Chapter 6: Vows All Around.

"We're fine," came the reply from within, though the voice sounded annoyed. Which she probably was. It seemed to be her normal state.

Harry just smiled and put the bag across his shoulders. He then turned to the two men in the room. He gave a huge yawn, covering his mouth with his hand. He was just that exhausted. It had been a long day, and his trial was coming up in a couple of days. He hadn't gotten much sleep. Not since the night the dementors attacked.

"What now, Harry?" Sirius asked, seeing how tired the boy was. He too was worried about the upcoming trial. He knew Harry was in the right, but this was the same government that had chucked him into prison without a trial. He didn't hold hope that Harry's would be a fair one.

"Let's grab the twins and have a quick meeting in my room. I'm knackered and I want to sleep soon," the teen said, moving towards the door. He had a few ideas on where to go from here, but the Weasley twins were geniuses. The things they came up with were brilliant. And they made a killing with their owl order business. He knew that with the money he had given them, they were going to make a ton of money when they opened their shop. Maybe Mrs. Weasley would back off her sons if they showed that they were smarter than they let on.

Still the fact that their mum didn't know that, was downright depressing. She seemed to underestimate all of her kids. Except Percy, who was now not talking to the family. And Ginny, who was the only girl. The rest of the family would never be good enough in her eyes, unless they worked in the Ministry.

Harry didn't understand that. She knew the Ministry was full of incompetent people. So, why was she so determined to see them work there? He knew if he could find work elsewhere, he would do so. Maybe the twins will let him work in their shop. Not that he needed to work. His vault was chuck full of money.

"Sounds good," Sirius said, bringing Harry out of his thoughts. The dogman was thinking the twins were adults now, and they'd be at Hogwarts, so they could keep an eye on his godson. They were resourceful and smart; they would know what to do to protect Harry. If only Harry would let them. The boy was not the type to complain about anything. His arm could be falling off and he'd say he was fine.

"I'm going to pass for now. You guys go on," Remus said, moving to follow Harry, who had stopped in the doorway. He was tired too, and he really didn't want to know what the boy was going to do with doxies. He trusted Harry to be mature about it. The teen was nothing like his father, who would have set the doxies loose upon the Slytherins without thought. Harry, from what he knew of him, was not like that. No matter what Severus said.

"I need your promise that you won't tell anyone about my doxies," Harry said to the werewolf. "I mean anyone," he emphasized. The last thing he needed was for Dumbledore to know. He knew that Remus held the headmaster in high regard.

"Why?" was the cautious question. Remus looked confused and wary. Like Harry had warped his view of something.

"They will be my ace in the hole. I can't let anyone find out about them. Imagine the chaos that could happen if You-Know-Who knew. He could start setting up accidents with wild doxies, and then blame it on me. Or something like that," Harry said, reaching for straws. It wasn't completely out of the question, but not very likely.

"Surely, you plan on telling Dumbledore," Remus said, as if it were a given fact.

"No," Harry said slowly, trying to word it so that the other man would understand, "he'll tell Snape, and Snape will tell Voldy. Then the scenario I mentioned could happen." As much as everyone said Snape was on their side, he didn't, and probably never would, trust the man.

"Snape is on our side," the werewolf said, though he didn't sound convinced of that fact. Severus never seemed to give them information about attacks until it was too late to stop them. He didn't tell them any movements of the Death Eaters. However, Dumbledore still vouched for the man, and swore that he was giving information in private.

Remus wasn't the only one who was doubtful. Sirius snorted at the werewolf's comment. There would never be trust between the dogman and the potions master. There was too much bad blood there.

"I don't like or trust the man. He has been on my case since day one. Any information he has that will make my life difficult, he will use. He hates me," the teen said, slashing his hand in the air at the last sentence.

"Fine, I will not tell anyone," Remus reluctantly said, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see his only remaining friend look at him with hard eyes.

"Marauder's honor," Sirius said, making sure his friend kept his word. He would like to think that Remus would do the right thing, but their ideas of the right thing differed. Sirius was all for Harry, while Remus was more Dumbledore's man. Still, there was a bond there that had yet to be broken, even after all these years.

"Marauder's honor," the man agreed, then made his way out of the room. He knew that he would keep quiet, and that he would probably not inquire any further about the doxies. No matter how Harry used them. He was a pragmatic man, in so far as he knew there must be deaths in war. Sure, he stuck to Albus's way, but that didn't mean he would stand in the way of someone else dealing the final blow.

That and he did trust Harry to be reasonable. He didn't think the teen would turn them on other students unless it was self-defense. Not even that Malfoy brat.

"What is Marauder's honor?" Harry wanted to know as he watched the other man walk away, not the least bit disappointed that he bowed out. He had an idea what it was, but he didn't know how far it went. He knew the Marauders were tight in school, and that they broke every rule in the book, but what about the law? Would they turn on one another if the law was broken?

"It is what kept him from telling everyone that I was an Animagus," Sirius explained, leading Harry down the hall to where the twins were still waiting. "He had every opportunity to do so when he was working at Hogwarts. Yet, he kept my secret, even at a great cost to his reputation. It was one of the reasons that Albus let him go. Snape pointed out that he knew from the beginning." He had made sure to thank his friend for that.

They approached the end of the hall where Fred and George were pressed against the barrier. They had flattened their bodies and faces on it, like a kid would a window. Their eyes were wide and pleading, like they saw a huge chocolate cake in the store and didn't have the money to buy it, or a broom that had just come out. Either way, they looked ridiculous.

