Ron was surrounded by his Mum's apple pies when he heard a distant ringing sound, making him wonder if there was something else in the oven. He sprinted to the oven and opened it to find a really yummy looking chocolate cake with layers and layers of mousse on it. He extended his hand into the oven to take the cake out, ignoring the ever-increasing volume of ringing behind him. Something slipped in under his armpit.

"Yaah!" Ron squealed, trying to swat away the tiny hands tickling his ribs. "Go away, Ginny!" he said but the hands moved from his ribs to under his armpits and then his neck. Ron threw off his covers, giggling despite himself, to tackle Ginny and teach her a lesson.

He opened his eyes to find a madly grinning clock was sitting on him, jumping around like a pixie, trying to find new places to tickle Ron awake. Ron tried to grab the clock but the sneaky little thing was just too fast for Ron's sleepy mind. It hopped off to the side table, shrieking, "Good Morning, good morning, good morning a...".

Ron got out of the bed to shut it off and go back to sleep but the clock kept jumping around the room.

"Going to work don't want to go

feeling low down

Heading for home you start to roam

then you're in town"

Ron made a wild snatch to get the clock but it jumped into Harry's bed, diving under the covers, muffling its raucous screaming. Ron decided to go back to his bed and got under his covers but the moment he closed his eyes, the screaming was back in full-force.

"Everybody knows there's nothing doing

Everything is closed, it's like a ruin"

Ron tried to bury himself under his covers but the foxy little devil jumped onto him and scrounged into his covers, to restart its tickling.

"Everyone you see is half asleep

And you're on your own, you're in the street "

"Ugghh!" Ron screamed and got up, almost but not quite, catching the clock. It had thrown off the covers on Ron's feet and was looking at Ron gleefully, its hands drawn back and its fingers wiggling. Even before the clock attacked, Ron dissolved into a fit of giggling, somehow managing to pull his legs away from the clock.

"After a while you start to smile

Now you feel cool

Then you decide to take a walk by the old school"

Ron once again set off after the clock that dove to the rug and scampered across to Harry's bed.

"Nothing has changed it's still the same

I've got nothing to say but it's O.K."

Ron stripped away all the covers on Harry's bed and the clock screamed even louder,

"Good morning good morning good morning a "

before ensconcing itself in the safety of the wardrobe on the other side of the bed.

It burrowed under the clothes and Ron had to throw off the clothes to get at it. However, it still escaped, ratting out from the side to jump back to the side table, smashing the lamp on it with a loud crash. Thankfully, the lamp was unbreakable.

Ron dashed back as well, on his hands and knees as the clock rushed under Ron's bed. In went Ron as well, hitting his head on the side of the bed, which, thankfully turned out to be soft. The clock stood flat against the wall against which Ron's bed stood and Ron crept to it. The moment he extended his hands, it hopped over Ron's fingers, sprinted down his arm, and tickling Ron's armpits, was out before Ron could close his fingers around it.

In the next 5 minutes, Ron discovered, to his relief, that Harry's photo frame, his glass of water, his glasses, his little globe were all unbreakable as well, and the edges of the wardrobe doors became soft and cushiony if slammed against your fingers, and the window panes and mirror mounted on the wardrobe door never shattered. The chase continued around the room, things falling and crashing and smashing and wardrobe doors banging and clothes flying in the air.

Ron dove to the floor in a spectacular move that would have shamed even the Cannon's Seeker. His fingers touched the clock and he had almost grasped it when it literally flew out of his hands.

He looked up, panting, to find a very irritated looking Professor Snape at the door of the room with his wand in one hand and the clock in his other.

The clock immediately shut up its screeching and looked up at the Professor, who was taking a stock of the entire room. When the Professor looked back the the clock in his hand, the little imp wrapped its arms around the Professor's hands and mumbled a very innocent,"St-leepy!"

The Professor pursed his lips and called out, "Accio Loll's bed." A small box came flying out of the first drawer in the side table next to Ron's bed and the Professor dumped the clock into it. Loll stood right back up, holding the sides like a baby in a crib. Very sleepily, it said with a list in a baby-voice, "A lullaby fol Lolly?"

Ron could swear that it was making puppy eyes at the Professor.

A small giggle came from behind the Professor. Harry was standing at the door.

Professor Snape glared at Lolly before shutting off the box and putting it back into the drawer.

Then, he looked at Ron.

Ron unconsciously backed up a little, gearing himself for a scolding but all the Professor said, was, "I need you ready in 15 minutes. We are going to the Sunday Church."

He whirled around. "Harry, you too. You can use the bathroom in my room. It is 8:15 already and I do not wish to be late."

Harry scowled. "Why do I have to go to Church if I am grounded and can't go out to play?"

"Because I said so. Now, stop dilly-dallying and get going." With that, he left the room, shutting the door with a soft click.

Harry stood at the door for a moment, glaring at the room in general before stomping to his wardrobe to get his clothes.

"Where are my pants?" he asked shrilly.

Ron looked at the clothes strewn floor and replied, "Could be anywhere."

