SERPENT'S SONG | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [2]

𝗶𝗶 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄

Gwen was awake at seven the next morning. She'd sent Orion off the night before to the Burrow, telling the Weasleys that she would be there at nine. Her parents were leaving for London at eight thirty, and she would be out of the manor as quickly as she could.

  She knew Felix would not be up until at least midday, and although Edward was an early riser, he would probably be spending his morning in the library, practising his magic theory so that he could be at an advantage for going into his NEWTs.

  Lucille would be the hardest to avoid; she was always in a new place.

  Gwen waited in the drawing room for her parents to leave. The fireplace was in the lounge, and from her position on the sofa, she was able to see and hear when her parents left. They didn't even acknowledge her when they disappeared into the emerald flames, and Gwen waited another fifteen minutes to make sure that neither of them decided to come back in case they forgot anything.

  It was too early in the morning for the elves to be wandering around doing their daily chores, and, given the quietness of the house, she assumed Lucille was in the kitchens with them, making bubbly conversation.

  She felt bad for leaving her sister, but knew that she would be OK.

  Gwen rushed up to her bedroom, lugging her trunks to the fireplace. It was ten to nine, and she was not about to wait around in case she was caught leaving. She dipped her hand in the Floo pouch beside the grate, taking just enough to get her to Devon. Everill Manor was in South Wales, and, given how far one could travel with Floo, Devon was really close.

  Gwen had just taken her place in the grate when footsteps began to approach. Panicking, she wasted no time; she dropped the powder, crying 'the Burrow!' and was just able to see Felix's bewildered face in the doorway to the drawing room as the emerald green flames enveloped her and sent her tumbling through the Floo network.

  When the green died down, Gwen found herself looking out into a room that was completely unlike anything she'd ever seen before. She was looking into a homely kitchen with dishes washing themselves, and several plant pots atop the window sill. The window looked out onto a homely garden, behind which were hills that rolled on past the horizon. The kitchen was bathed in a warm orange glow from the summer sun streaming through the open windows, and the scent of freshly baked bread and the country breeze reached Gwen's nose.

  As she stepped out of the grate, she saw that the kitchen led to a cosy living room with fluffy rugs and squishy patched sofas and she wanted nothing more than to sink down in one with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate.

  Orion was perched on the window sill by the back door, and Gwen immediately went over, stroking his feathers.

  Running footsteps came from one of the floors above, and, within moments, Ron was before her, grinning.

  'You're early. Alright, Gwen?'

  Gwen leaned forward and hugged him, surprising him, but he hugged her back. 'Alright. How are you?'

  Ron pulled back. 'Same as ever. Mum's really looking forward to properly meeting you. She's put you in Charlie's old room.'

  Gwen smiled. 'Thank you. Where is everyone?'

  As if on cue, Fred and George appeared, followed by the woman that Gwen had seen a couple months earlier at King's Cross. She was a short woman with a kind face and the same red hair that all of her children had.

  'Gwen! How lovely to finally meet you, dear.'

  Molly Weasley took Gwen on a small tour of the ground floor. The house was small but very tall, and the upper floors contained a series of bedrooms and bathrooms and an office for Mr Weasley. It seemed to be held up by magic.

  Gwen was shown to Charlie's old bedroom which was plastered with posters of the Chudley Cannons and different dragon breeds. There was a series of photos which Gwen assumed were of his Hogwarts friends, but one in particular caught her eye: it was of him standing between two girls. One had pink spiky hair and was wearing a Hufflepuff jumper under her coat. She had a contagious smile. The other had long blonde hair and was wearing a Ravenclaw scarf over her coat. It was snowing in the photo, and Gwen watched as the blonde girl raised her wand and enchanted a snowball to hit Charlie in the back of the head. The three of them laughed and the photo replayed. Although the three were a good few years older than them, they reminded Gwen of herself, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

  It was nice to properly meet all the Weasleys. She'd only ever spent time with Ron, and although she found she enjoyed company with the twins, she'd never really had an opportunity to meet Percy or Ginny.

  Percy was as pompous as ever. Gwen was sure he was good at heart, but he definitely held himself slightly superior to his brothers. He was Edward's year and shared a dorm with Oliver Wood, but that was about as much as Gwen learnt about him; he was always in his room studying.

  Ginny was a bubbly, feisty young girl. She was only a year younger than Gwen but, like Lucille, had a strong personality. She asked Gwen about Harry quite a bit, and they ended up spending Gwen's first night at the Burrow in Ginny's room talking and giving each other funky hairstyles. Gwen ended up changing her appearance multiple times, turning into various wizarding celebrities and even some of the other Weasleys to make Ginny laugh.

  'What's your favourite hair colour?' she asked.

  Gwen thought about it. 'I like the red the most. If I'm not thinking, it just goes that colour without me doing anything.' She let her hair filter to crimson. 'Or silver. I like silver.'

  Ginny looked at her. 'Why don't you let it be red all the time?'

  The question took Gwen off guard. Even though Ginny was only a year younger than herself, she didn't want to explain the whole 'shame-upon-wizard-blood' ideology that her parents had. Her whole life, they'd told her to keep her appearance completely natural, as being a metamorphmagus was also associated with half-bloods and Muggle-borns. It was a wizard skill, of course, but to be outstanding from her family was something they did not want.

  'I don't know,' she said finally.

  'You should keep it how you like it. If you like the red, keep it that way.'

  Gwen almost changed her hair back to blonde, but she thought about Ginny's words. She was right, she should be allowed to embrace herself.

  After a long moment, she smiled. 'I will.'