The Harry Potter Conundrum

Chapter 4: Who Is Sirius Black?

For a long moment, Harry stood there staring at the sign above the shop. Several emotions flickered over his face, mainly shock, surprise, and hope. Severus observed how once Harry came out of his stupor, he darted forwards and into the shop. He followed him at a more sedated but brisk pace. Entering the shop, he saw how Harry frantically looked around until he seemed to have found the one he was searching for.

"George," he cried out before he ran up to a young man in his mid-twenties with deep-red hair that could be compared to the colour of blood.

When Harry reached the man, he wrapped his arms around George's shoulders without further ado and hugged him as if he feared the other would vanish should he let go. Though first, George was wholly stunned but soon laced his arms around Harry returning the hug while snickering.

"Harry, it is so good to see you again," George said.

"George, never ever do that again," Harry now sobbed against the other's shoulder.

George sighed. "Harry, I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what happened. But I cannot, and I will not promise you that I won't do it again because I would always do everything to protect you," George replied.

Harry took a few deep breaths before he leaned back and looked at George directly while whipping his tears away. "I know," he muttered before he continued with a stern glare. "But that doesn't change the fact that I don't want to lose you...again. So, Death..." he began, but someone interrupted him.

"George, dear brother o' mine, am I imagining things or did I really hear...," another young man said. He looked for Severus at first glance, identical to the other.

Laying gaze upon Harry, he rushed forward like Harry did earlier and embraced the teenager in a hug. "Harry!"

"Fred? So, Death brought you both here?!" Harry asked, still not able to fully believe it. "Don't worry, he knows...well, not everything yet but more than enough," he added when he saw how the twins looked at Severus.

"What would I be without my dear brother Forge?" George said mock hurt, throwing one arm over Harry's shoulder.

"Well spoke dear brother o' mine, and what would I be without you, Gred?" Fred nodded wisely, mirroring his twins' actions.

"And what would the world be without the infamous Devils of Gryffindor?" they chorused.

The antics of the twins made Harry laugh. "How I have missed you both and your antics," he said, still snickering. "Sev, come here," he told Severus.

He stood beside a shelf, obviously not knowing whether he should stay or leave Harry for his reunion with his friends from his time. Harry also flicked his hand towards the door, locking and sealing it to give them the much-needed privacy. Luckily it was lunchtime, and the children were at Hogwarts, so it was pretty calm.

Still not knowing what to think about this entire thing, Severus walked over to where Harry was standing with the twins.

"Sev, this are Fred and George...uhm, did you two also change your last name or is your hair colour all that changed?" Harry addressed Fred.

"It is Weathersby now," George chuckled.

Harry's eyes widened. "Wasn't that what Crouch was always calling your stick-in-the-ass brother?" Harry snorted when the twins adopted an innocent face, which he didn't believe for even one second. "Anyway, they are from my time and two of my best friends. You should be careful around them, especially when they adopt their innocent face."

"Oi, stop telling lies about us," Fred replied with a hurt expression.

Harry snickered. "The only time you are innocent is when you sleep; even that is questionable."