A Weasley Witch's Guide to Survival

The thestrals were staring at her. Her stomach turned to knots at the thought of getting in the carriages that are pulled by them. The white eyes locked onto her of the creepy things as they rode to Hogwarts made it hard to focus on Alicia and Angelina's recounting of their summers.

It was a relief when they finally got off to go into the castle.

In the common room after the sorting ceremony, Rhiannon was taking stock of the first years. Where the girls were concerned she could tell that Melanie Stanmore and Julie Parkes were muggle-born, from the way their robes sat awkwardly on them and they looked at everything with shiny new awe. The same was for Roderick Murphy and Neil Randall. 

Rhiannon decided she'll approach the girls first. When it was close to time to turn in for the night was when she struck. “Ah, hello, I'm Rhiannon Weasley.”

“Was there something that was forgotten about?” Katie Bell asked.

“No, not exactly, it's just that me and a friend were hoping to gather all the muggle-born and raised students together to teach them about the traditions of wix.”

“Um, but I thought that well,” Julie started stuttering through her statement. “That the two are not that different?”

“Which is exactly why we're doing this. Say you went to another country, would you assume something that's normal here would be there?” At the mumbled agreement she continued on, “It's the exact same thing. The introduction into the wizarding world is unsatisfactory to say the least. I'll need you to gather other muggle-born students from your classes. Leave the slytherin students alone, they'll be covered.”

After a meeting date was set Rhiannon went to get ready for bed. 

“Farley.” 

“Weasley.” Gemma Farley had a much smaller group of first years behind her only three muggle-born students in Slytherin. “This it then?”

“Yup.” Popping her “p” Rhiannon opened the door to the old classroom she had spent the last week getting ready for the tutoring.

Once everything was settled, “First things first, never ask for a name without first giving yours, this is because of the fair folk,” the lesson went on without much preamble or problems after that.

“Ah, young Miss Weasley!” Rhiannon nearly stumbled at the sound of Headmaster Dumbledore's voice, miraculous she didn't. 

She turned around to face him with a pinched look on her face. “I'm not in trouble, am I Headmaster?” She had graciously not had to face him last year. Would he be manipulative like so much of the fanfiction she enjoyed from the Before™ or would he be kind and grandfatherly? The thought of the answer caused her stomach to hurt.

He stared down at her from his half moon glasses, blue eyes twinkling, “Should you be?”

“Not that I can think of sir.” She said looking at the corner of her eye.

“No, I think not either. Have a wonderful day dear. The old man carried on surprisingly spry for his old age. “Ah Miss Weasley 50 points for helping the younger students, and promotion of inner house unity.”

When he was finally gone Rhiannon nearly collapsed in relief. She still had no idea what to think of him.

“How can you even see right now?” George asked her grumpily as they made their way through the Forbidden Forest to the Druids Grove on Samhain. 

The teen giggled at her brother's despair, “I can't, Mamgu Onnie is leading me.” 

“Mamgu Onnie is here?” Fred asked in bewilderment. She heard the elder Rhiannon's giggling at the twins as she led them.

“Of course she is, she never leaves me alone. She still sings me to sleep.” 

“No fair! We want mamgu Onnie lullabies. Isn't that right, Gred?” 

“I couldn't agree more, Forge! What about Thadcu Aurelius?” 

“You get mamgu Onnie lullabies, I sang them to you. No, I don’t see him. Thadcu Iggy though is around.” 

“Amazing.” They walked in a comfortable silence after that until they finally got to the grove.

“Ah, I see you brought more students with you, Miss Weasley,” the Bloody Baron leers down at her.

She rolls his eyes at him, “Your uncle has told me too many stories about you in your youth for me to fear you.” It was true too as Rowena was obsessed with following Helena everywhere, so was Salazar about him. It also came with the bonus of many stories. “Boys off with your shoes. Fred, you go collect sticks from the birch tree over there. George you'll get the Blackthorn. Any sticks on the ground are free game, thank the trees after.” 

When it was all said and done this year’s Samhain and the rituals were done. Rhiannon felt like it was more powerful then previous years, the magic thicker. Maybe it was the presence of two others making them three, a very powerful and stable number magically. The twins this year also woke up with a fever. Charlie once again freaked out but for the twins. Not that Rhiannon can blame him it is out of the norm. 

She didn't get to witness this however as she didn't wake until the 3rd on Saturday. Her Uncle Fabian was very helpful explaining all of it while she bathed, he was of course covering his eyes like a gentleman. She just got into the bath when she bumped into somebody.

“Oh sorry about that.” When she looked up it was Rowan Khanna, a student who had died the year before. 

“Did you just touch me?” They asked excitedly. Rhiannon reached out and for a moment the spirit was solid and physical before becoming intangible to her once again. Well, fuck.

Gemma Farley's lips are a light peachy color. Rhiannon notices one day as she and her are arguing quietly at a hidden away table in the library. When she pursed them together in annoyance the younger teen couldn't help but admire how plump they looked. It didn't help that Gemma Farley was a very pretty girl, objectively.

She had a couple of moles that dotted her face and warm amber eyes lined with long dark lashes. Later after their studying was done, “Same time tomorrow Farley?” Rhiannon had asked.

“You can call me Gemma,” the older teen had told her. “Yes, see you tomorrow.”

She felt her cheeks warm, “Call me Rhiannon then.”

By the time Rhiannon made it halfway to Gryffindor Tower was when it hit her. She was so totally fucked, and gay. She, like a sensible witch, freaked out in the middle of the hall. 

