Chapter 9:
It was the end of December and tomorrow they will be going back home for Christmas. The last couple of weeks were very eventful. Gryffindor won the first match of the season against Slytherin. It was a dirty match played by the Slytherins but in the end, Charlie caught the snitch. On the 8th of December was also her birthday. Her friends planned a surprise party which ended with a pajama party in the common room with a lot of sweets. They also made progress on the map but they still haven't fully figured it out.
They were currently sitting in the common room in their favorite armchairs by the fire. They just had dinner but couldn't help themselves to visit the kitchens a last time before the Holidays. Ruby went with the twins because she had a little something for Ella. After reassuring the elf that she wasn't gifting her clothes she opened the package. It was a Muggle children's novel. Ruby explained that it as her favorite growing up and that she hoped Ella liked it. Ella was weeping and Ruby was concerned but when the elf explained to her what that gift meant for her she was happy. Happy to have made Christmas fort he elf so special. Ella insisted that they took a lot of sweets back and she brought them each a Cup of hot chocolate.
'-So I was wondering. What was your highlight this year?' Ruby asked while sipping on her hot chocolate.
'-Easy one. The day you pranked Charlie!' George said immediately.
'-The slumber party we had after the Quidditch match.' Fred said.
'-First time flying on a broom.' Alicia said.
'-The girls night we had.' Angelina said looking at her dormmates grinning.
'-Sneaking into the kitchens and finding the kitchens in general.' Lee stated. They all looked at her.
'-For me it was the train ride. It was the first time I met everybody.' Ruby said honestly.
'-Let's make this a kind of tradition. Every time before Holidays start we sit together, drink hot chocolate and eat a lot of sweets and then we tell each other our highlight.' Ruby proposed.
'-That's sounds great. So we are taking a trip down memory lane every time before the holidays start.' George said.
'-And we remember how much fun we had.' Angelina added.
'-The most important thing is that we have each other.' Ruby concluded.
Ruby was sitting in the compartment surrounded by her friends. They just left Hogsmead station and Ruby tried to snatch a last glimpse of Hogwarts.
'-What are your plans for Christmas ?' Angelina asked.
'-We are staying at home in the burrow. Mums probably cooking for a whole army. Ist going to be a lot of fun. Bill is going to be home for the first time since August.' Fred said.
'-Ah Bill is the Cursebreaker who is currently working in Eygpt right?' Lee asked.
'-Yes he is. We are also planning on pranking our little brother. He was away from us from too long so we have to make up fort he lost time.' George said.
'-Oh that poor boy.' Ruby said and the other ones nodded.
'-He will survive it.' Fred said shrugging. Ruby was doubting it. She loved the twins. She really did but sometimes they couldn't control themselves and when she wasn't around there was not much anyone could do to keep them in check. But then she remembered that they are around family and they knew exactly how the twins were.
When Lee was telling them how he was going to spent Christmas at his grandparent's house Fred, who was sitting right beside her, leaned over and whispered.
'-Its really a shame that you cant spent Christmas with us.' Molly, the twins' mother, invited her over for Christmas. She was honored by this gesture but she couldn't go. Even if she wanted to. She hasn't seen her parents in a very long time and Christmas was something special to her.
'-I know. I wanted to but I also want to spend time with my parents. It is really hard to be away for so long.' She answered. She looked at him and he gave her a small smile.
'-Try to make it for New Years will you?' he asked hopefully.
'-I'll try.' She said. She had to ask her parents but one step at a time.
'-And what are you gonna Ruby?' Angelina asked.
'-On Christmas we are going to decorate the Christmas tree together and then we will spend the day together. Maybe we go skiing and in the evening we have a delicious dinner and then we exchange presents.' Ruby explained.
'-what the hell is skiing?' Lee asked. Then there was a whole conversation about Ruby trying to explain the others was skiing was and the other discussion if it was a strange thing to do. Ruby who grew up in Switzerland couldn't quite understand the discussion. For her, it was just a normal thing to do. She was torn out of her thoughts when the compartment door was opened. Standing there was Cedric.
'-Hey there care if I might join you lot for a bit ?' he asked.
'-No not at all come in.' Ruby said before anyone had the chance to disagree. She looked around to check if anyone would have had a problem but nobody seemed to bother. He sat in front of Ruby because Fred cares to move.
'-Ready to go back home?' he asked Ruby.
'-Yes I am quite excited to go back home. What about you? Any plans ?' she asked.
'-Yeah we have this Christmas banket every year and a lot of people attend it. I will be probably spending some time with my cousins.' He said not sounding to enthusiastically.
'-Hey Cedric what do you think of skiing?' Lee butted in. Ruby rolled her eyes and the whole conversation started from the beginning. They continued talking until the train rolled into Kings Cross station. They got up and Cedric took her hand. He placed something in her hand.
'-Don't open it until Christmas !' he said and she looked at him with wide eyes.
'-But I got nothing for you !' she said.
'-That doesn't matter. I wanted you to get this.' He said. She looked at him and fell into his arms. She gave him a bone-crushing hug and he returned it.
'-Thank you so much! I will miss you at… You will write right?' she asked looking at him with pleading eyes.
