"Honestly Percy, I don't see what's the big deal about all of this."
"What do you mean you don't see? This is very important! I need everything to go right or else I'll make a fool of myself and then it'll all go up in flames and my chances will be ruined!"
"Or." Christopher Weasley, eighth and youngest child of Arthur and Molly Weasley, said as he sighed. "You could stop worrying and just ask her out already?"
"Its not that simple Chris, there are things to take into account and-"
Christopher stopped listening as his older brother kept on rambling off points about how important his asking Penelope Clearwater out should be. There apparently had to be clear and concise language to the point that it sounded like a legal document instead of two Hogwarts aged students going on a date. Even for Percy Ignatius Weasley, Mister-I'm-Going-To-Work-At-The-Ministry-When-I-Grow-Up, this was a little much. Especially seeing as how Penelope was sitting across the room!
"I have to agree with Chris, Percy." Charlie said as he grinned at the both of them. Their dragon wrangling older brother didn't visit as often as he used to ever since he'd gotten that job in Romania of all places. Whenever he did come around, he'd usually bring some souvenirs back and everyone would be amazed by them for the first day. This time was no different and the entire family was now focused on the amazing uses of the Sony Walkman.
"He's eleven years old Charlie!" Percy said indignantly. Christopher would have been offended if that was actually true. His physical body may have been that of an eleven-year-old boy, but his mind was far older – reincarnation for the umpteenth time was a bitch to deal with – and he'd long since passed the mental age of caring about such minor details like what was appropriate for children do to.
Been there, done that, next please.
"Oi, I may be only eleven, but I'm not sitting here agonizing and overanalyzing something that could be done in two seconds." Christopher pointed out. They were at a Merlin damned birthday party, his and Ginny's birthday party to be exact, and the last thing Christopher wanted to do was work on his birthday.
Charlie nodded sagely at Christopher's words and that made Percy frown. The three of them were huddled into a corner of the Burrow and whilst many other party goers were enjoying themselves the two brothers of Weasley were working to keep their third brother from a mental breakdown. Not what Charlie or Christopher had envisioned for this monumental occasion that was the younger pair of Weasley twins' eleventh birthday celebrations, but that was just how the world worked.
"Neither of you understand." Percy said and he was speaking so rapidly that Christopher only half understood what his brother was saying. "I can't just go up to her and ask her out. That wouldn't work. We're in different houses and even if I did ask her, it wouldn't work because I've got a lot of responsibilities to look after. I'm a prefect again this year and I've also got-"
"Oh, for the love of Morgana." Christopher sighed and then turned to Charlie. "Keep him company for a minute? I've gotta talk to a certain Ravenclaw."
"I'll hold the fort down Chris." Charlie said and winked. "Go do your thing before Percy here has a stroke."
"Wait where're you going?" Percy asked but Christopher was already off.
He made his way out of their little corner and through the gathered crowd. The Burrow was rather packed for this celebration and most of them were their father's ministry coworkers and their families. Half the people here Christopher didn't even know but apparently, they were important in some way or other. They all also apparently had kids at Hogwarts age and some of them were potentially his future classmates. Not that he recognized any of them, but he wasn't here for them right now. The very person he was looking for was sitting across the room talking with Fred and George about something. About what Christopher didn't want to know.
"Penelope!" Christopher said and put on his winning smiling, the one that got everyone to pay attention to him and let him walk all over them. It was the one that all kids had that was just so cute that they'd get away with anything if they'd use it. The one that totally worked on the rest of his family and Christopher would be milking it all the way to Hogwarts.
"Christopher! Happy Birthday!" Penelope said and Christopher got a big hug from the Ravenclaw student. He sent Fred and George a wink during the hug and his older twin brothers both elbow nudged each other and wiggled their eyebrows at him. They also sent some glances at Percy who was being half physically restrained by Charlie in their little corner.
"He's all grown up now." Fred said and wiped away a nonexistent tear from his eye.
