Harry Potter and the Secret of the Twins

April 2002

Every one fell silent, looking at him curiously. Everyone but Rose, that is. She forced Harry to meet her gaze and then carefully examined the page, and nodded.

"Does anyone object?" No one answered. "Alright then... the Stags!"

The book vanished and the room was instantly transformed. Plain wood vanished in black hangings with silver stags, stools became comfortable silver chairs with black cushions, the armchair became ornate silver upholstered in black with a silver stag above Rose's head on the back. Silver plaques appeared on every door, and a table appeared where the book had been. In front of each player rested a black robe with an intricate silver stag caught in mid gallop on the right breast and their surname embroidered across the back in silver thread.

The boys went into their dormitory on one side and the girls to theirs on the other. Rose went into the captain's quarters at the back of the room, blushing furiously once more. A few moments later they were all in their robes with brooms in hand and down on a Quidditch pitch. Rose, for all her blushing, did very well as captain, directing practice as though she'd been doing it her whole life. Around ten Albert Quirrell came and told them when their first game would be held: they'd be playing the Basilisks at one o'clock, right after lunch.

Rosa (who Harry had decided was very flighty) panicked, but Rose calmed her down and kept them practicing until fifteen minutes before the match. Then they grabbed a quick bite to eat and gathered in the locker room at one end of the field.

"Does anyone have anything to say?"

"Yeah," Harry said lightly. "Watch out for the Weasley twins, their Beaters."

"Everyone hear that?" Rose said, grinning at Harry. "Watch for Bludgers from the Weasleys."

Harry laughed. "That's not exactly what I meant. They've thrown their clubs at people before. It was because the captain of the Slytherin team was cheating, so we don't have to worry about that, seeing as none of us are Slytherins or cheaters, but be careful. And don't hurt them too much. There's no one to take their place at school."

And then they heard the announcer. "PLEASE WELCOME THE FIFTEEN YEAR OLD STAGS!" he shouted. "THEIR CAPTAIN AND KEEPER IS ROSE BLACK, WHO TURNED FIFTEEN YESTERDAY!"

Rose sped out on her broomstick to cheers from the gathered crowd.

"SHARING HER BIRTHDAY IS SEEKER HARRY POTTER!"

Harry jumped on his Firebolt and sped out after her, screams coming from all around, easily twice as loud as the ones for Rose.

"I GIVE YOU THE DIEGO TWINS, ALICIA AND ROSA, BOTH CHASERS!"

Two figures joined them.

"THEIR THIRD CHASER IS TORI STERN, FROM IRELAND!"

Tori was laughing haughtily as she joined them on the pitch.

"HERE COME BEATERS OSCAR ALBERTO AND MARCUS KENT!"

Their last teammates joined them, and the announcer turned to the seventeen year olds.

"FROM THE SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD BASILISKS, I GIVE YOU THEIR TWIN CAPTAINS AND BEATERS FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!"

Two figures in acid green sped out from the opposite end of the field, both with bright red hair.

"TRIPLET CHASERS FELICITY, ROBIN AND TRACY WIGHT!"

Three identical girls joined them.

"AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, ANOTHER SET OF TWINS, KEEPER REX AND SEEKER ROXIE GERIUM!"

The two final players sped onto the field, and everyone touched down as one.

"FROM LONDON, ENGLAND, OUR REFEREE AND OVERSEER OF THIS CAMP, ALBERT QUIRRELL! I'D WATCH OUT, STAGS; THEY SAY HE ALWAYS FAVORS THE SEVENTEEN YEAR OLDS!"

Quirrell sped onto the pitch and touched down. Then, at the blast of his whistle, fifteen figures on brooms rose into the air.

"AND THEY'RE OFF! DIEGO HAS THE QUAFFLE, PASSES IT TO DIEGO, AND BACK TO DIEGO! THEY'RE PASSING IT BETWEEN THEMSELVES, AND STERN IS SPIRALING AROUND THEM! SHE SEEMS TO BE WAITING FOR SOMETHING!"

