Winter 1991
Ronald Weasley
Ron took a short breath and let the fine powder slip through his fingers as he cast it down at his feet. He tried his best to make his words deliberate and clear, "Greengrass Estate."
Green-licking flames erupted around him and consumed him in a torrent of whirling roaring heatless fire. For a moment his stomach flipped and the world spun violently, he felt as if his entire body was pressed together for just a second and then stretched apart again. As abruptly as the process began, it all stopped, and he stumbled forward into the manor house.
Ron did his best to stand up straight and he used his hands to brush the soot of the fireplace off of his robes. He took a step forward, busying himself with making sure he looked alright, and his shoes sank into a deep emerald-coloured carpet. For the first time he glanced up, and his eyes widened.
The room he stood in was vast, almost as vast as the largest extent he had ever seen the room of requirement but still a little smaller than the Hogwarts Great Hall. The tall walls were panelled in dark polished wood that gleamed softly in bright white light and gave way to large paintings of the English countryside; quiet scenes of rolling hills and serene lakes. Paintings, which, to Ron, seemed to be muggle, as he struggled to notice anything moving about inside the pictures. Above him hung a large chandelier of glowing crystals, its light reflecting across the room in bright shimmering patterns. It was completely unlike the warm glow of the burrow or Hogwarts and struck Ron as being something unique.
Ron turned his head slowly, looking like a git, as his eyes wandered over the room and he tried his best to soak everything in. Despite the opulence and sophistication of everything, the air felt fresh and smelt of clovers. A strange sort of feeling set in over Ron's chest as he took heaving breaths of the is Daphne's life.
He was probably only a few hours away from his own home the Burrow and yet it was as if he had stepped onto another planet, a world so apart from his that he struggled to comprehend everything around him. He couldn't imagine a life where the Greengrass Manor was simply normal. Whatever wall separated his family from the rich and powerful was present in everything around him. He wondered if should have taken his shoes off before stepping onto the .
"Are you alright?" Daphne said, her tone neutral, neither kind nor unkind. She stood a few paces away with Tracey at her side and two adults looming over them. Her gaze lingered on his eyes for a moment as if she was trying to guess what he was thinking.
Ron shared an awkward smile. "I just thought that maybe I should have taken off my shoes."
The man behind Daphne gave a slight laugh. "It's quite alright, our elves will take care of any soot or dirt you might have dragged in."
"Mother, father," Daphne said to the witch and wizard, "this is my friend, Ronald Weasley."
"Dianna," the witch said, stepping forward first. She didn't remind Ron much of his mother, he found Dianna Greengrass to be rather thin. She reminded him instead of some of the older Slytherin girls who refused to eat much of anything and just sat about the great hall table sipping water. Still, Ronald felt a strange sense of authority in the way she carried herself, her back straighter than even her daughter and her pale blonde hair pulled back in some sort of intricate twist. She regarded Ron with bright green eyes that almost seemed to shimmer in the light. They clashed against the dark black robes she had chosen to wear. She offered Ron a small reserved smile. "It's a pleasure, Ronald," she said smoothly.
Dianna extended out her hand and offered it to him. Ron, doing as Daphne and Tracey had instructed him, took it into his and bowed his head slightly. Daphne rewarded him with a small pleased nod.
Aloris Greengrass stood in contrast to his wife. He had sandy hair that almost bordered on brown, it was neatly combed but in a way that gave it the appearance as if it had been blown in the wind. A small scar curved beneath the man's thin lips, his round nose giving him a slightly rugged appearance. His blue eyes didn't sparkle like his wife's, they almost seemed to have an edge to them and when he stepped forward his footsteps didn't have the same weight. His robes too seemed mildly out of place, a size too large for him as they swished around his body. In some ways, Ron nearly shuddered, Aloris Greengrass reminded him almost of Professor Snape. As if the two could have been distantly related. Which, Ron guessed, wasn't entirely an impossibility.
Nonetheless, Aloris extended his hand and Ron shook it like he normally would. He had no idea why there were so many different rules for what he should and shouldn't do, but he tried to keep them in his mind as best he could. After all, he was a guest and he didn't want to upset 's mean shared a warm smile with Ron.
"It's, uh, nice to meet you both," Ron said, his voice feeling slightly wavy as he felt a bit of nervousness creep up his arms.
"I hope your floo journey went well?" Aloris asked. "I know it can be troublesome travelling here all the way from Scotland."
