Author's note/Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
RPOV
I woke up to find my covers thrown off, a drafty air freezing my toes. I swept them back over me faster than I thought possible. My ceiling stared back at me, unyielding. Turning my head to the side, I saw that my alarm wasn't set to go off for another half hour, so I snuggled deep back down into my covers and smiled. A few minutes later, I realized that sleep wasn't going to come again. Irate, I threw my arm over my eyes and rebelliously relished the warmth of the blankets. This did not help. Finally I did throw off the covers, defiant of their enticing warmth, and made my way downstairs. However, my comforter came with me, cocooning me in warmth.
The cold and empty townhouse welcomed me, and I tugged the comforter tighter, although I wasn't against its particular lack of feeling, even as I turned on light after light to try and counter it. The house had more a sense for warmth than my housemate, also known as my mother, whose heart I believed was literally carved from stone. Luckily she'd been staying elsewhere ever since I'd graduated, and I'd only seen her on a few, unfortunate occasions.
The breakfast I made myself was unsatisfying, so I gave up on that and got dressed, but was ready far too soon, even with taking particular time and care for appearance. I sat in one of the great arm chairs in the living room and watched the clock above the fireplace anxiously, my foot tapping the hard floor incessantly until...finally! An acceptable time to go. I threw the powder into the flames, which abruptly turned a bright emerald green, and then stepped gently into the fireplace. I closed my eyes tightly but could do nothing to block the sound of wind and voices rushing past me. Once everything calmed, noises returned to their proper speed, but to me they sounded slow and dragging after the stream of much quicker sounds.
"Ginny! I told you not to touch that! Those are specifically for your brothers and—oh hello!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly, noticing me. I brushed off the soot in the fireplace and then stepped out, grimacing at the slight dizziness. I greeted them and they both smiled reassuringly at me.
"I'll just go get Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley, and turned up the stairs.
"You couldn't look more nervous if you tried," said Ginny, grinning at me.
"I'm not nervous." My shaking hands belied this statement.
"Right," she said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm not! All I'm doing is starting a new job, at the Ministry, which took me ages to qualify for, and I have no idea what I'm doing." My face flushed. "Bloody hell, I'm nervous."
"Dad's really excited. He hasn't had anyone in our family join the Ministry since Percy." We both automatically glanced up the stairs to see if either Mr. or Mrs. Weasley was present. They weren't.
"Ginny," I said, now rolling my eyes. "I'm not in your family."
"Might as well be," she said, and then grinned. "You hung around enough here, didn't you?"
"I was invited," I said hotly, blushing slightly.
Ginny laughed. "Do you really not know what you're doing?"
"All I know is that I'm trying to find out the difference in Muggles, Squibs, and wizards. I just have no idea how I'm actually going to figure it out."
"You will," she said confidently. "And if not..."
"It doesn't really matter to anyone?" I asked dryly.
"Exactly," she said with another grin.
"Thanks for that. So how does it feel being home? Other than the whole 'holiday' thing?"
"Better," she said, though her forehead creased. "My ankle's fine now and Luna's visited a couple of times. But mostly it's been hard because of..."
"Sirius," I finished. Sirius was Harry's godfather. When I'd first met him, it was when the Order was living in his old family house, this time last summer. He'd been very good friends with the twins, and as their best friend, I was sort of automatically included into his circle of trust. I'd been reluctant to befriend him at first, after years of seeing his name on Wanted posters, but once I gave him a chance we caught on quickly. However, he'd died a few short weeks ago, in a battle at the Ministry of Magic, that Ginny, Luna, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were all present for.
"Mum! Mum? Ginny, have you seen Mum? Oh. Hey Rian." Ron stood in the kitchen looking embarrassed, wearing only a pair of old pajamas. His arms were still slightly scarred from a battle with brains that tried to strangle him at the Ministry.
"Hey Ron," I said, trying not to smile and failing. "Your mum went to go and get your dad."
"Oh," he said, but didn't go upstairs. Instead, he sat beside Ginny and helped himself to one of the cookies that Mrs. Weasley had scolded Ginny for taking.
