I don't own any of JKR's characters…duh. I might own their children though. ::shrugs::
Weasley's the Name- Chapter 5Hermione Granger-Weasley slid into her chair at work. Her second graders had been very rambunctious that day, for the simple fact that one of them was going to the Hogsmeade fair the next day. She wanted to strangle Christopher Creevey and his tales of the rides. The little boy wasn't even alive the last time the fair had come around.
It wasn't that Hermione didn't love her job, it's just that she only knew a few of her children came from wizarding families. So Christopher's stories of pixies and goblins were very fascinating.
A couple of years before, her entire class consisted of little witches and wizards who were completely entranced by their teacher. All of them had heard the many stories of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts, and Hermione took about half an hour a day to tell them some stories. She would use her magic for most of the day, unless of course a Muggle teacher or student walked in. It was an easy life, that year; now she had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't whisper some charms.
"All right, enough talk about the fair. Ms. Brown is going to take you guys down to lunch, and I'll be right here to hand out your prizes for winning that game of Jeopardy!" The little children squealed and lined up by the door.
Ms. Brown, who had been Hermione's roommate at Hogwarts, laughed began to lead the children out. Christopher was the only student still in the room. He stood in front of her desk, staring at the clock she had on there.
"Mrs. Weeeeeeeasley?" He asked, looking at the clock. Hermione opened one eye to stare at the little boy. He smiled brightly at her, his front teeth missing.
"Yes Christopher?" She asked him, stretching out her arms. Christopher pointed at the clock, the one that wasn't like the one on the wall. It told her the precise locations and emotions of her family, and only other wizards could see it, so Christopher was one of the few in the class who could.
"What does ex…ex…crew…see ah…at…ing mean?" He said, sounding out the word. Hermione's eyes widened and she reached for the clock, grabbing it and looking at it closely.
Anthony's arrow, which was normally a calm blue, was burning red and the gold lettering on it said "In Excruciating Pain in Hogsmeade!!"
Hermione had to cover her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She needed to get to Hogsmeade, right now! Lavender had already left with her class, so she looked over at Christopher.
"Do you think you can make it to the cafeteria without getting lost?" She asked him calmly. Christopher nodded excitedly and raced out the door. Once he left, Hermione apparated to the only spot in Hogsmeade she could recall at the moment.
"So, up up UP my feather went!" Jacob exclaimed, using his spoon to show exactly how the feather moved. "Professor Flitwick was very impressed, and Anthony got so mad that I did it before him!" He smiled brightly as his father applauded.
Brian and James nodded, both taking a sip of their drinks. POP! And with that sound, Hermione fell into her husband's lap.
"Hermione!" Ron shouted, almost falling off the chair. Before she could throw him completely off balance, she jumped off of him and grabbed his shoulders.
"Where's Anthony?!" She screamed. Everyone in the place stared at her, as Ron stood up.
"What do you mean?" He asked, a bewildered look on his face. Hermione's eyes began to tear as she grabbed Ron's hand and headed out the door. The three first years immediately followed them, each leaving enough money to pay for all the drinks.
"My clock, my clock! It said he was in excruciating pain! Oh God Ron, where is he?" She cried, flinging herself into her husband's arms. Ron held her close and looked towards Jacob, his face burning red.
"Where are the Malfoys?" He growled. Jacob had never seen his father so mad, and he pointed towards the carriages.
"Over-over there." He stuttered. Ron let go of Hermione and stormed towards the area Jacob pointed at, his wand at his side. His wife followed, taking her wand out of her purse and catching up to him. Jacob had no idea what to do, but he decided to find someone to help his parents. "Guys, go find some teachers." He said, grabbing onto Brian's arm. James and Brian nodded, and the two ran off in the opposite direction. Jacob took a deep breath and started after his parents.
As Ron and Hermione ran, Malcolm Malfoy staggered towards them, holding his bleeding mouth in his hands. Ron confronted him, grabbing his shoulders. He knew he was a Malfoy because he looked almost exactly like his father.
