Parseltongue- Harry speaking ; snakes speaking

'mind talking/ communicating'

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Harry sighed as the last person left the changing room. He knew as a Quidditch player, he would have to change in front of the other team players, since they didn't want to waste time, but he was still uncomfortable taking off anything above his shirt in front of people. Luckily, his status as a king helped him insure that the Slytherin players could go back to their house with him joining a few minutes later.

Harry quickly turned back around and took off his shirt. HIs torso was a part of his body he hated, but he made sure not to show it in favor of giving the Dursleys pleasure of what they wanted to see. He traced over his chest and stomach with his finger, memories flashing in his mind. He sighed yet again and moved to grab his school shirt, but before he could do so, he heard the door opening and two familiar voices.

"Hey Harry!"

"That was a-" Fred stopped as he looked at the little boy in front of him. Harry's eyes widened as he quickly turned around. All the joking from both twins were gone as they observed the sight in front of them. The boy was covered in scars. Big ones, small ones, round ones, thin ones, burn marks, whip marks, ribs poking out slightly, basically everything you could imagine. There were some places where you could see some new scars, yet there were some places where the scars looked years old.

Harry's green eyes widened with panic as he saw the Weasley twins gaze at him. More specifically, his scars. He hated them because to him, it showed that he was weak, it showed him he deserved the punishments the Dursleys gave. But he didn't want his friends to see this. He finally had not one friend, but a whole group. He didn't want them to consider him a freak. Harry started to panic the longer the two boys gazed at his torso. His eyes became blurry, even with his glasses. He tried to step back but tripped on a stray broom. He fell and hit his back onto the cool lockers, which didn't help his panicking. His senses started closing in. He knew he was having a panic attack, and he knew he needed to calm down, or Vernon would punish him even more. But he couldn't remember how to.

Suddenly, Harry felt himself enveloped in warmth. It was so shocking he paused midway into his panicking. He became totally silent, freezing as he wondered what was going on around him. He noticed some sounds entering his ears. It sounded like someone was trying to talk to him. There was familiar magic surrounding him, but he couldn't decipher who.

"There, there, Harry. It's alright. Breathe." Fred's voice registered in his brain. Harry opened his eyes to find two redheads next to him. Their arms were around him, holding him like he was a precious artifact. Tears formed in his eyes, but he tried to will them away.

"It's alright Harry. We won't judge you." As soon as the words left George's mouth, the dam that Harry built around himself broke. He curled up even deeper in their arms, apologizing again and again. The twins let him cry, knowing he needed it.

From the beginning, they knew there was something wrong with the raven. He was very quiet, flinching almost every time someone surprised or touched him, and quickly retracted whenever they made contact. He didn't know some basic things that were normal for many people like hugging and ruffling hair, and he seemed lost when someone complimented him.

But the biggest giveaway were his eyes. They were brilliant shades of green, all mixing together to create two gems. Yet they were empty, only holding pain. Comparing it to the first time they had seen him to now, they would say this was the brightest they had seen them, which was still very dull.

This saddened the twins. They had come to think of Harry as a younger brother, and cared for him very much. They wanted to help him, but before that he needed to let them in.

After a while, Harry stopped crying a bit. It felt like a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he could breathe a bit easier.

"Feel better?" Fred softly whispered. Harry nodded his head, and hesitantly put his head on Fred's shoulder. Instead of pushing him away like he had expected, Fred leaned his head on top of the younger boy's.

"S-sorry," Harry whispered.

"It's alright Harry," George said, running his hand through the messy locks.

"No need to apologize."

"Yeah, pretty sure it's normal."

The twins were acting carefree and their usually happy selves, but what gave away their true feelings was that they were not completing each other's sentences. Albeit short, they were talking in full sentences. But Harry didn't need to know that.

"You okay now?"

Once again Harry nodded.

"Great."

"Go put on your clothes."

"Fast."

"Then let's head back."

"Our friends might be worried."

"And you're probably missing the Slytherin party."

"Party?" Harry asked.

"Yea," Fred nodded.

"Happens in every common room if you've won a match," George continued.

"And Slytherin won this one."

"The parties are wild," George grinned.

"Mhm, we've been to everyone."

"But don't tell anyone."

It was confusing to watch the twins go back and forth, to say the least. Even more confusing that they were talking normally to Harry, without a hint of anger or disgust. Only fondness and excitement.

Yet in reality they were hiding barely concealed anger. Oh how they wanted to find out who had done this to their little brother and make them pay. How they wanted them to cry for mercy. How they wanted to make them remember the pain Harry felt on their persons. It was time to create more prank products. But now was not the time. Having younger siblings, they basically knew what to do at what time. And right now was not the time to release anger.

George noticed Harry's conflictment. He gave a look to his twin.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "You guys are...not angry or disgusted with me...?"

The twins were horrified.

"Why would you think that, Harry?"

"Of course not!"

"B-but...you saw my...s-scars....You d-don't think I-I'm a f-freak...?" At this the twins dropped their facade. They knelt in front of him, watching with sadness as he flinched and avoided eye contact.

"Harry, you are not a freak," Fred stated firmly.

"B-but-"

"No buts," George cut him off. "There is no reason for you to be a freak. Actually, the people who did that to you are the freaks, hurting such a wonderful boy like you."

Harry's eyes widened at that. But there was still doubtness in them.

Fred sighed.

"Look, Harry, right now is not the time to talk. It's getting late, and the rest must be searching the whole bloody school for us." As if on cue, the doors of the locker room started banging. "I promise we'll talk later, alright? But remember, you are not a freak."

Harry could only nod.

"You're now adopted by us!" George exclaimed.

"Yeah, you are now our younger brother!"

"Move out of the way, Ronnikins-"

"-it's time for Har-bear to take the spotlight!" They all giggled, Harry flushing at the nickname, but it was cut short by another bang on the locker. Harry quickly changed, then the three headed out to meet their friends and enjoy the party and the rest of the day.

But in the back of their heads, the devil twins were wondering who would become their newest lab rats. Oh, how they would love to beat- they mean meet them.