Trio

9

Albus

Rose, Hugo, Lily, James, him and their parents were standing outside the gate of a rather crooked house. And it was one of Albus's favorite buildings in the world. "Oh! They're here!" Grandma Weasley's voice boomed from the kitchen, and she scurried outside to greet her grandchildren. She gave them all kisses on their forehead, before hurrying to hug their parents and beckoning them inside. The smell of cooking dinner began to fill their nostrils, and Albus smiled uncontrollably as they entered the Burrow.

All their other cousins were already there, talking excitedly around and they all beamed at their arrival. Dominique, Lucy and Roxanne had their heads together, chattering away excitedly and clutching Witch Weekly. Teddy and Fred were sitting on the sofa, also talking rather loudly about quidditch. Victoire and Molly were talking in hushed screechy voices that were both sounding very excited. And Louis emerged out of nowhere and beamed at the arrival of James and Albus. The three girls clutching Witch Weekly suddenly stopped at once at the sight of Rose and Lily and rushed to greet them.

"You were late." They heard Uncle George say. He, Aunt Angelina, Uncle Percy, Aunt Audrey, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Bill and their beautiful french Aunt Fleur were all huddled around the table, Beckoning Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione to go join them. "What's grandma cooking?" James asked suddenly, as the seducing smell began to fill the air once more. Albus spotted Rose taking out parchment full of notes and quills from her backpack. "Oh come on, Rose! Not now!" Albus exclaimed incredulously. He couldn't believe Rose could be thinking about schoolwork at a reunion like this.

Rose looked at him smugly. "I'm not going to let two weeks of Holiday break keep me from focusing. Besides, we're taking our Ordinary Wizarding Levels in two years time." She explained importantly. The three boys gaped at her. "Rose, darleeng. You cannot possibly theenk of studying at a time like this! It is ze 'olidays!" Dominique explained in a french voice. She was the only one in their cousins to be brought up by their french relatives, before deciding to study at Hogwarts by the time she turned eleven. "I appreciate it Nicky, but I have to concentrate." She said exasperatedly as if wondering why they couldn't understand.

Then suddenly, her quill and parchments were flying out of her hand and into where the table was, and they all turned to see Uncle Ron holding her stuff. "Dad!" Rose began angrily. Ron shrugged her off. "They're right honey, it's the holidays. You don't work. Me and Harry barely studied and we got on alright." He said proudly. Hermione shot him a dirty look. "What? You can't possibly want our daughter to work her arse of at this time of year?" He challenged. Hermione's face faltered, and she turned to Rose. "Your dad's right, dear. Besides, their'll be plenty of times to be able to study." She explained. Rose shot the ceiling a calculating look, as if thinking if she had enough time to study at all.

"Places everyone! Dinner's ready!" Grandma Weasley explained. There was a rush as everyone dashed towards the dining room, rushing to get seats. Albus sat in between James and Louis, while Rose sat beside Roxanne and Dominique. "Your grandad is on his way." Grandma began, eyeing her clock in anticipation. It was so unlike any clock Albus had ever seen. One of them, and the oldest looking one, had nine hands, each of them had names of their own little Weasley Family. Grandad's name was labeled travelling. The other clocks had names of her grandchildren and the other had the names of her children-in-law. A second later, Grandad's clock arm stopped at home, and sure enough, there was a loud crack just from outside their gate, and Grandma rushed outside to meet him.

"Hello there!" Grandad Weasley greeted as he stepped inside. All his children greeted him as his grandchildren ran forward to hug him. He basked in the greetings of the grandchildren he clearly missed. "How was school my grandchild's?" He asked heartily. "It was awesome! Quidditch is anyway." James replied as he grasped his grandfathers arms. "Now, now. Settle down. Let your grandfather breathe." Grandma said as Grandad removed his travelling cloak and put it aside. He then sat down into the only remaining chair left beside his wife.

Grandma Weasley then stood up, withdrew her wand from the inside of her robes, and gave it a casual flick. The empty tabletop now filled with delicious food served in large platters. There were meat pies, roast turkeys, onion soup, and many other. Everyone buzzed about excitedly, craning their next over the other foods and serving themselves a good amount of each mouth-watering food of Grandma's cooking. "I love your cooking Grandma." Albus said absentmindedly, helping himself to fried chicken. Grandma smiled. "I could cook for the lot of you everyday and never get tired. Priceless, whenever you're here." She said happily. "Thank you for this Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said curtly as she scanned the table in delight. "No problem dear." She said fondly.

***

Dinner lasted nearly all night. And it was almost time to leave, but the grandchildren put up a fight. They didn't want to leave just yet. Crooked though the Burrow might be, it was a family house for them and they loved it dearly. Even Teddy considers it a fourth home, his first three being his own grandmother's house (where he grew up), their house (which he spends every other time in), Hogwarts (everyone's home), and the Burrow. After having shouted down their parents, they agreed that their children stayed here while they went back because the burrow couldn't hold much people. So Dominique, Lucy, Roxanne, Rose, Lily, James, Albus, and Louis all are allowed to stay. The boys in Uncle Fred and George's old room and the girls in Mum's old bedroom with 5 little sleeping bags. "Are you sure you don't want a more comfortable nap. We are going back here tomorrow morning." Harry reasoned with James and Lily, knowing he can't convince Albus. But his two siblings put their foot down. "No, dad. I like it here." Lily pouted. James agreed fervently. Harry nodded and turned to Albus. "You okay?" He asked. Albus nodded. "Of course I am. I thought you liked it here too." He replied coolly. Harry sighed and looked around. "I love it here." He said.

He then hugged each of his kids, so did Ginny, and they said their goodbye's to Grandma and Grandpa before going out the Burrow's gates and disapparating on the spot. Rose was having a fit about the parchment and quill his father got from her. "You will sleep soundly without a thought about studying, or working. Seriously, Rosie it's the holidays! You're worse than your mum." Ron said as he also grabbed Rose's school bag. Hermione scowled. "Sorry, 'Mione." He said as he hugged Hugo and Rose (which replied 'goodnight' grudgingly) and Hermione hugged them too, before both of them said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and following in Harry and Ginny's footsteps.

"Come on, Al! We need all nighter's!" James said, ruffling his already messy reddish-black hair. He was such a looker for a guy, and Albus was too, although he tried to ignore this fact. Louis, being part veella, looked most handsome for a young boy among the three of them. But although he and his siblings looked so beautiful, they think they are as normal as them and shrug this off, which was actually a good attitude. There were three sleeping bags in the floor. James grunted about getting the lights as Albus and Louis lay in bed. The lights now went off, and they were laying in total darkness. Sleep wafted over Albus, as he had forgotten how tiring the journey home made him.