"Girls," Grace groaned as she pulled the blanket over her head and hid her face in her pillow. "Girls, it's time to get up."
"No," Grace grumbled.
"If you don't get up now, you're going to miss breakfast! I will not pack any food for the hike!" Molly warned them, but Grace knew that was a lie. Aunt Mollyalwayspacked snacks. "Gracia Venus! UP!" Grace groaned when she felt Molly pull the blanket off her. "Good heavens, girl! You didn't change?!"
"Too sleepy," she groaned.
"Get up! Go take a shower! Ginny and Hermione took one last night!"
"But-"
"No buts, young lady! GO!" Grace cracked open her eyes and glared at her aunt, who stood over her with her hands on her hips and a fierce look that clearly said: do not argue with me! "If you don't get up and get in that shower in three seconds, Iwill notdo your hair!" Instantly Grace sat up and sprung out of bed. She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for Aunt Molly to do her hair. Her dad showed her how to take care of her curls the non-magical way (not necessarily the muggle way, but the way he did when he couldn't do magic outside of school), but with it this early in the morning and since they're on a time crunch... Grace wasn't going to risk having frizzy, wild curls.
Half an hour later, Grace made her way down to the kitchen and noticed Fred and George were barely keeping their heads up at the table as they yawned. Ginny's eyes were droopy and her face was pale from sleep and was slowly picking at her food; Hermione was already almost finished.
"There you are Grace," Molly smiled as she piled some breakfast onto a plate for her, sitting it down on the other side of Fred. "Tuck in, dear. I'll work on your hair while you eat since you've got so much of it." Grace nodded as she sat down and started to eat her scrambled eggs. "Hermione, dear, could you please make sure Ron and Harry are up? Their breakfast is ready," Molly asked as she made two plates, setting one plate down next to Grace, and another across from her before coming up behind her.
"Your due for a haircut," Molly said as she took a chunk of curls and began wrapping them around her wand. There was two charms Molly always used on Grace's hair, one that brought her curls to life and made them bouncy, that also kept the frizz away; the other was one she used when Grace's hair was wet, like it is now. She would wrap Grace's hair loosely around the wand, and warm air would circulate around to dry her hair, but still keep her curls intact and bouncy. She tried to tell her dad about the charm over the summer, but he didn't know it and said it must've been a relatively new charm for witches. He even asked Remus if he knew the charm, and Remus of course said yes, but wasn't very good at it. That was when Sirius had showed Grace how to take care of her curls without charms.
"But I like my long hair," Grace told her as she reached for a glass of orange juice.
"You've got a head of hair that would rival a lions mane," Molly teased and Grace grinned proudly.
"I think you might actually have more hair than Hagrid!" Ginny teased, and Grace glared at the girl playfully.
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Oh, no! I can see the resemblance! Just need to add a beard and you could be his daughter," Grace glared as she took a piece of bacon and threw it across the table at Ginny. "OI!"
"Food fight?" Fred grinned, finally starting to wake up.
"No! No throwing food!" Molly hissed as she tugged a little hard on Grace's hair, making her hiss.
"Aw," Fred, George and Ginny sighed, slumping in their seats and returned to their food.
"Sorry," Grace muttered and took a bite of her toast.
"It's alright," Molly said softly as she started working another chunk of curls. "Are you sure you don't want me to snip a few inches off? It'll make your hair feel lighter."
"I'm sure, I like my hair long."
"Soon you're going to be sitting on your hair, girl," Molly teased, and she laughed.
"I'll just throw it over my shoulder."
"And get ink in your hair?"
"...I'll wear it up."
"And have no one admire the curls?"
"...Fine, I'll make sure I get a haircut before it reaches my bum, Aunt Molly," Grace gave in, sighing dramatically.
"Good girl," Molly patted her head affectionately. Grace and Ginny looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Boys are impossible," Hermione huffed as she sat back down next to Ginny, looking annoyed.
"Ron sleeps like a brick," Ginny commented as she ate the piece of bacon that Grace threw at her.
"Harry's easier to get up than Ron is, for sure, but you've got to work on him for a minute," Grace shrugged, then focused on her plate with warm cheeks.
"How do you know what kind of sleeper Harry is?" Ginny teased and Grace's cheeks burned warmer.
"Oh didn't you hear, Ginny," George spoke up. "Harry is our ickle-wittle Gracie-Racie's Prince Charming!"
"Yeah, Ginny, you might have some competition for Harry Potter's heart," Fred grinned. Grace sent an icy glare this way.
"Grace can have him," Ginny shrugged nonchalantly, then shot Grace a grin. "I got over him last year."
"Grace! I didn't know you fancied –oooh, is that why you're wearing nail polish?" Molly teased lightly and Grace's face turned a vibrant shade of red as she stared at her plate.
