Yay, onto chapter two of Chamber of Secrets.

SwordSeer: The italicization of her thoughts is just my style - I know that's not how it usually goes, but there's something about doing it that just makes sense to me, no idea why lol. And I've been doing it so long it'd be weird to stop. And yes - Petunia and her terrible fashion sense strikes again!

Alright, this is a fun chapter! We even get a splash of Ron's POV.

As always, I only claim my OC. I hope you enjoy this update!

Three days had passed since the dinner from hell, and so far Vernon Dursley stayed true to his word. The morning after the disastrous event, Susanna's father hired a man to fit their window with thick bars. As the man worked, Vernon himself installed a cat-flap in their bedroom door so food and drinks could be passed through - he didn't want to risk releasing his daughter and nephew. Ballet was no longer an escape, her mother having called Madame Dulaine to inform her instructor of Susanna's "tumble down the stairs", promising to pass along the other woman's message to recover quickly.

Still, the red-haired girl supposed the situation could be even worse than it already was - at least they had a bathroom. And there was some entertainment in the form of Hades slipping in and out of the flap, terrorizing her parents and twin before scurrying back inside. All Vernon could do was threaten to throw Hades out of the house before walking away, too paranoid to attempt to open the bedroom door and make good on his promises. Besides, it wasn't as though the cat only stayed inside the house. He always returned with muddy paws. While relatively domesticated, Hades still knew how to navigate the outdoors. Susanna suspected her cat had figured out how to enter and exit Number Four Privet Drive, and had presumably made a friend in Mrs. Figgs, the cat lady next door.

Poor Hedwig didn't have the same luxury, still locked inside her cage. There was no magicking her - or the cousins - out of the house, not with the threat of expulsion looming over them. Not that Susanna felt that truly mattered, in the end. Her parents had already told Hogwarts they wouldn't be attending. Afterall, Dumbledore had told the redhead last year he'd exchanged letters with her mother before. Petunia would know how to reach the Hogwarts Headmaster.

Now on their third evening in extremely close quarters, the cousins were starting to run out of things to do to pass the time together. Harry had managed to find a backgammon board in a box of Susanna's old toys tucked away in the back of their closet. They were only able to play a few rounds before calling it quits, the cousins' minds drifting to the hours they spent playing Wizard's Chess with Ron. Then there was their unsuccessful attempt at charades and "I spy".

Currently, Harry was in bed, picking at his sheets in boredom. Susanna sat at the desk, pencils scratching against paper as she continued sketching the world outside their barred window. The cat-flap rattled as two bowls of soup were pushed through. Harry jumped out of bed to seize them, careful not to spill any of the cold - gross - liquid onto Susanna's book as he set down her bowl.

"Thanks." She croaked out, voice dry with disuse.

"Yeah." Harry mumbled back in a guilt-filled tone, one that had Susanna frowning at her cousin as he drank his serving.

"This isn't your fault."

"Well, it kind of feels like it. If I'd just stayed upstairs, if I just said yes to Dobby -"

"Hogwarts is our home." Susanna growled as she watched Harry tip the soggy vegetables at the bottom of his bowl into Hedwig's empty food tray.

The owl ruffled her feathers in disgust, momentarily distracting Harry from responding to his cousin. "It's no good turning your beak up at it - that's all we've got." Hedwig hooted before giving into her own hunger. Hades meowed at the rightfully grumpy owl, stretching his back before zooming out of the cat-flap. Susanna snorted as she heard her father curse at the cat. "I still should have agreed to stay home. I'm not that terrible of a liar." Harry said to his cousin.

Susanna hummed before draining her bowl of the liquid, offering her vegetables to Hedwig as well. The owl continued her mournful feasting, but accepted Susanna's fingers gently scratching her head. "I would have reacted the same way you did, you know. This was our prison, even before my parents lost the rest of whatever broken marbles were rattling around inside their heads."

"Now we're really trapped here, because of me."

"No. Because of Dobby. Because of my parents. Not because of you."

Harry sighed, collapsing back onto his bed. "Do you think anyone will come for us when we don't return to Hogwarts?"

Susanna shrugged, her attention returning to her drawing. "Maybe. For you. I'm not the Boy Who Lived, just his cousin."

"I wouldn't leave here without you."

"I know."

