Chapter 2 - It's a bit overwhelming

"Arabella!" Her name was called for her to come downstairs.

She glanced at the clock on her bedside table to see that is was almost 11:00 which meant that her parents would be arriving to meet her very soon. She jumped up from her bed and turned to face the mirror. She critically looked at her reflection and sighed to herself. The creases in her dress were quickly removed and she then tightens her low ponytail. Arabella nods at her reflection deciding that this was the best she could do with her appearance.

Edith calls out to her again, "Arabella! Your parents will be here very soon!"

Deciding not to test Edith's patience, she rushes out of her room into the dining room to find her foster mother with a stern look on her face.

"Sorry! I wanted to make sure that I looked presentable so I can make a good impression."

Edith expression shifts to one that is more understanding as she moves towards Arabella. "You have nothing to worry about Arabella." She reaches out to place her hand on Arabella's shoulder. "Your parents already love you so you have nothing to worry about. There is no way that they would reject you either. I'll wait for your parents in the living room and I'll send them in here. I will go out to tend to the garden so that you can have some privacy."

Arabella hesitates after Edith exits the room and decides to sit on the chair furthest from the living room. At the sound of the flow activating, she shifts her weight on the chair to try and get comfortable on the wooden chair. Arabella tries to listen to the conversation going on in the next room but isn't able to understand any words.

Arabella focuses her attention on a scratch on the table as she hears footsteps emerge from the living room.

A loud gasp breaks her attention and her head swings up to take in the new arrivals in the room. Standing in the kitchen doorway was a portly, balding man and a plump woman who both have red hair. The woman takes a hesitant step towards Arabella and releases the man's hand.

"Arabella? Oh, look at how grown-up you are!" Her eyes start to well up with tears.

The chair scratches against the floorboards as Arabella stands up and she moves to the centre of the kitchen. "Yes, it's me. Hi um..." Unsure of how to address the woman she looks down at her shoes.

"Oh dear, this must be very difficult for you but you can call us Molly and Arthur if that makes you feel more comfortable."

Arabella thinks it over in her head. Having spent almost ten years without her parents, Arabella thinks that she should embrace her new family. "I think I'll call you Mum and Dad if that's okay?"

"That is more than okay, Arabella." Her father says.

Her mother looked like she was struggling between tackling Arabella in a hug and giving her space so Arabella decides to put her out of misery. Arabella moves with her arms out and is soon in her mother's embrace. She takes a few moments to revel in the warmth and love she was feeling. After moving out of her mother's arms, she moves into her father's open arms. There is a shaking feeling and it takes Arabella a moment to realise that her father was shaking from holding in tears.

After the hug is ended, her father brushes the tears that rolled down her cheeks away. "How about we take a seat?"

Molly and Arabella both nod their response. Molly and Arthur sit on one side of the table while Arabella sits opposite them.

"I really don't know what I want to say, it's a bit overwhelming," Arabella admits as twist her ponytail around her fingers.

"We completely understand Arabella. It is very overwhelming for us as well. It has been very difficult waiting to be reunited with you." Arthur confesses.

"There has not been a day where we haven't thought about you." Molly's voice breaks at the end of her sentence and she takes a breath to calm herself. "Would you like me to tell you about our family?"

"Yes please." Arabella can't help but feel giddy at Molly saying our family. She still couldn't believe that this was actually happening and that she is going to be apart of a real family.

"I think we'll just stick to our immediate family as the Weasley family is quite large. Molly and I were both in Gryffindor at Hogwarts and we got married soon after graduating. We live near the village of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon. I work at the Ministry of Magic as the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office."

"I don't work as I stay home to look after the house and your siblings."

"How many siblings do I have? Edith didn't tell me." I hope I have a sister. I don't think I could cope with just brothers.

"We have eight children so you have seven siblings." Molly states

What! Arabella's shock was very clear on her face. Seven!? How am I going to go from being an only child to having seven siblings? What if I have no sisters?

"It's a lot to take in and we understand your surprise. Would you like us to show you photos of them to make it easier?" Arthur studies my reaction.

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea. How many brothers do I have?" Arabella crosses her fingers, hoping that she has sisters.

Arthur chuckles, "You have six brothers and one sister. How about you move over here to make it a bit easier?"

She moves her chair to sit in between her parents. It still felt surreal to refer to them as her parents.

Arthur un-shrinks a package and slides it to Molly. Molly opens the package to reveal an envelope containing photos.

"Firstly, you have Bill. Bill is twenty years old and he works in Egypt as a curse breaker." Molly says with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Wait! How many curse breakers named Bill could there be? Could she have met her brother without knowing?

Molly grabs the top image and shows it to Arabella. She was greeted with the sight of a young man with long red hair.

"Hey! I've met Bill." At Molly and Arthur's questioning looks, she continues, "A few months ago, I was at Flourish and Blotts and he helped me pick a book out."

"Well, there you go." Arthur smiles.

"Next we have Charlie. He's 18 years old and he is currently working with dragons in Romania." She huffs.

She shows me a photo of him. "That's cool! Working with dragons wow!"

"Percy is our next son. He is 15 years old and he currently in his fourth year at Hogwarts"

Molly moves onto showing me a photo of Percy.

"George and Fred are twins and they are thirteen years old. They are currently in their second year at Hogwarts."

"Ron is our youngest son and he is ten years old. He will go into his first year of Hogwarts in September. Ron is also your twin, dear."

A twin? The more Arabella gets told, the more questions she has. How come only she was placed somewhere else? Why not the rest of her siblings? Or even just her twin?

"Last but not least, we have your younger sister Ginny. Ginny is nine years old and will go to Hogwarts when you and Ron are going into your second year."

"That is a lot of information to take in." Arabella knows she won't remember most of that information by the next day.

"We all understand that Arabella." Arthur smiles.

"Oh look at the time! We are so sorry Arabella, but we will have to head off! Arthur needs to go into work and I have to go make lunch for Ginny and Ron." Molly puts all the photos back in the envelope.

Arthur embraces Arabella in another hug. "It was very good to see you again."

After being released by her father, Arabella finds herself being squished in her mother's arms. "We love you very much Arabella and we can't wait for you to come live with us. Tell Edith we said goodbye"

Her parents walk into the living room and they quickly depart as Arthur bellows out, "The Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole."

After grabbing herself a sandwich, Arabella contemplates the reality of her new family. Are her siblings going to accept her? Will they even be interested in getting to know her? Will they be the siblings Arabella always wished for? She shakes her head to try and get rid of the thoughts as they are only going to cause her to worry more.

The learning of someone's throat catches her attention. "How did it go?" Edith grabs Arabella's plate and places it in the sink.

"I think it went good. Why didn't you tell me I have seven siblings? A warning would have been nice."

Edith laughs, "I wanted it to be a surprise, are you excited to meet your siblings?"

"I am, but seven! And six brothers! I don't know how I'm going to cope. I've pretty much been an only child and jumping to having seven siblings feels a bit overwhelming."

"I can imagine it would be. I suppose you also haven't spent too much time with children your age aside from when you used to spend time with Hannah Abbott. It will be an adjustment, Arabella, but it will be worth it."

"I hope so. I think I'm going to go up to my room as I feel like I need some space to think through things."

Edith nods her head and Arabella makes her way up to her room. She catches sight of herself in her mirror and she takes in her appearance in comparison to the rest of her family. It occurs to her that she's the only one without red hair which is going to make her stick out even more. It's going to hard enough feeling like she belongs without the reminder that she looks like she doesn't belong.

Arabella collapses backwards on her bed and stares at her ceiling. Four days. Four days until her birthday. Four days until she moves in with her family.