Disclaimer: This world and all its characters belong to JK Rowling. I wrote this purely for entertainment purposes, and have no wish to sell, copyright or otherwise claim any of this content.

"It's snowing!"

There was the sound of a door slamming, then the quick patter of feet on the stairs, and then the door to Ron's room burst open and George rushed in, hauling him unceremoniously out of bed. "Up, get up, it's snowing!"

"'M up," Ron protested, blinking furiously to clear the sleep fog from his eyes as he yanked his arm out of George's grip. Turning to the window, he squinted, about to tell George that there was no way it was snowing, and then he saw the white flakes falling from the sky.

"Come on, get dressed," George said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "We need your help to convince Mum to let us go flying."

"Why me?" Ron asked as he threw his most comfortable robes on over his night shirt. It was the holidays, and Ron never wore clothes during the holidays if he could help it.

"Because Mum's still feeling bad about making you take the potions," George explained, grabbing Ron's arm and dragging him out the door. "Fred's gone to round up the reinforcements, but I think you're the one Mum'll listen to."

It was true, Ron thought as he stumbled down the stairs after George. Soon after Charlie had fought with Mum, Mum had told him he didn't have to keep taking the potions, if he didn't want to. At first he'd been a bit confused – it felt like he'd been confused a lot lately – and asked why he should if they were supposed to be helping. Mum had explained that she didn't think they were helping, really, and it hadn't taken much to convince Ron to agree. Two days later he'd wondered why he had ever thought the potions were helping. His head was now clearer than it had been in months, the headaches had stopped, and he didn't know why he'd ever thought he wanted to be a girl. It wasn't like it was choice, at least not for him.

Reaching the sitting room, Ron skidded to a halt behind George, then stepped forward eagerly to deliver his piece. Mum was looking amused and slightly exasperated, and Fred, Ginny and Charlie were there as well, watching him expectantly.

"Can we go flying, Mum, please?" Ron asked. Shooting a look at Fred, he added "It's been so long since I've been flying, and we promise to be careful."

"You're ganging up on me, the lot of you," Mum sighed, although she didn't really seem upset. "Alright, fine, you may bring the brooms up to the orchard." George let out a whoop of delight, took a second to beam at Ron, then shot out the door after Fred to collect the brooms. "Remember, only three in the air at a time," Mum called after them as Charlie followed Fred and George out the door while Ginny and Ron ran to get their coats.

Outside it was crisp and clear, and Ron and Ginny took off through the snow to catch up with Fred and George and Charlie. Panting, Ron slowed when he reached Charlie's side, skipping happily through the snow while Ginny caught up to Fred and tried to take one of the brooms he was carrying.

"I can't believe it's actually snowing, can you?" Charlie asked as they climbed the hill. "I mean, look at it all! It normally only snows like this at Hogwarts."

"It's great," Ron said, bending to scoop some snow off the ground. Straightening, he lobbed it at Charlie, who neatly dodged and in the same motion flung his own chunk of snow at Ron. Ron squeaked, then swatted in annoyance at his hair as it fell out of his scarf and into his face.

"Hey, I know it's past Christmas, but I could still cut that for you, if you want," Charlie offered, wiping one of his own, shorter locks out of his face.

Ron shrugged, dropping his hand from his face and avoiding Charlie's gaze. "Nah, it's okay. I kind of like it." That wasn't true at all, and he had a feeling Charlie suspected he was lying. "It's long like Bill's," he added quickly. The truth was that he was afraid that if he cut it again, Mum would make him go back to St. Mungo's, or start taking those awful potions again. He knew that although Mum had said he wouldn't ever have to take them again, and that she'd been talking about getting him a different healer than Mrs. Bellevue, that she still wanted him to be a girl. So maybe if he was a bit less obstinate, if he conformed to her wishes a bit more, he wouldn't have to go through something like that again.

But Charlie didn't need to know any of that. Glancing up at the approaching trees, he took off. "I'm going to get a broom first!" he called over his shoulder and Charlie, now in the back, let out a yell of indignation as he ran to catch up.

"When I grow up, I'm to be a curse-breaker like Bill," Ginny said from where she lay sprawled on the floor. "I'm going to travel all over the world doing cool, dangerous things and I'm never, ever going to be bored."

"I thought you were going to be just like Harry Potter," Ron said, going cross-eyed as he tried to focus on Ginny from his position lying upside-down on the chair. "And I'm pretty sure grown-ups don't get bored."

