Miss. Grangers Woes Chapter 5:
Gryffindornousagi: Okay so, here's the deal with this chapter. I think I did have it up at one point, but it was taken down. That, or I thought it wasn't finished...;;; Anyway, I'm SO VERY sorry it has taken so long. On with the fic!
Disclaimer: Blah blah I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does...pfft...
Chapter 5:
Awfully worn looking piece of parchment,
Hello again. My last entry was right before my first child, Will, was born. Well now, he's 18. Oh Merlin...
He graduated Hogwarts last year. It was one of the happiest days of Ron's and my life. To see our oldest son graduate was one of my dreams...Now lets see the other 4 do it.
Yes, 4. Ron and I have had 4 more children with totally different attitudes. Let me tell you about them;
William Michael Weasley: Our eldest at 18. He hasn't moved out yet, which is okay by me. I'm keeping my baby as close as possible for as long as possible. Will is kind of a mix of Ron and I. He LOVES Quidditch, and plans to go on to play for the Chudley Cannons(the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, yeah?). He was captain of the Gryffindor Qudditch team, and a Keeper. On the other hand, he is a wonderful student. Straight O's on his O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S. The only thing that bothers me is that girlfriend of his...Rachael Wood.
Lilliana Elizabeth Weasley: Our second oldest, 15, and twin of Celeste Ginerva. At first, Ron and I thought, "Oh no...another Gred and Forge..." But actually, they're quite the opposites. Lily is MUCH more like her father. She's very out there and expressionful. Not the best student, she has many other hobbies that I'm not so sure about. She's really into music. A Quidditch buff also. I don't know about this one sometimes...Lily's very...well...original. I guess that's a good thing. She's very individual. This "rock music" she likes isn't my favorite, but I can't stop her from listening to it. Ron's not much help either. Lily has many friends, three best friends in which two are boys. In this, she reminds me of myself. One of her best best friends is the boy who lives across the street, Rupert Malfoy...Ron was NOT very happy about that. He still hates him. The boy is really nice though, I have no problem with him. Nothing like his father. Her second is Katie Finnagin. Nice girl too. The last is her cousin, James Potter. She's known these three since she was about 6, and James, well, since she was born. Stuck together ever since.
Celeste Ginerva Weasley: Again, 15, second eldest, twin of Lilliana Elizabeth(if you haven't already guessed). Celeste is VERY much like myself. She studies constantly, never really goes out much, which is not really a bad thing, but Ron is always pestering me about it. Let the girl do what she wants! Lesty is pretty normal other than that, she does have friends, her best friend is actually Jane Longbottom who lives next-door. Reading is one of her pastimes, that and studying. Hey, I told you she was like me!
Jon Arthur Weasley: Age: 9. Third eldest. Well...there's not much to say about Jon. He's a bit like his father. He hasn't started Hogwarts yet, so we really don't know about grades. But he loves to read. He loves Qudditch also, but I guess that's just the Weasley blood in him. Ron bought him his first broom for his birthday. He was on that bloody thing day in and day out. The difference between him and Lily, is that he read about how to fly, and how to do new "way cool Qudditch moves", and Lily just hopped on her broom and went off. A lot like Will, this one. He is a bit of a "Momma's boy", I must say. But he'll grow out of it...eventually. A bit of a muggle video game lover, this one.
And last but not least,
Ebony Molly Weasley: This one, by far, is the most...well...interesting other than Lily. She is the youngest at 3, and she has a vivid imagination! She is really attached to Will, which I find extremely cute. When she just learned to walk, she used to follow him around, and it was the cutest thing in the world. I'm really excited to see her grow up and find out what kind of person she'll be, even though her personality is really starting to shine through.
Tonight, is Christmas eve, and as a usual Weasley tradition, we all go over to Molly and Arthur's house for gifts and dinner. Then on Christmas day, we go over to my parents house for presents there and dinner with my family. Works out really well actually.
Right now, the Weasley house-hold is hectic. Me running around getting the children, including Ron, their clothes. Myself getting ready. And every year, without a doubt, SOMETHING gets lost. It's usually the most important thing. Last year we lost the presents, Ron 'accidently' put them in the car and forgot, then had us all going crazy looking for them in the house, and remembered when we got into the car. The year before that, Lily lost her favorite blouse, and refused to leave without it. So after an hour of searching, she finds it...in her closet. I wonder what will be lost this year.
