Chapter Text
THERE ONCE was a large family, one of seven, healthy children, and two joyous parents. all nine members had vibrant red hair, however, each member had their own flare of red that made them stand out in the slightest among their other family.
molly weasley, the beloved mother of the seven children, had, what has been described to me, as cherry red hair. this color suited the older woman so well, for her cheeks were naturally flushed over. mrs. weasley was a plump, older woman, with out of this world cooking skills. well, i guess that may go without saying, beings that she feeds nine mouths three times a day, sometimes four, if she makes her infamous treacle tart. the mother always had a bright smile, her chin held high.
arthur weasley, the kind-hearted father of the seven children, had very little hair, but the hair he had left sat in a little orange tuft on the top of his head. in his day, he was one of the most strapping young men the hogwarts class of 1968 had ever seen. now, in his middle ages, he wasn’t as quick or agile as he may have been when he was 17, but that didn’t discourage him from playing what muggles like to call “catch” with his older sons. the man worked for the ministry of magic, specifically in the misuse of muggle artefacts office. completely infatuated with muggles, he rather enjoyed attending work, anxious to maybe learn more about the non-magic folk of the world. the father always had a bright smile, his chin held high.
william, more commonly known as “bill”, weasley is the oldest, and arguably the bravest, of the weasley children. he was born near the beginning of the first wizarding war, head of dusty red hair and all. in fact, all weasley children were born with full heads of hair. all except one, but that’s a topic for afterwhile. bill was one of the only children who did not go on to play quidditch for the house of gryffindor at hogwarts, however, he was one of two who served his share as head boy in his final year of schooling. on the contrary, he did enjoy unprofessional family quidditch 3 v. 3 games in the backyard of his childhood home, where he enjoyed playing the position of chaser. after graduating, the eldest son went on to work for gringotts wizarding bank as a curse-breaker, his work settling in egypt. of course, he missed his family at times, and vice verse, but bill had always been somewhat of a loner compared to his other siblings. the eldest son always had a bright smile, his chin held high.
charles, more commonly known as “charlie”, weasley, is the second oldest, and arguably the most adventurous, of the weasley children. he was born not very long after bill, only two years afterward. he had the lightest of red hair compared to the rest of his family, his soft, strawberry red hair always falling low into his eyes. while his older brother preferred to be alone, bill always made room for charlie. the two were close, but perhaps only because of their small age gap. while bill enjoyed his books, charlie enjoyed sneaking out to the large forest far behind the weasley home. he’d climb to a tree’s highest branch and simply… watch. observe, if you will. and then, when the sky began fading from the brightest of blues to vibrant pinks and oranges, he’d jump off of the tree limb and jog back to his home, as if he had just been hanging around his bedroom all day. after serving as the quidditch captain of the gryffindor house team, charlie went on to study dragons in romania. the second eldest son always had a bright smile, his chin held high.
percival, more commonly known as “percy”, weasley is the third oldest, and arguably the most ambitious, of the weasley children. however, i will give you this note: while, technically speaking, percy is not the middle child, in my perception of his life, he is a middle child at heart. while all of his siblings have their “match”, whether because of the small age gap or being blessed with the life of a twin, percy has never seemed to have a match. sure, bill is kept to himself, but he and charlie could always be seen conspiring against their parents in hopes of sneaking off to a small party just east of the burrow. so, percy decided to match himself with his books, and it stayed that way. he grew to enjoy the solitude of it all, but would oftentimes find his quiet time interrupted but the crying of a younger sibling or the clanging of fallen pots down below in the kitchen. to be quite fair, however, what more could one expect, living in such a large household? still, the third eldest son always had a bright smile, his chin held high.
frederick, more commonly known as “fred”, and george weasley are the two middle children, and arguably the most creative, of the weasley children. if something mysteriously goes wrong, keep your eyes peeled for two fire engine red heads of hair and keep your ears alert for mischievous giggling. the twins always found new pranks to pull, seemingly never running out. just when their parents settled down, the parents’ intuition told them to check behind the wall, only to reveal the frowning boys. not only are they known for their pranks, but for their terrific beating skills as well, both twins securing spots on the gryffindor quidditch team. no matter how many of their pranks failed—which were hardly any—the middle children always had a bright smile, their chins held high.
