~*~

"No, he isn't allowed to say anything, but I must say I like the sound of him calling me mum." She leaned over to Harry. "And you should watch his chest swell proudly each time you call him Dad." She winked at Harry.

Harry grinned and when he looked at Severus, who raised one of his eyebrows, he even had to laugh.

"Something funny, son?" Severus asked.

"No, Dad," Harry said, still grinning. "I remember all the rules. No flying, be polite to Mrs. Weasley, behave like a Snape should behave when he is someone's guest and most important, stay away from Fred and George and their potions and inventions."

"If you are capable of following all these rules on your visit there I will drink pumpkin juice for one day instead of tea," Severus said teasingly.

"Deal," Harry said quickly and extended his hand for Severus to shake it.

Severus couldn't suppress the twitch at the corner of his mouth. "If I win you will scrub all my cauldrons before we leave for your grandparents in addition to what ever punishment you will get for your rule-breaking." He took Harry's hand and shook it.

Harry grinned. "But I won't break a rule, Dad."

"We will see, brat," Severus said, this time he didn't hold back his grin.

~*~

"Merlin, I'm so glad you are okay, Harry. I was so worried when Professor Snape informed me about your accident," Mrs. Weasley said while hugging Harry tightly.

Harry stiffened. Severus promised not to tell them about the accident, Harry thought panicky.

"Believe me, the twins are regretting it very much," Mrs. Weasley said while cupping Harry‘s cheeks and rubbing them affectionately.

"Let him breathe, Molly," Arthur said, chuckling. "Hello, Harry," Mr. Weasley said when Molly let go of Harry.

Relieved that Mrs. Weasley just meant the cauldron game accident in school and not his lake accident, he shook Mr. Weasley's hand.

In the kitchen he met the rest of the family. Even Bill and Charlie were at home. "Hey, mate," Ron said and patted Harry's shoulder. He leaned over and whispered, "We already planned a Quidditch game. We finally have enough to play a real game. Do you think you can-"

"Ronald Weasley, what have I told you?" Mrs. Weasley shouted, grabbing Ron's ear.

"Ow, Mum!" Ron protested when she led him over to the table by his ear.

"No, flying!" Mrs. Weasley said strictly after pushing her son into a chair. "Am I understood?"

"I would listen to her, or don't you remember what happened to Fred and George after Professor Snape called Mum after Harry was hurt?" Ginny said teasingly.

"Hey, he is still living, isn't he?" Fred asked, but the glare his mother sent in his direction silenced him quickly.

"Come on, Harry. Sit down. We have spaghetti with meatballs," Mrs. Weasley said friendlily while waving Harry over to the chair beside Ron.

"Hey, Harry, we have pimped up an old motorbike of Dad's. Want a ride?" Bill asked after lunch.

"Really, Bill, I don't think Harry should ride the motorbike," Mrs. Weasely said disapprovingly.

"Come on, Mum, he will just sit behind me. What can happen to him?" Bill asked.

His mother opened her mouth to reply, but Charlie interrupted before a word came out of her. "We will apply a sticking charm, so he can't fall off the bike."

"I'm not a baby," Harry protested.

"That has nothing to do with being a baby, Harry. We promised your parents to keep you safe," Mr. Weasley said calmly.

This is pure horror, Harry thought. They are worse than Severus and Ivy.

"Cheer up, Harry," Charlie said and ruffled Harry's hair. "It will be fun even with the sticking charm. You won't even notice it because it just becomes activated if you are becoming dizzy or unconscious."

"Yeah, come and see it, Harry," Ron said enthusiastically and pulled Harry outside to the barn.

Charlie and Bill followed them, laughing.

"Won't Fred and George come with us?" Harry asked Ron when he saw that just Ron's adult brothers had followed them.

"They have to clean the dishes for the whole month for poisoning you," Ron said.

"It was an accident," Harry muttered.

"Mum, doesn't see it that way. You should have seen her. I swear she blew steam out of her ears after Professor Snape left! Fred and George couldn't sit properly at supper that day," Ron said, snickering.

"I was okay," Harry said uncomfortably.

"Why aren't you allowed to fly then? We were looking forward to it so much," Ron said grumpily.

"I had another accident," Harry muttered.

Ron stopped abruptly. "Another accident? What did you do?"

"Nothing. It's really not important," Harry said, hoping Ron would stop asking.

"What could happen in only a few days? Aren't we friends any longer? I thought we could tell each other everything!" Ron protested.

"Please, Ron, I would like to forget it. Can we speak about something else?" Harry asked hopefully.

Ron looked hurt. "I thought we are best friends, but maybe Malfoy has taken that position now." Angrily, Ron turned around and went into the barn.

"Is he giving you trouble, Harry?" Bill asked looking after his younger brother.