The cat-flap rattled, a black blur suddenly leaping through. Both cousins jumped, wrinkling their noses when they saw what Hades had returned with. Susanna was quick to slam her book shut and move away from the desk as her cat leapt onto it, dropping the mouse in Hedwig's cage. The owl hooted happily, beak pressing against the tip of Hades's nose in thanks before she accepted his offering. Hades purred in response, seemingly smug at his ability to provide.

"Show off. We can't all be cats. I don't suppose you managed to get Harry or I anything edible in your adventure?" Susanna joked as she raised an eyebrow at the feline. Hades only meowed, more than happy to let his human pick him up for some cuddles.

For the first time in three days, Harry smiled. "Thank you, Hades." He then yawned, stretching as he stood back up. "I'm going to turn in."

"I probably should, too. I'll finish my picture tomorrow. It's not like I'm going to be pressed for time, right?" Her joke fell flat, and Susanna cleared her throat. "Sorry."

"It's alright, Suze." Harry sent her a soft smile before collecting their empty bowls and placing them next to the cat-flap. As he retreated to their bathroom his cousin laid down on her bed, absentmindedly petting Hades as she stared absentmindedly at the ceiling.

At this point, they'd need nothing short of a miracle to escape her parents. Susanna wasn't sure how much longer she and Harry could go before they turned on each other.

It's funny how sometimes the universe chooses to listen.

Susanna wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, or even when she'd finally drifted. Harry was snoring softly long before she turned off the lamp and climbed under her covers. With the way her body was shaking, her first thought was that she'd woken to an earthquake. She was quick to sit up, reaching out to wake her cousin. Instead, Susanna discovered he had been the one shaking her, his hands on her shoulders as his wide green eyes shone with glee. "Suze! Suze! Look!" He whispered harshly, pointing towards their window.

The girl groaned in response, letting her cousin drag her towards the window. She shivered as the cool breeze rolled in, Harry having clearly pushed it open. "Is that the moon?" She asked dumbly, still half-asleep as she covered her eyes to try and block the blinding light.

Harry snorted. "No. Look." He insisted once more.

Susanna sighed and opened her eyes, only to jump back in shock. Her cousin barely managed to cover her mouth as she almost screamed in glee.

On the other side of the bars, leaning out the back window of a turquoise car, was Ron. He wasn't alone, though. His twin brothers sat in the front, smiling just as mischievously as the red-haired girl remembered.

"How? Is that - are we dreaming?" Susanna whispered to her cousin, mind temporarily stuck on the flying car hovering outside their window.

"Alright Harry? Susie-Wusie?" Fred asked with a smug grin.

"What's been going on?" Ron leaned even further out the car. "Why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you both to stay about twelve times - not to mention Hermione's tried calling at least a hundred times - and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles -"

Harry was quick to shake his head, nudging Susanna as his cousin was still frozen in disbelief. "It wasn't me, or Suze. How did he know?"

"He works for the Ministry, didn't I tell you?" The cousins shook their heads at the redheaded boy. "You know we're not supposed to do spells outside school.
"You're one to talk." Susanna responded. "The car's flying. How did you get the car to fly?"

Ron waved her off. "Oh, this doesn't count. We're only borrowing this. It's dad, he's the one who spelled it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with -"

Harry grunted. "I told you, we didn't - but it'll take too long to explain now - look, can you tell everyone at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked us up and won't let us come back?"

"Make sure to stress the fact that this is abuse, neglect, and child endangerment. Not that Hogwarts would care about that last one, given what happened last year." Susanna added, Harry briefly closing his eyes in frustration while the twins and Ron snickered at his cousin's quip.

"Remind them that we obviously can't magic ourselves out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell one of us has done in three days, so -"

"Stop gibbering." Ron interrupted Harry. "We've come to take you home with us."

Harry and Susanna blinked at each other in confusion before the Boy Who Lived turned towards the three redheads in the car. "But you can't magic us out either."

"We don't need to." Ron jerked his head towards the front seat, grinning at the cousin's like the Cheshire Cat. "You forget who you've got with me."

Fred pulled out a rope, throwing the end of it to the cousin's with a wink. "Tie that around the bars."

"If my parents wake up, we're dead." Susanna warned with a hiss, but did what her older friend had commanded nonetheless, Harry tugging extra hard to make sure it was tied tight enough.

"Don't worry." Fred smirked, revving the engine. Susanna rubbed her hands over her face anxiously. "And stand back."

