Twins' Intrigue

' I totally agree with you, George,' replied the other twin, whom Harry supposed to be Fred. 'We came by to see a couple of dangerous Death Eaters in training...'

'And we found a couple of men after our own hearts,' George finished.

The twins stepped into the compartment and closed the door tightly.

'We couldn't help overhearing your conversation,' Fred said.

'It sounded as though you two weren't above indulging in a bit of mischief,' George added.

'If we were,' Draco drawled, 'why should we share our plans with you?'

Fred smirked. 'Maybe because we are the dominant mischief-makers at Hogwarts...'

'And we'd be happy to assist you with our years of accumulated wisdom,' George concluded.

'Thanks,' Harry said. 'We already know quite a bit.'

Fred sat down next to him. 'Yes, we heard that.'

'Tell us. How do you know about the Marauder's Map?' George asked, sitting down next to Draco.

Harry laughed. 'My dad and his friends made it.'

The twins could barely contain their glee. 'Your dad? Sirius Black?'

'That's right,' Harry replied lazily.

'Which one was he?' Fred asked.

Harry frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot or Prongs?' George pressed.

'Oh, that's easy,' Draco said. 'Uncle Sirius is Padfoot. Aries' godfather was Prongs, and we spend a good bit of time with Moony, too.'

'What about Wormtail?' Fred asked.

Harry growled. 'He's been permanently expelled from the Marauders.' He paused. 'How do you know about the Map?'

'We...discovered it,' George said.

'Nicked it from Filch during first year,' Fred said.

'It's helped us so much,' his twin added.

Harry furrowed his brow. 'Now we have a problem, though.'

'What's that?' the twins asked in unison.

Draco frowned. 'How are we going to use the map if you have it? I don't suppose you'd give it to us?'

'No,' Fred admitted.

'We might sell it,' George said cheekily.

'How much?' Harry asked.

'A hundred Galleons,' Fred said with a smirk, which quickly dissolved when Harry opened his trunk and pulled out a large sack of coins.

'It's a bit steep,' Harry said, 'but Granny gave me some pocket money over the summer. I can use that.'

'We were only kidding, mate,' George said in astonishment.

'But we'll take it,' Fred said quickly. George nodded.

Harry carefully counted out one hundred gold coins. 'Here's the gold,' he said. 'Now where's the map?'

Fred whipped the piece of parchment out from within his robes and handed it over. Harry took it and touched it with the tip of his wand.

'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good,' he intoned, and the map appeared. Harry spread it out and looked over it. Currently it was almost empty, of course, since the students were all on the train, but he could spot the teachers.

'Look, Draco,' he said, pointing out a dot in the dungeons. 'There's Snivellus!'

'Snivellus?' the twins asked in unison.

'It's what my dad and his friends called Severus Snape,' Harry explained.

The twins laughed.

'We'll have to remember that one,' Fred said.

George nodded. 'You two are all right for first years.'

Harry pushed the pile of Galleons towards Fred. 'Here you go,' he said. 'It's been a pleasure doing business with you.'

Fred grinned. 'We may have to do business again sometime.'

'We'll be keeping an eye on you two, Messrs Black and Malfoy.' George stood up, and he and his brother left the compartment. Draco moved over to the seat next to Harry and they both studied the Map.

'For one thing, Aries,' Draco observed, 'we shan't get lost.'

'There are secret passageways, too,' Harry said, indicating several tunnels that led out of the castle. He smirked. 'I think I may like Hogwarts after all.'

'The twins seem all right,' Draco said. 'I almost forgot they were Weasleys.'

'Their grandmother's Cedrella Black,' Harry reminded his cousin. 'Blood will out.'

Draco nodded, then grinned. 'They claim to be the dominant mischief-makers at the school. Do you think we'll be able to top them?'

'Absolutely,' Harry replied, and told Draco about the Invisibility Cloak.

When they reached the school, Harry and Draco thought at first that they would ride up to the castle with the rest of the students in the carriages pulled by what looked like black winged horses, but instead a very large man called the first-years over to a group of boats.

'That must be Hagrid,' Draco whispered, recalling some of the Marauders' stories. Harry nodded. They climbed into an empty boat, only to be followed by a rather chubby boy clutching a toad and a girl with very bushy hair.

'I do hope we're Sorted soon,' the girl was babbling. 'I can't wait to find out what House I'll be in. Gryffindor sounds like it's by far the best, though I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad.'

.....

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