AN: My thanks go to KSummerforever, GryffindorHealer, and dumnonian for their highly appreciated help.

It was still early Saturday afternoon when Harry and Ron arrived at the Potters'. It had been pouring down all day in Devon, and the two boys couldn't leave the house without getting soaked. After losing the third game of chess in a row, Harry had lost interest, and Ron's mother, thankfully, agreed to Side-Along Apparate them to the Potters' a little earlier. And sure enough, it was still light, and the weather was good enough for Ron and Harry to go flying for another hour before it got dark.

As Molly waved her goodbye, Lily invited her to stay for tea. "Your kids are all out, and nobody's waiting for you at home," Lily said. "Besides, I've been visiting Dumbledore this week, and I have news I'm sure you'll be interested to hear."

Molly hesitated. "I have to water the plants in the greenhouses, and I really wanted to use the few quiet hours to start preparing Bill's birthday."

"Oh. Bill is your oldest, isn't he? He's the one I didn't meet yet. How old is he?" Lily asked, putting the kettle on.

"Next Wednesday, November 29th, he'll be 25," Molly said, a broad smile on her lips. "Bill doesn't live at home anymore, but it's a tradition to have our birthday dinners at the Burrow, even though only five of us are left." Her smile faded briefly when she said the last words, but it quickly returned. "Maybe someday we'll be more Weasleys again. After all, Bill and Charlie are getting old enough to start their own families."

Lily chuckled. "Yes, it seems Charlie's already found someone he likes. What about Bill?"

"Not that I know of," Molly replied. "Although...," she hesitated with a knowing smile. "Who knows? As often as he's been on business trips to France lately and always can't wait to get there..."

"Come on, keep me company and have tea with me," Lilly repeated her invitation. Smoothing the tablecloth, she gestured to a chair. "Bill's birthday is still a few days away, and I promise I won't keep you too long. You can water the plants later."

Molly shrugged, defeated. "Actually, you're right. I'll be home alone all weekend and can get my work done. Why not chat for an hour?" She took the offered chair while Lily brought a pot of tea and served a bowl of scones.

"If I'd known, I would have brought strawberries," said Molly.

"You still have strawberries?" Lily asked in astonishment. "It's the end of November."

"We've got our greenhouses," Molly explained. "And with a bit of magic, it's no problem to heat them and improvise daylight." Chuckling, she added conspiratorially, "This time of year, my strawberries sell out in minutes at the Ottery market."

"I can imagine." Lily shook her head, amused, as she poured the tea and sat down. "Can you make a good living from the greenhouses?"

"I can't complain," Molly said. "We don't need much. We grow most of the things we need ourselves. And the Muggle money we make covers everything else." She took a sip of her tea and added thoughtfully. "I used to love shopping at Diagon Alley, but I can't remember the last time I went there. Most of the shops there were already closed by then. I didn't get what I needed and went home empty-handed."

"Lately, a few new shops have opened again. Not many, just a handful," Lily said. "Occasionally, I supply the apothecary there with potions and ingredients from my lab. A wand maker has just opened a new shop there. She's an old friend of Dumbledore's, and besides new wands, she also restores affordable second-hand ones. As you know, Dumbledore suggested buying wands for our children before we open the school, in case their current wands aren't working properly."

"Used wands can be a bit tricky," Molly said, sceptically. "My children can tell you stories about that."

"I know," Lily agreed. "Harry and Emily have the same problem. That's why Dumbledore suggested getting them their own wands."

Molly took a scone from the bowl and nodded thoughtfully. "Bill and Charlie got their wands when Ollivander was still around. When Bill started working for Gringotts, he found Arthur's grandparents' wands in our vault and brought them for Ron and Ginny." She gave Lily a sceptical look. "I doubt we have enough Galleons in our vault to buy new wands. We've been living off Muggle money for the past few years, really." Molly sighed. "And I don't want to ask Bill to spend his money on his siblings. After all, I'm their mother, and it's my responsibility to pay for them. And Charlie only gets paid in Muggle money in Dartmoor National Park."

"We inherited some money from James' parents..." Lily began.

"That's out of the question," Molly interrupted her.

Lily smiled, "I'd appreciate some fresh strawberries and vegetables for Christmas, and I'd pay for them in galleons, if that's okay with you."

"I surely can't buy two wands with a few strawberries," Molly objected.

