"What was that?" Calla asked as she stumbled into the Weasleys' kitchen.

Fred grinned. "Ton-Tongue toffee. We've been developing them for months now, George and I. We've been waiting on someone to test them out on all Summer."

The tiny kitchen seemed to explode with laughter. Calla looked around then, seeing Ron and George at one end of the wooden table, grinning next to another pair of redheads, who Calla assumed were the eldest brothers, Bill and Charlie. "So you tricked him into eating it?"

George grinned. "How long did his tongue get?"

"Long," Calla said shortly. "Aunt Petunia..." Well, actually, Aunt Petunia's reaction had been rather funny. She pressed her lips together in a not quite smile. "She was going out her mind. I think she was trying to pull it out."

The rest of the kitchen roared with laughter. "How're you doing, Calla?" asked the nearest of the other red-heads, offering out his large hand. It was calloused and blistered; Calla was sure he must be Charlie, seeing as he worked with dragons. He was built similarly to the two twins, short and rather sticky, and with a warm, weather beaten face that was covered in freckles; his arms were very muscled, though one was clearly burned.

"Nice to meet you," Calla said nervously, smiling as Bill stood up, also shaking her hand. He surprised her; he was tall like Ron and Percy, and Calla knew he had been Head Boy when he was at Hogwarts, like Percy; but he was also very unlike Percy, in that he had long hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a single earring with what looked like a fang dangling it. He looked like he could have been a rockstar if he was a Muggle, and his boots were made of thick dragon hide. Bill Weasley was cool.

Before Calla could say anything to him though, there was a faint popping noise, and Mr Weasley appeared at George's shoulder, making Calla jump. He looked very, very angry, and Calla and Harry exchanged concerned looks. "That wasn't funny, Fred!" he shouted furiously. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," Fred said with a grin. "I just dropped it... It was his fault he's greedy and picked it up... I certainly never told him to."

"You dropped it on purpose!" Mr Weasley roared. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet!"

"How long did his tongue get in the end?" George asked.

"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!" All the Weasleys and Harry burst out laughing again at that, and Calla bit back her own laugh. From the sounds of it, Dudley wouldn't have really been hurt; Aunt Petunia's panicking and Uncle Vernon's anger were, probably, more dangerous.

"It isn't funny!" Mr Weasley shouted. "That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons-"

"We didn't give him it because he's a Muggle!" Fred said indignantly.

"We have it to him because he's a great big, bullying git," said George. "Isn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry sad earnestly, "he is, Mr Weasley."

"That's not the point!" raged Mr Weasley. "You boys just wait until I tell your mother-"

"Tell me what?"

Calla turned sharply to see Mrs Weasley, who had just entered kitchen, her usually kind eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Oh, hello there, dears," she said, nodding to Calla and Harry. Her eyes skipped over to her children and then snapped back to Mr Weasley. "Tell me what, Arthur?"

Mr Weasley hesitated then. Calla could tell that no matter how angry he was with Fred and George, he had never really been going to tell Mrs Weasley what they'd done. He was silent as he eyed his wife nervously, clearly debating over what to say. Then two girls appeared just behind her; Hermione and Ginny. Calla grinned at them, and Ginny went very red - not because of her, but because of Harry, who had also just smiled at her and who Ginny was clearly very flustered by.

"Tell me what, Arthur?" Mrs Weasley demanded with her hands on her hips, using a very dangerous sort of voice.

"It's nothing, Molly," Mr Weasley muttered. "It's just - Fred and George just - but I've had words with them-"

"What have they done this time?" asked Mrs Weasley. "If it has anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-"

"Why don't we show Calla and Harry where they're sleeping, Ron?" Hermione said abruptly from the doorway.

"What?" Ron squinted at her and she made a pointed face. "Oh, right, yeah. Let's all go."

"Yeah, we'll come too," George started, getting up hastily.

"You'll stay right where you are!" Mrs Weasley snarled.

Calla, Harry and Ron edged out of the kitchen, and they and Hermione and Ginny all went up the narrow hallway and a rickety staircase that zig-zagged throughout the house. "What are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked as they climbed. Hermione cooed gently over Matilda, who was still in Calla's arms, rubbing her head.

"Mum found this stack of order forms in Fred and George's room while she was cleaning it," Ron told them. "Great long price-lists for all this stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands, trick sweets, you know, that sort of thing, they've made loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they were inventing all of that..."

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages," Ginny explained, "but we never thought they were actually making things. We thought they just liked the noise."

"Only most of the stuff - well, all of it, really - was a bit dangerous," Ron said, "and, you know, they were planning on selling it at Hogwarts to make a bit of money. Mum went mental at them, of course. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and she burnt all of the order forms... She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."

"So then there was this great big row," said Ginny. "Cause Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."

