Hermione Granger, Another Life - Year One

A Weasley Christmas

When George opened the door, five redheads looked up at them. Ginny squealed and jumped up from the sofa and wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist. When Ginny pulled back Hermione looked in awe at all the traditional and magical Christmas decorations in the room. From a simple elf-on-a-shelf to a Santa Clause flying around the tree in his sled.

"Hermione?" Charlie asked surprised, a smile on his face as he got up. "Never thought you would be the surprise."

"Yeah, me neither. I was in the dark as much as you guys." She laughed as Charlie hugged her, pulling her away from the twins. Charlie let her go and walked her over to Bill.

"Bill, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione... Bill."

"Nice to put a face to the stories." Bill smiled as he put his hair in a low ponytail.

"Stories? What have they been telling you?" Hermione looked at the guilty party.

"Nothing bad, I promise." He gestured her to sit next to him.

"They better not." She chuckled. "Hi Ron, Percy." She waved over to the two quiet Weasleys. "I heard you're a curse breaker?" She asked excitingly when the other two gave a small nod.
Bill beamed as he talked about his work in Egypt. Charlie, George and Fred looked at the talking duo.

"We lost her to Bill... figures." Charlie grinned.

"She's drawn to the smartest person in the room." Ginny laughed as she decked the cards for another game.

"Oi!" The three of them cried out. Hermione rolled her eyes at them before turning back to the oldest brother.

After a few games her mother entered the living room. "Dinner is ready, kids."

"Coming!" The twins called out and packed up the game, Ron already running to the kitchen. When the rest entered Ron was already waiting impatiently at the table. The twins placed Hermione between them, Bill and Charlie across from her.

"Oh, Ginny. Hermione will be staying in your room. They had a long drive; it would be too long to head back tonight."

"How long does it take?" Bill asked as his mother started filling up the plates.

"By car? About three hours."

"Three hours? Blimey!" Ron said already with his mouth full.

"Dad, can't you get a connection for their floo?"

"Floo?" The three Grangers asked.

"It's a way of transportation." Percy explained. "You step into a fireplace and with the use of floo powder you can transport to another one in seconds."

"That sounds..." Her mum said uncertain, unable to finish her sentence.

"Can it be used by muggles?"

"As long as you have floo powder, yes."

"If you want, I can see if it is possible." Arthur said. "We'll show you how it works tomorrow, then you can decide."

"Molly, this all looks delicious." Her mother smiled, looking at all the dinner she had prepared. "I wish I could've helped."

"Nonsense." She waved her off. "You are our guest."

"Mum doesn't like help in the kitchen." Fred whispered as he reached over for the mashed potatoes. "Do you want some?" He asked after he loaded his plate.

She nodded her head, grinning. "Thanks, but not as much as you."

"That's the Weasley appetite, everyone here has it, even Ginbug."