CHAPTER FOUR:

SUMMER

☍︎︎

"LIKE CARS FOR INSTANCE?"

Daisy and Ginny jumped, exchanging a wide-eyed look at Mrs. Weasley's shrill voice downstairs.

"What happens when your mum gets mad?" Daisy asked, the words falling from her lips before she could stop them.

She wasn't sure if Ginny would understand the question but Daisy had to know how careful she had to be.

Ginny's frown told her everything. She hadn't a clue what Daisy meant. "She just yells a bit, but the boys drive her mad. Especially Fred and George."

"Okay," Daisy nodded, suddenly feeling very awkward. "Sorry, I was just wondering because —"

"You don't have to apologize," Ginny said, face softening. "C'mon, I think I hear Dad. He'd love to meet you."

Daisy heart fell in her chest. She couldn't think like that. Not every father would be like hers.

Ginny closed the door behind them and rushed downstairs, nearly tripping over the last step which caused them both to burst into laughter.

Ginny shushed her immediately, the pair peering over the wall at the bottom, watching as the boys stood in the middle of the living area.

"Imagine a wizard buying a rusty, old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly!"

Mrs. Weasley was shouting at Mr. Weasley, who sat at the dinner table. Daisy couldn't make out much of the man, but her eyes found thinning red hair and emerald green robes.

She was oddly reminded of Christmas, and like the rest of the family, found her heart swell at the thought.

They probably had a wonderful Christmas. Perhaps if she and Ginny grew close, she'd be lucky enough to get a "Weasley Sweater" from Mrs. Weasley, like Harry did last year. She'd much prefer that over a cheap hairbrush.

Ginny looked over at Daisy, trying not to laugh. Daisy stood quietly, unsure if she should find the situation as funny as Daisy.

"There's a loophole in the law, you'll find," Mr. Weasley spoke up cautiously, is chair squeaking as he adjusted himself. "As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't —"

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, cutting him off.

Daisy jumped, eyes flickering nervously until she spotted Harry standing near the backdoor.

Harry glanced up at the same time, seemingly as startled as she was, eyes meeting Daisy's.

He looked at her in question and she shrugged, an amused smile on both their faces. Daisy furrowed her brow a fraction and he nodded to Ron. Her smile lifted a little at his barely noticeable eye roll.

No one noticed their interaction, like always. They'd mastered the art of subtle communication over the summer.

For the first week or two, neither of them were allowed to speak to the other, as her family feared they'd whisper a magical spell and turn them all into toads. But when no one else in the house spoke to them, it was the only way for effective communication.

"Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry and Daisy arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!" Mrs. Weasley continued, none the wiser to Daisy's thoughts.

"Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Daisy? Harry and Daisy who?"

He turned, eyes bulging when he spotted Harry, as though he hadn't been standing there for a solid chunk of time.

"Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you. Ron's told us so much about —"

"Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" Mr. Weasley asked, excitement dripping from his tone. "Did it go alright? I — I mean — that — that was very wrong boys, very wrong indeed..."

Daisy looked to her left as Harry walked past her, following Ron upstairs. He squeezed her arm once in acknowledgment and she smiled tightly at him.

"C'mon," Ginny whispered to Daisy, giving Harry's back the most adoring look. "I'm famished."

"Didn't you eat?" Daisy whispered back as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley continued arguing, both girls watching the scene before them.

"Not a scrap," Ginny mumbled back. "Mum?" Ginny stepped forward innocently, as if they hadn't been standing there the whole time.

Daisy had begun to feel as though both of Ginny's parents were a bit oblivious. Or at least, they pretended to be.

"I'm starving, have you got any leftover breakfast?"

Mrs. Weasley stopped her shouting and turned to Ginny with a much softer expression.

"Ginny, dear, good morning," she spotted Daisy a moment later, who followed Ginny's lead from behind the wall. "Ah, and Daisy, hello again. Did you get any rest? I heard giggling," she smiled knowingly, "I see you two are friends now."

Ginny's cheeks reddened the color of her hair and she elbowed Daisy. Daisy nodded awkwardly.

"Yes, ma'am, thank you for letting me stay here," she turned to Mr. Weasley, heart thudding against her ribs. "Hello, sir, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Ron."

Mr. Weasley blinked, looking between Ginny and Daisy.

"Dursley, isn't it? The Muggleborn in Slytherin?"

At Daisy's unsure nod, a smile blossomed to his face and he stood up.

"It's a pleasure, Daisy," he reached a hand out and shook her hand. "You know, with that hair and those freckles — you could be a Weasley. We always wanted another girl."

A relieved smile lifted Daisy's features and she was once again surprised by the sheer kindness that surrounded the Weasley family.

Perhaps her summer would be good after all.

☍︎︎

Daisy had forgotten what it felt to be loved. The remaining days of summer were quickly filled with quidditch matches (she refused to participate, still hating the air) and baking and quick-witted conversations.

She'd separated from Harry, him spending more time with Ron, but she found that she didn't mind.

In Ginny, she found a very dear friend and felt excited waking up most mornings.

In Fred and George, they accepted her without fail and even included her on pranking their siblings. (Well, two of them. Daisy had learned they never pranked Ginny, in fact, she was incredibly sly and sneaky.)

Daisy had a strong suspicion she'd even end up in Slytherin, but Ginny had confessed that she didn't want to be.

"Nothing against you, Daisy," she'd said. "But I can't be in that house. They'll eat me alive, I'm serious. I couldn't face them hating me everyday. I'll be safer in Gryffindor."

"But that's not brave," Daisy had tried to reason with her. "Gryffindor's are supposed to be brave."

"I can learn to be brave," Ginny explained. "I can't learn to be clever, and being in Slytherin would only hurt me in the long run. But I still want to be friends, okay? No matter what, you'll be my best friend."

