White Heather for Protection

Meet the Family

Finally, the time had come. In a few short hours, Heather would be reunited with Hadrian and they wouldn't ever have to part for so long again. For Rian would be coming to Hogwarts with her. More importantly, he would be leaving Privet Drive with her.

Heather was practically bouncing in her seat on the Hogwarts Express. The next time she boarded this train, her brother would be right next to her.

"Should we be worried about how excited you are to leave us?" George asked with a wounded look.

Heather shook her head. "Sorry, just anxious to see Rian again."

Fred nodded sagely. "Ahh, the much talked about Hadrian."

"You're just using us as replacements for him, aren't you?" George pointed his index at her accusingly.

Heather frowned lightly. "Of course not," she said sincerely, looking straight at the boy. "Hadrian's much less troublesome. And more handsome too," she added slyly. They winced dramatically.

"That hurt, Heather. It really did," Fred said, wiping non-existent tears from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, right here," George added, clutching at his heart.

"No need to feel bad, boys. Hadrian's the sweetest, most intelligent and charming boy ever. No one can compare," she announced proudly.

Rolling his eyes, Fred shared an exasperated glance with his brother. "Brother complex," they stated together. Heather resisted the childish urge to stick her tongue out.

"Anyway, we were gonna ask you-" Fred said

"-if you'd like to stay over at ours awhile during the hols. With your brother 'course," George cut in quickly. Fred threw his twin an affronted look. He'd wanted to be the one to ask.

Stunned, Heather gaped a bit before agreeing eagerly. "O-of course. If it's not too much of an imposition."

George gave her an 'are you stupid?' look while Fred said, "So we thought you could come over on your brother's birthday and then stay the rest of the summer."

"Yeah, we could totally throw a huge party-"

"-with water balloons-"

"-and Quidditch."

"It'll be awesome!"

Still faintly disbelieving, she commented dazedly, "That would be great, are you sure your parents won't mind?"

"Oh please, it would give Mum an excuse to cook up a storm! And Dad will be chuffed to finally have someone to ask about muggle stuff," Fred said, while George nodded along.

Heather could feel her grin widening to record-breaking size. "This summer will be brilliant!" She jumped up and caught them up in a tight hug. "You two are the best bestest friends a girl could ask for!" Heather squealed in an atypical show of childish enthusiasm.

~~~

"Hurry up, Heather!" Hadrian crowed, "We're gonna be late!" He was running excitedly to Mrs Figg's house where they would be flooing from.

"Rian, we're two hours early," Heather reminded. She nonetheless quickened her pace to match her brother's. She was just as eager to get to her friends' home.

After enduring a half hour of Mrs Figg's inane chatter of 'Oh, Shadow's been shedding more frequently...' and 'Did you hear about Mrs Robinson's azaleas...', they were finally on their way.

"The Burrow!" Heather enunciated carefully after Rian had gone ahead. A familiar spinning sensation and she was tumbling towards the floor.

Large hands caught her before she became acquainted with the maroon hearth rug and a voice said, "Whoa, steady there."

Looking up at her rescuer, she was met with Charles Weasley's amused face. She noticed that the whole family was in the room and promptly blushed vermillion. She ducked her head a little, hoping to hide her face behind her hair, but realised it was in a braid. Curses. "Th-thanks, floos hate me," she said by way of explanation.

She saw Rian bite his lip to keep from laughing, but Fred and George had no such compunctions.

Guffawing loudly, George tucked Heather into his side. "And this embodiment of grace, dearest family-"

"- is Heather Potter, otherwise known as-" said Fred, still snickering.

"-little harpy-"

"-huge nerd-"

"-and our soul triplet!" they chorused.

"Also, I am occasionally their nanny," Heather added dryly while elbowing them lightly in the ribs. The whole room boomed with laughter, ignoring the twin cries of 'Oi!'.

Her gaze landed on the middle-aged couple sitting on an ottoman and she curtseyed politely to them. "Thank you for having us over, Mr and Mrs Weasley."

Hadrian also gave a light bow. "You have a lovely home. It's very warm and inviting."

Mrs Weasley smiled kindly and stood to hug them. "Oh, it was our pleasure. You have such lovely manners! Definitely a sight better than these ruffians here!" she said with a long-suffering sigh.

"Suck up," all the Weasley children said and Mrs Weasley clucked at them.

"Really, no manners, the lot of you! You haven't even introduced yourselves!"

Looking sheepish, a tanned man with long hair tied up in a ponytail stood and offered his hand to shake. "I'm Bill Weasley, the oldest of this crazy bunch. Curse Breaker for the Gringotts branch in Egypt. Pleased to meet you." Heather thought he looked really cool, especially with that fang earring he sported.

Next was the shorter but stockier Charles Weasley. "Great to officially meet you two! Fred and George are always going on about 'Heather this' and 'Heather that'," he said, over their blushing denials, "Charlie Weasley. I work with dragons at a reserve in Romania." Heather caught the curious gleam in her brother's eyes and groaned inwardly. He would be the kind to think such dangerous creatures were fun.

Following Charlie was Percy. He looked like the most serious and well-kept of the group, so much so that some might call him stuffy. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Percival Weasley. You may address me as Percy, if you wish." Yes, Percy seemed rather stiff compared to his other siblings.

Oddly enough, the twins stepped forward to introduce themselves as well.

"Don't look at us like that, Heather-harp-"

"-we get to finally meet your brother-"

"-the sweetest, most intelligent and charming boy ever!" they said in falsetto in a poor attempt to imitate her voice.

Hadrian flushed deeply and looked accusingly at his sister, who just shrugged negligently. He determinedly ignored Mrs Weasley's coos and the others' laughter.

"Anyway," they bellowed.

"I'm Gred-"

"I'm Forge-"

"-and we are the most amazing prankster kings known to wizardkind!"

Heather rolled her eyes heavenward and grabbed their arms. "Don't listen to them, Rian. This one," she said, holding up one of the arms, "is Fred and this," she said, raising the other, "is George."

"Psh, like you can actually tell them apart," the remaining boy said. He waved his hand in greeting and introduced, "Name's Ron. I'll be starting Hogwarts this year. Hope we'll be good mates!" Heather smiled and nodded, but she was still thinking about what he had said. Even their family couldn't identify them?

The youngest, the only girl, was peeking out bashfully from behind her parents. "H-hello," she whispered shyly, "'M Ginny." That was all she said. From the bright blush she had as she stared intensely at Rian, Heather figured she knew why.

"Wonderful! And you two can just call us Molly and Arthur," Mrs Weas- Molly said cheerfully. "Just make yourselves at home!"

While Fred showed Heather and her brother around the house, she was struck by a thought. The Weasleys had given them in an hour what the Dursleys had never in the past eight years. A sense of belonging.