Disclaimer : I own anything you don't recognize.

Chapter 5: Pink and Fluffy?

"Come down NOW or you're not coming." Mrs. Weasley yelled. Harry and Ron stomped down from the bedroom where they were looking for Ron's missing shoe.

"Mum. I can't find my other shoe." Ron complained, holding up his lone tennis shoe.

"Then wear my old pair of flip-flops. We're late and we can't waste anymore time looking." Mrs. Weasley replied harshly.

"The pink, fluffy ones covered with daisies? Mum, I can't wear that to Diagon Alley. I'll be laughed at. I'll lose my reputation. Plus, Fred and George will never leave me alone." Ron protested.

"You can and you will." Mrs. Weasley said sharply, deaf to Ron's complaints.

"You can and you will." Ron muttered under his breath as he stomped away.

An hour later, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley along with Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione stood in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. "Well lets go in, shall we." Hermione stepped forward towards the door.

"I think I'll stay out here. You don't know what Fred and George will say about my. . . er . . . shoes." Ron replied, backing up.

"Don't worry, Ron. It can't be that bad." Hermione said, nudging Ron towards the door.

"Yes it can." Ron said stubbornly.

"Oh come ON." said Mrs.Weasley. She held the door open and gave the children a little shove.

Harry was amazed when he entered the inside of the store. Shelves lined the walls. Containers and an odd assortment of household items were stacked on a shelf that covered a whole wall were labeled "Fakes". Barrels crammed with boxes and packages stood on either side of the door. On the far end of the store, a man examining bags containing what resembled salt. Fred and George stood behind the counter negotiating with a customer. On a display in the window was a sign saying "New and Improved Self-Stomping Shoes". Below it was a pair of what looked like ordinary shoes.

Harry hurried over to the display. He picked up a shoe. "These look awfully familiar." he said.

"They should." Ron replied sourly. "They are an exact replica of my 'missing' shoe." Ron stomped over to the counter where the twins were waving goodbye to there customer.

Before Ron could say anything, Fred grinned, "Oh look, George. It's little ickly Ronnie."

"Oh my! What are you wearing, dearie." George imitated Mrs. Weasley.

"Is Ronickens trying to begin a new fashion ¾ " Fred taunted?

" Of fluffy, pink flip-flops" George finished for him. The twins doubled over with laughter as Ron's ears grew a dangerous shade of crimson.

Ron glowered. "I want to talk to you about your Self-Stomping Shoes." Ron said through clenched teeth.

"You do? Do you like the allerteration?" George said inncenntly.

"I love the model of the shoes." said Ron sacasitely.

"Don't you love the idea of self-stomping shoes? I mean, it was a brilliant idea." said Fred with false cheerfulness.

"Where is it." demanded Ron.

"Where's what?" said George inncently.

"My shoe! The one you used to make you self-stomping shoes!"

"Oh that." replied Fred. "Let me see. I think we put it on the worktable in the back."

"Only we removed it to show a customer the original shoe." George added.

"I know! We placed it in the window, but we took it off display because it was started to stink."

"I must confess. Your shoe reeks."

"The stench of your shoe was so great we had to put it on - or was it in?"

"I think it was on."

"Oh yeah, on the -."

"On the what?" Ron demanded.

"On the -. I forgot. Sorry Ronnie." Fred said.

"Fred! George! Where's my shoe?"

"Whoa. Calm down, Ron. The flip-flops can't be that bad. After all, there isn't a rule at Hogwarts that say you can't wear them at school."

"You!"

"What is going on?" demanded Mrs. Weasley who had come over to see what all the commotion was about.

"Fred and George won't give me back my missing shoe." complained Ron.

"The one you were looking for this morning?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"The one and only." Ron huffed.

"Fred, George. Do you have his shoe?"

"Why certainly, mum."Fred said with a smile. "Only we have to find it first."

"Where did you last see it?" Mrs. Weasley said in a deathly whisper.

"The final occasion George or myself have glimpsed Ron's dearly beloved footware was at the time we detached it from our impressive, exquisitive-looking exhibition framed with lovely cerulean ¾ "

"Fred!" Mrs. Wealsey roared. "Speak english and just tell us where the shoe is."

"Right away, mum. We left the shoe on the bookshelf in the back."

"I'll go fetch it right now, mum." Ron offered, racing pass the twins.

"Now that we've got that settled," Fred said causally, coming up to stand by Harry. "I think we ought to give Harry a grand tour of our store."

"Great idea, Fred." George said, coming to stand on the other side of Harry. Together, they tugged Harry into the storage room where they stay while Fred and George explained what was in each box and how it was created. Harry suspected that they probably wanted to get away from Mrs. Weasley until she calmed down. Frankly, he didn't want to be in the front with her, either.

'Ding Dong' came a sound from the front door. Mrs. Weasley hurried to answer the door. In came Mr. Weasley, Moody, Lupin, Dumbledore and Tonks. Almost immediately, Harry heard a loud crash from below and heard Tonks mutter " Sorry." Seconds later, a deafening shriek that could be heard miles away erupted from the upstairs hall. In a few seconds, Harry heard the sound cease as Dumbledore closed the curtains by magic.

