The Royal Weasleys

The Royal Weasleys

Chapter 1 - Breakfast

As Ginny rose into consciousness, she felt safe and warm. She opened her eyes and sat up, ready to greet her first day back at Hogwarts. There was only one problem - she wasn't at Hogwarts.

Ginny wasn't sure where she was, but it was definitely not Hogwarts. The morning sun was streaming onto the bed through the full-length windows on her left. She was still in a four-poster, but it was the size of Hagrid's bed and it had a feather mattress. This bed had curtains like her own in Gryffindor Tower, but these curtains weren't the maroon velvet she was used to. These curtains were gold brocade, and sat open against the posts of the bed.

Everything else in the room was as elaborate and expensive as the bed. Across from where Ginny was sitting, was a detailed vanity table with a large mirror, next to an open door that led to a large walk-in wardrobe.

As Ginny took in her surroundings, the double doors to her right opened, and Pansy Parkinson entered with a smile on her face. As surprised as Ginny was to see Pansy Parkinson here, (wherever "here" was) it shocked her even more to see a smile on that pug-like face. She sat there in compete shock, wondering what the Slytherins were up to now.

"Ah, Your Highness, you are awake!" said Pansy, seemingly surprised.

Hesitantly, Ginny replied, "Yes, I am," and climbed down out of the huge bed.

"What would you like to wear to breakfast this morning, Princess?"

Princess!? thought Ginny. I have no idea what's going on here, but I'm not about to admit that to a Slytherin, so I'll just play along. "Something simple," she replied to Pansy, using the most royal voice she could muster.

Pansy simply nodded. She went into the wardrobe and brought out an amber dress with a low-cut neck and flowing sleeves that complemented Ginny's colouring perfectly. As Pansy helped her into the dress, Ginny thought: There must be fifteen yards of fabric in the skirt alone. And the style! I'm glad I don't need a corset to fit into this. She had never had a dress like the one she was now wearing, and was very surprised that this was "simple" for a princess.

Pansy was fussing over Ginny and giving her instructions about the day to come. "Now, of course, the Family doesn't usually have breakfast together, milady, but today is a special occasion. If you remember, I told you last night that your Royal Father wanted to talk to the entire Family before the Princes Henry and Seamus arrive." Pansy was very talkative as she gestured to Ginny to sit at the vanity, and kept babbling about how Prince Charles was escorting the royal party from the harbour to the castle for their visit, while she was arranging Ginny's hair.

"Because, of course they cannot travel without an escort in these days of turmoil. You never know what those Muggles are going to do. Plus, there is another Goblin uprising roaming through the countryside, so the royal entourage needs protection from those horrid little creatures as well."

Pansy kept nattering on, but Ginny wasn't paying much attention. She was thinking about where she was, how she got there, and how she was going to get back to Hogwarts. The first thing I need to do is find out where I am, and why Pansy thinks I'm a princess. When that becomes clear, I can go about finding a way to get home. While these thoughts were going through Ginny's head, Pansy was still gossiping about the visitors.

"You know, milady, they will probably stay for months, and of course they will be competing in the Royal Tournament in a fortnight. You'll have to decide which of the Princes to give your favour to, because, of course you can't give it to both of them. Where you bestow your favour for the Tournament will give your Father an idea of where to bestow your hand, because, as you know, both Princes are equally rich and powerful. If it were me, begging Your Highness' pardon, I could never decide."

Ginny was tiring of all the gossip, and as soon as Pansy said "There, perfect!" Ginny leapt to her feet and headed out of the doors into the hallway. She looked in each direction, and seeing a flight of stairs leading down at the left end of the hall, she headed that way. Behind her, she could hear Pansy yelling at her.

"Milady, you've forgotten your slippers! Your feet will turn to ice on those cold stones!"

Frustrated, Ginny stopped and let Pansy catch up with her. She only stood still long enough for Pansy to put the slippers on her feet before starting off again. Coming to the head of the stairs, she looked down the curving stairway and saw what appeared to be a large entrance hall that was hung with banners. The banners were red and gold, and had what she could only assume was the Weasley Family Crest on them.

As she was contemplating what she was going to do next, a young man dressed in a belted tunic and hose came through the open door at the opposite end of the entrance hall. It was not someone she had expected to see in this strange place.

