Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; they all belong to J.K Rowling!
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Special thanks to: Maresia Eterna, for all of your support no matter what, and to all of you that read this and send your reviews.
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Chapter 5- The visit
The days in The Burrow were never quiet; Mrs. Weasley was constantly giving them tasks, with the excuse that they were highly educational. Fleur Delacour was getting more annoying with each new day, due to the proximity of her wedding with Billy.
"I can't stand her anymore", Ginny commented in an exasperated voice, and Hermione nodded in agreement. "I mean, I would be excited too if it was my wedding, but she can talk about it for hours!"
"I know what you mean", Hermione replied, handing the other girl a dish, which was promptly grabbed by her and she washed the foam away. "The other day, I had to endure a one hour conversation about the bouquet she should choose. I almost fell asleep, can you believe it?"
"Why didn't you just leave her speaking to herself?" Ginny inquired, washing another dish.
"Oh, I didn't want to be rude, Ginny!" the brunette responded, looking sideways to her friend. "Would you do that?" she asked suspiciously. "Forget it, I already know the answer", she added, laughing.
After a few more minutes, the girls finished to clean the kitchen, which was one of the tasks Mrs. Weasley had destined to them. Next, they decided to go check on Ron, who was supposed to be cleaning his room. However, as the two teenagers were approaching the boy's room door, a peculiar sound reached their ears.
"I knew it!" Ginny exclaimed victoriously, walking very carefully. Hermione chuckled and followed the red haired girl in tiptoe. They leaned against the door, and Ginny muttered one, two and three, before bursting into the room.
"What the hell!" Ron yelled hoarsely, waking with a start. The boy took a while to understand what was going on, and when he finally did so, his eyes fell upon his shirtless chest and then upon Hermione's blushed face.
"I-we-hnn" the brunette tried to speak, but nothing she was saying made any sense. Her brown eyes stared one last time into Ron's bare chest, before she hastily turned them away to the ceiling.
"You should be cleaning your room, brother", Ginny said, her back turned to them. Apparently, she had not witnessed that embarrassing moment.
"I was cleaning it, until I trip on a shoe and fell on my bed. After that, everything went blurry and I can't remember anything at all…" Ron tried to explain, dressing a blue shirt that was over a chair beside the table.
"I can imagine! Well, now you're awake. What are you waiting for?" the red haired girl demanded, resting her hands on her hips. Everybody said that she looked just like her mother when she did that, and so Ron obeyed really quickly.
"Ginny, we should leave him now, don't you think?" Hermione suggested, motioning the other girl to follow her out of the room.
"Yeah, let's go! See you later!" Ginny happily said, waving goodbye while she closed the door behind her.
The blue eyed boy didn't rely, and continued seizing everything that was on the floor with a thoughtful expression. Then, completely out of the blue, he jumped and exclaimed: "She was staring into my chest!"
A small owl, that was on top of a wardrobe shivered at this sudden burst, startled by the boy's behaviour. Ron walked over to the wardrobe and grabbed the tiny owl in his hand, whispering excitedly: "Sorry, Pig! I didn't mean to scare you!"
Pigwidgeon turned her piercing eyes to him in a clear expression of disappointment and outrage.
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Meanwhile, a short woman was sitting in a small sitting-room, sewing a pair of maroon socks which belonged to her son. "Will he ever stop growing?" she self-whispered, biting her lip. But no response came, since she was completely alone.
A few more minutes went by, in which silence seemed to engulf the division. And then, all of a sudden, a loud noise was heard closely followed by thick smoke, and two tall figures appeared out of thin air.
"Fred, George! You have to stop doing that; do you want to kill your poor mother?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, fear clear in her voice.
"Sorry, Mum! You know we love you too much to want you dead", George replied softly, walking over to his mother and placing a kiss on her cheek. He was short imitated by his twin brother, Fred Weasley.
"I hope so. Would you stay for dinner?" the red haired woman asked seconds later, placing the socks in a small basket beside her. After both boys said yes, she raised and started to make her way into the kitchen, leaving the twins behind.
The boys looked at each other for a split second, then, their faces were illuminated by a grin, and Fred said in a mysterious voice: "Are you thinking about the same thing I am?"
"Definitely", was the only word escaping George's lips.
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"Hermione, don't you feel sorry for Crookshanks? I mean, he is trapped in that cage for about one week", Ginny Weasley commented in a sorrowful voice, turning to face a brunette that was lying over the bed, a book in her hands.
"No, he is getting what he deserves! Crookshanks is a bad cat; he shouldn't have taken my diary to Ron's room" the brunette retorted, giving a nasty look to the ginger cat locked in a cage beside the room's door.
