Chapter 2: Reunited
It was a little after lunchtime when Kaylee stepped off the Knight bus with her school trunk and her owl, Shadowfax. She let Shadowfax out of his cage and he took off with a whoosh of his large wings towards the Weasley's barn. Dragging her trunk across the gravel path, she took a deep steadying breath and squared her shoulders resolutely. She could do this. She hadn't seen George in weeks. Maybe, after being away from him for a while, she had somehow gotten over this insane crush. Kaylee reached the front door of the Burrow and knocked twice.
A few moments later she was greeted by a slightly plump woman with bright red hair and a kind smile spread wide across her face.
"Kaylee dear! Oh how are you!?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, throwing her arms around Kaylee in a welcoming hug.
"Fine thanks. It's good to see you!" laughed Kaylee. She had always loved Mrs. Weasley.
"And you! Look at you!" cried Mrs. Weasley, taking a proper look at Kaylee. "You've grown so much since I last saw you."
"I don't think so. I'm the same height I was last year," Kaylee sighed. Her short stature was something she was not fond of. Of course, the twins were very fond of teasing Kaylee about it.
"No dear," Mrs. Weasley continued, still looking Kaylee up and down. "I mean to say, you've matured. You're a young woman now. And a positively beautiful one at that!"
Kaylee knew she had filled out over the past several weeks. She had noticed her acne had cleared, leaving behind smooth pale skin. Her hair had lengthened considerably, its smooth dark brown lengths reaching the middle of her back now. Her body had changed too. Her smaller chest had blossomed over night it seemed, and left behind an ample chest and womanly curves.
"Ah…yes Mum said the same thing. She's afraid I'll have to beat some poor boy off with a club before the end of the year," laughed Kaylee.
"I dread the day when I have to worry about that with Ginny. Well come in, come in."
Mrs. Weasley ushered her inside, and with a flick of her wand, Kaylee's trunk followed.
"Bill and Charlie are already here, and Harry and Hermione will be arriving this afternoon. Bill and Charlie are in their old room; Ron, Harry, Fred and George will be staying in Ron's room. So you and Hermione will have to stay with Ginny, I'm afraid," she said sending Kaylee's trunk up the crooked stairs with another wave of her wand.
"Not a problem. Thank you for letting me stay here. Mum says you should be charging rent, with all the guests you have," Kaylee laughed.
"Oh not at all, dear. I love having you here. You're as good as family," Mrs. Weasley replied fondly.
"Blimey, Kaylee! Is that you?" came a voice from the kitchen doorway.
Bill, the eldest of the Weasley children, had walked in and was viewing Kaylee with a kind smile on his face. He promptly ran up to her and gave her a bone-crushing hug.
"It's good to see you too Bill!" Kaylee gasped, trying to refill the air in her lungs.
"Last time I saw you, you were shorter than my broomstick," laughed Bill. "I see that hasn't changed."
"Oh ha ha. How's Egypt?" Kaylee said to distract him from her height.
"Ah, you know. Hot, dry, full of Muggles," Bill said with a shrug.
Kaylee knew Bill worked in Egypt for Gringotts Wizard Bank. He broke ancient curses and found treasure in ancient tombs, from what she understood.
"Glad to see you got time off for the Cup," grinned Kaylee.
"Are you kidding? Ireland vs. Bulgaria! I wouldn't miss it for a sack full of galleons!" Bill exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Arthur was able to get seats in the top box with the Cornelius Fudge himself!" gushed Mrs. Weasley proudly. "He did Ludo Bagman a favor, and Bagman was so happy, he gave Arthur free prime seat tickets."
"I like Ludo. Mum brings him around for tea every so often. He taught me how to ride a broom," said Kaylee, remembering the happy-go-lucky wizard laughing jovially and encouraging her onto a broomstick when she was just 5.
Kaylee's mother Amelia Osmund worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures office. She became a single parent after Kaylee's father died when Kaylee was just two. Amelia Osmund had stepped up and taken on role of mother and father, teaching Kaylee everything she could. Kaylee felt her mother had done an admirable job. However, there were a few things that Amelia couldn't teach her, like how to ride a broomstick. Amelia had always been a bit too clumsy and preferred Apparating to flying. Therefore she had enlisted the help of her friend Ludo Bagman to teach Kaylee how to fly. Kaylee's train of thought was interrupted by a third Weasley entering the room.
