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Author: Grandma Kate Story: Ginny's Second Year at Hogwarts Rating: Everyone Setting: Pre-OotP Status: Completed Reviews: 5 Words: 30,095
The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. I’m just borrowing the characters for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. The rain that had started the last week of November continued all through the first week of December. It was so cold and unpleasant that Molly and Arthur speculated that the children at Hogwarts already had snow. Molly made the finishing touches on the jumpers for their five younger children and Harry. She then began to make up parcels to send off to Ron, Harry, and Hermione who were staying at Hogwarts. Molly wondered if she should plan to make a jumper for Hermione next Christmas. She didn’t have time for one now so quickly set the needles to knit her a hat and scarf in Gryffindor colors. The second week of December, she started on serious holiday baking. This year she decided to make small mince pies besides the usual biscuits and Christmas cake. She had a recipe for nut brittle that she wanted to try, as well. While she mixed and cooked and baked, she listened to the Wizarding Wireless Network. They had already started playing a few Christmas songs along with their regular programming. On Days of Destiny, evil Olga was making life miserable for her identical twin, the sweet and compliant Olivia. Molly wondered if those girls had ever had the Christmas spirit. Molly felt good every time she heard Kate Wallace’s voice as the new Chief Pediatric Healer on Bedside at St Brigid’s. It was hard for her not to think of Kate as Fiona although it had been more than thirty years since she joined the cast of Days of Destiny, young and newly orphaned. Molly thought Kate had been so nice about answering her fan mail and had even invited Arthur and her to dinner. She wondered what she would be like in person. After all, Gilderoy Lockhart had turned out to be a ninny despite his winning smile and carefully arranged hair. Well, she and Arthur would find out about Kate and Nic Meath soon enough. The oven had to warn her twice about biscuits and little pies that were getting a wee bit brown. ‘Take me out! I’m done!’ usually got her attention right away. Molly decided she’d stop worrying about going to dinner with Kate and Nic and pay more attention to her baking. Her neighbors and her friends in her Witches and Stitches group always looked forward to her Christmas treats. ****** On Saturday evening, Molly and Arthur dressed in their best dress robes for the dinner they had been invited to. They’d received the coordinates from Kate so knew that they were going to the outskirts of London but were surprised when they seemed to have Apparated in front of a row of houses. They climbed the stairs to a large porch. Arthur rang the doorbell at the double door and a house-elf let them in and took their cloaks. Kate appeared in the foyer almost immediately. She looked very much like her picture, a well-preserved grandmotherly woman who must have had been a great beauty in her youth. Arthur looked up at the chandelier and double curving staircases in the foyer and commented that her house looked as though it were Muggle-built. Kate confirmed that it had been originally, but they had made some modifications. She told them that Nic’s unit and hers were mirror images with the wall between them removed in the foyer and kitchen. She took them through a dining room into a large kitchen on the back of the first floor. A tall well-built man with snow-white hair joined them there. He introduced himself as Nic Meath. Molly recognized his deep resonant voice. He pointed out that Kate’s kitchen had Muggle appliances while his side had a magical cooker and cooler. ‘We eat most of our meals at the kitchen table overlooking the back garden.’ said Kate indicating a table for two. ‘And watch Kate’s large screen TV from the couch on my side,’ added Nic. The house-elf appeared and said, ‘Miss Charlotte and Mr Arnold are here.’ ‘Arthur, I think you know Arnie Peasgood from the Ministry,’ said Nic. ‘And, Molly, I understand that Charlotte, whose stage name is Celestina Warbeck, is your favorite singer.’ Molly felt hot and cold at the same time. She hadn’t actually seen Charlotte in person for more then twenty years. She remembered how grateful the young waitress and singer had been to her just for casting a simple Scourgify spell on a customer who blamed her for the ice cream on her robes. Now that Charlotte had become the world famous Celestina Warbeck, she was always on tour. The four of them joined Arnie and Charlotte in the foyer. The men shook hands and the women kissed the air next to each other’s cheeks. ‘Shall we have some wine and nibbles before dinner?’ asked Kate. The dinner served in Kate’s dining room was delightful. Charlotte told them about her schedule of tours. She said Glenda Chittock was in Finland now making the final arrangements for her Christmas Eve Show from the home of Father Christmas. He, of course, was busy on Christmas Eve but his wife had invited her to spend the night there. Arnie would Portkey in for Christmas dinner. Molly was impressed. She could hardly wait to tell the children and her friends that she had eaten dinner with a personal friend of Father Christmas and his wife. The men talked politics for a while with Arthur and Arnie answering Nic’s questions about what Minister Fudge was going to do about the rumors of You-Know-Who’s return. Kate informed them proudly that Nic had made almost all of their furniture. She told them that he had charmed the dining room table so that it configured itself for the number of dinner guests. Arthur asked eagerly whether he used any Muggle power tools. Arnie wanted to know how he had become so skillful at magical woodworking. ‘My mother’s side of the family comes from the northern part of Italy and every summer I visited my great-uncle who was a master furniture maker. Later my son, Dominic, learned from me and when he visited my uncle.’ Nic paused and sighed. ‘My grandson Dom is nearly finished with Hogwarts and seems torn between playing Quidditch professionally and earning his living with the furniture making skills he has learned from his father and me and his summer visits to Italy. My son wants him to try to make a team, so I suspect he will give Quidditch a go.’ After a very tasty French dessert, the men went downstairs to Nic’s workshop to admire the mixture of Muggle and Wizard tools that he used. The women relaxed in the lounge and drank tea before getting ready to Apparate home. As Molly and Arthur climbed the stairs at the Burrow they talked about the dinner party. ‘Delightful evening,’ said Arthur. ‘I told you that you would be the prettiest witch there. Mollywobbles, how about inviting Nic and Kate over after the New Year?’ Molly nodded and said, ‘Yes, I think we should. I’m not sure that I hold a candle to Kate and Charlotte, but I’m glad you think I am still good-looking. I’m ready for bed and a lie-in tomorrow morning’ Arthur smiled down at her, waggled his eyebrows, and gave her a pat rather lower than her back. ***** Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny were not scheduled to come home until the Sunday before Christmas so Molly and Arthur had a week to get ready. Molly cleaned vigorously before she put clean sheets on their beds and clean towels in the children’s bathroom. She and Arthur had not been home for Christmas the past two years, so Molly had to Vanish a great deal of dust from the boxes of ornaments and other decorations in the attic. She was not surprised that the ghoul had become allergic to dust. She and Arthur wanted to wait until the children were home to put up the tree, but they decorated the outside of the house with a combination of magical and Muggle lights. Arthur was very proud of figuring out how to make them light magically. ‘Who needs eckeltricity?’ Percy sent only one letter before it was time for the Hogwarts Express to bring the children to London. Dear Mum and Dad, We are all looking forward to returning home for Christmas. Except for Ron, of course, who is working on some project with Harry and Hermione over the holiday. The Hogwarts Express should arrive in London around five. Those of us third year and older have one more trip to Hogsmeade on the Saturday before we are to journey home. I will endeavor to ascertain if my sister Ginny would like me to do any Christmas shopping for her, as she is too young to visit Hogsmeade yet. I am quite sure that her other brothers have not given a thought to her predicament. It is unfortunate for Harry that the Muggles he lives with would not give him permission to go to Hogsmeade. Exploring the only completely magical village in Great Britain would help him adjust to his new situation as a wizard. Perhaps I should offer to pick up gifts for him, as well. I am terribly busy with my duties as Head Boy. I hope that my grades do not suffer from the amount of time I must spend on school service. I am looking forward to having more time to devote to my studies and homework over the Christmas Holidays. Sincerely, ‘Percy always sees things in his own way,’ commented Arthur after he read the letter. I wonder what Ron is doing with Harry and Hermione? I hope it does not involve going into the Forbidden Forest again this year.’ Molly sighed as she set the plates and serving dishes on the table. ‘I hope they will be safe with Sirius Black and the Dementors both after Harry.’ ***** The Sunday that the Hogwarts Express was due, Arthur and Molly went in to Diagon Alley to buy more Floo Powder and a few trinkets for the Christmas stockings. ‘We can’t depend on Father Christmas bringing much this year.’ said Arthur with a wink. ‘We’ve been off traveling for two years so he may think we are in Australia this year.’ They arrived at King’s Cross in time to have a pot of tea in the same teashop they had visited when they were leaving Hogwarts and about to be married in a week. ‘Oh, Arthur, I always feel giddy as a bride when we come here,’ said Molly with flushed cheeks. Percy and Ginny came through the barricade at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters first, pushing their trolleys. Fred and George followed behind, imitating Percy’s proud walk and the hurried steps of Ginny trying to keep pace. Molly rushed to hug Ginny first while Arthur threw his arms around the three boys. ‘Have a good trip?' asked Arthur, taking Percy’s trunk but leaving him Hermes’ cage. Molly took Ginny’s trunk and said that they’d be going home on the Knight Bus with hot chocolate as a celebration. ***** Monday morning was windy and quite cold, so the children all stayed inside and wished for snow. While Percy studied in his room, Fred, George, and Ginny helped Molly decorate fancy holiday biscuits while they listened to Days of Destiny. A few people were still suffering from Brain Drain but most were beginning to be able to speak in simple sentences. It did not surprise Molly that Ginny and Fred and George liked the music that was played to introduce Bedside at St Brigid’s. ‘It’s brilliant!’ said Fred. ‘Smashing!’ agreed George. ‘You know the words to this one, don’t you, Ginikins?’ Ginny immediately began to sing along. Molly tapped her feet and thought maybe the music wasn’t so bad after all. The Forensic Healer investigating the spread of Magical Memory Loss in Ireland decided it was not communicated through hand kissing but rather from eating a kind of poisoned mushroom. The rest of the Healers were trying to find an antidote so that Christmas would not be ruined. As Healer O’Malley so wisely said, ‘It is hard to pick out appropriate gifts when you don’t remember who you are, much less all those people around you.’ ‘Healer O’Malley is my friend Kate Wallace. Did I write that we ate dinner with her?’ asked Molly. ‘She’s the Head Healer in Pediatrics at St Brigid’s now but she used to be Fiona a long time ago.’ ‘Did she have to study long to learn to be a Healer?’ asked Fred. ‘Actors and actresses are not real, just pretend,’ explained George, as though he was telling Fred about the Tooth Fairy. ‘How do you know this actress?’ asked Ginny, putting raisins for eyes on the hippogriff she was decorating. ‘When she was Fiona, I wrote her a letter. She sent me her picture but the two of you took it and gave her some extra features.’ Molly glared at the twins. They smiled sweetly back at her. ‘We have hearts of the finest goblin gold. We even gave Harry an exceedingly fine present before we left Hogwarts,’ said Fred, winking at George. ‘Very nice indeed, and extremely useful to a boy student wizard,’ continued George. ‘It was used, of course, but still in excellent working order.’ ‘Is this another of your presents to Harry that’s going to embarrass me?’ asked Ginny. Before either twin could answer, Molly looked out of the window and exclaimed, ‘Snow!’ ‘We won’t stay out so long we freeze!’ The twins said and then ran to put on cloaks and mittens. ‘Mum?’ asked Ginny. Molly nodded and she ran to join her brothers. ***** Arthur was able to come home before dark that evening so he and Percy set off in the snow in search of the perfect Christmas tree while the rest of the children trooped up to the attic to bring down the boxes of ornaments. The tree that Arthur and Percy brought home was a bit too tall but Arthur just expanded the ceiling in the lounge until it could stand fairly straight. ‘We’ll use the smallest angel we can find for the top,’ said Arthur with a lilt in his voice. ‘Now, Molly, how about having some bread and soup in the lounge while we decorate the best tree we’ve ever had?’ The children rummaged through the boxes finding their favorite ornaments while Molly and Arthur cuddled on the couch. Percy had grown very skillful at levitating garlands around the tree. ‘I’ve helped Professor Flitwick for the past two years in the Great Hall,’ he explained with a self-satisfied look on his face. Molly scattered fairy lights all over the tree when it was decorated and the four children and their parents admired their handiwork. ‘I think this is the most beautiful tree we’ve ever had,’ said Arthur. ‘You say that every year,’ said Fred and George in unison. ‘Jinx!’ they said, laughing and hooking little fingers for luck. ***** Christmas Eve, the family sat in the lounge with the tree. They’d moved the the WWN receiver from the kitchen shelf so that they could all listen to Celestina Warbeck’s Christmas Eve Show live from the home of Father Christmas in Korvatunturi, Lapland. Molly suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to tell the children about the dinner party with Charlotte Peasgood, who used the name Celestina Warbeck professionally. ‘Our friend Charlotte is going to stay overnight with the wife of Father Christmas and her husband will come for Christmas dinner.’ ‘Oh, Mum, you like The Singing Sorceress so much!’ said Ginny, excitedly. ‘When did you go to dinner with her?’ ‘When your father and I went to dinner with Kate Wallace and Nic Meath, she and her husband were there. He works at the Ministry, too.’ Molly was happy to tell the children about the fancy dinner party and they were quite interested. ‘Your father and I first met her years ago when we were all very young. We’d done a favor for Charlotte years ago,’ Molly started to explain. Just then Genda Chittock began to introduce the performers and Molly stopped talking to listen. They all thought that the show was wonderful with a mixture of Muggle holiday songs and some special Celestina Warbeck originals. Molly had never heard ‘Transfigure Me Into Your Christmas Angel and I’ll Hang Around.’ She was so overwhelmed that she forgot to continue her story about how she and Arthur had met Charlotte and Arnie. ‘We must get to bed so that Father Christmas can visit us,’ said Arthur as he drank one last glass of Elderberry wine. The children kissed their parents and wished them good night and started up the stairs. ‘I’ll need your help with dinner tomorrow, Ginny,’ said Molly as she kissed her good night. ***** There was fresh snow Christmas morning and the children could see tracks all along the front of the house when they looked out their windows. They’d opened their stockings while still tucked under their duvets. Then Fred and George went into Ginny’s room to see what had been in her stocking and to show her what they’d got. Molly shouted ‘Breakfast!’ up the stairs and the children joined their parents around the kitchen table for toast and eggs and sausages. The family rule was that each of them had to eat something before they all started tearing into the presents. Christmas dinner always had more food than they could finish, so no one would be hungry today. The present exchange started calmly with each choosing a present to open one at a time but soon disintegrated into a melee with wrapping ripped and discarded with ‘Thank you’ shouted across the room. Bill had sent particularly fine presents from Egypt this Christmas but the most exclaimed over ones were dragon hide boots from Charlie for everyone. They were waterproof and charmed to adjust at least a size if their owner’s feet grew. Molly and Arthur’s were a practical dark grey. Ginny’s and Percy’s were black to match their school robes. Fred’s and George’s must have been made from Chinese Fireball hide because they were a deep Gryffindor red. Ginny helped Molly with the feast and the whole family needed a rest after eating. The twins had convinced Percy to play Exploding Snap with their new cards. Arthur had re-grown his eyebrows twice when they heard voices from outside. Their visitors were their neighbors, Amos and Cedric Diggory, bringing a platter of Christmas treats that Corrine Diggory had made for them. Ceddie had a new book about Dragons that he wanted to show to Percy so they left for his room while Amos joined Molly and Arthur in a glass of homemade Elderberry wine. The week between Christmas and New Years went by very quickly. It snowed almost every night so the children played in it more than they worked on their holiday assignments. Percy was the only one who studied every day and wrote letters to his friend Penelope every other day. Hermes was kept busy. ***** New Years Eve morning, Hedwig arrived with three letters. Molly opened the one with the beautiful, if small, penmanship first — Dear Mr and Mrs Weasley, I hope you and your family have had a pleasant Christmas Holiday. It has been very quiet at Hogwarts so Ron and Harry and I have made good progress on our project. We’ve spent many hours in the library. It is extremely interesting to spend Christmas here with mostly professors. Thank you so much for the hand-knitted scarf and hat in Gryffindor colors and the delectable mince pies. It was very thoughtful of you to remember me. It has been bitterly cold so I know that I will wear my scarf and hat many times. Please tell Ginny that my parents sent me some girly items that I think she will be interested in. I miss having another girl to talk to. Yours truly, Molly recognized Harry’s rather messy handwriting— Dear Mr and Mrs Weasley, I really like the jumper that you knitted for me. How did you know that I’d love a bright red one with a Gryffindor lion on it? You’d have laughed at me the first time he roared. I was surprised. I didn’t know that I liked mince pies until I tasted yours. Everything you cook is very delicious. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick are inspecting the new Firebolt I got for Christmas just to be sure it does not have any jinxes on it. I am really excited to have such a wonderful broom and I hope I get it back soon. Please tell Fred and George that I think of them every time I use the present they gave me. Hogwarts seems to be functioning without our Head Boy but I am sure that Percy misses being here and on duty. Please wish Ginny a Happy Christmas and Good New Year from me. Hermione really misses her. Thank you again. I just love what you made for me. Harry Ron’s letter was longer then Molly expected. His letters usually got to the point quickly. Dear Mum and Dad, Hermione is not just mental — she’s gone round the bend. She told all the teachers that Harry got a Firebolt and they confiscated it. She thinks that Sirius Black sent it. And he’s Harry’s godfather; so maybe he did, even if he is a murderer. Scabbers is acting weird but maybe he is just afraid of that monster Hermione calls Crookshanks. Anyway, thank you for another maroon sweater. I almost broke my tooth on the nut brittle but it was good and so were the little pies. Why do they call them mince when they are apples and raisins? We are doing a lot of work this week that will help Hagrid. But we can’t talk about it. Love, Arthur just smiled when he read the three letters. He said that it sounded like Ron and Hermione had kept Harry company and were accomplishing some tasks that they were interested in. The six Weasleys stayed up to see the New Year in. Molly and Arthur drank more of the Elderberry wine and the four children each had a butterbeer. Ginny’s wish and Molly’s wish for the New Year were the same — a good normal year 1994. A/N — My friend Dogstar paired Celestina Warbeck and Arnold Peasgood in her magnificent story about Neville and Hannah, Waiting for Roses, and gave me permission to write them as a couple in the Kate Wallace story. She also let me read an earlier story in which the "just a year out of Hogwarts" Molly Scourgifies Dolores Umbridge after her waitress, Charlotte (Celestina’s real name), accidentally spills something on her. Dogstar’s Celestina is considerably younger than The Lexicon places her. Dogstar writes Charlotte and Arnie only a few years older than Arthur and Molly. In my Harry Potter Universe, Molly was born 30 October 1949 and Arthur on 6 February 1950.
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