Harry's POV

The Grangers waved goodbye as they got into their car. We waved back at them, knowing that we would be seeing them soon again. Mr Weasley had parked the blue Ford Angela at the back of the station where no muggles were milling about.

The seats had of course been magically expanded to fit all of us. Mr and Mrs Weasley sat in the front while Ginny, Ron, Abby, Vanessa and I sat in the back. I was sitting pressed up against the window while Ginny sat next to me. She had managed to put some space between herself and Ron, who was enthusiastically telling Mrs Weasley about Abby and Vanessa and how they were both great friends. I gritted my teeth, remembering how he had talked about his own family yesterday.

We flew over London and I couldn't help but feel fascinated at the sight of the large city as it rolled under us, it's roads and buildings looking like a work of art. The countryside was looking beautiful from up in the sky and it resembled a patchwork quilt.

After what felt like hours, the car began its decent. We slowly rolled to a stop in front of The Burrow. It looked as it always had: tall and inviting. The old cluster of wellington boots and rusty cauldrons was still there as was the chicken coop and tiny garden. The house looked like it would fall at any moment due to the many storeys, but I knew that it was held upright by magic.

We made our way inside to see the living room as warm as ever with a blazing fire burning in the fireplace. The couch was occupied by aslumped figure. On closer inspection, I realised that it was none other than George. His face had lost the light it had had before the war, and his flaming red hair looked unkept and tangled. Mrs Weasley sighed as she stroked his hair lovingly. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

"Hey, you lot!" he greeted, but I could sense the masked sadness. Ginny ran over and threw her arms around him and I smiled as I realised just how close the two were to each other. When they broke apart, George turned to us. After shaking hands with him, I sat down and we all started talking about how the year had been so far at Hogwarts. There was not much to tell though, because we were all avoiding the subject of Draco's disappearance in front of Abby, Ron and Vanessa. Since Mr and Mrs Weasley were part of the Order I assumed they knew everything though they did not show it.

Abby and Vanessa had quickly warmed up to Mr and Mrs Weasley and were now helping her prepare dinner.

They would be sleeping in Percy's old room because Percy had gotten his own flat near the ministry. He was living there for the time being. Ron and I would be in Ron's room and Ginny would be in her own room. Ron had not made any attempt at a conversation since we had gotten home. He was stating ahead with a sour expression and only gave short answers when someone spoke to him.

I was thinking how I was going to sleep in his room for four nights if he refused to talk. We had not talked since that day in Hogwarts when he had sort of hit me, and I was wondering how I was going to take whatever spell he was under, off him so he could be back to normal.

"So, how are you going to manage being in the same room as Ron?" Ginny asked me, smirking. I knew she was teasing me. She knew exactly what was going through my mind at the moment.

"How are you going to manage being in a room right across from Vanessa and Abby?" I teased back and we sighed simultaneously.

"This is going to be one long Christmas break," she muttered and I could not agree more.

George came over and sat down opposite us at that moment. Ron had disappeared up to his room and Abby and Vanessa were still in the kitchen with Mrs Weasley.

"So shat are you two up to?" he asked, smirking.

"Nothing," replied Ginny before I could say a word. "We were talking about how dinner still isn't ready and Harry's hungry."

"Seriously?" George raised his eyebrows. "Have you learned nothing from me, sis? When you want to make an excuse about something, try to think it through before saying anything."

"Well, it wasn't like you gave me enough time to think!" Ginny retorted and I chuckled.

"So what were you talking about?" George asked again, and then he added. "By the way, who are those two other girls? They seem.....strange."

I glanced at Ginny only for a second. We silently came to a decision.

"They're from school and they're new." Ginny started. "They just came a little after school started. We thought they were just normal American girls, but then things started happening.

"Things?" George questioned, looking interested. I had never seen him this serious before.

"First, they started sort off by clinging to Ron and I, " I began.

"You mean like that Pansy Parkinson used to hang around Malfoy?" George teased. "Wow. Looks like you got punished for calling her all those names. Now you know what it feels like to have your own personal puppies!" he chortled.

"George, this is serious!" Ginny scolded.

"And they started trying to turn us against Ginny and Hermione," I continued, sinking further back into the couch. "Ron started fighting with Hermione and then they stopped talking altogether. Ron's under a spell and we sure of it. He and I aren't speaking either because he called Hermione a mudblood and I got mad at him."I finished the story with a frustrated sigh.

"I knew something was up with him," George sighed thoughtfully."When I asked him how Hermione and you guys were in one of my letters, he completely blew up. He sent me a howler, telling me never to mention you guys to him."

I was surprised to say the least. Just how far had this spell actually worked?

Ginny then went on to tell him about how Draco had disappeared and how he was on our side. She told him about what we had overheard Ron, Abby and Vanessa talking about the day before.

"Mum told me about the deatheaters planning an attack," George said. "McGonagall sent her an owl about a week ago. But she didn't tell me anything about Vanessa and Abby."

"They're destheaters too," I told him. "We haven't exactly told McGonagall sbout them being evil."

"You should really tell someone about this, Harry. They want you dead. They are living with you and have your best friend on their side." he pressed and I could only gawk as Ginny said,

"Whoa, George! How did you become all intellectual all of a sudden?"

"I might have something that can help you guys," said George, completely ignoring Ginny's remark.

He got up from the couch and made his way up the flight of stairs. We followed him and stopped on the first landing. He carefully opened a door and we stepped into the room that had belonged to Fred and him. The beds were still there and one of them looked like it had recently been slept in so we knwe he slept here these days. The rest of the room was apparently used as a warehouse. Cardboard boxes were spread out on the floor and their contents were overflowing with joke products. George's eyes glazed over as he said,

"We invented all this during the war and were going to sell it after it. I'm planning on opening the shop again soon. For Fred." He then made his way over to the window and looked into a rather small box. He picked up one of the objects inside and showed it to us. Opening it, I saw that it was an ordinary box of assorted muggle sweets: orange, lemon, strawberry, pineapple... But knowing Fred and George, I knew they were no ordinary sweets.

"They are spiked with Veritiserum and another secret ingredient," George informed us. "They won't work on Ron since he is already under a spell, but they will work on Abby and Vanessa. If you trick them into having one of these, the effects will be like those of Veritiserum but once, they wear off, they will not remember that you talked to them. You'll only have about ten minutes though.." He thrusted the box into my hands.

"Wow," I said." Thanks, George."

Ginny cleared her throat. "There's one problem, though," she said. "Don't you think they'll be expecting this? From us? They won't accept anything from Harry and I."

"Okay," George said at last. "I'll do it and you two can come into the room once I've given them the sweets. Talk to them for seven minutes exactly and then get out. I'll go back in and when the effects wear off, they won't have a clue that you were actually in the room."

"That's perfect," exclaimed Ginny as I smiled gratefully at George.

This was absolutely brilliant, I thought. I really hoped it worked though.

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A/N

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