The Potter Twins and the Chamber of Secrets

V

Life at the Burrow was really very different to what Harry and I were used to. The ghoul upstairs howled and dropped pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, and small explosions from Fred and George's room were considered perfectly normal. Ron's bedroom was all of a sudden extremely crowded but the only other option was one of us either sharing a room with Ginny (and neither Harry and I knew if she even existed at this point because we saw her so infrequently she became like a mythical creature) or Percy, neither of which were preferable alternatives. However, what felt so unusual about life at Ron's wasn't the noise or the clanking ghoul, it was the fact that everyone seemed to like us. I pondered over that more than a few times, because despite my fabulous and confident exterior I really did struggle sometimes when we were at the Dursleys or Malfoy was particularly vicious with the jabs about us being parentless and unloved.

The Hogwarts letters came a few days later. "Dumbledore knows you're here, boys," Mr Weasley said that morning. "That man doesn't miss a trick. You've got one too, both of you," he added as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pyjamas.

Ginny got a letter as well. She didn't really show her face to Harry and I, due to her obvious fear of interacting with my simply terrifying personality. (That's a joke, by the way. I'm not scary. I'm ginger. I'm short. Even my animagus is pretty tame when it comes to size.)

There were a few minutes of silence as we all read our letters. Mine, as usual, said to catch the Hogwarts express from King's Cross on September 1st. There was also a list of books we'd need for the coming year:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wandering with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

Fred, who'd finished his own list, peered over at Harry's letter, which I assumed was the same as mine. "You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too! New defence teacher must be a fan - a witch, I expect." George's eyes flicked to his mother and back, and at the same time he winked at me. "This lot won't come cheap," he said more seriously. "Lockhart's books are always really expensive."

"We shall manage," Mrs Weasley insisted, but she looked rather worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second hand."

"Are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry and I asked together. She nodded, blushing deeply, and, presumably at the shock of us both talking to her at once, put her elbow in the butter dish. No one saw this except for us two, because Percy walked in. His prefect badge was pinned to his knitted jumper - "morning all," he said briskly, as he sat down on the only empty chair only to leap up again, pulling a grey feather duster with him - that's what I thought it was at least, until I realised it was breathing. "Finally, Errol's got Hermione's answer," Ron sighed, setting the owl down on the draining board in exasperation and ripping open the letter from a rather anxious-sounding Hermione.

Dear Ron, and Harry and Sam if you're there,

I hope everything went all right and the twins are OK and you didn't do anything illegal to get them out, Ron, because that would get them both into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry and Sam are all right will you please let me know at once, but I think it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish your one off.
I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course - "How can she be?" said Ron in horror. "We're on holiday!" - and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?
Let me know what's happening as soon as you can, love from Hermione.

"Good thing you were really legal about getting us out or she'd be properly mad," Harry said sarcastically.

"We can all go and get your things then, can't we?" Mrs Weasley said, pleased, as she started to clear the table. "Yeah, sure," said Ron, starting to turn pale.

"What is it, Ronald?" Fred teased, nudging his brother.

"Ron is in love with Hermione, Fred," I said matter-of-factly, and fell over as Ron elbowed me in the side and I nearly smacked my head on the floor.

"No, I'm not," he said, ears turning pink.

"We'll see," grinned Harry.

a/n

i'm on a roll!
a little peek into sam's mind here shows he's not actually as invincible as he makes out.

hope you enjoyed!
rbg x