At about 4:20 I had apparated to Diagon Alley from my apartment and made the slow walk down the lane toward Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I knew I was about five minutes early by the time I neared the shop, seeing the closed sign up. I lingered near the entrance, not sure if I should go in, or wait a few more minutes so I wouldn't be too early. I could see one of the twins, Fred, at the till, probably counting the day's earnings.

Being the awkward, creepy person that I am, I kept watching until he looked up and made eye contact with me. He looked a bit perplexed, and I was frozen for a moment, unsure what to do. Sucking in a deep breath, I approached the front door and opened it.

"We're closed." Fred told me, like I was stupid.

"I, uh, yeah I know. I'm, well…I'm supposed to meet George here." I stuttered, my face heating up in a blush worthy of making a tomato jealous.

Fred's face lit up, a huge grin slowly sliding across his cheeks.

"Oh, you must be my twin's fated bride. I'm sorry you didn't get the best looking Weasley, but you could've done a lot worse."

I fought a grin. No surprise there, Fred always knew how to lighten the mood.

"Fred, who are you-" George walked out from one of the isles, a charmed broom sweeping along behind him. He stopped when he saw me standing just inside the door. "Oh."

I shifted my feet awkwardly. "I know I'm a bit early. I can wait outside if you want." I offered, already backing toward the door.

"Don't be silly." Fred cut in, "We're practically done here, I just need to add up the last bit here, and we both need to change. It'll just be another ten-fifteen minutes."

I nodded. "Okay."

"You can have a seat or look around if you want." Fred offered, going back to counting the money. George mentioned changing and went into a back room. Feeling a bit too restless, and wanting to keep my mind occupied, I decided to look around.

As I roamed the isles, I spotted several familiar products that I'd seen in the corridors of Hogwarts several times over. But what really caught my eye was the boxes labeled Skiving Snackboxes. I smiled despite myself, taking one off the rack to look at.

"If you want to buy one you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow." I glanced up as George approached me, no longer in his magenta work robes, instead wearing a striped short-sleeved button-down. He wasn't smiling, but it wasn't an unfriendly look either, really.

"Um, I was just…reminiscing." I stuttered. George narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at me, clearly wanting me to elaborate, "My last couple years of school, kids were using these all the time to get out of class. It was rather entertaining to watch."

George's lip twitched up. "Good to know they're popular everywhere." I wasn't sure what he meant by that, so I simply placed the box back on the shelf and followed him back toward the counter. It was a few more minutes before Fred rejoined us, wearing a similar outfit to George. We walked outside, locking the shop up behind us, and then George took my hand and apparated.

As soon as we were outside a rather lopsided house, George released my hand like he'd been shocked. I followed the two up to the front door, which they entered without knocking and shouted together.

"We're home!"

"Fred! George!" a short, heavier woman with red hair hurried around the corner, quickly yanking both twins into a hug. They returned the tight embrace, each kissing her on separate cheeks. When they pulled away she saw me.

"Oh, you must be Misty. I'm Molly, their mum. It's so nice to meet you." she greeted me enthusiastically, pulling me into a crushing hug. I was shocked and barely had time to return the hug before she pulled back.

"Um, it's nice to meet you." I managed to say with a smile.

"Everyone's out in the back." she turned to address the twins, "Obviously, Charlie couldn't make it, but nearly everyone else is here, Ron just needs to arrive with his…future wife. Dinner should be ready in a couple hours."

Fred and George both nodded before turning toward what looked like the back door. I slowly followed them, unsure if I was supposed to or not. But when Fred held the door open for me and smiled, I figured I was correct in following.

The backyard was full of people, most of them redheads, which made sense since this was a Weasley family gathering.

Looking around, I recognized a few people. I saw Hermione talking with a girl with long, red hair, probably the youngest Weasley child Ginny. Near them I recognized Harry Potter talking to an older man with thinning red hair, a young man with long, red hair tied in a ponytail with a beautiful woman with silvery-blonde hair. And sitting on a bench in the garden was another redhead with glasses sitting with a witch with dark brown hair.

The twins both started moving towards the group with Harry, and I started following when Hermione looked up and caught my eye. Her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide.

"Misty?" she asked as we came closer to her, and she started walking up to us with Ginny right behind her.

George and Fred looked between the two of us for a moment. "You two know each other?" George asked, though I'm not sure if he was talking to me or Hermione.

"Yeah, we work together." Hermione answered before looking back at me with wide eyes. "Were you paired up with one of the Weasley's?" she asked in shock.

I nodded shyly, crossing my arms over my stomach.

"Why didn't you mention that when I told you who I was paired with?" she asked curiously. I shrugged awkwardly.

Thankfully, I think Ginny noticed my discomfort. She stepped around Hermione and held her hand out to me. "Hi, I'm Ginny Weasley. Their younger sister." she introduced herself with a nod toward the twins.

I smiled gratefully, shaking her hand. "I'm Misty Ripley. It's nice to meet you."

