Forever... Always

Summer - The Burrows

Yay! A longer chapter for you folks! Enjoy and take care! (don't forget to vote and comment please...)

Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur came to pick us up at the train station, but I realized that they might not have enough room for all of us, they were after all picking up 6 children and had Ron and Ginny in the car with them. Cedric seemed to have the same concern as me because he asked Uncle Arthur how we were all going to fit. Uncle Arthur could also see the concern on my face as he pulled both me and Cedric close and whispered:
"Don't tell Molly, but this button right here..." He pointed at the button, "makes the car bigger when we need it to be."
Our worry disappeared completely after he pushed the button and all 10 of us fit perfectly in the car.
"Your dad is really cool." Cedric told the twins.
"Well now you know where we get it from." Fred responded.
"Actually, I was wondering Mr. Weasley, how do you know Rayne's parents?" Cedric asked in pure curiosity.
"Oliver and I went to Hogwarts together, both Gryffindors and I met Natalie when he started dating her and she became mine and Molly's friend quite quickly. Oliver and I also work together in the Ministry which is how, before they had Rayne, we stayed so close."
"That's interesting, so once they had Rayne around when you two had the twins, it gave you even more reason to visit each other and keep up your friendship?" Cedric continued.
"Exactly, you're smart like your father Cedric."
"Another reason we visit the Weasleys so much is that they live close to my grandparents too." I added on.
"These kids are smart Molly, what did we do wrong?"
Ginny, Ron, Fred, George and Charlie all laughed along and rolled their eyes but Percy wasn't having any of it.
"Did you forget about me Father?" He hissed.
"Percy, it was only a joke but because of such a terrible reaction, you'll be degnoming the garden when we get home." Aunt Molly said forcefully.
It wasn't like Percy to get in trouble, he usually steered clear so this shocked everyone, even Cedric, who knew Percy even less than me. I wondered what got Percy like this, it was so out of character. The twins brushed it off and started telling me and Cedric about all the things we'd be doing and reminding everyone that our stay at the burrows would overlap with my 12th birthday. They went on and on until Aunt Molly told them that if they didn't stop talking they'd be degnoming the garden with Percy. As soon as they shut their mouths, we were at the burrows.
"Home sweet home." Uncle Arthur said after parking the car in the garage.
"We'll show you two where you'll be sleeping." Fred and Geogre said while jumping out of the car and waving for me and Cedric to follow.
We jumped out, following them and after the twins showed us where we'd be sleeping, Cedric on Fred's side of the room and me on George's, we made our way to the kitchen for a snack.
"Here children, have something to eat before you go out." Aunt Molly insisted.
"Thank you." Cedric and I both said at the same time, which we laughed about because it's usually the twins that do that.
"What in the world was that?" Fred and George asked, shocked.
"Haha, maybe we're becoming twins." I joked.
"We do spend about the same time together as the twins do together, haha." Cedric joked along.
"George, this is wonderful, we're the Gryffindor twins and they can be the Hufflepuff twins, haha, they do actually look quite similar, don't they George?"
"I suppose they do Fred, what do you think mom?"
"They both have wonderful honey brown hair and hazel eyes, they do look quite similar, although Rayne has the cutest freckles."
"Aw, thank you Aunt Molly." I said. I've always loved my freckles and I like that she noticed them.
The four of us finished our snack and headed outside. While heading towards the big field near the burrows, we passed Percy in the garden and though he glared at us, I still smiled at him. He just looked away and continued to degnome the garden.
Once we arrived at the field, Fred went to a bush and pulled four brooms from it, leaving me and Cedric a little shocked, I never knew they had those there.
"When did you guys put those there?" I asked, a little upset they never told me.
"We've had them there since Bill graduated and left home." Fred said proudly and I looked over to George, who could tell that though it was something really small, I was a bit upset they kept it from me and I could see he was a little ashamed.
"So what are we going to do?" Cedric asked, ready for anything.
"We don't have enough people or brooms for even one quidditch team but we can play two against two and each person can play two positions. Good idea isn't it?" Fred asked, hoping for all to be in favour.
"Sounds good to me." I said. "Who's playing with who?"
"Cedric can play with Fred and you can play with me first, we can switch teams later too." George said without a beat of hesitation.
"Let's do it then." Cedric said as Fred passed him a broom.
"I can be Keeper and Beater if that's alright with you Rayne."
"And I'll be Chaser and Seeker, I just wanted to ask quickly, why didn't you tell me you guys hid brooms there? You know I'd never tell your mom and I know it's small and I shouldn't be upset but we tell each other everything George, why did something so small become a secret?" I asked, trying not to sound hurt.
"You have the right to feel hurt and upset, if I'm being honest and I am, I'm not sure why I didn't tell you. I just... I was worried if you knew you'd want to fly and you hadn't flown before, I didn't want you to get hurt in our care."