"Where's my son?" Ron snarled. Malcolm's eyes widened as he started to shake.
"I was telling them to stop, I told Stephen that he shouldn't do it, that Anthony didn't do anything!" Malcolm cried, covering his eyes with his blood covered hands. Ron let go of him, pushing him away slightly.
"Just tell me where they are!" Ron exclaimed, although he was already heading towards the ally Malcolm had run out from. Hermione checked the boy's face, and noticed that his front tooth was missing. Jacob joined his mother, looking over her shoulder. She noticed her son, and then the fact that Ron was almost near the ally, and she threw Malcolm at Jacob.
"Fix him up." Hermione asked him, and then running off towards Ron. Jacob watched his mother with a bewildered look on his face, and he slowly led Malcolm to a nearby bench.
The young Slytherin held his mouth in his hand and he looked up at Jacob with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry, Jacob." He cried, looking away. "I don't want to be a part of them anymore, I don't want to be a Malfoy."
The young Weasley just stared in shock. Scratching his head, Jacob decided to do what he thought was the only thing he could do. He took off his red and gold scarf and put it to Malcolm's face.
"Here. Clean yourself up." The red head said softly. Malcolm cautiously began to wipe away the blood. Jacob turned towards where his parents were going, and watched them enter the ally. "I do believe you, but if Anthony's hurt, don't plan on being happy any time soon."
The pain Anthony was feeling was indescribable to the tall eleven-year old. He couldn't even bear to open his mouth, because he feared that if he unclenched his teeth, he would swallow them and die a slow and painful death. His bright blue eyes were squeezed closed so tightly that Anthony could feel his eyelashes boring into his cheeks. All the young boy knew was that he was not going to fall down in front of the Malfoys; he was not going to let them see him down.
"PERTIFICUS TOTALUS!" Two voices boomed. Almost immediately, the pain shooting through Anthony's body stopped, and he fell to the ground. He felt a pair of strong arms wrap around him, lifting him up off the ground. The familiar feeling of the arms helped the boy relax slightly, and he knew that he was going to be okay.
"Oh Ron, is he awake?" Mommy! Anthony's head screamed. The voice of his mother made him want to cry with happiness, but the action would take took much energy.
"He's breathing, let's get him back to Hogwarts." Ron said, his voice cracking. Anthony felt the small fingers of his mother comb themselves through his hair, and he wished he could tell her that he was fine. But…he wasn't. It was then that he fell unconscious.
"I hate this place, God, I spent so much time here." Hermione cried softly, wiping her tears away. Ron wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders, knocking his head softly with hers.
Anthony was under a large amount of Sleeping Potion, and Madam Pomfrey had predicted that today he was going to wake up. It was nearly noon, and the boy hadn't so much as stirred.
They sat in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, on the edge of a bed adjacent to their son's. Jacob was asleep on the bed, tossing and turning. He hadn't slept since the incident, and Hermione prayed that these few moments would turn into a few hours for her troubled son. Emily sat on her father's lap, her head buried into his shoulder. All Ron could do for his little girl was rock her slowly as he watched his son.
The other Weasley's attending Hogwarts were in the room as well, all sitting quietly at the end of the two beds. Marauder slept silently at the end of the bed, by Anthony's feet. Harry stood to the side, pacing back and forth, recalling his many experiences in the Hospital Wing.
The door of the large room creaked open, and Harry turned to see who was entering. James Lupin peered in, smiling sadly at Harry. The auburn haired boy turned around, and when he entered the room, Taylor Parkinson joined him. The girl was paler than usual, and her eyes immediately darted towards the unconscious red head.
She seemed paralyzed at the door, and James took her hand, trying to pull her closer. Taylor just shook her head, and began to turn around.
"Taylor, please!" James pleaded, struggling to keep her in the room. Harry left his family and joined the two young Gryffindors by the door. Taylor stared up at him in shock and James let go of her hand. He nodded softly at his Professor, and headed towards the family.
