Disclaimer: The QUEEN owns Harry Potter.
A/N: Happy fucking Golden Birthday to the Boy Who Lived and Happy Equally Important Birthday to Ms. Jo herself. And Happy Belated Birthday to Neville the BAMF
I giggled to myself upon my second arrival to the Weasley home for I was sure the Dursley's needed therapy after the simple hell we gave them.
I looked around the place, not really having admired it before. It had a simple atmosphere to it and nothing seemed to be store bought. Every little detail from the earthy scent to the cramped furniture made me feel welcome which was a relief compared to the tense vibe the Dursleys' had.
Fred and George ran into the living room only to stare at me expectantly and I stared right back before rolling my eyes and wandering into what I hoped was the kitchen.
Ron was sitting at the table which was more than enough to make me want to turn around and leave until I noticed he wasn't alone. There were two other redheads seated as well and I could tell they were older by the way they looked at Ron proudly.
"You must be the notorious Adhara Elliot." said the one with broad shoulders. He had so many freckles, you could barely see the pink flesh underneath. Patches of skin were shiny as if burnt and his hair was short and uneven, definitely not cut by scissors.
His arms were large and muscular, covered with scars and shiny skin. Connected to them were of course his hands, one of which was being held out to me. I took it and tried not to make it obvious that I found him delectable. But it was hard because his hand was rough and nearly engulfed mine in the shake. He was perfect.
"Yes. I'm sure at least Ginny has told you all about me." He raised a brow at that and let go of my hand slowly, eyes lingering on my face before he smiled.
"I'm Charlie… Weasley." He added the last part as if it weren't obvious.
The other man stood up to greet me and was taller than the previous one. He was just as gorgeous as the other, if not more. His hair was long and held back in a ponytail. My heart started thumping harder when I saw the fang earring hanging from his left lobe. He was wearing a blazer that just screamed Surrey.
"Bill." I nodded and took his outstretched hand.
His voice was smooth and charismatic as if his vocal chords were made of silk. I chose not to say anything due to the fear or sounding like an idiot. I let go of his hand and my eyes quickly flickered down to his boots that were unmistakingly made from dragonhide. How much sexier could he get?
"How many of there are you?" He laughed at my question and the sound of it let loose the butterflies I didn't know I was harvesting in my stomach and I had to calm myself by remembering that I had a boyfriend.
Harry walked in with the twins behind him, saving me from possible embarrassment. "How're you doing, Harry?" Charlie asked, him and Bill shaking his hand.
Before he could utter a word, Mr. Weasley appeared, making a loud popping noise in his wake.
I jumped at the sound, but was much more frightened at how pissed he looked.
"That wasn't funny, Fred!" He shouted at his son before going on to elaborate. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?" Fred shrugged innocently, but the grin on his face said otherwise.
"I didn't give him anything. I just dropped it… It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."
"You dropped it on purpose! You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet-" "How big did his tongue get?" George asked, cutting his father off.
"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!" Everyone including myself, laughed at the imagery. "It isn't funny!" repeated Mr. Weasley with much force. "That sort of behavior undermines Wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of muggles, and my own sons-" "We didn't give it to him because he's a muggle!" Fred began allowing his twin to finish. "No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git. Isn't he, Harry?"
"Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley." Harry admitted.
If I had known that, I would've done much worse than intimidate and steal.
"That's not the point!" screamed Mr. Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother-" "Tell me what?"
Involuntarily, my spine straightened at the tone of her voice. "Oh, hello, Harry, dear." she stated sweetly before sounding angry again. "Tell me what, Arthur?" He stared at her for a while, neither of them saying a thing until after Hermione and Ginny appeared in the doorway. "Tell me what, Arthur?" she spat the third word, placing her dainty hands on her wide hips.
I clenched the strap on my bag, remembering what was inside and what would happen if she found out.
"It's nothing, Molly." Mr. Weasley mumbled. "Fred and George just- but I've had words with them-" "What have they done this time?" she sternly prodded, not letting it go. "If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-"
"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" interrupted Hermione, waving at me in the process.
"He knows where he's sleeping." Ron replied, annoyed by her bossy instruction. "In my room, he slept there last-" "Well then, we can show Adhara hers." She implied through clenched teeth.
"Oh, right." Harry placed a hand on my shoulder, leading me out of the kitchen.
"No- I-" Ron cut me off, using both hands to push me out into the hallway and out of sight of his gorgeous brothers.
"Yeah, we'll come too." I heard one of the twins say. "You stay where you are!" demanded Mrs. Weasley as the five of us ran up the uneven staircase.
