Together we walked to the Weasleys' home. I had never been there and was rather curious to see what it was like. I welcomed the curiosity as it distracted my mind from other things. We had just arrived from the portkey and I was rather tired too. After the events of the previous night we had only been given a few hours of sleep before having to head out. It had been irritating having to wait in the queue for the portkey but I kept quiet. I would've talked to someone to allow us to go on ahead but I could still feel the wound on my head and thought better of it. Out of the options I thought it would be better to wait than to announce myself with that clear on my head. If Papa found out… I was scared to think of what would happen to the Weasleys. I was still alive but an injury was an injury after all.
During the walk I considered riding my broom several times but figured that wouldn't be fair to the others. We rounded a corner and their home came into view. It was rather strange looking. While most homes were tall the Weasleys' was, what could only be described as, stacked. It looked like they had kept adding floors as the need came. They also had four chimneys… or maybe five, which only made the place look more peculiar. But it was cute, in its own strange way. As we walked down the lane a cry broke thought the quiet we had held
"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she ran to us. She looked wrecked. Her face was pale and full of worry and she was still wearing her house slippers. The last time I saw my own mother look even close to that was... never really. Mrs. Weasley ran to her husband throwing herself around his neck. As she kept rambling on to him the paper she had in her hands fell. I was about to ask George if this was a common thing with their mother when he suddenly disappeared from my side
"Ouch! Mum –you're strangling us –" Fred complained trying to pull away from his mother's grasp. I giggled looking at them. George looked a little blushed trying to pull away too. Mrs. Weasley began to sob, apologizing about something, and it wasn't until her husband came to separate them that she let go. He led her towards the house as the rest of us followed. The twins rubbed their necks frowning at their mother ahead of them
"Are you two alright?" I laughed a little
"I think she broke my neck" Fred complained quietly still frowning
"Wouldn't you be dead?" George mumbled looking ahead
"Actually as long as there is no direct damage to the spinal cord you could survive a broken neck" I informed them. Fred made a 'humph' sound while George gave me a small smile before heading in. Inside it was rather cluttered with furniture and it reminded me of our attic at home. Except this place was a little… less organized. It did have a cozy feel to it though. In the kitchen things were just as cluttered. It was small and the table there only had room for eight people. Quaint, that's the word I had been looking for. Their house was quaint.
We all crammed into what now seemed like an unbelievably small kitchen. Mr. Weasley read the paper as I looked around. He read it out loud saying a part of it was about him. I frowned as he got to the details describing the event. Apparently there were various rumors of bodies being pulled from the forest. Darn it Rita Skeeter. If Papa reads that, which I'm sure he will, he'll think I was hurt. Though he knows that woman lies, I doubt he'd disregard her words so quickly; especially since he warned me about the possibility of this happening. I sighed and put my head down distracted by my thoughts
"Hey" George said softly pulling me out of my trance. Lifting my head up I looked around to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione were no longer in the room. Neither was Mr. Weasley or Percy. "What's wrong, Kitty?"
"I'm worried about my father." Or rather what he's planning on doing about all this
"Katerina, dear, would you like some tea?" Mrs. Weasley asked, seeming to have calmed down significantly since we arrived.
"No thank you, Mrs. Weasley" I smiled at her. She nodded but looked around for a second nervously. She was having a late reaction to what she must've been feeling. It wasn't rare to have anxiety or distress after a traumatic event. I should know…
"Why don't we show you around outside?" one of the twins suggested looking at the other. I nodded and headed out after them. Mrs. Weasley didn't appear to have noticed our departure
Walking out of the kitchen we stepped onto a small sort of garden. Fred and George kept walking past it and into an orchard. I wondered why we hadn't just stayed in the garden until I saw the little movements. They had gnomes. I frowned as I found them annoying creatures. We used to have some at home when I was much younger but a Jarvey took care of that problem. A little brutal, those creatures, but they got the job done in a quick and quiet method; two of Papa's favorite characteristics. That and it was a rather cute creature. George helped me over a paddock to where many trees lay. It was messy out here but I suppose that's how nature was meant to be
"Are you really that worried about your father?" George asked still looking a little worried himself
"Well before I came he told me that if I got so much as a scratch on me it wouldn't end well and I'm pretty sure he didn't mean for me"
"Oh..." Fred muttered looking at my forehead. George pushed my hair back carefully to inspect the cut
"Does it still hurt?" he asked looking concerned. I shook my head
"No, not really, and it's not as easily detected either, but Papa has an annoying habit of finding things out even without me telling him."
