Oof, I hope the short chapters are fine, I really have no clue what to fill them with—I'm terrible at writing dialogue hihi.

Chapter 4

The Burrow

Soon enough, their suitcases had to be packed again, Alexis' toys were gathered from behind the television and in the cracks of the couch pillows, and Rachel was in a frenzy because she couldn't find her favourite bracelet.

But finally, Jordan dropped them off at the airport, reminding Rachel of his promise to bring the Nimbus 2000 to England soon, and he waved them good-bye as they went to security.

Rachel slept a lot on the flight back home, tired from her month-long stay in California, and when they were home, she was secretly very happy to be back. Her room was just as she'd left it (neat and clean, whereas Jeremy's room stunk like dirty socks that he'd shoved aside before leaving). Rachel didn't unpack her suitcase until the next day, where she dug through and hung up her bridesmaid dress nicely in her closet, and tossed the silver heels in her shoe drawer.

Lukas wandered into her room a few days before the World Cup was supposed to take place.

"Ron's sent this," he said, holding out a letter.

Rachel took it and read it.

Rachel, Lukas,

DAD'S GOT THE TICKETS! Ireland versus Bulgaria, next week on Monday. Hermione's arriving the 22nd, Mum says you guys can come then, too. Tell Jeremy that we're sorry we couldn't get enough tickets for him to come too.

Mum already sent a letter to Harry's uncle and aunt, let's hope he can come as well. Percy's started work—the Department of International Magical Co-operation. Don't mention anything about Abroad while you're here unless you want the pants bored off you.

See you Saturday!

Ron

"What did Mum and Dad say?"

"They'll let us," grinned Lukas. "Jeremy's throwing a temper tantrum in the garden because he wants to come as well."

Indeed, when they peered out Rachel's window, they saw Jeremy yelling at Mr. Haney that he wanted to go to the Quidditch World Cup too.

"I'll write back to Ron that we're coming on the 22nd."

Lukas left Rachel's room again and Rachel fell back on her bed with a grin.

Saturday the 22nd couldn't come slower, and that afternoon, they had their trunks packed and the Floo-Powder ready to throw into the fireplace. Jeremy was still sulking because he couldn't come, so he was still upstairs, refusing to come down to say good-bye to Rachel and Lukas.

"I'm assuming your letters with things needed will arrive when you're there," said Mrs. Haney, who held Alexis tightly.

"Probably," said Lukas, kissing his mother's cheek.

"Have fun, and stay safe," said Mr. Haney. "And remember, Jordan's coming to their place on the first, he'll come with you to King's Cross, probably."

"He better bring that Nimbus," said Rachel.

"And you better help me save up to buy one," said Lukas teasingly, poking Rachel's cheek.

"You guys are going to be late if you don't go now," Mr. Haney commented, checking the clock that hung on the wall. "You said you'd be there at four-thirty."

"Yes, we'll get going then," said Rachel, who stepped back to let Mr. Haney start a fire in the fireplace. While he did that, Rachel and Lukas hugged Alexis goodbye, and they then stepped toward the fireplace.

"You're going first," said Rachel, remembering the last time she travelled with the Floo-network.

Lukas shrugged and shouldered his rucksack, taking a pinch of Floo-powder from the old teapot that now had a permanent place on the table beside the fireplace. He threw it into the fire, which roared green, and he stepped in and yelled, "The Burrow!"

Lukas disappeared and Rachel turned to say good-bye to her parents one last time before also taking some Floo-powder and throwing it in the fireplace. She stepped in, holding her rucksack and her trunk very tightly to her, and yelled, "The Burrow!"

Rachel spun around very fast, making sure to keep her elbows tucked tightly to her sides. She saw fireplaces blur by and then she slowed down and she threw out her hands, catching herself before she would fall.

As soon as Rachel had come out of the fireplace, she heard a squealed, "Rachel!" and she was bombarded by Hermione Granger, who hugged her tightly. Over Hermione's shoulder, Rachel could see Ron Weasley grinning.

"When did you come here?" said Rachel, when Hermione had let go. Lukas' voice came from the kitchen.

"Just thirty minutes ago," grinned Hermione.

"Lukas fell flat on his face when he got out," said Ron, coming forward to hug Rachel as well. "Had to go to Mum to get his nose fixed. When did you get glasses?"

"At the start of summer," said Rachel.

"You got tan," said Hermione.

Rachel looked at her tanned arms and grinned back at Hermione, "The wonders of the Californian sun, 'Mione."

"Oh, right, how was America?" asked Ron.

