The Dogfather

The twins were caught off guard before their faces returned to the mischievous smile that was, she was sure, their default expression.

“Williekins, what can these humble…Fred begins.

-but handsome…Intervened George.

-It’s true, we are handsome…

-Geniuses do for…

-You tonight?”

They ended together in their twin dialogue which drove most of their interlocutor crazy. Will had found it incredible and wondered more than once if they really could read each other’s minds to be able to finish each other’s sentences. But tonight, she didn’t really have the heart to appreciate their ability.

“Could we talk? Elsewhere? It’s important. Please.” Will supported her request by discreetly pointing at the other Gryffindors still present in the common room, wanting to avoid drawing attention to herself.

Their smile faded when they saw her grave face, and they nodded quickly before grabbing her by the arm, leading her to the fifth year’s boys' dormitory.

They only shared a room with Lee Jordan, Gryffindor’s commentator, and their best friend. Said friend was reading on his bed when he spotted the three of them. Immediately seeing the twins' mood, he offered to leave. Will felt bad driving him out of his own room, but he reassured her with a kind smile.

"Don’t worry, Will, just let me know when the way is clear," he winked at her, closing the door behind him.

Will noticed that George had let go of her arm to arrange the sheets of one of the two beds that had clearly been moved closer, while Fred was casting spells on the door, privacy charms and locking spells according to what she remembered.

She went to sit on the bed waiting for them to join her, they sat on the other one facing her, and she began to speak. And she told them everything, reliving the evening's events in every details as she was telling them.

So much had happened in such a brief time: Ron kidnapped, Professor Lupin being a werewolf and friend with her father but also with a presumed mass murderer who was also her godfather.

Then finding out that he was, in fact, innocentand that she had been in the company of the real traitor for three years. Just before she had to face said werewolf in a murderous mood and Will was shaking just rethinking about the hundred of Dementors which seemed to think, she and her godfather were the perfect meal. She even traveled back in time for Merlin’s sake. And people thought a giant killer snake slithering through the pipes was a crazy thing. She ended her story with her attempt to leave with her fleeing criminal of a godfather, as innocent as he may be.

She was brought back to reality when Fred rushed into the bathroom, looking sick. George and she followed him immediately. She looked at her friend, helpless, wondering what she had said, could have caused this kind of reaction. She took a step back to let the redhead join his other half.

"Fred, are you okay?" she asked a little nervously.

He wiped his mouth, supported by his brother, "Scabbers..." he began before cutting himself as if he were going to throw up again. George had obviously understood what he meant because he became extremely pale, bringing out his freckles.

"Oh Merlin… "He said, the voice trembling, "We lived with a murderer... a Death Eater! He even slept in the same bed as Ron!"

Will felt guilty, she had been so focused on her problems that she didn’t even think about how it would impact the Weasleys. He had lived like a pet rat in their home for twelve years. She herself felt a little nauseous at the thought.

Fred didn’t give her time to figure out what to say to make them feel better, he asked, with a determined look, "Will, what can we do to help you?"

Her first reflex was to protest, she had not even told them about her plan, not even a real plan, just an idea. But looking at them carefully, she knew they would do anything, because it was also a personal matter for them now. Since she was planning to clear Sirius’ name, capturing Pettigrew was definitely on the to-do list anyway.

She sighed as she felt all the fatigue of the day finally settling in. “I don’t really have a plan yet, which is also why I need your help. I want to clear Sirius’ name, but right now he’s on the run and I don’t even know if he’s still in England. But since I don’t know enough about how the Magical World works, and since you grew up in it, I figured you would know what to do."

"But there's something bothering me in you story" George said "Dumbledore’s the Chief Warlock, so why would he send you and Hermione to rescue Sirius if he believed that he was innocent? Surely he could have protected him or insisted he received a trial."

Fred nodded, but seeing that she looked lost, they explained to her that the Wizengamot was the High Court of Justice for wizards and that Chief Warlock, Dumbledore in this case, was its president.

This news stunned her, so not only it was up to two students to save the day, again, but in fact the headmaster could have done something all along. Will barely managed to contain her magic that wanted to explode out of her, to respond to her rage. She was now certain that she could not trust Dumbledore, he clearly had an an agenda of his own. She was at lost, why wouldn’t he help Sirius, help her! She couldn't begin to understand why he hadn't done anything. But a sly voice in her mind reminded her that he had never really done anything to help her through all the near-death situations she had faced in the past three years, in the so supposidly safest place there was.

