A/N: On we go, thanks for the reviews! Each made my day and special thanks to DivergentFanCat for offering to beta and sanity check! Now moving forward, I'll try to co-post the updates to the 'Day We Broke Mum' to when they're happening in accordance with this story, so there's some idea of when Hermione is getting to hear the snippets.

Ch 2: The next morning

"Why didn't Fred ever say anything?" Bill asked as he unpacked potions supplies and George double checked the silencing charm around the combined dining nook and kitchen. It seemed easier to talk about his brother's unrequited love than face the fact that the house was full of people who'd been held captive, tortured or on the run for months. There would be enough of dealing with those issues come morning.

George shrugged as if the answer should be obvious, "Well there was Ron, of course, and it was just a crush. She was a ball of stress between studying and looking after Harry, plus she'd dated Viktor Krum and he figured she wouldn't take him seriously. So he just kept flirting with Katie Bell. We wanted to prove we were more than just lazy pranksters by having the shop be a success, prove it to everyone, really. Not just girls, but family too." His chest puffed for a moment, "Peeves saluted us as we left, you know, and McGonagall even wrote us a thank you note for the gift we left her. We'd put her through stress enough during our years there."

"What was it? You never gave me a present for teaching the two of you how to stop getting caught by Filch in your first year." Bill asked, starting to dice gurdyroot, his mind flitting to how much and little he knew about his younger siblings Hogwarts adventures and vice versa. Percy was the only one to attend school with all of them at one point or another, to always have a brother playing quidditch for Gryffindor to cheer for.

"Well, you gave us detention where you made us study while you snogged some girl, ignoring how innocent we were at the time." George shot back, before grinning as Bill rolled his eyes and gave his brother his best Head Boy look, George's grin widened. "A charmed rose for her desk that would roar when any WWW products were used during her lessons." George grin tipped upwards on one side into a slightly more pompous look, "Transfiguration is really one of the most important ones, I don't think we ever skivved off on that class. Well, on purpose anyway, might have during initial testing when we were still making ourselves seriously sick."

Bill nodded in agreement, only half-listening even if the back of his mind found it a rather fond gesture for their strict Head of House. He was wondering just how dicey this healing situation was going to get with his brothers if Hermione was going to use him as her familiar for a time. He wasn't particularly worried about upsetting Fred, more anxious about how it was going to affect Ron given how he'd reacted the night before at Bill simply keeping her standing. Then Bill noticed the recipe he was working with seemed just slightly off, "Is this right for a hangover potion? Why is this high on the list of what needs to be made?"

George glanced up from the caldron he was carefully stirring that contained a potion for the after-effects of the Unforgivable Curse. "Oh that, we're thinking of calling it 'Muriel's Lucidity Potion'. Living with Aunt Muriel, Mum plus half the Order drove us and Dad to firewhiskey one night and in the morning she accidentally poured Fred's hangover potion into her chamomile tea, thinking he was bringing her the potion for her arthritis. Within minutes she'd gone from being a crazy old bat to completely sane, as if she was still a healer at St. Mungo's. Only happened three days ago, but we've tinkered with it enough that maybe it'll help figure out what happened earlier. They all seem so confused when you talk to them, bits here and there and none of it connecting into an actual story. Harry's practically mute." He frowned, but the businessman was back, "We'll probably patent it when this is all over, could be really useful for St. Mungo's."

Bill nodded in slight amount of awe, he'd always known the twins were quite brilliant at what they actually applied themselves at, but that had mainly seemed to be making people happy covered by guise of causing mayhem. "Any luck with getting any of the Healers there to join our side?"

George shook his head in the negative and Bill's stomach dropped a little expecting the same update, "Not that they don't want to, but we think a fair amount are Imperioused, and the rest are too afraid for their families or patients." He looked up at Bill and with a look that reminded Bill this was his vulnerable baby brother, George's voice dropped. "Was it like this way, the last time? I can only remember a little of it."