Well I must go now, Ron is calling for me, probably to find his socks which are most likely on his feet or in his hands.
My life is wonderful.
Happy Christmas,
Hermione Weasley.
"'Mione!" Hermione sighs, and enters their bathroom.
"Yes Ron, what is it?" She giggles at the sight of her husband, clad in only a towel around his waist, spots of shaving cream still left on his face, on the floor searching for something.
"I can't find my bloody razor! I just had it! It fell on the floor and it's gone!" He says in a panic. Hermione looks down to find the razor under his left hand.
"Love?" He looks up and she pointed to his hand. He blushes, grabs the razor and kisses her quickly.
"Thanks, dear." He begins to finish his face.
"You really couldn't live without me, darling." Hermione says strutting out of the loo. As soon as she enters the hallway, she gets bombarded by a little girl with one pigtail.
"Mummy! Lily was doing my hair but she hurt my head so I said stop, but she wouldn't! So I ran away and now she's chasing me!" She grabbed on to her mum's legs and hid behind them. A girl with arm length amber hair ran into the hall, a hair brush in hand.
"She...hair...brush...ran away...I can't." The girl collapsed onto her knees.
"Well maybe you should've stopped when she said you hurt her!" Hermione placed her hands on her hips. Lily sighed.
"I did, but as soon as I took the brush off her hair, she bloody ran away!" The girl raised her arms in frustration.
"Lilliana! I told you to stop with the cursing!"
"Who's cursing?" Ron asked, coming out of the bathroom, still dressed in only a towel.
"Your daughter." Hermione replied.
"Pick one."
"WHO DO YOU THINK RONALD?" She yelled this time.
"Okay, love I was kidding. Calm down." He placed his hands on her shoulders. He turned to look at Lily, who was still panting on the floor.
"What happened?"
"Well you see Daddy..." Ebony said, jumping out from behind her mother. Ron jumped.
"Whoa where'd you-"
"Lily was brushing my hair and then she hurt me and I told her to stop and she didn't-"
"THAT'S BOLLOCKS! I DID STOP YOU LITTLE RAT! THEN YOU RAN AW-"
"NO YOU DIDN'T! DADDYYYYY SHE KEPT BRUSHING AND HURTING MY HEAD!"
"DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!"
"DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!"
"DID NOT DID NOT DID NOT!"
"DID TOO DID TOO DID TOO DID TOO"
"DID NO-"
"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU OR YOUR NOT GOING TO GRANDMUMS AND GRANDDADS AN YOUR STAYING HOME!" Ron yelled. The two girls went quiet.
"Pfft. I don't even wanna go." Ron glared at the teen and she again became mute.
"Sorry Dad." They both replied. Hermione held her fingers to her temples.
"Ebony, just let Lilliana finish brushing your hair. Lily, if you hurt her stop, and Ebony if she stops wait and then let her continue. Are we done?" Hermione let out. The two girls nodded and went off.
"It was your fault." The smaller one whispered.
"Was not." The other replied.
"Was too."
"Was not."
"Was to-"
"IF A HEAR ANOTHER PEEP FROM THE BOTH OF YOU YOUR STAYING HOME!" Ron said. They ran back into the room.
Ron sighed and continued to rub his wife's shoulders.
"I can't..." She replied.
"Listen, just go inside, get dressed, and I'll take care of the lot." He said, kissing her neck.
"Mmm, but Ronald, are you sure you can handle it?" She smirked. He looked at her in fake shock.
"Of course! I'm Ron! What can't I do?" She laughed at his ego and waved him off.
"Okay, but don't come crying to me when they've got you in a headlock." Ron gave her a thumbs up as she walked back into the bedroom. He cracked his knuckles and continued down the hall.
Will sat on the couch, The History of The Chudley Cannons in his hands, reading. Ron came down the stairs, fully clothed this time, holding about 6 bags of gifts.
"Uh Will? A little help here?" Will turned his head and saw his father struggling with 10 pounds of bags. He laughed, got up and walked to the staircase.
"Here!" Ron gave half the bags to his son and continued down the stairs. He placed them at the bottom and plopped down onto the couch.
"Christmas gets so much more painful the older you get." Will laughed again and continued with his book.
"How many times have you read that?" Ron asked.
