CHAPTER 4

AT THE BURROW

CRACK!

Harry coughed as he arrived in the living room of the Burrow. As he dusted off some of the ash from his shoulders, he looked around the Burrow. It was the same. Harry loved this place. Magic was everywhere. He saw a broom sweeping the floor and dishes putting themselves away. He smiled.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Arthur, Fred, and George came out next. The twins were laughing while Mr. Weasley was glaring at them.

"Boys! How could you do that to him! We just left him as a…a… a fish!" Arthur yelled.

George wiped his eyes, "Aw, c'mon, Dad! It was just a bit of a joke! Wasn't Fred?"

"Definitely!" Fred replied. "A joke. A totally harmless joke!"

"IT WAS NOT HARMLESS!" Arthur roared. "You turned that boy into a fish! When I tell you mother-"

"Tell me what?" As if on cue, Mrs. Weasley came into the living room. "Tell me what, Arthur?"

"Oh, uh…"

"And what is all the yelling about!" snapped Mrs. Weasley. But her eyes shone as she saw Harry. "Harry! Sweetie! So glad you're here! We've missed you! Oh come here, are you hungry?"

Harry smile, he loved Mrs. Weasley like a real mother. "No thank you, Mrs. Weasley. But thanks for letting me stay here."

"Oh, not at all! Not at all, dear!" She smiled warmly then turned to glare at the twins. "Fred, George. I will ask you this only once, what is going on?"

The twins smiled innocently. "Nice to see you again, mother." Said Fred.

She glared at them once more.

"Alright, alright! It was just a tiny, little prank." Confessed George.

Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes. "What kind of prank?"

"Well….."

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I will deal with you 2 later. Right now I want you to do your chores before lunch."

Surprised by letting it go so easily, Fred and George kissed their mum and happily went to do their chores.

Mrs. Weasley just rolled her eyes.

Harry asked, "Um, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Where's Ron and Hermione?" He was very desperate to see them.

Mrs. Weasley goaned again, "Upstairs, I presume, they've been at it all day."

"Fighting?" Harry guessed.

She nodded. "It's been crazy; they haven't said one nice word to each other."

Sounds like them, Harry thought. "Ok, well I'll go upstairs. Thanks Mrs. Weasley."

"Do you need help with your bags, honey?"

"No thanks, I got it." He said.

Mrs. Weasley smiled, and then turned to her husband, "Alright, Arthur…"

Harry went up the stairs before things turned ugly.

He could not wait until he saw Ron and Hermione. He missed then so much and he really wanted to tell them about the dream. Maybe they can make sense of it. Harry was running up the stairs so fast he hardly noticed he bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" said a girl's voice.

Harry shakily got up and saw that voice belonged to 14 year old Ginny Weasley.

"That's alright, Ginny. It was my fault."

Ginny jumped at the sound of Harry's voice. "Oh! Harry! I-I-I didn't know you were here!" she squeaked. Her face was as red as her hair. Her not so secret crush on the famous Harry Potter still exists.

Harry lightly chuckled. "Well I am!"

"Oh! Ha, ha! I, um, sh-should go, um down, uh, stairs! Uh, great s-seeing you!" Ginny blushed once more and headed downstairs.

"Oooo-kay." Harry said.

Then he heard screaming and yelling coming from Ron's room. He walked to his door and knocked but no one answered, so he let himself in and found a shouting match between his 2 best friends.

"IT'S JUST A LETTER, RONALD!" Hermione screamed. Hermione seemed a bit different, her usually bushy hair was now just perfect, soft brown curls, and it looked like she got a tan.

"YOU SAID YOU STOPPED MAILING HIM!" Ron yelled back. Ron looked mostly the same, though he did grew a couple of inches. Right now, his face was screwed in anger.

"I NEVER SAID THAT AND ITS NONE OF YOUR BUISSNESS WHOM I SEND LETTERS TO!" Hermione roared.

"YEAH, WELL IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A-"

Before Ron could finish, Harry interrupted, "Good to see you too!"

They both turned to Harry. "Harry!" Hermione beamed and ran to hug him. Harry happily accepted and returned the hug.

Ron broke into a relieved smile, "Harry! Hey, mate! Long time no see."

Harry grinned then frowned. "What were you two fighting about this time?" he asked.

Ron and Hermione glared at each other before turning away and muttering, "Nothing."

Harry sighed, "C'mon, tell me."

Hermione stuck her tongue out at Ron as he kept giving her an angry look.

"Let's talk about something else." Ron said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "Like you, Harry! How's your summer been?"

"Well, nothing great, really." answered Harry. "Actually, there is something I need to talk to you two about."