Harry tugged Susanna back into the shadows near Hedwig, the owl completely silent - clearly understanding the risk they were all taking. The car revved louder, Hades hiding under the bed as the bars creaked and crunched before they were tugged out of the window. The cousins held their breath, but the house remained quiet, the rest of the Dursleys thankfully sleeping through it.

Fred drove straight up in the air, the cousins hurrying over to watch Ron quickly pull the bars into the car, to keep from making any more noise. As Fred reversed, car hovering as close as possible to the window, Susanna ducked down and cooed for Hades, the black cat leaping into her arms, purring as the redhead soothed him with soft strokes. "Get in." Ron whispered, hurrying the cousins along.

Harry shook his head. "But all of our Hogwarts stuff… our wands… my broomstick -"

"Where is it?" Ron asked.

"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and we can't get out of this room -"

"No problem, Susie-Q." George grinned as he interrupted the redheaded girl. "Out of the way, you two."

George and Fred climbed through the cousins' window, movement almost as agile as Hades. George reached into his pocket as he walked past Susanna, pulling out a hairpin to begin picking the locks.

Fred simply observed his brother, pride in his eyes as he smiled over at the cousins. "Between you and me, George's better at picking locks. A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick, but we feel they're skills worth learning, even if it's not as quick as using Alohomora."

There was a click, George grinning as he opened the door. "So, we'll get your trunks. Grab anything you need from your room and pass it to Ron." The younger of the Weasley twins whispers.

"Watch out for the bottom step - it creaks." Harry warned, the other boys disappearing in the hallway. He then joined Susanna in hurrying around their bedroom, shoving whatever else they needed into their messenger bags and tossing them out to Ron. The hardest part was convincing Hades to go with his human's red-haired friend, but eventually the cat stopped fussing and let Ron move him into the car, settling on his lap.

Susanna glanced back as Fred and George heaved their trunks into the room, Harry rushing over to help. Everyone froze for a moment when Susanna's father coughed, snapping back into action when the man released a loud snore. Fred quickly got back in the car, reversing to the open trunk faced the window. Vernon Dursley coughed again as the Harry, George, and Susanna struggled to shove in their trunks, as well as Hades's carrier.

As soon as all three were in, Fred repositioned the car so the other three could climb inside. "You first, Susie-Wusie." He cooed, cackling under his breath as she flipped him off before moving through the window and into the backseat, Ron eagerly passing her an impatient Hades. As soon as George was in the passenger seat and Harry had joined his cousin and friend in the back, a sudden loud screech came from inside their abandoned bedroom.

"THAT RUDDY OWL!" Susanna heard her father roar.

"I've forgotten Hedwig!" Harry cried out before jumping back through the window to snatch Hedwig's cage, the poor girl distressed at the thought of almost being left behind. Passing his owl to his cousin, Harry scrambled madly onto his desk as Uncle Veronon burst through the unlocked door, illuminated from behind by the hallway light. His shoulders heaved as he bellowed like a crazed bull, the large man diving at Harry. The boy kicked viciously when his ankle was grabbed, Susanna, George, and Ron all taking his arms and pulling as hard as they could.

"Petunia!" Susanna's father roared. "They're escaping! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"

Harry's cousin and two of their rescuers gave a gigantic tug, and the Boy Who Lived's leg slid out of his uncle's hold. As soon as he was back in the car, Harry slammed the door shut. "Put your foot down, Fred!" Ron shouted, and his older brother took his words to heart. Ron, Harry, and Susanna were slammed back into their seats as the car shot towards the moon, Hades hissing until his human pet him gently.

"See you next summer!" Harry yelled back as he rolled down the window. Susanna leaned around him, joining in on the fun as she watched her father, mother, and brother staring after them in shock.

"Try not to miss us so much!" The red-haired girl added, then howled at the moon as the night breeze blew her hair around her face wildly.

The Weasleys laughed loudly at the cousins' antics, Harry and Susanna settling back in their seats, matching grins on their faces. "I'm going to let Hedwig out." The Boy Who Lived declared, Hedwig hooting happily at his words. "She can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings for ages." George twisted into the backseat, picking the cage's padlock with the hairpin. A moment later, Hedwig was soaring through the open window, finally free.

As Harry's owl hovered beside the car, Ron turned to his friends. "So, what's the story, you two? What's been happening?"

