The swirl movement and the smell of ash was disorienting. Something bumped into his elbow hard causing it to go numb. Closing his eyes to avoid the worst of the nausea wizards seemed to think went hand-in-hand with traveling, Harry managed not to lose his lunch; not that he had had lunch. In the hours he spent in Gringotts lunch had been completely forgotten, and now Harry was glad for it. If he had anywhere to go in the wizarding world from now on, he was going to make sure not to eat anything the entire day before.
Just as he was beginning to forget which way was up, Harry felt a great swell of heat and the sensation of being pushed. Remembering what Lichfield had said, Harry relaxed and just went with it. His feet hit solid ground again, the polished wooden floor threatening to make him slip. Harry's shoes held firm though and he silently thanked the odd shoemaker for their 'plenty of grip.' After the flippy elevator of Gringotts, Harry thought he could handle anything.
The last gout of flame caused his robe to blow up around him, kicking up a bit of ash which had somehow settled on him on his way through the fire. Harry brushed off what he could as he took in the surprised faces of his three favorite redheads.
"Harry?" twin voices asked astonished.
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"You invited me," Harry smiled, amused he could have forgotten.
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Ron asked, still perplexed. "Did Dad come and get you?"
"No, I came from Gringotts," Harry explained. "Didn't Lichfield tell you I'd be here?" he asked, gesturing to the fire he'd just stepped out of.
"Not to us he didn't," one of the twins said.
Ron ran to the door of what appeared to be a very warm and homey kitchen.
"Mum! Harry's here!" Ron called to her.
"Traveling a bit light there, don't you think?" the other twin asked with a smile. Harry thought it was Fred.
"Actually, no," Harry said, somewhat embarrassed. "I might need to talk to your parents about that."
"Did someone say Harry?" a stout, cheery-faced red-headed woman asked as she came inside. "Oh, Harry! It's so good to see you," she said, recognizing him from the station the year before. "Sorry things are a bit of a mess," she said to him quietly. "Just in the middle of a good cleaning."
"Oh, that's fine by me," Harry said.
"Oh, Merlin!" Mrs. Weasley cried, her hand going to her mouth in shock. "I've got the wash on the line." She bolted back outside to hide the offensive laundry from their company.
"Our mother-," the twin he thought was George said with a shake of his head.
"-Completely mental," the twin he thought was Fred finished for him, his voice a bit louder to drown out whatever it was his mother called from outside.
There was a heavy thump to his right. Harry looked over and saw a spray of red hair coming out of a flowery dress and a girl on the floor where she had collapsed. He hadn't even noticed her.
"Oh look!" Fred said to Harry with cheeky grin as he and George went to check on her. "Our sister's fallen for you."
"Does she do that often?" Harry asked, concerned for the youngest Weasley's health.
"Only for guys she really likes," George joked as they helped the fallen Weasley to the living room sofa.
"Mum!" Ron yelled from the door. "I think Ginny's fainted."
Mrs. Weasley quickly returned with a basket full of laundry, a thick towel serving as a cover to hide what was inside.
"She fainted? What do you mean she fainted? Ginny doesn't-," Mrs. Weasley's eyes sought out her daughter before bouncing back and forth between her and Harry. "Yes, well," Mrs. Weasley covered. "That can sometimes happen."
It took some time for the girl to recover. Harry thought she might be sick as well, she was so very pale.
"Nah," Ron assured him. "She always looks like that. Well, not the dress. Usually she just loafs around in her bathrobe."
"Yeah," George said. "Don't know what she was thinking-"
"-Why would today be special?" Fred finished with a look to Harry.
Ginny was laying on the sofa with a cool cloth on her forehead when she finally came around.
"Oh, Mum," the girl said groggily. "I had the most wonderful dream. My Harry had come and-"
"Ginny, we have company," Mrs. Weasley said, cutting off the rest of her daughter's sentence.
Harry leaned out from around her brothers to get a better look.
"Hello," was all he said.
Little Ginny turned beet red.
'Well there's the color,' Harry thought to himself.
"Ron, Fred, George," their mother said as way of reprimand. "Why's Harry still standing around? Go help him take his stuff upstairs."
"We tried," Ron said.
"Unless he's got it hidden in his pockets, he's got nothing with him." George explained.
.....
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