"Nothing much," Ron flushed as he leaned back against the headboard. "It's been a pretty boring summer with just me and Ginny around."

"I figured the twins would be home all the time."

"They pop in for meals about three times a week, but I guess they're working at being completely independent."

"Have you been to the shop?"

"Yeah." He shifted, avoiding Harry's gaze as he turned to look at him. "Once or twice. We're sort of not on the best of terms right now."

"You and the twins?"

"Me and Fred."

Harry turned on his side, propping his head up on his hand. "Why's that?"

"He's going to ask Hermione out on a date."

"Why would he do that?"

Ron shrugged, his expression dark. "Fancies her, I guess."

"Hermione?" Harry continued to look confused. "But she's…"

"What?"

He shrugged, not reacting to Ron's defensive tone. "She's just Hermione, you know?"

"Yeah," Ron nodded, the phrase obviously meaning something different to him. "I know."

"When's he supposed to ask her?"

"Dunno. Sometimes next week, I'd guess. She's due in on Friday."

"I guess it won't be so bad with them living above their shop," Harry reminded him. "If she says no or it goes badly, it's not like they'll be around each other much."

Ron brightened considerably. "True. True."

"And if it does, she can hang out there with the twins, instead of mooning around like she did with Lockhart and with Krum."

Worry clouded Ron's eyes. "You don't really think she could fancy him, do you?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged "I guess she could."

"Yeah." Ron's misery was palpable. "I guess she could."

"She'll still be our friend, Ron."

"I know." He sighed. " You want to play some Quidditch?"

Harry grinned. "Oh yeah. I've been dying to fly for the entire summer."

"Good." Ron leapt off the bed and followed Harry out of the room. "I need to get a little aggression out of my system."

"You're not going to have a chance, Weasley," Harry promised him. "I'm going to have that Quaffle through the posts before you can even get off the ground."

"You're dreaming, Potter." He grabbed the railing and swung over it, landing on the floor in front of Harry who was just coming off the last step. He turned the corner and stopped dead. "Oh."

"Hello, Ron." Hermione looked around him and waved. "Hi, Harry."

"'Lo, Hermione." Harry waved back before casting an expectant look at Ron. "How's your trip?"

"Good." Her brow furrowed as Ron continued to stare at her, not speaking. "Dad got called back for an emergency though, so they dropped me early. That's okay, isn't it?" She looked at Harry for help then back at Ron. "Your mum said it was all right, but I don't want to intrude on you and Harry's time." She took a step back. "If it's not all right, I can go."

"It's fine," Harry assured her, giving Ron an odd look of his own. "We were just on our way to play Quidditch. Right, Ron?"

"Right," he nodded. "We're going to play Quidditch, which you don't like. We'll be playing a lot of it, so maybe you should go. Don't want you to be bored."

"I…" She took another step back and nodded, swallowing hard, her eyes bright with tears. "All right, Ron."

"No, Hermione." Harry glared at Ron, shoving past him to catch her arm. "Ignore him. He's just upset because he knows he's going to lose. We don't want you to go."

"I have lots of studying to do, Harry. It'd probably be best if I just went."

"No it wouldn't. Mrs. Weasley would be offended if you left. Besides, you can study while we play and when we're done, we'll do other stuff."

Her eyes were wounded as she looked over his shoulder. Her voice dropped and she looked at the floor. "He doesn't want me here, Harry."

"Well, I do." He smiled at her. "And that counts for something, doesn't I?"

She nodded, turning her back to Ron as she brushed away the tears that streaked her cheeks. "Yes."

"Look out, Ginny!"

Ginny tilted to the right, the Bludger whistling past her by mere centimeters. She headed toward the rings, the Quaffle held tightly in her grasp.

"Oh, no, you don't!"

Ginny's gaze stole toward the ground, a mass of red and blue barreling toward her as George lifted off the ground.

"Don't break your sister!" Mrs. Weasley called out as Fred ran toward the playing field, jumping on his broom in mid-stride.

"Can we dent her?"

"You can try!" Ginny whizzed past him, George in hot pursuit. She angled toward the rings again, hurling the Quaffle.

Ron soared in front of it, grabbing it before it made it through. "Nice try, Gin."