"How are you, Taylor?" Harry asked softly. Her eyes darted to the ground and she began to play with her fingernails.
"Not so good, Professor." She admitted quietly. Harry felt so much remorse for the young girl, and he put his arm around her shoulders. Taylor looked up at him quickly, clearly confused.
"Come on, you'll want to be there when he wakes." He began to walk forward, but Taylor kept her feet planted.
"I can't…I'm the reason he's here, his family won't want me there." She turned her head away as tears began to brim at her eyes. "He won't want to talk to me ever again."
Harry sighed and tugged at her again.
"They know it wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything but grow up into a very sweet girl. Come on, I'm sure Anthony will be happy to see you." At last, Taylor let her feet move, and the two headed towards the Weasleys.
Anthony's eyes rolled under his eyelids. Soft voices were heard around him…soft, familiar voices.
"Mmm…where am I?" He thought, scrunching his nose. "My nose itches." And he scratched his nose.
The voices in the room fell silent, and an eerie calm fell over him. Anthony rolled his shoulders and slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times. He stared up at the ceiling of…what room was this? God my head hurts. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. Lolling his head to the side, his eyes fell upon his family, and he smiled softly.
"Hi." He whispered. Hermione quickly jumped off of the other bed and sat on Anthony's, touching her son's face. He smiled and stared at his mother lovingly. Marauder woke up at the sudden shake of the bed. The kitten must've realized that Anthony was awake, because he trotted over to him, purring softly as he rubbed against his face.
"Oh Anthony, how are you feeling?" She said, ready to cry. He just shrugged and tried to sit up. Hermione propped some pillows up behind him, and he answered,
"I'm tired." He said simply. Ron snorted and came over with Emily still in his arms. He ruffled his son's hair and Emily slid out of her father's arms and onto Anthony's bed. She hugged him around the neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. The young boy hugged her back, laughing as she gave him a few more kisses on the cheek.
Mary, Fred, George, Annie, Brian, and James hurried to the other side of the bed, and immediately began to tell Anthony everything that had happened. Taylor stayed behind, but she sent him a weak smile that Anthony returned.
"You're a hero!" George exclaimed, patting the bed. Anthony blushed and looked down at his hands.
"Yeah!" Fred continued. "Richard has been expelled, Malcolm has a detention every day for who knows how long, and Stephen is heading towards Azkaban right as we speak!"
"You've been asleep for four days Ant, have any good dreams?" Brian asked, sitting on the bed. Anthony looked up at his cousin, and then at his mother.
"Four days? But, that means…" The thought of missing his and his brother's birthday hit Anthony hard in the gut. Emily still had her arms around her brother, and she gave him a soft hug. Hermione took his hand and stared into his bright blue eyes. She was going to tell him not to worry, when a new voice spoke.
"No worries, I didn't open any presents." Anthony turned quickly to the voice and saw that Jacob was sitting on the adjacent bed, smiling brightly. He returned the smile and Jacob came over. "You woke up on the best day, you lucky bloke."
Anthony stared at him, confused. Four days from the twenty-first…
"Is it Christmas?" He asked, looking around at everyone. They all smiled and nodded, and with a swish of his wand, Ron sent sparks around the room.
Immediately, all the curtains were strung with holly, and Christmas lights blinked all over. The bed next to Anthony's filled with presents, and Anthony immediately recognized the gifts he had bought in Hogsmeade.
"You waited for me?" He said, almost not believing it. Hermione touched his face softly.
"Of course! What's Christmas without family?"
"Come on Ant!" Emily exclaimed, jumping off the bed and rushing towards the presents. "I want you to open yours first! It's from me, Mommy, and Daddy!"
Anthony smiled brightly as Emily brought over a bright blue box. She plopped it on his lap, and waited anxiously for him to open it.
Slowly, he tore apart the paper, and when he opened it, sparks of every different color flew out. Emily began to giggle with delight and the others soon joined it. It was a joke in the family that one of the presents was always jinxed, and Anthony seemed to get it every year.
