Our trunks sat in the living room, packed to the brim with whatever clothes and items that Hayden and I wanted to bring with us back to school. It was the morning we were supposed to head to the Burrow for the remainder of the summer holiday so Hayden also had his entire Quidditch bag packed as well. The last thing he wanted was for anyone else, even Mariah, packing it up for him and sending it later on.

The three of us stood in front of the fireplace and Mariah, just as she had last year, was struggling not to cry. I did feel a bit bad that we were leaving after not having been there for very long, but at the same time, I was looking forward to seeing my friends. I never thought that I would have friends to visit, so I was going to take full advantage of it.

"You who better behave for Mrs. Weasley." Mariah ordered, wrapping her arms around each of us. "It's a wonder why that woman wants to have more kids running around that house."

Hayden awkwardly patted her back to get her to release us. Once she did, he let out a laugh and spoke. "I'm always on my best behavior!" He patted my shoulder. "And with Penny with me, what am I possibly going to get away with?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You never listen to my advice anyways so I highly doubt that'll change just because we're at the Weasley's."

He went to rebuttal, but Mariah cut him off to address me. "Just do your best with him." I smiled softly and nodded my head. Though, the odds of me being able to control Hayden while the twins are around were slim to none. But I wasn't going to break that news to her.

"Man, you two act as if I'm the kid around here." Hayden pouted, turning to the fireplace. "Let's go already. I need to be on an equal playing field."

"Alright, alright." Mariah sighed, giving her head a shake before pulling out her wand and pointing it towards our trunks. She sent them off to the Burrow for us before stowing her wand away and grabbing the Floo Powder from the fireplace mantel. "I'll save the big lecture for another day. Just remember to keep in touch with me. If I ever send you a letter and you don't respond-"

"You'll come running, we know." Hayden chuckled, looking back at her to take a handful of Floo Powder. "We'll never go silent on you."

The look on her face made it pretty clear that that was exactly what she was expecting from him in particular. She reached up and patted his cheek before giving the same cheek a quick kiss. "You better not. Now go before you get too much on my nerves."

Hayden nodded with a satisfied grin before heading into the fireplace. He threw the powder down and shouted, "The Burrow!" and with that, he was gone in a burst of flames.

My eyes widened at the sight. "Oh." I muttered under my breath. Maybe I should've asked how this worked before. Going up in flames didn't sound very appealing.

Mariah chuckled at my unease. "Don't worry, dear. You won't feel a thing." She placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a sense of reassurance. "Hayden will be on the other side to catch you in case you fall."

"Okay.." I grabbed the Floo Powder in my hand and stepped into the fireplace. As I turned back to face her, I gave her one final smile. The words that came out of my mouth next shocked me. "I love you." As the final word came out, my eyes widened and the fear I had about the Floo Network went out the window as I threw the powder to the ground. "The Burrow!"

A bright flash of green filled my vision and my heart felt as if it did a backflip as I was transported away from my home. As the green began to fade, I tried my best to let my feet find the ground, but as the scene in front of me began to form, I wasn't able to find stability at all. A shriek escaped my lips as I fell forward, only to have a set of arms catch me before I could fall.

"Woah there, easy does it." I heard Hayden speak and he helped me to stand up straight. "The first time is always the worst. I broke my nose the first time." He laughed and dusted off my shoulders of the soot.

My eyes blinked, trying to focus on the new set of lighting. "Jeez, then I'm really glad you caught me." There had been multiple occasions at school where I had heard of Madam Pomphrey having to fix broken bones. It sounded extremely painful and the last thing I wanted to experience.

"Is that Hayden?" I heard a male voice call from above me and it was at this moment I had a chance to look around at the home I was in.

The Burrow was completely different from my own home. It was cluttered, but certainly not messy. From what I had heard from the twins, there were nine people living here at one point. That number had since decreased to seven after the two eldest brothers left, but it was still a big family. I couldn't imagine having to keep a house organized with that many people running around.