"Now that the twins are here, why don't we make teams?" She headed down to land. "If Harry's managed to catch the Snitch yet."

He landed a few feet away, the golden ball clenched in his fist. "Sorry. Didn't mean to let it out of my sight. We teaming up?"

"Yeah," Ginny nodded. "The three of us against the twins?"

"What about you, Hermione? You could be on our team, since they're determined to cheat."

"No. No thanks."

Fred tilted his head, the question on his lips cut off by Ron's snappish tone. "She doesn't understand Quidditch. So can we get back to the game?"

"I understand it just fine, Ron Weasley."

"Fine," he sneered. "She understands it, she just doesn't fly well at all and if she can't do it well, Hermione doesn't do it."

"You're really making this far too easy, Ron," Fred muttered then raised his voice so they could all hear him. "In that case, I'll sit out to make the teams even."

"No you won't!" Ron snarled. "You want to play teams, we'll play. We'll take turns sitting out, if you need it even to win."

Fred grinned at Ron. "Right. I'll sit out first then."

"I will." Ron started to slam his broom down then caught himself, flopping down quite a ways from Hermione. "Two goals then we switch."

"Don't sit out on my account."

"Why not?" Ron glared at her. "Would you rather have Fred?"

"To be honest, Ron, right now Voldemort would be better company than you." She got to her feet and started for the house. "Go play your stupid game."

"Bloody hell." Ron stood and took a step toward her before stopping. "Better go stick your head in a book, Hermione. That's about the only place you fit in."

Her furious walk stopped, her shoulders lifting as she sucked in air. She didn't turn, simply continued walking, her entire body stiff.

"Ow!" Ron whirled around, ducking out of the way of the broom bristles as they swung at him a second time. "Quit it, Ginny!"

"You're horrible, Ron! How could you say that?"

"What'd I say?"

"That you don't get it makes it that much worse. I need to go find her."

"Don't bother, Gin." George caught her arm. "Fred already did."

Fred sank down onto the low stone wall next to Hermione, his hands on the back of it, supporting him as he lifted his face up toward the sun. "My little brother is an idiot."

She sniffled, turning her face away from him. "I'd like to be alone, please, Fred."

"How d'you do that? You can always tell us apart."

She shrugged. "Just because you look the same doesn't mean you are the same. You have different mannerisms, different actions, reactions." She shrugged again. "You're different."

"Will you go out with me tonight, Hermione?" He kicked himself mentally, giving her a small grimace. "I did that wrong."

"Did…did you mean to ask me out?" Her voice was soft, quiet, unsure.

He gave her a goofy grin. "Yeah."

"Then you actually did it right."

Fred laughed and shook his head. "I mean that I meant to work up to it. Spend time with you. I mean, I know you fancy Ron."

"Ron is a prat."

"Well, yeah." Fred leaned back again, soaking up the sun, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "But you still fancy him."

"I…did." Hermione admitted. "I guess a little piece of me keeps holding out hope that he'll figure it out. But, well, you were there after the Yule ball. And he still doesn't get it."

"I don't want you to go out with me because of Ron."

"Why do you want me to go out with you?" She turned and faced him, straddling the wall.

"Because of Ron," he laughed. "Because he's got no clue about anything."

"That part's sort of charming."

Fred's fingers rested lightly under her chin. "And no clue what he's missing."

"Oh." She swallowed, her eyes widening. Fred's thumb brushed her lower lip, parting it from the top one ever so slightly.

"Let's start over. Tomorrow, why don't you come to the shop? Do the tour, see the behind the scenes magic."

"I'm not gullible enough to taste anything."

"We'll invite Harry along for that," he assured her with a grin. "Afterwards, after I bring you home, after you've spent the whole day with me, I'll ask you again."

"Ask me…oh." She blinked, her long lashes brushing her cheeks. Fred's thumb still stroked her lip, as light as her lashes on her skin.

He tilted his head, moving closer so she could taste his warm breath. "Okay?"

She nodded and closed her eyes, leaning into him. Fred's lips grazed her forehead before he pulled away.

"Tomorrow."

"Hermione, could you pass the peas, please?" Ginny sighed as Hermione didn't react. "Hermione!"

"Oh. Sorry." She blushed and handed the dish to Ginny.

