Chapter 15

Ruby woke up all excited. Today the Weasleys were going to arrive. Two weeks were far to much time spent apart. She wasn't going to admit it but she missed Fred and George. How could she not? She enjoyed being alone with her parents but after a while she was bored. With them around there would be no calm second.

She ran downstairs still wearing her pajamas.

'-Good morning.' She kissed her parents and grabbed a piece of bread.

'-When are they arriving?' she asked. Her father chuckled.

'-They arrive around noon per floo powder. Like we told you about ten times by now.' Her father said.

'-There is still much to do.' her mother said.

'-We need to prepare the guest bedrooms and discuss who is sleeping where.' She continued.

'-We thought be could have a barbecue as a welcome. What do you think ?' Her father asked.

'-Sound good. Do we need to prepare the garden?' she asked.

'-Maybe we need to get the pool ready but otherwise, the garden is all set.' Her mother answered.

'-So what can I do?' Ruby asked.

'-Well why don't we talk about the sleeping arrangement?'

'-So Ginny will be staying in my room. Her bed is already made.' Ruby answered.

'-Good. Molly and Arthur will be staying in the main guest bedroom. So this will leave the boys.' Her mother continued.

'-Charlie and Percy could stay in one room and the twins could share with Ron. We just need to make sure that they don't prank Ron too much.' Ruby said sincerely. She was a bit worried fort he youngest Weasley brother. After all, he was only ten and hearing what Fred did to his teddy bear when they were younger she wanted to look out for him.

'-Good then that's settled.' Her mother said relieved.

'-Honey, you can help me set up the pool and then you can see if your mother needs any more help.' Her father proposed.

Ruby nodded in agreement and finished her breakfast. She got up and made herself ready fort he day. It was warm and sunny in Switzerland so she decided to wear a simple shirt and some shorts. Her cat was lying on a sunny spot on her bed. She settled in just fine when they returned from Hogwarts but it was obvious that her cat missed the castle and the grounds.

When she stepped out she made her way over to her father. She filled the pool with water and then helped her mother prepare lunch and the rooms fort he guests.

She got out some squirt guns and placed them next to the pool. When she helped her father grill her mother called.

'-Ruby! They are arriving. Come quick !'

Ruby ran inside immediately. Molly already entered together with Ginny. The girls squealed and hugged.

'-Ahh I'm so excited to have you here.' She held Ginny's hand and they were jumping up and down.

When Ruby saw the twins arriving she jumped in their arms. They all fell backwards on the couch. They laughed and soon all the Weasleys were present.

'-Aren't you forgetting your favorite Weasley ?' Charlie asked.

Ruby got up and jumped in his arms as well. Compared tot he twins he was prepared to catch her. He swung her around an let her gently back down. She hugged Percy and Ron happily. Both were a bit red afterward. Molly gave her the usual bone-crushing hug.

'-Welcome to Switzerland!' Ruby beamed.

When her parents finished greeting everybody her mother spoke.

'-Welcome. We are so delighted to have you here.'

'-Thank you for hosting us the Weasley bunch.' Arthur spoke.

'-With pleasure. Ruby Why don't you show the kids where they sleep and we will show Molly and Arthur their room.' Her father proposed. She nodded and addressed them.

'-Come on follow me.'

They made their way up to the first floor. She opened her bedroom.

'-So Ginny I hope you don't mind sharing with me.'

'-No absolutely not.' Ginny smiled and entered the room.

'-Make yourself at home. I will just show the boys where they are sleeping.' She left Ginny alone and opened the room next to hers.

'-So this will be your room.' She pointed at the twins and Ron.

'-I hope you don't mind sharing with the twins. When they are giving you a hard time just tell me.' She said.

'-And you think you can do something against them?' he asked skeptically.

'-When someone can it's definitely her.' Charlie answered instead of her. Ruby nodded and Ron muttered

'-Thanks, Ruby.'

She could tell that he was a bit relieved not having to be the victim of every prank.

'-So this will be your room. Don't tell the others but this room is nicer than theirs.' She said and winked.

'-Percy there is also a bookshelf where I'm sure you will find some interesting reading.'

'-How thoughtful thank you.' He said.