Just then, a nearby door opened and Percy's face popped out. He looked altogether very disgruntled. "Hi, Percy," said Harry, too cheerfully.

Percy looked over his horn-rimmed glasses. "Hello, Harry. And Calla." She waved. "I was wondering who was making all of this racket. I'm trying to work in here, you know - I've a report to finish for the office - and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."

"We're not thundering," Ron told him sharply, sounding annoyed. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" Harry asked Percy in a hopeful sort of voice. Knowing Percy worked in the Department for International Magical Co-Operation, Calla wondered if it had anything to do with any sightings of Pettigrew.

But Percy puffed his chest up and adopted a rather smug expression. "A report for the Department of International Magical Co-Operation," he told them importantly. "We're trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin - leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three per cent a year-"

"That'll change the world, that will," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I reckon, cauldron leaks."

Percy turned and interesting shade of pink and Calla giggled into Matilda's fur.

"You might sneer, Ron," said Percy, "but unless some sort of international law is introduced the market could soon wind up flooded with flimsy, shallow bottomed products which could seriously endanger-"

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Ron muttered, stomping off back upstairs again. Calla hurried after him as Percy slammed his door shut loudly.

The rest of them all hurried up the last three flights of stairs, hearing echoes of shouting float up to them from the kitchen. It seemed Mrs Weasley had found out about the Ton Tongue Toffee after all.

"This room's mine," Ron said, opening a door. Bright orange posters of the Chudley Cannons, which Calla knew was Ron's favourite Quidditch team, hung around the walls, and there was a fish tank over in the corner with a rather large frog in it, standing on a rock. A tiny grey owl bounced around the walls excitedly at the prospect of new visitors - it was the one Sirius had sent along to them on the Hogwarts Express, Calla realised. The little owl zipped over to them, chirping excitedly at Matilda, who batted at him playfully in response as though he were a ball of yarn.

"Careful," Calla warned her, and Matilda brought her paws down to rest on Calla's arms instead of fighting the air.

The owl had gone back to hopping up and down on the windowsill, twittering madly. "Shut up, Pig," Ron said, squeezing his way between two of the four beds that had been put into the room. "Fred and George are in here with us, because Bill and Charlie are in his room. Calla, you're sharing with Hermione and Ginny in her room. Percy gets to keep his own room all to himself, because he's got to work."

"Er, why are you calling that owl Pig?" Harry asked Ron, frowning.

"Because he's being stupid," said Ginny. "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."

"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "Ginny named him," he explained to Calla and Harry. "She reckons it's sweet. And I did try to change it, but it was too late, and he won't answer to anything else now. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. Annoys me too, come to think of it."

Despite what Ron said, Calla knew he didn't really mean it. He'd rarely done anything but moan about his rat Scabbers, but he had been devastated when he thought he'd been killed by Crookshanks, and very personally offended when he turned out to have been Peter Pettigrew, a mass murderer and a spy of Voldemort. Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his corner of the room, letting out a series of shrill hoots, and Calla put all thoughts about Peter Pettigrew out of her mind.

"Where's Crookshanks?" Calla asked Hermione, as Matilda pawed curiously at the air.

"Out in the garden, I expect. He seems to like chasing the gnomes. He's never seen any before."

"Come on, Calla," said Ginny, "I'll show you our room. You've got the bed next to the door, if that's okay."

"Course," Calla said, still holding Matilda as they went out, the boys following closely behind.

"Percy enjoying work then?" Harry asked as they went down the narrow little hallway.

"Enjoying it?" Ron said darkly. "I don't reckon Percy would come home if Dad didn't force him to. He's obsessed with it. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. He's all Mr Crouch says this, Mr Crouch says that. According to Mr Crouch... Mr Crouch was telling me... Mr Crouch is of the opinion... It's driving us mad. They'll be announcing their engagement any day now," he declared, as Ginny pushed open the door to her own room. It was just slightly smaller than Ron's, and the walls were bright pink with the purple and blue posters of a Quidditch team that seemed to be the Holyhead Harpies tacked up everywhere. She didn't have a pet, but there were some very fluffy pillows which Calla appreciated.

"That's your one," Ginny said, and Matilda immediately leapt onto the nearest bed, padding up and down it and then stopping with an affirmative nod.

"Thanks," Calla said. "Matilda seems to like it."

"She's so cute," said Ginny, kneeling down next to the bed and scratching Matilda gently behind the ears. She purred gently, bobbing her head.

"She likes you," Calla said happily. Just then, there was a hooting sound as Moony flapped through the doorway, clearly having been let out of her cage by someone downstairs. Ron gave a yell, ducking down, and Moony landed abruptly next to Matilda, looking curiously at Ginny. "He likes you too," Calla assures Ginny, who looked a little surprised. "Probably."

"Have you heard from Remus and Sirius?" Ron asked them.