"Amazing, it was so beautiful and hot, and you know what the craziest thing was?" said Rachel. Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads. "My brother-in-law's brother is a wizard, and he's giving me his Nimbus 2000."

"No way!" yelped Ron. "You're lucky, Rachel!"

"Ah, we thought we heard your voice, little Rooroo," said Fred Weasley, coming down the stairs with his twin brother George in tow.

"You know, your brother isn't too quiet, either," said George.

"Especially when he screamed and fell," said Fred, and everybody snorted.

"Remo!" shouted Rachel, seeing the small, black cat slithering past Fred's legs. She dashed forward with outstretched hands and caught Remo before he could go outside.

Remo had been her cat since the start of her first year at Hogwarts. He had one paw missing, his front right paw, and he was blind in one eye, but he was still beautiful and smart nonetheless.

"He's been bothering me all summer," complained Ron. "Really, I couldn't wait for you to take him back."

"Oh, you've got to meet Bill and Charlie," said George then, throwing his arm around Rachel's shoulders and guiding her toward the kitchen, where Lukas was sitting on a chair with a cloth pressed against his bleeding nose, looking disgruntled.

"Afternoon," grinned Fred teasingly toward Lukas. "We were just talking to your dear sister here."

"Who happened to be able to catch herself before falling," added George.

Lukas growled in their general direction, which sounded funny due to his broken nose. Mrs. Weasley, a short woman with the same red hair as her children, was bustling around in the kitchen, making tea while flipping through a book.

"Ah, good afternoon, Rachel dear," said Mrs. Weasley, when she saw Rachel in the kitchen.

Rachel noticed two people she hadn't seen before sitting at the kitchen; one was built like the twins, short and stocky. The second was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail like Jordan would have on hot days. He wore an earring with a fang dangling from it.

"Rachel," said Fred very formal-like, "please meet our oldest brothers, Bill and Charlie."

Bill and Charlie both greeted Rachel, and Rachel found both of them to be very amusing. They poked fun at Lukas' flailing when he had fallen out of the fireplace, but Charlie ended up making a suggestion that worked to fix Lukas' nose.

"How has Alexis been, Rachel?" asked Hermione, sitting down at the kitchen table as Mrs. Weasley put down a steaming pot of tea and eight teacups.

"Very good," grinned Rachel, accepting the tea Hermione poured for her. "She hated the aeroplane, she cried a lot until she fell asleep. She's got a nasty sunburn, though—Mum reckons she was at the beach too long with Jane and I."

"Now, is it true what we heard," said George, "that your brother-in-law 's brother is giving you a Nimbus 2000?"

"Yes," grumbled Lukas. "And what do I get? Nothing."

"What you are getting, Luke, is the pleasure of watching Rachel fall flat on her face when she tries to dodge a Bludger during her very first Quidditch game, if she makes the Quidditch team," said Fred. Rachel rolled her eyes as Lukas grinned.

"When's Harry getting here?" asked Lukas.

"We're picking him up tomorrow at five," said Ron. "Fred, George, Dad and I."

"Can I come?" asked Rachel.

"No, that'll be too many people," said Mrs. Weasley. "Here you go, Lukas, you missed some of the blood…"

After catching up over the tea, Mrs. Weasley got started making dinner. Rachel went up to Ron's room with Hermione, while Lukas went with Fred and George outside so they could teach him to de-gnome the garden.

Ron's room was bright orange, and the walls were hung with posters from his favourite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. The small grey owl Sirius Black had given Ron fluttered about its cage and twittered madly at the new arrival. Rachel soon learnt that his name was Pigwidgeon, just Pig for short.

"In just two days we'll be sitting in the stadium, and we'll be watching Ireland versus Bulgaria…" said Ron dreamily, flopping on his bed. "Imagine it, Rachel, just imagine it…"

"He's been doing that since we came back from Hogwarts," said a voice in the doorway.

Rachel turned and grinned at Ginny. She was small and red-haired and the youngest Weasley, and also the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny hugged Rachel and sat down between her brother and Hermione.

"My brother-in-law's brother is coming to see us to the train, by the way," said Rachel.

"He's coming down all the way from America?"

"Yes," Rachel nodded. "He's bringing the Nimbus 2000 and he'll see us to the train, and I think he's going to try and find a job here. He hasn't had much luck in America."

"How old is he, then?" said Hermione.

"Twenty-one, I'm pretty sure," said Rachel. "His name's Jordan, his hair is just as long as Bill's is."

"Wicked," grinned Ron. "Where did he go to school?"

"Ilvermorny. You know, the American wizard school?"