'-You're welcome. I might not know you very well but I am sure this will change over the summer.' She said and he nodded. Charlie looked at her with a small smile. It was gestures like these which made her special.

'-So when you settled in you can join us downstairs.' She closed the door and told the twins and Ron the same thing.

When she entered her room Ginny was petting her cat. She saw that she already put her clothes away and settled in.

'-You know I always wanted a cat.' She confessed.

'-But with Scabbers there is no chance mum will buy me one.'

'-Well feel free to pet Lia as often as you want. In Hogwarts, there are cats everywhere. You will love it.' Ruby answered.

'-Do you want to head outside? Lunch will be ready soon.' Ruby asked. Ginny nodded and got up. They raced and Ruby won.

'-That's unfair. You only won because you knew where to go.' Ginny said defeated.

'-That's true. Let me show you around.' Ruby said.

She showed her the garden where you had a splendid view of the mountains. She promised Ginny that they would soon go swimming when the boys stepped outside. Arthur was joining Ruby's father at the grill.

'-Fascinating, Ingenious, really how many ways Muggles have found ways of getting along without magic.' He said.

'-I suppose you were never in a Muggle household ?' her father asked him.

'-No never.'

He continued asking her father different questions about the grill and electricity. Ruby chuckled lightly and helped her mother prepare the dished. Molly, of course, wanted to help as well but her mother refused.

'-No, no. You just arrived. Relax for a bit, Molly.' Her mother said and Molly reluctantly followed orders.

Lunch was great. They manage to fit eleven people at the table outside. Everybody was laughing and talking. Ruby was sitting between the twins who just told her about every prank they pulled since they last saw each other.

'-No you didn't?' ruby asked in disbelief.

'-We did.' They answered in unison. She began to laugh even harder. Molly and Arthur were speaking with her parents. So was Percy. They were talking about some Swiss traditions and dishes.

'-Fascinating.' Could be heard from Arthur now and then.

Charlie was telling some stories to Ginny and Ron about what happened in Hogwarts this year.

'What are you thinking?' Fred whispered in her ear.

She turned around to face him.

'-Just that I'm happy to have you all here.' She said. He smiled and she could see the sparkle in his brown eyes.

'I'm happy to be here with you.' He replied sincerely.

'-FRED WEASLEY YOU DID WHAT?' Molly shouted. She just overheard Charlie telling the story of Fred and Dumbledore.

'-Well Mum I didn't have any other choice. You see I had to do it.' Fred replied. All, except for Molly, found it amusing. She was fuming.

'-Mum don't worry. The Professors found it funny themselves.' Percy calmed her down.

When they continued their conversation Fred turned around to face his siblings and Ruby.

'-Is Percy alright? He just sticks up for me.' He spoke in utter disbelief.

'-You may be surprised by Percy.' Charlie replied.

xXx

After lunch, they jumped in the pool. The adults headed out to visit the town. Percy was outside reading a book he found on the shelf. All the others were having fun in the pool. The boys had much fun carrying Ginny and Ruby around and then throwing them into the water again. At some point, they picked up the water guns, filled up some water balloons and then the battle began.

Ruby was piggybacked by Charlie. He used her as a kind of shield from his siblings. In the end, it didn't help much.

'-Chalie stop using me!' she said laughing.

'-Why should I? It's much more fun this way.' He said laughing as well.

The twins seemed to agree with him because they attacked them even more with water. When Charlie let her down she formed a team with Ginny and Ron. They attacked the other three quite successfully. After some convincing of Ginny and Rubys part, even Percy joined them. Luckily he was on their team because he had a good aim.

'-Blimey Percy? That was a good one.' Ron exclaimed after his older brother managed to throw a water balloon right in Georges's faces.

'-If you weren't that obsessed with your studies you could have a shot at Quidditch.' Charlie said.

'-No, thank you. I'm happy watching you lot play.' He said chuckling. He didn't even say it in his smart-ass way. Ruby realized that he wasn't used getting compliments from his siblings and as a result, he just enjoyed spending some time with his siblings.

