Jade's POV

It was almost five, when Ginny invited Luna and her parents she said it will start at five.

I remembered many BBQs and afternoon tea parties and dinners. They always had the same rules. Be quiet, smile, never ever get dirty, don't eat food unless they offer it to you. I always had to wear shiny black shoes and white socks with ruffled edge and nice pink or pale yellow dress, they always curled my hair (or, after I've cut it, they always made me wear some kind of a bow or hair band which hurt my head.

I was waiting for Molly to come and rush us all upstairs to clean our ears and brush the dirt from behind our nails and I was right, here she was, standing in the doorway calling us inside.

"Ok, kids get upstairs and wash your hands before we'll eat. And Ron, please put on some clean shirt. Again." Added Molly when she sent us all to our rooms.

I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't have any dress or nice clothes, so I asked Ginny, when she was running down the stairs to the bathroom. She looked at me and said:

"Well, dad only has one rule – we have to wear some shoes, your sneakers will do. He just doesn't want us to step on some hot piece of coal or something. Come on, Luna will be here soon!" and she ran down to the bathroom where she quickly washed her hands and then I heard someone talking outside.

I looked out of my window and there was Luna and her Mom with some tall blond man who had to be Luna's father, just closing the gate.

I grabbed my sweatshirt and quickly went downstairs. I washed my hands in the kitchen sink and then pulled on my old sneakers. I didn't bother with laces; I just stuffed them inside the shoes and went outside.

We already had lots of plates and bowls with food on the table.

Arthur was trying to light the fire with matches (always fascinated with muggle-way) and Luna's father was helping him but they weren't very successful so far.

I joined Ron who was sitting in the hammock and rocking gently. I knew he would fall asleep again if he could but there was a possibility that we will eat soon and Ron didn't want to miss that.

We were just sitting there, I was pretty hungry too, we had only small lunch, I was sure Molly knew what she was doing, everyone was now waiting for the BBQ to start.

The fire was burning and Molly was in the kitchen with Luna's mom preparing zucchini and hotdogs. I went inside to see if I could help them with anything.

"Oh honey, you don't have to do anything, just go outside and relax." Smiled Molly and patted my cheek. I stayed there, I didn't really know what to do and when she saw me standing in the doorway, I was given a basket with sliced bread and a bottle of butter beer for Arthur.

"Well, aren't you sweet!" said Luna's mom when she saw me carrying the food outside and they followed me out because the fire was already roaring almost two meters high.

"Arthur! The fire's too big! You went over the edge again!" called Molly angrily and took out her wand. The fire calmed down.

I set the bread down and went around the table to give the beer to dad.

The sun was setting down and it was getting colder so I pulled on my hoodie and sat down on the tiny wooden stool close to the fire.

Molly gave everyone a long stick with sharp end and we've started to slowly bake the hotdogs and big chunks of zucchini. We baked the potatoes and Molly roasted ton of veggies on big wired mesh and we soon had plates full of hot baked tomatoes and even first sausages and toasts.

I was talking to Ron and Ginny way giggling over something with Luna and all the adults were chatting close to the fire.

Suddenly all the Christmas lights on the trees blinked and were turned on. It wasn't quite dark enough to need any artificial light but it looked really nice and festive. I looked around to see who turned them on but Molly and Arthur looked shocked and were looking around.

I saw him first, a tall man with dark travel cloak standing close to our gate.

"Remus! Hey! I'm glad you made it!" called Arthur and was shaking hands with his friend.

"Hi, I'm sorry I'm late but I had some work to do." Said the man silently.

"Molly, I forgot to tell you, I've met Remus today when I had to go out for some investigation about one muggle who brought an electric mixer from some witch and it was turning on and off without being plugged in. Fascinating things these mixers I wish I could have one in my garage to look it over."

"Arthur stop talking about such silly things, no one's interested in it. Come on Remus, sit down I'll bring you some butter beer and Ron will give you a hotdog and some bread." Said Molly and pushed Remus down on the bench alongside the table.

Ron gave up (unwillingly) the hotdog he was slowly roasting over the fire and Molly handed him a big slice of fresh bread. I jumped up and headed to the kitchen for another bottle of butter beer for Remus. Molly was about to go there herself but I was glad to stretch my legs and get away from all the people. It was starting to be a little crowded there.

Kitchen was nicely warm and dark AND silent. I pulled the beer from the fridge and turned around to go outside, back to the noisy, chilly and crazy mix of my new family and friends.

The night moths were already flying around the fire. Luna and her father were chasing garden gnomes around and Ginny was chasing them, but she couldn't keep up because she was laughing so hard she could hardly stand.

Ron was still sitting close to the fire, pouting a little bit because he had to give up the hotdog he was so carefully roasting for himself, but to be fair, I have to say he already ate 3 and now was roasting two more.