Susanna leaned back, letting Harry tell the Weasleys about Dobby and his warning, ending with the destruction of Petunia's pudding and their ensuing punishments. Susanna jumped in momentarily to berate the Ministry's inaccurate account of what had happened that night, wondering out loud why they hadn't bothered to send any witches or wizards for further inspection.

When the cousins finished speaking, there was a long, silent pause. Then Fred cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Very fishy."

"Definitely dodgy." George agrees. "So this Dobby bloke wouldn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"

"I don't think he could." Harry frowned. "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall. What, you think he was lying to me?"

"Well," Fred started, dipping the car down to avoid a flock of birds, though Hedwig ended up scaring them off all the same, "put it this way; house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"

"Yes." Harry, Ron, and Susanna immediately answered together.

"Draco Malfoy." The former elaborated. "He hates me."

"And his ego might still be bruised from our fight at the Quidditch match." Susanna added. "Plus, I'm a Muggle-born. Wonder if he's pulled this on anyone else, it's a shame I haven't been able to contact Hermione and ask her."

"Draco Malfoy?" George asked, turning around. "Lucius Malfoy's son."

"Must be, it's not a very common surname, is it? Why?" Harry questioned.

George hummed, facing the windshield once more. "I've heard dad talking about him. He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who."

"And when You-Know-Who disappeared," Fred glanced up at the cousins in the rear view mirror, "Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it. Loads of dung, dad reckons he was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle."

Susanna nodded as she listened, entirely unsurprised at the information the twins had given - everyone at Hogwarts heard the rumors, and Draco made her brother look like an angel more often than not.

"I don't know whether or not the Malfoys own a house-elf." Harry muttered.

Fred hummed. "Well, whoever owns him will be an old wizarding family, and they'll be rich."

"Yeah, mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing." George said. "But all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden. House-elves come with big old manors and castles and places like that. You wouldn't catch one in our house."

"So they're like slaves?" Susanna asked, frowning at the thought.

"Servants." Fred corrected.

"Did they volunteer their services?" She questioned further Fred shook his head. "And are they freed after they've completed their contracts?" Met with more silence, she huffed. "Then they're slaves." Noticing how quiet Harry had gotten, she nudged her dazed cousin. He only sent her a tired smile.

"I'm glad we came to get you, anyway." Ron changed the subject. "I was getting really worried when you didn't answer any of my letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first -"

"Who's Errol?" Harry asked, growing more alert.

"Our owl. He's ancient." Ron scoffed. "It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So then I tried to borrow Hermes -"

"Who?" Susanna asked.

"The owl mum and dad bought Percy when he was made prefect." Fred answered.

Ron pouted. "But Percy wouldn't lend him to me. Said he needed him."

"Percy's been acting very oddly this summer." George said with a frown. "And he has been sending a lot of letters and spending a load of time shut up in his room… I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a Prefect badge. You're driving too far west, Fred." He commented, pointing to the compass on the dashboard as his older twin adjusted their direction.

"So, does your dad know you've got the car?" Harry asked, but both he and Susanna could already guess the answer.

Ron scratched the back of his head sheepishly, ears flushed. "Er, no. He had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without mum noticing we flew it."

"Sounds like fun." Susanna responded with a mischievous smile before looking at Ron with a curious expression. "What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?"

Ron sighed. "He works in the most boring department, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."

"The what?" Harry asked, both he and Susanna intrigued, despite Ron's opinion about how boring his father's career was.

"It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare - dad was working overtime for weeks."

Susanna frowned. "What happened."

"The teapot went berserk and started boiling tea all over the place." She winced as Ron explained the situation. "One man ended up in the hospital with sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was going frantic - it's only him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office, and they had to do Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up."

"But your dad… this car -" Harry stammered.

Fred snorted. "Yeah, dad's crazy about everything to do with Muggles. Our shed's full of Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back together again. If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest. It drives mum mad -"

"That's the main road." George announced, cutting off his twin. "We'll be there in ten minutes. Just as well, it's getting light." He gestured to the faint red light visibly on the horizon. Fred began their descent, the dark patchwork of fields and groves of trees coming closer. "We're a little way outside of the village. Ottery St. Catchpole."

The sun had begun to rise when the car finally landed, Fred cheering, "Touchdown!" as they hit the ground with a small bump. He pulled in beside a garage Susanna's parents wouldn't have hesitated to sneer at, as they would have the rest of Ron's house.

