Fire And Ice - Yin and Yang (Harry Potter fanfiction)

Kill me now, please

Life at the Burrow was as different as possible from life on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. Periwinkle got a shock the first time she looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, and small explosions from Fred and George's bedroom were considered perfectly normal.

Periwinkle heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after she and her sister had arrived at the Burrow. Azalea, Ron and Periwinkle went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table. They sat down and took the toast Mrs. Weasley offered them.

"Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing Ron, Azalea and Periwinkle identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas.

For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. Periwinkle's told her to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September first. There was also a list of the new books she'd need for the coming year.

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2
by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

"Who's Mr. Lockhart?", said Periwinkle perplexed. "Most of my books were written by him."

"Same here", Fred said. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan - bet it's a witch."
At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade.

"That lot won't come cheap," said George, with a quick look at his parents. "Lockhart's books are really expensive..."

"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Azalea asked Ginny.

The girl nodded excitedly, just as Ron's older brother Percy walked in. He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest.

"Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."
He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a moulting, gray feather duster - at least, that was what Periwinkle thought it was, until she saw that it was breathing.
　
"Errol!" said Ron relieved, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally - he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys if we didn't hear from you soon."

Mrs. Weasley looked up sharply, but Ron avoided looking at her. He carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron lay him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic." Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read it out loud:

"Dear Ron, and Periwinkle and Azalea, if you're there,
I hope they are alright and that you won't do anything illegal to get them out, Ron, because that would get the twins into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Perry and Lea are all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish yours off. "