Inside the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen preparing dinner.
The radio by the sink was playing a song, one that Mrs. Weasley seemed to enjoy, as she was softly humming along.
Ginny, like a little shadow, followed Mrs. Weasley around.
Every now and then, Mrs. Weasley would feed Ginny a bite of something—either a piece of sausage or some meat—which Ginny happily devoured.
Percy was outside in the yard, chasing after the twins.
It seemed they had gotten on his nerves again, while Ron stood nearby, thoroughly enjoying the show, as he was often a victim of the twins' pranks as well.
Charlie, the second eldest Weasley, was holed up in his room, engrossed in a thick book about dragons.
He only had one more year until graduation and was planning to go to Romania to study dragons afterward.
However, Charlie hadn't dared to mention this to his mother. With Bill already working in Egypt for Gringotts, he feared that Mrs. Weasley might not approve of him going to Romania.
"Mum, control Fred and George!" Percy shouted as he burst into the house, having failed to catch them. "They took my stuff!"
The twins hadn't expected Percy to be such a sore loser and run to tattle, so they hurried into the house as well, with Ron trailing behind, eager to see what would happen.
"Mum, don't listen to Percy."
"Percy's the one who's being unfair!"
"You two, stop picking on Percy! Can't you behave for once?" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
Fred held up a piece of parchment and said, "Mum, Percy has a crush on a girl! Aren't you curious?"
"It's not like that, it's not," Percy blushed furiously. "She's just a classmate!"
"If she's just a classmate, why are you blushing?" George asked.
"It's just a classmate, why do you two care so much? I'm the older brother!" Percy stammered.
"All of you, be quiet!" Mrs. Weasley, now with a headache from the noise, commanded. "You two, give Percy back his letter."
"Mum, that's not fair," the twins protested in unison. "We did well this term too; we passed all our exams."
Charlie, who had been disturbed by the commotion downstairs, came down and said, "Your exam results were good, you even got an 'O'."
Seeing their older brother standing up for them, the twins became more confident, glaring defiantly at Percy. "Exactly, we got an 'O'. That's a great start!"
"But I think the credit for that 'O' should go to Esmeralda. She worked really hard to make sure your exam results looked decent," Charlie said, leaning against the stair rail.
Deflated by their older brother's betrayal, the twins looked like punctured balloons. They glared at Charlie, but he was completely unfazed by their looks.
This summer, Mrs. Weasley was extremely pleased with the twins' exam results. She hadn't expected them to perform as well as their older brothers, so when they returned home with such good grades, she was overjoyed and even made a large feast to reward them.
"Esmeralda? What does Eda have to do with this?" Ginny asked in confusion. She had a lot of affection for the young lady she met at the platform and had always wished for a sister, though her family was full of brothers.
Charlie looked at the twins, as if asking whether they wanted to explain or if he should.
"Eda helped us study during the last few weeks before the finals," Fred said, lowering his head.
"She even outlined the possible exam topics for us before the tests. She called it 'guessing the questions,'" George added.
Mrs. Weasley, hands on her hips, looked at the twins and asked, "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"Well, seeing how happy you were, we thought we'd keep it a secret for a couple more days."
"And we planned to tell you when Eda came over to visit."
"Mom…" Charlie started to speak again, and the twins looked at him in terror, afraid he might say something else to dig them into a deeper hole.
"There's no need to be upset, Mom. Even though Eda helped them study, they still took the exams themselves. They didn't cheat."
The twins nodded enthusiastically, like little chicks pecking at grains, fully agreeing with Charlie's words and began thanking him again.
"But, Mom, you shouldn't be too lenient with them. I think they didn't wanted to give Eda the credit and acted smug all this time. Without Eda, they probably would have failed their exams," Charlie finished, then raised an eyebrow at the twins.
Over the past few days, thanks to their decent grades, Mrs. Weasley had turned a blind eye to the twins' mischief, allowing them to become even more reckless.
Having had enough of the twins' constant noise, Charlie, who had been hiding in his room reading, finally couldn't take it anymore. He decided it was time for Mrs. Weasley to rein them in and restore some peace and quiet to the house.
