Friend Since Birth

*****
Halloween arrived in its typical fashion, with excited students chattering away constantly at the ideas for the feast and the influx of sweets and trinkets from parents and relatives alike. The twins sold record numbers of the prank products they’d deemed safe to sell. And Harry grew more and more withdrawn.

Something Arianna picked up on quickly.

Harry was a bit surprised at that, but the twins knew it was because his sister watched him far more than anyone knew. And was able to make the connection as to why easier than anyone else. Fred knew it would be the same for any of the Weasleys if they lost Arthur. Molly was questionable, but Fred had no doubt they’d at least celebrate yearly on the anniversary if she were to die at this point. Neither he nor his twin would really miss her now, not after what she’d done to them over the years. Or what they were discovering she was guilty of beyond how she treated them.

But Harry didn’t have that excuse. He barely remembered his parents, but he did remember their deaths. The sounds he heard every time a Dementor came close to him was the first time he’d heard his parents, from what he’d told them. And the first time he heard either speak without being terrified was when Voldemort was trying to kill him at the end of last school term when the shades of his parents came out of the madman’s wand during their uneven duel in the graveyard.

Not exactly the best memories to have of his parents on the anniversary of their death, let alone be the only memories available when thinking of them beyond abstract ideas.

So the Twins did what they’d always done, whether Harry was their soulmate or not. They set about distracting him, with occasional help from Arianna.

Which is how random doorways now sported a charm to change someone’s hair color every time they walked through it. It was not uncommon for someone to have five different hair colors in the course of a day and it would only return to normal at the end of November. And all the baths now had a literal fleet of rubber ducks in them, as a nod to their father’s fascination with the muggle toys. They were spelled so they could only be removed once every professor had tried and then only when Flitwick attempted it a second time. They also may have added a subtle spell to have the ducks chase whoever was attempting to bathe in the larger baths.

The slinkies they’d found in Harry’s things made for an interesting break from another horrible class with the Umbitch, once they’d figured out what they were and how they worked. Fred and George timed it specifically to interrupt the fifth year’s double class with her. How she’d managed to browbeat Harry back into her class, no one was quite sure, but he’d attended for a few weeks, even if he did nothing Umbitch scheduled for the day and used the time to plan for their defense study sessions. The look on her face when the loudly singing slinkies walked themselves passed the door to the classroom in search of another staircase to go down was priceless and they were extremely glad they’d learned the more advance disillusionment charms early so they could witness the reactions to their pranks without worry of reprisal. It didn’t stop Harry from staring at them, but they were strangely alright with that.

They scurried back to the Room of Requirement when Umbitch started her rampage through the corridors, demanding information on who had let the musical metal monstrosities loose.
Only to freeze just inside the door at the sight of their older brother kissing Harry’s older sister quite passionately.

Fred couldn’t contain his squeak of surprise and the pair pulled apart quickly, Charlie blushing redder than his hair and Arianna just looking smug.

“Menaces,” she greeted, smiling at them as she wrapped an arm lazily around Charlie’s waist. “I assume that was you loosing the slinkies?”

“Might of,”

“Been, but”

“We’ll never”

“Tell,” they said automatically, still a bit stunned.

“Well, let’s just hope they don’t get into the Chamber,” Arianna said with a laugh. “I don’t envy you if they all end up singing to Regulus.”

The twins gulped, not having considered that. If there was one thing they’d learned about the younger Black, he did not take pranks well. Especially if he was the target of them. His response was far more Slytherin than Gryffindor and they’d only made the mistake once so far since the man had woken over the summer. And never while confined to a castle with him. Pregnant or not, he was not one to mess with.

“Ah, good thinking, Hogwarts,” Arianna said with a smile.

Fred looked at her curiously, since the castle hadn’t bothered to use her magicked voice in the room.

“She’s creating a stair to the towers, so the slinkies can start all over again,” Arianna explained. “They’ll be moving, so the slinkies won’t have to try and go up the stairs.”

Fred and George exchanged an excited glance and then turned to bow deeply to Arianna.

“Thank you, Lady Hogwarts, and Castle Hogwarts, for the assist in distracting our lovely little Harrikins,” they said in unison, causing Charlie to chuckle at them and Arianna to outright laugh.

“Daughter of the Marauders, dear Menaces,” she said. “Who do you think gave him the slinkies?”

Fred’s eyes alighted in delight, instantly demanding information on the charms she used on the muggle toys. His mind was whirling with new ideas and he shoved the thought at his brother that they would need to make a trip to the muggle world to visit a toy shop in the near future.