"That's not funny!" He laughed as he stared at the box. His eyes widened as he realized what it was. "A camera!" He squealed happily, then blushing at his reaction. Hermione and Ron laughed as he opened the box.
"We know you've been wanting one for a while," Ron explained. "There's already a roll of film in there, do you know how to put new film in?"
Anthony looked up at his father with a strange look. "Dad…you just flick this switch." Ron's face reddened. Harry laughed and turned to Mary.
"Poor Ron was having a hell of a time trying to figure it out." The room filled with laughter, and the others began to open their presents as well.
By the next half an hour, everyone in the room was wearing a traditional Weasley sweater (except for Jacob, who was proudly sporting his new Cannons jersey).
Anthony's gifts were a huge hit with the family, and he was very pleased that they all enjoyed them. For his mother, he bought her a photo album that would reveal messages from the people in the pictures if you waved your wand over it. Ron received a miniature Quidditch set for his office (because Anthony knew that the office didn't work that hard). Emily now had a brand new set of dolls, all based on her favorite Disney princesses (Hermione made sure that her children grew up with the same things she had).
The shock on Jacob's face when he saw his jersey was perfect, Anthony snapped a picture of it, and of course, Hermione put it in her photo album. For his cousins and friends, they each received what looked like to be a red and gold whistle.
"It's for the Quidditch games, or whenever we need to show Gryffindor pride." Anthony explained. "Try it out, just blow into it." His friends stared oddly at him, but they did what they were told. From the whistles erupted a tremendous lion's roar, causing Madam Pomfrey to shriek and drop her tray of medicine. She demanded that they all left the Hospital Wing immediately.
They all agreed, but not before Hermione fussed over her son one last time. Anthony had to literally pull his mother's hands off of his pillows to get her to leave ("Mum! If they were any fluffier they'd be clouds!).
Everyone headed out of the infirmary, but just as Madam Pomfrey was beginning to close the curtains, Taylor stopped her. Anthony watched as Taylor whispered something to the old woman. The look in the nurse's eyes seemed to tell Anthony that she was a bit confused. Amazingly, she let Taylor in behind the curtains. The young Weasley immediately blushed.
The two just stared at each other for a while, not really knowing what to say. Taylor stood at the end of the bed, rubbing the sleeping Marauder's ears. Anthony remained propped up against the very fluffy pillows, just watching her. Finally, Taylor spoke up.
"I have something for you." She said quickly. Anthony's eyes widened a bit.
"Really?" He asked, clearly shocked. Taylor blushed and nodded. She stuck her hand into her cloak's pocket and came around the side of the bed, so that she was next to him. Slowly, as though she thought it might hurt, Taylor sat on the bed. Anthony wished he could control the blood that rushed to his face, but of course, he couldn't.
"It's nothing fancy." She explained, pulling a box out of her pocket. It wasn't wrapped, but was thin, long, and black. "It just…well, open it." She said as she handed him the box.
Anthony took the box carefully, and he popped off the lid. He smiled at the demur inside it. It was a simple gold chain, with three charms attached. One was of a camera (he had spoken to her many times about how he had wanted one.), then there was the crest of Gryffindor, and the last one confused him.
"Is this half a heart?" He asked, pointing to the charm. Taylor nodded, looking away. Anthony noticed that her ears were bright red.
"Yes. It-it's normally for best friends, they each wear half of the heart. I don't think we're best friends…so I erased the 'best' part with a charm or two." She turned towards him, smiling softly. "I told you, I've never had a real friend before and now…oh, thank you Anthony!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck in a huge hug.
The young boy was a bit shocked at her actions, but he quickly relaxed and hugged her back. He noticed Taylor's rapid breaths, and he let go of her to look at her. She was crying softly, and she tried to stop.
"I'm so sorry I got you into this, I shouldn't have come to Hogwarts, my mother said I shouldn't have." Her tears fell more freely now. "You could've been killed, Anthony, oh God, if you had died…" Her voice drifted off as she looked away from him.