Hayden let go of me and headed to the bottom of a large staircase, looking up. "I'm here and I brought Penny with me!" He called up and when I went to look up with him, I noticed multiple heads appear at different points of the stairway. I easily spotted Ron and the twins, but there was also a girl there as well. That must have been their little sister, Ginny.

As I held my hand up in a greeting, each person began to make their way down the stairs. I barely had a chance to react to the parade of people before the twins jumped off the last few steps and collided with Hayden, tackling him to the ground. Hesitantly, I took a step back to give the teenage boys room. That greeting was certainly more extravagant than I thought necessary.

Ron and Ginny stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the three boys with similar annoyed expressions. "Whatever happened to a simple high five?" Ron questioned before turning to me. "Glad you could come by. Mum has been really excited to meet you."

"Your stuff is already in my room." Ginny spoke up with a smile. "We're limited on space around here so you'll stay with me." She held her hand out towards me. "I'm Ginny, by the way."

I matched her smile as I took her hand in mine and gave it a shake. "Penny. Nice to finally meet you. It's nice to put a face to the stories I've heard."

"I can only imagine what you've heard.." She muttered, looking at the boys as they began to get back to their feet. "They tend to exaggerate."

I nodded in understanding. If there was one thing those boys were good at, it was storytelling. It was already clear that Ginny was more mature than they made her out to be. I was very thankful for that, or else this was gonna be a long few weeks.

Clapping could be heard from another part of the room and when I looked over, I saw a red headed woman coming towards us. She reached over and one by one, smacked the twins and Hayden on the back of their heads. "You three are terrible examples, straighten yourselves out." She scolded and each of the boys quickly fixed their clothing and apologized.

I blinked in confusion. Not even McGonagall could get them to do that but yet this woman almost made them fear her. I took a small step back as the woman continued to shout at the boys and turned to Ron and Ginny. "Is that your mother?"

"Yeah," Ron confirmed. "Fred and George drive her up a wall so I think part of her dreads when Hayden visits. Having to deal with two troublemakers is nothing when all three of them are together."

"When Hayden visited last summer, they nearly set fire to the house." Ginny added, struggling not to laugh at the thought.

My eyes widened. "Wh-What? You're joking." When they shook their heads, I turned back to the boys in shock. I knew they were fans of pranking, but that seemed to be taking it way too far.

Mrs. Weasley finished scolding the boys and heaved a heavy sigh before turning in my direction. I froze under her gaze, but my fear quickly melted away as a kind smile formed on her face. "This must be Penny." She came over and without warning, threw her arms around my shoulders. "It's so nice to meet you, dear."

My whole body tensed at the embrace. Was this something that people did? Hug someone they don't even know? I moved my gaze to Hayden who nodded his head, giving me permission to return her hug. Hesitantly, I returned the stout woman's hug. "It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Weasley."

The woman gave me a squeeze before releasing me from the hug. "These boys never shut their mouths about you. I can't believe that Hayden of all people has a sister as darling as you."

My face flushed pink and I avoided her gaze. "I suppose he and I are quite different when it comes to staying in line."

"Hey! I stay in line!" Hayden snapped, sending me a glare.

"You really don't." Hayden's glare moved towards Ron who had muttered the counter. "What? I saw some of the stuff you've pulled."

"Anyways." Mrs. Weasley sighed. "How about you two get settled in? We'll have dinner in a few hours so you have plenty of time."

I smiled at her. "Thanks again for letting us stay here." I went to say more, but before I could, two hands took hold of each of my arms and began to pull me away from Mrs. Weasley. When I looked over, I saw Fred and George pulling me towards the door to the outside with Hayden right behind us.

"Quidditch time!" Fred cheered as Hayden pulled the door open.

"Let's see what position you're made for, shall we?" George exclaimed and gave me a small push outside.

