The Burrow
Harry asked Ron how he, but then his mouth fell open as he realised Ron was leaning out of a car parked in mid-air. Fred and George were in the front seats.
"A flying car?" Neville blinked. Of course, he'd heard about the car the two boys had flown to school at the start of their second year, who hadn't? If the gossip wasn't enough, the article Malfoy had kept quoting for weeks on end had confirmed it. But, somehow, he really hadn't expected the Weasleys to use it to rescue Harry.
Molly glared at the twins, as did Severus as he suspected the twin menaces were the reason Harry decided it would be a good idea to fly that wretched car to Hogwarts. While he had heard enough during the previous book to realise Harry hadn't flown the car for attention as he had suspected at the time, he still hoped the foolish boy would realise just what a terrible idea it had been. Regardless of the situation.
George asked if he was alright.
"Sorry, Harry. Stupid question," George said with a lopsided grin. Harry shrugged.
Ron wanted to know what had been going on and why he hadn't been answering letters. His dad had informed them Harry had been given an official warning.
"Mafalda really is a terrible gossip," Amelia groaned. "You shouldn't have known that, Arthur."
"I know," he replied a little sheepishly. "But Mafalda had heard from her nephew than Ron was good friends with Harry. She thought I would like to know. As the magic had been used in front of muggles, she did have a reason to consult with me."
"At least she did have an official reason to contact you," Amelia sighed.
Harry protested that it wasn't him and asked how Arthur knew. Ron stated that his dad works for the Ministry.
"That doesn't mean he would know about cases of underage magic," Percy stated primly.
"No, but considering it's about Harry, I'm surprised the whole Ministry hadn't heard," Bill muttered.
Ron pointed out they weren't allowed to do magic out of school.
"Says the one in a flying car," Tonks chuckled.
"No actual magic is required to fly the car. It's already enchanted," Charlie reminded her.
Harry replied that he should talk. Ron told him the car didn't count as he's only borrowing it. His dad is the one who did the enchanting.
All of the Ministry people turned to Arthur whose ears had gone red. He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided their eyes. They all already knew this of course, there had been a large inquiry about it the previous year, but Amelia honestly doubted that was the only thing Arthur had enchanted.
He continued that doing magic in front of the Dursleys, but Harry cut him off protesting he didn't do it. He then asked Ron to tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked him up and won't let him come back.
"You didn't think they'd flown all the way there to leave you in that situation, did you?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"I knew they couldn't use magic either," Harry pointed out.
"You underestimate us. That hurts, Harrikins." Fred winked.
"Except it may have worked out much better if the boys had flown back and told an adult about Mr. Potter's situation. That way, an investigation may have taken place, and someone would have seen what the Dursleys were doing," Severus stated grimly.
The Weasley boys all exchanged looks. Arthur caught the glances and sighed. He could guess what his children were thinking. He raised an eyebrow at George who grimaced.
"We didn't consider that. But even if we had, we wouldn't have done it because that would have meant telling mum we flew the car to Harry's. We figured she'd be so mad she wouldn't listen to us," he admitted.
"Which ended up happening anyway. She didn't believe us about the bars on his window," Fred put in hotly. Molly opened her mouth to point out all of the rubbish they usually came out with as excuses for their rule-breaking behaviour but then closed it again and stared at the floor. She should have at least spoken with Harry privately to confirm whether the boys had been telling the truth. Despite the twin's mischievousness, it would be unlike them to lie about something that serious.
"I'm sorry boys. And I'm very sorry Harry. Regardless of whether I fully believed the boys or not, I should have at least checked with you about something like that." Harry startled at the apology.
"It's ok, Mrs Weasley."
"Call me Molly, dear."
Sirius wanted to growl that she most certainly should have checked with Harry about his situation. But then, it wasn't like he had been much better. His godson had been, still was really, way too thin when he'd first seen him on the street. He'd agreed to come and live with someone who, until an hour before, he'd thought had been a mass murderer who was the reason his parents were dead. All of the signs were there, and Sirius had ignored them. Not that he would have been able to do a lot given his fugitive status. Molly Weasley did not have that excuse.
But then, he also knew Harry would have denied anything. Would have come up with an excuse for the bars, hidden how bad the situation was. He'd done the same thing after all. Until his friends noticed and forced him to tell them. Much like they had done with Remus' furry problem. He sighed.
