Hey everyone! This story line is something that's been in the back of my mind for a while, and I'm finally getting around to writing it all down. I'll try to upload a chapter each week and would love any thoughts or feedback y'all might have! Enjoy!
"So who is this muggle again?" George asked as he helped his mother and sister set the dining table for the early lunch/brunch Molly had made.
"The owl said his name is Clarke Castles," Molly replied hastily as she finished tidying up around the rebuilt Burrow. They had had a rough go of things after the war, but decided to fix up the Burrow to bring some semblance of normal back. When the ministry declared that each pureblood family must participate in a sort of muggle education program, not everyone was too pleased, especially the Malfoys. It was part of the Ministry of Magic's new initiative to educate witches and wizards in the ways of muggles so that they could gain a deeper appreciation for their kind and hopefully extinguish any possibility for a repeat of the terrors Grindelwald and Voldemort unleashed.
The Weasleys took the announcement in stride and Molly and Arthur were happy to host a muggle from America and teach them about magic and also learn about the muggle world for the summer. Of course, this whole experiment was contingent upon the fact that each muggle would be obliviated at the end of the summer and not remember anything about the wizarding world, while they would retain their experiences with the muggle and hopefully learn from them. Arthur was the most excited of the bunch and was eager to learn about all the muggle artifacts he had come across and had no names for. For instance, they found a strange little white box that opened and contained two smaller white objects that were quite strange in shape. The two objects had a rounded top part and an elongated bottom part with strange holes in them. There was a symbol on the back of the box of an apple that looked like a bite had been taken out of it. It was most curious indeed.
Ginny set out the silverware and napkins while they waited for Harry to get here with their muggle. He was the only one of them who could have picked Clarke up today, since none of them could drive the newer muggle car the ministry had provided them and Arthur was currently at the Ministry. Harry had really gotten in touch with his muggle side once the war ended. He had learned to drive, took up cooking as a form of stress relief, and always kept a stash of muggle currency in his dresser just in case. Ginny of course supported her fiancé and Hermione helped a bunch too, she explained things Ginny didn't understand and what something was or how it worked. This was another reason she was excited to meet Clarke! He could help her understand Harry's muggle upbringing better, and he could also connect with Harry in a way that Ron would never be able to. As for personality, none of them knew what to expect really or what he would look like, except for Harry, who received a picture of him from the ministry worker coordinating the program, that way he could recognize him when he picked him up.
Her mother told the family a month ago that a muggle named Clarke would be staying with them for the summer, and they received an owl with his name, a few of his interests, and any special dietary or health concerns that they should know about. She hoped that he and Harry would get along, and since he volunteered to pick Clarke up from the muggle travel-port thingy Harry had tried to explain to her, that should give them plenty of time to talk and get to know each other!
"Percy, Ron! Come down here, Harry should be here any minute with our new guest!" the Weasley matriarch hollered up the stairs to the sons that were staying in the Burrow. Bill was staying at his own home with Fleur and their daughter, Victoire, and Charlie wasn't due back from Romania until tomorrow. Ginny and Harry had taken Ginny's old room while they were building their own little cottage in Godric's Hollow, and George was staying in the twins' old room after he broke things off with Angelina Johnson. Percy and Audrey were staying in Charlie's old room until Charlie returned, just enough time to meet Clarke and then return to their shared flat, and Ron and Hermione had been staying in Ron's old room. The couple were in the market for their own flat, but the search was put on hold while Ron was in between jobs and Hermione was working on a raise, or possibly a promotion, for her current position at the Ministry.
The fireplace roared to life suddenly, drawing Molly and Ginny's attention, as Fleur, Bill and Victoire stepped through the floo.
"Oh! Right on time," Molly cooed as she shuffled over to the married couple and took little Victoire in her arms, rubbing a bit of soot from the child's cheek.
"Just like I said we would be, Mum," Bill chuckled good naturedly as he pecked his mother on the cheek in greeting.
"Bill, Fleur!" Ginny greeted excitedly and wrapped the petite blonde in a tight embrace, and then her eldest brother.
