Bill leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with a sigh. He thought he might explode at any minute. "You outdid yourself this time, Mum." Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny all nodded in agreement. Even though it was a Thursday afternoon, she had made a full on Sunday Roast with chicken, toad-in-the-hole, six kinds of vegetables (not counting the potatoes), stuffing, bread sauce, and gravy.

"Nonsense, dear," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Who knows when you will have a decent meal again. Where are you going, exactly?"

"Sorry Mum, I can't tell you." That statement immediately attracted the attention of his siblings.

"Why not?" asked Fred.

Bill cracked an eye. "It's classified." He grinned when they all groaned.

"Classified??" exclaimed Ron. "Come on, you can tell us. We're family!"

"Family or not, I still can't tell you."

"Classified. You're starting to sound like Percy," muttered George. "If you can't tell us, why did you bring it up?"

"Because Mum asked him, remember?" Ginny told her brother. He promptly tried to push her head, but she ducked. "At least give us a hint."

"Nope."

"Please? Is it some place tropical?" she asked.

"Is it somewhere you've been before?" asked Fred.

"In Europe?" asked George.

"Are you even leaving the country?" asked Ron. Bill just grinned more and did not say a word.

"All right, all right. Enough," said Mrs. Weasley. "He said he couldn't tell. Now, when will you be back?"

"No idea." Bill shrugged and folded his hands behind his head. "Whenever I'm done doing what I have to do, I suppose."

Mrs. Weasley frowned. "I would have thought those Goblins would be a bit more precise and detailed when it comes to the lives of their employees."

You have no idea, thought Bill. "They are. But it's complicated."

"Why?" asked Fred. "What is it that you have to do this time?"

"My job."

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it."

Bill laughed. "I know. But I can't tell you that either."

Fred sighed. "Well, can you tell us when you get back?"

"Maybe." He shrugged again. "Like I said, it's complicated."

"When do you leave?" Ron wondered.

"Early tomorrow morning. I'd ask you to see me off, but I doubt you'll want to wake up before sunrise."

"Yikes," said George with a grimace. "Those Goblins are real slave drivers, aren't they?"

"They just expect the best."

"Which is no less than any good employer should expect," put in Mrs. Weasley. "Which is why I expect you two to focus more on your studies."

"Aw, Mum," groaned George. "It's still summer holidays. We don't have to think about studying for another few weeks."

"Oh very well," sighed Mrs. Weasley. "Now, I hope you all saved room for dessert." The five of her children who were present all exchanged looks and sat up, eager. "Good. As soon as the table is cleared..." She laughed as they all groaned while immediately scrambling for their plates.

Brooms slung over their shoulders, Bill, Fred, George, and Ron trudged back from the paddock after a game of two-on-two Quidditch. Since they were a few people short for anything resembling a proper game, and they could not fly too high or even use a real snitch, it actually ended up being more of a cross between catch and keep-away while flying. Still, boys would be boys and they had fun and got dirty in the process. Ginny trailed behind carrying the balls. She did not particularly care for playing, but, determined to not be left out, went along perfectly content to watch, cheer, and act as referee if needed.

"Whew," said George, elbowing Fred in the side and glancing pointedly at Bill who walked just ahead of them. "Great game."

Fred nodded. "Yeah. It's been awhile," he said loudly. "We never have even numbers since Percy never wants to play, and Ginny's a girl."

There was a strangled sound of indignation behind them. Before she could say anything, Ginny found herself receiving a glare from George. He gestured wildly toward Bill, and she rolled her eyes. "I just don't like to play is all," she muttered.

"Anyway," continued Fred soberly, "it sure is good to have you around, Bill."

Ron, who was walking next to Bill, looked over his shoulder at the twins as though they had mutated into hinkypunks. Fred refused to meet his eye while George suddenly looked very innocent. Ron shook his head and glanced sideways at Bill, who appeared to be struggling not to laugh.

"I daresay it is good to be around, Fred," commented Bill nonchalantly.

"Think you'll stick around after you get back from, oh where was it again?"

Simultaneously, Bill roared with laughter, Ron slapped his forehead, and Ginny groaned. "Nice try," said Bill.

