Y/N lost.

He didn't lose by a landslide, and he was proud of himself for that one. Ginny had been flying much longer than he had and it didn't take her long to make the Nimbus obey her every whim and declaration.

She moved as though she'd had the broom for years, and now used it to attempt cut-offs on Y/N. He figured the only reason she hadn't wiped the floor with him was because of her attempting this. She still didn't know how to properly contest someone in the air, especially not at these speeds. But he could already tell that was nothing more than a speedbump.

She wasn't bad at it even with no previous practice however, and she had visibly improved by the time they landed once again alongside Bill, Charlie, and Hermione. But everything, the loss, the taunting, and the sheer adrenaline, were all worth it one hundred times over when he saw Ginny's face.

She was wearing one of the widest smiles he'd ever seen her wear and it showed no sign of fading as she ran up to him and hugged him again.

'Thank you so much,' she whispered into his chest.

'Anything for my sister.'

Ginny pulled her head away and beamed up at him with tears swimming in her eyes before releasing him as the other three approached.

'Blimey Ginny,' said Charlie, sounding impressed. 'You'd have given me a run for my money before you even got the Nimbus out. You've been practicing well.'

'It's not easy with not really having anyone to fly against,' said Ginny, a bit sniffly as she tried to recompose herself, 'but I've done my best. Definitely going to be grateful for having a flying buddy now.' and she smiled at Y/N.

'Be careful, Gin,' said Bill. 'From what Fred and George have been telling me, he's only been flying for about 2 years now and he's already keeping up.'

'I just lost the only advantage I had on her by giving her that,' said Y/N, nodding at the broom, 'but it's worth it to have some decent competition. She's leaps and bounds ahead of Potter.'

'That's because his only gift is the pair of glasses on his nose helping him to see where the damn golden ball is,' said a voice from behind Y/N. He turned to see Fred and George walking smugly towards them.

'What are you two doing back?' asked Bill.

'Mum dragged Ron off to get a haircut. You want to be careful, she'll be after you next.'

Bill ran a hand nervously through his long hair.

'She'll have to jinx it off me before I willingly let her cut it.'

'Don't tempt her,' said George.

'Anyway,' said Fred. 'What are you two doing here?' he added to Y/N and Hermione.

'We were invited for the world cup,' said Y/N with a smirk.

'I know that. I meant now, thought you weren't due till the end of the week.'

'Funny how Ginny failed to mention that part to anyone other than those waited inside the Burrow today isn't it?' said Charlie, suppressing a laugh.

'You trying to get information as to what's going on out of Y/N without telling us?' said George indignantly.

'Not telling any of you anything anyway,' said Y/N. 'Swore to your mother I wouldn't.'

'When?' yelled Ginny indignantly 'I've been with you since we picked you up!'

'Remember that note "to my mother" on the first letter you sent me?'

Ginny looked furious.

'Ah yes. The impervious wall of information that is Y/N. Nothing gets through that,' said Fred.

'Except for…' said George maliciously as his eyes turned towards Hermione.

Hermione drew her wand whilst Y/N's shot into his hand.

'Well, we didn't want it to come to this, did we George?' said Fred, rolling up his sleeves.

'No,' said George, looking as though he very much wanted it to come to this, 'but if they're going to be stubborn…'

'Guess we're going to have to show them the Weasley way,' said Ginny as she drew her wand.

'Traitor,' muttered Y/N.

'Maybe I am,' said Ginny with a smirk, 'but it's two against three and I like my odds with these two.'

'Four against three, I'm afraid,' said Bill lazily as he and Charlie moved alongside Y/N and Hermione. 'We have also had to swear to our mother not to tell you, so we'll be having none of that.'

'And if any of the stories Ron tells are true, both of these two out-match you in a three against two anyway,' said Charlie smugly. 'Never mind with us in the mix.'

After much grumbling, the twins and Ginny lowered their wands. Hermione slowly stashed hers and Y/N tucked his away into his holster.

'Hermione does know though?' asked George as they all set off back towards the Burrow.

''Course she does.'

'Ginny, start dating Y/N. We need to know what's going on,' said Fred.

'You'll keep your hands off him,' said Hermione, wrapping herself around Y/N's arm.

'I wouldn't date him anyway!' said Ginny. 'He's like my brother.'

'I'd date Fred if it got me a secret,' said George shrugging.

