Chapter Eleven

A/N: I OWN NOTHING!

Simba waited on the stairs while Harry and Ron defended his presence in the Burrow.

"Honestly son," a male voice came from the other room, "is it wise to have him here?"

"Dad, have you seen any gnomes about?" Ron asked.

"No—"

"See? He's useful!" Ron jumped at the chance. "Now Mum can plant her vegetable garden that she's always wanted and Simba can keep the gnomes away."

"But what about the merecat and the warthog you told us about?" Mrs. Weasely asked. "What are they useful as?"

"They eat grubs," Harry came to their guardians' defense. "They can watch out for themselves. Please?"

"Come on Dad? Mum? Please?" Ron begged. There was silence from the other room and then—

"ALRIGHT!" Ron ran out of the room cheering. Harry ran after him, running to the stairs. Both of them hugged Simba.

"So I guess it was a yes?" Simba asked.

"It was a big old giant yes," Ron grinned from ear to ear. Simba chuckled and then chased Harry around the house when he ruffled his mane.

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The next few weeks were the most fun Simba had since he could remember. He'd completely stopped having nightmares but his mind would wander on occasion.

I wonder how Nala is, he thought one time watching the boys fly around. I wonder if she misses me.

It was hard, being so far away. Shaking his head, he chased after another gnome who was going after Mrs. Weasley's veggies. Life at the Burrow was great. The next day, the Hogwarts letters appeared.

"Hey Harry, you haven't gotten expelled yet have you?" Simba teased. Harry dove at him and the two 'cubs' faux-wrestled around until Mr. Weasley separated the two of them.

"That's enough boys," he said without batting an eye. To him, Simba and Harry were almost like a calmer version of the twins. "Dumbledore doesn't miss a trick that man."

"This lot won't come cheap mum," Fred said after giving Simba a piece of his bacon. "The spell books alone cost a ton."

Mrs. Weasley sighed and looked at Ginny's list. "We'll manage. We always have, but there's only one place to get all of this. Diagon Ally."

It was decided that Simba would stay put at the Burrow, as to not cause a major panic with the other shoppers. Simba rolled his eyes but stayed put. He watched his brother disappear in green flames and felt a feeling of dread form in his stomach. This didn't feel right.

"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware," he sang under his breath as he walked out. He missed the simple life but if he had that life, then he wouldn't have Harry or Timon and Pumbaa. He chased a few gnomes around the place before going back to the Burrow. Once inside, he climbed the stairs and sniffed around Ginny's room.

"PHHHFFFFF!" he burst out laughing upon seeing the small shrine the younger girl had towards his brother. "Oh, Harry won't like this at all!"

He grabbed the lazy caretakers of his and showed it to them as well.

"Oh boy!" Pumbaa exclaimed. "Poor Harry."

"He's going to have one memorable year at Hogwarts, ain't he?" Timon chuckled though his laughter. Simba heard the fire start up again and the three of them left Ginny's room. Once downstairs, Harry regaled him with the tales of their shopping adventure.

"Malfoy?" he inquired, hearing the name leave his brother's lips.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Mr. Weasley and Malfoy's dad had a fight at the bookstore."

Simba hopped up on the couch for the entire story but by the end, he'd fallen asleep with his brother passed out next to him and Ron on the floor.

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A few hours later, Simba groaned and woke up. He found a blanket on top of him and grinned. The Weasleys were a great bunch.

"Thought you'd wake up soon," Fred grinned. "Mum's making meatloaf. Wake up the others will ya?"

Simba got down towards Harry's head and shouted in his ear.

"SIMBA!" Harry shouted and chased him around the room again, waking up Ron. Mrs. Weasley shook her head while the twins burst out laughing.

"Come on you lot," she said. "Dinner, and then I want to make sure all your summer homework has been completed."

The kids groaned but Simba shrugged. Anything that allowed him to eat Mrs. Weasley's cooking was alright with him. The homework looked long and boring, and Mrs. Weasley spent three hours scolding the twins when it was shown that they'd only done a few assignments instead of all of them.

"Good job Ronnie," Mrs. Weasley grinned. "But you might want to be a little more complete in your answers next time."

