A/N: Sorry this is so late! I'm not JKR, obviously.

Chapter 11: Attacks from Every Side

Incredibly, inconceivably, Ron had a grin- (a rather stupid-looking grin, Harry thought to himself). What could he be grinning about? Hermione, in a rather snappier- than-usual voice, asked the question out loud.

Ron laughed. "We don't have to involve Hufflepuffs."

Harry wiped the grimace off of his face, "What?" he asked, hopeful he hadn't misheard.

Ron simply continued, smiling, " the same and opposite, right? So, in the case of the Slytherin locket- Regulus Black had been a Slytherin (the same) and he'd betrayed the Slytherins, and "turned" good (the opposite). So it could have been a bad Gryffindor who could have destroyed it, too."

"Oh, real helpful," Hermione snapped. "Let's just go see if Wormtail is free right now."

Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione. "You know, Ron," he said seriously, "you must be right." He felt a bit of the weight lift off of his shoulders.

Ron gave a sheepish shrug and continued, "And so there must be lots of combinations. It might even involve the mood that you-know-know..I mean…Voldemort…had been in at the time. But we can't just fall to pieces because we take it too literally."

Harry expected Hermione to jump up, hug and praise Ron (and probably break into tears) for this exciting realization. What he had not expected was for Hermione to flush angrily, clench her teeth and shout, "Oh, you think I'm falling to pieces, do you?"

Ron stared, mouth agape. "Er..I mean, NO, I just…"

Hermione rolled on. "This is …is Voldemort we are talking about! It isn't like he's going to make it easy to destroy him! Look what happened to Dumbledore." Tears threatened to pour out of her eyes.

Ron took a quick step back, "No, I mean…I just think it doesn't have strict "rules" to follow…I think…"

Hermione cut in, "All your thoughts end up wrong. He's not stupid, you know! Don't try to sugarcoat the situation. And I'm not stupid to be worried about it!"

Ron began to falter; clearly confused at Hermione's outburst.

Harry, though reluctant to enter into the spat, which he thought might have a bit more to do with Hermione and Ron's relationship than with the Horcruxes, said, very quietly, "I dunno if Voldemort exactly "planned" for any of them to be destroyed, Hermione. He probably has no say in how they are destroyed. We've just been lucky. "

Hermione simply glared at him.

Harry raised his eyebrows, muttered, "I'll go make us some dinner, shall I?" and left. He had not expected a fight to arise between them, and frankly, he couldn't see what the fight had been about. His worries about their relationship strengthened. What happens when they are supposed to be facing Death Eaters and they are too busy squabbling? Preoccupied, Harry looked up with a start when he entered the kitchen.

Several members of the Order rested at the table: Bill, Mr. Weasley and Tonks. Harry received a hearty handshake from Mr. Weasley, a jovial slap on the back from Bill and nothing from Tonks. Harry stared at her, confused. Her hair was again that lank, mousy brown color, and she looked as though she'd been crying. Harry's heart gave a shake. Was everything okay? He looked around the room, but everyone appeared calm. He found Mrs. Weasley standing by the stove.

Harry quickly muttered a, "sorry, forgot you were having a meeting today," before turning to leave the room. From the stove, Mrs. Weasley called him back, "Harry dear, we thought you might like some company tonight." Harry stared at her. Perfect time for company, he thought dully. He forced a smile. "Sure, that'd be great. What are we having for dinner?"

From someplace around Mrs. Weasley's knees came the answer, "Steak and potatoes, Harry Potter, sir!"

Harry smiled again, this time it was genuine. "Dobby! When did you get here?" Dobby grinned back. "Around an hour ago, sir. Dobby put himself right to work making your dinner. "

Harry rolled his eyes. "Try not to work too hard, okay? And there are lots of empty rooms upstairs, take your pick." Dobby, not surprisingly, burst into noisy tears of gratitude, and wiped his eyes on Mrs. Weasley's apron as she gingerly patted Dobby on the head.

"Er…Dobby, so how did you get in? You know, the secret and all," Harry asked in an attempt to stop his noisy tears, though he still didn't feel like mentioning Dumbledore's name after the fight with his portrait in his office.

Dobby looked up from Mrs. Weasley's apron and smiled. "I asked Professor Dumbledore's portrait, sir. He told me his secret, sir, and then, Dobby could apparate here immediately!"

