Embers of the Heart ; George Weasley

Prologue

11 years old

"Mum!" I shouted, running inside with the letter in my hand. Diagon Alley was full of people today, and I'd stumbled into at least three on my way to get the mail. I'd apologised of course but it didn't change the fact that some people got a little irritated with me.

I hurried inside, looking for mum or dad anywhere around the customers who were occupying the shop. I ran to the back room, finding dad grabbing a box of a shelf so he could restock some items out front.

"Dad, look what I got!" I said excitedly, showing him the envelope. My dad smiled down at me, holding the box to his hip, trying to balance it while getting a hand free to tap my head.

"Look at you, being all grown and ready to go." he teased, kissing the top of my head on his way out of the backroom. "Go show your mother. She's upstairs."

So I ran up the stairs hidden in the backroom, entering our small apartment just above the apothecary shop my parents owned and worked. Mum was in the kitchen, making some lunch but she turned when she heard my hurried footsteps.

"Look!" I said eagerly, shoving the envelope at her face. "My letter."

"Oh, look at that!" mum said excitedly. "Go on. Open it, my darling."

I pulled myself up to sit on the counter and excitedly ripped at the envelope until I could pull out the folded piece of parchment. I licked my lips when I saw my name written in fancy letters.

"Dear Miss Nightingale. We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September first. We await your owl no later than July thirty-first."

I squealed and kicked my legs, wondering when we'd be able to buy everything on the list. I wanted to do it right here and now, but then I remembered my parents words about being patient. That was an issue for me. I had a horrible time with patience. I wanted everything to happen at once.

I skipped along the path as my parents walked behind me, holding each others hands. I had the list of things clutched in my hand and as we walked through the streets of Diagon Alley, I couldn't help but let the excitement consume me. We weren't the richest people despite owning a shop, so we shopped for my stuff in second-hand shops, which I didn't mind. Though I was a little apprehensive about my new classmates knowing that all my stuff was hand-me-downs.

I came to a stop in front of the pet store, staring at the kittens in there. I really wanted a kitten to accompany me to Hogwarts, but my parents dragged me along, telling me we couldn't afford it.

"Aurora, look at his." mm said, urging me to join her by a boutique window with the newest broomstick showcased. My eyes widened in fascination, and my hands touched the glass, my nose almost touching it too. "If you behave all year, we're gonna buy you one of those for your second year."

Disaster struck.

I was halfway through my first year at Hogwarts, having just returned from Christmas break, when I got the news. A tragic accident had occurred in the shop at home, leaving me an orphan. The Aurors told me they didn't know how it happen, that there was something mysterious about the way they died, but they were keen on figuring it out. Professor McGonagall had to step in and tell them I'd had enough so I wouldn't burst out crying in the office right there.

And then I pulled myself from the office and walked to my bedroom in the Hufflepuff basement, all alone and sad. I crawled into my bed and I laid there and I cried silently with my duvet pulled up over my head, and my feet sticking out from underneath it.