My eyes widened. "B-But, we've only just gotten here!" The three boys didn't care to hear my words and continued to direct me towards their garden. I heaved a sigh. Nothing could stop these three when they were together, I might as well go along with whatever they had planned for the next few weeks.

The next few days went on just as I had thought they would. I would be dragged in every which direction by Hayden and the twins in their effort to have the most fun possible in the short time we had before the new term started. Each day was filled with Quidditch and pranking. Mrs. Weasley tried her best to make sure we were productive around the house and although I tried my best, I was always being pulled away before I could help.

August third rolled around and concerns began to arise about Harry. We all had sent letters and gifts for his birthday at the end of July, but no one had heard a single thing back from him. I hadn't known much about Harry's living situation till Ron explained that his aunt and uncle weren't the kindest to him. Learning that he had lived under the stairs until he went to Hogwarts was a shock. How could the Boy Who Lived have such terrible caregivers? Was there no one else he could stay with?

Throughout the day, I saw Ron whispering with the twins and every time I tried to catch what they were talking about, they would change the subject. I was certain Ron was concerned about his best friend and I understood that completely. Then again, what were we going to do about it? I highly doubted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would let us go to get him.

When night fell, I laid awake in Ginny's room, the sound of her peaceful breaths filling the air. It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky that I began to hear footsteps making their way down the stairs. There were whispers I couldn't quite make out so I got to my feet, sliding my slippers on and began to make my way down.

In the kitchen, I found the twins and Ron shuffling through some of the kitchen cabinets, clearly looking for something. "What are you guys doing?"

My words were enough to make all three boys whip their heads around. I cocked my head to the side in confusion and Ron groaned. "Blimey, Penny. I thought you were our mum."

A small chuckle escaped my lips. "I'll take that as a compliment." No longer seeing any sign of trouble, the boys continued their search. "What are you looking for?"

"The keys to the car." At Ron's words, my eyes widened. "Don't look at us like that, we have to go make sure Harry is okay."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Do any of you even know how to drive?"

At the question, all three boys went silent. Of course none of them had much of an idea how to do a muggle task. It was already strange that the pureblood family had a muggle car. Their father's obsession with muggle technology might have given them an edge on other pureblood families, but driving a car was something completely different.

"Dad gave us lessons last summer, I'm sure we can figure it out." Fred grinned over at me as George plucked the keys from inside a pot.

"Mum probably thought hiding the keys here was a good idea seeing as none of us ever help with the cooking." He chuckled, tossing the keys to Ron.

I narrowed my eyes. "What am I supposed to tell your mum when she finds out you're not here?"

Fred waved a hand in dismissal. "We'll be there and back before she has time to bat an eye. Have more faith in us, Pens."

Pens? Wasn't that a muggle tool? I dismissed the nickname and sighed. "Whatever. Just try to be back before sunrise. I'm not going to lie to her if she wakes up before you get home."

"Thanks Penny!" Ron smiled and all three boys made their way out the door. I watched as they got into the car and sloppily took off into the air. Those boys couldn't drive in a straight line if their lives depended on it. They better be able to get Harry here safely or I would have their heads.

"Penny dear, have you seen the twins or Ron?"

Morning rolled around far quicker than I had hoped. I had tried to get to sleep so that Mrs. Weasley couldn't question me, but I couldn't manage to wash enough worry away. My night had been spent in the living room, staring at the family clock the Weasley's had, waiting for the boys' heads to turn from lost to home. That moment never came and when the sun arose, their mother had noticed their disappearance.

I looked at the older woman, my expression concerned. "I uhm.." I began, trying to avoid her gaze. I was happy to have someone going to get Harry, but I still didn't want to lie to the woman who had been nothing but kind to me. "They went.." I trailed off as I glanced passed her to see the outside door open.

Each of the three redheads quietly entered the kitchen, ushering an excited Harry inside. They were looking at each other, thinking they had gotten away with their plan, only to hear Mrs. Weasley begin to yell over them.

