Chapter 34: The Stay at the Burrow

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Things at the Burrow were never silent, the home was in a constant state of chaos. Even the nights were filled with the never-ending snoring of Arthur Weasley.

And that July afternoon was no exception.

Molly Weasley always made it abundantly clear that during the Summer, everyone had to pitch in with the housework. The chores varied from peeling potatoes to pissing off garden gnomes.

Gwen Hamilton was supposed to arrive in a couple of hours. To Molly that meant that she had to make sure that the house was up to spec.

"Why are we even cleaning the fireplace? It's a fireplace! It's going to get dirty when we use it again." Ron's face was covered by a layer of soot which flew off with a couple of coughs.

George did not envy his brother, he at least had the simple task of peeling carrots. Next to him was Fred, who had tears in his eyes due to the onions he was cutting.

"Be grateful that no one flooed in and landed on your gigantic head," George said causing Fred to chuckle despite his tears.

"Very funny, George. You know she's your friend, right? Why should I be the one cleaning?" Ron stepped away from the fireplace and went to clean his face at the kitchen sink.

"Because you like her as well. Besides, didn't you once have a crush on Gwen?" Fred asked as he placed his hands on his hips and looked at Ron with a smirk.

Ron's face got a few shades darker before he turned back to the fireplace.

George finally finished his peeling and took over for Fred who was struggling to cut the onion. "Guess that makes two Weasleys," George said to Fred, knowing full well how annoyed he would get.

"Jokes are only made with the intent of making fun of others, Georgie, not each other," Fred warned.

One thing that Fred loathed was the fact that he was constantly teased about his crush. It was bad enough that George and Lee knew, but it seemed that more and more people learned the fact each day. The only person who probably didn't know was Gwen herself.

He learnt to play it off. He knew that his family and friends only wanted to tease and meant no harm. It just annoyed him how they would unconsciously remind him how out of reach the girl he longed for was.

Fred snapped out of his thoughts and focused back on the task at hand. He wiped his forehead clean of a few drops of sweat.  It was mid-July and the weather was warm, well as warm as it could be in England.

Gwen would be staying for three weeks and would leave a week before the world cup before more people would be residing at the house.

Fred was glad that he would be seeing Gwen during the Summer although he knew that she wasn't the happiest with the situation.

Gwen had no idea that her brother had decided for her to reside at the Burrow for such a long time. And since her birthday was at the beginning of August, it will cause her to spend her birthday away from home.

However, Fred already had quite a long list of things planned for that day and he hoped that it would be enough to get her mind off things. Gwen told him that her birthday was hardly celebrated anymore. As it fell during the time where she was away from friends and was usually just her and her brother.

That only encouraged Fred more, he would make that birthday the most enjoyable one yet. It's just one of the many things that he would gladly do for her.

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"Are you sure that you have everything?"

Sebastian Hamilton was dressed in his work clothes, his brown hair parted neatly and suit as green as his eyes. He had worked the night shift at the ministry the day before, meaning that he had some time to drop Gwen at the Burrow.

"Don't worry, I have everything. You can ship me off soon enough." Gwen replied snarkily as she dragged her trunk down the manor's stairs.

Sebastian sighed at the response. "I'm not shipping you off, Gwen. But the Ministry is making sure that everything will be prepared for the Quidditch World Cup and wants everything to be as safe as possible."

Gwen rolled her eyes as she finally landed at the bottom of the stairs.

"You know, there is such a thing as overworking."

Both the Hamilton siblings turned their heads towards the moving portrait of their father, Wendell, who was looking down at them with his kind green eyes.

At the sight of her 'father's' painted smile, Gwen tried to calm down. She reminded herself that Sebastian was still with her, unlike her father, and should not waste so much time arguing.

"That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" Sebastian replied with a sharp inhale.

"Don't listen to him," Gwen told the portrait as she gave Sebastian a dirty look.

Her father turned towards the sound of her voice. "Did he say your name is Gwen? I have a daughter named Gwen. Gwendolyn technically. She's younger than you though! Although, you do have similar features." Wendell gave a small smile as he looked at Gwen who hesitantly returned it.

"We better go, the Weasleys are expecting us." Sebastian pulled Gwen out of her reverie as he offered Gwen his hand. Gwen clutched onto Atlas' and Athena's cages, making sure that they were secure.

"Will you visit on my birthday?" Gwen asked her brother, her voice lowered slightly. Sebastian frowned at the statement, paining him that she even had to ask. "Of course I will. You have my word."

Gwen took his hand silently and closed her eyes shut to brace herself for the upcoming apparition.

Apparition was an uncomfortable process. It wasn't Gwen's first time doing it but it always made her feel as if she's being squashed into a tube. Before they even knew it, the Hamiltons left the manor and reappeared out in a green field.

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A loud crack occurred, alerting all the Weasleys of Gwen's arrival. Ginny was the first to stand up and was about to go and greet her before sounds of two people talking stopped her.

Mrs Weasley immediately recognised the Hamilton siblings' voices and noticed that they were in the heat of an argument. She gave Ginny a look, knowing that they shouldn't interfere.

The arguing went on for a while and the Weasleys felt awkward. They couldn't make out their exact words but they could tell that it wasn't anything pleasant from the tone of their voices.

A knock on the door was heard and they all let out sighs of relief. Ginny stood up once again, plastering a fake smile and hoped that it was enough for Gwen to not notice that they caught her arguing.

If they didn't know what happened they would never have guessed, because there she was, with a bright smile that made Fred's heart stop for a hot second.

Ginny quickly went into her arms which Gwen couldn't reciprocate because of the pet cages that she was holding. "It's barely been a month, Gin."

