Sloth: Hey guys, sorry for the delay, but I went to go see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief on Friday. It was awesome and added fuel to my PJO muse. If your ever interested in the series, pick up the book. I've also got a PJO fanfic going and I'm trying to update both that and this story at the same time. Not much to say about this chapter except for some for shadowing. Oh, a Red shows what he's made of. I do apologize for speeding the fight scene though. Promise to make them last longer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. but I do plan on going to the theme park.

Talk About Sibling Rivalry

You'd think that, after years of living on the streets, being able to out run and brace themselves for anytime of surprise, the four of them would know what to do when Red stood undisguised in front of his mother and sister. You would think they were smart enough to know what to do when the only ones in the shop were four Hogwarts students, four runaways, and two Weasleys. And, most important of all, you'd think Red would be smart enough to grab his own disguise cap. You'd be very mistaken.

"RED YOU BASTARD!" Raven barked as he quickly placed Red's cap on his head. However, no matter how fast he was, people's eyes were faster.

"Harry?"

Raven locked eyes with Nicholas. The twins stared at each for a brief second before Raven bolted, dragging Red with him. They ran past the two Weasleys just as Nicholas broke out of his daze and ran after them. Ginny was the second to snap out of her daze and ran after the boys. Molly stood there in a dazed. No one else moved. They just stood there, watching the woman for her reaction. Three of them were waiting for see what she would do, knowing the inner turmoil in the aging woman. The other two weren't sure how to react. And then, Molly Weasley collapsed on the floor.

"Well, we're fired."

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Four young teens ran across Hogsmeade, entering Hogwarts' school grounds. Raven no longer had to drag Red with him and the two were racing towards the apparition point at the Shrieking Shack. They needed to get out of there fast before their siblings caught up with them and expose them more than they needed to me. However, it seemed like they weren't the only ones fast on their feet. Nicholas and Ginny were quickly closing in. In a desperate attempt to throw them off their tail, the two made a sharp turn and ran into the Forbidden Forest. Nicholas and Ginny ran right in.

"Don't they know when to give up?" Red asked.

"They're related to us," Raven replied. "Giving up isn't in their genes."

"Good point."

They lunged over a fallen log and, through a silent message, split up. Raven ran to the left and Red went right. Nicholas flew over the log and stumbled to the left. Ginny followed swiftly, but fell to the ground. Cursing, she got to her feet, looking around and trying to see where her target went. Ron was out of her sight. She looked around her, breathing hard as she tried to catch her breath. She had never gone into the forest before. She never even amused the thought of going into it her first and only year. It didn't look as dark and foreboding as she first thought. Drawing in a large gulp of air, she ran forward.

Raven came to a stop, catching his breath. He hid himself behind a tree, looking past both sides. No one. He was starting to think running out of the shop wasn't the best thing to do. But they couldn't be too careful. Red and he had been exposed to the worst possible people. And if Nicholas was still a pompous, stubborn jackass, he'd be pursued until he'd apparated away. Catching his breath, he made a break for it towards the Shrieking Shack when he was suddenly tackled from the side. Nicholas plowed right into him, taking them both to the ground. His cap rolled off his head, officially confirming his twin's suspicions.

"I see you haven't changed Nikky," he grunted. "Still pushing people around I see."

Nick paused, staring at the bespectacled youth. The venomous nicknamed had confirmed his initial fears and fueled his temper. Reaching into his back pocket for his wand, Nick stood up and aimed it at Raven's chest. "Get up."

"What? No hello? No what's up baby brother?"

The wand wavered a bit, but Nick kept it on Raven. Raven stood up and they both stared at each other. The same, emotionless expression met face to face and neither made a move. Raven was the first to break as a sly smiled formed on his face. A thought occurred to him and he was beginning to form a plan to get out of this situation. Nick frowned at his brother's smile.

"What?"

"Nothing. This just brings back fond memories of our childhood. You, the big brother bullying his helpless baby brother; and me, the poor kid who had to do everything you said. Do you have anyone to bully now that I'm out of that miserable hell hole?"

"Shut up Harry. I'm not like that anymore. And don't talk about our home like that."

"Or what? You'll hex me into next week? Or maybe you'll call for daddy like you use to."

"I told you, I'm not like that anymore. I can do things on my own now."

"Like keeping someone hostage?" Nicholas growled. So far so good. It looked as if Nicholas still had his short temper. If he could get his brother to try and use a spell against him, he could grab Winchester and scare the brat off.

"I'm just making sure you don't run away for a fourth time. I want answers Harry. Like where the hell have you been? You have any idea what you did to Mum and Dad?"

"Hmm, let's see, the Daily Prophet claimed I was dead about five years ago…so I'm assuming they've been glad about that."

"They're miserable you slimy git!"

"Hmm, Lily, James, miserable…You know those words just don't go in a sentence."

"Like you'd know anything. You're the one who ran away."

"And you guys were the one who didn't give a crap until a week later."

