Though it was after Christmas and on its way to New Years, Hogwarts was still decked with garland and cheer. A large brightly decorated tree took up an entire corner of the Great Hall but it wasn't big enough to fill the gaping spaces left at the four long tables. A few handfuls of students were scattered about those last few days of winter break. Harry and Ron were sat far down the Gryffindor table keeping to themselves, planning on when Harry would sneak into the restricted section. They'd been so enamored with festivity and gifts they'd nearly forgotten they needed to keep looking for information about Nicholas Flamel.
Spying their small heads bent low to whisper, Clione stepped away from Gail with the promise to meet her at the library. A flash of green shooting between their heads gave her away. As Jamila perched on the edge of Ron's plate and stole his ham, Harry turned with a grin to Clione as she made her way to him.
He'd seen her out of uniform enough times by then to guess her favorite color was pink. Her head scarf was light pink, the same color as her trousers that she had a dark sequined shirt tucked into. "Happy Holidays."
She smiled at the pause he'd taken after opening his mouth, trying to figure out what to say. "Happy Christmas, boys," she bid the pair as she placed a long wrapped box on the table between them.
Harry looked at Ron but he was too busy trying to shoo Jamila off his plate before she took a bite of everything on it. He made quick work of the wrapping paper and sat looking at the wooden box, seeing colored squares similar to chess. But there were a great many shades of red and a few of the squares had strange markings. Around the sides of the box bore what he realized were hieroglyphs.
"It's a game called Senet, my grandfather taught me when I was younger." Clione set a knee on the bench and reached across Harry to the other end of the box pulling out the shelf where the pieces were stored. "Figured you two might enjoy it," she said glancing at Ron, who was looking as far up as he could at where Jamila was now nesting in his hair. "I can show you how to play at dinner."
"Thanks." Harry's voice was small but his eyes were bright as he looked up at her. He watched her smile vanish as someone came around the side of him, before he even finished turning Harry knew it was Fred.
"You're back early, Clio. Gail's family get tired of you so soon?" Fred sneered around the other side of Harry. His mean smirk was replaced by a rather pleasant grin as Jamila flew to his shoulder nestling into his neck.
Clione rolled her eyes at the both of them. Try as Clione might Jamila insisted on adoring that infuriating boy. "George," she greeted, choosing not to acknowledge his brother.
Before Fred could comment on her ignoring him, because of course he would, a lone screech echoed in the nearly empty Hall and they all looked up at the owl swooping low to drop a letter.
"Not even five minutes and someone's already sending you love letters?"
Ignoring Fred again, Clione caught the letter sealed with a wax imprint of a palm framed by stars. So soon after she arrived, like it'd been here waiting for her. With a sinking feeling she turned it over breaking her family's wax seal and pulled out the single piece of parchment.
The four boys watched the warmth seep out of her face. "Excuse me," she said suddenly leaving them without another look back.
"Should someone go after her?" Ron asked looking at his brothers. She at least didn't mind George, and the bright green Fwooper had her little talons around Fred's sweater as she tried get him to go after Clione.
George was ready to agree, having been across the table from her and able to see the way her eyes had glistened before she left. But Fred was quick to shoot them both down; if she cared for them to know she would've told them. Ron and Harry were looking at all the pieces to the game set Clione had gotten him, trying to figure out what any of the symbols meant, when Gail found them.
"Clione was supposed to meet me in the library."
This time Fred turned to George sharing a conspiring look across the table. Not long after Gail went to find Clione, the twins hurried back to their room to actually find her. With a now blank map tucked in his back pocket, Fred led the way to the clock tower. He had it in mind to sneak up on her when Jamila leapt from his shoulder and flew around the corner to get to Clione.
"Think we could still scare her?" Fred asked turning to his brother, his brows raised suggestively.
But George shook his head pushing him around the corner. Even at the other end of tower they could hear her sniff as she stood with her arms crossed and her back to them. All thought of mischief left Fred as he stepped closer, seeing the way her shoulders shook as she sucked in a ragged breath. While George went around the other side of her and reached a timid hand to her shoulder, Fred reached for the letter she held loosely.
George looked over the top of her head at Fred, seeing his brows draw further and further together until he was scowling. Without a word Fred turned on his heel and marched off, leaving George to pat Clione on the shoulder not knowing what to do. It was a relief to see Gail tearing around the corner a few minutes later.
"Oh Clione," she sighed throwing her arms around her shoulders. "Fred told me, I'm so sorry."
George stepped back when Clione turned into Gail's chest and really started to cry; loud gasping sobs that made him uncomfortable. He was glad Fred sent Gail up here, she'd know how to fix this. Whatever it was.
