An American Professor

Erin awoke before the sun rose the next morning. At first she woke up feeling frightened and unsure of where she was. When she saw Ginny in the other bed she remembered that she was at the Burrow. Cursing herself for not being able to oversleep like a normal person, she realized she was wide-awake and might as well start her day.

Rising silently, Erin pulled her running pants and a sports bra from her suitcase. She also pulled out her sneakers and some socks, and left the room to change in the bathroom. As she deposited her pajamas on her bed, she grabbed a rubber band and pulling her hair into a semi-sloppy ponytail, she was off.

Making her way down the stairs, Erin tried to be as silent as possible, and she must have done a pretty good job at it because when she opened the door to what she assumed was the kitchen, she startled Mrs. Weasley and a young man she hadn’t met before.

“Oh! Excuse me for intruding, I was looking for a way outside.”

“Good heavens, Erin, what are you doing up so early, and where are the rest of your clothes?”

Crossing her arms in front of her bare stomach self-consciously Erin felt the blush rise in her cheeks. “I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I decided to go for an morning run.” Deciding to ignore the awkward situation, she turned to the unidentified man and with a smile said, “I’m Erin Worhli. I’m one of Ginny and Ron’s professors at Hogwarts.”

The man seemed unable to answer and Erin’s smile turned to a slight frown as she tried to figure out his expression Mrs. Weasley stepped in and introduced the man after the awkward moment, “Erin, this is my son, Percy.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Erin said flatly and she nodded to him before turning back to Mrs. Weasley, “Mrs. Weasley, I really can’t thank you enough for inviting me for the holiday.”

“Oh, it’s a pleasure to have you, dear, a pleasure. And please, call me Molly.”

Erin gave her a brief hug, which Molly returned warmly, and then Erin repeated, “Thank you so much. Well, I’d best get going. I’ll be careful.”

“You may as well just run behind the house, there’s plenty of field and even some hills.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll be back. Nice to meet you, Percy.” She waited for a verbal acknowledgment, but was satisfied with his head nod, and went out the back door.

After stretching a few moments, Erin took off running. The Burrow was located in a beautiful area of the countryside. Erin discovered a lake a fair distance from the house and began to jog the perimeter. About halfway around the lake she stopped to watch the sun finish it’s ascent over the Weasley’s house. Erin was privy to her first full view of the house.

It was a charming house, but she couldn’t help but wonder how some of the rooms managed to stay in place at such odd positions. They seemed to jut out on all sides. Erin loved it, even though it was odd.

As she watched the sun cast it’s golden rays over the house and it’s surroundings, her thoughts drifted elsewhere. I wonder where Sirius is? I can’t believe he hasn’t written or sent word through Dumbledore. So damn stubborn! I wonder if Severus will send an owl back from the one I sent him? Dammit Erin, why the hell are you thinking about them? You’re here, with a nice guy, and his great family, don’t think about them! There I go arguing with myself again. Erin stood up and brushed the grass from her pants and continued on her run shaking the thoughts from her mind.

As she reached the garden, she sat back down to cool down and stretch. Erin leaned back to look up at the house one more time. The window above the garden drew her attention. As she peered at it, the man who’d been watching her disappeared. I wonder who that was?

“It was Percy.”

Erin shifted her gaze to the tall Weasley speaking to her. “Good morning, Bill.”

“Mornin’.”

“How’d you know what I was thinking?”

“Just a hunch. Percy said that he’d met you when I came down this morning and ran to his room after breakfast. Mum said he was talking to her about your staying here. I'm surprised that he's taken the week off, he's so devoted to his Ministry job, but mum can be pretty persuasive. That’s his room,” he answered gesturing to the window she’d been staring at.

I bet Percy knows about the kidnapping some how, and he thinks I’m putting his family in danger. Maybe I shouldn’t be here. “I see. Well, I need a shower. See you later.”

He nodded and she went into the kitchen. “Erin! Good morning!” Mr. Weasley boomed.

“Good morning, Mr. Weasley.”

