3 - A Home in Constant Motion

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'You are going to be cooperative. You are going to be attentive. You are going to be polite. And you are going to be very gracious. She didn't have to do this,' Dad said, handing us our rucksacks and snack bags.

'What does gracious mean?' I asked.

'It means saying thank you,' Cedric clarified.

'Yes! And you are going to say thank you to her every chance you get, do you understand?' Dad urged.

'Yes, dad,' Cedric and I chorused.

Dad sighed and nodded at us. 'Right, off you go. I'll see you kids for dinner.' Cedric and I turned out the door into the crisp morning air as Dad watched us walk away. 'Love you!' he called as we kept walking.

'She's nice. They all are. But if you get nervous or anything, I'm here,' Cedric took my hand.

'I know,' I nodded. 'Her husband works with dad. We've met them a couple times.'

'Right, but just in case you get overwhelmed or owt, you can stick with me. I mean, you remember their house. It's in constant motion. And we just lost-'

'I KNOW CED!' I took a deep breath and gulped. 'Sorry,' I whispered.

He shook his head. 'It's alright,' he reassured.

When we came up on the house, the woman was already outside waiting for us with a smile on her face. 'There you are,' she said as we walked up to her. She put her hands on our shoulders. 'Oh, Addy, you've grown up so much. Seems like only yesterday you were toddling around with the kids at Headquarters.' I furrowed my eyebrows, confused and she took a deep breath. 'Why don't you two go inside and sit at the table. There's tea in the kettle. I'll be right in after I grab a few things from the garden.'

'Thank you, Mrs. Weasley,' we chorused, and walked in.

One boy was already sitting at the table. He looked to be about Cedric's age, if not a little older. He was reading a book when we walked over to the table, putting our things down. He looked up at us, unamused, and then back at his book.

'You must be the Diggory kids.'

'One Diggory, One Potter. But yes,' Cedric clarified, walking over to the kettle on the stove and pouring two cups. There was a crash upstairs and he jumped, almost spilling the tea on the counter. The boy at the table didn't stir.

'I'm Percy. The culprits of the explosion...my menacing twin brothers Fred and George.'

Cedric came back with the tea cups and put them in front of our seats. I nodded to thank him. 'There are more than three of you if I remember?' Cedric asked. 

'Too many more,' Percy groaned.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs as a little girl jumped down two steps at a time. She ran into the kitchen and then startled at the sight of me and Cedric. 'Who are you?' she asked.

'They're our new homeschooling buddies, Ginny.' Percy looked up from his book at me and Cedric. 'She's the youngest. One of the only tolerable siblings.' We nodded as he returned to his book.

Ginny walked up eagerly to us with a huge smile on her face. 'I'm Ginny! I'm 5!' Cedric knelt down to her level.

'Hi, Ginny! I'm Cedric. I'm 9!' Ginny giggled. 'And this is my sister Adrienne. She's 8!'

Ginny gasped most dramatically. 'My brothers are 8!'

Cedric gasped back, glancing at me. 'No way!' Ginny laughed at him.

'Are you all ready to-where are the rest of them?' Mrs. Weasley asked, coming in with a box of vegetables. Percy pointed up without breaking eye contact with his book. 'BOYS!' Mrs. Weasley blared.

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