The Weasleys were suprised to find Harry following behind Ron down the steps, but greeted him anyway. Harry was grateful that he was at the Burrow, instead of stuck up in his room at the Dursleys' home on Privet Drive. Mr. Weasley had begun to bombard him with questions about certain muggle items, such as the 'computer' and other technologic things, and Fred and George had already started to pester Harry into trying out their newest product, Twinkle Toes.

"Come on, Harry, we need to test it out!" George had protested, waving a small candy in front of Harry's face, who waved it away. He couldn't help but distrust them when they had broke out into boils after trying out one of their own inventions. It was hilarious to watch, but could see how much pain they were in. No wonder they gave up on themselves and decided to torture others with their 'pointless hobbies' as Hermione would put it.

"Ron!" Fred immediately called for their little brother, who was now searching through the refridgerator. He came bustling out with handfuls of food ranging from pastries to apples. He dropped them all at once as George showed him the candy, gawking at it.

"A-Are you gonna eat that?!" Ron asked absently, staring at what was in George's hand. Fred smirked and shook his head, glancing at Harry.

"Of course not, my little brother. Take it!" George said smoothly, as Ron snatched the candy out of his hand. He unwrapped it with quick fingers, and threw the plastic paper on the floor as he shoved it in his mouth like it was the last ounce of food he would eat for a month. He arched his eyebrow suspiciously as he watched the twins burst into tears. They were laughing so hard that they had nearly fell over on the floor.

"What's so funny?" Ron said, oblivious. Fred was clutching his sides as George wiped a tear from his eye. Suddenly Ron felt numbness in from his knees down to his feet, and his eyes grew wide as they stopped at his twin brothers.

Instantaneously, his feet began to jiggle and he felt himself begin to move around the living room. He watched as Fred and George cackled continuously as Harry watched it all happen, slightly amused. Ron was dancing around like a hand puppet-his legs moving all over the place and his arms were flapping at his sides. Ron looked like he was going to kill his brothers for letting them eat that candy. But inwardly he was about to smack himself in the head for being an idiot to actually take something given to him by the twins. He was finally relieved when he regained the feeling in his feet.

"Bloody hell, George-it worked!" Fred grinned as he hi-fived his twin, who felt quite proud of himself. Just then Mrs. Weasley came from the hallway with a steely glare at them. Fred had immediately regretted what he said, and his once pleased face formed into a frown. Now it was Ron's turn to laugh.

"Fredrick Weasley, you march your tush up to your room! I want you to think about what you've said." She snapped, waving her arm towards the staircase, not releasing her glare from him. Fred just stood still, as if his feet were being pinned to the ground.

"What are you waiting for? An apocalypse? SHOO!" and with that she shoved him up the stairs gently. Fred drooped his head as he walked slugishly into the farthest room from the stairs, slamming the door behind him. Mrs. Weasley came to herself as she forced a smile on her face as she looked at them all. Ron cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Mum...what exactly did you want me for?" Ron asked her, and she shrugged and headed for the kitchen.

"Well I just wanted you to come down for breakfast!" She replied, not looking back at him, who was now relaxed. Ron turned to Harry who was trying to hide his smile of amusement but Ron could tell that he was still finding humor in his uncontrollable dancing. Ron just ignored this as he sat himself down at the dining table.

After a few minutes Ginny appeared from the kitchen carrying a pile of plates, and she set down one in front of each person. She blushed rather quickly when she stopped by Harry's chair and gave a small squeak before plopping a plate in front of him. Harry had smiled at this, because he knew that Ginny fancied him-as Ron had said-and never left him alone about Harry. It felt it nice to have an admirer...

Mrs. Weasley walked through to the dining room with a pan full of eggs. She scraped an even amount onto everyone's plates, before returning to the kitchen to retrieve her batch of bacon, doing the same. As soon as she had given the last peices to her husband, Arthur Weasley, she sat beside him and settled herself before allowing the children to eat. Ron wasted no time in being clean and polite, but instead dug his fork into the eggs and shoved it in his mouth. He chewed fast, swallowed, and went in again for a second fork-full. Everyone else seemed to take an interest in watching him eat, but eventually concentrated on their own plates. No one talked during breakfast, for they were all enjoying their bacon and eggs.

