The night air was starting to become a bit nippy. Not quite cold, but definitely chilly, especially whenever the wind blew. Thankfully, Harry and I were only standing in front of the doors for a couple seconds before it was opened.
"Welcome, Harry! Edward! So glad you could make it!" Mr. Weasley said exuberantly, ushering us inside.
"Thanks for having us over," I said.
"The food smells great!" Harry chimed in. I couldn't help but nod in agreement. The smells wafting in from the kitchen were tantalizing. As expected when Mrs. Weasley was cooking, really.
As for why we were here? It was the day before the children had to leave for a new school year at Hogwarts, and we'd been invited over for a farewell feast being thrown by, you guessed it, the Weasleys. They were a lively bunch today, and not even Luna – who'd been invited over with her parents – was exempt from the excitement.
"It certainly does. Why don't you join Ron and the others? They're bothering the ghoul in the attic, and maybe you might be able to get them to stop tormenting the poor thing," Arthur Weasley said.
"Good luck with that," I snorted as Harry dashed off towards the stairs. Mr. Weasley just sighed before leading me into the living room where the other adults were.
Well, there were only two others, really. Still, I gave my greetings to the Lovegoods, and sat down in a worn but very comfy armchair while Mr. Weasley went to fetch some drinks.
"Doing well, Mr. Lovegood? Haven't seen you in a while," I said, nodding towards the eccentric newspaper owner who was sitting with his wife on a couch.
"Quite right. Several years since we last spoke. And I have been well in the interim. The Quibbler has grown quite a bit. I even got an offer to distribute back issue copies in Paris!" Xenophilius said happily. "And please, call me Xeno."
"Is that right? Impressive!" I said, meaning it. "I was there during the summer, in fact. Lovely city. You and the wife should visit it. You'll have plenty of time while Luna is at school."
"Hmm, you're right. I hadn't thought about that. It would be a good way to see how my paper would be distributed. And it would be a lovely way to spend our anniversary," Mr. Lovegood said, quickly adding that last part after spotting his wife gain an annoyed look at his first reason for visiting.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea! You know, the Muggles don't call Paris the City of Love for no reason," I said, grinning at the two.
"Ooo! I rather like that name," Pandora Lovegood said, wrapping an arm around one of Xenophilius'. "And call me Pandora, dear."
"Sure," I agreed. Arthur Weasley then returned a moment later with a tray of shot glasses and a bottle of Firewhiskey.
He poured everyone a shot, and we happily enjoyed the drinks, laughing as we spat out smoke and flames after imbibing the enchanted alcohol.
I made sure not to drink too much, though. I wanted a clear head for tonight.
Eventually, Mrs. Weasley called out to that dinner was ready, and I went to fetch the kids.
"Oi! You guys better wash up and get downstairs or else the food will be gone!" I said as I poked my head into the attic. The ghoul in the corner let out a loud sigh of relief as the kids finally left him alone.
"Do I want to know what you did to that poor creature?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I was just asking him questions," Luna said innocently while Harry, Ron, and Ginny looked away guiltily.
"And we were helping her," George and Fred said simultaneously.
I shook my head, not believing a word any of them said, but chose to look around for the last member of the group who I hadn't seen yet.
"Where's Percy?" I asked.
"In his room," Fred (or maybe George?) said.
"Polishing his badge," George (or maybe Fred?) finished with a smirk.
"I'm going to assume you mean his Prefect Badge," I deadpanned at the twins, who snickered and nodded.
I nodded back, then left the attic, trusting them to be able to come down and wash up on their own while I went to get Percy.
After Charlie had graduated Hogwarts and gotten a job at the Romanian Dragon Preserve, his room had been given over to Percy, meaning Ron didn't have to share their old room with his older brother. I knocked on the door, hearing my old friend call out, "Come in!"
I opened the door but didn't step inside. Percy looked up from his desk where he'd been doing some reading, and gained a surprised look on his face when he saw me.
"Edward?" he uttered.
"Hey, Percy," I said, greeting him.
"You're here already? I thought…" he trailed off, glancing to the window before wincing. "Ah. It seems I was a bit too distracted to realize how much time had passed."
"Time flies when you're having fun," I said with a chuckle.
"It does," he agreed, somewhat stiffly.
"Mrs. Weasley wanted me to tell everyone dinner is ready," I said, breaking the awkward silence. "Better hurry and use the bathroom before the others get to it."
Percy grimaced at that before getting up. I stepped back, letting him past. He sent me a look I couldn't read before heading off to wash up.
Shrugging, I went back down to the dining room and helped Mrs. Weasley set the food out on the table. She didn't really need the help, but she appreciated it all the same.
Before dinner though, as everyone gathered at the table and sat down, I snuck upstairs, claiming to need to use the bathroom. However, when I left the dining room behind, I didn't go there right away.
Instead, I snuck into Ron's room. There, a modestly sized cage containing a certain pudgy brown rat could be seen sitting on his bedside dresser.
The door was unlocked, and I opened the cage. 'Scabbers' tensed up, but when he saw it was me, he relaxed.
"Hey little guy," I crooned softly. "You look hungry. Did Ron forget to feed you?"
I knew he hadn't. He'd put out a bit of food earlier, but 'Scabbers' wouldn't say no to more, and so made a squeak, begging for food.
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