Ron told him they'd come to take him home with them. Harry pointed out they couldn't use magic either, but Ron reminded him he had the twins with him.
The twins both stared at Harry with exaggerated looks of hurt and betrayal. Harry snorted.
Fred threw Harry a rope and told him to tie it around the bars. Harry stated that if the Dursleys woke up he'd be dead.
"I hate that I'm not sure that's an exaggeration," Sirius scowled.
Fred told him not to worry. The bars were successfully pulled off without waking the Dursleys. Ron told Harry to get in the car and he pointed out he didn't have his stuff. The twins climbed in through the window and began picking the lock on his door the muggle way. Fred stated that wizards considered muggle tricks a waste of time, but they found them useful.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Molly demanded.
"Tonks," George said quickly.
Andromeda rounded on her daughter who threw a glare in George's direction. "Dad taught me," Tonks told her mother. Now Ted gave his daughter a betrayed look.
"Now love, don't you think it's a good thing considering what those boys are using it for?" He said lightly. Andromeda raised an eyebrow at her husband who cringed slightly.
"Can you guys teach me?" Harry asked. "I might need it to get my stuff again in the future."
"You're never going back there!" Sirius snarled.
"He might have to while we get legalities sorted," Amelia reminded him with a regretful expression.
"Course we'll teach you," Fred promised. Even Molly didn't have the heart to scold them or dismiss the idea.
"He won't have to go back. Harry can stay with us until everything is sorted," Arthur put in. He simply could not allow Harry to go back to those…people knowing what he did now. Molly nodded fiercely in agreement. Sirius offered them both a grateful smile.
George said they would get his trunk while Harry packed the stuff in his room. Harry warned them about the creaking stair.
"Always good to know," George said with a grin.
They got the trunk into the car. Vernon coughed a couple of times during the process. Harry was about to get into the car after George when Hedwig screeched, waking Vernon.
"You forgot Hedwig." Luna stared at him reproachfully. Harry had no idea how to respond to those bright blue eyes looking at him with such sadness and disappointment.
"Er…well it was a bit of a shock. And a rush," Harry mumbled awkwardly. "She did forgive me." Luna continued to stare at him for a moment and then nodded.
He dashed back and grabbed Hedwig as his uncle came through the unlocked door. He froze for a second and then lunged across the room, grabbing Harry by the ankle. The three Weasleys grabbed his arms and began a tug of war with Vernon.
"Ouch," Charlie winced.
"It wasn't the most fun I've ever had," Harry said dryly.
"You weren't hurt too badly, were you?" Ron asked quickly. He tried to think back on that summer to see if he remembered Harry being in pain.
"No. I was fine," Harry told him a little too quickly to be believable.
"Sorry," the twins said in unison.
"You did what you had to do. It would have been a lot worse if you hadn't and Uncle Vernon had dragged me back." Nobody looked happy at that announcement, but they couldn't exactly argue with it either.
Vernon roared to Petunia that Harry was getting away.
"Honestly, you'd think he'd be pleased Harry won't be in the house anymore," Charlie muttered.
"Except Harry was being rescued and probably going back to learn more magic. Not likely," Bill pointed out.
The Weasleys pulled Harry free and into the car. Ron yelled for Fred to put his foot down and they flew off. Harry rolled the window down and yelled back at the Dursleys he would see them next summer.
"Taunting them when you have to go back probably isn't the best idea," Remus stated, with a hint of disapproval. "It will only make them more determined to make your situation worse."
"Yeah. Except those Dursleys weren't my biggest problem last summer," Harry muttered bitterly. Ron smirked.
The Weasleys laughed. Harry told Ron to let Hedwig out and he picked the lock, letting the owl fly beside them.
"You taught your brother to pick locks too?" Molly glared at the twins. They both grimaced. Molly glanced at Ginny who was looking far too innocent. "Did you also teach your sister?"
"Er…" Fred winced.
"She was upset about Ron going to Hogwarts as well, so we taught her to cheer her up right before Ron started first year," George admitted.
"Maybe next time find a more appropriate way to cheer your sister up," Arthur told them before Molly could start scolding them for corrupting her precious little girl. "But it was nice of you to do that," he added. The twins grinned.
Ron asked Harry what had been going on and he explained about Dobby. When he'd finished the twins said it was definitely dodgy. George asked if he wouldn't even tell Harry who was supposed to be plotting the dangerous things. Harry stated that he didn't think Dobby was able to tell him.
