Chapter Text
"Bye, girls. Have fun and stay safe, okay? And tell Arthur and Molly I say hello."
"Will do, Dad."
"Bye, Dad."
I look over to my sister Penelope, a bright smile on my face. There's nothing that I love more than spending time at the Burrow. To be completely honest, I feel more at home there than I do at my own home, and it'd been that way ever since I spent the summer there after first year.
But now, it's the summer before sixth year, and for the first time, my older sister Penelope is headed to the Burrow with me, because she's been dating Percy Weasley (something that me and my best friends - the twins - absolutely love to tease them about), and because we're both attending the Quidditch World Cup later in the summer with the whole family. She was invited by Percy, of course, and it was a given that the twins would bring me.
"You go ahead," Penelope says, picking up her bag and nodding towards the fireplace, "I'll meet you there."
I pick up my own bag, grabbing a handful of floo powder in my left hand and holding the strap of my bag in my right. Penny helped me charm it to fit all my clothes for the rest of the summer (because I can't use magic outside of school for another few months), but it's still way too heavy.
"You just wanna show off to Percy how well you can Apparate," I say, slightly bitter that I still have to use the Floor Network.
"You're just jealous that you can't Apparate yet. And that you can't show off for George. Or Fred. Or whatever twin that you have a crush on."
"I don't-" I cut myself off, choosing to ignore her instead. It's true: I've had a huge crush on George for years now, but Penny doesn't need to know that. Nobody knows, actually, not even Fred. Especially not Fred, because I know that he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from George. I love the twins, and we usually always tell each other most things, but I've learned over the years that Fred can't keep his mouth shut to save his life. That's why my feelings for George have always been my biggest secret, and I'm planning on keeping it that way for a while, for several reasons.
"The Burrow!" I announce loudly, tossing the floo powder into the fireplace and stepping into the flames. Almost instantly, I'm transported to my destination, a sensation that I'm used to by this point after years of coming here. Coughing loudly amongst the smoke, I step out of the Weasley's fireplace.
"Katie! You're here!"
"Hey, Gin!" I say, dropping my bag on the floor with a thunk and pulling her into my arms. Ginny is the younger sister that I never had, and growing up with all brothers, Ginny welcomed me into the family immediately. Even with a sister of my own, Penny and I have never been very close, so I'm very thankful for Gin, especially when I need a break from the twins. And trust me, as much as I love to spend time with them, I do need the occasional break. Sometimes it's nice to be able to have "girl-talk" with Ginny, as well as Hermione, whenever she visits over the holidays.
"Fred and George haven't shut up about you coming," Ginny says, stepping back and tossing her long, fiery red hair over her shoulders, "which is why I'm surprised they weren't camped out at the fireplace waiting for you."
I snicker. "Sounds about right. Where are they, anyway?"
"Is that Clearwater I hear?"
I start at the voice, coming from the stairs, but grin when its owner rounds the corner and holds out his arms.
"Charlie! I didn't know you'd be here already!" I exclaim, running into his arms. He picks me up, spinning her around, and I giggle as I hold on to him tightly. The last time that I had seen him was right before he left for Romania, right after he graduated, so about three years ago or so. I first met him at school, because we went to school for two years together, and we got along perfectly right away. Not to mention that the fact that I had a small crush on him after meeting him, before I realized my feelings for George, of course.
But then again, who didn't have a crush on Charlie at some point? He's covered in freckles and tall like the rest of his brothers, towering over my tiny stance of five foot two. He was bloody fantastic at Quidditch, which was one of the first things that caught my eye all those years ago, and after getting to know him, I found out quickly just how big of a nerd he is. If you get him started on dragons, he'll talk your ear off for hours about them, but that's one of the things that I adore about him.
Charlie sets me down, grinning from ear to ear as he looks at me. I can't help but blush a little, because after all, I still find him incredibly attractive.
"Yeah, I got here a few days ago. I knew exactly when you'd be here, though, 'cause like Gin said-" He flashes a smile over my shoulder at his sister, "-you've been all the twins have been talking about. I think they're up in their room though, working on whatever they've been working on. I've never seen those two sit still for so long until this summer."
I smile, knowing exactly what he's referring to. "Oh, yeah, that would be the products for their joke shop that they're looking to start after we leave school. They've really got some genius ideas."
"Oh, Katie! I thought I heard your voice. How are you, dear? Did Penelope come with you?" Mrs. Weasley walks into the room, followed by Mr. Weasley, warm smiles on both of their faces. Right away, I walk into Mrs. Weasley's arms, hugging her tightly. Mrs. Weasley is the mom I never got to have, considering my mom left us years ago for unknown reasons. At least, my dad never told us. I never got to know her, so Mrs. Weasley stepped into that spot for me.
