The Unlikely Quartet

Chapter 17: Where Did Summer Go?

Before Georgia knew it they were almost through with Summer and September was nearly upon them. She'd been having so much fun staying at the Burrow that she hadn't realised where the days had gone. They'd celebrated three birthdays which had been a lot for her to wrap her head around, first had been Ginny's, the young witch finally turning eleven. It had been a fun filled day spent playing party games and eating way too much sugar, it finally ended with the twins giving the girls piggy back rides round the garden as they raced one another.

Next had been Ruby's fourteenth birthday, Georgia had experienced the floo network for the first time that day as she and the twins had gone visiting their friend at the cottage she lived in on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole. The four of them had spent the day celebrating together with Ruby's mum and dad before Molly had invited them all round to the Burrow for a big dinner. Finally, only a few days ago it had been Percy's sixteenth birthday and the boy that she hadn't seen very much of all Summer as he'd spent it hidden in his bedroom working on his homework and constantly writing letters to his girlfriend Penelope, had insisted on no fuss. Molly had baked him a simple chocolate cake and they'd sang him a happy birthday over his favourite meal.

Georgia had grown a lot closer to all of the Weasley's, especially Ginny who hid behind her a lot with a flushed face whenever Harry was in the room. The brunette witch found it to be quite endearing and was more than happy to engage her in conversations to stop her staring after the black haired boy and scaring him away completely. On the days that Ruby visited them or the few times she'd slept over she would tease Ginny about fancying Harry, ruffling her hair, calling her adorable. Hearing the kitchen door open and close, Georgia closed the muggle book she'd been reading and wandered through to the kitchen to find that Arthur had returned from his shed. Several letters clutched in his hand.

"Letters from Hogwarts" he informed them, handing Georgia hers and passing two more identical envelopes to Harry and Ron who were sat at the kitchen table hunched over a letter they'd received from Hermione.

"Children!" Molly yelled up the stairs and the sound of footsteps could be heard moving around. "Sorry Ginny dear, not you. We've already got your letter" Molly added as her youngest appeared at the bottom of the stairs first. The redhead nodded in understanding but plopped herself down at the table anyways, making sure to keep a big enough space between her and Harry. Still unable to believe he was actually real and there in her house.

"Afternoon all" Percy smiled cheerily at them, taking his letter from his father as he too joined his siblings at the table. Then, as Georgia had quickly realised was the norm for her twin best friends, the sounds of them chasing each other down the stairs filled the house before they both appeared, leaping from the second step much to their mothers horror. Accepting their letters they stood either side of Georgia as they all broke the wax seal and opened their envelopes to read over what new books they would need.

With a frown Fred peered over at Georgia's list before leaning forward and looking at Harry's over the short boys shoulder. "You've been told to get all of Lockhart's books too! The new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor must be a big fan"

"Must be a witch this year then..." Georgia mused, hoping whoever it was would be a good professor.

"This lot won't come cheap" George, the more thoughtful of the two, spoke. Looking between his mum and dad. "Five lots of books and Lockhart's books are really expensive. Not to mention Ginny needs robes and a wand..."

Molly who'd taken Ron's letter to have a look, handed him it back before responding "Don't worry about that, we'll manage" but she did look worried about it, "As for Ginny, I suspect we'll be able to get a lot of her stuff second hand" the witch suggested and Arthur nodded his agreement while Georgia let herself get lost in thought.