Jordan awoke next morning to the sound off shouting downstairs. She sighed loudly before opening her eyes and sat up sluggishly to find Hermione and Ginny had also been awoken by the racket and were looking around, slightly bemused.
"Who is that?" Hermione asked.
"Fred and George!" Ginny groaned, lying back down and throwing the covers over her head.
Jordan and Hermione just listened for a minute to see what all the fuss was about. One word came up several times... Snow!
Hermione climbed out of bed, walked over to the window and peered outside
"Yep... It snowed!" she announced
"You don't say!" Ginny murmured sarcastically from under the covers.
"Ginny's not a morning person!" Hermione whispered quietly.
"I heard that!" she objected.
"C'mon let's go and get some breakfast!" Hermione suggested as she slipped on her dressing gown. Then looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced "Just let me brush my hair first"
"Who are you trying to impress?" Jordan teased.
"No one!" she blushed.
"I'll give you a clue. It starts with an R!" Ginny giggled from beneath her bed covers.
Jordan did her best not to smile, under Hermione's watchful gaze and also put on her dressing gown, then examined her reflection over Hermione's shoulder and was dismayed by just how untidy her hair had become during the night too.
"I better do mine too!" She said and began brushing profusely.
"Who are you trying to impress?" Hermione smirked sarcastically.
"I'll give you a clue!" Ginny began
Jordan and Hermione just looked at each other, then as if reading each other's minds, grabbed hold of their pillows and threw them right at Ginny!
"Oi!" She complained crawling out from beneath the covers and looking at them. Then promptly threw her pillow at them.
At that moment the door barged open and Fred and George came charging in, stopping when they noticed the pillows all over the floor.
"What are you doing?" George asked.
"Nothing" The three girls chorused.
"Looks like you're having a pillow fight!" Fred remarked.
"No we weren't!" Hermione uttered, clearly a little embarrassed.
"Well if you're in the mood for a fight!" George continued, seeming not to hear her "There's a snowball outside with your name on it!"
"Breakfast will be ready soon!" Mrs Weasley called as the three girls trooped outside, ushered on by Fred and George.
"Oh my god it's freezing!" Jordan complained, pulling her coat tightly around her.
"Morning!" Ron said cheerily, not looking in the least bit bothered by the freezing temperatures, though his nose was almost as red as his hair.
Harry strolled over to Jordan, smiling.
"How did they talk you into it?" He asked.
"They just went on and on... and on till we caved in!"
"I never thought in a million years they'd get you out here Hermione!" he continued.
"Neither did I!" she frowned.
The world around them looked like a different place to the one she'd arrived in yesterday. The surrounding green fields were now just an endless plain of glittering white as far as the eye could see. It was as though someone had crept in over night and thrown a snowy blanket over the world.
"Right!" George began "it's going to be girls against boys!"
"Hang on " Ginny objected "there's more of you!"
"Yeah well... were bigger!" Fred added rather absent-mindedly.
"And your point is?"
"You're smaller, more agile, you can move faster!" George explained, chuckling to himself
"I think that's about the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" she muttered grimly.
"The boys strong hold is those rocks over there... you lot can have the trees here!"
"Remind me... How old are you again?" Hermione sniped sarcastically.
"Let battle commence!" Fred yelled and he, his two brothers and Harry ran over to the nearby rocks, disappearing for merely seconds before a barrage of snowballs came hurling towards them.
"Hide!" Jordan yelled and they all ran for cover behind the trees.
"I can't believe I'm out here at this time of the morning doing this!" Ginny complained.
Just at that moment the door to the house opened and Mrs Weasley appeared.
"Oh there you are!" She smiled "Breakfast is ready!"
"Were a bit tied up mum!" Ginny informed her as more snowballs flew over,
"Fred and George's idea I presume!" she tutted.
"Yes and they've got us outnumbered!"
"Well let's teach them a lesson shall we!" she said, smirking, as she reached into her robes to produce her wand.
"What's she doing?" Jordan asked sheepishly.
"Negus Tayfus!" she voiced and waved the wand above her head. Seconds later the air was filled with snowballs, but not from Fred and George. They just came shooting out of the ground, as if thrown by invisible hands and whizzed over to where the boys were hiding There were hundreds of them, far more than the three of them could've ever mustered up.
"Nice one Mum!" Ginny grinned.
"Now you can come in and have your breakfast in peace, they'll never notice!" Mrs Weasley chuckled as she disappeared back inside the house
"C'mon!" Hermione chirruped "I can smell the bacon from here"
Not needing any more encouragement the three of them sneaked back into the house, shrouded from the boys sight, by the trees they were supposed to be using as shelter.
"This is really cruel!" Jordan uttered, feeling a little guilty, mainly because of Harry.
"Think of it as pay back for the Portkey!" Ginny giggled
"And the floo powder!" Hermione reminded her!"