"No," Harry lied sadly. He hadn't wished for his stay here to be like this. Ron was angry, the adult Weasleys were overprotective and Fred and George avoided him because they still were under the watchful eyes of their mother. I could have stayed at home, Harry thought in despair.

The loud crackle of the motorbike pulled Harry out of his thoughts. Bill was driving it close to Harry. "Come on, jump up on it!" Charlie said and gestured for Harry to join his brother on the bike.

"Yeah!" Harry shouted while the wind was blowing in his face when he looked past Bill's big shoulders. "This is great!"

It was better than flying on a broom; it was just amazing. Harry was sure that the first thing he would buy when he was of age was a motorbike. He wished Bill would let him drive it, but he said his mother would have his head if he would allow Harry to ride it by himself.

Harry was so full of adrenalin after the riding tour that he forgot about his problem with Ron. "It was so great, Ron! Did you try it?"

"Bill taught me to ride it," Ron said proudly.

"Merlin, that is so cool. I wish I was allowed to ride it on my own," Harry said dreamily while watching Bill giving Ginny a ride.

Ron's mood lightened up after realizing that Harry envied him for being allowed to ride the bike. He felt special and that was a seldom thing with six siblings.

"Stop showing off, Ron. We will speak with Professor Snape and maybe he will allow you to be taught to ride it when you visit the Burrow in the summer," Charlie said to cheer Harry up.

Harry smiled. Maybe Severus would really allow it when he could convince James that he was healthy enough for it.

Bill stopped in front of them and a wildly laughing Ginny jumped from the bike. "Let Ron and Harry have a ride, Bill," Charlie said.

Bill threw a calculating look over to the house. "Are you sure that she is occupied enough with the twins?"

"Sure. And we will put the stabilisation charm on the bike, so nothing can happen." Charlie patted Bill's shoulder to calm him down.

Seeing the sceptical look of Bill, Ginny added, giggling, "Besides Ron crashing the bike against the garden fence."

Charlie and Bill grinned at the shocked face of their younger brother.

"I'm good at riding it. You know I never-"

"Calm down, baby brother." Charlie ruffled Ron's hair.

"Take good care of our guest or you will be the one not sitting comfortable for supper tonight," Bill said, grinning, while handing the motorbike to Ron.

Ron pulled a face and swung himself onto the bike. "Jump on, Harry!"

They drew circles with the bike for over half an hour until Ron's hands were like ice.

"I really will ask Severus if I can learn it. Promise that you will teach me in the summer!" Harry said, excited.

"Promise," Ron said while grinning proudly, his anger about Harry's secret long forgotten.

_______

"What's up?" Harry asked the twins when he entered their room.

"Shhh," Fred said, pulling Harry into the room and checking the hall for people that might overhear them. "Where is Ron?"

"He wanted to take a shower to warm up after the ride on the motorbike. Why didn't you come out?" Harry asked, looking curiously at George who pulled something out from under the bed.

"We have better things to do than riding a motorbike, Harry," Fred said.

"Look," George said and gestured Harry to come around the bed to have a look at what he had pulled out from under the bed. It was a miniature greenhouse.

"What are these?" Harry said, looking with amazement at the little wriggling plants when George lifted the top of the greenhouse.

"These are Manarus. Charlie had the weeds all over his trousers and shoes when he came over. They are blooming in Romania near the dragon fires right now. We hope we will be able to make them bloom," George said, watering the plants.

"Here look," Fred said and showed Harry and old book. "We found this in a bookshop and paid a guy to buy it for us. It's only for adults." Fred pointed at a page with a plant with long, thin tentacles and a yellow blossom. Beside the blossom was a picture of the weeds. They had long barbs. "You can brew many potions with it. We want to try the sleep-with-open-eyes potion first. It would be a cool gadget in classes."

"That sounds great," Harry said after reading about the brewing process and ingredients list of the potion. "What else can you brew with it?"

Fred showed him some more potions, and Harry was all for it. "This one here would be great. Draco would love it." Harry pointed at a page in the book.

"Draco as in Draco Malfoy?" Fred asked.

"Yes; you know he is my friend now, Fred. He once told me that he would love to get bitten by a Doxy swarm so he could hover over the ground and get high."

"You really should watch what kind of friends you choose, Harry. It seems he has a bad influence on you," George said after he hid the greenhouse under the bed again.

"Others would say that about you two as well," Harry said grinning. "Draco hasn't covered me in potions that made my skin itch for days."

"You lost the game and if you hadn't-" George started.

"-tried to clean yourself with magic, you would have just stunk a bit," Fred finished.

"Oh, and tell your little friend that it doesn't work," George said while slumping down on the bed.

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"The doxy swarm bites," Fred answered for his brother. "You feel so dizzy that you can't enjoy the hovering."

"And you end up barfing even hours after it," George added.

"Do I want to know why you know about that?" Harry asked, amused.