Bill stopped chopping for a moment and leaned against the counter, this was a long, long night and one for confessions, for terrible memories to bubble up of from the whispers of time. "Worse. He'd been in power so much longer." He paused, thinking of how to explain it, the fear, the constant deaths, the many reasons his first year at Hogwarts had so few students. "I had to ask Uncle Gideon what the word refugee meant since so many were fleeing the country, hiding and who knows what else. He explained it in a sing song voice because he was trying to get the two of you to settle down for a nap and I had baby Ron. We weren't known blood traitors then yet, so it wasn't as bad for us…."

The last words had been spoken with slight bitterness that lifted as Fred knocked at the door. Bill pulled his wand and asked a security question, darker than normal, and always changing. Something he'd neglected to do when people started showing up on the beach. "What did you do at the platform the first year Percy went to Hogwarts?"

George smiled behind him, but it was Fred who answered. "Snuck on the train so Mum would yell at me for a few minutes rather than cry all day that you three prats were gone and wouldn't be back until holidays."

Bill opened the door to find Fred holding a large box and with another Healer ready bag slung across his shoulder. Bill grabbed the box, quickly noting the vases of daffodils that were in bloom at Muriel's this time of year and bags of vivid WWW orange, before Fred grabbed it back, ears slightly pink. He covered it well, "Sorry it took so long, everyone was in an uproar and I had to explain it all to Kingsley and again when Lupin showed up from rearranging Shell Cottage out of underground rotation."

He set the bag on the counter, glancing at their potions work, "Supplies for potions and food for a few days." He leaned against the counter, though his eyes drifted upwards involuntarily. "This is now the safest safehouse the Order has, given the circumstances."

George opened his mouth to question, but Fred went grimly on. "Tonks is Obliviating the knowledge of it and the location from the entire Order, save who's here or abroad, as we speak."

George shut his mouth, then opened it again at the severity of measures being taken, "Even Kingsley?"

Fred nodded in confirmation, "Especially, Kingsley, he looked rather more than confounded when she was finished with him. He works at the Ministry and is possibly suspected as an Order member. Professor Lupin will wipe it from Tonks once she's done. He's nervous about the baby, but Tonks wasn't the only person to make into Auror training from her year without a reason, she knows what she's doing. So you'll have to go to Aunt Muriel's to see Mum and Dad. Next meeting is in two days."

Bill swallowed feeling guilty, but understood it was the best option under the current circumstances. He'd been the one to send the patronus to the entire Order and the Order had learned the hard way last time with Pettigrew, and this time with Snape how easily their own ranks were infiltrated. "Fred, do you mind checking in on Mr. Ollivander, Griphook and Hermione, while I finish this potion? Yellow room, nursery and the master, but I think the warming charms we set will be wearing off by now."

Fred nodded and picked up his box and headed for the stairs, ignoring Bill's slip of reference to what was now the study, but had been planned as a nursery when he bought the house. There were minutes of silence and potion brewing before Bill and George happened to catch eyes over recipes, "So that's us, Charlie, and Lupin. Anyone else?"

Bill wiped a tired hand down his face, "Anyone who sheltered here on their way out of the country or into hiding was wiped upon leaving. Except Fleur, Krum and Madame Maxine."

George's question hung heavily in the air between the two, the question of how much they were really trusted. Not wanting to step on that potential bomb of Fleur, instead he asked a gentler question, "Would it even work on Hagrid or Madame Maxine with giant blood mixed in?"

Bill threw diced spleen into his second caldron and gave it a stir before answering both the silent and spoken question, "I'm not sure since it works on the mind, while giants tend to be more impervious to spells aimed at them physically, stunners and such. I don't think we're in any danger of being revealed though, but I'll change the wards. There's an ancient Egyptian rune l think will do a small dimensional shift on the Fidelius Charm. I'll look at it in the morning."

