"Happy, happy, put it in your heart where tomorrow shines." ~ Shiny Happy People by R.E.M.

Chapter 13: The Burrow

My first impression of the Burrow: cosy, homely and crowded. Dora and I stepped out of the fireplace, grinning at each other. The moment we took a step out of the fireplace, a woman, who I assumed was Charlie's mother, greeted us.

"Hello, dears!" she exclaimed, beaming.

"Hello," Dora said, grinning and holding her hand out for Mrs Weasley to shake. "I'm Dora."

She shook her hand. "Yes, I remember meeting you when you were very little. You still have the shocking pink hair. And this must be Magnolia, who prefers to be known as Maggie."

"How'd you-"

"Charlie," she said simply, shaking my hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Maggie."

"You too, Mrs Weasley," I said. She was a plump woman, with a shock of red hair, warm brown eyes and a wide smile. I decided that I immediately liked her.

"Please, call me Molly. It's been so long since I saw you both! Andromeda and I were friends during our Hogwarts years, you see," she explained, and Dora's attention and mine sharpened; Dora had told me that her mother rarely divulged anything about her childhood, one of the only times being last Christmas. Thus, we listened closely. "And we both were in the same organisation, fighting against You-Know-Who. Andromeda told me all about your circumstances, Maggie," she said, looking both sympathetic and angry at the same time. "But you're reunited with your family now, and I suppose that's what matters."

Charlie said such a similar thing. Now I know where we gets his material.

I smiled at her, but I couldn't find anything to respond with. I think Molly understood, because she changed the subject.

"I better call Charlie. I'm surprised he isn't down here yet. CHARLIE!" she hollered, and a set of footsteps ensued.

My features cracked into a grin the minute I saw Charlie. He ran towards Dora and me, giving us both hugs.

"Nice to see you!" he said. Then I realised something. I had to look up when I spoke to him. Crap!

"Holy Merlin!" I exclaimed. "Did you drink a growing potion or something?"

He shot me a flat look, the corner of his lips twitching. "Your humour astounds me, Maggie."

"Hey!" Dora exclaimed. "Don't be mean to my sister! She makes a good point. It isn't fair that you can tower over us!"

He rolled his eyes. "Not my fault that you are both such shorties."

Just as I opened my mouth to retort, Molly cut in.

"Charlie, I think you should carry the girls' bags and show them around."

I closed my mouth shut and smirked at Dora. Ha. We win.

Grumbling, Charlie picked up both of our bags with ease. I turned around to Molly.

"Thank you for letting us come over."

"Not a problem, dear," she beamed.

Once out of earshot of his mother, Charlie spoke.

"You two are such bitches. Mum is always nice to visitors and neglects her own children.

Dora giggled. "That's how the world works, Charlie. Suck it up, please."

What Charlie said made me realise something. I had been treated extra well during these holidays, because of the fact that I was like the visitor at my home. Even though Ted and Andromeda are my parents, I'm the new girl, and they are giving me anything I want.

I also realised that I like being treated like that, but not by my own parents. I want the novelty of having their child back to sink in for my parents, so that I can be treated like their actual daughter. I knew that it would take time, though.

"Why am I friends with you?" he asked.

"I dunno, don't ask me!" Dora joked. Charlie rolled his eyes.

We walked into a bedroom, which I assumed was his. There was a poster of a dragon on his wall, along with a few moving photographs of Quidditch players.

"You'll be staying in here," he said, putting the bags down.

"With you?" I asked.

"No, I'll be bunking with Bill," he explained. "There's a camp bed in the cupboard somewhere. You'll have to decide who has it."

"I will," I said. I didn't mind if I wasn't as comfortable as Dora.

"That was sorted out easier than I expected," Charlie said. "Okay, so do you want a tour of the house?"

