Slytherin Weasley

Chapter 18

I was dozing with my head resting on Fred's shoulder, his arm wrapped around me and lazily stroking my hair.
Ron was sprawled out in the back seat, his right foot propped up on the window still and his mouth agape as he let out a quiet snore as George broke the silence.
"We'll be there soon," and taking his hand of the wheel, pointing toward a cluster of lights in the distance. "That's little whinging over there."
Fred grumbled and sat up a little more pulling me with him as I rubbed my face with both hands.
"What time is it?" He grumbled, rolling his head around a few times.
"Just passed 2" George said. "One of you two wake up Ron." He glanced back to the still sleeping form in the back.
"Yeah just a sec" I groaned, reaching to the ceiling and stretching my back out. Twisting around, I leant over the seat and poked Ron in the side gently, cooing softy.
"Ron, time to wake up now. Action time" he snuffled and moved his face away, so I liked him harder, calling his name a little louder. His nose twitched and he gasped loudly before, face drooped, clearly falling in to a deeper slumber.
"Alright times up" I muttered, before taking a deep breath.
"Ronald Weasley!" I let out in my best impression on mum. He jerked up right and smacked his forehead on the ceiling. Looking around wildly for a second, his eyes found me and he calmed.
"God Immy, don't do that" he groaned reaching up to rub his head. "Too freaky" I chuckled and turned to face the front of the car, finding Fred and George chucking. I raised and eyebrow and making them let out a shout of laughter. Ron was still grumbling in the back, aggressively picking up his jacket and righting himself into a sitting position.
"Come on Ronnie-kins cheer up!" I said, "we're here" as George started a gentle decent toward Privet Drive.
The houses were all the same and the lawns neatly trimmed, although it was hard to make out in the dark. One of the houses stood out though. It had a set of red bars blocking the window.
"My god...." Fred whispered.
"Is that...." George trailed off.
"Yeh it is" Ron said quietly. "It has to be."
I shook my head. Fucking muggles.
"Right, get as close to the window as you can" I said to George. "Ron, do you think you'll be able to reach the window?" He nodded and moved over to the door, rolling down the car window.
Once George had guided the car over to the window, Ron rapped his fist on the glass three times and then waited, and then knocked again. After a few minutes of this a bleary eyed face appeared at the window reaching to open it.
"Ron!" Harry breathed, pushing the window up further. "Ron, how did you - what the -?" His mouth fell open as his eyes roamed the length of the car. Fred, George and I were grinning from the front seats.
"All right, Harry?"
" what's been going on?" said Ron "Why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you to say about 12 times and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of muggles..."
"It wasn't me!" Harry interrupted, "and how did he know?"
"He works for the ministry" said Ron "You know we're not supposed to spells outside school-"
"Bit rich coming from you" Harry said, staring at the floating car.
"Oh this doesn't count," said Ron "We're only borrowing this, it's Dads we didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those muggles you live with..."
"I told you I didn't - but'll take to long to explain now. Look can you explain to them at Hogwarts that the Dursley's have Locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can't magic myself out because the ministry'll think that's the second spell I've done in three days, so-"
"Stop gibbering" said Ron, "We've come to take you home with us"
"But you can't magic me out either"
I scoffed, "says who?" But Ron spoke over me.
"We don't need to," he jerked his head back and grinned. "You forget who I've got with me."
"Toe that round the bars" said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Harry.
"If the Dursley's wake up, I'm dead!" He said, tying the rope tightly around a bar and George revved up the engine.
"Don't worry!" I said, "and stand back!"
Gary disappear into the shadows of his bedroom and George drove drove straight up, pulling the bars clean out of the window. Ron pulled them up into the car, panting heavily as Harry reappeared at the window.
"Get in," Ron said.
"But all my Hogwarts stuff..... my wand.... my broomstick....."
"Where is it?"
"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room-"
"No problem," said George "Out if the way" as he clambered over me and followed George out of the window and into Harry's room. I could hear them talking as I slid into the drivers seat, positioning my feet and gripping the wheel, ready for a quick escape.
Harry dashed around his room, collecting things and passing them out to Ron. At last the boys reappeared and Harry helped them pass his trunk through the window. I gripped the steering wheel harder, my anxiety creeping higher as I listened for any sounds. This was going too well.
Fred climbed back into the passenger seat followed by George. Harry had climbed onto the window sill, when a loud screeched echoed from behind him.
"THAT RUDDY OWL!"
"I've forgotten Hedwig" Harry cried in anguish, and tore back across his room, snatched up her cage and ran back, passing her to Ron. He was scrambling back on To the chest of drawers when there was a loud hammering on the unlocked door and it crashed open.
For a split second, A large beefy man, who could only be Mr Dursley, was framed in the doorway. He let out a bellow like an angry bull and dived toward Harry, grabbing him by the ankle.
Ron, Fred and George seized Harry's arms and pulled as hard as they could.
"Petunia!" The man roared. "He's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY!"