'You pretty much are Fred mate, it doesn't count.'

'You're going to pay for that one, Y/N,' said Fred.

'Add it to the list.'

They spent the rest of the walk laughing and joking with each other before Y/N, Hermione and Ginny retired to her bedroom for a while. Y/N went to sit on the small bed set for him in the corner but Hermione cleared her throat and she patted the space on the bed next to her. He wandered over and sat down.

'Are you two going to be like that all week?' asked Ginny with half a smile.

'Yes,' said Hermione defiantly before Y/N could even answer.

Ginny laughed and shook her head.

'Well just keep it over there. I don't need to hear it.'

'So, genuinely,' said Y/N, trying to distract from the blush creeping up his face, 'how has your holiday been, Gin?'

Ginny launched into the story of her summer holidays. All in all it sounded like not a lot had happened. Bill had already been here when the Weasleys had returned and Charlie had arrived a few days later. They'd secured the tickets for everyone to travel to the world cup and then all four of the elder Weasleys had begun getting very suggestive about something that may be happening at Hogwarts.

'Is Percy not in on it?' asked Y/N.

'Yes and no. He knows what's going on and what they're doing, but you know Percy. He doesn't enjoy a joke. He just says it's classified until the Ministry decide to tell us.'

'To be fair, mum told me the same thing,' said Y/N.

'And yet Hermione knows?' asked Ginny indignantly.

'Girlfriend privileges,' said Hermione.

Ginny continued with her recap, rounding it all off by saying that she'd gotten Mrs Weasley to take the twins and Ron down to the village that day, partially so she could get some time with Y/N and Hermione before the others, but also because of another reason.

'Ron's been asking about you a decent amount over the last few days,' said Ginny, looking at Y/N. 'Seems he has something he wants to talk to you about quite badly, but he wanted to wait until you were here. I've told him to write to you a couple of times but he says "it needs to be away from prying eyes".'

'Wonder what I've done to attract his attention,' said Y/N. 'Everyone's after me today.'

He leant down and kissed the top of Hermione's head.

'Luckily I've got a favourite.'

Hermione giggled whilst Ginny feigned throwing up.

'Any idea what I'm in for?' he asked once Ginny had stopped.

'Nope. Just that he needs to speak to you alone,' said Ginny. 'I dare say he'll kick the door down once he hears you're here. I mean, he hasn't shut up about-'

Bang!

The door swung inwards so suddenly Ginny jumped, Hermione squealed and Y/N's wand shot into his hand and he aimed it at the red-haired boy whose hair was now considerably shorter than he'd seen it in a while.

'Ah. Good. I thought Fred and George might have been lying,' said Ron, trying to compose himself. 'Hi Hermione,' he added weakly to the girl behind Y/N, who was staring daggers at him.

Y/N stowed his wand with a sigh and looked to the two girls.

'I'll be back in a minute. Tell her nothing,' he added to Hermione.

'Yes I know. Don't worry. See you later' she said, completely ignoring Ron.

Y/N gestured Ron out of the room and he followed him out and up to the top floor into Ron's bedroom. This room had three new beds in it which Y/N figured must belong to the twins and Harry.

'Yes. I'm actually here Ron, in the flesh and blood,' said Y/N the moment the door had closed. 'Now, what's this big emergency Ginny has been telling me about?'

'Emergency?' said Ron, looking sheepish. 'It's not really that big of a deal. What's she told you? I imagine she's blown it out of proportions, it's stupid anyway-'

'Right, okay. One thing at a time,' said Y/N. 'First, hello Ron. Hope you've had a good summer.'

Ron took a deep breath and then smiled.

'Yeah, it's good to see you, mate. Sorry. Just been stressing myself out with it and you're the one who I know I can speak to without them laughing at me.'

'I can't promise that last part whilst it's just us, but I can promise it afterwards, yeah,' said Y/N, sinking onto the bed across from Ron's.

'It's… um… well… Lavender Brown.'

'Alright. What about her?'

'She… she wrote to me.'

'She what?' said Y/N incredulously.

Ron moved over to his wardrobe and rummaged around for a few moments before pulling out a piece of parchment and handing it to Y/N, before sinking back down onto his bed. Y/N flipped the parchment open and read.