Harry turned back to look at the floor and kicked the clothes on the floor in disgust. "Don't you even know how to shut off a clock? You caused this mess. You clean it up," he said icily, picking up a pair of pants and trousers from the floor.

"I didn't 'cause' this mess. That stupid little clock of yours did. You should be the one to clean it up."

"You should have woken up when Lolly rang. Just look at the room. You've also messed up my bed," Harry replied hotly.

"Not like it was all made up or something."

"At least, it didn't look like this! Now, it's gonna take me forever to do it."

"Is not my fault if your clock is crazy. I tried to shut it off but it kept jumping all 'round the room."

"You just had to get her bed and she would've come to you."

"I din't know that, did I, that you owned a foxy li'l thing that liked to sleep in a box in daytime like a vampire!" Ron replied, picking up the lamp from the floor. "Should've guessed though, given who owns it!" he mumbled to himself.

"And what's my pics cube doing on the floor?" Harry shrieked, picking up the small cube with a picture on each side. "And my globe, and glasses?"

"Harry! I hope you are already in the bathroom."

"Lolly smashed them all down. What should I have done? That fangy little weirdo that you call a clock has clearly lost its marbles," Ron replied back hotly.

"Harry?" Professor Snape called out once again.

Harry glared at Ron and stalked off with his clothes with a final, "Fine then, you spend the day cleaning up the room after we return from church."

Ron glared at the close door for a moment before kicking the bed. He sat down on it.

That boy! And who woke up at 8 a.m. in the morning to go to boring Church and listen to some pastor go on and on and on?

He did not even have his Church clothes with him. For that matter, he did not have any of his clothes. They were all gone with the Burrow. Even his Cannons' t-shirt, that Dad had got him on his birth day and his favourite blue one, with the pixie that was always trying to catch a snitch. Uncle Bil had gifted that to him. They were all gone, along with the brooms, the 5-year old snitch, the small top that Mum had charmed for him to give off sparkles when it spun, the hippogriff feather that Charlie had got for him from school - everything.

"Ronald!" Professor Snape was on the door, studiously avoiding to look at the room. "You are still sitting here," he gritted his teeth. "Get up and get ready. Wear these," he said, laying on Ron's messed up bed, a white shirt and black trousers. He pursed his lips once again as his eyes fell on Ron's bed, before saying, "Call me when you are done. We shall work on the fitting a little more."

Ron looked at the shirt and trousers. Dad had got him a couple of shorts and t-shirts and some underwear along with a robe after the accident and then, Professor Snape had got him a couple more but they were all muggle. These, though, he had not seen before.

"I shrunk my shirt and trousers for you." Snape replied to Ron's questioning gaze.

Ron nodded, keeping his eyes low.

"15 minutes," the Professor reminded Ron before stalking off once again.

Ron wondered if stalking off like that was a family trait or maybe a symptom of some special kind of madness for he was certain that some strain most definitely ran through this family. He just hoped that the madness was not catching.

-----------------S'89-------------------------S'89--------------------------------S'89-----------------------------------

Harry sulked the entire day on Sunday for being grounded during summer. Ron gathered from Harry's nonstop grumbling that Harry went to school! Who sent 9-year olds to school? Not one of Ron's brothers had gone to school before going off to Hogwarts. It was unheard of, except perhaps, the snooty kind, like Malfoys and Blacks and MacMillans and all. To top it all, Harry even liked some of his classes! No wonder he spoke the way he did.

Church was as boring an affair as always. Harry and Ron kept dozing off and Professor Snape kept waking the two of them up with a cuff.

By the time they were back home, it was already 10:30 a.m. The Professor sent both of them to their room to set it right. (Harry had to do it as well since he had forgotten to tell Ron how to shut the alarm off and had been sulking the entire day and also because, he should help his friends and guests.)

Ron swore to himself to never give that vampire clock a chance to mess up the room like that again. It took them they two complete hurs to set it back right - the beds, the clothes, all the objects, looking for all the things that had fell off the tables and rolled under the bed or the corner most part of the wardrobe. It didn't help that Harry was a right pain throughout that time.

Starved, they finally went down to have their lunch at half past noon. After that, they helped the Professor clean up the table and then set to dusting the drawing room, as a part of their grounding. By 3 in the afternoon, both of them were really tired and submitted to a nap with a token protest.

Professor Snape woke both of them at around 5. A grand tea was awaiting them - with kippers and ham sandwiches and strawberry milk shake.

"But why din't you wake me up at 4'o'clock? I missed Ducktales!" Harry complained.

"As I said, you were tired and needed the sleep, Harry."

"I was not tired and I had already slept for an hour. You shoulda woken me up," Harry whined.

"Keep up with the attitude and you would be back to bed before seven in the evening."

"That's just unfair! First, I have to clean up the mess someone else makes and then, I have to miss my favourite program just because I helped!"

"Next, I am going to pack up the television and sell it away and you would be spending the evening with your nose in the corner. My advice to you is don't exacerbate your situation."