Hermione pursed her lips angrily at the mention of Dobby hitting his head against the wall. Draco eyed her warily, vividly recalling the last time she got overly angry with him.
Harry asked if the twins thought Dobby was lying. Fred told him that house-elves have powerful magic of their own but can't usually use it without their master's permission.
"Dobby is far from usual," Harry put in.
"That's an understatement," Draco muttered.
He continued that Dobby might have been sent to stop him going back to Hogwarts as someone's idea of a joke. He asked if anyone had a grudge against him at Hogwarts.
"Where were you for all of last year?" Percy raised his eyebrows. "Even I knew about the rivalry between Harry and Malfoy. Although, having heard the story from Harry's point of view, it's more of a rivalry between Ron and Malfoy."
"Didn't really think about it. He was only a firstie and, from what we'd heard, ickle Malfoy didn't strike me as the type for something that subtle or elaborate," Fred stated.
"Hey!" Draco protested loudly.
"He has a point, little cousin," Tonks said with a chuckle. "Your plans involving Harry last year were hardly subtle." Draco's cheeks turned pink.
"I'm not sure I'd call Dobby subtle either," Charlie pointed out. "In fact, he's pretty much the complete opposite of subtle." Nobody could argue with that.
Harry and Ron immediately said yes, and Harry elaborated that Draco Malfoy hated him. George asked if that was Lucius Malfoy's son. Harry said it wasn't a common name and George told him that Lucius was a big supporter of You-Know-Who.
Narcissa pursed her lips.
Fred continued that Malfoy Senior had come back saying he hadn't meant any of it, but his dad reckons he had been part of Voldemort's inner circle.
Arthur scowled angrily.
Harry had heard similar rumours before. They didn't surprise him as Draco made Dudley look like a kind, thoughtful, sensitive boy.
Draco choked at that.
"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "You're not that bad. Absolutely nothing could make Dudley look kind or sensitive."
"Not that bad?" Draco arched an eyebrow. "I like to think I'm quite a lot better than that muggle."
"Nope," Harry grinned, popping the 'p'. "You were a snotty, bratty kid, still are really, just not enough to make Dudley look good in comparison." Draco glared at him.
"Watch it, Potter."
"Make me, Malfoy."
"Stop flirting you two," Fred cut in with a wink. Both of them spluttered, turning bright red.
"I'm not…"
"We're not…"
"Fred!"
"Weasley!"
"Me thinks they doth protest too much," George said with a smirk.
"That's enough boys," Arthur cut in, trying not to look too amused at his son's antics. They shot Harry identical evil grins before winking at Draco.
Harry said he didn't know if they Malfoys own a house-elf.
"We own several," Draco said loftily, though the effect was slightly ruined by the bright red still staining his cheeks.
"Owning slaves is not something to be proud of!" Hermione hissed at him. Kingsley decided to keep reading to stop any further comments.
Fred stated that whoever owned him would be an old, rich, wizarding family. George added that their mum always wished they had one to do the ironing.
"A house-elf would need more to do than simply ironing. Especially while the children are at school," Narcissa stated smoothly. "They don't like not having work to do."
He continued that they only had a ghoul in the attic and gnomes in the garden. House-elves come with big old manors and castle. Not in houses like theirs.
"But, if house-elves don't get paid, why do only rich people have them?" Harry frowned.
"They are considered a sign of status," Andromeda told him. "And most of them are passed down through families. Hermione opened her mouth, but the older woman shot her a censoring look. "Besides, house-elves may not get paid, but they do have their own pride in the family they serve, usually anyway."
Harry figured that judging by the way Draco had the best of everything, he could picture him strutting around a large manor house and sending the family servant to stop him coming back to Hogwarts was something he would do.
"Might of, if I'd thought of it," Draco muttered.
He wondered if he'd been stupid to take Dobby seriously.
"It's never stupid to take a threat seriously. Especially someone like you, Potter," Moody growled at him.
"Especially considering he warned you about trouble at Hogwarts. Considering everything that happened in your first year, that's perfectly plausible," Tonks agreed.
Ron said he was pleased they'd come as he had been worried that Harry hadn't answered his letters. At first he'd thought it had been Errol's fault. Harry asked who this was, and Ron explained about the family owl. He even tried to borrow Hermes, Percy's owl, but his brother wouldn't let the owl to him.