The twins stared at Charlie in disbelief, shocked by his betrayal. They couldn't believe it—Charlie Weasley, their very own brother, was capable of such treachery!
Percy, holding the letter the twins had returned to him, sat neatly on the couch with Ron and Ginny, the three of them ready to watch Mrs. Weasley's "lesson of love."
Despite her usual kind and gentle demeanor, when Mrs. Weasley got angry, she was like a fierce tiger. The twins' misdeeds over the past few days all came back to haunt them, as Mrs. Weasley thoroughly scolded them from head to toe.
Charlie stood innocently on the staircase, watching the twins. After all, how could Charlie have any ill intentions?
Meanwhile, outside the house, Arthur Weasley and Eda were completely unaware of the drama unfolding inside. Arthur was busy showing Eda around the Burrow, "We're home. This is the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and we live just outside the village."
The house in front of them was several stories high, leaning slightly to one side. It looked exactly like a building constructed without a permit, with its red roof sporting four or five chimneys. A crooked sign in front of the house read "The Burrow."
Next to the front door, there were some old high-top leather boots and a rusty cauldron. A few brown, plump chickens pecked around in the yard, and to one side of the yard was a rundown garage.
"It's not big, but it's very cozy," Mr. Weasley continued.
The oddly shaped house before them was where Eda would be staying. Although the Burrow's exterior was rather unremarkable, Eda found herself liking the house, probably because she was beginning to feel fond of everything associated with it.
"It has a unique charm; I like it."
"Glad to hear that. Let's go inside; Molly should have dinner ready by now," Mr. Weasley said as he led Eda into the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley, who was in the midst of a full-blown tirade, immediately noticed Mr. Weasley as he walked in. She redirected her anger toward her husband, saying, "Look at what your sons have done! They dared to keep a secret from me about the exams!"
"Exams? What happened? Did they cheat?" Mr. Weasley looked over at the twins. He was always a kind and gentle father, but there were certain things he wouldn't tolerate, and if the twins had dared to cheat, they'd be in serious trouble.
"No, Dad, nothing like that," Fred quickly explained.
"Eda helped us with our revision, but we kept it a secret," George added. "I was planning to tell you when Eda came over to visit…"
"Tell me when Eda came? And if Eda hadn't come this holiday, would you have kept it a secret the entire time?" Mrs. Weasley turned back to the twins, her anger not yet abated.
"It's good that it wasn't cheating," Mr. Weasley said. "Oh, and thank you."
"Arthur, who are you talking to?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Good evening, Mrs. Weasley," Eda said, stepping out from behind Mr. Weasley. Before entering the house, Mr. Weasley had asked Eda to hide behind him to surprise everyone.
"Oh! Eda Dear, how did you get here?!" Mrs. Weasley, who had been fuming just a moment ago, instantly transformed back into her kind and gentle self. She rushed forward and wrapped Eda in a warm hug.
"Eda!" the twins exclaimed in delight, though they didn't dare move forward due to their mother's presence.
"She's been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the past few days. Dumbledore was the one who told me," Mr. Weasley said, taking off his robe and hanging it on the coat rack. "I picked her up right after work."
"Eda! why didn't you write to Fred and George?" Mrs. Weasley scolded gently. "It's dangerous for you to stay there alone!"
Mrs. Weasley looked at Eda with concern and guided her to a chair at the dining table. "From now on, when it's holiday time, just come back with Fred and George," she continued.
"When I picked Eda up, old Tom was quite reluctant to let her go. He didn't even charge her for the room," Mr. Weasley said as he sat down, and the others began to gather around as well.
The twins had originally been sitting next to Eda, but Ginny squeezed in, and Fred, still fresh from being scolded, had no choice but to give up his chair.
Ginny beamed with happiness as she took a seat next to Eda.
"Wait.." Mrs. Weasley was originally talking to Eda, but after Mr. Weasley sat down, she smelled a whiff of alcohol, so she asked, "..Arthur, have you been drinking outside?"
"No, I went to pick up Eda after getting off work. I didn't have time to drink!" Mr. Weasley hurriedly explained, thinking it better to have less trouble.
"You went to the Leaky Cauldron and didn't have a drink?"
"No, if you don't believe me, ask Eda."
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