Advent '10 - December 4th
December 4th - 21 days to go
Harry woke surprisingly refreshed.
He frowned to himself, pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to feel like that.
After a moment or two where he tried to remember just why, he gave up and instead, concentrated on untangling himself from George - who was wrapped tightly around him.
Five minutes later and Harry was still struggling. Whenever he managed to pry one of George's arms from his body, he'd wrap the other one around.
Growling, Harry batted the hands away, and managed to grab hold of both of his wrists instead. With a triumphant yell he pushed George's hands into the air - only to have George wrap his legs around him.
"For Merlin's sake." Harry grit out, dropping his arms, only to groan as George wrapped them around him once more.
"Pillow, pillow…" Harry muttered to himself, "Replace me with a pillow."
In a display of extraordinary dexterity, Harry eventually managed to body switch himself with his pillow and shimmy off the bed. He watched at George nuzzled the pillow and sighed in his sleep.
"Who knew he was a snuggler?" He asked, before an evil grin spread across his face. "This is going in my pensive."
Grinning madly he looked around the room. Then did a double-take and looked around again.
This wasn't his room in the Delacour's…
Huh. Maybe they stayed out too late and got a hotel room? From what he could remember of yesterday they did drink quite a bit.
Shrugging, Harry made his way across the room to one of three doors. The first opened up into a cupboard, the second had him in the hallway where a startled Wizard looked at him as he walked past.
Harry grinned brightly and closed the door. That meant that the last one must be the bathroom!
Mentally cheering he entered the large marble room and stepped into the shower. After a long shower where he had tested whether or not the hot water would run out - it didn't - he stepped out into the steamy room and wiped away the condensation from the mirror.
The first thing he noticed was that his hair was now the same colour as his eyes - a bright AK green.
"Well that's new." He said to his reflection, and then frowned. Was it?
There was something about green…
Brushing off the thought he wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed his wand.
"Tempus."
The words '10.30 am, Saturday 4th December' had his mouth dropping open in shock. What the hell had happened to yesterday!
Feeling his heartbeat pick up he raced back into the room, grabbed a spare pillow and whapped George in the head with it.
George woke up with a startled yell and flailed about until he accidentally rolled off the side of the bed.
"What happened to yesterday!" Harry exclaimed, panicking.
George groaned and didn't answer so Harry smacked him with the pillow again.
"And why is my hair green!"
George blinked, looked up at Harry and then blinked again.
"Is there any reason why you're standing over me naked and wet?" He asked after a moments pause.
Harry scowled and hit him with the pillow for a third time.
By then, Fred had awoken and was sitting, propped up in bed, watching Harry beat George.
"What I wouldn't give for a camera right now." He said, successfully distracting Harry from committing Homicide.
"What happened to yesterday!" Harry repeated.
Fred and George both blinked at him. "You mean you can't remember?" They asked, slightly aghast.
"Damn," Fred looked Harry over. "What did you drink?"
"I assume I drank the same as you. I can't say for certain though," Harry grit out, "because the last time I remember anything it was Thursday."
George snorted and clambered back onto the bed. "Oh man, I am not explaining this one."
Harry turned to Fred. "You explain it then."
Fred looked uncomfortable as he started. "Well, there was drinking, and then we decided to go to the place on Remus' list…" he trailed off.
"Yes?" Harry asked in exasperation.
"And then you drank some weird green drink that we never got the name of…"
"Yes?" Harry drawled out, loosing his patience.
"And-then-you-summoned-every-frog-in-France-to-te-bar-and-we-had-to-leave-though-country."
Harry breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. "Mind repeating that so I can understand."
"And then…" Fred shifted nervously, "you summoned every frog in France to the bar and we had to leave the country."
"Toads too," George cut in, "don't forget the toads."
Harry's brain stopped working.
"I did what?"
Fred just shrugged at him.
"Every frog in the country?" Harry asked, horrified.
"And toad." George added again, seemingly offended that Harry hadn't remembered that important fact.
"How…?" He trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind. We had to leave the country? Is France ever going to let me back in?"
Fred shrugged. "We don't think they know it was you."
