Hi, everyone. I don't have anything to say, so on to the chapter

In the midst of all this, Remus and Sirius were very busy with the Order of Phoenix. Harry wasn't allowed to attend meetings since he was underage, and frankly, he was fine with letting the adults handle things.

It was toward the end of the summer when he received a delightful surprise.

A loud crack sounded directly in front of him, and Harry found himself being smothered in someone's arms.

"Surprise!" a familiar voice said.

"Fred!" Harry exclaimed happily. "I see you passed your Apparation test."

"With distinction," Fred said proudly.

"Let me guess, you Apparate everywhere you go now."

"No," Fred denied. "Almost everywhere."

"Eh, same difference." Harry sat down on the bed. "So how is everyone? You and George driving everyone nuts?"

"Of course!" Fred looked offended that Harry even thought to ask. "Bill applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order. He says he misses the tombs, but there are compensations..."

"Compensations?"

"Fleur Delacour's got a job at Gringotts and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons."

"What about Charlie?"

"He's in the Order, too, but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"And Percy?" Harry asked.

At once, the smile on Fred's face dropped.

"He doesn't believe Voldemort's back, does he?" Harry guessed, more resigned than surprised.

"No, he doesn't," Fred said heavily. "He and Dad had a row. Never seen anything like it. Percy was promoted, but Dad thinks it's only to keep an eye out on us. Make sure we aren't in contact with Dumbledore."

"Oh." Harry rolled his eyes. He was very aware that the Daily Prophet was making him out to be an attention-seeking person that couldn't tell the truth if it bit him in the arse.

The sound of footsteps hailed the arrival of Mrs. Weasley. "The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. Come along."

Fred grabbed Harry's hand and they walked out onto the landing. "Wait," Fred said. "They're still in the hall."

They looked over the bannisters. A group of wizards and witches were whispering excitedly in the hallway, clustered around Professor Snape.

A thin piece of flesh-colored string descended in front of them. Raising his head, Harry saw George with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.

"An Extendable Ear," Fred whispered as the knot of people moved out the front door. "Very useful. Unfortunately, Mum put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door. Wouldn't be able to hear anything."

They made it to the first floor and headed for the kitchen. Harry winced as Tonks tripped over the umbrella stand, causing the portrait of Sirius' mother to begin her caterwauling. Sirius came running up and scrambled to shut the curtains.

"Well, there's that one for the week," he said in false cheerfulness.

"For the week?" George whispered.

"She likes to remind us of her presence," Harry replied.

Ginny snorted. "Sounds like a lovely woman."

"You'd get along wonderfully," Harry joked.

Dinner was much noisier with the guests. The twins tried to save time by betwitching several items. Unfortunately, that backfired and had Harry, Sirius, and Mundungus diving away from the table.

Tonks spent most of dinner entertaining Hermione and Ginny with her Metamorphmagus abilities. At one point, she made a pig snout that reminded Harry of a female Dudley. Mundungus, meanwhile, was telling the twins and Ron about his dealings, sending them howling with laughter.

Afterward, Mrs. Weasley sent the children off to bed.

"Have Sirius and Remus told you anything?" Hermione asked. "About the Order?"

"Just that they're all trying to gain support about Voldemort without the Ministry knowing," Harry replied.

"We heard them mention a weapon," Ron said in a hushed tone.

"Like what?"

Ron shrugged. "Dunno. That's when Mum found out about the Extendable Ears. Maybe it's some particularly painful war of killing people."

"More painful than the Cruciatus?" Harry said, remembering all too well how much he wanted to die that day.

He separated from the others and headed for his own room. Sleep didn't come easily, and he tossed and turned in his bed.

Crack.

Harry jumped as Fred practically Apparated on top of his legs. "Ow! Couldn't you have Apparated anywhere else but the bed?" he said crossly.

"Sorry." It was too dark to see clearly, but Harry had a feeling Fred had a sheepish grin on his face. "I, er, wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

Harry blinked. "Yeah," he said, unable to fully repress the eagerness from his voice.

There was some shuffling, and Fred slid under the covers and pulled Harry close to him. "Night, Harry."

"Night."

This time, Harry managed to fall asleep. No nightmares haunted his dreams.

On the last day of the holidays, the booklists arrived.

"Only two new ones," Harry said. "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, by Miranda Goshawk and Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard."

"Dumbledore must've found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Fred said.

George Apparated into the room. "Ron's been made prefect."

"What?" Fred stared at his brother as if he had grown a second head. "You're joking!"

"Not this time."

"There's been a mistake," Fred said, looking dazed. "No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect..."

"Why not?" Harry glared at him. "From what I've heard, he's done pretty well in most of his classes."

"Well—" Fred blinked, surprised by Harry's words. "I— he—"

"He's your brother. You should be proud." Turning back to George, he asked, "What about Hermione?"

"She's prefect, too," he responded, equally stunned. "That doesn't come as a surprise, though. Mum's gonna get him a new broomstick."

To celebrate Ron and Hermione becoming prefects, Mrs. Weasley suggested having a small party.

"Your father and Bill are on their way, Ron, I've sent them both owls and they're thrilled," she told Ron, beaming.

Fred rolled his eyes. But then Harry's words echoed in his ears: "He's your brother. You should be proud."

"Hey, Ron?"

Ron turned to him, slightly wary. "What?"

"Congrats," Fred said, and he meant it.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Harry talked to you, didn't he?"

Fred shrugged. "He might've said something."

"Well, thanks." Ron paused. "You're turning into a really softie with Harry around, you know that?"

"Am not," Fred protested weakly.

"Yes, you are," Harry said from behind, walking up and slinging an arm over his shoulder. He faced Ron. "What kind of broom did your mum get?"

The grin on Ron's face spoke volumes. "The new Cleansweep."

He turned away as Mad-Eye Moody came lumbering in.

Fred avoided Harry's gaze. "Don't say a word."

"Fine, I'll say five words." Harry kissed him on the cheek. "Now, come on. There's a party going on."

I just have a lot of feelings for Ron... he deserves the world, whatever anyone else might say