George gave a nod then looked as if he was thinking before smiling, "We can also add the more advanced snitch charm we used on our old room at the Burrow when Mom was always trying to see what we were up to and destroy our stock, the wards will glow red and indicate who if someone tattled."

Bill rolled his eyes, glad he was out of the Burrow before the twins became truly and dangerously devious. "Who did you catch the most?"

George was still smiling, "Ron, naturally. He was a major tester of early WWW products, though he didn't know it." He paused and the smile dropped, "Well, technically it was a tie with Percy before…"

He left and cut off all ties to their family. It hung in the air and Bill wanted to wipe the ache of betrayal away, "And Ginny?"

The bright wicked smile was back with a touch of pride, "Never once. We think Harry didn't know any better his first summer at the Burrow and Charlie was seriously peeved when-"

His twin answered, re-entering the kitchen and making eye contact with his other half, "-he accidentally set his shoe on fire in our room coming to tell us it was time for dinner." A chuckle, Fred's good mood back intact. "You'd think for a dragon tamer he would have been used to fire, but nope. He cursed up a storm loud enough that Mum heard and we all got in trouble."

Bill smiled in return, "First you were pranksters, inventors, businessmen, healers and apparently never quite lost the pyromaniac streak despite the fact you broke Mum and blew up part of the house. More than once, I might add. Ron is still convinced his room smells like gunpowder from it."

"Well, we had to figure out how to heal ourselves to keep Mum from losing her mind a second time." Fred said flippantly, "Silly Billy, how were we going to invent the best magical fireworks without playing with fire? You know Dad had the thing with matches after the World Cup so they were everywhere, Mum couldn't banish them fast enough to keep us from getting ahold of a few packs."

George chimed in, "Ron's room does still smell like gunpowder, the ghoul above him guards it for us. We're his favorites, you know."

Bill rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject, knowing they also frequently snuck into the muggle village nearby. "Are you two bunking here?"

George shrugged and began to rattle, "We'll probably be up all night making enough potions for use here and to replenish the Order stock, so there's a good chance. The lot of them are going to need nourishment potions for days, plus calming draughts, dreamless sleep, pain reduction, muscle knitting, nerve blunting and specialized potions for the goblin…" He shared a glance with Fred that only belonged between the two and abruptly stopped babbling, "Besides, there's room enough in the living room where the boys are. It'll be like old times in the common room."

Fred approached the table, nudging Bill from the caldrons he was manning. "Everyone's asleep and warm, our little Seeker was also tricked into a dreamless sleep potion in his butterbeer. I always knew I liked that Thomas kid."

George's banter flew back, "Not when he was dating Ginny you didn't."

Fred waved a hand at Bill, dismissing him from the conversation. "Who are you to say, twin of mine? I never hexed him, did I? Get some rest, eldest and wisest of us all. I left some potions for her and I don't know how she'll take waking up alone in a strange place."

Bill nodded and returned to his room to find it different, Fred's handiwork was evident, but not as drastically dramatic as he'd been expecting. He'd transfigured a fireplace from something and left a banked fire, with a vase of daffodils by the promised potions on the bedside table. Near them was a bag of what appeared to be the more harmless WWW products, sugar quills, as well some books. Bill smiled at the thoughtfulness that reminded him of his Mum. A glance at the bed showed Hermione had already disengaged herself from some of the covers at her feet, but her hair was dry and plaited the same way Fred had always braided Ginny's at bedtime when she was small or had nightmares. He looked at the chair beside the bed, then back to the bed and his tired mind and aching body made the decision for him. Shedding his robes and blindly tossing clothes off he crawled back in next to her falling into a dead sleep as soon as his head hit a pillow.

He'd gotten maybe three hours of sleep before he was awoken abruptly by the loss of his warm blanket and finding the body that had been curled against him now had her back to the wall with her icy feet pressed against his stomach for warmth. She had the blankets and his wand pointed half-heartedly at him, brown eyes wide and alert. Merlin's beard.