"If you don't mind, I could stop by the Burrow once a week and do my weekly shopping," Lily insisted.

Molly seemed to hesitate briefly but then gave Lily an impish smile. "But only if you stay for tea."

Lily laughed. "How could I turn down an invitation to tea from you?" She took a bite of her scone and looked Molly in the eye. "You don't have any wizarding customers, do you?"

Molly flicked a few crumbs off her blouse and then shook her head. "I've always felt it's not safe to have magical customers to the Burrow. We could maybe sell a little more, but at what risk? Especially when the kids were younger. You never know what kind of people they are."

"I see your point," Lily agreed, and while pouring Molly some more tea, she remembered something Tonks had mentioned the day before. "I take it you know that Dora occasionally runs errands for Dumbledore?"

When Molly nodded, Lily continued, "Dora finally managed to contact Bathilda Bagshot. Dumbledore remembered her borrowing the Hogwarts Student Register when she was working on her new edition of Hogwarts, A History. That's the reason the register wasn't destroyed when Hogwarts burned down."

Molly raised her eyebrows in astonishment. "What a happy coincidence. There were always two copies, weren't there? One was at the Ministry, and the other at Hogwarts?"

"Exactly," Lily confirmed. "It's lucky, as the Ministry copy was lost in the fire. Dumbledore plans to use the register to find other potential students for the new school."

Molly gave her a worried look. "I hope he's careful. You still don't know who to trust. Sometimes, I'm glad my family's mostly in the muggle world. Well, except for Bill. I wouldn't feel comfortable if we'd accept children from Death Eaters families."

"We can't judge children for their parents' choices," replied Lily cautiously.

"I'm not judging the children. Not at all," Molly replied, raising her finger. "I just don't want former Death Eaters to find out where my children live. You never know what those people might do."

Silently, Lily pondered Molly's words. They sounded a bit over the top, but her reasons for being cautious couldn't be denied either. "I think Albus knows what he's doing. But you're right. We should ask him to be careful. Do you want to come with me when I meet him coming Wednesday evening to address your concerns?"

"This might be difficult," Molly replied with a sigh. "Wednesday is market day in Ottery. It's always a long day for me, and, to be honest, I just want to lie down on my sofa after standing in my stall all day."

"I could ask Albus to meet us on Thursday," Lily suggested.

Molly nodded thoughtfully. "That could work. What time?"

"How about five o'clock tea?" Lily smirked. "Albus' house-elves love to treat his guests to biscuits."

"Dumbledore has house-elves?" asked Molly, clearly surprised.

"Three former Hogwarts house-elves live with him and take care of him," Lily replied.

"Oh, that's for sure - good for both sides," Molly said hesitantly. With a chuckle, she added, "I don't think I could ever get used to the idea of sharing my home with a house-elf. I prefer to be in control of what happens under my roof."

Just then, Harry burst through the door, closely followed by Ron.

"You're still here," Ron exclaimed, astonished. "I don't have to go home yet, do I? You said I could sleep here with Harry."

Molly took a last sip of her tea and stood up. "Enough babbling. It's time to go home. Of course, you can stay, Ron. You have your first Apparition lesson tomorrow if I'm not mistaken."

Ron breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, Tonks is giving us the introductory lesson. Surely Ginny's coming, too?"

"Of course, she's coming," Molly replied. "Bill will bring her and Emily over here after breakfast." Turning to Lily, she said, "Should I stop by in the afternoon so we can Apparate the kids to the Burrow? We can have tea at our place."

"Good idea," Lily replied, turning to Harry and Ron. "And you two are going to take a shower. Dinner is ready in half an hour."

**HG**

A cold, grey day greeted the small group as Tonks led them onto the Quidditch pitch for their first Apparitions lesson. Emily had just arrived with Ginny and her brother Bill, and because it was Ginny's first visit to the Potters, Emily had taken the opportunity to show her friend her room as she put away her bag.

"Nice room," Ginny nodded approvingly, glancing around. "It's larger than mine. Your whole house is larger."

"Your room is cosier," Emily replied.

"Your room is cosy, too," Ginny noted.

"It's a different kind of cosy at your house," Emily replied. "More...quaint. I love that."

"Yeah, maybe," Ginny said, eying the photograph on the desk that showed Emily and Harry on their brooms at the Quidditch pitch.

"Harry's room is right next door if you want to take a look," Emily suggested.

