just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

76. a Christmas miracle

Due to Ron and Ginny's utter lack of a sense of direction, Hermione's grudge that turned into giving the group the silent treatment, and Harry and Juniper's shared distaste for the Knight bus, they all arrived at the Burrow at 10pm the night of Christmas eve. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already in their pyjamas, sitting in front of the fireplace with some tea. Both parents got up at the commotion of the group stumbling through the door, each of them dropping their heavy bags on the floor. Instead of their usual warm hugs, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley greeted the kids with their wands raised, sharing the same reproachful frown.

"Sorry guys, mandatory identification questions." Arthur explained, asking each one a different question, then sending them to hug Molly. By the time he had gotten to Juniper, his wand had dropped to his side, she gave him an understanding smile, standing up from where she was leaning against the door frame. "What gift did I receive from you last Christmas?"

"It was..." Juniper had to take a second to think. Last Christmas felt like a lifetime ago, and she had blocked a majority of the past year out of her memory. But her friendship with Arthur was one of the things she managed to keep hold of. "A cowboy rubber duck."

"Off you go." Arthur beamed, stepping aside so Juniper could enter the house properly. Molly opted to not hug her, and instead gave Juniper a polite smile, which was still a shocking development, despite its subtlety.

"What was for dinner?" Ron began raiding the kitchen for left-overs while Hermione's loud, angry stomps up the stairs rattled through the house. Ginny sighed to herself, taking both her own and Hermione's bags upstairs after her.

"It was roast chicken." Molly smacked Ron's hand away from the cupboard. "But it's too late for dinner now. You can have tea and a biscuit if you're hungry, if not, you'll have to wait for breakfast tomorrow."

"Are you joking?" Ron whined, his mother shooting him a glare.

"I rarely joke, Ronald." She pursed her lips, filling the kettle for the tea havers. "If you wanted dinner you should have been here at 6 o'clock."

"Ugh!" Rom grunted loudly, storming up the stairs just as Hermione did. Harry and Juniper were left in the lounge room, sitting together on the couch, waiting for the tea and biscuits they were both too afraid to turn down.

"Ooh, I'll let Fred know that you've made it back." Mrs. Weasley said as she placed the plate of biscuits in front of the two, rushing back to the kitchen.

"You don't have to do that." Juniper called out, her body stiffening at Mrs. Weasley's sudden hospitality towards her. "I was just going to go to bed after this, I don't want to keep anyone up."

"I don't think she cares." Harry muttered under his breath, gesturing to the mountain of biscuits in front of them.

"Do we have to eat them all?" Juniper breathed back, quiet enough that Arthur wouldn't hear from the arm chair across from them.

"It'd be rude not to." Harry answered. "Right?"

"Tell me about school." Mrs. Weasley piped up as she hurried back into the lounge with two cups of tea. "Anything exciting happen?"

"Um..." Both Harry and Juniper looked at each other, unsure of how to put it.
Juniper wasn't planning to tell anyone, not even Fred or the trio, about how her sixth year at Hogwarts had gone so far, and she certainly wasn't going to tell Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about it.
Despite Fred's letter asking her to stay away from Draco while he was acting shady, Juniper had decided to do what most people would consider 'stalking'. Following him around, watching him from a distance, 'accidentally' bumping into him when he returned to the common room in the middle of the night. She practised disillusionment charms and tried to get her hands on the Marauders map. She hadn't figured out a lot, Draco was a quiet person and was always good at keeping secrets when it mattered, but it didn't click until the night of the Slug Club Christmas party, and
she had to pretend to not know anything for Harry and Hermione.