He raised his hands in a groggy surrender method, "Hermione, it's just Bill Weasley. You were brought here last night…for safety."

She looked at him, then at the clock to verify something and nodded to indicate she understood, before she turned to the window, wand tightening in her grip. He followed her gaze, almost 4:30 am and half-asleep and dead tired he was, it clicked, he'd worked enough Order shifts to have his own sleep schedule ruined. "Is it your normal turn to be on watch?"

She nodded and a shiver ran through her that told him that something else, a memory perhaps, might have woken her despite the potions. He didn't bother to calculate how long ago he'd knocked her out to see if the potions had just worn off. He shivered again in the night air, despite Fred's banked fire, as somewhere during the night he'd lost his shirt. He rose from the bed, chatting at her, glad she didn't seem to be alarmed by having woken up in bed with him. He wasn't naturally the most talkative person, he had enough siblings that made up for it, but had a feeling he would need to be over the next few days. "Well if we're going to be on watch I'll need some tea or a pot of chocolate at the very least, maybe breakfast too."

He felt her eyes following him, could hear her stomach growl as he opened a drawer groping for a fresh shirt and glanced over his shoulder to watch her reaction, "Porridge and toast, maybe some eggs? I think we're out of kippers and bangers. We should be able to cover the taste of the potions for you, though."

She scooted closer to the edge of the bed and nodded, he pulled on a sweater and held out a hand to help her up, surprised when she handed him his wand instead. He took it without comment and re-offered his hand for assistance, finding she'd shed Tonks' spare robes for his shirt from yesterday instead and still looked swallowed in the clothing. "Bring the blanket," he advised, as he grabbed the tray of potions Fred had left, tossing two books on it at random. "I'll have to let you know, the twins were making potions in the kitchen so it might be a bit of a mess."

She frowned at this bit of information, almost as if she were still a prefect, but took his hand willingly enough and let herself be all but carried down the stairs. Passing through the small dining nook he was pleased to see the twins had bunked here after all, despite the small snores one of them was making facedown on the table next to his caldron with the other asleep curled up across from him on the other bench, clearly unable to stay awake any longer. She smiled softly at the sight, her blanket trailing behind her and reached a hesitant shaky hand out as if to touch his hair before withdrawing it. Bill was even more pleased to realize they had not left a mess; the potion bottles were lined up, stoppered and labeled in rows across the back of the table. Not being sure of how strong her legs were, he gently picked her up and set her on the kitchen counter before lifting the kettle."Tea or a pot of chocolate, do you think?"

He got a rather emphatic nod for the second option and smiled back at her, his voice quieter given the proximity of his sleeping brothers as he set about making hot cocoa and determining what her starving stomach could handle best with the mix of potions she was going to have to take, certainly nothing too heavy to start with. He spoke softly at her, noticing her eyes darting around the kitchen and to the window. "I'll start a pot of porridge for everyone to dip into when they wake, but for us I'll make toast and eggs, if you'd like?"

Another nod and he smiled, handing her a potion, in a soft mimic of his mother. "Bottoms up, dear. Then you can have your cocoa."

A ghost of a smile that made Bill wonder how often she'd smiled since the three of them had gone on the lamb. She drank the nutrient potion and was promptly rewarded with a cup of the warm, special family recipe of hot cocoa. He let her savor it, hunting for the apron and pulling down various cooking utensils, feeling her watching him all the time. It was slightly disconcerting being the object of such intense focus. Straightening, he tied the apron around his waist, a horrendous frilly, magenta gag gift from the twins and was rewarded with another tiny upturning of her lips. He smirked back, "Another potion, pet, and you won't have to watch me cook."

Her eyes widened in some alarm and he indicated the books on the tray, "I pick the potion, you pick the book. I can cook and keep watch at the same time. I half-raised six siblings, I"ll have you know." He finished with a wink.

