Her brother looked up irritably from his copy of the Daily Prophet. “Accio spoon,” he said, and after the utensil had finished whipping through the air, he handed it to her.
She bit her tongue not to say something about him showing off.
“Show-off,” said George cheerfully, plopping down on the other edge of the table. He leaned over and sniffed Ginny’s breakfast. “Did you make any for us?”
“On the stove,” she replied with her mouth full.
“Disgusting manners, Ginny,” Percy reproved.
She stared into her reflection in the glass. Her hair was quite disheveled, but that wasn’t what she saw first. There it was- right on her forehead, like a huge bull’s-eye. A particularly nasty zit. So much for impressing Harry when he came later in the week, she thought with resignation. Not like she needed to impress him anyway. She’d always just be Ron’s little sister, so what was the point? Time to move on. Maybe the pimple was a blessing in disguise.
Or maybe, she thought gloomily, it was just a sign that she was eating too much chocolate.
“Where’s Mum and Dad?” Fred queried, slopping equal portions of her breakfast creation into two bowls, then adding an extra spoonful to his own bowl when George wasn’t looking.
“They were invited to a business brunch in London,” Percy informed them. “They should be home in the afternoon.”
“Hopefully Mum won’t turn into a cleaning nazi,” Ron said grumpily, padding into the kitchen. His pajama pants only reached mid-calf, since he’d grown about a half of a foot just since they’d been out of Hogwarts, in contrast to Ginny, who only seemed to be able to grow a flood of acne.
“Wouldn’t bet on it,” Fred sighed and morosely picked at the oatmeal.
Ginny wished Charlie was there. He would have charmed her zit right off with minimal teasing. Well, even if he did make fun of her a bit while he was doing it, he wouldn’t have mentioned it to anyone. He understood her that way. There was no way she could ask Percy without risking a three-hour lecture on personal hygiene. Bill wouldn’t have minded getting rid of the unsightly growth, either, but it was just her luck that both of them were working extra over the summer and wouldn't be back until sometime next week. She exhaled and finally ate the last bite of her oatmeal.
“I’m going to go clean my room,” she stated half-heartedly, since her brothers were all chatting too loud to hear her anyway. She pushed her chair in and began to stomp up the stairs.
“Oi, what’s with Ginny?” said Fred puzzledly.
George shrugged. “Maybe she’s starting her... you-know?”
“That would explain a lot of things,” Fred said thoughtfully. “Like her breakouts, the moodiness…”
“Maybe she has PMS,” suggested Ron brightly.
“No, look!” George exclaimed, waving his spoon in the air. “Her oatmeal is finely blended! She must have been really irritated.”
“Then it could only be PMDD,” said Fred in mock seriousness.
“Could we not discuss this at the breakfast table?” Percy said between clenched teeth.
“Sure thing, Percy,” chirped George. “We didn’t know you were so sensitive to this kind of talk. But just so you know, Perce, Ginny’s hormonal levels are particularly elevated and-“
“I’m not listening!” he shouted, and Apparated out of the room.
The three brothers burst into laughter.
“If we’d only known it was that easy to get rid of him,” grinned Fred.
“First dibs on his oatmeal,” said Ron, already reaching.
"You just got up an hour ago," she chided herself.
The truth remained that she was still tired, so she surrendered to her dreams.
She was rudely awakened by noisy squawking. "What?" she mumbled.
Errol, the family owl, flapped over to her. She opened the letter addressed to her in rather sloppy handwriting.
You won't get to see Harry, she reminded herself. But what did that matter? Harry wouldn't see her blotchy face, and she would get to hang out with two of her brothers that she hardly saw.
Please let them let me go, she thought desperately.
“How was brunch?” Ginny asked, immediately skipping towards them and giving gigantic hugs.
“It was wonderful,” her mother said expansively. “Why, I haven’t eaten so much in years.”
“We talked about many important issues,” said her father.
“But the food, Arthur,” she said impatiently.
“Yes, dear,” he conceded with a smile, “the food was good too.”
Her mum cocked her head sideways and eyed her for a second. “And why are you so agreeable today?”
“Um, no reason,” she said lightly, and then almost as an afterthought, she inserted, “Oh, Charlie got a raise and he wants to take me to Egypt to see Bill for the rest of the summer. That’s fine, right?”
They gawked at her.
“Charlie?” her mum said faintly.
“Egypt?” said her father nervously.
“The rest of the summer?” her mum said shrilly.
“Please?” she begged, rushing. “I’ll be super good, Charlie and Bill will take good care of me, and I’m fourteen now anyways so don’t I deserve a little independence?”
Her parents gave each other a long look and then turned their eyes back on her.
“I suppose,” her mum said slowly. “But you’ll be extra careful.”
“And you won’t speak to strangers!” her father said sternly.
“Or go with strange people who say they have candy.”
“I know, I know,” Ginny said impatiently. “So I can go?”
