Everything Changes // Fred Weasley

chapter 21: meeting the family

December 28th, 1994- January 8th, 1995

The rest of break passed by quickly, free of interruptions from panicked parents and worried sisters. The first few days after my phone call, Molly gave me concerned glances whenever I walked by her. She could tell something was off, but we never told her about the phone call, so she never mentioned anything to me.

Fred and George spent a lot of time in their rooms, working on new pranks and inventions that they planned to take back to Hogwarts, which left me to find other people to hang out with. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were always off doing something with just the three of them, so I spent a majority of my time with the other three siblings, and sometimes with Arthur, but I tried to avoid conversations with him. Not because I didn't enjoy them, there were just so many times I could explain the difference between the telly and the radio.

While hanging out with Charlie, I begged him to tell me all about dragons. Ever since the first task, I had been fascinated by them and wanted to know more. Naomi had tried to find me books about them, but they were just basic information, nothing too interesting. After voicing my concerns about the dragon coming close to my dormer, Charlie assured me that I would have been safe, had I stayed in my dorm, but I didn't believe him for a second.

He was currently studying infant dragons, and how they interacted with their mothers, which was how he had so many fresh scars. Mother dragons were very protective of their offspring, and they wanted nothing to do with Charlie. I asked him how they were able to hide the dragons in plain sight from muggles, and he informed me that the population of Romania was almost entirely magical creatures.

"You ever heard of Transylvania?" He asked.

"You mean, where Dracula lived?" I laughed. There was no way he was about to tell me that vampires were real. Although, I had learned so many new things this year, it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

"That's the story. Most vampires have left Transylvania now, since so many muggles tried to expose their secret, but the story's mostly true."

"So, vampires are real?"

"Of course, they're real. You really think that muggles just came up with all of their stories about vampires, or fairy's, or even trolls?" He asked, letting out a slight laugh while running his hands through his curly hair. "Have you ever met a muggle with an imagination like that?"

I wanted to be offended, but he wasn't wrong. Every fairytale story I remembered reading as a child seemed to be coming true all around me. Although they seemed to get a few things wrong in the fairytales. Witches weren't bad, they were just regular people. And Charlie told me that vampires despised the taste of human blood, and it wasn't a disease that was passed through venom. It was a just a gene passed on through generations, just like how magical powers are passed from generation to generation.

"Vampires don't randomly show up in muggle families though, that's just a wizard thing" Charlie informed me. I was relieved, I couldn't imagine having a child and suddenly when it turns eleven it gets a letter saying that it's a vampire.

Charlie continued to tell me all about his life in Romania, but he never mentioned any people that he hung out with. I wondered if he ever got lonely there, because it felt like he was talking so much to make up for lost time.

"It sounds amazing, Charlie." I said as he described the view he could see from his hut up in the mountains. "You'll have to invite me to visit sometime. I'd love to see the dragons and meet some of your coworkers."

"I would love that!" He said with excitement, a smile spreading across his face. "I promise, once you are done with your little Hogwarts adventure, I'll invite you to stay with me for a while."