The boys gave a gigantic tug and Harry's leg slid out of his grasp. As soon as Harry was in the car and had slammed the door shut, Ron yelled "Put your foot down Immy!" So I did, and the car shot suddenly towards the moon.
Harry rolled down the window and looked back at the shrinking rooftops of private drive. I could see the Dursley's  hanging, dumbstruck, out of Harrys window in the rear view mirror.
"see you next summer!" Harry yelled, and settled back in his seat grinning from ear to ear.
"Let Hedwig out," he told Ron, "she can fly behind us, she hasn't had the chance to stretch her wings for ages."
George handed the hairpin to Rom and a moment later, Hedwig had soared joyfully out of the window to glide  alongside them like a ghost.
"So - what's the story Harry?" said Ron impatiently "what's been happening?"Harry told us all about Dobby, the warning he'd been given and the fiasco of the violet pudding. We all sat in  a long shocked silence when he'd finished.
"Very Fishy" said Fred finally.
"Definitely dodgy" I agreed.
"So he wouldn't even tell you who'd been plotting all this stuff?" George asked.
"I don't think he could," said Harry "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall."
Fred, George and I exchanged a look.
"What, you think he was lying to me?" asked Harry.
"Well" said Fred.
"Put it this way - house elves have got powerful magic of their own" I continued.
"But - they can't usually use it without their masters permission." Fred continued.
"We reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke" I finished.
"Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you!" Fred asked.
"Yes" said Harry and Ron together instantly.
"Draco Malfoy," Harry explained he hates me."
"Draco Malfoy?" Said George turning around, "Not Lucius Malfoy's son?"
"Must be, It's not a very common name is it?" said Harry "why?"
"I've heard dad talking about him" said George "he was a big supporter of you know who"
"When you know who disappeared," said Fred, craning round to look at Harry, "Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it." "Load of dung" I scoffed. "The Malfoy's were right in you know who's inner circle and we all know it!"
"I don't know whether the Malfoy's own a house elf...." said Harry.
"Well, whoever owns him will be an old wizard img family, and they'll be rich" said Fred.
"Yeah, Mum's always wishing we had a house elf to to the ironing" said George.
"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...." I said.
"I'm glad we came to get you, anyway," said Ron. "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?"
"Our owl. He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed ima delivery. So then I tried to borrow Hermes-"
"Who?"
"The owl Mum and Dad got Percy when he was made a prefect" said Fred.
"But Percy wouldn't lend him to me" said Ron, "said he needed him"
"Percy's been acting very oddly this summer" I said, frowning. " And he has been sending a lot of letters and spending loads of time and shut up in his room...... I mean there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge...."
"You're driving to far West, Immy" George interrupted, pointing at the compass on the dashboar. I adjusted the steering wheel.
"So, does your dad know you've got the car?" Harry mused.
"Errr, no" said Ron. "He had to work tonight. Hopefully will be able to get it back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it"
"What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?"
"He works in the most boring department," said Ron.  "The misuse of muggle artefacts office."
"The what?"
"It's all to do with bewitching things that are muggle made, you know in case they end up back in a muggle house or shop. Like last year, this old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antique shop. This muggle woman bought it, took it home and tried to  serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare - Dad was over working overtime for weeks."
"What happened?"
"The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place and one man ended up in hospital with sugar tongs clamped on his nose. Dad was going frantic, it's only him and this old warlock called Perkins in the office, and they had to do memory charms and all sorts to cover it up...."
"But your dad.... this car..."
Fred laughed. "Yeah, Dad's and about everything to do with muggles, our sheds full of Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it and puts it back together again. If he raised our house he'd have to put himself straight under arrest. It drives Mum mad."
"There's the main road" said George, peering down through the windscreen. "We'll be there in 10 minutes....just as well it's getting light...."
A faint pinkish glow was viable along the horizon to the east. I brought the car down lower, over a dark patchwork of fields and trees.
"We're a little way outside the village" I said "Ottery St Catchpole"
Lower and lower we flew. the edge of a brilliant red sun was now gleaming through the trees.
"Touchdown!" said Fred, as with a slight bumper hit the ground.
"It's not much" said Ron.
"It's brilliant" said Harry, happily.
We got out of the car.
"Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly" I said " and wait for mum to call us for breakfast. The Ron, you come bounding downstairs going 'Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Harry and no one need know we flew that car."
"Right," said Ron" "Come on Harry, I sleep at the-"
Ron had gone a nasty green colour, his eyes fixed on the house. We all wheeled around.
Mum was matching Concealed scattering the chicken in for such a kind face woman it was remarkable she looked like a sabre-toothed tiger.
"Ah" said Fred.
"Oh dear" said George, follows by my quiet,
"Shit".

Nice long chappie for you guys, I'm really getting back into the wrong thing atm so look out for another one soon. As always ~Emzzy :)