"We're gonna catch up with Bill and his Phlegm. You two can introduce Forge's new girl to everyone." Fred winked with a smirk before continuing off toward where Harry was talking with some others. George caught up to him and smacked him in the shoulder.

Ignoring Fred's new nickname for me, and George's reaction to it, I turned to the other two girls.

"'Phlegm'?" I asked in confusion.

Ginny scooted closer to me and pointed at the blonde who was clinging to the long-haired redhead. "That over there is Fleur, my brother Bill's wife. They've been married for about two years now. I'm not a big fan of her, personally, but she's earned some respect from me after she stuck with Bill even after he was attacked by a werewolf."

I nodded, getting a glimpse of Fleur's face when she turned to acknowledge the twins when they reached the group. I remember her from when she was a Triwizard champion. She'd earned my respect being the only girl, even though she didn't do very well.

"So, who did you get paired with?" I finally asked, turning to Ginny.

A huge smile spread over her face, but Hermione cut her off.

"She's one of the lucky few who got paired with her boyfriend. Harry."

I nodded with a small smile. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

Over the next half an hour or so I was introduced to Mr. Weasley, Harry, Bill, Fleur, Percy, and Audrey. Ginny explained her older brother Charlie lives in Romania, so he doesn't make it home often, and they hadn't heard from him about whether or not he was exempt from the Marriage Law since he wasn't living in England.

I was talking with Ginny and Hermione, well, I was more listening while they talked, when they both looked over my shoulder at the same time and their mouths fell open.

I looked over my shoulder to see a grumpy-looking Ron Weasley, who I recognize from school, with his shoulders hunched and his hands in his jean pockets walking towards us. Next to him was a peculiar looking girl with long, blonde hair and what looked like…radish earrings? I could've sworn I've seen her somewhere, probably Hogwarts, but I couldn't quite remember who she was.

"Wow." I heard Ginny mutter behind me, "Luna Lovegood. Wasn't expecting that."

"Though it does explain why Ron was so grumpy about his partner." Hermione added quietly as the couple approached us.

"Hey." Ron grumbled, glancing at me before looking back at his ex and sister.

"Hey, Ron. Hi Luna." Hermione smiled at the girl, who smiled back, looking dazed.

"Hello Hermione."

"Hey Luna. It's good to see you again." Ginny greeted with an easy smile.

"It's good to see you, too, Ginny." Luna smiled back again.

"Hey Luna!"

I jumped and looked over my shoulder to see that the twins had come up behind us to greet Ron and his partner.

"Looking forward to being a Weasley?" Fred asked teasingly, smirking over at Ron, who glared at him.

"Well, Ron doesn't like me very much, but if I were forced to marry into any family, your family has always been rather nice to me and my father." Luna explained as if she were talking about the weather, not the fact that she was being forced to marry a guy who didn't like her. Ron's face turned bright red and he looked down at his shoes.

I stood quietly off to the side, perfectly content with not being spoken to, but Luna looked over and saw me.

"Oh, hello Misty. It's been a while since I've seen you." Luna smiled.

I blinked in shock as everyone's attention turned to me.

"You two know each other?" Ginny asked, looking between us.

Luna continued to smile as if in a daydream. "Well, she probably doesn't know me, no one really recognizes me unless they enjoy taking my things and laughing at the creatures they can't see, but I remember seeing her around school. Mostly in the library or the corridors."

Everyone stared at me in shock, their mouths hanging open. I crossed my arms over my stomach self-consciously, staring down at my feet.

"You…you went to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked quietly. I swallowed and nodded without looking up. "But…you're eighteen." I looked up at her, mildly confused at where she was going, but I nodded again. "So…we were in the same year, and I never met you?"

I shrugged and answered simply, "I kept to myself most the time." I glanced at George, who was staring at me with everyone else.

"Why didn't you mention going to Hogwarts when we met?" he asked curiously.

"I-I guess I figured you already knew, and it never came up or anything." I stuttered nervously.

"What house were you in?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Hufflepuff."

George snorted, ducking his head and coughing, a poor attempt to cover the fact that he had laughed. I tried to swallow past the lump that grew in my throat. How dare he laugh at the house I was sorted into? There's nothing wrong with being sorted into Hufflepuff.

Hermione must have noticed my discomfort, because she quickly asked Ron about how his work as an Auror was going, completely switching the spotlight off me. I was grateful, I needed to get a hold of myself and my emotions. I refused to let anyone, especially George, see me break down.

After a while, my legs started getting tired and the large tree near the pond further in the large backyard looked very comfy.

I quietly tapped Hermione on the shoulder, distracting her from where she'd been listening to Fred and George telling a story about a boy who accidentally activated a portable swamp in the store a few days ago.

"Hey, do think anyone would mind if I went to sit by that tree for a bit?" I asked quietly. She looked a bit concerned, but said it would be fine. So, I left the small group and walked around the tree so that people could see me if they looked, in case anyone wondered where I was, but I was mostly covered. Then I sat and leaned back against the trunk.

I'm not sure how long I sat there. I simply stared up at the sky, trying to keep my emotions under control.