She then proceeded to run all the way to the Gryffindor's boys dorm room like she was being chased by the hounds of hell. 

“Peeeeercy!” She called as she banged on the fourth year boys dorm. Rhiannon heard the loud thudding of a short sprint to the door before it was violently torn open by her older brother.

“Are you hurt? The twins? Charlie?” He immediately went into questioning, panic obvious on his features. 

“No one's hurt. I'm having a crisis. I need your help.” She said as she gripped the front of his robes tightly pleading eyes turned up at him. 

His ears darken, “I'm always willing to help my younger sibling.”

“Great, where’s your bed?” She asks as she pushes him back in. 

Percy leads her over to his bed, and she plops down, and holds her arms out in the universal hold me position. He complies easily enough. “Is this all you needed or would you like to tak?”

“I have a crush,” she blurts, thoughts still swirling.

“Oh um congratulations,” Percy never thought he'd be the brother any of them chose for such things. “Who’s the bloke? Would I approve?”

“It's not.”

“Oh,” she sees her brother swallow thickly, “well that’s ok. I'm into blokes myself. Mam and da wouldn't care as long as we're happy.”

Only then, does Oliver Wood make himself known coughing into his hand. Rhiannon lifts her head up to see hims sitting at his desk, school work out, cheeks tinged pink. “Hello Wood.”

“Hello, Weasley.” He looks away, then back, “I won't tell anybody.” 

“Good.”

Rhiannon rides in Percy's train cabin for the winter hols. His nose was stuck in a book and she was relaxed leaned up next to him.

“Do you really wish to work in the ministry?”

Percy jerked at her question, “Yes, why do you bring this up?”

“I was just thinking, dangerous I know. And well I don't think it would be a good fit.”

Her older brother tilted his head. “I want to change laws and be the MoM one day.”

“Well, yes I know that, you never stop talking about it. It's just, take da for example, he does dredge work, sure he's written a few laws that have been passed but, it's mostly dredge work.” She bites her bottom lip, “There are other paths then the Ministry. It's just that I think you would be miserable if you went to work there.”

He looked all at her softly, probably chuffed with his little sister worrying about him, “I'll ask da about it, ok?”

Under the carefully made mask of a sharp cool slytherin, Rhiannon found a warm caring girl, in Gemma Farley.

Rhiannon and her had started hanging out together, outside of the library and tutoring. Today they were enjoying the rare sunny spring sky, while Gemma gushed about her friends. When the conversation turned to quidditch.

“The next match is Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff makeup match, who do you think will win?”

Rhiannon weighed the options, “Cedric has a tough match in Charlie seeker wise. Charlie is disadvantaged by his boardness. However this is the last match of the season, and Charlie's. If there's one thing Charlie likes just as much as dragons it's quidditch.”

“Gryffindor better win, I bet on them.”

“Lots of gambling in Slytherin then?”

“So much, there's quidditch matches, top students of each year, romances, how the DADA professor will be leaving the school,” Gemma explained with amber eyes sparkling, “Narcissa and Andromeda Black have shrines set up. They're the reigning champions, even though they graduated a while ago.”

“Great way to make money then?”

“Mmmm mostly favors, that's How we get away with it, but if those favors involve money, Snape can't stop us.”

“Huh.”

The night of the match between Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff arrived quickly. It was a close match, the Nymphdora Tonks, commentary was hilarious and she happily trash talked Charlie. Much consternation of Professor Sprout and McGonagall.

“Charlie Weasley has caught the golden snitch! Which makes a win for Gryffindor! Booooooo!”

“Miss Tonks!” Rhiannon heard the two women's scolding tone before the Gryffindor's in the stand with her started chanting, “Charlie! Charlie!” She laughed as she let the other students meet their house's quidditch players on the pitch. The after party started not too long after.

“That better not be a firewhiskey,” Charlie told her and stared pointedly at the cup in her hand. 

Rhiannon rolled her eyes, “who do you take me for, Gred and Forge? It's butterbeer. Besides, I'm pretty sure Percy would hex Oliver if he handed me something alcoholic.” Dating or not she didn't mention. She's pretty sure Percy wasn't out to anybody but her, Oliver, and their parents who he tentatively told over the winter hols to prove his point to her. 

“Speaking of those two, you think somethings up with them,” Charlie asked Rhiannon, who was taking a drink, and started to cough violently.

“What do you mean?” Charlie, your gaydar is on point.

Her brother leaned in close, “Don't tell anybody else but a source of mine though she saw something.”

“It was Tulip wasn't it?” The flash of surprise that flashed across his face told her all she needed to know. Rowan Khanna had told her what they saw with Tulip in the library one day, ‘it looked like they were about to kiss. Very intense.’. “Just ask him yourself. Besides, Oliver Wood is a fine enough guy.”

“Yeah.”

At the end of the school year, Rhiannon's most important choice was to be made, what electives she would choose. 

Fred and George had already picked there's and were already trying to bully her into choosing the same classes, so was Cedric.

In the end she chose Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Divination. Sharing one class each with all three of the boys. The classes would also be useful for when she goes “backpacking” after graduation, also known as hunting horcruxes.

The summer went by in a blur, Rhiannon was too tied up in knots about what was to come to notice much, she was about to be entering book canon. Charlie had left in the middle of the night to go to Romania to be a dragonologist. Luna and her father had been gone for the summer for Quibbler business with Pandora's spirit following along. 

Ron was able to get a wand with his winnings and some new robes. Most of the books he got were hand-me-downs from Percy and her, with the exception of Quirrelmort.

TBC...