Thank you to my super reviewers: Hazel Maraa, Hermione'sHat and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL.
And of course, a super thank you goes out to jeevesandwooster, who is back at last!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: I'm really really sorry I haven't updated like I promised I would. I just started high school and it's taking up much more of my time than I expected. I can't promise that my updates will be too frequent, but I'll try my best. I might try to do more frequent updates, but shorter chapters.
Anyway, I'll stop stalling and let you read now. Thank you for listening to me ramble.
Bill paced and ran his hands through his long red hair. Ginny (they're still in animal form) rubbed against his feet comfortingly.
"Have you told Lupin about this?" asked Bill.
Ron shook his head.
"Okay, can I tell him?" he asked.
"What if Lupin tells mum?" asked Ginny (in her head, obviously. Bill can't hear them).
"He probably won't, he's lied for us before," Harry pointed out.
"We should let him tell Lupin," said Hermione. "What have we got to lose?"
"Honestly Hermione, 'What have we got to lose?'" said Ron. "The coolest secret ever, that's what!"
"Well Bill knows, so it's not a secret, is it?" said Hermione.
"Look, we'll let him tell Lupin, okay?" said Ginny.
"Alright," said Ron.
Hermione squawked and nodded to Bill.
"Okay, I'll bring him up here," said Bill. "You guys wait here."
"Okay, first things first," said Lupin. "We have to tell your guests something."
"Maybe they won't notice anything," said Bill.
"What if someone asks about them?" asked Lupin.
"We can pretend we're busy and rush off," said Bill. "Best thing we've thought of so far."
"Alright, good enough," said Lupin.
Suddenly Fred and George came in through the wall that led to Candy Heaven, each with a bar of honeydukes chocolate.
"How long have you guys been in there?" asked Bill.
"I don't know, an hour or so," said Fred.
"What about Angelina and Katie?" asked Lupin.
"They had to leave, quidditch practise, you know," replied George. "They both play for the Appleby Arrows."
"Why do you guys have a tiger in here?" asked Fred.
"That's Harry," said Bill.
"Blimey, are those four animagus?" asked George.
"Yup, Ginny is the fox, Hermione's the parrot and-"
"Ron's a cat!" exclaimed George. "Ha!"
Fred picked up Ron and started throwing him in the air and catching him.
"Fred, don't drop him!" warned Bill, as Ron hissed and tried to scratch Fred.
"Why doesn't he just transform?" asked George.
"He can't. They're stuck like this for twenty four hours," said Lupin.
"No kidding! Blimey, we could have fun with this," said Fred, grinning at four very scared looking animals.
"Put Ron down and step away," ordered Bill.
The twin put their hands in the air and took three steps back, still grinning evilly. Ron dropped to the floor and hissed.
"Are all the kids gone?" asked Mr Weasley.
"Yes, the last ones left a few minutes ago," answered Mrs. Weasley. "Have you seen Harry, Ron, Hermione or Ginny lately? It was their party, and I haven't seen them for a couple hours."
"I haven't seen them either, Molly," said Mr Weasley. "It's getting pretty late though; they should be getting into bed."
"I'll go look for them," she said.
"What are we going to tell mum and dad?" asked Fred.
"I'll tell them they went home with Tonks, she left earlier," said Lupin. "I'll say they're sleeping over. I'll do that now and then I'd better get home. See you guys tomorrow."
"Later Remus," said Bill.
"Bill, what are we going to do with these guys for the night?" asked George. "We could probably sneak Hermione, Ron and Ginny into their rooms, but Harry might attract a bit of attention."
"Well we can try," said Bill. "You two get those three into their rooms, I'll handle Harry."
The twins left with Hermione, Ron and Ginny; Fred was throwing Ron in the air again.
"Okay Harry, if you hear anyone coming, play dead," instructed Bill, leading Harry into the hallway.
They got about ten feet away from the door when they heard footsteps coming around the corner. Harry dropped onto the floor and lay motionless.
"Bill, what on earth is that?" asked Mrs. Weasley, pointing at Harry.
"It's a stuffed animal," lied Bill. "It's a present for Fleur."
"It looks pretty real," commented Mrs. Weasley, poking Harry uncomfortably in the ribs.
"Yeah, well, goodnight," said Bill, giving his mother a hug and herding her toward her room.
Mrs. Weasley eyed him suspiciously before disappearing into her bedroom.
"Quick, go!" urged Bill, dragging Harry into his room.
Once they were safely in Harry's room Bill locked the door and Harry jumped onto his bed.
"Okay Harry, stay here. Don't get up for anything. I'll be back for you in the morning," Bill told him, taking out his wand and conjuring up a bowl of cereal and a glass of pumpkin juice for him. Bill was so preoccupied he didn't really realize how difficult it would be for a tiger to drink out of a glass.
They heard a loud thud and a growl coming from Ginny's room. Bill opened the door connecting the two rooms and stuck his head into her room.
"What's going on?" he asked, glaring at Fred, who had a startled expression on his face. "Were you throwing her around?"
"Possibly," said Fred.
"Did you drop her, by chance?" asked Bill.
"It's a possibility," he replied with a testy grin on his face.
"Fred, stop doing that!" exclaimed Bill angrily. Clearly the stress of the situation was getting to him. "I mean it!"
Harry growled softly to add that he didn't want Fred tossing Ginny around either.
"But it's so much fun!" he argued. "She can't fight back or anything."
Bill frowned and snatched Ginny out of Fred's hands.
"What? Where are you taking her?" he asked.
"I'm putting her in Hermione's room," answered Bill. "And don't you dare follow us. Harry, go to bed, okay?"
Harry nodded and went back into his room. He curled up on the floor and was asleep within seconds.
A/N: I know it's short, but I really feel like I should update, even if it means not doing as much as usual. I'm not really that happy with this chapter, but I've been working on it off and on for months now and I don't really know what else I could write in place of this. I can't promise the next chapter will be out soon (ha, you know how good I am at keeping those promises) but I do promise it will be better than this one!