Gwen Bennett Song didn't surround herself with many people. She didn't go out of her way to make new friends or to be seen by others. She actually preferred to remain in the shadows and unnoticed. She was fine with what she already had; a small grou...
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"Why did you do this to me Olivia?" Gwen whispered to the younger girl who stood beside her, both of them carrying their luggage as they walked through the grassy field which surrounded the large building of odd architecture.
"What? I didn't do anything. I didn't know you'd be coming for all of August. I already spent three weeks with you in June if you recall." Liv pointed out with a small laugh slipping past her lips, finding amusement in the hesitant look Gwen kept giving the Burrow.
After the events of that morning, to Oliver and Gwen's surprise, their parents had decided to send them to spend the rest of their summer with the Weasleys. Despite the questions both of them continued to ask, trying to get to the bottom of why they were being sent away from the house and what had made their mother so upset, neither of them still had any answers.
To make matters even more complicated, or in her mother's opinion, easier; the initial idea was for Oliver to go to the Weasleys and for Gwen to spend the remainder of her summer at Olivia's with her and Ted. But as Olivia had made plans to actually go to the Weasleys anyways, both of them went there too. How Molly was always willing to house so many children over the summer Gwen could never understand. That woman was kinder and more motherly than she believed it was humanly possible.
"Why couldn't you have made plans to go to Cedric's or something?" Gwen asked with a shake of her head as the two of them began to walk towards the door, Oli way ahead of them as he rushed into the house happily, instantly calling out the names of his two best friends.
"Gwen, you'll be fine. Everyone knows you, and I'm here and so is Oli." Olivia said in a reassuring voice as he set her hand on Gwen's shoulder comfortingly, stopping before they moved through the door. Through the two years during which she had known Gwen, Olivia had come to know her shy nature.
Unlike her brother, Gwen mostly kept to herself and maintained a small group of friends. Liv could understand that spending a month with the Weasleys, who were a highly outgoing bunch as everyone knew, seemed slightly intimidating to the older girl, but her best friend was certain it would all be fine. So Gwen nodded her head, and the two made their way into the house.
"Finally! I thought you got lost on our front lawn." Fred's voice echoed through the living room as he spotted Olivia rushing over to give her a gigantic bear hug the force of which made Liv squeal as she stumbled back but managed to remain on her feet as she hugged him back.
"It's good to see you too Fred, but it would also be amazing if I could breathe you know." Liv pointed out as she tapped his back, trying to get him to release her from his continuously tightening hold.
"But if you could breathe, you wouldn't know how much I missed you." Fred pointed out, although he did stop squeezing her just a bit.
"And if she dies from suffocation you'll get to miss her even more." George pointed out with a chuckle slipping past his lips. But his focus didn't remain on the exchange between Olivia and his twin for long; his eyes shifted to the girl who still stood at the door awkwardly, unsure of what to do while everyone else reunited.
"Hey Gwen." He spoke, the sound of his voice making Gwen's eyes jump up from where her hands had been playing with a loose string of her jumper. He sent her a happy and welcoming smile, making Gwen give him one of her own.
"Hello George." She greeted him in a shy voice, but even then, George's smile managed to widen.
If Gwen had to pick which Weasley she was most comfortable with, she knew it would be George. After the events of last year, and all the long nights the two had ended up spending in the hospital wing together, Gwen had gotten to know the boy a bit better. While she still remained reserved around him, she still remembered the nights during which he made it easy for her to talk to him, as well as those when he accepted her need to remain quiet.
"Oh, you're all here! Welcome! Welcome!" The reunions of the Weasley twins and their friends were interrupted as Molly rushed into the room with a happy smile on her face. Oliver who was the closest to her was instantly pulled into one of her warm hugs as she greeted him. "My dear, when will you brush your hair?" Molly asked as she pulled away from the hug and started to pet down Oliver's messy ginger locks; the action making all of his friends let out a laugh. And to Oliver's relief, the sound managed to take Molly's attention from his untamed hair to the other guests standing in her living room.
"Olivia! Look how much you've grown! Oh I'm so happy to have you here my dear!" Molly said excitedly as she now pulled the Hawthorne girl into her arms, and Olivia let out a small laugh as she hugged her back.
"Thank you for having me Molly." Liv said politely making Molly pull away with a pointed look on her face.
"Now you know you're always more than welcome here." The mother pointed out. And finally her attention turned to Gwen and she approached the girl at the door.
"Gwen, dear, it's so good to see you. We so rarely do!" Molly said gently as she placed her arms on Gwen's shoulders giving the girl a warm smile.
"You too Mrs Weasley. I know you weren't expecting me so thank you for letting me come too." Gwen said gratefully as she smiled down at the shorter woman. She knew Oliver and Liv were frequent guests at the Burrow by now, but for Gwen this was her first time actually staying with the Weasleys, not just coming over with her parents for a birthday or holiday. And she was grateful that Molly had so willingly let her come.
"Why of course I let you come. It'll be fun having you here. All of you." Molly said, her excitement obviously showing as she turned to look at everyone in the room. "Now let's get you settled and put away all of your things. Ron! Ginny! Get down here!" Molly yelled into the air, her loud tone making Gwen jump in surprise while everyone else was more than used to it.
"Gwen and Liv, you'll be sharing a room with Ginny, and Oliver, you will be with Fred and George as usual." Molly instructed as she waited for the two youngest Weasleys to come downstairs so they could help the group carry all of the things their guests had brought with them.
"We're here mum." Ginny's voice reached their ears as she jumped down the last couple of stairs, Ron following after her. His face spread into a wide smile as he spotted Liv in their living room.
"Hey Liv! I thought you were coming next week." Ron said happily and also slightly surprised. Of course, he didn't really mind her early arrival, it would finally give him a chance for the long promised rematch in Wizarding Chess they had been planning for quite a while now.
"Small change of plans, Gwen and Oli's mum offered to bring me here when she was taking them too so my father wouldn't have to drive me." Olivia explained. It was in the plans for her to come a bit later into the beginning of August, but then Nadia called to ask whether Gwen could come to her place for the rest of the holidays. When she was informed that Liv would be coming to the Burrow herself, the witch offered to apparate Olivia there and Ted was more than grateful for the help.
"Well come on, let's help them all get their things to the rooms and then I'll get to making some lunch, I'm sure you're all hungry by now." Molly said with a clap of her hands, and with those words the group got to work. Both Ron and Fred jumped to grab Olivia's things and Fred made a point of instantly starting up a conversation with Caramel as he grabbed her cage, the owl hooting back at him happily.
"Need some help with that?" Gwen's attention was caught as she grabbed a hold of the handle of her chest and her eyes jumped over to George who now stood in front of her. What Gwen hadn't seen was George basically pushing Ginny towards Oliver and making her help him with his belongings, leaving him to head over to Gwen.
"Uh, yes, thank you." Gwen said thankfully, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she sent him a small smile. George returned it with a wide grin as he grabbed hold of the other side of her chest and the two of them lifted it up together. Gwen let him lead the way towards Ginny's room and together they carried the chest up to where Gwen would be sleeping for the next month. The thought of it seemed odd and unusual to her, but she was starting to suspect it wouldn't be all bad.