While all this was happening, Harry was searching for the elusive Golden Snitch, only half way listening to the commentary.

"DIEGO PASSES TO DIEGO... WAIT! IT WAS A FEINT! TORI STERN HAS THE QUAFFLE... SHE'S PASSED REX GERIUM... SHE SCORES!"

As tremendous cheers erupted from the Stag's supporters, Harry caught a glint of gold in the corner of his eye. The Snitch was fluttering behind the goal post that the Quaffle had just gone through. Harry sped towards it, and Roxie started after him, hoping to find the Snitch and catch it before he could. But he was faster. One moment he was hearing something about him pretending to be a Quaffle, and the next the sounds of a score of one hundred and sixty to zero were ringing in his ears.

"CONGRATULATIONS, STAGS! THEY'LL BE PLAYING AGAIN TOMORROW AT TEN O'CLOCK A.M. AGAINST THE OWLS! AS FOR THE BASILISKS, THEY STILL HAVE A CHANCE FOR SECOND PLACE! THEY'LL BE PLAYING AGAIN IN TWO DAYS AT SIX P.M.!"

The fourteen players and Albert Quirrell landed on the pitch as the crowd filed out. Fred and George vigorously shook Rose's tiny hand at Quirrell's direction, heartily congratulated Harry, and then everyone was walking back to their cabins, chatting excitedly.

"Hey, look!" squealed Rosa, whose twin rolled her eyes behind her back.

But Harry saw what she was excited about. Where the "15" sign had been there was now one reading "THE STAGS", under which was a plaque divided into two columns, one labeled "wins" and the other "losses". In the wins column there was a number one.

"Okay, we're halfway there. One more win, and we're the best of the best." Rose said happily. "Take a break and meet on our field for practice at three o'clock. I want to talk to Harry. I have some ideas on plays... for when the Snitch doesn't show up in the first ten minutes." She walked over and opened the door to her quarters. She was about to step inside when she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Aren't you coming, Harry? I have an office in here. Actually, it's practically a house in its self."

Harry hesitated a moment longer, and then followed her inside.

There was an office in there- kind of. If you can call two fat armchairs across a little table from each other an office. Rose sat down in one and waved for Harry to sit across from her. When he sat down she studied him very seriously for a moment, and then sighed, shaking her head.

"Harry, I didn't really call you in here to talk about tactics. You don't need my help with that. I wanted you to know that my father is-"

"My godfather," Harry said, cutting her off. "I've known for a while."

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Harry spoke again. "What would you do if you found out that he was innocent?"

Rose blinked and looked at him curiously. "Well... I don't know. Mum would move us into the manor right away. I'd want to get to know him, and have him be my father again. That's the one thing I've always wanted- a father."

Harry smiled. "You're in luck, Rose," he said seriously. "He is."

Rose stared at him, mouthing wordlessly. "You mean," she said when she found her voice, "that my dad is really innocent?"

Harry nodded and gave her a mischievous grin. "He's about as innocent as, oh, Fred and George." Rose snorted. "Put together." She started laughing right out. "And from what I hear, my dad was almost as bad." Harry felt an odd regret as he said that, causing his grin to fade. His father, who he'd never met except as memory and reflection, an image in the Mirror of Erised, the memory the Dementors brought to the surface, and the shadow of him, when Voldemort had returned. He shook himself mentally and continued. "Anyway, Sirius is staying with me for the rest of the summer, and I'll probably see him sometimes during the school year."

"I wish we could prove that he's innocent."

"We're working on that."

"Okay, is there some way I could meet him? I mean, he is my father."

Harry had to think for a moment before it hit him. When it hit him, though, it hit him hard. "I see Sirius sometimes during the school year. The first time, I'll take you with me."