"Well, considering what he needed it for, I don't blame him," Fred said with a smirk in Percy's direction. The back of Percy's neck and ears turned pink. He glared at Ginny who had been the one to tell the twins about Penny.
George put in that Percy had been acting very oddly, sending a lot of letters before telling Fred he was driving too far west.
"I'm surprised you were even bothered," Percy muttered. "Or was it just you were missing your main prank victim?"
"Or, you are our brother and we were a bit worried about you," George countered.
"And we were missing our main prank victim. Ron's just too gullible. It gets boring after a while," Fred grinned. George rolled his eyes at his twin. While they were usually of the same mind, after this reading and the family talks, George felt kind of bad about how they had treated Percy. And others, but mainly their older brother who was always that little bit different. Outcast. And he didn't want to end up driving his brother away from the family permanently.
Their parents, great though they were for most things, were good enough at driving their kids away. Bill had left home as soon as possible for Egypt. Charlie had done the same to Romania. Neither of them came home very often, not even once a year. They cited money as the issue, and international portkeys were expensive, but George knew that both of his brothers made more than enough money to come home once a year. It was just that neither of them could cope with their mother's overbearing attitude for long periods of time. Her constant nagging for Bill to cut his hair, or for them both to move back to England to get safer jobs, no matter how much they loved what they did. It was because she loved them, but she didn't understand them. Nor did she even try to. Their trip to Egypt the previous summer had been the first time they'd seen Bill since he moved there. And only their parents had gone to see Charlie in Romania the Christmas of their third year.
George knew Percy had serious designs on working for the Ministry, and wondered how easy it would be for his brother to fall in with the wrong people in his ambition. How easy it would be for him to stop coming home altogether if they didn't take care not to push him over an invisible line. Carefulness wasn't exactly George's strong suit, he admitted that easily, but Fred was even less so. Always quicker to anger when Percy dismissed their pranks and inventions. More bitter about their mother's derision when it came to the same thing. Reigning him in, grounding him, had been George's job for as long as he could remember, and it never bothered him. Often, he encouraged him because they were always of the same mind. But this time…this time he didn't know how Fred would react and it unsettled him deeply.
"Hey!" Ron protested.
"You are kind of gullible, Ron," Hermione pointed out. "The spell to turn Scabbers yellow. Wrestling a troll for our sorting."
"I didn't think we actually would have to wrestle a troll," Ron replied petulantly. "It just made me more nervous."
"And then you did end up wrestling a troll anyway," Remus said with a worried glance at Harry.
Harry asked if their dad knew they had the car despite guessing the answer. Ron denied this and said he had to work. They hope to get it back to the garage without their mum noticing they flew it.
"Did you really think that was going to work?" Charlie asked in amusement.
"We could hope." Fred shrugged. He eyed George, sitting next to him. He could tell his twin was deep in thought and it bothered him greatly that he wasn't entirely sure what those thoughts were. While they could not actually read each other's minds the way some people thought, they were almost always on the same wavelength. But this time, his twin's mind was a mystery to him. He would have to speak with him at the break.
Harry asked what their dad does at the Ministry and Ron told him he worked in the most boring office, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.
"It's not the most boring," Tonks put in. "It's just not as awesome as the Auror department."
Ron explained some more about his dad's job, and one of the cases he worked on one. He added that it is only Arthur and a bloke named Perkins in the department.
"And the office is absolutely tiny," Kingsley noted.
"Well, our dear Minister is known to be as corrupt as they come. He isn't paid by Lucius Malfoy to care about the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office," Moody grunted.
Fred told Harry that their dad is crazy about all things muggle and Arthur takes muggle stuff apart, spells it and puts it back together again. He noted that if he raided their house, he'd have to arrest himself.
Arthur blushed as the adults in the room all turned to look at him. "That's not entirely true. There is a loophole in the law you see…"
"One I'm sure you put there," Amelia stated, though she looked mildly amused. She didn't approve of Arthur's behaviour, but it was far from the worst offence. Other than the car, which he'd paid for badly enough, he didn't use any of the things he spelled, or show them to muggles.
"Well…" Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, and everyone chuckled.
George noted they would be home in ten minutes. A pinkish glow was visible. Fred brought the car lower, and George told Harry where they lived. They landed at the house and Harry described it has looking like it had once been a pigpen that extra rooms had been added to, making it several stories high and rather crooked. He noted it looked like it was held up by magic, and then realised it probably was.
