"A muggle?" Harry leaned over and asked, puzzled. "I don't get it- what muggle? And why?"
"Mum says here that I have to go live with her second cousin for a week… his name's Cole, and he's an accountant." I frowned as I read it.
Hermione looked taken aback. "But why? And when?"
"Hang on a sec-" I skimmed the letter over once again. "It says here- ' Your Muggle Studies Professor thought that, since you were serious about this course, it would be a great idea if you could get some real in-depth experience on living with a muggle and in the muggle world for your Advanced Muggle Studies course.'" I squinted at the letter. "And it also says here that I'll be there for the week before Christmas, arriving there the day after I left Hogwarts for holidays and coming back on the 23rd of December…" I trailed off.
Live with my mom's second cousin! I was shocked. I had barely even heard of the guy! Now I'm supposed to live with him? As in, be in the same house? For a week? And on such short notice! I mean… is he married? Does he have kids? Even though I don't want to admit it… the thought nagging in the back of my head is that I'll miss Harry! Pushing it farther back in my mind isn't working.
"Well, that sucks!" Harry said, leaning back. "Why can't you just interview me or something, I lived with muggles for 11 years."
"Yeah, and I sure hope that you don't turn out like him from just a week of muggles," Ron had listened to this part of the conversation. "Mum tell you about the living with Cole thing?"
"Yeah," I said, surprised. Why did Ron know?
"Oh, she told me about that awhile ago, but I forgot to tell you. Anyway, let's hope that this muggle isn't as bad as the Dursleys." Ron laughed.
Pfft. Easy for him to laugh, he doesn't have to live with them! And he gets to be with Hermione, the person he likes! I mean, chee, there's just no justice in this world. And what's that about him knowing for awhile that I had to live with my unknown-until-a-few-moments-ago second cousin and not telling me!
"Sorry I didn't tell you, Gin, I kinda forgot." Ron said.
"Yeah, happens to you a lot these days, doesn't it?" said Harry scathingly. "Like that Quidditch practice you 'forgot' to remind me about? Angelina totally flipped her lid when I didn't show up!"
"Sorry about that, mate," Ron said apologetically.
"Yeah, you'd better be," Harry muttered. "And Angelina's got quite a temper now, considering all the stress she has, coaching the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and doing her year of teaching experience here?"
"Oh, is that why she was able to coach the team again this year after she graduated?" said Hermione vaguely from behind a book she had picked up when she saw Ron coming, her ears having gone rather red.
"Yeah, apparently she did so well in her O.W.Ls that when she got to seventh year, she could take her teaching courses right here at Hogwarts before she even sat her N.E.W.Ts, and start with job experience a year earlier," Ron explained.
"They won't let her play, though," I said, "so we really need to find someone to take her spot… and Katie's and Alicia's too. As well as the beater spots, those two we had last year to replace Fred and George after they were banned, they don't want to play anymore." I lapsed into silence and scanned the Gryffindor common room briefly. Where the heck were we going to get enough decent fliers out of this lot to make up for the ones that had left?
The day before the train to Platform Nine and Three Quarters left (which was a Saturday), I trudged into the common room, disgruntled, and covered in a sticky, sugary substance.
Ron glanced up from his quidditch playbook. "What happened to you?"
I flopped down on the couch across from him, causing the other people sitting on it to edge away. "It was that git, Malfoy," I spat bitterly. "for some reason, he thought it would be 'funny' to dump his cauldron full of melted Honeydukes toffee out a window, and I just so happened to be standing underneath it."
"But why would he have a cauldron of melted Honeydukes toffee?" Ron asked, bewildered.
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes my brother can be really thick. "So he could dump it on someone, duh."
Ron laughed, then instantly smothered it. "Well, why would he want to dump it on you?"
I shrugged. "I dunno, cause I'm a Weasley,anenemy of his entire family, a Gryffindor,and he just so happens to be the biggest git alive?And I suppose it might have something to do withthe factI was talking to Harry, his arch enemy, Quidditch rival, and the downfall of his father's master… but conveniently Harry had moved over to pick up a book right when darling Draco dumped it."
Ron smirked. "Youare Harrywere just talking, eh? Cause if you two think you're concealing anything, you've got another one coming. When's the wedding?"
I narrowed my eyes and glared at my youngest brother, panicking inwardly.Didhow much I liked Harry show? And another thought... did Harryfeel the same way towards me? I shookmyself mentally."Shut up, weasel, or I'll put a spider in your bed."
It was Ron's turn to glare at me. "Don't say that, Gin. Don't even think it. And you're a Weasley too, remember? If you call me weasel you call yourself weasel."
"Well, you see, it doesn't have much effect, because I, unlike you, don't look the part of the weasel." I smirked, and much to the relief of the other people on the couch, who were trying to avoid my stickiness, got up (with a bit of difficulty, considering I was stuck to the couch) and trudged off to the girl's dormitories to take a shower, cursing Malfoy with every step.