Dora and I nodded, as Charlie began to lead the way. During the tour, we met all of Charlie's siblings: Bill (who we already were acquaintances with), Percy (who I disliked immediately. His snobbish attitude reminded me too much of my Uncle), Fred and George (who tried to convince Dora and I that Fred was George and George was Fred. Maybe it's a twin thing, but I knew which one was which), Ron (who was adorable, and definitely admired Charlie) and Ginny (the only female Weasley, who was also the youngest, at four years of age). All and all, I liked the Weasley clan, with the exception of Percy. Who knew a nine year old could be as snobby as an adult? When Charlie finished showing us around, we went back to his room.

"How have your holidays been so far?" he asked.

"Great," I replied. "Very relaxing. Very fun. What about you?"

"Boring," he said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, a few parts were good. The twins turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider, which was pretty funny. Bill and I went flying for a bit, because this year, I'm trying out for the Seeker. Ginny stole all of Percy's quills and he had a tantrum. That was also pretty funny."

I smirked. "I take it that you aren't Percy's biggest fan?"

He nodded, before elaborating. "Don't get me wrong, I love him and all. But he's so determined to work for the Ministry, and it's starting to get irritating."

"He would be a target for the twin's pranking, right?" Dora asked. He nodded.

"Of course! The twins really dislike him. As does everyone but me, my parents and Bill, to be honest."

Despite the fact that I didn't get a good impression of Percy, it mustn't be nice for most of the family to dislike him because he's ambitious. I decided then and there that I would try to be nice to him.

"Anyways," I said, changing the subject. "Do you think you'll have a shot at getting on the team?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm fairly good, but I don't know what the competition is like. Bill says that a few of his friends are trying out as the Seeker, like me, but he thinks that I'm better."

"I hope you do get on the team," Dora said. "Because you're really good. Oh, wait, I shouldn't be saying that. I'm in Hufflepuff."

He rolled his eyes. "Scared that I'll wipe the floor with your petty Seeker, Tonks?"

She snorted. "Not at all, Weasley."

For a moment, Dora stared at the wall, before speaking.

"I want to be known as Tonks for now on."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Well, I hate my name, and at least my last name sounds cool... better than Dora does..."

I laughed. Okay, I understand where she is coming from, as I also have a stupid first name.

"Okay, Tonks," Charlie said without hesitation. Oh well. I'm her sister, and she will always be known as Dora to me.

"So," I said. "What are we going to do today?"

"Do you wanna watch me play Quidditch?" Charlie asked. "There's a field nearby, and it's out of view of muggles. Then we could go for a swim at the waterhole nearby, if you want."

I nodded. Sounds cool to me.

"But Mum will make Bill come down with us," he said, rolling his eyes. "She will probably say something like, 'I am not letting three twelve year olds off by themselves!' or something like that."

"That's okay," Dora said.

"At least he's a cool brother. We actually might have fun with him," Charlie reasoned. "I've spent most of my childhood having fun with him, so I would know."'

I didn't realise how close Charlie and Bill really were. Sure, sometimes when we were at Hogwarts, Charlie would hang out with him when we girls were painting each other's nails or something, but I always thought that it was because they were brothers. I didn't realise that they were also friends.

Charlie asked Molly if we could go down, and – as Charlie predicted – she said that Bill would have to come down with us. He agreed to do so, and Dora and I went and got dressed into our swimmers.

My swimmers were a black two-piece set (I bought them when I went shopping with Andromeda and Dora), matched with green board shorts. When I lived with the Malfoys, I had an elaborate set of pale pink swimmers, with frills on them (gag) which I wore when I went swimming in the extravagant Malfoy pool. I love swimming, but it's rather lonely swimming by yourself, I discovered.

Because we were going to watch Charlie play Quidditch first, we put normal clothing on top of our swimmers, and then made our way downstairs.

"Hello, Maggie, Dora-"

"It's Tonks," Dora interrupted Bill, smiling.

"Sorry, Tonks," he said, smirking. "How have both of your holidays been?"

"Good," I replied, feeling – for reasons unbeknownst to me – heat rise in my cheeks. "What about you?"