Molly was sitting in the hammock with Luna's mom laughing about something. Everyone looked so happy and relaxed but Remus was looking a little bit lonely.

I guess they knew him better then me and if they were giving him some time alone, than maybe he liked it that way.

"Here's your beer sir." I said and put the bottle on the table, close to his plate.

"Thanks Jade." He replied softly. I didn't question the fact he already knew my name. I was used to people talking bout me behind my back. It was always the same. Everyone knew my story before I had a chance to decide if I wanted to tell them or not. It made me feel like I had no privacy at all.

I thought the Weasleys were different, somehow, I trusted Molly that she wouldn't tell everyone who I was, where did I came from and what happened in the past.

Sure he didn't indicate in any way he knew my story, but it was always like that – adults talk, adults tell each other they have new kid in the house, and naturally questions are asked and answers are given.

I made a note to self that however nice this family was, they were all the same.

I wasn't disappointed, in one way I felt better. I lived here at the Burrow in big doubt, never at peace, still wondering if they are really different from all the people I've met before, or if they'll send me away just like everyone else did. Now I knew, and knowing the facts had a calming effect to me.

I let out a breath I was holding in, for almost a week now and I turned to .

"Are you alright?" it wasn't a polite question you ask when you meet a stranger. It was a real question, for a real person sitting in front of me, with sad face and deep blue circles under his eyes.

"I'm fine thank you." Came polite answer from the man.

"No, you're not." I felt brave now, when I knew I'm alone again, I had to stand up for myself.

He just looked at me and smiled sadly.

"you're right, I'm not. Didn't Molly tell you?" he asked, as if I was supposed to know something.

"No, I'm afraid she didn't have time. You see, she was pretty busy preparing the BBQ today, and I think she didn't even know you were coming." I wanted to ask if he's ill, but what if he really was? What if it was some serious disease? Who was I to ask? He has the right to share his own story, I know how it sucks when everyone knows more about you than you do.

"Well, I'm a werewolf you see, and it was full moon a couple of days ago." He said, looking at me, his head held high and his eyes looked almost angry.

"Hmm, and that's why you sit on your own?" I asked before I could re-think it. It wasn't very polite question.

"Well, no. I'm just really tired and grumpy after the transformation you know. And I'm not very good company these days, so Molly and Arthur just give me some time to relax." He smiled dreamily. "They were always my good friends."

"Should I leave then? I didn't want to impose…" I started, but he stopped me abruptly.

"No! Not at all, I like company, I spend most of my time alone, you know, but you might not like my company – now, when you know. And like I said, I'm not very pleasant these days, so maybe you should find someone more cheerful to spend your time with."

I had no idea what he was talking about. Now that I know what? That he's a werewolf? Is that a valid reason? I shouldn't ask but the curiosity got the better of me:

"Should I go away because you're a werewolf? Is that what you meant? Because I'm not sure I understand you. I don't now much about werewolves, I only know the ones from normal books, but I'm sure you're not like that. If you were, than Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let you be here – where Ginny and Ron are." I was sure Molly would never let anyone dangerous near her kids.

"Well, yes, Molly would never let me near Ron, Ginny OR you, if I was dangerous. Lots of the stuff you know from…normal books isn't right. I'm just normal man most of the time, just like anyone else, but people seem to forget about that and focus way too much on the couple of days around full moon every month." He said sadly.

I sat down next to him and giggled. "Well, tell me about it. I used to be perfectly normal most of the time, and then once in a while I did something strange involuntarily and people would kick me out, just like that." I hit the table with hand.

"But now, when people know who I am and why these things happen to me, they act a lot differently, you know?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You can't be serious. Are you comparing accidental magic with changing into werewolf every month?"

"Well, now that I'm thinking about it, sure, it's incomparable. You at least know when it's gonna happen, you can prepare, you know it will be over, and you now what's going on. I had no idea when I'll mess it up again, I didn't know if it will ever stop and the worst part was that I had no idea what was going on. It was awful." I shook my head, feeling a little bit blue, remembering all the accidents from the past.

And he laughed, I never saw anyone laughing that hard, there were tears in his eyes and he gently hugged me from the side.

"Oh Jade, you're the funniest brightest girl I've ever met! I would steal you right away, but Molly would catch me and bite my head off if I even suggested that." He laughed again, and then I noticed everyone was looking at us.

I couldn't blame them, Remus who looked half dead half depressed moments ago was now laughing, his eyes sparkled and he instantly looked ten years younger.

And I had to join him in laughing, even though I knew he was a werewolf, even though I realized Weasleys were just the same like everyone else, even though I felt more alone than ever, in a group of family and friends, I had to laugh, because life seemed so good in that very moment.

There you go, another chapter, Jade's doubts and insecurities are showing a little bit, but we need to give her some time to deal with everything changing in her life.

Another chapter will be here soon, thanks for being patient with me, life's been crazy.