Seeing her favorite book she nodded eagerly, Bill smothered a smile and set the toast in a pan and waited a few moments before he cracked the eggs into another. He approached the table and picked one of the twin's freshly brewed potions from near their sleeping forms, this one for the after effects of Cruciatus curse to help her muscles knit and slowly heal the damaged nerve endings. He handed it to her and then grabbed the book she'd been obviously eyeing, "Hogwarts, A History. I always especially enjoy the chapter on the lake and the one about the ley lines running under the castle."

She swallowed this potion in milliseconds giving him a full blown smile, a glimpse of the girl she once was, could be again. He gave her his own grin in return, sipping his own cocoa, continuing on as she seemed keen to keep her silence. After a few moments, he flipped the toast and eggs, not bothering to ask how she preferred them cooked. Perhaps young Georgie had been right about shared interests as he saw her eagerly scanning the chapter he'd just mentioned in a familiar fashion, "Nearly Headless Nick disputes the part written on him, you know. He was the first ghost I met at Hogwarts," plates being pulled down, "just like most young Gryffindors, except I asked him about it and it took most of my first year to get back in his good graces."

She smiled at him again and he slipped her off the counter and gestured towards the table as he made the plates. He felt her hesitate, "Oh, just sit wherever you feel, I'll shove one of them over."

She perched at the edge near where George was curled on the cushy bench and he hovered her plate towards her, grabbing jam and butter to carry with his own. It was Fred he nudged over to sit, got a grunt as he moved, and a "Geroff" in response. Then one eye opened and Bill gestured at the stove, "There's extra eggs and toast if you're hungry."

Fred merely leaned his head over and took a bite out of the toast Bill was buttering like an animal, before straightening to take a sip of Bill's hot chocolate and withdrew himself from the table, grumbling at George that they needed to move. He paused upon seeing Hermione and glanced at the window, seeing it was still dark outside, said a very soft, "Hey there, Granger."

Then hassled George again who obediently rose and sleepily grabbed the rest of Bill's toast as he followed his twin, Fred paused at the doorway, "Don't touch that caldron, it needs to sit for six hours." Then changed his mind and walked over to the stove and grabbed a piece of toast and threw an egg on it and went after his one eared half, munching away.

Then they were gone, presumably to find somewhere else to lay down in a more normal fashion. Bill smiled at Hermione, to let her know it was ok as she was starting to hand him some of her toast. "Weasley twin routine: odd hours, food theft, falling asleep in strange places. Pretty much like our cats. Except they're capable of sharing things, unlike our cats, bet George gets some of that egg. This is minimal food theft for them, actually, they're the most fond of breakfast sandwiches: they lovingly named them McMollys. One of them used to pop over to the Burrow to grab two every morning before they would open the shop, or three if Verity was working in the morning. Mum would have them all wrapped up and ready to go, same as she would for Dad if he was in a rush."

Her eyes smiled this time at his fond explanation and then darkened at something and they fell into eating their very, very early breakfast in a comfortable silence. He started the porridge to leave on low and filled the kettle for whoever woke next as she read and when he handed her the next potion, blood replenishing, she took it without question of what it was or bribing. He poured her the last of the chocolate and set about cleaning up from their meal and once done handed her another potion, which she obediently swallowed before flipping the page, not realizing it was more dreamless sleep. So, this time he did carry her up the stairs to the bed where she would hopefully get some of the rest she so clearly needed.

Harry was carrying the lunch tray as they went up the stairs, softly arguing with his friend. "Ron, you heard what Fred said about magical healing, we're supposed to only see her one at a time. I don't want to upset her."

"Fred's a git, he also said he was in charge as the eldest and most knowledgable twin." Ron protested, feeling anxious to see Hermione, especially after he'd blown up at her last night. "Besides, the three of us always are together. It wouldn't be bloody right to go one at a time."

"But he talked about how it was after George lost an ear-" Harry tried again.