"That's great, Dobby. What happened to Winky?" Harry asked, looking around for the depressed little house-elf. Dobby shook his head sadly, "Winky is not well, Harry Potter Sir. Dobby has hid her in a room down the hall."

Harry nodded, and said, "Well, you can always give her a bedroom, too." He hastily added, before Dobby could start crying again, "When's the food ready?"

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Harry skulked back into the drawing room to tell Ron and Hermione about dinner. Both were sitting calmly (too calmly, Harry thought) and silently. "Er..Ron, your parents are here. They're making us dinner. Dobby's here, too." He turned and left, silently admonishing himself for not trying to smooth things over.

Ron and Hermione silently followed Harry to the kitchen.

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Although Ron and Hermione did a great job acting as though nothing was wrong between the two of them, the room still had a dismal air. Tonks sat quietly petting Crookshanks in her lap. Her lack of energy seemed to place a dark cloud over the entire room.

Quietly (and rather bravely, in Harry's opinion), Hermione asked her what was the matter. Tonks looked up, eyes wide. "I haven't heard from Remus in weeks! I know he is underground and can't contact me much, but I can't sleep!" She burst into noisy tears, not unlike Dobby's. Hermione simply patted Tonks on the back, and whispered softly that they had seen him earlier in the day.

Harry had, at that moment, an unpleasant realization. This wasn't how Ginny was at home, was it? He sneaked a glance at the Weasley family, but they had all eyes focused politely on their meal. Harry tried to rationalize it to himself. No, he and Ginny weren't engaged. They weren't even a couple anymore. He'd done the right thing, ending it. If he hadn't, then Ginny would be in Tonk's situation- miserable. He did a fair job of convincing himself that she was in fact, fine, before chewing.

He had hardly taken one bite, however, when they were interrupted again, this time in the form of a patronus. Several patronus, in fact. Once each to Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Tonks. They each sat, stunned momentarily from whatever the message said, then quickly gave each other glances and jumped up from the table. Their silverware clattered to the floor and Crookshanks hissed. They were out the door before the trio could stand.

Hermione said some words Harry had previously only heard come from Ron's mouth. Ron stared at her, mouth hanging open in shock. He finally spluttered, "where do you think is happening?"

"I dunno." The three sat, mystified, scared, and angry they weren't going to help out. Ron had his arm draped protectively around Hermione, who leaned against him, fight apparently brushed aside. Harry sat alone, wishing he could be comforting Ginny.

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An hour later, a copy of the Evening Prophet flew in. They all stared at it apprehensively. Finally, the owl gave a squawk of impatience, and Hermione tentatively reached to take the paper. She closed her eyes tightly as she unrolled the paper, but quickly opened them at Ron and Harry's gasp.

"Mass Murder at the Ministry of Magic," they moaned together, reading the headline splashed on the cover.

"We should be there," Harry muttered frantically. "The Order is all there," he gasped, before bellowing, "We have to go help them! The battle is still going!" He jumped up and frantically grabbed for his wand. "They might be injured! They need our help!"

"NO" Hermione screamed, also grabbing her wand. She quickly muttered a few words and a silvery otter patronus flew from her wand. Calmly, she said, "Let's just wait to see what Mrs. Weasley says. I just sent her a message asking for more information."

Harry rolled his eyes impatiently. He knew exactly what Mrs. Weasley would say, and it most certainly would contain the worlds "absolutely not". He wondered if she'd take the time to send a Howler in the middle of a battle.

He answered Hermione, "Don't bother to wait for an answer we don't want. Let's just go!" She still stood still. Why was she waiting? The Order was in trouble! They couldn't wait any longer! "People are dying!" Harry voiced. "We have to help NOW!"

Ron, his voice higher than usual, added, "I need to help my family! We have to go now!"

But Hermione stood her ground and faced the pair of them, pleading, "don't you understand? That isn't our battle! If we die, there won't be anyone left to destroy the horcruxes!" She began to panic in earnest. "Don't be stupid!"

"Stupid!" Harry and Ron shouted back. "We'd be stupid not to help them!"

Hermione absently fingered her wand as she continued to plead. "We aren't supposed to go! We didn't receive the message. THIS isn't our battle! Ours will come." Her eyes were bright, and threatening to pool over in tears of anger and sadness, but her voice was steady, as was her stance.

Ron glared, "This conversation is over." He turned to walk out the door. A shot of light burst from Hermione's wand and Ron stiffened, swayed for a moment, and then loudly clattered to the floor.

