Three Hallows, Two Weasleys and One Broken Girl

Chapter 56: Recreational Blackmail

It was New Year's Eve when Fred and George Weasley found themselves returning to Bolton Abbey and the deadly stream where Death encountered the three Peverell Brothers.
This time they were not accompanied by thestrals, but that is not to say they came alone. The war had changed Harry a great deal more than they had realised, Dumbledore had misled him and tricked him, kept him ignorant and prejudiced without basis. Regardless of his good intent, the late headmaster's actions resulted in a Boy-Who-Lived who did his duty but spent the months following picking over everything and talking a great deal with Neville Longbottom, Amelia Bones, and surprisingly Draco Malfoy.

By the time George staggered into 12 Grimmauld Place, these people had laid the groundwork that allowed Harry to set aside scepticism and pay attention to the things that mattered. The twins had been calm not desperate, as they spoke of their deal with Death, of the deity's promise and Fate's assurances. They weren't frantic, or delusional, trying to charm the cloak out of Harry's possession. The Weasley Twins for all their playfulness, were at their core critical and level-headed. Harry knew this better than most. They'd never treated him differently due to his scar; they hadn't feared him in second year, mocked him in third or doubted him in fourth. They were never swayed by pretty words (unless they came from Delphi), or easily fooled by tricks.

Harry had been able to hear Dumbledore in his head. Wittering on about standing up to friends, about dangerous forces and tempering curiosity with caution. He'd heard Snape too, muttering about brash Gryffindor foolishness and the arrogance of young men who think they are the cleverest in any room. In fact, he doubted any of his mentors over the years would have chosen to hand over the cloak. Possibly Sirius, but only in those early months having escaped Azkaban. But Harry Potter was an adult now, he did not need to heed them, to bow down and blindly trust. And so, after a few days talking it over with Ginny, Harry had made his first dangerous decision free from influence and manipulation.

For the two twins who'd had his back quietly since he'd first stepped into the Hogwart's Express and had offered him the Marauder's Map without hesitation; Harry had taken his cloak and brought it with him to this sullen Abbey, buried in a foot of snow. He'd held it in both hands and followed the two redheads over a worn bridge and stood with them in the cold beside a fast-flowing river. He'd watched as from a mokeskin bag one twin had produced the elder wand, and the other cautiously took hold of the resurrection stone. They'd reached out with their free hands and looked to him and he'd steeled his nerves and handed it over, feeling the cloth slip through his fingers as his family's heirloom was lost to him forever.

A suddenly sharp chill had seeped into the air, making Harry want to draw his wand, but instead he followed the gazes of the twins to the water. There the current was slowing, ice spreading from the shore thickening and choking the river like poison, until its weak splutterings faded. Silence buried the entire landscape, even the snow seemed to hang in the air unable to part the heavy atmosphere.

"Well, well, Mischief and Mayhem." The voice came from behind and Harry spun hastily to see a cloaked figure stood calmly in the snow. "Ah, and Ignotus's descendant. Interesting."
Considering Harry had basically died twice, he thought he deserved to be known by more than his ancestor, but for once he was the bystander and he had to stand silent. He wondered vaguely if Ron and Hermione had felt this way much.
"We have the hallows." One twin declared.
"You do." Death agreed. "What do my masters ask of me?"
"To uphold your agreement with us and Fate." The other now, firm and without doubts.
"I could make you immortal instead?" Death purred, "I could make you rich enough no thing on earth could be outside of your grasp. I could tell you forgotten secrets of magic that would see your names set alongside that of Merlin."
"No thanks." The pair returned in unison, and without hesitation. It would have been comical in any other setting but this.
"Very well." Soft and masculine for a second Death sounded a little like Severus Snape. A slender pale hand jarringly youthful slipped out from the heavy black robes, and flexing the air, grasping another's hand that hadn't been there before, and guiding Delphi Lovegood out of thin air like he was helping her out of a carriage. She looked very different to how she had the last time he'd seen her, hair flat and straight down past her hips, and dressed in a robe white enough to turn the snow around them grey. The handing off and pale clothing was oddly reminiscent of a wedding.

Her bare feet did not indent the snow, and that was the only sign that although present, she wasn't truly with them yet. This however did not seem to matter to the twins.
In a flurry of movement, Fred and George all but threw the Hallows at Death and closed the distance, gathering Delphi into their arms. The move must be well practised to coordinate so many limbs, but it was the most natural thing in the world to see, effortless as ballet. Delphi beamed widely as she curled into them, pressing her forehead to one twin's and curling a hand in the other's hair.
"My boys." She whispered.
"I'm locking you in the flat indefinitely." Mumbled the left one.
"I see that they succeeded." Said a woman that Harry hadn't noticed arrive.

Death chuckled, which was a sound Harry did not think anyone was ever meant to hear.
"They did indeed Fate, and the deal is concluded." He clicked his fingers and colour flooded back into Delphi's body, her cheeks flushing, her hair near yellow against the white landscape, her robes a soft lilac, and her finger nails alternating black and orange.
The twin Harry thought was Fred let out a whoop of joy and kissed her fiercely, but before it could reach a stage that made Harry uncomfortable, she pulled away from him to look over at the strange woman. Harry had known Delphi Lovegood half his life, and he knew that face well. He'd seen it on Ginny, Hermione and Amelia Bones too, and it was a look that meant battle.

"Before you fade back into the plane above," Delphi began, "I have another deal to make."
"And why should we heed you?" Death interceded sharply.
Her eyes remained on Fate. "Because-"
"CEASE!" Out of nowhere, another being appeared, Arabic in looks and robed in ornate gold and grey.
"Time?" The other two seemed genuinely startled, and Harry vaguely wished he could leave.
The person strode forward and brushed Fred and George away to press his hand over Delphi's mouth. She only seemed amused, though the twins definitely didn't appreciate the joke.
Time turned to glare at Death furiously, "you let her wander your house freely?"
"Where else could I put her exactly?"
"Somewhere without access to your library perhaps?" The deity almost screeched and even though Harry couldn't see Death beneath the hood, something in his posture was abruptly sheepish. Time turned on Fate. "Agree. Agree to the demand, or they'll unravel everything."
Fate looked affronted. "Why should I make sacrifices for the mistakes of others?"
Time stared wildly at Delphi and then to Death, and then to Fate. "Because Lady Magic loves these three and will not stop them!"
"...Stop them from what?"
Delphi pulled away from Time's grip. "Death's library has some fascinating lives. Including that of Ingrid Morlock...amongst others."
Did blood flow in the veins of gods? It appeared to be how quickly Fate seemed to gain a sickly complexion.
"Of course, there is not much I could do with the knowledge, myself..." Delphi's smile was positively Slytherin as she reached out to ruffle a twin's hair. "But I just happen to know two genius inventors. Runes, Potions and Transfiguration...three rather essential skills I recall, in the working of Time Turners."
If you were to tell Harry a week ago, that he'd be watching a Lovegood blackmail three deities after coming back from the dead...well, he might actually have believed you.

"What is it you want?" Fate asked carefully.
Delphi Lovegood lost her smile, "I will be the last seer you ever bless with prophesy."

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Epilogue tomorrow :)