Ron Weasley noticed how ink stained his fingers were, as he pushed open the gate. If you'd told him that he'd require his mother sending him out to the pond to stop him from writing anything, much less outlining and arranging his sister and Harry's letters for publication, last year, he would have thought you were completely insane. Ron had not been one for any written work, really, until his first year at Hogwarts.
He'd told Hermione that he could handle at least the first draft of the framing portions of what they were calling "Letters from Ginny to Harry" with a subtitle of "Learning about the real Boy-Who-Lived." Ron had volunteered when he'd noticed Harry shaking his head as Hermione had described that she'd need to do to edit the letters to a work similar to the famous "Letters from Young Guinevere to Merlin."
The boys of the First Year Gryffindor dorm had their instructions from Hermione's mother. They were not to let her overwork herself. They were also not to let the then pregnant girl carry anything heavier than five pounds.
Hermione was no longer pregnant. It had been the arrival of Hedwig with the announcement of the birth of Jimmy Anthony that had alerted Ron's mother to Ron's work on this nice sunny day. He'd promptly been sent out with instructions to go swimming or something.
So, Ron had picked up his towel and headed out to the pond. He'd heard that some people put special clothes on to go swimming, but he was a poor wizard. He'd never went swimming any other way than naked, but then again, he'd never gone swimming anywhere other than at the pond on his family's land, though he'd heard that there was an indoor pool somewhere at Hogwarts.
Ron tossed off his shirt, and dropped his shorts, as he reached the edge of the pond, preparing to jump in. Before he jumped in, however, he checked on who else was at the pond. He'd expected perhaps the twins, and both of them were there, swimming laps, trying to beat each other. He really didn't expect to see his sister there.
Ginny was just climbing out of the water onto the pier that their father had put in a couple years before with the diving board that he'd salvaged from the muggle world. Ginny loved that board, and the way she could spring off it into a flip. She was especially proud of her backflip. Ginny waved at Ron's approach, before going back up the board's ladder.
It was the first time Ron had really got a good look at his sister since at least the prior summer. He'd known she'd had a bit of a growth spurt, from her visit to Hogwarts at Valentine's Day. Now, though, he could tell that she was beginning to develop like the girls of his year had. She had breasts, not as big as Hermione's pregnancy fueled development, but at least as much as Lavender had. As Ginny turned around to prepare for her backflip off the board, Ron had to look away as he suddenly felt he was examining his sister a bit too closely.
It was a good thing that only family used the pond, because if other boys noticed how much his sister was growing, he and his brothers would have to take out beater bats to protect his little sister. As she did a backflip with a twist off the board, Ron had to admit that his sister wasn't a little baby anymore.
"I'm not inviting Neville over," Ron said, as he went up the ladder to make his first dive into the pool of the Summer.
"Why not, Ron?" Ginny asked. He hadn't realized he'd said that so loud. His sister was treading water just clear of where Ron was about to dive in. "I like to talk to him."
"Because if I did, next Summer I'd be getting your baby announcement," Ron replied. "Look out below!" Ron ran and sprang off the end of the board, managing a full flip before executing a sloppy entry into the water. He needed more practice. He came up right beside his sister.
"Right, Ron, like any boy is going after your baby sister with her red hair and freckles," Ginny said. "Watch my next dive, please?"
"Ginny, you're not a baby anymore," Ron said. "And I happen to know that some boys like red hair and freckles, just like some girls do. I'll watch."
His sister swam back to the pier again, and Ron watched her come out of the water. As he watched his sister walk back to the ladder, he noticed that she wasn't walking the same way she had been last year. There was a bit of a sway to her hips now. She climbed up the ladder, and took her position at the end of the board, preparing to do another back flip off the five meter board. She actually managed a twist this time before making a much cleaner than Ron's entry, but still with a bit of a flip of water towards Ron.
"How was that?" Ginny said when she came up right beside Ron.
"Not bad," Ron said. "You know, I think you're getting to the point you really need to get a swimming suit, especially with all the diving you do. Maybe you can even get a bikini."
