The Great Ennead

Ila landed on the ground with a loud thump. She felt something heavy press against her stomach. She opened her eyes to see her vision was clouded with red.

"Geroff!" Ila grumbled, trying her best to push one of the twin's off her, until she felt an added weight on top of her, causing her to yelp.

There was the other one.

"That's not very gentlemanly, is it Charlie?" a tall man with red hair that was pulled back into a bun asked.

"Both being on top?" the man next to him replied. He was taller, probably the tallest out of all the Weasley brothers, but it was hard to tell upside down. Ila could see, however, a burn running down his left arm. Or was it his right? "Never works out well."

The two boys walked over and pushed the twins off her. Ila breathed so deeply when the weight of both boys was lifted. She clutched her stomach, rolling over to her side. A hand was reached out to her, and Ila gratefully took it.

"So you must be the famous Ila Potter mum won't shut up about," Bill said, shaking Ila's hand.

"And half the wizarding world," Ila muttered, rolling out her shoulder. She saw the twins struggling to get up too. Good.

"I'm Bill, that's Charlie," Bill said, nodding towards his brother as if Ila didn't already recognise them.

"Hello."

"Isn't anyone going to help us?" Fred asked.

"Knowing the two of you," Bill said, walking over to the couches where the two were, "you probably don't deserve it."

The twins let out a loud gasp. "Deserve it?" George said, clutching his heart in despair. "Brother dear, what makes you think that?"

"Because the two of you sound like old Victorian gentlemen whenever you lie," Charlie said, "brother dear."

At that moment, Mr Weasley stepped out of the fireplace, carrying the rest of Ila's belongings. The twins finally got up but stilled at the sight of their father staring at them. Ila was thankful to see no bruises on his face or a broken arm.

"Hello, father dear," Fred said with a nervous smile.

"What did you two do?" Mr Weasley said in a low tone. The twins looked at each other before looking at Ila. She raised her brow, wondering if the twins actually thought she would help them get out of it.

"We don't know what you-"

"That wasn't funny," he shouted, startling Ila, who moved away. "Do you know just how many people I offended out there?"

"Must've been your pronunciation," Fred suggested. "Right Ila?"

"As if," Ila snorted. "You can barely say anything properly either."

"What exactly happened?" Bill asked. Ila took it to explain to the two other brothers what happened as she didn't trust the twins' version and Mr Weasley looked far too angry and embarrassed about the whole thing. Although she didn't appreciate what the twins did to their father, she was sad that the Varmas wouldn't be able to remember what happened.

Honestly, they deserved it. Bill and Charlie sniggered, setting off the twins, who burst out laughing, causing Mr Weasley to get even angrier.

"It isn't funny," he shouted again. "This can undermine the struggles Asian people go through. I'm probably not the first person to tell them that, and I probably won't be the last."

"We didn't tell you that just so you can be racist," Fred explained.

"We did it because they're a bunch of slimy gits," George said. "Aren't they, Ila?"

"They are bit…slimy…." Ila said earnestly.

"That doesn't matter," Mr Weasley said, more to the boys. "Wait until your mother hears about-"

"Hear about what?" a voice behind them said.

Mrs Weasley entered the living room and smiled when she saw Ila. She hugged her, which was definitely more comfortable than being stabbed by thousands of sequins.

"Hello Ila, dear," she held Ila at arms-length, something that always happened whenever Mrs Weasley hadn't seen her in a long time. Her eyes gleamed as a smile plastered on her face. "You look wonderful. I've seen never dress robes like these."

"It's a salwar khameez. It's a traditional Indian dress," Ila said, looking down. She didn't know how she was going to return her cousin's dresses.

"Well, I think it's amazing you get to wear dresses this nice when your lounging around," Mrs Weasley said, "Merlin knows how hard I try to get Ginny to wear nice stuff."

"Then again, Ginny doesn't even count as a girl half the time," Bill said, causing Mrs Weasley to slap his arm.

