The Mudblood

Chapter 13 : Summer

Leaving my family was hard, but as soon as I entered the Leaky Cauldron, I soon got over the sadness.

"Lainey!" Ginny exclaimed as soon as I entered the pub. She was sitting at a table with her family, Harry, and Hermione, whose faces all lit up when they saw me. "I've missed you so much!" she said as she wrapped her arms around me. I set my luggage down on the ground to hug her back as the others all stood up to come greet me.

"So you got my letter," was the first thing Harry said to me.

I nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed but also slightly awkward. Should I hug him? Should I hug any of them? I knew I wanted to hug Ron, but I also knew it would be too weird...

"How was your summer, Lainey?" Hermione asked. "We have so much to catch up on!"

"I know—"

"Well, if it isn't Fitz," Fred greeted smoothly as he and his twin sauntered over toward me.

"How was your time with the Muggles?" George asked.

"Great! I have a lot of funny stories to tell you two, actually—"

"Oh! You must be Lainey!" Mrs. Weasley enthused as she walked through the teenagers to come give me a motherly hug. "Oh, we've heard so much about you! The kids won't shut up about you, honestly. The whole time we were in Egypt, Ron kept saying, 'If Lainey were here, she would love this'."

I looked over at Ron, who I hadn't made eye contact with until now. His cheeks were glowing red as he gave me a shy, embarrassed smile.

"Er—hi, Ron," I greeted uncomfortably. He did an awkward shuffle in my direction—I almost thought he wanted to hug me—but then he stopped and just waved.

"Hi."

"Hello Lainey," Mr. Weasley greeted as he grabbed my hand to shake it. "It's so wonderful to meet you. Please, could you explain to me why Muggles use pens instead of quills? Hermione doesn't seem to know."

I glanced over at Hermione, who had her lips pressed together as she shook her head pityingly.

"Er—I'm not so sure either. Personally, I think pens are easier but quills are more fun—"

Fred put his hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, we won't make you speak with Dad about pens and quills for hours—"

"Because he could talk about it for hours," George injected.

"We need to go look for your books, Fitz," Fred told me as he guided me away from the conversation.

"Er—it was nice meeting you!" I called back to the Weasley parents.

"I have a few more questions for you and Hermione later!" Mr. Weasley shouted back to me as the seven of us Hogwarts students walked deeper through the Leaky Cauldron. I glanced over at Hermione, who was walking to my left, and she gave me a weak smile. On my right, Fred still had his hand on my shoulder as we strolled toward the back of the pub. I wasn't sure how to feel about it...

"Did you all have fun in Egypt?" I asked the Weasleys as we walked through a doorway. It led to a small, square space that was enclosed by an odd, old, stone wall.

"Loads," the twins both said at the same time.

Fred had taken his hand off of my shoulder and had pulled his wand out of his pocket. With it, he tapped a few of the bricks on the wall in an incoherent pattern until the stones began to shift out of the way. My eyes widened as I stared through the open wall and into Diagon Alley, which was alive with witches and wizards, just like last year.