Harry's mind vaguely grasped the fact that Hermione had attacked Ron.

Instantly, by pure instinct, Harry blocked Hermione's next attack. "Expelliarmus" he shouted as Hermione was thrown against the table. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" Harry screamed at her as she cowered below him.

Harry had sensed it. He hadn't heard the attack, or seen it. But he had felt it. Was that how powerful wizards felt?

Hermione was crumpled half under the table. She cradled her left arm tenderly. Tears were streaming down her face, but she stared at him defiantly. "You, Harry, are more important that the Order. Don't make me say it," she pleaded, but he continued to glare at her as she wiped absently at the blood that was trickling down her arm. "Harry," she cried, "Your life is more important! You mean more to the whole world than the lives of everyone in that building!"

Harry screamed, a throaty, from the gut scream that had been building, building since he learned of the prophecy. Burning to yell at Hermione, for saying he was more important than the witches and wizards who were losing their lives at this very moment. Hermione, who would stand by and let them be attacked. Who wouldn't fight. He longed to scream at her, but he couldn't. As disgusting as it was, it was the awful truth.

The awful truth. He'd trade anything to be rid of it. How many people died to save him already? Sirius, Dumbledore…who dies tonight?

He carelessly threw Hermione's wand back down to her, and sank wearily into a chair.

He heard the counter-curse to Ron's full-body bind. But…he looked up and saw Mr. Weasley helping Ron up from the floor. If he thought Hermione looked disheveled after her fall, she had nothing on Mr. Weasley. When had he entered the room? If it were possible, his feeling of self-worth sank even lower.

Hermione had stood back up, and wordlessly, Mr. Weasley healed her arm. Hermione squeaked, "thanks" and he patted her on her back. He simply stared a Harry for a moment. Harry's heart dropped as he realized how they looked. Here they had been, claiming they were adults, but were attacking each other. Harry started to give a feeble explanation, but Mr. Weasley had already settled into a chair.

The trio brushed off their sudden fight and crowded around Arthur, inquiring for details over the hasty departure during dinner.

Hermione pushed a glass of water in front of Mr. Weasley, which he eagerly drained.

"Soooo…what happened?" Ron finally pushed. Mr. Weasley looked at him, face drawn. "I might ask you three the same thing."

Ron muttered something incoherent. Hermione spoke up, "It doesn't matter right now. We just has a bit of a disagreement." She looked Arthur straight in the eyes. He glanced uneasily over their heads, but sighed and muttered, "Attack on the Ministry. We lost a lot of good people. Scrimgeour maybe."

"Dead?" Hermione gasped. Arthur removed his glasses while shaking his head. As he wiped the specks of dirt and blood onto his cloak, he muttered, "The Death Eaters got through thirty-seven aurors and ministry officials to get him." Pushing his glasses back up his nose, he stated, "Missing."

"Thirty-seven?" Ron echoed, incredulous. "Anyone we know?"

Mr. Weasley nodded his head. "Do you remember Ginny's friend? Michael Corner?" Unintended snorts escaped both Harry and Ron's mouths. Hermione and Mr. Weasley looked at them, astonished. "He lost his mother tonight." They hung their heads, embarrassed by the reaction.

"Lee Jordan? Looks like his parents were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Lost both of them." Hermione, whose eyes had already been pooling since before Mr. Weasley returned, burst into tears at the news of Lee Jordan's loss.

Harry stared at the floor. One of his first memories in the wizarding world- right before getting on the Hogwarts Express in his first year- was of Lee Jordan. A happy Lee Jordan, with a pet tarantula. Lee, announcing at his very first quidditch match. Lee, ecstatic over Harry's new Firebolt. Harry choked on a lump in his throat.

As hard as it was for Harry to have lost his parents as a baby, he couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose them at this age. It must be worse. A life full of memories. A life completely changed.

Unabashed by the tears streaming down her face, Hermione softly asked, "Percy wasn't at the Ministry, was he?"

Mr. Weasley slowly shook his head in frustration. "I don't know! He won't answer your mother's owl, but we didn't find him among the…the deceased."

Ron growled. "That jerk! How could he worry mum at a time like this!"

"Did you send Errol?" Hermione asked. Mr. Weasley muttered an "of course", to which Ron jumped up and said, "Let's send Pig. Errol probably had a heart attack. Pig's much younger."

Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes. Younger, perhaps, but certainly just as unreliable. "Let's send Hedwig," Harry decided. He grabbed a spare piece of parchment and scribbled a note. Hermione silently outstretched her hand. Harry handed the note over. Hermione quickly read it, groaned, and ripped it up. "Honestly, Harry. It is Percy. You've gotta be a bit more tactful." She proceeded to rewrite the note and roll it up.

Harry attached the letter to Hedwig, whom he quickly nuzzled and whispered, "Be safe out there." She gently nipped at his fingers and flew out the open window.

"Listen, kids," Mr. Weasley started, "Molly's a bit worried about everyone's safety. She wants to bring the family here tonight. The twins said they'd rather stay with Lee, and we aren't sure what to do about Fleur, as Dumbledore never passed her the secret." He paused.

Ron squeezed his dad's hand. "Thank goodness you were home from work."

Harry, after a brief moment of indecision, confided in Mr. Weasley, "We don't actually know how safe it is here. Snape's come around a couple times."

"Wh.. what?" Mr. Weasley coughed. "Listen," Harry rushed, "we didn't want to worry you about it. We took care of him just fine. I just wanted to let you know if you are worried about family safety."

Hermione tentatively added, "You might be, well, targets, Mr. Weasley. You definitely should come. We can take care of the password."

"We can?" Harry and Ron asked, confused. She rolled her eyes. "Of course we can." She continued, matter-of factly, "and maybe you should stay out of The Burrow for awhile."

"Er…Hermione?" Harry pressed. "Exactly how are we getting Fleur into the house?" Hermione looked at him. "Don't you ever pay attention?" Confused, Ron and Harry looked at each other, before muttering, "I guess not." Harry wondered if Hermione's eyes would ever get stuck from rolling them so much. "Call Dobby," she commanded.

"Oh, yeah," Ron exclaimed, as the answer finally dawned on him.

Harry did as he was told, but he didn't like the idea of it at all. Secrets should not be coming from the dead. It just seemed, well, it didn't seem like something Dumbledore would have approved of. Of course, Harry reminded himself, he currently wasn't very pleased with the former Headmaster's portrait, so why should he care if they were using it in a slightly unethical manner?

"Listen, Dobby," Hermione stated urgently. "Can you go back to Hogwarts, find Dumbledore's portrait, and ask for him to wait for us in a portrait near the Humped-Back Witch? Tell him we need to let Fleur into our headquarters."

Dobby, after glancing quickly at Harry for permission (a reluctant nod of "yes"), jumped up, exclaimed, "anything to help you!" and disappeared with a crack.

"Right," Hermione said assertively. "Where is Fleur now?" Mr. Weasley, astonished at the quick turn of events stumbled the words, "at St. Mungo's, she was helping care for Tonks, Bill, and a few others." He quickly finished, "don't worry, they'll all recover just fine."

A quick sigh of relief was followed by, "Okay, you go get Fleur, and have her at that manky street with the mannequin in," consulting her watch, "thirty minutes. Harry will meet you there, with the invisibility cloak on."

Sighing, Harry nodded in agreement. Simple enough. Apparate back to Hogsmeade. Take the passageway back to Hogwarts…his second trip today…although the first seemed so long ago. Find the portrait of Dumbledore. Get the password. Get back. Apologize to Dumbledore, his mind added, stubbornly. "Just a portrait," he muttered out loud. "Not the real person."

Mr. Weasley professed his thanks, and left, promising to send Mrs. Weasley and Ginny along later. Charlie was currently back in Romania.

"Poor Lee Jordan," Ron murmured. Harry nodded in agreement. "Gonna get my cloak," he muttered. "Walking back into the drawing room, Harry spotted their various clues they'd obtained so far. The picture of Regulus Black and the unknown woman with lanky hair and large eyes. The Hufflepuff cup, sitting so innocently. All of the books on Horcruxes they'd found. Spotting the pensieve, he grinned.

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Rushing back to the kitchen, he plunked the pensieve on the table. "Listen, let's make something for the family. Bring their mind off of such sad times." Putting his wand to his temple, he imagined the first time he met the Weasley family. Watching Mrs. Weasley scrub at the brown spot on Ron's nose outside of the Hogwarts Express. Grinning, he pulled the memory into the pensieve, where it swirled and the trio watched it, giggling.