"Actually, Mrs Weasley, you only wear dresses like this at a party," Ila explained.

"But you're wearing this…now…." Although Mrs Weasley was still smiling, it wavered as she looked at her dress once more before at Mr Weasley, someone she had finally noticed. He was still red in the face.

Bill and Charlie stepped back, and Ila heard one of them mutter, "I think we should leave."

"Arthur," Mrs Weasley said lightly, her eyes snapping to her husband, "why is Ila wearing clothes that you're supposed to wear at a party?" Mr Weasley hesitated. Although he was still angry with the twins, he wasn't planning to explain what happened to his wife. That would mean explaining how they gate crashed Ila's auntie's party. "Arthur?" she asked warningly.

At this point, Ila had slipped out of Mrs Weasley gripped and felt herself being pulled away by the twins. Mrs Weasley stepped closer to him, causing him to step back too. He eyed his wife nervously before looking at the twins.

"Explain."

"It's nothing, Molly," he said, chuckling nervously. "There was a slight…mishap."

"What. Mishap."

"We may or may not have overestimated Ron's ability to tell Ila all the relevant information," he replied in a low tone so that no one else could hear.

"What happened?"

"We basically got trapped in Ila's fireplace, and then Dad made it explode," Fred said and grimaced as his mother turned to him.

"Then we stepped out, and we realised that there was actually a pretty big party going on," George said.

"And it turns it was some woman's birthday," Fred said. "And not a jelly-baby insight."

"Please stop," Ila sighed at the sound of Fred's horrific pronunciation of the mishti.

"What?" his mother snapped. "How big was it?"

"Around fifty," Fred replied. "Or so.."

"Arthur!"

"Well…I…Ron was supposed…it's fixed now," Mr Weasley stammered, trying to calm his wife down. At this point, the two eldest brothers were out of the room, free from the potential wrath of Mrs Weasley.

"That's not all, dad then-hmph!" Ila elbowed both twins, causing them to double over. She smiled innocently before taking the two twins into the kitchen away from Mrs Weasley. As they entered, the front door opened and slammed shut. She heard whispers, mainly Hermione freaking out whilst Ron and Ginny laughed.

They stopped once they saw Ila.

Ron and Hermione lunged at her and engulfed Ila in a big, slightly bone-crushing hug. She felt the added weight of Ginny as she hugged her too and then the twins, who had no right involving themselves in such a sentimental moment.

Once they let go, Ila wasted no time taking the closest weapon, a roll of kitchen tissues, and attacking Ron.

"You…incompetent…kuta!" Ila said, hitting him on the arm with the tissue.

"Ow!...what…did I…do?"

Ila stopped, breathing hard before pointing her finger to his chest. "Why didn't you tell me that your father and your brothers were coming to pick me up today? The Varmas had a party today. Do you know how scared everyone was when my fireplace started banging and voices came out of it before it exploded and out stepped a bunch of white men?"

"What?"

"That's not even it, Dad then-" Fred stopped when he saw Ila's glare.

"Finish that sentence Fred and watch where this will go," she warned, holding up the kitchen roll before turning back to Ron. "You were supposed to send me a letter warning me so that your family don't end up gatecrashing the party that's full Muggles!"

"Well…yeah…but-"

"Why didn't you send anything?" Ila said, her voice muffling Mrs Weasley's who was busy shouting too at her own husband.

Ron looked at Hermione and Ginny for help before turning pink. He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling nervously, his mouth opening and closing, trying to form an excuse that could ease the situation.

"…Forgot."

"Ron!"

"They had to have obliviated them, right?" Hermione asked Ila, who looked like she was two steps away from stuffing Ron's mouth with cotton balls.

"I don't know," Ila said, throwing her hands in the air. "I was busy getting shoved and suffocated by those two" – Ila pointed to twins – "to know anything apart from your dad nearly getting beaten up."

"Why would he have gotten beaten up?" Ginny asked.