"Uh...12? Maybe 13. Not sure." He replied, not taking his eyes off the page. Ron raised his eyebrows and shook his head. Hermione came down the stairs carrying Ebony, the young girl screaming;
"MUMMY! I NEED MY SHOES!"
"I know darling, I know, Mummy is going to find them for you." She placed the girl on Ron's lap and went off.
"Daddy! My shoes are gone!" Ron sighed.
"Oh Merlin, at least we know what's lost this year, yeah?"
"Don't jinx it." Will replied.
"Dad! Where's my broom? I wanna bring it over to play with Jake and Kelly!" Jon asked, jumping down the stairs.
"I think it's in the garage." Ron said, adjusting the child on his lap to sit on his other knee, since the current one was going numb. Jon ran to the garage.
"Ron, call the girls please." Hermione said, peaking her head in from the kitchen.
"LILY! LESTY! GET DOWN HERE!"
Celeste came charging down the stairwell, fixing her skirt. Lily appeared after her, somehow walking down the stairs, holding up a mirror, and applying eyeliner at the same time.
"Mum! Where's my jumper? The yellow one?" Hermione stuck her head out again.
"Its in the laundry room."
"Thanks." Lesty walked over to the room to retrieve her sweater.
"Mummy! Did you find my shoes?" The impatient girl screamed.
"They're right here!" Hermione came out of the kitchen carrying her daughters black shoes. She quickly put them on and put her on the ground.
"Okay all? We ready?" Ron asked. They all nodded.
"Where's Jon?" Celeste replied, coming out of the laundry room with her sweater around her shoulders.
"Right here!" Jon came back into the living room carrying his broom. Hermione rolled her eyes and began to put Ebony's jacket on. Ron and Will grabbed the bags of gifts and dragged them into the car. The whole clan then piled in. Ron turned from the drivers seat.
"Okay! One, two, three, four...Ebony?" Ebony sat up from under the seat.
"I dropped Joyce! She's a Weasley too!" She said, proudly holding up her favorite doll.
"Now that Joyce has returned lets get going." He replied, driving off.
"Daddy, why didn't we just Floo there?" Ebony asked.
"Because love, if we did, we'd have to take all the bags and they'd get all dirty, and we'd get all dirty, and it just much easier this way." Ron answered, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
"And Mum wanted you to." Will added.
"Will!" Hermione turned.
"Just telling the girl the truth!" He laughed. Lily grunted.
"I still don't understand why EVERY Christmas eve we MUST go to Grandmum and Grandads. It's a pointless, boring tradition." Lily slumped back in her seat.
"Because, Lily it's a pointless boring tradition! Note the word tradition! We have to do it! You know your Grandmum. Remember what happened to Uncle George when he declared he wasn't going one year?" Ron replied. Lily cringed.
"Forgot about that...go on, lets hurry." Hermione smiled and turned to check Ebony, and fixed little knick knacks on her dress.
"Mummy!" Ebony exclaimed.
"Sorry deary, you just get so dirty sometimes!" Ebony pouted as Hermione licked her finger and wiped the dirt from Ebony's nose.
"Eww!" Ebony wiped her nose with her sleeve.
"Mum, that's really gross..." Jon added, sticking out his tongue.
"Jon, that's really gross." Celeste jumped in. Shaking her head in disgust.
"What? This?" He stick his tongue out again, this time closer to her.
"Hey Jon?" Ron asked.
"Yea Dad?"
"Wanna eat slugs?"
"Not really."
"Then keep your tongue in your mouth." Jon smugged and sank in the seat. Ron smiled with satisfaction and continued to tap the wheel.
"Are we there yet?" Ebony asked.
"No, love." Ron replied.
"Okay."
-5 Minutes Later-
"Are we there yet?" She asked again, impatiently.
"No love, about 10 more minutes." Hermione said.
-After 5 More Minutes-
"Are we there now?" Ron turned around after stopping at a light.
"Eb, sweetie, I promise, you'll know when we're there okay? So stop asking." She sighed loudly with exaggeration.
"Fine." Ron turned back around and again grabbed the wheel.
"Daddy? I have to go to the loo." She added.
"Well you're going to have to wait dear." Hermione replied.
"But I REALLY have to go!" She wiggled in her car seat.
"Ron, she really has to go. Can't you stop at this gas station?" Hermione asked, pointing to the station across the street. Ron nodded.
"Fine, but be quick!" Ron pulled into the station and Hermione took Ebony out of her seat to the bathroom. Celeste, totally absorbed in her copy of "Hogwarts: A History", began to hum.