But Susanna wasn't her parents. Like Harry, she was awed by what she saw. Appearing as though it had once been a stone pigpen, extra rooms had been added onto the structure until it stood several stories high. Crooked, she could only assume magic was keeping it from completely titling over. A sign had been stuck in the ground near the entrance, as lopsided as the house. It simply read, "THE BURROW." Several pairs of rubber boots were grouped together by the door, along with a rusted cauldron. Fat chickens were pecking around the yards, clucking as they searched for food.

"It's not much." Susanna heard Ron mumble.

"It's brilliant."

"It's wonderful." She and Harry responded. Susanna compared the Burrow to Privet Drive, her family's house having not felt like a home since she was eight. But the Weasley's place felt warm, even from the yard. There was life here, they weren't trying to impress anyone. They weren't pretending they were perfect.

The Weasleys grinned at the cousins, gesturing for them to get out of the car. Susanna held Hades in her arms while Harry nodded up at Hedwig as she soared above them, still enjoying her freedom. "Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly," Fred began, "and wait for mum to call us for breakfast. Then Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, 'mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Harry and Susanna, and no one need ever know we flew the car."

"That is… the dumbest idea you've ever had." Susanna said. "How exactly would Harry and I have gotten here, genius?"

"I don't know, you come up with something." Fred hissed back.

"Right." Ron cleared his throat. "Come on, you two, I sleep at the -'' He suddenly went quiet, turning a nasty shade of green as he stared at the house in horror. The other four turned around, equally as frightened.

Mrs. Weasley was marching across the front yard, chickens scattering away to clear a path for the raging woman. For someone in a flowery apron, it was amazing how dangerous she looked in that moment.

"Ah." Fred murmured.

"Oh, dear." George gulped.

Mrs. Weasley stopped in front of them, hands on her hips. She stared at each of their guilty faces, though her glare seemed to soften when directed at Harry and Susanna. "So." She began.

"Morning, mum." George greeted her in what was a poor attempt at being cheerful.

"Have you any idea how worried I've been?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her whisper deadly. Seriously, her anger could put Susanna's parents to shame.

"Sorry, mum, but see, we had to -" Fred started.

Despite being shorter than her sons, they cowered as her rage finally exploded. Susanna flinched, but even this upset, she could tell Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hurt her children. She isn't dad, the girl thought to herself, Harry bumping her softly, as if he could read her mind. "Beds empty! No note! Car gone - could have crashed - out of my mind with worry - did you care? - never, as long as I've lived - you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Billy or Charlie or Percy -"

"Perfect Percy." Fred muttered.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!" Mrs. Weasley shouted back, poking Fred in the chest. "You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost you father his job -" On and on she went, until eventually she'd yelled herself hoarse. Breathing deeply, she smiled genuinely at Harry and Susanna. "I'm very pleased to see you, Harry and Susanna, dears. Come in and have some breakfast." As she turned and walked back into the house, the cousins stared at Ron. Their friend nodded encouragingly and they followed after her.

The kitchen was small and cramped, the bulk of the space taken up by a freshly-scrubbed wooden table, chairs pushed in around it. Harry and Susanna sat on the edge of their seats, looking around curiously. The clock on the wall opposite the cousins had only one hand and no numbers. Instead, "time to make tea", "time to feed the chickens", and more were written along the edge. Cookbooks had been stacked three-deep on a mantlepiece, such as Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One Minute Feasts - It's Magic! An old radio next to the sink announced that coming up next was, "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."

Mrs. Weasley was moving around the kitchen like a mini tornado, cooking breakfast while throwing her sons dirty looks. Every now and then she muttered to herself, saying "don't know what you were thinking" and "never would have believed it."

"I don't blame you, dears." She was quick to reassure the cousins, tipping eight sausages onto each of their plates and cooing at Hades, who purred back. Susanna raised, used to her cat hissing at people who weren't her. Still, it made her all the more trusting of Ron's mother, who continued on serving the uninvited guests. "Arthur and I have been worried about the both of you, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron by Friday. But really," she paused to add four fried eggs to each of their plates, "flying an illegal car halfway across the country - anyone could have seen you." She flicked her wand casually in the direction of the sink, and the dishes began to clean themselves.

"It was cloudy, mum!" Fred argued, nearly spraying Susanna with bits of half-chewed sausage.

"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating." Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"They were starving them, mom! They were already small enough, now -" George gestured to the cousins, Susanna wondering if he was right, if she truly was too small to begin with.