"Hey, Gin," Bill greeted his baby sister with a warm smile. "Is he here yet?" Ginny shook her head and checked the clock on the wall behind them. Harry's recently added spoon was still in the 'traveling' position.
"They should be here in the next ten minutes or so," Ginny updated the pair. Just as she finished speaking, the stairs creaked and thudded as a crowd of four people came scurrying down to the ground floor.
"Is he here?" Ron asked, coming to stand next to his sister. Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother.
"Not yet," she repeated for his sake. Ron nodded as he snaked an arm around Hermione's waist. Percy, and Audrey had followed the couple downstairs but decided to help George in the kitchen with whatever still needed to get done.
"I'm excited to teach him about quidditch, imagine never having rode a broom in your whole life!" Ron said with thinly-veiled enthusiasm. Hermione gave her boyfriend a smile, but raised her eyebrow slightly at his exclamation.
"Ron, I'm sure he'll love quidditch, but what if he doesn't like to fly? What if he prefers to stay on the ground like us rational folk?" Hermione added. Ron looked down at the woman beside him and scratched his chin for a moment.
"Mione, he's a bloke, he'll love the idea of quidditch enough to at least try getting on a broom!" Ron answered as if it was obvious. Just as Hermione was about to respond, they heard the sound of tires rolling over the grass and gravel as Harry's rental car pulled up in front of the Burrow.
"They're here! Everyone, by the door, but don't crowd them," Molly called, not dissimilar to a drill sergeant, as she bustled over and handed Victoire back to her parents.
I woke from my nap as the car started to bump up and down with the little dips and unevenness of the underused road. I wiped the little bit of drool from the corner of my mouth and blearily blinked the sleep away. It was the kind of waking up you felt after a nap that was sorely needed, but it was obvious that you needed more sleep. The jet lag was palpable at this point, but I had to wake myself up and look presentable for my host family. I folded down the visor and flipped up the cover to reveal the mirror. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and ran a hand through my hair to get a few of the tangles out that I had acquired from a long day of travel.
It wasn't nearly as hot here in England as it was in Oklahoma, so I got away with a pair of light-wash jeans and a navy linen blouse with tiny, white polka-dots all over it. I had decided to wear my hair down today, which might have been a mistake on the plane, but I wouldn't have had time to make it look presentable after the flight. I brushed some of the black smudges from under my eyes that resulted from my mascara and touched up my lipstick. In general I tried to keep my makeup on the more natural side, mascara, some concealer, blush and a little eye shadow to pull it together. But the one thing I could't leave home without was lipstick.
"Nearly there," Harry announced with a smile as he glanced over to me. I stretched my legs out as far as the space in front of me would allow and shuffled a bit in my seat.
"How long was I out for?" Harry smiled again as he kept his eyes on the bumpy road.
"Maybe an hour?" he guessed. "Are you excited to meet everyone?"
"I am," I nodded happily. "I just hope they like me and it won't be too awkward since I'll be staying with them for three months." Harry nodded with a small smirk gracing his features.
"I think they're in for a bit of a shock," he laughed lightly as he steered the car to the left and they started down a gravel driveway that lead up to a tall and shabby-looking house.
"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. Harry just let out another chuckle and said, "You'll see." He parked the car and pressed the button to open the trunk, or 'boot', of the car. I stepped out and grabbed my backpack from the trunk, hauling it over my right shoulder as Harry set my suitcase on the ground and started rolling it up toward the house. I looked up at the strange building that was multiple stories tall and seemed to tower over us. I took a deep breath as I followed Harry up the steps and he gave a quick knock before the door was pulled open almost immediately. A plump woman with rosy cheeks and bright red, shoulder-length hair opened the door and immediately pulled Harry into a hug before instructing someone behind her to take my suitcase from him. She glanced over Harry's shoulder at me and froze. Her eyes were wide and she seemed confused but quickly shook herself out of whatever trance she was in and a smile replaced the shock as she made a come-in gesture toward me.