"You're exactly right," Arthur smiled. "It has been in the family for generations, each person adding their own touch to the place."
Draco clenched his jaw tightly in an effort not to say something derogatory.
A jumble of boots were by the door and several chickens pecked their way around the yard. Ron said it wasn't much, but Harry told him it was wonderful, thinking of Privet Drive.
"It really is lovely," Harry assured Ron. "It might not be spotless and pristine like the Dursleys, but it's lived in. It looks like a home should." Ron gave him a slight smile.
Fred said they should go upstairs quietly and wait for their mum to call them for breakfast. Then Ron should come downstairs looking all pleased and just say Harry turned up in the middle of the night, so their mum won't know they took the car.
"That's the best excuse you could come up with?" Bill scoffed.
"That's terrible," Tonks agreed.
"No way mum is going to fall for that. Who dropped Harry off? It can't have been those muggles even if they weren't terrible people, Harry didn't know where the Burrow is," Charlie added.
"It had been a long night," Fred protested.
"That's no excuse boys, I'm sure you two have had long nights before," Sirius said shaking his head. "You need to work on that."
"Don't encourage them," Molly glared at him. Sirius just shrugged.
"Right," said Ron. "Come on…Ron had gone a nasty greenish colour,
"I assume Molly has spotted them," Kingsley said with an amused smile.
"We do have wards around the grounds. I knew the moment they left," Molly admitted.
Mrs Weasley was marching over. Harry described her as short, plump and kind but currently looking rather similar to a saber-toother tiger.
A few people chuckled. The Weasley siblings hid their smirks. Then the laughter turned into grinning at the twins as their reactions were read out.
She stopped in front of them, wearing a flowered apron with her wand in a pocket.
"Standard wand safety protocols!" Moody barked. "That's a good way to lose your wand. Or accidentally fire off a curse."
"Honestly, Alastor, I've kept my wand in my apron when at home for decades and nothing has happened. I know what I'm doing," Molly replied.
George attempted a jaunty, winning tone.
"And did it sound at all jaunty?" Sirius asked, grinning widely.
"It sounded like a mouse being trodden on," Ron told him with a smirk.
"I did not!" George protested.
"You kind of did," Harry chuckled. George shot him a betrayed look.
She asked if they had any idea how worried she had been. One of them began to say they had to, but all three of them cowered under her rage, despite all being taller than her. She yelled at them for not leaving a note, the car was gone, and they could have crashed.
"You didn't even leave a note?" Bill shot his brothers a disapproving look.
"Well, we thought it would be leaving evidence behind if we did manage to get home without mum noticing," Fred pointed out.
"You were gone all night. You must have realised she would know. You leave the note just in case, if you get back without being caught, then you remove the note and destroy the evidence," Tonks told them. She thought back to when she, Charlie and their Ravenclaw friend Lauren, had thrown a party at the Burrow. It had almost been a disaster, and looking back she had no idea how they thought they were going to pull it off. Thankfully, Dumbledore had been pretty understanding about the whole thing. Tonks supposed he'd rather they were sneaking off the grounds to throw a party rather than hunting for the Cursed Vaults.
She continued that they should wait until their father got home. They had never had this trouble with Bill or Charlie, or Percy.
"You know that's not true, mum," Bill reminded her fairly.
"Alright Percy never got in much trouble, but you know Bill and I certainly had our moments," Charlie agreed. The party at the Burrow had been one of many occasions they'd been in trouble over their school years.
"Yet you two still managed to pull yourselves together enough to be Quidditch Captain and prefect, Bill was a prefect and then head boy. Percy was a prefect and then head boy."
"Yes. But we all wanted to be those things. I liked being a prefect because of the extra freedoms it gave us. I certainly never wanted to be head boy and I was happy for Talbot. Not that he was entirely thrilled with all of the attention and responsibility of the position. The twins are different people. Besides, there is only one male prefect position per year and only one head boy. Can you imagine choosing one of them over the other?" Charlie raised an eyebrow at his mother. Molly let out a sigh at that.
"No," she admitted.
Fred muttered about perfect Percy. His mother yelled that he could do with taking a leaf out of Percy's book.