It was the twins' turn to explain to the three what happened. Ila watched their faces morph into various expressions, Hermione's gaping jaw to a curled upper lip, Ginny's knitted brows to her hand covering her mouth. Ron's head bent down to his feet, his shoulders shaking. For a moment, Ila thought that she must have been too harsh on him until she could see the ends of his lips curved upwards.

That kuta!

Ila grabbed the second closest kitchen utensil, a kitchen towel, before slapping it on his arm.

"OW!" Ron hissed, grabbing his arm.

"Oh, now you're upset!" Ila grumbled. "What about two seconds ago when you were told that the twins set your dad up?"

"Hey, we didn't set him-"

"I will deal with you two later," Ila said lowly, turning to them before back to Ron, who didn't even have the decency to wipe that stupid smirk off his face.

"Look," Ron said at the sight of Ila's face, "you…have to admit, it is a bit funny."

Ila stared at him, agape. Even if Mrs Weasley didn't call upon him and the twins to come into the living room, Ila wouldn't have known what to say to him.

"C'mon, Ila," Ginny said, looping her arm around Ila's and Hermione's once the three boys had left. "Let's show you our room."

Ila followed, or more like pulled by Ginny up three flights of stairs, all the way to the top floor where their rooms were. It seemed like Mrs Weasley, Mr Weasley, and the boys were still talking about the IncidentTM as their shouts echoed through the three floors but were soon muffled when Ginny shut the door behind them and dropped Ila's cases on the floor.

"That's such a pretty dress," Ginny said aloud, taking the dress into her hands as Ila changed out of her salwar and into a jumper and jeans. "Doesn't it get a bit uncomfortable after a while? With all the sequins and stuff?" She ran her hands down the collar of the dress.

Ila nodded, pulling the jumper down to show the red scratch marks on her neck and chest. The two girls winced, Ginny moving the dress away from her, causing Ila to chuckle.

"Most of them aren't that bad," Ila said, picking up her dress and folding it into her case. "This one's just a bit dodgy. They're usually a lot lighter than this…unless you're planning to married."

"You have more than one type?"

Ila hummed in response, walking back to her bed and sat down. "There's sari's, lehenga choli's, you have…lungi's, but you don't wear those at a wedding. Especially if you're the groom."

"Do you have loads of dresses?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"We have karabela's, which are these dresses that are long and poufy and off the shoulder, but for weddings…usually a white dress."

"Urgh!" Ginny flopped back on her back with a thud. Ila and Hermione smirked before the former asking –

"What's happened?"

"Why are am I so boring?" Ginny asked as she pushed herself up to her elbows. "Like, you guys have such….it's so cool! It's exotic!"

"Ginny, you can't say that," Hermione said sympathetically.

"Why not? You were telling me about Vodou-"

"I only told you that they perform rituals, and it's polytheistic."

"We don't do that here, do we?" Ginny asked rhetorically. "Not to mention you guys have really great food, like all the different curries and stuff. What do we have?... Spotted dick! We have a literal dessert about a man's penis," her voice had risen a few octaves in hysteria, but Ila and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "It's not funny!"

Ginny collapsed back onto her bed. Ila and Hermione sat down on either side of her before lying down too.

"While we can't defend spotted dick - "

"I don't think anyone can," Ila interjected.

"We can, however," Hermione said, suppressing the urge to laugh, "tell you that the way you feel about coming from England is the same way that Ila and I feel about coming from India and Haiti."

Ginny wasn't buying it. "Name one interesting thing from England."

The two girls frowned and grimaced, staring at the ceiling as if it would open up and give them answers.

"Oh! I know," Hermione said, "what's that one dance where…they're in colourful clothing?"

"Irish?" Ila suggested, to which Hermione shook her head. She gasped once she found her answer, pushing herself up. Ila could see Ginny getting excited for the first time.

"Morris dancing!"

The few seconds Ginny let herself have hoped had dissipated, as she grumbled, kicking her legs in the air. Hermione and Ila's voices overlapped as they apologised and comforted Ginny about England not being so boring, respectively.