He simply took her hand in his. He heard her gasp slightly and she looked back at him. Anthony smiled softly.
"Taylor, don't blame this on yourself, just because you've got some…er…bad blood, doesn't mean that you're the one that's wrong. All you've been is nice to me, and you've been a great friend, a great person…there's nothing wrong with you." He let go of her hand to put the necklace on. "Are you wearing the other half?" Taylor nodded slowly, pulling it out from under her shirt. "Good, only take it off to sleep, alright? So now you can be really happy."
"Oh Anthony…I don't think I'll ever be really happy." She whispered, wiping her tears away. It was then that Anthony remembered the gift he had bought her.
"Oy! I have something for you too!" Taylor stared at him oddly as he crawled off of his bed, and to the pile of wrapping paper that was still on the adjacent bed. He dug through the paper and finally pulled out a small box, about the shape of a ring case. It was wrapped in glittery pink foil, and had streams of ribbon on top. Anthony turned and smiled, handing her the box. "Merry Christmas, Taylor."
All the girl could do was stare in shock. Finally, she smiled and took the box out of his hands. Anthony crawled back on the bed and watched as she carefully took the paper off. He couldn't help but smile as he thought about the gift. It had taken him a long time to find her something that he thought would make her day, and when he did, all he could do was pray that she liked it.
Under the pink foil was a simply gray box. Taylor stared at it oddly, and then to Anthony. He rolled his eyes.
"Open it!" He laughed, pushing her shoulder. Taylor giggled and nodded. With her thumb, she flicked the box open, and suddenly, the noise of the room disappeared.
It was replaced by a soft music, a lone violin. A stream of multi-colored light flew out of the box and towards the ceiling, where it burst into specks of glitter and bubbles. They floated down onto the two first years and hovered around them. Anthony smiled brightly at the look of astonishment on Taylor's face.
"What is this?" She asked him, catching a bubble in her hand. Anthony scooted next to her, flicking a piece of glitter off of his nose.
"It's a Serene Box." Anthony explained. "Whenever you need to just relax, you open this box and this is what happens to you and anyone within two meters of you. I thought…I thought it would help you relax."
"It's beautiful, I love it." She whispered. She closed the box, and the glitter and bubbles fell to the floor. The violin finished its last measure, holding the note for four beats.
Taylor turned to him, really not knowing what to say. Anthony sat Indian-style on the bed, smiling happily at her. She slid off the bed and came to his side, taking the charms of his necklace between her thumb and index fingers. Anthony noticed how close she was to him; he felt his face heat up.
"I'm glad you like it. Taylor, I…I think..." He stopped, then leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Taylor smiled and wrinkled her nose happily. Anthony poked her nose and the two giggled.
"We're only eleven, you know." She said, crossing her arms across her chest. Anthony shrugged and leaned back into his pillows, smiling.
"It doesn't matter, unless you don't…" His eyes narrowed, staring strangely at her. Taylor rolled her eyes and leaned forward, kissing his nose. Anthony's smile returned, brighter then before.
"What do you think?" She smiled, walking away from him. "Take a nap, feel better." She started to open the curtains when she saw the pout on Anthony's face. "Aren't you too mature for this?" Taylor giggled. Anthony began to laugh as well as Taylor came back to his side. The two just stared at each other, lost in the moment.
"You'll be my friend forever?" He asked suddenly, causing Taylor's eyes to widen a bit. The awkward silence made Taylor wanted to open the Serene Box again. The pause scared Anthony, and he looked away, thinking he ruined everything.
"Anthony…" Taylor whispered. The red head barely looked back as she continued. Taylor bit her lip and grabbed the edge of the bed. "Look at me…"
Anthony took a deep breath, regretting his question, and he turned. Taylor's lips caught his and the two kissed softly. When the girl pulled away, she giggled at the astonished look on his face.
"Yes." She said simply, waving and striding out of the curtains. Anthony watched the white sheets swish back and forth, and then he sighed happily, falling back onto his pillows to take a nap.