Birthday celebrations for Ronald and Aralynn Weasley were held throughout the day. From the consumption of cake—the opening of presents—to dancing while the radio played. For Aralynn, it was a day of absolute perfection. When the celebratory mood began to fade away, and it grew later in the day, Ron and Aralynn went for a walk along the property. They traveled around together, side-by-side, enjoying the early-spring breeze. When they reached their favorite spot—a small, circular clearing in the tallgrass—Aralynn began searching through her pockets. She pulled out a small, crinkled photograph and sat beside her brother. "For you," she said, offering it to him. "It's your birthday present—it's nothing as special as the scrapbook you arranged for me, but I think it means something—to both of us."
Ronald Weasley took the photograph into his own hand. It was a plain, nonmoving photograph of the two of them. Their backs were turned to the camera, and they were holding hands. It was taken a few years prior. They had been walking through the tallgrass—it was the day they found the spot they were currently sitting in. He looked to his twin sister with a large smile upon his freckled face. "It's brilliant," he told her. "I almost forgot about it. Where did you find it?"
"I've had it all this time," Aralynn replied, scooting closer to him so that she could look down at the photograph, as well. "After Dad took the picture, I asked if I could keep it. I've had it hidden away in one of my drawers. I've always intended to give it to you for one of our birthdays, but I wanted to save it for an extra special one. I guess, since eleven is such an important age for us both, I decided it was time to part ways with it."
"Thank you," he said softly, sentimentally. "It's great."
"I think it really tells the tale of our closeness," she commented. She took her index finger and circled their bodies in the photograph. "Do you see?" she inquired as her voice grew softer. "We're so close that our shoulders are nearly touching. Our hands are clasped together, and we're walking—just walking. It tells a story, only there aren't words to explain it. There's just a connection—a physical connection that you can just see."
"Yeah," Ron nodded thoughtfully. "I see it."
"It meant a lot to me," she told him, "so I figured it would mean a lot to you, too."
"You were right," he agreed, offering her a smile. "I'll keep it with me always."
Aralynn gave her brother a large smile and reached over to wrap her arms around him tightly. He returned the grasp, and the two sat together—in a long embrace.
When they broke away, they laid back in the grass, looking up to the clear blue sky overhead. Aralynn studied its vastness and wondered if it ever ended. She shuffled through the small bag she had been carrying with her and pulled out a camera. She stretched her arms in front of her and scooted closer to Ron, touching her head to his. "Another photograph for my book," she said.
They both smiled at the lens and groaned after the flash had gone off. Once the photograph developed, Aralynn added it to the first blank page in her book. She watched it for a while, smiling to herself. She wondered if Fred and George were as close and Ron and herself—after all, they were both sets of twins.
Once the sun began to melt behind the trees, Ron and Aralynn ventured back inside. The family in the living room, reminiscing about the past. The youngest set of twins joined them. Ron sat between Arthur and Ginny on the couch, and Aralynn sat upon her fathers' feet. She listened closely as Molly shared a story about her younger sister. As told by Molly, when Ginny was a mere toddler; she performed a bit of accidental magic on Percy, which resulted in one of his cardigans turning a bright, fluorescent pink instead of its original forest green. Ginny, who was sitting on the floor beside her mother's chair, was flushed with embarrassment.
"I didn't mean to!" Ginny exclaimed. "I hardly remember it."
"Oh, I remember that!" Ron said with a laugh. "Percy was furious. If he were here to hear this, I think he'd still be mad."
Molly suppressed a grin. "I'm sure he's long forgotten it by now. It was an accident, after all. All in good fun. Arthur, have you a story to share?"
"A fair few," Mr. Weasley remarked. "Ah, I have a brilliant one," he began. "When Ron and Aralynn were younger—much younger—about four, or five, they were playing out in the snow. It was Christmas, you see—and your mother had them both dressed very nicely, as she likes you all to be on the holidays. Well, I suppose they had found a patch of dirt exposed in the snow. Only—it wasn't dirt, it was mud. Of course, it had been dampened by the wetness. When your mother called them inside, they walked in giggling. We hadn't noticed them, so when we turned around, Mum threw the pudding from her hands. Ron and Aralynn were completely coated in mud. Their little outfits had been destroyed entirely, and Mum was furious. For the rest of the night, she kept mumbling to herself about how troublesome they were. She never was able to get the stains out."
"Oh!" Molly exclaimed. "Yes, I remember that. It was a disaster—you two were filthy! The whole house was a mess for days—and you tracked mud all over the carpets!"
Aralynn covered her mouth with her hands as she tried to contain her laughter. Ron had a small smirk on his face as well, only it was turned towards his lap so that their mother wouldn't notice. Molly, however, did notice. When she did, she burst into a loud tangent. "It was not funny, you two! I spent so much time cleaning the mess you both made!"
"I thought you said these memories were all in good fun, Mum," reiterated Ronald.
"Oh, don't you get started with me, young man!" she huffed while waving her finger at the boy.
Ron's ears reddened—as they often did—and he sunk into the couch. Aralynn smiled between her mother and brother, still choking back the laughter.
"Anyhow," Molly dismissed. "I did have a bit of a laugh."
"Knowing Dad, he probably photographed it," said Aralynn.
"I did!" Arthur assured. "It's in one of our albums. Terribly funny, that photograph."
"It was infuriating!" Molly shrilled.
The room fell into silence after Mrs. Weasley's statement. Nevertheless, a few moments later, Aralynn's giggling escaped her throat. Her laughter created an outburst of it—the entire Weasley family erupted with it. The house swelled with joyful, roaring laughter from top to bottom.
When their tittering dulled down, Molly lifted herself from the chair and looked to the clock mantled upon the wall. "Off to bed, children," she ordered. "It's very late."
Hugs and 'goodnights' were exchanged between the members of the Weasley family. They then scuffled up the stairs and into their bedrooms. Ron and Aralynn entered their bright orange lodgings and crawled into their beds.
Aralynn shifted onto her back, looking up to the ceiling with her scrapbook hugged tightly to her chest. She sighed contently while she watched the shadows of leaves shifting from the trees outside. She smiled cheerfully as she ran her fingers gingerly along the leather of the book. "This has been the best birthday anyone could wish for," she whispered to herself.
After so long of rethinking the events of the day and night, Aralynn turned onto her side and allowed slumber to wash over her. She dreamed of Hogwarts and the adventures lying before her.