"-And George said he actually thought it was Fred who had the harder time with separation anxiety." Ron replied, they'd already had this part of the argument while making the lunch tray.

Harry tried yet again his voice dropping to a full whisper, they were closer to the room now and could hear the rumble of Bill's voice through the door. "Fred said Bill had the roughest go after the attack and Fleur could barely be out of his sight."

"Well, he had Mum too, now didn't he? She'd probably thrown a proximity charm on herself and Bill and you know she and Fleur never got along. Magical healing with twins and Mum involved don't count. We won't upset her, we're her best mates, the ones she needs." Ron hissed back, determined they would both be bringing Hermione and Bill lunch and potions come hell or high water.

Harry sighed and was going to retort, but they could hear Bill's voice now carrying into the hallway. "See this rune here? We think that it was what the ancient Egyptian wizards used as their version of a Fidelius charm, but it works different than ours. I've got a theory if you apply both to the same location with different casters then even if something happened to either Secret-Keeper, the charm would hold as long as the other caster was fine."

Ron placed a hand on Harry's suddenly tensed shoulder, noticing the tray shake, knowing the thoughts running through his mind had to be on his parents or Dumbledore's death. Bill's voice went on and they listened in silence for Harry's sake, Ron still working up the nerve to knock on the door. "I'll need to test the theory, maybe on a rock or something. Professor Vec' wrote you're a whiz at Arthimancy and I'm short on people to overlook my equations, which need to be reviewed before I start any initial testing. If it works it could save so many lives for the Order."

Ron had heard enough of Bill's chummy voice and reached out and knocked, then lost courage and tried to hide behind Harry as Bill's voice called. "Who's there?"

"Harry," who shot a glance at Ron who'd gone mute and shook his head frantically, Harry went on. "Erm…with a tray of lunch."

"Come on in." Bill replied and the door opened a bit of its own accord. Ron could glimpse them through the crack: sitting on the bed curled together under the window with Bill's back against the wall. Hermione was blanketed with her legs across Bill looking intently at the book spread over her lap with parchment trailing down, pillows behind her to prop her up and several more books around them on the bed.

Harry entered and Ron felt himself flush red, emotions rising wildly inside him at the fact Bill's right arm was clearly wrapped around her lower back, quill in his left hand over the parchment. They looked like a comfortable couple, curled like that, they did. He saw Hermione look up at Harry eagerly, her eyes running over him as if to reassure herself he was fine and she gave him a faint smile. Then Ron's courage roared and he stepped into the room behind Harry and did not get the same reaction. The blood drained from her face and her hands clenched defensively. She was curling into Bill and Bill's voice was sharp, "Ron, out. Out!"

Ron backed out immediately, completely bewildered. Why was she reacting to him this way? Why him and not Harry? He didn't have long to wonder as he was abruptly grabbed and drug down the stairs by one of his brothers, not fast enough to skip hearing the choked sobs she was making loud enough to echo down the hallway. Fred was furious, "What did I effing tell you? One at a time! Dam-"

George cut him off, having appeared with a crack, "-Darling Ron, you've got to go see Mum for lunch. She'll be worried sick and driving everyone mad at headquarters. Fred, will you go and pack the potions for Ron to take?"

Ron was still shaken by the experience, by her reaction to him and dumbly nodded, allowing George to lead him outside, trying to soothe. "Fred wasn't wrong when he explained everything this morning," his hand ghosted over his missing ear, "Too much too soon is incredibly hard. You know more about what happened than I did, but I tried to hex anyone other than Fred for a few days if I got startled. Fred had to take away my wand because I did manage to hit the post owl."

Ron nodded dumbly at his brother, too hurt to argue. George went on sympathetically, "She's from a small family, so I imagine she'll need even more privacy. I wish it was you or Harry, but Bill will be just as good. They like all of the same boring stuff and will probably just nerd out while her magic settles and she heals up."

