That evening, Anne put on her best well-behaved, remorseful face and waited for Diana to come home. She even prepared a delicious meal. As soon as Diana stepped through the door, she was greeted by the sight of Anne smiling brightly beside the fireplace. Anne immediately took her bag, ushering her straight into the dining room.
"Diana, I tried some new recipes today! Come and taste them!"
After a truly delicious French-style dinner, Anne sat staring hopefully at Diana.
She's still a kid, everything on her mind shows up on her face, Diana thought with amusement, looking at Anne and deciding to take the initiative. "Anne, is there something you'd like to tell me?"
Anne quickly stood up from her seat, walked over to Diana with her head slightly bowed, and asked softly, "Diana… if I kept something from you, would you be mad?"
Diana turned to face her, her voice gentle. "Anne, that depends on what it is. But don't worry, people make mistakes sometimes. You can always talk to me or Aaron. We'll help you figure it out together."
As she spoke, Diana placed her hands on Anne's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Anne, I think it's time you started learning the Roland family's guiding principles. They might help you when making decisions in the future. The third one is: Recognize your mistakes, admit them, and take active steps to correct them."
The Roland family has rules?
"There are more?" Anne asked curiously.
"Of course. There are eight in total, but we'll share them with you gradually. Aaron and I agreed that anything related to the Roland family should wait until you're of age. No need to rush."
"Then… um…" Anne hesitated. "I think I need to contact Aaron. Isn't he with the Hall family in France right now? I might need his help with something…"
"All right. I'll call the Hall family right away."
Aaron came rushing out of the fireplace not long after. The moment he received Diana's call, he had hurried back, he always got anxious about Anne.
"What happened? Something urgent with Anne?"
Anne offered an awkward smile. She hadn't known how to contact him directly and now realized he must have dropped everything to come. That made her feel a bit guilty.
For a moment, she wondered if hiding this whole thing would have been simpler. But then she remembered the image of Ron receiving one of Mrs. Weasley's infamous howlers. If Fred and George let something slip later, things could get even worse.
"Okay, I'll start from the beginning…" Anne began cautiously, unsure how they'd react to what she'd done at Hogwarts.
"First, I need to introduce two people, Fred and George Weasley. They're fifth-year Gryffindors from the Weasley family. Aaron, you saw them once in Diagon Alley…"
"The Weasley twins?" Aaron asked. Anne nodded, and Aaron's expression immediately turned wary. "Anne… you're not dating, are you?"
"No, no, of course not!" Anne quickly waved her hands. Where did that even come from?
Diana shot Aaron a sharp look, warning him to stop jumping to conclusions. "Go on, Anne. Don't mind him."
"Well, after we met…" Anne started explaining how she'd been fascinated by Fred and George's quirky inventions, how they became fast friends, and eventually collaborated. She told them how she'd contributed an idea inspired by a book she'd seen in the Muggle world, helping design a new line of candy. That led to their first earnings, and later, a steady monthly income. Then, just before summer break, they got caught by Mrs. Weasley while brainstorming more inventions.
By the time she finished, both Diana and Aaron were staring at her with their mouths agape, speechless.
Anne instinctively shrank back a little under their astonished gazes.
Diana recovered first, standing up suddenly, startling Anne, only to smile broadly and pull her into a hug, ruffling her hair. "Anne, you truly are a Roland through and through."
Aaron snapped out of it too, leaping up from his chair. "Merlin! 160 Galleons?! No wonder you asked me for so many materials, I thought you were just doing experiments. That's incredible! Can I see some of the gadgets you helped make?"
"You're not mad at me?" Anne asked uncertainly.
"Of course not!" Aaron said cheerfully. "You've done something amazing! So that whole student-ranking idea was yours? And those eleven types of candy you sell in Hogsmeade? They're not just popular with students, loads of Ministry employees love them too. Not to mention the rest of the wizarding world!"
"The Roland family has always been known for trade and business," Diana added. "I was worried you might not enjoy that side of our legacy… but now I see I was completely wrong."
