At the Leaky Cauldron, Eda had promised to keep Mr. Weasley's secret, so being loyal, she didn't betray him.

  She said, "No, Mr. Weasley picked me up from the pub, and we came straight back. The smell of alust have rubbed off on us there."

  Mr. Weasley gave Eda a quick, secretive wink and added, "There were a lot of ers at the pub today, all drinking. That's probably where the smell came from."

  "Today, some guests at the Muggle shop spotted Harry Potter, so everyo the pub was really excited and drank a lot," Eda tirying to make the lie more ving.

  "Harry Potter? What does he look like?" Ginny asked excitedly, gripping Eda's arm and b her with questions.

  "Ginny really admires Harry Potter."

  "She's practically obsessed."

  The twins expio Eda, still sitting quietly in their seats, not daring to speak to her.

  "I'm not sure. The person didn't say. But the ime I see him, I'll ask for you."

  "Okay!" Ginny replied, still happy even though she hadn't heard what Harry Potter looked like. Having an older sister was great; sisters were more attehan brinny thought to herself.

  Mrs. Weasley pced the finished dishes oable. Dinner had actually been ready for a while, but Mrs. Weasley had been waiting for the head of the family to return and also o scold the twins, so she hadn't called everyoo eat earlier.

  During dinner, Mrs. Weasley kept piling food onto Eda's pte, worried that she wouldn't have enough to eat. By the end, even with Eda's usual appetite, she was pletely full, which showed just how enthusiastic Mrs. Weasley was.

  After dinner, Mrs. Weasley went upstairs to tidy up Ginny's room, as Eda would be staying with Ginny during the holiday.

  Meanwhile, the rest of the family gathered around the sofa to chat.

  The twins were curious about how Eda had spent the past few days.

  They weren't particurly ied in what had happe Flourish and Blotts, but they thought it retty cool that Eda had been als as a waitress at the Leaky Cauldron.

  Ron and Ginny were equally curious about Eda. The twins' letters home always spoke highly of Eda, so they gathered around her, leaving the twins uo get close.

  Everyone was very weling, and Eda blended in naturally, as if she had grown up in this family.

  Mrs. Weasley, having just fiidying the room, looked at the se before her a as if she had two daughters.

  "Eda, would you like to e upstairs ahe room? Let me know if you need anything," Mrs. Weasley called from the stairs, waving to Eda.

  "ing!"

  Mrs. Weasley led Eda and her little shadow, Ginny, up to the third-floor nding of the Burrow, where Ginny's bedroom was located.

  The room wasn't rge, but it was well-lit. On the wall hung a rge poster of the witch band "The Weird Sisters." In front of the open window stood a desk, through whie could see a small makeshift Quidditch pitch outside, where the Weasley brothers often pyed.

  There were two beds in the room, one on the left and the other on the right. The single bed on the left, with a few stuffed animals on it, was Ginny's. On the right was a bunk bed, covered with thick, soft mattresses that felt very fortable to the touch.

  Eda's suitcase ced in the er by the door, o a double-door wardrobe. Mrs. Weasley had already put Eda's clothes away in the wardrobe, and her books were ly arranged on the desk.

  After Mrs. Weasley left, Eda and Ginny sat down on their respective beds.

  "Eda, weren't you scared w at the Leaky Cauldron? The people there seem a bit.. strange," Ginny asked curiously.

  "Not really scared. After all, I'm a witch too. Don't Muggles think we're strange as well?" Eda replied as she folded a piece of paper. "But it did take some getting used to at first."

  "I wish I could go to Hogwarts sooner. All my brothers have gone..." The little redhead frowned as she spoke.

  "Pfft.. All your brothers have gone... Ginny, where does that leave Ronald Weasley? Oh! ..Or is he really adopted?" Eda thought, feeling a pang of sympathy for Ron once again.

  "No, no.. I didn't mean it that way.. I just want to go to Hogwarts.."

  Eda reached out aly stroked Ginny's hair.

