A/N: Once again, horizontal lines mean change of point of view or passing of time. Picky picky site, indeed. Good luck keeping all the Weasleys straight.
A soft hoot was the first sound Zephari heard in the month of August at eleven years old. She opened her eyes to see a small barn owl sitting on her chest. It hooted again and nipped at her shirt collar. The girl blinked at it and it blinked back.
Suddenly, the door to her room opened and crashed as it ricocheted off the wall. "Zeph! Zeph! Did you – oh! You did! Great! Open the letter, Zeph, it's from Hogwarts!" Her normally placid cousin cried excitedly.
The owl hooted patronizingly at the other eleven year old. His entire attitude was telling Zephari that he was irritated and she could not help but giggle. "Don't be fussy, Domey." She teased, moving him to the bedside table. He glared at her and leaped into the air, swooping out the window. She grinned at her cousin. "Lemme get dressed first, kay?" She asked.
Dante nodded and ran out of the room so her cousin could change. She was a stickler for her privacy, not wanting her secrets spilled. True, she had very little secrets to hide – other than her fear of the dark, extreme liking for chocolate and the fact that she was extremely ticklish. Then again, most eleven year olds had those sorts of secrets.
She pulled a pair of black robes over her head after pulling on a green tee and black pants. Zephari then grabbed the letter and ripped it open. It read.
Dear Ms. Black,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Soon, you and your schoolmates will join us here, and your education in the magical arts will begin.
She was forced to stop reading there as her cousin burst back in, followed by her older twin cousins Carly and Thomas. "Dante told us you got a letter too!" Carly exclaimed, taking the letter from her hands and hugging her. "I knew you'd get in!"
"Ugh, Carly..." Zephari grumbled, trying to shove away.
Thomas chuckled, "Zeph doesn't like hugs, remember Carl?" He reminded her.
"Right, sorry." Carly said, releasing the scrawny girl.
Dante bounced around the room, "Wait until Grandmum, Granddad, Uncle Bill, Uncle Fred and Uncle George and Aunt Ginny and everyone hears about this!" She squealed excitedly, "Both of us going to Hogwarts! And Zoë, too, if I'm right."
"Uncle Bill and Aunt Ginny'd already know." Zephari pointed out, "They teach, 'member?"
Dante's face fell. "Oh... right." She mumbled.
"Don't worry, Dante, I'm sure you'll do better than me when we do get to Hogwarts." She said in a falsely bright voice.
The currently violet-haired girl grinned. "Not in potions, only overgrown bats are good at that stuff."
"Obviously." She replied, "Why else would Uncle Snape teach it?"
Carly giggled, "He hates it when you call him that."
Thomas shook his head, "I think that's why she does it. But we're all ignoring the reason Carly and I came running back in here with Dante: Mum and Dad want us down for breakfast. Now."
Carly grinned at her younger 'sisters', Dante beamed happily back at Carly and at Zephari while Zephari smirked smugly at Thomas, who simply ushered them out of the room. They ran down the hall to the kitchen.
When they entered, Aunt Tonks stood up, saying "Wotcher kids!" which Zephari repeated only to be grabbed in a smothering hug by her uncle Charlie while Tonks grabbed Dante in a similar one. "So proud of you both!" She exclaimed as they switched.
Zephari managed to break free of her aunt's hold on her with a large amount of struggling. "We only just got accepted! Give us lots of hugs when we've actually proven we're good at magic, no?" She said rhetorically, crossing her arms and glaring at her aunt.
Tonks looked surprised for a moment, but recovered quickly. The little girl stalked to the table and grabbed a piece of toast, spreading jam on it as she continued, "Not that I'm not happy you're happy for us, just doesn't seem to make sense. For all we know, I could be sent back the day I reach Hogwarts."
"Nonsense." Charlie told her firmly. "Your parents were Head Girl and Head Boy and you're no Squib. I remember the day – or, well, days – when you kept lighting things on fire. Only wizards can do that."
Zephari shrugged. "Could've been flukes, you never know."