"George!" she cried, running down the stairs. When she reached him, she gave him a big hug. "What are you doing here? What's going on? Where's Fred? For that matter, where's 'here'?" she said, talking extremely fast in her excitement to see him.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down little sister. Fred's in the Great Hall, waiting for everyone to come to breakfast, and I was sent to find you, sleepyhead. Now, about 'here,' I live here, and so do you. How could you forget Weasley Castle?"

"Weasley Castle?! Since when do we have a castle?" Ginny said in amazement.

"Are you kidding, Ginny, we've always had a castle? I thought Fred and I were the jokers of the family."

"But..."

"Now, come on. If we don't hurry, we'll be late for Father's meeting." Taking her by the arm, George led her through the door he had come from, into a large Hall. Wow, thought Ginny as she looked around, this is bigger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

The Great Hall of Weasley Castle had a vaulted ceiling with banners hung from the rafters. There were many different crests on the banners. There were high, narrow windows along each of the long walls, and a large, stained glass window at the far end of the Hall. Also at the far end was a raised dais with a table on it. Ron was just sitting down at the table, and the rest of her family, including Bill's wife Fleur, was already seated there. Everyone was there except Charlie.

Oh, that's right. Pansy said that "Prince Charles" is escorting the royal visitors that are coming. But why is everyone else here? And why is Ron the only one looking as confused as I feel?

When Ginny and George got to the dais, their mother motioned for them to sit. Instinctively following her mother's instructions, Ginny sat in the empty chair next to Ron while George sat on the other side of the table next to Fred.

After everyone was seated, a side door opened and house elves came through bearing large dishes of food. The elves served the family quickly and efficiently, deposited the remaining food on the table, and disappeared the way they had come. It was over in less than two minutes. Ginny just sat in amazement at the entire scene, and waited to see what would happen next.

She didn't have to wait long. Acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, her mother and father immediately started to eat. Her brothers dug in as well, all except Ron. Ginny and Ron glanced at each other with questioning looks, shrugged, and followed suit. As the family was eating and chatting about the visitors, Ginny had a better chance to look around at her family and take in the situation she was in.

Her mother was seated at the end of the table, just to Ginny's right. She was dressed even more elaborately than Ginny was, and her hair was pulled back elegantly from her face. She looked very beautiful. Ginny could hardly recognise the frazzled housewitch mum that she was used to.

Across the table from Ginny sat Percy, Fred and George. They were all dressed similarly, each in a tunic and hose with a belt around the waist. The fabric looked like plush velvet, the worth of which the Weasleys had never been afford before.

Ginny's father was at the head of the table, and looked very royal indeed. He was wearing the same style of clothing as her brothers, but his was more tailored. He also wore a large, gold chain that sat on his shoulders. Bill sat next to her father, with Fleur sitting between Bill and Ron.

A silent Ron sat to Ginny's left, and was eating his breakfast with as much relish as he did every morning at school. It was comforting to Ginny to see that no matter what happened, some things didn't change. She did have a sneaking suspicion that Ron might be in the same confused situation that she was, based on the looks that they had exchanged.

When the family had finished eating, and the house elves had cleaned away the meal, Ginny's father motioned for quiet and began to address the family.

"Good morning, my children. As you know, I have called you all together this morning to discuss the impending arrival of our royal guests. Charles is at this moment escorting them from the border, and they should arrive this afternoon. I wanted to review with all of you your responsibilities for when our guests arrive. Percival, would you remind everyone of their duties?"

Percy, being his predicable, pompous self, immediately stood up and started to read from a parchment he held in his hand.

"Thank you, Father. Now, this afternoon, when the entourage arrives, the entire family should be assembled on the front steps. Father and William will greet the Princes, and Virginia will be introduced to them. Ronald will then lead them to their quarters, where they will be able to refresh after their journey." Saying this, Percy looked over at Ron and glared, as if to remind him that the guests would need their rest, and he shouldn't involve them in any mischief. Percy then continued.

"This evening there will be a grand feast for the two Princes, to which all the local nobility has been invited, including the Muggle Duke and Duchess of Granger. After the feast Frederick and George will be in charge of the entertainment for the evening."

At the mention of the Duke and Duchess of Granger, Ginny glanced over at Ron to see his reaction. He seemed to have been transfigured into a combination of himself and a flobberworm that had been fed too much lettuce. She smiled at his expression and turned back to listen. Percy had finished speaking and had sat back down, and her father was addressing the family again.