Ginny snorted. "No it wasn't. Honestly, was that the best you two could come up with?"

"What?" the twins said in identical tones of incredulity.

"First, it made you sound completely insincere about being glad Bill is here," picked up Ginny.

"And you made it rather obvious that you were up to something. You're usually more subtle than that," Ron shook his head again.

"Especially considering Bill isn't exactly what you would call dim. Did you think he wouldn't figure it out? That he would just be taken in?"

Fred and George exchanged glances and shrugged. "Well," said George, "we couldn't think of anything really clever, so we thought we'd try a simpler method."

"Simple, huh? I don't think you could have even fooled Percy with that one," Ron said conclusively.

"Oh come off it, Ron." Fred nudged his brother in the shoulder with his broom. "If it was Percy, we wouldn't have bothered. He makes things secret so he can rub it in that he knows something."

"Of course," put in George. "So, rather than attempt to find out his secret, we would deliberately avoid asking."

Fred nodded. "Or just mock him about it, depending on which would annoy him more." Bill laughed even harder.

"With Bill on the other hand, at least in this scenario, frankly we just want to know."

"I already told you," Bill said when he caught his breath, "that I can't tell you. I promise, the moment I am able, I'll tell you all about it."

The twins sighed heavily. "Ok," said Fred dejectedly.

By this time, they had arrived at the house. Going inside and piling in the front room, they saw Mr. Weasley had returned home from work. "Hi Dad," they chorused.

"Evening boys, Ginny," he said as he looked up from The Daily Prophet. Catching sight of Fred and George's expressions, he asked, "Why so down?"

"Bill won't tell us where he's going tomorrow," answered Fred.

"Are you still going on about that?" came Mrs. Weasley's voice from behind them. "He already told you it is classified. My goodness, you are all filthy! What have you been doing? I thought you just went to play a game of Quidditch."

"That's all we were doing, Mum," said Ron.

"Until Bill swerved to avoid a squirrel that made huge leap right in his path causing him to fly into the tree..." Ginny said. They all laughed.

"What? That isn't anything to laugh about. Are you all right, dear?"

"I'm fine, Mum. It wouldn't be that funny except when it happened, Fred and Ron were so shocked they collided--"

Ginny interrupted, "And they dropped right into a bush where a garden gnome was hiding."

"What a gnome was doing all the way up there I'll never know," added George, "but when they landed on it, they sure made it mad!"

"All we could see was this bush shaking like crazy, and suddenly the two of them come bursting out so fast!" Ginny burst into giggles.

Mrs. Weasley threw up her hands. "I shouldn't have asked. Go get cleaned up for dinner, and Percy is home too so someone tell him to come down in ten minutes." They filed past her, still laughing. When they were gone, she shook her head and turned to her husband. "Honestly, Arthur, sometimes I don't know what gets into them!"

"Now Molly, at least nothing got blown up or transfigured." He folded the paper and stood as her brow furrowed upon recollection of various gags the twins had concocted. Setting the paper on a table, he put his arm around her. Grinning, he continued. "After all, we had our moments when we were young. All that really matters is that they were enjoying themselves, and who knows how frequently that will happen in the days and months to come."

Her frown of irritation turned into one of concern. "I do worry about them, Arthur. Especially Bill. I know he just works for Gringotts, but still. Classified, secret missions for the bank, and at a time like this? And no hint as to when he will be back! Don't those Goblins know he has family?" She sighed.

"I know, dear. I know." Mr. Weasley patted her arm. "But don't you worry about him too much. He has a good head on his shoulders and knows when to turn down assignments if he thinks he cannot handle them. He'll be back before we know it, and in one piece." At least I hope so, he thought, smiling encouragingly.

They were interrupted by a loud thundering of footsteps above them, punctuated by a shout from Percy. "Now what are they up to?" Mrs. Weasley put her arms on her hips and frowned at the ceiling. "Whatever it is, they had best be done in time for dinner!" With that, she marched into the kitchen leaving Mr. Weasley alone to regard the ceiling as well, though he did so with a quiet chuckle instead.