Dinner at the Weasleys

"Hey, do you want to come over for dinner sometime?" Ron asked his new best friend Derek Vender. It had been a week since Derek moved in and somehow they had just clicked. Though there was something weird about him, like he was hiding something from Ron – something big.

"Um, I don't know. I have to ask Grandma. She's a little protective, so I might not be able to go," Derek said sadly. 'There it is again,' Ron thought, 'what is wrong with one dinner? How could his Grandma be nervous about that?'

"Oh, come on, what'll she have against dinner?"

"Oh well, she's just worried I'll-um-get hurt or something, since we move a lot. I'll be gone in a month or so, so she doesn't like me getting attached." Derek said.

Ron nodded. That was another thing about Derek he didn't get: why he had to move so much.

"Hey, look; there's Grandma, I'll go ask her," Derek said pointing at a figure that had just come outside. Then he leapt up to go and talk to her.

"How'd you get mum to agree to that?" Fred asked, he was sitting next to Ron eating a tuna sandwich.

"Well dad actually suggested it, when I told him about Derek," Ron said, "You know him, obsessed with anything to do with muggles."

"He was so excited when he heard we a muggle friend," Ginny added. The Weasleys we thought to be a little strange by the other kids, who stayed clear of them.

"What about mum?" George asked.

"Oh well, for once she agreed with dad that it was a good idea. 'The kids never have any friends over, it'll be good for them' were her exact words," Ginny said. "Then her pot started singing and she went looking for you two muttering something about 'the twins stealing her wand again.'"

The four of them started laughing and George said, "Well, it was dad's, actually. I don't think she heard that above all the yelling, though."

"So they're going to get all the you-know-what kind of stuff out of the house?" George asked.

"Yamumwulldoobt." Ron said with his mouth full.

"That's gross, Ron," Ginny said.

"Ickle Ronkins needs to learn how to talk with his mouth closed," Fred said.

"Shut up," Ron said, his face turning as red as his hair, "hey, look; Derek is coming back."

"So?" The twins asked at the same time.

"She said yes," Harry said smiling.

The Weasleys all started cheering, making the other kids turn to stare at them.

A few minutes earlier:

"Please, pleases, please, please, ple-"

"Oh, all right."

"Thanks so much, Grandma; you don't know how much this means to me. I'll be really careful, don't worry."

"For some reason that's not very reassuring." McGonagall said frowning; this was not a good idea.

That night at the Weasleys:

"I'm so glad you could come, Derek," Molly Weasley told Harry as soon as he stepped thought the door. Then she gave him a big hug. As Harry had never been hugged by anyone except his Grandma, this came as a big surprise. "The kids never have any friends over, and I'm just so glad you're making a good impression on them."

"It's my pleasure, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, while trying to breathe.

Fred, sensing Harry's trouble, said, "Mum, if you don't let him breathe, we won't have any friends anymore."

"Oh, sorry, Derek dear. Oh Ron, why don't you show Derek your ro- sorry I mean to the round room, yes the round room dear." She paused. It looked to Harry like she had caught herself before saying something wrong, but what was wrong in Ron showing Harry his room? And why did they have a round room? It seemed like everyone else was surprised by that name too.

"The round room, mum?" Ron asked, bewildered. Harry was sure there was something in Ron's room Mrs. Weasley didn't want him to see, and he was sure it had to do with magic. Grandma had told him before he left that it was OK to tell the Weasleys that he knew about magic, so long as he didn't say he was a wizard. Yet it would be fun seeing the Weasleys try to keep the magic in their house from him.

"Yes, the round room dear, the new one, you know, because the old shape was a little strange." Mrs. Weasley said meaningfully.

"Oh, you mean that round room mum; I thought you said-" George started.

"George, why don't you help me with the dishes? Go on and play, you four."

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Fred left the hall and went into a living room, which although it looked more like a rectangle to Harry, must have been what Mrs. Weasley have meant.

"Well this is the round room, Derek, though I like to call it the rectangle room," Fred said smiling.

"Anyway, do you want to play chess?" Ron asked. Right before Harry was about to answer, Ginny elbowed Ron in the ribs.

"Ron don't you remember, our chess set is a little different."

"Oh, right, sorry mate, guess we can't play."

Harry, who knew what exactly was 'off' about their chess set, was trying not to laugh.

"Well, I always like to play games with different rules; we can play anyway." The Weasleys looked horrified.

"Well you see," Ron started, but Fred interrupted.

"What ickle Ron here is trying to say, is that the set is missing some pieces."

"Oh yes, that was it," Ron said and Harry noticed that Ron was a very bad actor, though Fred and Ginny weren't doing too badly.

Just then Mrs. Weasley called, "Dinner's ready," and the Weasleys all sighed in relief. "We're eating outside today,' Mrs. Weasley said as they entered the kitchen, "could you boys please grab some cutlery on your way out."

The boys and Ginny went out into the garden. It was a great place, Harry had to admit. Nothing like the gardens he and his Grandma had had, this one was overgrown with lots of strange plants which Harry knew were magical.

"So what do-" Fred started, but was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like a car backfiring and a man with flaming red hair appeared right by him.

"Evening Fred, when is your new friend coming?" He said in a friendly voice. All the Weasleys, including Mrs. Weasley who had come out when she heard the noise, turned to stare at Harry.

"I knew you were wizards," Harry said in fake surprise.

"Derek, we're not-" Ron started, then paused, "wait; how'd you know?"

"RON!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Don't tell him."

"It's OK, Mrs. Weasley. I already knew about magic," Harry said.

"How?" Ginny asked.

"Err… my sister is – was – a muggleborn. She was killed by that lord person, Vold- something."

The Weasleys all sighed in relief and Harry spent a wonderful evening with them. That was, until Dumbledore showed up.

Right in the middle of pudding, there was a loud bang next to Ginny and everyone turned. Standing there was an old wizard in purple robes, with a very long beard.

"Ah, Professor Dumbledore, how nice to see you," Mrs. Weasley said, a little surprised.

"Molly, you remember I put wards on your house after the Pettigrew incident?" Dumbledore said, getting right to the point.

"Yes; has something happened?" Mr. Weasley asked nervously.

"Nothing bad," Dumbledore said, making everyone sigh in relief. "The wards tell me the true identity of anyone that enters your house. Wel,l tonight it seems as though you have an unexpected visitor."

"Well, yes; Derek Vender here, he's a friend of Ron's from school-" Mr. Weasley said, indicating Harry, who, knowing what was happening, groaned. How was he going to get out of this one?"

"Arthur, that boy isn't Derek Vender. He is Harry Potter," Dumbledore said gravely.

Sirius, because Harry had been kidnapped, broke out of Azkaban after only a year. He went after Peter, no one knows how he knew Peter was at the Weasleys, but he caught him nevertheless. He is now free and Peter in Azkaban. Because of this, Dumbledore made the Weasleys put wards around their house, so he'd know if another Death Eater was hiding there.