"The Royal Tournament is being held in a fortnight, and as you know, all the knights in the kingdom are invited. Our royal guests are competing as well. The champion, who I expect will be either one of you boys or one of the visiting Princes, will be entered into The Order of Gryffindor. Now, we have much to do to prepare for our guests, so let's all get to work!"

At this, Ginny's father stood and left the table, followed by her mother. They walked out of the hall arm in arm. Bill followed his father's lead, and taking his wife's arm, strode out of the hall as well.

Ginny looked at her remaining brothers for some indication of what to do next. Ron was still imitating a flobberworm, and the twins were deep in conference, presumably about the evening's entertainment. Percy was scribbling notes on his parchment, and didn't seem to be of any more help than the twins.

Ginny had finally had it. She was tired of having no idea what was going on, and wanting to consult Ron about the situation, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the entrance hall.

She looked around the hall, and seeing an alcove under the stairway, headed there. She pushed Ron down onto the bench in the alcove, and sat down next to him.

"All right, what in Merlin's name is going on?!" she practically screamed at him.

"Huh?" Snapping out of his worm-like state, he looked over at Ginny.

"What is going on? Where are we? Is there anything in that thick skull of yours?" Ginny was very frustrated and scared by now, and was taking it out on Ron.

"Gin, calm down. I know even less than you do. I was woken up this morning by Malcolm Baddock, of all people. And if that wasn't strange enough, he called me Prince Ronald and said my Royal Father wanted to meet with the family this morning. I didn't know what to say to that, so I just played along. I wish I knew where we were and how we got here. If 'Mione were here, she would probably know." He murmured this last statement, as if talking to himself.

"She might be, Ron. You heard Percy say that the Duke and Duchess of Granger are coming to the feast tonight. What I want to know is how Mum and Dad and everyone else got here, including those Slytherins, and why they act like they belong here when we know none of us do." Ginny was trying to be logical about the situation, but nothing around her seemed to make sense.

"Yeah, why does everyone think we're royalty? Not that I mind being 'Prince Ronald.'"

"We'll just have to figure that out while we're trying to find a way to get back to where we belong. Now, let's go exploring and see what we can find out."

~~~~~~~

After about an hour of roaming through the castle, Ginny and Ron hadn't found any clues to help their situation. In fact, they were even more confused about where they were.

The servants were all busy preparing for the arrival of the Princes that afternoon. The chambermaids were airing the bedding in the guest quarters, the stable hands were mucking out the best stalls for the Princes' horses, and the house elves were cleaning every nook and cranny of the entire castle. The elves were also hard at work in the kitchens preparing the large feast that was to take place later that evening. Essentially all of the castle's inhabitants were in an uproar over the coming of the royal guests.

After searching inside for any clues to their whereabouts, Ginny and Ron decided to go outside to look for any clues as to the location of Weasley Castle. Peering off of the battlements in all directions revealed the approach of the coming guests, but Ginny and Ron could see no familiar landmarks. They did, however, get a bird's eye view of the layout of the castle.

Weasley Castle was situated on a large hill, with a road winding around the hill to get up to the main gate, which faced east. The castle wall was about 15 feet thick, with round towers at each corner. The main gate had "D" shaped towers on each side, and three separate portcullises that could be lowered if the castle was attacked. There was also a small postern gate in the north wall that led to the forest path.

The residence was dominated by the Great Hall, which faced west to allow the setting sun to shine through the stained glass window. The family and guest quarters were above the servant's quarters on the north side of the Great Hall, with the kitchen in a separate building on the west side of the residence. The barracks that housed the Royal Guard were against the south wall next to the stables. There was also a kitchen vegetable garden along the west wall.

Having mapped out the entire castle, but coming up with no real clues as to where they actually were, Ron and Ginny decided to go back inside. As they walked through the large, wooden doors into the entry hall, Pansy came running down the stairs in a panic.

"Princess Virginia! Your royal guests will be here in no time at all. We must get you dressed for their arrival!" and sending Ron a shy, sidelong glance, she started to head back up the stairs.

"Well," said Ginny, "I'd better follow her. If you find anything at all, try to tell me later, all right?"

Ron just nodded his response, confused at Pansy's glance, and with a heaving sigh Ginny headed up the stairs after Pansy.