"Yeah. They're going to pick us up the day after we get back, so we can stay with them for a bit. Don't know if it's permanent or not yet, but..." Harry exchanged a nervous smile with Calla. "Hopefully."

"Good," Hermione said happily. "Shall we all go down and help with dinner? And Matilda can gonfind Crookshanks." Matilda let out an excited sort of meowing sound at that, and Calla held her arms out for the kitten to leap into.

"Come on then," she said, smiling. "Moony?" Moony ruffles his feathers and flirted over to the windowsill, staring at them all.

"He's fine," Ginny said, grinning. "We can get his cage up later, come on."

The argument had died out by the time they got downstairs. Mrs Weasley was in the kitchen, looking very displeased. "We're eating outside," she told them sharply. "There's isn't enough room for everyone in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie should be setting up the table. Ron, Harry, knives and forks please." She directed her wand at a pile of potatoes in the sink. Clearly she'd done it a bit too aggressively; their skins practically flew off, and Calla had to dodge them as they hit the walls.

She followed Ginny's lead over to where the plates were piled by the door. Matilda scampered out of Calla's arms onto the floor so she could pick up some of the plates, and they went outside. Almost immediately they were greeted by Crookshanks, who scampered across the garden and flicked his tail towards Matilda, who leapt off after him, chasing a very strange thing that might have been a potato on legs, and which Calla decided was probably a gnome like Hermione had mentioned.

They went further out standing by a hedge as Bill and Charlie 'set up' the tables. Though that wasn't quite what they were doing; Calla giggled as they flicked their wands about, making the tables crash into each other loudly, like they were fighting. "Come on, Bill's table!" Ginny called, and Bill beamed, his table flying into Charlie's and knocking it backwards.

"Oi!" said Charlie in protest, sending his own table flying right back and bashing into Bill's. Though the rest of them were laughing, Hermione looked rather anxious, as though worried the tables might break.

"Don't worry about it, Mione," said Calla with a grin up at the sky. "It'll be fine."

Ron and Harry came out a moment later, frowning at all the commotion, and Calla grinned as she caught her brother's eye. Bill's table then slammed into Charlie's with a great big bang, sending one of the legs flying off towards Calla and Hermione. Above them there was a loud clatter, and Calla frowned up to see Percy poking his head out from a window on the second floor.

"Keep it down, will you?" he shouted. "Some of us are trying to work here!"

"Sorry, Perce," said Bill with a grin. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming along?"

"Badly," said Percy shortly, and slammed his window shut again with a scowl. Bill and Charlie both laughed as they guided the tables back down to the ground, re-attaching the leg that had come off of Charlie's one.

By seven o'clock, after a lot of chatter and fussing over setting the tables, they were laden with dishes of Mrs Weasley's excellent cooking. It was far, far superior to the rations of fruit she'd been on for most of the holidays at Privet Drive, she thought, grinning widely as she tucked into the delicious chicken and ham pie.

"This is wonderful," she told Mrs Weasley, who beamed back at her.

"Thank you, dear," she said.

At the other end of the table, Percy - who had emerged grudgingly from his room at the smell of food - was talking avidly about his report on cauldron bottoms. "I've told Mr Crouch I'll have it on his desk by Tuesday morning," he said to Mr Weasley in an important sort of way. "That's a bit earlier than he had originally expected it, but I do like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time. I mean, it's extremely busy in our department at the moment, what with all the arrangements for the Quidditch World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman..."

"I like Ludo," said Mr Weasley in a mild manner, raising his eyebrows. "He was the one who got us such good tickets to go and see the Cup. I did him a bit of a favour once: his brother, Otto, see, he got himself into a bit of bother with a lawnmower with unnatural powers." He grinned. "I smoothed it all over for him."

"Oh, well Bagman is likeable enough, of course," Percy said in a dismissive way, "but how he ever got to be the head of his department I will never know. You know Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now, and Bagman is yet to send any investigation into the matter! She went on holiday to Albania and just never came back, and he's done nothing about it."

"Yes, I did ask Ludo about that," Mr Weasley said, "he says Bertha Jorkins has gotten lost plenty of times before and always shows up soon enough. He reckons she probably got herself confused and wound up in Australia instead of Albania."

Albania rang a bell with Calla, though she couldn't think why. This Bertha Jorkins, whoever she was, how on Earth would she manage to get to Australia instead of Albania? And not contact anyone?

"I must say, though," said Mr Weasley, "If it had been someone in my department, I would be worried..."

"Oh, Bertha's hopeless, all right," Percy said. "I hear she's been shunted from Department to Department for years, no one really wants her, more trouble than she's worth... But all the same, Bagman really ought to be trying to find her. Mr Crouch has been taking a personal interest in the matter - she used to work in our department you know, for a time, and I think he was rather fond of her - but Mr Bagman just keeps laughing it off. Says she must have misread the map." He shook his head, sighed very deeply, and took a great swig of elderflower wine. "However, we have quite enough on our plate at the moment in the Department of International Magical Co-Operation, what with organising the Quidditch World Cup, we don't need to be tending to the problems of other large departments, too. And as you know, father, we still have a large event to organise right after the Cup."