"Don't worry about us" George said with a small smile
"Maybe she should a little" mumbled Fred as his brother let go of my head. George gave him a look. I smiled at them just before I heard the flapping of wings. There was a sudden appearance of weight that came with the sound and I felt a tapping on my head. The twins looked over surprised and curious. Curious as well I looked to my side to see an owl perched on my shoulder
"Oh, hey, Whiskers" I greeted my owl who continued to warmly nip at my hair.
"You call your owl Whiskers?" Fred questioned not having heard me call him by his name. Whiskers mostly stayed home now since with Lev at Hogwarts I couldn't bring another pet. And if needed I just used Draco's owl
"Ron named his owl Pig" I defended as my owl flapped his wings
"She has a point" George shrugged at his brother
I outstretched my arm in front of me and Whiskers moved there instead. A piece of parchment was tied to the side of one of his legs. I undid the knot with my free hand. Without reading it I placed the parchment in my pocket and took a piece of chocolate from the other. It probably wasn't a good idea for me to feed my pets chocolate as much as I did but Whiskers hardly ever had any and our owl keeper said that once in a while was fine as long as I didn't get into the habit like with Lev. Whiskers flew to a branch to rest as I went to sit down in front of one of the trees in the orchard. The boys started walking towards me while I took out the piece of parchment to read
"Is that from you father?" one of them asked. I nodded not looking away from the letter. It wasn't meant for me but rather Mr. Weasley. If I hadn't instructed Whiskers to take any messages Papa sent while I was gone Mr. Weasley would've received the menacing letter instead. My arms blocked the twins who were curiously leaning in over my shoulders to try to read. I frowned at the parchment; Papa needs to learn people skills. With a sigh I crumbled up the letter and put it back in my pocket
"What did it say?"
"It's basically threatening your whole family with a lot of things if anything happened to me while with you. I'll just write him back, he'll be fine" I added so they wouldn't get worried
"You probably don't want to mention that" Fred reminded me pointing to my forehead
"Do you have some spare parchment I could borrow?" They nodded and stood up. George offered me his hand to help me up.
The twins led me inside and upstairs. Once on the second floor the boys steered me into a room I assumed was theirs. It was rather small, significantly so considering they probably shared the room. Aside from their beds there was a desk with a chairs, a wardrobe, and a bedside table making the room look cramped. And the smell only assured me it was theirs
"Why does it smell like something exploded in here?" I asked walking into the room with them. Though as I asked I realized it was probably because something had
"Experiments" George answered with an impish smile. Fred handed me a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink. I went to their desk to answer my father's letter. I made sure to tell him he was overreacting and that I was fine, even if that wasn't completely true. The twins leaned in reading the words I wrote. Since I didn't see much of a reason not to, I let them. When I finished I looked around for a second until I found their window. Opening it, I leaned in and looked outside; they actually had a decent view. With two clicks of my tongue Whiskers made his way to us. He perched himself on the windowsill awaiting my command
"Errol doesn't even come when we yell" Fred frowned though sounding impressed. I smiled at them then tied the letter to my owl
"Please get this to Papa as soon as possible, before he gets into one of his moods" I asked Whiskers. He nipped my fingers affectionately then flew out. I leaned against the window for a second more and sighed before turning to the twins. "Sorry about him"
"As long as he doesn't kill us, it's fine" George joked though I was sure he meant it
"He wanted to know if I was alright…" I said with a slight smile, more to myself than to them. It made Fred smile back but George frown
"Does he not do this often?" George asked
"He knows I can take care of myself is all" I defended but Fred frowned too. A knock on the door sounded and Ginny stood by it
"Mum said I should show you where you'll be staying" she said looking at me. I wasn't sure if her expression was due to the fact that both her brothers had frowns on their faces or because she just didn't like me. Either way I smiled at her
"Okay" I answered and headed her way. With a small wave to the lads I followed Ginny out the door and down the stairs. Ginny's room was directly under the twins', on the first floor. It looked cute, kind of like how my mother wished my room looked like; less like a study and a bit more girly. My things were already here next to a small bed on the floor.
"Don't worry I won't be staying long" I informed her badly disguised irritated face
"Why, is this too small for you?" she replied in a snippy manner. Normally I would be offended but for some reason I never was when Weasleys were rude to me
"No the size is fine. It's just that, after what happened at World Cup, my parents will want me home soon."