"Ginny, it's not even that bad-"

"Sh!" Ginny put a finger to Hermione's lips, who blinked back.

"Did you just shush me?"

"Yep, now shut up!"

Hermione looked at Ila, who mirrored her confusion. They waited for a few moments as they listened, lying patiently for something to happen.

"It's silent," Ila said.

"Exactly," Ginny said. "They've stopped."

"So then why can't we hear – ARGH!"

Just as Hermione finished her sentence, the door to the girls' bedroom swung so loudly, hitting the wall, startling all three. They turned around to see Ron standing there, breathing heavily. Ila could see beads of sweat running down his red face as he walked closer to the three girls.

"Did you run up here or something?" Ila queried.

Ron tried to say the word, yes, but it was hard to hear anything that wasn't just heavy breaths. Ginny made space for Ron to sit down, but it seemed that Ron had used up most of his energy to get up the stairs, for he just collapsed on top of all three girls, Ila getting the worst end of the deal by having his feet close to her face.

"Why isn't this the first time I had to deal with one of your brothers lying on top of me?" Ila groaned as she and the rest of the girls pushed Ron off them onto the floor. He didn't mind as he laid there, breathing heavily.

"What's happened?" Ginny asked, poking her feet on the side of his chest, making sure he was responsive as his breathing slowed down.

"Did you get into trouble?" Ila asked, her guilt flooding back in once more as she watched Ron's eyes flutter open, breathing much slower.

"Only extra chores until we go back," Ron said breathlessly. "Not as bad as the twins, though. Mum banned them from making any more products."

Ginny gasped while Hermione muttered, "Finally."

"What products?" Ila asked. Ginny and Ron broke into a smile.

"Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes," Ron said, raising his hand as if he was unveiling a banner for added effect. "Fred and George came up with it last year. It's like joke stuff that they invented, you know like…fake wands-"

"Remember when Charlie accidentally one of the canary creams?" Ginny said.

"Oh yeah," Ron said, before turning to Ila to explain, "He ate one of their products and turned into a canary…took Mum hours to figure out where he disappeared to. Nearly had him killed too."

"And they didn't get into trouble then?" Ila asked.

"No, they did," Ginny said. "And then Mum felt bad."

"Oh, before I forget, Mum said that we have to go and help her," Ron said, pushing himself up to a sitting position but made no move to stand up. "What were you lot talking about them while I was getting screamed at?"

"Being from England is so boring!" Ginny groaned into her hands.

"Now look what you've done," Ila scolded as she rubbed Ginny's back in comfort.

"Thanks for that, Ron," Hermione sighed.

"What – what did I do?"

"Be English!" Ginny whined.

By the time the girls were able to calm Ginny down (Ron was banished from entering their room), Mrs Weasley was still angry. Although she didn't say anything, she didn't need to. Knives being thrown into the wall was enough to let Ila know to stay away. Scooping up the cutlery, she, Hermione and Ginny stepped into the garden where their dinner would be held. Ila heard the sound of Hermione dropping her cutlery at the sight of the two eldest Weasley brother's levitating tables to smash them into each other. She was surprised that Mrs Weasley hadn't said anything to them yet.

"Are you two insane!" Hermione hissed as she walked closer to them, cautiously walking around rather than under the tables. The loud crashing sounds of the tables hitting each other made Ila wonder how they weren't broken yet. "What about your mum?"
Fred came up behind her, resting an arm on her shoulder. "Relax, Herman, she can't hear anything."

"That doesn't mean she can't see anything," Hermione said.

"But the thing with mum is," George said, also resting an arm on her other shoulder, "she can only focus on one thing at a time. She's mad at us and won't even realise what's going on."

"But - " Hermione struggled to form any words, looking wearily back at Mrs Weasely, who, like the twins said, didn't take any notice. In fact, she even looked out the window at one point before going back to chopping up her potatoes, muttering about the twins.

