Chapter 1: A Weasley Bet
The quietness that surrounded the Burrow was still and unmoving. Crickets chirped nearby and the towering structure thundered against the black sky. The stars above shone in a great brilliance; it seemed as if the night sky was a vast canopy under a bright white light and for some unbeknownst reason, little holes had been poked through the covering, letting in the light from up above. For the current setting, it was a perfect night's sleep.
However, Charlie Weasley was not asleep; he could not fall asleep for tomorrow, he was going to be traveling to Diagon Alley to pick up his school supplies for the upcoming school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts, an ancient school of magic, was Charlie's home away from home. Now entering his fifth year, the only thing he dreaded in his upcoming education was O.W.L.s, also known as Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations, a rigorous test process which determined what classes you were to take for the rest of your time at Hogwarts.
As quietly as he could, Charlie crept into his older brother's, Bill Weasley, room. Bill was now starting his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Charlie looked over at Bill's bedside table and saw what caused a great uproar in the kitchen earlier at breakfast.
"Bill! I cannot believe it! The first Head Boy in the family," exclaimed their mother, Molly Weasley. Her eyes shone with unshed tears while Bill was utterly speechless. Of course, no one noticed that Charlie had not offered his congratulations as he too was speechless but for another entirely different reason.
Ron Weasley, Bill and Charlie's nine-year-old brother, turned to Charlie's back as he faced away from the table, two Hogwarts letters in his hands.
"What are you on about, Charlie," asked Ron. Molly too had now noticed Charlie's suddenly odd behavior and went over to him and snatched the letters out of his hands. A moment letter, Molly shrieked, threw both letters in the air, and looked as if she was about to faint.
Arthur Weasley, the boys' father, worriedly went over to his wife and put his hand up to her cheek to see if she was feeling ill.
"What is it? What's wrong? Are you feeling okay," asked an anxious Arthur.
Molly smacked his hand away as she exclaimed, "Charlie is a prefect!"
The whole kitchen consisting of Bill, Percy (the thirteen-year-old and third oldest Weasley), Fred and George (the 11-year-old twin brothers and fourth and fifth oldest Weasleys, respectively), Ron, Ginny (the seventh and youngest Weasley sibling; she was eight and was the boys' only sister), and Arthur and Molly, had sat stunned.
After the shock had wore off, everyone was congratulating Charlie and Bill on their accomplishments for the upcoming school year.
Charlie smiled to himself as he remembered Fred and George, caught up in their family's excitement, set off their own fireworks creation on top of Ron's head, in which their mother had chased them out of the house with a broomstick.
"Bill, are you awake," asked Charlie. Charlie looked at the moonlight that shone through Bill's window as it lit up his fiery red hair, a trait the entire Weasley family shared.
"What do you want Charlie," came the tired voice of Bill.
"I was wondering if you fancied a game of Quidditch?"
Bill groaned, "Now? You fancy a game in the middle of the night when I am trying to get some sleep? Can't you wait until we get back to Hogwarts?"
Charlie huffed at Bill's lackluster attitude towards his favorite sport. His brother might have academic brains but he definitely did not understand the love for Quidditch Charlie had.
"Anyway, you should get as much sleep as possible so that come morning, you don't look like a teary-eyed banshee," laughed Bill.
Charlie gave him a questioning look as Bill rolled his eyes.
"Hermione!" Bill laughed as he saw the look of horror on Charlie's face.
"How many times do I have to say that 'I do NOT like Hermione Granger' for it to go through that thick head of yours," asked a now irate Charlie.
Hermione Granger was in Charlie's year and a Muggle born witch. Although being from a family of Muggles, Hermione was by far the best student in their year. She was a bossy know-it-all and her bushy hair annoyed Charlie so much so that he fantasized hexing her hair off when she would come over to him and patronize him for choosing Quidditch over his studies.
Not that he cared but Hermione had developed a school-girl crush on him in their first year. At the time, Charlie was elated to find out that she liked him and he was so excited that he told his entire family. He soon overcame his eleven-year-old squeeze at the end of their first year but that did not stop his entire family, namely Bill, from teasing him every so often about it.