When the family and Harry had finally finished up they thanked Mrs. Weasley and departed from the table, leaving both her and Ginny to deal with the mess of dirty dishes and such. Mrs. Weasley had George take up a saved plate of food for Fred, who was still stuck in his room for the remainder of the morning. Ron had brought Harry to his room to play a game of Wizard's Chess (obviously planning to win) and moved the trunk from his bed to set up the chessboard. Harry looked all around Ron's room-nothing had changed since the day he had come here when he was 12; there were still large Chudley Cannons posters plastered on the walls, and his bed sheets were still orange to match. He wondered if Ron would ever get out of his childish phase and finally become 15. Then he turned to Ron who was carefully placing each pawn into the proper place: Nope.

He looked at Ron's night-table and noticed an unopened envelope. He picked it up and threw it at Ron, who muttered angrily as the pawns shifted off of the board. Then his face relaxed as he opened the letter thrown to him by Harry. His eyes jolsted down the parchment, and he folded it back up within a few minutes and placed it back in its rightful envelope. He eventually continued with his 'careful task' and he said something to Harry without even looking up once.

"It's from Hermione." he said, and assured Harry it was ok for him to read it as well. Harry took the letter out of the ripped envelope, and unfolded it. He began to read Hermione's neat handwriting that ran down the page.

Dear Ron,
I assume that you have sent a letter to Harry about spending the last week of summer with you? I would never forgive you if you haven't...he needs to get away from those awful Dursleys. But that is not what I am writing about-I've been hearing these strange rumors lately...they've got me worried. I'm sure you don't take the time to read the Daily Prophet, otherwise you would have written me before. I've attatched the article to this letter, so you can read it as well-I urge you to.

Sincerely Yours,
Hermione

Harry took the clipping off of the letter; it was slightly crumpled and had marking all over it. He flattened the paper so it was readable, and started to read it:

::MYSTERIOUS KILLER RAMPAGE HITS LONDON::

Earlier this morning, Ministry Investigators stumbled up what seemed like two decapitated bodies strangled in the bushes south of Little Whigham last night. After being taken to the Ministry for Medi-Witches to determine the cause of their deaths, they discovered two peirce marks on the sides of each of their necks. It was clearly made noted that the two victims suffered from a Vampire attack, making the statement known that there is now a loose Vampire running around during the night to murder. 'We have now set out dementors once again to be on the look out for this killer,' Cornelius Fudge announced to reporters this afternoon, 'there's no possible way that anyone could get through them without being cleared of all signs of being this mass-murderer.'
Meanwhile, in the life of the Boy-Who-Lived...

This was something that Harry didn't care to hear. Vampires had no connection to him whatsoever. At least there wasn't any news on Sirius's death. He shuddered at the newly found thought that the last true connection to his parents was gone. No more recieving letters from a different owl every other week-he wouldn't even be able to go live with Sirius like he had wished to. He tried to ignore this as he watched Ron reset up all of the pawns that had recently been knocked over.

"Ron, did you even read the article Hermione sent?" Harry asked him, holding it out in his hand. Ron looked up at it and then back to his chessboard, checking to make sure everything looked perfect.

"Huh? Oh, no..." Ron muttered as he carefully backed away from the complete board, "there! Want to play, Harry?" He watched as Harry said nothing, but handed him the article about Vampires. Ron began to read the title, and his expression was the same as it had been earlier-preoccupied. Of course Ron didn't care about Vampires, at least they weren't coming to attack him in the middle of the night. He was safe with his family at the Burrow, and Harry was here...so he couldn't be harmed...

"Well then," Ron said quietly, trying to figure out what to say, "why don't we play a game of Wizard's Chess?" Harry, not knowing what else to possibly do, nodded and sat across from Ron on his bed.