Ginny was silent for a minute before raising her arm up above her. "Whatever. I'm going to see how long it takes for all blood to leave my hand so it falls off. Then maybe we'll finally be able to leave and do something interesting."

"I think my head will fall off first," Ron said. He had a feeling he'd have a terrible headache when he finally sat up, but currently he was too bored to be bothered at the prospect. Idly, he wondered if Dad would be mad if he found both daughters with missing body parts upon returning to his office.

Ginny let her hand drop after only a few seconds, then rolled over and pushed herself up so that she was on her knees. Ron squinted as she frowned at him, trying to understand how a frown could look like a smile from upside-down.

"Get up," Ginny commanded. "You're supposed to be keeping me company."

Groping for the back of the chair, Ron pulled himself into an upright position, then immediately let his head fall onto Dad's desk as world spun. "My head," he groaned. Maybe he shouldn't have spent the last ten minutes lying upside-down. After a minute the spinning faded and he lifted his head to find Ginny staring at him, delighted.

"You look like a quaffle!" she laughed. "You're face is all red."

Ron frowned, then shook his head, as if that would make the blood leave. "It's not my fault," he said. "It's because I was bored."

After Ron had stopped taking the potions, life had settled back into its normal routine, for the most part. Just before leaving, Charlie had taken Ron aside and made him swear on his love for quidditch that he would write every week, which Ron had felt to be an absurd amount of writing to have to do, but he'd reluctantly agreed and Charlie had seemed satisfied. Then, four days later, Mum had come with him to his weekly appointment with Mrs. Bellevue and told her Ron had stopped taking the potions, and that he wouldn't be coming to the next few appointments because Mum wanted to discuss some things with Dad. While Ron hadn't quite understood why his appointments had anything to do with Mum and Dad talking, it wasn't like he was disappointed to not be talking with Mrs. Bellevue anymore. She was a bit nosy for him to like her overly much.

So here he was, one week later, keeping Ginny company in Dad's office at the Ministry while they had to wait for an hour until Mrs. Lovegood came and took them over to Luna's house, which was where Ginny normally went on Wednesdays.

"How much longer until Mrs. Lovegood comes?" Ron asked.

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that I'm bored and you're supposed to be keeping me company." She pouted at him.

"Well, I'm bored too." Ron stood and wandered in an aimless circle around the small office. Stopping at the door, he pushed it open and peered out. "Can we go exploring?"

"Dad says we're not allowed to leave." Ginny sighed, dropping into the seat Ron had just vacated. "It's one of his rules."

Mum was usually the one to make the rules and enforce them, while Dad was usually the one to let them figure out for themselves what was smart and what wasn't. So, whenever Dad made rules, it was because they were important and never, ever to be broken. Rules like don't trust anything that can think for itself, or don't go off with strangers, and now, apparently, don't wander off at the Ministry. Ron sighed, then opened the door and, checking to make sure there wasn't anyone coming, leaned out as far as he could while keeping one foot inside Dad's office.

Ginny hopped off the chair to join him. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing how far I can go without leaving Dad's office." Ron pulled himself upright, and pointed at his feet. "Technically, I'm still inside."

"Let me try!" Ginny grabbed the door frame and leaned out, reaching towards the other wall. "I can almost reach it."

"You cannot," Ron scoffed, "The wall's at least ten feet away." Holding the door to steady himself, he reached out as far as he could. "I can reach farther than you can, look."

Ginny huffed. Then her eyes widened and, grinning, she stepped out into the hallway, one hand trailing on the door.

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed. "You can't do that, we're not supposed to leave –"

"I'm not leaving. The door's part of Dad's office, so as long as I'm touching the door, I'm technically still inside."

Ron had to think about that for a moment, before deciding she was right and stepping out to join her. Now they reached together, trying to touch the opposite wall. "Almost there…." Ron grunted, sticking his tongue between his teeth. Then he realized something. If the door counted as Dad's office, and Ginny was touching the door, as long he was touching Ginny then technically he was still touching the door which technically meant he was still in the office. Grinning, he jumped out in front of Ginny.

"What –" Ginny protested.

"I'm still in the office because I'm touching you and you're touching the door which is in," Ron explained, gripping her hand. "Now stretch!" Together, they leaned out, now effectively blocking the hallway, and Ron's fingers almost brushed the opposite wall before – suddenly, Ginny's hand yanked out of his and he toppled forward, wincing as he landed on his wrists.