Of course, Hermione seems to have gotten over Charlie herself which for some unknown reason, greatly annoyed him. He found himself daydreaming over the summer why so many Gryffindor girls pranced behind Charlie as he walked down the halls of Hogwarts the previous year, yet Hermione seemed to now be immune to his charms, not that Charlie went out of his way to charm Hermione; she was still a bossy know-it-all.
"You don't like Hermione, you say? Then what is that far-away look you get whenever you think no one is paying you any attention?" Bill asked, now amused at his brother's mortification.
"That 'far-away' look I get is me remembering when I snogged Hannah!" Charlie's face morphed into a deep red. He was, after all, telling his brother the truth. The way Hannah, a pretty fourth-year Hufflepuff, had ran her head over Charlie's short, red hair made his stomach tingle trying to remember the contact.
"Whatever you say, Charlie. How about you and I make a bet? Tomorrow, when we go into Diagon Alley, if you turn as red as you are right now when you see Hermione, you have to take her on a date to Hogesmade?"
"What?! Come on Bill? What is your fascination with me and Hermione?" Charlie asked.
"I like to think that I am helping my younger brother find his soul mate," laughed Bill.
Shaking his head, Charlie, muttering to himself about helping Bill find his soul mate in a one-eyed troll, walked out of Bill's room and into his own and went to sleep.
The next morning was chaotic in the Weasley household. Fred and George had snuck out of the house early in the morning and went into the Weasley garden and grabbed two handfuls of garden gnomes and let them loose in Ron's bedroom.
Bill and Charlie thundered down the stairs as Molly Weasley's voice seem to shake the entire Burrow as she yelled, "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! YOU DO NOT BRING THOSE THINGS INTO THE HOUSE!"
Their father sat at the head of the table, reading the Daily Prophet, while Percy had a sour look in his face which was caused by their mother's rambunctious yelling. A few minutes later, their mother entered the kitchen, red-faced and bad-tempered, followed by Fred and George, and lastly followed by Ron, whose hair seemed as if it was pulled in different directions while his pajamas were ripped in random places. Every other minute, Molly scowled at Fred and George for their pre-breakfast antics.
After the Weasley's had finished their breakfast, they walked up the lane and past the fence that led back to the Burrow. Arthur waved his wand and a three-decker purple bus appeared with a whopping BANG!
The Knight Bus's conductor, a young bloke who went with the name Ryan, led them to their seats after Arthur told them they would be traveling to the Leaky Cauldron in London.
With another BANG, the Knight Bus took off, toppling over Bill, Charlie, and Ron in the process. Fred and George had their heads together which caused Molly to shoot them fevering glances every other second. Arthur firmly held on to his only daughter, Ginny, as this was her and Ron's first time on the Knight Bus.
As Ryan came around to take breakfast orders, Fred ordered a small glass of orange juice for two sickles.
"What do you need a glass of orange juice for? We just finished breakfast!" Bill exclaimed to the twins who were sitting in the seats in front of him and Charlie.
"Well, we developed this new exploding powder –," started George.
"And we want to test it out before we start our first year at Hogwarts –," stated Fred.
"We believe we can explode drinks all over the Great Hall -," said George.
"Especially over at the Slytherin table," finished Fred, with an evil glint in his eyes.
Bill shook his head, laughed, and asked, "Why would you do something like that?"
The twins looked at each other, then back at Bill, and replied in unison, "Why wouldn't we do something like that?"
Ryan came back over and gave Fred his glass of orange juice. Just as George took out a small bag filled with a bright red powder, Molly screeched, "What do you think you are doing?!"
With a loud BANG, the Knight Bus stopped suddenly. As Fred was unprepared for his mother's unexpected outburst, his grip on his glass of orange juice slackened and as the bus abruptly stopped, his glass of orange juice flew out of his hand, soared forwards, and landed on an elderly lady just as she was stepping off of the bus.
Covered in orange juice, the elderly lady yelled, "How dare?! One who threatens me with a glass of orange juice?! I tell you now, I will not let any hooligan, Muggle born or not, douse me in orange juice! Who done it? I am Madam Dupree, a pureblood witch and I am going to hex off any part -,"
"Take it away, Ernie," yelled Ryan, interrupting Madam Dupree and with another BANG, the bus took off again.