"Where have you been?" She snapped, stepping closer to them, hands on her hips. "You left without a word and didn't even think to leave a note! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

"They were starving him, mum. There were bars on his window." Ron tried to plead with her, only to be shut down rather quickly.

"You better hope I don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley." Their mother glared at him before her gaze moved to Harry. She held her arms out and pulled the unsuspecting boy into a hug. "Good to see you, Harry."

From my spot in the living room, I let out a small laugh. The scene in front of me looked almost identical to when Hayden and I arrived. Mrs. Weasley was far more critical with her boys than those who weren't in her family.

After releasing Harry, Mrs. Weasley continued to scold the boys, listing off how they would be punished, threatening to tell their father. Before she could act on any of the punishments, Ginny came clambering down the stairs. "Mum, have you seen my jumper?" She scanned the room, taking in what was happening before her eyes landed on Harry. Her gaze widened and she quickly turned back around and ran up the stairs.

"Uhm.. What was that about?" Harry questioned, glancing towards me.

An amused smile made its way onto my face. "Don't mind her. She's only been talking about you all summer. She's probably just a little star struck."

"That and she's mad about you." Ron snickered, only to receive a smack from Mrs. Weasley.

"Everyone get to the table. Just wait until your father comes home.." She grumbled as each of the boys made their way around the kitchen table.

Harry stood off to the side, not sure how to handle what was happening. I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Mrs. Weasley makes an amazing breakfast." I directed him towards an empty chair near the head of the table. After he sat down, I took my place in the chair next to his. "Happy birthday, by the way. Did you get my letters?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "That's a bit of a long story.."

I raised an eyebrow and went to question him, but was cut off by Hayden joining us at the table, sitting across from me. His head rested up against his hand and muttered a quiet thank you to Mrs. Weasley when she filled his plate with food. He barely paid attention as she questioned what part he had played in last night's excretion. He continued to space out until she mentioned the boys had taken out the flying car. "What?!" His head snapped towards the twins. "You said you'd take me next time you went out!"

His words only infuriated Mrs. Weasley more. As she started to yell at the boys again, Mr. Weasley came home from work. I kept quiet as the family argued over the flying car incident, finding no need to be a part of it.

Silently, Percy had joined the breakfast table, not wanting to become involved in the discussion. I couldn't really blame him. I'm sure if he did join in, it would only lead to the twins making fun of him. In a way, I felt bad for the older Weasley boy. He did everything his family ever wanted of him, but yet was ridiculed by his other siblings. Then again.. He did act like a bit of a prat.

The sound of a crash came from the window and I glanced over to see the Weasley owl clumsily landing in the window. Percy got up and took the bundle of mail from the owl's talon and shuffled through it, handing everyone their mail. "Hogwarts lists are here."

He passed me multiple letters and I found a letter from both Clara and Finnley along with my list of supplies for the upcoming year at school. A small smile formed on my face as I set the letters off to the side, planning to read them after looking at the mail from Hogwarts. I peeled away the envelope and pulled the list out, taking note of how many textbooks we needed for the year. My eyes widened at the sight. It was nearly a full page! There was usually only one textbook for each class…

That's when I saw it. Seven books were being required for Defense Against the Dark Arts. It all looked to be written by the same person, Gilderoy Lockhart. I furrowed my brow. The new professor was just selling us his books, certainly to make a quick payment. What a git. I glanced up to see the Weasley's looking at the list with worry. Not every family had enough money to pay for this many books, did Lockhart seriously think this was acceptable?

"This is going to cost quite a bit." George commented, glancing towards his parents to see how they were reacting to the list.

Mrs. Weasley had snuck a peak at Ron's list and heaved a sigh. "We'll manage. I suppose we can make a trip to Diagon Alley in a couple weeks to get all of this."

