Chapter 3: Interlude at the Burrow
*****
"Ouch! Bloody he…?"
"George? You okay over there?"
"Uh, yeah, fine. A… gnome bit me."
"Well, keep it down unless you want mum to decide we need to de-gnome the garden today too. Weeding it is more than enough 'fun' for one day!" Ron grumbled from the other end of the garden.
They'd been home on break for a month now and their mum had kept them as busy as possible to, as she put it, keep them out of trouble. All it had really done was make them be more creative in their ways to entertain themselves, which was why Fred and Ginny were currently occupied inside under her watchful eye while George and Ron were baking outside in the garden. Thankfully Harry would be coming in a few weeks to visit- their mum was sure to calm down a bit then.
With Ron's attention turned back to his weeding George looked down at the letter that had fallen in front of him after a bird had whapped him on the head. Glancing upward, he caught a glimpse of it flying away and did a double take as he realized it hadn't been an owl. In fact it looked more like… a seagull?!? Now he was really confused. He'd gotten a letter, and letters were delivered by owls, not random other flying creatures!
He shook his head and turned again to look at the letter. The only address on it was his name, written in a handwriting he was all too familiar with. Opening it up, he took out a single sheet of paper and unfolded it.
Having a good summer?
As he read the single line of text he felt as if someone had caressed the side of his face with their hand and then tweaked his nose. He grinned. Though it was the middle of summer and he was no where near Hogwarts, the letters still came. The funny part of it all was that it had been going on for months and he still had no idea who was sending them.
He'd gotten the first one a couple weeks after classes had resumed following Christmas break. They'd had a particularly… interesting potions class that had resulted in Snape covered in purple slime and himself and Fred with two nights of detention. He'd gotten to his next class and was pulling out his books when he'd looked back at the top of his desk and seen the note: Priceless! To see that expression on his face… Thanks, you've made my day! That time he'd felt as if someone had ruffled his hair- he could almost feel the grin of amusement the sender must have been wearing. He'd glanced around the room, but couldn't figure out who could've slipped it to him.
After that he'd gotten one every couple days, always commenting on something that had just happened or, if he was having a bad day, filled with a joke or charm to make him smile. They were always followed by the sensation that someone was right there, giving him a hug to cheer him up, or poking him to make him laugh, or like today…
He sighed and resumed pulling weeds. He'd needed a bit of a pick-me-up today too, though how they'd known…
Fred had heard from Angelina earlier in the week, who'd mentioned that no one had heard from Alinora since break had started. With everything that had happened at the end of the previous year, they'd been a bit concerned to hear that, despite her warning that she didn't know if she'd be able to write them over the break. Katie had resorted to owling Dumbledore to ask what was going on and had finally heard back from him saying that she was fine, but unable to use the owl network where she was this summer and that she'd join up with them at the end of the break. That letter had come during lunch and eased their minds, though George had still been a bit concerned about the fact she was so cut off from them all. He had the impression that her godparents were muggles, though that was not confirmed, and hoped they were nothing like Harry's aunt and uncle. It was too bad they couldn't contact her- maybe she could've come to visit while Harry was here later on. Despite their best efforts he and Fred had never been able to truly 'welcome' her to Gryffindor since, as she'd stated the day they'd all met, she was more than up to the challenge of dealing with their pranks. Which made it all the more fun to keep trying.
Yes he thought pulling the last of the weeds in his area of the garden it would've been nice if she could've come to visit this summer…
