Chapter 3 - Oi, you're in the wrong house

The morning sun shines into the bedroom as Arabella groans and rolls over. The sound of her alarm blares next to her head and she tries to blindly hit the snooze button. Before she knows the alarm starts to sound again. "You have got to be kidding me." She sighs into her pillow before pushing her self out of bed. Waking up early on your birthday is the absolute worst.

Arabella groggily makes her way to the bathroom. After flushing the toilet and washing her wands, she splashes her face with cold water. Once she returns to her bedroom, she makes her way into the closet and grabs her last remaining clothes. Arabella puts on her light green sweater and a pair of blue jeans.

She turns around to look at her almost empty room. All that remained in her room was her bed, bookcase and desk which Edith was going to shrink later this morning. The rest of her belongings were in bags that were placed near the fireplace in the living room. It still felt surreal to Arabella that she would be leaving Edith's to move in with her biological family. It would only be a few hours until her parents would come to pick her up.

Arabella quickly pulls her hair back into a ponytail before moving down to the kitchen. When she enters the kitchen, she is welcomed with the sight of Edith setting the table with breakfast.

"Happy birthday Arabella! How did you sleep last night?"

Arabella sits at the seat closest to the door before answering, "Pretty average. I struggled to get all my thoughts and questions out of my head last night."

"I can only imagine," Edith says as she begins to serve herself breakfast.

Arabella scoops some fresh fruit onto her plate before buttering a piece of toast. The two continue to eat their breakfast in comfortable silence with the ticking of the clock and clinking of cutlery acting as background noise.

The silence is ended when Edith rises from her seat and begins to clean up the table. Arabella passes her plate to Edith who flicks her wand and the dishes start to wash on their own. Arabella watches as Edith walks into the pantry and comes out with a wrapped present in her arms. She places the present on the table in front of Arabella.

Edith smiles at Arabella, "I hope you like it."

Arabella gently pulls at the sticky tape before just ripping the wrapping paper apart. Underneath the wrapping paper, she finds a purple gift box and when she opens the lid she finds some different objects. Arabella first pulls out a small journal with a floral design on the front. Stuck on the front of the journal is a parchment note reading to keep track of all your new adventures with your family. The next object she pulls out of the box is a smaller gift box. Arabella finds a silver necklace with a dove charm inside the smaller box. Arabella falls in love with the necklace at her first glance and she immediately puts the necklace on herself. The rest of the box contains a mixture of new clothes.

"Thank you, Edith, I love all of it."

"I'm glad to hear that! Would you like me to go up and shrink the rest of your furniture now?"

"That sounds good to me," Arabella replies as she returns all of the items to the gift box and replaces the lid

"Oh before I forget, this arrived for you earlier this morning." Edith passes her a thick envelope as she leaves the room.

Arabella holds the envelope in her hands as she reads the emerald green ink on the front.

Miss A Weasley
The smallest bedroom
108 Caldecott Lane
Romney Marsh

Her breath hitches in her throat. Is it what she thinks it is? Excitement rushes over her and she hurriedly flips the envelope over to find the red was of the Hogwarts seal. She slides a finger under the flap to break the seal.

She sits down as she reads the contents of the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress

She pulls out the second letter from the envelope to find the supply list which she begins to look over.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:- The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk- A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot- Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling- A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch- One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore- Magical Draughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander- The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Arabella places the letters back in the envelope as she smiles to herself. She can't wait for September to come so she will able to finally go to Hogwarts. Arabella goes up the stairs two at a time to find that Edith was just finalising the shrinking of all her furniture.

Looking at the empty room causes her to fully realise that her time at Edith's is coming to an end. There is a note of sadness in the silent room which seems to encompass the two occupants of the room.

Edith turns to face Arabella and nods at her as she places the shrunken furniture into a small box. "We better make our way back downstairs as your parents will be here very soon," Edith says in a slightly strained voice.

Arabella pauses but realises that Edith wouldn't tell her what was bothering her.

