Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story (other than the ones I made up). They all belong to the genius that is J.K. Rowling.

I would like to offer a huge thank you to Alastair, a.k.a. Shev for the beta work. You are such a helpful beta, thank you so much!!

Chapter One: An Overheard Secret


I awoke suddenly this morning and promptly hit my head on the bunk above me. After slowly realizing that I was not in my room at home, I figured that I was in my Uncle George’s old room at the Burrow. Our family has a tradition of spending the week before Hogwarts begins together at the Burrow. I don’t know exactly why we do this, but I don’t mind, I love my family. As usual, I began my day at the Burrow cursing the beds that had been charmed into bunks to fit my three cousins— James, Sam, and Albus— as well as myself. I turned to the bunks on the opposite side of the room and realized that my cousin and best friend, Albus Potter, must have been downstairs already; he was much more of a morning person than me. I eventually pulled on a shirt and a pair of trousers, and ventured down the hallway to the bathroom to wash up.

Once I was finished, I went back out to the landing, and I heard voices coming from the kitchen a few floors below. My stomach grumbled in hunger as I reached the bottom of the stairs that led into the kitchen. To my relief, Grandma already had plates stacked high with bacon and eggs ready on the table. I sat with my sister, Rose, on the left, and my cousin Sam— who was already stuffing his face with as much bacon as he could reach— on my right. My Aunt Ginny, James and Albus’s mother, sat across from me and smiled warmly as I sat down.

“Where are Dad and Uncle Harry?� I asked.

“At work. The Ministry needed a few Aurors to come in early for more raids after that vault was broken into at Gringotts last week. It’s half past ten, Hugo, you can’t expect everyone to wait for you to wake up in the morning!� my mother, Hermione Weasley, joked from across the kitchen.

I was about to retort when Grandma Molly walked into the kitchen.

“Hugo! I’m so glad you’ve come down. You can help with some chores I’ve got planned for you!� Grandma said while planting a kiss on my head, after which she piled hefty servings of food onto my plate.

I have always loved having a huge family. There is always something going on, and never once in my life have I felt lonely. You see, my grandfather and grandmother, Arthur and Molly Weasley, have six children: Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny.

The eldest is my Uncle Bill. I’ve always thought that he must have been quite something in his prime. He works at Gringotts as a curse-breaker. His trademark red Weasley hair flows down to his shoulders. His face is deeply scarred; from the Second War, I once heard his daughter Victoire say. My aunt is Fleur Delacour, one of the most beautiful witches I’ve ever seen. My guess is she’s part Veela, but no one in my family is willing to confirm my thoughts. Victoire married Ted Lupin, the son of Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, heroes of the Second War. I’ve heard quite a lot about them from my father and mother. Apparently, Remus Lupin was once a Professor of theirs at Hogwarts. We received news just last week that Victoire is expecting their first child, and none of us could have been happier.

I don’t see my Uncle Charlie very often because he lives in Romania, taming dragons. He did get married to a witch named Joanna Elliot three years ago. I’ve only seen him twice since then. Even still, how cool would it be to tame dragons? Of course, I’m not taking into account the risk of being eaten, burned, or stepped on. James has said since he was five that he wanted to go off with Uncle Charlie and fight the scaly beasts.

Like Charlie, Uncle Percy is a rare sight around our family. They’re all on speaking terms, but I guess he is too focused on his job at the Ministry at this point in his life. My father says it’s because Percy’s an “awkward git who hates admitting when he’s wrong�. Maybe they aren’t on as good terms as they like to show on to us kids.

By far my favourite uncle, aside from Uncle Harry, is Uncle George. First of all, he’s richer than the Minister of Magic; he owns a hugely successful joke shop, which is a favourite haunt of teenage wizards in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. He used to co-own the shop with his twin brother, but Fred was killed back in the Second War. I really wish I could have known him; our family doesn’t talk about it much. Uncle George was injured in the war; he lost an ear. He likes to make jokes about it, like saying he’s “saint-like� and “holey�. Alas, they’re not his better jokes, I’m afraid. So Uncle George’s wife is named Alicia, whom he used to play Quidditch with back during their Hogwarts years. With those genetics, their son, Sam, is pretty much a Quidditch powerhouse back at Hogwarts. Sam is a Gryffindor seventh year, and just as much of a jokester as his best friend, James. The dynamic duo is known throughout Hogwarts as the “hunks.�

Then there’s my father, Ron Weasley. My mother, Hermione, was one of his best friends at Hogwarts. Together with Harry Potter, they made up the legendary trio who brought about the end of Lord Voldemort. I could not ask for better parents; not only are they supportive of everything I do, I’m convinced that they give the best advice in the world. My older sister, Rose, is a Gryffindor sixth year and naturally she is a Prefect. Not only is she extremely intelligent, but also unwittingly beautiful. She’s quite a lot to compete with sometimes.