'Dear Ron,

Hiya! Sorry, I know this is kind of out of the blue, but I just thought it'd be nice to speak outside of school. We don't really get the chance around the castle so I was thinking this may be a chance to get to know each other better and maybe speak a bit more? You don't have to if you don't want to. Just thought it might be nice.

Feel free to respond to me if you'd like. If not, I won't blame you.

Lavender Brown.'

'How long ago did you get this?'

'About three days ago.'

'Then you haven't blown your chance yet,' said Y/N folding up the note 'Guessing you haven't responded to her?'

'What am I meant to say?' said Ron. 'She wants to chat!'

'You're chatting to me, Ron. She's trying to get to know you.'

'What if she's sent this to everyone?'

'What if she hasn't?' said Y/N. 'Worst case, it goes nowhere and you're no worse off, but you may find out you really like her and get along. I imagine she took a shine to you after trying to stand up for Binky when I was being Anti-Trelawney.'

'Ah… yeah…' said Ron, looking sheepish.

'Whether you were being anti-me or not doesn't matter. You were standing up for her and that may well have stuck with her. We're drafting a response. Get your quill.'

Y/N wandered around behind Ron as he wrote, providing suggestions and getting Ron to write it in a way that better fit himself. Eventually Ron turned to him, looking desperate but read what he had.

'Dear Lavender,

Not at all. It was a pleasant surprise. I hope you're doing well and having a lovely summer. Are you by any chance going to be heading out to the Quidditch World Cup? Me and my family are so we may be able to catch you there. If not, I'll be happy to catch up at Hogwarts and talk in between if you'd like. I think it would be nice to get to know each other a bit more.

Ron Weasley.'

'You missed out everything I said about you speaking about yourself,' said Y/N, shaking his head at him.

'Well it feels weird!' he said. 'I don't want to be like "oh look at me".'

'No, but she wants you to be,' said Y/N. 'She's trying to get your attention. At least ask her something specifically about herself. Something you know she likes or is into.'

'Fine,' said Ron exasperatedly. 'What do you suggest?'

'Don't wish her well and hope she's having a nice summer. Ask her how her summers going. Prompt conversation.'

'It was a pleasant surprise. How are you? How's your summer going?'

'But that's like three questions in a row,' said Ron, staring down at the parchment. 'I don't want to sound desperate.'

'Mate you've come to me for dating advice. You are desperate.'

'It's not dating advice! And besides, you're the only person I know our age who's in a relationship.'

'If it's not dating advice, you wouldn't be asking me,' said Y/N, 'or worrying so much about it. Just send it. You aren't going to look desperate. You're responding to her.'

'I can't-'

'Pigwidgeon!'

The tiny owl hooted excitedly and fluttered down towards Y/N.

'You send it or I take it off you and send it. Your choice,' said Y/N.

Ron sighed and wrapped up the parchment before tying it around Pigwidgeon's leg and throwing him out the window.

'If this goes south, I'm blaming you,' said Ron.

'And if it doesn't, I'll claim credit at your wedding,' shrugged Y/N. 'Mate, you're never going to get anywhere unless you try. She may turn out to be a good friend. Maybe more. Maybe less. Until you try, you won't know.'

'Right yeah. Thanks Y/N. Probably made it a much bigger deal than it was.'

Y/N shrugged.

'I got lucky with mine. Met my dream girl and hit it off immediately. I'd be surprised if me and Hermione ever split. Not everyone gets that lucky.'

'I don't think I could see one of you without the other,' said Ron. 'You're perfect for each other.'

'Speaking of my darling girlfriend, let's go before she murders one or both of us,' said Y/N and with a laugh, the two of them made their way back down to Ginny's bedroom where Y/N knocked and was told to enter.

Ginny was absentmindedly polishing the handle of her new broom whilst Hermione was laying out on her bed, reading a book. Her hair was splayed out behind her at a beautiful angle that made Y/N's heart skip a beat. She beamed as she saw him and shuffled up to make room.

'So, what was so important?' Ginny asked as Y/N sank onto the bed next to Hermione and kissed her.

'Personal thing for Ron,' said Y/N pointedly.

Ginny smirked.

Luckily, Ron had missed it as he was staring open-mouthed at Ginny's broom.

'Where did you get that?'

'Y/N and Hermione bought it for my birthday,' said Ginny happily as she held it up. 'He let my fly his around last year and I really enjoyed it. Apparently that made him thing the next step was to buy me my own.'

