Ron Weasley awoke early on August 19th, cuddled up with Daphne in the large bedroom Vira had gifted him after the row he'd had with his parents. On the windowsill sat an owl named Errol with a roll of parchment attached to its leg. If Ron were to guess, Errol had crashed into the half-opened window on his arrival, which woke Ron up at such an hour. He called the owl over with a shallow whistle and untied the roll of parchment from it after it landed on his chest.

"Cheers, Errol," said Ron, unrolling the scroll. It read:

Ron,

The Order of the Phoenix have just met here at the Burrow. I think I heard them mention you, Harry and Vira but I can't be sure. There was a lot of shouting… What will happen if He is really back? Mum and Dad refuse to talk about it.

Could I come visit you soon?

Ginny

Ron sighed. Ginny was only just going into her third year at Hogwarts, she was far too young to know about any of this.

He untangled himself from Daphne's hold and rummaged through a drawer in his bedside table for some Eeylops Premium Owl Treats and gave one to Errol. "You can go, Errol," said Ron. "I'll get Hedwig to send a reply." Hedwig would at least deliver the letter in a timely manner, even if he took a couple hours to write a reply.

"Who's sending you owls, Mr Popular?" asked Daphne as Ron read through the letter again.

"Ginny," he said. "She wants to come visit."

"So why the long face?"

Ron looked up from the letter and at Daphne. She was still hidden under the duvet, with only her face visible and her long silky blonde hair, which sprawled everywhere. Ron couldn't help but smile at her, his previously frowning face mellowed out by a mere glance. She was perfect in every way. How he'd convinced her to date him was beyond Ron's feeble brain—even if he'd bragged to Harry about how he had a way with words. He didn't. It was all luck.

"All the talk of You-Know-Who has her worried," said Ron, getting back into bed and wrapping his arms around Daphne. "Mum and Dad aren't forthcoming enough, so her mind is probably going wild with ideas. Apparently the Order reconvened at the Burrow… we were mentioned, too. So I'd bet she has it in her head that we know everything."

"Vira will probably be more than happy to have her," said Daphne. "And we know a bit of what's going on, with Malfoy—"

"We'll leave Malfoy's information out. I don't want her getting ideas we're Death Eaters."

Daphne nodded. "I'm sure we can answer most questions she has without it."

"I'll ask Vira at Breakfast. Knowing Ginny she'll not just want to visit… If she were older it wouldn't be an issue, but Mum will go barmy if Ginny up and leaves like I did."

"My mother still goes manic when Astoria forgets to tell her she's out with Draco. It must be a Mum thing."

Ron laughed. "Sounds right, Dad had no issue with us when we used Sirius' old motorbike, but Mum went 'round the twist! Thought I'd be locked in my room forever after that…"

"But Harry uses it all the time!" said Daphne.

"Yeah—but what would she say to him?… He'd just drive off if she did. But me? When we first took it out in fourth-year, Mum swore the Gods down to Earth for my punishment."

"So will you collect Ginny on it?"

Ron grinned. "You… you're evil—"

"You'll find the word is perfect," Daphne said, poking Ron's face.

"Of course, M'lady."

Break

An hour later, too hungry to wait any longer, Ron and Daphne found Harry and Vira cuddled up together in the living room, sound asleep with a finished bottle of firewhiskey discarded beside them. It was almost a shame to wake them, as they looked far too comfortable to wake, but as Kreacher only listened to either of them, it was a necessity. That didn't stop Daphne from taking a photo of the two, stating: 'On their wedding day, they'll appreciate it'. Ron agreed.

"You know their wands share the same core," said Ron, offhandedly. "Ollivander mentioned it when we went to his shop together… said he'd procured both Dragon Heartstrings from a Hungarian Horntail sometime back in the sixties. You can imagine he was excited to see how they were doing—shoved me off to the side even though I was the one buying a wand."

"I've never heard of that," said Daphne.

"I don't think Ollivander has seen it much either. He really wanted to know whether they'd put them against each other. Of course, they hadn't, but he said if they ever did, send him an Owl of what the effects were."

"Ollivander is a weird bloke—good wandmaker but nutcase, nonetheless."

"Too right," Ron said as he went to shake Harry awake.

On cue, before Ron could wake them, Kreacher stalked into the room. "Mistress needs her sleep," he said, swatting Ron's arm away from them.

"Will you make food then? Considering you don't let me near the pots and pans."

"You are not allowed near the pots and pans," said Kreacher.

"So you see fit to hide them from us?" asked Daphne.

"Mistress hasn't told Kreacher not to," said Kreacher slowly.

"We want food and it's either you let us or we wake them up," said Ron.

"Kreacher will make Breakfast for Mistress Black and Master Potter when they wake… Kreacher supposes you can have some, too."

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" said Ron with a smile.

Kreacher did not return the smile.

"I'd say that's progress," said Daphne.

"He's still not over the time I broke a plate."

"Can't you just fix the plate?"

"We did," said Ron, shaking his head. "He still hates me."

They followed Kreacher into the Kitchen, hand in hand, and sat at the table next to each other, careful to avoid Ron and Harry's half complete homework.

On the whole, Grimmauld Place was rather well-put together, with long, tall hallways and beautiful (if you looked past the shelves of dead house-elf heads preserved in a mysterious liquid) rooms with chandeliers and magnificent carpentry skills put to good use. It held an elegance rarely achieved; though the kitchen had been sullied—in Kreacher's eyes—by the piles of books and stacks of parchment both Ron and Harry had been using for their homework.

Out of place was the Portrait of Vira's grandmother in the entrance hall, she was covered with a tarp and had been for many years. She wailed like a banshee, whenever the tarp wasn't covering her, at all but Vira; who she adored like none other. The only time Ron had ever seen the portrait was when Kreacher had taken the tarp off during Ron's first visit—swiftly ordered to never do such a thing again. One of the many orders Vira had given him.