(George's POV)

I watched her walk off while Fred answered questions people had about our story. I don't get it. Why her? Not to say she isn't pretty or anything, but we're nothing alike. She's quiet, reserved, antisocial, awkward; the opposite of me. I have so much more in common with Angelina than I do with Misty. Even her name is strange.

"She's surrounded by them."

I snapped my head over, and then down to see Luna Lovegood standing there. I never had a problem with Luna in school. In fact, Fred and I never picked on her like everyone else did. We didn't even prank her! We figured she got picked on enough without us there to possibly make it worse. Plus, she's one of Ginny's friends, and she was a member of Dumbledore's Army with the rest of us, so Fred and I saw her almost as a little sister.

"What was that?" I asked, unsure if I heard her right.

Luna looked from Misty to me and back again. "She's surrounded."

I looked back over at Misty, confused. She was staring up at the sky, all by herself. "Surrounded by what?" I asked curiously, figuring it was one of those creatures Luna always talks about, like Nargles.

"Umbra Depressio." she answered. My brow furrowed in confusion. That was a new one. "They aren't very common." she continued to explain in her light voice, "They usually hang around people who are very sad, but they usually are only seen alone or in pairs, depending on how sad you are. They feed off the sadness. But Misty is surrounded by several Umbra Depressios." she looked up at me, and for once she wasn't wearing her usual, dazed expression. She looked worried and sad. "You should be careful. Watch her. I've never seen that many around one person before. It means she's filled with sadness, and not much else. It's very worrisome."

I opened my mouth to say something, when my Mum called for dinner out the back door. Everyone started heading inside, and Fred nudged me with his elbow to follow. I looked back toward the tree, thinking the least I could do was call Misty to let her know we were going inside, but Hermione was already over there waiting for Misty to follow.

So, I turned and followed my twin inside.

(Misty's POV)

Entering the house behind Hermione, I saw that Molly had enlarged the kitchen so that a large 14-person table could fit in the center of the room covered in plates, glasses, and food. Being the last couple people in the house, there weren't many seats available for us to choose from. Everyone but us two and Molly were sitting down, and she was moving a couple more dishes to the table. Arthur was sitting at one head of the table, and down one side of the table starting at the seat next to him was Percy, Audrey, Fleur, Bill, Ron, and Luna. On the other side of the table, George sat across from Audrey, then Fred, an empty seat, Harry, and Ginny. The three empty seats were the one across from Percy and next to George, the one between Fred and Harry, and lastly the seat at the opposite end of the table from Arthur.

I assumed the seat at the end was for Molly, and Hermione was already taking the seat between Fred and Harry, so the only seat left was next to George.

Sucking in a deep breath, I took the empty seat, not looking up at anyone.

The dinner was loud and everyone was talking over each other, but somehow they made it work. It was the kind of family function I'd never experienced but always heard about. I couldn't help smiling just a bit listening to the different conversations around the table. And yet, I was on the outside looking in. I didn't fit in this family, and I never would no matter what the stupid Marriage Law said.

I looked up just as Percy turned from his father to look at me.

"So Misty, Hermione said you work in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures with her." I nodded, "What do you do?"

I swallowed the bite I'd taken before I spoke, "Um, nothing interesting, really. Just paperwork for cases and memos for the higher-ups."

Percy nodded as he cut a piece of his pork. "Are you as passionate about some of your work as Hermione is about House Elves?" he asked with a small smirk at Hermione, who was too busy talking to Harry to notice.

I allowed a small, amused smile to slip on my face. "I don't think anyone could be as passionate as Hermione." I joked lightly before I answered honestly, "And…not really. I just kinda…go in and do what I'm supposed to do, really." I shrugged as I took a bite of potatoes.

"Why would you do something if you don't enjoy what you do?" George entered the conversation, his face scrunched up in confusion as he looked down at me.

I bit my lip as I looked down at my plate. "Well…I like animals and creatures…I guess when I took the job I thought it'd be different. And it's a bit late to change jobs now."

"That's not true." Arthur cut in, "I've seen some of my coworkers much older than you switch jobs several times. You're never too old to change your mind."

I nodded, looking awkwardly down at my plate as I moved food around with my fork.

The rest of dinner went rather well. When someone talked to me I answered, and luckily it wasn't too awkward. Finally, when night had fallen I walked out the front door with Fred and George, walking down the front path to the Apparation point. We stopped and I awkwardly looked at George, who looked as awkward as I felt.

"Um, so you're probably just going to head home yourself, I'm guessing…or do you want to Apparate with us to our flat…" he asked uncomfortably.

"No." I answered quickly with a shake of my head. "It's fine. I'll just go home now." I answered, walking slowly backward as I spoke.

George nodded thoughtfully as he watched me. "Okay. Well…we'll be in touch?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. Sure." I nodded tensely. With a wave, I twisted on the spot and was gone.

OoOoOoO

And there's chapter 3! I hope everyone liked it. Also, I made up the Umbra Depressio creatures Luna was talking about. Review and let me know what you thought!