Ron was still pushing me up the stairs as if he were afraid I'd actually go back down into that deathtrap. "Let go of me, Ronald, before I punch you in the face." I barked from over my shoulder.
He let me go as if I had burned him with my words, but actually had the nerve to say something back.
"I wouldn't have to push you if I was sure you wouldn't go back down to snog my older brother!" I stopped on the stairs, causing him and the others to crash into me.
I turned slowly, setting my hands on the wooden railings and peering down at him. "Oliver and I are nearing our third month, I'll have you know."
"Congratulations." Ginny said honestly and I mouthed 'thank you' before smiling.
"Oh, shut it." Ron said to his sister before turning back to me.
"Besides, you're just upset that now that I've met your entire family, I've got a new insult for you other than dumb and funny smelling." He rolled his eyes, trying not to appear effected by my words.
"What?" He sounded defeated and I let go of the rickety banister and stepped down onto the stair he was on, causing him to step back.
"Ugly."
That one simple word flushed his face and I swear he was going to hit me before Harry pulled me away, continuing our journey up the stairs.
I thought I'd feel better after calling him that, but I just felt guilty and immature for letting him get to me.
It was a while before anyone said anything and the creaking of the stairs was getting on my nerves. "What are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked awkwardly to the still peeved Ron.
"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and Georges room." he mumbled before going on. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that…" Knowing Ron, I was sure that on any other occasion, he would've sounded more enthusiastic which made me feel bad. I didn't mean to hurt him, I just wanted him off my back… literally.
"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things." added Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."
"Only most of the stuff- well, all of it, really- was a bit dangerous. And, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms… She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.S. as she expected." The small amount of joy in his tone made me feel less guilty.
"And then there was this big row because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop." I looked from Ginny to a door on the right that opened to reveal my annoying Head Boy from last year, wearing horn rimmed glasses.
"Hi Percy." said Harry as we all halted to a stop.
"Oh hello, Harry, Adhara." He nodded to us both before setting his sights on his siblings. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know- I've got a report to finish for the office- and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."
"We're not thundering." Ron snapped and my insecure side half expected him to add, 'Well, maybe Adhara was.'
Dad and I had been on the run all summer, so whenever we stopped to eat, we ate… a lot. And I was very insecure that it had all went to my hips and thighs.
"We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top secret working of the Ministry of Magic."
"What are you working on?" asked Harry. "A report for the Department of International Cooperation." Percy gloated, despite his brother's put down. "We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin- leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year-" "That'll change the world, that report will." Ron teased. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."
Percy remained pompous, not letting his little brother under his skin. "You might sneer, Ron, but unless some sort of international law is imposed, we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger-" "Yeah, yeah, all right." Ron pushed his way to the front and kept climbing the stairs, not wanting to hear it anymore.
Percy slammed the door and we followed Ron, wincing as we heard the shouting from the kitchen below.
After about a thousand steps, we had made it to the last room on the top landing.
It had posters of the decent Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. There was a fish tank in the window with a huge frog in it and there was a cage in the corner with the miniature owl my dad had given him.
It seemed energetic, so much so that it was rattling its cage as it fluttered around tweeting.
"Shut up, Pig."
There were four beds that we had to maneuver around to get in. "Fred and George are in here with us, because Bill and Charlie are in their room. Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to work." I sat down on one of the beds which ended up being stiff. That meant mine would most likely be the same. I couldn't complain though, dad and I slept in a cave for four days, just last week.
"Er- why are you calling that owl, Pig?" Harry asked him.
"Because he's being stupid." insulted Ginny. "It's proper name is Pigwidgeon."
"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all. Ginny named him. She reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't respond to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that." He looked pointedly at me after he said it, but Harry changed the topic right away.
"Where's Crookshanks?" "Out in the garden, I expect." Hermione answered. "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before."
Harry sat down next to me on the bed, continuing to make small talk. "Percy's enjoying work then?"
"Enjoying it? I don't reckon he'd come home if dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him on the subject of his boss. 'According to Mr. Crouch… as I was saying to Mr. Crouch… Mr. Crouch is of the opinion… Mr. Crouch was telling me…' They'll be announcing their engagement any day now." I was about to laugh, but instead chose to comment on my brother's lengthy hair.
I reached out to touch it and he just smiled at me. "What is going on here?" He swatted my hand away and gestured to my own. "I could say the same for you." I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through it. "Oh yes, it's every girl's dream of prematurely greying… or whiting in my case." Harry laughed at my misfortune, and I nudged him.
