Green Apples and Parchment

Chapter Twelve

"How many times do I have to tell you guys? Nothing happened with Draco!" We were already an hour into our trip back to Platform 9 3/4, but Hannah and Ginny wouldn't stop bombarding me with questions about the Yule Ball and my dance with Draco.

"But I saw you guys leave together!" Ginny exclaimed

"Draco was just walking me back to my dorm." I sighed.

"Sorry to break it to you, Cass, but Draco isn't the chivalrous type. He doesn't really go around walking girls back to their dorms." Hannah told me.

"Thank you, Hannah! See, that's not nothing." Ginny said adamantly. 

I sighed again. "He was only doing it for Justin. To really show that I only want to be friends. Draco said so." 

"Justin didn't really need to be reminded though. I saw him, and he was with Marisa the entire night. They were laughing and dancing, and they kept staring into each other's eyes. Justin didn't even notice you leave." Hannah said.

"Aha! See! Not nothing!" Ginny clapped her hands together. 

"I don't know what you guys are implying, but nothing happened." I told them. 

"I don't believe you." Ginny told me. 

"Well that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. If you want to go ask Draco for his side of the story, you're more than welcome to go look for him. I think his compartment is a few down from here."

Ginny settled back in her seat. "I'm not doing that." 

Hannah and I laughed. 

"Just know that I still don't believe you." Ginny told me. Hannah looked like she agreed. 

"Oh I know, Ginny. You've made that really clear." I told her. 

We laughed again. 

*

After a more few hours, the train finally pulled into King's Cross Station. I grabbed my trunk and followed my friends off the train. 

The Weasley family was easy to spot. They all had flaming red hair, and Molly Weasley was not a quiet woman. She finished hugging the twins, then looked over in our direction. "Ginny darling! Over here!" Ginny's mother waved at us. 

I quickly hugged Hannah goodbye, then followed Ginny towards her family. Molly Weasley hugged her only daughter, then turned to me and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. She let go, then held me at arms length.

"Oh, you must be Cass!" She exclaimed. 

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley." I said.

"Please, call me Molly, dear." Her arms quickly dropped from my shoulders as she spotted another head of red hair. "Ron! Harry! Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley called, turning to administer more hugs. 

"Don't mind mum." Ginny told me. "She's a little scatterbrained with all the kids, sometimes."

"I really like her." It was the truth. I was the only child at home, and my parents devoted a little too much attention to me. I thought it would be nice to have some chaos. I was a little envious of all the laughter and conversation and activity in Ginny's family, if I was being quite honest. 

Ginny smiled at me. 

"Alright, that's everyone! Let's go to the car then, shall we?" Mrs. Weasley called abruptly. 

The large group filed to the parking lot. There were four cabs waiting to take them all back to the Burrow. 

"Dad used to have an enchanted car that could fit all of us comfortably, but Ron had to crash it into the forbidden forest a few years ago." Ginny told me, glaring at her brother. 

I laughed. "How could anyone forget that story? Everyone was taking bets over whether or not Ron and Harry would get expelled."

Ginny and I climbed into a cab. We ended up in the same car as her father.

"Dad, this is my friend Cass." Ginny said to her dad.

"Ah, I've heard so much about you."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Weasley." I told him. 

"Please, call me Arthur."

I nodded, even though I knew I wouldn't. My parents would practically disown me if they knew I was calling an adult by their first name.

Mr. Weasley turned to his newspaper, leaving Ginny and I to talk amongst ourselves. At first I talked quietly, afraid to disrupt him. As time passed, however, I realized that Mr. Weasley was lost in his own world, and my voice grew louder. The car ride passed quickly with all our conversation and laughter, and we were soon at the Burrow.

"Its not much, but-" Ginny said as the car pulled up to her house. 

"I love it." I interrupted her.

Ginny smiled at me gratefully, and reached to open the car door. 

"Oh, are we here?" Mr. Weasley finally looked up from his newspaper. 

Ginny and I laughed. "Yes, dad. We're here." She told him. 

We climbed out of the cab and walked into the house. Mrs. Weasley was already in the kitchen, chopping up carrots that I presumed would be part of dinner. People lugged their trunks across the room, and often bumped into each other. I watched as Fred and George pretended to collide,  falling theatrically to the ground in a heap. 

"Mum!" Fred called. "I can't feel my arm."

"My legs!" George moaned. "I don't think I'll ever walk again."

Molly Weasley didn't turn from her cutting board. It was clear that she was used to their antics. 

Ginny led me up the stairs to our room. It was small, but it was very... Ginny. It was decorated just as I expected Ginny's room to be decorated. I smiled, glad that I knew my friend well. 

"Hermione is going to be staying in here too." Ginny told me right before the door to her room opened. "Hermione, we were just talking about you."

Hermione lugged her trunk into the room. "All good things, I hope."

"Nope. All terrible things. Quite dreadful, really." I joked.

We all laughed, and I could already tell that this was going to be a great Christmas. 

Author's Note: Sorry its been so long since my last update! I thought everyone was exaggerating when they said how much work junior year is, but it turns out they weren't! I'm trying to update faster for those of you that read this regularly. I appreciate you guys!!! <3

Also, I realize that in the books, the Yule Ball was on Christmas Eve and they didn't go home for Christmas, but this is fanfiction, and I warped the timeline a little bit to fit my story better.