This is a stand alone story that takes place some 13 years after the events
in "True Love." Crits as always are welcome. Note: The characters (with
the exception of Jamie and little Ronnie) aren't mine, but the story is
original. Enjoy.
Jamie was unhappy. Here she was just going into her third year at Hogwarts and her parents had ruined her social life. She'd planned to spend the day in Diagon Alley with her friends, but her parents were making her babysit her little brother. Soon school would be starting again and she wouldn't even see London for ages. But she was the eldest and they were depending on her so she had to keep an eye on the little twerp.
She reflected on the irony that if she'd had to babysit him a few years ago it wouldn't have been so bad since he hadn't been able to speak yet. Alas now he could and even, horrors, manage some mischievious magic.
One morning she had opened her closet expecting to find her clothes and had been greeted by an eight foot pink rabbit instead. She shook her head. Not even their dad had been able to figure out how little Ron had managed that one. Speaking of which where was the little monster anyway?
She looked high and low throughout the house. No Ronnie. Great. Just great. Now what do I do... A trace of floo powder on the kitchen floor caught her eye. That's odd, I'm sure I swept up right after breakfast. It was then that it hit her. Ronnie! He must have seen either her or one of their parents use floo powder a million times by now, and decided to see if he could do it too. She sighed. Where to start looking? There were only about a million or so chimneys connected to the network, and he could have ended up at any one of them.
I'll try the Burrow first, she thought to herself. Even if he isn't there I can at least get some help looking for him. Grabbing some powder she sprinkled a bit on the fire, stepped in, called out "The Burrow" and dropped the remainder on the flames. Whoosh! She zipped past more hearths than she could count before finally coming to rest at the burrow.
"Jamie dear how are you,"asked Molly Weasley.
"I'm fine nana Weasley. Is Ronnie here?"
"Yes, poor lamb. He's having a little nap. I wondered why you had let him come alone. I take it that it wasn't your idea?"
"No nana. I just turned my back for a minute and he was gone. If he hadn't spilled floo powder on the floor I would still be looking round the house for him."
Molly chuckled. "Boys will be boys my dear. Remind me to tell you about some of the scrapes his namesake and your father used to get into sometime. In the meantime have a cookie. It'll make you feel better." Molly levitated the jar over to Jamie.
Half an hour later Ronnie was up from his nap, though his grey eyes and dark tousled hair told the fact that he wasn't quite awake as yet. Still it was time to go. It was approaching four o'clock and their parents would be home soon.
"Say good bye to nana Weasley Ronnie."
"Bye-bye nana."
"Bye love, have a safe trip home, and here's a little treat for after dinner." She handed Jamie a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
"Bye nana, and thank you."
Sprinking a small amount of floo powder on the flames, she took Ronnie by the hand and let him in. Letting the remainder of the powder drop she called out "lakeside cottage" and they were whisked home in a twinkling.
She knew that she would probably catch it for letting Ronnie floo by himself, but that night she told her parents about it anyway. Besides how could she explain away the bag of cookies otherwise. They listened to her story in silence and then to her astonishment they smiled.
"We appreciate your honesty Jamie," said Draco.
"Indeed we do," said Harry.
"You mean you're not mad?"
"Oh, we're a bit mad that you let your little brother slip away like that, but you did manage to find him, and he wasn't hurt, and you did tell us about it," said Draco.
"And it takes a big person to admit to the truth even knowing they might be punished for it," said Harry. "Come on, let's get dinner started."
Jamie was unhappy. Here she was just going into her third year at Hogwarts and her parents had ruined her social life. She'd planned to spend the day in Diagon Alley with her friends, but her parents were making her babysit her little brother. Soon school would be starting again and she wouldn't even see London for ages. But she was the eldest and they were depending on her so she had to keep an eye on the little twerp.
She reflected on the irony that if she'd had to babysit him a few years ago it wouldn't have been so bad since he hadn't been able to speak yet. Alas now he could and even, horrors, manage some mischievious magic.
One morning she had opened her closet expecting to find her clothes and had been greeted by an eight foot pink rabbit instead. She shook her head. Not even their dad had been able to figure out how little Ron had managed that one. Speaking of which where was the little monster anyway?
She looked high and low throughout the house. No Ronnie. Great. Just great. Now what do I do... A trace of floo powder on the kitchen floor caught her eye. That's odd, I'm sure I swept up right after breakfast. It was then that it hit her. Ronnie! He must have seen either her or one of their parents use floo powder a million times by now, and decided to see if he could do it too. She sighed. Where to start looking? There were only about a million or so chimneys connected to the network, and he could have ended up at any one of them.
I'll try the Burrow first, she thought to herself. Even if he isn't there I can at least get some help looking for him. Grabbing some powder she sprinkled a bit on the fire, stepped in, called out "The Burrow" and dropped the remainder on the flames. Whoosh! She zipped past more hearths than she could count before finally coming to rest at the burrow.
"Jamie dear how are you,"asked Molly Weasley.
"I'm fine nana Weasley. Is Ronnie here?"
"Yes, poor lamb. He's having a little nap. I wondered why you had let him come alone. I take it that it wasn't your idea?"
"No nana. I just turned my back for a minute and he was gone. If he hadn't spilled floo powder on the floor I would still be looking round the house for him."
Molly chuckled. "Boys will be boys my dear. Remind me to tell you about some of the scrapes his namesake and your father used to get into sometime. In the meantime have a cookie. It'll make you feel better." Molly levitated the jar over to Jamie.
Half an hour later Ronnie was up from his nap, though his grey eyes and dark tousled hair told the fact that he wasn't quite awake as yet. Still it was time to go. It was approaching four o'clock and their parents would be home soon.
"Say good bye to nana Weasley Ronnie."
"Bye-bye nana."
"Bye love, have a safe trip home, and here's a little treat for after dinner." She handed Jamie a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
"Bye nana, and thank you."
Sprinking a small amount of floo powder on the flames, she took Ronnie by the hand and let him in. Letting the remainder of the powder drop she called out "lakeside cottage" and they were whisked home in a twinkling.
She knew that she would probably catch it for letting Ronnie floo by himself, but that night she told her parents about it anyway. Besides how could she explain away the bag of cookies otherwise. They listened to her story in silence and then to her astonishment they smiled.
"We appreciate your honesty Jamie," said Draco.
"Indeed we do," said Harry.
"You mean you're not mad?"
"Oh, we're a bit mad that you let your little brother slip away like that, but you did manage to find him, and he wasn't hurt, and you did tell us about it," said Draco.
"And it takes a big person to admit to the truth even knowing they might be punished for it," said Harry. "Come on, let's get dinner started."