Chocolate ♕ Ginny Weasley

eight

Chapter Eight;

Patricia hadn't known what to expect when she met Ginny's family.

She'd been fretting about it for the entirely of the train ride to London. Even though Mrs Weasley had sent a reply back to Ginny saying that'd she'd be delighted to have Patricia for the holidays, little, nagging thoughts continued to pester Patricia.

Mrs Weasley might only have accepted for Ginny, so that her only daughter was happy. After all, the Weasleys were a family of Gryffindors - and Patricia was a Slytherin. She hadn't failed to notice the prejudice Ginny's brothers had against some of the people in her House, and wondered if she'd be accepted within the household. Patricia was so worried that she'd started biting her nails and tapping her foot against the floor.

Ginny spent the entire journey telling jokes and trying to put Patricia's mind at ease, though even that wasn't enough to make Patricia's nevers fade entirely. Just before the train arrived in London and the brunette thought that all the blood must have drained from her face, the compartment door slid open. Patricia had looked up from her book to see Fred and George Weasley standing there.

"So this is your friend, Ginny?" one asked - Fred or George, Patricia didn't know - once his eyes landed on the brunette.

"That's Patricia," Ginny corrected, raising an eyebrow. Patricia only smiled at the twins, nerves making her, for the first time, unable to speak. All she wanted was to be liked, so much.

"Nice to meet you, Patricia," the other twin said, grinning. "We'd introduce ourselves as Gred and Forge, but you'd already know those aren't our names."

Patricia managed a chuckle. "I wouldn't have believed you anyway."

The twins exchanged glances, then looked at her with identical grins.

"We like you already."

Things only got better. To Patricia's enormous surprise, when Mrs Weasley lay eyes on her, she was warm and kind and pulled Patricia into a motherly embrace. Patricia wondered if Ginny had relayed any hints about her homelife.

Mrs Weasley, the twins, Percy (who greeted Patricia rather formally; Ginny had said that was normal behaviour from Percy), Ginny and Patricia had to pile into two taxis to get to the Burrow. Ron was staying at Hogwarts with his friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

The Burrow was, in one word, marvelous. Patricia fell in love when she set eyes on the building and the wide grassy areas surrounding it; it looked so warm and inviting, like it was actually lived in and loved.

Inside, it was even better. Everything was haphazardly placed and messy, the shelves crowded with family photos and everything close together, making it look messier than it really was. It was warm, it was happy - it was a home.

"This is the best house in the world," Patricia had breathed. Mrs Weasley smiled fondly, while Ginny grinned and grabbed Patricia's hand, dragging her to the bedroom they'd both be sharing.

That holiday turned out to be the best on Patricia had ever experienced.

She and Ginny would borrow Fred and George's brooms and play Quidditch, taking turns to guard the hoops and score. Ginny was brilliant - she told Patricia she'd been sneaking into the shed, taking the brooms, and practicing on her own for years.

Twice they had to de-gnome the garden, which Patricia found surprisingly enjoyable. She and Ginny were soon having competitions to see who could throw the little creatures the furtherest. It made Patricia giggle to see the gnomes stumble around afterward.

There were snowfights with the twins, cocoa by the fireplace, huge feasts of meals cooked by Mrs Weasley where Patricia often found herself having thirds and fourths loaded onto her plate, and a daily dose of smiles and laughter. When Mr Weasley came home from work he was a good person to talk to - Patricia rather enjoyed hearing him talk about Muggles. It was entertaining, and she couldn't deny being interested in hearing how it was possible to live without magic in one's life.

But nothing could top Christmas.

When Patricia woke up that marvelous morning, she'd been stunned to see a decent pile of presents at the end of her bed.

"But of course you have presents!" Ginny had exclaimed, already ripping into the first of her presents, any earlier tiredness forgotten. "Everyone loves you, can't you tell?"

Feeling warm all over, Patricia dived for her presents.

There was a hand-knit sweater from Mrs Weasley and a batch of homemade fudge - Patricia recalled telling Mrs Weasley how much she loved fudge as she helped her cook one evening. The jumper was thick and emerald green.

Daisy's present contained chocolate cauldrons, her parents, as expected, had sent her textbooks, while her grandparents sent her a new Muggle book series (Patricia's grandfather was Muggle-born, and they both knew of her love for reading).

But the best present was from Ginny.

Patricia gasped when she opened it. Inside was a selection of all Patricia's favourite sweets: chocolate frogs, Drooble's best-blowing gum, and pumpkin pasties. But it wasn't the sweets that held her attention; it was the smaller item that rested on top of all the rest.

It was a simple silver necklace; the pendant was in the shape of a key, with the word 'friends' inscribed on it. On the other side of the room, Ginny grinned and held up another necklace - a key inscribed with 'best.'

Patricia ran across the room and threw her arms around her friend.

"No one's called me their best friend before," she whispered.

"Well, you're mine," Ginny said fiercely.

It struck Patricia how damn lucky she was to have Ginny Weasley in her life.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur of laughter and good food. Christmas lunch was enough to fill Patricia for the next week, there was so much of it, and it was all delicious. She and Ginny pulled crackers and put silly paper crowns on each other's heads, talking animatedly with all of the Weasleys who were all dressed in one of Mrs Weasley's jumpers. There was a snowball fight, eggnog, and time spent enjoying each other's company and presents.

When Patricia went to bed that night, she was knackered and collapsed right on top of her mattress. Despite being exhausted she didn't close her eyes for a long time, instead remaining awake and looking up at the ceiling.

"Ginny?" she called softly, about ten minutes later.

"Mm?"

Patricia rolled over on to her side. Ginny did the same. In the dim light, Patricia was just able to see Ginny's eyes.

"Thank you," Patricia whispered. "For being my friend. You're pretty amazing, you know."

Ginny beamed.

"It's no problem," she whispered back. "You're pretty incredible yourself, Cia."

Patricia felt her cheeks warm, and was glad that it was dark so Ginny couldn't see. 

"Thanks, Ginny."

Ginny laughed tiredly. "'Night, Cia."

"'Night."

When Patricia fell asleep that night, there was a smile on her face.