Encouraged by the unexpectedly positive reaction, Anne felt emboldened. Maybe now was a good time to share the other project she'd been hiding.
"There's one more thing…" she said. She went on to explain how she'd helped classmates with schoolwork, realized many students needed tutoring, and had gone on to write two academic guides based on her strengths in certain subjects.
When Diana and Aaron saw the sample books sent by the publisher, they were stunned all over again. At this point, they both agreed Anne was a rare genius.
After that, Anne also expressed her desire to keep a low profile and asked Aaron to help with the situation involving the Weasley twins.
It left both Aaron and Diana feeling proud, and concerned. Proud of Anne's brilliance, but also uneasy. Exceptionally gifted children often stood apart from their peers. At an age when others would be bragging about small achievements, Anne had already learned to hide her abilities. They couldn't help but wonder what she might've gone through, what they might have missed as guardians.
They stayed up talking until nearly 2 a.m., only finally managing to coax Anne upstairs to bed. She'd wanted to keep chatting with Diana, especially about the international wizarding trade, which fascinated her, but Aaron had insisted she get some rest.
The next day, Anne wrote back to the Weasley twins, asking them to keep quiet about the candies and the student ranking system. She told them to say she had only contributed a few creative ideas, and the real money had come from her investment. Aaron also wrote to Mr. Weasley, arranging a dinner to discuss things.
Since the Ministry was swamped with work during the summer, they agreed to meet the evening before the Quidditch World Cup, at the Burrow over dinner.
In the final week of the holidays, Aaron and Anne flew back to England. That night, they traveled via Floo to the Burrow at the appointed time. Their arrival, however, did not coincide with a warm welcome.
The Burrow's tiny kitchen was packed with people, and Mr. Weasley was currently fuming at Fred and George.
"This isn't a joke, Fred! What exactly did you give that Muggle boy?!"
"I didn't give him anything," Fred replied with a mischievous grin. "I just… accidentally dropped it. He's the one who picked it up and ate it. Can't blame me for that."
"You dropped it on purpose!" Mr. Weasley roared. "You knew he'd eat it! He's on a diet, for Merlin's sake!"
"How big did his tongue swell up?" George asked eagerly.
"Over four feet long, his parents made me shrink it down!"
"This isn't a prank!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "This kind of thing seriously harms wizard–Muggle relations! I've spent my life fighting Muggle abuse, and now my own sons!"
"It's not because he's a Muggle!" Fred protested.
"Yeah! We did it because he's a bully," George added. "Right, Harry?"
"That's true, Mr. Weasley," Harry said seriously.
"That's not the point!" Mr. Weasley snapped. "Just wait until I tell your mother, "
"Tell me what?" came a sharp voice from behind them.
Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen. She was a plump woman with a kind face, though now her eyes were narrowed in suspicion. But then she spotted Aaron and Anne standing awkwardly by the fireplace and gasped.
"Oh heavens, Arthur! How could you let our guests stand there like that?"
Finally, the tense atmosphere lifted. Anne let out a quiet sigh of relief and greeted everyone with a smile. "Hi, good evening!"
Aaron chimed in as well. The two of them couldn't have picked a worse time to arrive, everyone's attention had been on Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley, and they hadn't gotten a word in edgewise.
"Oh! Aaron, you're here, sorry, I got carried away. Is it really that late?" Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch. "Six-thirty already. We had a bit of a mishap picking up Harry, which threw off our whole schedule…"
Fred and George winked at Anne from behind their parents. She turned her head away, refusing to look at them. Honestly, getting scolded right when she arrived? They really had no shame.
Mrs. Weasley greeted Harry warmly before switching to full command mode.
"Arthur, go greet our guests. Ron, take Harry up to his room. You two," she said sternly to Fred and George, "help carry Harry's luggage upstairs. Bill, Charlie, go set up the tables outside, we've no space for dinner here."
She directed everyone smoothly before pulling out her wand and starting on dinner. "Go on, out you go, I need space to cook!"
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