CHAPTER 3.

COURTESY OF THE WEASLEY TWINS

After their excursion in Diagon Alley, the whole group drove back to the Weasley's home, or more appropriately dubbed, 'The Burrow'. The twins had decided as they walked back to the car that they would switch off driving. So Fred took the wheel on the way home, much to Ron's dismay. Unfortunately, he was not much of a better driver than his brother, although he did manage to remember to stay on the right side of the street when he had to prepare to make a right turn. Before long, Fred brought the car to a cock-eyed, screeching halt in front of 'The Burrow', jolting everyone in their seats.

"Thank goodness we had our seatbelts on. I've got to hand it to Muggles. At least they put protection from crazy, maniac drivers like my brothers in this thing." Ron muttered as he unclipped his seat-belt.

"Well, Freds, here you go." George said sadly as he passed over a handful of galleons to Fred. Fred grinned triumphantly as he deposited the money in his pockets while the remaining three stared at the twins suspiciously.

"George," Harry started. "What was that for?"

George shrugged sadly and enviously eyed his brother .

"Bet Fred that he'd crash on the way home. Lost my bet, obviously."

Ron shuddered and opened the car door quickly, as if afraid that the twins might still try to crash the car, though the parking brake was on.

When they walked up to the door, Fred and George held up their arms, bringing everyone else to a halt. They paused and both pressed their ears to the door. Harry listened closely, trying to hear what the twins were hearing. Then, he heard it. It was the faint sound of yelling coming from the other side of the door of the Burrow. Harry turned to face Ron and both frowned, wondering what Mrs. Weasley could be yelling about. It was the absolute opposite effect for Fred and George. The twins merely turned to each other slowly, grins on their faces.

"Ah, well! Let's go greet our public." Fred said, cracking his knuckles as George opened the door excitedly.

As he walked in, Harry had trouble remembering that the house was indeed a house. If he wasn't mistaken, it reminded him more of a sink full of soap bubbles than the Burrow. In fact, he wasn't far off on that point. The rough floor was covered with sudsy bubbles, the walls the same, as well as the ceiling. In order to get to the sound of the yelling, they had to push through mountains of bubbles, closing their eyes and mouths to keep the soap from getting inside them.

"You're lucky, Harry! Having those glasses!" Ron yelled over his mother's din , feeling through the bubbles blindly.

"Still gotta cover my eyes though." Harry muttered as a wad of bubbles wedged itself behind his glasses. From somewhere amidst the bubbly mess, there was a snort of impatience and a flash of light. Suddenly, a path through the bubbles had been cleared all the way to the kitchen and Hermione stood in the center of it, brushing bubbles from her frizzy brown hair.

"Hermione, you're brilliant!" Ron exploded as he stepped into the path she had created with her wand.

"Thank you for noticing." She said coolly.

"Aw, come off it. Ain't you forgiven me yet?" Ron asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The word you're searching for is, 'Haven't,' and no, I don't think so." She said firmly.

Suddenly, two snowy figures emerged from the bubbles and a long pair of arms swooped about Hermione, giving her a bubbly hug.

"I love you, Hermione!" Fred crowed with a grin.

Hermione quickly brushed him off, but not before both Harry and Ron noticed the look of pleasure that crossed her face.

"Honestly, one would think that you fancied them or something." Ron muttered as the twins proceeded down the cleared hallway. Hermione turned to face him sharply.

"You're just jealous!" She accused.

"Jealous? Me? Why on earth would I be jealous of my brothers!?" Ron bellowed , stepping closer to Hermione as his face reddened.

"Don't be so loud! Because they appreciate me and my knowledge and treat me like a human being, perhaps?" Hermione snapped.

"I am NOT being loud! And I DO treat you like a human being!" Ron countered as loud as before.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!!"

The argument was quickly broken off as a look of excitement came over Ron's face as his mother's voice echoed throughout the entire house.

"I've got to see this!" He muttered excitedly as he grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him towards the sound of the voice.

However, he didn't get far. Instead, he yelled loudly as a long broom came out of the mass of bubbles and nearly hit him squarely on the head. There was a muttering of words and a flash of light as Mrs. Weasley made a path through the bubbles. She looked at Ron and Harry apologetically.

"Sorry, dears. How are you, Harry? I thought you boys were Fred and George. Where are those two? I swear when I'm finished with them," Mrs. Weasley looked around as if her eyes could see through the very walls of the Burrow. Harry would believe it if it was proved that she could do just that. She'd have to be able to in order to keep up with her twin sons.

"Honestly, what happened, Mum?" Ron asked, looking around his bubble-covered house.

"Oh, just the twins up to their usual tricks, only this time I was stupid enough to do exactly what they wanted." Mrs. Weasley muttered. "There was this string hanging from the ceiling with a note on it that said, IMPORTANT EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS. DO NOT PULL!! F. & G. W. Of course, thinking they were up to some of their nonsense, I pulled it. Look at this mess!" She said in an aggravated tone.

"Isn't it a dish, Mum?" A voice called out.

"You pulled the string and the string was attached to the final ingredient of the potion and it poured into the cauldron. Fabulous, Mum!" Another voice said.