"Our little baby boy is no longer a baby. They grow up so fast!" George joined in and leaned into Fred.
"Oh, you two are such dramatics." Penelope said after the hug was over. She was rather pretty, and Christopher could understand why Percy was crushing on her hard. Though, she was also a Ravenclaw, and the Ravenclaws didn't know how to have fun if it hit them on the side of the head. But that was right up Percy's alley!
"Don't worry, there just afraid about the next step in my evil master plan to take over the world." Christopher said and got an eyeroll from Penelope.
"Indeed." Fred said.
"The Dark Lord Weasley is on the rise." George followed.
"And he's going to take over Hogwarts as we know it!" Fred finished.
"Well, I'd like to see him try." Penelope said and Christopher raised an eyebrow at that.
"Oh? Is this a challenge I hear? I'll have you know that I, Christopher Weasley, am the authority when it comes to dark lords and evil machinations. By this time next year, I'll have Hogwarts under my thumb and Dumbledore bowing to my greatness!"
"See?" Fred said and nudged Penelope. "Dark lord right there."
"Complete madman and our new master." George nodded.
"You are all prats." Penelope giggled and Christopher and the elder twins all sent each other knowing looks.
"And speaking of prats." Christopher really enjoyed that segue. "Have you met our other bother, Percy?"
The twins laughed at that, and Penelope giggled some more. Though, she did blush at the mention of Percy's name, so maybe there was something there. Reincarnation was finicky like that, and no two timelines were the same, so in all honestly maybe Percy would get with Penelope this time around. Christopher glanced over his shoulder at his two other brothers and noted that Percy was nervously looking over at them whilst Charlie was keeping a firm arm around him.
"I've met Percy." Penelope said and that blush to her cheeks didn't necessarily go away. "We were both prefects last year."
"Ah, the famed prefect meetings." Christopher said and nodded. "Do you guys really have a private bathroom?"
"They do." Fred said before Penelope could answer.
"And its right unfair it is." George added.
"Got a special password and everything." Fred shook his head.
"Which reminds me." Penelope said and swatted both Fred and George on the arm. "Stop trying to get into it. There's nothing special about the prefect bathroom."
"What kind of bathroom has a password and is not special?" George countered.
"See." Christopher said and drew everyone's attention back to him. "When I take over Hogwarts my first priority will be to get rid of those pesky passwords so that we can all use the prefect bathroom!"
"Aye, Dark Lord Christopher!" Fred said and got to his knees and started bowing.
"Fred!" Their mother yelled from across the room. "Stop with that dark lord nonsense!"
"But I'm Fred!" George yelled back.
"Anyway, all jokes aside, you've gotten to know Percy?" Christopher asked Penelope as the twins started to play their name game with their mother.
"I have." Penelope said and Christopher brought her into a small huddle.
"You know he has a massive crush on you? Like I'm talking Hogwarts sized crush." Christopher used his hands to emphasize just how much of a crush Percy had on Penelope. "Its not every day that Percy devises a thirty-step plan to ask someone out on a date."
"Thirty-step plan?" Penelope asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, he's got it written down and everything. You should have seen it, the guy's got a chart and everything about different strategies to use. He even drags me over to bounce ideas off of and by Merlin I don't know how much more either of us can deal with. I mean, just look at him, he's about to keel over from how red he is."
Christopher and Penelope both looked over to where Percy was still being restrained by Charlie. Their brother was indeed red in the face that nearly matched his hair and Charlie gave them a wink when he noticed that they were looking over. Percy on the other hand did everything in his power to avoid eye contact.
"See?" Christopher said. "Thirty-step plan, which I'm ruining by telling you about it right now, so, you'll go out with him and put an end to my suffering?"
"I'll say it's kind of cute. Someone putting in that much effort to simply asking that is." Penelope said and Christopher really hoped so. Those planning sessions really were some of the most boring and agonizing times he'd spent with Percy, and that was saying something.
