Two Weaslies walked rather quickly down the halls, carefully dodging other kids zooming past. Almost at his brother's shoulder, Ron had to look up when he talked to Percy, but Percy kept his gaze fixed ahead of him, anger in his eyes.

"Come on, Percy! It's not that big of a deal, is it?" Ron asked, trying to sound casual. He had to hurry to keep up with his big brother's quick strides.

"I suppose it wouldn't be, were you in the Slytherin House," Percy snapped.

"Bloody Hell! You make it sound like it's such a big…"

Ron stopped abruptly, almost tripping over himself when Percy stopped and stared at him, his eyes flashing almost as bright as his hair. "Ron, I don't really care about the coning thing. Mind you, I do think that is very naughty of you, and you should be ashamed, but I'm much more concerned about you sneaking out of your room in the middle of the night, and especially for taking father's car! Do you realize what Mum will do if she finds out?"

Ron looked down with a sheepish look on his face. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

Percy's pause worried Ron, but soon the bigger Weasley said as-a-matter-of- factly, "No. But I wouldn't be surprised if someone else told her."

This reminded him of what Percy first said to him when they met in the hall earlier. To get Percy off his back, Malfoy told him everything and ran away. Ron could only imagine how many other people Malfoy had spilled the beans to. His fists shaking, Ron said, "Malfoy's not going to tell anyone else, I'll make sure of that!"

Tossing his head, Percy replied, "Well, I'm surprised he hasn't gone straight to Dumbledore. I wouldn't be too worried about it, though, 'cos if he tells on you, you can tell Dumbledore about his involvement. And if I can, I'll vouch for you." He put on a smile Ron could tell was buried in ice.

"Really? Thanks, Percy!" Ron beamed as he gave Percy a huge hug.

Rolling his eyes for a minute, Percy put his lanky hands on his brother's head and tousled the hair, chiding in a less strict tone, "I don't think that'd do any good, Ron. The only way to make sure you're not going to get into any more trouble, is to not get into any in the first place." He put his hands on Ron's shoulders and met his eyes. "Not only that, but it's my responsibility if someone sneaks out. Things are really going good for me now, Ron, and I'm not about to let you ruin that."

As if he hadn't been listening, Ron grinned and said, "Hey, Perc. You know how you always complain you never get to drive Dad's car enough?"

Percy closed his eyes and shook his head aloofly. "I never." He stared, with a bit of worry in his eyes, at Ron. "Ron, don't even say it."

"Percy, you're the prefect; you can do anything you like! Come on, just one round tonight, you can drive. No one will ever know!" He slapped his brother's arm. "And Malfoy's not coming, either."

Avoiding his baby brother's eyes, Percy stammered, "Ron, even if I wanted to totally mock the rules, I couldn't. I've got plans with Oliver tonight."

Ron's face lit up brighter than an illuminating charm. "He can come, too! O ya he'd love that!"

Percy just put a hand to his face, trying to hide a growing grin.

"Tell you what, you can drive us down, cone for a while, then we'll just drop you off at the library so you guys can study for a bit, and we'll come pick you up later. Kill two birds with one stone."

Ron's face was so confident and comfortable with the idea, it was hard for Percy to argue. "You know I'm supposed to be on duty all night, Ron."

"And you also have a duty to Oliver." Ron smiled, knowing he had won this battle.

Pursing his lips, Percy scolded, "Jeez, Ron! You are such a bad influence!"