Chapter 10 – Breakfast at Gryffindor's

Nora felt more tired than usual when she woke up the next morning – she hadn't been up later than usual, but that night, in bed, she had lain in her bed, staring at the ceiling. With furrowed eyebrows, she tried putting together a sort of genealogy for anyone she could think of, until sleep finally took her.

She looked around the room – Morag was gone, and Alexandria and Sandrine were still asleep. Open on Sandrine's slowly rising-and-falling chest was a magazine. Curiously, Nora rose and crept over to Sandrine's four-poster to read the article. When she saw the swirling letters that read, "65 Ways to Work a School Uniform to Snag the Lads", she shook her head and turned away with disgust. Why are they in Gryffindor? she found herself wondering as she put on her clothes.

"Well if it isn't my favorite cousin," said a voice as she came down the stairs. The voice belonged to Julian Weasley, a sixth-year that was her Uncle Fred and Aunt Angelina's son, and he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a highly polished broomstick. He was one of the few Weasley children that did not have red hair – his black hair and tanned skin were from his mother, Angelina.

"I highly doubt that you can say I'm your favorite cousin just like that. You have," Nora screwed up her face as she did the calculation, "Eighteen cousins. Out of eighteen, you can easily say I'm your favorite?"

"Of course," said Julian, not even batting an eye. "Now tell me, was Andie behind you at all?"

"Yes, she was," said Andie as she thundered out of the staircase behind Nora. "Sneaks!" she said as she saw Nora, "I always forget that you're at Hogwarts!" She stopped to give Nora a big hug, her elbow-length black hair wrapping around Nora. "What's my fair brother doing to you?" Andie said as she pulled away.

"Trying to convince me that I'm his favorite cousin," Nora told the girl.

Andie rolled her eyes. "He tells all our cousins that they're his favorites," said Andie, looking at her twin brother accusingly.

"Well, Andrea, you're definitely my favorite twin sister," said Julian.

"Call me Andrea again, Julian. Just try it," Andie challenged him, narrowing her eyes.

Julian wisely chose not to repeat Andie's full name. "So, Sneaks, where are you off to?" he asked Nora instead.

"Breakfast," said Nora.

"You know, breakfast," Andie cut in. "Like what normal people do in the morning after they wake up."

"Shut it, Andie," said Julian. "I meant, what are you going to do today, seeing as you can't go to Hogsmeade?"

"Oh, I nearly forgot, we're going to have a wizard chess tournament right here in the common room," said Nora happily.

"You kids are so creative," said Julian. "Whose idea was it?"

"Not sure, but it was Jeffrey Kingsley that invited me."

"What is this, a family reunion?" said Dane Potter as he strode up to them.

"Excuse me, Potter, but you're not exactly part of the Weasley family," said Andie, giggling.

"Oh, okay. In that case, I'll tell my mum not to bring her famous casserole at Christmas," said Dane, raising his eyebrows.

"NO! Okay, Dane, you're a Weasley, definitely a Weasley," said Andie.

"Not just any Weasley, but my favorite cousin," Julian spoke up.

Nora and Andie groaned. "Don't fall for it, Dane, don't fall for it," Andie advised.

"Where are you off to?" Julian asked. "After breakfast, I mean."

"First and second years are having a wizard chess tournament," said Dane, and then he turned to Nora. "You're going down, cous."

"I don't know about that, Potter," said Julian warningly. "My dad says that Uncle Ron could beat anyone at chess."

"Yeah, Dane, haven't you ever heard the story of how your own dad and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione got the Sorcerer's Stone?" asked Andie. "If my memory serves me, it was Nora's dad that won the giant wizard chess game."

"So don't get cocky," said Julian, before he turned to Andie. "And now, my dear twin sister, we ought to be going."

"Bye Sneaks, bye, Dane," said Andie, waving as the two of them walked towards the portrait hole.

"So who are you waiting for?" Nora asked Dane.

"Mira," said Dane, his cheeks flushing slightly.

"Ah, I see," said Nora knowingly. "In that case, I'll leave you to it. See you at the tournament."

"Thanks," Dane said gratefully. "Oh, and if you see Dominic Finnigan, remember to tell him you hope his dad feels better."

