Yo. Inspiration hit, so this chapter wrote itself over the last hour or so. Hope it sounds okay. Thank you to all readers so far, and an extra to those who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

When they arrived on the Burrow's property, Harry released Snape's arm, and took a step back, eyeing the crooked house. While he was very glad to be away from Privet Drive, part of him was not so eager to be here. Still, he knew he had no choice, so he began walking forward, Snape a step or two behind him.

The door was open, oddly enough, and the teen and man stepped through without hindrance. They had barely entered, when there was an exclamation of surprise.

"Harry!"

Unable to stop himself, the emerald eyed teen grinned. "Hey, Ron," he greeted, his voice still a little hoarse. But he returned the friendly embrace regardless, noting his friend had gotten even taller. Well, that wasn't fair.

"No one said you were coming!"

Harry shrugged. "I had no idea either. Snape just showed up, saying Dumbledore wanted him to bring me here." He glanced over his shoulder at the professor, who was watching the scene before him expressionless, and making no move to reprimand his lack of respect.

"Harry, dear! Oh, it's lovely to see you!" Mrs Weasley bustled into the room, a beaming smile on her face, as if she hadn't sent him brownies spiked with various, dangerous potions the other week.

"Yeah, you too, Mrs Weasley," the teen lied easily, smiling slightly when he caught Ron's awkward shrug. "No Hermione?" he asked instead.

"Nah, she's still on vacation with her parents. I think they're in France again this time." That was, of course, a lie. Both teens were well aware of where their dear friend was, and it certainly wasn't France. She wasn't with her parents either, though she was with an adult.

"Potter."

Harry turned, watched Snape pull out his trunk and broom, and accepted them when they were passed over and unshrunk. "Thanks."

The man merely inclined his head, and left the house before he could be asked to stay for dinner or something, as Mrs Weasley tended to all but demand every single time he showed up here.

The woman huffed under her breath, then left the room, leaving the teens alone.

"Anyone else here?" asked Harry curiously, knowing not to mention anything incriminating just yet.

"Just Ginny for now," replied Ron, beginning to lead his friend up the stairs. "Dad's at work, Fred and George live over their shop-you've really gotta see the place, and Percy's still a dick."

"What about Bill and Charlie?"

"Bill's living in a flat in London, since he's working at Gringotts in Diagon, but he comes here pretty often. Charlie's finishing up some stuff in Romania so he can come back too, to help out and all. He hasn't said if he's going to be staying here or with Bill. I think it'll depend on who else shows up."

The two entered the orange, Chudley Cannon poster covered bedroom. "Do others stay often?"

Ron shook his head. "Not really, but if meetings run late or something comes up, then some of them end up crashing here. They usually use the twins' and Percy's rooms, since those are the ones that are always empty. I had to bunk with Dung once though. That was really shitty."

Harry winced in sympathy. "Sorry, mate."

The door shut behind them, Harry snapped his fingers, and with a silent pop, Dobby appeared in the room. He opened his mouth to speak, but Harry held up a hand.

"Check. Silence."

The House-Elf nodded and did as told, first checking for any spells or trackers, then silencing and warding the room. "Harry Potter, sir! Dobby was so worried!" he exclaimed, tackling the teen with a hug.

Grinning, Harry returned the embrace, before pulling away. "Sorry about that. The Dursleys didn't feed me for a bit longer than usual, and I blacked out for a bit."

Ron scowled, then blinked. "But the Order was still getting letters!"

"Were they? That was probably my uncle, then. Trust me, I was unconscious for a couple of days, give or take another day or so."

"Is Harry Potter, sir, needing anything?" asked Dobby, large eyes imploring.

Harry started to shake his head, then stopped mid-motion. "Actually, just let Hermione and Sirius know I'm okay."

"Good idea, mate," added Ron. "They were freaking out."

Dobby nodded, removed his spells, and vanished. Harry and Ron both knew it wasn't going to be very long before Mrs Weasley called them down to help her out, so there was no reason to really begin discussing anything...important just yet. They would wait until later.

Instead, they began discussing their summer homework. As usual, neither of them had even started, though it was for different reasons. Harry had been locked up in a cupboard, and Ron was lazy. ...Maybe it was a good thing Hermione wasn't here. Though the emerald eyed teen knew he was going to begin his own work within the next day or so, just to get it over with.

"Any idea when the booklist will show up?"

