Revised: June 17, 2021 (two revised updates in one day? Whaaaat?)

"Still thinking about Harry?" George asked.

He and Fred were cleaning their room — and by cleaning, I mean they went through random stuff and pretended to inspect them before haphazardly tossing them back into the mess.

"Yeah," Fred said. "I mean, bloody hell, did you see that other boy?"

"Yes, yes, we've gone over this already." But George couldn't think of anything to do except for wait.

Fred made up his mind and grabbed some parchment.

"What are you doing?" George asked.

"I'm sending him a letter," Fred said. "Even if we can't speak to him in person, we should be able to get updates."

George's eyes lit up. "Brilliant!"

Harry was having the time of his life back at the Dursleys. Not. As soon as he had arrived, Uncle Vernon grabbed his arm and forced him to meet his eyes. "Now, listen here, boy," he said, wagging a chubby finger in his face, "none of that freaky business with you, got it?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

Uncle Vernon grunted and shoved Harry into his new bedroom, which happened to be Dudley's second one. Harry was so glad he had let Hedwig out, otherwise she would've been stuck in her cage for an indefinite amount of time.

It started out right enough, considering his treatment. Then an owl arrived, and unfortunately, Aunt Petunia saw it. "Get out!" she shrieked at it. "Shoo!"

The owl flew into a nearby tree and hit a branch, knocking itself out.

"Boy!" Aunt Petunia said. "There's a letter for you." She would've thrown the letter away, but she figured if Harry responded, he wouldn't get another one.

Harry took it to his room and opened it, smiling when he saw it was from the twins.

Hi, Harry.

It's us, Gred and Forge. Listen, we asked Mum if you could come over, but she said you were probably busy with friends.

Harry snorted. Busy? Yes. With friends? What friends? He continued reading.

So for now, we'll just owl you. Unless that makes it worse for you. Do tell us if you get in trouble. We'd rather you stay safe.

Harry smiled. They really did care, didn't they? The next part was from Fred.

Okay, now that Gred is done with the serious stuff, it's my turn! First of all, how are your relatives? They being a bunch of gits?

Percy seems distracted. Usually, he's telling us off for making such a ruckus. Now he barely says a word to us. It's odd. At least Ron and Ginny are acting the same.

Anyway, we have to go. Things to do. Pranks to test. Send a reply if you can, will ya?

Gred and Forge

Harry sent a reply telling them life was going swell, thanks for asking — and then he said what was really happening — and attached it to the owl, who had finally regained consciousness, and watched it leave, wishing that he could just fly away and be free.

More letters came and went, though the twins had to be careful when they sent it by judging how long it took for Harry to receive them. So far, it worked. Until Harry's twelfth birthday, that is.

Fred didn't dare to send in anything after his last one came back with no response. Was Harry in trouble? Did his uncle or cousin do something to him?

"Why don't you go and see if he's okay?" suggested Ron.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" said Fred.

Ron shrugged. "You know how to drive, don't you? Just take Dad's car."

So it was a few days later that Fred snuck out to the garage.

"Psst!"

Fred nearly leaped out of his skin. "George!" he said crossly, only just remembering to keep his voice down.

"Sorry, sorry." But a grin belied his words. And so did the next sentence that came out of his mouth. "But you looked so stupid trying to sneak out of our room without me noticing."

Fred rolled his eyes. Of course he saw. Nothing got past George.

"Are you coming or not?"

"Wouldn't miss this for the world."

Three days had passed since the Masons had visited, which meant three days since Harry had last sent a letter. His uncle had locked the door and put in a tiny cat flap to get food inside his room and added bars on the window to prevent him from escaping. Luckily, Hedwig had been let out, but she sometimes flew by to check on him.

One night, he was awoken by the sound of bars rattling. "Stop it," he muttered. "Trying to sleep..."

The rattling persisted. Opening his eyes, Harry looked around and nearly jumped out of his skin. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And someone was rattling them: two freckle-faced, red-haired someones.

Fred and George Weasley were outside Harry's window.

I know Ron isn't Harry's friend in this fic, but I'd like to think that he'd still show some concern for him.