WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE BURROW. THE WONDERFUL BURROW OF WEASLEY'S

"Say, Melody-" Fred said in a hopeful tone

"Since you're staying alone in your flat-"

"We were thinking-"

"That you could spend the rest of the summer-"

"With us!" Fred and George chorused.

"So you wouldn't be lonely." Fred added

"Uh… as you pointed out I've known you guys for about two hours."

"Yah but we like you. You've got…what do Americans say? Spunk?"

"You're inviting me to your house because I have SPUNK?"

"Well yah."

"I have to contact my mom. We have a schedule to keep. And she wouldn't like me breaking in or screwing it up."

"Your mom seems uptight." Fred interpreted.

"Yah. But she's a big business person. Like one of the most important people in America. And she really likes her schedule. Like REALLY likes her schedule." I grimaced a bit.

Fred looked at me in something resembling awe. "Well if you don't think your mum would let you, owl your dad first and maybe he can soften her up for you. I know that's what I would do."

I looked down at the ground at the mention of my father. Of course Fred didn't know and who could blame him. I couldn't tell him what happened to him. It would instantly kill any friendship I had with the twins. I scuffed my toes against the gravel and raised my head in hopes that Fred and George hadn't noticed my pause. Fixing a fake smile upon my face, I looked up at the twins. I really did have to look up since they towered above me. "I'll see what I can do."

"Yes!" George fist bumped Fred. But then George paused as though he had just thought about something. "What house did you get into."

"I got-"

The twins interrupted me "Because if you're a Slytherin, well let's just say that they're prats."

"Well don't worry because I'm a-" I tried to interject

"Or a Ravenclaw. Arrogant bastards."

I winced "I'm a…"

"If you're a Hufflepuff I guess that's okay," Fred exclaimed in a worried voice

Then George nudged him. "Well if you're going to be out friend you should be a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor."

I through my hands up into the air. "Well I guess we can't be friends because I'm a Ravenclaw!" I lied in hopes of getting under their skins.

"Really?" Fred looked at George "Because you seem like a Gryffindor."

"I know. I am a bloody Gryffindor! But your stupid prejudice about different houses is horrible! Aren't you all wizards? Can't you just get along? I mean really!" I ranted.

"Did you just use the word 'bloody'?"

"Yes. I can at least pretend to blend in!"

"Try a Scottish accent!" The twins urged

I furrowed my brow and executed an attempted Scottish accent. "'I'm not going far Jody. Just stay here. I'll come for you.'" The twins jumped.

"That was wicked Melody! I mean like perfect. Like you're a Metamorphmagus with your voice! And what was that line from?"

I looked them, slightly abashed "It's a line from one of my favorite magic American books. I never really thought about my voice having magic."

"Well technically all of our voice have magic because for some reason our voices trigger magic that is enhanced by a wand. That's why non-verbal magic is so difficult." George said

"Geez George. You sound like Percy!" Fred pretended to gag and George coughed along with him. I stared at them in confusion.

"Percy?" I asked.

"Yeah. Perce is our older brother by two years. He's part of the Ministry of Magic. Small desk job of course but he's ecstatic about it. Even though he's a Gryffindor he's still a prat." George explained

"A real prat!" Fred nodded.

"You'll get the non-pleasure of meeting him at the Burrow." George told me.

I looked at them. I couldn't imagine hating my younger sister Bethany, or my older brother Cameron. They were my lifeline to sanity among the crazy amount of organization in my life. I remember how Bethany had sobbed as I told them I was leaving.

"But who will feed us? You know mom will forget! And Cam won't be around because he's in collage. I'm going to be all alone!" she had wailed

"No you're not," I had tried to soothed her "I'll teach you to cook a little bit. And you can always owl me. You're 12 Beth. You'll be okay. I swear. And I'll come back if you need me to. But I need to go. I just need to. Okay?"

And then I had just left her. And now here I was in London, enjoying myself with two red-headed boys that I had just met. I wondered how Beth was doing. A hand was waved in my face, jerking me to the presence.

"Hey. Where are you?" Fred asked, his voice surprisingly tender.

"Right here. With you Fred." I said sassily

"Ah. There's the sass. How did you know I'm Fred?"

"I don't know. Your aura I suppose. You radiate a harsh orangey color and George radiates a softer yellow color."

"You identify us by our auras? Sounds like a bunch of hocus pocus untrue magic jumbo." George said incredulously.

Fred laughed "A soft yellow color mate. Seems like that matches you perfectly."

"Well a violent orange isn't a great color either. Violent orange." George argued. He turned to me "What color is your aura?"

"A light violet." I answered. "It's supposed to be the color of romance and nostalgia."

"What does yellow mean?" George asked

"And violent orange! What does orange mean?" Fred demanded.

"Yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy. Orange means desire, passion, pleasure, and a thirst for action."

George laughed "That's so you Freddie!" Passion! Pleasure! A thirst for action!" He quoted

"And how about you Georgie? Intellect? Freshness?" Fred looked at me "Your aura sensing must be wrong!"

"I doubt it but whatever makes you feel better." I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant.

The twins nodded and we continued through the Alley. After a few minutes they met up with the rest of the Weasley's. Mrs. Weasley hugged the twins and then hugged me as well. A tall man with thinning hair and glasses shook my hand.

"Who might you be?"

"Melody Clark. Nice to meet you."

"And you as well Melody. I'm Arthur Weasley. I haven't seen you before."

"That makes sense. I'm from America."

"Oh. American. I heard that you interact more with Muggles than we do. So tell me. What is the purpose of a pencil sharpener?"

"Uh… to sharpen pencils I think."

Mrs. Weasley nudged Mr. Weasley. "Sorry love. Arthur simply loves Muggles. He collects plugs."

"Oh that's fine. My older brother is the same way. Even after he left school he decided to go to college. He's really dedicated." I gushed.

"So dear, I heard that the twins were planning on inviting you over to our house. We call it the Burrow," She exclaimed "Will you be able to make it?"

"I don't know. I'll send an owl to my mother and maybe she'll agree."

"Oh dear. Owls will take forever to travel to America. Just call her."

I didn't want to tell Mrs. Weasley that my mother hardly answered her phone. She said that she was too busy to deal with trivial things like her children. I winced on a smile and pulled out my phone. The Weasley's eyes widened a little as I punched in the number. "She has her own phone?" I heard Ron whisper to the twins.

The tone rung three times and I was ready to give up when my mom picked up. "Melody Clark. What have I told you about calling during work hours. Well don't tell me because the answer is that you aren't supposed to." My mother's beautiful but crabby voice rang from the phone. The Weasley's recoiled at her tone. I sucked in a breath. My voice became meek as I croaked out a

"I'm sorry Mum. I just got an invitation from a friend."

"What have I told you about calling me Mum? Don't do it! It sounds too British." I could her shudder through the phone "And what is this about a friend? Who would be friends with you?" The distaste in her voice was obvious.

Fred yanked the phone out of my grasp and punched the button to make the call louder. "We would. Say hi family!" The Weasley's chorused a hello. My mother gasped.

"Was that 9 voices I heard?"

"Um… yes. Including Harry Potter, it's 10." I mumbled

"Don't contradict me Melody. It doesn't suit you. And don't say um. It lowers your standard of talking," She sighed "What do you want to do?"

"I uh… I mean I want to spend the rest of the summer with the Weasley's. Is that okay?" The twins looked at me in surprise. I understood why. My attitude had changed very quickly. My mother always had that effect on me. My mother sighed again in exasperation.

"Put on an adult." Mrs. Weasley made to move forward but instead Fred grabbed a boy with acne who looked to be a few years older than me and pushed him forward. He whispered into the ear of the boy and the boy moved towards me.

"That's Percy." George whispered. "He can always suck up to parents. Fred told him to act like Dad."

Percy reached for the phone and I handed it to him. "Hello Mrs. Clark. I'm Arthur Weasley."

"I'm sorry," My mom said, her voice sickly sweet "My name is Carole Wickers. My maiden name of course."

"Oh of course Mrs. Wickers. We wanted to invite Melody over to our house for the rest of the summer."

I leaned over the George "This is the prat brother that I'm supposed to hate?"

"Yeah well Fred is probably blackmailing him." George hissed.

Percy handed me back the phone. "I suppose you can go. I could really care less. Just don't call me again." My mother said grudgingly. There was a click and the line went dead. The Weasley's looked at me in shock. Finally, Fred spoke up "That's your mother?"

"Yeah" I winced a bit. "Um… I suppose I have to grab my stuff from my flat. Where can I meet you?"

"Don't worry love," Mrs. Weasley said "I'll send the twins to help you with your things. And I'll send Bill too. He can Apparate your things back." A tall man with long hair roped back into a ponytail stepped forwards, a dragon fang glittered from his ear. I gasped and shook his hand eagerly.

"That earing is soo cool! And your hair…!" I blushed a bit.

Mrs. Weasley sighed "I know. I've been trying to get him to cut it but alas…"

"No! It's really awesome! Everyone in America wears their hair like that!"

Bill grinned a bit sheepishly. "Come on Miss. Let's go to your flat!" He offered his arm and a gratefully took it. "So where am I Apparating you to?"

"Oh." I frowned "Nowhere. My flat is on top of one of these shops." I removed my arm.

"Lead the way then." He looked at me and I grabbed the twins and began to lead them to my flat.