Harry screeched back the chair and sat down with a loud plop on the chair while Professor Snape ignored him completely. Ron quietly sat down at his place and served himself a sandwich.

"I want croissants."

"Do you see any on the table?"

"I am not gonna eat these sandwiches!"

"All the more for us to eat!" Professor Snape replied coolly.

"Girls drink that!" Harry exclaimed nastily when Ron extended his arm to pour himself a glass of strawberry shake. Ron looked up from his shake at Harry and then the Professor. No way he was going to drink a girls' drink.

"Indeed. And what, pray, do boys drink?"

"They.. they ... drink banana shake."

The Professor almost coughed up his chamomile tea. "I always thought that it was a ladies' speciality but well, perhaps I should start reevaluating my notions." He peered at Harry.

Ron looked at the Professor, puzzled. "Banana shake is a ladies' speciality?" he asked.

The Professor made a funny face before saying, "There is no such thing as ladies' or girls' or boys' drink. You should drink whatever you like. Do not listen to anything espoused by Harry right now. He is in some snitch and about to earn himself another hour of chores."

Thereafter, Harry sat with a scowl on his face that only got worse when the Professor awarded his 'atrocious behaviour' with cleaning the dining table after the tea and drying all the dishes by hand after they were magically washed, while Ron was free to do as he wished.

The day did not get any better for Harry even in the evening, when the Professor sent him upstairs to bed immediately after dinner for his 'incessant spoilt and inconsiderate behaviour characterised by constant whining, scowling, giving lip, being rude and general selfishness'.

Ron spent the evening playing chess with the Professor, who was really impressed with Ron and told him that he should think to play professionally. Afterwards, the Professor took Ron to the rooftop, where he pointed out various 'constellations' to him, drawing them out with his wand for Ron. He told him the story of Andromeda and Perseus, about the stars in that constellation and asked Ron to write down whatever he had learnt to remember it and then, later show it to him.

All in all, it had been an okay day for Ron despite Harry's behaviour. The story of Andromeda was pretty interesting as also all the stuff that the Professor told him about the stars. The professor had even taught him a couple of new opening moves and told him that he would find out about kids' chess tournament.

Snape walked the Weasley boy back to his room after the astronomy session and sending him off

to get ready for bed, he looked at Harry's bed, which was uncharacteristically silent. Not even the sound of breathing was coming from there. Snape went to the bed and straightened the covers, tucking them in the sides of the bed properly and tightly, just as Harry liked. The pin-drop silence persisted. Sighing, he bent down and ran his fingers through the boy's obstinately messy hair. A hitched breath was the only response. Snape waited for a moment for any more response but when none came, he placed his lips on his adoptive son's forehead, only to hear sniffles.

"Harry?"

The boy did not answer and kept his eyes firmly shut even as tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. Just as Snape started to get back up, small arms came around his neck and the sniffles turned into sobs.

"Shhshh…" Snape sat down on the bed, loosening the covers to pick Harry up in his lap.

Having completed the nightly ritual of brushing his teeth and changing into his nightclothes, Ron sleepily walked back to his room from the bathroom at the end of the hallway. He stopped for a moment outside the bedroom door, hearing the soft muffled sobs and the Professor's soothing voice. He debated between going in or letting them be, feeling like an intruder once again after the great evening that he had had. In the end, he sat down next to the door, his day-clothes in his arms, and waited for the voices to quiet. Soon, he had fallen asleep.

-------------S'89------------S'89-------------------S'89-------------------------------------------------

Ron had been dreaming of flying amidst the stars in Andromeda constellations alongside his Dad when the alarm first went off.

He burrowed inside his covers to escape the shrieking "Good Morning" that reminded him that he was not at Burrow.

Depressed, he closed his eyes once again, hoping that this was just a dream and actually, he was at Burrow with his Mum, and if he just went downstairs into the kitchen, he would find his Mum, who would then take him in her arms and give him a resounding hug and kiss. The twins would make gagging sounds but Ron did not care because he had seen them wrapping their arms around Mum's waist for their hugs and kisses as well.

"Good Morning, Good Morning, we talked the whole night through! Good Morning, Good Morning!"

Ron covered his ears with his pillow. He just wanted to be left alone.

"When the band began to play, the stars were shining.." continued Lolly before jumping on Ron.

Over the next couple of days, Ron learnt to put it back into its box as soon as possible, which the clock always hid at the back of the drawer sometime during the night to prolong Ron's search for the box while it gleefully tickled him and jumped all over him. He had tried to bury himself deep inside his covers but the mess it turned Ron's bed into trying to burrow under Ron's covers to tickle him in his ribs and sides and the sole of his feet and armpits made Ron reconsider the tactic. Spending half an hour righting your bed in the morning did not seem worth it, not to mention the noise and racket that it was capable of creating. It rivaled even the explosions coming from the twins' bedroom.

By the time Ron was able to find the clock's box (which would also be making a keening noise), he would be wide awake and go downstairs into the garden to find Professor Snape sipping his tea as Harry read out some newspaper to him.