Unfortunately, the battle of tables did catch the attention of a certain Weasley.

"Will you keep it down?" Percy shouted from the second floor after a rather loud crash, resulting in a table leg falling and land beside a startled Ron.

"Sorry, Perce," Bill said, grinning.

"Hello, Percy," Ila said, waving her arms.

"Ila," Percy nodded while glaring daggers at his brother.

"How's the cauldron bottoms coming out?" Bill asked. His table was lifting higher and higher before coming down and smashing into Charlie's.

"Very badly," Percy said peevishly before shutting the window again.

"Cauldron bottoms?" Ila whispered to Ron as they watched the two tables get lowered down safely.

"Perce got a job at the Ministry," Ron explained as they began setting the plates out on Bill's table, which had all four of its legs attached. "He's practically obsessed with his boss – don't get him started on it," he muttered darkly, pointing a finger at Ila. "He's all…Mr Crouch was telling me….according Mr Crouch…you know, Mr Crouch doesn't actually like the taste of chicken, he finds it very rubbery-"

"When would they have a conversation about chicken?"

"Exactly," Ron said, exasperated. "They're bound to have their engagement anytime now."

The Weasley's, Hermione and Ila finished preparing the food and table just as the sun was about to settle for the day. Ila, Ron and Hermione took their seats at the edge of the two tables.

"How's your summer then?" Ron asked Ila.

"Good," she replied. She was reminded of her dream that occurred this morning. She couldn't tell them just yet, not until Sirius had replied. "Actually, it was probably one of the better ones."

"Why?" Hermione said before taking a bite of her chicken.

"The Varmas got into this huge argument because my auntie and uncle want my cousin to start 'looking into suitors'," Ila said in air quotes.

"As in…husbands?" Ron said, his face turning pale when Ila nodded. "What's she doing tryna find a husband at…."

"Fifteen."

"Fifteen?" he exclaimed, causing some of the Weasley's look at him weirdly.

"It's not like they're expecting her to find a guy within a couple of months. Usually, people get married at like…eighteen."

"That's so young."

"You do know purebloods marry young as well," Hermione said. "As well as any country that doesn't count as the 'West.'"

"Mum," Ron said, looking down the table to where his mother was. She was busy fussing over Bill's long hair and earring.

"What dear? Do you need more food?" Mrs Weasley stood up and walked over to their side of the table, standing behind Ila. "Ila, dear, you always look a bit thin whenever I see you. Why don't you take a bit more of the mash?"

Ila took some more as Ron asked, "When did you and dad get married?"

Mrs Weasley was taken aback but still answered. "Well…it was such a long time ago – Arthur?"

"Yes?" he said, reading the Daily Prophet.

"We got married just after seventh year, didn't we?"

"In the summer, just after we got our results."

Ron's floor dropped to the floor at the realisation. "You married at eighteen?"

"Well, I was eighteen, but your father was seventeen."

"Huh?"

"Never knew you liked them so young, mum," Fred said, causing everyone on the table to groan in disgust while George chuckled.

"Oh, stop it, Fred," Mrs Weasley chastised, walking back to her seat.

"I will never get married when I'm eighteen," Ron said, alarmed. "Imagine…you're just tied down for the rest of your life."

"You can still have fun when you're married," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "In fact, it'll probably be better because you have the person you love to do it with you."

"Yeah, but you're not going to find the person you love at eighteen, are you?"

"You might," Hermione said. "I think so anyway."

"I think it's rubbish!"

"Maybe you just haven't gotten any experience."

"Oh, what and you have?"

"What do you think about love?" Hermione queried Ila, dodging the question.

Ila let out a long breath. "That's a bit of a deep question, isn't it?"

"I told you."

"Fine, what about relationships? Would you ever get into one?"

"Er – well…I dunno…"

Hermione tutted. "Always rely on you and Ron to give the most insightful commentary."