The twins glowered. Percy eyed his brothers uncomfortably. He had wondered why the pranks had stepped up so much that summer. He'd assumed they were just showing off now that they had a new audience in Harry, and they were able to use him to escape the wrath of their mother some of the time. Now he wondered if this hadn't been at least part of it.
She continued that they could have died or been seen. They could have even lost their father his job.
"Molly," Arthur sighed.
It felt like it went on for hours. Harry recoiled when Mrs Weasley turned to him.
Harry winced at the heartbroken look Mrs Weasley sent him at that.
"I know you did nothing wrong, Harry."
"He didn't do anything wrong at the Dursleys and he still got punished. And the boys went to rescue him, so he probably felt like it was his fault," Tonks said shrewdly.
She simply said she was pleased to see him and invited him in for breakfast. They followed her inside and Harry observed the kitchen. He noted the clock.
"That's a very handy clock, Molly," Moody grunted.
"Yes. It was a wedding present from my parents," she smiled a little sadly. She could still recall the day when her brother's hands fell off as they died. And her parents. But she also remembered how proudly they had presented her with a new hand for each of her children. The hand for Ginny had been the last thing her mother ever gave her.
There were various books on the mantelpiece and an old radio announced Celestina Warbeck was about to start singing.
Several people pulled faces at the mention of the divisive singer.
She made breakfast a little haphazardly, occasionally throwing dirty looks at her children, muttering to herself. She did assure Harry that she didn't blame him and commented she and Arthur had been worried about him too. They would have come to get him themselves if he hadn't written back by Friday.
"Thank you, Mrs Weasley," Harry said shyly. He'd been far too nervous and overwhelmed to thank her then.
"It's nothing, dear." She waved away his thanks, not feeling like she deserved it. Not really. She knew a little about mediwizardry and given the starvation the poor boy had been through, over feeding him could be just as damaging. She wondered if he'd been ill and hidden it from them, not wanting to be ungrateful or, Merlin forbid, think he would get into trouble for being sick. Obviously she hadn't known about his home conditions, and those awful clothes hid just how skinny he was as they dwarfed him terribly. Horrible thought spiralled through her mind. She was brought back by her husband squeezing her hand and offering her a gentle smile.
She added three fried eggs to his plate and commented that anyone could have seen them.
"Er, I know you're being kind Molly, but three fried eggs and so many sausages won't be good for his stomach after several days of nothing but a bit of cold soup," Andromeda stated gently. Molly nodded.
"I'm just used to serving up breakfast for my boys. And I could see poor Harry was so thin. I just didn't realise he had been through actual starvation," Molly sighed.
"Yeah. It's not like we told you or anything," Fred muttered bitterly. She glared at him but said nothing.
The dishes began to clean themselves as Fred protested that it was cloudy. She told him to close his mouth while he was eating. George added they were starving Harry, but she simply told him to do the same.
Molly closed her eyes in despair.
Sirius wanted to rage at her. Those boys had told her outright Harry was being starved. And she did nothing. And yet, how often had he and James used any excuse they could possibly think of for their antics. Sirius also knew that had it been them reporting to Euphemia that one of their friends was being starved and had bars attached to their windows she would have investigated immediately. But Euphemia and Fleamont had doted on James. They always believed the best of their darling angel, no matter what he got up to. The twins clearly did not have the same relationship with their parents.
She started buttering Harry some bread with a slightly softer expression. Another figure appeared in the kitchen in a nightdress. She gave a small squeal and ran out again.
Everyone turned to look at Ginny who had gone bright red. She glared at her brothers, fingering her wand threateningly.
Ron told Harry that was his sister Ginny who had been talking about him all summer.
"Ron!" Ginny hissed.
"What? You had," Ron pointed out.
Fred grinned and said she'd be wanting Harry's autograph.
"Fred!"
"Sorry, Gin."
"No, you're not." Fred just winked.
But he caught his mother's eye and turned to his plate without another word. They all finished eating and Fred yawned, stating he was tired and thought he would go to bed.
"Not a chance," Charlie laughed.
"It'll be de-gnoming the garden for you," Bill agreed with a grin.
"It was worth a try." Fred shrugged.
Mrs Weasley told him it was his own fault he'd be up all night and they were going to de-gnome the garden. She added that Harry could go to bed as he hadn't asked them to fly the wretched car.
"Thank you, Molly," Sirius said softly. He was glad someone was looking out for his godson at least a little bit.