Harry sighed in relief. "Good. So," he continued, "I lost a day huh?"
Fred nodded.
"Well…that's not too bad I suppose…" Harry paled drastically, "Oh no. I lost a day."
"We've already worked that one out." George looked at him weirdly before turning to Fred, "Do you think he's got brain damage?"
"Did either of you," Harry interrupted them, "by any chance, get me to mirror call Remus while I was at least semi-sober?"
There was a very telling silence.
"Shit!" Harry cursed and dived for his clothes, rummaging through them, "Where is it? Where is it!"
"Try your trunk!" Fred said, equally as panicked.
"Where is my trunk!" Harry shouted as he threw his trousers across the room.
"Here." George shoved his hand in Fred's pocket and threw Harry's trunk on the ground, resizing it at the same time.
Harry skidded across the floor, almost loosing his towel as he slammed the lid open and started throwing clothes out.
"This is taking to long!" He exclaimed and reached for his wand. "Accio mirror!"
The mirror shot out of a robe that he had thrown behind him, smacking him in the back of the head. Harry winced as he scrambled for it, his panicking making him fumble for a moment before he got a good hold on it and turned it over.
"Remus!" He called out a little too loudly.
The mirror's surface shimmered and then Sirius' face appeared. He looked at Harry and the twin's panicked form before he smirked. "Pup, you want to tell me why you're naked and wet and yelling Remus' name like that?"
Harry could only stare at him, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to grasp the situation.
"Sirius." He said eventually, "Where's Remus?"
"You want to speak with Remus?" Sirius asked innocently.
"No!" Harry, Fred and George called out in unison.
"Maybe you can just tell him that we checked in with you?" Harry asked hopefully.
Sirius snickered. "Good, because Remus is currently tied to a chair at the moment."
Harry looked at his Godfather in bemusement. "Why?" he asked eventually.
"Because Harry," Sirius said patiently, "Remus was all for storming France to come get you and drag you back home when you missed calling him." Here he smirked, "Though I hear they were having a small frog problem. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
Harry flushed a dull red. "Nope." He lied.
Sirius 'hmmed' in disbelief. "So which country did you escape to?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Sirius. We didn't need to escape anywhere. But if you're asking which country we are in now we're in…" He trailed off.
"Germany." George supplied.
"Germany." Harry reiterated, "Which we left in a calm and timed manner, thank you very much."
Sirius grinned. "We need to work on your lying." He told Harry.
"No we don't." Harry quickly denied, "Because I'm not lying."
"So what did Tonks think about you tying her husband to a chair?" Fred asked with a smirk, trying to distract Sirius.
Sirius laughed and allowed the change of topic. "Are you kidding? She's the one who brought the gag."
Harry grimaced as unholy images started to flash in his minds eye.
"And by the look on Harry's face I see my work is done here!" Sirius chirped brightly, "Have fun in Germany boys." He called out just as the mirror shimmered back into its reflective surface.
"The Black's are kinda kinky, aren't they?" Fred said to no-one in particular.
"Yup," George said patting Harry's shoulder, "except for Harry here, who hasn't seemed to have bloomed into his Black inheritance at all."
Fred eyed Harry who was looking increasingly disturbed and uncomfortable about being only in a towel. "Well, we could help him out, dear Forge."
"Indeed, Gred."
Harry stood up swiftly and tightened his hold on his towel. "I don't think so." He grabbed the nearest clean clothes from the floor and raced back into the bathroom as Fred and George burst into laughter.
After all three of them had washed, dressed and had translation spells recast on them, they sat down around room service and discussed just what they needed to do.
"Well," George said, "I need to go get the portkey for tomorrow."
"Why now?" Harry asked, "How do you know we aren't going to stay longer?"
"Because," Fred patiently explained, "We're going drinking again tonight."
"Oooh…" Harry murmured, then choked on his tea. "Wait! No! We're not having a repeat of last night!"
"Exactly." George said with a feral grin. "Which is why we're going to go drinking."
Harry looked confused and then realisation dawned. "You did that on purpose."
Fred smiled, "Nah, that was all you."
