Quick Note: This slant typing means Anastasia is speaking through the mind link. :-)
A handshaking me awake makes me open my eyes before swiftly closing them from the direct sunlight. Finally, after a few seconds, I open my eyes again and move my head from leaning against the car window. The sun is high enough in the sky that people are probably eating breakfast by now. Turning to my left, I notice that everyone is already awake and look like they have been awake for a while now. I stretch and yawn before looking towards the ground underneath the flying car. We are far into the countryside and there aren't any houses except for one.
This one house looks like it could be in the Alice in Wonderland fairytale. The house looks like it has been constructed on over time because you can see the original shack of a house. Next is a tower built behind the shack and is connected to another two-story tower that is sitting on top of the original shack. Somehow that entire building is connected together to form one giant misshapen house.
Grabbing Fred's sleeve, I give it a couple tugs before he looks at me. Smiling, I point at the house and then draw a question mark in the air. He must have understood what I am asking because he nods his head while giving one of his famous smiles.
"That house, my dear friend, is where we are going," he says, and I clap excitedly as I watch the house get closer to us. The car descends toward the dirt road and, unfortunately, George lands the car with a thud. We swerve to the side to avoid the pig pen that is in front of the house. Thankfully, right after we swerve the car stops and with excitement coursing through me, I quickly get out of the car.
"Anastasia, welcome to the Weasley Burrow," George says after getting out of the driver seat and he wraps his arm around my shoulders. I smile while heading towards the first door that I see. Sadly, I don't get very far before the twins stop me from entering the house.
"We have-," Fred starts to say, and George finishes his sentence.
"To be quiet," he says, and I cock my head to the side while wondering why we have to be silent.
"We didn't-,"
"Tell anyone that-,"
"We left," Fred finishes, and I give them a disapproving look, but I agree with their one request. Silently holding my brother's hand, we walk in-between the twins with Ron in front of us.
Fred silently opens the kitchen door and looks around before gesturing for the rest of us to enter. I look over at Ron as we pass him in the kitchen and he already has a scared look on his face. I am curious about who he is afraid of; His mom or his dad. Fred keeps shushing us as he closes the door once everybody is inside. I hear something to my left and I glance over to find a brush cleaning a pan all by itself. I need to learn this spell for whenever I have chores because that can definitely save a lot of time. Looking at my brother, I nod my head towards the self-cleaning pan and he nods his head with a smile. Noticing something else in the house, Harry gently tugs me toward the center of the room.
In the center of the room is a blue and brown grandfather clock that looks antique. A smile appears on my face at the thought of something antique because I always have a slight fondness for old, antique looking things like typewriters, chairs, and even dolls. Looking at the face of the clock, I assume that I'm going to see the time but for once, in the case of a clock, I'm wrong. Instead of seeing time, I see a bunch of handles and each handle has a locket size picture of a Weasley family member. As Harry and I are looking at the clock, three handles start to move and of course, they are the ones with Ron's face, Fred's face, and George's face. The handles with their faces stop underneath the label that says home and I awe at how cool that is. I mean, a clock that tells you where all your family members are at seem pretty useful.
Turning my head to my left side, I notice something that is also really cool and useful. Tugging on my brother's hand, we walk over to a chair with yarn on it and around it. A scarf is hanging in the air above the chair like there is an invisible person sitting there. The scarf is knitting itself and I smile at the idea of how easier it would be to make your own clothes.
"It's not much, but it's home," Ron says, and I smile at the idea of a home. The closest home we, my brother and I, have is Hogwarts. The Dursley residence is our house but not our home. I must have looked sad because I feel someone squeezing my hand and I turn to notice my brother giving me a smile.
"I think it's brilliant," he says, and I nod my head in agreement. Before anyone can do anything else, I hear some clothes rustling and quick footsteps coming toward us. Mrs. Weasley, or Molly, rushes out and stands behind the self-knitting scarf chair while looking at the ginger siblings with anger. My question from earlier is now answered and I realize that Ron is afraid of his mom.