Ginny glared at Fred who was sitting opposite them, her eyes blazing. He smiled at her, chuckling to himself when she stuck out her tongue.

"I hope you enjoyed your Quidditch game today" Mrs. Weasley asked as she folded mashed potatoes onto her plate then set the dish down, disapproval clear in her eyes as she glanced around the table. "I didn't think it was supposed to be a full contact sport."

"Ron and Harry aren't used to life as beaters," George said around a mouthful of bread. "The Bludger got them more than they got it."

"You were no better, George," Ginny pointed her fork at her older brother. "I've seen Slytherins that cheated less."

"You're just upset because you fell off your broom."

"You what?"

"I didn't fall off my broom," Ginny bit out, waving reassurances to her mother. "I kept you from scoring."

"Yeah. By falling off your broom onto the Quaffle," Fred reminded her. "Good thing Harry was there to catch you."

"Just bad form that you toppled him off balance and you both fell into the blackberry bushes."

"You flew into a tree, George."

"Only because Ron thought I was Fred," George gave Ron a dirty look. "Besides, he hit the tree too."

"What about Fred's injuries?" Mrs. Weasley's tone was sharp, her disapproval obviously increasing. "I swear I should keep you from playing that game."

"I was sitting on my broom talking to Hermione and Ickle Ronniekins took exception."

"You were in the game." Ron's voice was like ice. "Should have been paying attention."

"It's all right, little brother." Fred's eyes moved slowly over Hermione. "I had a very pleasant landing."

She blushed crimson and looked down at her plate, missing Ron's furious glare. His cold voice filled the silent room. "Isn't Viktor going to be a little put out by you making time with my brother, Hermione?"

"I'm not dating Viktor." She met Ron's hard eyes. "I'm not dating anyone, Ron."

"Not even Fred?"

"No, not even Fred." Hermione held his angry gaze. "Not yet."

"Excuse me." Ron pushed his plate away and started to stand.

"Sit down, Ronald Weasley." Mrs. Weasley snapped. "I don't know what has gotten into you, but Hermione is our guest and you will act accordingly."

"Fine." He slammed back into his chair and folded his arms angrily across his chest.

"You guys want to come to the store tomorrow?" Fred asked in the heavy silence. "We've got some new stuff for Ron and Harry to test for us."

Harry looked at his best friend. "Ron?"

"Depends, Fred," Ron sneered. "You plan on the same side trip we took last time?"

"That depends as well, Ron. You up for it this time?"

"Sod off."

"Ronald Weasley!"

"Unlike you, Fred, I don't need a place like that."

"Got prospects, do you?" Fred smiled, basking in the eyes trained on them.

"Yes, I do."

"Who?"

"I'm not talking about this with you."

"You brought it up, not me. So, who, Ron? We know it's not Hermione by her own admission. I've run out of guesses, unless you really do fancy Harry."

"George is the bloody poof in the family, not me."

"That's enough!" Mr. Weasley roared from the door. "What is going on in this house?"

"Nothing, Dad." Ron's face was crimson, his hands shaking beside his plate. George's face was purple with rage as he glared at Ron, shoving away from the table.

Ron watched him go with sad, helpless eyes until he glanced at Fred. "Nicely done, Ron."

"Stick it up your arse, Fred."

"So you are a poof."

"Fredrick! Ronald! Enough!" Mrs. Weasley stood up. "I will not stand for another word of this, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Mum," they agreed in unison.

"Are we finished?" Mr. Weasley asked sharply. "Because, as loathe as I am to invite anyone into this madhouse, one of your school friends is waiting outside."

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny all exchanged questioning looks. Ron was the first to react when the small, somewhat elfin blonde walked in. "My father and I were in the neighborhood searching for Vanquil eggs." She watched Ron as he approached her, her innocent yet knowing eyes wide. "Hello, Ron."

He nodded once, whispered hello and kissed her.

"I don't mind being kissed," Luna admitted quietly as Ron released her. "Should I tell my father to go on home? We've rented a cottage in town. This is quite a haven for the Vanquil."

"What's a Vanquil?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not quite sure. We've yet to find one."

"Can Luna stay with us, Mum?"

"If it's all right with her father." Mrs. Weasley looked nervously around the room. "And so long as everyone here can manage to behave somewhat human."

