A/N: Thank you guys for your patience with this story! I know I said regular updates would start back three months ago. I'm going to try and make sure it's not three months before I post the next chapter. I'm still making little plans and doing little things in my head with Evermore, and it's nowhere NEAR done yet, so please stick with it! Also, if you notice a few changes in the story here and there, it's because I went back and edited pretty much all of the chapters! I'm really bad about proof-reading, but I'm trying to get better at that. So thank you again for reading/reviewing!
Before Ever could blink, it seemed, time began flowing past. Her father was by no means forgotten, but teachers started talking about exams as early as the end of February, and the twins began proclaiming their birthday was "soon"—though the two of them wouldn't fess up about just how soon it may be—and Star's words stayed firmly planted in the back of her mind. They first years started counting the days by the amount Lee's massive pile of sugar quills was depleting. Not only had Fred and George had the same idea as Ever, but Lee's parents had sent him a large box stuffed with the snacks. By the beginning of March Lee was moodily complaining that the sugar quills were going stale, and that he was sick of them in any case, and started handing them out to anyone who would take them. When he couldn't find anyone else, the Gryffindor first years—Angelina and Alicia valiantly offering their services—resigned themselves to splitting the remaining thirty-one quills, with George taking the one left over, and the six of them went to bed that night with aching teeth and stomachs.
The next morning Lee got a mouthful of ink while sucking on a real quill for want of one of the sugar variety.
"This is why wizards should use pens like normal people," Ever hissed while Professor McGonagall conjured up a goblet of water for Lee to rinse out his and George scrunched up their noses.
On the fourth of March, a sign up sheet was posted in the common room for those going home for the spring holiday in three weeks time.
"We're going home 'cause Mum spoils us around our birthday," George confided as Fred scribbled down both of their names. Ever ignored that last—over the last few weeks she'd learned asking did her no good—but gnawed on her thumbnail just the same. She missed her dad, and she wanted to see him, but...
"You're not going home?" Lee asked as he signed his own name.
"No," she decided, sliding her hands into the pockets of her robes. "It'd be too far to go for just a week. My dad can't use the powder you lot told me about." It wasn't exactly a lie' it was a three hour drive from Cardiff to King's Cross under the best of conditions. Fred and George exchanged a glance that Ever pretended not to see.
Errol was a common sight at breakfast, occasionally lunch, and, once, dinner. The old bird appeared in the great hall at least twice a week, often carrying a book or an article of clothing that had been forgotten until needed. Most memorably, the poor old bird had once been subjected to the long flight with Charlie Weasley's scarf wrapped around most of his body. The five Weasley children had never quite worked out how Errol had managed the flight, and it had taken him two nights to recuperate in the owlery.
On the morning of the eighteenth of March, the week before the Weasley's were set to go home, Ever barely looked up while the twins performed their long-perfected mail routine. Fred reached out and snatched Errol out of the air, before the owl could manage to knock over every dish in his path, and soothed the bird while George began untangling the note from his leg. After a few seconds of George's fumbling, Fred reached over impatiently and snapped the thread tying the note on, ripping it open. Ever glanced at George, but he only had eyes for the note as well; he'd poked his head over his twin's shoulder, and for a moment Ever was struck by the fact that it was the first time she'd seen the red-heads do anything silently.
Before she could grow uncomfortable with the unnaturally long quiet, it was broken by a whoop that sent Errol skittering away and had half the hall looking around at the Gryffindor table. Ever chanced a glance up at McGonagall—the boys had already served two more detentions since their first for disruptions—but the Transfiguration professor was merely smiling in their direction as she buttered a bit of toast. Charlie shrugged at Ever and Lee's questioning looks, but Bill grinned while Percy ducked his head and hid his flaming ears behind his book.
"So, Ever," began George, being the first of the twins to compose himself. "Instead of being stuck in this big old castle..."
"Surrounded with ghosts and Peeves and professors," Fred piped in, sounding slightly breathless.
"Would you like to come home with us for the holiday?" For a moment, the first year girl didn't register exactly what it was the two of them were saying. The twins glanced at each other nervously.
"You don't have to, of course," began Fred. "Mum just thought you might like it more, you know, no drafts or being by yourself in the dormitories or—"
"I'd love to go," Ever interrupted, barely able to refrain from letting their contagious grins spread across her own face. "It's just—well, muggle schools, they've got this sort of thing where kids can only come home with certain people, parents and guardians and—"
"Mum wrote to McGonagall and your dad, Ever, she's sorted it all," interrupted Bill, leaning over Charlie to be heard.
"You knew!" exclaimed the twins in unison. Bill grinned, and for a moment Ever would've sworn he was one of the twins himself, six years older.
"Mum got the reply from your dad yesterday," the oldest Weasley explained as he nibbled on a bit of toast, snatched from Percy's plate. "He's fine with it, if you want to go, he just wants you to write him a note when you get to the Burrow so he knows you've arrived alright."
"...When do we leave?" asked Ever, and for a moment she couldn't hear Bill's answer—not that he was really trying—over the renewed whoops of Fred and George. Star caught Ever's eye from across the hall and cocked a brow at her, but all the first year girl could do was grin back.
'Later,' she mouthed. The Hufflepuff nodded back to her, and continued to survey the scene for a moment, his own brief smile tugging up the corners of his mouth.
As it was a Saturday, Ever, Fred, George, and Lee went upstairs to spend the morning in the common room, where Fred and George quickly briefed Ever on everything she would need to know about living at the Burrow.
"Mum's a great cook, so you won't have to worry about that—"
"And Dad's a bit of a loon over muggle stuff so he might ask you a lot of questions if he's around, but I think Mum said in her last he's been working a lot of overtime—"
"And Ron and Ginny might ask you questions about school but if they bug you just shove them off, they might cry a bit but they get over it quickly—"
"And don't get scared if you hear bangs coming from our room at night, we're fine—"
Most of the day ended up passing in that manner, with Ever glancing at Lee, who was a bit like her translator. When his face was passively interested, she knew she was hearing something that was normal for the Wizarding world; when it was scrunched up in confusion, she figured she wasn't the only one completely out of her depth. Instead of going down to the Great Hall for lunch, the four of them went down to the kitchens, where Ever met Star and quickly filled him in. Then it was straight back up to the common room for more of the twins filling her in.
When Ever finally crept up to bed that night, well after midnight, she snuggled down into the sheets and drifted off immediately.