The Awakening Power

Chapter 18: Tributes

* * *

Harry walked alone through the halls of Grimmauld Place, feeling like being by himself for a while. It was quite different from what it was when they had first arrived; when the house had been dusty and dirty from years of neglect. If he were objective, he even had to admit it was a pleasant place now.

But he didn't feel particularly objective at the moment. The walls seemed to whisper to him words of despair, as the reality of Sirius's death was brought home to him. How could he really be dead? Harry thought. It almost felt like the house should cease to exist along with Sirius, as if everything in the world tied to him died as well. Yet, the house continued on somehow, a huge vacuum of absence seeming to draw out all the air.

It seemed odd to imagine Sirius as a young boy, wandering through these hallways, running up the stairs, playing with toys like any child. The Sirius he knew had spent so much time at Azkaban that it was difficult to imagine him as anything but the worn, world-weary person that he had known.

He was very grateful to have seen Remus's memory of Sirius, which gave him a better perspective about his earlier life, particularly considering that his only other Pensieve experience of Sirius had been with Snape.

He wandered upstairs, and stopped, looking at a closed door. It was the door to Sirius's bedroom.

He stared at the door for several minutes, feeling an urge to go in and find some remnant of Sirius. He finally reached out and turned the doorknob, pushing the door open gently. The door gave a creak as it swung open. Harry peeked through the door, and finally went it, closing the door behind him.

It was a very large room, apparently the master bedroom of the house. It looked as though it hadn't been disturbed since Sirius's death, since he could see many personal items still around the room. The bed was unmade, and several robes were casually strewn across several chairs. Several pairs of shoes laid at the foot of the bed, along with several pairs of unwashed socks that apparently never made it to the clothes basket. An opened book was set face down on the night table.

It was rather dark in the room, so Harry walked over to the windows and opened up the curtains, allowing gray light to come in from the cloudy sky outside.

The room contained a large four-poster bed, along with several large dressers and a writing desk. Off in the corner was a sitting area containing several large chairs and a sofa, with several well-stocked bookcases.

Harry noticed some items on the desk, so he went over to take a look. He choked up a bit as he noticed that it held several pictures of himself alone, as well as several pictures with Sirius. There were also pictures of his parents, plus one of Sirius, Harry's father and Lupin.

One picture of Harry was taken at Christmas last year; he and Sirius were laughing by the fireplace. Another picture had Harry on his Firebolt during a Quidditch match, and still another was Harry playing chess with Ron, with Hermione reading in the background.

Harry sat down at the desk, contemplating the fact that Sirius had sat in the very chair only months before. What had he been thinking about? He undoubtedly would've been angry about being confined to Grimmauld Place.

He opened up a desk drawer, seeing various quills, ink bottles and some blank writing parchment. He closed the drawer, and opened another one, and noticed a letter in Sirius's handwriting. His heart sank as he read the partially written letter.

Dear Harry,

We didn't have much time to talk about your father today. I feel like there's so much more that should be said, to make you understand about what he was, and what he became later. Please don't judge him too harshly. He would be the first to tell you that Snape's memory was not his finest hour. We all have incidents in our lives that we wish we could take back, as I'm certain you do.

James was

The letter ended there. Harry wondered what Sirius was going to tell him about his father. Or perhaps he couldn't think of what to write, and that's why he stopped? Harry didn't know. He read the first part of the letter again, and tried to appreciate what Sirius was trying to say. Pondering it for several minutes, he folded the letter and put in his pocket.

Harry got up, walked over to the bed and noticed another picture of himself sat on the night table, this time a simple portrait. Harry sat on the bed and picked up the picture, looking at it closely. He idly wondered why Sirius had this picture next to the bed, but he had to admit he was oddly drawn to it as well as the picture-Harry smiled at him. It suddenly struck him what was so odd about the picture; his image looked surprisingly peaceful. He was so used to seeing a stressed self looking back in the mirror that he hardly knew what he looked like at peace anymore.