'I didn't buy mine,' said Y/N with a shrug. 'Mum got it for me, so it's no more than I would have paid. In fact, it's less with Hermione covering half for me.'

'I appreciate you getting it for her,' said Ron honestly. Y/N had been expecting him to look a bit put out at the very least, but Ron looked genuinely happy. 'It's good to know she's got good friends looking out for her.'

'She's my sister as well, mate,' said Y/N, holding up his wrist with the bracelet around it. 'Whether by blood or not.'

The four of them chatted about the holidays some more. Well, mostly Y/N and Hermione as Ginny had already told them about most of their holidays before they made their way downstairs to greet the rest of the Weasleys.

'Ah! Y/N dear and Hermione too. Do come sit down,' said Mrs Weasley happily as they emerged. 'Can I get you anything? Tea? Toast?'

'Some toast would be lovely, Mrs Weasley,' said Y/N as Hermione nodded and they sat down at the table. 'Thank you for having us so early.'

'Nonsense,' said Mrs Weasley, waving a hand as the bread opened itself and pieces began drifting lazily towards the toaster. 'Always happy to have guests round and Arthur was able to get the tickets so may as well use them. And most of our family speaks very highly of you and after you saved Ginny, well-'

This caused Y/N to go slightly red. He knew Ginny spoke of him, but didn't really expect any of the others to.

They shared some food chatting happily with Mrs Weasley before retiring to Ginny's bedroom for the evening. Y/N once again made his way over to the small bed that had been laid out for him, but once again was interrupted by Hermione clearing her throat and tapping the area next to her. Y/N slipped down onto it with a smile and Hermione lay out across the bed, allowing her head to rest in his lap where Y/N began running his hand through her hair.

'So, what did Ron want?' whispered Ginny.

'Would you believe me if I said girl troubles?' said Y/N off-handedly.

'Girl troubles? Him?' scoffed Hermione.

'At least make your lie a bit more convincing, Y/N,' smirked Ginny.

'That's the fun part,' said Y/N, 'it wasn't a lie.'

'What,' said Ginny blankly.

'Lavender Brown wrote to him. Wants to get to know him a bit better. He was tearing his hair out trying to figure out the perfect formula for responding to her. Got me to do it instead.'

'Why did he go to you?' asked Hermione whilst Ginny stared open mouthed.

'Because I landed you,' said Y/N fondly as he ran his hand through her hair again. 'Probably reckons I'm the master of flirting to have landed the best-looking girl in the school.'

Hermione scoffed again, but her cheeks went pink and she beamed up at him.

Apparently, the gut-wrenching sappiness from Y/N and Hermione had been enough to snap Ginny out of her shocked stupor.

'How has he made enough of an impression to get a girl to write to him? He's an arse.'

'To be fair to him, he was better in the back half of last year,' said Y/N. 'Took me scarring his cheek, but he was better. Besides, he stood up for Lavender against me in the first half of the year because I didn't believe Trelawney's prediction about her rabbit.'

'Well yeah, both of you have made your opinions on Trelawney quite plain,' said Ginny. 'That's why I've taken Arithmancy instead of Divination. And also 'cause I can't use you for Divination homework. But that's not normally enough.'

'Maybe she's liked him for a while,' shrugged Y/N. 'I have no idea. I just know he had a letter addressed from her in his wardrobe and he showed it to me.'

'And you're sure it was Lavender…?' asked Ginny slowly.

'You reckon it was a fake?'

'I'm not saying that,' said Ginny. 'It's just very easy to fake someone else's handwriting and pretend you're someone you're not.'

'Why Ron though?' asked Hermione. 'I mean, it's Harry and Y/N who keep fighting Voldemort. It's Y/N who killed the basilisk and it was the three of us who saved Sirius. Ron's been absent during most of the big things, same as I have.'

'Maybe that's the exact reason?' said Ginny. 'It's the weak link. Y/N and Harry are both watching their backs so intently, Y/N won't take his holster off-'

'I have!' said Y/N. 'I've had it off all summer before going to Hermione's!'

'Only because your mum told you to,' said Ginny, 'and I guarantee it was back on the entire time you were with Hermione. You're nervous, Y/N. On edge. And you have every right to be, but it makes it very difficult to slip past you. And Hermione is closer with you than anyone. It would be very hard to get in through her without you knowing.'