"And you!" Mrs. Weasley stopped him, though she softened when she noticed the concern in the twins' eyes as they stared at the cousins. The woman cut some bread for Ron's friends, buttering the slices as well before setting them on their plates.

"Thank you." Susanna grinned up at her.

"Of course, dear."

A small redheaded girl suddenly appeared in the kitchen. Eyes on Harry, she squeaked and ran out again. Confused, the cousins turned to Ron while Mrs. Weasley went to check on the dishes. "Ginny." He explained quietly, amused. "My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry." Fred teased, ducking down when his mother glared at him. Setting down his cutlery, the older of the twins yawned and stretched. "Blimey, I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed and -"

"You will not." Mrs. Weasley scoffed. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me, they're getting completely out of hand again. And you two, too!" She pointed at Ron and Fred before smiling at the cousins. "You can go up to bed, you didn't ask them to fly that retched car -"

Susanna was ready to take her up on her offer, tired and full - despite having only managed to eat three of her eight sausages, the rest going to Harry and Ron. But Harry shot up quickly, clearly wide awake, and dragged her with him. "We'll help! We've never seen a de-gnoming."

"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work." Mrs. Weasley informed them.

"We've been trapped in our room for three days, fresh air would do us good." He responded, Susanna nodding tiredly.

"Very well. Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject." She pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece, and George groaned.

"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden!"

Susanna blinked at the cover of Mrs. Weasley's book. Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests was written in gold letters, above a large photograph of a handsome-enough wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. It moved, the man winking cheekily over at them all, causing Mrs. Weasley to beam back, blushing.

"Oh, he is marvelous." The woman cooed. "He knows his household pests, alright, it's a wonderful book -"

"Mum fancies him." Fred whispered audibly.

Mrs. Weasley's cheeks became even pinker. "Don't be so ridiculous, Fred. Alright, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come to inspect it!" She warned.

Yawning and grumbling - the Weasley boys were, at least - the five Gryffindors went through another door, this one leading to the garden. It was large, filled with strange flowers, gnarled trees, grass in need of cutting, plenty of weeds to pull - Susanna loved it. Hades did as well, leaping from her arms to run around, chasing a passing butterfly.

"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know." She heard Harry tell Ron.

"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes." Ron huffed as he bent over a peony bush. "Like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods -" There was a violent scramble, and Ron straightened, holding a small creature as far away as possible. "This is a gnome." He grunted.

Susanna wrinkled her nose at how different it looked compared to the ones that decorated her neighbors' gardens - as though her mom would ever let one in their backyard. It was small and leathery, with a large bald head shaped exactly like a potato. It's feet were horny, and it kicked harder as Ron turned it upside down.

"This is what you have to do. You lift it, swing it like so -" The gnome hollered as Ron whipped it around like a lasso. Seeing the shocked expressions on his friends' faces, he was quick to reassure them. "It doesn't hurt them, you've just got to make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnomeholes." He released the gnome's ankles, sending it flying over the hedge into another field.

Behind them, Fred and George clapped sarcastically. "Pitiful." The older of the twins commented. "I bet I can get mine beyond the stump."

Harry and Susanna learned pretty quickly not to feel sorry for the creatures - the first one Harry tried to deal with sank razor sharp teeth into his finger before being thrown further than Ron's had. As soon as she saw one try to smack Hades - who was minding his own business - Susanna had no problem yanking it by it's ankles, swinging it like the boys' had done, and tossing it as far away as possible.

"Nice arm. You ever thought of being a Chaser?" Fred complimented her before cursing at the gnome attempting to escape his grasp.

Soon, the air was filled with flying gnomes. "See, they're not too bright." George said, grabbing six gnomes at once. "The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on, they storm up to have a look. You'd think they'd have learned by now just to stay put."

Five minutes later, the gnomes in the garden began to walk away in a straggling line, shoulders hunched with defeat. "They'll be back." Ron grunted as the Gryffindors watched them disappear into the hedge. Susanna leaned down to pick up Hades, who was rubbing his head on her pajama-clad ankle. Oh, she was still dressed in her pajamas. "They love it here. Dad's too soft with them, he thinks they're funny."

The front door slammed, and they turned towards the house. "He's back!" George cheered. "Dad's home!"