“Call me Arthur. Listen, Erin, I was hoping you could tell me about tellyvidon and what a CVR is.”

Erin shook her head trying to sort out what he was asking her. “Uh, sure, Arthur, but I’m going to go ahead and take a shower, and have a little breakfast first, ok?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Arthur, the girl is on her vacation, do you have to bother her?”

“No, no, Mrs., I mean, Molly, I don’t mind a bit, I just want to clean up a little. I’ll be right back.” Erin darted out of the kitchen and headed to the stairs. When she reached the 2nd floor she saw the twins crouched in front of a door.

“What are you two up to?” she whispered causing them both to jump.

“Shh!”

“What are you doing?” she whispered back.

“Nothing,” they whispered in unison.

Erin rolled her eyes and proceeded to the 3rd floor. Entering Ginny’s room quietly, she looked to Ginny’s bed and was glad she’d taken the pains. Ginny was snuggled in the bed still sound asleep. Ah, the good old days when I could sleep till noon. Erin quietly gathered her toiletries and clothes and went across the hall to shower. She finished up and dressed quickly.

Leaving her hair damp, she placed her things back in Ginny’s room, and after making her bed silently exited the room again and literally ran into Charlie. “Ooof,” was all she managed to say and started to fall backwards, but Charlie righted her with a chuckle. “Real elegant, I know,” she laughed.

“Good morning. Been up long?”

“Ah, about a little more than an hour and a half.”

“What? But your hair’s wet.”

“I went for a run, I got back about twenty minutes ago.”

“Oh,” he smiled his straight white smile and asked, “What’s on the schedule for today?”

“Well, I only planned the run, your dad’s planned all the rest,” she answered with a grin.

Charlie groaned and shook his head, “Erin, I’m sorry. You can tell him no, you know.”

“I know, Charlie, but it’s ok. Let’s get breakfast.” Reaching the kitchen Erin witnessed Fred and George being scolded by Molly. She heard, “dungbombs” and “Percy,” and it became apparent what the twins had been doing earlier.

Molly quit the lecture as Erin and Charlie entered the kitchen. “Good morning Erin,” the twins chorused with broad smiles.

“Oh, drop the act, I already know you two.”

“Erin, I’m offended, aren’t you offended, Fred?”

“Offended deeply, George. Here we are turning over a new leaf,” Fred began.

“And you shoot us down,” George finished.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, boys,” Erin sat down next to George and poked him in the side.

“Ow! Erin!”

“What?” she asked innocently and laughing helped herself to a piece of toast. Molly left the room and Erin leaned forward, “What did you do to Percy?”

“Put dungbombs under his door,” Fred said matter of factly as he buttered his toast.

“Why?”

“Because he won’t come out. We were giving him some incentive.”

Erin laughed at their feeble attempt at an excuse, “He was out of his room this morning.”

Charlie looked surprised, “He was?” he asked.

“Yes, he was with your mom when I woke up and when I saw Bill he had seen him also.”

“You saw Bill already?”

“Geez, yes, what is this twenty questions?”

“I haven’t seen Percy yet, and I’ve been home four days!”

“Charlie, what’s the problem? He really didn’t say much, actually just grunted. He must have been concerned about my being here because he talked about me to Bill.”

“He talked about you?”

“Why do you keep repeating everything I say? What is your problem? Calm down, sheesh!”

Fred and George had watched the exchange and now were grinning broadly and exchanging knowing glances with one another. Erin turned on them and snapped, “What?”

“Nothing,” George answered innocently.

“Except that Charlie likes Erin and now he’s jealous that his other brothers talk to her.” Fred answered and they both fled the room.

Erin watched them leave with a scowl, and then turned the glare on Charlie, “I’m going to go see your dad. Where would he be?”

“The shed.”

“Fine, I’ll see you later. I suggest you talk to your brothers and get over whatever issue you have with them speaking civilly to me.” She stomped out of the room and headed outside to find the shed.

