FREYA HAD TO WONDER what about her place was so likable to Harry as every day she had to try her best not to die from the utter embarrassment of her house and her household.

She winced on the second day when Harry had gone to check his hair in the mirror, an attempt to fix the forever messy hair of his (that Freya actually kind of liked despite his fussing) after she'd forgotten to warn him about its oddities compared to his living space.

"Oh, my goodness, just ignore the stupid thing!" Freya said after Harry had startled away after the mirror had screamed Tuck in your shirt, scruffy! "That mirror just likes to think of itself as useful, tells me to dye my hair a lighter shade whenever I look into it, ruddy thing."

She turned scarlet red when they'd gone upstairs to grab some board games from her room and the ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes because things had been just a little bit quiet. ("Does it bother you?" he had asked wide-eyed as she'd shaken her head vigorously, "Just ignore it, that's what I do! Please, please ignore it.")

Freya had also had to give Fred and George an earful the night they'd come for dinner after Harry had dropped a dish at the sudden explosion coming from their bedrooms. ("It's normal, for us, which just goes to show you how utterly weird my family is." she'd complained as she knelt on the ground, sweeping up the shards for her mum to repair with magic later as Harry smiled sheepishly, saying it was okay and that-one more time-he was very sorry about the plate.)

"Oh my goodness, mum, he's eaten, and he's eaten and if he says he's full he's full!" she scolded daily as her mum continued sliding new pieces of bacon or eggs or whatever they were eating onto his plate.

"It's okay, it's rather nice of her." Harry had said smiling even as he blinked in surprise at Mrs. Weasley who fussed at him, "You know. To care and all?"

Freya looked at him and frowned, "Well, if you don't mind it."

And her best friend truly didn't seem to mind it. After a lot of thought, she realized her best friend liked it even as she watched him happily talk about boring muggle things with her father or compliment Percy's new badge or whatever he was showing off or offer to help her mum clean or play around with Fred and George…

Freya began to realize, that Harry's living space must really be awful as she watched him interact with her family thoughtfully, her embarrassment and irritation softening slightly towards her family as she saw her friend's face and the surprise, he could only just barely hide at the simple fact her family liked him and he liked her family back.

She sat next to him at breakfast one sunny morning a week before school would start, coming to this bizarre conclusion, and she smiled at him as he said good morning, a good mood set upon her.

"Oh, Fickle, while you were daydreaming or whatever our lists came for school," Fred said bopping her on the head with a paper as she scowled up at him, grabbing her list from his hands as her brother laughed.

She checked her list and her heart sunk slightly at the number of books needed this year.

George peered over her shoulder and pointed with a gasp, "Hey, you guys have all the Lockhart books too?"

"The teacher has to be a fan," Fred said tsking as he shook his head ruefully. "Must be a witch."

Fred caught his mother's eye at that comment and Freya smirked as he hastily busied himself with cutting his waffle.

"This won't come cheap," realized Freya as she and her brothers shot a quick impulsive look to her parents, her face heating up slightly knowing Harry could see the exchange. "Lockhart books are sort of expense-"

"We'll manage," her mum said quickly even as she also looked slightly worried.

Freya turned back to her food and saw Harry in the corner of her vision beginning to open his mouth hesitantly, but luckily Percy chose to enter then.

"Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."

He sat down and they were all startled as he jumped back up immediately before the other Weasley members saw him take from the chair something that resembled a molting gray feather duster and Freya's heart leaped happily, "Errol!"

"Why do you sound so happy that your owl is dead?" Harry asked stricken.

She rolled her eyes at him, grinning, as she went to the owl and took its limp figure out of Percy's hand, setting him on the desktop.

"He's not dead." She paused and tilted her head, squinting. "Nah, he's not dead, he's breathing. You keep fighting, you brilliant old owl, you. Anyway-" she unwrapped the letter from his leg happily as she went to go sit next to Harry, "-I wrote to William saying we were going to heroically rescue from the Dursley and this is his reply, I guess."

She ripped the letter open and read it out loud:

"Dear Freya, and Harry if you're there, you scare me when you say that you and your twin brothers are going off to do something as important as saving Harry from his relative's place because you are all our children of magic and I doubt you are going to take a nice taxi to his house and tell his relatives politely that you're there too pick him up."

"Is he serious?" she asked appalled, "Who would do something as stupid as that with those freaks?"

"Boring muggle people," Harry suggested with a slight grin, "Now keep reading."

"I do sincerely hope that you guys made it back to your burrow alive, that you didn't do anything illegal-" ("If only," her mum tsked with a glowering look at most of her children and her husband.) "And that you didn't get Harry in trouble."

"Speaking of trouble and dangers and coming back alive, may I suggest that for the safety of this poor owl that you send a different one when you reply at once how you are doing? I do not want toplay a part in his demise.

