Chapter One; Third Year
There was a loud explosion and a cloud of smoke came out of one of the windows on the second floor. It billowed out in large plumes, the dark grey smog soon filling up the air around the Burrow. The wind carried down the loud voices of two people bickering at each other, all the way to the grounds.
As the smoke started to clear away from the Burrow, Molly Weasley stepped out of the line of laundry she had set up outside. Waving away excess smoke from her face with her wand, she placed a hand on her plump hip and sighed to herself. She moved around the line of laundry, waving her wand at each item of clothing, getting rid of the smokey-scent. Listening to the voices that floated down to her, she started to hum. The sound of arguing bothered her, yes; but living with six sons, she had grown to ignore the majority of the little squabbles that often erupted in the household.
When she was finished with the laundry, the sound of arguing could still be heard from where Molly was standing. Molly shook her head and turned on the spot on her heel, Apparating.
There was a loud crack and she appeared in the twins' room. "That is enough!" she said shrilly.
The twins looked at her, then at each other and started to laugh. Molly stood appalled at them, her hands wringing onto the front of her apron. Her mouth was halfway open, about to say something to retort back to them.
"We weren't really arguing, Mum," started one.
"We just wanted to see how long it would take for you to come up here!" finished the other. They both stood there, devilish grins spreading onto their freckled faces.
"Oooh!" Came from Molly's lips, and she took a dishtowel from her apron, shaking it at the boys in front of her. The twins started to laugh and she shooed them out of the room and down to the kitchen.
"Ginny!" she called to somewhere in the house. "Get Ron, it's time for dinner! Percy, come put Errol and Hermes in their cages, and Fred, George," she turned to find the boys in front of her. She patted her cheek, then put a hand on each of the boys' heads. "Stay out of trouble for five minutes!"
They both said something together and rushed out of the room. Molly sighed again, knowing that they would find something to wreck in five minutes time. She glanced up at the large family clock that was settled on the wall near the door. All hands were pointing at home, except for one, which was now pointing at traveling. She busied herself with taking the potatoes from the large pot on the oven and emptying them into another pot. Waving her wand in clockwise circles, they started to mash and come together. As she set the dish on the table, the clock's final hand turned to home. Not nearly a second later, the door that lead into the kitchen opened, revealing Arthur Weasley.
"Such a relief to see you, dear." Molly said, going over to Arthur and giving him a peck on the cheek. "How was work?"
"Had two cases of Muggles being sold prank necklaces," he said while shrugging out of his coat. "When they went to put them on, they instantly started to try to bite the person's neck. Nothing we couldn't fix at all." Arthur sat down at the head of the table and looked around him. "Where is everyone?"
"Somewhere around the house," replied Molly. "Last day before start of term starts, they're probably still trying to cram last minute things in." She set down another pot on the table in front of Arthur. "Kids, everyone down, now!" she shouted up the stairs.
Filing down the stairs all together were the all of the Weasley children, except two. Bill was in Egypt, working at a Gringrotts branch, and Charlie was off in Romania with dragons. After settling into the appropriate seats, they all started into the food. Ron, normally a heavy eater, hardly even touched half of what he had piled into his plate. He sat staring at it, slowly biting at his lip.
"Ron, is there anything wrong?" Arthur asked.
Ron looked up at his father at the top of the table. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm just a bit nervous..about tomorrow." He gulped at the last part.
"Aww, is ickle Ronniekins scared about his first day at Hogwarts?" said Fred, and together the twins both cackled with laughter. Ron suddenly looked a very nasty shade of green and bolted from his seat and up the stairs. Ginny giggled along with the twins on George's right as Molly looked on with an disapproved look.
"Fred, that wasn't funny!" she said sternly.
"Aw Mum, we're just having a bit of a joke about it." said George. "He's been raving about going to school all summer."
Molly sighed yet again. "Alright, children. As soon as your done with dinner, up to your rooms! You need to get up early if you ever want to catch the train on time..."
Chapter Two; Third Year