"Same old, same old," he said breezily. "Have you seen Charlie play before?" Bill asked, as Charlie sidled up next to him, dressed in Quidditch gear.

"Yeah, once," Dora replied. "He's really good."

"He's gotten even better," Bill said proudly, ruffling his little brother's hair. I swore that Charlie was glowing with pride.

He stopped looking like that, however, when he locked eyes with me. He cocked an eyebrow, and I had a vague idea why. My cheeks were bright pink, and I had no idea why.

"You alright, Maggie?" Charlie questioned, looking concerned. I nodded, giving him a smile. I was blushing, and I had no idea why. That's strange.

"Okay, Bill, let's go down and play some Quidditch!" he said, changing the subject completely, his blue eyes lighting up. Bill laughed, and strange things started happening to me.

I felt like I was blushing again. But this was different... I was noticing things, not only about myself, but also about Bill. His red hair reached just past his shoulders, and he had blue eyes, not as blue as Charlie's, but a very pleasant looking blue nonetheless. He was tall, and had a really nice smile.

Was it normal to be noticing things like this about my best friend's brother?

I hope it's not a crush or anything. I've only just properly met him, for godsakes!

The surroundings near the Burrow were beautiful. Dry, but beautiful. Charlie and Bill went into the shed to get their broomsticks and a few Quidditch balls, and we were off.

"Dad enchanted the Snitch to make sure it didn't fly off into muggle territory," Charlie explained, as he caught my raised eyebrow. After he explained a few other things, he and Bill walked ahead of us, talking.

I didn't want to tell Dora about my crush just yet. Not only because both Bill and Charlie were in front of us, but because I didn't know how I felt about it yet.

After about five minutes of walking, we reached the field. Elegant trees obscured it from the prying eyes of muggles, those said trees lined up in a way that was creating an oblong sort of shape, perfect for a Quidditch pitch. Charlie grinned at me and Dora and I took a seat under a large willow tree. It was one of the most magnificent trees that I had ever seen, and that was saying something, considering the beautiful trees in the Hogwarts grounds. Charlie put his bag, containing his towel and some food, next to us, and grinned again, as Bill walked up next to him.

"Tonks," Bill said in a warning tone. "No telling Hufflepuff how good Charlie is, okay?"

Charlie squirmed slightly. "I'm not that good, Bill."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're also not very good at taking a compliment."

I laughed, trying to distract myself from the burning feeling on my cheeks. So far, to no avail whatsoever.

Charlie narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me, so I decided to look at my hands, until I heard him and Bill walk away. It was Dora's turn to narrow her eyes at me.

"What was that about, Maggie?"

"No idea," I said, a little too casually. She raised an eyebrow but ceased.

Watching Charlie fly, I was struck by how gifted he was. He veered through the air with such ease; it was as though he didn't need the broomstick. He performed some amazing dives, pulling out when he was mere centimetres from the ground. He was only twelve! I had been watching professional Quidditch since I was very young, usually at local games that my Aunt and Uncle brought me to, so I knew what one who was talented looked like. And I was proud to say that my best friend was one of the most gifted players that I had ever seen. Although I knew that Quidditch wasn't what he was most passionate about (dragons were), I could definitely see him playing league standard, or even international standard, when he was older, if he continued to train.

When they had finished, they both made their way towards us. Charlie was flushed and grinning, looking as though he was ready to go for a swim.

"The waterhole is just up here," he said, indicating to a path that stretched between two trees. "Come on, Bill! Your baby sitting duties are needed!"

He laughed and caught up to us, eyes bright and happy. I felt my cheeks turn red... again.

"You're not babies, and I actually wanted to come down here, Charlie."

"I know, but you're still technically babysitting, according to Mum."

Bill rolled his eyes. "So we're going to the waterhole?"

"Yes," Charlie and Dora chorused. I, however, was looking at the floor, which had suddenly become fascinating.