Harry sighed. "But just because we're going drinking doesn't mean that we have to go to the place on the list."
Fred and George shared a long look and then turned to look at Harry with their eyebrows raised.
"It was worth a try?" Harry offered.
"Don't worry." Fred said with a grin.
"We won't let you drink any green drinks tonight." George finished.
They shared an evil grin and Harry shivered. "Well if we're going to be skipping the country tomorrow I want to spend today in the shopping district."
George rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said, "You go shopping and I'll get the portkey."
"Sounds good to me." Harry frowned and turned to Fred. "What are you going to be doing?"
"Nothing you need to worry about." He said with a grin.
Harry shivered again.
The German magical district was a strange mix of both the English medieval style and the French openness. But unlike La Belle Rue all the buildings were done in a dirty grey stone which made the street look dull, but the shops compensated for this by having huge, brightly lit windows.
They sold some brilliant stuff as well, including things that Harry knew for a fact were banned in Britain for being too dark.
Either the craziness that came during Voldemort's first rise to power hadn't spread all the way over here or the country was more open to all the magical arts.
Harry suspected the latter as he knew that Durmstrang students were taught Dark Arts.
Harry even found a store which stocked already made potions held under a stasis charm, which really reminded him of muggle supermarkets. He was browsing his way through the many aisles when he found a potion that might just have made this trip worth it. Even if he did get banned from France for life.
The potion in question was in a small vial and shimmered a bright bronze under the balls of light that someone had created to light the shelves.
Carefully Harry took the vial, only to have it immediately replaced. Maybe it was linked to a stockpile or something.
The glass felt cool in his hands as he cradled it. Unfortunately, the translation spell didn't really work on anything written, especially anything handwritten - which the label on the shelf was.
Harry was left to either try and sound out the words and see if the spell could translate what he was saying in any way, or go to the clerk and see if he could confirm what Harry was ninety percent sure of anyway.
Choosing to look less like an idiot he went to find the clerk.
Fred and George found him sitting outside one of the small café's an hour later, still clutching at the vial.
The clerk had confirmed that Harry's first thoughts were correct and what the bronze potion actually was was an Animagus revealing potion.
Simply, it put the drinker into a trance and helped them through the first transformation so that the Witch or Wizard in question could feel how the magic should be channelled and could replicate it without the potion the next time.
Of course, the drinker had to have prepared beforehand so that their mind was ready and they actually knew what animal they were turning into.
Harry wasn't even close to that stage yet. He had just started talks with Sirius to try and convince him to teach him. But this potion would be needed eventually and it could only be brewed by a master at potions and even then it took six months.
To have found it so easily for sale here, even if it was rather expensive, Harry was almost cackling with glee. Especially when the clerk had explained to him that the stasis charm made the potion viable until he actually needed it.
"Harry," Fred said with wide eyes as he sat down next to him, "is that what I think it is?"
"Yup!" Harry said brightly, not wanting to let go of his newest acquisition just yet.
"Where did you get that." George asked.
"There's a shop that just sells readymade potions just down the street."
"Any kind of potion?" Fred asked in astonishment.
"Um…yeah…" Harry said hesitantly, not really liking the gleam in Fred's eyes when he confirmed it.
Fred and George looked at each other.
"Are you-"
"-thinking what-"
"-I'm thinking?"
Harry clutched his vial closer to his chest as the twins grinned brightly at each other.
"Why, I do believe I am Gred!"
"Excellent as always Forge."
"Do I want to know?" Harry asked blandly.
"Probably not, no." Fred said, leaning back in his seat.
"On the plus side I got the portkey. It's set for anytime tomorrow so we can make a quick getaway."
"You mean see more sights." Fred smirked.
"That too." George agreed.
Harry rolled his eyes. "You two are impossible."
"That may well be." George agreed, "But right now you're coming with me so we can get ready for tonight."
Harry stood up and was guided down the street by George's hand on his back.
"What about Fred?" He asked in confusion.
George grinned. "Fred wanted to do some last minute shopping. For friends."
"Uh-huh." Harry deadpanned.
"You don't trust us?" George smirked down at him.
"No."
"That's probably for the best."