Chapter 5

It was around two in the morning when the door to Ron's room slowly creaked open. Harry slowly opened his eyes and looked at the door. A small figure was peering into the room. Slowly, the figure entered the room, closed the door, and walked over to the twins.

"Fred," said the figure quietly.

The figure was a small child.

"Fred," said the small child.

The child was a little girl.

"Hm," said Fred. "What is it? Are you okay, Blythe?"

"I had a bad dream," Blythe said. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Did you go to your mum?" asked Fred.

"I don't know where she is," said Blythe, her voice trembling on the verge of crying.

"It's okay," said George quietly. "You can sleep with us."

"Come on," Fred said, sitting up. "Lay down."

Blythe quickly laid down and Fred covered her with the blanket he shared with his twin brother. Harry listened as the twins talked with the little girl.

"What was your dream about?" asked Fred.

"I was in the woods and mommy was there and you were there and Charlie was there and Bill was there," said Blythe. "Then a man in black appeared and you all fell to the ground. Then the man in black started chasing me. When he caught me, he turned into a black snake with a green skull on top of his head. That's when I woke up."

"Why didn't you wake Ginny up?" asked George in a drowsy voice.

"You know Blythe doesn't like Ginny very much," said Ron, who sounded annoyed. "She likes you better, Fred."

"I think everyone's awake now," said George, sitting up. "You awake, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry said sitting up. "I woke when she opened the door."

"I'm sorry," Blythe said. "I didn't mean to wake everyone."

"It's okay, Blythe," said Fred, "you're not in trouble."

"Can we get some light in here?" asked Ron.

"Sure," George said climbing out of bed.

Once George found a few candles, he lit them and set them all around the room. Harry slipped on his glasses and moved down to the floor. Ron soon followed and Fred sat up and Blythe curled up his lap. In the dim light, Harry couldn't make out the little girl's features.

"Oh, Harry, this is Blythe," said Fred. "She's Charlie's girlfriend's daughter."

"Hello," Harry said with a smile.

"Hello," Blythe said.

Fred smiled down at the small child as he petted her long hair. She was dressed in a pale green nightgown.

"So how's business?" asked Harry.

"Pretty good," said George. "Did you get our present?"

"Yeah, it's in my trunk," Harry said with a grin.

"Does your cousin still look like a pig wearing cloths?" asked Ron.

"No," said Harry. "Ever since Aunt Petunia found out he was eating food that wasn't part of his diet during last summer, she's put him on a stricter diet and he's lost loads of weight."

"Do you mind if we send him some sweets?" asked Fred with a sly grin on his face.

"I think mum and dad would kill you if you do that," said Ron.

Suddenly, there came a low humming sound from under Blythe's hair. Fred quickly picked up what appeared to be a round custard-colored hairball.

"Puffy," Blythe said taking the hairball into her hands.

"What is that?" asked Harry, watching the little girl toss the custard-colored thing into the air and then catching it.

"It's a Puffskein," said Ron. "I use to have one until Fred used it for Bludger practice."

"Hey I didn't know," said Fred, sounding hurt.

"Does it really like to be thrown around like that?" Harry asked as Blythe tossed the hairball to George.

"Yeah," said George tossing it back to Blythe. "It loves to be tossed and cuddled."

"Catch," Blythe said tossing the Puffskein to Harry.

Harry caught the Puffskein and looked at it. He could hear the low humming coming for it. He tossed it to Ron, who tossed it to Fred, then George, and back to Blythe.

There came a gentle knock on the door and Charlie pocked his head into the room. "So you all are up," he said coming into the room.

"What are you doing up, Charlie?" asked Blythe.

"Your mum wants to see you," Charlie said as she climbed into his arms. "See you guys in the morning."

Charlie and Blythe left the room and everyone looked at each other. "Oh well," Fred said lying down. "Good night."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then Fred, and then George. "He's attached," George said. "I'm going to bed too."

Harry and Ron climbed back into their beds and also fell asleep.

It was about eight the next morning when Harry, Ron, and the twins woke. They could hear yelling coming from down stairs. Harry sat up and saw the twins sitting up listening to the yelling.

"Mum's yelling at someone," said George, noticing Harry.