"No, no, no," Ila said hurriedly. "It's just…you know, there's always a chance that V – You Know Who will come back" – or already has – "and...even if he doesn't, there's still a lot of people out there that don't like me and depending on how things go, I might end up being a target. I might live a really dangerous life."

"The most dangerous thing in your life now is getting through double potions without getting poisoned by Snape," Ginny snorted.

"Exactly," Ila said with relief, noting that her friends looked far more relaxed than at the beginning of her explanation. "But the principle is still there; I don't want to bring a guy into all of that, you know, he might end up being a target too…, and I don't want to feel guilty for that…."

"What about if you end up getting with someone who's been in a similar position?" Ron asked.

"Are you implying something, Ron?" Ila said suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

"Eurgh! No, no, no, no, no!" Ron said, holding his hands up, shaking his head profusely. "Look, you're alright, Ila, but I will never, ever, ever-"

"Alright, I get it," Ila said, slightly wounded. Not that Ron would ever date her, but…she wasn't that bad, was she? "Anyway, I guess it depends on the person. But there aren't a lot of guys our age that are in the same position and the only one who is…well, you already knows how he feels about it."

"What about in Hogwarts?" Ginny asked. "You don't find anyone fit there?"
Ila racked her brain through all her male classmates in her year and the years above and below her. She was halfway through scrolling the sixth year when a 'ding!' went off in her head as it stopped on someone.

"Nope."

Ginny looked at her as she didn't believe her. "Seriously? I could name you five guys of the top of my head that I like, and you can't name a single one."

Ila shook her head. "I honestly can't think of a single person that I would want to be in a relationship with, but I can tell you all the people that I wouldn't want to be in one with…there's-"

"What was that?" Ginny said, staring at Ila's red earlobe. "You're scratching your ear."

Ila stilled.

"Look, look, look, she is rubbing her ear. Do you see it, Hermoine?"

"Hmm," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Don't you know what that means, Gin?"

"Someone's lying."

"Wha – I'm not lying."

"Only liars say that," Ginny said. "Who is he?"

"There isn't anyone that I like, Ginny," Ila said, suddenly interested in the apple crumble that she was given.

"Fine, if you don't tell me that, I'm just going to assume that…that you like Draco Malfoy."

Ila glared at the girl before roving her eyes to Ron, who sniggered until he saw Ila. He cleared his throat.

"Cut it out, Ginny; it's not funny."

"I'm struggling here, Ron," Ginny said. "I'm not getting anything out of her."

"Ginny, it's not Malfoy that I like," Ila said. "In fact, I will never, ever – if we were the last two people on earth, I would rather suffocate myself with cotton balls than ever get anywhere…near…his," Ila finished lamely, unsure of where her sentence was going to end.

"AH-HA!" Ginny yelled, standing up and pointed at Ila. "So you do like someone."

"Oh for fu-"

"Will you please stop talking, Ginerva," Percy ordered, making Ginny roll her eyes and sit back down, "I'm trying to tell Father about something important."

"What, about thick-bottomed cauldrons?"

"No," he said before looking significantly down the table to Ila, Hermione and Ron and then back to Ginny, "something top secret."

"Why is he still staring at us?" Ila whispered to her friends.

"He's been trying to get us to ask him what is for the whole summer," Ron said to Ila. "It probably is about thick-bottomed cauldrons."

The evening went on, the darkness of the evening sky finally beginning to occur. Mrs Weasley had to lit up candles to see everything. By that point, Ila felt well fed and was ready to go to sleep.

"Ila, if you leave your school list out, I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow, so I'll get your things with everyone else too. There might not be enough time once the World Cup finished. One time the match lasted for five days."

"Five days?"

"Yep," Mr Weasley said. "But the longest one had to be around six months."

"Woah – imagine watching Quidditch for six months," Ila said to Ron excitedly.

"Imagine playing for six months," Hermione added.

"I hope it happens this time."

"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I were away from work for a week, let alone six months."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" Fred said.

"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" Percy said, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"

"It was," Fred whispered to Ila as they headed inside the house. "We sent it."