"Enough of this senseless blabbering," Tonks said firmly, "Carly, Thomas, why don't you two drag Seamus down here while the girls have their breakfasts. Then you five can go and play Quidditch outside."
Zephari's face lit up into a genuine smile at the mention of the wizard sport, as did Dante's. All of those in the Tonks-Weasley household adored Quidditch and Charlie had taught them all to fly from the moment they could safely straddle a broom. The younger kids all had a certain gift for it, making them extremely good players. Carly and Thomas were both beaters on the Gryffindor House Team at Hogwarts. Rumour had it that Carly had the makings of a good Captain once their current Seeker left Hogwarts, which would be the next year.
Dante joined her in gulping down her breakfast before the twins returned with a lovingly irritated Seamus. The five of them then paraded out of the kitchen, the twins singing some Muggle song at the top of their lungs, with their arms firmly looped between Seamus's, dragging him out of the house.
"Malfoy'll be pleased." Tonks said as soon as she was certain the children were out of earshot. "Blimey, she gets more and more like him every year."
"It's only natural; her father was raised as a pureblood after all." Charlie reminded her, standing behind her and pulling her into a gentle hug.
She leaned back against him. "I know, but it's hard to think that she might go into Slytherin. Us, raising a Slytherin bully."
"She's no bully." Her husband reminded her kindly, "She is half Slytherin, half Gryffindor. That's what makes her so unique. But I don't think we have to worry about her going to Slytherin. She doesn't have the ambition most of that lot has."
Tonks grinned slightly, "That's what you think." She teased.
"Oh?"
"Girls don't tell their fathers – or adoptive fathers – everything, you know."
"Why not?" Charlie asked, perplexed.
"Did you tell your mother everything?"
"You've met my mother, would you?"
"That's not the point, the point is, did you confide a lot in your mother, or did you confide more in your father?"
"You've met my father, would you confide anything in him?"
"You're being cruel to them." Tonks told him, tilting her head up to look at him.
"Indeed I am." He responded, looking down at her.
"I like it when you're evil." She purred.
"Okay, so Zeph, Carly and Seamus will be on one team, Dante and I will be on the other." Thomas announced.
"How come we're stuck with him?" Zephari and Carly demanded.
"You're more tolerant of him than I am." Thomas said innocently.
Seamus rolled his eyes. "I could take all four of you. I'm twenty-one, in case you haven't noticed."
"And still living at home," Thomas pointed out.
"Still needing Mum and Dad to take care of you," Carly added.
"What's the matter, Seamus? Will you miss Mum's bedtime stories if you leave?" Thomas asked.
"Or is it 'cause you can't land yourself a job?" Carly jeered.
The eldest red-head reddened slightly. "I'm working on it." He mumbled.
"Leave him alone." Dante said suddenly, placing her pink-robed self between the others and her eldest brother, "It's not his fault and you know it!"
Zephari felt a twinge of guilt. It was true, it was not Seamus's fault that he was what he was. He was lucky enough to even be alive, let alone still a wizard and a pitiful one at that. Seamus had had a few magical mishaps throughout his life, the most dangerous of which in his seventh year at Hogwarts. This one had nearly drained him of all magic ability, though the cause was unknown to her. All she knew was that Seamus had been a Prefect, then he lost all his magic after having taken his N.E.W.T.s.
Carly and Thomas were staring at their younger sister. "We're just teasing, Dante." Carly said.
"Well it's not funny."
It was not Dante who had spoken this time, it was Zephari. She moved to stand beside her cousin. "For all that he's awful at Quidditch, I still like Seamus." She said at their stunned expressions, shrugging slightly.
That ended the conversation for the rest of the mini-Quidditch game. The teams had automatically changed to Zephari, Dante and Seamus against the twins. Unsurprisingly, the two seasoned Quidditch players won. They trouped back to their home with their brooms over their shoulders, chatting amiably again.
"So, who do you reckon will win the House Cup this year?" Zephari asked curiously, looking up at Thomas.