Daisy didn't have the heart to tell her that she considered Theo her best friend, but she'd told Ginny that she was her best female friend. After all, Daisy didn't have any of those.

After crying in front of Mrs. Weasley, the matron had taken it upon herself to spoil Daisy. She fed her three (and always attempted a fourth) helpings for every meal, offered for her to wear some of Ginny's clothing, and even braided her long hair.

Daisy felt warm inside, like the sun had settled in her stomach and poured into each of her veins across her entire body. For the first time since receiving her Hogwarts letter, Daisy was truly happy.

About a week into her and Harry's stay at the burrow, their Hogwarts letters arrived.

"Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing Daisy an envelope addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, you two — doesn't miss a trick, that man."

Daisy smiled down at her Hogwarts letter, staring at it for a moment, suddenly overcome with excitement to return. To go back to school and see Theo and Blaise and even Draco Malfoy. (Okay, the last one wasn't true.)

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2by Miranda Goshawk Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
43 Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

Daisy's eyebrows furrowed and a frown curled at her lips. That Lockhart fellow must be incredibly intelligent to have written all of the books necessary for school, save the one. She hoped he'd be a good teacher — aside from housing Voldemort on the back of his head, Quirrell wasn't that bad and she actually enjoyed his class.

"You've been told to get all of Lockhart's books too!" Fred exclaimed, looking over Harry's shoulder. Daisy glanced up at him. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan — bet it's a witch."

"I'd love another female teacher," Daisy shrugged. "Better than Snape anyday."

"Isn't he your head of house, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Daisy tried not to keep the frown off her face as she recalled the steady hatred her potions professor held for her. "Yeah, but he hates me. Almost as much as Harry."

"It's true," Ron spoke up with a nod. "He gets mad at Harry for everything, always taking away points. And Daisy too, which is weird because she's in his house. One of these days, I think he'll dock them for breathing."

"Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest," Daisy rolled her eyes, looking back down at the paper.

"That lot won't come cheap," George spoke up, looking to his parents. Daisy's heart fell at his words. Would her Hogwarts financials still cover it?
"Lockhart's books are really expensive..."

"We'll manage," Mrs. Weasley cut him off sharply, but a worried slight of her brow said otherwise. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

"Oh, are you starting this year?" Harry asked her conversationally, turning to the redhead.

Ginny's face flushed and her eyes went wide, accidentally leaning into the butter dish. Daisy had to stop herself from laughing, instead making an odd snorting sound when Ginny elbowed her — the one that didn't touch the butter.

Just then, Percy walked in and Daisy smiled up at him cheerfully. While they hadn't spoken very much — so far, he was her least favorite Weasley — he was polite, if a little haughty.

"Morning all," Percy said briskly, his nose pointing upwards as he entered the kitchen, nodding to them all as if they were business associates. "Lovely day."

Daisy smirked, hearing Blaise's voice in her head. "What a tosser," he'd say. "Who does he think he is?"

He sat down soon after, but leapt up immediately — after sitting on some grey, feathery object. With a yelp, he looked down at it but Ron grabbed it first.

It was a grey owl.

"Errol!" Ron shouted, grabbing a letter from under its wing. "Finally, I've got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were gonna rescue you, Harry, from the Dursley's."

Daisy shrank in her chair. What if she hadn't been sharing Harry's room — would they have thought of her too? Or would she still be with her family?

Ron carried Errol to a perch by the window and set him down gently, but the owl flipped right off and laid on the draining board instead.

Ron shook his head. "Pathetic," he muttered. He brought his letter back to the table and sat down, reading it aloud.

Dear Ron, and Harry if you're there,

I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble too. I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish your one off.

I've been very busy with schoolwork, of course —"How can she be?" Ron asked loudly, interrupting himself. "We're on vacation!" — and we're going to London next weekend to buy my new books. Why don't you meet me in Diagon Alley?

Let me know what's happening as soon as you can, love, Hermione.

Daisy frowned at the lack of her own name — but she tried to think about how Theo or Blaise wouldn't mention Harry. Then again, she reminded herself bitterly, they hadn't risked their lives for him.

"Well, that fits in nicely, we can all go and get your things then, too," Mrs. Weasley said as she cleared off the table. Daisy smiled up at her gratefully. "What're you all up to today?"

Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were going to play Quidditch up on a hill a bit further outside. Daisy and Ginny were going to sunbathe outside on the grass and read.

Well, Daisy was going to sketch, and Ginny was reading the latest copy of Witch Weekly.

A few minutes after the boys left, Daisy and Ginny were seated outside on the grass in the sun on a large blanket. Daisy had her head tucked into her sketchbook, and Ginny was muttering to herself about some of the outfit choices.

"Look at this, Daisy," Ginny grabbed her attention again, gesturing to a brunette witch who posed in a set of bright yellow robes. "That's hideous. I'm never wearing that."

Daisy's nose crinkled. "Yeah, I look rubbish in yellow. It's the hair for us, I think."

Ginny nodded with a small laugh. "It's nice to have someone with basically the same looks as me." She gasped in excitement. "Daisy, we can share clothes!"

Daisy smiled kindly, nodding her head. "Yeah." She agreed. "I don't have a lot anymore, my parents threw them all out, but I'll share what I have. When we go to school we can switch every weekend or something."

Ginny beamed I'm excitement, resting her head on Daisy's shoulder.

"I'm really happy you're here," she said gently.

Daisy smiled down at her artwork, the half-sketched out drawing of the Burrow.

"Me too."

—

GAH OKAY OKAY DONT KILL ME. It's been SO LONG. Next chapter we get the Malfoy's, a reunion, and Arthur Weasley punches Lucius, which is always fun. Thanks for reading!