I smiled nervously and stepped into the large house, feeling overwhelmed all of a sudden at the amount of people waiting to greet us. They all seemed just as shocked as Molly had been when they saw me and there were a few whispers as I hiked my bag a little higher on my shoulder and swallowed thickly under their gazes.
"Clarke Castles?" A curly-haired brunette woman spoke up and stepped forward from the group of onlookers. I smiled and nodded at the woman.
"That's me," I said politely. The woman was a few inches shorter than me and had voluminous chestnut curls that hung down past her shoulders.
"My name's Hermione Granger," she shook my hand with a smile and then stepped back to stand next to a tallish red-headed man. Actually, they were nearly all redheads, so using hair color as a distinguishing feature to tell them apart was definitely out!
"Welcome, Clarke, to our home!" Molly greeted from beside me and gave me a tight hug. She struck me as the overly-motherly type, and in truth it was very welcome. I didn't have the best relationship with my own mother, so Molly's enthusiasm and acceptance made me feel hopeful for the fate of the summer.
"George," another very tall red-haired man strode forward and stuck his hand out in greeting once Molly had released me. He had a handsome smirk on his face as he took my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles flirtatiously.
"It's nice to meet you, George," I chuckled at the man's antics and he waggled his eyebrows in response.
"I think I speak for us all when I say we are pleasantly surprised to meet you," he said behind a cheeky grin and tossed a smirk behind him at what I assumed was one of his brothers. I gave him a confused look and glanced around at the small crowd as some of them nodded in agreement.
"We thought you were a bloke," Ron blurted out, earning a smack on his arm from Hermione.
"Ron! She is our guest, be polite!" Molly whisper/shrieked at him. Now I realized what was going on.
"It was the name wasn't it?" I laughed easily. They nodded in agreement and smiled in apology. "It's alright, I'm used to the confusion. My mom lost a bet to my dad when I was born and they named me after my grandpa, but my mom at least got to spell it a little more femininely." I shrugged with a smirk. They all broke out into laughter at the story and I smiled too, thinking this was a good way to break the ice.
The tallest son stepped forward and offered his hand saying, "I'm Bill, and this is my wife, Fleur, and our daughter, Victoire."
"It's very nice to meet you all!" I chuckled as the little toddler waved an uncoordinated arm at me.
"I'm Percy," the curly, red-haired son stepped forward next. I shook his hand politely and gave the man a smile as his girlfriend stepped forward.
"And I'm Audrey, Percy's girlfriend," the young woman smiled at me and shook my hand as well before returning to Percy's side.
"Lovely to meet you, Audrey." Audrey had very plain features and shoulder length dirty-blonde hair which she wore in a tight, low ponytail. They seemed like a very professional couple and it was very obvious that they probably worked together and maintained a similar professional theme in their private lives.
"This is my fiancée, Ginny," Harry tapped me on the shoulder so I could turn around and greet the couple properly. I smiled widely as Ginny forwent the handshake and enveloped me in a hug, much like her mother had done.
"We're so happy to have you here for the summer, Clarke!" she said with excitement and bright, cheery eyes. "We needed another woman around here to balance things out!"
I laughed at the young woman's enthusiasm and thanked her. "I appreciate that! And I'm happy to be here!"
"Clarke, dear," Molly said from beside me. "Let's get you situated in your room before we eat. George, will you help Clarke with her suitcase and show her to Bill's old room?" The twin in question nodded happily and took the suitcase handle from Percy.
"Follow me," George smirked at me over his shoulder and I blushed slightly in response. I could already tell this man was going to be trouble. He seemed like the mischievous sort and was very cheeky as well.
"Thanks for the help," I said politely as I followed him up the never-ending staircase. He waved his hand in dismissal and smiled at me over his shoulder again.