"We'll go ask him," Ginny took Luna's hand and tugged her outside.

"So that's your prospect, Ron? Is she your girlfriend?"

"We've not got that far." He blushed, refusing to look at Hermione. "We're taking our time. It's new to both of us."

Harry shook his head in confusion and disbelief. "New to everyone."

"Did she ask you out, Ron? Or did you ask her?"

Ron's eyes lifted at Hermione's quiet question. He flinched at her wounded gaze, looking away and seeing Fred, all of his own hurt coming back in a rush. His voice, when he spoke, was flat. "I asked her. Why?"

"Just curious." She looked at Mrs. Weasley, giving her a weak smile. "May I please be excused?"

"Of course, dear."

"Thank you." She moved away from the table, avoiding everyone as she ran up the stairs.

"So, I'm dating Ron?" Luna asked as she and Ginny headed for the road. "Have I known this long?"

"I don't know. It's all sort of a mess. Fred wants Ron to realize he likes Hermione, so he's pretending to like her so Ron'll get jealous."

"And Ron's pretending to like me to make Hermione jealous?"

"No." Ginny sighed sadly. "To hurt her, I think."

"I don't like that."

"Me either."

"And you and Harry are dating?"

"No. I'm dating Dean Thomas."

"But you like Harry," Luna nodded as if everything made sense. "It's easier when they're not around. Harry doesn't get jealous because he's not faced with it."

"Harry and I are just friends."

"Ron and I are too." Luna smiled, somewhat dreamily. "Things can change in an instant."

Ginny sighed as Luna moved ahead of her toward her father's car. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Hermione sank down just inside the attic doors. She drew her knees up, resting her head on them, her arms looped around her legs at the ankles.

"Nobody comes up here."

She let out a quiet shriek and started to stand, relaxing when she realized it was George. "Sorry." She apologized quickly and looked toward the door. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No. It's okay."

"Thanks." She settled back, leaning against the wall this time. After a few moments of silence, she sighed. "I think Ron felt really bad about what he said."

"It doesn't bother me that he said it," George shrugged. "It's not like it's a big deal or a big secret. Mum and Dad both know. Fred, of course. Ginny even. Ron and Percy were just either too dense or too blind."

"Or both?"

"Or both." He sighed. "On the whole, I fancy girls. But on occasion, there's been someone." He shrugged again. "Why d'you like Ron if he's so dense?"

It was her turn to shrug. "Because he's Ron. Because he'd risk his life for me. Because he has. Because he's brave even when he's scared. Because sometimes he looks at me and I can feel it all the way through me."

"So why Fred?"

"Because he's nice. He's funny. He's cute." She smiled. "Because he asked."

George laughed and leaned against the opposite wall, closing his eyes. "He's got that over Ron."

"Not exactly." Hermione's smile faded. "Ron'll ask. He just won't ask me." She shrugged at his questioning look. "Apparently he's dating Luna."

"Loony Luna?"

"Yeah."

"That's got to be a lie. We haven't heard anything about it. Ron was just lying to save face."

"He kissed her."

"Who?"

"Luna."

"When?"

"Just now. Downstairs."

"Wait. Start over. Luna's here?"

"Yes."

"And Ron kissed her?"

"Yes."

"On the lips?"

"Yes."

"In front of people?"

"Harry, Ginny, Fred, your mum and dad." Hermione refused to meet George's eyes. "And me."

"What a bloody cock-up that boy is." George sighed. "I'm sorry, Hermione."

"It's okay. Really." She laughed, the sound milky with sudden tears. "Dammit," she wiped her cheeks. "I'm not going to cry. I like Luna."

"Just not with Ron?"

"Not with my Ron," she smiled ruefully. "But he's not that anymore, is he? Truthfully?" She got to her feet. "He never was."

George nodded and looked toward the door then at her, his cheekbones suddenly painted with red. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I only ever kissed Viktor," Hermione's smile was genuine. "And, all in all? It was sort of a disappointment."

George nodded. "Damn."

"Okay," Harry sat Ron down on the couch and stared at him. "Start at the beginning. And let me assure you that, if this is some sort of plot you've concocted to get my mind off Sirius or something, I'm going to hex you all into next year."