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Too quickly, Dobby had returned, bowed lowly, and proclaimed, "Dumbledore's portrait said that it seems as though Fleur would be a useful member of the Order. He'd be happy to pass on the password."

Hermione gave a squeak of happiness and pushed Harry through the door.

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Yawning, Harry apparated to the "manky mannequin" as Hermione had so elegantly put it. Shivering in the late night chill of summer was Fleur, accompanied by Mr. Weasley.

Harry walked a bit closer to Mr. Weasley and muttered, "I'm right behind you." He gave a bit of a jump, Fleur pointed her wand and exclaimed, "what is eet?" Chuckling, Mr. Weasley said, "just Harry."

Harry spoke, a bit louder this time. "Fleur, I'm going to throw my cloak over you, okay? Then we are going to apparate to Hogsmeade." She nodded in understanding. "Mr. Weasley, thanks for everything. We'll see you soon."

With a crack, Mr. Weasley was gone, leaving Harry and Fleur alone in the dark and deserted street. "Right," he said, suddenly nervous for some reason, "Let's go."

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They sneaked up to Honeydukes. Harry was beginning to wonder whether his luck would ever wear out. How many times has he broken into Honeydukes, after all? Fortunately, tonight he was still lucky. They slipped into the narrow passageway and proceeded in silence into Hogwarts.

Before he knew it, Harry and Fleur were slipping into the deserted corridor of Hogwarts. Squeezing past the witch, Harry found himself standing in front of a large portrait with several witches giggling nervously, entertaining Dumbledore.

Instantly, Harry flushed. "Er…Professor, sir? I, well, I know we didn't see eye-to eye today, but…well, I…I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm sorry." He looked the portrait right in the eyes, vaguely wondering why he was apologizing to a piece of canvas. The witches surrounding Dumbledore (Harry recognized the Fat Lady amongst them) sniffed at the thought of Harry raising his voice to Dumbledore.

Sighing, the portrait of Dumbledore smiled and said amicably, "We agree to disagree then. Ladies, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with these two alone for a few minutes."

Fleur gazed up at the image of Dumbledore. "Well, my dear, I hear you'd like to join the Order of the Phoenix. After watching you during the tournament, I'd say you will be a great asset to the Order."

"You speak what you do not know. But I will 'umbly do my best."

"Ah, spoken so elegantly! Now, my dear, I'd like to pass on a…well, the code, to enter our headquarters," he began.

"Wait a moment, Professor," Harry said. He wasn't taking any chances. After all, Hogwarts was supposed to be empty the previous time, and he'd found Malfoy. He consulted the Marauder's Map, found it completely empty save himself and Fleur (where was Filch, he wondered?) and, just to be safe, muttered, "muffliato" before nodding to Dumbledore to continue.

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After receiving the secret, Harry and Fleur quickly left. It was nearly three A.M. when they finally arrived at the doorstep of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Yawning, but remembering his first experience at entering, he muttered, "think about what Dumbledore's portrait told you."

"But of course," she muttered, forehead furrowing in concentration. Harry held his breath, praying it would work. It must, because Fleur confidently stepped up to the door and let herself in. Harry followed, closed the door tightly and muttered a quick word of caution to avoid the portrait in the hallway.

Everyone was seated around the kitchen table in various states of sleepiness. Ginny was curled up on the floor with Crookshanks. As they entered, Bill jumped up from the table and gave Fleur an enormous kiss that made Mrs. Weasley blush. Apparently he'd already been released from St. Mungo's.

Harry couldn't help himself. He grinned. He might have been worried about endangering the Weasley family, but he could help but be happy when they surrounded him.

"Any word from Percy yet?" he asked. A groggy Ron muttered something incomprehensible. Harry took it as a no and muttered "goodnight" before making his way up to his room, smacking Ron on the head so that he would follow.

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"Rufus Scrimgeour Found Dead by Muggles" the Daily Prophet read that morning.

Scanning the paper, Mr. Weasley grimaced, but offered no details to Harry, who was sitting next to him, as they were interrupted by Hedwig's arrival.

She landed next to Harry and ruffled her feathers importantly. Harry stroked her wings as he removed the letter, which he handed to Mrs. Weasley, hovering over him.

She read it, huffily crushed it into a ball and tossed it into the corner. "He's fine. Not that he's worried about anyone in our family. Didn't even bother to ask." She began to whip up pancake with amazing speed. Dobby hovered in the corner, afraid of her elbows that were flying too and fro. Harry still had not seen Winky since her arrival.