When I looked up, both Charlie and Dora were narrowing my eyes at me, clearly thinking that something was wrong with me. They stopped, however, when Bill put his broomstick in Charlie's arms.

"Sorry, just need to-" His speech was cut off whilst he took his shirt off, obviously preparing for the swim. Well, thank you, Bill, for making Dora and Charlie even more suspicious of me. I really appreciate it.

Well, his sculpted figure certainly didn't escape my notice.

Charlie also took off his shirt, and Dora and I took off our normal clothes, leaving our swimmers on underneath. I didn't realise how hot it was until I felt the burning sun on my skin. I couldn't wait to jump into the waterhole.

"The waterhole is really deep in some parts," Charlie said, as we walked in the direction of it. "So just be careful. You can both swim, right?"

"Yes," Dora and I chorused.

"Good, because I don't feel like rescuing anyone," Bill joked, earning a punch from Dora.

"I would like to think that you would rescue your brother's best friend, thank you very much," she said briskly, the twinkling of her eyes giving her brusque attitude away. Bill laughed.

"Since you said it so nicely, I will consider saving you if I need to."

How can Dora act so naturally around him, when all I can do is blush!

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically.

The waterhole was really stunning. It was partly in the shade of some huge trees, the breeze sending leaves into the water. The other half was being dappled in sunlight, making the water appear as though it was glittering. It was unusually clear for a waterhole, making me suspect that magic had been involved.

"Here we are," Charlie said.

"Really? I can see no huge waterhole in sight!" I said sarcastically, earning a punch on my arm.

"You sisters are both so sarcastic," Bill noted, grinning. "It's clearly genetic."

It's a Black thing, I felt like saying. It was true. Andromeda was very sarcastic when she wanted to be, and sometimes, I could even see that side in my Aunt.

However, my thoughts were broken as I caught sight of a very appealing looking tree branch. Appealing, because it was the perfect place to jump into the waterhole from. Dangerous, but perfect.

I've always been rebellious. Being raised in a pureblood society, those ways should have been crushed out of me, as girls were supposed to be cold, diligent and indifferent. Until I was around eight, I didn't realise how rebellious I had become. When I was eight, my Aunt talked to me about how I was supposed to act with dignity, and that small things like stealing cookies signified so much more: a disregard for the easy to follow rules set in place.

I didn't realise that by the age of eight, I should have known these things.

But, see, there was always a... thrill of doing something forbidden, even more so when I got away with it. Even if it was small, like stealing food. To a normal family, it wouldn't seem like I was being rebellious at all. But now, I realised that I had been suppressed my whole life, never living life to the full. It was in those short moments when I did live life to the full that I was being rebellious. Living means to take risks, and that is what I did, in my own way. Even my thoughts were rebellious, and, to my Uncle, probably traitorous. Like when I told my Aunt that I wouldn't change my hair to green during the school year, and doing so anyway.

Once I got to Hogwarts, however, I knew that I wasn't just rebellious because I was being suppressed; I was being rebellious because it's how I felt alive. Like when Charlie and I said that a Slytherin Prefect looked like a troll with diabetes. Disregarding the rules has a certain appeal to it.

A feeling coursing through my veins, blood pounding in my ears, the shocking thrill that washed over my body in waves... maybe, like sarcasm, that's another Black trait: the desire to break the rules in place, the recklessness.

"Charlie, how deep is the waterhole at that point?" I asked, pointing to the spot around the tree."

"Fairly deep, why?" he asked. I felt a thrill in my system. That thrill always occurred, whether I was about to do something as insignificant as stealing food, or insulting Snape (which isn't a good idea if you are trying not to get detentions, by the way). It always occurred when I was being reckless, in any form and to any degree.

I walked over to the tree and started to climb it. Thankfully, it was a pretty good tree for climbing. I glanced at Dora, Charlie and Bill, the latter of which looked slightly worried. Dora and Charlie, however, knew exactly what I was going to do. They knew me well enough to know that I was rebellious, but not stupid: it was why I asked if it was deep or not.