Nick faltered. "How-"

"I can read you know. I was walking around Diagon Alley for a week when I read the Prophet. For someone who says he's changed, you sure are slow."

Nick frowned, but didn't fire off any spells. "You didn't seem to bother showing your face though."

"Can you blame me? I was used as a freaking house elf since I was one. Can you honestly tell me you're mad I didn't want a single thing to do with the family who abandoned me?"

"We never abandoned you! You're the one you ran out on us!"

"Because you're the ones who treated me like shit. Or did you not remember the beating I got for disobeying Dad?"

"We're different now…" Nicholas said steadily. "Dad's sorry. Mom's been a mess since she saw you."

"And you're…"

"What do you think you git?"

"Well you're holding me at wand point, so I can only assume you're still trying to bully me into something. Maybe coming home or to join the Chick-fill-A?" Nicholas raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Don't ask. It's a restaurant in the States. It's what we like to call your Order."

"So is that where you've been? Living in the States with your friends?"

"At least I have friends."

"Yeah, a bunch of runaways stealing from Diagon Alley. Real good friendship you got going on Harry."

It was his turn to growl.

"Don't talk badly about my friends Nicholas."

"Or what?" Nicholas found himself at blade point.

"I'll slit your bloody throat."

Ok, so neither one of their plans worked out so well. Where Raven was hoping to coax Nicholas into attacking first, Raven found himself threatening his brother. And where Nicholas planned on getting Harry to come with him back to see their parents, he instead possibly pissed off the kid. They faced each other with their own weapons of choice, flashbacks of their childhood going on in the heads. Calculating eyes stared at glaring eyes. The two brothers waited for the other to make the first move.

"Stupefy!"

The spells canceled each other out, a puff of smoke fluttering in the air. The tiny shock wave from the blast only ruffled their already messy hair. Green eyes stared into brown, both narrowing at each other. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees in anticipation of the fight.

"Nice trick. Didn't know you could do that with a sword."

"There's a lot you don't know about me Nikky."

"Care to share?"

"Um….No."

They both prepared to fire again when an ear splitting scream drew their attention. Nicholas froze and his mouth dropped open.

"Ginny!"

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She should have stopped following them. She should have stayed with her mother, who by now must be worrying about two missing children. She should have gone to confront Fred and George for keeping their brother in the dark instead of going on this stupid escapade. But most importantly of all, she should have never, ever, thought the Forbidden Forest wasn't dangerous looking. Some of the most dangerous things seemed harmless.

Especially big black dogs that looked like crossbreeds between Grims and werewolves.

"N-nice doggies," she said as she backed away from the three hellhounds that she had wandered into. Hellhounds were nasty creatures. They were the size of cars, with coal black fur and flaming red eyes. Some hellhounds were known to breathe fire like dragons and a mature hellhound was said to grow to the size of an eighteen wheeler. There was a myth in wizardology that when you see a hellhound, the number meant a different fate. Seeing one meant you'd have good luck. Seeing two would get you bad luck and seeing three meant you'd see death. She wondered if that death would be from the three of them trying to eat her.

"I-I think I'll just be going now."

One of them lunged at her and she screamed as she fell to the floor, narrowly missing the beast. Scrambling quickly to her feet, the young girl ran like hell was after her. Well, technically yes hell was after her and she'd rather not have it catch her.

"The next time I see Ron or the Potters I'm kicking their ass! Ahh!"

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He came to a stop at the Shrieking Shack, wondering where the hell his friend had gone. They split up to lose their pursuers, but it shouldn't have taken Raven so long to get there. Panting, Red slid down against the shack, looking around through tired eyes. He supposed he might have gone a little bit overboard when he threw that…that…whatever that was at the door, but he felt that they shouldn't have locked him in the back room. Although, if they had at least told him what was going on he might not have decided to throw things. Honestly, how was he supposed to know his mom and Ginny were there?

He looked up to get the sideways glance at the shack. Though the four never liked coming anywhere near Hogwarts, they had to admit, the Shrieking Shack sure had its benefits. Boss had introduced it to them five years ago after the incident. And though he never had fond memories when he visited, it was good to be somewhere his teacher brought them.

A scream split his musing and he looked up to see someone running out of the forest. His eyes widened at the sight of the three hellhounds chasing after her. He was suddenly torn between going out to rescue her and avoiding confrontation. She fell and he cursed.

After tripping over a piece of wood, Ginny cursed her bad luck and turned in time to see a hellhound lunge at her. She screamed, mentally saying goodbye to her loved ones and wishing for a quick, painless death. It never came.

"Bark! Cerberus!"

There was a roar as flames encircled her, forming a magical barrier. The flames made a ferocious barking sound that managed to rebel the attacking beast and send it flying into its pack. Through the dying fire, Ginny could make out a figure standing between her and the hellhounds. He had a wooden, three segmented spear in his hand; a sharp sickle extending viciously from one end of it while the other end had the traditional bladed point. She noticed the fire was receding into the bladed point until nothing but a burnt circle around her remained.