"Yes Mum," Ron nodded, glaring at Simba who was snickering at his nickname.

"Harry, good job," Mrs. Weasley checked over the lone non-redhead in the group. "Your teachers will be pleased. Now you have an entire week to relax and do whatever you want to do."

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That week was spent mainly flying or swimming in the lake. Simba was continuing to chase the gnomes away from the garden when he noticed that his mane was longer than it used to be.

"Looking good," he muttered to himself, shaking it out. Sure, it had a long way to go before it was a full mane but it was better than what it used to be.

"CANNON BALL!" Ron shouted and drenched Simba in the splash. Simba burst out laughing when Harry dove in after him to defend his brother's honor.

"Never boring at the Burrow," Fred declared as he dunked both of the younger boys.

"Who'd want to be boring?" Simba asked. "This is cool!"

The twins and Ron grinned, but pulled him into the lake anyway. Simba gasped at the water but glared at them.

"Oh, you're asking for it," he growled playfully and chased them around the lake. They acted like morons around the lake until dinner, fireworks and bed.

"Think this year will actually be peaceful?" Simba asked from his spot at Harry's feet.

"You never know," Harry chuckled. "Still, doubt we'll learn anything with Lockhart."

"You never know brother," Simba chuckled and fell asleep. Next thing he knew, Ron was placing Timon and Pumbaa in his trunk.

"Go to Fred," he said. "We'll meet you there when we get on the train."

Simba nodded, nuzzled his brother and butted Ron in the back of the leg before running out and hopping into Fred's trunk. The ride was bumpy but thankfully he got on the train in one piece.

"Hello Simba," Hermione said as he explored the train, looking for Harry.

"Hey Hermione," Simba grinned. "Have you seen Harry or Ron?"

"No," Hermione shook her head. "I thought they were with you? Didn't you ride in Harry's trunk?"

"No, I rode in Fred's," the pre-teen lion said, shaking his head. "Want to look for them with me?"

Hermione nodded and through the train they talked about their vacations.

"I give up," Hermione said halfway through the trip. "They're not here."

"They've got to be," Simba said. "Where eles could they be?"

Hermione shrugged and followed him around, waving at fellow students and avoiding confrontation.

"We're here," Hermione whispered to him. She had gotten changed a few minutes prior. "Come on."

She snuck Simba into a carriage and closed the door before anyone could sit with them.

"Thanks," Simba grinned.

"You were my first friend," Hermione smiled. "You're Harry's brother and Ron's friend. It's the least I can do."

Simba watched for his brother the entire carriage ride but he never saw him. He never saw Timon and Pumbaa either. This worried him.

"Hmm…chicken," he muttered to himself. Okay, so maybe he wasn't so worried that he couldn't eat. It was a long train ride! Dumbledore said some words, students were sorted and Ginny was placed into Gryffindor.

"Wait, what?" Hermione said.

"Ron flew the car," Fred told her. "Harry was with them. Brilliant if I do say so myself."

"They probably got expelled," Lee said. "That's why they're not here."

"Still, they'd be allowed to say goodbye," George protested. "Party in the common room?"

"You bet," Lee grinned. Simba was in shock. What would happen to him now that his brother was expelled? Luckily, after dinner he found that it wasn't the case.

"HARRY!" he ran up to his brother and pinned him to the ground. "Where were you?"

"Where were you two?" Hermione asked. "Students have been spreading the most horrid rumors that you were expelled for flying a car to school!"

"Well we haven't been expelled," Harry said in what he must have thought was a soothing tone.

"You flew the car then?" Simba asked.

"Spare us the lecture," Ron told Hermione, "and tell us the password."

"It's wattlebird, but that's not the poin—"

Hermione was drowned out by the roar of noise in the Common Room. Simba ran in and ran up the stairs. Didn't those idiots know that a lot of noise was bad for his ears? A few minutes later, Ron and Harry walked in.

"I know I shouldn't have enjoyed that," Ron said and Simba shook his head. Of course he did. Ron was an attention hog. Then the other boys came in to the dorm and started heaping even more praise on the boys.

"You're lucky you weren't expelled," he told Harry as they got ready for bed.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I know."

Simba sighed. So much for this being a peaceful year.