2.
Moments later, the fireplace flashed green and three bodies forced themselves past the grate and onto the shag-pile rug in front of the brickwork. The family looked down, and Arthur and Charlie got to their feet, also looking down at the heap of ginger locks that was sprawled out onto the carpet.
"What the bloody hell was that?" She muffled into the carpet, spitting hairs and struggling to get up.
"What kind of a name is Amy Pond?" Fred exclaimed, sitting back in his chair and watching Amy rise from the floor.
She looked to him, unimpressed, "I can't call you a massive ginge can I? Because I'm a ginger too, but still you're a massive ginge – Amy Pond is an awesome name…" She scoffed.
"Yeah but it's not your real name," Arthur patted her on the shoulder and walked through to the kitchen.
"Don't scare the poor girl just yet!" Molly cried.
"Would you like a drink, Amy?" Charlie asked.
"Yes please, I'm dying for a cuppa," Amy sighed, "Milk, two sugars, but proper sugar, none of that Splenda rubbish…"
The Weasleys looked at her in dumbfounded confusion.
"What did you just say?" Arthur asked, poking his head around the door.
"Sorry if I offended you, if you like Splenda then that's cool but let me warn you, it's not real sugar…"
"I think you're a bit confused, love," Fred chuckled breathlessly.
"Shut it, ginge, who doesn't love tea?"
"T?" Arthur asked, making the letter T from his hands, "What's T?"
Amy looked around the room, "You're all a bit weird aren't you?"
"We need to remember Amy's a Muggle," Charlie piped in.
"What's a Muggle?" Amy asked.
"I think we should start from the very beginning," Molly interjected, ushering Amy to have her seat in the armchair.
"I'll get some Butterbeer," Arthur called.
"Beer?" Amy exclaimed, "Mum says I'm not allowed Beer, but when did I ever listen to her anyway? What's Butterbeer? Is it alcoholic?"
"I'm thinking Harry should've been here," Ginny muttered towards her mother, who for once looked speechless.
"I think you're right," She replied hazily.
"Who's Harry?" Amy asked, looking eager.
"I think we should pause the questions just for a moment," Charlie said, getting up, "Because there are going to be a hell of a lot of them,"
Molly switched places with Charlie who knelt down beside Amy.
"So, Amy – how much did your parents tell you?" He asked tentatively.
"They told me I was adopted, and they said that they wanted to send me to my only known blood relatives to explain to me a bit about where I came from," Amy nodded.
"Right," Charlie nodded, "I've been gathering some information about you, and you may or may not know that you were actually born Amelia,"
"Yeah I knew that, I changed it to Amy. Amelia is too… fairy tale," Her eyes glazed over and the Weasleys got the feeling it was for an entirely different reason.
"Well," Charlie continued, "You were christened Amelia Molly Prewett at birth, your father was Fabian Prewett, my mother is Molly and she is your Aunt, and we are your cousins. There are more of us; it's a long story…" Charlie chuckled, giving a fleeting glance to and from Molly.
"As you can probably guess, Amy, we're not quite normal, but there are reasons why that is…"
"Please tell me you're not going to throw me into the cellar and kill me," Amy stifled a giggle but the Weasleys looked horrified, especially Molly.
"Amy we would never!"
"No, no I mean, it's a joke!" Amy tried to explain but it was clear that Molly had been quite offended.
"Mum, do you mind if we skip this bit?" Fred asked, thumbing his way to the door, "Since we know all about us,"
"Yes, you lot can change the sheets in Bill's room," Molly replied.
"Where am I staying then?" Charlie asked, but suddenly knew and rapidly replied with a hurried mutter and hung his head.
Fred, George and Ginny left the room, just as Arthur entered with a tray of Butterbeers. They took theirs and plodded upstairs to Bill's old bedroom.
"What was all that about?" Fred asked.
"Oh come on, Fred, you know Mum didn't want to say "Percy's old room" did she? It's just confirming that he's actually gone,"
"Pathetic big head," George muttered under his breath, pulling the spare sheets out from the bottom drawer.
"Can't quite believe we've got a cousin," Ginny mumbled as she pulled the old sheets off.
"It's weird isn't it, and all this time we never knew our Uncles and now we've got a living breathing version," Fred replied.
"It's strange to think how everything would have been different if she hadn't been a Squib though…" George pondered.
"I feel so sorry for her," Ginny suddenly stopped and put her hands to her face, "Everything she knows is going to be turned upside down within a matter of minutes,"
"I know," Fred echoed and they all stopped to think for a moment, "It's not like she can participate in our world either, she's a Squib,"
"She's going to feel completely in limbo between two worlds, the one she was born in and the one she was raised in," George continued.
"We need Harry," Ginny said again, "He would be able to explain this to her perfectly, instead of Dad asking her questions every five minutes like what the function of a washing machine is,"
"What is the function of a washing machine?" Fred asked George in hushed tones.