"Are you stopping by their store today?" Ginny asked me.
"Most likely." This time I didn't even try to stop my smile as they both pouted. "I'll send gifts."
"All ready, Rian?" asked Mr. Weasley eagerly, bounding down the stairs.
"Yes sir," I said, standing dizzily.
"Hey, Rian, send this to my brothers, will you?" asked Ron, tossing me a bag that I recognized to be filled with dungbombs. Mr. Weasley cast a weary glance at Ron, before shaking his head.
"Of course," I said, smirking. "They'll appreciate such a thoughtful gift, I'm sure."
When we finally arrived at the Ministry, Mr. Weasley walked me to the employment offices and left me there.
"Good luck," he said, and shook my hand professionally. I stared at him, confused, as he was usually much less pompous. As soon as a group of important looking wizards walked out of sight, he gave me a gentle hug and I grinned, relaxing. "Molly's got a stew planned for supper if you can make it, Bill's coming. Could you tell the boys as well?"
"Thanks. I will."
He hurried off back down the hallway, nodding here and there to people. Sighing, I opened the door and ducked into the small office. The old wizard behind the desk looked as though he was going to fall over dead any day now. It wasn't until I stated my name three times that he finally shuffled to the back room and returned with a small file.
"Rian C-" he coughed violently, "Collins?"
"YES!" I said.
"Good, good. Ah, Percy," said the wizard, and I turned, my eyes wide. Percy had a similar expression on his face, though his was much more filled with distaste. "Could you escort this lady to the Department of Mysteries? Alkorov is waiting for her there."
"I really can't," said Percy flatly.
"I'm sure I'll be able to find it on my own," I responded tightly.
"Come now Percy, it's right on your way down. I assume you're here for your applications, yes?"
"Yes," said Percy, his mouth barely moving.
"Well, then, here you are, now off you go."
We left the office together, and took the elevator down to the lowest level. He even walked me to meet Alkorov, a kindly old man who didn't say much. Despite Percy's escort, I felt that the dungbombs were more of a companion than him. Right before he left, I glanced up at him with a bright smile.
"You and my mother would get along just lovely," I said. Percy apparently realized this was an insult, if not the meaning behind it, and turned his nose in the air before trotting off. I turned back to Alkorov.
"Follow me," he said, with a crooked smile, and opened the door. Once inside, he said something that I couldn't hear and white light flared up around every door I saw, including the one we just entered as they spun in a continuous circle. "Now, this is something we only tell to senior members. Until you gain seniority, you must have one of us accompany you. Now, I apologize for this, but it is top secret."
Suddenly my ears were deafened completely, though I could see Alkorov shouting something. Suddenly the spinning stopped and the doors were still. Alkorov escorted me to a door on the left. In my new office, he left me. I turned around, taking it all in. It was a bit small, but furnished with just about every piece of equipment known to Muggle and wizard alike. I found a small cooling chamber containing twenty four bags of blood samples that I'd requested: Muggle, Squib, and magical. Perfection. I couldn't resist a quick spin to take it all in, before I sat down at the professional desk, plucked a quill from my bag, and began my research journal.
FPOV
The shop was incredibly crowded for a weekday, one of our first days with students, since they were all out of school. The little buggers were trying to pocket things right and left. Suddenly I was thankful for all the annoying afternoons Bill had spent here, ensuring security. He'd been quite full of himself once he'd finished.
"Only an excellent curse breaker will be able to get out of here with any of your goods," he had said, sounding satisfied. "And by that, I mean myself."
"Thanks dear brother," I had said.
"Now what is it that you want?" George had asked. Bill had glanced at us, but shrugged.
"The most I can do for brothers that got Aunt Muriel to stop coming to Christmas."
We still anticipated some sort of debt.
Now Bill's alarm went off every couple of minutes and our hassled clerks finally discovered a system of keeping one clerk at the register and one at the door to take back the stolen item and stop the security wall that shocked the thief incessantly until the item was placed back in either George's or my hands. I was having a great time though. Some of the kids were a right laugh, and some even had some great ideas, though none could beat our Skiving Snackboxes. They were a classic.
