Deep-Night Rescue

Though he didn't know why, Ron felt Cedric was right.

The twins were in the living room. Seeing their younger brother panting, they asked in confusion, "What happened, Ron?"

"Whew... whew... I don't know. I went upstairs to tell them to come down for egg tarts, then Hermione ran off, and Huan got mad."

Percy frowned. "Are you speaking English? I can't understand a word."

"Pfft..." Cedric fought back laughter as he explained, "At the time, Huan was just five centimeters away from kissing Hermione. Hahahaha! Ron blurted it out so quickly I couldn't stop him."

"...Pfft, hahahahahaha!"

"Is Huan okay? Hahaha."

Cedric took a drink of water to catch his breath. "Hard to say. Anyway, the look on his face just now was even sourer than Professor Snape's."

A little while later, Bing Huan came downstairs with a dark expression. The twins tried to hold back their laughter as they sidled over. "Huan, we're not going to stop you—pfft—cough, cough. Just leave a body in one piece."

"All right, stop teasing them. That goes for when you see Hermione tomorrow, too." Mrs. Weasley chided them and shooed the twins away, then handed Bing Huan a plate of egg tarts. "Little Huan, don't take it to heart. Ron's been like that since he was little. Hermione, though, barely ate any dinner. She'll be starving. Take these up to her."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." Bing Huan took the plate and headed upstairs.

In the living room,

Fred rolled his eyes. "So, do you think they'll pick up where they left off and finish what they started?"

Cedric took a bite of an egg tart. "We just interrupted them. Wouldn't that be a little awkward?"

"True."

"Should we... sneak a look?"

"Sneak a look?"

"Come on, let's go!"

"Knock, knock, knock."

A little while later, Hermione opened the door, her face still flushed.

"What is it?"

"I was worried you'd be hungry since you didn't eat dinner, so I brought you something."

"Thanks... Would you like to come in and sit for a while?"

"It's Ginny's room, so I'd better not."

Hermione nodded, blushing.

"So, what's your answer?"

"Mm!" Hermione's voice was a little louder this time.

"Then... get some rest."

"Okay... Wait!" Hermione suddenly opened the door, stepped forward, and gave Bing Huan a quick peck on the cheek. "Good night." Then she darted back into the room.

Bing Huan stood frozen in the doorway for ten seconds before he finally reacted. "G-Good night."

"Mm~!!"

He turned around and found five little troublemakers at the stairwell, along with Ginny covering her face with her hands. The gaps between her fingers were wider than her eyes.

"...It's not what it looks like!"

That night, Bing Huan, the twins, and Cedric played cards on the bed. Bing Huan looked at Fred. "Fred, can you tell us now why you took Uncle Arthur's car keys?"

Fred beckoned them closer with a mysterious look. "We're going to rescue Harry in a bit. Ron said Harry hasn't written back for days, so he's probably being held by those Muggle relatives of his."

"It could be worse. Harry has one of my talismans on him. Even the weakest one would be enough to scare those idiots. By the way, isn't Ron coming?"

Cedric said, "Oh, it was supposed to be him, but he doesn't dare be around you right now, so I'm taking his place."

"..."

It was the middle of the night, and the moon was nearly ready to call it a day. The four boys crept into the garage, started the car, and headed for Privet Drive.

"Wow, how scared of Harry is this family? They've even barred up the windows." George stared at the iron bars in disbelief, muttering to himself.

He went up and knocked on the window. Harry opened his eyes and saw four strange things pressed against the glass, staring at him.

"...Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"You haven't written back, so we thought you might be in trouble." Harry looked a little pale. He probably hadn't eaten properly in days. "Looks like things are worse than we thought."

Fred tossed Harry a length of rope. "Tie it to the bars." After telling Harry to step back, Fred floored the accelerator and ripped the bars right out of the wall.

Bing Huan jumped into Harry's room. "Pack up. We're leaving." Harry had kept his school things in his storage bracelet, so it took him five minutes to gather his clothes. Then he picked up Hedwig and got into the car.