ronald, more commonly known as “ron”, weasley was the second youngest, and arguably the loyalist, of the weasley children. i truly think ron really just wanted to impress people like his older brothers did. when he was small, it seemed that every week, he’d pick a brother and follow him around until he’d get distracted by a bright blue butterfly fluttering outside the window. this was when the brother would sneak off and shake their little sibling. however, this game of follow the leader continued on until one day, fred and george had enough and turned his teddy bear into a large spider. after that frightful occurrence, he found his own interests, such as sneaking off with charlie’s old broom and flying laps around the small village up the hill to the north of the burrow, his brick red hair flowing in the wind behind him. his bedroom soon drowned in quidditch posters, the biggest one being for the chudley cannons, or the english quidditch team that, in most others’ opinions, wasn’t very good. ron ignored them and wore a bright smile, his chin held high.
ginevra, more commonly known as “ginny”, weasley was the youngest, and arguably the wittiest, most confident, of the weasley children. the seventh child—seven’s a very magical number, as you may know—of a very large family, and the only girl, at that. a very strong girl, she was, what with her bright auburn hair and her strong will, she could do almost anything. she seemingly had a little piece of all of her brothers in her, yet she couldn’t be more different. she carried the bravery of bill with her, charlie’s sense of adventure, percy’s strong ambition, fred and george’s creativity, and ron’s loyalty—all mixed together with her wit and confidence. ginny had her books, her peace, her studies, her pranks, her stolen brooms… it was as if the gods above took small pieces of her older brothers’ personalities and mixed them with a unique one of her own, her hair combining each of the different streaks of red into something fiery and just her own.
thus, on the eleventh of august, almost a full year after the fall of lord voldemort, ginevra molly weasley was born.
one of her earliest memories was not long after she reached the young age of one. most people don’t remember much of their younger years, especially not before the age of five. but ginny remembers this night very vividly.
it was very late, for the sun had retired to sleep and the stars had come out to play. ginny was half asleep in her toddler bed, her bright brown eyes dulling down to a deep chocolate as they became heavier and heavier. a small stream of light filled the corner of her nursery, failed attempts of quiet footsteps stepping inside.
a young bill weasley tip-toed towards her, his shaggy hair falling into his tear-stained face. ginny lifted her arms, prepared to be spoiled with hugs by her older brother. bill held her close, walking over to the small bay window in the corner of her room.
he pulled back the translucent yellow curtains and took a seat on the fabric covered bench. heavy rain splashed against the window and lightning flashed a warning strike far, far away. thunder shook the home and the siblings both jumped. ginny, being brave as she was at such a young age, pressed her tiny palm against the cold glass, the lightning lighting up her face.
bill looked out over the forest where the trees swayed with the strong wind. “it’s storming,” he said quietly. “i don’t like the rain. it scares me.”
ginny took her hand off of the window and looked up at her older brother. of course, she didn’t understand what he was saying, not fully, anyways. but, as if she did, she let her tiny head fall onto his chest sleepily. bill held her tighter.
“you’ll be as strong as the wind one day, gin. just don’t let it blow you away.”
maybe that’s why she remembered that night so vividly. when bill was away, that’s what he’d write in his letters. when she was crying late at night due to a night terror and snuck into he and charlie’s shared room, bill would pat her back and whisper it until she fell back asleep.
ginny was close with her brothers, sure, but she was closest with bill. that was something she could never admit in front of the others, of course. ginny was the charmer of the family, the baby. she had them all convinced that they were all her favorite and used it to her advantage, especially when she was younger. but bill knew. so did arthur.
arthur and ginny’s relationship was a special father-daughter love, something that wasn’t common. many girls were closer with their mother than their father; they’d go shopping and gossip about boys (or whatever teenage girls are doing nowadays, for i can never keep up). then, the next day, the child would get into some sort of petty trouble and be sent to their room.
arthur and ginny had a sense of mutual respect. they were the best of friends, in ginny’s eyes. arthur had always wanted a little girl deep down. when ginny was first born, he treated her as if she were a fragile porcelain doll. he never raised his voice at his little girl unless she was in true danger. he never hit her, either, as many parents do their children. the weasleys didn’t believe that assault was the way to teach a child a lesson, this going for both parents.