The last child of the Weasley family is Ginny, who fell in love with the famed Harry Potter. It’s weird to think of Uncle Harry as famous; I’ve just always seen him as a second dad. But nonetheless, I have never seen two people more in love than Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny—besides my parents, of course. They have three children, the eldest being James, a Gryffindor seventh year and the upcoming Head Boy at Hogwarts. Like Sam, he’s an excellent Quidditch player, and naturally he’s currently dating the Head Girl, Anna Longbottom— the daughter of our close family friends, Neville and Luna Longbottom. Although James and I get along rather well, he still has his faults. He can be quite arrogant and more than a little selfish at times, but even still, he’s very good-natured and is always ready to offer a good laugh. Then there’s my best mate, Albus. He’s a Gryffindor sixth year, and just as talented as James, yet with a much smaller ego. He’s the spitting image of his father, which fills him with pride whenever someone mentions it. While Albus looks similar to Harry, the third of the Potter children, Lily, looks more like her mother. Lily is a fourth year Gryffindor, and as the youngest of our family’s generation we all do our best to keep an eye out for her.

Finally there’s me: Hugo Weasley, the son of Ron and Hermione. I’m going into my fifth year as a Gryffindor, and I found out a few weeks ago that I’ll have added stress as a Prefect, as well as that which comes with being the Quidditch Keeper. It’s difficult sometimes trying to compete with the rest of my family. I don’t have that big of an obsession with it, but some of my cousins really do. On the whole, I think I’m just your average boy wizard; it’s that I sometimes have problems with.

I sat back in my chair, satiated after finishing my breakfast.

“Don’t rest just yet Hugo; you and your cousins have a busy afternoon. You all can start by de-gnoming the garden, if you would,� Grandma said joyfully.

James groaned audibly, for which his mother rapped him over the back of the head.

Of course, when we walked out into the large garden the bushes were simply crawling with gnomes. Slowly but surely, we all began to grab the gnomes by their horny little feet and swing them over the hedge.

During all the labour, I began to really think about the upcoming year at Hogwarts. For the hundredth time this summer, I started to stress about my new responsibilities. Could I really live up to my parents’ reputations? After all, I’m not really an outstanding student; I’m just decent at Quidditch. What is there that Headmistress McGonagall sees in me? After all, I’m just your average teenage wizard.

I hate that word. Average.

I turned to my right and saw Rose. She looked as if she had no idea about anything going on around her other than the gnome she was working on. Like always, she was too focused on the task at hand. Well, I would look elsewhere for prefect advice then.

My work was took me near Albus, who at that moment was spinning wildly as a particularly nasty gnome gnawed at his hand.

“So be honest Al, how bad is it really to be a Prefect?� I asked.

“Still nervous, eh? Don’t worry, Hugo. You’ll be a great Prefect. Everything’s—�

Lily cried out in pain as a very maternal gnome bit at her ankles; she had just thrown one of its children over the hedge. Albus immediately ran over.

“Lily, you okay?�

“I’m great,� she said with a grimace. “Better than that gnome I just kicked in the head, I would imagine,� she said, laughing.

We all laughed at seeing the mother gnome walking in circles dizzily.

James glared in envy as Sam returned to his work, using his wand to properly spin the gnomes then throw them carelessly over the shrubs. Sam had turned seventeen a few weeks previously, while James would be coming of age in two days time; he still had to work with his hands like the rest of us. I was pretty sure Sam knew how jealous James was, because at that moment he spun a gnome straight at James’ head.

“Whoops, sorry there, Jamesie! My mistake, my mistake.�

Shaking with mirth, I kept my head down and continued with the de-gnoming.