The pair made their way into the kitchen as the Floo activated. Arabella soon finds her parents making their way out of the living room. Her mother's face lights up as she catches sight of Arabella and squashes her into a hug. Her Dad smiled at her as he squeezed her shoulder. Even though she understood that her mother was simply excited to see her, she definitely liked how her father clearly understood that she might be uncomfortable with sudden affection.

"Happy birthday Arabella!" Her father gives Arabella a friendly smile as he looks down at her.

"Oh yes, happy birthday dear!" Molly goes to give Arabella another hug but pauses as Arthur gives her a look. Molly looks quite taken aback but Arthur simply shakes his head in response.

"Are you ready to go Arabella?" Arthur asks.

"Pretty much, I only have to say goodbye to Edith."

Arabella turns to face Edith and the surprise of her old guardian, she embraces her in a quick hug. "Thank you for everything Edith. I'm going to miss you."

Edith clasps Arabella's hand and gives it a quick squeeze. "It was no problem, Arabella. Goodbye." Edith drops her hand and gives her a tight smile.

"Arabella dear, we would like to talk to Edith so you can go through and use the Floo and we will follow later with all of your stuff. You only need to say the 'The Burrow' and it will take you to our house." Molly takes a seat at the table.

Arabella felt very strange making her way into the living room as she felt like she was in a limbo of sorts. She also felt as though she was at a crossroads which would change everything she's ever known.

Arabella tries to clear her thoughts as she grabs a handful of Floo powder from the dish on top of the mantle. She throws the powder at the fire which suddenly has roaring emerald green flames. Arabella steps into the fireplace and clearly says "The Burrow". She tried to take one last look at the living room but before she begins to spin very quickly as the room disappears in the green flames.

Arabella continued to spin faster before she felt herself slowing down and she braced herself to exit the Floo. She finds herself in a homey, wooden kitchen. She also finds a red-headed boy her age staring at her with bulging eyes as he was seated at the kitchen table.

"Oi, you're in the wrong house." He says as he takes a bite of his sandwich.

Arabella realises this must be the brother who's her twin. What was his name? Don? Aaron? Robert? Did it start with an R? Rowan? Don sounded like it was almost right. Oh yes, Ron!

She brushes off some Floo powder of her clothes as she takes another step away from the fireplace. "Is this the Burrow?"

"Yes. Who's asking?."

"Well, that's good as that means I'm in the right house then. And clearly, I'm asking." Arabella takes her chance to look at the room as he pauses his eating. Around the large wooden table, there were several mismatched chairs. She takes in the small view of the outside she can see through the numerous windows.

"Ginny!" His yell startles Arabella. "There's some stranger in the kitchen!"

"Did your parents not tell you-." Arabella was interrupted as someone stomped down the stairs.

"What are you going on about Ronald!" Arabella guesses that this must be Ginny.

There was a loud thud which is followed by a small red-headed girl entering the kitchen. Ron points in Arabella's direction as Ginny looks at him. Ginny quickly turns around to face Arabella and her whole demeanour changes. One second Ginny appeared quite irritated with her brother and the next second her eyes light up as a smile widens across her face.

Arabella has no time to prepare herself as Ginny lets out a squeal and launches at her. Arabella finds herself in Ginny's vice-like grasp before she knows what happened. It takes her a few seconds to realise that her sister is hugging her and she hugs her sister back tightly.

There are a loud thud and the two sisters jump apart in fright. They both turn to find Ron standing up with his chair flipped over behind him.

"What are you doing Ginny! You don't just hug a stranger!" Ron yells.

"Ron, I'm not hugging a stranger-." Ron goes to speak again but Ginny continues exasperated, "I'm not hugging a stranger as I'm hugging my sister."

Arabella and Ginny watch a metaphorical lightbulb finally turn on in Ron's brain as he comprehends what Ginny said.

"Well, why wouldn't you have said that when you came out of the fireplace?" Ron asks Arabella.

"I thought our parents have told you that I would be arriving and I was about to tell you when you yelled for Ginny."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry for all that confusion, but I'm Arabella." Arabella holds her hand out to Ron.