He put the picture back down and noticed a door across the room. He moved over to the door and opened it up, revealing a rather large walk-in wardrobe. As he entered, some lamps flared into life, illuminating the interior. There were many fine robes hanging on hooks, as well as many muggle-style clothes.

Toward the back, he noticed a number of large boxes. Curious, he walked over and opened up one of the boxes, which contained a large pile of unsorted photographs. Most of the pictures contained people he didn't know, but then he grinned as he saw a picture of Sirius as a young boy. He looked to be about 8 years old as the image made faces at Harry with a goofy grin. Even as a boy, Sirius seemed to radiate a sort of mischievous charm.

Harry continued digging through the pictures, and then stopped as he saw a familiar face: Bellatrix. She looked to be about fifteen, young and beautiful. Harry peered closely at the picture, trying to see the evil that she was to become, but he found her oddly innocent looking. Bellatrix smiled out of the picture, looking almost shy at having her picture taken.

How does this happen? he thought. It was as if he were looking at an entirely different person, yet there was no doubt it was her. Was she already corrupted when this picture was taken, or did it come later? Did she conceal her true self beneath a veneer of innocence? The Sorting Hat's words came back to Harry... anywhere among you, evil can hide.

Harry dropped the picture of Bellatrix into the box, but kept a couple of Sirius. He closed up the box, and opened another one, which contained a large number of handwritten letters and notes. He pulled one out and began reading, a shiver going down his spine when he saw who it was from.

Padfoot,

Snape fell for it! He thinks he's up for a special Potions award. I have to give you credit, that fake letter was brilliant. I think he'll be on his way to Dumbledore's office to pick up the letter of recognition right after class!! Meet me in the hall outside the office; maybe we can catch Snape coming back out.

Prongs

Harry ran his fingers over the letter, somehow feeling his father in the words. He picked up the box of letters and carried it out of the wardrobe, and over to the sitting area. He started pulling notes out of the box one at a time. Most of the notes were trivial complaints about various school assignments, but they all felt special to Harry. He was particularly amused by ones from his father complaining about his mother and how she didn't give him the time of day.

Harry also read some amusing letters from Lupin, who occasionally scolded Sirius for various pranks that had gone too far. He felt a chill when he saw a letter from Peter, but there weren't many of those. Harry wasn't certain if Peter just didn't write a lot, or that Sirius didn't keep many of them.

Harry was reading more letters as he came to a particularly interesting one.

Sirius,

I think I've found a place to do the Transformation. I asked the house-elves, and they told me about a place called the Room of Requirement. I've already been there, and it's brilliant! Meet me today at 3 o'clock by the library. I think this will give us all the privacy we need. We're almost there!

James

Harry felt extremely odd, thinking that the place were they held their D.A. meetings was exactly the same place where his father and Sirius had performed the Animagus Transformation for the first time.

Finally Harry was about to put the box away and perhaps read some more letters later when he came to one that made him very curious.

Padfoot,

You need to be more careful! I was sitting with Lily and saw you writing in your diary down the lake. When you got up to talk with those girls, you left it open, and I saw Snape sniffing around. I don't think he saw anything before you came back, but he tried.

Prongs

A thrill of excitement ran through Harry as he wondered if the diary still existed. He could read first-hand accounts of Sirius's thoughts about his father and maybe even his mother. He wondered briefly if he should read Sirius's diary even if he found it, but then figured it probably didn't matter anymore.

He began searching the room, starting with the bookshelves. He saw a number of interesting books that he mentally marked to come back and look at, but no sign of the diary. He looked through the desk once again, as well as through the wardrobe. He even looked under the mattress of the bed and behind some pictures on the wall, but still didn't see it.

Feeling a bit depressed, he sat down on the bed, thinking. He wasn't certain why, but his need to see the diary was growing the more he thought about it. It would be an extremely personal link to Sirius, one that he never got a chance to share with him in person.

It occurred to him that maybe Lupin knew where it was. Excited, he jumped off the bed and exited the room to find him. Harry ran down the stairs into the living room, and then into the kitchen, where he saw Lupin preparing a cup of tea.

"Remus!" Harry said breathlessly.

