Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Gryffindor played Slytherin at Quidditch at the beginning of November. Harry didn't bother to go to the match because he didn't think he could stand watching from the crowd. Instead he visited Ron in the hospital wing. Ron was slowly returning to normal, and he was quite please when Harry came to see him.

"Thanks for coming, mate" he said happily "it's dead boring in here with just Goyle to talk to"

Goyle, who was in a bed at the other end of the hospital wing, was staring at the ceiling and cracking his knuckles.

"I've been doing my homework so I don't have to talk to him" said Ron.

"Hermione will be pleased" said Harry smiling slightly. Hermione had been bringing Ron his homework every night.

"Where is Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Gone to the match. She said she'll come and see you when it's over" said Harry.

"Probably a good thing I'm not on the team" said Ron. "I don't think I could play like this"

"Probably not" Harry agreed "Hey! Slytherin are a player short because of Goyle"

Ron smiled.

"It's just too bad that Goyle's not Seeker" he said.

"If Goyle was Seeker, Slytherin would probably play better without him" said Harry.

"Yeah I expect they would" said Ron. "Have a frog"

Ron threw a few chocolate frogs to Harry. They couldn't talk about too much in case Goyle overheard them, so Harry suggested a game of chess. They had hardly started playing when the door of the hospital wing burst open and Hermione, Ginny and Neville came in.

"We won!" said Ginny loudly. She was still in her Quidditch robes. Hermione and Neville were both carrying flags with the Gryffindor lion on them. A loud groaning suddenly filled the corridor outside.

"What's that?" asked Ron.

"Malfoy" said Hermione, Ginny and Neville in unison as Malfoy himself was carried into the hospital wing on a stretcher.

"I'm dying" he whined.

"Then hurry up about it, Malfoy" shouted Ron.

Harry, Ginny and Neville laughed. However, Snape, who had accompanied Malfoy to the hospital wing did not.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Weasley" he called.

Malfoy and Goyle smirked. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office to see what all the noise was about.

"Oh it's you. What is it this time, Malfoy?" she asked in a bored voice.

"The Bludgers hit me" said Malfoy quickly.

Harry couldn't help but notice that Goyle looked very guilty about this.

"Must've been awful for Malfoy, playing with only one bodyguard" said Harry sarcastically. "I s'pose Crabbe couldn't keep the Bludgers away by himself"

"That's not what really happened" whispered Neville. "Ginny knocked him off his broom. Malfoy just won't admit it"

"Nice one, Ginny!" said Ron reaching out and thumping his sister on the shoulder.

"Bill thought so too" said Ginny "he gave me twenty points for doing it"

Ron left the hospital wing a week after the Quidditch match.

"That was a nightmare" he said sitting down next to Hermione in the Great Hall.

"What was a nightmare?" asked Hermione.

"Been stuck in the hospital wing with Goyle" said Ron impatiently. "It was worse than sharing a room with Percy"

There was a few seconds of silence in which Hermione poured herself a bowl of cornflakes and Harry dished some bacon onto his plate.

"Aren't you at least going to ask me how bad it is to share a room with Percy?" asked Ron.

"What for?" asked Hermione. "First of all we don't want to know. And second it's nothing to do with the story"

"Yeah well it's..." said Ron.

But Harry and Hermione never found out what sharing a room with Percy was because the post arrived at that moment and a brown owl swooped down and dropped a letter on Ron's head. He tore the envelope open and after a few seconds a smile spread across his face.

"Mum and dad say to invite you two for Christmas. How about it?"

"That's really nice of them, Ron" said Hermione "But I promised my parents I'd spend the holidays with them this year"

"You'll come though, won't you, Harry?" said Ron.

"Course I will"

Mr Weasley met Harry, Ron and Ginny at Kings Cross on the last day of term.

"I've got a Portkey set up, not too far from here" he said leading the way out of the station.

"Why are we taking a Portkey, Dad?" asked Ginny as they dragged their trunks along (Mr Weasley had bewitched the trunks to make them lighter).

"The Ministry didn't have any cars to spare" said Mr Weasley "Here we are"

They turned down a narrow alley. Mr Weasley picked up an empty bottle which, according to the label, had once contained furniture polish. It took a moment to arrange themselves so that they could touch the bottle and hold onto their trunks at the same time. It was even harder for Harry and Ron because they had Hedwig and Pigwidgeon with them. But they managed it eventually and Harry felt himself being pulled forwards. He imagined that landing would be very uncomfortable because of the trunks. It might not have been so bad if Fred and George had not Apparated onto the exact same spot that Harry and the others landed on.

Ron fell backwards over his trunk and hit the bookshelf. Several books and a vase of flowers fell onto his head. Pigwidgeon's cage collided with the side of George's head. George staggered, knocking Harry into the fireplace (luckily for Harry the fire was not lit). Fred became pinned under Ginny's trunk and Ginny hit a chest of drawers which burst open, sending plugs flying across the room.

"What was the point of all that?" demanded Ron standing up and brushing petals out of his hair.

"Well it certainly gave me a laugh" said Mrs Weasley.

"Use your brains, Ron" said Fred "A lot of stuff happens for a laugh. Not all of it has to be an important part of the story"

"Like when Fred got hold of Percy's prefects badge and changed it to say 'Pinhead'" said George "That wasn't important"

"Yes it was" argued Fred "It let people know that Percy's a pinhead"

On Monday Mrs Weasley took Harry, Ron and Ginny to Diagon Alley to do their Christmas shopping. When they were finished Harry, Ron and Ginny went to see Fred and George in their joke shop.

Harry's mouth dropped open when he entered Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Fireworks zoomed over people's heads, shelves were stacked high, and rather untidily, with Headless Hats, Extendable Ears, Wildfire Whiz Bangs and fake wands which emitted squeaks, squawks, croaks, chirps and quacks as they turned into different rubber animals. A counter opposite the door was lined with jars of Skiving Snackboxes, Canary Creams and Ton Tongue Toffees. Fred, George and their friend Lee Jordan were running around serving customers and demonstrating their products.

"I don't suppose you could give us a hand for a few hours" said George.

"Yeah alright" said Ron.

Harry thoroughly enjoyed his afternoon working with the twins. For a few short hours he felt like a normal teenager, not 'the boy who lived' or 'the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord'. It seemed that Ron enjoyed his afternoon at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes too, because he later told Harry that "running a joke shop would be even cooler than being an Auror".

Harry privately agreed, but Ron wasn't the one who had the power to conquer Lord Voldemort. No that Prophecy was about Harry, and he knew he wasn't going to defeat Voldemort working in a joke shop.

Harry lay awake for a long time thinking about the Prophecy. He could hear Professor Trelawney's voice repeating it over and over inside his head. Did anyone else know about it besides himself and Professor Dumbledore? Had Hermione, perhaps, come across it on the internet?

"Why'd Rowling have to make it about me" thought Harry before he finally fell asleep.