Lillian 'Anna' Potter || Goblet of Fire

Chapter Three: More Than You'll Ever Know

They rubbed the tears of laughter from their eyes, and Anna looked up to see two other fellow red-heads sitting at the table with them - Bill and Charlie, the eldest Weasley brothers. “How are you doing, Harry?” Charlie asked, holding out a hand as Harry shook it. Bill also stood up to shake Harry’s hand - though they had met before, it had been very brief, and happened last year when Harry had to get to the Burrow and see Anna after she had been found washed up in the lake.

Before anyone could say anything more, there was a faint popping sound as Mr. Weasley apparated at George’s shoulder - looking as red as a tomato. “That wasn’t funny, Fred!” He shouted. “What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?” He asked. “I didn’t give him anything!” Fred said defensively. “I just dropped it...It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to.”

“You dropped it on purpose!” Mr. Weasley accused him. “You knew he’d eat it, you knew he was on a diet -” He was saying, but George quickly interrupted him. “How big did his tongue get?” George asked eagerly. “It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!”

Everyone began laughing once again.

“It isn’t funny!” Mr. Weasley shouted again. “That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons-”

“We didn’t give it to him because he’s a Muggle!” Fred said indignantly. “No! We gave it to him because he’s a great bullying git!” George finished, looking at Harry. “Isn’t he, Harry?” He asked. “Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley.” Harry said earnestly. “That’s not the point! You wait until I tell your mother-”

“Tell me what?” A voice came from the other room. Mrs. Weasley had just come in. Though she was a very kind woman who couldn’t look like she could harm a fly, she could also intimidate the strongest and largest of men. “Oh hello, Harry, dear.” She greeted him with a smile, then went back into ‘scary’ mode. “Tell me what, Arthur?”

Mr. Weasley hesitated, and Ginny and Hermione came out behind her - finally up and ready. Anna bit her lip to keep from laughing as she watched Harry smile back at Ginny - causing her face to flame. Ginny’s crush on her brother was the only reassuring constant in Anna’s wonky life. “What have they done this time?” Mrs. Weasley said angrily. “If it’s got anything to do with Weasleys’s Wizard Wheezes-”

“Why don’t you show Harry where he’s sleeping, Ron?” Hermione asked, trying to break the tension. “He knows where he’s sleeping. In my room, he slept there last time.” Ron said - unable to catch the hint. “We’ll all go.” Anna said pointedly, and Ron flushed - realizing what Hermione was trying to do. “Oh.” He only said. “Right.”

“Yeah, we’ll come too.” George said quickly. “You stay where you are!” Mrs. Weasley snarled. They ran from the kitchen, running up the staircase that went all throughout the house to the other stories. “What are Weasleys’s Wizard Wheezes?” Harry asked innocently as Ron, Ginny and Anna laughed aloud.

“Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George’s room. Great long price lists for stuff they’ve invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they’d been inventing all that.” Ron said as Ginny shrugged. “We’ve been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things.” She said. “We just thought they liked the noise.”

“But, most of the stuff - well, pretty much all of it, actually, is dangerous. They were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, but Mrs. Weasley went mad at them. She said they weren’t allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms. She’s still mad about their O.W.L.S.” Anna said - trying to show off how she now knew all the Weasley 'gossip'.

She had thought her foster family was a big one, but the Weasleys were on an entirely different level of crazy. Every day seemed to be an adventure, and Anna had to learn how to have eyes on the back of her head to avoid getting hit by clothes, books, and other knick knacks around the Burrow.

“And then they got into an argument,” Ginny said. “Because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop.” Ginny shrugged as they finally arrived at Ron’s room. The owl Ron had gotten from Sirius - Pig - was jumping up and down in his cage - twittering madly.

“I’m so happy I’m here - Oh my gosh, is that Harry? Ah. Life is such an adventure! I love it here!” He chirped, and Anna shook her head and couldn’t help but smile. Pig was such a cinnamon roll. “Shut up, Pig.” Ron remarked angrily, squeezing through the four beds inside the room.

“Why do you call that owl Pig?” Harry asked in confusion. “Because he’s being stupid. Its proper name is Pigwidgeon.” Ginny said indignantly. “Yeah, and that’s not a stupid name at all - Ginny named him.” Ron explained. “I’ve tried changing it, but he won’t answer to anything else, so now he’s Pig. I have to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes - he annoys me too, come to think of it.”

“You know you love me!” Pig tweeted happily. “You’re such a grump, Ron. He’s so happy all the time.” Anna said as Ron scoffed. “The only reason he doesn’t annoy you is because to you, he says actual words. To me, it’s just noise.” Harry looked around with a raised eyebrow. “Where’s Crookshanks?”

“Out in the garden, I expect.” She shrugged. “According to Anna, he loves chasing the gnomes - thinks it’s quite the laugh.” She said, looking up and down at Harry. “Have you had a good summer, Harry? Did you get our food parcels and everything?” She asked. “Yeah, thanks a lot. They saved my life, those cakes.”

“And have you heard from-” Ron began to ask, but with a look from Hermione, he was silenced. Anna hadn’t heard from Sirius since he had fled from Hogwarts and went into hiding. The last time was on the train, when he had given the note of permission to allow Harry and Anna to go to Hogsmeade, but it was a bad idea to talk about it in front of Ginny. As much as Anna trusted her best friend, the best secrets were never shared.

“I think they’ve stopped arguing.” Hermione said - trying to break the silence. “Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?” She asked as Ginny looked between the four of them curiously. Anna couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty as Ginny gave her a look, and couldn't seem to meet her eyes as she looked at the ground.

‘What are you hiding?’ Her eyes seemed to ask. Anna’s mind flashed back to her first year, when she had been trapped in the Chamber of Secrets, and Riddle had first told her what he had figured out about Anna. ‘More than you’ll ever know.’

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"If you stumble, make it part of the dance,"
   ~ Unknown