A/N: Essentially, what you recognize belongs to the goddess that is J.K. Rowling, and what you don't belongs to lil' ol' me.
This chapter extends from the beginning of the year to Christmas break, as the story won't pick up much until then.
Genevieve soon became immersed in her class work once again, managing to earn Gryffindor numerous points, as she was usually able to perform a spell with ease within the first five attempts. History of Magic, though dull, also became one of her best subjects (despite this, Binns still insisted her name was "Ms. Smith), as she found Bathilda Bagshot, author of A History of Magic, a much more interesting teacher than Professor Binns, the only ghost to teach at Hogwarts.
Every once in a while, she would assist Fred and George in their elaborate schemes, but, admittedly, the majority of her time was spent with Charlie, who was determined to get her to love animals enough that, at the end of the year, she would sign up for Care of Magical Creatures as one of her electives.
Over time, he indeed made enough progress to where she no longer had a fear of animals, though she was still apprehensive when it came to some of them, and a long ways away from liking dragons nearly as much as him.
Between classes, the twins' antics, Charlie and Hagrid's lessons, and hanging out with Katie, with whom she had become fast friends, Genevieve hardly noticed how fast time seemed to be passing. She supposed the old Muggle saying was correct: "Time flies when you're having fun", though, she supposed, it also flew when one was too busy to stop and wait for it to tick by.
•~0~•
When the sign up sheet was posted for students to stay over for the Christmas holidays, Fred and George approached her.
"We know you and your dad have your own traditions for the Christmas holidays," George began.
"But our parents, along with Ginny and ickle Ronniekins, are going to Egypt this year to visit our brother Bill," Fred continued.
Genevieve nodded. She knew that Bill, the oldest of the Weasley kids, worked in Egypt as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts, the wizard bank.
"And we were hoping to, you know, pull off a few shenanigans," Fred wiggled his eyebrows.
"But the thing is, we've been having a bit of trouble coming up with some new material," George explained. "After all, you can only fling Dung Bombs at Percy so many times."
"So . . . wanna stay?"
Genevieve had been on the verge of answering in the affirmative when the image of her bedridden grandfather popped into her mind. "Erm - no."
When their faces fell, she rushed to elaborate.
"See, I've got to - er - visit my grandfather. He lives kinda far away, and it's, um, been far too long since I've . . . seen him," she stammered. "Trust me, I'd love to stay, but, you know, he's f-family." And he's not doing too great, she added in her head.
Although they were slightly suspicious, the twins seemed to deem that an acceptable excuse and left it alone. But the damage had been done. Her last few days at Hogwarts were plagued by worry over her grandfather's health and guilt over not thinking about it sooner.