“Yes,” granted Mrs. Weasley, and then she promptly burst into tears. “Oh, Arthur, our little girl is growing up!”
Much less nerve-racking that way,
Charlie brushed off some intergalactic dust, straightened his robes, and knocked on the door.
"Charlie!" squealed his sister, promptly launching her arms around him. "My favorite brother in the whole world!"
"Hey!" objected Fred, George, and Ron in unison.
"Why aren't you taking us to see Bill?" demanded George, narrowing his eyes.
"Because you wanted me to stay home all summer and help you with your dumb inventions," retorted Charlie, dislodging Ginny from him.
"Our inventions aren't dumb," protested Fred.
"Inventions?" squawked their mom from the next room.
"Nothing, Mum," the twins said hastily.
Charlie glanced over at Ginny. "You packed?"
"Yep," she said happily.
"We'll miss you," Ron said obligingly.
"Be careful,"their parents called from the other room for the billionth time.
Charlie set down his luggage and shifted his broomstick to his left hand. “Gringott’s Bank- the Egypt Branch,” he said pleasantly.
“How do you keep Muggles away?” Ginny wondered.
“Quite simple,” the agent replied, eyes twinkling. “It’s been charmed so that it appears to the muggle eye to be a restaurant reeking of cat piss and having a large pile of solid waste on the stoop. No one wants to eat at a place like that.”
“Reckon night,” she responded.
“Our portkey?” Charlie repeated amiably.
“Rotting banana peel by the trash can,” directed the agent.
“This is so exciting,” sang Ginny as she skipped towards the trash can.
“I suppose so,” agreed Charlie, wrinkling his nose and bending down to examine the stench of their portkey.
Charlie looked unsettled, she decided after directing a sidelong glance at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked, hoping to clear up a few things.
“Nothing,” he responded, forcing a smile. “Let’s go see Bill.”
They followed a large spiraling stone staircase up two flights and turned. To their left was a large window with a remarkable view of the outdoors, but the second door on the right was that to their brother’s office. Charlie led the way in.
“Hey, Charlie,” boomed the familiar voice. “Let me get a good look at Beatrix here.”
Ginny walked in behind Charlie. “Hey, Bill, “ she greeted, then curiously added, “Who’s Beatrix?”
“More importantly,” Bill said slyly, “where’s Beatrix?”
“She couldn’t get the time off,” Charlie said stonily. “So I went without her.”
“And picked up our baby sister on the way.” Bill stroked his chin. He was attempting to grow a beard, but it looked rather silly. Realizing that he was drawing attention to the ill-fated whiskers, he removed his hand and instead gave Ginny a hug. “How are you?”
“Fine. Who’s Beatrix?” she asked again, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Charlie’s girlfriend,” Bill supplied.
“You have a girlfriend?” she said, in shock.
“You don’t have to act so surprised,” her brother said sourly, and stalked out of the room.
“What’s up with him?”
“He’s just restless,” Bill grinned. “When he and Trix get into spats like this, he doesn’t get any.”
Ginny was clearly bewildered.
“Any what?”
“Ask Charlie,” advised her brother, smothering a laugh.
“I will not,” she retorted, flopping down in a chair in front of his desk. “When do you get off work?”
Bill checked his watch. “Twenty minutes, and we’ll go grab something at Abner’s.”
“Abner’s?” Charlie said eagerly, bursting back into the room.
“Nothing heals a broken heart like good cuisine,” Bill grinned.
A bottle of butterbeer.
Some sort of rice-y dish.
This was all that Ginny could make out of the menu- and that was only because there were quaint little illustrations next to them. Everything had a different name, or was something she'd never heard of before.
"Are you ready to order?" asked the waitress.
"Calamari and some port," Bill said, casting his eyes down the paper once more.
"Tame, Bill," Charlie laughed.
"Conservative," his brother corrected.
"I'll have the fried Corinthian Wabash," announced Charlie as Bill looked forlornly first at his pocketbook, and second at his watch. "What about you, Ginny?"
"The rice and some butterbeer," she said weakly, pointing at the picture for emphasis.
"Talk about tame," grinned Bill.
"Enjoy some complimentary soup while we prepare your order," said the waitress in her perky voice. She leaned over and passed them out, but lingered as she set down Charlie's bowl. "You busy tonight, sugar?"
"I'm married," Charlie said blandly.
"Where's your wife?" she said suspiciously.
"That'd be me," Bill said in mock seriousness.
With a shaky assent, the waitress backed away from the table and into the kitchen.
"You two are shameless," Ginny informed them.
"Gotta do what ya gotta do," Bill shrugged. He glanced down at his watch again.
"I think we could have done without the making me gay part," Charlie said critically.
"No, no, no," Bill assured him. "It was necessary for the performance."
Charlie made a noncommittal grunt and began to eat his soup. When that course was finished, a tournament of tic-tac-toe commenced. Ginny was named champion, what with her brothers being terribly out of practice.
