The Burrow
“Are you sure you have everything dear,” Violet’s mother asked worriedly while looking at her trunk, broom, and carrier stacked in front of the fireplace.
“Yes, we went over the list 5 times already,” she said while placing a gray cat into the open carrier. The cat stared at her with wide yellow eyes as she zipped up the opening. “Sorry Shadow,” she said apologetically, “It’s only until we get to the Weasley’s.”
“Okay Molly is expecting you any minute, grab the floo powder,” her mother said aiming her wand at the fireplace. A jet of fire shot out the tip of her wand and lit the fire place. Violet grabbed a jar of what looked to be ash and walked over to her mother. She wrapped Violet into a tight hug, “Molly will send word once you make it there. Have fun at the match and school. Write to me all about it.”
Violet smiled up at her mother, “I will, I promise.” They broke apart from the hug and Violet handed her mother the jar of floo powder. Her mother took a handful of the powder and threw it into the flames which rose and turned an emerald green. Violet stepped into the fire and announced loudly, “The burrow!” The living room of Violet’s house whipped out of view as other fireplaces whirled around her. She tucked her arms in close with all of her belongings and then the world stopped spinning as she stepped out of a fireplace into a crowded living room.
“Oh, hello dear,” said a smiling, red-haired woman as she dragged Violet into a hug.
“Hello, Mrs. Weasley!” Violet said after breaking apart from the hug, “Thank you for letting me come for the match.”
“Don’t even mention it, we love to have you here. Hermione and Harry are already here, upstairs in Ron’s room, but you will be bunking with Hermione and Ginny.” Molly explained.
As Violet dragged her trunk and carrier up the stairs, a door flung open to reveal a tall, freckled boy with the same flaming red hair as his mother standing in the doorway and grinning down at her. “Well look who’s here, Georgie,” he called over his shoulder to an identical boy standing farther back in the room. George’s face flushed slightly as he looked at her and grinned.
“Hi, Vi,” George said trying his best to sound nonchalant.
“Hi George! Hi Fred,” she said turning to each of them. “Good summer?” she asked.
“Well George’s just got a lot better,” Fred said grinning over at George who was now walking closer to them.
George glared at his brother and said carefully, “Yeah we are all looking forward to the world cup.”
“Right,” Fred said, winking at his twin, “The world cup.” George walked past Fred punching him on the arm. “Oi what was that for?” Fred demanded.
George ignored him and walked over to Violet, “Need any help. I can take the trunk up to Gin’s room.”
Violet smiled at him, “Thanks, I was juggling that with Shadow and my broom.”
George peered at the broom, “New broom? You didn’t have that last year.”
“Yeah,” Violet said blushing, “I was actually thinking of trying out for the team this year.”
“Really?” George said perking up, “That’s great! I think you’d make a great chaser. Ginny was thinking of trying out for chaser too.”
“You think it’s a good idea then?” Violet asked hopefully.
“Yeah,” George said encouragingly. “I can help you practice too if you want,” he added quickly.
“Really? Thanks George!” Violet said beaming at him. The redness on George’s face seemed to spread up to his ears. Violet turned and started walking up the stairs. George grabbed her trunk and glanced over at his brother who was grinning widely at him. George rolled his eyes and followed Violet up the stairs to Ginny’s room.
When Violet made it to the door, she opened it to find Ginny laying on her bed reading a Quidditch magazine. Ginny looked over and jumped up, throwing the magazine onto the bed. “You’re finally here!” she exclaimed running over and pulling Violet into a hug.
“Hi, Gin,” Violet said smiling at the younger girl. “Wow, you’ve gotten taller,” she said laughing at the girl who was now eye-level with her. Ginny grinned then glanced over her shoulder at George who was standing in the doorway with Violet’s trunk. “Oh hey, George,” she said smirking, “you can leave her trunk by that bed.” George put her trunk down and flopped down on the bed.
Violet sat next to him and looked eagerly at Ginny, “So, have you talked to him since he got here?”
Ginny blushed and looked away, “A little.”
“Talked to who?” George asked sitting up and glancing between Ginny and Violet.
Violet rolled her eyes, “Who else.”
“Oh, you mean Harry,” George said grinning at Ginny.