"Don't mention it, happy to!" He pushed open the door to a room on the third floor of the house and rolled my luggage into the small room. I walked in behind him and set my backpack gently on the old mattress, causing its old, metal frame to creak. It was clear that they weren't a very wealthy family, but they certainly had children to spare! Four sons and a daughter! They must have been very busy when they were all children of differing ages. The room was on the smaller side with a window facing the south side of the house and a dresser on the right wall. The checkerboard comforter had obviously been freshly laundered and the floor looked like it had just been swept as well.
"Mum cooked some food for lunch if you're hungry," George added and I nodded in response.
"Sounds great!" I grinned and gestured for him to lead the way downstairs. The stairs groaned with our weight as I followed George down the staircase and into the kitchen. Downstairs, everyone was already seated at the incredibly long table and there were three empty seats left. George took the one beside the guy who I was pretty sure was called Ron and the other two were beside Molly at the head of the table or beside Percy. I decided on the latter and took the seat beside one of the shorter red-headed sons.
Across from me sat Harry and the only red-headed young woman of the bunch. She had had long, straight flaming-red hair and a smattering of freckles across her face that matched most of her brothers. Ginny was a beautiful young woman and seemed quite spirited as well! Harry was a lucky man, and he surely looked the part, if his goofy grin when he looked at his fiancée was anything to go by.
Bill, who was seated on Harry's right, was taller than all his brothers and had shoulder-length hair and two large scars running the length of his left cheek. Fleur was a petite blonde woman with small, pointed features and hair deftly pulled into an elegant bun at the base of her neck. The little blonde toddler bounced on the woman's lap and looked to be quite happily playing with a set of plastic keys. I smiled at the little family and they smiled and nodded back to me.
Hermione and Ron were the couple sitting at the end of the table opposite Molly and the empty seat next to her. I waved again at the couple and smiled at the brunette woman that I had met when I first entered the strange and crowded house.
"Morning Weasleys!" A voice suddenly called from the door way. A very tall red-headed man with a shorter, balding hairdo stepped into the kitchen with a bright smile and set a briefcase down on the countertop. He made his way over to the table and took his seat next to Molly at the head of the table.
"Arthur, this is Clarke, our muggle guest." Molly gestured to me and Arthur gave me a bright smile. What did she mean by muggle? Was that another British word we didn't have in America?
"Clarke Castles!" He said with enthusiasm unmatched by any member of his large family thus far, except maybe Ginny. He folded his hands in front of him on the table and leaned forward excitedly. He seemed unfazed by the fact that I was a a woman, and not a man like they had expected.
"Tell me, how are you liking England?" he asked eagerly. I smiled at the patriarch and took a sip of water from the cup at my place setting before I responded.
"It's very different from America!" I chuckled and gave them a bashful smile. "I'm still getting used to all the different words y'all use here. For instance, I've never heard the word 'muggle' before now." The faces of those around me seemed to take on a multitude of different expressions. Percy looked pale, Ginny looked like she was about to burst with laughter, and Molly and Arthur both looked like parents who's child had just discovered a secret.
"Who wants to take this one, eh?" George chuckled as he spooned some salad onto his plate. Arthur cleared his throat and repositioned himself in his chair.
"Well my dear, a muggle generally refers to a non-magical person, in America I believe they still use the phrase 'no-mag'." I thought about his words for a second or two and I felt the eyes of everyone on me.
"So," I paused while I gathered my thoughts. "A muggle is any person who's not a magician?" I tried to sum up. Ron burst into a fit of loud guffaws and was immediately silenced with an elbow to the ribs from his girlfriend, Hermione. I felt my face get hot as I realized that was obviously an incorrect assumption.
"As in, not a witch or wizard," Molly clarified with a tender smile. I blinked a few times while I soaked in her words.
"I'm sorry, witches and wizards? What do you mean?" I chuckled. I knew there were people who could trace ancestors back to the Salem witch trials and all that, but they never took it very seriously, I thought. Molly gave me a sympathetic look and tried to explain things in a way I could understand.
"This exchange program you're in, it was Minister Kingsley's idea, to help witches and wizards understand non-magical people a little better, and to also teach muggles about the Wizarding world." I blinked a few times as I digested her words. She wasn't serious right? They were obviously playing some sort of joke on the new girl.