"Harry? What's up?" Lupin said curiously, raising his eyebrows.

"Erm," Harry started, feeling a bit shy about mentioning that he'd been searching Sirius's room. "Well, I... looked at Sirius's bedroom."

Lupin nodded. "I thought you might do that, when you were ready. As you may have noticed, I haven't moved anything in there."

Harry felt grateful that Lupin understood. "Yeah... I... found a box of letters from Hogwarts, that my dad, you and Peter wrote to Sirius."

Lupin looked amused. "I'm certain those were entertaining. If your dad wrote down as much as he said verbally, I bet there was a lot of complaining about Lily."

Harry smiled. "Yes, a lot of that."

"So why so fired up to find me?" asked Lupin.

"Well... one of the letters mentioned a diary Sirius used to keep at Hogwarts... I wondered if you knew where it was."

Lupin frowned, searching his memory. "Yes... I remember. He did have a diary that he used to write in. To be honest, Harry, I haven't even thought about that diary since Hogwarts. I'm certain it's around somewhere, but I haven't seen it anywhere here."

"Oh," Harry said, disappointed.

"I suppose you might try the attic..." Lupin said doubtfully. "I can't say that I've gone through every box up there."

A bit of hope came back into Harry, but then felt apprehensive. "Kreacher is up there... isn't he?"

Lupin nodded. "Yes, but like I said before, he keeps to himself. He just mumbles most of the time. I believe that he is quite mad, now."

Harry frowned. "I guess it's worth a try."

Lupin clapped him on the shoulder, then looked at Harry hesitantly. "You know, Harry... I'll quite understand if you don't, but if you ever want to talk about Sirius..." he said, his voice trailing off.

Harry nodded, forcing a smile. Talking about it wasn't something he was ready for yet. "Thanks..." he said.

Lupin nodded and smiled gently, as he seemed to understand Harry's frame of mind. "I understand perfectly, Harry."

Harry walked out of the kitchen and saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny through the open doorway into the living room. He was tempted to fetch someone to come up with him to the attic and help him deal with Kreacher, but he just didn't feel up to sharing the question of the diary yet.

He slowly climbed the stairs, feeling excited about the possibility, but also dreading seeing Kreacher. He finally reached the door of the attic and eased it open with a loud creak. The stairs were very dark, so he pulled out his wand and mumbled Lumos to light his way.

He reached the top and entered a large loft in the room of the house. There was just enough room to stand as he peered around the room, looking for Kreacher. Some gray sunlight was coming in through several dirty windows, giving enough light to see, so Harry extinguished his wand.

He started slowly walking around. There were many large trunks about, but no sign of Kreacher. Just as he was about to give up looking for him, he noticed a pair of very large eyes watching him from a dimly lit corner.

He moved slowly over to Kreacher, who started muttering words that Harry couldn't quite make out, although he thought he heard "scar headed freak." As Harry got a better look, he noticed that Kreacher looked truly awful. Kreacher had never been the most well groomed house-elf, but he had fallen far beyond even that low standard. He was extremely dirty, looking as if he hadn't cleaned himself in many months.

He tried to muster some anger toward Kreacher, but it was obvious that whatever punishment he might think of didn't compare to what Kreacher already had. He barely seemed aware of Harry's presence as he listlessly sat against the wall, staring into empty space as he mumbled to himself quietly.

Harry thought about asking if he knew about the diary, but then dismissed the idea. For all he knew, Kreacher might try to destroy it if he knew that Harry was looking for it.

He began searching through various trunks and boxes for the diary. There was an enormous amount of junk around the attic, but very few books, so it wasn't hard to figure out that the diary was no where to be seen.

Harry was about to give up and leave when he looked over at Kreacher curiously. He knew that it was pointless, but he suddenly felt a strong desire to ask him a question.

"Kreacher?" Harry asked. He didn't move, so Harry said his name a bit louder. Finally Kreacher turned toward him slightly, although his eyes still looked lifeless. All the previous mumbling appeared to have sapped whatever energy he had, as he was very quiet now.