"Oh" she muttered thinking about that for a second. Her expression softened as did her tone. "They must be worried about you, huh"
"Yeah" I smiled though a little wistful. "I sent them a letter just a minute ago but I imagine it won't take long for reply."
Ginny nodded and turned from me. She began to set things up around another little makeshift bed I assumed was for Hermione. I walked to my own things all of which were here, except my broom, which I had left outside. Not really finding much to do with them I looked out the window; Ginny's room overlooked the orchard. It was a nice view for what they had. From this angle I could see Lev chasing things around, hopefully not people. Behind me there was a mutter of noise. I turned to Ginny who was already looking at me; almost staring but not quite. I tilted my head confused. The motion got her out of her small trance
"Are you okay?" I asked
"Yeah, just thinking…" she mumbled frowning slightly
"About what?" I was curious. She was still giving me that weird look so whatever she was thinking must've been rather interesting
"Well… My brother… You are aware that he likes you, right?"
"Ron?" I asked incredulous. "I thought he hated me"
"No –I mean yeah he does but… I was talking about George… He likes you" she said almost too quietly
"Oh well I should hope so, I like him too" I replied with a smile. Her frown deepened. "What?"
"Huh" she muttered. I frowned in return. Hermione walked in then looking between us confused with our expressions. Ginny turned to her. "Doesn't she know?"
"Know what?" Hermione asked intrigued
"Know what?" I repeated frustrated; I hated not knowing things. For some reason this brought a form of realization to Hermione's face
"Oh that. Yeah I can't tell why but no she doesn't seem to notice" Hermione answered as she and Ginny shared a strange sort of look. I let out a frustrated sigh and turned back to the orchard. I heard them giggle behind me but ignored them. Outside I watched as all the boys headed past the orchard somewhere then came back with brooms
"Are they going somewhere?" I asked pointing to the group of them. The girls came over to look and Hermione shook her head
"No, they're going to play Quidditch."
"Ooh let's go watch." I headed out the door not waiting for their reply. They followed after me. Downstairs in the kitchen Mrs. Weasley was looking over something in the sink. She reminded me a bit of Alla in the way she did that not that they looked at all similar. For a second I had to pause, not knowing which door to take, but I shrugged and headed out the one closest to the kitchen. Luckily for me I found the boys floating up above the orchard not too far ahead. Lev's bark caught my attention as well as the attention of the guys
"You can't play!" Ron yelled when he saw me. My puppy ran up to me and I ignored the boys overhead
"Don't be so rude, Ron!" one of the girls retorted behind me. I picked up Lev and he licked my face. He growled up at the boys but I tapped his nose to stop him
"We're trying to have a clean game here, Hermione. Slytherins aren't much for playing fair" he nearly spat. I rolled my eyes at Ron and sat down against a tree. The girls joined me on the ground, Hermione frowned up at him still
The game started and the teams were formed. Apparently the twins were playing against each other. Ron and Harry were with Fred .George was playing with his other two brothers. I watched as they played while the girls chatted to each other next to me. From what I got of the conversation it was clear that Ginny liked and respected Hermione. I suppose all the time spent together because of Ron and Gryffindor House bonded them. I patted my puppy's head still looking up at the game
"Don't mind Ron about the Slytherin comment" Hermione apologized, worrying while I had paid no mind. I smiled at her
"Kind of used to it by now" I replied honestly
"He doesn't realize you're not like them" she insisted but I sighed
"No, you don't realize I am like them" I muttered choosing honesty
"No you're not" she frowned
"Yes I am." I sighed again. "I am actually a very selfish, spoiled, and manipulative person. It's in my nature." I shrugged but she rolled her eyes not believing my words
"Are not" Hermione pouted. I shook my head at her and decide to give her the proof she insisted on having. I turned back to the boys playing above
"Hey Fred, George" I called to them. They didn't stop playing but they tilted their heads so I knew they were listening. "Do you think I'm selfish, spoiled, and manipulative?"
"Is that even a question?" Fred called back with a grin. I smiled and turned back to Hermione
"See." She shook her head at me
"Actually, I think you're rather sweet" George smiled to which Ron pretended to choke. I would've said something but thankfully for me his distraction caused Ron to get hit by a stray Bludger
"Well of course he'd say that" Ginny mumbled at George's comment. Hermione nodded seeming to agree with that as opposed to Fred's comment. I gave them a questioning look but they waved it off. It still annoyed me when they refused to tell me things. But figuring they wouldn't tell me I simply rolled my eyes, patted my puppy, and went back to watching the game