"Right," I laughed in a kind of drawn-out fashion. Everyone looked at me like they had been one hundred percent serious, and it was starting to worry me now.
"Magic doesn't exist," I chuckled awkwardly and reached for my glass of water. As I was taking a long, nervous sip, George pulled out a wooden stick and waved it in the air as three small fireballs shot out of the end and exploded over the table in a shower of purple sparks. I barely noticed the sound of glass breaking as my cup had slipped from my grasp and shattered onto the floor.
"Now you've gone and done it, George!" Molly Weasley cried from her end of the table. "You've scared the poor girl!" She turned to face me with a gentle, motherly look and asked, "are you alright dear?" I blinked a few more times and turned to face the woman to my right.
"Um...," I gulped. "I'm.. not really sure what to say," I said honestly, my voice barely above a whisper. Could witches and wizards be real? This whole time?
"We don't want to frighten you, Clarke," she said sweetly and patted my shoulder. I mulled her words over in my mind for a minute or two while the rest of the table sat silently.
"Why now?" I asked a little hesitantly after a minute or two . "If there is such a thing as magic, and wizards and witches and stuff really exist, then why reveal it now?" Arthur cleared his throat, ready to tackle this question himself.
"Three years ago there was a war, a war within the magical community, brought about by a terrible dark wizard," Arthur began. "It lead to a final battle at Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry, where many great witches and wizards died." Arthur looked over at his wife who had unshed tears in her eyes and took her hand under the table. "We lost our son, Fred, in the final battle."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," I said softly, looking at the couple who obviously hadn't healed entirely from the tragedy. Even if I didn't understand what was going on exactly, now I at least connected the dots from what Harry had told me in the car.
"Harry and I grew up just like you," Hermione chimed in and I turned toward the brunette who had a soft smile on her face.
"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.
"My parents were dentists," she explained with a grin. "Harry grew up with his aunt and uncle who were muggles as well, and until our eleventh birthdays, neither of us knew anything about the wizarding world or magic." I listened to her words with rapt attention. She was very well-spoken and seemed like the kind of person I could really see being good friends with.
She explained just how people like her grew up knowing nothing of magic until they received a letter when they turned eleven that revealed this secretive world to them and their families, and enclosed their invitation to a special school for magical children. Molly had discretely cleared up all the broken glass while I was intently listening to Hermione, so as not to startle me again like George had.
Once Hermione had finished, Arthur filled me in on what the Ministry of Magic was and how it operated and all the different departments, each with its own important jobs. Percy, Audrey and Hermione also worked for the ministry, but I'm not quite sure what their jobs were exactly. Bill was what's called a 'curse breaker' and he regaled me with stories of his trips to Egypt and his work with the wizard bank, Green Gots, or something like that. Harry was the magical equivalent of a policeman, an aurora I think they called it? And Ginny was a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, a professional wizards sports team. From the way they explained it, it sounded like a mixture of soccer and basketball, but played in the air on broomsticks.
"So Clarke," Bill spoke up from across the table. "What do you do for work in the muggle world?"
"I actually don't work, technically speaking," I said as I spooned some strawberries onto my plate from the ceramic bowl in front of me. "Right now I'm in veterinary school, and it doesn't give me much free time to hold down even a part-time job."
"What is a ver-vetinary?" Fleur's french accent drew a smile from me and I addressed the blonde woman as I smiled at the little girl in her lap.
"A veterinarian is like a healer for sick or injured animals," I explained with a grin.
"And there's a special school for that?" Ron asked around a mouthful of roasted veggies. I nodded and took a drink of water.
"Muggles who want to become veterinarians have to go to school until they are eighteen and graduate high school, then go to college for four years, then you have to get accepted into a veterinary school, and that is also a four year program, and if you're wanting to specialize, which I do, you have to complete an internship and three-year residency program." I finished my explanation and was met with stunned silence. All around the tables there were looks of surprise and mouths agape.