As the bus thundered down the streets of London, Molly was screeching, "YOU BLITHERING IDIOTS! HOW DARE YOU TOSS YOUR GLASS OF ORANGE JUICE ON AN UNEXPECTED AND INNOCENT MADAM?!"
"Honestly mum, unexpected, yes, but innocent -," started Fred.
"WHAT HAS SHE EVER DONE TO YOU? OF COURSE SHE WAS INNOCENT! AND NOW, YOU TWO HAVE COMPLETELY RUINED HER MORNING!"
Charlie never thought he would ever be so grateful to get off of the bus. Their mother had continued her angry tirade of yelling at Fred and George for the rest of the ride.
Molly huffed as their family made their way into Diagon Alley. Charlie breathed a contented sigh as he set his eyes upon Diagon Alley. All of the shops which displayed everything from broomsticks to owls, streets lined with families bustling about shopping for their children's school supplies, fellow peers that were in Charlie's year eating ice cream made Charlie feel giddy inside.
As Bill and Charlie pulled away from their family to get some shopping done on their own, their mother stated she would not let Fred and George out of her sight for the rest of the day, the pair headed to Flourish and Blotts after their family had made their way from Gringott's Bank.
Inside, Bill and Charlie handed their booklist wordlessly to the store owner and he handed them their schools books.
As Bill asked Charlie if he would like to stop and get a scoop of ice cream, Charlie, looked back at Bill and nodded, ran into someone and toppled over, his books flying out of his hands.
Charlie hurriedly stood up and looked over at a girl with bushy hair who was also trying to get back on her feet. Charlie looked into the chocolate eyes of Hermione Granger and turned a deep shade of red.
Noticing the color of Charlie's face, Bill pointed, laughed, and said, "You lose, little brother!" Chuckling, Bill hurried away from the pair as Charlie shot him a death glare at his fading back.
"Lose? What did you lose, Charlie?" Hermione asked, innocently.
"Nothing," mumbled Charlie, as he picked up his stack of books and Hermione picked up her small beaded bag she had dropped.
"I see you have got all of your books," exclaimed Hermione.
"Yeah, it seems that way, doesn't it," replied Charlie, whose face was still red.
"I've been made prefect!" Hermione suddenly burst out. It was clear that Hermione had been itching to tell Charlie her news.
"What? Oh, I mean, congratulations, Hermione." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should tell Hermione he had also been made prefect.
To his horror, his whole family was now rambling up the streets towards the pair, led by Bill who had a gigantic smile pressed upon his face.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, how nice to see you here today!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Oh, hello, Hermione dear! Have a wonderful summer, did you?" Molly asked.
Hermione eagerly nodded her head as Arthur went and spoke with Hermione's parents (she knew he was fascinated by Muggles). "I was just telling Charlie that I've been made prefect!"
"How wonderful! I am sure you and Charlie will get along just fine," Molly replied.
"What?" Confusion grew over Hermione's face.
"Did our dear Charlie not tell you?" Bill asked, placing his arm on Charlie's shoulders. His grin grew wide as he continued, "Charlie has also been made prefect!"
Hermione looked from Bill to Charlie to see if either one had been joking, and when she realized they hadn't, she exclaimed, "Oh Charlie!" Hermione flung her arms over Charlie's shoulders, which caused Charlie to drop his books again. As Hermione pulled away from Charlie, her cheeks flared a bright shade of pink.
"Sorry," Hermione mumbled.
"No, it's okay," Charlie mumbled back, the tips of his ears turning a bright red as Bill watched their interaction with glee.
"Well, I guess I'll see you on the train tomorrow?" Hermione asked.
"What? Oh year, sure. See you then." Charlie half-waved as Hermione walked past him into Flourish and Blotts.
"Well, that was rather awkward," Fred exclaimed.
"Oh, not awkward, little brother, just two young people hopelessly in love," Bill replied.
"In love? What do you mean in love?" Their mother looked from Charlie to Bill.
Bill shrugged his shoulders and Charlie scowled at him behind their mother's back.