A/N-I can't believe it! My computer's fixed! The company that fixed it said there was over a hundred viruses or something. I hope I didn't lose too many readers with my long absence! Well here it is. Thanks to all of you who sent me private messages and reviews. It was terrible not to be able to respond. I should be able to now in the future.

Chapter 19

The twins left the room in silence as they walked up the stairs whispering to each other.

Hermione sighed deeply. "What could they possibly be up to? Haven't we all had enough excitement for one day?"

Ron sat down next to her. "I'll tell you one thing Hermione, I've never had more fun watching you scream for help."

Hemione sat up quickly. "What on earth are you talking about Ronald?"

Ron smiled sweetly and put his hand on her shoulder. "I only meant that it was nice coming to your rescue for a change…..You always seem to have it all figured out but you didn't see that ambush coming did you?" Harry and Ginny laughed and Draco listened with interest.

Hermione smiled back at Ron shyly. "I didn't scream that loud did I?" Ron shook his head reassuringly. Fred and George walked back down stairs. Fred was carrying something that was covered with a black velvet cloth.

George was rubbing his hands together mischievously. "Anyone for a game of Memories and Thoughts of Truth and Secrecy?"

Draco shifted nervously in his seat which went unnoticed by everyone but Ginny. Harry looked extremely interested. "What's under there? I've never heard of this game before."

Fred placed what he was carrying on the coffee table and they all surrounded it. He removed the velvet cloth which revealed a transparent cauldron containing a smoky potion that was changing colors at a rapid rate. Fred eyed everyone in the room and then spoke quietly. "This game was deemed forbidden by the ministry ages ago. It will reveal the most intimate memories and thoughts of even the most powerful wizard. It will penetrate your mind and expose things you didn't even know about yourself. Now for obvious reasons we are going to have one protective charm option for any memories or thoughts that are too intimate." Fred eyed Ron with a raised eyebrow. Ron shrugged in confusion. "Ron what you do in your room is your business." They all laughed including Ron once he finally understood the joke. Fred continued. "There is a portion of this game that will allow you to pair off and speak to your partner purely through your minds. In this case we will have a trio which will work fine."

Hermione scoffed. "Do you mean to tell me that this has been available to the ministry this whole time and no one thought to use it?"

As Fred opened his mouth to reply George placed his hand on his shoulder. He silently gestured his desire to respond. "Hermione….Sweet Hermione. The ministry does have one of their own and I would wager uses it quite frequently. There were only two created. All I can reveal is that we paid a hefty price for it but I'd venture to say we've already got our money's worth out of it. Now who is going to participate?"

Ron and Harry spoke up simultaneously. "I'm in."

Hermione sighed in disgust. "Oh why not. This could be interesting."

Ginny looked over at Draco who was rubbing his hands together deep in thought. He sat up quickly. "I'm in."

Ginny whispered nervously. "Me too."

Fred and George smiled and took out their wands as the others followed suit. Fred raised his voice slightly. "Now in order for this to begin we must all place the tip of our wands into the cauldron. Then remove it and bring the tip to the middle of your forehead. Hold it there for seven seconds. At that time you will be an obligated participant. Wands ready? Begin." As if it was rehearsed, all seven of them simultaneously followed Fred's instructions word for word. Once completed, they began looking around at each other wondering what to do next.

Hemione spoke arrogantly. "Well Fred I bet you can't read what I'm thinking right now can you?" Ron and Harry laughed loudly.

Fred chuckled. "That was only the initial entrance into the game Hermione. Now as you can see the potion in the cauldron is spinning and reading each of us. It will soon pair us up accordingly."

"Based on what?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Based on…..I'm not sure exactly. Maybe on compatibility or maybe at random. I guess we'll see won't we." Fred replied.

Hermione threw her hands in the air. "Great! We've all just handed our minds over to some evil cauldron! It's probably going to put us under the imperius curse and make us kill Harry or something."

"Hey!" Harry said as he laughed.

Ron spoke nervously. "Don't be so paranoid Hermione. Fred and George wouldn't expose us to something evil. Where did you get this anyway?"

George quickly replied. "Knock Turn Alley."

Everyone roared in anger. Ginny stood and stormed out of the room. "I can't believe you would do this. After what you found out tonight."

Fred and George began to explain to those remaining that they believed it to be harmless but intriguing. Ginny stood in the kitchen alone facing the window with her arms crossed. She suddenly heard Draco's voice. "Well, we've already started it. Might as well finish."

Ginny sighed but didn't turn around to face him. She began to think. "Don't you realize that they will find out everything about us?" As she opened her mouth to reply to Draco's comment she suddenly heard his voice again.

"Maybe they won't find out. Maybe it won't come up?" Ginny turned around quickly as her heart began to pound. Draco wasn't behind her. "Ginny, please come back in here. Before Granger attacks your brothers."

Ginny took a deep breath with the realization that the cauldron had paired her with Draco and they could now read each other's thoughts. Ginny stepped back into the living room and found Harry laughing hysterically with the twins and Ron and Hermione blushing. "Is everything okay?"

Harry wiped away a tear. "Oh yeah. Everything's fine. Your older brother's are a bit twisted. I'm not sure why I was paired with them."