"Well, when you put it that way, I don't feel guilty at all"
"They're still at it you know!" Hermione laughed wickedly as she looked out of the window about ten minutes later.
"You think by now they would have sussed something was up!" Ginny giggled as she pushed her empty plate away, breathing a loud sigh of contentment "Thanks Mum!"
"Yes thanks Mrs Weasley1" Hermione and Jordan chorused together.
"You're welcome " She replied as she stacked up their plates and put them into the sink, smirking to herself as she too glanced out of the window at the rather one sided snowball fight taking place outside."So what are you all up to for the rest of the day?"
"Don't know really!" Hermione shrugged.
"Staying warm "Jordan suggested taking a sip of her steaming hot tea.
"Avoiding the boys after they find out what we've done!" Ginny added.
Just at that moment the door flung open and slowly Harry, Ron, Fred and George trudged into the house, covered from head to foot in snow, all that was visible of them were their faces which did not look at all amused.
"Ooh look, the abominable snowmen!" Ginny mocked. Hermione burst out laughing, showering the mouthful of tea she had been about to swallow, half way across the room. Jordan tried very hard not to laugh, but felt a loud snigger erupt from her lips without her brains consent, Mrs Weasley just turned her back and got on with the washing up, hiding any amusement she may have felt.
"I suppose you think you're really funny!" Fred rasped.
"No" Ginny laughed "but you are, you should see yourselves, honestly"
"How long have you been in here?" Ron said grouchily, sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs, sending snow all over the kitchen floor
"About ten minutes!" Hermione replied.
"But, we've only been out there ten minutes!"
"That's right!" Ginny tittered
"You mean to say, that while we've been out there freezing, you've been in here having breakfast?"
"Yep!"
"Here you are boys!" Mrs Weasley said, placing two plates down at the table, shortly followed by two more "Warm yourselves up!"
They all threw off their coats and boots and quickly sat down at the table, Harry choosing the chair beside Jordan, throwing her a playful death stare as he tucked into his bacon and eggs,
"So who won?" Ginny asked.
"Eh?" Ron replied, confused.
"The snowball fight, who won?"
"Well you've been disqualified for cheating!" Fred sulked.
Mrs Weasley opened the door and fleetingly waved her wand, muttering some magic words or another under her breath. Immediately the snowballs stopped appearing and peace was restored outside as she closed the door once again.
All of a sudden there was aloud bang from the window. Everyone looked over to find a rather dazed looking owl teetering on the windowsill.
"Oh Errol!" Mrs Weasley sighed as she crossed the room and opened the window. The owl hopped in gratefully, then waited as the letters he was carrying were untied from his leg, before bobbing over to a bowl of food and water on the side nearby.
Mrs Weasley looked at each letter in turn, before handing one to Hermione and one to Harry, then tearing the remaining one open herself.
"Dumbledores throwing a New Year party!" she announced "he's invited the whole family... Oh how lovely!"
Straight away Harry and Hermione began to tear open their envelopes eagerly.
"I've got one too!" she proclaimed triumphantly.
"Me too!" Harry smiled, His grin widening as he read it.
"Where is it?" Ginny enquired, taking the invitation from her mother so she could examine it herself.
"Where else?" Mrs Weasley scoffed "It's at Hogwarts of course, The Great Hall will be perfect"
"Back to Hogwarts!" Fred piped up happily
"I have missed the old place!" George added with a dry smile.
"I'm not sure they'll feel the same way about you!" Ron laughed
Although Jordan tried not to, she couldn't help but feel a little left out. She'd come here to spend New Year with them all and now they all had other plans.
"What's up?" Harry asked, her disappointment obviously written all over her face.
"Oh nothing!" she lied, forcing a smile on to her face.
"Cheer up Cinderella... you will go to the ball!" he grinned, handing her the invitation. She looked at him questionably then began to read.
"Mr Harry Potter and Miss Jordan Quinn are Cordially invited to a New Year gathering at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
She didn't really need to read any further; she felt her spirits lift and a smile creep onto her face.
"I'm invited too!" she told them, looking at Harry and smiling "But how did he know I was here!"
"Magic!" Harry replied and winked at her "or it could be that I told him that you were coming to visit before we broke up for Christmas!"
"You don't think Malfoy will be there do you?" Ron asked darkly.
"With his dad proven to be a Deatheater... I doubt it!" Hermione replied "but what on earth am I going to wear? I didn't bring anything formal with me!"
"Neither did I!" Jordan grimaced.
"Oh don't worry I'm sure I can sort something out for you!" Mrs Weasley said brightly.
Hermione and Jordan exchanged rather alarmed looks at her suggestion and Ron began to chuckle into his tea. Either his mother didn't hear or just chose to ignore him as she made her way into the living room and sat down with the morning newspaper.