It had always surprised him that Harry could not remove the Portrait, but by this point Ron supposed it was a part of the houses' structure and far past the point of removal. Vira said it added a charm to the house… Ron didn't think so. That woman had no charm; how she ever convinced someone to marry her was beyond him. Maybe that was why her husband didn't have a Portrait, so he'd not have to listen to her again!

Kreacher had started to serve Breakfast to them, popping in and out of existence, swatting Ron's hand whenever he tried to grab a sausage or a rasher of bacon.

"I have to go in a bit," said Daphne.

"You've got dinner with your folks tonight, don't you?" asked Ron. "Another Ministry thing?"

"They haven't said… just that it was important."

"Like y'know…" Ron didn't want to outright say it, but he had a decent idea of what this dinner would be about.

Daphne bit her lip, nodding. "I think so."

Ron pulled Daphne into a hug, unsure the best way to comfort her.

"I don't want to—"

"I know. And you won't have to."

"They'll make me."

"I won't let them," said Ron.

Daphne sniffed, looking up at him teary-eyed. "Merlin, you're such a Gryffindor."

"That's not an insult."

"I know," she said with a watery smile. "Of course, I know you massive twat."

Kreacher made a gagging noise as he dropped a plate full of toast onto the table, causing the pile of books next to them to wobble.

"Shut it you foul little muppet," said Ron nastily.

"Kreacher," said Vira from the doorway. "Finish making Breakfast."

"Yes, Mistress." Kreacher stuck his tongue out at Ron before popping out of existence again.

"Sorry," said Vira.

Ron waved her off. "Not your fault."

"Where's Harry?" Daphne asked, wiping her eyes.

"Bathroom—he had a bit too much to drink last night."

"Oh, before I forget—Ginny asked if she could visit," said Ron as Kreacher put the last plate of food onto the table, muttering profanities under his breath about Muggle-borns, Blood Traitors and that ilk. Ron wished he were Kreacher's owner, if for a moment, so he could wipe the smile off his sour little face.

"She's more than welcome," said Vira, taking her seat opposite Daphne. "When does she want to come?"

"Ginny didn't mention. Probably in the next couple days."

"You'll have to speak with Molly and Arthur," said Harry on arrival.

Ron grimaced. "Was going to happen eventually—might as well get it over with. Might be best to meet in public to avoid a shouting match, though."

"School shopping will be done soon—could pick her up from the Leaky Cauldron," said Vira.

"Can take her to the Muggle restaurant on the way back, too," said Harry.

Ron nodded. They went frequently to a Muggle restaurant on the way home from Diagon Alley, it'd be nice to take Ginny there. "Be prepared for a bombardment of questions about everything, though. They've not told her anything."

"We'll tell her what Dumbledore told us," said Harry.

"You spoke with Dumbledore?" asked Daphne.

Vira nodded, swallowing a mouthful of food. "He visited after you two had gone to bed. Wanted to chat to us about our upcoming positions."

"We asked about joining the Order," said Harry.

"Naturally," said Ron, sarcastically.

"What'd he say?" asked Daphne.

"Said he'd think about it and to meet him in his office after the first day—he's expecting you two as well," said Vira.

"Will… will Dumbledore keep this behind closed doors?" asked Daphne. "Until I can figure things out."

Vira and Harry shared a look, before Harry spoke. "We'll make sure none of this goes beyond us five and Dumbledore."

Kreacher was already under strict orders never to reveal anything about them without Vira's express permission, so that front had been covered. It was only Dumbledore now, who'd likely not been told to not speak with the Order about them before September.

"We can send an Owl to Dumbledore," said Vira, "tell him to keep your name quiet. If you send Hedwig now,we'll have a response by tonight. Ron, you can use Aries to reply to Ginny."

Aries was a massive black Eagle owl who'd tried to woo Hedwig on a number of occasions, only to be shot down by the Snowy owl at every turn. Harry and Ron had placed bets on whether or not Aries would ever succeed, Ron, ever the optimist, had bet by the end of their tenure at Hogwarts they'd have a parliament of owls. Harry thought Hedwig would never budge.

"I'll grab Hedwig from upstairs," said Harry.

"Thank you," said Daphne, grabbing an empty sheet of parchment and a quill from the table.

"Could you get Aries, too," asked Ron. "I'll send Ginny a reply now so she doesn't wear a hole in her carpet."

Harry nodded and wandered off to get the owls as Ron copied Daphne and wrote Ginny a response.

After Harry returned with the owls and they sent the letters, Breakfast was far quieter, and slower, than it usually was. A typical day would have them done with food before ten and out the door doing something by midday, but by the time Kreacher had taken the trays away and the dishes were done, it was twelve and Daphne was stalling her leave.

"I'll be here tomorrow morning for Breakfast," said Daphne as she stood in front of the Fireplace to use the Floo Network. "Hopefully without It burned into my arm…"

"We won't look at you any differently if it is," said Ron.

Daphne gave Ron one last hug, who kissed her forehead gently, before she stepped into the Floo and grabbed a handful of powder, stating: "Greengrass Manor" and disappearing in a burst of green flames.

No one spoke for a few minutes after Daphne left, a sombre mood setting across them. Ron and Harry made their way back into the Kitchen, followed by Vira who said she'd help with their homework. But no homework was done for at least another hour as they all realised that soon Vira would be approached, the last of the Black name, and so too would Harry.

They would wait for Dumbledore's response, hoping the door wouldn't knock.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, starting to set the plot up properly in this chapter! Leave a review of your thoughts, I always love to hear what you have to think and any speculations you may have.

-Salt.

Ps: I know Ginny is only a year younger in canon, I am just making her younger for my story.