"Stop Lest." Lilliana said, poking her arm. In return, she began to hum louder.
"HMM HMM HMM HMM HMM." Annoyed, Lily poked her twin harder.
"Stooopp!"
"Don't whine."
"I can whine if I want to whine. Don't hum!"
"I can hum if I want to hum! You can't tell me what to do!"
"Oh on the contrary Celeste, I am 10 minutes older than you. I think I can."
"So? What difference does that make? I'm smarter than you! And taller if I may add."
"Well I'm older, and smarter, and taller! And I say both of you should shut your traps!" Will shouted.
"Oh yea?" Lily replied, poking him in the chest.
"Well, I'm a girl!"
"So?" He asked.
"So, you can't boss around girls!"
"Why not? You're not a girl, you're my sister." He said, matter-of-factly.
"That doesn't mean I'm not a girl! And you're supposed to be nice to your sister!" She pulled the end of his not-so-short hair near the nape of his neck.
"Ouch! That was uncalled for! Dad!"
"Aw! Little bitty Willy's gonna tell daddy on me! Boo Hoo!" Lily replied, making fists with her hands and placing them on her face to fake cry.
"Lily...bugger off will ya? Leave your brother and your sister alone." Ron sighed.
"Why can't all of you get along once?"
"Because Dad, we all have extremely different personality traits. And when our traits clash, the result is very exuberant." Lily looked at Celeste with wide eyes.
"...You lost me."
"Me too.." Ron added.
"Well...in simpler terms, we don't fancy each other too much." Will explained.
"Ah...I see...oh well." Ron shrugged. Hermione opened the back door and placed Ebony back in her seat.
"I'm back! And guess what Will?"
"What Eb?"
"I went to the loo!" She said excitedly.
"That's...wonderful Eb." Will replied. Jon looked disgusted.
"That's...gross Eb." He added. Ebony just smiled and looked out the window to the snowy landscape.
"Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh! Hey!" She sang. Jon covered his ears and the rest just rolled their eyes.
After 10 more minutes of horrible singing, and countless verbal rows, the Weasley clan finally arrived at they're destination. The Burrow.
Ron, Hermione, and the children walked to the doorstep. Hermione carrying Ebony, straightening her hair and green dress, and Ron and Will carrying the bags of presents. Lily walked up and rang the bell.
"Here we go..."
"Lil- Hi mum!" Hermione was cut off by her mother-in-law coming to the door and grabbing her and Ebony into a great big hug.
"Oh hello dears! Its so great to see you! Oh look at you!" She grabbed the 3 year old from her mothers arms.
"You've gotten so big!"
"Yup! Gran, I can go to the loo by myself now!" Molly put on a surprised face.
"Well good for you dear! You're really growing up!" She put the young one down. Ebony quickly ran to her cousins and began to play.
"Ronald."
"Mum." Ron hugged his mother.
"Well, well, William. You're growing up too fast also!"
"Yep. Happy Christmas Gran."
"Here, put those over here." She directed Will and Ron to the tree. They placed the bags down under it and sat on one of the many extra conjured couches that are needed to fit the whole Weasley bunch into the Burrow.
"Lilliana! Celeste!" She hugged them both together.
"Hey Gran! Happy Christmas!"
"Oh you too loves. And Jon." Molly ruffled the youngest Weasley boy's hair. Jon smiled and went to find his cousins. Hermione went into the kitchen and quickly gave the very pregnant Ginny a hug.
"How's number 4 coming?"
"Like the first 3. It's killing me." The two woman laughed and were joined by Katie, Fred's wife, and Angelina, George's. They all said they're hellos and Happy Christmas'.
Hermione straightened her black skirt as Molly came in. Molly began to check the pots on the stove, and occasionally dip in a spoon and have a taste of the occupants.
"Do you need any help?" Hermione asked.
"No, no dear. I've got everything under control. Go, all of you! Socialize!" Molly said, shooing the women out of the kitchen. They laughed and obliged.
Lily sat on the couch next to her cousin, and best friend, James. Both slouching, they sighed.
"So, what do you wanna do?" Lily asked.
"I dunno, what do you wanna do?" James replied.
"Dunno, what do YOU wanna do?"
"Whatever you wanna do!"
"Well I don't know what I wanna do!" Lily exclaimed.