Once Harry was settled, Bing Huan kicked the door open, then went over and kicked open the Dursleys' bedroom door as well. Vernon was still in a daze. Bing Huan walked over and asked solicitously, "How are you? Awake yet?"

"I'm awake."

"Then go back to sleep." Bing Huan walked out as if nothing had happened.

He stepped onto his Flying Sword and urged Fred to hurry. By the time the Dursleys came to their senses, all they could see was the wrecked window and a car and sword shrinking into the sky.

In the car, Harry explained the house-elf named Dobby to everyone. He told them how Dobby had intercepted their letters and stopped him from going back to Hogwarts, and how Dobby had warned him that something terrible would happen.

With the misunderstanding cleared up, they started chatting. Harry asked Fred, "Does your dad know you took his car?"

Bing Huan leaned against the car window and replied irritably, "If our parents knew, do you think we'd be picking you up at this ungodly hour?"

"What department does your dad work in?"

Ron said, "He works at the Office for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, but he's the one who loves Muggle stuff most."

By the time Fred drove to The Burrow, the sun was rising. They slipped into the dining room on the ground floor. Harry had never been in a wizarding home before, and he looked around curiously.

"We'll sneak upstairs now, wait for Mum to call us, then bring Harry out," Fred said. "That way, Mum will be so happy to see Harry she won't notice someone took the car."

"Mm, good idea—if only we'd gotten back a few minutes earlier."

The twins turned around to find Mrs. Weasley approaching like a lioness, though her expression was kind. "The beds were empty! No note! And the car was gone! I thought you might've been in a crash! I've been worried sick!"

Then she turned to Harry, her face suddenly softening with motherly warmth. "It's so good to see you, dear Harry. Arthur and I were worried about you, too. Come and have breakfast."

They all sat down. Mrs. Weasley was frying eggs and sausages in the kitchen. Hermione seemed to have been woken by the noise downstairs. She came down rubbing her eyes.

"Harry!"

"Good morning, Hermione." After going from misery to freedom in a single night, with all his best friends there, Harry was especially happy.

A little while later, a small red-haired girl in her pajamas ran into the room. She gasped when she saw Harry, then ran right back out.

"That's Ginny, my sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

"Then why did she run away?"

"She's shy," Fred said. "Who wants to meet their idol in their pajamas?"

Hearing that seemed to remind Hermione of something. "Oh, right. Lockhart's book signing is tomorrow. I need to wash my hair."

Bing Huan leaned over with a miserable look. "So you've already gone off me after just one night?"

Hermione pushed his head away with an affectionate scold. "What are you talking about? He's our new professor this term. I just want to make a good impression so I can get extra credit."

"Oh..."

She gave Bing Huan a light peck on the cheek. "There. Is that better?"

Harry tilted his head at the pink bubbles that clearly didn't fit in with the rest of the room, then turned and asked, "Did I miss something?"

George stuffed a sausage into his mouth and said nonchalantly, "Nothing much. We were nearly murdered, that's all."

Harry: ?(･_･;?

After breakfast, the boys lined up in the open space. The others stared at Harry, who was fully dressed and ready. Fred asked, "Where's our protective gear?"

Bing Huan said, "There was going to be some."

...He really was still holding a grudge.

Ginny and Hermione watched from the side. Mrs. Weasley felt Ginny was still too young, so she'd have to wait before trying it herself.

In the afternoon, Hermione was chatting with Mrs. Weasley about Lockhart, and everyone had learned to fly a short distance. Ginny gathered her courage and went over to Harry. "Um... could you teach me?"

Ron was about to step forward and say he could teach her, but Fred and Bing Huan hauled him beyond the fence. Ron asked, confused, "Why'd you stop me?"

Bing Huan: ...

Fred: "You've seen Ron when it comes to being a block of wood."

George: "He's a regular war god."

"This doesn't make sense. Percy has a girlfriend, and you two aren't wooden either. Ginny's already starting young, so why is Ron still so thick?"

Ron said, "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm usually pretty sharp!"