"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" asked Hermione. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"
He nodded and looked down at the Gryffindor colored Nike's I got him. "Yeah, thanks a lot. They saved my life, those cakes and it's really nice to have something that fits me other than my robes."
We sat there in a tense silence, obviously wanting to talk about my father, but Ginny was here and I just couldn't let anything slip. Not when things haven't died down yet.
"I think they've stopped arguing." Hermione stated as Ginny looked among us suspiciously. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"
Ron went along with it, not really having much of a choice. "Yeah, all right."
Everyone stood up to leave, but I stayed sitting before wondering out loud. "I thought we came up here to show me to my room?" Harry rolled his eyes and pulled me up from the bed.
We made it to the kitchen, silent as the grave because we were all scared of Mrs. Weasley's temper.
"We're eating out in the garden. There's just not room for twelve people in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the table." I needed no coaxing.
I grabbed as many plates as I could carry and ran outside. I saw the eldest Weasley boys laughing while talking to each other. I couldn't see anything under me which ended up being a major problem when I was nearly to the table.
I don't know what it was, but my foot hit it and it sent me tumbling.
I'm sure my cheeks turned as red as russet skin could, as I lie flat on the ground, a few plates beneath me and the rest broken at Bill and Charlie's feet.
"Are you ok?" I nodded and accepted Bill's hand up.
Once on my feet, I gripped my curly locks and groaned. "She's gonna kill me." I glanced at the house, expecting to see the short ginger woman charging out to tear me a new one.
Charlie laughed and patted me on the back, not comforting me at all. "No she won't."
Bill took out his wand and cast reparo on all the dishes. I smiled and prepared to grant him a 'thank you', but I was distracted by the fact that he was stacking all the plates and setting them to the side on a granite bench.
"What are you doing? I need to place those." Bill nodded, turning back to face me.
"And you will. After Charlie and I have a little fun." They both stepped back and pointed their wands to the tables.
I had no idea why this would be fun until I saw the tables levitating and I wanted in.
I jumped onto the one on the left before it was too high off the ground. Charlie was controlling this one.
"Fred and George told us you were a daredevil." I gripped the table and smiled down at him, not at least ten feet in the air.
"Who? Me? I haven't the foggiest of what you mean." They laughed and once the tables got about twenty feet high, they started ramming them into each other.
It was a little hard to keep balance, but once I figured out the frequency of the banging, it was a breeze. Enough for me to stand on it like a surf board. Down below, Fred and George were cheering for me. Ginny was laughing and Hermione looked worried, as usual.
I decided to show boat and leap from one table to the next.
I could hear the twins cheering as I balanced myself. Turns out, my effort was futile due to Bill charging the table into Charlie's hard enough for the leg to fall off and I stumbled to my knees.
I opened my mouth to yell down at the gorgeous rocker, but Percy stuck his head out of his window which was level with my table. "Will you keep it down?"
I shrugged my shoulders innocently, so he diverted his attention down to his oldest brother. "Sorry, Perce." He didn't sound sorry at all. "How are the cauldron bottoms coming on?"
"Very badly." He answered before slamming the window in my face.
Still recoiling from the loud noise, I felt the table float down beneath me and just as I was about to hop off, a cloth of sorts was thrown over my head, rendering me unable to see or move.
"Bill, stop it. She probably can't get out." Before I could even stand up for myself, the tablecloth was removed and a hand was reaching out to help me off the table.
I swatted it away once I saw it was Bill's and hopped off the tabled myself. I punched him in the arm before thanking my unlikely hero. "I greatly appreciate it, Hermione." She nodded as we walked past Harry and Ron who were holding the silverware.
Before us girls went in the house, I looked back to see Ron shaking his head and Bill holding firmly onto the arm I punched.
At seven, we were all seated at the repaired tables that groaned under the weight of all the food.
I winced at the nose, really hoping Mrs. Weasley didn't recognize the sound and ask what we'd been up to.
I tried to enjoy the delicious meal Mrs. Weasley prepared for us, but Percy was dominating the conversation with boring Ministry talk. I wanted to hear more about Bill and Charlie.
"I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have it ready by Tuesday. That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, it's extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman-" "I like Ludo." His father interrupted. "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the cup. I did him a bit of a favor. His brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble- a lawnmower with unnatural powers- I smoothed the whole thing over."
He waved off his dad's story, not really listening to his opinion. "Oh Bagman's likable enough, of course, but how he ever got to be Head of Department… when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them. You realize Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back?"
