Chapter Two; The Argument
It was one of the biggest birthdays in Richie Weasley's life. Ron and Hermione found it very interesting that he was born thirty days before his uncle Harry. Richie had been named after one of their friends (Rickie) and was the only Weasley who didn't have ginger hair apart from his younger sister Mia. He had brown hair and brown eyes just like his mother and freckles (his mother always told him what cute little dimples he had as well) on his cheeks.
There was one thing that Richie wanted for his birthday more than anything else. When he woke up he smelled flapjacks cooking inside the kitchen and found his brother and sisters already at the table waiting to be served. "Good morning Richie," his mother began as she smiled warmly at him. "how do you sleep?" she asked him.
"Great! I had a wonderful dream about getting sorted into Gryffindor at Hogwarts and_" he began before he took a deep breath. "getting a brand new puppy for my birthday." He finished.
"Oh come on Richie, we talked about this!" his mother exclaimed. "We just don't have the time and place for a puppy, we're always gone! I mean I know how much you want one but I'm afraid it just can't happen, it's impossible to leave a puppy all alone by himself without someone constantly being there to potty train him." She said.
"And make sure that he doesn't destroy the house." His father pointed out.
"I know, that's why I was thinking that I could take him to Hogwarts with me." He said.
"You can't take a dog, they're not allowed." His father told him.
"Technically speaking neither are rats but that didn't stop you." He pointed out as he sat down in-between Sheela and Chase waiting to be served breakfast.
"He has a point." Chase said.
"Yeah but that's because a rat can take itself to the bathroom and a dog, especially a puppy can't. You're going to Hogwarts to focus on your magical education, not to constantly worry about taking care of a puppy." His father told him.
"I'm sorry Richie but your father's right. When we go to Diagon Alley we'll get you an owl if you want one, but no puppy." His mother said.
"Okay,.." Richie said as he breathed out a heavy and disappointed sigh and hung his head.
"Can I have an owl Mum? Jeremy has his own and it'll be easier to stay in touch with him over the holidays if I have one." Sheela said.
"Jeremy? Who the bloody hell is Jeremy!?"Her father exclaimed as the plate of flapjacks magically levitated over onto the table and started serving itself while Ron and Hermione took their spots at the table with their children.
"Jeremy is Sheela's boyfriend, where have you been?" Hermione asked him.
"What do you mean he's her boyfriend!? I've never even seen him before in my life and I'm the headmaster!" he shouted.
"That's because she didn't want you to know." Hermione told him before flashing him a cold and angry glare.
"Oh come on Dad! Jeremy's a really nice guy and he loves me and I love him!" Sheela cried.
"That's ridiculous! You're not even sixteen yet!" Ron snapped.
"Take it easy and calm down Ron, Sheela is growing up and she's allowed to date anyone she wants. It's not up to you to decide it for her." Hermione told him.
"No fifteen year old daughter of mine is going to be dating anybody!" he exclaimed. "Especially behind my back! I forbid you two to ever see each other again!" he yelled when suddenly Sheela shot up to her feet.
"But Dad you can't!" she protested.
"I'm sorry but I just did. Those are the rules of the house!" he scolded as he pointed an angry finger at her. "And I want you to go to your room for the rest of the day, do you hear me? You're not allowed to come downstairs when all of Richie's party guests start showing up." He told her sternly.
"But Dad that's unfair!" she wailed.
"No but's, now go to your room." He told her with a shake of his head before pointing towards the staircase.
"But_" she began again.
"Go!" he hollered on the top of his lungs before he watched her rush towards the staircase in tears. They heard her running up them before a few moments later she slammed her bedroom door."
"Ron, I think that that was really uncalled for." Hermione told him.
"I know, Sheela was always such a sweet girl and rule follower. I've got to say that I'm really shocked." He said but Hermione narrowed her eyebrows and shot another angry glare at him.
"I'm not talking about Sheela!" she snapped before she shot up from the table.
"I wonder what's suddenly gotten into her." Ron said as he turned his head and watched her leave the room.
….
Harry, Ginny, and Luna arrived at the front door of the Weasley's house with their children. Hermione answered the door after Harry had rang the doorbell. "Hullo guys, come on in." she said as she held the door open and allowed them to step inside. "Are you alright?" Harry questioned her noticing that she had seemed rather distracted.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that Ron and I had a fight. But I don't want to worry about that right now and ruin Richie's birthday party." She explained as everyone laid down their presents.
"Where's Sheela?" Lilly asked looking around at the other children playing in the living room with their toys while Ron decorated the room.
"Oh I'm afraid that she's not going to be here today. She isn't feeling to well." Hermione told her.
"Yeah, because she's pissed off at me about the fact that I told her she couldn't. Although she's the one who got a boyfriend and didn't tell me about it because she knew that she'd get in trouble." Ron said as Harry avoided eye contact with him hoping that he wouldn't notice it. "What's the matter with you Harry?" Ron asked him.
"Nothing, I'm fine." He answered quietly as Hermione quickly turned to look at him.
"So Harry," she began realizing something was wrong and decided to change the subject. "do you know if whether or not that The Dragons can make it?" she asked him.
"No, I haven't heard anything." He told her when all of a sudden Ginny turned to look at him.
"I'll be right back." She whispered before she snuck up the stairs behind Ron's back and knocked on Sheela's bedroom door. "Sheela, it's Aunt Ginny." She began. "Can I come in sweetheart?" she asked her but when she didn't hear her give any answer she slowly pushed it open and saw her niece lying on top of her bed and sobbing inside her pillow.
Ginny slowly walked over to her and sat on the foot of her bed. "Sheela? Are you alright?" she questioned her softly before leaning over and bending down while starting to rub her back.
"No, it isn't fair! My father is always so mean to me! He doesn't care about me at all or my feelings!" she sobbed.
"Honey look, I know that it doesn't seem like it, but your father loves you very much. He's just having a hard time letting go of you." Ginny explained.
"But he told me that I'm not allowed to see Jeremy again!" she exclaimed.
"I know, he can act like a pretty selfish git sometimes. He told me the same thing when I first started going out with your uncle Harry. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't love you, he'll eventually learn to accept the fact that you're growing up and that there isn't anything he can do about it." She assured her niece before bending down to plant a kiss on her cheek before getting up and walking out the door and shutting it behind her.
"Yeah, except ground me for life." Sheela said to herself before breathing a heavy sad sigh. Even though she knew that she shouldn't, she grabbed her wand and started packing her clothes inside a suitcase, levitating them out of the drawers with the wingardium leviosa spell. The trace couldn't detect her anyway and she wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts this year so she really wasn't too concerned about her use of underage magic. She scribbled a note for her parents before she cracked the window open and escaped out of it.