"Be careful, Maggie," Bill called, and I felt annoyance well up inside me. Annoyance at the fact that he clearly viewed me as a child who couldn't look after herself, annoyance at the fact that he was only saying it because he was the babysitter, as Charlie so eloquently put it, and annoyance at the fact that I had a little crush on him.

"I'm not a child, Bill," I yelled back, as I climbed higher and higher, so that I couldn't see his facial expression. When I reached the desired branch, I had to be careful, because knowing me and my clumsiness, I would probably fall. So, I carefully inched myself closer to the branch that I wanted to jump in the waterhole from, thanking all that was holy that the branches were thick. Maybe I had underestimated how high the branch was... I wasn't nervous as such... okay, maybe, but excitement was mingled in with it.

Finally, I was at the point where I was going to jump. I could hear Charlie and Dora laughing and cheering my name, and I felt that thrill again.

I slowly stood up to my full height, letting the light breeze wash over me. I felt free. Free from all that was suppressing me for all my childhood.

I let out a whoop and jumped.

Cool air rushed past me, and I could hear my friends cheering louder and louder. Then I felt myself be submerged in cold, refreshing water.

My toes didn't even skim the surface; it was safe after all. I felt my veins buzzing with excitement, and the moment my head popped up above the surface, I let out a long cheer.

"That was bloody amazing!" I yelled, punching the air with my fist, swimming towards the bank and hoisting myself up to where my friends stood. Charlie gave me a hug and a high-five, and Dora did the same.

"I'm so happy to be related to a badass like you!"

"I'm so happy to be friends with a badass like you!"

I grinned, and locked eyes with Bill. "See? I'm fine!"

"It was incredibly stupid," he stated, raising an eyebrow. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Stop being such a Percy! She's fine, and it was really cool!"

I felt exhilarated, alive, happy... I didn't even stop to think about the crush on Bill.

I did it two more times, impressing Dora and Charlie, whilst Bill rolled his eyes. I didn't even care; it was so much fun. Dora and Charlie both said outright that they didn't have the guts to do it, which amused me. Dora had told Charlie to grow some balls, and he suggested that she do the same. She then said that if she grew balls, she would be classed as the same gender as Charlie, and she didn't want to be associated with such a coward. I don't even know if she realised how hypocritical she sounded.

I was going to jump from the tree for the fourth time, feeling just as excited as I did the first three times. That feeling I got when I landed in the water... it was chemical. A natural high.

If I was slow and careful, my clumsiness wouldn't prevail. So that is what I did.

I took a deep breath, and bent my legs a little further than I had on the previous times, and jumped.

Wind whooshed past my ears, stopping abruptly as I landed in the water with a splash.

This time, however, my toes skimmed against the bottom of the waterhole, my right foot brushing against some sort of weed. I didn't think anything of it, until I found that the weed had somehow lodged itself around my right foot, rendering it impossible for me to move forward.

I didn't panic at first, although I couldn't even see the light above the surface, despite the fact that it was clear water.

But try as I might, I couldn't get the weed off my foot. I tried to lean down and dislodge the weed from my foot, but it was tough, and I had a feeling that it was a magical weed of sorts, because no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't budge.

There was a sharp pain in my chest, indicating that I needed oxygen.

Okay, time to panic.

I tried to scream, I kicked and thrashed, hoping that somehow, the weed would become dislodged. But as time drew on, (it felt like hours but was only seconds) I realised that even if I did break free, I might not have the strength to swim to surface...

This feeling of being suffocated... it felt as though my head and chest were going to explode. My limbs ached... and my eyes started closing of their own will...

If this was it, it was my own fault for being so reckless. If this was it, at least I had a good life, for a short amount of time, at least. It wasn't a complete waste...

Now, in this agony, I wanted it to end; my brain screamed that fact at me. I want numbness...

All hope was lost, until I saw a familiar red-haired figure swimming towards me... Bill.

My last coherent thought was of how cliché this situation was.