“Now, what’s this about distracting Harry?” Arianna asked and Fred winced. They’d been hoping she’d ignore that part of their thanks….

“It’s Halloween,” they said together. Arianna narrowed her eyes at them then sighed.

“And the rest of the school is idiotic and think it’s a grand time and have no clue why Harry’s not just as thrilled,” she summarized. They nodded and she sighed again, pulling away from Charlie and going to her bag. “I was hoping to be wrong about that, but I figured I wouldn’t be. So I had this pulled from the Evans vault. I wish I was able to deliver this to him myself, but with where we are and how mad the rest of the school is right now, I don’t think that’s a good idea, even with the Cloak. Too many people will be looking for him tonight so he can’t sneak here, either. Can you take it to him? If he presses the center of each with his magic, he’ll get a nice surprise. But make sure he’s only around those he trusts or alone. And tell him it’s from Sharpclaw. He’ll get it.”

With that, she handed over a thick, leather-bound tomb, a familiar crest etched carefully into the cover. Fred held it tightly, already suspecting what it was and grateful to this woman who looked to soon be his sister. Both for the gift and for trusting them to deliver such a precious family heirloom.

“Thank you,” he said seriously, typical smile and mischief absent.

Arianna just smiled at him and nodded, before almost gleefully rushing back to Charlie to continue snogging him.

Fred groaned, burying his head in George’s shoulder.

“Is that necessary?” George complained. “We’re meant to be hiding.”

“You’ve got other places to hide,” Charlie pointed out when he came up for air, only to be pulled back in by a laughing Arianna.

Fred looked at his brother, his plan already forming. George looked wary but nodded. Fred made sure to store the present for Harry in his bag, carefully applying an almost silent protective charm on it for another layer of safety. Then they turned to the two and shouted a spell together. The jet of water hit the pair just as the twins were turning to the door to make a hasty retreat.

“I will get you for that,” Arianna’s shout followed them down the hall a bit and they tried not to laugh too loudly. They were still hiding.

*****
Harry really hated this year. In the weeks since the howlers, Umbridge had doubled down on his detentions. His hand was never going to be the same and it was getting hard to hide the marks. He’d gotten pretty good with glamours as a result. It also sort of killed him a bit to lie to Arianna, but he could handle this. She was busy.

Having her in the castle, though, was a boon. More often than not, he, Ron, and Hermione were in the Room of Lost and Hidden Things with her and Charlie, working on homework while the pair sorted through the various things Hogwarts called up for them. It was their compromise so they could still be around without Hermione having a panic attack at what they were throwing away. Occasionally, they even helped move some of the larger items, but for the most part, Hogwarts just kept some desks cleared by the door for them to work on, randomly supplying ink wells or quills when needed. Harry probably had every color under the sun in ink now.

Ron was even helping to nurse the owls back to full health. Pig was a bit jealous, but once Ron brought the little owl with him one time, he’d made quick friends with the smaller of the two Charlie had kept with them. The other, a large fish owl normally found in Russia, took to mothering all the owls she met once she was in better health. Pig preened at the attention while Hedwig bore it with some exasperation. Archimedes just gave the owl version of a chuckle whenever the larger owl tried to preen him.

Yet spending almost all his time in class, teaching almost the whole school defense, detentions, and trying not to go insane with the stress were not really helping his mental state and he knew it. Add on the fact that it was Halloween and he had yet another batch of first years wondering why he wasn’t excited, and it wasn’t really surprising that he snapped at cluster of people who thought they knew him.

“Anyone ever consider this is the day I became an orphan?!” he shouted after yet another question about his plans for the feast.

It was only when he noticed the silence around him that he realized he’d lost it in the Great Hall…

He cursed before stalking from the hall and towards the nearest secret passage. He couldn’t deal with this. And he’d been in such a good mood thanks to a large series of pranks he suspected the twins were responsible for.

“Harrikins,” a familiar voice called, causing Harry to almost deflate in relief.

“George, Fred,” he greeted, turning to the pair of redheads making their way to him quickly.

“Come with us,” they muttered together, grabbing both of his arms and guiding him with them as they made their way quickly to Gryffindor Tower.

When they were ensconced in the twins’ dorm, Harry took a moment to look around. He’d never actually been in here before, but he smiled at the obvious lab taking up half the space. There was only one large bed and Harry tried not to imagine why that was. Then he blushed when he couldn’t help it.