Hurrying through the garden and back into the house, they came upon Mr. Weasley, who was slumped over in a kitchen chair, glasses off and eyes closed. He was thin, his hair balding but the locks that remained were as red as his wife's and children's. He wore travel-worn long green robes. "What a night." He mumbled, groping for the pot of tea as the five Gryffindors sat around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned."

"Find anything, dad?" Fred asked eagerly while Mr. Weasley drank his tea.

The man yawned. "All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle. There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness."

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" George questioned.

"Just Muggle-baiting." Mr. Weasley sighed. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it. Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking - they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face. But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe -"

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?" Mrs. Weasley roared, seemingly appearing out of thin air. She held a long poker like a sword, and Mr. Weasley's eyes snapped open.

Staring guiltily at his wife, he stammered out, "C-cars, Molly, dear?"

"Yes, Arthur, cars." Mrs. Weasley hissed. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart and see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."

Mr. Weasley blinked. "Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if, er, he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth. There's a loophole in the law, you'll find. As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't -"

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. Susanna watched the drama unfold, the scene playing out almost like an episode of Emmerdale, her mother's favorite show. "Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry and Susanna arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"

"Harry? Susanna? Who're they?" Mr. Weasley glanced around, jumping when his eyes landed on the cousins. The red-haired girl waved as best she could with Hades climbing all over her, purring for attention. "Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Oh, you must be Susanna, very pleased to meet you both, Ron's told us so much about -"

"Your sons flew that car to their house and back last night!" Mrs. Weasley scolded her husband. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" Mr. Weasley grinned. "Did it go alright? I-I mean," he cleared his throat when he noticed his wife's angry expression, "tha-that was very wrong, boys. Very wrong indeed."

"Let's leave them to it." Ron muttered to the cousins as Mrs. Weasley geared up for another anxious rant. "Come on, I'll show you my bedroom. We'll set you up in my sister's later, Susie."

They slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow passage leading to an uneven staircase. It zigzagged through the house. On the third landing, a door was left slightly ajar. A pair of bright brown eyes stared at them - specifically, Harry - before the door slammed shut.

"Ginny." Ron explained once more. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up, normally." He griped. "Kind of like you, Susie."

"Hades, attack!" Susanna said to her cat, who only stared at her judgmentally before rubbing his head under her chin.

"I've never felt more intimidated in my life." Ron snarked.

"Whatever." Susanna grunted.

They climbed two more flights until they reached a door with peeling paint, a small plaque nailed to it, declaring them to be standing outside of "RONALD'S ROOM."

"Oh, God." Susanna remarked as soon as their friend led the cousins inside, tone clearly joking as she covered her eyes. "I've been blinded. What's with all the orange?"

Nearly every inch of Ron's room was covered in the most violent shade of orange to ever exist, including the sloped ceiling. Posters of the same seven witches and wizards had been pasted to the walls, all wearing the same bright-orange robes, waving energetically with broomsticks in hand.

"Your Quidditch team?" Harry guessed.

"The Chudley Cannons." Ron pointed to his bedspread, two giant black Cs and a speeding cannonball embroidered on it. "Ninth in the league."

The cousins continued surveying his bedroom, eyeing the spellbooks stacked untidily in the corner - Hermione would have had something to say about that, Susanna fighting the urge to reorganize them herself - as well as comics that featured "Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle". She grinned when she saw the illustrations moving.

Ron's wand was laying on top of a fish tank filled with frog spawn, the glass resting on the windowsill. His old rat Scabbers was curled beside it, causing Hades to hiss before jumping out of Susanna's arms, strutting out of Ron's room. The redheaded girl nudged her cousin, nodding at the window. They watched as the gnomes snuck back through the hedge, just as the Weasley brothers said they would.

"It's a bit small," Ron spoke quickly, sounding nervous enough that the cousins spun to look at him, "not like that room you had with the Muggles." It was true. Despite sharing the space, their bedroom was twice the size of their friend's, and they had their own bathroom to boot. "And I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic. He's always banging on the pipes and groaning."

"This is the best house I've ever been in." Harry said with a grin, Susanna nodding.

"It's more than that. It's a home." The girl corrected her cousin, having not felt so warm in her life, not even at Hogwarts.

Ron's ears turned a deep pink, but he watched happily as his friends continued exploring his room, stomach still turning as he remembered the state he found them in just this morning. Maybe one day, he'd tell Harry and Susanna how much they truly scared him and Hermione. But not today, when they looked as free as Hedwig had when she was released from her cage.