Thankfully, Harry was behaving much better because Ron hated to hear the Professor's voice go progressively quieter. It was really scary even when it was directed at Harry. The Professor kept both of them quite busy with their chores and small projects that he liked to give to them.

They cleaned the attic on Monday, the Professor sorting the stuff into three piles - one to throw away, second to give away and the third to keep while Harry and Ron dusted and cleaned the objects. The attic was mostly full of papers and old clothes and odd little things like a handle to a door, a knob, some plugs and similar things. A few of them were absolutely new to Ron, like those that the Professor called, 'wires', a big, old box that the Professor called a 'television' but which did not look anything like the one in the drawing room below and the like. Every one hour, the Professor would send them outside and employ some charm to get rid of all the dust and dirt before calling them back again to restart their sorting.

Ron enjoyed looking at the quaint muggle things and some of the stuff, like a lady's bonnet, which went back into storage (Harry explained later that it belonged to the Professor's Mum). Harry and Ron donned two of the bonnets and acted like Roman soldiers with swords in their hands, miming a sword fight while the Professor prepared the lunch. They spent most of the day cleaning the attic, taking breaks for lunch and tea. Ron slept off late in the afternoon, tired after all the work. When he woke up, it was already 5 in the evening. He had his sandwiches and juice and then sat down with Harry, who was reading some comic book on 'Batman', lying on the couch in the living room. Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen and Ron surmised that he must be in his lab.

Harry offered his comic collection to Ron, who selected 'Warrior Magazine' hoping to learn some cool magic from it. Soon he was too engrossed in it and got up only when the Professor called both of them for dinner. He had read through 3 publications of the Warrior magazine and even though the pictures never moved, they were fun.

After dinner, they once again went to the rooftop to look at the stars. The Professor quizzed Ron about the stars he had pointed out to him the day before before moving on to the next constellation, Antilla. Sometime during the story session, Ron slipped into sleep.

------------------------S'89---------------------------S'89---------------------S'89------------------

It was Wednesday morning, when Ron woke up much earlier than usual, narrowly missing wetting the bed. He ran barefooted to the bathroom at the end of the hallway, noticing that Harry's bed was empty. Once he was done and relieved, he washed his hands and came out, wondering idly if Harry was already in the garden below. He looked out of the window in the hallway.

In the garden below, Professor Snape was seated in his usual place, leaning back in a really-comfy looking armchair, his legs stretched out in front of him. Harry, bundled up in a canary yellow blanket, was dozing with his face buried in the Professor's neck and his legs folded under him in the Professor's lap. The Professor's arms were tightly wrapped around Harry, whose only visible part was the messy black hair sticking out from the blanket just under the Professor's chin.

Ron looked at the scene for a moment before going back to his bed feeling slightly queasy. The feeling of being an intruder came back. Something plopped in his stomach, something sank in his chest and he was sure he was going to be sick. He got back into his bed, wishing that he were back at Burrow with his Mum.

When his alarm went off an hour later, sounding the warning that preceded its tickling attack, Ron woke up and went downstairs to find the same scene as every day. Professor Snape was sipping his tea in a regular chair while a wide-awake and alert Harry was reading out a newspaper like all mornings. Ron's mood only deteriorated.

That afternoon, Ron and Harry were washing the window panes when they had another bad fight on Football versus Quidditch. Ron really had no idea why Harry was that crazy about football. Quidditch was a hundred times better and involved flying rather than running behind one ball, all around the grounds like kids. He had even told Harry so and they had a big argument that ended with Ron pouring his pail of water on Harry. Harry of course poured his pail of water right back on Ron.

Professor Snape arrived just in time to stop the fight from getting any uglier when he sent them both to work separately after that. Ron decided that he hated both of them and was going to actually run away the next morning and set an alarm for 7 a.m. He would tiptoe out of the front door when Harry was downstairs cuddling with his Uncle like some baby.

He woke up by 7:10, before Lolly could jump on him to begin her tickle fest and slipped out of his bed, leaving behind a very disappointed looking clock on his covers. Harry's bed was once again empty. Ron pursed his lips and packed some t-shirts and shorts in a jumper. He then, tiptoed back to the window in the hallway and peeped out.

Professor Snape was standing in the garden below, with a house elf. Harry, his blanket still wrapped around him, was standing next to the Professor.

The house elf suddenly turned and pointed towards a patch of the garden before marching off to the patch. Professor Snape transfigured Harry's blanket into a sweater and with a hand on Harry's back, led him to the patch, Harry's one hand fisted in his Uncle's trousers and the other one rubbing his eyes. Once there, Harry leaned against his Uncle's leg.

A pair of gloves came flying out to stop in front of Harry and waved at him while the elf waved its hands wildly, trying to explain something to Harry. The gloves tapped Harry's hands when Harry did not respond to the waving. When Harry still did not pick them up, they finally drew back, looking remarkably like the alarm clock before it went into a tickle-attack. At this point, the Professor snatched them out from the air and put them on Harry's hands.