"Where have you been?" she shouts while looking at them and I huddle behind my big brother from slight fear. Even though she is wearing a homely sweater dress, she is still scary when she is angry. I glance at the twins and Ron, and they all quickly hide some kind of biscuit behind their backs when they noticed that she is standing in front of them. Honestly, I've never had someone like a mother yell at me or someone I know and I'm serious when I say that. The only mom that I know is Petunia and she would never yell at her son.
"Harry, Anastasia, how wonderful to see you, dears," Molly says in a calm manner, and it breaks me out of my thinking. I give her a small smile while staying behind Harry. How does she go from yelling one second to being nice and kind the next? She walks up to us and turns back to her sons with a stern look on her face.
"Beds empty. No note. Car gone!" she takes her yelling down a couple of notches but is still yelling at them, "You could have died! You could have been seen!" All three of the Weasley children lower their heads in shame and Molly turns to us with a soft smile on her face.
"Of course, I don't blame you, dears," she says and finally one of the children, Ron, looks up at his mom with a sad look on his face.
"They were starving them, mom. There were bars on their windows," Ron tries to get out of being scolded and I notice the twins nodding their heads at their younger brother's words. Sadly, he is right, and I nod my head as well. Molly doesn't look too fazed by what they said and points her finger at the Weasel.
"You best hope I don't put bars on your windows, Ronald Weasley," she says, and his eyes grow wide along with the twins. I can understand why she is so mad at them. I mean, if my sons just disappeared one night and didn't come back until the next morning, I would be angry too.
Molly turns to my brother and me and informs us that it is time for breakfast. She doesn't seem too fazed by a lot of things and it honestly is kind of nice to not have someone that overdoes things besides being overprotective. She guides us over to the long dining table and I sit next to my brother who is sitting next to the head of the table. Ron sits next to me while the twins sit in front of us and Molly starts serving the food. My mouth waters at the sight and smell of sausage and eggs.
As we start to eat our food, I hear some footsteps rushing down the stairs and from how light they are I can assume that it is a little child. Well, I am somewhat right when a girl who seems to be a year or two younger than us comes rushing into the kitchen with her pajamas and bathrobe on. From the fact that she has ginger hair and is in the Weasley home, this must be the youngest Weasley offspring. Oh, right! I remember her from last year when Harry and I first went through Platform 9 ! She doesn't seem to have noticed the two uninvited guests and only focuses on her mom.
"Mommy, have you seen my jumper?" the little girl asks Molly.
"Yes, dear, it was on the cat," Molly replies and a question pops into my mind. Why was her jumper on the cat? Wait! Where is this cat?! I want to pet a cat! Anyway, after Molly tells the little Weasley where her jumper is at, she finally notices my brother and I. Right as she notices my brother her eyes grow wide and my head tilts to the side while wondering why she is scared or nervous.
"Hello!" my brother cheerfully says, but the girl backs away slowly before turning around and running up the stairs. I turn back to the others at the table while gesturing at the stairs. My brother also turns back to everyone else, "Did I do something wrong?"
"Ginny, and she's been talking about you all summer. A bit annoying, really," Ron replies and I nod my heading in understand. Little Ginny Weasley has a crush on my big brother. A chuckle escapes my lips and I turn back to eating my food. I don't think I have ever had a crush on anyone before. I wonder what it is like to have a crush. Will I ever have one? Yeah. I continue to eat my food, I will definitely have one.
"Morning, Weasleys!" a man's voice makes me look up towards the kitchen door. An older looking gentleman with ginger hair and a dark green suit walks through the door while closing it behind him. Every single Weasley offspring says, 'Good morning, dad," while Molly says, "Good morning, Arthur!" This must be the father of the twins and apparently, his name is Arthur Weasley. The man doesn't seem to notice my brother and I while he moves around the kitchen.
"What a night, nine raids! Nine!" the man says, and I look over at the twins with a questioning look.
"Raids?" Harry asks Ron and he finishes eating the food in his mouth before explaining it to us.
"Dad works in the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts," he says, and I nod my head while turning back to Arthur. It makes sense why he is wearing a suit then because if you work in the Ministry of Magic you must be more sharped dress then in other jobs.
He finally sits down at the head of the table and smiles at each of his kids before stopping on me and Harry. His smile slips slightly but continues to be polite.
"Who are you two?" Arthur asks us, and I smile while I nudge big brother on the side. He looks up from his plate and notices that Arthur is talking to us.