"How old will that make you when you can finally start your career?" Arthur finally broke the silence. I counted up the years in my head before responding.
"30," I replied and Ron nearly choked on a green bean at the number. Hermione smiled at me, probably knowing from her own parents exactly the amount of training muggle medical professions took.
"That's quite a commitment," Arthur said with admiration. I nodded with a smile, knowing just how exhausting and long the whole process was.
"What do you want your specialty to be?" Percy asked from my left.
"Oncology, if everything goes according to plan." I gave him a bright smile.
"What does that mean?" George asked with a curious look.
"Oh!" I chuckled, forgetting that medical terminology wasn't always understood even in the muggle world. "It's the study of cancer, so I want to treat dogs and cats diagnosed with different forms of cancer."
"Wow," Ginny sighed. "That's such a great cause!" My smile widened at the words of admiration. I loved the field and there was nothing I wanted to do more than to help those suffering with this horrible diagnosis and do everything in my power to treat them and help them live comfortably. It was my calling.
"Thanks," I grinned brightly at Ginny. "I'm excited to work with animals for the rest of my life! I've loved them for as long as I can remember." The feisty redhead eyed Hermione and threw her a devious-looking smile.
"You know who else loves animals?" Ginny piped up from across the table. "Charlie," she said with a smirk and cast her eyes quickly over to Molly, who seemed to realize what Ginny was playing at.
"Charlie?" I asked in confusion. I was pretty sure I knew the names now of everyone in attendance and I didn't remember a Charlie being mentioned.
"He's the second oldest," Percy explained from beside me as he dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin.
"Wait," I counted Weasleys in my head and was getting a little mixed up. "Bill is the oldest," I pointed at said Weasley who nodded in confirmation. "And then Charlie?" Nods again. "Then George?"
"Percy is the third eldest," Molly supplied with a motherly smile at the curly haired Weasley.
"Okay, Percy is the third son," I corrected. "and then George, then Ron and then Ginny?" Everyone smiled brightly and nodded their heads vigorously.
"You got it," Harry said with a grin.
"So where is this Charlie?" I asked as I popped another strawberry into my mouth.
"He'll be here tomorrow," Molly informed me.
"Tell us about America, Clarke," Hermione asked with a gentle smile. "What's your home like?" I told the group stories about my home state of Oklahoma and the blistering summers and icy winters. I told them about the tornadoes that rip cities apart every summer and the dirt that's fire-engine red from the amount of iron in the ground. It seemed like they were just as eager to learn about my world as I was to learn about theirs.
"Do you have any siblings?" Harry asked as he munched on a roasted potato. I nodded in response as I wiped my mouth on my napkin.
"I have my mom and dad, an older sister, Carly, a younger sister, Catherine, and an even younger sister, Courtney."
"Wow, all C's!" Arthur said excitedly. "Do many muggle parents name their children that way?"
"Oh no!" I laughed. "My parents are just really weird. For some reason they stuck with the 'C' theme after I was born, but it makes it hard for them to keep all our names straight." George chuckled under his breath and hooked his thumb nonchalantly in his parents' direction.
We sat there and talked for maybe another hour before I started to get tired again and was yawning every couple of minutes.
"Clarke, why don't you go and get yourself some rest, hmm?" Molly suggested with a smile. I nodded in relief at the mention of sleep, but I hadn't wanted to excuse myself before lunch was over.
"I think I might go take a nap then, after all the traveling I've done today," I said to the Weasley parents, who nodded their heads in understanding.
"I'll never understand muggle travel," Molly sighed. "Up to bed with you! I'll send someone to fetch you when dinner's ready," she offered.
"Thank you, Molly," I smiled sweetly at the red-haired woman. "Lunch was amazing." Her face pulled up into a motherly smile and she patted me gently on the shoulder as I headed up the stairs. With every step I took I could feel the need for sleep dragging me down and making it harder for me to climb the many steps it would take to reach the third floor of the Burrow. I found Bill's old room easily enough and flopped onto the bed without bothering to move the backpack that still laid at the foot of the bed.