Startled, Harry jerked his head up and then, dragged his feet to the patch where the elf was standing with its hands on its hips and sat down. He started to pluck off some leaves from the small plant. The elf squealed and immediately slapped off Harry's hands from the plant before showing him how to do it. Professor Snape watched them at work for a minute before stalking off to a neighbouring patch to start his own work. He was working like muggles as well! Harry once again started with the plucking and this time, the elf nodded. It stood back and monitored Harry's work, correcting him at times.

 Ron's was overwhelmed with compassion for Harry. The poor boy had almost been dozing off and falling into the soil before the elf would snap its fingers and Harry's gloves would make Harry clap his hands, startling him awake. He could not leave the boy alone and run away. He decided to be kind and take Harry to live with them to Burrow when the Burrow was fixed back.

Feeling much lighter, now that he had a plan to rescue Harry, he went back to his room, climbed back into his bed and dozed off to sleep once again.

That day, Ron went out of his way to be nice to Harry. He let him choose the first piece of cake on the table, did not tell Harry what he actually thought of Harry's favourite Quidditch team, 'Polar Pootsies" and even agreed to playing a little football, as silly as that game was.

Working alone was boring, really, even though Harry was strange and still insisted that football was better than quidditch. And how long could one be angry with the poor boy whose cruel Uncle made him wake up every morning at 7 am in the summer to work in the garden like muggles, with an elf telling him what to do. So, he even apologised to Professor Snape for his behaviour while washing the windows and both the boys promised Professor Snape to be on their best behaviour if he let them work together.

Ron went back to sleeping his full till 8 am and sometimes, 8:15 if he could bury himself deep enough within his blankets and quickly enough to avoid the alarm clock that would just be waiting to pounce on him and tickle him awake after its warning alarm.

He went down after that to join the Professor and Harry where poor Harry would be reading the newspaper. Professor Snape always offered Ron a glass of juice (orange or cranberry or grape and once, pumpkin) and asked Ron if he slept all right. After that, both Harry and he 'meditated' for 10 minutes, during which they were supposed to sit in a place with crossed legs and closed eyes and incant 'Om', stretching it out as much as they could.

The Professor then left both of them to cook breakfast. Ron and Harry generally played muggle tag or sat up on the small gate to the back garden, swinging it while deciding what they wanted to do later in the day.

After they had had their breakfast, they would be assigned some project – like, "Name one common ingredient in all the five chocolates that I got you along with the information of where it comes from and we might be able to make chocolate with the perfect ingredients once we have identified around 5 of them", "Find out the names of 5 stars in that constellation that we viewed yesterday".

He also gave them a seed each to 'germinate' and grow. They were to make a diagram for each of its stages in their scrapbook.

The house had a big library spanning two floors! It also had a whiteboard, on which you could write a word and the whiteboard came up with paragraphs which had that word in the various books. They would then look into the said books. Alongside the white board was potion filled container. If you dipped some object into it, the whiteboard also came up with pictures matching the object from the books in the library. You could actually identify and find out about the object that way. Harry and Ron mostly put a piece of the 'chocolates' into that potion and the whiteboard then showed matching pictures and name of the plants or 'chemicals' that were in them, along with the names of the books they could look into for more information.

After breakfast, they completed work on their daily project. Lunch was always around 12:30pm, after which, they showed their Projects to the Professor. After that, they were free till 2:30 pm. Then, they did their daily chores.

Both Professor Snape and Harry were really weird and it was not just Harry's 'Football's as good as Quidditch" thing or Professor Snape's love for tickling charms and potions.

Once, Harry and Ron had been dusting the house for their Wednesday chores when Professor Snape came out of his office, where he generally was cooped up the entire day. Deciding to start washing the dishes, he took out his wand and pointed it at the sink in the kitchen to start the washing. Before the Professor could say anything, Harry suddenly shouted, "Go-go-gadget!"

Ron looked at Harry as if he had lost his mind while the Professor simply turned his face and raised his eyebrow before saying, "Thank you, Penny!" and proceeding to wave his wand and start the dishwashing. Harry scowled while the Professor smirked at Harry and went back into his office.

Ron of course, thought them both to be mad until he was introduced to "Inspector Gadget" on the telly and after that, he simply could not look at the Professor and not imagine him to be the clueless Inspector, behind whose back Harry and Ron went around doing as they pleased. Ron would end up giggling while Harry kept shushing him. Professor Snape, of course, mostly ignored both of them after one questioning glance.

Once, the Professor had said to Ron, "Go-go-gadget early-bed-time for Ron!" That had only served to make Ron laugh even louder and uncontrollably till his stomach hurt. Another time, Professor Snape drew up Harry threateningly before saying, "Next Time Penny, next time!" Harry was once again scowling at being called by a girl's name while Ron set off laughing once again.

Harry loved watching 'cartoons' on the telly. After a while, Ron had to admit that they were fun, specially the one which had a mouse called Mickey who owned a dog called Pluto and Pluto was larger than his master, Mickey. Then, there was one in which the hero called He-Man had to fight against a man with a skull for his head – called Skeletor. There was 'Duck-tales' where 3 ducklings lived with their Uncle Scrooge– no questions why Harry liked that one. Then, there was Kermit the frog, of course!