Harry walked over and stooped down in front of him. "Why did you do it?" Harry asked quietly.

Kreacher mumbled some unintelligible words. "Foul ... unnatural ..."

Harry sighed in frustration. He felt stupid for even expecting an answer, but he felt he had needed to try, to somehow make sense of what had happened. He got up to leave.

Abruptly Kreacher spoke. "He'll win, you know," he said, quite clearly.

Harry stopped, the hairs on his neck standing up. He turned back around, and said, "Who?"

Kreacher looked Harry in the eye. "Him."

Harry knew he was talking about Voldemort. "He won't," Harry said quietly.

"I did it for him, and my mistress, who would have wanted me to do it," Kreacher said. "My loyalty lies with the true Black family, not the traitorous, foul members."

Harry felt himself growing very angry. "Shut up," he said furiously.

"When the Dark Lord finishes you off, he will kill all your friends, too," Kreacher said, cackling madly.

Harry pulled his wand out, gripping it tightly, feeling an overwhelming desire to hurt him. Kreacher looked at his wand contemptuously.

"Kill me. What does it matter? I'm happy to die as a martyr to the true lord of the world. You'll see... you'll all see... foul creatures... traitors..." Kreacher began mumbling again, his eyes glazing over, descending back into madness.

Harry pushed down his anger and shoved his wand back into his pocket as he turned around and stalked out of the attic. He threw open the door and slammed it shut, stomping down the hall, trying to regain control over himself.

He walked into the nearest room, the library of the house. The room was filled with books, with a comfortable sitting space for reading. He briefly wondered if the diary was here, but it seemed likely that it wouldn't be in as public a place as this. To calm himself more than anything, he started looking through the books for the diary.

He was just reaching the end without success when he heard a small knock on the open door. He looked over and Ginny was at the door, looking hesitant.

"Hi, Harry... I heard a door slam, before... would you rather be alone?" she asked quietly.

"It's all right," Harry said, sitting down in a chair heavily.

Ginny walked over and sat down in a chair, waiting patiently for him to say something.

"I... saw Kreacher," Harry said, not totally over his anger.

"I see," Ginny said, with a small nod.

"Yeah. It wasn't a happy reunion," Harry said. He looked away and said, "I'm just not certain I'm ready to be here."

There was a long silence. Harry was grateful that Ginny seemed to sense to not to try and pry his feelings out of him. It helped to just have her sit with him quietly.

"I... found some things," Harry said finally.

"What did you find?" Ginny said curiously.

"I went into Sirius's bedroom. I found some old letters and stuff, a lot of them from my dad," he said.

Ginny smiled. "That must have been nice to read," she said.

"Yeah. But then I found something really interesting... my dad mentioned a diary that Sirius used to keep," Harry said. "I've been looking around for it. I asked Remus about it, but he didn't know what happened to it. That's why I went to the attic. But it wasn't there, either."

Ginny frowned as she gave the matter some thought. "Well, I don't remember seeing Sirius ever writing in a diary during the summer, although he might have done it at night. I would have thought it would have been in his desk or something, but it wasn't there?"

"No. I checked," Harry said, feeling dejected.

"Well, I'll keep an eye out, too," she said. "I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere."

Harry nodded, not feeling very confident about the whole thing. Another silence grew between them as Harry felt the weight of the house on his shoulders once again.

"It's so hard being here," Harry said in a low voice.

"I know," Ginny said. "I know it doesn't compare to your pain, Harry, but we all miss him, too. I think it would have made it easier if there had been a funeral for him, along with a clearing of the charges. I think it makes it harder when there is so little... well, recognition. It was nice that Dumbledore gave that little speech on the first day."

Harry nodded. "Yeah... I have so little to remember him by."

"I suppose our memories of him are what's most important, in the end," Ginny said. "I'm glad we got to see the Professor Lupin's memory."

Harry gave a ghost of a smile. "Yeah... they were something in those days, weren't they?"

Ginny giggled a bit. "Good looking, too," she said mischievously.

Harry's jaw dropped. "Ginny!" he said, shocked, before he couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I'm not a good judge of that sort of thing."

