"I'm on my way, just set me free, home sweet home." ~ Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue.


Chapter 12: Shopping Trips & Happy Days

The first week of the holidays was happy and sad, to be honest. I didn't feel homesick, but I did miss Draco a fair bit... and, despite my lingering anger, my Aunt. But I was also happier than I had ever been.

My bedroom was the same room I had spent the Easter holidays in. For the first time ever, I was allowed to decorate it as elaborately as I wished. In the Manor, I was allowed no posters or any other means of decoration on the walls. It would take away from the 'sophisticated atmosphere', apparently.

Here, however, Andromeda had even asked if I wanted her to put any cool charms on the walls. I thought about it, before deciding on a landscape wallpaper. It was a rainforest, charmed to reflect the mood I was in. All week, sunlight had been pouring through the upper canopy, lighting up the forest. It was beautiful to wake up to. Above my desk, Dora had put up posters of Queen and Led Zeppelin, because she thought that I would come to love those bands. Ted said he would give me a 'proper musical education', after spending my life listening to the 'horrendous Celestina Warbeck'.

Ted and Andromeda seemed to be positively dapper. They were beaming all the time; Andromeda was constantly asking Dora and I if we wanted everything, and Ted was playing his music loudly every day, sometimes grabbing either myself, Dora or Andromeda for a dance. It improved my mood, because every time I saw how happy they were, I was reminded that I was the reason for their good spirits.

"I could get used to this," Dora said, as we sat on the balcony one early evening, as she sipped a spider. "They're so happy now. Honestly, I could ask for anything and get it, at this rate."

I laughed. "You don't need to ask, because they're giving you everything now anyways."

"You make a good point."

"Don't I always?"

"Of course. It's because you're related to me, the girl who got top marks in every subject this term," Dora replied smoothly. I grinned. We got our exam marks back the other day, and Dora somehow got top marks in everything. I didn't get top marks in everything, but I went pretty well. I flunked History of Magic, but Ted and Andromeda were proud, nonetheless. Charlie wrote and told us that he got really well in everything too, as did Kenzie. See? Our Brilliant Homework Plan worked wonders! I just hope that we can get away with it next year...

"We're going shopping tomorrow," Dora reminded me, smiling. Oh, yeah. Andromeda offered to bring Dora and I shopping, because I needed new clothes. One thing is for sure, and that is that I will not be dressing like a Victorian for the rest of my life.

"Can't wait to get some clothes that make me look normal," I said, grinning at the prospect. All I wanted was to not stick out in the wrong ways. Wearing clothes like the ones my Aunt approved of gave everyone in the wizarding community the idea that I was a stuck up pureblood, which wasn't the case.


The next morning, I woke up to the sight of the rainforest looking sunny, as per usual. I looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that it was seven thirty. I got up and walked down to the kitchen, where the scent of maple syrup reached my nose. Mm, pancakes.

I sat down at the breakfast table, sunlight dappling through the lace curtains and onto the table. Dora wasn't up yet, which didn't surprise me. She loves her sleep.

"Good morning, Maggie," Andromeda chirped, leaning down and kissing me on the cheek. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," I replied. "I can't wait to go shopping today!"

She smiled. "That's good. I just hope that what happens with Dora when we go shopping doesn't happen this time..."

I grinned. "Why?"

"She wants to buy every CD possible, and she squeals when she sees ones she likes. It was rather embarrassing, to say the least," she laughed, eyes twinkling. "Trust me, you will want to stay as far away from her as possible, and pretend that you don't know her. And it was even worse that time when she tripped over the CD stand..."

I laughed. "I'm sorry to say that I am just as clumsy as Dora, but I won't be squealing over CDs, trust me..."

"It's good that I have one sane daughter!"

At that moment, Dora walked down the stairs. "You wouldn't be talking about me, would you?" she questioned, hands on her hips.

"No, because you aren't sane," Andromeda replied. Dora rolled her eyes and tried to stifle a smile.

The past few mornings had been like this, too. The playful banter, the delicious breakfasts... life never looked better.

Ted walked down the stairs just as Dora took a seat next to me. "Morning, all."

He ruffled me and Dora's hair and sat down. "I hear you girls are going shopping today," he said, cutting up one of his pancakes.

"Yeah," Dora replied.

"Make sure to get me something, okay?"

"If we remember," Andromeda said, sitting next to Ted.

"Are you going to the muggle mall?" Ted questioned. His wife nodded in response.

The thought made my head spin slightly. Muggles... I have never in my life met one, to my knowledge, at least. Maybe I met my grandparents on Ted's side, but of what I remember... nothing. The Malfoys, of course, would never let that happen.

We would be driving to the muggle shopping centre, Dora informed me. She also informed me that Andromeda wasn't a fan of girly clothes, so I didn't have to worry about her doting over me. According to Dora, whatever I wanted to wear I was allowed to wear, within reason, of course. Her words made me smile. One time, I went on a shopping trip with my Aunt to a pureblood shop to purchase dresses. In the end, we purchased half the shop. This was when I was eight, mind you, and there would rarely be cause for an occasion in which I could wear the dresses.

"Come on, girls!" our mother called, and Dora and I came running down the stairs. Andromeda was grinning at both of us.

"I've never seen you so excited for clothes shopping, Dora!" she exclaimed.

"Whenever we go clothes shopping, we always make a stop at the record shop, so I'm happy," she chirped. "And we always get double-scoop ice-creams!"