He steps forward and shakes her hand. "I'm Ron."

"And I'm Ginny." Ginny pushes Ron out of the way and hugs Arabella again.

Arabella lets out a small laugh as Ron glares at his sister.

Ginny steps back and says, "I'm very happy that you're here. I've wanted a sister for as long as I could remember."

"So have I." Arabella smiles at Ginny.

Ron lets out a huff as he returns to his sandwich, "I think I could without a sister or two."

Ginny catches Arabella's eye and makes a clear display of rolling her eyes.

Their interaction is suddenly interrupted by the Floo lighting up which is followed up with the arrival of Molly and Arthur.

"Oh good, you've all met," Molly says as she begins to bustle around the kitchen.

"Ginny, why don't you quickly show Arabella around the house?" Arthur suggests.

"No problem Dad!" Ginny excitedly says as she grabs Arabella's hand and pulls her out of the kitchen. "So that was the kitchen and this is the living room." Ginny hurriedly leads her to a small cozy room with another fireplace, a large sofa with armchairs and a large bookshelf. "You can have a proper look in here later."

Before she knows it, Arabella has gone up a flight of stairs to the first floor. "So this first room is my room but we can look in it later. The other door leads to Bill's room."

"You know when our Dad said quickly, he probably didn't mean a 2-minute tour."

"Yeah, but the quicker this is finished the quicker we can actually hang out," Ginny says in a tone that implies that Arabella should have known this.

They make their way up to the next landing where they find two more doors. "So on the left, we have Fred and George's bedroom and Percy's on the right. I wouldn't go into Fred and George's room alone because there could be who knows what in there."

The next floor only had the bathroom so they quickly moved up to the next. "The fourth floor only has Mum and Dad's room." Ginny pointed up the next flight of stairs. "All that is up there is Ron's room and the attic."

As the began the trip back down the stairs something occurred to Arabella, "where will my room be? Will I sleep in the attic?"

Ginny stops moving down the stairs, "I hadn't thought about that. I don't think you'll be in the attic as a ghoul is living up there. You could always share my room but we can go ask."

"A ghoul! Why do we have a ghoul?" Arabella asks confused.

"I really don't know but it doesn't do anything bad, it occasionally bangs on the pipes and sometimes groans loudly."

The sound of clattering welcomes them back into the kitchen. Arthur and Ron are both seated at the table while Molly prepares something on the stove.

"Mum, what room is Arabella moving into?" At the sound of Ginny's voice, Molly spins around and the pot starts to stir itself.

"Well, she'll be moving into your room dear."

"You'll love my room, Arabella! It might be a bit crowded with both of us in there but I think we can make it work."

"Arabella, did you want to share Ginny's room?" Arthur asks.

"I think I would like that."

"Molly, I think Ginny is right about the room being crowded for the two of them." Molly goes to interrupt Arthur but he holds his hand up. "Why don't we extend Ginny's room into Bill's room? Bill is unlikely to move back home and we can always extend the third floor out to match the rest of the house to make a spare room for when Bill and Charlie visit. We could also turn the other half of Bill's room into a bathroom for just Ginny and Arabella as I think they'd appreciate having a separate bathroom from the boys in a few years."

"Oh Arthur, if you think that's for the best then I suppose it could work," Molly replies.

Ginny suddenly grabs Arabella in another hug. "Did you hear that Arabella!" Laughter escapes from both young girls.

"How's that fair? Ginny gets a bigger room and her own bathroom!" Ron pouts.

"Ronald Weasley, would you prefer moving into the attic to let Arabella move into your room?" Molly's question is answered by the frantic shaking of Ron's head. "Arabella and Ginny, did you want to take a seat? Lunch is about to be served."

Ron starts to bounce on the edge of his seat at the prospect of food and Ginny gives Arabella a wide smile from across the table.

Arabella smiles back at Ginny before looking down at the table. Maybe this will all turn out better than expected. Maybe she will feel fully accepted into the family.