The Girl Who Hid | ✓

|61| (fifth year)

Despite the fact that I know of my brother, and the fact that we're twins, we have not spent one birthday together since finding out. And this year, I wasn't even allowed to send him an owl or ring him on the... muggle calling contraption. The last month has been purely me and the Weasleys. I've been able to send Hermione a few owls, but nothing out of the ordinary; most of the time I spent hiding away from Fred and George's pranks with Ginny than hanging out with Ron.

"Are you sure I'm not allowed to send one post to Harry?" I asked. "It was just our birthday! It's not fair..."

"Soon enough, dear, you'll be able to talk to him again," Mrs. Weasley said, twisting my hair in her fingers. "You know, the more you're with us, the more I forget you're not my child."

"My hair is darker than all of yours, but I appreciate that," I smiled softly.

"Are you sure you're alright, Maisey?"

This was a common question Mrs. Weasley liked to ask, all in different variations, of course, and her concerns about me not eating and isolating myself never follow too far. And, per usual, my answer was "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" with a tight toothed smile. Then one of us, usually me, would remember to do something and leave.

Outside, Fred, George, Ron, Bill, and Charlie were playing Quidditch with apples and oranges, using cucumbers and squash for bats.

"Mousey, grab a broom and come join us," Fred called from midair. "Make even teams!"

"Last time I played with you lot, I got a squash thrown at me for missing an orange— I mean Bludger," I chuckled.

"Well, it's this time now and I can promise Ron won't be such a sore loser when our team beats him," George said.

And so I did. The six of us— Fred, George, and me against Ron, Bill, and Charlie— played until the sun went down. Ron played a pretty keen Keeper despite my spot on aim. Later that night, Mrs. Weasley made it known that the entire family, including me, will be moving tomorrow morning. With no details, Ginny and I packed up her room, bringing our school things and clothes, and got ready to leave for the next morning.

"Mum, where are we going?" Fred asked for the thousandth time.

But each time, Mrs. Weasley would just say, "You'll see when we get there."

The Weasleys and I walked towards the Ottery Street Catchpole main road where we called the Knight bus. But waiting at the stop was none other than my best friend, Hermione.

"Hermione," I squealed and pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed—"

Before I could finish, the big purple double-decker bus appeared before us and we were all forced inside. Paying our fares, Mr. Weasley instructed the driver to take us to the Borough of Islington.

Halfway through the ride, I was given a slip of parchment by Hermione and told to memorize it and pass it on. The small piece of paper read,

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, Islington, London.

Once I thought I've memorized it, I handed it to Ginny, who was sitting next to me, who handed it back to Mr. Weasley. He took it and set it on fire with his wand.

The Knight Bus stopped and let us off in an abandoned street. Not many cars or lampposts littered the area, leaving it dark in the twilight light. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both looked around the street before ushering us to the other side quickly.

"Mum—"

"No, think about what you've just memorized," said Mrs. Weasley quietly, disregarding Ron's question.