  'No wonder people liked to pat little girls on the head—it really feels nice.'

  She smiled and said, "It won't be long. In two years, you'll get your letter, and then Hogwarts will have another excellent witch!"

  "Here." Eda hahe paper flower she had just folded to Ginny.

  "Thank you!" Ginny said happily, pying with the paper flower. She thought to herself, 'Sisters really are better than brothers!'

  " you tell me about school?" Ginny asked, holding the paper flower in her hands and looking adorable. "Fred and Gee make it sound amazing, while Perly talks about studying hard and following the rules..."

  In the Weasley household, the sibling closest io Ginny was Ron, only a year older than her. However, since Ron hadn't started school yet, he couldn't tell Ginny much about Hogwarts.

  Bill and Charlie were quite a bit older than Ginny. While they adored their little sister, they couldn't really py with her in the same way. Eda's arrival perfectly filled that gap.

  Eda shared many stories about school with Ginny—about Professonagall, who seemed stern but genuinely cared about the students, and about the small but powerful Professor Flitwick, among others. She focused on the warmer, more f aspects of Hogwarts.

  "..Really? Dung bombs! Then what did they do with that?"

  "Oh! They flooded his office with it!"

  When Ginny heard about the twins teaming up with Peeves to prank Filch, she colpsed onto her bed in ughter, the little girl smag her mattress with joy.

  The two girls talked for a long time.

  Initially, Eda did most of the talking while Ginny listened. But soon, Ginny began asking questions, and Eda answered.

  Ginny's curiosity about Hogwarts was boundless, and she fired off questions like a rapid-fire quiz, chattering away nonstop.

  "Harry Potter will start school year, and I should be the year after that. Do you think he'll hate me?" Ginny, the ultimate fangirl, was more obsessed with Harry than with Hogwarts itself.

  Perhaps because she hadn't grown up in a wizarding family, Eda didn't quite uand why Ginny idolized Harry so much. But that didn't stop her from f Ginny.

  "Who at Hogwarts wouldn't like a pretty little witch like you, Ginny?" Eda said, once again stroking Ginny's hair, finding it impossible to resist the soft texture. "I've retly learned a new spell. If anyone doesn't like you, I'll hit them with a 'Bat-Bogey Hex!'"

  "Then you'll have to teach me, and we'll do it together!"

  "Alright, we'll make sure their face is covered with bats!"

  The alliaweewo Bat-Bogey Hex devils was humorously formed in that small bedroom.

  "Ginny, Eda, are you two resting?" came the twins' voices. "Eda, want to e out for a walk?"

  "Just a moment."

  Eda asked Ginny to pce the paper flower they had made earlier in her palm, then told her to csp her hands together. Eda pced her own hands inny's. After doing this, Eda said, "Now, blow on your hands, and your wish will e true."

  Obediently, Ginny blew on her hands. "And then?"

  "Now, we open our hands, and it's time to witness a miracle!" Eda said excitedly. "Owo, three…"

  The two girls opeheir hands, and the paper flower in Ginny's palm had transformed into a blooming pink rose, fresh and dewy, as if it had just been plucked from a bush.

  The magic of turning the floeared advanced because Eda didn't use her wand, but iy, it was just a small trick.

  Eda had acquired this spell as a reward duriime w as a bartender. It was simir to the sleight-of-hand tricks Muggle magis use to create flowers, but instead of skillful hands, Eda used magic.

  If a guy had this skill, he could easily win over anyone in a bar, but for Eda, it wasn't particurly useful. At this stage, the spell was only good for creating flowers and pnts. What it might bee iure, Eda had no idea.

  "Go to bed early, good night Ginny." Eda put her wand in her pocket and touched Ginny's hair before leaving.

  Ginny nodded bnkly. She had been fog on the flowers in her hand and didn't even notice that Eda had go.

  Her family was full of wizards, so she shouldn't have had such a rea to the flowers. It was just that she had never seen Eda cast a spell in this way, so she found it a little....

  __________

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