"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that." Mr. Weasley seemed upset. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now- though I must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried…"
"Oh Bertha's hopeless, alright. I hear she's been shunned from department for years- among others of course-" Percy glanced at me before going on. "More trouble than she's worth… but all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her- but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of Albania. However-" He paused to take a sip of his wine and sigh dramatically. "we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup."
Tired of his rambling, I turned to my right to observe the very attractive Bill while he was being analyzed by his overbearing mother.
"Why must you dress this way? You're already a young handsome man, these… rags do absolutely nothing for you." I nearly choked on my pumpkin juice as I mentally begged to differ.
"The fang especially. The things they must say at the bank." He worked there? I needed to change my currency more often if it meant seeing him instead of those creepy black eyed goblins.
"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I get the job done." I was in awe of his smirk, but I made sure not to stare or else Ron would have my head.
"And your hair's getting silly, dear. I wish you'd let me give it a trim…" Now she was just spewing nonsense.
"I like it." Ginny spoke up. "You're so old fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's…" knowing I wouldn't be able to last much longer without just full on staring at Bill, I decided to turn my attention to an easier topic. Quidditch.
"It's got to be Ireland." Charlie argued with a full mouth. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."
"Bulgaria has got nothing on Troy. He could get 150 points far before Krum could even lay an eye on the Snitch." Charlie pointed a thick blistered finger at me before nodding.
"She's right. Krum's one decent player. Ireland has got seven. I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing." I winced at the thought. Although he was Scottish, Oliver had been really upset about our loss.
"What happened?" asked Harry.
"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten." Charlie answered begrudgingly.
"Mum and I suspect the referee was biased. His canines were awfully pointy and my da- uh, the Daily Prophet did say that the match took place at night." I sighed quietly, glad that I had caught myself just in time.
Luckily Charlie didn't catch on and just went on with the conversation. "I doubt he was a Vampire, but I'm sure that was one of the largest margins in Quidditch history. And Wales lost to Uganda , and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg."
I groaned at that one and pushed my plate away. Oliver made me particularly annoyed with his daily owls complaining about how much he and his family were so upset about it. When I'd get back home from the tropics, there'd be a dozen letters on the coffee table even though I told him I'd be with my muggle family for most of the summer.
Mr. Weasley conjured up some candles as we ate mouthwatering strawberry ice cream for dessert.
I snuck off a little into the garden to sit and watch Crookshanks chase the creepy gnomes around. The last time I hadn't seen him in a cage, he was purring on my dad's chest in the Shrieking Shack back when we were all sure that he was a murderer. Now those were fun times.
I didn't really want to admit it, but I missed him already. He is such a good father to me. I know I don't have much to compare him to, but it was obvious that he was trying to cram 13 years of parenting into two months. It was cute really.
He wanted to teach me everything he knew about magic and I do mean everything.
"That was a close one." I jumped at Harry's voice, not expecting him to have followed me.
It wasn't until he sat down that I realized he was referring to my slip up when conversing with Charlie.
I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder before saying, "Yeah, too close."
I smiled contently as we basked in our silence, actually comfortable enough with each other to do so. I had missed him a lot and I really couldn't wait until the Ministry got distracted, so we could settle down and be a proper family.
Dad told me about this ancient house that belonged to his family and I really couldn't wait to move in.
That reminded me. "Harry, did you know-" "So- have you heard from Sirius lately?" Ron whispered, looking around cautiously before taking a seat next to Harry.
Hermione did the same next to me and I shook my head after removing it from Harry's shoulder. Ron knew that asking Harry about my father would bother me after having spent the entire summer with him. I guess he was still holding that grudge if he didn't want to hear it from the horse's mouth.
"Yeah, twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I'm here." Harry sounded confused and looked to me as if asking me to expand on it, but I just shrugged, not wanting to tell Ron anything unless he asked me directly.
"Look at the time." Mrs. Weasley announced from behind us. "You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you- you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, Adhara, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you at Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match went on for five days last time."
"Wow- hope it does this time!" I nodded in agreement. "Sounds like paradise."
"It certainly does not." Percy barked at me. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days." I rolled my eyes at him as we made our way into the humble abode.
"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce." I laughed at Fred and even harder once I saw how red Percy's face was.
"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" He defended poorly. "It was nothing personal!"
We were set on following him up the staircase until Fred held us back, not speaking until he was out of ear shot.
"It was." he whispered and my face held an expression of expectancy as he paused like a comedian before hitting us with the punch line.
"We sent it."
And from that moment until I was settled in bed, I giggled at Percy's misfortune.
"Adhara, you heard Mrs. Weasley. We have to get up really early tomorrow- stop laughing!"
RandomAsRainbows: That's Adhara for you.