"There's my ickle Ronniekins!" Kaylee squealed, giving the youngest Weasley male a hug.
"When are you going to stop calling me that? I'm twice your size!" Ron said exasperatedly.
This was true. He had grown about a foot since she had last seen him and though Kaylee was three years older than him, Ron towered over her.
"Mrs. Weasley, you have got to stop feeding your children SkeleGrow. Or at least share with me!" Kaylee chuckled.
"You aren't taller, but you grew up some. Did you take an ageing potion?" Ron grinned at her.
"That's the third time I've heard that. Do I really look that old? I mean, I haven't started sprouting grey hairs have I?" joked Kaylee.
"No, its just surprising. You always looked like a little kid before. Fred and George won't recognize you."
"Where are those two anyways?" asked Kaylee.
She was surprised they hadn't tackled her to the ground the moment she set foot in the door. They usually greeted her in that manner.
"Out in the garden, sulking, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley with a tired sigh. "We had a bit of an argument. They didn't get as many O. I had hoped for, and on top of that they informed me that they want to open a joke shop after school instead of getting proper jobs. They've been developing merchandise for it for years. I had to confiscate some of it this morning. Can you believe that?"
Kaylee could believe it. She had been helping the twins develop their merchandise for a majority of the past 5 years. They came up with the ideas and she usually helped with the magic. She thought they were quite brilliant, in their own way. Some of the things they invented required very advanced magic and when the twins put their minds to it, they did spells to rival her own skills. They usually only needed her help with the very tricky charms. However, Kaylee was not about to tell Mrs. Weasley about her involvement.
Thankfully she was saved from replying when Ron quickly said, "Lets go outside and find them."
He lead her through the kitchen and out the back door. Fred and George were standing on the edge of the little pond in the Weasley's garden. They had their backs turned towards the house and they seemed to be discussing something in hushed tones. Sensing an opportunity for some long overdue payback, Kaylee decided to sneak up on them. She pressed a finger to her lips, indicating that Ron should keep quiet. Kaylee crept as quietly as she could to the twins, stopping when she was just a breath away from them.
"We should give a supply of them to Kaylee, just so Mum doesn't get them all if she does find out," Fred was saying.
"Good idea. Kaylee said she'd have the order forms written up before term starts. I hope she didn't let her mother find out or it will get back to Dad," said George.
"How thick do you think I am?" Kaylee said in a loud voice, standing right behind them. They both jumped in surprise.
"MERLINS BEARD! You almost gave me a heart attack!" laughed Fred.
"Serves you right for not believing in me," Kaylee said airily.
"Its not that. Its…" but George couldn't seem to finish his sentence. His eyes got wide as he took in her appearance.
"Whoa! You got old on us!" exclaimed Fred with disbelief.
"Oh yes, I'm positively ancient. Next thing you know I'll be sprouting a beard longer than Professor Dumbledore's." Kaylee rolled her eyes. George had not stopped staring at her. He rather looked like the Body-Bind Curse had hit him.
"You two look like you've been chugging SkeleGrow as well!" Kaylee exclaimed.
They had to be over six feet by now. Kaylee being a pathetic 5ft2inches had to stand on her tiptoes when she gave them each a hug. As usual, her heart started pounding when she hugged George, but she stubbornly ignored it.
"It's great to see you. We need your help on a few, er, projects," said George, noticing Ron standing near by.
"We'll talk later," promised Kaylee in a low voice.
"You better not be working on Weasley's Wizard Wheezes again or Mum will have your wands," warned Ron.
"And if you go tattling to Mum, you'll have an extra head," promised Fred.
"As if you could. Dad said he'd be back around 5 to get Harry and he wants you two to come and help with his trunk and stuff," Ron reminded the twins, before making his way back to the house again.
"Excellent," said George with a mischievous grin.
"Sounds like an opportunity to me," agreed Fred.
Kaylee just laughed and shook her head, earning a dazzling smile from George. Judging by the violent battle going on in her stomach, Kaylee knew with that one smile she definitely wasn't over George yet.