mione can go first," Harry shrugged, he wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was still a bit shaky. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him intently, she noticed the small tremors in his hand almost immediately. But he was standing with no issue, his jaw was unclenched, and his green eyes alert and focused. So she didn't press him on it, yet.

"I apologise if I get this curse first go," She winked at her brother, before turning to Vernon who was looking extremely panicked right now.

"Now you," she sneered at the fat muggle, "You are useless, a waste of space walrus who isn't even good enough to think about. But my brother deserves justice for all the abuse he suffered at your hands." She was spinning her wand around in her fingers furiously as she stalked a little closer.

"The only decent thing you ever did was leave him on the steps at the orphanage to be found by his real family. Although even that was not technically a good deed because you did it for your selfish reasons." Vernon started shouting something, but of course, they couldn't hear it due to the silencing charms. Which was probably a good thing, whatever he was saying wasn't worth hearing.

"I hope this hurts," she grinned sharply, her green eyes darkening in wickedness and anger, teeth bared as the corner of her lips pulled tight in her wide and threatening grin. Vernon's body wanted to flinch away from this monster, but the binds wouldn't let him. So he just watched in horror, trapped in his own body as she raised the stick she used to access her evil powers. Although now he thought of it, he had seen the adult woman, he would not call her a mother, monsters were not mothers, she had done this evil without her stick a few times, and so had her partner. Why was he thinking of this? Shit! He shook himself mentally and his blue eyes focused back on the girl who was opening her mouth.

"Avada Kedavra!" She shouted the strange incantation, he had noticed that when they used their evil it was never plain English, but he had no idea what it was. The tip of her stick glowed, bright green, the same shade as her and her brother's eyes. He had only had a split second before the green light engulfed him, but it seemed like time slowed down. He could see her eyes also starting to glow, her pupils shrinking in power. The light surrounded him, and he could feel his body being pressured, squeezed tight, and he was encased in almost unbearable warmth as pain shot through his body. He screamed, or at least it felt like he was screaming, he couldn't hear himself, but he wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't able to produce sound, or simply due to that magic thing the captors did to silence him and the others.

Vernon was shaking when the pressure and warmth disappeared, his entire body felt like jelly and weak. He collapsed onto his knees, hard, his sight was just bright green dancing spots, unable to see much more than shadows. Nausea bubbled in his stomach and he was unable to stop himself from aggressively projectile vomiting. He could hear the disgusted yelling from the mini monsters as they leapt to the side to avoid the liquid of stomach acid, water and soggy bread bits.

"Disgusting," Tom sneered, waving his hand quickly to vanish the mess and clear the smell in the air. Vernon stayed slumped on his knees as he gagged, it felt like his insides were threatening to come out with the bile. He wasn't a particularly spiritual person, but if he had a soul, he was sure he had just had it exorcised.

"I gotta say, that was not what I was expecting," Harry said after a brief shocked silence which was immediately broken by Tom and Cassi laughing.

"That is a pretty standard reaction to a failed or weak Killing Curse," Tom chuckled, "even though the spell wasn't strong enough to destroy the soul and mind, it was still strong enough to yank on them and budge them out of their locus"

"Locus? Really?" Cassi asked incredulously, "This is why people think you are pompous," she teased kissing his cheek and he shrugged with a grin.

"There is nothing wrong with speaking intelligently and correctly." he mock-huffed before turning back to the twins.

"Harry?" he asked, "are you ready to try?" the boy grinned wickedly and nodded eagerly, stepping forward.

"How do you feel Mione?" Cassi asked checking on her daughter,

"Okay," Hermione hummed as she tilted her head sideways in thought. "A bit lightheaded, and it's weird, but it's like I can almost feel my core is half empty."

"That's good, all normal after using the three Unforgivables," Cassi nodded calmly, "no numbness in your wand hand? Or any black spots in your eyesight?"

"Nope," Hermione shook her head with down pouty lips.

"And, the core thing is because your core is growing and adjusting to the new dark magic." Tom grinned, "Only powerful magic users can feel it and identify what they are feeling." Hermione smiled smugly at his words. Of course, she had been able to, and she knew Harry would too, they were their parents' children after all.

Harry stood in front of Vernon, tilting his head as he looked down on the muggle who would never hurt him again.

"My turn," he chirped musically, the dark smile and excitement in his eyes contrasted with his happy tone. Vernon coughed wetly, body trembling as the rune on his neck made him stand back up to face what was coming next.

"Avada Kedavra!" He shouted, jabbing his wand forward, and just like Hermione's turn, the tip glowed with the green light before it burst forward in a bright green beam. His pupil shrunk as the green of his iris got bigger, and glowed as bright as the curse. Once again, Vernon's body was covered by the cursed light. His body suddenly pitched forward, his eyes clenched closed tightly in agony. Before he could scream or bite through his tongue it was over, and he was back on his knees, retching hard. With a shudder and cough, he threw up again, but this time it was bright red blood filled his mouth and sprayed across the floor.

"Well done!" Tom praised his red eyes shining in pride and joy, "that right there is the soul momentarily detaching. You are both bombarding every expectation I had for you two learning the Three Unforgivable Curses."

"How do you both feel?" Cassi asked, waving her wand over them, casting a basic health scan again. She let out a relieved breath and smiled when she read the results. They were fine, with no signs of ill side effects.

"Good," the twins chorused with grins as they looked at Vernon sadistically.

"Do you want to keep going?" Tom asked with a smirk.

"Because if you need a break before continuing, that is normal," Cassi added.

Harry and Hermione shared a grin and a silent conversation as their eyes met. Before looking back at Vernon, who was eyeing them wearily, his breathing was heavy as he gasped for air weakly.

"We are only just getting started," they chorused, their green eyes glowing as they raised their wands.