"I told you about going to Fred and George's shop the other day." Ron shook his head, threading his fingers through his thick hair. "Well, I didn't exactly tell you everything."

"What do you mean?"

"They took me to this place, somewhere sort of beyond Diagon Alley."

"London?"

"What?" Ron shook his head. "No. No Muggle place. It was a…sort of a…Apparently, it's sort of a Weasley custom to well…to…uh…sort of make sure we lose our virginity at the age of 16."

Harry's eyes cut to the door that Ginny had left through. "Oh?"

"Just males," Ron assured him. "It's a family tradition. And Fred and George, as the next oldest, took me. I refused to go in."

"Why would anyone trust them to take you? Or trust you to believe them?"

"An excellent question."

"And for that matter…" Harry shook his head. "What if you're not a virgin?"

"Then you're exempt." Ron blew out his breath. "I was horrified. And petrified. And Fred kept giving me a hard time about Hermione, trying to get me to admit I like her."

"Which you do, right?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yeah. But there's…stuff. Extenuating circumstances."

"Me."

"Not just you, Harry," Ron assured him, bowing his head at his best friend's gaze. "But yeah." He looked as miserable as he had earlier. "Fred kept pressuring me, so I said no. I said she's like a sister to me. And that's when he said he was going to ask her out."

"And Luna?"

"She was there?" Ron groaned. "I need to be hexed. Put you all out of my misery."

"I'd hex you, but I don't think it would do much good." Harry sat next to Ron. "You need to tell Luna the truth."

"Yeah."

"Hermione too." Harry gave him a half-hearted shrug. "The extenuating circumstance can cope."

"How are you?" Ron asked lightly, glad of a diversion, of a reason to ask the question that had been on his mind for months. "Coping?"

Harry walked to the window and stared out. "Sometimes I'm so angry, I can feel curses on my tongue like Voldemort's inside my head. I can hear him taunting me. Sometimes I'm furious with Dumbledore. Sometimes there's so much hate and anger inside, I think it's going to consume me."

"I won't let it."

Harry smiled but didn't turn around. "Remus took me to where my parents were killed. There's nothing there now. Nothing grows. Except…" He choked back tears, biting his lower lip until he tasted blood, until he felt Ron's warm hand on his shoulder. "He described the house layout to me. Where…where my mother died. There's a small green patch of grass. And a lily."

Ron blinked back tears. "Harry."

"We cut the flower, he and I together. Took it to the Department of Mysteries. Laid it there. For…for Sirius."

"Did it help?"

"No." He smirked sadly. "And yes." Sighing, he rested his forehead on the glass. "I'm afraid that everyone I love is going to die and I'm not going to be able to save them."

"We are all going to die, Harry. And you won't be able to save us. No matter if it's fighting Voldemort or not." Ron shrugged. "That's life."

"It's my job. My destiny."

"Your destiny chose you, Harry." Ron nodded. "But you chose it too. You fight because you have to. We fight because we have to. We just don't have a prophecy to make it all legitimate."

"I get scared, Ron."

"Get scared, huh?" He grinned. "That implies that there are times when you're not mind-numbingly petrified. I'm impressed, mate."

Harry chuckled and shook his head, watching Ginny and Luna as they walked away from a rusted out, old jalopy. "Speaking of mind-numbingly petrified, what are you going to do about Hermione and Luna?"

Ron scratched his head and shrugged, a small worried smile on his lips. "Nothing."

Fred knocked on the attic door then let himself in. "You all right?"

"Yeah. Which isn't to say I'm not going to kick Ron's ass."

"You should come down. Mum, Ginny and Luna - Luna's here, did you know? - have convinced Hermione to make some Muggle dessert."

"Is it still a war zone?"

"Mum's decreed a truce."

"What on earth possessed you to start this, Fred?"

"I thought it'd be a lark to mess with Ron's head." Fred shrugged and held his hand out to his brother. "And don't act like it didn't occur to you, too. I know how you think."

George took Fred's hand and let him pull him to his feet. "Pity she can tell us apart, hmmm? Otherwise we could both have some fun with her."

Fred laughed. "I'd like to survive this, you know."

George waited until Fred was out of earshot to follow. "What makes you think you will?"