On Thursday, they cleaned their room, washed the breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes, and polished the brass on all the doorknobs. Friday, they had to polish the silverware, sweep the driveway in the front yard and the porch in the back yard, where they sat in the morning before breakfast.

By the time they finished with their daily chores, it would be around four in evening and then, they would have a big tea, with biscuits and juices and croissants and shakes.

The Professor had a new story with snacks for them every day at tea-time and sometimes repeated an older one when Harry (or Ron) requested him to. His stories ranged from those from Beedle the Bard to tales of Greek and Roman heroes, Arthur and Merlin to those of muggle wars and kings and politics of Britain and the older European Kingdoms.

After tea, they were free once again, though they were not allowed to go outside the garden due to their grounding. They mostly played hide and seek in the garden and house or climbed up the trees or played one of the board games that Harry had or ran around trying to escape the magical spinner that once spun, tried to catch them, haphazardly zig-zagging through the air with a buzzing sound. If it touched you, you would be painted fluorescent green or yellow or orange for the next one hour; or grow horns on your shoulders or head; or grow a tail that always tried to hold your hand. The only way you could escape it when it touched you was if a friend held your nose. It worked in a large group where some other kid could distract the spinner but with just the two of them, the spinner never moved, waiting patiently for one of them to break for breath.

Once, it had shot a really bad dung odour at Harry and the Professor had refused to allow Harry entry into the house till the odour wore off. His punishment for getting caught, he had said with a smirk.

They always helped the Professor with preparing the dinner. After dinner, both of them would usually tell the Professor about their day, while he took a look at their 'long-term Projects' and helped them with the Projects.

Harry was building a model of what he called the 'DNA'. Ron had to make a volcano. Ron had researched a lot on the volcanoes and was building his earth and mountain with a lot of clay and mud. The Professor had helped him start with it and given him a few ideas. He had also promised Ron that he would help him with the volcano eruptions with smoke and lava and ash - everything.

After working on the project for an hour, they went outside to look at the constellations or sometimes, they watched movies on the television till they fell asleep, most of the time, on the couch.

In the morning, however, they always woke up in their beds.

On Thursday evening, the Professor told both of them that he would have to go to his office for the next two weeks. Up till then, he had been working from home but now, he needed to do some practical work. He had enrolled them in a muggle summer school, where he would drop them around 8:45 in the morning and then pick them up back again at 2 pm. After that, they would be at one of his friends' place till evening 6 p.m, when he would return home. Ron was really excited about the idea of going to a muggle school and learn all that the Professor had told him that he could learn. Harry, on the other hand, seemed unwilling to go till Professor Snape had told him that the school also had a summer football camp. That had Harry jumping up and down in excitement.

Professor Snape got both of them some wicked cool spiked shoes to wear for 'football' and Harry had explained the game to Ron, showing it to him on 'Television' and drawing its pitch (field) out on a notebook with all the positions and stuff. The Professor had asked Ron later if he was not interested in the game and Ron had told him the truth.

So, now, Ron was scheduled to visit his twin brothers every Tuesday and Thursday evenings when Harry had his football classes. Ron was really happy about that.

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The week with grounding was over before Ron knew it. On Saturday, Professor Snape took both Ron and Harry to the Research Institute.

As angry as Ron had been with his Mum and Dad, with just the tiniest bit of doubt whether they wanted to see him at all or not, he really wanted to see them. Mum had hugged and kissed Ron the moment he stepped into the room, right in front of Harry. Ron had to literally tear himself out of her arms. He was sure someone could make an omlette on his face.

After Professor Snape and Harry left, Dad took Ron to the Diagon Alley for an ice-cream. They even went into the Quidditch shop and looked around for a long time before returning. Once back in the Centre, Dad picked up Ron once again and took him to see the Burrow. It looked remarkably better. It had inflated back to its proper shape but the space inside the house was still sucking in whatever you threw into it, like a bottomless pit.

Dad said that it should be done in about a couple of months. Ron told Dad about the muggle school that he was to attend and all the things that he planned to learn there. Dad was so proud of Ron for being so brave and mature and wanting to know about the muggles.

Ron even got to sleep with his parents that night.

Ginny looked completely bored to be there and complained non-stop about the place. She told him that Mum was always in the sick room with the twins while Ginny had to sit back. Dad was always in the office and when he came back, he would join Mum to help the healers. Ginny got absolutely bored with nothing to do. Ron told her about Professor Snape's place and his volcano model and the whiteboard in the library and the kitchen and the muggle school he was going to attend from the next week. Ginny looked dazed.

 Mum was so touched to know that Ron had sacrificed his football to come visit them twice a week in the evenings. She asked Ro in details what he ate every day, when he slept and if how he found Harry.

It was almost like the weekend ended even before it started and it was Sunday night and time to go back.

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A slightly sad Ron returned with Professor Snape to his house on Sunday night. He told Harry about his weekend and asked Harry about his, as they got ready for bed. Harry told him that he had gone visiting Professor Snape's godson and his Mum on the weekend.