"What is it?" Ron asked.

Harry took a deep breath before telling them about his dream from a couple of days ago. He felt relieved letting this all out. He had to tell Ron and Hermione this. They would help him figure it out. After he was done explaining, both Ron and Hermione stood wide eyed. They were both silent until Ron said, "And just when I thought we could have a normal year."

Hermione on the other hand, wore an annoyed expression and said to Ron, "Honestly, Ronald! Could you be any more selfish? We're not talking about you! We're talking about Harry!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me RONALD!"

"That's your name, isn't?" Hermione challenged.

"Yes, but-"

"GUYS!" Harry interrupted. "Focus, please."

"Sorry." They both muttered.

"Alright, so do you have any idea what it means?"

"Well, do you know what that 'Crystal of Light' thing is?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "No clue. Hermione? "

Hermione was thinking hard. "I've definitely heard it before," She said cautiously, "it was some sort of… weapon, I believe. It's about a thousand years old."

"A thousand years!? Who would want that crummy old thing?" Ron said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It might be old, but it's very powerful."

"That's probably why Vol- I mean You Know Who wants it." Harry assumed. "He said he wanted to 'finish what he started' and destroy me."

Harry and Ron nodded, but Hermione seemed troubled.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"It's just… I think You Know Who wants to use the Crystal for more than just to kill Harry." She said.

"What? You don't think I'm important enough for that Crystal?" Harry joked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ha, Ha." Harry smiled.

"Ok, so what's the problem, then?" Ron asked.

Hermione just shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, but when we get to Hogwarts, I'll go to the library and figure out exactly what the 'Crystal of Light' is and why he wants it so bad." Hermione concluded. "And until then, stay out of trouble."

"Now, Hermione," Harry said, "You know we can't do that."

Not so long after, the trio went downstairs for dinner. The table was rather full: Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and the two eldest Weasley sons also came, Bill and Charlie. Mrs. Weasley was serving a delicious meal of chicken, beans and rice, and her famous stew.

"This dinner is great, Mrs. Weasley. " Harry said.

She smiled, flattered by the compliment. "Why, thank you, sweetie. I'm glad someone apprietates this meal." She said, glaring at the rest of the family, who were sulking in their chairs. "Now, Harry, eat up. You've gotten very thin. Have those horrible people been feeding you at all?"

Harry just grinned. He noticed that Ron and Hermione were still glaring daggers at each other. The table wasn't quiet though. Fred and George were talking about some joke shop. Arthur, Charlie and Bill were talking about the Ministry, and Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were talking about the new dress they saw at a store. Harry smiled.

After dinner, everyone excused themselves. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were in the living room. Hermione was reading, Harry and Ron were playing chess, (Ron was winning, of course) and Ginny was watching. Soon, Mrs. Weasley asked if Hermione and Ginny could help her with something in the kitchen.

After they left, Harry thought it was the perfect time to ask Ron about the fight.

"So, Ron? What was it that you and Hermione were bickering about?"

Ron, still focused on the game said, rather coldly, "Nothing."

Harry sighed at his stubborn friend. "Come on, Ron, you can tell me."

"Bishop to E2." Ron said, and crushed Harry's piece. "Fine. About an hour before you came, I went to Hermione's room to see if she wanted to go for a swim. Then there was an owl that flew to her window so I walked over and read it and-"

"Wait," Harry said, "You read her personal letter? I can see why she was mad."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You sound like Ginny. Anyway, when I read the letter, guess who it was from? Krum." He said that name with disgust.

"Viktor Krum?" Harry said with surprise. "Haven't heard from that chap in a while."

"Exactly." Ron said.

"What did he say?" Harry knew about Ron's insane jealousy.

Ron sighed, "I don't know, Hermione caught me before I could read it and started to yell at me about privacy or something."

"I don't blame her." Harry said.

"Yeah, yeah," Ron muttered, "This is all bloody little Vicky's fault, anyway. That git."

Harry moaned, "Look, this is crazy. It's a stupid thing to fight about, Ron. Just apologize so-"

"ME? Why should I be the one apologizing?" Ron whined.

"Well, you were the one who read her letter without asking-"

"Well, she was the one who was overreacting!" Ron said, raising his voice.

"Ok! Ok! Just calm down." Harry said.

"Sorry."

"Say that to Hermione." Harry pleaded.

Ron thought, "Alright, fine. I'll be the bigger person."

"That'd be the first," Harry said, then, "Just kidding!" after seeing Ron's glare.

"By the way," Ron added, "Checkmate." He smiled smugly. He was right; all of Harry's pieces were gone.

"Bugger!"