Harry flinched as Bill's wand swished in front of him, but there was no pain. Panicking, Harry wondered if Bill had simply removed a vital organ and blocked the pain.

But Bill hadn't cursed Harry. He'd merely illuminated the room. Faces that had been shadow were now distinguishable. Ron stepped forward.

"We'd like you to come with us."

Harry nodded, resigning himself to his fate for the moment, and made to leave the room.

"Not now." Percy said. "Haven't you heard a word we've been saying?"

"We'd like you to come to Shell Cottage."

Harry blinked furiously, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"It's a hard thing we ask of you, Harry. Please feel no coercion on our behalf."

"We'd like you, to put it bluntly, to spend the weekend with Ginny."

Harry was flabbergasted and speechless. He wasn't expecting this at all.

"Yes I understand, Harry. I don't know what you could have done to deserve this. But you're the only person we can turn to. You've been such a good friend to us all." Ron said. "All you need to do is spend time with Ginny."

"You want me to spend a whole weekend with Ginny?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

Bill nodded. "And you'll have to be alone with her most of the time. We'll be out deal with the enemy."

"Alone….with Ginny." Harry repeated slowly.

"That's kind of like an oxymoron, wouldn't you say?" George mused to Fred.

"Yes. We need you to keep Ginny occupied while our plan is fulfilled. One of us could do it, but the chance for success would be decimated."

"Well… I'm not sure." Harry began.

"We understand, Harry. You don't want to spend time with Ginny…There's far cooler people you can be hanging around with." Charlie began, and continued when Harry tried to open his mouth. "You're with us, Harry, you don't have to tell us that there's a difference between a little Ginny in a day and a lot of Ginny."

"But Harry, you're my best friend, and we've got no one else to turn to." Ron looked at Harry, beseeching him to accept his role.

"Oh, well, alright."

The Brotherhood cheered happily.

"Come on." Ron said. "We'd best get inside before curfew."

The Brothers said their goodbyes and apparated away.

"What was Percy doing there?" Harry asked as he and Ron walked across the school grounds.

"Well, we still disagree on a lot of things. But his loyalty to the code of the brotherhood has been unshaken."

"I thought he thinks of me as mentally unstable."

"Hmm. I really don't know." Ron said.

His stomach made a grumbling.

"Damn. Missed dinner." Ron grumbled.

"We could sneak down to the kitchens." Harry said.

The duo made their way to the Gryffindor common room. They were stepping back down the stairs to the room with Harry's Cloak of Invisibility hidden under his robes when Ginny appeared beside them.

"Oh, hello Harry. I was wondering where you'd got to." Ginny handed Harry a covered plate. "I saved you something from dinner."

"Oh, gee. Thanks, Ginny." Harry said, accepting the offered plate.

Ron looked completely bereft. Ginny glanced over, smirking as only mischievous sibling could, before she gestured and another plate appeared. "And some for you Ron."

Ron, having been starved for so much longer than Harry, was far less articulate, grunting out a sound that could barely be classified as a thanks.

Harry sat at the nearest table, which happened to be where Ginny was working on her homework. Ron decided to sit elsewhere, but Harry caught an approving glint in his eye as Harry and Ginny made pleasant conversation.

Harry found himself wonderfully at ease with Ginny, which was a pleasant change from the afternoon. They spoke about Quidditch and their families – mostly the Weasleys – Harry found them far more interesting than the Dursleys, and Ginny was only too glad to tell him many amusing anecdotes about life in the Burrow.

But the mood was ruined when Hermione sat down next to Ginny and began working on her homework. There was a noticeable difference in the mood; Harry could not understand it; they shouldn't feel awkward; they were just chatting like old friends.

But that wasn't true. Harry didn't think of old friends like he thought of… Harry cut his thoughts off as he saw Hermione smirking at him; Ginny not noticing because she was crouched over her parchment.

"Oh, don't mind me." Hermione said lightly. "Just pretend I'm not here."

"You're always welcome, Hermione." Ginny said without looking up.

"And now that you're here…" Harry banished his dirty plate to the kitchen and summoned his homework.

"Don't even think about it, Harry." Hermione looked at him dangerously.

Harry flashed a grin in Ginny's direction.

"Why, Miss Prefect has commanded me to not contemplate doing my homework."

"Oh, dearest me. Am I breaking school rules at this very moment?" Ginny looked up in shock, dropping her quill into its receptacle.

"Miss Weasley, I must request that you desist this homeworking. I cannot afford to have my best chaser in detention for disobeying the order of a prefect."

"Thank goodness you were looking out for me, Mister Potter, or else I might have spent the semester chained up in the dungeons."

"A fitting punishment for such a crime, Miss Weasley, but as they say: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

"Oh, stop being ridiculous, you two." Hermione looked up, but she couldn't completely hide her amusement, before she returned to her own homework.

"Nooooooooooooooooo!" Harry yelled. "It's corrupted her! Our prefect has been taken over by the homework bug. Flee before it infects us all!"

Ginny was laughing aloud.

Hermione looked up, frazzled. "For goodness sakes, I'm going over to Ron where I can have some intelligent company."

"Wow." Ginny said as she began to control her laughter. "Ron…Intelligent company?"

"Now that we're alone." Harry said, leaning over. "What say we engage in illicit activities?"

"What do you have in mind, Mister Potter?" Ginny leaned over.

Harry glanced down at the collection of learning materials on the table.

"Oooh, living dangerously. I like it."

The two made a show of looking shiftily around them, before crouching over the table as if they were hiding something.

"If anyone asks," Ginny said lightly. "We're just whispering sweet nothings to each other."