when ginny would become upset over her brothers playing quidditch without her, arthur would take the young girl out after dark with two small jars. the two would sit in the grass and wait patiently, what for, ginny did not know. she never knew, or at least she pretended she didn’t know just for her father’s pure enjoyment of seeing her face light up as hundreds of lightning bugs lit up the navy sky. it would happen every single time, without fail. no matter how old ginny grew to be, how many times the two found themselves staring up at the starry night sky; ginny was always in awe at the sight of the fireflies.
one summer night, far past her bedtime, ginny wandered outside. it was her ninth birthday that day, and everything was wrong. her father came home late from work (something about cursed sporks chasing muggles all around london), her brothers had been arguing all day long, and her mother was in a sour mood because of everyone’s shenanigans. even her birthday cake was wrong, for it read ‘happy birthday gonny’, all because her mother was distracted by the twins while she attempted to complete the icing job.
ginny had slipped past her mother while she cleaned, mumbling under her breath how she lived in a pig’s pen. she ran far off into the clearing, running as far as her small, bare feet could take her. she collapsed into the dry, yellow grass, arms by her head. she tuned out any noises made around her and focused in on the stars.
the stars. ginny knew that they were just balls of gas that flickered in the night sky, but sometimes she’d allow herself to think of them as something different. something of more emotion, magic, even. they had to have some meaning. they just had to. something so mesmerizing, so full of wonder.
a twig snapped behind her.
ginny sat up, her hair whipping over her shoulders as her chest rose and fell quickly. before her stood a young girl around her age paler than moonlight. she had long, dirty blonde hair that fell around the halfway mark of her back. she was staring down at ginny with large, icy blue eyes, her fingers twitching at her side.
“who are you?” breathed the youngest weasley, eyeing the girl carefully. she was barefoot as well, her long hair windswept.
“luna lovegood.” luna’s voice was dreamy, smooth as silk. “i live back that way.” she pointed to a peculiar house down the road; she was apparently the weasley’s neighbor (if you could call it that, for their houses were almost a mile apart). “what’s your name?”
ginny hesitated a moment, her eyes lingering on luna’s. “ginny. ginny weasley.” she cleared her throat. “i live over there.”
luna’s eyes followed the clearing all the way down to the burrow. she smiled, taking a seat beside ginny and crossing her legs. “you’re the neighbors daddy always complains about. we always find dungbombs in mummy’s gnome garden.”
“that’s probably my older brothers’ doing,” ginny laughed quietly. “my older brothers, fred and george, always make my mother fume with their pranks. they’re twins, you know.”
“how fascinating.” luna laid back in the grass, the same position ginny had just been in. “i think they’d get along quite well with my mother. she loves experimenting. i’m sure she’d appreciate their creativity.”
“my mother would gladly shoo them off for a day. i don’t think she’d skip a beat, actually.” ginny fell back besides luna. “do you have any siblings of your own?”
“no, but we do have a silvery fox that comes around every few days that never fails to knock over one of daddy’s potted plants, so i’m sure they’re quite the same,” said luna dreamily. “i always feed her cauldron cakes, but i don’t think she likes them. she always brings back dead rats when she returns.”
“how do you know it’s a she?”
“sometimes her pups follow her to our backyard, and i’m certain that she doesn’t have two mates. good for her, if she does, but the other two foxes are a lot smaller than she is.” ginny giggled at her explanation. “it’s true. maybe one day, you can come around my house and i can show you one. they hide out in the woods, most of the time. you just have to be careful.
ginny turned to look at luna, grinning widely. “that would be lovely.”
and it was lovely. the next day, without much of an explanation to her mother, ginny ran to the lovegood residence, where young luna sat on the old wooden steps, a light purple flower crown being twirled in her hands. a matching pale blue one sat atop her own silvery hair.
her face lit up at the sight of the redhead bounding over. still barefoot, she drifted over in a surely unintentional manner. before ginny could utter even a “hello”, luna placed the flower crown on ginny’s head.
rocking back and forth on her bare heels, luna said, “to protect us from the nargles.” her brows scrunched together. “or maybe they’ll attract the nargles.” she gave an airy shrug. “we’ll know after our venture into the forest.”
“what are ‘nargles’?” ginny asked, head leaninging to one side, as it often did when she was confused.