'So you think someone's writing to Ron, pretending to be Lavender to get to me or Harry?'

'I just don't think we can rule it out. It seems very out of the blue for her to suddenly want to be Ron's best friend and after the end of last year and what Harry said Trelawney told him-'

'I don't know if we need to be that concerned,' said Y/N consolingly, 'but I do agree with you. We'll be careful, yeah?'

Ginny breathed a shaky sigh and then nodded.

'Sorry… I just… I don't want you getting hurt or killed. It's been three years in a row now you've ended it in the Hospital Wing. And one of them was my fault.'

'No it wasn't, Gin,' said Y/N softly, 'and neither were the other two. Besides, I've got Hermione with me, and the last time me and her worked together, we hid from a werewolf.'

'Right… yeah… just being silly…' said Ginny quietly.

'No you aren't,' said Hermione harshly. 'We've learnt that being careful is a life saver and we need to keep doing it. But we can't know what's going on with the letter until we get a response, we just need to make sure Y/N is there in case somethings cursed or enchanted.'

They chatted a little bit more about things and then Ginny bade them goodnight and lay down in her bed, facing away from them. Y/N made to get up, but Hermione made a noise of protest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

'Hermione,' said Y/N sternly, trying to hide his smile, but she simply grumbled at him again. 'I can't stay here.'

'Ginny won't tell anyone, will you Gin?'

'My lips are sealed,' said Ginny without turning around.

Y/N sighed and shimmied back to allow Hermione some room. She giggled happily and wrapped herself into his chest where the two of them fell asleep together.

Ginny's worries proved hopefully baseless, however. Lavender responded to Ron within a couple of days and Y/N didn't even hear about it until after Ron had responded.

'It was really easy this time. She asked me plenty of questions. Responded to the ones you asked and said she'd be willing to meet up at the world cup. Apparently, her and her family are arriving the same day we are. She said she'll tell me the campsite number once they know it,' said Ron after dragging Y/N aside again. 'Before I knew it, I'd written a full response and sent it off again.'

'Good,' said Y/N. 'Have you still got her letter?'

Ron nodded and scooped it up out of his wardrobe. Y/N held it in his hand and pretended to read whilst he felt forward. The parchment didn't even swim into view. No enchantments, no trickery, carefully penned by hand.

He could understand where Ginny was coming from. It was very easy to be on edge after everything that happened the last couple of years. But something felt innocent about these responses, such genuine interest and want to chat, and it looked as though Ron felt the same. Y/N was finding it difficult to believe this was anything more than polite interest.

'Really happy for you mate,' he said as he handed it back to Ron, who was beaming. 'Let's see how far this goes.'

Then, two days before Harry was due to join them, Y/N was sitting alone in Ginny's room. Most of the Weasleys had taken another trip down to the village. Y/N had feigned illness and told Hermione to go on without him. It took some convincing, but eventually he managed it and after her assurances that they wouldn't be gone for long, they left.

He'd felt bad about lying to Hermione about this, but knew that if she knew what he was doing, she'd be watching him every few minutes to ensure he didn't over face himself. And whilst he appreciated her concern, he was capable. Besides, it would only alert Ginny to what they were doing and she already seemed worried enough.

His eyes were closed. His breathing steady. And out went his tendrils. Feeling around. There they were. There weren't as many around the Burrow. Not even close, but there were a few and that would be enough. He felt his mind wrap around the first one and he delved deeper.

There was a much younger Mrs Weasley. Just behind her Y/N could see a younger Mr Weasley. He was bent over messing with something. Y/N watched as Mrs Weasley traced her wand upwards and murmured.

'Repello Muggletum.'

Y/N opened his eyes and scribbled the incantation and wand movement down on a scrap of parchment before stowing it in his textbook on his lap. He didn't really need to write down what the spell did, the incantation alone made it pretty obvious.

One by one he began to tick through the enchantments lining the Burrow, adding each one steadily to the pile of parchment scraps. Once he'd finished, his head was still pulsing slightly but for the most part, he was okay, definitely would be easier to stick to his illness story now, however.

He was just about to close his eyes to try and recover somewhat from his exertion, when an idea crossed his brain.

Ancient magic, old magic, a source of magic that made his head spin so badly he couldn't tell which way was up. And now, he may be able to trace the enchantment.

