Chapter 20

In which The Weasleys invited Harriet to a party

With Tax Season over and done with, Harriet was free to do her other projects like the Conservatory, and the translation rune she pasted on Hedwig to be able to understand her better. It worked quite well, that is until Hedwig told her that it is rather rude of her to eavesdrop on her conversation with Daphne's owl. (They were gossiping about the handsome eagle owl that roost at the top beam in Hogwarts' Owl Tower. They were rather chatty about how sharp his beak and talons, or his shapely tail feathers. Harriet loses it at the 'magnificent chest feathers', and the two female owls glared at her for laughing at them. She was also wearing the rune, so her laugh clearly also translated to bird language.) After that, out of courtesy to Hedwig, the runes were only pulled out if she wanted a conversation with Harriet, not the other way around.

Both Bill and Charlie Weasley also had started their work in the Conservatory, and Harriet had planned to inspect the progress once Daphne and Draco are cleared to work, that is, after they finished their Hogwarts shopping on the 19th of August. Draco was scheduled to return on the 15th, and Daphne on the 16th. Lucius and Narcissa had volunteered to chaperone the trip so that the elder Greengrasses can take care of other business. She was very excited to see the progress in the Conservatory as the Scamanders had promised her numerous rare magical creatures, and Su Li had promised to introduce her to her grandfather to talk about making a Chinese Magical Creatures habitat. She'd written that her grandfather will be coming for a visit on the 18th, and she had agreed to come to her house to meet him.

Currently, Harriet is catching up with her backlogged letters and was writing to her friend Su Li when a knock on her window startled her. She whipped to her second-floor room window and gaped at the face of one of the Weasley twins outside the glass pane.

"Open the window, Harriet" Fred, (or was it, George Weasley?) yelled through the glass.

Harriet jumped to her feet and opened the window.

"What in the world?! Can't you park and come through the door like a normal person? Besides, who went to visit someone at…" she turned to see the wall clock "11.45 pm? It's so inappropriate!"

"You weren't answering your letters, and we got worried. So, we thought to come and rescue you from the muggles." Ronald said from the backseat.

"Rescue me from…I beg your pardon?" Harriet looked so offended that the twins looked at each other and rubbed their necks nervously.

"So, we guessed that we shouldn't have listened to Ron? But why aren't you answering your letters? We sent you an invitation for a welcome home party for Bill and Charlie. You're our guest of honor, but you didn't send your RSVP. Ron said that the muggles must have held you prisoner, not allowing you to get your letters or something, barbaric that they are." Fred tried to reason with her.

"I was having some problem with my mails, but it's been resolved. Anyways, I'll have you know that my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin are perfectly wonderful people that I loved. They are my family and have been with me through thick and thin." albeit it was after she's proven to fit their mold, but still…"and Ronald Weasley, you are not my friend, and you don't know me. Where did you get the idea about my family being horrible to me?!"

Ronald shrunk in embarrassment as the twins stared at him.

"We were under the impression that Ron is your best friend," George said from the driver's side. (Now that she saw them properly, it was George on the driver's seat and Fred on the side that knocked to her window.)

"Well, no. Ronald Weasley is too rude for my taste. He kept insulting my cousin and my friends. I'm closer to Neville in Gryffindor, but my best friend would be Su Li from Ravenclaw." she said blithely.

Fred and George had a very concerning expression when they looked at each other, then back to Ronald, whose ears went red up to the tip.

"I can't believe you chose those slimy Slytherins and that nerd over me." He lashed out.

Harriet raised an eyebrow at the twins, as if saying 'see what I mean?'

George rolled his eyes at his brother. "So, will you come with us?"

"To where? You mean right now?" Harriet crossed her arms.

"To our house, of course, The Burrow!" Fred gestured to the car. "And we're here to pick you up."

"No, thank you, it's most inappropriate for me to get into a strange car with three strange boys in the middle of the night. Besides, I need to inform my family first. Doing otherwise would be extremely rude and uncivilized." she said stiffly. "Who else was invited to this welcome home party?"

"Well, it's just for family, and Mum allowed us to invite a friend." George said hesitantly.

"I believe I will decline then. I am not friends with any of your family, despite having employed your brothers. Thank you for the invitation, though." She sniffed, resolute to send an owl with the RSVP declined in the morning.

"Aww, we came all the way here, though…" George whined, unwilling to go back home empty handed.

"Well, that's not my problem, is it? I'm perfectly within my right to decline an invitation. Moreover, you should have come at a more reasonable hour. This is the middle of the night, not an acceptable visiting hour at all. Now go, before someone sees you and you get into trouble." Harriet shooed them.

"Are you sure you won't change your mind?" Fred asked. "Only that Ron has been boasting about you and now everyone is so looking forward to seeing you."

Harriet glared at him.

"First of all, I'm not some…some spectacle to be paraded around like a zoo animal. Secondly, he should have thought of it before saying something that is not true and will never be true if he kept his bigoted, chauvinist, disgusting ways. Every action has consequences, and you have lied, Ronald Weasley, and I'm not obligated to be a justification of your lies. Also, Fred and George Weasley, I do not appreciate the guilt trip attempt, if i had considered to attend in respect for Bill and Charles Weasley before, I am now very certain that I will not attend their party." she huffed "and you, Ronald Weasley, instead of being my friend, why didn't you do something worthwhile so that you will be known as Ronald Weasley, not Ronald Weasley, friend of someone? think about it!"

She slammed the window close, activating the locking rune she had painted and shoved the curtain close for good measure.

Fred and George looked at each other in dread, then turned back to face Ron.

"You will be the one to explain to the family, of course, and you'd better tell them the truth, or we'll take drastic measures. We were looking forward to talking with her, if we'd known that you lied, we wouldn't be making this trip."

Ron looked down in humiliation.

Inside the room, Harriet stomped back to her desk and plopped down with a deep breath. Ronald Weasley and his high-handed ways really grated on her nerves. How dare he? how dare them? she loved her family just fine, and they dared to say that her family kept her prisonner? Who'd want to get into an untested death trap with a driver that she was sure didn't have a driver license anyways? She'd like to live longer, thank you very much. That is not to say what Thomas' reaction would be if he heard that she went to Charles Weasley's welcome home party. Men, they'd better appreciate what she had to do to appease them.

Come morning, The Weasleys were woken up by a shrill enraged shriek as the twins and Ron arrived after their trip. While the whole family other than the eldest three were disappointed, Bill and Charlie confessed that Harriet never once mentioned Ron in their interviews. she did mention Fred and George, though. Percy also reiterated that he only knew them to be in the same room when Harriet was sending a curse or a jinx as a retaliation for Ron's stupidity. He even said that Ron and Harriet had a great difference in principles and interests that he actually was a bit suspicious when Ron said that she was his best friend, but since he was also busy preparing for his OWL, he chalked it off as not noticing his brother's friends. Needless to say, the three were punished severely by their mother, and Ronald got to be the source of attention, though he wished that he was not for this instance.