Fred bit his lower hip, his forehead furrowed. "Not yet." His voice was hoarse from the low spell-casting he'd been doing since midnight. "Almost."

George glanced toward the window and the lightening sky. "Another five minutes. That's all we've got."

"Just…" Fred rubbed his forehead and reached for the last ingredient on the oiled wood beside him. "One more."

George nodded, swallowing hard. One hand clenched into a fist as the other carefully held the final ingredient. They'd planned this for weeks - months - he'd lost track of time. Repentance, Fred had said.

Fred added the crust of mulched toad and stirred twice counter-clockwise. He didn't look at George as he then switched the direction of his motion, creating a small funnel with his speed. "Now!"

George released the small ball of dark hair into the pot, watching as the silvery liquid swallowed it up. Fred stopped stirring and sank back on his heels, watching the potion continue to churn as the first rays of the sun came through the windows and glinted off the potion, the cauldron and the long slab of wood.

"When will we know?" George asked, unable to speak above a whisper as warmth began to permeate the room. He sank down by Fred and watched the mixture, reaching out on instinct and grabbing Fred's hand. Fred's grip was tight and reassuring, which made George even more nervous than before.

"Soon, I think." Fred replied roughly as he lifted his free hand to rub his eyes. George was the better potion maker, but they'd deduced from what Harry had told them that Fred had sold the powder to Malfoy's proxy, and he'd insisted that he be the one. "I hope."

"What'll we do if it doesn't work?"

"It will." Fred's hand tightened on George's, no mercy in his grip or in his stare. "It will."

"Bloody sodding hell."

Fred was the first to wake, jerking upright at the sound. The oil on the wood had condensed, coagulated to a strange form, the smoke coming from the cauldron filling it with light and life. His mouth dry, Fred watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as the form took shape, coalescing into the very real, very alive form of Sirius Black.

"Bloody fucking hell," Fred agreed under his breath.

Sirius whipped his eyes toward Fred and George as he joined Fred. "You two. I ought to have known. I ought to have bloody fucking known." He threw his head back and laughed, the sound a mixture of delight and madness. "I thought it might be Moony, but he's never been the bloke to take the chance."

"It worked," George whispered, incredulously. "It worked."

"I see that," Fred snapped, surprised at himself. "Hullo, Sirius."

"Hullo yourself, mate." He touched his arms and then his face. "I'm real then, am I?"

"Sort of." Fred glanced at George who shrugged. "We didn't actually have a body to work with, so you're real enough, but not quite…er, well, human. If your body ever comes back from the veil, we can sort of stuff you into it, but until now you're…well, close."

"Close, eh?" Sirius reached out and ruffled George's hair, laughing in pure delight as George let out a yelp. "Close enough, I'd say." He got to his feet then looked down at his naked body. "Got a spot of clothing I could nick?"

"Yes. But, er, it's a bit more difficult than all that." Fred got to his feet as well. "We sort of need you to stay here a bit."

"Break the news gently?" Sirius nodded. "Rather a bit of a shock to the system. How is Harry?"

Fred glanced at George. "Harry's…he's all right. Dumbledore…Dumbledore's dead. Malfoy and Snape…well, Snape killed him."

Fire lit in Sirius's eyes. "That bloody…"

"Before you rush off and kill someone," George was shocked at the strength in his voice. "We mentioned there was a bit of a problem."

"Did you?" Sirius's voice was smooth as a snake and twice as dangerous.

"Well, we have to ground you here." He cleared his throat and looked at Fred. "To make it permanent, since we don't have a body."

"And what does that require."

Fred took over for George, staring Sirius in the eye. "We've got to get you laid."

Sirius laughed aloud, throwing his head back. When he stopped, he met the gaze of one twin and then the other. "So what's the problem?"

"Well, aside from everyone in the Wizarding world knowing that you're either dead or a criminal, there's the fact that we don't really know any girls that'd be keen to have sex with you."

"And here I thought the bints liked the bad boys." Sirius cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that why you do what you do?"

"Er…" George blushed. "So you see we have a bit of a problem."

"Really?" Sirius's voice deepened as he stepped forward, his pale skin glowing in the early sun's rays. "I don't see that we do."

"You, er, don't?" Fred asked.

"Oh no." Sirius reached out for Fred and pulled him closer, their bodies fitted together, reminding Fred very sharply that all three of them were naked. "I really, really don't."

"But we're blokes," George reminded Sirius, the look in his eyes belying his resistance.

"Trust me, I'm well aware of that," Sirius assured him, using his other hand to catch George and bring him closer to Fred. "And I've always wanted to try a set of twins."