Around noon I happened to glance up halfway through returning an item to its shelf to see a familiar head of silvery blonde hair accompanied by a much taller head of dark brown open the door. Daniel, the clerk currently at the door gave Rian and Daisy an exasperated look when the door opened but broke into a relieved smile when he saw that there were no children within their party. Rian and Daisy, two of our best mates. They were both in our year, but as we'd left school early, we hadn't seen them for a few months. Neither Rian nor Daisy had had the opportunity to see the shop yet, especially since school had ended just last week. The seventh years were allowed to leave early, after their exams, but both girls had stayed behind: Rian most likely because she was Head Girl, her status reinstated once Umbridge was kicked out of the school, and Daisy most likely because Rian and Lee had stayed. Usually Lee was hanging somewhere around Daisy, but he had an early morning radio show, and sometimes he hung around there for a few hours after his show.
"Oy! Look who's here!" I called to George reflexively. George glanced up, and grinned when he saw to whom I was pointing. He broke off his sales pitch and headed over to our group.
Rian grinned as she spotted us, and forced her way through the crowd. Daisy was a few people behind her. They both looked unconcerned by the waves of children, anywhere from five to fifteen. Rian had her hair braided down the sides of her head and tucked in a neat bun at the base of her neck, and wore dark blue robes that were an interesting change from the usual black of Hogwarts. She looked fantastic, and I guessed she found her new job as enjoyable as I found mine.
"I thought you started work today," I said anyway.
"I did," she said happily. Her eyes were bright and warm, something that only happened when she was really happy; it took a lot to override their harsh metal colour. "It's my lunch break though and I've been dying to see the shop. I've been ordered by Ron to give you this," she handed me a small package I recognized as full of dung bombs, "and to bring back gifts for him and Ginny."
"Well we can manage that, can't we? Glad you could make it. You as well," I said to Daisy, handing the dung bombs to George, who smirked and stowed them in his pocket. I guessed that it was the pack we'd left in Ron's shoes.
"Dashing robes," said Rian, glancing at them and then at my hair. George and I herded them to the side to avoid an oncoming influx of children.
"You think so?" I asked teasingly, also looking at the magenta robes once we were out of harm's way. We'd picked them specifically for the reason that they clashed so brilliantly. Whimsical, George had said.
"Fred wanted to wear suits. I said to Fred, 'Fred, we have to look professional.' Compromise, eh?" said George now.
"I think they're perfect," she said sweetly. I rolled my eyes at her, because of her obvious sarcasm.
"First stop," I said, pointing to the love potions. A crowd of giggling girls left the stand quickly, glancing at us as we approached. Rian and Daisy both raised their eyebrows at us, smirking. "Courtesy of Miss Collins."
Rian's potion making was legendary; I often referred to her as the next Severus Snape, but she didn't seem to find the same humour in it that I did. Rian gave me a glare as she picked up a bottle, as if she knew what I was thinking.
"Good choice with the design," said Rian offhandedly. She uncorked the bottle she held and grinned as she took a whiff. "See, I told you they wouldn't smell like a love potion. And here you doubted my abilities."
"Alright now, don't be so bigheaded. We've got your percent of the profits upstairs, Miss Smug."
"Don't be ridiculous. Keep it. Or buy me something nice," she said teasingly.
"Don't think we won't," I said.
"Keep it, he means," added George.
"What are these?" asked Daisy, laughing at the Pygmy Puffs.
"They're adorable," said Rian, picking one up. It squirmed for a moment in her hands and then relaxed.
"Pygmy Puffs. Take one. Take ten!"
"Fred," said Rian, rolling her eyes, but still grinning hugely. I saw Daisy glance at George knowingly. I resisted the urge to hex them both; that would surely give us away.
"I'm serious."
Rian replaced the Puff. "So am I. What's next?"
