What If? Year 1

Chapter 27

Dad wakes Ara and I up to go to the Burrow. We had wrapped all of our presents last night and the remanence of the paper was still scattered around the floor.  
"You guys made quite the mess in here," Dad says as he leaves, "get dresses, I'm making waffles." I look at Ara and pretend to gag. 
"I saw that, Marigold," Dad says before shutting the door.  I get up and grab a pair of jeans from my dresser.  Ara throws me a blue jumper from the closet. 
"Thanks," I tell her quickly before going to the bathroom to change. I get out of the bathroom and Evie is staring at me. 
"Goldie," she asks softly, "can you brush my hair?  Like you did when we were younger?" I smile and grab a brush from my counter.  Evie and I go to the living room and sit down on the floor.  I brush out a couple knots from her hair.  I start to braid her hair slowly as she fidgets with her hair tie. 
"Will you tell me about Cedric?" she finally asks after a couple minutes of silence.  I chuckle a little. 
"Maybe when Dad's not around, okay?" I tell her as Dad's head pokes around the corner.  He frowns and Evie giggles. 
"Waffles are ready," he mumbles, as Ara makes her way to my side. We go to the dinning room, where Mum and Harry were already eating.  
"Excited to see Ginny today?" Mum asks us as we sit down.  Ara nods. 
"Yep!" I reply, "And George and Fred!" Harry laughs. 
"I bet they're going to try to prank you," Harry says, "they did last Christmas on me."  I laugh and Dad sits down next to me. 
"I'd like to see them try!" he says, "My Goldie is too smart to be pranked." He throws a waffle onto my plate. 
"Thanks, dad," I say, "learned it all from experience." Mum laughs. We finish up eating and start to get ready to leave.  
"Marigold!" Dad yells from the bottom of the stairs, "your mother wants to talk to you before you leave, so if you could hurry up.." 
"Alright!" I shout back, finishing my messy bun and running down the stairs.  Mum was standing by the end of the stairs, holding a small box.  Dad must have left with everyone else already. 
"Marigold," Mum says as I walk up to her, "I want to give you this."  She holds out the box for me to take.  I realize that it is a jewelry box. 
"What is it?" I ask, taking it carefully, and smiling.  When I look at Mum, I notice that she has tears in his eyes. 
"My sister, Marigold Sandra Evans," Mum says, "who you were named after,  had a necklace made, before she died.  She never got to wear it, and I thought you'd like to wear it."  I open the box and take out a rose gold necklace with a cursive name: Marigold. 
"Aunt Mari must have had good taste," I whisper, remembering Harry calling her that, "she must have been very pretty." Mum chuckles. 
"Of course, she was!" she says, brightening up a little, "she has my genes, as your father would say."  I laugh and put the necklace around my neck. 
I wonder why I haven't seen her...
"You would have loved Aunt Mari," Mum says, "she read books and all that jazz."  I giggle and take the box to my room.  My bag is still on my bed, so I grab it, but something falls out.  A small piece of parchment falls out. 

Save Regulus

My stomach drops as I scan the entire piece, hoping for more evidence, but I found none. I put it back into my paper and make my way down stairs, to meet with Mum. 
"You okay?" Mum asks, softly, "You look like you've seen a bloody ghoul!"  I take a deep breath and nod my head. 
"I'm fine, Mum," I say, "just excited, that's all."  Mum pats my back and I walk over to the fireplace.  I go and stand in the fireplace.  
"The Burrow!" I roll out of the fireplace, in the kitchen Burrow.  Ara is being engulfed by Mrs. Weasley in a hug.  I walk over to where Harry is talking to Ron and Hermione. 
"Hello, Goldie," Hermione says, "how has your break been?" 
"Alright," I reply, looking at my feet, "how about yours, Hermione?"  
"Good, thanks," she says, "I'm happy that my parents let me come."  I smile, and the warmth on my face just gets worse.  Someone wraps their arms around my waste in a bone crushing hug. 
"Oh, Goldie!" Mrs. Weasley says, "I'm so glad your family said you all could come.. that was a very brave and kind thing you've done for Ara." 
"I'm happy I could come too," I tell her as she lets me go, "is Ginny in her room?"  Mrs. Weasley nods and I lead Ara to Ginny's room.  I knock and a faint voice says,
"Come in."  I open the door, and Ginny is sitting with Luna, Heather, and Rachel on her bed. 
"Hi!" Ara says, pushing past me to hug Ginny.  Luna hugs me as Ara goes to hug Rachel.  Once all of the hugging was over we all sit on the floor. 
"So what have you guys been doing over break?" 
"Just hanging out with my family," Rachel responds, "They are very interested in the wizarding world.. just like any Muggle would be." 
"Bill and Charlie are visiting for the holidays," Ginny says, "so I've been spending time with them.." 
"My parents and I went to France to visit my grandmother," Heather says, "It was nice, and the food was amazing."  Ara and I laugh. 
"Ara's got to meet my crazy uncles," I tell them as Ara smiles. 
"They certainly are something," Ara says, "one of them in particular." Ginny and Luna laugh. 
"So, Goldie," Ginny says, "did you get Cedric anything for Christmas?"  I send a glare at her, but nod truthfully. 
"What did you get him?" Rachel asks and all the other girls nod, eager to find out. 
"It's kind of stupid," I admit, looking at the floor, "but I found this jumper with marigolds down the sleeves and thought it was just perfect."  The room erupts into giggles and my face turns crimson. 
"I think it's adorable," Rachel says, "I mean why not use your name?"  I smile.  We continue to talk about our breaks before we are called down for lunch.