"Good thing they didn't go to Hogwarts at the same time as Fred and George... the place would have exploded," Ginny said.

Harry laughed. "Now there's a frightening thought."

Ginny suddenly cocked her head, as a thought entered her mind. She looked at Harry, but then bit her lip, like she wasn't certain she should say it.

"What?" Harry said, curious.

"Well... I just had a thought... but you'll probably think it's stupid," she said.

"No, it's all right, tell me," Harry said.

"I was just thinking of a way to sort of honor Sirius, the way he might want to be honored..." Ginny said, a bit reluctantly.

"How?" Harry said, intrigued.

"Well, I heard that Fred and George are going to be coming here for Christmas, and staying overnight... and you owe them for those tricks they pulled on you over the summer..." Ginny said.

Harry face grew into a wide smile. "And what better way to honor Sirius than playing a prank on the pranksters in Sirius's own house?"

"That's the idea, although I didn't know if you thought it was too silly or frivolous," Ginny said.

"No... it's perfect. That's a brilliant idea, Ginny. That's exactly what Sirius would want," Harry said, growing excited by the possibility. "But what should we do?"

"Let me think," Ginny said musingly. Suddenly she smirked. "I have an idea... we'll need Hermione's help, and Ron will certainly want in..."

Ginny grinned widely at Harry as Harry grinned back, and then she explained her plan.

* * *

Harry woke up Christmas morning, greeted by a large pile of presents at the foot of his bed. As was normal, Ron's pile was a bit larger, and as last year, Ron was already halfway through his pile. Ron grinned at him, pulled a gift off Harry's pile and tossed it over.

Harry caught it automatically and saw it was from Ron. He began unwrapping it, noticing that Ron had an odd smirk on his face. Harry pulled out the package and glared at Ron. It was a big sack full of Grasshopper Gummies. Ron began laughing loudly; unfortunately, Harry had told Ron about his trip to Hogsmeade with Parvati.

He took one out and threw it hard at Ron. It hit Ron square in the head and then began jumping about the room.

"Very funny," Harry said, trying to be angry, but not really succeeding as he popped a few of the treats into his mouth.

Hermione had given him a big jar of Dangerous Dai's magic broom polish, which was supposed to make the broom frictionless. She had given Ron a beautiful new silver captain's whistle, which he immediately put around his neck and admired himself in the mirror, causing Harry to suppress a few chuckles. Hagrid had sent along a model dragon that breathed real fire, which almost set Harry's bed ablaze.

Opening his present from Ginny, he pulled out a very nice green shirt. Harry appreciated receiving clothes more than the average teenage boy, seeing as how the Dursleys always gave him hand-me-downs five sizes too big. Harry got dressed, putting on the new shirt.

Harry then opened up a badly-wrapped present from Dobby. He pulled it out and stared at a framed picture in horror. It was a picture of himself and Ginny, from the first night they had gone down to the kitchens. They both had silly grins on their faces as they fed each other the chocolate strawberries. Harry glanced over at Ron and quickly hid the picture back in the paper, blushing furiously. If Ron, or God help me, Fred and George ever see that picture...the teasing will be merciless, he thought with dread. Fortunately, Ron didn't seem to notice him hiding the gift.

Harry blew out a long breath, trying to forget the embarrassing picture. They got dressed and headed downstairs to breakfast. They met Hermione and Ginny down in the living room, where they all exchanged 'Happy Christmas.' Harry noticed Ginny giving him a very pleased smile at him wearing her gift.

"Oh, Ron, that gift was wonderful!" Hermione said, causing Ron's ears to grow a bit red. Ginny smirked a bit at him.

"What did you get?" Harry said curiously.

"He gave me a framed certificate listing all my OWL scores!" Hermione said happily.

Ron shuffled his feet. "Well, it's not everyday that someone gets thirteen OWLs... I mean, you should have something to mark it... right?" he said, embarrassed.

Hermione gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much, Ron."

"And thank you for the book, Harry," Hermione said, giving him an embrace as well, as if she didn't want to leave him out of the hug action.