"Better not be bloody Ravenclaw again." Seamus grumbled. "They won the last three years I was at Hogwarts."
"And they've won twice since then." Thomas added. "Nah, I think it'll be Hufflepuff like last year."
"Why not Gryffindor?" Dante asked, her intrigue obvious as well.
"Gryffindor just can't cut it lately." Carly admitted, though she did not seem all too sad about it, "Our Prefects are lazy, but we haven't had a Head Boy or Head Girl in ages. Therefore, we keep getting points docked. Especially since Slytherin usually has either the Head Boy or the Head Girl nowadays."
"Why?" Dante and Zephari asked in unison.
"Nobody knows. It seems the Slytherins have realized they need to work really hard now that the school isn't terrified that their Mums and Dads will hex those who do better than their children." Thomas said honestly.
"They're mostly orphans now, actually." Carly added softly. "So I suppose they want to prove they're different."
"I'd say they're finally putting that famous Slytherin ambition to a good use." Seamus muttered.
Zephari blinked at his tone. It seemed that Seamus did not like the Slytherins. Maybe they had something to do with his loss of power? She would not be surprised. After all, Gryffindor and Slytherin had a history. The fact that she existed was proof that it could be overcome. With determination, of course.
Charlie looked over his three youngest children and his adopted daughter three weeks later. "While we're at The Burrow, I want you four to be on your best behaviour." He said, his eyes lingering on Zephari as he said this. "Please remember that Malfoy, Snape and Dethol are guests, just as we are. You know what'll happen if you're courtesy is lacking."
"Pfft. He's been threatening us with that since we could walk." Carly whispered to Zephari and Dante, "Never done anything when we misbehaved, so we never found out what his big threat was all about."
"I hope that you'll try to set a better example for them when we get there, Carly." Tonks chided.
"We've been going to The Burrow every few years, Mum!" Dante said irritably, "We know what we're supposed to do, so please stop lecturing us!"
Charlie chuckled and lit a fire in the grate. "Alright, so you won't need me to tell you how to use Floo Powder?"
"Nope!" Dante and Zephari said in unison, grabbing handfuls and vanishing swiftly one after the other.
"You two have everything?" Tonks asked as the twins reached for powder.
"Yes, Mum." They chimed before Carly grabbed her trunk and dragged it into the green flames. With a dramatic "The Burrow!" she was gone. Thomas followed suit in a less frivolous and fancy way.
Seamus looked irritably at the powder before taking some and following them. Tonks sighed and Charlie gave her a hug after putting down the mug of powder. "He'll be alright." He murmured.
"No he won't." She said fiercely, looking up at him. "We've been saying so for years and he hasn't recovered. He can't Apparate anymore, Charlie; he can barely do the most rudimentary spells. He was second only to the Head Boy and he can barely use a summoning charm now!"
"Nymph..." He said helplessly, "I know it's hard, but there's nothing we can do. He has a job here, but since he can't stun anything..."
An uncomfortable silence fell. The Weasley family was notorious for its bad luck. It had gotten better lately and the Ministry had given them all a rather large amount of money to help them raise all their orphaned or now single-mothered or single-fathered relatives. The silence was suddenly broken by Tonks crying and Charlie held her close, making soothing noises.
"Fred." She said suddenly, wiping her tears.
"Eh?" Charlie asked, wondering if she had lost all common sense in a second.
"George." She added, now sounding excited.
"Charlie." He said slowly, pointing at himself.
"I know that." She said, blowing her nose. "But Fred and George, they can help! They could maybe hire Seamus to work for their joke shop! A mediocre job, but it would be better than having him mope around the house."
"He doesn't mope." Charlie pointed out, smiling slightly. "He's too strong for that. A genius plan, my dear, I'll ask them about it tonight."
She smiled and pulled on a midnight black wizard's hat. "Good." She said then Disapparated.
Charlie chuckled and checked the locks and wards around his home. He then pulled on his cloak and Disapparated with a quiet pop. The Weasleys were gathering in England, after all, and it would be no good if one stayed behind in Romania.