Her brothers traded bawdy jokes and odd occupational stories. The food arrived not too long after... or maybe it had been a long time, but the minutes flew by as she was enveloped in their easy camaraderie.
Ginny had just opened her butterbeer and Bill was beginning to pour the port when he muttered, "Hullo, Beatrix."
Charlie's head jerked up and his fork clattered to the table. "Trix?" he said hoarsely.
From behind Ginny stepped a petite brunette. She swiftly moved to his side and bent down to kiss him. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I asked and they let me have three days,"
"More like begged on her knees," Bill amended.
Charlie focused on his brother. "How did you know who she was in the first place?"
"She dropped by earlier today. I didn't know when you'd get here, so I told her to meet us at Abner's at 7:30, and-" He stopped, amused since neither Charlie nor Beatrix were paying attention to him any longer.
Ginny felt her heart catch. The way they looked at each other like they were the only oxygen in the room was astounding. I wish I had someone to see me like that, she thought ruefully, but everyone just sees me as little Weasley. She viciously stabbed her rice and chomped.
"Why don't you try some fried Wabash, Gin?" suggested Bill.
"But it's Charlie's," she protested.
"He's not eating it," he replied pointedly.
"True enough," she said dubiously, and hesitantly sawed off a portion. The outer layer was some sort of crispy beef, but inside was a clear gelatinous substance. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good. "What's this stuff?" she asked, waving her fork at the jelly.
"You don't want to know," he advised her.
"I do," she persisted.
Bill risked a glance at their enamored brother. "Ask Charlie," he winked.
Ginny sighed and dug into more of the Wabash.
"Just put your stuff down next to the ficus plant for now," Bill dismissed. He fiddled with his pocket a bit and then gestured for her to follow through a pair of sliding doors to a balcony. Charlie and Beatrix weren't far behind. "Want a cigar, Char?"
"Sure." Charlie reached out and grasped the object.
"Smoking is disgusting." Ginny's eyes flashed and she stomped her feet.
"A cigar once in a while won't do much harm," Bill said gently. Charlie pulled out his wand, but Bill slapped it down. "This is a Muggle yuppie neighborhood. No magic."
His brother grumbled. "How are you going to light it then? Don't tell me you picked up some Muggle contraption." He gave him his cigar back and faced the sunset.
Ginny watched in fascination as Bill opened a tiny cage-like cupboard. The item he retrieved looked almost like a creature. He held it up to the two cigars and tugged the end of it. Fire spouted out and both glowed.
Beatrix snatched Bill's hand as he was putting the lighting device away. "Where did you get that?" she demanded.
"A client gave it to me."
"Do you know what this is?" Beatrix waved Bill's hand at Charlie in jerky motions. Charlie's eyes widened.
"By Jove," he breathed. "It's a rare Golden Pygmy Dragon!"
Bill looked embarrassed. "It is?"
"Can I see?" Ginny asked eagerly.
Beatrix carefully placed it in her hand. "He looks a bit hungry," she observed, throwing an accusing look at Bill, who put his hands up innocently.
The dragon fit nicely in her cupped hands. The belly was a deep crimson and its scales were a brilliant gold. At first it looked nervous, but she stroked its sides with her thumbs and it eased. "A boy or a girl?"
"Boy," affirmed Charlie.
"Must be nice to be reborn as a dragon after being a lighter," drawled Beatrix.
Bill looked sheepish.
Ginny examined the dragon. Rebirth, she mused silently. Didn't I learn that word in my Latin lessons?
"Renato," she said with a smile. "His name is Renato."
"Why don't you keep him, Gin?" Bill suggested. "It's about time you had a pet."
"Keep him?" she repeated in wonder.
"Yep."
She squealed as the reality of the situation dawned on her. "You're my favorite brother, Bill," she gushed and hugged him.
"You change that designation a bit much," Charlie complained.
Bill chuckled.
Renato was nestled quite comfortably on her chest.
"At least I've grown a bit there since the beginning of the summer," she admitted aloud. Well, more than a little- a lot. That made up a bit for her lack of increase in the vertical.
She smoothed out her robes. It was going to be fun hanging with Bill and Charlie for a few weeks.
Suddenly she noticed her robes were a bit damp. "Not supposed to be here for another week at least," she whispered anxiously. Oh, god, what was she going to do?
She ran out of the room and banged on Bill's door.
He opened it, eyes bleary. "What?"
"My period's early and I don't have my special charmed robes and I can't use a spell because of your dumb no magic neighborhood ordinance," she blurted, bursting into tears. "What am I going to do?"
"Oh, god," he groaned. "I don't know anything about this. Ask Charlie."
"Ask me what?" Charlie said blankly as he and his girlfriend came out of the other guest room.
Beatrix fortunately recognized the issue. "I'll take you to the store, Ginny. Think you'll be okay until then?"
"What?" mumbled a bewildered Charlie.
"Don't ask," the other three snapped.