"What do you think she meant by that?" Hermione whispered, Ginny just shrugged but Ron snorted loudly.
"Maybe she's going to lend you something of hers" George smirked "I can just see them in mums clothes can't you George?"
"Oh yeah definitely!" His brother replied bitingly, before putting far too much fried bread in his mouth all in one go.
"You'll be the belles of the ball!" Ron continued in the same tone, ignoring the reproachful looks Hermione was casting in his direction.
"You're not annoyed with me are you?" Jordan asked Harry quietly as everyone continued to bicker amongst them selves.
"No!" he replied sincerely "I just wish I'd thought of it!"
After they'd all warmed up and dried off. Fred decided they should all go back outside to get cold and wet again and have a snowman building competition, where no one was allowed to use magic. Ginny was in no mood for it and went upstairs to search for something to wear at the New Year Party, leaving the rest of them to it.
It was, of course, still freezing outside, but as they could think of no other way to fill the day, they all agreed and got wrapped up once again, before trudging outside and commencing the contest.
Fred and George made a snowman of each other, which of course resulted in two identical snow people standing side by side. Ron did Hermione, making her head far to large for her body, so she gave her snowman impression of him an extra-ordinarily big nose as revenge. Harry did his best to make his snowman of Jordan flattering, which is not as easy as it sounds, then walked over to Jordan's creation, looking over her shoulder and remarking.
"It doesn't really look like me does it?"
"I haven't finished yet!" she objected as she began to trace two circles around his eyes with her finger, joining them with a line in the middle to make his glasses.
"Bit better!"
"And the finishing touch!" she continued, carving a small lightening shaped scar on her snowman's forehead "Perfect!"
They all stood back and admired their creations, six snow people standing to attention.
"Now lets bring them to life!" Fred announced pulling his wand from his coat.
"What?" Jordan spluttered, rather taken aback by the very suggestion.
"Honestly it's so easy to wind you up!" he laughed, tucking it back out of sight and turning to go back inside the house
"That's right... Pick on the Muggle why don't you!" she rasped sarcastically.
As they went back into the house they found a rather worried looking Ginny sitting on the sofa staring into space.
"Where's Mum?" Ron asked.
"She's gone shopping!"
"Again... What for this time?"
"Dress fabric!" she said, seeming to have to force the words out of her mouth.
All at once Ron and his brothers burst out laughing.
"Shut up will you, it's not funny!" Ginny complained.
"Yes...Yes it is!" Fred chuckled.
"Why don't you tell her you don't want her to make you one!" Hermione suggested.
"I tried... But I couldn't say it; she's so excited about it... Oh what am I going to do?"
Seconds later, there was a flash of green fire and Mrs Weasley emerged from the fireplace, rather breathlessly, carrying three bulging bags of something.
"You were quick!" Ginny said, quickly putting a smile onto her face where a frown had been only moments before.
"I found some real bargains!" her mother grinned happily and headed over to the stairs "I'll be in the loft if anyone needs me, I should get started right away... I'll be down to measure you in a little while!"
"Ok!" Ginny croaked meekly, waiting till her mother was out of ear shot before speaking again "See how happy she is!"
"I'm sure she'd understand!" Hermione encouraged.
"Well why don't you tell her then?"
"Me... Why?" Hermione asked, startled.
"Well there was three bags of fabric there, one was for me... Who do you think the other two are for?"
For a second silence descended, then Ron and his brothers dissolved into fits of the giggles once again as Jordan and Hermione exchanged looks of understanding.
"I'm really looking forward to this party now!" Ron snorted.
"Don't be so horrible Ron, remember how you felt when you had to wear your old dress robes to the Yule Ball!" Hermione snapped.
"Yeah I do... But I don't remember getting any sympathy from you... Why was that again?" He sniped rather caustically.
"Here we go!" Hermione muttered quietly to Jordan.
"Oh yes, it was because you were too busy dancing with Victor Krum"
Jordan looked at Harry questionably.
"Don't ask!" he mouthed, shaking his head.
At this point Hermione stormed off upstairs muttering angrily to herself and stamping her foot on each step loudly.
"I... Erm better go and see if she's alright!" Jordan uttered rather sheepishly.
"All I did was mention Victor Krum!" Ron snapped, talking to no one in particular.
"Y'know Ron if I didn't know better, I'd say that sounded like jealousy!" Jordan remarked and quickly trotted off, casting a backward glance to see that Harry was smiling to himself in agreement.
After a bit of coaxing Hermione was eventually persuaded to come back downstairs. Rons bad mood remained however, at least up until Mrs Weasley came down to measure Ginny, Jordan and Hermione for their dresses, at which point he seemed to cheer up quite rapidly.
Another pleasant evening slipped by and all too quickly it was time for bed. Once again Harry snatched a goodnight kiss from Jordan on the landing, and they both made their way to bed.