"Everything we hear that sound cool, we have to try, Harry. You should know that already," Fred said and jumped on the bed as well. "It's really no fun, but we will help you brew the potion and then you can try it out."

"I knew I could count on you two," Harry said, grinning, and let himself fall on the bed between the two trouble makers. "Isn't it too dark under the bed for the plants?"

Fred and George laughed. "Have a look under it," Fred instructed.

Harry leaned over and lifted the thick bed blanket to see under the bed. There were several small greenhouses all with little glowing lights on them. The lights were of different colours and brightnesses.

"Wow, you use different kind of lights?" Harry asked, still looking at the greenhouses.

Suddenly on each of his sides came another head dangling over the bed. "Yes, and different heat as well," Fred said to Harry's right side.

"They have a different amount of UV radiation and some are changing their heat and brightness hourly. We learned this spell from a book in the library at Hogwarts. Sometimes that school is really good for something," George said.

Harry jerked up when a voice came from the door. "Ron! Ron! Ron! Ron!" the voice shouted.

"What's that?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Our alarm system," Fred said while standing up to go to the door. George meanwhile arranged the blanket so that nobody could see the greenhouses or the lights.

A flick of Fred's wand at the door and the alarm went off. Before a knock could be heard, Fred threw the door abruptly open and pulled his surprised brother into the room. "Sneaking up on us, Ronniekins?"

"What? No! I was looking for Harry," Ron protested. After looking around in the room, he asked," Why? Are you hiding something? Mum will kill you if you get Harry in trouble again."

"We aren't doing anything. We were just talking with our friend here," George said and threw his arm around Harry.

Ron's expression became dark. "Another secret, Harry?"

"Secret?" Fred and George asked the same time.

Harry sighed. "Come on, Ron. If you really want to know what happened I will tell you, but you must promise not to tell Ginny or anyone else about it." He looked at Fred and George. "You two have to promise as well."

"Promise," Fred and George said theatrically and held up their hands.

"You know you can trust me, mate," Ron said almost apologetically to Harry.

Harry sighed and then told them about his stay at Malfoy's Mansion. In the end all the boys were holding their groins in sympathy, not one was laughing at him, like Harry had feared.

"Damn, that really must have hurt. Thank Merlin, Madam Pomfrey called Healer Smith. Can you imagine having Madam Pomfrey check you down there?" Fred asked George.

George and Ron shook their heads, grimacing.

"At that moment I would have let anyone check me down there. My main concern was to get the pain to go away. It was horrible. I thought I would never be okay again," Harry said, remembering the crucifying pain.

"But now everything is okay down there, right? I mean you have no-"

"James says nothing is permanently damaged. I'm not allowed to sit for a long time on something hard. So I fear I will pay for my motorbike ride tonight, but as your parents didn't know about the real reason why I wasn't allowed to fly they didn't seem to worry about it. I just hope Severus won't find out about it." At that moment Harry remembered his bet with Severus and shivered thinking about cleaning all the cauldrons.

"Ehm... and can you still..." Ron asked.

"Oh, Ron, you really are a jerk," Fred said.

"No, he is just a hormonal teenager, Fred," George said, laughing.

"I'm thirteen, okay!" Ron protested. "It's okay to speak about things like that!" Ron looked uncertainly at his brother. "Charlie said so."

Fred and George rolled laughing on the bed, and Harry blushed like hell.

"Oh, my-Ha! Ha!-Ronnikins had his-Ha!-big brother talk-Ha! Ha!" the twins said in exchange.

Ron looked nervously at Harry. "Charlie said it is okay to speak about thinks like this with your best friends."

"Yeah, eh... James had this talk with me as well," Harry said, blushing even deeper. "I think he just did because he had to tell me I wasn't allowed to... you know what. Not for a week or so."

Fred and George couldn't control their laughter. "Oh, Fred, we have to put this memory in a Pensieve. It's so good for blackmailing them!"

Harry and Ron both looked shocked at Fred and George.

"Calm down," Fred said after gaining control of himself again and laid a comforting arm around Ron's shoulders. "We won't tell anyone. We had this talk with Bill."

"Yes, as if he could tell us anything we didn't already know," George said while laying an arm over Harry's shoulders.

Ron's jaw dropped.

"Surprised, little brother?" Fred asked. "There are books about it. I'm sure your little girlfriend Hermione can tell you some helpful titles."

Ron gasped for air. "She isn't my girlfriend!"

Fred laughed and ruffled Ron's hair. "Yes, but you wish she would be."

"I don't!"

"You do!" Fred and George said.

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Don't"

"Do!" This time Harry joined the twins as well, and Ron looked at him, stunned.

"Hey, I sleep in the same dorm as you, mate," Harry said cheerfully.

Ron blushed. "You are all stupid."

Everyone laughed and finally Ron joined them and it ended with a big cushion fight.