George pulled the car in closer so they could get a look into the windows. Heri had never said anything about her relatives while at school but the trio of boys simultaneously decided that alerting the muggles that they were there and hoping to take Heri away with them was a bad idea. All the lights were out so those within were clearly sleeping. The first window they checked had a sleeping couple within, obviously Heri's aunt and uncle. They glided away and turned the corner of the house to check the next window. They were in luck; the curtains were open and the sleeping figure in the bed beneath the sill had the dark mess of curls distinctive to Heri Potter. George shimmied closer to the side of the house with the passenger side of the car pointed at the window. "Go wake her," George whispered to Fred, nudging his twin's shoulder. Fred did as he was told, lowering the window of the car door and leaning out of it as far as he could without falling. He tapped on the window softly at first, but then knocked more distinctly when she showed no sign of waking up. "Heri!" Fred whispered harshly, smacking the glass with the flat of his palm. She couldn't have heard him through the glass but she jolted awake all the same. Ron saw her reach under her pillow pulled something out from underneath it. It must have been something shocking because Fred gaped at her. "What's she doing with a knife?" Fred breathed. Heri Potter slept with a knife under her pillow? It sounded like what a hero would do but it didn't match up with the Heri's personality. Heri leaned into the window to get a better look at them. Her eyes widened in shock. Ron could see her mouth, "Fred?" before she slid open her window and leaned out. "Fred, how did you — What the — ?" "Here now, I'm George!" Fred protested. Trust the twins to get their jokes in whenever they could squeeze them. Heri gave him the flattest look Ron had ever seen. "Don't even try to kid me; I can tell you two apart perfectly fine!" "Oh?" George chimed in, leaning over to peer past Fred. "Do tell how you've managed that." Heri huffed. "Forget telling you two apart! What are you lot doing here?" She shot a bewildered glance at Ron in the backseat. "Where did you even get a flying car?" "A better question would be why haven't you been answering any of our letters?" Fred contradicted. "We've sent you about twelve inviting you to come over but haven't gotten a single one in reply!" Heri ruffled her mussed hair. "I've been having mail troubles since the beginning of summer," she told them. "I haven't been getting any of my letters until just recently and just got them all in bulk the night before. I haven't sent you a reply yet because I'm still sifting through them. I would love to come over, by the way." "How did that happen?" Ron chimed in, lowering his own window. "I've never heard of owls delivering letters to the wrong place. Usually, when an owl can't get to the person the letter's for, they'll just return home with it." She smiled wryly. "Someone was taking them off the owls before I could get at them. It's all been sorted now so no worries." "If you say so." Fred shrugged. He clapped his hands decisively. "Now! Let's get your stuff in the car and get out of here!" Heri's eyes widened. "You mean right now! I'll never hear the end of it next summer if I leave now!" "It's now or never, munchkin," said Fred. "We've only got the car for tonight and we won't get another chance like this any time soon." "Oh, alright," Heri sighed. "Just help me get my stuff ready. My uncle has my trunk in the cupboard under the stairs and none of my clothes are folded." Huh, Ron thought. He hadn't expected Heri Potter to fold so easily into doing something that was definitely against the rules. Didn't seem the type. Ron had thought the twins would have to fast-talk her into it. Heri stepped back to make room for Fred as he opened the car door and pulled himself through her window. George climbed through after. As the twins crept out her room ("Watch out for the bottom stair — it creaks."), Heri flitted about, tossing things into one of those bags girls always had on them. "Here," she said, handing the bag over to Ron when she was finished. Ron took the bag and tucked it under the seat in front of him to make space. The twins came back, panting a bit at the trudge from downstairs. Fred climbed back into the car to pull with Ron while Heri and George pushed from the bedroom side. Inch by inch, the trunk slid through the window. They all breathed out a sigh of relief when they got it in without much trouble. "Hurry up!" Fred said as George climbed back into the driver's seat. He gestured to the space left in the back seat as he slid back into the passenger seat. "Just let me . . ." Heri bent over her desk and scribbled something on a scrap of paper left behind. She then left the page on her bed before pulling herself up through the window. "I've left them a note," she told them. "I doubt they'll care over much but I figured it couldn't hurt to give them a bit of notice." She swung herself into the seat next to Ron where he finally got a proper look at her. She was barefoot and dressed in a sort of long-sleeved sleeping shirt that came down to her thighs. Ron would have thought she was wearing the shirt and nothing else if it hadn't been for the slip of striped shorts he saw while she settled herself. She had grown some over the summer; Ron covertly appreciated the subtle curve of her breasts as she stretched tiredly.
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