Nora frowned. "What's wrong with Dominic's dad?"

"He's in St. Mungo's. Nothing serious, really, but I think he'd appreciate your support."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Dane," Nora nodded, and exited the Gryffindor Common Room. As she walked alone through the winding hallways, she realized it was the first time she had gone this route alone.

When she reached the Great Hall, she saw a group of kids, most of whom had shocking red hair, all gathered around in a crowd. Immediately, one of the heads poked out of the congregation, and it was yet another of Nora's cousins, a seventh year called Marianne.

"Sneaks!" she called affectionately. "Buckley got a letter from Uncle Fred, and in it were a ton of sparkler quills for all of us. Come get yours."

Nora hurried over to where the rest of her cousins at Hogwarts were standing, waiting for their gifts.

"Hiya, Sneaks," said Buckley Weasley, the fourteen-year old brother of Julian and Andie, whose company she had just left. "Seen Dane anywhere?"

"He's still in the common room," she said.

"Well this is his," he said, and set down the small wrapped package on the table, and pulled the next one out of the parcel. "Jack Weasley, this one's for you!" he called.

Jack, the thirteen year-old son of Charlie and his wife Clara, appeared at Buckley's side. "Thanks, Buck. Hey there, Sneaks," he added to Nora as he left the crowd.

"Geoffrey Weasley!" Buckley thundered. Geoffrey, the youngest son of Bill and Fleur, was in Julian and Andie's year, and turned around at the sound of his name.

"Thanks a lot, Buck, I'll be sure to send your parents my thanks," he nodded.

"How many are left?" asked Nora, as she was beginning to get hungry.

"Jack's done, Geof's done, Dane's is here, Rob's got his, and Julian, Andie and I've had ours since school started…that leaves…"

"Me, Lizzie, Nora, and Louis and Belinda," said Marianne impatiently. The last two names she mentioned were that of her younger brother and sister, who were fourteen and twelve, respectively.

"Right. So this one's for ELIZABETH WEASLEY!"

"Ooh, great, Buck!" said Lizzie excitedly from Marianne's side. "I've been waiting for these since my dad and Uncle Fred first got the idea for them – "

"That's nice. Here, Sneaks, this one's for you," said Buckley as he thrust the parcel in the direction of the youngest Weasley at Hogwarts.

"Love ya, Buck," said Nora, kissing him on the cheek, and then fought her way through the remaining cousins to get to where she imagined her fellow Gryffindor first years were sitting.

As she approached, Morag, Jeffrey, Vin and Nathan grinned. "You know, it must be nice to be a Weasley," said Jeffrey.

"Why's that?" Nora asked as she sat down.

"You've got family anywhere you go," he said simply. "Me, I've just got my dad, my mum, my little sister and my mum's sister, who lives alone in Leiceseter."

"What does she do there?" asked Morag.

"Oh, she's not magical, neither's my mum. They're both teachers."

Nora and Vin exchanged glances. They knew his father was a wizard. So Jeffrey's a target, she said, sickened.

"My mum's a teacher, too," Nathan piped up, "But she teaches at a Wizard Primary."

"Can you imagine the difference between what my mum teaches and what your mum teaches?" Jeffrey snorted.

"What does your dad do, Nathan?" asked Nora, hoping she sounded natural.

Nathan drew himself up proudly. "He's the chief publicist for the Kenmare Kestrels," he said.

"Wow!" said Nora, secretly relieved that Nathan's name did not have to be added to her mental list.

"Morning, all," said Finny as he took a vacant seat next to Morag.

"Morning," they chorused.

"What was going on back there?" asked Finny, jerking his thumb in the direction of Nora's cousins. "What was Buckley Weasley holding above Belinda Weasley's head?"

"Sparkler quills, my Uncle Fred sent us each one as a present," said Nora.

"Ooh, let's see it, then!" said Morag.

Nora unwrapped the package, and picked up a fine white quill, which seemed completely normal.

"It's not sparkling," Nathan observed.

"I think you have to write in order for it to sparkle," said Nora.

"Oh," said Nathan, and even behind his brown skin she could detect a trace of color.

"Hey, Nora, isn't that your owl?" said Finny, pointing behind her.