"I've heard of it," said Hermione. "I'd love to ask him what it's like."

"Yeah, I kind of forgot to ask about that, I was just too shocked that he's a wizard. Brendon—that's the guy my sister married, he's a Muggle. Their parents are Muggles, too, I believe."

Though she had enjoyed America, Rachel had missed her friends and England, and she couldn't wait to see Harry again.

Rachel definitely enjoyed the Burrow. The oldest Weasley children were very fun to be around and she bonded right away with Charlie over magical creatures. He suggested a job in the direction of magical creatures for her, which sounded very appealing to Rachel.

Something that she also discovered right away, was that it was normal to hear explosions from Fred and George's room. That evening, she got quite a scare when there was a sudden boom! from a few floors below. Hermione muttered at it and Ron had told her it was their company that they were making, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Rachel had laughed when she heard some of the things they had been inventing.

What Rachel also noticed was that Percy was barely out of his room. When he was, he was often talking with his father about Ministry business, and Rachel was quite bored with it during dinner.

That Sunday morning, Rachel woke up bright and early. Hermione and Ginny, who she was sharing a room with until they would leave for Hogwarts, were still asleep. Remo was curled on Ginny's desk-chair, purring in his sleep.

Rachel waited for Hermione and Ginny to wake up and they got dressed, talking about the World Cup tomorrow, betting on what team would win.

The day crawled by at snail's pace. Rachel sent her time cooped up with Ron and Hermione in Ron's room, whispering about Sirius Black, who had escaped from Azkaban to hunt down Peter Pettigrew, and who was also Harry's godfather.

Finally, at five o'clock, they headed down and watched Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron go to Privet Drive 4 with the Floo network. After a cup of tea from Mrs. Weasley, Rachel went to Ginny's room with Hermione and Ginny.

"So," said Ginny, turning and going bright red. "Harry's coming soon."

"Just be normal," said Rachel encouragingly. "I promise you, he'll see you."

There was a knock at the door and Lukas' face appeared. He flushed bright red like Ginny and said, "Did they go?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just because," said Lukas, edging into the room. He sat down on Ginny's bed.

"Everything all right, Luke?" asked Rachel.

"O-of course, why wouldn't they be?"

Ginny giggled and Hermione raised her eyebrows. It was very unlike Lukas to stutter.

"Well, you seem odd," said Rachel.

"You really don't pay attention much, do you, Rachel?" giggled Ginny.

"What? Why?" said Rachel.

Lukas gave Ginny a glare as she shuffled closer and whispered in Rachel's ear, "Lukas' got a crush on Hermione."

"What?" yelped Rachel. "Since when?"

"What are we talking about?" asked Hermione.

"You are just as oblivious as Rachel," Ginny said with a groan.

"What do you mean with that?" said Rachel.

"Nothing," said Ginny, and she looked outside at the sun.

After a very awkward silence, Lukas left, blushing deeply. Rachel giggled and eyed Ginny, who giggled as well, and she still wondered why she was oblivious as they went to play a few rounds of Exploding Snap.

"Girls," said Mrs. Weasley, poking her head into the room very briefly, "I think Harry's arrived!"

Rachel and Hermione jumped up and hurried down the stairs, Ginny in tow. They stopped, however, when Mrs. Weasley sharply said, "Tell me what, Arthur?"

Rachel glanced nervously at Hermione and then headed into the kitchen. Rachel grinned at Harry from behind Mrs. Weasley's back.

"Tell me what, Arthur?" repeated Mrs. Weasley, in a dangerous sort of voice.

"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr. Weasley, "Fred and George just—but I've had words with them—"

"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley. "If it's got anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes—"

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione.

"He knows where he's sleeping," said Ron. "In my room, he slept there last—"

"We can all go," said Rachel pointedly.

"Oh," said Ron, cottoning on. "Right."

"Yeah, we'll come, too," said George.

"You stay where you are!" snarled Mrs. Weasley.

Harry and Ron edged out of the kitchen and they set off toward the stairs and to Ron's room.

"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked, as they climbed the stairs.

Ron, Ginny, and Rachel laughed, but Hermione didn't.

"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "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…"

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny, "we thought they just liked the noise."

"Only most of the stuff—well, all of it, really—was a bit dangerous," said Ron, "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 burnt all the order forms… she's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O. as she expected."

O. were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, Rachel knew. They were the examinations she'd have to take next year.

"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "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."

Just then, Percy's door opened. He poked out his face with a very annoyed expression.

"Hi, Percy," said Harry.

