Chapter 25

When Skuld arrived, panting and looking panicked, all the Weasleys were already there, including Harry and Hermione, as well as Amos Diggory, who was waiting for his son to take the portkey and leave that terrible camp. Skuld plopped down near the portkey, receiving the stares of all the redheads and guests present there.

"I told you your daughter was missing, Arthur!" Amos exclaimed, crouching down to the redhead's height. "Hey, are you okay, little Weasley?"

She nodded, and looked at her father, who had already looked away from her and was now focusing on the trio of friends. She frowned, anger taking over her, and she stood up, ready to scream and complain about the way they had forgotten about her, but just then the portkey began to activate, swallowing each and every one of her words. 

Although, as she approached the portkey, she had the opportunity to push Ginny, and she did not hesitate to hit her with a sneaky elbow, causing her to stagger backwards.

With a victorious smile, she touched the portkey.

.....

" My children!"

Mrs. Weasley pounced on the newcomers, spreading kisses, hugs, and even a few tears. Harry let himself be loved by the red-haired woman, although he realized that Skuld had not received even a glance. He saw himself reflected in Skuld.

Skuld... Skuld was disowned by the Weasleys, just as he was disowned by the Dursleys, their families. Although both found affection in other families, in Skuld's case, in a certain way, the Malfoys. Him, on the other hand, with the Weasleys.

He approached Skuld when the woman's next victim was Charlie, Ron's older brother, who worked in Romania with dragons. Skuld gave him a slight smile, and he imitated her, not knowing how to start a conversation.

" This..."

He couldn't continue what he had planned to say. He didn't know whether to thank her (because it would be so stupid that he would look like an idiot) or get angry for cutting off his opportunity to chat with the redhead with the emerald green eyes. The girl's eyes shone for a few seconds with amusement at his gesture of frustration, and she walked away, undoing the ponytail that held back her wild orange hair as she went.

Harry smiled unconsciously, they both had those problems with controlling their hair.

.....

"Look at her," Ron growled, watching his twin sister sneak up on the Malfoys, while Molly Weasley said goodbye to all her children. "How can she call herself a Weasley? Let the Malfoys keep her, no one would miss her here."

That biting comment reached the ears of Bill Weasley, who approached his younger brother, hitting him on the back of the head, which made him lower his head between moans. For the first time, Harry saw that a Weasley cared about Skuld, and that, even if he was one of nine, made him happy for the redhead.

"Don't talk about your sister like that, Ronald," he murmured under his breath. "Come on, go up now."

Harry looked at the back, where Skuld was smiling naturally next to Draco Malfoy, and wished he was her for a few seconds.

.....

As soon as Skuld got on the engine, she said goodbye to Draco. He seemed reluctant to let her go to the back area where the Gryffidors usually hung out, but he let her go when he saw Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson approaching him. He knew that the reason she wanted to go to that area was not due to the presence of her friends, but she preferred not to say anything.

"Good morning," She greeted casually, entering the compartment with a smile. The first to stand up was Dean, who had grown quite a bit that summer, and was still as shy as he was in third year, so he hesitated to hug her, although, with a little push from Seamus, he did. "The fact I have to take the initiative to write to you when it was you telling me that we would be in contact " he joked.

Seamus pulled Dean aside to hug her as well, commenting that he worried about her at the World Cups when he saw the twins with Ginny but not her, and even more so when he also saw her older brothers helping the Muggles being held by the Death Eaters.

" Now, now, I'm in one piece."

Skuld smiled, because, even though those boys weren't even from her house, they made her feel like family.

And that was exactly what Dumbledore was looking for by sending her to a family he believed would love her.

" ...and then everything exploded, and my mother started screaming that we were being bombed " Seamus finished, making exaggerated gestures.

"Oh, come on, how can you make a pot of soup explode?" Dean mocked, sitting in front of him and kicking him in the knee. "Mine is special, of course."

"Poor future wife," Skuld sighed. "You will make your baby explode."

"That's if the house doesn't blow up first," Dean added, giving her a friendly nudge on the arm while laughing.

They laughed again, joking about the way Seamus seemed to be constantly drawn to gunpowder, explosions, or fire.

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