Harry declined, saying he'd never seen a de-gnoming and wanted to help. She tried to dissuade him saying it was dull work. Then she wondered what Lockhart had to say on the subject.
All students, and staff except Dumbledore, who had been at Hogwarts that year groaned loudly.
"I don't think I can stand hearing about him for a whole book," Pomona moaned.
"Why? What was wrong with Lockhart?" Amelia asked interestedly.
"You'll see," Minerva, Pomona, Filius and Severus replied darkly in unison. Amelia stared at them all, a little taken aback.
George groaned and said the know how to do the job. Harry examined the book Mrs Weasley pulled off the mantelpiece and she beamed down at the picture on the cover. She stated he was marvellous and knew his household pests alright.
"He was the household pest," Minerva muttered.
"This is the man who thought that pixies were among the most dangerous creatures ever," Ron pointed out with a snort.
"Well yeah, they were a great danger to his hair," Harry smirked. "Which was basically all he cared about. That and his stupid smile award."
Fred loudly whispered that his mum fancied Lockhart.
"Fred!" Molly scolded, turning slightly pink.
She told him not to be ridiculous, but her cheeks were rather pink. She said that if they thought they knew better than Lockhart, they could go and get on with it and woe betide them if there was a single gnome left.
"I'm pretty sure a flobberworm knows more than Lockhart," George scoffed.
They went out into the garden. Harry thought this was exactly what a garden should look like. The Dursleys wouldn't have liked it, which gave it an immediate plus.
Andromeda and Narcissa both had to refrain from pulling faces at this being described as exactly what a garden should be.
Harry commented that muggles have garden gnomes too and Ron said he had seen the things muggles thought were gnomes which were like fat little santas with fishing rods.
"That's actually a pretty good description," Hermione agreed.
"Why would they have those? What do they do?" Neville wondered curiously.
"They don't do anything really. They are decorations," Hermione told him. He frowned.
Ron scuffled in a bush and pulled out a gnome that Harry described as small, leathery and looking like a potato.
Everyone chuckled at the accurate description.
"I love your mind," Sirius grinned.
Ron explained how to get rid of the gnomes. He added that it didn't hurt them, it just made them dizzy so they couldn't find their way back.
"But, surely the dizziness wears off rather quickly?" Hermione frowned.
"Not as quickly as you'd think," George told her. "And even when it does, they don't want to go through the whole process again too soon, so they stay away for a while."
"Isn't there a better way to get rid of them?"
"Plenty, but I think dad has a soft spot for them," Fred admitted with a grin.
"Gnome saliva has many amazing properties," Luna said dreamily. "I think you're very lucky to have so many."
He let go of the gnome and it flew twenty feet away, over the hedge. Fred called his throw pitiful. They continued to de-gnome the garden and Harry ended up getting bitten. He managed to shake it off and the others congratulated him on the throw which Fred estimated must have been around fifty feet.
"Nice work, pup," Sirius praised. "James and I used to do that all the time at your grandparents. I'm pretty sure the only reason Euphemia let them stay in the manor gardens was so she could make James and I do the de-gnoming. But we had loads of fun, making it into a competition."
The air was soon thick with flying gnomes. Once they finished, Ron said they would be back as they love it. Their dad was too soft on them and thinks they're funny.
"They are rather funny," Arthur admitted. "Besides, as Sirius said, it gives you boys some chores to do when you get yourselves into mischief."
Then Arthur arrived home and they hurried back to the house. Harry described him.
Arthur smiled slightly. As far as Harry's descriptions had gone so far, that was not too bad.
He commented that he'd done nine raids and Mundungus Fletcher tried to hex him when his back was turned.
"Filthy coward," Moody grunted.
"Why did he try to hex you?" Molly asked in concern.
"Because he's Dung," Arthur sighed.
"We never have enough to charge him. At least not with anything serious," Kingsley admitted with a sigh.
Fred asked if he found anything and Mr. Weasley replied that they only got a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle. There were some other things that were more serious but not his department. One person was taken away from questioning about some odd ferrets.
"I hate those ones," Tonks muttered. "They might go to the Committee of Experimental Charms, but it's usually us who have to bring them in in the first place."
"There's always the fire-breathing chickens," Kingsley reminded her. She shuddered. That had been a bad day.
George wondered why anyone would make door keys shrink. Mr. Weasley explained they were muggle baiting. They sell the key to the muggles who then can never find it. He commented they would go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face.