Ron placed his head in his hands as Hermione was trying to hide a smile. Ginny could tell by the way Hermione was stroking his arm that she was obviously speaking to him through her mind. "Ron don't worry. I won't repeat it. I think you look nice tonight too. I didn't know you liked my hair."

Ron turned dark red and replied. "I was just trying to clear my thoughts and you happened to flip your hair like you always do. I just…Oh God Hermione get out of my head and don't look at me!" Ron turned his body away from her as the others laughed with curiosity.

"Sit next to me." Draco thought as he pat the cushion next to him.

Ginny sat and looked into his eyes. "This could be dangerous on so many levels Draco. Only someone evil could have created this."

Draco smiled. "I agree but let's enjoy it. This is probably the closest you could get to someone."

Fred looked around the room and held up his hand. "Now the first question should be a harmless one. Let's all look into the cauldron as it's about to reveal it. There's no need to answer it yourself. The cauldron will answer it for you accurately. Clear your mind so that your partner won't be able to guess it's you. After the answer is revealed, anyone can try and guess who it belongs to. If you guess correctly, you're protected from the next question. If the answer belongs to you and no one guesses, you're protected from the next question…..Everyone understand?"

They all nodded in agreement. The potion was spinning violently. Suddenly, bright green words formed in the potion. What is your dream? Hermione scoffed and Ron smirked. The words disappeared and new ones formed .Auror.

Hermione laughed and yelled. "Harry!"

Harry smiled and watched as the potion let off a small burst of fireworks. More words began to form. What is your secret? Ginny read the answer to herself and gasped. Draco Malfoy. Ron read it aloud. "Draco Malfoy? What is that supposed to mean? That's not a secret anymore. Fred, I think your cauldron's a bit dodgy."

Fred shrugged and replied. "Does that question belong to Ginny?" An enormous amount of Green smoke circled Fred. He began waving it off with his hands. "Well I guess someone else has a secret about Malfoy. Oh well, it only gives us one chance. Whoever it belonged to is protected by the next one." Everyone looked at Draco who was appearing rather uncomfortable.

"Ginny. What do you suppose that was about? That should have been your question. Who else would have me as their secret?" Draco thought.

"I don't know but this game is dangerous Draco. I can feel it." Ginny replied.

What is your fear? Spiders.

"Ron!" Harry yelled as the fireworks exploded over the cauldron. Ron blushed as Fred and George laughed.

Who have you betrayed? Family.

"I don't like this at all." Hermione said nervously.

Fred chuckled. "It's probably George and I. If my Mum found out she'd kill us for sure." George nodded in agreement. Suddenly the green smoke circled Fred again. "Oh, I guess not."

You love a traitor. Hermione sat up quickly. "That's not a question! Who loves a traitor?" Hermione asked Fred and George. The traitor will die.

Harry stood and whispered. "Fred, George. Put it away. This is dangerous." Hermione and Ginny nodded in agreement. Ron sat looking extremely bewildered.

Draco looked fascinated. "Where did you get this exactly?"

George swallowed harshly. "Borgin and Burkes." Fred looked at him quickly.

Draco stood. "I agree with Potter. This is dangerous. Can we end it now or do we have to finish?"

Just then more words formed in the cauldron. What is your worst fear?

They all took a deep breath as the new words formed again. Killing your Father.

Hermione began to cry. "This is just horrible! No one answer that! How do we end this? Fred….George! Draco?" She looked around as everyone was silent and shocked as they watched more fireworks shoot out of the cauldron. "But no one answered it! That's impossible!"

Draco put his hand on her shoulder. "It read someone's mind. We've got to finish it."

Hermione sniffled. "But how?" Ginny sat down next to her and held her hand as she too was terrified. Ron began to pace the room behind his brothers. Harry sat down on the other side of Hermione and stared into the cauldron. Where can I find you?

They all gasped in fear of the answer. Hermione stood quickly spilling some of the potion onto the floor. Draco looked at her in shock and whispered. "What have you done?" Suddenly the potion started quickly flashing what appeared to be different memories that they couldn't make out. It slowed slightly on one memory and they all leaned in again to watch.

They were all immediately aware that they were looking at the Burrow. There was a young boy crying next to the shed trying to fix a broom that had been broken in half. Hermione whimpered as she heard Fred's voice from inside the cauldron. "Come off it Ron! You're never going to fix it. Mum said that we can't afford another so you'll just have to wait." The young Ron tried to straighten up and wipe away his tears. The next voice was from his oldest brother Bill who had knelt down beside Ron. "I know you were fond of it Ron. I'll tell you what. My first paycheck at Gringott's is yours. How does that sound?" The young Ron shook his head and replied. "No Bill. It's alright. I was spending too much time on it anyway. I'm going to Hogwarts next year and need to focus on my studies. Thanks though." Just then, fireworks shot up and the potion in the cauldron went black.

Ron was pink and sweaty. Hermione stood and stroked his arm. No one spoke for what seemed like an eternity. (At least not verbally) Harry broke the silence. "I hate to ignore the obviously uncomfortable memory but did the cauldron get the answer it was looking for?"

A/N-What did you think? Review please and thank you!