"So, you and Percy, on a date? My suffering put to an end?"
"I don't see why not." Penelope shrugged. "Though I'd like to talk to Percy about it first."
"Hallelujah!" Christopher threw his arms up in victory.
"He's done it!" Fred, who had been eavesdropping the entire time, joined in on the celebration.
"The Dark Lord Christopher strikes again!" George said.
"George! What did I say about that dark lord talk?!"
The four of them shared a knowing smile and Christopher made his way back over to his other older brothers. Charlie gave him a high-five whilst Percy demanded to know exactly what he had said to Penelope in detail. Christopher knew he wouldn't be able to get out of that conversation, so he resigned himself to being interrogated at his own birthday party.
Though, at least Ginny looked like she was having fun, so there was that.
"Ron, your brother is… he's really good."
Harry Potter could honestly say that he'd never seen anyone fly like that before. All the Weasley children – including Percy – were standing around and watching as Christopher Weasley practically sliced through the air. Harry had never seen someone fly so smoothly before, like the kid on the broom was like a hot knife through butter, not even struggling a bit. None of them even knew that a Nimbus Two Thousand could move like that and yet here they all were standing in the small paddock that the Weasleys owned watching as it indeed moved.
Christopher Weasley himself was putting on a show for them. He was doing maneuvers that even Harry hadn't attempted yet and some of those turns were so sharp that they were all surprised that Christopher hadn't fallen right off the broom yet. Charlie Weasley was nodding along with a smile on his face as he watched his youngest brother fly. Ron had explained that Charlie was the best seeker in the family and one of the best that Gryffindor had ever seen. Harry had seen the trophy case and Charlie's Captain Plaque sitting along with all the others at Hogwarts.
Though, Charlie's position as best seeker in the Weasley family might be in jeopardy, and the guy didn't seem at all worried about it either.
"Chris is going places, that's for sure." Charlie said as they all watched as Christopher executed a move so audacious that none of them could do anything but marvel at it.
"If only he put as much effort into studying as he did in flying." Percy mused. "Then he'd be the greatest."
"Coming from the guy who overstudied his way into a date." Fred chirped.
"And said date was achieved by Christopher throwing caution to the wind and just asking Penelope for you." George added.
Harry didn't need to look to know that Percy was blushing red as his hair. They had all been present at the younger Weasley twins' birthday party and they all saw how Christopher walked right up to Penelope Clearwater and asked her about a date with his brother Percy. Then they all watched as Percy interrogated Christopher about it and all had a good laugh when Christopher just rolled his eyes and went with it. Harry and Ron had laughed about it whilst the elder twins huddled together on their own and Charlie and Ginny whispered about it to themselves. Bill hadn't been there since he was busy with something to do with his job as a Curse-Breaker.
"If he gets into Gryffindor, you might have to watch out Harry." Charlie said as Christopher executed a dive that turned into an upward dash so sharp that Harry was sure the kid would get whiplash from it. "Chris is probably the best seeker in the family, after myself of course."
"Nonsense." Ron said and shook his head. "Chris could play any position if we're being honest. Not just seeker, he's got chaser and beater down as well and even keeper if he needed to."
"He's really that good?" Harry asked.
"He is!" Ginny spoke up and then blushed red and hid behind Charlie.
"Yeah, he is." Fred said. "Oliver came over to visit before you arrived and tried his damnedest to get Chris onto the team."
Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, had made a personal visit to the Burrow just to recruit a future player? Someone who wasn't even at Hogwarts yet? Was that even allowed?
"But he's not even been sorted yet." Harry pointed out. Ginny and Christopher hadn't even received their Hogwarts letters yet.
"Never too late to start early." George said. "And it's not like he's going to be anything other than a Gryffindor now is he?"