"So, it's better than a promise?" the teen asked, before they got too close. He was making 'get serious' faces at the twins, who straightened up and stood to the side of the entryway to the hall. They did laugh at Harry for his attempt to be domineering.

"You bet," was the answer. Sirius was waving to the other two and motioning them to follow.

"Come on, you two," Harry said to Fred and George as he passed. "I'll explain when we get to my room," he added, making them stop the questions before they started.

"Alright, Harrykins," Fred said, putting an arm over Harry's shoulder.

"We'll refrain for now," George stated, putting his arm over Harry's other shoulder, so his arm was laying on top of his twin's.

They made their way to Harry's room and took seats where there was one available. The twins took the bed, Sirius the only chair, and Harry the windowsill.

"Okay, first I need a vow that you will not tell anyone about what I'm about to tell you," Harry said to the other three.

"Is a vow necessary?" Sirius asked, willing to take one, but wanted the reason. He knew Harry had plans, but he didn't know how far the kid would go. If he wanted a vow, then it might be all the way. He was not against that at all. If he had it his way, the Death Eaters as a whole would drop dead. They were not redeemable, no matter what Albus says.

"I plan on doing some not so legal things," Harry hedged, picking at a string on his trousers, making a mental note to clip it off when he had a chance. He didn't want to look at the other three. They might not like what he was about to tell them. He knew for sure that Ron and Hermione would not approve.

Hermione would tell him to give up the doxies and let Dumbledore take care of the war. Ron might approve at first, but Harry had a feeling that the redhead would use it against him if they ever had a falling out. They might be his friends, but he was not immune to their unpleasant side. That didn't mean he would drop them, but they wouldn't be privy to his secrets.

"I can get behind that," the dogman said, and spoke his vow. He would back his godson, if the boy told him he was going to get a muggle gun and shoot them all down. Heck, he was so okay with this, he will help the kid do what he feels he must.

The twins, always up for mischief, did the same. They didn't know what was going on, but they trusted Harry, and to a lesser extent, Sirius. Sure, the man had been a Marauder, but that was ages ago, and they've known Harry far longer.

"Okay, I need some ideas to go with the ones I have," Harry said after filling the Weasley boys in on what he had in the bag. First, he had to tell them about the bag, so they could see it. "You guys don't mention your experiments around the queen. Sure, the doxies left around the house are fair game, but I get the feeling she wouldn't like your experiments," he said to the mad scientists of magic.

"I get that," George said, nodding to his twin. It wasn't a hard concept; they were her children after all. He knew his mum would flip out if anyone ever 'experimented' on her kids. Even if they were dead.

"What exactly are you planning?" Fred asked, changing the subject, but agreeing with his brother for the same reason. Still, he wanted to know what they had just signed up for.

"There are some people that need put down for good," Harry said, a glint of purpose in his eyes. The likes the three others had never seen before. Sure, they had seen him mad, and determined, but this was a step above that. They all had a feeling that no matter what was said tonight, Harry would stay his course.

"Like?" was the question from George.

"Voldemort, for one. Malfoy senior, for another. I'm sure more will follow. The problem is I don't want them all to die by doxy venom," Harry said, finally looking at the others and not seeing condemnation, like he thought he would. They seemed to agree with him, for which he was very, very thankful. He knew he couldn't do this on his own, but he would have tried. "If they all dropped dead from the doxies, then sooner or later I'll be found out."

"You could teach them to fight with weapons," Sirius suggested as a joke. In his mind, he was seeing the little buggers crawling around the ground with muggle rifles, taking potshots at Death Eaters. It was hilarious.

Lily had made them watch war movies, so they knew how dangerous muggles were.

"That's brilliant," Harry said, opening the flap and calling the queen. He was thinking more tactical than his godfather. Sure, he had some ground drills laid out in his head, but they were mostly for evasion.

She came out in a huff. "Why are you disturbing me?" she said, hands on hips in her normal annoyed stance.

"Can your hands hold weapons?" Harry asked, brushing aside her annoyance. He wanted to know what they could do, so that he could make plans. He didn't have much time before his first use of them would come.

"What kind of weapons?" the tiny blue being asked, never having thought about arming her children. They already had claws and teeth. Why would they need anything else?

"Like bows and arrows. Or small daggers," Harry said, his mind going a thousand miles an hour. Which made him internally groan. He wasn't going to get much sleep tonight either.

"If you can find such our size, I can see how that will be useful," she said, making motions with her hands, like she was drawing a bow. Since there were four hands, it looked weird.

"Fred, George, can you guys do something like that?" Harry asked, looking to the twins, who were the inventors of the group.

"Sure," Fred said, whipping out a piece of parchment and an ever-ink quill. He started drawing up a diagram, making sure to realize they had four arms. Maybe they could use one set for the bow, and the other set would have the daggers. If they could coat them…

"We just need measurements," George added, looking over his brother's shoulder and pointing to something Fred had written. His brother nodded, like he was reading George's mind, and adjusted his figure.

"Brilliant," Harry said again. Now, all he had to do was make his own diagrams, so that the troops would know what he was talking about, when he laid out his plans.

The twins took some measurements of the queen and left the room.

"I'll see you in the morning, pup," Sirius said as he got up with a stretch and yawn. He hadn't done much, and he hoped he'd be more useful in the future, but Harry had gotten what he wanted, so Sirius was fine with the day's end. He nodded to his godson as he left the room. Harry didn't like to receive hugs, and he respected that.

"Good night, Sirius," Harry said, finally alone, the queen having gone back in the bag. It had been a long day, and it threatened to be a long night.