"Georgie, how can I be upset when all you wanted to do was keep me safe? Now enough of this sappy stuff, beat you to Cedric and Fred!" I said, taking off.
"No fair!" He returned, taking off seconds after me.
We played quidditch until it started to get dark. We decided we should head back so that we wouldn't get caught flying around if someone came looking for us. Fred and George were both marveling about mine and Cedric's Seeker abilities and we did the same about their Beater skills. Cedric even told me I should try out to be Hufflepuff's Seeker but I told him he was better and he deserves the position more than a newbie like myself. That didn't stop him from encouraging me to try out to be Chaser if I refused to try out for Seeker. As soon as Cedric said that, Fred and George joined in encouraging me as well and I finally caved, telling them I'd try for one of Hufflepuff's Chasers when we went back to Hogwarts in the fall.
"What have you guys been up to all day?" Aunt Molly said as we walked in the door. "I figured Percy would still be degnoming when you guys got back, but obviously I guessed wrong for once."
"We went exploring the area, after all, Cedric has never been here and we had to show him around." The twins said together.
"If you're going to go exploring, you should come back before it starts getting dark out, I wouldn't want the precious Hufflepuff's getting lost or hurt."
"Haha, see, Aunt Molly has her priorities straight." I joked and bolted up the stairs to get away from the twins before they could react to my joke.
"How dare you Rayne, haha." Fred shot back, following me up the stairs.
"You'll pay for that." George shouted playfully while chasing after me as well.
Cedric followed the twins upstairs as I disappeared into George's room. They caught up to me quickly and Fred pinned me on the bed while George tickled me.
"HAHA... STOP... PLEASE... HAHA... I'M SORRY... HAHA!" I shouted in between uncontrollable laughter as Cedric took to pinning me and both twins took to tickling me.
"YOU TWO... HAHA... ARE... RUTHLESS... HAHA... STOP... PLEASE!"
"Not until you've learnt your lesson Rayne." George told me, tickling me harder and then both twins finally stopping.
"You three are nuts." Cedric pointed out while giving me his hand and laughing.
"Thank you, we try our best." Fred and George said, trying to contain laughter.
"I guess they've rubbed off on me." I said while taking Cedric's hand.
We had dinner and spent some time in the living room with Ron and Ginny. Ginny was asking me tons of questions about Hogwarts, mostly what it's like to have friends in other houses while I played wizard chess with Ron.
"Is it hard to find time to spend time with friends from other houses?" Ginny asked, scooting closer to me, showing she was extremely intrigued.
"If you don't make a point of it, yes it is, but as long as you make sure to make time for friends, it's just as easy to get with friends from other houses as friends from your own. Of course as long as they make the time as well." I told her, getting a little distracted.
"Checkmate." Ron stated.
I hadn't even realized how close he was to winning because I was talking to Ginny, who would only go to Hogwarts my 4th year.
"You're really good at wizard chess Ron."
"Thank you Rayne. You'll get better as well if we play more while you're here."
I appreciate that Ron tells it as it is, I'm not that great and I like that he doesn't try to sugar-coat it to not make me feel bad. I may be 2 years older than him but I treat him as if we were the same age, I feel like that's the best way to talk to others. Make it as if we're on the same level, he's not inferieur to me, he has his skills and I have mine.
Speaking of inferiority, Sage Cassowary sent me a letter and I've never seen a more mean and rude letter. First, she told me I was a first year nobody, which hurt quite a bit because I already have feelings of being less important than every other student. Second, she told me to stay away from Draguar because I am, as she said, corrupting his Slytherin pride and mentality. Third and finally, she told me that though I'm half-blood and not as much of a disgrace as muggle-borns, I'm still a disgrace to the wizarding world and what it means to be a witch. I don't understand how she can talk to me like I'm worthless, why can't she find common ground? Something we have in common is that we both want to bring pride to our houses but I would assume she refuses to see that I don't want to be anything but a friend or ally. George saw the letter she sent me because I woke him up from my crying. He came over and gave me a hug before asking what happened, of course I can't lie to George so I told him about the letter.
"If she ever bothers you again, I will deal with it, don't you worry." He reassured me while hugging me.
"Thank you Georgie." I said while wiping away tears. "Would you mind if I slept in your bed with you? I don't want to feel alone."
"Of course Rayne. Get over here." He said while lifting up the blanket.
I can't explain it but Georgie makes me feel so safe, I mean, so do Cedric and Fred, but George more than all and I don't know why. I ended up telling Fred and Cedric about the letter too and all three boys told me they'd stand up for me if Sage ever bothered me again. It's comforting to know I have them to help me out in times of need. I also can't wait to celebrate my birthday with the best friends I could ever ask for.