"What time do we have to get up in the morning?" Ron asked as he climbed up into his bed.

"The same as always. We just need to be ready by 8:45 a.m." Harry answered, shrugging.

"So, then I will get up at 8 am." Suddenly remembering Harry's morning chore, he asked, "Do you still have to wake up in the morning for that chore?"

"What chore?" Harry asked, getting into his covers.

"Well, you have to work in the garden in the morning, don't you? It must be over, right?"

"No, why would that be over? I like it."

Ron snorted. "You like getting up in the morning? I saw you once, working there like a muggle - you were about to fall asleep into the soil and there was this elf, waving its arms around like Kermit the Frog!"

"Nifsy? She is great. Do you know, she can talk to the plants? She even taught Uncle how to and tells me that once I have grown up a little more, I might be able to do it as well."

"No wonder you believed that sand could hear us - when we were building that castle and its moat." Ron replied. "Plants can't talk, Harry."

"They can too. They just don't talk to everyone. Some groups of elves know their language, like Nifsy. She is our gardener and I love working with her."

"She is telling you stories and you believe in them?"

"She is not telling me stories. If you don't believe me, you can wake in the morning with me tomorrow. See it for yourself."

"I'm not stupid. I'm not waking up in the morning for that."

"Ha! Then, you'll never see and remain as stupid and ig-no-rant as ever," Harry replied, carefully pronouncing the word.

"What is going on here?" Professor Snape had entered the room before the argument could get any worse. "Hmmm? The first day back and both of you are at it like a merman and grindylow."

"I was just telling him," Harry replied, sitting up, "that Nifsy is an amazing elf and she can talk to plants."

The Professor pinched his nose, near his forehead before saying, "Mr. Weasley, why don' you wake up in the morning and come, see it yourself?"

Ron just nodded, wondering if he had just got himself a new chore due to Harry.

The next morning, the Professor woke Harry and Ron both and they dragged themselves out of their beds, to the garden below, where they waited for Nifsy to turn up. When Nifsy turned up some time later, Professor Snape introduced Ron to her. The elf, suddenly shy, mumbled a greeting at Ron, before siding a little towards Professor Snape.

"It's alright, Nifsy. Ron is a friend of Harry and is staying with us for the summer. We just wanted to see if he liked gardening as much as Harry."

Nifsy nodded and disapparated to the centre of the back garden, where she began to snap her fingers and click her heels and clap her hands.

Ron watched dumbfounded as some plants plucked themselves out of the ground, shrugged off the soil and then, walked on their roots to sit out on an empty side patch while their patch was tilled and watered and manured. Some of the bigger shrubs started to shake off the dust on them, some leaves licking off the other leaves to clean off the dust with the dew drops on them. An oak tree seemed to straighten itself, stretching its limbs and causing a number of birds to fly out of it, before settling down again. Tiny droplets of water rained on the trees near the boundary of and inside of the garden to help them clean themselves off.

A pair of scissors floated into the garden and the plants suddenly stilled, all offending branches shrinking into themselves, trying to make themselves invisible as the scissors set out to snipe and cut. The elf reassured the plants, patting them and murmuring something to them. Harry explained to Ron that she was telling the plants that she would plant them somewhere else, or graft it in a better place. This would help them both grow better. He also pointed out some plants that he said were from the cut stems and branches.

It was amazing. Even his Mum could not get her pumpkin patch and potatoes to behave as well as the house elf could. Soil getting tilled, overturned, manured, all the leaves of all the plants getting cleaned before being watered, shrubs getting pruned and some plants got de-thorned - it was amazing. Wild flowers would peep out from their hidden places to be admired and watered as the elf and even the Professor (!) talked to the shrubs. The high rising trees would bend down to help the smaller plants clean themselves and direct the shrubs while they relocated themselves to get their soil tilled.

Sometimes, a shrub or two would stay back at their new places and Ron realised why he had always felt that the plants in the garden changed their positions. They actually did that! Injured plants with broken branches or scratched off barks would try and gain to get themselves mended, offer their flowers to the Professor and the elf as they tended to them.

The garden, wild as it was, with its wildly running vines and haphazardly growing plants, lacking any order or pattern,was completely different from the neatly placed pumpkin patch his mother had in their backyard or the gardens in the houses adjoining this one. A high rising boundary wall surrounded the garden. As the garden came to life during the twenty minutes that the elf stayed there, Ron realised why Harry called it his 'Secret Garden'.

By the time the elf left, it was already 7:30 a.m. They had their juice and tea as Ron exclaimed about the entire experience. Harry joined in, telling him about other things that Nifsy could do. The plants in the garden were once again quite but Ron wondered if they could hear them.

Professor Snape asked Ron if he wanted to help out in the garden as well in the mornings. Of course. Ron would love to. He promised Professor Snape to wake up every morning at 7 a.m. with Harry to help in the 'Secret Garden'. Harry looked quite miffed at the thought though.