"Ow, Ginny!" Ron turned to see what had happened.

"Aaaooowww!" Ginny started to wail, and Ron was alarmed to see blood running down her chin. "Aaaooowwwah!"

"What's going on out here?" A young man poked his head of a neighboring door. Seeing Ron and Ginny on the floor, he approached. "Hey, are you two all right?"

"I think she broke her mouth!" Ron said, distressed. "Look, she's bleeding! Why is she bleeding?"

Kneeling down to inspect Ginny, the man sighed and waved his wand. "Tergeo." The blood disappeared, making Ron feel calmer, and the man gently lifted Ginny's chin and peered into her mouth. After a moment, he smiled. "Guess what?" he asked her.

"W-what?" she sniffed, having calmed down considerably when the blood disappeared.

"It looks like you'll be loosing a tooth in about a week. Better hide it to make sure the Tooth Fairy doesn't get to it first, eh?" Ginny's eyes widened, and the man stood, pulling her and then Ron up with him. "Are you two okay now?" Ron nodded sheepishly, but Ginny was too busy poking around in her mouth with her tongue to answer. "You're Arthur's kids, right?" Again Ron nodded, and the man steered them back into Dad's office. "Stay here, then. I won't tell your dad, but I do need to work. I trust you'll stay out of trouble now?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, thank you." Ron said guiltily. The man winked at him, then left, shutting the door behind him. Ginny and Ron sat, watching the door for a minute, before Ron sighed. "Well, now what?" he asked, discouraged and bored again.

Ginny, however, wasn't listening. She was still poking at her newly loosened tooth, and after a second she exclaimed, sounding delighted: "It's wiggling, Ron. Look, I've got another tooth loose!"

"That's disgusting," Ron said, wrinkling his nose. When she didn't pay him any attention, he sighed and flopped onto the floor, imagining there was a big clock on the ceiling with seconds ticking slowly, slowly around the face.

"Ron! Ginny!" Luna stood in the doorway of the Lovegood's home, wrapped in an enormous lime green scarf and a dark blue jacket that was at least three sizes too big for her tiny form. She grinned broadly. "Come see, I've found a Mimblywobble's home!" Turning to her mother, she asked "Mummy, may I take them to see the Mimblywobble's home?"

"Of course, Luna, love." Mrs. Lovegood stooped to plant a kiss on her daughter's blond hair. "Be sure be back for lunch, though. Otherwise the nargles might steel your wand."

"You have a wand?" Ron demanded, feeling slightly jealous.

"Oh no, not a real one," Luna reassured him as she led him and Ginny back behind the house to the snow-covered garden. "Mummy helped me make it from a unicorn hair I found in the woods and a branch of white oak. It would be a pity, though, if the nargles stole it." She glanced worriedly back at the house, but then let out a shriek and grabbed Ginny's arm. "Ginny! You almost stepped in the mushrooms again!"

"Oh." Ginny froze, then carefully sidestepped the red and white spotted mushrooms peaking out of the snow that she'd almost trampled. "Oops. Sorry, Luna. I keep forgetting."

"It's lucky I'm here, because otherwise you'd be thrown three hundred years in the past every time you stepped there."

"If they're so dangerous, why are they growing in the garden?" Ron asked, rather annoyed. Most of the time he didn't mind Luna so much, but she put him on edge. She said the most absurd things, and while he knew none of it was true, it still made him uneasy. Being around her seemed to make him believe the strangest things.

"They're en-dane-gered," Luna said, carefully pronouncing the long word as she lead them deeper into the garden. "Daddy said that this is one of only three places in Britain where they grow."

Ron frowned, unsure about that, but was distracted by a strange sounding noise coming from a shrub of what appeared to be holly. The Lovegood's garden was extensive – it took up almost three times as much ground as their house did, and according to its owners hosted a wide variety of endangered and invasive plants alike, whose uses ranged from advanced potion making to table adornment. Whenever Mum needed a rare herb which she couldn't easily find at the grocers, she came the Lovegoods. Whenever Charlie needed a specific plant to feed one of his many temporary pets, he came here to see if they had any he could cultivate. Fred and George had been expressly forbidden to enter the garden unsupervised after they brought home the seed pods of the plant used to make dung bombs. Suffice to say, Ron was both awed by and nervous of this vast garden, which Dad had once commented had more variety of plants and animals than did the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts.