"Who wants to bet a sickle that when Harry comes down, he's going to take the seat next to Gracie?" Fred grinned.
"That isn't a fair bet," Hermione huffed, glowering at Fred.
"How so, Granger?"
"Well what if Ron comes down first? If he comes down first then he has the choice to sit next to me or Grace, which leaves Harry- why are you laughing?" Hermione glared.
"It's funny of you to assume that Ron would be the first one down," George laughed.
"So, who wants in? A sickle that Harry sits next to Grace?" Fred asked, leaning into the table.
"I'm in," Ginny nodded.
"Me too," George nodded, his grin widening. Then three red heads turned to Hermione, who looked at them, then looked at Grace, who had a scowl on her face, before turning back to Fred and George.
"Fine, I'm in," Hermione nodded.
"Traitor!" Grace gasped. "You're supposed to be on my side, Hermione!"
"Aw, come on, Gracie," George grinned, leaning over Fred to look at her. "Don't you want in?"
"I cannot believe you're betting on your cousins love life," Molly huffed. "You lot should know better," Grace couldn't hear the usual scorn in her aunt's voice when she scolded the twins for their bets; that meant that Aunt Molly was finding this amusing.
"Ten galleons that he doesn't sit next to me," Grace glared. Fred and George's eye widened in excitement.
"Ten galleons!?" they asked, grinning. "My, my, aren't you sure. That's a hefty bet, there Gracie-Racie."
"Yeah, are you sure you want to bet that high?" George asked, although he wasn't serious about making her second guess her decision.
"Ten galleons on him not sitting next to me," Grace repeated firmly.
"Eleven Galleons if he doesn't even stop to think about which seat," Fred smirked.
"Deal," Grace nodded, then hissed when she felt Molly grip the top of her head and force her to look forward.
Not even two minutes later, someone walked into the kitchen and everyone looked and saw that it was Harry. Harry rubbed his left eye under his glasses and yawned as he walked around the table and took the seat next to Grace. "Morning," he muttered sleepily.
"Morning," Grace greeted quietly. Fred and George snickered beside her and she side kicked Fred's shin.
"Pay up," Fred whispered to her.
"Later you numpty," she hissed.
"Numpty?" Fred repeated, then turned to George. "George, you hear that? She called me a numpty."
"Numpty? I haven't heard that one before. I quite like it, Fred."
"I do too. We might have to take that and start using it."
"I agree. I'll add it to our rotation."
"Ugh," Grace groaned at them and turned back to her toast.
"Where's Ron?" Molly asked as she finished up Grace's hair.
"I'm here," Ron muttered tiredly as he walked into the kitchen. He took the seat across from Harry and started stuffing his face.
"Good morning! Are we almost ready to go?" Arthur greeted them brightly as he walked into the kitchen, looking around.
"Nearly finished with breakfast, dear," Molly answered softly. "Harry and Ron had a bit of a sleepy start this morning."
"Well, hurry up, we've got a long walk ahead of us!" Arthur smiled at them.
"We're walking to the World Cup?" Harry asked, confused.
"No, no, that's miles away," Arthur shook his head as he took another slice of bacon off a plate on the counter. "We only need to walk a short way to a portkey, then the portkey will take us to the Cup!"
"Portkey?" Harry whispered in Grace's ear. Grace's cheeks burned at the feeling of his warm breath against her skin.
"Magical object that's charmed to take you from point a to point b almost instantly."
"Ah, thanks."
"Where's Bill, Charlie and Percy?" Ron asked, looking around the table and realizing the three oldest boys were missing.
"They're going to be apparating a little later so they get to have a bit of a lie-in," Molly answered and Ron huffed.
"Why can't we apparate too?" Fred asked, frowning. Grace nodded. She wanted to sleep in just a little bit more.
"Because you're not of age and haven't passed your test yet," Arthur answered.
"There's side-along apparation," Grace spoke up hopefully.
"Yes, well, apparation is already difficult enough with one person, side-along apparation is harder. Not to mention there is too many of us to apparate, anyhow, so portkey it is," Arthur answered firmly, meaning that was the end of the discussion. "Oh, is that the time! We've got to go, we're a bit behind schedule."
"Alright, you lot! Chop-chop!" Molly called, clapping her hands loudly and then using her wand to gather all of their bags. Each bag floated behind their rightful owner. Grace sighed as she stood up and slipped her hands through the straps, she didn't really feel like a hike this early in the morning. "You all have fun! I can't wait to hear about the match when you get back!" Molly said, making sure she gave each of them a warm hug before kissing Arthur on the cheek. "Behave," she said, narrowing her eyes at Fred and George who grinned, "and stay together! No wandering off!" this time, she shifted her eyes to Grace, who gave a sheepish grin.
After a chorus of good-byes, the long hike began.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter~! I promise soon the chapters will start getting longer! :)