August 22, 1997

The door to the Burrow opened, and Fred and George Weasley stepped into the kitchen just as their mother came back into the room.

"Oh, boys, I'm so glad you could make it to dinner today," Mrs Weasley said, kissing each of them on the cheek. She seemed a little bit nervous, but the twins barely noticed - she'd been somewhat jumpy ever since Bill and Fleur's wedding (followed by the abrupt, though not unexpected, disappearance of her youngest son) three weeks earlier.

"We've been living on takeaways from a muggle Chinese restaurant off Diagon Alley for most of the week," Fred told her.

"The thought of your roast is the only thing that could pull us away from the store right now," George continued, "We're spending all our time restocking, what with - "

" - the Hogwarts Express leaving in barely a week," Fred finished. Both twins wanted to ask if there had been any news of Ron, Harry, and Hermione, but they knew better than to ask their mother, especially when she seemed especially flustered. They had already agreed it was best to wait until their father was home from work.

"Well, the roast will be done soon enough," Mrs Weasley kept glancing toward the sitting room as they spoke, "And your father should be home about the same time." She took a breath and seemed to steady herself. "Why don't you two come sit down for a bit? We've got a new houseguest you should meet."

The twins frowned at each other, and then at their mother, but she was already leaving the kitchen.

"A member of the Order?" Fred mumbled.

"We've met them all, haven't we? Who'd be staying here that we don't know?" George replied, and they followed their mother. When they arrived in the sitting room, they found a young witch sitting on the couch with Ginny, the two of them leafing through a photo album. Before their mother could open her mouth, Ginny jumped up, pulling the other girl up with her as the album tumbled to the floor. For the first time in the twins' memory, Ginny seemed almost as nervous as her mother.

"These are my brothers, Fred and George!" she told the witch, "Well, I mean, two of my brothers. I told you, the twins. Fred and George, this is Annalise Delacour. She's Fleur's cousin. She just graduated from Beauxbatons, and she's staying with us for a few months... or so, or maybe a year, we don't know for sure - anyhow, she's staying here for a while to learn more about British culture."

Annalise was a bit taller than Ginny, and looked nothing like Fleur. Where Fleur had nearly-white, wispy hair, Annalise's was dark brown and thick. Where Fleur had striking light blue eyes, Annalise's were dark green. Instead of Fleur's slightly-upturned nose, Annalise had a small, rounded button nose. The only possible resemblance was their pale cream skin, though on Annalise it was covered with dark freckles across her nose and cheeks.

"Eet ees a pleasure to meet ze two of you," Annalise smiled at them, holding out her hand in greeting. The twins each shook it and nodded their greetings, but both looked suspicious rather than happy to meet her. They both opened their mouths to speak, but were cut off by their mother.

"I'm sure you three have a lot to talk about, to get acquainted. Why don't you go out into the garden while Ginny and I finish dinner?" They opened their mouths again. "I'm sure Annalise can answer your questions, now I've got to get back to that roast or we won't be ready to eat when your father gets home."

Fred and George looked distinctly disgruntled as they led Annalise out into the garden. They stopped at a cluster of chairs, and George quickly cast Muffliato around them.

"Oh, we should use more protection zan zat," Annalise told him, and walked around the chairs muttering a few charms to keep their conversation from being heard. Fred and George looked at each other in surprise and confusion, but let her finish. They both had their wands raised when she returned.

"Now you look here, girly," George started as soon as Annalise sat down. "I don't know what you've been telling our mum, but you're not from Beauxbatons any more than Fred here is a Witch Weekly centerfold."

"You just wait 'til next week," Fred replied indignantly, "But he's right, we know you went to Hogwarts; you bought a skiving snackbox from us in our seventh year. You'd better start explaining yourself."

"Your mum knows I went to Hogwarts," Annalise dropped the French accent and held her hands out in a calming gesture, "My name is Anna. I was a Ravenclaw in Ron's year. I'm a muggleborn. Can I tell you the story from the beginning? It'll be easier that way."

The twins put away their wands. They seemed less suspicious of her already. "Nice to meet you, Anna," Fred shook her hand, followed by George. When they'd all been properly introduced, she began to tell the story for what felt like the hundredth time in a few days.