Nora turned around and, indeed, Pigwidgeon was barreling toward her. "Really, he's my dad's owl," said Nora as Pigwidgeon landed in front of her. "Hello, Piggy," she said fondly, and fed him a hash brown before she removed the scroll from his leg.

Dear Nora,

I'm so glad to hear that you're doing well in your studies. Everything is fine at home, for the most part. Troy thought it would be a good idea to use his fake broomstick to fly down the stairs, and as a result banged up his knee quite badly. Daddy's gone on a trip to South America for a week or so, but he fire calls me at night to say he's doing wonderfully.

I think it's tremendous, that you're getting along so well with your teachers, but you haven't mentioned any new friends. Is there something the matter? Because remember, darling, sometimes it's not easy to make friends right away. I kept mostly to myself the first few months of school, until I befriended your father and Uncle Harry. Those friendships didn't start right away, but as you can see, they certainly lasted.

Say hi to Dane, Belinda, Elizabeth, Jack, Geoffrey, Robert, Buckley, Marianne, Julian and Andie for me. I do hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

Love,

Mum

Nora chuckled. "My mum thinks I haven't made any friends," she announced.

"You know, for the Minister of Magic, she doesn't seem all that bright," said Jeffrey.

"Jeffrey!" Morag scolded him.

"No, it's fine," Nora giggled.

"Here, let me see that letter," said Jeffrey, holding out his hand for it.

Nora hesitated.

"I'm not going to read it, I just want the back," he assured her.

Nora handed it over. It's not as if there's anything important in there, she pacified herself.

Jeffrey fished a quill out of one pocket, and immediately wrote something on the back. "Here, Nate, now you."

Nathan took it, saw what Jeffrey had written, and a smile crept over his mouth. "Sure, give that quill over here," he instructed. When Jeffrey gave him the quill, he added something to the back of Hermione's letter. "Vin, now you," he said.

Vin then wrote something, and then Finny, then Morag. When Morag finished, she gave the letter back to Nora. "That may change her mind," Morag giggled.

Nora looked at the letter, and immediately felt tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

Dear Mrs. Granger-Weasley, you'll be pleased to know that your daughter is an excellent friend of mine. Sincerely, Jeffrey Kingsley.

And mine. I'm very glad to know her! –Nathan Darby

She's my friend, as well. Sincerely, Vincent Malfoy

Yes, we all like her very much. Phineas Roark.

I wouldn't want anyone else to be my roommate, Mrs. Granger-Weasley! Love, Morag Alcott. P.S. I think you're doing a wonderful job running the country and all.

"Guys, this…" Nora choked.

"Go on, roll it back up and give it to your owl," Nathan nodded encouragingly.

"But first add that you're friends with people who aren't Gryffindors," Morag suggested.

Rather than speak, for fear of crying, Nora merely took the quill and added,

Well, Mum, those are my Gryffindor first year friends. I've also made friends with a Ravenclaw girl named Pallas Austin, three Slytherins called Kincaid Court, Agnes Emerson and Rob Van Gellis, and a Hufflepuff boy named Nicholas Barry. In case you need to run background checks on them or anything, you know. Love, Nora. P.S. You forgot Louis!

Then, before she lost her composure, she tied the parchment back onto Pigwidgeon's leg and said, "Take this back to Mum, Piggy."

Pigwidgeon gave one tiny hoot of assent and then flew off the table.

"Now, well, it's about time we go back to our rooms and study up on our chess techniques, right?" said Morag, rising.

"Please. I don't need to study," Jeffrey grinned.

"You'll live to regret it, I think," Nora said, her eyes twinkling.

A/N

Okay, next chapter's coming soon. Yes, I realize, that was more of a CHECK OUT THE WEASLEY FAMILY TREE! Kind of chapter, but the next one will be better, I promise. Besides, the Department of Backstory is a fixture in any story.

To the tune of "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns and Roses:

I write fanfic and it seems to me

That I won't get better unless I see

Some feedback to tell me what I'm doing wrong and right

So take a moment to leave a review

And maybe then I will know what to do

To make this fic seem even more outta sight!

Oh, review, sweet child of mine!

Ohhhhh review, sweet child of mine!

Lol. But don't worry. The story gets better I SWEAR!