The twins seemed to understand, as they only smirked at him and waggled their eyebrows before flopping onto the bed together. Harry felt his blush deepen, but the twins just grinned wider.

“Now, Harrikins,”

“No going there”

“Just yet, dear one.”

“We had another idea”

“For today and besides”

“That would take far”

“Too long.”

Was it hot in here? It had to be hot in here. There was no way he could be blushing harder.

“Oh, Forge, look at that!” George cooed.

Harry may or may not have sent a stinging hex at the brat.

“Why are you two in a room to yourselves? Where do Lee and the other seventh years sleep?” he asked, desperate to change the subject from his raging hormones.

“After fifth year, all students should go down to pair rooms unless they request to stay in the same,” Fred explained, chuckling. “The others were kinda desperate to get some separation from the pranks.”

“And twinspeak,” George added. “They still love us,”

“Because who wouldn’t?”

“But they deserved the”

“Chance to get away for a bit.”

“While studying for NEWTS.”

“We’re pranksters, but the others”

“Are serious about their educations”

“And we respect that.”

“Also allows us to do this.”

The pair grabbed him and pulled in down to their laps, sandwiching him between them and then planting kisses to his cheeks.

Harry was going to die of embarrassment…

“Now, Harry,” Fred started, pulling his bag to him quickly. “We didn’t come here just to tease you.”

“Though we’re not exactly teasing,”

“In our affections for you,” Fred finished as he managed to pull a large book from the depths of his bag. “But with the feast later tonight excusing all students from detention, we figured now was the perfect time to give you,”

“A gift from the dear Sharpclaw,” George finished.

Harry didn’t even flinch at the use of Arianna’s Marauder name, since the various oaths and spells on her real identity made it very hard for them to call her anything recognizable where there might be listening ears. It did make him tense a bit that there might be listening charms hidden somewhere but George seemed to realize and cased a large privacy ward around them just in case. Harry relaxed a little at that before accepting the thick book and looking fondly at the cover. The Potter crest was something he was now familiar with and it almost beamed up at him from the soft leather.

“She said you have to press the center with your magic and you’ll get a surprise,” Fred offered gleefully.

That just made Harry wary. Family of Marauders aside, this was Fred and George. But he knew Arianna wouldn’t give him anything truly dangerous unless it was for his protection. So he hesitantly placed his hand on the crest and pushed a bit of magic into it, thankful for Arianna’s lessons on wandless magic. His talent hadn’t taken long to show, honestly.

The swirling lines of gold bursting from the crest itself surprised him, though. That they licked at him before turning to the twins alarmed him a bit, but before he could do something about it, a familiar voice froze him in shock.

“If you’re not our precious Harry, you obviously have no clue who I am and how little I appreciate others sticking their large noses in others’ business. Enjoy the pink hair. I’m sure it will look dashing. Be thankful Padfoot didn’t get a hand on this book or it would be much worse. But if you are Harry, please enjoy and know we love you so much,” the voice of James Potter announced to the silent room.

Harry stared down at the book, his heart clenching as the voice faded away. His father’s voice. When Harry wasn’t about to die. The sounds repeated through his mind and he pushed more magic into the crest just to hear the message again.

He was on the third repeat when Fred gently pulled his gaze from the book with a finger on his chin.

Harry burst out laughing at the pair of pink haired twins. Both seemed prideful, though, instead of horrified.

“Your father was Prongs,” George just pointed out.

“But you might want to turn the page,” Fred suggested.

Harry chuckled again, but did so, opening the book to the first page and freezing again. A wizarding photo looked back at him, obviously taken on the day he was born. Lily was lying in a bed, holding a wriggling bundle of cloth, Harry’s stubborn Potter hair just visible over the edge of it. James was leaning over the bed, staring into the bundle with a gobsmacked face. Then a tiny version of the woman they knew flew into the frame and barreled into her father. The pair almost tumbled into the new mother and son, but James was quick to react and brace them both. The note next to the photo simply said the date.

“Try the magic again,” Fred said with a small smile.

Harry did, placing his hand gently over the photo and pushing magic into it.

“Harrison’s birthday,” Lily’s voice cooed. “Gods, James was a wreck the whole day…”

“Was not!” James’ voice called from far away.

“Shut it!” Lily called back. “I’m putting in the note.” They could hear James grumbling in the back even as Lily continued. “Healthy little bugger and Ari was so happy to be able to hold the little one. She’s going to be a protective mamma bear sister to little Harry. I love the two of them so much, I can hardly see straight sometimes.”