From what Harry had scene, that was very true. Christopher Weasley was quite possibly the most Gryffindor of all the Weasleys and that was certainly saying something. In both good and bad ways, it seemed, with Percy lamenting on the fact that Christopher didn't take his studies seriously whilst the elder twins went on about Christopher's great aspirations at becoming a dark lord. That last part wasn't serious but more of a running joke amongst the Weasleys after Christopher had gone and misplaced Scabbers. Ron had let his brother borrow the animal and then they never saw him again.
When pressed for what happened to Scabbers, Christopher said that he sacrificed the rat in an unholy ritual and that it was just his first step in becoming a dark lord, and everyone had stared at the kid for a moment before breaking out in laughter. Though, Mrs. Weasley made sure to give a lecture to Christopher about how it wasn't a good idea at proclaiming himself to be a dark lord or making any mention about sacrificing animals in unholy rituals. Ron had been a little put out at losing Scabbers, but Christopher had apparently made up for it by showing Ron some quidditch moves on his old Shooting Star.
Moves that Ron had tried with some success on Harry's Nimbus as well.
Christopher on the other hand was flying like he'd been born with it.
Harry knew immediately that the kid would be great on the quidditch team. Though, he was a little concerned for his own position as seeker after seeing just how good Christopher was, but Ron said that his little brother didn't really care for the position. He was more of a chaser kind of guy and who doesn't want to be a beater?
"You've got a nice broom Harry!" Christopher yelled as he careened over to them. Harry watched with everyone else as Christopher drifted through the air to come to a sharp stop right at eye level with them all. The smile the youngest Weasley had on his face was bright and he stepped off the Nimbus Two Thousand as if he'd done it a thousand times before.
"That was amazing Chris!" Ginny said and Christopher grinned at them all as he handed Harry back his broom.
"You'd think they'd let me on the team as a first year?" Christopher asked Harry.
"Uh, I'm sure Professor McGonagall could be convinced." Harry said and he was still a little surprised at how the youngest Weasley was so casual around him. Everyone else he'd met in the wizarding world was always going on about how he was the Boy-Who-Lived this and defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named that. It was quite refreshing to meet someone who just saw him as Harry.
"That's if you're a Gryffindor dear brother." Fred said and Christopher rolled his eyes at that.
"Aye, he's got a lot of Slytherin in him." George said.
"Oh course. I'm a dark lord, aren't I?" Christopher gave them all an overexaggerated wink.
"Stop that." Ginny chided though her twin brother didn't seem at all cowed. "You're gonna be a Gryffindor like me and the rest of our brothers."
"I'd be surprised if you weren't a Gryffindor." Charlie said and it seemed that they were all done with flying for the day as the group slowly made their way back to the Burrow. "Though you might just give Percy here a stroke with how little effort you put in your homework."
"I don't need it when I become a quidditch star." Christopher shrugged.
"He said he'd join the Chudley Cannons if they come by to recruit him." Ron said to Harry with not a small amount of pride as Percy started to lecture them all on the importance of getting good grades. "I've convinced him to bring the team back to its former glory."
Harry imaged that the conversation must have been rather reminiscent for Ron's part. The Chudley Cannons hadn't won the League Cup since 1892. Though with the way that Christopher flies, they might just have a chance to not finish bottom of the league, in a few years that is.
"We're not actually going to buy all of these books from that idiot, are we?"
"Its not nice to be mean like that Chris, and besides, it's on your school list so you'll need to get it."
"You know Percy, you'd think I'd get a little more leeway after setting you up with Penelope." Christopher said and grinned as he watched his older brother blush redder than a tomato. "And you can't say that you believe that the guy's autobiography is actually useful for Defense Against The Dark Arts?"
Percy seemed to actually consider it for a moment and Christopher took that as a prime opportunity to look around for a bit. He'd been to Diagon Alley so many times that he'd lost count, but it always looked the same to him. Wizards and witches were bustling around and going about their business. There was the odd muggle present as well escorting their muggleborn children for their first year at Hogwarts. It was more or less controlled chaos and more than once Christopher wondered why everyone bought their Hogwarts supplies on the same day.
"Still, while the man's autobiography is a little odd, its on the list so you have to get it."