“Shove it,” Ginny said launching a pillow at him. He laughed as he caught it and flopped back down on the bed. “Shouldn’t you be with your better half?” Ginny asked him.
George put a hand over his heart dramatically, “That hurts Gin and here I thought I was your favorite twin.”
“Besides,” Ginny said tucking her long hair behind her ear, “let’s talk about Dean writing you all summer long.” Ginny saw George tense up on the bed and look up at Violet who was blushing.
“I’m sure he means nothing by it,” Violet said picking at her nails, “I mean he wasn’t interested in me last year.”
George had sat up and was staring at Violet. “But you’re interested in him?” he asked suddenly.
Violet looked back at him surprised and paused while studying his face. “I'm not sure,” she said after a moment. “I mean he’s a decent guy, right?” she asked glancing at Ginny. She shrugged at the question and bit her lip glancing George's way. He suddenly stood up and made an excuse about needing to talk to Fred about something.
Violet looked questioningly back at Ginny and opened her mouth to say something, but Ginny jumped up and grabbed her by the arm before she could say anything. “Let’s go see the others,” she said quickly, “I bet they’re dying to see you.” Violet let Ginny drag her up the stairs to Ron’s room where her three other friends were sitting around waiting for her.
“Violet!” Hermione squealed as Ginny opened the door and flung her arms around her.
“Hey Mione,” Violet said hugging her back. Hermione broke away and Violet smiled at Harry and Ron.
“Alright Vi?” Harry asked smiling at her.
“Yeah how about you two?” Vi responded while walking to sit next to Harry.
“Excited for tomorrow!” Ron said happily.
“It’s all he’s been talking about,” Hermione said sitting down next to Ron.
“I mean it's the quidditch world cup and we’ve got tickets, good tickets!” he said looking around at everyone else’s reaction. Harry smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
Violet smiled and said, “I’m thinking about trying out for the quidditch team this year actually. Mum got me a new broom and everything."
Ron looked at her and said nervously, “I was actually kind of considering that too.”
“You should! We can try out together with Gin, too,” Violet said looking over at Ginny who was still standing in the door. Ron beamed back at affirmation from her and looked eagerly at Harry.
“I think it’s a brilliant idea!” Harry said, “We could all practice together.” He turned to look at Ginny too, “I didn’t know you were planning on trying out. You’d make a terrific chaser.”
Ginny started to turn red but smiled, “Thanks Harry.”
"I'm never going to be able to hang out with any of you this year," Hermione groaned. "You're all going to be obsessed with Quidditch."
"You could always try out for the team too Mione," Ginny said grinning at her. Hermione looked horrified at the suggestion and the rest of them broke out into laughter.
Harry patted the bed next to him while still smiling at Ginny, “Come on we were just about to discuss who we think is going to win the world cup.” Ginny bit her lip and looked torn for a second.
“I’ve actually got to go talk to George about something,” she said shifting on her feet and glancing at Violet. Violet stared daggers back trying to tell Ginny to take her chance and sit by Harry. “I’ll be right back though,” Ginny added quickly and shot another glance at Violet before turning and hurrying down the stairs.
Ron shrugged and turned to his friends, “Let’s go see if mum is finished with dinner yet.” As they were all walking down the stairs, Violet was the last to descend and swore she heard a voice coming from Fred and George’s room loudly proclaiming that they had always knew someone was a slimy git.
At dinner, George seemed slightly subdued and stabbed at his food a little more aggressively than necessary. The rest of the table, though, talked excitedly about the upcoming quidditch world cup over their food. Mr. Weasley was discussing which team he thought was going to win and how amazing their seats that he had gotten through his job at the ministry would be. Mrs. Weasley was walking them through the plan for tomorrow morning and making sure they had packed everything.
Harry was listening intently to Mr. Weasley who was telling him about everything that went into planning the world cup and the setup of the tents outside the stadium. Violet smiled as she watched them talk animatedly and then turned to find George staring down the table at her. He quickly looked away, but she continued to look at him until he turned back. Once she caught his eye again, she grinned and he rolled his eyes but the corners of his mouth lifted. Next to her, Hermione snorted into her drink at something Fred had just whispered in her ear and Violet shared a knowing look with Ginny.