'If I could see how the cloak was made…' he murmured. It would be risky, he knew that already. Enchantments that now passed by unless he focused were making him feel ill, and the cloak practically knocked him out whenever it was nearby. Plus, he'd need to wait for Harry to arrive. But even still, he found his curiosity building. Its magic was so powerful, so ancient, the only thing he'd ever felt rival it was Dumbledore's spells. He knew it was risky, but surely it was worth it?

()()()()()()

Finally, Sunday arrived and Ron, Fred, George, and Arthur were gathered around the fireplace awaiting the go ahead from Arthur's Ministry friend. Bill and George sat at the table whilst Ginny, Hermione and Y/N were standing by the doorway.

Before long, the head of someone from the Ministry appeared in the fire and declared that Number 4 Privet Drive was now connected. One by one, the Weasleys vanished into the fireplace.

'Did it really need four of them?' asked Y/N as Ron vanished.

'No,' sighed Mrs Weasley. 'Arthur was sent to speak to Harry's Aunt and Uncle and Fred and George were going to carry his stuff, but Ron insisted that he be there too.'

'Man can't live without his boyfriend,' sighed Y/N. They waited patiently for around twenty minutes, during which Mrs Weasley left the kitchen.

'Taking them a while,' said Bill as he flicked idly through that mornings Daily Prophet. 'You'd think they were helping him move house.'

'Maybe Harry didn't have all his stuff together?' suggested Ginny.

'Doubt it,' said Y/N. 'I dare say Harry probably never unpacked properly, he hates it there. He'll have been ready from the moment he knew he was coming.'

Finally, after almost half an hour, one by one the Weasleys began to re-emerge. Starting with Fred, who was beaming.

'Did you actually kill him this time?' said Y/N with his eyebrows raised. 'Four go in. One comes out?'

'You'll see,' said Fred keenly.

A few moments later and George emerged. They might have been the same person, George's face was a perfect mirror of Fred's.

'This isn't good,' said Hermione weakly.

Next up was Ron, who stepped out with a confused look on his face.

'Did he eat it?' asked Fred excitedly.

'Eat what?' asked Ron.

'Damn it,' said George.

'Give it a minute. Ron wasn't far after us. We may get lucky.' Y/N was still confused but as the minutes stretched on, Fred and George only seemed to get happier. Finally, the flames turned green again and Harry staggered out of the Weasley fireplace.

'Did he eat it?' asked Fred excitedly as he held out a hand to help Harry up.

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'What was it?'

'Ton-Tongue Toffee!' said Fred brightly. 'George and I invented them. We've been trying to test them all summer.'

Bill, Charlie, George, and Ron exploded into laughter. Ginny shook her head.

'What is it?' whispered Y/N.

'A toffee that, according to them, makes someone's tongue grow and grow. They've said the longest it can get up to is about ten foot.'

'Dear Merlin,' said Y/N as Hermione's mouth fell open. 'Those two are lethal.'

The three of them watched as Harry exchanged pleasantries with Bill and Charlie. And then, a moment later and Mr Weasley emerged from the fireplace.

'That wasn't funny, Fred!' he yelled. 'What on earth did you give that muggle boy?'

'I didn't give him anything,' said Fred. 'I just dropped it. It was his fault he went and ate it. I never told him to.'

'You dropped it on purpose!' bellowed Mr Weasley. 'You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet-'

'How long did his tongue get?' asked George excitedly.

'It was four-foot long before his parents would let me shrink it!'

The room burst into laughter again, Harry joining in this time.

'They're asking for Mrs Weasley to get angry at them at this point,' whispered Hermione and Y/N nodded.

'It isn't funny!' shouted Mr Weasley. 'That sort of behaviour seriously undermines Wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of muggles, and my own sons-'

'We didn't give it to him because he's a muggle,' said Fred indignantly.

'No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git,' said George, 'Isn't he Harry?'

'Yeah he is, Mr Weasley!' said Harry.

'That's not the point!' raged Mr Weasley. 'You wait until I tell your mother-!'

'Tell me what Arthur?' said Mrs Weasley as she re-entered the kitchen. 'Oh, hello Harry dear!' she added happily as she saw the black-haired boy.

He took this rather awkward pause to look around properly for the first time and saw the trio standing by the door watching the scene in front of them with faces of half amusement, half exasperation and he grinned sheepishly.