"Then I guess we're not gonna do anything!" James exhaled.
"Guess so." They both slipped down into the couch some more and sulked. Next to Lily, Celeste was still engrossed in her book. She felt the couch go down and shot her head up and to the right of herself, eyeing them both.
"Why don't you do something productive. Like Hmm...homework maybe?" Celeste suggested, even though she knew that idea wasn't going to go too far with them. A girl could try though!
"Ha...That's funny." James said, putting his finger up. James doing homework was like Lily spending a day without quidditch. Never gonna happen, so don't even think about it. Lily nodded in response. Ron walked over to the teens.
"Come on you lazy bums! Get up and do something!" Ron said, mimicking rising movements with his arms.
"Like?" Lily replied.
"Like...play with your little cousins?"
"He's a month younger than me, does that count?" Lily asked, pointing to James. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Well you certainly aren't playing with him are you?" Ron gave a half-smile and sat next to James.
"But Uncle Ron, there's nothing to do!"
"Well, I sugges-" Lily put her hand up before she could finish.
"Other than schoolwork." Celeste snickered and went back to her book. Lily gave the same lopsided grin her father just sprouted. She wasn't about to lose this one. Family get togethers are about her and James sitting looking miserable the whole time. Merlin forbid they actually did something they enjoyed.
Just then, Molly's head poked out from the kitchen.
"Dinner's done!" She stated. Those two words were just about the whole Weasley's family's favorite ones. They all rushed to the enlarged dining table. Which could very comfortably fit a large army. After everyone was seated, Arthur got up with his glass.
"Welcome back Weasley's for another one of Molly's wonderful Christmas dinners! We are so grateful that all of you could make it this year, even though we had to extend the table a bit. No matter, no matter. The only important thing is that we're all together."
"Here, here!" Lily yelled, eyeing the food that she was about to savage up. "Can we eat now?"
"Lilliana!" Hermione scolded.
"Yes, well. I'm sure That's what everybody's is thinking right about now, so Happy Christmas!" Arthur drank from his glass and everyone did the same. Happily, they all began to eat.
Jon looked around the table, acknowledging the fact that he did have a huge family. Across from him were his Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, and they're 9 year old Kelly. Next to them, Uncle Fred an Aunt Katie, and they're 11 year old Jake.
Then came Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, with 17 year old Chloe and 2 year old Michael. After them was Uncle Charlie and Aunt Opal who had Arthur, who was 12, Gretchen, who was 8, Georgina, who was 4 and newborn Chloe.
Then, Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope, with they're 5 year old Ben. Of course then there's Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny with James, the eldest at 15, Julie, at 10, Sirius, who's 7, and one coming in a few months.
Jon's head began to spin a bit and he decided to get back to his food, and chatting with Jake.
After dinner they all sat by the tree and opened gifts. Many ribbons and other objects flew across the room, including Ebony's new doll, which Michael found funny to see if it could fly.
Although, Eb wasn't too amused...
After many games of Exploding Snap, and Wizards Chess, most of the Weasley clan was collapsing from exhaustion. Ron picked up a sleeping Ebony from the floor, resulting in waking her up, and headed the rest of his family out to the car after saying goodbye to each member, which took just as long as the drive to The Burrow did.
Lily yawned and walked out of The Burrow, her twin in tow. Will carried Jon on his shoulders as he napped on his head. They all piled into the car, Hermione last with tons of bags of leftovers, now the families dinner for the next week or even more, much to Jon's hatred. To him, the worst part of the whole ordeal was dinner because, for starters, he hated leftovers. Also, sitting at the table wasn't the most entertaining thing in the world. Even though the food was excellent, a 9 year old did not want to be bothered sitting and eating.
Once back in the house, they all claimed their respective beds, and quickly drifted to sleep. Except for Ebony, who took a little reasoning, considering "Father Christmas" was coming the next morning. A story or two later, she was eventually fast asleep, and was probably dreaming of everything Father Christmas would bring her. Promises of another doll and dresses for them rang in her mind.
Ron quietly climbed into bed, placing his arm around Hermione's waist, and snuggling against her back. She smiled and placed her arm atop his. He was thankful that he had such a wonderful family to celebrate the holidays with. Not only did he have such a big family, but a loving wife, and 5 beautiful children. To Ron, life couldn't get any better.
He leaned over and placed his lips over his wives ear.
"Happy Christmas, love."