"Thank you for the broom tuning kit, Harry," Ginny said, with a warm smile. "That will come in handy."

"You're welcome," Harry said, hoping that she really liked it and wasn't just humoring him.

Later in the morning, Fred, George, Bill and Charlie also showed up with gifts, which they decided to open before the Christmas lunch.

Harry began opening up his present from the twins, feeling a bit of disquiet. One never knew what to expect from them.

"No worries, Harry," said Fred, grinning at him. "It's our latest product. In fact, we owe you for this idea."

"Indeed, Harry," said George. "We think it'll be a big seller."

Curious now, Harry began opening the gift a bit more confidently. He opened up a box and pulled out a very odd looking hat. Everyone was looking over, wondering what the gift was.

"Let's show him, Fred," said George, pulling out a couple of mirrors, and handing one to Fred. "Turn around Harry, so everyone can see."

"Turn around? What for?" Harry said.

"You'll see," said Fred.

Harry turned around slowly. Fred handed Harry one of the mirrors, and held his own up so that Harry could see the back of Harry's head.

"Well? Put it on!" Fred said.

Reluctantly, Harry put on the hat. He felt an odd sensation on the back of his head as a shocked silence descended on the room.

He looked into the mirror, and saw a distorted face of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, growing out the back of his head, similar to how Voldemort had grown out the back of Quirrell's head.

"You-Know-Who has not returned!" Fudge said sternly, out of the back of Harry's head.

"Everything is fine! Have I told you how great a job I'm doing?" said Fudge winningly.

"I'm the Minister of Magic... for now," said Fudge, looking scared.

"Fred! George!" roared Mrs. Weasley, leaping to her feet. "How could you? You've gone too far this time!"

Fred and George's faces fell as they looked at each other with fear. The whole room was looking in horror between the twins and Harry, obviously wondering what Harry's reaction would be.

Harry snorted, laughter forcing it's way out. The whole thing was so absurd, so Fred and George, that he couldn't help but laugh. Looking at Mrs. Weasley's outrage, Ginny and Hermione's concern, and general shock everywhere else just caused him to laugh louder. Finally everyone joined in, Harry laughing even harder until his sides hurt.

"Only you blokes can take one of the worst experiences of my life and make it funny," Harry said, finally calming down. "I knew there was a reason I gave you that gold."

* * *

"Is it ready?" asked Ron. "I unlatched their door so that all they'll have to do is push the door open."

"Yes. I just added the magic storage potion," said Hermione, grinning.

The four of them were meeting in the library. It was midnight, and everyone had long since gone to bed, including Fred and George. The house was extremely quiet.

They had made two golems over the last few days to use with the prank. Harry had been a bit surprised that Hermione had gone along with it, but she had agreed enthusiastically.

"I also added a little bonus," Hermione said. "I cast a Specto charm on their heads. We'll be able to watch what they see in these mirrors." Hermione gestured toward a pair of mirrors she had propped up on some chairs.

"This is brilliant," Ginny said, grinning.

"What spells are they going to launch?" asked Harry.

Ginny smirked. "Pinching hexes. They also cause the spot they hit to turn different shades of color. They'll chase them around until they drop their wands."

"...and of course, they don't know that all they have to do is drop their wands..." continued Ron. They all laughed quietly, trying to keep their voices down.

"Augeo," Hermione said, casting the spell quietly and holding her wand on the golem for ten seconds. She then charged up the other golem.

"You give the word, Harry. Gee-Oh," said Hermione.

Harry grinned at everyone. "Go," he said to the golems.

The golems leapt onto their feet and headed out the door. Harry noticed that someone had written "Fred" and "George" across each Golem's bottom.

The four eagerly watched the mirrors. They could see the golems heading down the stairs, toward the Fred and George's room. The golems pushed the door open and ran in. They couldn't see anything in the dark, but suddenly saw hexes flying into the darkness and heard yelling coming up the stairs.

"Ow! Ow!" yelled one of the twins.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?" roared the other. "Ow! What's pinching me?"

"Lumos!" one of them shouted.