The battle between them ended when their parents returned. First, they didn't notice them came back. They were so focused but after a while, Fred and George had the glorious idea of throwing water balloons at them. Soon they joined in. It ended being kids versus Parents. What they didn't think of is that three of them could use magic. Which ended in Molly and Arthur using 'Aquamenti' to win the battle.

'-That's unfair!' Ginny complained.

'-Wait till I turn seventeen.' Charlie added grumpily.

'-Well young man that doesn't mean you can get payback.' Molly said with a stern look on her face. But the amusement visible in her eyes gave her away.

'-Did you enjoy visiting the town ?' Ruby asked curiously.

'-Yes we did! There was so many fascinating Muggle stuff! We even used Elevators, trams, Muggle money and so much more.' Arthur looked like Christmas came early this year.

'-We even went into a store where you could buy plugs!' He continued.

'-We had to drag him out of this store.' Ruby's father whispered into her ears. She chuckled and saw that Mr. Weasley went on and on about the things he saw in this store. It was clear that Ron, who was standing next to his father, couldn't understand his fascination.

'-Why don't you all go and get ready for dinner?' Rubys mum proposed.

Ron, happy to have an excuse to leave, was to first one up the stairs.

xXx

When Ruby came back from the shower she saw Ginny eyeing her make up.

'-Are you interested in this?' she asked pointing at her shelf.

'-You know with too many brothers around I would get teased endlessly for only thinking about make-up.' She admitted quietly.

'-They can be a handful sometimes, I can imagine ?'

'-Oh, you have no idea. Don't get me wrong. I love them all but it's not easy being the youngest and only girl.' She looked up at Ruby hoping that she would understand.

'-I always wanted a sibling. It was lonely growing up as an only child. I didn't know until the Hogwarts letter that I was a witch. The other kids in the neighboorhood found me strange because things happened around me that I couldn't explain.' She sat down and faced Ginny. She took her hands and continued.

'-I see you like a sister I never had. I hope we can build a bond like it.' She confessed.

Ginny's response was immediate. She hugged her tightly and said.

'-I would love to be your sister.'

The two girls didn't let go of each other for a little while.

'-You know it's good to have an ally.' Ruby said.

'-Yes, us two against my brothers.' Ginny said laughing.

'-You know we could do a girls day with our mothers.' Ruby proposed. Ginny looked at her curiously waiting for her to explain further.

'-My mum taught me how to use makeup and sometimes we just do a girls day. We go shopping and she teaches me some of her recipes. I think you and your mum deserve some time off from all the testosterone in your household. We could also teach you how to apply makeup and we could cook some brownies or other pastries. A specialty from your mum and one from mine. How does that sound ?'

'-That would be amazing. I love to bake but I'm not very good at it. I'm sure mum would love a girls day.' Ginny was beaming.

'-You know how we could use the makeup?' Ruby asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

'-I think I know what you think.' Ginny said with an equally mischievous grin.

'-WE COULD PRANK THEM.' They said in unison.

They laughed at their timing. When they calmed down they began discussing their plan.

'-One fascinating thing about my brothers is that once they are asleep almost nothing can wake them up.' Ginny told Ruby.

'-So we only have to wait for them to fall asleep and then we can put some makeup on.' Ruby concluded.

'-We maybe should also use some markers. They're holding longer.' Ginny said.

'-Oh that's genius!' Ruby said laughing.

'-Let's do this then.' Ginny was beaming. Now she could finally have some payback.

xXx

Dinner that night was as much fun as lunch. Everybody was talking and telling stories. It was one of those perfect evenings where everybody was happy and enjoying the company of their family and friends. It was moments like these that Ruby was grateful for.

They had a traditional Swiss dish called Fondue. It was a bowl with melted cheese and every person could dip bread into it and eat it. As this dish wasn't known in the UK the Weasley very much enjoyed the taste of it. Ruby at some point was even a bit worried fort he boys health. She had never seen somebody eating that much cheese at once.

'-So we thought we might discuss our plans we have with you.' Rubys mum said addressing the Weasleys. She looked at Ruby telling her to explain it further.

'-So we thought we bring you to different places in Switzerland. First, we all are going to the Swiss Alps and take a gondola up the mountain to show you the Alps the Muggle way.'