"A bikini, Ron?" Ginny scoffed. "Like Mum would let me get that. And none of us has ever worn a swimming suit in the pond."
"Yes, but you're a girl," Ron said. "We're going to visit the Grangers next week. Maybe you can go with Hermione and get one then. I understand that there is something called a Mall in Crawley. Sally-Anne says you can find anything you want at malls, and Mum's not coming with us."
"Really?" Ginny asked. "I get to go with you?"
"It's your letters that make the book, Ginny, of course you're coming," Ron said. "Now, I think I'm going to try a flip with at least a quarter twist. Spot me?"
"Only fair," Ginny replied.
Given that Padma was a Ravenclaw, Parvati wasn't surprised when her sister pulled out her books on the first Monday of Summer Vacation. Really, the fact that it had taken until Monday was amazing. Of course, Parvati had her own surprise.
"Are you going to start on your Summer assignments soon, sister?" Padma said. "I decided that I'll do Herbology since Parviz is coming over this afternoon."
"Herbology? I did that one before I left Hogwarts, Neville said it was way too easy for us not to," Parvati replied, after checking to see that Ravenclaw got the same assignment as Gryffindor. That hadn't always been true during the year. She was pretty sure that each house got a different Summer assignment in Transfiguration.
"You have homework assignments done already," Padma exclaimed. "Tell me again why you're not in Ravenclaw?"
"I have two assignments done, and it's only because our experts thought they were too easy," Parvati said. "And they were. List and describe three hazardous magical plants that were encountered at Hogwarts by first years this year. Make sure to provide migration methods. Neville only had to prompt us once for us to have a whole list. I think we came up with seven that we were sure of."
"Seven?" Padma exclaimed, "I can't think of one!"
"Oh really?" Parvati replied, sitting down next to her sister, and casually leaning back in the chair. "Ernie MacMillan, September."
"He got lost and walked in on the Second Years repotting mandrakes," Padma said. "I think it took a couple hours for him to wake up after hearing those screams."
"That would be one," Parvati said. "Check volume six of Parviz's Herbological Encyclopedia. Justin Finch-Fletchley ... or is it Fletchley-Finch? in mid October."
"Football hit the whomping willow," Padma said. "Last Volume?"
"Yes, but there is better information on Mum's copy of Magical Arboretum," Parvati said. "And since you are my sister, I think Professor Sprout would expect you to have diaolus laquem, of the sub-species silures. Neville found a great rhyme for that one in Poetic Plantae, 'Devil's snare, it's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun?' Which of course, none of us remembered when we went after You-Know-Who."
"You went after You-Know-Who ... he's dead," Padma said flatly.
"No, he's only mostly dead," Parvati replied, trying to keep her tone light. She was still a bit scared about the fact that Harry had fought the shade of Voldemort. "He was on the back of Professor Quirrell's head, and needed the stone to come back."
"So we really shouldn't have gone through his clothes and looked for loose change," Padma said, clearly not believing her twin sister. "I assume Potter defeated him again."
"Yes, and we're going to have to get a new Defense Professor, because whatever Harry's mother did to You-Know-Who, it apparently made it so the possessed professor couldn't touch Harry without being turned into ashes. I didn't see it happen, but the shade went through Lavender once Professor Dumbledore brought down the flames protecting the chamber. I'm pretty sure that he actually cursed when that happened. Though I'm not sure what language pathak is."
"I know what it is, and everyone in the Quadrant is learning it," said a familiar voice coming from the door behind them.
"Parviz!" Padma called out, turning around. Both girls jumped up and ran to their big brother. They practically jumped into what their parents called a twin sandwich, with Padma hugging him from the right, and Parvati from the left.
They hugged their brother tightly. "It's good to be home," Parviz said. "I missed you both this year. I'm never going back to the Punjab again, either. Now, I don't think I can get back through the door with both of you hanging on me ... unless I enlarge the door, and Father doesn't like when I do that ... and I really want you to meet someone."