At 8 a.m , the Professor said that they should start to get ready for the school and sent Ron to take a bath. Ron trotted off for the bath while Harry stayed behind with the Professor to help him with the breakfast.

Snape watched the Weasley kid run off to take a bath.

"He's running. Aren't you going to scold him?" Harry complained.

Snape raised an eyebrow at Harry before intoning, "Mr. Weasley, please do not run in the house."

The scowl on Harry's face only got more pronounced. Snape sighed before getting up. He pulled Harry up from his chair and waved his wand to send his cup and the glasses for the boys' juice to the kitchen sink.

"Why don't you fold the chairs and put them inside, Harry?" he suggested.

"Why should I have to? He din't."

"Because you are the one giving me lip right now, not he. Fold the chairs and get them inside. We will start with the breakfast."

"I don't wanna."

"Harry, desist with this childish behaviour at once. You are the one who wanted to prove to him that you knew an elf who could talk to plants. Did you even think about asking Nifsy before telling about her to your friend? Did you spare any consideration for her privacy? You wanted to brag and show off and now that you have done so, you should accept the consequences and share your garden with him. Now, bring in the chairs."

"No!" Harry shouted, on the verge of tears. "You are being mean. First, you got him home in the summer, then you have to go work in the summer and I have to go to summer-school! You never work in the summer! Then, you left me with Sirius on Saturday. I don't want to go to summer school. I don't wanna work with Ron here. This is my garden. You said so. I don't want Ron here."

"I can't believe how selfish you are being – even Dudley is better than you. You have to learn to share, Harry."

"I share!" Harry screamed, his tears flowing freely now. "I share all the time with Dragon when he's here. I even leave my broom there, always."

Snape pinched his nose, feeling a headache coming up. The last thing he had wanted was a full blow tantrum just before school time. Of course, that it was time to go to school was one of the reasons. He was getting genuinely perplexed by Harry's behaviour. He took a deep breath in to calm himself before waving his wand so that the windows in the hallway above did not show them. He then drew up his chair to Harry and sitting down in it, pulled Harry to himself. Harry actually shoved him away and Snape stomped down on his anger.

Harry curled up on the other chair, wrapping his arms around his knees. He buried his face in his legs, sniffling.

"I hate you," he mumbled in between his sniffs.

"I am sorry to hear that," Snape said softly, "because I love you the most in this entire world."

Harry did not reply.

Snape sat down on the grass near Harry's chair and put his hands on the arms of the chair.

"I thought you loved going to your godfather."

Harry still did not reply.

"Go-go-gadget Harry's smile?"

Harry snorted through his sniffles.

"More than Ron?" Harry asked, his face still hidden.

Snape blinked before catching the thread. "Ron? I dote on his very absence."

Harry scrunched his face up trying to understand before asking, "Does it mean that you like it when he is not here?"

"It means that yes, more than Ron."

"More than even Dragon?" Harry looked straight into Snape's eyes.

Snape stumbled before replying in a deep voice, "Do you wish for me to slay the dragon? Fear nothing and get ready for school and I shall slay the dragon!" He made a shwishing sound, drawing out an imaginary saber.

Harry giggled before saying, "You can't slay dragons. It's not allowed and I like them. We are their protectors."

"Are you now, young Master Harry?" Snape replied, raising an eyebrow. "So be it then." And the light saber went back, just like that.

"Alright now?" Snape asked in his normal voice.

Harry shrugged, keeping his eyes down.

Snape wondered what to say next before asking, "So you don't like going to your Godfather?"

Harry shrugged once again and Snape let it go again. "He's okay but I didn't want to go last Saturday."

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

He shrugged again.

"What about next Saturday?"

Harry stayed quiet.

"Should I call him and tell him that you won't be able to come next weekend?"

When Harry stayed quiet, Snape called on all his reserves of patience before accioing a handkerchief to wipe off all the snot.

"The garden thing, though, you brought it on yourself." Harry scowled through the handkerchief that Snape was currently employing on him. "But he is here only for a couple of months at most. I expect you to be graceful in sharing during that time."

Harry carefully draped his arms around Snape's neck as Snape vanished the handkerchief.

"Oh? I am supposed to reward your little tantrum?"

"You love me the most!" Harry replied cheekily.

"The joys of love! Come on," Snape said, picking up Harry and setting him on he ground. "We are getting late for school. The chairs – fold them and bring them inside."

"I don't want to go to school! Dragon never has to!" Harry grumbled, folding the three chairs.

"We can't send him! What if someone saw the horns on his head?" Snape replied, waving to send the table inside.

"He doesn't actually have horns!" Harry giggled, picking up two folded chairs in one hand and the third in his other. Snape waved a feather-light charm on them.

"Of course he does, a tail as well."

"Is that why he takes so much time to get ready? Because he has to hide his horn and his tail?"

"Hmm… Why don't you ask Aunt Cissa that?"

"He even has minions! Daphne and Vince!"

" Come on now, off you go. It is already 8:20 a.m. I want you to be ready and here in 10 minutes, Harry. Your clothes are already out. Now, off!"