Ron nodded, he had travelled by floo a few times. Mostly because his family lived in a mostly muggle village and usually Floo'd to London for wizarding shopping. He decided not to make the comment, after all, he knew where Daphne stood but he still wasn't quite sure about her parents. Ron's mother had said that his father knew Aloris somehow, but Ron wasn't sure if that meant much at all. After all, his father was regarded as being pretty friendly, he supposed his father would make friends with just about anyone who wasn't an outright blood supremacist. Ron almost grimaced as he suddenly realized he had been doing the exact same thing with Theo. It was better, he thought, to understand his friend's parents before he started speaking freely.
"Your house is quite nice…" he said instead, not really sure what was polite. He felt like he was standing in an art gallery and not a living room. He imagined he would never comprehend the cost of the manor.
Aloris gestured to Dianna, "All my wife's doing I am afraid. I've got a horrible taste for fashion." Aloris lifted his arms to show how his robes slouched on him. "I'm told this is too big," he shrugged.
"I appreciate your comment, dear," Dianna added, "perhaps Daphne can show you around the grounds after dinner."
Ron nodded, glancing at Daphne who just narrowed her eyes at , or maybe not.
"Well, we are glad you're here," Dianna added. "You're a guest in our home, dear, so if you need anything please do let us know. Or you can call for one of our house elves if you'd like, I'm sure they would be happy to assist you." Her eyes shifted from Ron to Tracey. "I will let you both in on a little secret, when I was growing up I had a very large family, lots of brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles. So I'm very glad you've both joined us for Christmas this year, I miss the joy that comes from having a very full household. Of course, the four of us here get on well with the elves, but I'm glad to see Daphne bringing some of her friends as well. Please, make yourselves at home."
Ron couldn't help but let a small smile spread across his face. He knew what it was like to spend Christmas with a full family even if it had been a few years since absolutely everyone was together. He was almost surprised to hear that Dianna's family was maybe as big as his. Most of the other purebloods he had met had only one or two siblings at most and none of them seemed particularly close. He found himself beginning to like Dianna and despite the proper way she looked, she seemed to him a lot more down to earth than those older Slytherin girls. She didn't have the snobiness that Ron expected, the snobiness that Daphne sometimes oozed.
"Yes, please enjoy yourselves," Aloris added. "Perhaps, Daphne, you would show our guests to their rooms? The elves will get their trunks."
Daphne nodded and stepped away towards the first large doorway to the right of the room. Tracey and Ron filed in behind her, entering a small corridor that was only small in comparison to the Hogwarts corridors and was gigantic when compared to Ron's bedroom at the Burrow.
"How large is your house?" He found himself asking.
Tracey snickered beside him. "It's like a maze, isn't it?"
Daphne gave them both a glare over her shoulder. "It's not that large, there's the entrance hall, the floo hall, a small ballroom, a small dining hall, the kitchen, the elves' barracks in the basement, and upstairs where we have the bedrooms and my father's office."
Ron's eyes widened. "You have a ballroom… in your house? Bloody mental, that is."
Daphne stopped and turned to face them. "It's not mental at all," she said sternly. "I didn't invite you here to complain, Weasley."
Ron raised both his hands out in front of him. "Complaining? I didn't mean to say anything bad, I've just never seen a house so… so… grand. It must have cost a fortune."
Daphne narrowed her eyes. "More like four."
Tracey laughed. "He's just impressed Daph, I mean the first time I came here I was impressed too. You know, not everyone has so much wealth. You've seen my house before."
"It's smaller," Daphne said softly. "That doesn't make it any worse."
Ron snorted. "You haven't seen the Burrow, I mean, I love my family's home but I think even my parents would agree that this place is a lot better. Did your mother really decorate everything?"
She nodded. "When my grandparents moved out, my mother and father had the entire manor renovated. It was practically rebuilt."
"Wait until you see the gardens," Tracey said brightly. "That's my favourite part. It's like the setting of a Bond movie."
"A what?"
Tracey sighed. "I really need more half-blood friends. You know, James Bond, Roger Moore?"
Ron just gave her a puzzled look. He had never heard of either of those men, which he rightly assumed were muggles.
"Maybe you can convince Ron to watch a movie," Daphne said, sounding as if the entire idea was exceptionally boring.
"Oh, you'd both like them, I know it. But I also know that getting two purebloods to go to a cinema would be like trying to get Millicent Bulstrode to stop stuffing her face at breakfast." Tracey said.
Ron gave her a dark when do you care what Millicent Bulstrode eats?
Tracey just laughed. "Sorry, that's just something that Theo says all the time."