Ron shook his head. "No clue. OWL results should show around the same time though."

Harry blinked. "Right, forgot about those."

"Think you failed anything?"

"Probably just Divination and HOM."

"Same here."

"Boys! Come downstairs and help me set the table!"

The teens exchanged a knowing glance when Ginny wasn't called to help, and made their way down to the kitchen...

It wasn't until two uneventful days later that Harry and Ron finally had the chance to really talk. Mrs Weasley had been keeping them busy with chores, and the two had only just finished. There was an Order meeting tonight, so Ron's mum had sent them and Ginny upstairs, while she prepared.

The boys had locked themselves in Ron's room again, while Ginny holed up in her own bedroom to do whatever it was teenage girls did when they weren't allowed to listen in on secret meetings. Dobby checked and silenced the topmost room again, before vanishing.

With certain spies being in the meeting, the boys weren't all too concerned with missing anything important. They would find out what happened later on.

"First thing's first," started Harry from his camp bed. "What's been going on?"

Ron, used to Harry running the show, took a seat on his own bed. "No one in the Order noticed anything when your uncle started forging letters," he said. "I thought at least old Lemon Sucker would, you know? But nothing. No hints of suspicion, no more questions than usual. Nothing."

Harry nodded. "There's always the chance that he did notice but doesn't particularly care. We both know he's aware of how I'm treated when there. And being passed out for a couple of days is nothing. I've been unconscious longer, and I'm sure he knows that."

"Right," muttered the redhead with a scowl. "Moving on, Hermione's still looking into how to destroy Horcruxes, and remove the one you probably have in you-" he ended abruptly. "Er, you're really not gonna freak out about that?"

The younger teen merely shrugged. "There really isn't anything to freak out over. If it's true, then I've had the thing in me since he killed my parents, right? It hasn't really bothered me except the visions and occasional pain. And really, we know we can use it as an advantage. Plus, it's probably why I'm a Parselmouth."

"Huh, that actually makes sense. Anyway, Sirius has a shit ton of books over at his hideout, so Hermione's been busy-and been keeping him busy too."

"I told her to involve him. He was starting to mope what with Remus off on those stupid missions. Anything else?"

Ron shook his head. "Nothing in particular. Anything on your end?"

"Luna confirmed the prophecy was a fake."

The red haired teen blinked. "I know we already assumed that, but it's good to know for sure. Any idea how it was made? That orb looked pretty authentic to me."

"No clue. She's looking into it, and how it got there, along with if there's a real one. And if anyone can find out, it's Luna."

Ron chuckled. "True. Anything else?"

"I need to go to Gringotts," said Harry, running his fingers through his hair. "For various reasons. Apparently, according to Neville, I'm an Heir, and have claim to a Lordship. I admit, I'm not too sure what that all means."

Ron hummed and tapped his chin in thought. "I know the basic concept, but our family hasn't dealt with that sort of thing for centuries, from what I remember hearing. It'd probably be easier to hear it from the Goblins first hand."

"Right, okay. Your brother also wants me to go to Gringotts. The old man is my magical guardian, but Bill says the Goblins have told him I need to check out my parents' wills. I was also planning on starting a correspondence with Voldemort. I was mentioning it in my last letter to Hermione, but I think I passed out while writing it."

"Are you serious? Is that a good idea?"

Harry laughed at the expected response. "I won't be writing as Harry, obviously. I don't have a death wish. I'll write as Raven, naturally, but I think it's a good idea, especially if he isn't totally insane any more. And before you ask, yes, I call him by the alias we gave him anyway."

Ron grinned, then sobered. "You know," he said slowly, "I actually agree with that. You've got a good mask as Raven, although, maybe 'Harry' is the mask now. Either way, you're far from a Light sympathizer, which will definitely appeal to him. But considering who he is, I think it'd be best to give him some information he's going to want-give him a reason to be curious and choose to write back."

Harry grinned. "Ever the strategist, eh, Maroon?"

The redhead flushed. "Shut it, Harry!"

Confirmed aliases: Raven Serpent-Harry Potter, Maroon King-Ron Weasley, Violet Mist-Hermione Granger, Lemon Sucker-Albus Dumbledore, Crimson Phantom-Voldemort, Slate Lupus-Sirius Black, Amber Canis-Remus Lupin, Blue Moon-Luna Lovegood, Almond Badger-Neville Longbottom, Jade Knight-Bill Weasley. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!