"I couldn't stop it from happening." Ron confessed it, almost babbling. "We were in the dungeons, but I should have stopped Harry from saying the Name…"

George patted him on the back, deciding to ignore his brother's rambling confession that still made no sense. "While you're there, will you ask Mum or Ginny for some clothes for Hermione and Luna? There's barely any that will fit them here. Oh, and-"

Fred reappeared, two Order healer bags in his arms. He seemed to have calmed himself, but glanced at George. "He can't get into Muriel's."

Ron made a protest, "I know exactly where Aunt Muriel lives and can apparate."

The twins shook their head in the negative in unison, communicating silently. Fred shoved the bags at George, "I'll go, be back in a mo'."

"What?" Ron demanded as George slung one bag across his back.

George's response was a grim smile, "We hid Muriel's, but you all had already gone off so you need to be given the location by the Secret-Keeper for access."

"Who is it?" Ron asked, beginning to wonder just how out of the loop they'd become while running around the forests of England.

"Mum." George smiled, "You should have seen the fight between her, Kingsley, Muriel and Dad over who it would be. Mum won, of course, and cast every darn charm herself to boot, then made Dad double them."

Ron smiled back, their Mum in a state was best just given what she demanded. "Ginny's there? Shouldn't she be at school?"

George opened his mouth to answer, but Fred's crack prevented him. He was holding a slip of paper, "Good to go, they'll be waiting." He looked at his twin, "You or I? He'll have to go side-along."

Ron opened his mouth, but it was George, "Me, you handled last night. Go take a nap or something."

Instead, Fred flung himself at his twin, barely being caught. "I missed you, Forge!"

"I missed you more, Gred!" Was the dramatic response with a squeeze.

"You two are sickening, you know that?" Ron asked as they pulled apart, and Fred gave a large fake sniffle.

George just shrugged, "Glad to know your opinion, c'mon we've got to walk farther out. Bill's doing something to the wards."

Ron fell into step with them, silently grabbing the other bag from his brother. "Do you think I upset her or just that it was two of us?"

George was quiet, not wanting to lie. "I think between the one brain you and Harry share you would have at least had one of you wear the cloak after everything we said this morning."

"Oh, it didn't even occur to us." Ron said softly and it truly hadn't, before rising in volume. "Hey! How do you know about Harry's cloak?"

"We borrowed it a few times." Fred said easily.

"After all we did give Harry the map." George added.

"You nicked the cloak, you mean!" Ron said upset, knowing it had been from his dorm room and Harry's trunk, which meant the twins had been sneaking about.

"Borrowed it, he always got it back-"

"-And we had to have some way to still avoid Mrs. Norris for the truly-"

"-Epic fight against Umbridge.-"

"-And Filch." George added, almost as if the caretaker had become an afterthought in their last year.

Fred's voice was conversational enough, "Don't make it sound like we forgot him, twin o mine. It just seemed he was having the happiest time of his life with her. They were a match made in heaven, I'd say."

Ron smiled despite himself at his borderline sociopathic brothers as Fred turned back with a wave. George watched him go for a moment then grinned at Ron, "We figure when he dies we'll adopt Mrs. Norris as penance for all of our years of causing him grief. Actually, Dumbledore suggested it when we got sent to him for the 47th time. Get ourselves a clean cosmic slate!"

Ron wondered if George was kidding about the number 47, but before he could finish his thought George grabbed him and Ron felt the familiar pull behind his navel.

They landed and Ron stumbled, already drawing a wand, "Warn someone, will you?"

George grinned as he passed Ron a piece of paper and glanced around the field. "Less fun that way. I was hoping you'd squeal."

Ron read the address, the paper already burning away as Muriel's mansion began appearing with his mother and father standing there, wands out. There was a moment before anyone moved and then his mother was engulfing him in her arms, identity questions forgotten. "Oh, Ron!"

Then Ronald Weasley, aged 18, did something entirely unexpected by everyone. He burst into tears.