Erin knew that she was overreacting, but decided to let Charlie squirm a little. If she avoided him, she could avoid any awkward situations and trying to sort out her feelings. It was better just to focus on something else. She found Arthur puttering in the shed. For the rest of the morning she explained his ‘artifacts’ to him, and gave him the proper names for things.

Arthur not only listened carefully, but actually took notes on what she said. They probably would have missed lunch completely if Ron hadn’t found them. They all went to the house and entered the kitchen.

Six Weasleys sat at the table eating. The kitchen really couldn’t handle any more people. “Oh, dear,” fussed Molly, “We’ll have to eat outside tonight, I just can’t understand how we all fit in here when you children were little.”

Erin poured herself a glass of water, (she still hadn’t developed a taste for pumpkin juice) and picked up a ham sandwich. Four Weasleys jumped to their feet all offering their seat. “Well, Molly, you’ve raised perfect gentlemen, but there’s a lovely patch of grass outside with my name on it.” With a glowing smile she walked out the door into the yard. Ron joined her and they sat silently eating.

Finishing her sandwich and water she was about to speak to Ron when she saw something moving in the garden. Rising to her feet, she strode over for a closer look. “Ron, what’s that pile of mud with legs?”

He laughed, “It’s a gnome.”

Erin looked at him feeling confused, “What? I thought-”

“That gnomes were cute little fat men with pointy hats?”

“Well, yes.”

“Nope, no such things.”

Erin peered at the creature curiously, “What do they do?”

“Nothing, except take up space. They might bite you if you were reaching for something.” Ron stood and walked to the garden and reaching under a bush pulled out the creature.

“Gerroff me, gerroff me!” it squealed. The gnome had a face, but not much of one, but had horns, and Erin took notice of the sharp teeth just before Ron flung the gnome out into the lawn a good forty feet.

“Why did you-”

“Only way to get rid of ‘em. Doesn’t hurt them though. You just have to confuse them so they can’t get back to the garden. They usually end up back here, though, dad likes them.”

“You know, I’ve been cooped up looking at Muggle stuff all morning. Do you mind showing me some Wizard stuff?”

Ron beamed, “Ok!”

Ron showed her the clock that told where each Weasley was instead of the time. He showed her one of their talking mirrors, the contents of his room, and anything else he could think of. He seemed to enjoy his role as an unauthorized tour guide. He was especially proud of his Chudley Cannons memorabilia. Erin thought she may have gone permanently blind from the day-glo orange room, but oohed and awwed overy Ron's treasures where she felt appropriate.

After teaching Erin how to play Exploding Snap, he attempted to teach her chess and was rather unsuccessful. “I told you I never learned to play. Only the nerdy or snooty kids learn in America.” She laughed as he threw up his hands in frustration when he had to explain for the fifth time the direction and number of squares the bishop could move.

For the rest of the afternoon, Ron and Erin just talked. Erin really enjoyed their conversation. There’s more to this guy than being one of the Weasleys, Harry Potter’s best friend, and Hermione’s boyfriend. (One of the things he’d told her was about Hermione’s mutual feelings, and that they’d been dating for three weeks although he was trying to keep it quiet to avoid relentless teasing from his twin brothers).

Close to dinner time they went to the kitchen to see if they could help out. Erin watched in fascination as Molly cooked. “It’s like Bewitched,” she muttered.

“What dear?”

“Uh, nothing, Muggle television show. Should I set the table?”

“Tables, actually dear, and that would be wonderful. Just take the dishes and silverware outside.” Erin picked up the items and headed to the garden, still shaking her head in amazement at the way Molly was fixing dinner.

Charlie and Bill had magicked two long tables into place beside the garden, and were placing table cloths on them when she arrived. Speaking casually to one another, the three spread out the dinnerware. The spring afternoon was slipping slowly into a glorious dusk. Erin breathed in the succulent fragrances of the garden, and sighed.

Seating arrangements turned out to be a bit tense. After much glowering, Bill sat on one side of Erin, and Charlie on the other, while Percy sat across. Ron appeared much chagrined to be seated next to Percy, while Ginny seemed reluctant to sit near the twins probably for fear of one of their tricks.

