Control ▸ Ron Weasley [2]

XI. A VERY WEASLEY CHRISTMAS, PART TWO

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
A VERY WEASLEY CHRISTMAS, PART TWO
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      Nova was very surprised when she received a strong hug from the newcomer at the door.

      It had been months since she'd seen Remus Lupin in person, though she'd kept a hesitant contact with him through letters. Mostly, he asked about how she was doing at school but always ended with a question about how Harry was doing, also. It didn't matter how many times she replied that she didn't talk to Harry much anymore; Remus still asked.

      "How have you been, Nova?" he asked, looking more ragged and tired than he had when they had gone to the Ministry. 

      "Fine, and yourself?" she asked politely, moving so Mr. Weasley could take his bags and put them in his designated room for the night.

      "Fine," he said, looking nothing of the sort. She politely didn't mention his state. He was probably well-aware of it.

      She and the twins had gotten back from the village and had immediately started a game of Exploding Snap. Nova didn't play, but she watched the twins and even Ginny mess around with the cards and laughed at the appropriate times. Her eyes, however, were always on the youngest son of the Weasley family, who was sitting with Bill and Fleur and looking quite sourly at the twins. Harry was talking to Mr. Weasley, while Mrs. Weasley was singing along to a Christmas song. Lupin gave Nova another small smile before making his way over to Harry and Mr. Weasley, both of which who were looking solemnly at Nova.

      Nova jumped at their stares, sending Harry a questioning look. He glared in her direction before turning back to talk to Mr. Weasley.

      It wasn't the first time that night Harry had sent her odd looks. She couldn't think of anything she'd done to warrant his annoyance, since she hadn't even really interacted with him since the night of Slughorn's Christmas party, but maybe his best mate had finally gotten to him and spread nasty lies about her and their relationship. She didn't think Ron would be the type to do that, but admittedly, she didn't know him well anymore. George slapped her leg lightly to get her attention back on the game, which he had just won.

      "Having fun?" he asked.

      She didn't want to tell him that she was mildly uncomfortable. His family was sweet, there was no doubt about it, but she'd feel a lot better if she was at the flat, snuggled in with a blanket. She couldn't relax at The Burrow, and Christmas was meant for relaxing. "Yeah," she lied, nodding her head. Her eyes swiveled to the table, where Mrs. Weasley was levitating everything whilst singing along to her Christmas carols, and she nearly had a heart attack. She was going to sit and eat dinner with everyone and be expected to talk. She was dreading it already. 

      It seemed that too soon, Mrs. Weasley was calling out that dinner was ready. Nova gingerly stood, walking over to the kitchen table. She claimed a seat between Fred and Ginny, the former who patted the back of it with a wicked grin. He pulled it out for her, then pulled it out even further when she tried to sit in it, sending her body careening backwards.