An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Five

Mrs. Weasley beamed with pride as she continued.

"And Charlie works with dragons in Romania! We don't get to see him as much, since he's a bit further away, so it'll be a treat to have him home again."

"They sound awesome," I said, returning Mrs. Weasley's smile and completely meaning it. "I can't wait to meet them."

Once Ginny and I finished eating, we spent the rest of the day with Ron and the twins just hanging out and having fun. We played exploding snap, and then they showed me the gnomes living in their garden. When they said "garden gnomes" I was expecting something cute with a red heat, but oh boy that was not what I got. Instead of muggle gnomes, they were more like less-furry gremlins with very sharp teeth that they liked to use.

Since we were outside anyway, I decided to introduce everybody to the muggle game of tag, once we'd finished with the gnomes. We ran around the yard going after each other for a while, then switched to hide and seek and sardines when we got bored. I was hiding behind a low wall outside the Burrow with Ginny, trying to keep from laughing and telling the boys where we were, when a loud pop sounded from the front yard. Ginny and I turned at the same time to see a new arrival to the Burrow.

I wasn't sure if it was Bill or Charlie, but I was about to find out.

"Bill!" yelled Ginny, answering my question and running out from our hiding spot to go hug her older brother. She almost took him to the ground she had so much speed when she hugged him, but he managed to stay on his feet. I wandered over while Bill said hi to the rest of his siblings.

Bill gave me a big grin as soon as he noticed me, stepping forward to meet me and extending his hand for a shake.

"You must be Alexa. It's great to meet you finally, I've heard a lot about you."

"Likewise," I said, returning his smile and handshake.

"So, what were you all playing out here?" he asked.

"A muggle game called sardines! Alexa taught it to us," said Fred excitedly.

"One person hides and everyone else tries to find them, and if you find them you don't tell anybody. You just hide with them," explained George.

"Last person still seeking loses!" finished Ron.

"Yeah, and Ginny and I were destroying the three of you," I added. Ginny and I high-fived, and Bill grinned.

"Sounds like loads of fun. You have room for another player?"

"Of course!"

"Great. I'll just go set my things inside and say hi to mum, and then I'll be out to crush you all at this game."

Bill headed back towards the house, and I decided I liked him. Sure, I'd only said a few sentences to him, but that was enough to realize what a cool person he was. Besides, any older sibling who'd graduated and had a real job in the real world that was still willing to run around playing games outside must be awesome.

Not long after Bill arrived and started playing with us, Charlie apparated in and joined the party too. He seemed just as nice as Bill, which didn't really surprise me. I'd met every member of the Weasley family now, and I absolutely loved all of them. It was a pattern.

We kept playing sardines all the way up to dinner time. We had a few run-ins with the gnomes, and me and Bill scared Percy pretty badly when he apparated home from the Ministry right into our hiding spot, but the encounters only added to the fun of the game. We all headed inside when Percy crashed the party, since Mrs. Weasley was calling us back anyway.