Sleeping in a flying car was no easy task, and to Addie – who struggled to sleep anywhere that wasn't in her own bed – it was pretty much impossible. She therefore decided to concentrate on the views flashing by. They flew over London (which Addie sort of recognised from the bits of Eastenders that she had managed to catch sight of during her childhood) and fields of green that seemed vibrant even in the early morning light. Addie imagined that if this was what being in an aeroplane was like, then she wouldn't mind it, although she probably still wouldn't be able to sleep in an aeroplane. She sat in the left hand side of the car in a rather awkward situation. That was not to say that it was particularly awkward for her as she could ignore the furious looks being directed at her by Ron and Harry, but for George, who was sitting between them, it couldn't have been a walk in the park.

Eventually, with the sun starting to fully arrive, the car clumsily touched down on the least ideal runway that had probably ever existed, and Addie found herself somewhere that she had never dreamed that she would end up. Ron Weasley's garden.

While the three Weasleys and Harry were discussing what they should do, Addie stood out in the cold (though it was August it was still early morning) and clutched her most prized possessions to her. Not that she could say that she really owned Tabby – if anyone owned Tabby, it was Tabby herself – but she supposed that she was the person that Tabby would be most likely to refer to as 'human who gives me the treats' and she was happy to exist in that capacity. She looped her bag over her arm and stared at the house before her. Having just been at Privet Drive, her first thought was that it was a house that Aunt Petunia would have been horrified by. It was taller (and narrower) than most other houses, and would almost certainly not get planning permission if the council were to see it, but she supposed that Muggle repelling charms could take care of even the most vigilant auditor. If it had been a muggle house, she would have also said that it was quite possibly a health and safety risk, but knowing magic, there probably wasn't a safer place for miles.

The anticipation of the situation had Addie pacing while the discussion continued. Not much had been said about the Weasley father other than that he had been the one to enchant the car (illegally, but incredibly awesomely) but Addie found herself very worried about the Weasley mother. She had heard that Mrs Weasley liked Harry very much (what a surprise) and that she had mentioned before wanting a house-elf, which already had Addie putting up her guard. It sounded like having a house-elf was generally restricted to the rich families by means of financial constraints rather than morals.

Just as Ron was proposing how they could sneak Harry into his room and her into Ginny's and pretend that they had been there the entire time so as to avoid getting into trouble, a ginger woman came into view, and she was very angry. She was differently angry to Aunt Petunia who was cold and sharp in her anger. Mrs Weasley's anger must have felt like knives to the Weasley children, but Addie could see the good intentions behind it, as of course she hadn't wanted some of her younger children to carry out an expedition by illegal Ford Anglia at daybreak. After a tirade that seemed to last quite some time, she turned to Harry and seemed to be pleased to see him. Addie would even go so far as to say that she was coddling him, like Aunt Petunia was towards Piers Polkiss. It was 'would you like something to eat Harry?', 'oh you should have told us that you were coming, Harry'. Addie couldn't help but be certain, completely certain, that she would not be so welcome. She doubted that her depiction by Ron had been so friendly.

"Mum," Fred said to her after she had spent a while treating Harry like her long lost son, "We also brought Harry's sister, Addie."

Mrs Weasley turned around to look at her, and Addie suddenly felt very exposed, standing there with her bag and her cat. She tried to push down her house-elf led trepidation just for the moment. If the Weasleys didn't agree to let her stay, then she was potentially homeless. She didn't know enough about this family to know whether they would send her back to the Dursleys or simply kick her out.

"Yes, I've heard about you," she said. Addie rather supposed that she probably had. Any moment now, she anticipated being told that she 'really should' treat her brother better, as a couple of Gryffindors had told her at the beginning of the previous year.

"Anything good?" she said meekly, fearing the worst.

"Well, you really should…"

"Mum," George suddenly said, "you know how you said that Fred and I should make different friends from one another, and that we 'really should make a concerted effort to try and be individuals rather than two halves of a whole'?"

"Yes, yes, but I don't see what that has to do with…"

"This is my friend Addie. She knows Fred as well, of course, but she's really my friend."

Addie wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but it stopped Mrs Weasley from staring at her so she supposed that this was a net gain.

"Oh," Mrs Weasley said, "it's just that Ron said in his letters…"

"That Addie and Harry don't get on?"

"Well yes," she said.

"Oh, we do," said Harry. "We were each other's only companions during childhood. Of course we get on."

Now Addie really didn't know what was going on, but clearly Harry's endorsement had been sufficient in persuading Mrs Weasley that she wasn't evil. For that she was truly grateful. Ron was staring at Harry like he didn't know what was going on either, so an explanation from Harry was probably forthcoming, just not to her.

"Breakfast dears?" Mrs Weasley said brightly, ushering them into the house, all her previous apprehension about Addie seemingly forgotten. "I have sausages and bacon and toast (I make my own jam with the apples from the orchard you know) and I'm sure I have some dripping if you would prefer."

"Erm Mrs Weasley?" Addie said quietly, as Mrs Weasley started tipping sausages onto plates and presenting Harry with food.

"Yes, dear," Mrs Weasley responded.

"Well, I don't eat meat."

"You don't eat meat? Not even bacon?"

"Especially not bacon," she admitted. "Have you ever seen a pig? They are just so adorable, and they are rather clever really. Did you know that they keep the place where they eat and where they sleep separate? They are more like cats than anything else really."