"She's yelling a Charlie and Bill," Fred said, looking confused at his brother. "What did they do?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "Let's go see."

The four of then climbed out of bed and opened the door. As they stepped into the hall, Hermione and Ginny came running up the stairs. Their faces slightly pale.

"What's mum yelling about?" asked Fred.

"Bill and Charlie were trying to talk her into letting Charlie's girlfriend change the house so that it looked nicer and had more room," said Hermione.

"I think mum's a little afraid of letting her change it," said Ginny. "Since she's a year younger than Charlie, mum thinks she's not as experienced as she should be to transfigure a house this size."

"She's more than experienced to transfigure a house this size," yelled Charlie.

"She's transfigured a house twice this size in America," said Bill just as loud.

"We've lived in this house even before you two were born," roared Mrs. Weasley. "This house is perfectly fine the way it is."

"It's cramped," said Bill and Charlie together. "Even when we come over."

"It's always been cramped," said Bill. "Come on, mum. Let Shannon transfigure it and if you don't like it she can change it back."

The house fell silent. Then Bill and Charlie came out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They all looked at them, waiting for an answer.

"She said no," said Bill with a frown.

Charlie said nothing as he passed them and went straight to the twins' room where he and Bill were sleeping.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Ron.

"Mum doesn't approve of Shannon," said Bill. "She's from America."

"What's wrong with her being from America?" asked Hermione. "I heard that American witches and wizards start learning magic from an earlier age than us."

"The American Ministry of Magic isn't as strict as ours," pointed out Bill. "Shannon's been learning magic since she was six, but didn't go to school until she was eight. See American witches and wizards are in school for ten years while we only do seven. So they know more than we do in school and mum believes that Shannon thinks she's better than we are.

"Which is not true," said Bill. "Shannon actually envies us. She's an only child and was part of a very small family where she never knew any relatives but her mum and dad. Shannon's teaching Blythe magic until she's eight. Mum thinks it's a bad idea for her to be doing that especially here in Britain cause of our Ministry, but dad sees nothing wrong with it since they're Americans and are protected by the American Ministry."

"So mum doesn't agree with anything that Shannon's doing," Ginny said summing everything up her oldest brother had just said.

"Right, so Shannon's taking Blythe home tomorrow to her mum and Charlie's hurt cause mum's not trying to get to know her," Bill said. "Well I'm going to go and try to talk to Charlie before he leaves and doesn't come back."

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the twins' room. They all ran in there and found Charlie blasting bugs with his wand. Everyone except Bill, who wanted to talk to Charlie, left and went down stairs to the kitchen. There they found Mrs. Weasley sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea. When they entered she looked up and turned red.

"I suppose you lot all heard," she said looking at her cup.

"Kind of hard not too," said Fred. "Why don't you like Charlie's girlfriend, mum?"

Mrs. Weasley didn't speak right away. But when she did, her voice was full of anger and regret. "She believe she can raise her daughter to be a magnificent witch by teaching Blythe herself," she said. "That girl needs proper schooling. Did you know that Shannon had Blythe when she was only seventeen? She's too irresponsible. I can't believe her mother hasn't stepped in."

"Don't you think your being too hard on her?" asked Hermione. "Have you really sat down and talked with her?"

Mrs. Weasley looked at Hermione as if she had just told her she was being really foolish. Her face reddened. "No," she said.

"It's like judging a book before you've read it," said Hermione, ignoring the moans from the guys. "You can't tell what's inside by just looking at the cover. Maybe Shannon's mum isn't there or won't help her."

"Yeah, mum," said Ginny. "Maybe Shannon's just trying to be nice. While she's been here that's all she's done. She's never been mean or rude to any of us. She's helped you in the kitchen almost every night."

Mrs. Weasley went even redder. "You gave me a chance, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. "You didn't know how I would treat you or Mr. Weasley when you took me into your home that summer. I could have been rude or mean to you both cause of what my aunt and uncle have done. But you took that chance and found out that I'm really nice. May you should give her a chance?"

"Your all right," said Mrs. Weasley looking at them. "I need to speak with Charlie."

"Be careful, mum," said Ron. "He's blasting bugs."

Mrs. Weasley hurried out of the kitchen and up the rickety stares to the twins' room. They all listened and soon the bangs stopped and the house fell silent.