Lemon Grass and Sleep

A BURROW FILLED WITH RED HARES

The Burrow was just as warm and inviting as it looked, and dare I say just as dangerous too. Enchanted utensils cooked dinner off to the side and cleaned up after themselves startlingly fast, and a television blared to the right.

"Oh, are you cold? Kick off your shoes and come warm up by the fire. Ginny, dear, move out of the way for our guest."

A small girl with long red hair rolled her eyes but moved regardless. My coat was suddenly hung up on a coat rack and before I could thank their mother she had me wrapped in a fleece blanket with a mug of cocoa between my hands.

"She'll mellow out once you've had dinner," George whispered reassuringly as he passed behind the couch quickly, ordered to help with the cooking by his mother.

"Fred, be a dear and go grab some more firewood." The plump woman weaved her way through the cluttered and cramped house toward me again, prodding at the fire in front of me.

"Sorry about all the bustle, what's your name?" She asked, turning to face me and fussing over the blanket.

"Thomas Soot, thank you for having me," I replied politely, taking a modest sip from my cocoa.

"Thomas, care for Tom?"

"Tom does just fine," no one had ever really bothered to give me a dedicated nickname. Glinda only called me Tom or Tommy when I was acting especially stupid.

"This is my husband, Arthur," she gestured over to a man who waived from the dining table, "And my name is Molly. You can just call us Mr. and Mrs. Weasley if you want, though."

"Ah, thank you-"

"No need to thank me, deary. Just drink your cocoa until dinner's piping hot." Just as fast as she had approached me, she waddled her way into the kitchen.

I almost felt bad as I watched the twins scramble all over the house doing whatever their mother said. Almost. Then I remembered the car ride here and I snuggled into my blanket a bit more.

"Tom, dinner's on the table soon. Go ahead and take your seat." She nodded to a very out of place looking chair that had been pulled up to a corner, with its own mismatched placemat and everything.

I unearthed myself and placed my lukewarm mug on the coffee table, making my way around the living room furniture to the dining table tucked away by a large bay window.

Plates of food covered the table, and I didn't even know where to begin. Lucky for me, Molly didn't care at all and heaped pretty much everything onto a plate before putting it in front of me.

"Eat up, you'll want to be full to keep yourself warm." She ducked back into the kitchen and talked to the twins quietly. "We don't have a bed, you know I hate making guests sleep on the couch."

Personally, I didn't mind sleeping on that couch for the rest of my life. It let you sink into it and smelled just like Fred and George, nothing to complain about on my end.

"He and Fred are real close. They can sleep top and tail," George suggested, making my blood run cold.

No way. Was this his plan? I knew Glinda had to have something to do with this. Of course Fred didn't think of this on his own, George must have suggested it and it lead to here.

Those horrible G's are always two steps ahead, I swear.

"Oh, good. Fred that's alright?"

"Fine by me," I could see his shoulder shrug just behind the corner, and the three of them entered the dining room like they hadn't just talked about me.

"I see you haven't touched your food, everything alright?" Molly coddled me, sitting across the table by Arthur.

"Oh, no, sorry. I was thinking," I bashfully muttered, picking up my fork and beginning to eat some meat.