Dishes: Why me?
"Beryl!" Shouted Mrs. Weasley out of her kitchen window. " Come in and clean dishes!"
Beryl got up from watching her brothers de-gnome the garden.
"Fine!" She said, rolling her eyes. Beryl got inside and looked at the large stacks of dirty dishes, pots and pans. This was definitely one of the downsides of a large family.
" Mum, could I please use magic?"
"You know very well you cannot!" Stressed Mrs. Weasley.
"Mum, I'm sure even one year at Hogwarts qualifies as enough to do dishes!"
"No means no." Scolded Mrs. Weasley and she left to go read in the living room.
"Treats me like a bloody muggle! Should be against the law to deny your child magical growth and discovery!" Muttered Beryl as she rolled up her sleeves.
Beryl had just started when she called to her mother.
"Mum, why can't one of the boys help?"
"Because, they're de-gnoming the garden dear." Called back her mother, not even paying attention.
Beryl looked out longingly at the boys. They didn't seem to be enjoying their chores either, oh but how she envied them! At least they could joke and talk, but she was cooped up all alone in the kitchen. Suddenly Ginny walked by with a book in her hands.
"Hey, Gin! Come an' help would you?"
"No, I really to finish this book."
"If you don't I'll tell Harry your little secret!"
"Mu-um!" cried Ginny. "Do I have to help with the dishes?"
"No dear" Came the reply.
"Mu-um," it was Beryl's time to whine. "Why do I have to do this myself? If I have to do it muggle-way, it'll go a lot faster with two people!"
"No dear, Ginny's too young to be doing dishes."
Beryl muttered to herself. " I was half her age when I started dishes!" Ginny skipped happily out the door.
Beryl was now almost half done, but looking at the still large stack of filth she noticed that 'half way done' wasn't saying much. Tears of fury were welling up in her beryl-green eyes when Bill came in for a drink of water. He was on vacation from Gringnotts but ended up doing chores anyway. Back de-gnoming the garden like when he was 8. Bill, noticing Beryl's unusual silence, questioned her.
"What's wrong, Ber?"
"Oh nothing. Mum just likes you guys more, that's all."
"How do you figure?" Said Bill, remembering such feelings at his age.
"Well, she decides to always give me the bad chores for start. Then, she makes it worse by not making Ginny help."
"Why's that?"
"'Cause she's 'too young'. That's a load of - "
"Hey, lets keep the swearing at a low, shall we?"
"Sorry, but it's all a lie! Ginny isn't too young. I've been doing this since I was half her age!"
"Ah, I see"
"Sure you do." Said Beryl sarcastically, viciously scrubbing at a ketchup stained plate. She always knew ketchup was evil and she'd get Fred and George back for using it so often.
"Really, I do." Said Bill honestly. " You want to know something?" He said rolling up his sleeves.
"What?" she answered, making room for Bill to help with dishes.
"Mum treated me the same way. Back when it was just Charlie and me. She'd make me de-gnome the garden while Charlie got to play."
"Really?" said a shocked Beryl. Ever since she could remember, Bill and Charlie were equally in the garden. Both de-gnoming and joking together.
Bill looked down, smiled and nodded solemnly.
" It used to make me so mad, just like you. And the funny thing is, Charlie works with dragons for a living! He could easily have handled gnomes!"
Beryl looked at her brother who was scrubbing at a cookie sheet. She worked thoughtfully for a moment, then:
"Does that mean Ginny'll end up cleaning for a living?"
Bill just chuckled and said,
"No, I don't think so. All done, that wasn't so bad was now was it?"
Beryl shook her head.
"But now we have to dry and put the dishes away."
Bill sighed in despair. Then his face brightened.
"Don't tell mum…" he whispered and pulled out his wand.
With a swish of the wand and a murmur, the dishes began putting themselves away. Beryl giggled and went outside to breath the fresh air. The boys were done de-gnoming so they all played a bit of Quiditch.