The tone of her voice wasn't the least bit concerned but it was still unfortunate that they were placed in this situation. I looked over at Hayden who seemed to be thinking the same thing. He and I had plenty to pay for ourselves and it made me feel a bit guilty that we couldn't help them.

"Alright, that's enough of that." Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands and brought her wand out, levitating all of our empty plates and placing them into the sink. "All of you get ready for the day. I need the gnomes cleaned up outside."

There were a few mumbles of agreement as everyone got up and began to head up the stairs to either get dressed, or in Harry's case, unpack. I made my way into Ginny's room, seeing her out of her pajamas and dressed for the day on her bed. An amused smile formed on my face as I made my way to my trunk to pull my clothes out. "Want to explain to me why you're so obsessed with Harry?"

Her face went beet read and she raised a book that had been in her hands over her face. "He's a famous wizard, his face is all over the papers.. He's.."

"Easy on the eyes?" I snuck a glance over at her and chuckled. "Come on Ginny, has your mum ever talked to you about having crushes? You know, you're going to have to keep those young feelings in check at school."

"Th-That's not it!" She snapped at me, sitting up to better defend herself. "It's just.. He's this big important wizard and he's in my home.. It's weird.."

I shuffled through my clothes, pulling out a simple blue t-shirt and jeans as I spoke. "He's the Boy Who Lived, sure, but he's still just harry. Trust me, he's not different from you or I. He's actually a bit of an airhead if you ask me."

Ginny let out a huff. "Whatever.." She got to her feet and headed towards the door, peeking her head out to make sure no one was around. "I'm going to get something to eat before mum puts away all the food."

As she started to walk out of the room, I called out to her. "It doesn't take boys long to unpack so Harry will likely be back down in a couple of minutes."

"Bloody hell, Penny, leave me alone…" The poor girl put her head down and headed down the stairs before I could tease her anymore.

I gave my head a shake before getting up and shutting the door so I could change without an interruption. If I had to venture a guess, Harry was the first boy Ginny had seen other than her brothers, so she likely latched onto the thought of meeting him. Poor girl really needed to get to school and meet new people other than her own family.

Once dressed, I sat down on my makeshift bed and grabbed the letters I had received earlier. I opened Clara's first, giving it a read over.

Penny,

Thank you for the birthday gift! I truly needed a nice quill set, I never thought I would ruin the one I had. Maybe I overdid it with my studies..

I've been thinking a lot about the next school term. I really didn't handle the first year well at all. Honestly, having you and the others still send me letters despite how I acted is shocking. I'm really sorry for the drama I helped to cause. This year, I want you and the others to know I'm going to go into it with a clear mind. Whatever Mandy has against me, I won't even try to start any arguments. If we keep that up, these next few years aren't going to be fun.

Would you be okay with starting fresh? I promise I'm sending everyone else a similar letter. Let me know if there is something I can do to make it up to you. I want us all to be friends.

Also, When are you going to Diagon Alley? I'm hoping to be able to see you before the term starts. Did you see the list of books for DADA? That's absurd! Hopefully that doesn't become a common trend..

Hope to see you soon!

Clara

That girl continued to surprise me. Once the new term started, I was just going to act as if she and Mandy hadn't argued their way through the first year, but an apology was certainly appreciated. Now all we had to do was hope that Mandy would follow the same trend. No matter how good Clara's intentions were, I wouldn't be confident in her ability to stay calm if Mandy pushed her buttons.

I put her letter aside, placing it on my pillow to remind myself to write back before the end of the day. Turning my attention to Finnley's letter, I opened the envelope and pulled the piece of parchment out.

Hey,

I feel like I should tell you that I visited Michael last week and he and Anthony are pretty upset about the Clara and Mandy situation. I'm starting to think damage control may be needed before the term starts.

Anyways, I wanted to check in and see how Mariah handled you guys leaving. I think my mum would be a wreck if I left just a couple weeks after getting home. Though, I guess it's more fun to be with friends from school, so I get wanting to visit the Weasels? Is that their name? I never really paid attention, honestly.