"Another question for another time, Freddie," George patted him on the back.
Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream that ricocheted throughout the whole house that made everyone's toenails curl and skin crawl. Ginny had never been more alarmed as she looked to Fred and George with a beat before darting down the stairs, almost falling down them, taking them two at a time and bursting through the door to the lounge.
"What happen?" Fred asked, his heart beating so fast it was almost bursting out of his chest.
Amy was standing clutching the fireplace screaming at the top of her lungs. Arthur stood in front of her with his wand out looking incredibly shocked.
"What did you do?" George asked over Amy's screams.
"I only thought I'd show her a bit of magic!"
"Oh no!"
"Dad!"
"Amy, Amy!" Fred called over her, "Amy!"
Amy stopped screaming for a moment as Fred made his way towards her.
"Dad put your wand down," Fred told him, his eyes still on Amy, "Everyone wands on the floor,"
"What the hell is that?" Amy asked, her voice wavering with panic as Fred put his wand on the floor, "What the BLOODY HELL is that?"
"It's a wand, Amy, a magic wand," Fred told her honestly, "All out wands are on the floor, we're not going to hurt you,"
"He just got his thingy out and started waving it about!" Fred couldn't help but smirk, "And then something moved and I WANT TO WAKE UP AND THIS BE A DREAM!"
"Amy, it's not a dream!" Fred replied, "Amy this is real, this is happening," He gripped her shoulders and started to signal for her to breathe in time with him.
Slowly she relaxed, but was obviously still scared, her eyes wide with fear as Fred guided her to the chair again.
"We're going to talk about this, okay?" He told her, "No magic,"
She nodded meekly, "What are you?"
Fred didn't quite know how best to phrase it, "We're wizards, Amy,"
Amy said nothing, but sat still and silent.
"Charlie, I think it's best if you explain?" Fred said getting up and Charlie took his place.
"Amy," He took her hand, "We don't want to scare you. Dad was only trying to show you some magic because it's actually really hard to explain. We're wizards, like Fred said, and we do magic. We're like Muggles… I mean – normal people, but we live in a different world. We still live in England, but it's not the same as England as you know it,"
"I live in Leadworth," Amy said weakly.
"There are wizards in Leadworth, I bet," Charlie smiled, "Your mother and father were both wizards… but you're not…"
"Why aren't I a wizard?" Amy asked.
"Sometimes wizarding families can bear a child that doesn't have any magical abilities, and there are some families who are… normal that bear children who do. Muggle is our word for someone who is normal like you, so if someone was a normal born wizard we would call them Muggle born,"
"So what's your name for someone like me?"
"It's not a very nice word…" Charlie warned, "You're a squib,"
"Right," Amy said after a beat, "So I was born into a wizard family but didn't have any powers,"
"Right," Charlie nodded, "I know that's really hard to take right now and I'm not really sure how you're feeling about that…"
Amy hung her head, obviously deep in thought.
"Amy, I'm sorry for scaring you," Arthur said softly, kneeling down next to Charlie, "We'd love for you to stay with us a little while and we'd love to get to know you,"
"I know it seems really hard for you to believe," Molly interjected also, "But we have a family tree, and you're on it,"
Amy suddenly looked up, "Where?"
Arthur left the room and returned with a framed plaque. It was very large canvas that had hundreds of painted lines and names on them. Arthur sat on the arm of the chair and sat the canvas on Amy's lap.
"There you are," He pointed and sure enough, beneath Fabian was Amelia Molly in beautiful swirling letters.
Amy clapped her hand over her mouth; she hadn't expected herself to be this emotional.
"It's been a long day," Molly nodded, stroking Amy's long red hair, "I think it's bedtime,"
"I agree," Arthur nodded.
"Ginny will show you where you're sleeping, won't you dear?" Molly looked hopefully towards her daughter.
"Yeah," Ginny nodded with a gulp and smiled, leading the way for Amy to follow.
It was an awkward silent walk as they climbed the stairs of The Burrow towards Bill's room and Ginny pushed open the door with a loud creak.
"This is my older brother Bill's room, he's not here,"
"How many are you?" Amy asked, looking around the room.
"I'm one of seven," Ginny replied, and chuckled when Amy's eyes turned wide.
"Seven!" She exclaimed.
"Bill's the oldest, followed by Charlie who was downstairs, then Percy – but we don't talk about him, his name is mud right now. Then there's Fred and George, the twins, then Ron who is… away at the moment and then there's me,"
"The only girl?"
"Yep, just me," Ginny smiled, "How about you?"
"I never had brothers or sisters," Amy replied, looking confused, as if she was trying to remember.
"Well you're in for a treat," Ginny shrugged, walking towards the door as Amy sat on the edge of the bed, "Amy Pond… Amy Pond," She said over and over, curling her lips around the P, "You know, you were right, Amy Pond is a great name…" She smiled, Amy mirroring it, as she closed the door behind her.