Of course, he frowned once again wondering if he was going to have to confront Theo about the way he treated people.
The trio came to the top of a long spiralling staircase where there were four doors. Each seemed to be about the height and a half of an average door, the wood panelling of the corridors ending at the same height as the door frames before transitioning into a stunning purple and gold wallpaper that touched the high ceilings. Despite there being no windows in that section of the house or any visible torches, the small clearing remained well-lit.
"My room is the one on the right," Daphne said. "Astoria, my sister has the room on the left. The two in the centre are guest rooms. And, because there's only two of you, you won't have to share."
Ron nodded, he didn't mind sharing his room at Hogwarts with Blaise and Theo. He was disappointed that Blaise was spending most of his Christmas in Italy and would have gladly shared a room with him if it meant they could all be together for the holidays. Even, he nearly grimaced, he would have shared a room with Malfoy if it somehow meant that Blaise could stay too.
"They're both the same," Daphne stepped forward and hauled open one of the huge doors.
Ron looked on in disbelief for the second time that day. The room in front of him was easily thrice as large as the dormitory he shared with his roommates. The ceiling was an average height but held a large skylight that let the sun beat down across a humongous bed with four posts and an emerald-coloured silk drape. The far walls had two arched windows decorated with stained glass. The hearth in the left-hand corner was already lit, flames eating at a pair of logs and sending warmth across everything.
"Fairly standard," Daphne said mildly. "It's not exactly a French Chateau. The door over there," she said pointing, "is the bathroom. Each room has a private one."
A private bloody bathroom?Ron was lost for words. He wondered how it was that some families like the Daphne's had so much when his family seemed to have so little in comparison. He felt a small rush of heat in his stomach as he once again lusted after wealth. He couldn't help but imagine the number of problems he could fix if he had that many Galleons. The small chest that Salazar had given him seemed like Knuts in comparison.
"Are you alright?" Daphne asked him a second time. "You've been acting odd."
Ron swallowed.I'm just coveting your entire life."I've just never been in a house this large."
A small pleased smile spread across Daphne's lips. "Well, that's what allies are for, isn't it?"
"For kicking Malfoy's ass," Tracey added. She earned glares from both of them.
"You need to stop spending time with Theo," Daphne said. Ron couldn't help but quietly agree. It unnerved him that Tracey was picking up the boy's bad habits. Wasn't he supposed to be making Theo better? Not the other way around.
Tracey just giggled. "You both need to lighten up, especially you Daph, aren't you excited for Christmas?"
Daphne smirked. "I'm glad to be home, away from Hogwarts."
"Me too…" Ron said softly. At least, he thought, there weren't going to be any trolls at the Greengrass Christmas celebrations. Or so he hoped.
"It's hard to believe we're halfway through our first year," Tracey said. "I mean, soon we'll be writing NEWTs and graduating."
Ron's face paled. Soon he would have to kill another wizard, soon he would have to save Charlie's life. His eyes darted to a small table that rested in the corner of the room. He decided he would write to his brother, just to make sure he was alright.
"It won't be that quick," Daphne said, rolling her eyes. "It's going to be a long process. And I'm not excited for it to be over."
"Why not?" Ron asked.
Daphne looked from him to Tracey and then back again. "You do realize we have no responsibility right now? Once we're done with Hogwarts we're going to be pushed into the real world. I'll have to look after my father's businesses."
Ron grimaced , no responsibilities…He couldn't help but think of Salazar. He suddenly wished he had some sort of training dummy to practice on while he was away from Hogwarts.
Tracey rolled her eyes in return. "You worry too much, Daph. Let's just focus on having fun while we can. Like this Christmas, it's going to be the best one yet. I mean, the three of us are together aren't we?"
Daphne nodded and pursed her lips. "I'm sorry that Zabini couldn't come."
Ron shrugged. He just hoped that Blaise's mother didn't kill anyone during the holidays.
"He can come next year," Tracey added. "That just means that next year's Christmas will have to be even better than this one. Unless, you know, Blaise turns out to be a git or something."
"So what's first?" Ron asked.
"We should change out of our school robes, and then I can show you the grounds. Mum said that we should wait until after dinner but she's just being sensible. Honestly, the house is kind of boring. We can skip straight to Tracey's favourite part." Daphne said, prompting Tracey to smile at her brightly. "I think this is your room, Ron. Tracey's is next door. Let's all go change and meet at the top of the stairs in half an hour."