Once they had all finished eating, Mrs. Weasley left them to clean up the table and sternly told them to head straight to bed after because they had an early morning ahead of them. They quickly cleaned up and headed upstairs. Violet, Hermione, and Ginny went to Ginny’s room where three small beds had been crammed into the tiny room. They all flopped down onto their beds and started talking about their summers so far. Ginny was animatedly telling them the story of how her dad and brothers had gotten stuck in Harry’s chimney when they took floo powder to go get him. They were all in tears laughing when Ginny got to the part about Fred dropping a ton-tongue toffee and Dudley’s tongue growing about five sizes too big for his mouth.
“You should have seen how angry mum was with them,” Ginny said in between laughing, “I really thought for a moment she would forbid them from coming to the world cup.”
Hermione chuckled, “No way she would have done that. She would have regret not letting them go later.” Then Hermione turned to Violet, “So you mentioned in your letters that Dean had been writing you this summer.”
Violet twirled a piece of her long, silvery blonde hair around her finger. “Yeah I’m not even sure why he first started writing me. I mean we talked a little bit towards the end of last year I suppose. Maybe he’s just lonely this summer,” she said rolling over to face the other two girls.
“You are writing back though,” Hermione said carefully glancing over at Ginny. “Do you think you’ll start to see each other this year?”
Violet stared at the ceiling, “I’m not sure. Maybe? If he’s even interested in me.”
“Who wouldn’t be interested in you,” Ginny said standing up. “I mean look at you,” she winked at Violet and left the room to go take a shower. Violet rolled her eyes at Ginny as she passed her.
Once Ginny was gone, Hermione looked over at Violet. “So,” she said quietly, “you’re giving up on George then.”
Violet sighed, “I don’t really want to, but I don’t think he looks at me that way. I think I’m like another little sister to him, what's the point of trying to get his attention anymore.”
Hermione shook her head, “Honestly, Violet sometimes I think you’re blind. Don’t you see the way he looks at you?”
Violet huffed, “Thanks Hermione but I think you’re just looking for things that aren’t there to make me feel better. I think it's time for me to try and move on at this point, I've been so obvious my feelings for him and he still hasn't shown any interest in me. At least Dean seems to like me, right?” Hermione shook her head in bewilderment and murmured something about Violet being clueless. Violet grinned as Ginny walked back in the room, “Besides we should be talking about how smitten Harry is with Ginny now.” Ginny threw a towel at Violet and the girls dissolved into another fit of laughter.
Soon Violet could hear the soft breathing of Ginny and Hermione after they had fallen asleep. She laid in her bed wide awake, though, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't get what Hermione had said out of her head. Finally, she rolled out of bed and quietly crept out of the room to take a shower to clear her mind. Violet was so preoccupied with not waking anyone else, that she didn’t notice the light on in the bathroom until she opened the door. She stood in the doorway frozen to the spot staring at George with wet hair and a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked back at her surprised.
“Oh sorry,” she finally stammered out, “I didn’t see the light on and figured everyone else was asleep.”
“That’s okay,” George said not looking the least bit embarrassed. “I couldn’t sleep so I came down to shower.”
Violet swallowed and said, “Oh uh, yeah. Same.” Somewhere in the back of her mind Violet knew she should turn around or close the door instead of just standing there and staring at him, but she felt rooted to the spot.
George stared back at her and slowly started to grin, “Vi?”
“Yeah?” Violet responded.
“You’re staring,” George said with amusement in his voice.
“Oh right,” Violet said and quickly turned around. “Sorry.”
“That's alright,” he said slowly and started walking towards her in the doorway. “I’ll just leave the shower to you then,” he said but stopped as he was passing by her. She looked up at him as he leaned in and whispered, “But next time if you want a picture just let me know.” He winked and walked towards his room leaving Violet blushing furiously. She quickly closed the door to the bathroom and locked it. She turned the shower on until it was scalding and stepped under the spray. She covered her eyes and groaned. "Why did you just stand there and stare at him," she thought to herself. Violet felt beyond embarrassed but part of her couldn’t help thinking that he had also flirted with her as he was leaving. She shook her head, "He probably knows how I feel about him. He was just making fun of me." She stepped out of the shower and looked into the mirror. Her green eyes stared back at her through the steam in the bathroom. Moving on was going to be harder than she thought.