In some ways, I felt as though I was not part of the family. They had so many traditions, memories, inside jokes and references... and I was like the new girl who came to school midway through the year, having no idea how to act and never failing to feel lonely and left out.

But negativity would get me nowhere, so I decided to push it out of my mind, for now.

We climbed inside the car, Dora and I in the backseat. We played a game called corners, where we tilted to the side that we were turning in. It was a whole lot of fun. Apart from when Dora started screeching out Weird Sisters songs. Having a perforated eardrum isn't the most delightful of experiences, surprisingly.

When we reached the mall, it was swarming with muggles of all shapes and sized. It seemed to be a theme for the muggles to have crazy, teased hair, and tight, neon clothing.

"Well, I suppose that this is one of your first times being around muggles since you were a baby," Andromeda said, confirming my suspicions of meeting Ted's parents. "What do you think?"

They dress sense differed so much to how wizards dressed... but apart from that, I noticed a few other things. They were all chatting amicably amongst themselves, laughing and smiling. That didn't seem so much different to how wizards acted, besides the fact that their subjects of conversation would be different to what we talked about.

Lucius Malfoy is wrong. Muggles aren't disgusting, nor are they to be frowned upon. They are just like us, with a few differences. And however major those differences may be, it doesn't change the fact that they are human.

"Let's get shopping!" Andromeda said, grinning at the two of us.

Three hours later, I was absolutely exhausted.

The shopping trip was amazing, to sum it up. We didn't spend much time actually clothes shopping; we were distracted by so many other shops: food shops, CD shops and bookshops, just to name a few.

But the purchases weren't what made today one of the best days I've ever had. No, it was the smiles, the laughs, the jokes, the love... the me of one year ago would never have seen this coming. That's part of life; it's unpredictable. And I wouldn't change that for the world.

We drove home, and I was literally on the brink of sleep during the short car trip. I probably would have fallen asleep, if it weren't for Dora constantly prodding me. Such a loving sister.

Anyway, once we got home, I practically collapsed on the couch. When Ted walked in, he chuckled at the sight of me.

"Tired, Maggie?"

"No, Dad," Dora said, and I could hear the sarcastic tone to her voice. "She just likes pretending to pass out on couches."

"Hello to you too, Dora," Ted drawled, but I could hear the smile in his voice. Slowly, I felt myself succumbing to sleep...


I woke up a while later, feeling disorientated. You know that feeling you get when you have no idea what day or time or year it is? Yeah, that was what I was experiencing. It took my eyes a while to focus on my surroundings.

Andromeda sat at the dining room table, reading the Daily Prophet. Ted was on the couch across from me, reading a book. It took a few moments for me to remember how I had fallen asleep on this couch, and when I did, I checked the time. It was four in the afternoon, which must have meant that I was sleeping for hours. Seriously, we had only been shopping for four hours...

"Morning, sleepyhead," Ted chuckled, putting his book down. "Did you sleep well?"

I stretched my arms out and yawned. "Mm, yeah," I groaned, noticing that my neck was aching slightly. "Where's Dora?"

"She's in her room. Last time I saw her, she was writing a letter to Charlie and Kenzie, but that was about an hour ago," he replied, as I stood up. "Are you hungry?"

"Nah, but thanks," I said, making my way over to the stairs. I found Dora sitting on her bed, ruffling through her school trunk. She looked up when she saw me and smiled.

"Hey! You've been asleep for ages! Mum and Dad would have awoken you, but they said that you looked too cute."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, I have never had such a busy day."

She cocked her head curiously. "What do you mean?"

"My Aunt never wanted me to venture out. Most of my days were spent in the Manor, reading books."

Dora looked sympathetic. I was expecting her to offer sympathy, but to my relief, she didn't.

"Well, don't forget that we'll be going to Charlie's place in a few weeks!"


Those few weeks passed extremely quickly, in a flurry of fun and laughs. It had been the best holidays I had ever had, and they were only half over. And the last half were sure to be fun, too.

"Maggie!" Dora yelled, running down the hallway and to my bedroom door. It was open, so of course, she invited herself in, being the polite sister she is.

"Get ready! We're going to Charlie's place today!"

"I realised," I said coolly, smirking. "That's why I am ready before you are."

She looked confused for a moment. "That's surprising. I mean usually when you get dressed early in the morning, you are stumbling around like a drunk man."

"I'm not you, remember?"

"Easy mistake to make," she joked, smiling. "Okay, well I better go and get ready."

"Yep."

Once she had left, I started packing my trunk with everything that I would need for Charlie's place. Shirts, shorts, swimmers, jeans, flannel shirts, shoes, books, my CDs (Led Zeppelin and The Beatles) and three massive bars of chocolate.

I looked at my appearance in the mirror. My green hair was pulled into a high ponytail, the colour of which matched my tank top. I wore ripped jeans (Dora insisted that they were 'cool') and converse shoes, which apparently were in style in the muggle world. All in all, I was happy with it. I hoped that it made a good impression on Mr and Mrs Weasley.

First impressions are important; that's something I've learned from my Aunt. Things as simple as clothing give insight into what sort of person one is. If I prove myself with my clothes, then people will actually want to get to know the person I really am. An insight on how stupid pureblood society is.

I'm sure that Mr and Mrs Weasley aren't like that, though. If I thought for a second that they were, I wouldn't have kept my hair green, or wore ripped jeans.

But I've been raised as a pureblood all my life. Of course what they drilled into me will make an impression on me, make me want to strive to be better. Whether I intended it to or not.

Maybe it always would. And I'm not just talking about first impressions.