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r to hear from Harry and Ron the next morning after hearing the general summary of their story the night previous. She still couldn't quite believe that Harry and Ron were so stupid as to fly a car from London to Scotland and expect no repercussions whatsoever. But, then again, she had been so stupid the year previous with Norbert and arguably the night of the stone too, hence, she wasn't one to talk.

However, neither boy was up when she met and Hermione walked down to wait for them in the Gryffindor common room. When neither appeared after a quarter of an hour, the two girls headed downstairs and Saffron's instant reaction was to head to the Great Hall to find her siblings.

Seeing the twins in a social setting meant everything to her. Therefore, when she saw Rachel in amongst a group of Hufflepuff first years and Rowan chatting to a girl with long blond hair, it filled her with joy.

Hermione noticed this immediately.

"They seem happy,"

Saffron smiled and turned to her, as she took a seat at the Gryffindor table. She didn't want to disturb either of them, not yet. "I really think they are," she let out a large sigh of relief. "I don't want to go near them, well I do, but I won't, because I know I would've killed Maya if she would've gone near me last year,"

"Did they get the houses they wanted?" Hermione asked her curiously. "I've found the different houses of siblings fascinating, for example, all of Ron's family have been Gryffindor whilst yours has been a mixture with the exception of Slytherin,"

Saffron didn't find it fascinating but she answered nonetheless. "I think Rowan wanted to be with me and Rachel with Maya, but I doubt either of them are upset over it, they're strong, stronger than I am, for sure,"

"They must be unbelievably strong then," said Hermione thoughtfully.

Saffron tried to conceal the wide beam that had spawned across her face at Hermione's words. She had never looked at a plate of kippers with more love. Hermione truly was a gem.

But the love did not continue throughout the rest of breakfast, for as Saffron served second helpings of bacon butties, Harry and Ron took a seat next to them, and from then on everything only went south.

Before that, the boys did get the chance to explain themselves. Harry described a long-winded story about what had gone on, with Ron chiming in every now and then but put most of his energy into eating. Apparently, the entrance to Platform and Nine and Three Quarters sealed itself when they went to run through it. After trying relentlessly, they decided to take it upon themselves not to wait for Ron's parents to come and help them, no, but to take Ron's dad flying car and fly it all the way to Hogwarts without any consent whatsoever.

"And you thought that was a good idea?" Saffron asked them, failing to comprehend their reasoning.

"Yes," said Ron, making Hermione squirm as he accidentally spat out pieces of sausage. Saffron rolled her eyes at him. "And we don't need another Hermione, so don't try and make us feel stupid,"

"I'm not trying to make you feel stupid," retorted Saffron cooly. "You've both done a good enough job of doing that to yourselves,"

"Ha-ha," said Ron bitterly, as Saffron exchanged a somewhat triumphant grin with Hermione.

The post arrived two minutes after a two-minute silence in which they all ate, or in Hermione's case, read the paper. Saffron watched Rowan watch in admiration as the owls swooped in, circling the entirety of the hall and dropping the mail to students throughout the hall. Saffron winced as a big lumpy parcel landed on Neville's head, and just on time too as a large grey owl fell into a milk jug, spraying everyone in the vicinity with milky feathers.

Saffron shrivelled her face up in disgust, as she attempted to wipe off as much of the mess as possible.

"Errol!" said Ron, pulling his owl out by the feet. Errol was unconscious and was sprawled across the table, as though dead. Ron, however, didn't seem to care, he was fare more concerned by the soggy red envelope attached firmly to Errol's beak.

"Oh, no -" Ron gasped. "No, no, no, no, no,"

"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, giving Errol a poke with her finger.

"It's not that - it's that!"

Saffron examined the envelope that Ron was pointing at. She too let out a small gasp. Ron had been sent a Howler. A Howler was the nastiest sort of letter one would acquire, she had been witness to Ms Squire creating many a Howler throughout her years at the 'Care Home'. But she had never been witness to the finished product, she couldn't help but feel as though she were in for a horrible experience if Squire was anything to go by. The word 'Howler' didn't exactly hold a positive connotation, especially if in the same sentence as 'Squire', and something told Saffron that Ron's mother could be equally as firey if the occasion warranted it.

"You'd better open it, Ron," whispered Neville, eyeing the Howler tentatively. "It'll be worse if you don't My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and it was horrible."

Lavender skidded down from further up the bench to take a seat next to Saffron, she took a slurp of her Cheeri Owls before talking. "I'd tell him to run but I really want to see what happens,"

"You've never seen one?" Saffron asked her.

Lavender shook her head. "Mum made one for my brother once, but this'll be my first time seeing it howl,"

"Same for me,"

"It's exciting --- oooh, look at the smoke,"

Saffron narrowed her eyes to see the corners of the letter slowly emit a dark smoke, as though waiting to burst open.

"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes -"

Ron wanted nothing less than to open it, but his quivering hand opened it. Lavender slipped her hand onto Saffron's knee and held onto it tightly when what sounded like a bomb went off in the hall. Saffron jumped up in fright and landed down on the bench, placing her hands over her ears, but still hearing every word vividly.

"STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE -"

It was Ron's mother that spoke. Saffron wouldn't have thought that Mrs Weasley, who had been as sweet as pie towards her, seeming to be well natured, well mannered and calm, would have been capable to such a sound. Yes, she thought she could be firey, but firey didn't even sum up how violent the woman sounded. Every person in the hall was silent as Ron took a grilling from his mother, sinking lower and lower in his chair, wanting to be swallowed up whole by the floor.

"- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED -"

"THIS WASN'T THE TREAT I WAS EXPECTING!" Lavender yelled into Saffron's ear, making the girl wince, but agree whole-heartedly. She never wanted to be subjected to such a sound again.

"YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

There was a large beat of silence. Saffron watched the red envelope burst into flames and turn into a pile of ashes. Saffron pouted as many a person in the hall laughed before they all moved onto their usual topics of chatter. She felt terrible for the Weasleys. They were poor enough as it was and an inquiry at their sole earner's work wasn't going to help them in the slightest.

Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked down at the top of Ron's head.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you -"

"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron with venom.

"You did," Percy Weasley had made his way over to Ron and looked completely and utterly mortified. He was red all over in the face and looked as though he wanted to send Ron into the oblivion. "What you did last night was plain assinine? And don't you dare even try and justify it or compare it to what you did for Harry over the Summer,"

Saffron saw Harry wince when Percy hissed his name. It was clear that Harry felt very guilty for the part he had to play in it. She listened as continued to scold Ron.

"What you did then was to save Harry, but yesterday it was unnecessary, plain and simple. You could have waited for mother and father to return to the car and they could have easily escorted you to school. The Hogwarts Express isn't the only way to get to school, and now look what you've done by not using your common sense,"

"You heard what mother said, what this is going to do for father all because of your inability to think. So I hope it was worth the cheers last night, Ron because you've ruined everything,"

With that, Percy turned on his heel dramatically and hurried out of the hall in order to exit the whispers that were occurring around the hall. Whether it be about the Weasleys or not, it didn't matter, as the damage had already been done.

It was a sign of how solemn what could happen to the Weasley family that not only Ron but Fred and George who were sitting only feet away from where Percy had erupted at Ron, didn't say or eat anything else that morning.