"Even those who know about magic," Ted muttered, thinking about the Dursleys.
He said something about people enchanting objects and Molly cut in suggesting things like cars. Mr. Weasley stared at her guiltily. He faked innocence but his wife was having none of it. Mr. Weasley pointed out that as long as he didn't intend to fly the car, the fact that it could fly wasn't actually illegal.
Several people chuckled.
"You do realise that wouldn't actually hold up in court," Amelia asked in amusement. "Intentions can change and as soon as the car is flown it becomes illegal."
"Ah, yes," he admitted sheepishly. "But I truly didn't intend to fly the car."
Mrs Weasley pointed out that he made sure the loophole was there when he wrote the law.
"Well of course. One of the perks of the job," Ted laughed.
She continued that Harry arrived that morning in the car he wasn't intending to fly. He asked Harry who. He jumped when he finally spotted Harry and said he was pleased to meet him.
Harry grinned widely. It had been so nice to be recognised, not for his name, not really, but just for being Ron's friend.
Mrs Weasley cut in saying his sons flew the car to Harry's and back last night. Mr Weasley eagerly began to ask if it went alright before seeing the look on his wife's face and saying it was very wrong of them.
Everyone laughed. Arthur grinned ruefully.
"No wonder those twins are such menaces," Severs murmured to himself. Their father was no use whatsoever in matters of discipline and their mother drove them to further trouble with her comparisons to their older brothers.
Ron suggested they go up to his room and leave them to it. They went upstairs and on the third landing, Harry spotted a pair of brown eyes staring at him before the door closed.
Ginny blushed deeply once more and hid her face in her hands.
Ron said that it was weird behaviour as she never shuts up normally.
"Really, Ronald?" Hermione asked in exasperation.
"What?"
"Honestly." She shook her head and muttered about clueless boys. Ron eyed her, looking bewildered.
They reached Ron's room and Harry thought it was like walking into a furnace as everything was a violent shade of orange.
"It does look like a pumpkin threw up all over the place in there," Fred agreed.
"We really should get you some sunglasses or something to protect your eyes if you're going to be staying more often Harry," George stated. "You may be in danger of going permanently blind."
"No, he's not!" Ron protested. "There's nothing wrong with orange."
"It's hideous, Ronald," Percy told him.
"It's certainly an…interesting choice," Sirius said, bemused.
"Like your choice of certain images was any better. I'd prefer the blinding orange," Remus said dryly. Sirius smirked at him and, just for a single moment, it was like it used to be between them. And then a flicker of dark emotions crossed Sirius' face and it was gone. He visibly withdrew and Remus desperately wished he knew how to fix it.
Harry realised almost every inch of wall was covered in posters that Ron announced were the Chudley Cannons who were ninth in the league
"Wow. They have improved," Sirius whistled. "They used to always be rock bottom."
"They are again now," Ron muttered ruefully.
Ron's spellbooks were in one corner next to a stack of comics about a mad muggle.
Hermione frowned deeply at that.
"Your dad used to love those," Sirius told Harry with a smile. "He had the entire collection at one point. Then Lily found out and said they were a horrible representation of muggles. He never read one in her presence ever again, although I know he kept collecting them. I think he planned on showing them to you despite Lily's objections."
"They are a terrible representation of muggles," Ted stated. "But they are also children's comic books. It's hardly that big of a deal."
"It was to Lily," Sirius said simply, glowering at Snape. He was sure Lily's strong reaction to anything even slightly biased against muggles was at least in part due to having Snape as a friend and dealing with his prejudice.
Ron's wand was on top of a fish tank containing frog spawn which was next to Scabbers' cage.
Sirius snarled under his breath.
Ron said that it was a bit small, not like Harry's room at the muggles.
"Well, considering that before that he had a cupboard, I don't think he's going to comment on room size," Tonks stated.
"I didn't know about the cupboard," Ron mumbled, ears going red.
"Of course you didn't. I didn't want anyone to know," Harry assured him.
"But, looking back, I mean your room with the muggles wasn't actually much bigger than mine. Not really. Just less stuff in it." Harry shrugged.
He continues that he is right under the ghoul who is always banging on the pipes. Harry cuts him off and tells him it's the best house he's ever been in. Ron's ears went pink.
"Done," Kingsley announced.
"I'll read then," Emmeline offered. He handed her the book.