In regards to how I'm doing, it's pretty boring around here. Charles has been a mess since dad is never around. Apparently the Ministry has been really busy so we never see him during the day. He's been an absolute daddy's boy since day one and it's becoming pretty irritating. I really wish my mum would have let me stay at Michael's a bit longer..

Finn

Whenever Finnley mentioned his younger brother, Charles, it always seemed like he was irritated by something he was doing. I didn't recall a single time he mentioned something nice about him. The young boy had only just turned ten, still too young to let the little stuff bother him. Then again, I wasn't going to tell Finnley what should or should not bother him.

I set his letter with Clara's and got to my feet. There was no use responding now, Hayden's owl, Christoph wouldn't be back from Mariah's till the evening like normal so I would simply come back to the task later. I walked over to the door and opened it just in time to find the twins and Hayden sneaking down the stairs, brooms in hand. "Are the gnomes cleaned up already?" I didn't think I had been in my room that long.

"Uh well," Hayden grinned sheepishly. "We wanted to squeeze in a morning practice beforehand."

Fred brought a hand to his mouth as he tried to hold in a chuckle. "George had a brilliant idea to use the gnomes as the quaffle."

George gestured his head down the stairs. "You want to join?"

In the days prior, the boys had been trying to figure out what Quidditch position I would be best at. The sport was fun, but I honestly wasn't good at any of it. The only position I was able to handle was Chaser and even that felt like a stretch.

"I think I'd much rather see if Mrs. Weasley needs help around the house." I stated, shaking my head. "Maybe later?"

They all gazed at me with disappointment. "Fine.." Fred muttered. "We'll see if Ron or Harry can play."

"We'll get you loving Quidditch one of these days, though!" Hayden ruffled my hair before they trotted downstairs, doing their best to avoid Mrs. Weasley.

Those boys were dreaming if they thought I would ever play Quidditch outside of our childish matches. There wasn't enough time in the day for games such as that. They were lucky that I made time to come to their games during the school year.

"Don't you dare play Quidditch before getting your chores done!"

The sound of Mrs. Weasley's voice boomed through the home and I couldn't help but smile. Nothing could get past that woman, no matter how hard you tried.

I took a single step down the stairs and as my foot planted itself on the ground, my eyes widened. A wave of anxiety rolled through my body and sent a shiver down my spine. My breath quickened and I placed a hand to my chest in an attempt to calm my breathing. What was this feeling? I had been fine all morning so what was causing these feelings?

Another wave shot through me and I cringed at the feeling. No, I wasn't feeling this way. I could still hear Mrs. Weasley's entertaining lecture from the lower floor and still found joy from her scolding the three boys. Was this a physical ailment? I certainly couldn't be getting sick in the middle of summer.

For a third time, I felt an intense feeling of anxiety and it almost felt like a breeze flowing passed me. I turned my gaze up the stairs, trying to determine where it was coming from. However, much to my dismay, I found no culprit.

Before I could register what was going on, the feeling left and my breathing calmed. Had that been a fluke accident? I must have just been overwhelmed by the thought of school starting again soon. Yes, that must be it.

I took a deep breath and lowered my hand to grab the railing. I would just have to pay attention to how I was feeling more closely. The last thing I needed was to let any emotions get the better of me, even if those feelings didn't feel real. Then again, I had never been good at expressing how I was feeling, so odds were I read the situation wrong.

I was fine. Just overwhelmed.

So... This took way longer than I thought it would... I'm sorry! I had a lot more motivation for another story recently but I'm back here for more updates! Reading through other fanfictions certainly makes me want to continue my own. Thanks for sticking with my late update.. But I added a few extra pages to make up for it!

There will be one more chapter of the summer before we head back to Hogwarts! I've been story boarding 2nd year so I'm really excited to get to work on it. Hopefully we won't have to wait as long for another update! See you soon!