Ginny, however, did not care. Her arrival was like a gift from Merlin himself. She saw so much of her brothers that it made her go mad.

"A lot of things can happen in a month. I mean look at you. You cut your hair!" Ginny exclaimed as she took a step back. She eyed Gwen's hair in approval, her hair stopping to her shoulders instead of at her mid-back.

"Give her some space, Ginny. She hasn't even put her stuff down!" Ginny listened to her mother and took the initiative to open Atlas' and Athena's cages. Athena quickly flew on the windowsill and started stretching her wings while Atlas full-on sprinted towards George.

"Did you miss uncle Georgie? Yes, you did." George said as he ruffled his fur. Atlas- who was at an adult size now- purred before jumping onto his lap.

"Let me set a plate for you, Gwendolyn. Take a seat." Gwen sat in the empty seat next to Ginny which faced Fred's. Fred quickly caught her eye and winked at her causing the latter to shake her head.

"Thank you for having me, Mrs Weasley. I hope that it wasn't too much of a hassle. Bas sends his regards." A plate was placed in front of her, so warm that she had to wait a while for it to cool down.

"You're never a hassle and you know that. I hope that you'll find it to your liking. Fred warned me that you don't like mushrooms. He knows you so well." Mrs Weasley said.

The statement caused the entire table to snicker at Fred's reddening face, even Percy cracked a smile.

Gwen knew Mrs Weasley well by now and often fell victim to many of her teasing suggestions. She got so used to it that she no longer flinched or got red herself, the same cannot be said about Fred.

Dropping his fork, Fred turned to his mother. "Gwen has a boyfriend, you know."

Everyone at the table paused in surprise. Mrs Weasley was not aware of this news while the others were just shocked that he even mentioned it.

George gave his twin a side glance, his face falling to an unimpressed look.

Mrs Weasley stammered a bit. "O-oh! I didn't know that! Anyone I might know?"

The Hamilton was turning redder by the second as she wasn't particularly keen to talk about her love life in front of all those people.

Thankfully, George responded for her.

"Cedric Diggory, I think his dad works at the ministry. Nice dude, Hufflepuff, very beautiful to look at. Makes me go all tingly." George's jokes quickly diffused the tension causing many to chuckle.

The food, just like Gwen's face, finally cooled down and the girl quickly dug into it. Ginny nudged her gently, gaining her attention. "You'll be sleeping in my room. There should be enough space." Ginny explained.

Gwen's eyes opened in horror. Gwen had the problem where she slept with her mouth open and Ginny often retaliated by slipping a quill into her mouth. Ginny knew exactly what was going on inside her head causing her eyes to light up.

Lunch was something that Gwen rarely enjoyed during the Summer. She usually ate alone or told her house-elf, Dibsy, to keep her company. At the Burrow, every second of the day was eventful whether it be doing chores or just talking.

Ginny dragged Gwen up the stairs the instant that they finished eating. Gwen collapsed on the newly added mattress, clearly out of breath after carrying her trunk up the stairs.

Ginny's room looked more lived-in than Gwen's bedroom at the manor. Albeit a bit messy, the room screamed Ginny with the Weird Sisters and Holyhead Harpies posters.

"I see that you made yourself at home," Fred said as he entered the room. Ginny huffed at his arrival. "I told you to knock." Ginny threw a pillow at him and he effortlessly caught it.

"You shouldn't have stolen my best friend." Fred retorted as he sat by the desk. "She didn't retaliate. I think it's clear that I'm her favourite Weasley." Fred went to argue back before Gwen cut him off.

"Don't be ridiculous you two, you know that I love you both equally. Charlie, however, now he's the one who holds my heart in his hands- Hey!" Before she knew it, Fred came at her, hitting her gently with the pillow he caught.

Gwen was about to beg Ginny for help before she started hitting her with one as well. "You deserve it!"

A yell was heard and in came running George who thankfully decided to join Gwen's side. "I want to join! I want to join!" George chanted as he handed a pillow to Gwen.

"Oh, you're going down now, Frederick Weasley," Gwen teased as she defended herself from a blow to the head.

"Don't get cocky, Gwendolyn Hamilton." With a giggle, Gwen was finally at equal footing with the other Weasleys and the four continued until Percy came in yelling to stop.

The quartet stopped, not before all throwing pillows at him, and then sat down for a breather. George sat next to Ginny on the bed while Fred was glued by Gwen on the mattress, his head on her lap.

"We've been pissing off Percy a lot lately. Says that he has to concentrate to do his very important ministry work." George explained with a roll of the eyes.

"And by important ministry work, he means his reports on cauldron bottoms." Fred piped in with a laugh.

"Did the N.E.W.T results already come out?" Gwen asked, her face turning a bit pale. "Yeah, they always come before the O.W.Ls for some reason. You should receive them about next week." Ginny informed as she gave the girl a reassuring look. Ginny was well-aware of how anxious she got when it came to her O.W.Ls.

"Don't you even worry! You did great Gwen,"  Fred said as he sat up and grabbed her hand. He gave it a gentle comforting squeeze. "Everything you do is perfect."

Gwen knew that it was in no way true, but she didn't correct him, knowing that he would have argued back.

Instead, she gave a close-mouthed smile as she gazed into his warm eyes.

George cleared his throat, snapping them both back into the conversation. Gwen focused on what Ginny was saying, choosing to ignore the sudden feeling that bubbled up.

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Quick Author's note.

I know that Artemis' name was changed to Atlas, but I changed it for a specific reason that we'll learn later on.

I'm editing the previous chapters that I posted and I'm about halfway done. So that's why some of the chapters call the cat Artemis and some Atlas.

Most of the changes are grammatical and besides the cat's name barely anything significant has been made.

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