Renae and the four boys stomped outside and headed over to the field where they usually practiced. Renae swung her leg over her Nimbus 2001 and flew into the brisk August air. She breathed deeply and swept her long hair from her face. It was the perfect morning for flying.

Renae wanted to be a Chaser for Gryffindor this year, since Katie, Alicia, and Angelina had all graduated during the past year. She was told many stories about how Ron had helped Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup last year. Renae was determined to do the same. She wasn't too shabby either. Actually, she was pretty good. Well, she didn't have that much competition. Ron was playing Keeper as she, Fred, and George tried to chuck apples at him.

"Oy! Stop hitting me in the head!" Ron yelled as the fifth apple smacked him in the skull. "I have to use this thing you know!"

"Oh, really?" Fred asked as he flew past.

"Yeah, I thought it stopped working when we dropped you on your head when you were three…" George thought.

"Apparently not," Renae laughed. "He got his pants on the right way this morning, so that must be a sign…"

Ron blushed furiously and muttered "That only happened once…"

They continued to practice and torment Ron until the sun was fully up. Renae checked her watch and whistled.

"Wow!" she yelled to the boys. "It's past eight! We've been out here for almost three hours!"

"Breakfast?" George asked, looking hopeful.

"Sure, I could eat a hippogriff," Ron moaned.

The four touched down on the ground, the boys more gracefully than Renae. She didn't have the best co-ordination. Tripping over herself, Renae flopped onto the ground in a heap. Cursing, she picked herself up and headed towards the house. When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was screaming shrilly at the youngest Weasley.

"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL HAIR!" she yelled.

"I-I just dyed it, Mum," she whimpered. "It'll come out in a few weeks."

"A FEW WEEKS! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

Ginny had just recently dyed her hair midnight-black. Obviously, Renae could tell, it was her brothers' idea. They knew how old-fashioned Mrs. Weasley was. Many times, they had poked fun at her for it. Renae made a mental note to put the full body-bind on the twins when she returned home.

Quickly and quietly, Fred, George, Ron, and Renae piled up their plates with food and dashed outside before the boys' mother would drag them into the argument. Slowing down to a walk, they reached a group of trees between the two houses and sat in their usual spots. Fred and George were both seated at the roots of a large oak, Ron was placed carefully between three branches of a maple, and Renae was perched high in the brushwood of a cherry.

"Well," George said, breaking the hungry silence. "You can't say we didn't have an interesting morning, can you?"

"Yeah," Renae agreed. "I can't believe Derek and Caleb would actually make Ginny to do that!"

"They did that?" Ron asked.

"Probably," Renae shrugged. "I hope they're not in my house when we get to school. That'd be hell."

"School's just hell no matter what," Fred said matter-of-factly. "You just have to live through it and make the best of it."

"Like you guys did last year?" Ron laughed.

Renae had heard many stories of the twins' pranks during their years at Hogwarts. Her favorite was Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. A few days ago, she had received an entire crate of them from the twins. She was known as a bit of a smart-aleck with adults, so Fred and George were hoping for a new generation of Weasley's. Well… almost-Weasley at least…

"Renae?" Fred asked.

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind working at the shop over break?" he asked. "Loads of kids from the other schools come down to Diagon Alley for their holiday shopping. We make loads of our money off of them. It's seven Galleons an hour…" he added enticingly.

"I'll look into it," she said. "I might be off somewhere for Christmas. Momma was talking about Spain for a week. I don't know how the boys would do with bulls running through the streets. I suggested Paris."

"How is Paris any better?" Rona asked.

"Lots of reasons!" Renae said, indignantly. "Cute French boys, great shopping, loads of cool palaces and whatnot…"

"So it's better for you," George said.

"Hey, that's all that matters to me, all right?" she admitted.

"Well, everyone'll be staying here for Christmas anyway," Ron stated. "There's gonna be a lot of people, and you don't want to miss that, so maybe some can bunk at your house too."

"Well, there's not that many of us, is there?" Renae questioned.

"Let's check the list," Fred said as he ticked off names on his fingers. "Mum, Dad, Bill, Charlie, Percy, me, George, Ron, Ginny, you, Harry, Hermione-"

"Wait- who?" Renae cut in.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Ron said quietly as his ears turned scarlet. "I have two best friends at school; Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."

"The Harry Potter?" she squealed. "Omigod Ron, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," he said, awkwardly. "You'll love 'Mione too. She's really smart and all about equal rights and everything. Oh, and she LOVES to read."

"Like what?" Renae asked eagerly. She had been reading for almost her entire life.

"She like lots of history books, some romance novels, English literature…" he said. "She's Muggle-born, just so you know."

"Oh, this is gonna be awesome!" Renae yelled. "Finally I can talk to some one my own age about Shakespeare!"

Renae was way too excited for school. Over the next couple of days, she read and re-read all of her pirate novels and literature books. If Ron's friends were as magnificent as they sounded and were as nice as him, then she was in for the greatest time of her life.