Will suddenly found herself in a four-armed embrace, the twins had joined her on the bed, they were content to give her a hug without trying to make empty promises, letting her feeling her emotions and she knew she was safe between them. All the stress of the last events finally vanishing.

She took a deep breath to calm down, drying her tears, embarrassed by her oversensitive state, and annoyed because it seems that she had done nothing but crying tonight. Will knew better than anyone that tears never helped. There were more important things to deal with, she could always cry on yet another let down later.

"I’m sorry, we have no time to lose with my mood swings" she says wiping her eyes

“Will, we already"

-" Talked about this"

-"You don’t have to"

-"Rein in your emotions”

-"Not in front of us"

It was indeed a discussion they had been having a lot since they started spending more time together. Will had always liked the two pranksters ever since she got to know them thanks to being in the Quidditch team together. But she felt that she was nothing more their little brother's friend at that time, a fellow Gryffindor, a kind of forced acquaintance.

She had been proved wrong when George had taken her to their room at the Burrow after their car-flying-rescue. They had told her that they had seen the sign on the door of her cupboard. She had at first panicked, old threats still anchored in her mind if anyone ever found out the truth about her living condition, she wanted to denie it, to leave and never talk to them again, but the boys managed to clam her down.

At first, they wanted to tell their parents, but she had categorically refused. She didn’t want to become a burden for the family that had already did so much for her. To say that the twins were not happy about it would be an understatement, but in the end, they respected her decision, even if reluctantly .

In exchange, they made her promise to tell them everything and to come to them at the slightest problem, whatever it might be. And since that first conversation, extremely uncomfortable and emotionally exhausting for all three of them, she found it easier to confide in them than to her own best friends.

From then on Will had noticed that they paid particular attention to her, always making sure she was okay. They had notably noticed her eating habits, and took care to fill her plate, or bring her snacks at every opportunity. They were also careful to warn her of the dishes they spiked, so that she wouldn't eat them, when they wanted to do some pranks. They made sure to always tell her when it was a "food prank" just in case.

And when the whole school looked at her like she was some kind of monster, convinced she was the one responsible for the attacks of the Basilisks, they stayed by her side, they even thought it was so cool that she could talk to snakes when they heard about it. They got even more closer when they found out she was the one who saved Ginny.

They thought they owed her a debt for saving their sister’s life, but she had reminded them, they themselves had saved her that summer and insisted they were even. While they had accepted the argument, Fred and George seemed even more determined to take care of her, to the point of decreeing her family, they called her the eighth Weasley. To her suprise, even Percy, who didn't exactly seem to be her biggest fan, had agreed with his younger brothers on that one, and been nicer to her afterward.

Will had continued to spend more time with the twins during the school year when she could no longer bear the incessant arguments between Ron and Hermione about their pets. They spent most of their time in the abandoned classroom that the boys had turned into a secret laboratory for their pranking products. She was not surprised to learn that they wanted to open their own joke shop.

They clearly had a gift for this, and it was quite a shock when she learned about their mother’s disapproval. Ms. Weasley had been nothing but welcoming to Will, she had even taken her to make some purchases, which she had described as indispensable for a young girl. It had been a mortifying experience, but easier to accept when she said she had bought the same things for Ginny. Will still had insisted on paying for everything, she was not about to become a burden for the Weasley.

She had a tough time imagining this nice woman going as far as to destroy her sons' inventions but seeing how sad it made them, Will had made sure to always express with great force of gestures and exclamations how exceptional she found their products, and she thought every words of it. She declared herself the twins number 1 fan, which never failed to make them smile.

As if in return for her support, Fred and George had taken on the responsibility of correcting her every time they thought she devalued herself or to let her know when she was pushing herself too hard. They also constantly encouraged her to question things and praised her at every opportunity. But even if she made progress, ten years of conditioning couldn’t fade just like that.

"I know, I know I’m sorry, it’s not that I repress my emotions it’s just that I really want to help him, but I feel like I’m powerless." Will sighed, a little discouraged

"Yeah, plus there’s only a few days left before the end of the year. And you’ll be stuck with the Muggles again for the summer." The twins frowned, clearly displeased at George’s last statement. They knew better than anyone how terrible the Dursleys were, she was treated no better than a house elf-

"That’s it! House elves!" Startling the twins, she jumped in the middle of the room, shouting.

"Dobby!"