The sun soon rose high over our heads and all the gnomes seemed to be out of the garden, so Grandma sent us all inside to have a quick lunch, then upstairs to continue packing for school.

The first thing I did once I reached our bedroom was write a letter to a friend in my year, Casey Wentworth. I hadn’t been in touch with her all summer, but I’d missed her quite a lot. Mainly, I wanted to see if she had been made Prefect with me for Gryffindor. I really hoped so, because I didn’t know what I’d do if I had to do patrol duties with someone like Isobel Fletcher, the snobby prat.

I sat down at Uncle George’s old desk, and began scribbling away on a piece of parchment with my quill.

Without a moment’s notice, I felt a sudden splash of warm liquid against the back of my head and neck. I turned around and wasn’t surprised to see that James had taken advantage of my being oblivious to anything behind me and grabbed an old trick invisibility pen—one of my Uncle’s inventions—to fire at the back of my head.

“Argh! James, lay off!� I shouted in frustration.

At that same moment, his younger brother walked into the room.

“Stop being such a prat,� Albus said after shoving James away.

“Oh, come on, Hugo, it’s invisible ink! Don’t fret; your precious locks will be back to their original colour in no time. More importantly, Dad, Uncle Ron, Uncle George, Sam and I are all going to the pitch for a quick match, care to join us?�

“Give him a few minutes James, he’s busy!� Albus answered for me.

Sam had then entered the room, and chuckled at the shape of the back of my head.

With a groan, I tried to concentrate on finishing my letter. After a few moments of silence, I sensed someone looking over my shoulder.

“Writing to someone?� Albus asked.

“Yeah, Casey.�

“Oh really?� Albus asked, feigning disinterest. I’ve known about his attraction to Casey Wentworth since my third year. He thinks he hides it well, but I’ve always been able to read Albus’s emotions like a book.

“I haven’t owled her since the beginning of the summer, so I figured we should catch up before we go back to Hogwarts. Not to mention, I wanted to see if she got Prefect.�

“That’s good. Well, be sure and tell her I say ‘hello’.�

Poor Al.

I scratched my signature at the bottom of the letter, and began to force it onto my father’s owl, Pigwidgeon. Hopefully I’d get a reply by the morning, but one never knew with such an ancient owl as Pig.



Later that night I was lying on my bed, restless. There was no real reason why I wasn’t asleep, but I kept rolling over, unable to get comfortable. I turned and saw that Albus was still awake.

I sighed.

“Still awake, Al?� I asked. I didn’t bother to keep my voice down; James and Sam could sleep through anything.

“Yeah, can’t sleep,� he offered in reply.

“Same here.�

We lay in silence for a moment.

“You figure our dads are back yet?� I asked. Very often our fathers were working until the wee hours of the morning; it came with being an Auror.

At that moment, we heard the door in the kitchen below us creak open, and my question was answered.

“That’ll be them,� Albus said, confirming my thoughts.

“Let’s go and see about the raids today, seeing as how neither of us can sleep at all,� I said, but when we made it out to the landing, all we heard were hushed voices whispering rapidly.

“…—mustn’t tell anyone Ron, and that includes Hermione! It’ll just worry her!�

I reached a hand out to stop Albus, and crouched down low to listen. This was obviously a conversation they wouldn’t want anyone overhearing.

“I know that, do you think I’m dense?�

“Of course I do.�

“Shove it, mate,� my father said, through obvious amusement.

I heard a scraping of chairs as my father and Uncle Harry sat down at the table.

“So you think all these things are linked? The robberies, the missing people, and now this kidnapping?� Dad asked.

“Of course I do, this is the same way it started last time. I think it might just be an old Death Eater who was never caught trying to stir up trouble again.�

“That’s probably true. Too bad we didn’t find anything in the raids today. I guess we can cross those two families off our list.�

“Right.�

Silence fell for a few moments. Then I heard the sound of chairs moving back, then footfalls toward the stairs. I grabbed Albus by the shirt and dragged him back into our room, and cracked the door, still listening. As they passed by, I made out their last hurried whispers.

“But Harry, who do you figure it is?�

“I don’t know, but I may have an idea… I just hope this one isn’t trying to rally any real power…�

I turned around slowly, deep in thought. Albus looked as confused as I felt. Neither of us said a word, we simply lay down in our beds and slept for the rest of the night, trying not to worry too much.