"Oh! Sorry, sir. I'm Harry, Harry Potter, and this is my sister, Anastasia," he says, and I'm proud of how polite my brother is. After Harry says my name, I hold out my hand for him to shake and then go back to my food. I usually would be politer and not eat when an adult is talking to me, but I'm so hungry from not eating as much at the Dursley's residence.
"Good Lord! Are you two really?" he asks with amazement on his face. My brother and I nod our heads while I silently giggle at the expression on his face. "Well, Ron and the twins have told us all about you two, of course. When did they get here?" he asks his family as he starts to dig into his breakfast. Movement from behind me makes me glance over and I realize that Molly is looking at her husband with anger from earlier coming back to her.
"This morning," she says while looking at her sons before focusing on her husband again, "Your sons flew that enchanted car to Surrey and back last night." After saying that she turns back to the stove, and I look over to her husband to see him looking up from his plate. Surprisingly, Arthur doesn't look angry but more excited at the idea of someone flying the enchanted car.
"Really? How did it go?" he asks us, and everyone starts to say how amazing it was. That is until Molly quickly turns around and slaps her husband's shoulder in a warning manner. Right after she slaps him, he stutters while backtracking what he says and tries to fix it. My brother and I look down while trying not to laugh and focus back on our breakfast. Once Molly turns back around to the stove, Arthur focuses on Harry while I continue to eat.
"Now, Harry, you must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?" he asks while putting food in his mouth. I stop while laughing at his curiosity, but then I start to think about what people actually use a rubber duck for. How can you explain the function of a rubber duck without overthinking it? I turn back to my brother with a smirk on my face.
"Yes, brother. Tell us what the function of a rubber duck," I tell him, and he half-heartedly glares at me before turning back to Arthur. Unfortunately, before he can start to explain the function, a screech from an owl makes all of us turn towards the open window.
"That must be Errol with the post," Molly says as we watch a gray owl with letters in its beak. He continues flying at a fast speed towards the kitchen, and worry starts to creep into my mind. The owl isn't slowing down nor is it moving to its left, so it can enter through the open window. In fact, as I continue to watch the bird, Errol flies straight into the closed window with a thump. My eyes widen in shock as I jump up from my chair.
"Don't worry-," Fred starts to say when he notices my worried expression.
"He does that-,"
"All the time," Fred finishes, and I hesitantly sit back down. My eyes continue to focus on the owl while Percy gets up to grab the mail. Wait! When did Percy get here?! I honestly didn't even notice that he was here because he didn't talk at all. Thankfully, as Percy is grabbing the mail from Errol the bird stands back up and sits on the windowsill. Well, the bird seems to be alright again, and with that thought, my worries start to slip away. As I continue with my breakfast, I watch Percy open the letter and I notice that it has the Hogwarts crest on the back.
"It's our Hogwarts letters. They've sent us Harry's and Anastasia's as well," he says while handing everybody their letter.
Gently, I take mine from the eldest Weasley sibling at the table and glance at the list of supplies that I will be needing. The list reads:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wow! That is a lot of books by the same person. In my opinion, these books sound like those cheesy novels that you can find in muggle schools. As I continue to read, I hear George in the background telling his parents that the supply list will not be cheap. My brain stops thinking momentarily when I realize that he is right. I don't want to use all that money that my parents left behind because, honestly, I don't feel well with the idea of even using their money. That money was to be used for the whole family including them, but because of that one horrible wizard that money is being used for Harry and me. Only for Harry and me. If I could, I wouldn't use that money but, unfortunately, I need to keep using it in order to survive the wizarding world. A tight knot forms in the pit of my stomach and guilt starts to eat its way through me. Big brother must have noticed my discomfort because he holds my hand while silently asking me what is wrong.
"I feel guilty for using our parent's money. It was meant for all of us and now we can't do that. We use it for ourselves and they are not able to use it at all. That thought doesn't sit well with me, big brother," I tell him, and he squeezes my hand while Molly gently takes my supply list, so she can read what we will need. While everyone else is busy reading the school letters, Harry takes the opportunity to whisper to me.
