Last edited: June 17, 2021 (the only real change here was regarding Ron's reaction to seeing Harry at the Burrow)

"Fred! George!" Harry hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, of course," Fred said. "What happened? Errol came back, but he didn't have a response. We thought he might've dropped it. Wouldn't be the first time-"

"Fred!" Harry interrupted him, casting a glance over his shoulder. "If the Dursleys wake up, I'm dead."

"Here." George threw him the end of a rope. "Tie that around the bars."

"And don't worry. We got this. Stand back."

Fred revved up the car, and in another moment, the bars were gone, pulled clean out of the window. "Where's your stuff?"

"In my- the cupboard," Harry said.

Neither twin commented on the near slipup. "No problem," George said. "Out of the way, Harry." He climbed in catlike and took out a hairpin.

"A lot of wizard's think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," Fred said, "but we feel they're skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow."

George successfully unlocked the door. "I'll get your trunk, and you get whatever you need from your room."

"The bottom stair creaks," Harry warned him.

"Where's Hedwig?" George asked.

"Outside. If I hadn't let her out before we got on the train, she would never have been able to stretch her wings," Harry said.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Uncle Vernon stood framed in the doorway. "Harry!" Fred shouted.

George jumped into the car. "Hurry!"

Harry leapt in afterwards, feeling Uncle Vernon grab his ankle. "Petunia! He's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

The twins gave one final tug and Harry's leg slid out of Uncle Vernon's grasp. "Put your foot down, Fred!" George yelled.

Harry couldn't believe it; he was free. He looked out the window to see his relatives staring dumbstruck at him. A short laugh escaped him as he settle back down in his seat. "I'm free," he said in a dazed whisper.

George grinned at him. "Yeah, you are." He became more serious. "So what happened?"

Harry told them all about the Masons and how Errol had frightened them off.

"So it was our fault you got shut up," Fred said guiltily.

"No! Don't blame yourself!"

"But it's true, Harry." George shook his head. "If we hadn't sent him..."

"They would've found a reason to do it anyway," Harry muttered. "It was inevitable." He changed the subject. "So does your dad know you've got the car?"

"No, he had to work tonight," George said. "Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it."

But luck was not on their side. The twins and Harry were currently standing in front of a very angry Mrs. Weasley.

"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 Bill or Charlie or Percy-"

"Perfect Percy," muttered Fred.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK! You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost your father his job-"

One long rant later, Mrs. Weasley turned and beamed at Harry. "I'm very pleased to see you, Harry, dear," she said. "Come in and have some breakfast."

Harry noticed as he sat down how he received eight of nine sausages, while the twins had three or four.

The twins tried to explain. "They were starving him, Mum. There were bars on his window," George said.

"You better hope I don't put bars on your window, George Weasley."

Just then, Ron appeared with the small girl, Ginny, behind him. "Mummy, have you seen my jumper?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, dear, it was on the cat."

But Ginny had seen Harry and was now staring at him with wide brown eyes. "Hello," Harry said, trying not to squirm with discomfort.

Ginny slowly backed away before rushing out altogether.

"You remember Ginny," said George in an undertone to Harry. "She's been talking about you all summer."

"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," Fred added teasingly.

Harry shot him a displeased look but said nothing. Great, another fan.

Ron was staring at Harry with a confused expression. "Didn't think they'd take my advice..." he muttered, half to himself.

"What was that?" Mrs. Weasley whipped around.

"N-nothing."

"So you didn't have anything to do with your brothers —" Mrs. Weasley glared at Fred and George — "flying the car into a Muggle town to pick Harry up?"

"I didn't think they'd actually do it," said Ron, turning his incredulous gaze onto the twins.

"Sure did," said George proudly.

"Totally worth the trouble," Fred added, giving an affectionate glance to Harry, who looked away.

As punishment for flying the car, the twins were ordered to de-gnome the garden. Intrigued, Harry joined them, despite Mrs. Weasley's insistence that he slept.