"Sorry about him." Harry said. "He doesn't have very good people skills." I was still too shocked to laugh.
"Hey! I have plenty of people skills! Don't I, Hermione?" the red-haired boy protested.
"Sorry, Ron, but you are a bit tactless." she replied. I didn't know what I should do. Should I shake hands with everybody and introduce myself? Should I walk around and examine things? Or should I just stand here, and have all of these people stare at me? Harry saved me the trouble of facing this dilemma by introducing everyone to me. he pointed to the bushy-haired girl and the red-haired guy.
"This is Ron and Hermione. They're my two best friends." Hermione gave a friendly smile, and Ron did a kind of stupid-looking wave. "Okay, all the red-heads are the Weasley family. There's Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny." All of them smiled welcoming at me. Harry then pointed to the pink-haired woman ."This is Tonks. She's sort of like our body guard. When I say our, I mean you and me." I couldn't believe it! I needed a body guard? Harry then pointed to the pretty blonde woman. "This is Fleur, Bill's wife. They just got married a few months ago." The blonde woman smiled.
"Eet eez a pleasure to meet you, Ash-a-lee." she said in a thick French accent. One look at her protruding belly told me she was pregnant.
"Well, now that you know everybody, I guess I can show you where you're sleeping. It's the same room where Hermione and Ginny are staying. Come on." He led me up several flights of rickety stairs. "So... do you have a voice?" he asked.
"Huh." I answered.
"You haven't said a word since you got here. I was beginning to wonder if you were a mute."
"No, I'm not." I answered "I just don't really feel like talking, that's all." Another wave of sadness washed over me. I missed my mom so much already. Harry looked at me with sympathy.
"I know what you mean." he said. He did not elaborate. "Here's your room." he said suddenly, and opened the door. Inside were three beds that looked like they had been crammed in there at the last minute. There was hardly space to move, the room was so small. One bed had stacks of books piled beside it, with titles like "The Study of Ancient Runes Grade 7" and "Hogwarts: A History". The bed crammed in the other corner of the room had pictures of the girl introduced as Ginny, and my brother, Harry, smiling and laughing. I won't even get into how shocked I was too see the photographs MOVING! I looked at Harry.
"Is Ginny your girlfriend?" I asked. It certainly seemed that way from the pictures. He went only slightly red and replied in a small voice "Was. Those pictures were taken a while ago. We er... aren't together anymore. For her safety." I felt so bad for the poor guy, he looked so sad. I didn't understand the last part of what he said, though.
"What do you mean, for her safety? Is she in danger from this Voldemort guy, too?"
"Everyone we love is in danger. He's not just after us, he's after everyone we care about, too." I thought about my mom and my heart dropped. She was in danger!
"So my mom...she's in danger?" I asked in a feeble voice.
"Mom?...Oh, your foster mom. I'd be lying if I said no, but she's probably safer now that you're not with her." I nodded, and looked at the last bed squeezed right in between Hermione and Ginny's beds. It was completely bare, except for a fluffy blanket and a pillow. Something suddenly hit me.
"I didn't pack anything." I said. Harry just gave a weak smile and said
"Dumbledore will make sure you get everything you need." At that precise moment, a big luggage bag appeared on the bare bed, filled with all my clothes and belongings (which wasn't much, but hey, what are you going to do?) My mind took a moment to digest this piece of magic. I was starting to get used to it. Barely. I thanked Harry, and sat down on the bed. "Mrs. Weasley will probably have lunch on the table soon. She'll let you know when it's ready. See you."
"Bye." I replied. He left the room with a backwards glance at me and shut the rickety old-looking door. I sat on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Everybody seemed nice enough, and it was extremely kind of them all to welcome me into their lives, so why did I feel so empty? I wondered how far along Fleur was in her pregnancy. I also wondered about what Mrs. Weasley was going to cook for lunch. I knew these were stupid, meaningless thoughts, but I wanted to think about something normal. I wanted to forget about the danger I was in, and how Voldemort wanted to kill me. I told myself that I would really try to fit in with these people. They were so nice to me and I didn't want to seem ungrateful. I had almost dozed off when suddenly, the door opened, and Mrs. Weasley came in with a little box in one hand, and a big, motherly smile on her face.
"Oh, hello, dear." she said warmly, closing the door behind her.
"Hi." I answered weakly.
"I know this is all rather difficult for you, Ashleigh, but all of us here are delighted to have you with us. I just wanted to give you a little something to welcome you to our rather odd family", she laughed after she said this and handed me the tiny box in her hand. I was very shocked! These nice people even got me a gift! I felt a little guilty and embarrassed at this. The Weasley family didn't look as if they had much money, and I knew first-hand how hard it is to give something you don't really have to someone.
"Oh, Mrs. Weasley...really...I can't take this..." I began.
"Nonsense! Of course you can. Go on now, open it up." She looked expectantly at me. I slowly took the little box and opened the lid. I gasped. In the box was a beautiful necklace. It had a white gold chain, with a sparkling stone of peridot glittering on the end. I had never even touched anything this beautiful in my entire life!
"Oh wow! It's georgeous!" I whispered. Mrs. weasley beamed, and I thought I saw a bit of mist in her eyes as she said
"It was your mother's. She never took it off. It matched her eyes." I looked up at Mrs. Weasley, and tears filled my eyes. I didn't even know why I wanted to cry. I had never known this woman who had been my mother. I didn't even know what she looked like, yet somehow, this tiny necklace meant so much to me. I hastily choked back my tears and smiled. It was the first genuine smile I had given since I first found out about my true identity.
"Thank you." I whispered. Mrs. Weasley patted me on the shoulder.
"I'm glad you like it, dear." she replied. "Lunch is ready. You can go downstairs and eat with the rest of us, or I can bring you up a tray if you're not feeling up to it." I decided to repay her kindness by going downstairs to eat. I also wanted to get to know everybody a little better.
"I'll come downstairs to eat. Thanks." I said. Mrs. Weasley gave me one last pat on the shoulder and exited the room. I gingerly took the necklace out of its box, and fastened it around my neck. I took a look at myself in the tiny mirror lying at the foot of Ginny's bed. I looked pretty. The peridot matched my eyes, too. With renewed confidence and a sense of hope, I stood up and walked out of the tiny bedroom to eat lunch with everybody, little did I know that I would find out a lot of information about Voldemort, too.