Despite the tension to start, dinner was delicious. Erin ate her fill while talking animatedly to the brothers. Thankfully the distance between her seat and Mr. Weasley’s kept him from asking her any more questions that evening. Turning to Bill she asked, “So, what did you do while you were at Hogwarts?”

Molly answered for him, “Bill was Head Boy his 7th year, and Percy was also.”

“Wow, two head boys in the family,” she said, smiling warmly at Percy as she continued, “that’s a lot to live up to. Good thing Ron’s such a wonderful guy and Ginny’s just plain brilliant.”

Ron’s face turned scarlet as did Ginny’s. “Hey, what about us?” George protested.

“What about you?” Erin asked innocently.

“Aren’t you going to say something nice about us?” Fred demanded.

“No. You two speak for yourselves, quite regularly in fact.” The table roared with laughter. Even the twins laughed. Erin did notice that Percy remained quiet. Conversations split again, and Erin imagined that this must what living in an Italian family was like, everyone talking loudly and all at once. Erin focused her attention on the one family member not talking, Percy. “So, Percy, what are you doing post-Hogwarts?”

“I work for the Ministry of Magic.”

“Percy has a wonderful job, and he’s following in his father’s footsteps to become a successful official. Not like you two,” Molly supplied helpfully before she rounded in on Fred and George who shot Erin the ‘Now-look-what-you’ve-done’ look, and she shrugged helplessly. Erin wanted to talk to Percy further, but he was speaking intently with Ron, who looked like he wanted to jump in the lake to get away.

Turning her attention to Charlie, Erin asked, “So, why weren’t you Head Boy?”

“I was Quidditch captain. I played Seeker.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember Harry saying you were a Seeker, and maybe you told me that before?”

“Might have.”

“From Seeker to dragon expert. I guess that seems about right. So, how’s the dragon business going? Any sign of a career change in your future?”

“No way. I love it. I’ve got the scars to prove that I work with them, but I think of them as badges of honor. I feel honored to be working with such amazing creatures.” It was all that it took to get him talking. He seemed thankful that she was talking to him and also reluctant to stop talking for fear she may ignore him again. For the rest of dinner he talked about laws and regulations, breeds, burns, and a lot of other stuff. Erin was trying not to notice the sexy way the candlelight bounced off his skin and accented his rugged facial features, and attempted to listen to all that he said, but felt she was not doing very well.

After a piece of strawberry pie, she felt like she may burst. Erin rose to help Molly clear the table, but was shooed away for being a guest. “How about a walk?” Charlie asked and Erin agreed. When the people in the yard were no longer visible Charlie grabbed her hand to stop walking.

“Erin, I’m sorry for being weird this morning.”

“Why were you weird this morning, Charlie?”

He looked at the ground, “I just don’t want my brothers to flirt with you.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!”

“Don’t get mad all over again. I’m sorry. I talked to them both and they aren’t pursuing you that way.”

“I know they aren't but the question is are you?”

He chuckled, “Always right to the point, huh?”

“Beating around the bush gives me a headache.” She waited for his answer somewhat patiently. When he just kept staring at her she sighed and asked, “Well?”

“I was hoping you forgot the question. I don’t know. I like flirting with you, and spending time with you is never dull, but I don’t know how much further we should take it.”

Erin nodded while thinking, Hell, Erin, don’t push him. You’re young, he’s young, have some fun without strings. “Ok Charlie, I agree. I like spending time with you. You’re fun. That’s all that matters right now.”

He treated her to another winning smile and held out his arm. Accepting his arm, they strolled back to the house. Before she entered Ginny’s room, Charlie pecked her on the cheek good-night, and Erin was smiling as she went into the room. “What’s with the smile?” Ginny grinned at her as she walked into the room.

Settling on her bed Erin answered, “It’s nothing. What’s going on with you? Did I see Hedwig here earlier today?”

Ginny took a deep breath. With a sinking feeling Erin realized she was in for a long night.