"I'll write my parents, I'm sure they'll let you stay with us."
He hurried to the Owlry to find Fred giving their owl a hastily written letter. "What did you do?"
Fred turned wearing an unusually serious expression George almost didn't recognize. "I fixed it," is all he would say.
George wouldn't find out until the next day after the mail had come, sitting next to Harry while he and Ron played Senet. It was harder than Wizard's Chess, which Harry wasn't good at, and Ron loved it even though he was pretty sure they were doing it wrong. "I was hoping you'd come over, do you think you could tell me the rules again?" Ron asked excitedly when he saw Clione.
"Just a minute," she told Ron without looking at him or even really acknowledging him. Instead she stepped around him and sat with her back to the table next to Fred, who was doing his best not to turn to her. A few moments, several in fact, passed as he continued to take small sips out of his goblet in effort to avoid talking to her. "Fred," she said in warning.
He knew the next thing she'd try was throwing it, so he set his cup down and looked at her. His mouth opened to say something mean out of habit, but her eyes were widened with a vulnerability that made her look sweet. "You needed a place to stay and we have an extra room, no need to make a big deal out of it."
This time she was the one to turn away not wanting to look at him, holding the letter from his mother assuring her everything was going to be just fine.
"Are you gonna cry again?" he asked very softly, finding the thought terrifying.
She turned to him sharply, "no, I'm not gonna cry again."
They both turned facing the opposite way with a heavy roll of their eyes. But she let go of a loud huff and Fred suddenly felt the weight of her head on her shoulder. He peered out of the corner of his eye seeing only her black hijab, feeling his face grow warm. "Alright, loves," she said and just as suddenly pulled away from him, "how far have you gotten?"
Waving to Gail to come sit with them she moved back around to Ron and he showed her what he and Harry had done. George was making kissy faces across the table at Fred, who's beet red face wasn't amused in the slightest, Harry and Ron were listening as Clione explained the rules again and the best thing to do with where they both were, and Gail was making her way to Harry's side of the table. There was a quick green flash and Clione, without taking her eyes from the board, raised her hand to catch Jamila before she snatched one of the pieces. She reached around Ron setting her Fwooper on Fred's shoulder; and over Harry's head George and Gail shared a surprised look.
..
Trunks were packed, the school was emptying and the train was filling up with students eager to get home. There were a lonely few shuffling about with less excitement, such as Harry and Clione, that didn't have much of a home to go back to. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in a train car by themselves talking about visiting Ron over the summer. A few cars up Clione sat with Gail and Noemi, along with half the Gryffindor quidditch team.
"Look at that sour face, George," Fred teased when the girls came back from changing out of their uniforms.
"Reckon she's still bitter over losing the house cup, Fred?" teased George, though his was noticeably friendlier.
Clione took a breath and let it go in a loud sigh not acknowledging them as she sat down. The end of her scarf fell from her shoulder and she slung it back over it into place. "Slytherin did win your other three years," Angelina piped in next with a laugh she was doing a bad job of hiding.
Another sigh from Clione, the only Slytherin in their car. This time it was Gail, her Gail, to turn against her. "It was time to let someone else have it."
"Fine," Clione groaned, giving in because Gail was saying she had to. "But a third of our points were mine. I worked extra hard this year," she told them seriously. But her reasoning fell on deaf ears, everyone in that car was glad Slytherin had lost.
None more so than the next boy who spoke. "And yet you picked another scarf with red in it. It's almost like you wanted us to win," came Oliver's deep teasing voice. He'd been talking to Lee about his plans to practice quidditch that summer; Lee, who now stared open mouthed at the other boy surprised anything got him to stop talking about the sport.
She turned hard eyes to where Oliver sat beside her, but he could see the corners of her mouth trying not to curl. That morning she had in fact picked a wrap that had little red flowers. "I still look good in red."
"And I still agree." This time he was able to look her in the eye when he said it, this time he saw her smile.
Pressing her lips together around a wide grin she shook her head, feeling heat creeping up her neck. He had a rather unremarkable face with pleasant enough features that would lend towards handsome as he grew into them, but he had the sweetest eyes and a wicked grin. "Don't you have quidditch to talk about?"
As she'd been wanting Oliver did turn back to the four across from him. "That does remind me, I'll be devising a new training program. I expect you all to come back ready."
While the others groaned and tried coming up with excuses, that of course didn't work on Oliver, Clione turned her warm face into Gail's shoulder. "To think you were going to decline them sitting with us," Gail whispered, undeterred by the look Clione shot her.