A moment later, Fred and George stepped out from behind a mountain of bubbles, grins of triumph plastered tightly on their faces. Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed as she caught sight of them, and the twinkles in the twins' eyes faded slightly.

"You think this is funny, don't you? Right jolly!?" She asked pointing her finger at them accusingly.

Both twins nodded emphatically.

"This is fabulous!" Fred said.

"Marvelous!" George added.

"Well, then, you both can clean this up, without magic!"

The twins' faces fell as they glanced at each other. Then they eyed their mother hopefully.

"Well, would you say this was a success, Mum?" Fred asked meekly.

Their mother's face softened as she looked at the twins and she nodded regretfully.

"I would say it was an abysmal success." Delighted looks came over the twins' faces and they cheered loudly. "Now go get started!" Their mother bellowed, sending them in a flurry of grabbing mops and towels.

Ron grinned smugly as he watched his brothers clean up the mess, but it faded slightly as he watched Hermione run up the stairs, muttering something about checking on Ginny.

"How are you, Harry, dear? Enjoying your summer?" Mrs. Weasley asked, turning to Harry and settling her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Weasley, but I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts." Harry said longingly.

A pained look seeped into the woman's eyes as she took in the boy. He had grown, shot up several inches in the last few months since she saw him last, when he had gotten captured by that awful You-Know-Who. When the boy had first come to Hogwarts, there had been a look of apprehension in his eyes. He didn't know what to think or how to react to the goings on around him. He wasn't like her Ron who had grown up with magic his whole life. But he had adapted. He was tall, taller than herself, his black hair still unkempt and untamable. However, though he had grown, the sparkle that had made its home in Harry Potter's green eyes remained, giving the boy an impish look about him. She knew why her Ginny had a crush on Harry.

In that moment, she sized up her boys. Both Ron and Harry were the same height, several feet over her short frame. Ron was quickly catching up to the lanky twins, growing out of shoes and robes as fast as she bought them. But the freckles that vexed him so were still there, as was the long nose with a bit of a snub to it and the bright, red Weasley hair. But like Harry, the twinkle in his blue eyes remained, as did his impishness and love for trouble. She sighed dismally as she allowed her hand to drop off Harry's broad shoulder. Why did children have to grow up so fast?

Harry noticed the visible change that came over Molly Weasley's face, and to his surprise, so did Ron. As she turned around and slowly zapped a way through the bubbles to make a way to her kitchen sink, they both eyed each other with meaningful looks before walking out of the kitchen. As they shoved through the bubbles over to the stairs that lead up to Ron's room, Ron sighed, almost as dismally as his mother had.

"She doesn't want me to grow up you know? She wishes I could stay a little boy forever." He said quietly as he trudged up the stairs.

"Do you blame her? You're her last son. She loves you very much." Harry commented.

"Yeah, I know. But it just makes me feel bad when she looks at me that way. I can't stop myself from growing or changing, any more than Fred and George can stop pulling their stupid pranks!" Ron murmured, shaking his head as they walked into his room.

"I know. But don't be hard on her. That'll hurt her even more." Harry advised.

Ron jumped on his bed and winced as the boards beneath him groaned loudly.

"I know. I'll try. I just don't like feeling like I'm the baby." He said quietly.

"Well, you're not. Ginny's the baby." Harry said.

Ron's head shot up and a righteous frustration spread into his face.

"YEAH! I know! She's such a baby! I mean, c'mon! She gets everything new! I don't! I never get anything new! Well, Pig was new, but I didn't get him from my parents!" Ron exploded.

Harry took it all in stride. He and Ron had had this conversation many times before: in the common room at Hogwarts, the dining room and here in this very room, but Ron seemed to forget that they'd already discussed it every time he brought it up again.

"Ron, she's a girl." Came the well-practiced answer. Ron's flushed face calmed down slightly as he lay his head back on his bright orange, Chudley Cannons pillow.

"Yeah, that's right." He murmured. "I just wish I could be like Charlie, or Bi-"

Before Ron could finish his wishful thinking, a loud scream echoed from the kitchen downstairs.

Ron's body shot to attention almost immediately, his muscles tense. Harry stared at him in surprise. Never had Harry thought that Ron's mother's scream would get him to rise so quickly. But then, he did very much the same when he heard his own Mother's dying screams in his most horrible nightmares.

"There's something wrong with Mum. That's not her 'Fred and George' scream." Ron muttered before throwing open the door to his bedroom and leaping down the stairs four at a time, Harry following closely behind him.

They shoved through the bubbles to the kitchen. Hermione had made it there before them, holding Ginny close to her, her face white. She turned her frightened brown eyes to them and inside them, Harry could see the utter terror that rested there. Ron fought his way to her and placed his hand firmly on her shoulder.

"You alright?" She nodded silently. Ron's large hand made its way to Ginny's bright red hair. "You alright, Gin?" He asked, pulling one of her pigtails. She nodded and sniffled a bit. "Where's Mum?" He asked, turning back to Hermione.

Hermione said nothing, but merely nodded towards the kitchen floor. Ron turned to look at the floor and as he did so, his bright eyes widened and he ran to the site. Lying on the sudsy floor with Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George crowding about him was Bill Weasley.