Rose smiled. "You're a good person, Harry Potter. Harry Potter the Parselmouth." She started. "That reminds me, there's a large boa in the... oh, I guess you'd call it the big office. I don't suppose..."

Harry nodded. "I'll talk to it. Though there aren't any boas native to Britain."

The large office looked just like the small office, except it was bigger, had more fat arm chairs, and had a window under which a large snake lay coiled. Those glistening brown coils seemed familiar, somehow... but where would Harry have seen it before?

Then he was hit with another ton of bricks. He'd seen it at the zoo, five years ago now. A Brazilian Boa Constrictor that he accidentally set loose before he knew he was a Wizard. "Hello," Harry said in Parseltongue, "aren't you the Brazilian Boa Constrictor I set loose at the zoo five years ago?"

The boa lifted its head opening its beady eyes. "Sí, amigo. Thank you again. It's good to be free, even if I can't get to Brazil."

"You can't? I'm sorry. I don't suppose you could leave my friend alone, could you? I think you make her a little nervous. Though she handled it very well. Some girls will run screaming from the room if they even think they glimpse a snake."

"There was no one here when I got here."

"We'll only be here two more days. So would you mind leaving for a couple of days? Or..." he almost had an idea... it was coming... it hit him. "You could be my familiar. I think it's traditional for Parselmouths to have snake familiars, isn't it?"

"It is, though most Parselmouths are Dark Wizards. I would love to be your familiar. I am Sergio. What is your name, Master of Sergio?"

It was obviously some kind of ritual, and Harry knew what to do through some instinct that came with his talent. "The Master of Sergio is Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter? You are special. It is an honor to be your familiar. You are they only one to gain the talent after birth, though you were destined from before your birth to commune with us. You are the one who will purge evil from the serpent tongue."

Harry felt himself going red. "Follow me, Sergio." Then he switched to English. "It's taken care of, Rose. Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No, go on back." She looked slightly nervous.

"You've never seen anyone speak Parseltongue before. Of course. The only Wizards who can are Voldemort and I. I should have warned you. Ron said it was- er- 'creepy'."

"It's not that, Harry. I understood bits of it. Like someone who knows parts of a foreign language."

Harry blinked in surprise. "I didn't think it was possible. Is it possible to know some Parseltongue, Sergio?"

"Maybe. Ask her what part she understood."

"Sergio wants to know what part you understood."

"I understood a part that sounded like a ritual. The snake said, 'I am Sergio. What is your name Master of Sergio?' and you said 'The Master of Sergio is Harry Potter.'"

But she hadn't said it in English. The words had come out of her mouth in Parseltongue.

"Ah, she has an empathetic bond with you. It is something inborn that occurs between twins. Muggles have it weakly, and it is stronger in Wizards. One as strong as yours would only occur with very powerful twins. Is she your twin, Harry Potter?"

"No, she is Rose Black. Our parents were best friends, though, and we were born on the same day."

Sergio subsided, nodding, and Harry turned to Rose. "When you told us what part you understood, it was in Parseltongue. Sergio says that what happened is the result of an inborn empathetic bond that occurs between twins. He says that one as strong as ours would only occur between very powerful twins."

"But... we're not twins."

"He didn't say, but either Sergio thinks that our parents being friends and us being born on the same is enough or he believes that we are twins."

Harry repeated what he told Rose to Sergio, who was looking curious.

"You are twins in spirit at the very least. What you say is enough. You both would have to be more powerful than all the Parselmouths in the last millennium to have such a strong bond and not be twins of the body as well, especially since you are of different genders."

"That makes a difference?"

"Very much of one."

Rose was looking a little anxious, no doubt at the look on Harry's face, so he decided he better break the news to her. "Rose, we're twins of the spirit, and either we're normal twins or we're both more powerful than all the Parselmouths of the last millennium put together."

They were both silent for a moment before Rose spoke, very timidly. "Harry- if we are twins, then who are our parents? Lily and James or Maralin and Sirius? Or are they someone else entirely?"