"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Skiving Snackboxes..." We went around the entire shop, and I felt immense satisfaction at Rian and Daisy's incredulous and admiring expressions and praise. Rian ended up ordering two Snackboxes, one for Ginny and one for Ron, commenting that she didn't know what else to get them. I figured it was just because they were around the cheapest items.
"This is fantastic, you two!" exclaimed Rian, spinning in a circle to take the entire shop in, her purchases in my hand. "Brilliant!"
"Wonderful!" added Daisy, looking delighted. "How'd you manage to pull it all off?"
"Daisy," I said, looping an arm around her shoulders. "Haven't you figured out by now..."
"That there isn't anything we can't do..." added George, sweeping his arm around her other side.
"When we put our minds to it?" I finished. "We're just that good."
She shook her head.
"Amazing," she muttered.
"I'd better be getting back," said Rian apologetically.
"The Leaky Cauldron," I said, grabbing her arm as she turned to leave. "Tonight? Say around...eight?"
She glanced at George and Daisy and then back at me. "Alright. Yeah. Eight. I'll see you then," she said, smiling. "Oh, wait! I'm supposed to tell you that your mum is making stew for tonight. It was implied that you should be there."
"Are you going?" I asked before I could stop myself. She smirked.
"You'll just have to see, won't you?" she asked and then hesitated. Finally she gave me a look of defeat; she didn't want to be in this position either. "Maybe we can go after?"
I resisted a victory dance.
"You, my good sir, are in far over your head," said Daisy as we watched Rian leave, and she and George smirked.
"Depends on which head you speak of," I said, returning their smirk and walking off before they could recover their wits.
Rian did indeed show up for dinner, along with Daisy, and I was surprised to see Bill show up as well...with Fleur Delacour of all people. There was no way to forget that tall, thin, silvery blonde frame that walked with more grace than a ballerina. Not that I was drooling, although Daisy gave both George and I a swift whack as we stood stock still in the doorway. That cleared our heads a bit.
"She works at Gringott's," muttered Daisy to George and me as we walked into the kitchen together. Rian already was seated at the table chatting with Dad and she waved when she saw us. She jerked her head towards Fleur and rolled her eyes. "Bill's been...helping her with her English every day at lunch."
My eyes widened in unprepared happiness. I thought Ron would go mad when he saw her, and he already had, repeatedly coming up with excuse after excuse to be in the same room with her. I could see Bill getting annoyed, though Fleur didn't seem to even notice.
"So, Bill," I said to him over dinner. Fleur was talking to Rian about Beauxbatons uniforms and Rian and Daisy looked positively bored. George and I had made use of their suffering by cornering Bill. "We never knew you were such an advocate of international magical cooperation."
"Helping a poor, friendless French girl with her English," said George.
"It's so chivalrous. I'm sure you've got only the best intentions."
"We've seen a girl who's working at Eeylops, and she can't speak a lick of English. Ugly as sin, but I'm sure that wouldn't bother you."
"Want to help her as well?"
Bill glowered at the both of us. "Lay off, you two. She's just a friend, and Fleur began talking to me first. I'm innocent."
Fleur, apparently still oblivious to our conversation, slid her hand onto Bill's knee. Oh, this was far too easy.
"So you say."
Bill grimaced.
"Oh, Bill. Always such a heartbreaker, eh? And here we thought we'd end up courting the women of the world."
We continued on this train until Mum started cleaning up. She was irritated, that much was obvious. She snatched away my plate just as I was about to take a bite, and nearly knocked out one of Bill's teeth with his. George and I finally relinquished our grip on Bill and headed over to where Rian, Daisy, and Fleur sat in a corner. Ron headed upstairs along with Ginny, both having bent sent by Mum. Bill called Fleur away, and headed into the kitchen with Mum and Dad. We four glanced at each other and I quickly handed out the Extendable Ears. We stood against the living room wall and let them wriggle through the door frame.
"Ow!" we exclaimed in unison. As soon as the ears made contact with the kitchen floor, there was an immediate shock up the line. We stood rubbing our smarting ears morosely until Mum told us we could come in, and offered us tea. Bill grinned at us as we slunk into the kitchen.