Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything Harry Potter related!
We landed in the Weasley's overgrown front garden. I was still clutching Bill's arm.
"Ok, you can loosen the death grip there, love," said Bill, wrenching his arm out of my grasp.
"Oops, sorry," I said, quickly detaching myself from him. I looked around the large, cluttered lawn. There were two gnomes having a fist fight in the middle, while several others were pulling out the begonias from the small flowerbed.
"No! You stop it now!" cried Mrs. Weasley, running out of the kitchen door, waving a rag at them. They saw her coming and quickly ran away, jumping headfirst into their gnome holes. I couldn't help by but let out a giggle. Mrs. Weasley looked up and saw us standing there.
"Ava! You're here!" she cried, rushing over to give me a tight hug. After a few moments, Mrs. Weasley pulled away from the embrace and held me at arms length.
"You're looking a bit peaky. Have you been eating properly?" she asked me sternly.
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley! Don't worry," I promised, with a grin. I thought it was sweet (and a little bit annoying) how concerned Mrs. Weasley was about all her kids' friends.
"Alright, dear. Well, let's get back inside. Ron is waiting to say hello," she told he. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and levitated my trunk into the house.
"Oh, just give me one moment," I said. They all looked at me in confusion as I jogged over to the garden, where the gnomes had destroyed the flowers. I concentrated for just a moments, before all the flowers were regrown.
"Thank you, dear," she said in appreciation. I smiled and followed her into the house. As soon as I stepped inside I was greeted by the smell of freshly baking bread. I glanced around the kitchen to see that it was just as messy and disorganized as it always was – just as I liked it. I continued into the living room to see that it was empty. Hmm... where was that Ronald? I could hear the other Weasleys talking in the kitchen so I decided to go back and catch up.
"Yes mum. We're being careful," sighed one of the twins. I stopped short, and stood quietly outside of the entrance of the kitchen.
"Good, because things are looking bad. Worse than we thought," said Mrs. Weasley, cryptically.
"Yeah, the Ministry is making it very difficult for anyone they think is associated with Dumbledore. Dad and Percy have both had inquiries at work, and they did a search of the house," said Bill.
"Yeah, we heard," said the other twin.
"So, please be very careful about what you do and say. The Ministry is looking for any excuse to arrest us. If you have any dangerous products, you should get rid of them immediately," she told them.
"Well, none of our products are dangerous. We've tested everything out," said a twin.
"I'm just warning you," she said, seriously.
"Ava!" I heard from behind me. I jumped violently and turned around to see Ron coming down the stairs.
"Ron!" I exclaimed. I rushed over to give him a hug.
"What were you doing?" he asked as he pulled out of the hug a few seconds later.
"Well... I was..." I trailed off, not sure whether Ron would be upset about me eavesdropping on his family.
"Listening in to their conversation?" he smirked.
"Yeah. Sorry. I just feel like it's the only way to find out anything nowadays," I sighed. I hadn't been told anything since leaving school a month ago. I had been reading the Daily Prophet, but with the Ministry so anti-Dumbledore at the moment, I knew they were leaving things out.
"Don't apologize. Fred and George gave me a few extendable ears so that I could find out more information, so long as I passed it on to them," he explained, with a grin.
"Oh, alright. Wait? Why do Fred and George need you to spy? Can't they just do it themselves?" I asked.
"Nah, they're living in the flat above their joke shop, so they've passed on the torch," he said, proudly.
"Of course, Ron. But they're of age now. Why can't they just ask whatever they want? I mean, they're part of the Order now, right?" I asked.
"No, they're not. Mum is still against them being in it. They've been fighting about it for months now. They even talked to Dumbledore about it. He said it was fine if they wanted to join, but Mum still refuses to tell me anything... and they don't really see any of the other Order members. Business has been booming for them, so they're quite busy," he explained.
"Ah, I get it. I don't understand why she's being this protective though. I mean, Bill and Charlie are in the Order," I wondered out loud.
"Yeah, I know. I think Mum is having trouble acknowledging that Fred and George are actually adults now," he shrugged.
"What does your dad think?" I questioned.
"I think he would be fine with the twins joining, but he agrees with Mum. He's been really busy at work these days, because he got a promotion, so I don't think he wants to spend the small amount of time in the house fighting with my mum," said Ron.
"That's very insightful of you, Ron," I said in surprise.