Ginny shook her head. "Better not. It's none of my business. Besides, I wouldn't like it if he'd snoop around in my room either."

"Fair point," Emily replied, watching her friend more closely. "What about you and my brother? Sometimes, it looks like you both pretend the other doesn't exist."

Ginny bit her lower lip and shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't see why to worry about it, either. He doesn't seem to like me that much anyway."

"And do you like him?" Emily asked cautiously.

"Oh, Emm. Stop that. I hardly know your brother." Ginny groaned. "Let's go back downstairs. Apparition class is about to start."

Emily decided to let the matter rest. Though she found it odd how the two almost consistently ignored each other, she didn't want to interfere. Instead, she nodded. "Yeah, we'd better go back downstairs. They must be already waiting for us."

And sure enough, the boys were about to follow Tonks outside when they joined them. Gathering in the centre of the Quidditch pitch, the group of four formed a semicircle.

"The purpose of this lesson is to teach you how to Apparate. For obvious reasons, you will not receive an Apparition license at the end of the lessons, but you will take an exam. An important note to all who can't wait. Please do not try to Apparate unsupervised until you have passed the exam." Tonks let her eyes wander over her students. "Is this clear?"

"How many lessons are we going to have?" Harry blurted out. "I can't wait to Apparate to the Burrow without our parents' help."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "That's entirely up to you. If we keep up having one lesson every week, it'll take about two or three months."

Glancing at his mate, Harry mumbled, a bit disappointed, "What? That long?"

With a chuckle, Tonks continued, "If it helps, you probably can use the Floo connection to the Burrow soon. I tracked down an old acquaintance of Dumbledore's who used to work in the Department of Magical Transport before he retired. Albus asked him if he would check the Floo connections, and he agreed."

"Does our mother already know?" asked Ron. "She hasn't mentioned anything yet."

"Oops, yeah. Good point," Tonks said apologetically. "Please don't tell anyone else yet. That's the errand I was running with Charlie yesterday. I still need to tell your parents about it later, and they also have to agree before your Floo connection is checked. But let's start our Apparition lesson now. We've wasted enough time already." She let her eyes wander over her students. "Have you ever heard of the three D's? Destination, Determination, and Deliberation."

"Nope." Harry shook his head with a questioning look at Ron, who shook his head in return.

Emily, who'd actually only come to watch because she wasn't allowed to participate in the practical part of the lesson, giggled. "Seems I'm as smart as you when it comes to Apparition." Grinning, Emily glanced over at Ginny, who didn't seem to be paying attention at all - apart from glancing up at the Quidditch goal with great interest.

Tonks just smiled. "Forget about the three D's for now. I think we better take a more practical approach. For example, did you know it's easier to Apparate with your wand in your hand?"

"We only have our old second-hand wands, though," Ron objected. "Is it even safe enough to use them?"

"Then we'll have to live with those wands, to begin with," Tonks replied. "But I've heard you'll soon get new wands."

"When do we get new wands?" Ginny asked, her interest in the Quidditch goals suddenly forgotten.

Tonks shrugged. "Soon, as far as I know. Maybe in a week or two."

"Wow, that's brill." Harry gave his friend a triumphant look.

"Why didn't anyone tell us about this?" asked Ron, giving his sister an irritated look. "Did you know?"

"No. Maybe it's supposed to be a Christmas present," Ginny replied. "I doubt we could afford new wands so close to Christmas otherwise."

"Yeah, maybe," Ron said hesitantly.

"Okay, then let's get on with it," Tonks said. "During our first lessons, the wand isn't that important anyway. We'll learn the basics first. What do you think you need to consider when Apparating? What's most important?" She let her eyes wander from one of her students to the other.

Harry scratched the back of his head and asked more than he said, "You need to know where you want to Apparate to?"

"Exactly," Tonks replied. "It is actually even best if you have already been to your destination and know exactly where it is. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult. But we'll learn that later. What else is important?"

"You have to be determined to get there," said Ron. "I mean, you have to really want to go there."

"Very good," Tonks replied. "Determination. That's one of the three D's. What else is important?"

Harry gave his friend a questioning look, but Ron just shrugged.

"It's important to stay calm and not rush things," Ginny explained. "If you don't focus properly on Apparating, you can get seriously injured."

Emily couldn't hide a grin when Harry threw Ron's sister a perplexed look, before he slowly nodded, muttering, "That makes sense."