Harry smiled sadly, instantly wondering when they’d added these little notes and if they did it because they knew they wouldn’t be there for their kids. But he didn’t voice it. He only turned the page. He wanted to get through all of them before he went back to listen a second time. Or a third.

This one was of a slightly larger Harry, a smiling Arianna feeding him while a pouting Sirius glared at the pair. He was practically covered in goop that Harry could only guess was baby food. A quick pulse of magic and James was speaking again.

“Apparently, little Harry already has Ari wrapped around his little fingers, despite her reservations while Lils was pregnant, but it’s mutual, since no one else seems able to feed him right now,” James said, obviously holding in a chuckle. “Siri was not amused to discover the baby has better aim than him.”

“Does not!” Sirius’ younger voice snapped.

“The food does not lie, Pads!” James called with a snort. Then a yelp. “Hey, no pranks when we’re adding notes!”

“Then don’t lie to my godpups,” Sirius snarled.

“Demands the man still covered in baby food. Why haven’t you vanished it yet?”

“It won’t go away,” Sirius whined. “Ari did something to it.”

The voices faded away to James’ full blown laughs and Sirius’ whining demands for help.

“Oh, gods, that was fantastic,” George howled with laughter, whipping at his eyes.

“We’ll never let him live that down,” Fred said confidently.

Harry just chuckled and turned the page. This one had a tiny Arianna with an even tinier Harry perched in front of her, flying around a large living room on a broom. Harry was giggling manically and clapping hands as Arianna held him tightly while maneuvering one handed.

“Marauders already,” Lily said with a resigned sigh. “Ari managed to steal her father’s broom and is currently breaking about fifteen house rules to show Harry what it’s like to fly.”

“How she managed to get the broom is a mystery, but don’t worry, love, I’ll be adding protections to the shed just as soon as she comes down.”

“Let them have their fun, James,” Lily said. “They’ve had little time for it lately.”

“What’s this? The infamous Head Girl allowing rule breaking?”

“Oh shush you.”

Harry smiled again and turned the page.

Here a toothless Harry was giggling to the woman who had him snuggled in her lap, Arianna leaning against her mother’s shoulder and making faces at the baby. Then his father started speaking at his push, sounding far too smug.

“So far, Harry’s over the year mark and still no sign of changing his eye color. The books and healers say it can still change for a bit, but I think he might just look like a mini me. Certainly going to be cursed by the Potter hair, unlike Arianna. Maybe Lils will luck out with the next one and pass on those gorgeous green eyes I can’t stop looking at.”

The Lily in the picture turned a deadpan look at the camera and Harry chuckled when he realized the photo and note were taken at the same time. Then Lily just rolled her eyes and turned back to smiling softly at the pair of children.

There were dozens of photos, and dozens of little insights into the lives of his parents and godparents of the first year of his life. There were photos of him napping on everyone, though the one with Padfoot curled around him was probably his favorite. There were photos of him walking for the first time. Of the time he summoned his stuffed wolf from across the room. James was practically preening at that one, proudly announcing he was only six months old and they’d probably have to put a temporary block on his magic to prevent him from overdoing it before his core was stable enough. There were photos of Remus reading to him, the only sounds Remus’ voice, indicating the photo and note were taken at the same time. There were photos of Arianna flying again, holding Harry tightly as she did a few more dangerous moves and James commenting she’d make a great Chaser with how she protected the small boy. There were photos of Harry wandering a garden, staring intently at a little gnome munching on a tomato. There were photos of Harry hugging a surprised house elf. There were photos of Harry riding Padfoot and Prongs around like a horse. There were photos of everything. And each had his parents talking to him. After the first few, they’d taken to addressing him directly and Harry swallowed hard the first time each said they were proud of him.

By the time he’d reached the end of the pages, it was already past time for the feast and well into the night. Too late to go back through them. When he looked, he found the twins had fallen asleep on either side of him, too. Their arms made a tangle of limbs around his waist and they’d snuggled into his hips. Not wanting to disturb them and too emotionally raw to try and make it back to his dorm, he simply smiled and levitated the book to the nearest table. Then he ruffled their still pink hair gently and eased himself down to a comfortable position between them. When he was settled, they both shifted in their sleep until each was plastered to one of his sides, noses pressed into his neck and arms tight around his chest.

He was suddenly glad he’d gotten over his fear of them touching him. He knew he’d sleep well tonight, for the first time on Halloween since he could ever remember.