Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Against the Rules (Bill Weasley)

"Can I help you?" I asked slowly, as the still unfamiliar twin blinked up at me, the beginning of a smirk on his lips.

"You're hot," he said bluntly, making me splutter slightly.

"I - I'm sorry?"

"Be my girlfriend?"

"Ok," Bill drew out the word, stepping into the room to fist the back of his brother's jumper. He pulled him away from me, restraining him against his side. "Ignore Fred; he's going through that phase where he flirts with every girl he sees. Don't read too much into it."

"I won't," I assured him, fighting not to roll my eyes when Bill began to drag a struggling 'Fred' out of the room. The younger Weasley, realising that his 9-year-old strength, was nothing compared to his brother's strength, allowed himself to be dragged out of the room but not before throwing me one last wink. Bill shut the door behind them and I allowed a small smile to play on my lips.

Remembering that I wasn't alone, I turned to the other girl in the room who was bouncing a little eagerly on the bed, clearly waiting for my attention. How did you talk to 6-year-old girls? Especially when one was looking at you so expectantly?

"Ginny," I tried out cautiously, making her nod excitedly, "is there - do you want me to braid your hair?" I asked remembering the girl pestering her mother to braid her hair. At the time Mrs Weasley had been too busy handling the twins who had Ron in a double head lock and as a result Ginny's hair was still un-braided.

"Please," she said eagerly, clambering off the bed to get a hair brush and a hair tie.

Settling down on my bed, I waited for Ginny to sit in front of me and began to gently run the brush through her hair; I wouldn't want to hurt her.

"You know," she murmured contemplatively, "I think I like you more than Bill's girlfriend."

"You've only just met me," I protested quietly, thinking of Bill's girlfriend; the current head girl.

As I parted her hair into three equal sections, Ginny muttered, "Doesn't matter. I still like you better, she made fun of my hair."

"She did?" I frowned, surprised at how protective I suddenly felt over this little girl. "Didn't Bill say anything?"

"She did it when he wasn't around."

"Cow," I muttered under my breath, clearly not quietly enough. The single word set Ginny off into a peal of giggles.

**********

A few days into my stay with the Weasleys, snow had begun to fall and it blanketed the land surrounding the burrow. The children, eager to get outside woke early in the morning and after a filling breakfast they had all wrapped up warmly and only then were they allowed outside to play in the snow. I had been tempted to stay inside because I did not mix with the cold weather and despite Ginny's insistence, I had chosen to curl up with my book and sat by the windowsill, watching as they had a snowball fight. The siblings played excitedly with the first snow and I frowned when the playful snowball fight soon became Ginny vs her brothers. Or rather the brothers who were currently playing outside. Bill and Charlie were still sleeping in and I couldn't contain my surprise when even Percy began to gang up on his little sister. Well that simply wouldn't do.

Setting the book aside I walked back to my room and changed into my winter clothes, tying the scarf tightly around my neck. I didn't want to come down with another cold. Casting a final warming charm as a precaution, I hurried outside to join the kids.

The first thing I did when I stepped onto the snow was to charm four snowballs to simultaneously hit the four Weasley boys. They fell on their bums from the force and Ginny looked at me in surprise, cheering thankfully at the sight of me.