"I have my moments," he pouted. I leaned over and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek, which lead to a smile appearing on his face.
"Ava, there you are!" said Mrs. Weasley, coming into the living room, followed by the boys.
"Yeah, just saying hi to Ron," I said.
"Well, we just wanted to say goodbye. We must get back to the store," said George.
"Oh," I said in disappointment. I had always gotten along well with Fred and George, and it was going to be odd not having them in the house.
"We'll come by tomorrow, hopefully," said Fred.
"I expect you here early," I said, sternly, sounding a little bit like Mrs. Weasley. They grinned and gave me tight hugs before apparating away.
"Ron, can you help Ava take her trunk upstairs? Bill and I have some business to which we must attend," she said.
"Sure, Mum," he said as she turned around and went to the kitchen. We followed her, and picked up my enormous trunk. We struggled out of the room. As soon as we were out, Ron put down the handle he was holding, causing me to almost fall over.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"Shh," he said, pointing to the door. He had pulled an extendable ear and had placed it near the door. I huddled next to him and listened.
"Dumbledore says he is doing alright, but I can't help but wonder what it's doing to the poor boy," said Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, he chose to do this, so he has to deal with the consequences," said Bill.
"I know that, but the boy is only a child! He's barely older than Fred and George," she said, with a sigh. My breath caught in my throat. They were talking about Ben.
"Mum, we see him nearly several times a week at the meetings, and Dad sees him everyday at work. He's doing as well as we could hope at this point," said Bill, rationally. He had always been wise.
"Yes, dear. I know you're right. I just worry about him. And I worry about Ava too. The girl had to go through so much last year. I'm sure she must be suffering from some kind of distress about the whole thing," she sighed.
"Ava's a tough girl. She know's how to deal with it," Bill said, supportively. I knew I had always liked him.
"But she's only a child! It's bad enough that Dumbledore is so nonchalant about giving Harry information! But actually taking Ava into battle is unacceptable!" she hissed.
"He took Ava into battle, yes. But she managed to get everyone out of there without a scratch. Have some more faith in her," suggested Bill. I felt my cheeks burn slightly at Bill's complementary words.
"You're right, Bill. Are you doing to stay for lunch?" she asked.
"No, I need to get back to work! They won't like me taking such a long lunch break," he said.
"Alright, dear. Come back tomorrow, with Fleur, if you want. Hopefully the twins can also come for lunch," she said.
"I'll try," he said. He said goodbye and I heard a popping sound, indicating that he had apparated away. We heard footsteps coming from the kitchen as Mrs. Weasley started walking to the living room. Ron hurriedly stuffed the extendable ear into his pocket. We grabbed the handles of the trunk and rushed up the stairs.
We stopped at the first landing and knocked at Ginny's bedroom door. A few moments later, she threw it opened.
"You're finally here!" She cried, giving me a hug.
"Yeah, I'm here! Hey Gin," I said.
"Mum set up a cot for you here," she said, motioning to the two tiny bed that was set up beside hers.
"Great! So I take it Hermione and Harry aren't here yet?" I asked.
"No, not yet. Apparently Dumbledore is going to pick Harry up from the Dursley's himself. Hermione is getting her in about a week," said Ron.
"Damn, that means I'm stuck with you two for a whole week!" I sighed dramatically.
"Shut up!" said Ron, elbowing me playfully. I chuckled.
"Alright, come upstairs once you've gotten settled," he said, heading up to his room. Ginny helped me to drag my trunk the last few steps into her room. I decided to save the unpacking for later. Instead, I sat on my bed and chatted with Ginny for a bit. She started telling me about her new relationship with Dean Thomas.
"So, how do your darling brothers feel about this?" I asked, knowing how protective the Weasley brothers were about their little sister.
"They're... not pleased. Ron's apparently going to have a 'talk' with Dean once we're back," she shuddered.
"No way. Don't worry, I'll speak to him for you," I promised.
"Thank you!" she said gratefully. We spent the next hour just gossiping about girly things. Finally, she decided that she had to finish off a letter to Dean, so I went upstairs to Ron's room. We spent the rest of the day playing chess in his room. Overall, it had been a nice, relaxing day!
If only I had known how quickly things would change...
Woo hoo! Chapter 2 is out! Thanks for reading! A new chapter will be up tomorrow, most likely! Keep the suggestions coming if you have them! They're really helpful! Thanks! :D