With a murmur of agreement, Ron was left alone in the vast room. He shut the door behind him and took a deep breath. Even in the bedroom, the air smelled of clovers.
He made his way to the bed first testing the mattress and the covers. He found both to be incredibly soft as if he was submerged in a tub of cotton. He wondered if the charms were something homemade or if there was a place in Diagon Alley that specialised in charming mattresses. Either way, Ron desperately wanted one for his mattress at Hogwarts and he couldn't wait to try and get a few good nights of sleep over the break. Maybe, he bit his lip, he might even get a break from the nightmares.
He made his way to the far door and opened it to reveal the bathroom. It was nicer than the one at Hogwarts with a large cast iron bath and a standing shower along with a toilet and a large oval-shaped sink. The faucets were all made of silver and finally etched with floral patterns.
By the time Ron turned around his trunk had appeared in the middle of the room, one of the house elves having come and gone without him noticing.
Just as he made to flick open the latches there was a knock at the bedroom door. A small swell of nervousness flooded Ron's chest. He couldn't help but wonder if he had already done something to upset Daphne.
He opened the door slowly.
"May I come in?" Aloris asked. Daphne's father wore a slightly nervous smile as he stood in the hall. Ron stared at him blankly for a moment before moving aside.
"Er– sure."
"Thank you, Ronald," Aloris nodded, stepping inside and letting the door close behind him. "I don't mean to interrupt for too long, there's just something I wanted to ask of you before you get underway this evening."
Oh, fuck.
"I don't mean to bring up anything sensitive… but I'm aware of what happened on Hallowe'en Ronald," Aloris said and Ron's heart jumped into his throat. He imagined he was about to be given a very stern talking to.
Instead, Aloris averted his gaze and spoke softly. "I think what you did, saving that muggle-born girl, was very brave. Truthfully, I am glad you're my daughter's friend. It makes me worry less to know she is surrounded by a brave and selfless wizard."
"Thanks," Ron said, his chest filling with a tinge of guilt. "But I wasn't trying to be brave or anything like that. I was just trying to save Hermione."
A small reserved smile spread across Aloris' lips. "Sometimes we can be brave without even trying to be, but I think that doesn't make it any less important. And, Ronald, I'm also aware ofhowyoudealt withthe troll."
Ron cringed slightly. He wondered if Daphne had told her father. "I exploded it… sir."
"Please, Aloris is fine. First I'd like to say that I don't think there is anything wrong with what you did like I said, I feel better that you're my daughter's friend. But also, I have to ask something of you Ron. I know that Daphne invited you here in the hopes that you would teach her how to perform the exploding charm. I'd ask you not to do that. I've told my daughter no in a letter already but I'm afraid she would try to deceive you, she's a Slytherin through and through, always scheming. But I'd rather her not learn the spell, at least not yet. Not until she is older and has a better grasp on magic. Do you understand?"
Ron had almost forgotten he had promised to teach his friends the exploding charm and he was suddenly very thankful that Daphne's father had asked him not to. It wasn't exactly an easy spell and he wasn't sure that making the promise to teach his friends was entirely the right thing to do. After all, he felt a tinge of guilt, what if they got hurt trying to perform it? He had nearly killed himself while using it at Hogwarts and he was being taught by a bloody Hogwarts founder.
Ron nodded. "I didn't really think I should, but everyone insisted."
Aloris' face shifted into a relieved look. "Well, then I'm glad this has worked out for both of us. I was half-afraid you would refuse. That's what Gryffindors are like, headstrong when they get their mind stuck on something. But I'm glad to see you're not one of them. I mean, I knew you weren't given your sorting but it's good to put it to the test. Once again, I'm glad to see you as my daughter's friend, Ron. Please let me know if there's anything we can do for you while you're here."
"Thank you for letting me stay here," Ron said. "It would have been really lonely if I had to stay at Hogwarts. My family is visiting my brother in Romania."
"So, I've heard," Aloris said laughing. "I think half the ministry has heard that your father's going on vacation. Gossip spreads quickly in the halls of power." Aloris reached out and patted Ron on the arm. "Please, as I said, if you need anything do ask. You're more than welcome to stay for as many Christmases as you'd like. It makes my wife happy, and that's all that really matters. Now, I'll leave you to get ready, I know you'll want to change. But… thank you, for agreeing not to teach them. Maybe, if you'd like, we can have a game of chess over the break. I think I heard that you enjoy the game?"
"It's the best game ever made, aside from Quidditch."
Aloris laughed. "I think we will get along well, Ron. I hope you enjoy your stay here."