"Sister, I understand how you feel. Honestly, I feel bad as well, but I know for a fact that they would have wanted us to use that money for our school supplies. Besides, we haven't used the money for anything other than school supplies. They left us that money to help us even when they are not here," he whispers, and I almost want to cry. Godric, if it isn't for the fact that I'm sitting at the table surrounded by other people, I would be crying at this point. Big brother is right, but I still have that knot in my stomach. Nodding my head at his words, I sigh before giving him a sad smile before tuning back into supply talk with the Weasley family.
"There's only one place we're going to get all of this...Diagon Alley," Molly says, and I nod my head at her words. A smile appears on my face at the thought of going back to Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley is almost as magical as Hogwarts. Unfortunately, we are not going to Diagon Alley today, but that just means that when we finally do go to that wonderful place, I'm just going to be even more excited!
Sadly, that day didn't come for two weeks and by this point, I almost forgot about our shopping trip. Ginny, who has been kind enough to share her room with me, woke me up this morning with her purple cloak on and excitement written all over her face. This leads me to where I am now which is in the middle of the Weasley living room with my Hogwarts cloak on with the rest of the ginger family. Harry is holding my right hand while my left hand is being held by Ginny. Ever since my brother and I came here, I learned that Ginny is really a sweet girl that definitely has a crush on my brother.
Looking around, I notice that all of the Weasley siblings, besides Ginny, is wearing their Gryffindor cloaks and my brother is also wearing his. I kind of feel out of place with my green Slytherin cloak. Don't get me wrong, I would not change my house at this point because I have Draco, but I still feel weird being in a room full of lions, even Molly and Arthur were in Gryffindor.
"Here we are! Harry, Anastasia, one of you go first," Molly says to us and I look at my brother in confusion. What are we supposed to do? From the look on my brother's face, I can safely assume that Harry has no idea what we are supposed to do either. Thankfully, big brother looks over at his friend and Ron decides to help us out.
"But they have never traveled by Floo powder before, Mom," Ron says, and I look over at the twins with a questioning look on my face. What in the name of Salazar is Floo powder? They both smirk at me while pointing towards the fireplace like 'keep watching and you will find out'. Okay, they are not a big help at all. I notice that Molly nods her head in understanding before directing her attention to her youngest son.
"You go first, Ron, so that Harry and Anastasia can see how it's done," she tells him while motioning him forward. I watch as Ron walks past us and into the fireplace. What is he doing? Once he is inside the large fireplace, Molly holds out a small pot of gray ash. After Ron takes a handful of the ash, the two adult Weasleys push us away from the fireplace until we are at a safe distance away from it. Right as we are safely away from Ron, he holds his hand, that is holding the ash, up in front of him until it is level with his face.
"Diagon Alley!" he shouts and then throws the ash down to his feet. As soon as the ash touches the ground, green flames engulf his entire body and my eyes widen in shock. Is Ron being burned alive right in front of me?! He isn't screaming or anything, but his body is engulfed IN FLAMES!!! As suddenly as the flames appeared, they quickly disappear along with Ron himself. Right after the flames disappear, Molly moves back towards the fireplace with a smile on her face.
"You see? It's quite easy, dears. Don't be afraid. Harry, you're first," she says while gesturing him forward. Holding onto my brother, I shake my head while imagining my brother in flames. I don't want to see that. I think my brother is quickly realizing that I will not let him go because he looks back at Molly while asking if it is okay if we go together. Thankfully, she nods her head and we both go inside the fireplace. Harry grabs the Floo powder and I link my arm with his. Looking up at my brother, I realize that he has a scared look on his face and I squeeze his arm in slight reassurance. He gives me a slight smile before glancing at everyone.
"Diagonally," my brother mispronounces the word before throwing the powder down at our feet. This definitely is not going to be good. I watch as Slytherin green flames surround us and we are quickly taken away from the Weasley house.
We are going so fast that it is bothering my stomach and I can't even look around anymore. All of the movement and the stress of not knowing where we are going takes a toll on my body. Leaning against my brother, I turn my head and hide my face against his arm. After what feels like an hour but was most likely two minutes, I hear my brother tell me to jump and when we did I feel something hard hit my head. That one hard hit sends my mind into a quick nap that I absolutely don't mind having.