Hermione and Ron were waiting in the hallway for the kids to arrive. Hermione wanted to reassure Eric that everything would be fine during the holidays, because she knew he resented his father's side of the family. She remembered how Eric had acted when he came back from his first year at Hogwarts. Of course he had made friends, but not one of them had been a family member. Ron was there for no reason in particular, but to be around Hermione. They were silent since they began waiting. The kids would be arriving at any moment.
Hermione tried to remember all the kids' names. There was Edward (5th year) and Bridget (2nd year) who were Bill and Fleurs's daughters. Charlie was single and had no kids. Percy and Penelope had Barty who was a 4th year. Fred and Angelina had twin girls named Susie and Michelle ( 3rd years). George and a girl named Natalie (he met her after Hogwarts) also had twin girls in their third year named Jackie and Jenny. And then there was her Eric and Erin.
Just then, the door burst open, and the kids burst into the hallway. Most of the kids walked past Hermione and hugged Ron. Eric was behind all of them, with Erin, and he hugged and kissed his mom on the cheek. Erin did the same.
"Hello Erin!" Hermione said.
"Oh mum, I haven't seen you forever!" Erin said while hugging her.
"Hey, mom (Eric doesn't have an accent), where's Rachel?" Eric asked.
"Ooooh! I want to see her too!" squealed Erin.
"She's upstairs, sleeping. You can see her after you say hello to the rest of the family," Hermione said. Eric groaned.
"Oh Eric, it'll be fine. Your uncles haven't kicked you out of the family."
"My uncles haven't, but my cousins have," Eric said grumpily. Hermione ignored the comment.
"You remember them all, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Well, just follow your sister around."
"Hey, you guys don't hug your dear old dad?" Ron said. The hallway was empty of people, besides them four. Hermione rolled her eyes. Erin hugged Ron. Eric walked up to him and just gave him a handshake.
"Hi dad," Eric said awkwardly.
"Hello son," Ron said in the same akward voice.
"C'mon," Erin said. She pulled Eric's hand and he dragged her to the basement kitchen where everyone already was. Ron followed and Hermione did too.
When Hermione was in the kitchen, she walked to the back of a room where Harry and Ginny were scrunched up.
"Feel out of place too?" Ginny asked.
"Of course," Hermione replied.
"Merlin's beard, I haven't seen all my nieces and nephews in ages. They're so grown up."
"Where's Eric?" Harry asked.
"Oh he's following Erin around for hellos," Hermione said.
"Is he okay?"
Hermione sighed. "I think he feels a bit out of place too. The ride here didn't seem to go well for him."
"At least there's no hostility around him with the adults," Harry said. "Unlike us."
"I know," Ginny said. "I bet my brothers taught all their kids not to like me. Not one of them has said hi to me yet."
"Not even Edward?" Harry said.
Nope," Ginny replied. "He used to follow me around everywhere."
The three adults watched the family greet each other. Hermione saw Erin dragging Eric around the tables. They greeted Charlie. Charlie seemed nice enough to him, though he didn't seem like he remembered his name. Harry poked Hermione and Ginny in the ribs and pointed to the two sets of twins. They weren't looking at them, but in a tight circle talking.
"I just saw them staring at us," Harry said. "Like we were evil or something."
"I always hated those brats," Ginny said.
"Ginny!" Hermione said.
"What? They sent me a dung bomb after you went to America. Their dads must've told them to do it."
Eric led Erin to where they were standing. Erin seemed like she didn't want to be hanging around them. Hermione thought it was because Ron taught their daughter not to like her Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry.
"Mom, can we see Rachel now?" Eric asked.
"I'll take them," Harry said.
"Thanks," Hermione said. Harry led the kids out of the kitchen. Everyone except Mrs. Weasley was sitting down eating. Ginny and Hermione were still in the corner and absolutely no one took notice of them.
"I'm fed up with this," Ginny said quietly and she began to walk around the kitchen table. As she did so, the people sitting down froze.
"Hey kids," Ginny said so all of them could hear. "Don't even say hello to your dear Auntie Ginny anymore?" Ginny and Hermione saw the children look at each other and at their parents with questioning looks.
"Oh, I see," Ginny continued. "Your parents told you not to talk to me!" There was sarcasm in her voice. She stopped walking and looked at all of them. None of them dared to look at her, so she kept walking.
"Geez bros. Great lessons to teach to your kids. Don't talk to Ginny, Harry, and Hermione because they were against Ronniekins." She stopped, looked, and stared. She continued to walk.
"None of your kids even seemed to notice we were in the room. Except for yours Ron. Eric was glad to see me, although Erin seemed a little hesitant to even be near me. Well, I wouldn't blame her…seeing as who she was raised by." Ginny walked around the table once more and stopped at the head of the long table. She put her hands on the table and leaned forward.
"Let's get this straight. Harry, Hermione, and I have never been, and never will be, the 'bad guys' of this family. Harry and I were never against any of you, and Hermione never did anything Ron. Got that?" Ginny went to where Hermione was standing and took her wrist. She began to pull her towards the door. Before they walked through, Ginny turned around.
"Oh, and remember this. We were shunned out of this family. It was your parents and your grandmother who kicked us out. We never wanted to leave." They walked out of the room.