They arrived at King's Crossing Station and began filing out. Kids were running to their parents and promising each other to write. After hugging Gail goodbye, Clione moved a few steps down the platform and turned waiting for the twins.
"If someone were to write to you this summer," came a familiar thick brogue that had her turning to where Oliver had snuck up behind her, "would they be right to send it to the Weasley's?"
It surprised her that he'd noticed. "They would," she answered in a soft voice and with an even softer smile.
He'd noticed Fred hanging around her more, his incessant jabs gentler than they used to be. It was George that told him after he asked about it. "They're a good lot," he told her with a decided nod. "I hear Mr. Weasley is quite fond of muggles."
She rolled her eyes at his grin. "I'm a lot better than when we first met." She barely remembered her first year, how monochrome her world had felt. Before Gail forced her way into her life and filled it with color and joy.
An arm suddenly came around her shoulders pulling her back a step from Oliver. "Practically intolerable, I've heard it said," Fred chimed in. This time when she rolled her eyes there was nothing fond about it.
"Yeah Gail really did a number on you." That comment was from George.
Oliver laughed at where she stood between them looking half a shade from miserable. "It'll be good for you," he told her, seeing from her morose expression she didn't believe him.
Fred told Oliver goodbye for all of them as he all but dragged Clione away. She was quick to shove his arm away, prepared to give him a piece of her mind. But he fixed the end of her ruffled scarf over her shoulder so it fell smooth down her back once more. She looked at his eyes widened to look innocent, the corners of his mouth just barely lifted to look cherubic. The devil in him began to show at his widening grin before the back of her hand smacked his middle stealing his breath. She left him there to catch it with George laughing beside her as he led her to where his mom and Ginny waited.
"Hello, dear," Molly said with a bright kind smile as she took the girl's hands in hers. "We've got your room ready, and tomorrow Arthur's going to take you to Gringott's to get everything your grandparents sent."
Clione's voice was a shattered breath as she gave a small, "thank you."
"Fred said you were from Egypt. My oldest works there, he sent me a cookbook. I made something for dinner you'll have to help me pronounce. Oh, no tears," she said bringing a hand to Clione's cheek. "We're gonna go straight home, I'll make you some tea, and we're gonna be just fine." She waited until Clione was able to nod, taking the poor girl's shivering smile as a good start, before letting her go.
As Molly directed Percy and the twins to load everyone's things on a cart, Clione stood aside trying to find her footing in all this. At Hogwarts there'd been a routine to distract her, a false sense of security. But now here she was with a family she didn't really know and she felt very alone.
A small hand fit in hers and Clione looked down at the only Weasley girl as she smiled up at her. "It'll be nice having another girl around," Ginny told her. She liked how colorful her shirt was and the way she had it tucked into her jeans. "You're even prettier than Fred said. He talks about you a lot. I really like your scarf."
Clione blinked trying to sort through all of that, finding it easier to process Ginny's kindness. "I have a green one that'll look nice with your hair." The way Ginny smiled had the knot in Clione's stomach unwinding.
"You'll be mom's favorite in no time," George told her with an affectionate pat on her shoulder as he headed for the car.
Ron found himself holding Jamila's small cage. "Mom wanted me to be a girl. Maybe you can convince her not to ground me for sneaking around the castle and almost dying. You're reasonable." He went after George and Ginny followed asking him all about Harry.
Percy wheeled the heavy overflowing cart after his mother. "If you want to get a head start on next year's studies you can borrow my books."
"Day one, Ayad, and you're fitting right in." The tone Fred used was closer to insulting, but he was actually being sweet. He could see she was nervous, the kind of nervous she'd get before tests because even when she was the best something in her was convinced she wasn't good enough. That wasn't something he used to know about her, and he didn't like the way it made him feel now that he did. "Now I can make your life miserable everyday for the next three years."
She walked beside him trailing after the others, glancing at him to see the way he grinned at her. It was nicer than it used to be, although he was still single-handedly the most annoying person she had ever and likely would ever meet. "Promise?"
Her soft voice had his feet stopping as he looked at her, losing a little of his bravado. "Cross my heart," he swore, catching the way her mouth twitched.
"Come on you two," Molly called when she'd turned to make sure her ducks were in a row and found the pair a few too many steps behind. She saw the way Fred exaggeratedly raised an arm for Clione to step in front of him like she was royalty and he her queen's guard. She saw past the rolling of Clione's eyes to catch her faint smile as they walked side by side. And as Fred elbowed Clione and she in turn shoved him, Molly smiled to herself in understanding.