Totally Awesome | George Weasley

Family on Six | Chapter 9 | Book 2 Ch 3

     " Ah."

     " Oh, dear."

     By the time Mrs. Weasley got to them, everyone but Harry was trembling.

     " So," was all she said.

     Despite the fact that the three boys and Arwen towered over her, that seemed like it wouldn't be the case for long as they all seemed on the verge of fainting from fear.

     " Morning, Mum," George said as causally as he could manage.

     " Have you any idea how worried I've been?"

     " Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to-"

     " BEDS EMPTY," She shouted, interrupting her son, talking so loud and so quickly that Harry couldn't keep track of it." NO NOTE!  CAR GONE - COULD HAVE CRASHED - OUT OF MY MIND WITH WORRY - DID YOU CARE? - NEVER, AS LONG AS I'VE LIVED - YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME, WE NEVER HAD TROUBLE LIKE THIS FROM BILL OR CHARLIE OR PERCY-"

     " Perfect Percy," Fred grumbled under his breath.

     " YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK! YOU COULD HAVE DIED, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SEEN, YOU COULD HAVE LOST HIS FATHER HIS JOB. I WENT OVER TO ARWEN'S LAST NIGHT TO SEE IF YOU WERE THERE AND HER MUMS TOLD ME SHE WAS ALSO GONE, AND HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM SHE WAS DRAGGED ALONG ON ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR EXPLOITS AND FOR ALL I KNEW WAS DEAD-"

     And she went on like this until the sun was all the way over the horizon and everyone but her was feeling very tired.

     Eventually, she turned to Harry and the boy backed away in terror before she spoke.

     " I'm very pleased to see you, Harry, dear, come in and have some breakfast."

    Mrs. Weasley led the way back into The Burrow and set about working on breakfast as everyone stood around awkwardly - everyone either unfamiliar with the environment (Harry) or too scared to try and walk away (Everyone else).

     " Don't know what you were thinking of," she muttered to herself as she worked." Never would have believed it..."

     Eventually, she turned to Harry as she put some food onto his plate.

     " I don't blame you, dear. Arthur and I have been worried about you, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron by Friday... But really, flying an illegal car halfway across the country - anyone could have seen you -"

     " It was cloudy, Mum!" Fred said defensively.

     " You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!"

     " They were starving him, Mum!" George said to back his twin up.

     " And you!" She started putting even more food in front of Harry.

     There was a sudden squeal from behind him and Harry turned just in time to see the young red-headed girl he'd seen with the Weasleys at the station when he'd first met all of them.

     " Ginny," Ron said as an explanation."My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

     " Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," Fred joked, before quickly shutting up at his mother's glare and finishing his breakfast, pushing his plate away once he was done." Blimey, I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed and-"

     " You will not," his mum immediately snapped." It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again-"

    " Oh, mum-"

     " And you three!" She turned on George, Arwen, and Ron, glaring at them for a second before turning to Harry." You can go up to bed, dear. You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car-"

     " I'll help Ron," Harry offered." I've never seen a de-gnoming."

     " That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work. Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject."

     The other four kids groaned collectively.

     " Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden!" George said.

     She ignored them, smiling softly down at the book." Oh, he is marvelous. He knows his household pests, all right, it's a wonderful book..."

     " He's charming as a candy cane," Arwen said in an overly dramatic way that told Harry she was being sarcastic.

     " Mum fancies him," Fred said in a mock whisper.

     " Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," she said with a blush." All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."

     Everyone but Harry grumbled as the group headed out into the garden and began their search.

     " Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry said.

     " Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," Ron grimaced." Like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods... This is a Gnome."

     He held up a small creature that looked like a newborn baby covered in dirt.

     " Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"

     " This is what you have to do," Ron explained, raising up the gnome and beginning to spin it in circles." It doesn't hurt them - you've just got to  make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnome holes."

     Ron threw his and it went flying over the hedge and into the open fields just beyond it.

     " Pitiful," Fred teased." I bet I can get mine beyond that stump."

     They worked for a good amount of time out in the garden, taking up the better part of an hour.

     " Wow, Harry - that must've been fifty feet!"

     " See, they're not too bright," George explained, hands filled with around half a dozen gnomes total." The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on they storm up to have a look. You'd think they'd have learned by now just to stay put."

     " These are the same gnomes that used to be at my house," Arwen said, four gnomes in each hand and around ten more carried by her braids." But my mums kicked them out without mercy, so they figured they'd find better luck here. They wouldn't be too bad if they weren't an invasive species... and tended to bite people's ankles."

     Once the last gnome was gone, there was a collective sigh of relief.

     " They'll be back," Ron said." They live it here. Dad's too soft with them; he thinks they're funny."

     From inside the house, they heard the closing of the front door.

     " He's back!" George said excitedly." Dad's home!"

A/N: Man, I was not planning on spending multiple chapters on this part of the book. My idea was originally One chapter getting Harry One chapter at the Weasleys, and that was it, but here we are.

I hope you have an absolutely wonderful rest of your day!

- Alex