A Weasley Mess *ON HOLD - REWRITE*

XXI.The Burrow

New cover! I hope you like it, I had the absolute need for something new. Thank you all for 50 000 reads! You are the best, but I have honestly no idea where you all came from. Haha, I love you all - sincerely platonic.

Can anyone envision Máni's boredom when he has to live away from the castle and the Burrow? Lord have mercy on Claire's sofa.

There is something peculiar about seeing everything so neat. All of the clothing packed down, folded neatly and.. slightly shoved down into the suitcase - let's be honest.
Still, there were no clothes strewn around her bed, no kneazle kibble here and there and absolutely no shoes to trip on.
Màni was perched at the end of the bed, slightly scowling down at the already packed trunk. It was as if he knew change was coming, and not just in the way that they were leaving for the summer break - he was way too clever for that. The kneazle re-positioned himself, sitting down and rounding his neck to seem more menacing or regal, no way to know.

"We will be going to the burrow for one night, after that we will leave for our new flat." Claire sat on her knees, holding a folded hoodie in her lap. "We will be living alone, but hopefully we'll get a lot of visitors though.." she stopped, looking down at her hands. She wasn't keen on change herself, maybe that was what her trusty friend was picking up on. "Come on, hairball - let's ditch this joint." She got up with a grunt and closed the suitcase, with one last look at her old dorm, she said goodbye to the last remnants of her childhood - there was really no going back now.

There was sun, chattering, laughter and a sense of excitement as Claire, the Weasleys' and most of the school walked down to the train.
No more school meant adulthood, it meant that in the eyes of her family - she was supposed to be wed. It meant moving to another country, being controlled by another family - probably another dreadful mother. Yet that was not where she was going, Claire was moving out on her own. She had a new family, and she had Bill. For the first time in her life, she had complete control of her own road ahead.
"Never a dull year at Hogwarts, 'eh?" Claire barely picked up Harry's comment. The trio walking just behind her, Percy and the twins.
"Never a year without someone trying to off you, you mean?" Ron chuckled, earning a loud thump to the back of his head. "Ow! Bloody hell, woman.."
"Ronald Weasley, you are so insensitive!" Hermione all but growled. The twins started laughing before imitating Ron all the way down to the train. Percy made a disapproving noise, all while looking at his best friend with a glint in his eyes.
"Kids, am I right?" He shook his head while sighing, luckily his siblings heard none of it.

The ride back from Hogwarts ran by so fast, they all took turns trying to beat Ron at wizarding chess, eating their body weight in chocolate frogs and watching Màni and Crookshanks getting praise and food from Ron. Ron kept insisting that he had known all along that the cat and kneazle were both wise and brilliant. It had surely helped that his rat had turned out to be an animagus, it had also helped that both Crookshanks and Màni apparently had tried to off the creepy rat several times.
Arthur Weasley had picked them all up at King's Cross Station, his cheerful disposition and slightly thinning red hair was pleasantly familiar. The obviously spelled car drove them remarkably fast, the approximately 3,5 hours were certainly going by faster than they should.

As they finished the slow slope of gravel road, sheep fence and mellow greenery slowly brought them up to the old, wooden fence gate that separated the non-magical Devon from the Burrow. It was as if they entered a completely different dimension, the lazily chickens plucking on the dirt, the odd boots littering the doorstep and flowerbeds abundant with all the colors in the palette.
The plush and oddly heartwarming figure of Molly Weasley stepped down from the porch steps, her face radiant with a smile.

"Oh, finally!" She came trotting over to the car as it stopped up, her hands were balled up into fists, as if she couldn't wait to grab onto one - or all of her children.

As one after the other came practically falling out of the car, Mrs Weasley took a hold of them and embraced them in a bone crushing hug. It amazed Claire even to this day, that a woman as small as Molly could hug with that much force. She practically had the wind knocked out of her, strangling her laughter and happy greetings. "Sweetie, you're getting awfully skinny!" Molly held onto her arms as she let her go and studied one of her adopted children. She seemed to be accumulating them lately, but Molly had a knack for loving the orphaned, and practically orphaned magical children.
Claire blushed a little, looking over Molly's shoulder. Her smile caught a little as Bill came walking out the front door, his hair tousled like always. He put his hand up lazily, making her heart flutter even more.

She had gotten settled in Ginny's room again, her trunk left unpacked. Máni sat lordly on top of it, gazing down at the mess Ginny had made of her room already. The giant, frosty Kneazle seemed to huff a little. His puffed chest rising with indignation. How was he supposed to rub his back on the rug now, he couldn't even see it? The big feline jumped off and sauntered out of the room, leaving Claire to look over at her roommate with a smile.
"Shut it, he just can't appreciate homeliness." Ginny shrugged, laying in her bed and picking through a magazine. Claire raised her hands in surrender and shook her head slowly.
"Don't shoot the owner, he said it." She snickered quietly and got up to leave the room. Quietly she patted down the staircase, her sock clad feet hushing her steps down considerably. As she took a turn to the right, entering the kitchen - she caught a smile from the end of the room. She answered with one of her own, stopping right by the first kitchen chair. Her white dress billowed a little around her knees with the movement.
"Gracing me with your presence, then?"

"Are you saying I'm slow, Weasley?" She cocked a smile, shuffling over to Bill in her oversized socks, sliding down onto the kitchen bench.
"No, I just figured that you might have ran away - that's all." His smile was the sweetest thing she knew, he swept a stray lock behind her ear and turned so that he kept facing her.
"Away from a free meal? I would never." Claire laughed, pulling her legs up underneath her.
"You can come here every night! I will always have dinner for you, dear." Molly crooned from a hidden corner in the kitchen, making Claire jump. "Honestly, her own flat.. Like we couldn't put up another room." She kept talking, as if the two of them couldn't hear her. Bill couldn't contain his laughter, making Claire gently slap him as she herself was fighting a quiet laughing attack.