She and Harry turned to look at Errol. They both saw Will's point.

"The last thing you asked me is how I've been, and I've been good, I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course. We're going to London next week Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet up at Diagon Alley?

"Let me know what's happening as soon as possible. From, Will.'"

"Well, that fits in there nice, good thing you've gotten that letter today or you wouldn't have known." her mum said as she began to clear the table, "What're you all doing today?"

"Quidditch practice, mum." Fred said happily as he clapped his hands in a chop motion at both Freya and Harry, "Come on you two, if you're this slow while we're playing, I'd say even Percy would have a chance at beating you." The two twins looked to Percy who narrowed his eyes at them before looking at one another and chuckling. "Nah."

"I'll have you know that compared to being a quidditch player being a Prefect is much-" Percy scowled, looking up from his food.

The twins had already hurried off.

"I think being a prefect is very important," Freya said kindly as Percy looked at her and straightened up a bit, a familiar superior-looking smile beginning on his face. "I mean they do so much for our school and...stuff."

"Yeah," Harry nodded encouragingly, "Loads of stuff."

"That's right." Percy nodded importantly, the satisfied smile on his face as plain as day now. "And thankfully you guys know it even though the knowledge hasn't passed those two's brains…"

After a few more minutes of appeasing her brother and then Harry and she were finally free to go to the field with her brothers. As they walked together, alone for the first time in a while, Harry glanced over at her. "Hey, Freya?"

"Whatcha want, Harry?"

"You're family…" She tensed as he paused. "You have a really brilliant family."

"Oh, well…" She paused herself before smiling just a bit, "Yeah. I guess my family is sort of-"

It was then that she was hit in the head with a partly inflated blundger.

"AWFUL!" she roared to the skies as her older brothers cackled in the air, pointing at her, "They are absolutely AWFUL!"

She glared up with a fury that made her brothers zoom quickly away.

As she readied her broom, muttering curses under her breath, she heard Harry laugh slightly. "But only sort of, right?"

She turned to Harry who was grinning over at her and she replied with a sheepish one of her own as she looked into the sky and back at the burrow they could see from the hill.

"Yeah." Freya shrugged as she began to mount her broom, busying herself with tying her wild hair so Harry wouldn't see the pleased blush on her face. "Maybe only sort of."

The following Wednesday, after her Mum had woken the last of them, and forced several bacon sandwiches onto Harry ("It's okay, I wanted another one, really," he said amused when Freya complained to her mother), it was time to go to Diagon Alley.

"We'll get to see Will," Harry said happily as he followed her to the chimney, shrugging on his coat.

"Yeah, can't wait." Freya said with a raise of an eyebrow, "I've been meaning to ask him since we've got his letter what schoolwork he's been busy with, exactly, speaking that I haven't exactly been caught up with any assignments this summer vacation. Have you?"

He smiled sheepishly in return just as they stopped behind her mother and father who were looking a bit anxiously into the flowerpot they kept on their kitchen mantel.

"We're running low, Aurthur," her mother sighed and Freya's stomach twisted a bit at the words like it always did, "We'll have to buy some more today...Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"

Freya turned to him, her brows furrowing as he stared at them, startled.

"W-what am I supposed to do?" he stammered.

"He's never traveled by Floo powder," Freya realized, getting it a bit too late as she winced at Harry who nodded. "Sorry, Harry, I forgot."

"Never?" her father said, his eyes wide-eyed with wonder, "But how did you get to Diagon Alley last year?"

"I went on the Underground-"

"Really?" Freya didn't know whether to wince at her father's eager interruption or to smile at it, settling for a grimace as her father continued, "Were there escalators? How exactly-"

"Dad," Freya chastised just as just as her mother tsked fondly.

"Now now, Arthur." Turning to Harry her mother smiled. "Floo powder is much quicker than that Harry, but if you've never used it before..."

"He'll be all right, mum!" Fred said grabbing a pinch of powder from the flowerpot and stepping up to the fire, throwing the powder in. "Just watch us first, Harry."

With a roar, the fire turned emerald green, and Fred stepped into it, shouting, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished.

After a time that took George disappearing and some fussing by her mother to pass, Harry finally took some of the floo powder, looking slightly wary as he went up to the fire and put some of the powder into the flames. She watched, her brows furrowing, as he breathed in, apparently sucking up the ash as he stepped into the emerald fire.

"Di-Di-Diagonilley!"

Freya stared, her mouth agape, as her best friend disappeared.

"Did he say...Diagon Alley?" her father questioned, nervously.

"No dad, he didn't." Freya sighed grabbing a pinch of the floo powder and hurrying to travel herself, "But let's hope that the chimney thought he did."

But knowing Harry's luck, Freya thought half wary, half fondly, as she stepped into the flames, shouting out her destination, it didn't.