"Excellent, Ginny," Tonks complimented her. "Everything we just addressed is nothing else than the three D's, just in understandable words. Next, we will practice the processes of Apparating to make you internalize the sequence of movements. At the end of our lessons, when you take your exams, Apparating has to be a single, continuous move for you, a move you have internalized enough to not interrupt it unintentionally in case something unexpected is suddenly distracting you. To make sure nothing unforeseen happens to you in our first lesson, we'll use these sticks instead of your wands." With these words, Tonks conjured four sticks and handed them over.

Giving Tonks a puzzled look, Emily said. "I thought I'm not allowed to join yet?"

Tonks patted her shoulder. "As long as we're practicing without real wands, it won't hurt if you join us, Emily." With a wink, she added, "And there's no need to tell anyone about it either."

When everyone had their sticks in hand, Tonks nodded, satisfied and began. "As we just learned, the first thing you need to know is where you want to Apparate to. When we start practicing with our wands, we Apparate over short distances at first. For now, though, you can choose any destination you like. Imagine exactly how it would feel to be there. And it really should be your desire to be there. At first, try with your eyes closed so you don't get distracted. And focus on that. When you think you're ready, we move on to the next step."

Emily closed her eyes, pondering where she might Apparate to. Maybe just up to her room? Or to the back door, where they usually arrived when Apparating home? Someone chuckled, and Emily opened her eyes to see what had happened. Damn. She was supposed to focus. Closing her eyes again, she focused on the back door of their house. It took her a while before she could really focus on it, and when she was finally confident that she'd made it, she opened her eyes and looked around.

Ginny stood next to her, giving her an encouraging nod. Apparently, her friend was already ready. As Emily took a closer look at her friend, she suddenly wondered if Ginny had already practised Apparating with Bill. She would definitely ask her at the next opportunity. When Emily glanced over at her brother, he had already opened his eyes, as had Ron.

"What destination did you choose?" asked Ron. "It took me a moment to be sure where I was going."

"The back door of our house," Harry admitted.

Emily giggled. "Me too. That's where we usually Apparate to with Mum."

"And you, Ginny?" asked Ron.

"My treehouse by the pond," Ginny replied.

Emily looked at her in astonishment. "You have a tree house?"

"Yeah. But it's a bit too cold to go there now," Ginny said. "Or we need to ask Mum to teach us a good warming charm." Glancing at her brother, she asked, "And what was your destination, Ronnekins?"

"To the broom shed behind the Burrow," her brother said, grinning.

"Good. Now that we all figured that out," Tonks interrupted. "Let's move on to the next step. Once you've memorized the image of your destination, step aside with one foot and spin around on your tiptoes. In order for the spin to be strong enough, you need to use your shoulders properly. Let me show you. I'm going to start with my left foot. Of course, you can also Apparate if you start with your right foot."

Tonks stepped aside slightly with her left foot, and spun around on tiptoe, almost leapt into the air, and disappeared suddenly, only to reappear several feet away.

"Did you see it?" She asked. "Wait. I'll show you again." After Apparating back and forth several times, she turned to her students again. "So now it's your turn."

**HG**

In the meantime, some 100 km west of the Burrow.

The slamming of the front door made him sit up, and a quick look out of the window confirmed that his Master had left the house. Experience had taught him that his Master wouldn't return for at least two hours. Time to clean up his Master's office.

His Master's office was in an otherwise unused corner of the mansion, hidden from the prying eyes of the occasional visitor or nosy family member.

Though, when he opened the door to the office, he was surprised to find someone there.

"The young Master shouldn't be snooping around in his father's office," he admonished the blond boy, who had climbed a ladder, searching the bookshelves for something.

"Leave me alone and sod off, Dobby!" the boy hissed at him, not paying him any further attention.

The house-elf could physically feel the dark magic emanating from the books on the shelves, books a boy of his young Master's age should not get his hands on.

"The young Master will be severely punished if the Master finds out what he's doing here," Dobby said, wincing when the boy took a small black book off the shelf that emanated a particular dark kind of magic.

The boy finally turned around and stared at him with hate-filled eyes. "I said sod off. And if my father finds out what I'm doing here, I'll know who betrayed me, you little bugger."

Sighing, the house-elf turned to leave the office. What else could he do? He'd come back later to clean up his Master's office.