'It's nothing Molly,' mumbled Arthur. 'Fred and George just… But I've had words with them-'

'What have they done this time?' said Mrs Weasley dangerously. 'If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-'

'Why don't we show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?' said Hermione pointedly.

'Right. Yeah. Come on Harry,' said Ron quickly as he saw the looks on their faces.

'Yeah, we'll come too,' said George.

'You stay where you are!' snarled Mrs Weasley.

Harry and Ron moved across to where the trio were standing and together, they all made their way steadily up through the burrow.

'What are 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes'?' asked Harry.

Ron and Ginny both snickered whilst Hermione and Y/N shared a look.

'Mum found a stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room for Bill and Charlie,' said Ron. 'Great long price lists for things they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets. Loads of stuff, it was brilliant. None of us knew they'd been inventing stuff.'

'We've been hearing explosions in their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things. We thought they just liked the noise,' said Ginny.

'Just, most of the stuff- Well, all of it really was a bit dangerous. And they were intending to sell it to make a bit of money. Mum went mad. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it and burnt all the order forms. She was furious at them anyway. She wanted them to get more OWLS.'

As they reached the second floor landing, a door opened and Percy Weasley poked his head out. Y/N kept walking as Harry stopped to speak to him and Hermione just allowed him to drag her along. He'd gotten too sick of Percy's reports on Cauldron's and other nonsense since his arrival. He struggled to understand how the man could have become even more boring since leaving Hogwarts.

They stepped into Ron's room and Y/N quickly gave Hermione a kiss before the others arrived, which made her giggle.

As the others filtered in, Pigwidgeon went crazy and began fluttering around their heads.

'How's your summer been anyway, mate?' asked Y/N as he sat down on George's bed and Hermione plonked herself down next to him. 'Did you get our food parcels?'

'Yeah. Thanks a lot,' said Harry. 'You really saved me.'

Towards the start of the holiday, Harry had sent a request to all of his friends asking for food packages as the Dursleys were sending the entire family on a diet. And Harry wasn't exactly the type to need to lose weight.

'Didn't know your mum was such a good cook,' he added, looking at Y/N who shrugged.

'She's lived alone for a while before me and then had to look after me. Suppose she picked up some tricks.'

'And have you heard from Sirius?' asked Ron.

'Yeah. I wrote to him the day before yesterday, and I've heard back twice. He sounds okay. He may write back whilst I'm here.'

He threw Y/N a pointed look. A look that said quite plainly that something was bothering Harry. Something he didn't want the others to know about. Y/N threw him the subtlest nod he could get away with before deciding to change the subject. The potential of this idea had been sitting with him, and now seemed as good a time as any.

'Hey, Harry. I need a favour.'

'What's up?'

'Can I borrow your invisibility cloak?'

'What?' echoed the room.

'But Y/N-' began Ginny.

'Your sense-' continued Ron.

'You know what the cloaks like,' finished Hermione.

'I know,' said Y/N, 'but I want to know something.'

'I don't see why not. I assume you're not getting under it before Hermione murders me?'

'You have my express guarantee that all ire from Hermione will be aimed directly at me,' said Y/N as Hermione glared at him.

Harry opened his trunk and withdrew the silvery cloak. Y/N felt his head pulse dangerously again, but he shook himself slightly.

'Just put it down in the middle of the room, would you?'

Harry laid the cloak out and Y/N pried Hermione gently off him so he could concentrate.

'Be ready. I don't know how well this is going to go. And I don't expect very.'

'Then why-' began Hermione, but it was actually Ginny that shushed her as they all turned their eyes onto Y/N. He closed his eyes and felt outwards.

It wasn't difficult to find the cloak. What was difficult was delving deeper. He knew it would hurt more, knew what would happen, but he hadn't been prepared for this. He felt his eyes immediately begin to water and it felt like he was spinning, but he pushed deeper.

He knew he should stop, knew this was a bad idea, but when had he ever let something be a bad idea stopped him in the past? Besides, his curiosity outweighed his pain. How had this cloak been made? Where had it come from? And why did it feel so overwhelmingly powerful?

Then, a vision swam into view. A vision of a tall, spindly, black figure that looked like a humanoid skeleton slowly placing a cloak over his shoulders. The figure shimmered slightly before fading from view, then reappeared as they removed the cloak. Before the vision vanished and he felt himself fall sideways into a soft and sturdy set of arms.