The room lit up, and Harry could see the twins sitting up in each of their beds, holding their wands. Their eyes grew wide as they saw the golems attacking them. Fred was wearing bright orange pajamas, while George was wearing violent purple.

They leaped out of bed and started launching hexes at the golems.

"Stupefy!" Fred shouted. Harry could see the spell hit the golem, but nothing happened.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" George shouted.

"Ouch, damn you," Fred shouted, touching his leg. "Ahhh! I'm bleeding to bloody death!" There was a bright red splotch where the hex had hit him.

"Wait..." George shouted. "I've got green and yellow spots... let's get out of here!"

They ran out of the room, pushing past the golems. The golems followed, launching pinching hexes all the way. Harry noticed that their aim was very well directed as Fred and George covered their bottoms with their hands and yelped every time the pinching hex hit them.

The four of them were laughing loudly watching the twins running along and jumping up periodically. Ron and Ginny were laughing so hard that they were on the floor holding their stomachs.

"It isn't aiming for their arse, is it?" asked Ron in disbelief.

Hermione grinned. "Well, I thought it was a good fleshy spot."

"You are so wonderful. Have I told you that lately?" Ron said admiringly.

Hermione couldn't help blushing as she laughed some more, looking at the mirror.

Fred and George had reached the living room and apparently decided it was a good spot to defend themselves. They hid behind the furniture as they tried various spells and hexes to stop the golems.

Suddenly they heard a noise out in the hallway and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley appeared in the door. They all abruptly stopped laughing, particularly Ron and Ginny, who looked very abashed.

"What's going on here?" asked Mrs. Weasley sternly.

"Erm, well, you see, Mum," Ron started.

"All right," Ginny said, looking scared. "We're... er... playing a little prank on Fred and George."

Mr. Weasley smirked, but then looked at Mrs. Weasley, as if wondering what his reaction should be. Mrs. Weasley looked at the four teenagers and paused for several long seconds.

"I see," she said, with a slight smile. "Well, come along, Arthur. Let's go back to bed."

The four looked at each other, and then started laughing again as they looked back at the mirror.

Fred and George fought a pitched battle with the golems for several more minutes when it looked like Fred had an idea. He leapt up and Harry could hear him yell, "Abrumpo!" from down the stairs. It was a very strong cloth severing charm, used for canvases.

The view through one of the mirrors suddenly tumbled and then looked straight up. Apparently Fred had severed the head off the golem. Harry heard a few more Abrumpo charms and saw several pieces of golem flying through the room. Finally all was quiet.

"Oh, God, my sides hurt," Ginny said, still laughing.

"Shall we go down?" said Ron with a huge grin.

"I'd say so," Ginny said. "But everyone go down with a straight face."

They all tried to paste on a normal expression as they walked down the stairs. Entering the living room, they saw Fred and George sitting in chairs, looking exhausted. They were covered with splotches in various pastel colors, making them look like circus clowns after a particularly exhausting act. Pieces of golem were strewn about the room.

"Fred! George! What happened?" Ginny said, with a concerned, straight face.

"Bloody hell! These things attacked us!" Fred said, stabbing his finger at the shards of cloth that were formerly golems.

"It's the work of the Dark Lord, I tell you!" George said, shaking his fist in the air.

Ron nodded sagely. "Dark, dark, dark magic was clearly involved, I'd say. The darkest!"

"No doubt that You-Know-Who specially targeted you blokes," said Ginny seriously. "He heard about the Fudge Hats. You can't expect to mock the Dark Lord without consequences."

Fred and George both shot Ginny a very suspicious look. Harry couldn't take anymore and let out a loud snort before he started laughing loudly. Ron, Hermione and Ginny followed suit.

"You mean... you lot did this!?" Fred said with outrage, his brother showing an identical expression.

As everyone kept laughing at them, Fred and George looked at each other and finally started laughing as well.

"All right," George said. "You got us good. We have to give credit where credit's due. That was a brilliant prank."

"In fact, I'll give it my highest compliment... it was worthy of us," said Fred with a grin. "Well done."