The game was rather quick, as Ron had easily got rid of all of Harry's small pawns and both bishops within a matter of minutes. Harry honestly didn't seem to mind, for he was thinking about other things like Sirius's body and Voldemort...he still couldn't figure out how he could return so quickly, if he did at all. But like earlier feelings, he concentrated more on the chessboard in front of him, though he knew he was at loss anyhow. He watched as Ron's King took out his last Knight, and the game was finally over. He then looked up at Ron, who was feeling rather proud of himself. After his 2 second boasting escapade, Ron realized how childish he was acting and asked Harry for another go. Harry waved it off, saying that he wanted to finish the homework he could never start.

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Over the next few days, the Weasley children and Harry had begun to get themselves ready for the departure on the train to Hogwarts. The family had done their shopping at Diagon Alley; Fred and George could not help but force everyone to take a look at their new joke shop. Mrs. Weasley was still not pleased that they had flown out of the school last year, and also oblivious as to whom would be foolish enough to give her two sons enough money to start their shop. But she was proud of both of them nonetheless, and was surprised at how much the twins had gotten done in only a few months.

Their shop was a bit small, but it was full of many products of theirs-including the Twinkle Toes candy that Ron had been tricked into eating before. Harry was surprised to see the invention that made the twins break out into boils as the #1 seller. They had said that they were able to fix all of the little bugs within their formula, so instead of breaking out into boils all over, they would get severe acne on their face. That made Harry picture Draco and his gang with pimples-and this made him laugh. Boy, did they deserve that, Harry thought.

After purchasing all of their needed school items, they headed back to the Burrow where all of the children were packing for the next day, which was when they would be leaving for the Hogwarts Express. It was fairly easy for Harry, since he had already packed his textbooks and robes and had his broom set aside his trunk. All he needed to do was find a spot in for his new books. Ron, on the other hand, had to fold up his robes and extra clothes and put them inside along with his textbooks, and also put Pig in his cage and get his broom from the cupboard. Other than those things, both of them were more than ready for the coming morning.

Ginny came running into Ron's room and opened the door timidly to see Harry recovering from yet another stunning victory to Ron. She looked as if she were going to die of embarrasment, from who knows what. When she finally got Ron's attention by saying that Hermione was at the door, she told him afterward that Mrs. Weasley wanted them to come down for dinner. Harry laughed as Ron looked rather dissapointed at this, and followed Ginny down the stairs. He turned around to see Harry grinning wickedly; it was his turn to torment Ron for those beatings on the chessboard.

Mrs. Weasley eventually served the family up some dinner and everyone scarfed it all down rather hastily, Ron being the first to finish. Instead of letting everyone leave their dishes at the table, Mrs. Weasley insisted that they all be kind enough to put them into the sink. The children quickly tossed their dishes into the sink, and then into the living room where Fred and George began to ask each of them to try another new creation of theirs, Heart Stoppers. At the mention of the name Ginny retreated to her room and left Harry and Ron alone with the twins...which wasn't always a good thing.

"Heart Stoppers!" Fred said gleefully, "The newest invention in the line of Weasley Products!" Ron looked at them as if he had know idea who they were. Harry was suddenly curious about the new product, and why it was named a 'Heart Stopper'.

"What exactly do these Heart Stoppers do? They don't kill you or anything do they?" he asked. Fred and George Weasley were surprised that either of them had cared about this, for earlier it had no appeal to them at all.

"Funny you should ask that, Harry. Heart Stoppers do not 'kill' you, they merely..."

"Rid you of all caring and loving bones in your body for a short amount of time." Fred finished. George nodded and continued.

"The person becomes cruel and unordinarily mean amongst people...that's why it-"

"Only lasts for a short period of time." Fred smiled wickedly at them. Ron sighed, relieved that it wasn't going to make someone drop dead out of the blue or anything. He waved the item away as Fred and George flashed tons of them in his face. He wasn't going to fall for that one anymore.

Suddenly Mrs. Weasley burst in, shooing them all upstairs to bed, for it had quickly become 9 o'clock. They wasted no time in obeying, all of the Weasley children knew how their mother could get if they didn't listen. She made sure that each of them were under their covers and had closed eyes before she shut the door to each of their rooms. None of them snuck out of bed after she left, for they knew that tomorrow was going to be a busy-and long-day. So each of them thought it best to get some rest, since they were going to wake up early the next morning.