"It's not like he could have read it, though. You have put some kind of spell that doesn't allow people to read what is inside, unless they know some secret words", the red haired girl replied matter-of-fact, shaking her head unbelievably.
"How do you know that?" Hermione inquired, placing the book on her lap and raising an eyebrow.
"Well… the other day, as I was entering the room, I heard you whisper some words and touch the book with your wand", she started to tell, but as she saw the other girl's expression, Ginny added, "And don't worry, I didn't understand what you were saying."
"Great!" the brunette exclaimed, breathing in relief. She then covered her face with the book, acting as if nothing had happened.
"I think I'll never understand you, girl", the red haired girl self-whispered, kneeling to cuddle the ginger cat, that seemed to be desperate to leave its prison.
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A tall red haired boy was standing in front of a mirror, staring into his bare chest and arms, examining his muscles, or at least, pretending to have better developed ones. "Bloody hell! Why do I have to be so skinny?" he protested, dropping his arms hopelessly.
Nevertheless, as the memory of a brunette girl staring into his chest and blushing popped in his mind, the boy started exhibiting his torso and arms to an invisible audience. The boy was so distracted that he took some time to realize two people had just apparated in his room.
"Ron Weasley!" a playful voice exclaimed from behind the red haired boy. "Checking yourself on the mirror, huh? Who's the girl?"
"I – what? There's no girl!" Ron protested, dressing a shirt at the speed of light. "And how dare you invading my room like that? Couldn't you use the door as the normal people do?"
"You should know by now, little brother, that we are everything but normal people!" Fred replied, punching Ron on the shoulder. "Now tell us, who's your girl?"
Ron rolled his eyes in an annoyed way, before hissing: "I already told you; there is no girl, alright? Don't you two have something better to do?" he asked desperately, crossing his arms.
"As a matter of fact… we don't! What's better than annoying our brother?" George said in a defiant way. "And what's even better? Attacking our little brother with a pillow!"
Ron opened his mouth to retort, but it was too late: Fred and George were already hitting him with pillows.
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"Who's making all this fuss?" a red haired girl wondered, raising her eyes from the photo album she was seeing.
"I have no idea, but it looks like it's coming from Ron's bedroom. Do you think we should check if he's alright?" Hermione asked in a rather worried tone of voice. Ginny nodded and so the two girls made their way towards Ron's room.
The girls exchanged concerned looks, because as they came near, the sound grew louder and it looked as if someone was being killed, due to the muffled screams and some strange noises.
Hermione was the first entering the room, concern clear in her pale face. Ginny followed quickly, and she was in such a hurry that she didn't notice Hermione was standing still just in front of the door. What followed was a chain fall: Ginny pushed Hermione that fell over George; George lost his balance and pushed Ron to the ground, which in his turn, pushed Fred, making him fall too.
No wonder that when Mrs. Weasley entered the room seconds later, she couldn't suppress a surprised exclamation. The five teenagers were all on the ground, laughing as if they were completely mad. "Heavens! What happened in this room?" she asked in a shocked voice, but her only reply was more giggles.
Ron was the first to get free from that confusion, and he walked immediately towards Hermione and held out his hand. "Do you want some help?" the blue eyed boy asked in a sweet voice.
"Yeah, I think so!" Hermione answered, holding Ron's hand and allowing him to pull her up. But he used more strength than she was expecting, and so she was thrown against him. The red haired boy grabbed her by the waist and stared deeply into her brown eyes. It was now or never, he thought to himself, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of giggles.
"You can let go of her now, brother", Ginny whispered in his ear, making Ron blush in ten shades of red.
Hermione stepped away from him, her eyes locked with his blue ones, and then she turned her face away swiftly.
Mrs. Weasley seemed to be the only person in that room oblivious to the odd behaviour of Ron and Hermione, and she was the one breaking the uncomfortable silence: "Well, children, I'll need your help to prepare dinner; Fred and George are going to eat with us."
"Of you go, children! Mum needs your help", Fred commanded in a resolute voice, pointing the door to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
"What do you think you're doing, young man?" Mrs. Weasley inquired, placing her hands on her hips. "When I said children, I was including you and George! Now, of you go to the kitchen, and I don't want to hear a single complain!" the red haired woman threatened.
Therefore, all the five of them had to follow Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen some floors bellow, talking cheerfully and still laughing about their fall. All of them except two people, that were making all the efforts to put a distance between them, even though their eyes were frequently seeking for each other.
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Note: Merry Christmas to you all!