"Well, I'm not going to read it anyway, so there's no point in actually buying it." Christopher said and then held up a hand to his brother's coming protests. "And I'll just borrow Ginny's copy if I ever actually need to read it."
"You can't just borrow everything from Ginny." Percy chided.
"I'd point out that nearly everything I own is from being borrowed from someone else." Christopher pointed out and gestured to his borrowed robes, hand-me-down clothes, borrowed trunk, and borrowed school supplies. Being reincarnated as a Weasley had given him a new perspective when it came to money – the Weasleys weren't exactly rolling in galleons – and it was a rather interesting change in pace. Not always enjoyable, but interesting.
"It's just how things are." Percy said. "And don't say that in front of mother, you know how she gets when money gets mentioned."
"Yeah, yeah, lets just get this little side adventure over with." Christopher said. "Where're you meeting Penelope again?"
"Down by Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor."
Percy pointed to it and Christopher acted like he didn't already know where it was. Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor looked exactly the same as it always did and nearly identical in construction design as the other buildings in Diagon Alley. That was so say that they had no distinct style as each and every building looked like they were constructed some time around the fifteenth century and then maintained into the twentieth century.
Christopher tucked the list of supplies he'd need for his first year at Hogwarts into his pocket and followed Percy towards the Ice Cream Shop. They had split from the main family mostly without being noticed – the twins spotted them leaving almost immediately but remained quiet with an exaggerated wink in Percy's direction – and the only thing that Christopher had been present for was the purchasing of his very own wand.
Snakewood with Basilisk horn core and eleven inches had gotten some raised eyebrows, but Christopher just made a quip about him being a dark lord for sure now and that set everyone back to normal. Though Ollivander had given him a somewhat knowing look and Christopher vacated the shop post haste. The wand maker was always a little weird even for him.
Though, ice cream took his thoughts off of that, and Percy's blushing like a little girl with Penelope made it all the more enjoyable. Penelope met the two of them with a smile and while Percy acted like the courteous gentlemen Christopher went for a hug. He got one in return, and he could have sworn that Percy looked jealous for a second. Nevertheless, the three of them ate their ice cream while Percy started to go on about the up coming year. There were mentions of keeping grades up and doing schoolwork and Christopher felt that his brother was not being as subtle as he thought he was. Penelope seemed to agree with him and the two of them shared a knowing look as Percy went on and on about it.
"And if you are sorted into Gryffindor then I expect you to maintain proper decorum so that you don't cost our house any points." Percy continued.
"Ah yes, house points, another thing I'll get rid of once I take over Hogwarts." Christopher said and nodded sagely.
"Still thinking about conquering the world, Chris?" Penelope asked with some humor in her voice.
"Of course!" Christopher said and then gestured to his brother who was mid scoop of ice cream. "To hear Percy put it the place is about to collapse in on itself. Seems the Ministry can't do anything right around here."
Percy promptly chocked on his scoop of ice cream.
"Oh really?" Penelope said and the two of them glanced over at Percy. "Mister future Ministry worker said something bad about his future place of employment?"
They both suppressed their laughter as Percy tried to refute Christopher's words. In Percy's view, the Ministry was the ultimate authority and could do no wrong, but Christopher knew better than that. Hell, he might just join Percy for the ride to see just how fast he could muck it all up. It'd be an interesting change to his usual of avoiding governmental work like the plague.
Then Christopher thought about it for more two seconds and decided that he was being an idiot and that sticking to quidditch would be better. Who in their right mind would prefer pushing pencils to flying? Percy, obviously, but that was more of a rhetorical question.
The two Weasley brother reunited with the rest of the family just as they had exited Flourish and Blots. Presumably the family had purchased this upcoming school years' worth of books and Christopher noted that the little scuffle between his father and Lucius Malfoy was already over.
Bummer, he'd wanted to see it, but there was no use in crying over spilt milk.