She saw the overall approval of the Weasley. Arthur was even bouncing in his seat.

'-Then we would like to take you to the zoo.' She said.

'-What's a zoo ?' Ron asked.

'-It's a place with different animals. It's another Muggle thing. We thought that you might know all the exotic animals from the Muggle world. So why not show you.' She explained.

'-Wicked!' Charlie said with excitement.

'-I can't wait.' He added.

'-Then we can spend some days at a lake, go biking and so on. How does that sound?' Ruby asked.

'-it sounds amazing Sweetie. Thank you so much.' Molly said kindly.

'-We also thought we could do a Girls and Boys day.' Ruby continued. When they looked at her confused she continued.

'-We thought that the girls could spend a day together. We could go shopping, cook together and just spent some time without the boys.' Molly and Rubys mum nodded as approval. The twins just acted hurt that Ruby didn't want to spend the day with them.

'-And we could do something fun like going to luge?' Rubys father proposed. At this proposal, the twins stopped and began cheering.

'-Now when that's settled we should all go to bed.' Rubys mum said. They all got reluctantly up and went to bed. Ruby thought that she might wasn't able to sleep but as soon as she closed her eyes she fell asleep.

xXx

The weeks have flown by. The day they went to take the gondola up the mountain was beautiful. One could think that being a wizard and being used to fly that a little gondola ride would be a piece of cake. Well it did turn out that some of the guys weren't as 'tough' like they tought they were. Fred, George, and Ron looked like they may be sick on the way up. They had to endure endless teasing from the girls and even Molly joined in. Ron said the only reason he felt this way was because he didn't trust Muggle technology. But the view was quite worth it.

The day they visited the zoo was an overall success. The Weasleys had never seen so many different animals from the Muggle world. They gathered a few confused looks from visitors. Well, how could you explain a Muggle that they had never seen or heard from an elephant before? It was almost impossible to get Charlie out of the zoo. He wrote in a little notebook all about the different animals and their similarities to some species existing in the wizarding world. He told Ruby that it might be useful to compare them and maybe it could help to understand them better.

Today they were planning on having their girls day. The boys already left for their adventure. Ruby and Ginny got ready in their room. They decided to each wear a summer dress due to the warm and sunny weather outside. When they got down their mums were waiting for them.

'-So lets head to town.' Rubys mum said.

It was a nice stroll from their house down tot own center. They visited different shops and everyone bought something beautiful for themselves to wear. Ruby and Ginny found a yellow dress. Ith ad some soft and light material which was perfect for summer. Rubys mum found a comfy sweater for the more chilly summer nights and Molly found a long summer dress. Then they headed to an ice cream shop after the long and exhausting shopping trip.

'-That was nice.' Molly said exhausted. She laid back comfortably in her chair and enjoyed the sun on her skin.

'-Yes it was.' Phoebe added.

'-But the day isn't over yet. Isn't it ?' Ginny asked.

'-No dear. We could head home and bake something together.' Phoebe answered.

'-Molly I heard your apple pie is to die for.' Ruby said cheekily.

'-I can teach you the recipe if you like.' Molly proposed.

'-Yes and we can bake some brownies as well.' Ruby said. Her eyes were wide and she was excited to learn how to bake.

The four women got up and made their way home. The baking was a lot of fun. Molly wasn't used to the muggle backing and she was sometimes a bit overstrained. Their mothers told them a lot about their time in Hogwarts and their adventures. Molly even told them the story about how she got to know Arthur and the stroll they once took in the middle of the night.

'-Don't tell this to your brothers. I can even imagine what they would do when they found out I once broke curfew. Especially the twins.' Molly said with a stern look on her face.

'- Maybe they got their mischievous side from you.' Ruby said and winked.

It was a lovely day. They very much enjoyed each others company and their girl time. After the baking they each got a cup of hot chocolate and made themselves comfortable on the couch. They thaught Ginny how to apply to makeup and the little girl was eternal grateful fort hat. When the boys would have been around she would have to endure endless teasing but now it was perfectly normal.

When the boys got back the house was immediately filled with excitement and noise. The women looked at each other and they knew they all thought the same. It was good to have them back.

xXx