Harry went suddenly stiff, his mind working both exceptionally slowly and impossibly fast. If they were twins, then Harry might not be an orphan... except it was impossible with his resemblance to his father.

"What if they don't know?"

"I doubt it."

Rose blinked. "You're right, Harry. We can't be twins. There's just no way. You can go now. Bye."

"Bye."

Harry left, Sergio trailing behind him as if he was a shadow. The rest of the team was sitting in the central room, and the glossy brown boa attracted several odd looks. Five, to be exact. Harry ignored them and led Sergio into the boy's dormitory.

"Stay here."

"Yes, master."

They practiced until dinner, when Rose and Harry sat alone, talking in hushed voices, ignoring the suspicious looks their other five teammates were throwing them.

"Could I write to him, d'you think?"

"I think it would be more fun to have you just turn up with me when I visited Sirius. Don't you? I mean, if you don't want to wait, then I can get a letter to him..."

"No it'll be okay to wait. The look on his face should be great to see. He probably won't recognize me, unless I look like him. I look nothing like my mum."

"You look nothing like your dad, either. I've even got a picture of him... from before. At my parent's wedding."

"Hey, Harry, you staked her out before we could get to her!" said Fred, bounding over.

Rose turned as red as Harry did. "We're just friends." he said venomously, but quietly. "We're practically brother and sister!"

"I'd believe it," George said, joining his twin.

"You even blush the same."

"Though you're not brother and sister. You could go out."

"I thought you liked her," Harry said a little irritably.

"She's really good looking," Fred said appraisingly.

"Exotic," Gorge countered in competitively.

"Beautiful."

"Perfect."

"Even prettier than Fleur," Fred finished, looking pleased with himself.

"Fleur's part veela," Harry said in a very offhand manner, causing Rose to smile and giggle, turning, if possible, even redder.

Fred, however, rolled his eyes. "We noticed last year."

"Along with every other male in the whole school."

"And some particularly jealous females."

"But she really wasn't as pretty as she seemed," George said thoughtfully.

"It was mostly veela magic," Fred agreed.

George grinned. "Which had Ron drooling all over her."

"She was really snobby until I saved her little sister," Harry said. "And then she was a lot nicer to me and Ron, 'cause Ron helped get her back to the shore."

"Who's Ron?" Rose asked, her interest piqued.

"Our little brother," Fred said gravely, a positively wicked glint in his eye, matched by his twin's.

"Really? Is he also a good Quidditch player?"

"He's not even a reserve," George said blandly.

"How old is he?"

"Fifteen, and his personality's different, too," Harry said, seeing where the conversation was going. "But, that's bound to happen with him the youngest of six boys, only older then his little sister, Ginny."

"Who has a crush on our esteemed Seeker," George said evilly.

"The famous Harry Potter," Fred clarified.

Rose glanced at him, a mischievous little smile playing on her face. "Really? And what d'you think of her?"

Harry shrugged. "It kind of gets old. She's not the only one. I don't remember how many girls asked me to the ball last year, and I have no idea how many were waiting for me to ask them. Luckily we won't have the Yule Ball this year, as the Tri-Wizard Tournament won't be held at Hogwarts if it's held at all."

"So," Rose said suddenly, as though sensing his discomfort. "What are you two doing for the Captain's chair, as there are two of you?"

Identical evil grins appeared on Fred and George's faces. "Well," Fred said slowly, "We're much faster than the little sixteen year olds, especially as we thought to use our brooms, so when it was decided that we'd both captain-"

"-to keep from them having to choose between two such magnificent specimens as ourselves, than we just stole their captain's chair. The easiest thing we've ever done." George had picked up where Fred had dropped off without even missing a beat.

The rest of the meal proceeded in silence. In fact, Harry and Rose didn't talk anymore that night, as if they had reached an unspoken truce to leave everything until the next day.