'-Yes I will don't you worry!' he said. They made their way down tot he platform and she quickly lost him out of sight. Suddenly she was surrounded by the twins.
'-My saving armors.' She said gratefully that they were by her sight. She never liked being in a crowd of people. The twins winked at her.
'-Ah I see mum over there. Come on Ruby you have to meet our family !' Fred said taking her hand. She was nervous about meeting their family. She wanted them to like her. After all, the twins and she were best friends and she liked Charlie a lot.
'-Fred and George there you are. Will, you now stop growing will you?' a short woman asked them. She gave both oft hem a bone-crushing hug when she looked over at Ruby.
'-Ahh and you must be Ruby. I heard a lot about you.' She said with the kindest smile Ruby has ever seen. Mrs. Weasley had, like the rest oft he family flaming fiery red hairs and her eyes were the shade of a warm brown. She walked over to Ruby and gave her a bone-crushing hug as well.
'-Its a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Weasley.' Ruby said timidly.
'-Oh dear call me Molly !' she said.
'-I hope the twins didn't have a bad influence on you.' She said looking at her worryingly.
'-Hahaha mum I think you're mistaken. Ruby is the only one who can keep the twins in check.' Charlie said when he arrived at the group. He kindly left the part out that she was just as bad as the twins. She looked thankfully at him and he nodded.
'-Oh Charlie dear! You're just like the twins. Can't stop growing.' Molly said happy to have her kids back. At this moment Percy arrived and Molly was occupied nurturing him.
Ruby noticed a little girl with flaming red hairs. She was looking at Ruby with wide eyes and a little timidly. Ruby decided to walk over and introduce herself.
'-Hi you must be Ginny. I'm Ruby.' She said holding out her hand. When Ginny took it she continued.
'-Your brothers told me a lot about you but never mentioned how pretty you look.' She said complimenting the girl.
'-Hi Ruby. I heard a lot about you too. Is it true that your also a troublemaker ?' she asked quietly still having a blush on her cheeks.
'-Yes it's true but keep it a secret.' She said and winked at him.
'-Ginny ginny ginny we have to tell you what prank Ruby pulled on Charlie.' Fred said looking excited. Ginny looked at Ruby and she put her angelic look on.
'-Guess what she did… She turned Charlie into a fairy !' Fred exclaimed and Ginny began to giggle.
'-Yes! He had pink hair, glitter all over his body and his uniform was turned into a fairy costume.' George added bouncing.
'-You did not!' Ginny asked in disbelief.
'-Oh believe me she did.' Charlie said.
'-Great now even my sister knows that I make a great fairy.' He said jokingly rolling his eyes.
'-Sadly there is no photo o fit otherwise I would have shown you.' Ruby said.
'-Ruby dear where are your parents. I would like to meet them so I can invite you over for New Year's Eve.' Molly said.
'-They are just waiting outside. My Dads a muggle so he can't cross the barrier.' She explained. Mrs. Weasley nodded and they made their way outside. When Ruby spotted her parents she ran towards them and jumped right into their arms.
'-Oh I missed you both so much!' Ruby said with watery eyes. She was so happy to see them again. After all, it was the longest time she was apart from them.
'-Oh Love we missed you too!' her father said.
'-Ah I see you brought friends.' Her mother exclaimed happily.
'-Yes Mum Dad meet the Weasley family. This is Fred and George. They are in my year and my best friends.' Ruby began to laugh when the twins bowed in front of her parents and then shook their hands.
'-This is Charlie. He is in his sixth year and I was his assistant during Quidditch practice.' He shook their hands and Ruby continued.
'-This is Ginny, their little sister, Percy, and Ron.' She ended.
'-and this is their mother. Mum, Dad meet Mrs. Weasley.' Ruby said and stepped a bit back to give the adults their space.
'-It is so lovely to meet you? I'm Molly Weasley but please just call me Molly.' She said with a warm smile.
'-Molly it is our pleasure. My name is Phoebe and this is Christopher.' Her mother said pointing at the two oft hem.
'-We heard a lot about your boys.' Her father said with a smirk on his face.
'-Oh yes… Fred and George are quite the troublemakers.' Molly said while the twins had the largest grin on their face.
'-Oh don't worry. We know Ruby. She isn't an angel herself.' Her mother said and Ruby acted like she was hurt. Charlie snorted and she stuck her tongue out. Her parents and Molly laughed at the interaction.
'-I wanted to invite you all over for New Year's Eve!' Molly said. Her parents looked at each other when her father said.
'-Oh really? That would be lovely. But do you have enough space for the three of us ?' he asked.
'-Absolutely. We have enough room for all of you and we would like to spend some time with you. To get to know you.' Molly said sincerely.
'-Only if we can invite you all to spent some time at our place during the summer.' Her mother proposed.
All the kids looked at each other beaming. When Molly nodded they all hugged each other and began dancing at the thought of not only spending New Year together but also making plans for summer.
'-My husband will be very excited to meet you. He got quite the thing for Muggles.' She explained and her father laughed.
'-I will happily take him to some Muggle spots in Switzerland in summer if he wants to.' He said.
'-That will be lovely. I think we got to go. I will owl you the information and we will see each other on New Year's Eve. Have a lovely Christmas!' she said. They all hugged goodbye and Ruby made her way home happier than ever.