"Harry, call Ron, Ginny and Hermione. We need to talk to you." said Mrs. Weasley.

When Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were settled in the kitchen, Lupin said "As you know, the Hogwarts term is rapidly approaching. I want you all to stay in the castle as much as possible. From what I heard, Voldemont is on the move again."

"Can-" Harry interrupted. Lupin held up his hand

"You may play Quidditch. Don't worry." Lupin continued, "Don't go wandering into the Forbidden Forest for ANY reason and don't make irrational decisions. Check with a member of the Order of the Phoenix before you go after Voldemont. I'm not saying you should. This will be a dangerous year, Harry, much more dangerous than last year."

"Just know that this year's defense against the dark arts professor, no matter how fussy she is, is reliable. Ask her if you need trouble, but bear in mind that she's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Just know that there will always be someone here if you need help." said Mrs. Weasley.

"Remember, too much knowledge can sometimes be a bad thing. " Moody added.

"Now," said Mrs. Weasley to all four of the children, "It's time for bed. Pack your trunks for school. Fold your clothes and pack NEATLY. I don't want your clothes wrinkled when you get Hogwarts. Be ready to leave for Platforms 9 3/4, tomorrow. Off to bed, now. You've got a long day ahead."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here we are." Mrs. Weasley said the next morning. "Platforms 9/3. Alright now. Ron, you, Ginny and Arthur go in first. Harry, Moody and Lupin will be next and Tonks, Hermione and I will follow." Ron, Ginny and Mr. Weasley causally drifted over to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. They pretended to lean against the barrier and fell through the archway. A few minutes later, Harry, Moody and Lupin emerged and finally Mrs. Weasley, Tonks and Hermione appeared.

"Alright, I think we're all here. No suspicious looking beings in the crowd." Moody scanned the crowd of students and parents with narrow eyes from under his huge wide-brim hat. "No sign of the Dark Eaters, either. Just to be on the safe side, I think we ought to accompany the kids to Hogwarts. Something might happen on the way, surprise attacks or something. They probably want information. Torture. They could use that to pump information from the kids, not that they know anything worth fighting for."

"Don't worry," assured Mrs. Weasley, "Nothing ever happens on the train. There's no need to board the train."

Harry caught Ron's and Hermione's eye. 'What did Moody mean by 'they' and 'information'.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Ron and I will meet with the other perfects and the Head Boy and Girl, now. We'll be back soon. Find a compartment. See you Harry, Ginny. Bye Neville." Ron and Hermione left, taking Pigwidgen and Cookshanks with them.

"I suppose we should find an empty compartment then, shall we." Harry led the way with Ginny and Neville, who they met when boarding the train. They managed to find an empty compartment at the very back of the train. As they were getting settled, the glass door slid open and a familiar face appeared.

"Harry!" said a high squeaky voice. Colin Creevy poked his head in. "Guess what, Harry! Guess! Professor McGonagall made me her personal messenger. She's never had one before and she picked me! Me, Harry, me!" Colin dashed into the compartment and grabbed Harry's hand. Colin tugged him around the room as Colin waltzed absentmindedly. Harry wretched his hands out of Colin's grip and shuddered.

"What's that sticking out of your pocket, Colin?" Ginny asked.

"This?" Colin dug into pocket and withdrew an envelop of thick parchment. He handed the envelop to Harry and said, "This is for you, Harry. Professor McGonagall said to give this to you." Harry excepted the letter and stared at it. All eyes were on Colin as he continue to waltz around the compartment. Several minutes of awkward silence passed before Ginny broke the silence.

"Don't you have to report back to her?" Ginny said.

"Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Bye Ginny and Neville. See you, Harry." Colin skipped out of compartment and danced down the hall, singing gleefully.

When he left, Neville said, "Harry, what's in the letter Colin gave you?" Harry tore open the envelop and unfolded the letter.

"It says I'm the new Quidditch captain." Harry said slowly.

"Really? Give it here, Harry." Ginny held out her hand for the letter. After reading the letter, Ginny said, "What's your first act as captain.

"Harry Potter, Quidditch captain. My, this is going to be an easy year." sneered a voice in doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, mygerbil again.

I went to great lengths to make this chapter long. I tried to make Colin annoying but loveable. I think I made him annoying and stupid. Can you help me change it? I know he's 15 and all, but I like his character too much to change him.

I think I overdid it with Fred and George. I don't think they would be that difficult but it's so much fun writing about them I couldn't stop. Actually, this whole chapter was fun to write.

Nightraven106 - I'm just so good you can't find anything to criticize. Just kidding. There shouldn't be any romance in your story. After all, Lisa's only 13?

Iniysa - Thank you for reviewing. I'm so happy I have reviewers that come back and review again.

chinkywinky - Thank you so much for reviewing.