"Oh, hello, Harry," said Percy. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work 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," said Ron irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" said Harry, and Rachel groaned silently; when Lukas had asked that the previous night during dinner, Percy bored her to death.

"A report for the Department of International Magical Co-operation," said Percy smugly. "We're trying to standardise 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," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."

Percy went slightly pink.

"You might sneer, Ron," he said heatedly, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products which seriously endanger—"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," said Ron, and he went back to climbing the stairs. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut. Rachel heard shouts from the kitchen below, and gave a wild guess that Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley about the toffees.

Pigwidgeon twittered madly in his cage, hopping up and down.

"Shut up, Pig," said Ron, edging his way between two of the five beds that had been squeezed into the room. "Fred and George are in here with Lukas, you, and I, because Bill and Charlie are in their room," he told Harry as Rachel sat down and clicked her tongue for Remo to dig himself from underneath Lukas' covers. He hopped onto her lap easily and nestled himself there. "Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to work."

"Er—why are you calling that owl Pig?" Harry asked Ron.

"Because he's being stupid," said Ginny. "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."

"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron sarcastically. "Ginny named him. She reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me, too, come to that."

Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his cage, hooting shrilly. Rachel smiled at the owl—she didn't mind Pig that much.

"Where's Crookshanks?" Harry asked Hermione now, after noticing Remo.

"Out in the garden, I expect," she said. "He likes chasing gnomes, he's never seen any before."

"Percy's enjoying work, then?" said Harry as he sat down next to Rachel.

"Enjoying it?" said Ron darkly. "I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto 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."

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" said Rachel. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot," said Harry. "They saved my life, those cakes."

"And have you heard from—?" Ron began, but Rachel and Hermione glared at him to shut up. Ron wanted to ask about Sirius, but Ginny didn't know of his innocence or how he had escaped, so it didn't seem smart to talk about it in front of her.

"I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, to cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking curiously from Ron to Harry. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"

"Yeah, all right," said Ron. The five of them left Ron's room and went back downstairs, to find Mrs. Weasley alone in the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered.

"We're eating out in the garden," she said when they came in. "There's just not room for thirteen people in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables."

Rachel, Hermione, and Ginny quickly grabbed the plates and hurried outside to avoid any more anger from Mrs. Weasley. Outside, there was a very loud crashing noise, and Rachel was amazed when she saw that Bill and Charlie both had their wands out, and were making two battered old tables fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, each attempting to knock the other's out of the air. Fred, George, and Lukas were cheering; Ginny and Rachel started to laugh while Hermione seemed amused but anxious that something would happen.

Just after Ron and Harry joined them with their hands full of cutlery, Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang, and knocked one of its legs off. There was a clattering overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy's head poking out of a window on the second floor.

"Will you keep it down?" he bellowed.

"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, grinning. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"

"Very badly," said Percy peevishly, and he slammed the window shut again. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely onto the grass, end to end, and then, with a flick of his wand, Bill reattached the table leg, and conjured tablecloths from nowhere.

By seven o'clock, the two tables were stuffed with dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, and the nine Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Rachel, and Lukas were settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky.

Rachel busied herself by scooping some potatoes and sauce on her plate, along with chicken-and-ham pie, and she ate it as she listened to Charlie, Fred, George, and Lukas talking about the World Cup.

"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie thickly, through a mouthful of potato. "They flatted Peru in the semi-finals."

"Bulgaria have got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.

"Krum's one decent player, Ireland have got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through, though. That was embarrassing, that was."

"What happened?" said Harry, and Rachel was curious, too. She hadn't kept up much with the World Cup, being busy with Jane's wedding and all.

"We went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," said Charlie gloomily. "Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland were slaughtered by Luxembourg."

Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their pudding (home-made strawberry ice-cream), and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle. Rachel felt sleepy and full.

"So—have you heard from Sirius lately?"

Rachel turned around; Ron and Harry were whispering and Hermione had wheeled around as well.

"Yeah," said Harry softly, "twice. He sounds OK. I wrote back to him the day before yesterday. He might write back while I'm here."

Harry looked like he wanted to say something else, but he backed down. Rachel looked at Hermione curiously, and then went back to her conversation with Charlie about dragons in Romania.

"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, checking her wristwatch. "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, Rachel, Lukas, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in 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—I hope it does this time!" said Harry enthusiastically. Rachel hoped it didn't—she wondered how she'd survive a five-day match.

"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred.

"That was a sample fertiliser from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"

"It was," Fred whispered to Harry and Rachel, as they got up from the table. "We sent it."