"Here, look!" Luna grabbed Ginny's arm, pulling her down in front of a large tree. Ron knelt beside them on the frozen ground – there wasn't any snow under the tree because, miraculously, it still had leaves. Ron peered over Ginny's shoulder at the hole into which Luna was pointing. Although it was dark inside and he couldn't see where it ended, he didn't think it had anything in it.

Neither, apparently, did Ginny. "Um … what am I supposed to be seeing?"

"It's a family of Mimblywobbles," Luna said in a hushed voice, her eyes focused intently on the hole. "You won't be able to see them if you don't believe in them – they live off your memory, so if no one ever believed in them anymore they'd go extinct."

"Huh." Ginny squinted, and Ron groaned, leaning back. He should have known it would just be another of Luna's inventions. "Stop making things up, Luna," he said, annoyed. "There's no such thing as a Mimblywobble."

Luna turned to him, looking affronted. "Of course there is, I can see them right there." Her pale arm pointed again at the hole in the tree. "Mummy says that just because other people can't see them doesn't mean they aren't real."

"Well –" Ron began hotly, but he was interrupted by the clang of a bell coming from the direction of the house. Looking relieved, Ginny sprang to her feet, and Luna pushed herself up too. "We'd better go," Ginny said, shooting a glare over her shoulder at Ron. "We don't want the nargles to steal your wand."

Sticking his tongue out at Ginny, Ron followed them, dragging his feet in the snow. He couldn't wait until he was at Hogwarts and could learn magic and make real friends. It wasn't that he didn't like Luna, necessarily, but she wasn't much fun to be around, and had always been Ginny's friend rather than his. Whenever he could he played with Fred and George, but they had each other and weren't always interested in him.

To his surprise, it wasn't Mrs. Lovegood who met them at the door, but Mum. Ron noticed that her lips were thin, and her eyes seemed a bit red. "Ginny, Ronny, get your things," she said. "We need go home now." Ron exchanged a glance with Ginny, and hurried inside. Mum never came off work early, and she never looked so solemn as she had at the door.

When they returned to the fireplace, Luna trailing sadly after them, Ron caught a snippet of conversation – "Are you sure, Molly?" Mrs Lovegood was saying worriedly. "You know I'd be more than happy to have them stay here, at least for a little while – "

"No, dear, thank you, but we couldn't impose," Mum said tiredly.

"If you're sure – "

"Yes, I'm quite sure," Mum said firmly. Spotting Ron and Ginny in the doorway, she waved them over. "Come along, girls, we need to get home now."

The house was quiet as Ron stepped out of the fireplace. He and Ginny were ushered into the sitting room, where Fred and George were already fidgeting on the sofa. Mum sat them down, then took a deep breath. "This is going to be hard to hear, but I'm afraid it can't be helped. Last night, there was an accident … your Uncle Billius had an accident. They did all they could, but I'm afraid that he didn't make it. We don't know the exact cause, but Dad told me that it was quick."

Ron stared at Mum, his brain whirling. The first thing he felt was confusion – what did she mean, Uncle Billius was dead? What did that even mean? The second was one of surprise, and the accompanying realization: I know someone who is dead! Then, he felt a heavy, empty feeling spread through his body. Uncle Billius is gone.

Ginny shifted beside him, her eyes wide and her mouth starting to tremble. On the other side of Ron, Fred had a death-grip on his brother's arm and was slowly shaking his head, whereas George just looked dumbfounded. "He's … dead?" George asked, as though the concept were completely alien to him. Honestly, it was a pretty foreign concept for Ron as well.

"I'm sorry, honey, yes. You won't see Uncle Billius again. We're not sure when the … funeral will be yet, they're still working out the details. Dad's gone to your Aunt's to comfort her, and I just sent letters to your brothers at Hogwarts. They'll be coming home at the end of the week."

Ginny started to cry, and Mum pulled her into a hug. "Ginny, love, in a little I'm going to help you set up in Ronny's room. At least until the funeral, and until we get everything sorted out, Aunt Muriel's going to stay in your room."

As he processed what Mum had just said, Ron felt a feeling of horror creeping in over the emptiness. Aunt Muriel was coming to stay, for an undetermined length of time. The only thing he could think of that was worse than Uncle Billius dying was Aunt Muriel coming to stay at their house.