"Ron…"

"Don't mention it. No, really, pretend I'm not here if you know what's good for you," he said, not even bothering to give her a glance. Instead, he stared at the hounds, which regained their composure and were squaring off against him.

They attacked. With dog like speeds, Red swung the spear, slamming the shaft into the first hound and then the second one. As the third came at him, he brought the spear down in its cranium. There was a cracking sound and the beast went limb.

"Bloody hell…"

"It's about to get bloodier." Red said as the two other hellhounds got back up. In the distance he could see Raven and his twin racing out of the forest. A smirked formed seeing his friend. As soon as they were done they could leave.

A vicious growl to his left drew his attention and he swung just as the damn thing lunged at him. He slammed it with the blunt side of the curved blade before slashing it with the other end of Cerberus. Ginny could have sworn she heard the weapon howl in satisfaction. The second hellhound struck and Red ducked under, flipping to slash under the beast's stomach. Smoke pillowed out from the wound and Red watched with a satisfying smirk as it slumped to the ground.

By the time Raven and Nicholas got down to them, Red had backhanded the last hellhound and rammed Cerberus into its maw. The hellhound choked before the boy severed its head from the inside out. With the last hellhound gone, Cerberus reverted back into its sealed form with a howl and Red was panting from exhaustion due to the fire shield he had cast to protect Ginny. He wasn't even sure he could pull of the spell, but was thankful none the less.

"Had fun?" Raven asked.

"Those mutts had nothing on me"

"Bloody hell, those are hellhounds! You killed hellhounds." Nicholas gaped.

"Anything's possible if you try hard enough," Red grinned briefly. He stood straight and stared at Raven. The green eyed youth nodded and they both bolted towards the Shrieking Shack. Red didn't make it very far though. He had forgotten Ginny was behind him and when he turned, she grabbed him by the ankle before assaulting him.

"You bastard!" she cried. She started hitting him with her fist, catching all three boys off guard.

"Ow! Stop that! I just saved your life!"

"A lot that's going to do when you're just going to leave us again!" she yelled. Nick attempted to pry her off, but she pushed him away and continued to wail on her brother. Red tried to fight back, but something told him hitting her wouldn't be right, no matter how angry he was getting.

"It's none of your business what I do Ginny."She kneed him in the groin, effectively knocking the wind out of his sails.

"Don't call me that! You don't deserve to call me that anymore. You left us! You left us!"

"I did no such thing!" Red barked back. Ginny stopped hitting him, taken back by the sound of the animalistic retort. Red managed to shove her off and stood up, eyes flaring. "I never ran out on this family. You were the ones who left me at that alley. Don't go blaming me for your stupid mistake!"

"Then how come you never gave us a clue to where you were Ron? You have any idea what we've been through? Mum's never been the same! She just sits there on your chair with your teddy every day! Sometimes she talks as if you were still around." He ignored her and turned. "Percy even tried to kill himself Ron!"

He froze. They all did. Tears were streaming down her face by now as she recalled Percy's suicide attempt.

"He kept blaming himself…He was supposed to watch you and when you were gone….No one talked to him for weeks Ron. We never said it, but we blamed him…If Charlie hadn't walked in…Please Ron. We want you back. We've never stopped looking for you."

"Well you should." Red replied coolly. He disappeared on the spot. Raven gave the two one final look before following suit.

Ginny stared at the spot where her brother had gone. She heard Nick's footsteps, felt his hand on her shoulder, and allowed herself to cry.

"Come on Ginny. Let's get you back to your mom. Don't worry, we'll get them back. I promise."

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"Thank goodness you guys made it back!" Autumn said, running over to give them both a hug. Bleach and she had managed to get back before the two of them. They had used the floo network to get to WWW in Diagon Alley before coming to the apartment. She had been worried to death about the two of them, fearing the worst. "What happened?"

"We got side tracked. Red had to rescue Ginny from hellhounds. Things were said."

"Oh. Red, I'm sorry."

"It's ok." He muttered. They noticed how his energy seemed to have diminished severely. His eyes were blank and he expressed no emotion as he walked over to the fridge. He pulled out some butterbeer and no one said anything about his plans to get drunk. "If you don't mind, I'm going to be out on the porch."

"Really Red, I'd expect better from one of my students."

He paused as did the rest of them. Slowly they turned to the now opened front door. Standing there was a tall man with long black hair. He wore a tunic over his dress shirt and pants. Slung over his shoulder was a brown carrying bag and strapped to his side was a wand holster that carried a shrunken blade. A smirk greeted them through the curtain of hair.

"What? No welcome for you teacher?"

Quicktrivia: Ron Weasley, aka Red, is the oldest of the four blurs. His weapon is based off of a weapon from the anime Bleach. The idea was also from someone's review suggestion. If you haven't figured it out yet, Red's initial spell for Cerberus was Incindio. Originally I was going to have him say "Burn Cerberus", but due to a sudden plot idea, I changed it to "bark."

Until next time.