He cleared his throat significantly, straightened up and looked down the table to where Calla sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione. She stared along the table at him. "You know the one I mean, father," he said, raising his voice slightly. "The top secret one."

It didn't seem so top secret if he was mentioning it like that, Calla thought with a huff. Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "He's been trying to get us to ask him what it is ever since he started at work. It's probably an exhibition of thick bottomed cauldrons or something." Calla held back a laugh, having a bit more of the pie.

In the middle of the table, Mrs Weasley was discussing Bill's clothing with him, fussing over the length of his hair and his earring. "...with a horrible great big fang on it, Bill. Really, what must they say at the bank?"

"No one at the bank cares what I look like, Mum," said Bill with a sigh, "just so long as I come back with plenty of treasure and gold. It doesn't really matter."

"And your hair's just getting silly, dear," Mrs Weasley went on. "I do wish you'd let me cut it dear, just a bit of a trim, neaten it up a little."

"I think the earring's cool, Mum," Ginny said. "You're so old-fashioned. And his hair's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's, anyway..."

The other boys, Fred, George and Charlie, were all having a very spirited discussion about the Quidditch World Cup. Calla had already made up her mind to support Ireland, and she had a feeling that they'd win - whether that was legitimate or if she was just being hopeful was yet to be seen - but the boys were determined to discuss it anyway.

"...They flattened Peru in the semi-finals," Charlie was saying about Ireland.

"Yeah, but Bulgaria's got Krum," said Fred. Calla had no idea who Krum was but supposed he was meant to be quite good.

"Krum's one good player," Charlie said. "Ireland have got seven."

"I'm supporting Ireland," Calla put in, and Charlie grinned at her.

"See? That settles it. I do wish England had gotten trough to the final though, that was just embarrassing that was."

"What happened?" asked Harry eagerly. Calla had never been very into sports - Uncle Vernon liked to yell some very rude things at the television whenever his team played, and she tended have the common sense to stay out of his way when he was in a mood about it - but she was curious.

"We went down to Transylvania," Charlie said, shaking his head. Calla wondered if Transylvania had vampires on their team; she didn't think it was a particularly big area, if she had her geography right. "Three hundred and ninety to ten." Calla winced. That was a pretty awful result. "Shocking performance. And then Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland got thrashed by Luxembourg." She was sure Isobel would have been very upset about that.

She drifted away from the Quidditch conversation, discussing the new Ancient Runes textbooks they'd been set with Hermione who, despite not being in the same class as Calla, was also very invested in the subject. "I would like to learn more about Ogham," Hermione said. "Its meaning has been so changed throughout the centuries and it would be interesting to see that transition."

Calla nodded her agreement as Mrs Weasley brought out the pudding - homemade strawberry ice cream. "It's got so much magical significance too," she agreed, "and mythological significance, too. Plus it apparently used to be used in Divination."

Hermione wrinkled her nose a bit at that but at least didn't have anything particularly dismissive to say about the subject, preferring to eat her ice cream. Just as Calla finished, Crookshanks streaked into the garden again, followed by Matilda, who crept into Calla's lap, seeming quite exhausted. "Have you tired yourself out?" she cooed, and Matilda curled up in response. She and Hermione shared a grin, and Calla stroked Matilda's head gently.

"Look at the time," Mrs Weasley said suddenly, getting to her feet. "You had all best be getting a good night of sleep; you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the match tomorrow. Harry, Calla, if you leave your school list out I'll go and get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley, I'm getting everybody else's."

"Oh, that's alright," Harry said quickly. "I, erm, I think Remus and Sirius are getting our things with us after the Cup."

"Well," Mrs Weasley said, "if you're sure then, though the match can go on for a while so I don't know when you might be back. It went on for five whole days the last time."

Harry seemed like he was very excited at that prospect; Calla was decidedly not so. Five hours would be seriously pushing it; five days she thought she might give up. "I hope it does this time," he said enthusiastically. "We'll still have time after."

"Well I don't," said Percy loudly. "I shudder to think what state my intray might be in by the time I get back if I was away for five whole days."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, might they, eh, Percy?" Fred said, grinning.

"That was a sample of fertiliser from Norway," said Percy indignantly, face going very red. "It was nothing personal!"

"It was," Fred whispered to Calla as they all got up. "We sent it."

Author's Note: Hope you're all well among all of this chaos, my country is near enough shutting all public gathering spaces eg. pubs and restaurants and I've officially moved home. Here's a more cheerful chapter for you all today; the next should be up on Monday! Stay safe!