"Penelope? Is she here?"
Percy follows his parents into the room, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking around eagerly upon hearing Penny's name. I can't help but smile at his enthusiasm, but then again, who would I be if I didn't tease him about it?
I scoff playfully as I pull away from Mrs. Weasley.
"It's good to see you, too, Perce."
Percy gives me an exasperated look - one that isn't uncommon to see from him. I know he loves me, though.
"Who woulda thought?" Charlie muses, lowering himself into a chair, "Percy and Penelope Clearwater. If there was gonna be a Clearwater and Weasley relationship, I always had my bets on Katie and one of the twins."
I feel myself blush fiercely at that as Charlie winks at me. Ginny grins and perches on the armrest of the chair, leaning down and whispering something to Charlie. I can't help but wonder what she's saying, but my attention quickly turns elsewhere as there's a knock at the door. Percy practically flies across the room, opening it to reveal Penelope, who smiles and turns red at the sight of him, which the twins would have way too much fun with if they were down here. Penny tucks a lock of her long, straight, blonde hair behind her ear as she steps into the house.
"Didja get lost?" I tease her, and from somewhere above me, I hear two sets of pounding footsteps, and I know in a heartbeat who they belong to.
As Penelope begins to greet everyone in the room, Fred and George come barreling through the doorway, and before I can even truly process what's going on, I find myself being tackled to the floor, my head hitting the ground as one of them rests all their weight on me, completely knocking the breath out of me.
"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley exclaims, "Don't hurt her!"
Fred completely ignores her as he hugs me on the floor, his muffled voice saying something along the lines of that they've been waiting forever-
"C'mon, Fred, you gotta share," George laughs from above, attempting to push Fred off of me with his foot. I feel my cheeks heating up at his words, and laugh myself as I finally manage to push Fred off and onto to the floor next to me.
"You two idiots are pretty much the last to know that I'm here," I say, standing up and hugging George, wrapping my arms around his torso. I rest my head against his chest, feeling his pounding heartbeat against my ear. He's warm, and I breathe in his familiar, comforting scent as he wraps his arms around my shoulders, squeezing me tightly against him. George's hugs have always felt like home; there's no better way to explain them.
"Besides Ron. Where's Ron?" I add.
"Not sure. Probably sulking over something or other in his room," Ginny replies.
"Most likely. He's been hormonal lately," Charlie adds.
I grin. I'll talk to him later and see what's up. After all, me and Ron have always been pretty close, despite how much the twins pick on him. If anything, the amount that they pick on him makes me more protective over him. Anything that Ron has ever told me in private, I've always kept to myself, especially when Ron admitted to me years ago that he feels overshadowed by all of his older brothers. Since then, I always consciously tries to put aside time for him or include him in things that I do with the twins and Ginny.
"Well," Mrs. Weasley says, looking around, "we're going to be having a very full house this summer. Katie, Penelope, you'll be staying in Ginny's room, and I do believe that Hermione is joining us a bit later in the month, so she'll be staying with you girls, too. Bill will be here next week, so he'll get his old room, and then Harry will be here next month, and he'll be with Ron, of course."
"You know what that means?" Fred says from his spot on the floor.
Mrs. Weasley gives him a warning look. "No pranking, Fred." She shifts her gaze to George. "Or you, George."
Fred returns with a mock offended look on his face. "We would never, Mother."
"Do you really think so little of us?" George adds dramatically, to which I giggle and Mrs. Weasley sighs.
"I was talking about Quidditch. With everyone here, we can finally have something close to a proper game," Fred points out, pushing himself off the floor and standing to my right. Quidditch at the Burrow is one of my favorite traditions, even though someone always ends up bloody or bruised, and it's usually always me. And with all the Weasleys in one place? That's a game I wouldn't miss for the world.
"Absolutely," Charlie agrees, "I want to see Harry Potter in action, after all I've heard about him."
"He's quite fantastic, actually" Ginny says. At that, Fred puckers up his lips and makes kissy noises at her, but Ginny just gives him the middle finger when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley aren't looking.
I glance around the living room and realize that at some point, Penelope and Percy snuck away, and are no doubt snogging somewhere while the rest of the family is distracted. I lean against George as I watch Fred, Charlie, and Ginny start to argue about who's the best at Quidditch, and think about the upcoming summer.
With all seven Weasleys in one house, plus the mixture of me, Penelope, Harry, and Hermione, this summer is going to be one of the most chaotic summers that I've ever experienced, but I wouldn't want it any other way.