Hermione asked, curiously, "what happens now that Scrimgeour died?" Mr. Weasley said thoughtfully, "You know, people are going to be very worried. The Minister never..er..died last time. Shows how powerful you-know-who is getting. I really don't know. The Ministry. What a mess." Shaking his head, "I'd better go in to the office and see if there is anything I can do."

Harry stayed at the table, munching on pancakes supplied by Mrs. Weasley, mulling in his thoughts. It all seemed too fast. It'd barely been a year since Scrimgeour had been appointed. His death seemed very anticlimactic. Who would be appointed now? Was anyone safe now?

Shortly later, Bill and Fleur emerged from upstairs. Yawning loudly and stretching, Bill slung an arm his mother and asked, "Is there anything you need from The Burrow? We're going back to grab a few things later." She shook her head, but said, "maybe you should grab Ginny's school things."

Harry stared, amazed. Did Mrs. Weasley still trust to send Ginny away? After the Minister of Magic had been killed the night before?"

After Ron had woken and scarfed down some pancakes, the trio headed back to the drawing room.

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Harry entered the room tentatively. Only yesterday, Hermione and Ron had had that scuffle- in lieu of recent events, it seemed to have been swept under the rug- but would it be revived this morning? Only a few hours before, they had attacked each other with wands. Why were they acting so, well..normal?

"Er…" Harry asked, "did you show everyone the memories last night?"

Ron grinned. "It was great. Everyone had fun. Too bad Fred and George weren't there for it."

"Did you hear from them?" Harry asked. "How's Lee doing?"

"Dunno, probably not so well, though, right mate?" Ron muttered. Noticing Hermione's eyes, which were beginning to cloud again, Ron quickly changed the subject. "So, what should we do today?"

Hermione gave him a grateful look. "We've definitely gotta crack this horcrux. We can't let anymore deaths occur," she said, determined.

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Lunch that afternoon was a fun affair. Though the trio felt a bit overcrowded, and had not come any closer to discovering what the clue was to the horcrux, they did discover that they charm Hermione had placed on the room a few months ago was still holding, as it sent Bill flying ten feet in the air when he tried to enter the room.

He was recounting the experience during lunch when the twins showed up, rushing through the door. "Mum…dad, is everyone here?" George shouted, panic in his voice.

"Of course we are, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, worry showing in her voice, "what happened?" Glancing at his father significantly, Fred muttered, "Nothing. George's just a bit uptight after what happened to Lee's folks yesterday." They sat down and helped finish off the lunch. Everyone eyed them suspiciously. Harry may not have known the twins for as long as the rest of the family, but he certainly know when they weren't telling the full story.

After lunch, Bill and Fleur jumped up, muttered, "sure no one needs anything but Ginny?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "School doesn't start for another couple of weeks."

Fred squeaked, "where are you going?" Bill looked at him, "well, you know, that place you used to live at. Used to call it home, remember that? Still store a few explosives there, don't you?" He rolled his eyes at him, but Fred muttered, "just don't."

"What happened at The Burrow?" Mrs. Weasley finally demanded, putting two and two together.

"Mum," Fred began, but George interrupted, "take a seat, relax. And remember, all of us are safe."

"Exactly correct, my dear brother," Fred continued, "There is a teensy little problem about The Burrow."

"Which is…?" Growled Mrs. Weasley. "We sort of blew it up," Fred said apologetically.

"YOU WHAT?" screamed Mrs. Weasley. George and Fred glanced at the rest of the family, who had various states of disbelief on their faces.

Hermione flatly asked, "You're joking, right?"

"Bingo Hermione." George said, pointing a finger at her. "Now that you know the house is still there, you wouldn't be too worried about the fact that there is a tiny little insignificant certain mark floating over it."

Mrs. Weasley collapsed in her chair. Everyone fell silent. Fred muttered, over the calm, "well, maybe you will be worried," before falling silent.

Mrs. Weasley attempted to scoop up everyone in the room at once into a tight hug. "I forbid anyone to leave this house today!" Fred and George shouted, "We've got a job to go to!" In the corner, Dobby covered his ears to protect them from the screaming.

Ron, despite himself, grinned. "Just like home, eh?" Harry couldn't quite bring himself to smile.