A/N: This was written by request for pianomouse's birthday. Because sometimes I get an idea. A look into the future for the Weasley family and their Covenant. And, sorry, it has nothing to do with Star Wars.®

A New Hope

Percy George Weasley was fourteen when the long-hoped-for baby sister arrived. Viola. His brother Daniel was eleven and they were at Hogwarts when they got the news.

For some reason, he felt his magic stir in him when he met his baby sister. As if the Family Covenant was trying to tell him something. That he had to guard this little girl. Protect her. Keep her safe.

"Did you feel that?" Daniel asked him as they were ostensibly working on their summer homework at the kitchen table. "With the baby?"

Daniel's hair was a lot like their mum's looked in pictures. Percy looked a bit like his namesake, Uncle Percy, who died saving Mum in the War. But mostly, Percy thought he looked like his sire, George. He played Quidditch but he was also at the top of his year in Ravenclaw.

Ravenclaw. He and Daniel had both Sorted there, which had amused his mother but had all the dads up in arms over Christmas hols.

"I did," he told his brother now, keeping his voice low. Father—William who was Daniel's sire—was home and playing with Viola in the lounge not far off. "Like, like she was important, right? A treasure or something."

"Yeah! That! It was so weird." Daniel scratched at his nose.

Percy spelled the resultant ink away without a word. "So, I'm wondering, you know, if the Covenant is getting us ready? Like it got the dads ready?"

Daniel dropped his quill and stared at him, blue eyes huge in face. "Cor! Dad said that he had to wait years for Mum. Years! He was in his twenties I think before they met." Daniel tugged at a curly bit of fringe. "I dunno if I'm ready to be thinking of House Wives yet, Perce."

Percy nodded slowly. "I know. Seems a bit off, but then, Da'" —by whom he meant George of late— "was only a third year when they met Mum. I'll be in fourth this year, you in second."

"D'you think we might meet our Bespoke Witch soon?" Daniel leaned back, looking as if he were thoroughly put off by the idea. But then, he was only eleven. He probably hadn't even had any interesting dreams, yet.

Percy blushed but didn't tell his brother why.

"Missus Weasley, Mister Weasley. Mister Weasley."

Percy first stared at the men with the white-blond hair who spoke to his parents. Two of the dads—his own and Viola's—were with Mum to take them to the Express as Percy prepared to take on his fourth year at Hogwarts. Between them was a woman with hair of so deep a red as to be almost purple. And in front of that woman—who was quite pretty, Percy supposed—was a girl. A girl with white-blond hair and gray eyes.

And the Covenant stirred in Percy in such as way that he could not mistake it. At all. Because the dads had made sure that he and Daniel understood what this meant.

His heart made a sharp thud in his chest and he looked away, up to his sire, so that he didn't stare. "Da'?"

Daniel sensed that something was wrong, so he quit playing with Viola's feet and came to stand next to him. Da' nodded at the blond man with the snake-headed cane. "Mister Malfoy, Mister Malfoy, Missus Malfoy. Your first is starting Hogwarts this term?"

"As you see."

Percy didn't know why the men all seemed to be glaring quietly at each other, but it was Mum that started talking again. Which didn't surprise Percy at all; Mum was quite the talker.

"Hello, Missus Malfoy. I'm Hermione Weasley. I had heard that the Malfoys had brought a lovely bride home from Finland. It's a pleasure to meet you." The women shook hands and Mum added, "We House Wives have to stick together, you know."

Missus Malfoy smiled for the first time, and Percy thought it was quite a pretty smile. "Thank you, Missus Weasley. I am Leena." She blushed and cast Muffliato before saying something that Percy didn't catch, but that made Mum's cheeks go pink. Percy thought he saw Mum say Astoria, but he didn't know who or what that was.

The Muffling Spell was canceled then and if all the grown-ups looked odd and uncomfortable, Percy didn't know why. He didn't really care because he really only wanted to know one thing. Clearing his throat, he decided to just be like his da'. A Gryff.

He bowed to the girl with the blond hair. "So now that our parents are all acquainted, let me do the same. I'm Percy and this is my brother Daniel. We're in fourth and second years at Hogwarts, so if you have any questions, you can come to us."

Daniel rolled up on his toes. "Children of House Wives have to stick together as well!"

"I'm Tähti," the girl said, performing a curtsy that made Percy's eyes bug out of his head. He felt his cheeks get hot when she met his eyes again afterward and Daniel gripped his arm like he had when he was little and was afraid of something.

"Hi," he and Daniel said at the same time.

"Time to get on the train!" Mister Malfoy-without-a-cane declared suddenly, and there was a kind of organized chaos that resulted in Tähti being between Percy and Daniel as they went to the train.

"I can make that Featherlight for you, if you'd like," Percy offered the girl. Was she their Bespoke Witch? Was she? He had heard of the Hope but it was only this summer that he'd actually considered it as a personal thing. . .

"My father did it already," the girl replied, her voice soft and sweet. "But if you can help me when we find a place to sit? Daddy said that I should find a compartment and look for girls to sit with . . ." She frowned at him and Daniel, but they both did their best to look like gentlemen.

Behind them, he thought he could hear a man shout. "Absolutely not! That is unconscionable. It cannot be!"

"Father sounds so mad!" Tähti said, turning as if she'd return to her parents.

Daniel held up a hand. "Fathers do that sometimes. Especially when the sprogs get on the train. I'm sure he'll be over it by the time you owl him to tell him where you Sorted."

"I'll be in Slytherin. Of course. Just like my fathers."

Percy did not make a face. "Well, I'm sure you'd be welcome there."

When, much later, they heard, "Malfoy, Tähti!" in Professor Longbottom's voice—he was the Deputy Headmaster and Head of Gryffindor—Percy and Daniel exchanged hopeful looks.

The little girl—she looked like a flower, Percy thought—walked carefully to the Sorting Hat. Professor Longbottom smiled gently at her and placed the hat on her head. There wasn't much of a wait before the hat called, "She should be in Ravenclaw!"

Percy and Daniel got to their feet, clapping hard, and Daniel was terribly pleased to see that she smiled at them as well.

She had to be their Bespoke Witch. She had to be.

"I'll write Mum tonight," he told Daniel.

"Good!"

"Welcome to Ravenclaw, Miss Malfoy," their Head of House, Professor Davies, said with a smile.

"We're so glad you sorted here," Daniel said. "Ravenclaw is the best House."

She cast down her eyes, her cheeks flushing pink as they all settled on the bench to wait for the next person. "I'm glad, as well. I was afraid to be here, that I wouldn't know anyone. My mother said she had been nervous as well, but that she had my fathers when she came to England, so she was able to be brave about it."

"Well, you have us, don't you?" Percy said, trying to be smooth like their eldest father.

"You absolutely do," Daniel assured her.

"Thank you," she said with a nod. "That helps a lot."

"We hope so," Percy said, patting her hand just a little.

She smiled.

~fin~

Tähti means "Star" in Finnish according to behindthename dot com. It's pronounced with a short a (as in American "hat") and with the "h" aspirated before the sound of "tee". Yes, I went to a pronunciation site to have different options so I could try to explain it.

And now, I have an OFFER. Many have said that the presentation of Casting the Stake was distracting for folks, as I flashed back and forth in time during the first half or so of the story. So. I reformatted a bit and put the entire story into chronological order and have it available as a PDF for download if you're interested. This link is to my tumblr (summerisbittersweet . tumb lr DOT COM post / 1 579 77 783 913 ) and you can find directions for downloading it there, if you'd like. If that doesn't work, go to summerisbittersweet dot tumblr dot com and search for Casting the Stake.