"Yes," Mrs Weasley said sourly, "well you can have toast and jam if you would like, but I'm afraid I don't really have anything else. Us Weasleys eat rather a lot of meat."

"Our cousin the accountant," Addie heard Ron say under his breath to Harry, "is a vegetarian, and has been since he was a kid. You can imagine why mum is worried."

Addie knew of the rumours that she was in fact a squib, but she tried to not let them bother her. She was not the best at magic – that was entirely true – but she didn't see what was inherently wrong with not having magic. Even if she couldn't do magic, this surely did not preclude her from being a good or indeed on average just fine person, just as having magic did not prevent Ronald Weasley from being one of her least favourite people.

"Yes, I know that most people do," Addie said to Mrs Weasley, "but I honestly don't feel as though I can do so."

"Well if you insist," said Mrs Weasley, "then you must do what you feel is right. I can't imagine not eating beef stew or chicken soup when unwell though."

"Of course Mrs Weasley," Addie said as she spread some jam on her toast and bit into it, relishing in the taste of something that wasn't metallic tasting tinned soup for the first time in a while.

"So you agree that you should eat meat?"

"No," Addie said as politely as she could, trying to remain aware of the fact that no matter what she was feeling, she was a guest in someone else's home, "but I do agree that you should probably be allowed to eat pretty much what you want as long as you aren't harming anyone."

Mrs Weasley harumphed at her before moving on to the more satisfactory task of feeding Harry.

After breakfast, both Addie and Harry were shooed off to bed, and that was how Addie found herself in the bedroom of one Ginny Weasley. She had never met Ginny before, although she had of course seen her at a distance before getting onto the train in September, and had heard about her through both Neville (complementary) and indirectly from Ron (she was apparently evil).

After she was directed upstairs, she went to the door she had been directed to – a garish bright pink door with a far more measured sign saying only 'Ginny' on it – and knocked gently.

"Come in," came a voice from within.

Addie opened the door and stepped inside before she let all the heat out, and there, surrounded by a circle of old toys, was a girl a bit younger than Addie was herself, who Addie recognised as Ginny.

"What do you want?" she said snippily, and although Addie initially felt inclined to take offence, she quickly realised that she saw herself in Ginny, meaning a young girl in a house full of boys and realised that if there were more Harrys and Dudleys at Privet Drive she would probably be touchy as well.

"Hello, your mum told me that I am supposed to stay with you."

"What, are you a friend of Ron's?" Ginny said. "I told my mum that I wasn't having Hermione or any of his other friends to stay."

"I'm definitely not Hermione," Addie said quickly, "and I think that Ron would vomit if he heard you asking if I was his friend. I'm Adelaide. Apparently, I'm a friend of George's."

"Oh good. Fred and George's friends are always far nicer than Ron's. I met Hermione, one of his friends at the station, and the first thing that she told me was that she wasn't like the other girls because she liked books. Who? Where is she finding these girls?"

"I assume she'll grow out of it," Addie said. "I was briefly like that, but it was in response to my aunt telling me that I could only wear pink. I like to wear all colours now."

"Right?" said Ginny. "There are far too many colours to try out and it seems silly to write off pink. The only person I know who is more passionate about his dislike of pink is Ron. He talks about it all the time. He also talks about his new friend Harry Potter all the time, and I have high hopes for him. Hopefully he'll be better than Hermione…wait. Did you say Adelaide?"

"Yes?"

"He also talks about you a fair bit. You seem nice though. Hopefully your brother is as nice as you are. Now. I assume my mum will put down your bed over here, so why don't you put down your bag and your…cat and then we can go down and see Harry Potter – erm – I mean your brother."

Looking around to dump her bag, Addie noticed the large bookshelf full of books called 'Harry Potter'. Apparently he had been involved in a variety of very unrealistic adventures, including fighting a werewolf and negotiating with mermaids. Dumping her bag just as Ginny had told her to, she felt briefly like saying something, but from the blush on Ginny's face, no words were needed. They made it downstairs just at the time that there was a commotion downstairs. She had no idea what was going on, although all the Weasleys seemed to, and they all seemed to be excited. Harry on the other hand seemed to be as baffled as she was. Apparently having Ron for a best friend didn't grant you omniscience.

"Oh you must be Harry's sister, Adelaide," an older ginger man said to her, holding out his hand to shake. Addie knew that this was the right thing to do (according to social convention) so she responded in kind. She cringed slightly at his clammy hand and tried to not let it show on her face. "Tell me Adelaide," he continued, "what is the function of a rubber duck?"

Addie thought about it for a moment. She had not had muggle bath toys when she had been little, not even one, but Dudley had had a full aquarium, so she thought back to that.

"Fun," she said. "Muggle children have toys to play with outside of their bath, so they also have ones to play with inside their bath. We didn't ever have any when we were little, but our cousin did."

"Why didn't you have any bath toys when you were little if muggle children generally have them?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Oh, it was clear by then that we weren't muggle children, and Aunt Petunia felt as though she could give us Dudley's castoffs."

"Had Dudley grown out of them? How much older is your cousin than you and Harry?"

"Oh, about a month. We usually only got them if they were broken."

"So you really just got your cousin's broken toys," Mrs Weasley said grimly.

"Yes, why are you asking? They were perfectly good with a bit of blutak and once Aunt Petunia let me use superglue to glue an action man's head back on. The only issue was that Dudley wanted him back after, although he had three others."