"Chris! Harry was gifted the whole set of books by Lockhart!" Ginny bounded over to Christopher with a blush on her cheeks at the mention of Harry Potter's name whilst Percy headed off to speak with their mother, no doubt about what books they had gotten for him.
"Really? Remind me never to read any of them." Christopher said as he looked over his twin sister's arms ladened with school supplies. Her new cauldron was filled with said books and Christopher noted the little black diary amongst the plagiarized books.
"Oh, come on!" Ginny said and bumped him in the shoulder. "You can't say you aren't a little interested."
"Alright, I am slightly curious, and let me help you with that." Christopher said and took the cauldron out of Ginny's hands. His sister gave it up without a second thought and it was all too easy to slip that little black diary out from the cauldron and into his back pocket.
He could practically feel the dark magic radiating off of it. There was no way that he was going to do the idiotic thing like write in it. Little Tom Riddle would remain alone for now in his text-based world and Christopher Weasley would get to enjoy his umpteenth first year at Hogwarts in peace.
Or, as much peace as he'd allow the rest of Hogwarts to have, seeing as two more Weasleys were joining their ranks.
William "Bill" Weasley was thoroughly done with Egypt and its sweltering heat.
The weather in this Merlin damned place was almost unbearably hot, even with an ample application of cooling charms, he'd already sweated through his shirt. His arms were slick with sweat and by the looks of his pants he'd need to change them after this. Sand and sweat weren't a good combination.
When he'd signed up to being a Curse-Breaker he didn't think he'd be breaking into tombs of Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs but here he was. William, along with his fellow Gringotts Curse-Breakers from both Great Britain and Egypt, had encountered many forms of magic that were both familiar and foreign. Some of the tombs still had wards that were standing even after thousands of years since their casting. It was rather impressive.
Though that wasn't without its unexpected consequences. These old tombs were laden with traps that were still active, and William had come across multiple corpses during their investigations. Some of them looked more recent than others and that made them all more wary of the places they investigated. No one ever said curse breaking was an easy job after all.
He had just settled down onto a chair inside his tent when an owl flew through his open tent flap and landed on his little wooden desk. William was taken a back for a moment by the owl's brazen disregard for privacy and how it didn't use the designated location for company owls. Then he realized just who the owl was.
"Hermes?"
What the bloody hell was Percy's owl doing all the way in Egypt? The start of term at Hogwarts had been about a week ago and William couldn't think of anything so important that Percy needed to tell him before term even started. The owl itself preened at having its name called and William noticed that it had a rather large package held in its talons. It was wrapped in yellow material with a red stripe and three English letters on the top.
He didn't know what DHL stood for.
Getting the package from Hermes' talons proved more difficult than he first thought, the owl not letting go even after William asked it to, so he had to wrestle the damn thing from the bird. Hermes wasn't ever like this in William's memory of the bird so whatever was in this package must have been important.
He tore open the package and looked inside to find something that at first glance didn't seem important at all.
Inside was a letter and a black diary.
William was actually quite wary at just what this package was until he read the first line of the accompanying letter.
"Dear Minion Number One…"
Christopher's customary greeting ever since he'd taken up the mantle of Dark Lord Weasley immediately made William roll his eyes. Only Christopher would address his eldest brother like this. The boy's claims at being a dark lord were as realistic as the Chudley Cannons winning the League Cup, though he did rope the rest of the family into his enterprising dark lord empire, with William being Minion Number One due to him being the eldest brother. It was all completely ridiculous and not at all serious, but Christopher was Christopher, so William never fully dismissed his brother's claims.
The kid was a veritable genius at times.
William read through the rest of the letter and found that his eyebrows steadily rose on his forehead until they nearly shot off his face. What he read didn't make sense and if it did than he'd have many questions for his little brother when he got back to Great Britain. Many questions indeed. Though, he knew that his youngest brother wouldn't ever lie to him, so that made the contents of this package ever more concerning.
"How the hell did he get his hands on a horcrux?"