“little creatures that steal your belongings,” luna explained briefly. “tiny little thieves, they are. they stole my favorite blue cardigan from our clothesline a few weeks ago. mother knitted me a new one, but it’s not the same.” she frowned as she swatted away a floating dandelion, the wind picking up around them. “they also tend to infest mistletoe. thank merlin it’s only around during christmastime, otherwise the number of nargles would double.” a dreamy smile appeared on luna’s face as she remembered what they were there for. “we should head into the forest now.”
she grabbed hold of ginny’s hand before she could respond, pulling her in the direction of the large forest. they’re quick-paced walk soon turned into a slow jog as a whip of silver ruffled through a nearby bush.
luna knelt beside the greenery, whistling a short tune. ginny stood a few paces behind, confused, for she had never heard the melody before. a silvery fox roughly the size of a small dog exited the bush, small head flickering between luna and ginny.
the kneeling girl reached into the small pocket stitched into her pale purple sundress, pulling out a small sandwich bag of baby carrots. she placed one in the palm of her hand, offering it up to the fox. she sniffed luna’s hand cautiously before eating the small carrot.
luna smiled over her shoulder at ginny as she dragged her pale hand over the fox’s head. “you can come closer, if you like. she won’t hurt you.”
ginny inched forward, taking a seat beside luna on her knees. luna placed a carrot in her shaky palm, gesturing for her to offer it to the fox. hesitantly, ginny held out her hand, scrunching her eyes shut. within seconds, the small weight of the carrot was gone, replaced with the fleeting summer air. when she opened her eyes, the fox was walking circles around she and luna, occasionally brushing up against ginny’s thigh.
luna smiled brightly. “i told you. you have nothing to be frightened of.”
***
that night at dinner, ginny told mrs. weasley all about her new friend.
“she’s amazing, mum! she’s so calm and peaceful and just… perfect,” said she in a dreamy voice, similar to that of luna’s. “today, we went to the forest—don’t worry, we didn’t go in—and saw this fox. she looked like she was just out of a storybook, all silvery.”
mrs. weasley wearily glanced over at her husband, who was far too immersed in the daily prophet to have understood most of the conversation. “and… who did you say this girl was, ginny, dear? where did she live?”
“just down the street. she’s our neighbor, though she lives very far away.” ginny wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, smearing vegetable soup across her face. percy scowled in disgust, pushing a napkin her way. “her name is luna. luna lovegood.”
“lovegood?” mr. weasley perked up, setting the newspaper down. “why, that must be old xenophilius and pandora’s daughter. been forever since we’ve seen the lot of them, hasn’t it molly?”
“it has, hasn’t it?” mrs. weasley wrung her hands anxiously. it wasn’t the fact that she disliked the lovegoods, per say, but she did find the family… a bit odd, as did most others who knew the surname. “well… maybe one night after the boys are back at school, we can have them over for dinner? i’m sure luna is a…” mrs. weasley’s smile faltered,” lovely girl.”
“she is! thank you so much, mum!”
for the next month, all ginny could think about her new friend coming over.
september first rolled around quickly, but too slow for her. she was so excited for luna to come over that she didn’t even cry when she and her mother and brother saw their siblings off to hogwarts. well, she may have shed a tear or two when she hugged bill goodbye. bill wasn’t even attending hogwarts that year, for he graduated the year prior. he had just come to see his younger brothers off and was preparing to apparate back to egypt.
“i can’t wait to meet luna this holiday.” he smiled down at his younger sister, crouching low to her level. “like mum said, i’m sure she’s wonderful.”
ginny wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, waving sadly before he disapparated.
“how come i have to stay around to meet gin’s weird new friend?” ron complained to his mother, thinking he was out of earshot of his little sister.
“ronald!” scolded mrs. weasley.
“take it back!” ginny shouted, lunging for ron. mrs. weasley stepped in between the two, holding ginny away from her brother while ron cowered in fear behind her.
“ron, you be nice! luna must be a very pleasant girl, otherwise our ginny wouldn’t have befriended her,” mrs. weasley snapped. people were now staring at the three as they disapparated from the station. “ginevra, you will not attack your brother! not while we’re in public, at least. keep the roughhousing for the burrow!”
begrudgingly, the siblings apologized to one another. all together, they left platform 9¾, ginny dreaming of proving her brother wrong.