We disappeared from the magical Egyptian world without anyone noticing, but we didn't go very far. Our first destination was, in fact, the non-magical world.
Ginny, Luna, and I appeared on the streets of Cairo, but in its Muggle facet. The girls were thrilled, both clinging to my arms as they took in everything around us. Not that the surroundings were anything extraordinary, but the simple idea of running away with me was enough to make their hearts race.
It didn't matter where we were; nothing else mattered nor could anything hurt us. It was just the three of us enjoying the moment. We walked along Cairo's avenues, taking in daily Muggle life as we headed toward our first goal: a luxurious, elegant hotel.
Although picking a place to stay wasn't particularly urgent—even less so when returning to the establishment where our family was staying was remarkably easy—we decided it would be a fun experience to try out the best the Muggle world had to offer.
Of course, we couldn't show up looking like our real selves and attempt to act like adults, but that was easily solved. With a quick—if somewhat complex—charm, I took care of the issue, though the girls looked at each other in confusion when they perceived no physical changes to their bodies.
"It's an illusion. You don't feel it, but in other people's eyes, you look completely different," I explained, pulling out a small hand mirror to show them.
Ginny and Luna were stunned when they saw the reflection: it showed two young women with a seventy-percent resemblance to them, but noticeably more mature. It didn't take them long to touch their chests, faces, and hips, weighing the clear differences between their real bodies and what the magic was projecting. It felt as though the girls were destined to go through an identity crisis that day after so many situations making them overly self-conscious.
"Is this what we'll look like when we're older?" Luna asked curiously.
"Maybe yes, maybe no. It's just an approximation I tweaked a little; you'll have to discover for yourselves what you'll look like in the future," I replied with a playful smile.
"And you? What do you look like?" Ginny inquired, narrowing her eyes with intense intrigue.
I nodded at her curiosity, and with a light flick of my wand, my figure seemed to ripple before them. For a brief instant, I showed them a completely different image: that was indeed my real adult version, the one I knew from my countless campaigns, though with my eye and hair colors modified so as not to draw too much attention.
"Well, shall we go?" I asked, extending both arms.
Neither hesitated to link her arm with mine to set off. Knowing they were protected by an illusory veil that made them project an older image, they showed a poise fitting for that appearance. In fact, they asked if they could also behold their illusory appearances to feel even more... "mature."
And so we made our way into Cairo's exclusive district until we found the finest hotel available. Without the slightest setback—resolving almost everything with compulsion charms to speed up the paperwork—we secured a new place to stay, though I doubted we would remain there for long.
...
Molly got up like every morning, though she stayed in bed a bit longer; after all, she was on vacation.
After letting a few minutes pass and seeing her husband wake up as well, it was time to get the day going. She went room by room with the intention of waking up her children. There was no need to stop by Charlie and Percy's; both had gotten up early and were already having breakfast. Fred and George, for their part, were already awake and causing a ruckus, while Ron, wanting to avoid scoldings and trouble, pretended to still be asleep—which only served to make him the target of his brothers' jokes. Poor Ronald was already regretting his decision to share a room.
After settling the chaos with a few scoldings, Molly headed to the last room: the one that worried her most. She knocked on the door and, without waiting for an answer, walked straight in. The scene was clear: Ginny and Luna were still lying in their respective beds on the left, somewhat sprawled out; in the bed on the right side, her most peculiar son was sitting against the headboard, engrossed in reading a book.
"Good morning," Red said.
"Good morning," Molly replied, somewhat dazed.
For some reason, she felt thrown off. Seeing her son sitting there, reading peacefully—the very same boy who had caused such a stir and with whom she had held such a serious talk the previous night—gave her a strange sensation.
With such a large family, no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to give equal attention to everyone. She knew she had neglected Red, despite him being one of those who drew her attention most because of how peculiar he was. In that instant, she noticed the book he held was written in Arabic, discovering—just like in recent days—that he understood the language without her ever having known. The need to truly know her children was becoming increasingly urgent; she didn't want a repeat of what had happened in the past.
Her gaze shifted toward the girls.
"They stayed up late talking, so they're a bit tired, but they've slept enough," Red remarked with a casual tone as he closed the book and stood up. "Do you want me to wake them up?"
"No need," Molly interjected immediately. The previous night's conversations were still echoing in her mind.
Not only had she spoken deeply with Red, but she had also talked with her two eldest sons—the ones who had already left the nest—and she couldn't stop mulling over the words Bill had told her.
Just then, "Ginny" and "Luna" seemed to wake up groggily. They stretched, yawned, and greeted Molly and Red. The first thing they did was head to the bathroom to wash their faces, while Red, having changed without any fuss, went straight out for breakfast. Molly stood there for a few moments, hesitating over whether to approach Ginny, but when she saw the girls come out laughing and chatting cheerfully with each other, she preferred to postpone the conversation for later... if she ultimately decided to have it at all. The girls changed and, after Molly returned to her bedroom, they went down to the dining room as well.
The whole family was gathered once again in the inn's restaurant and began having breakfast, including Xenophilius, who came down to give his daughter a kiss on the forehead, receiving a hug from her in return.
The atmosphere quickly grew lively, and chatter about their first night filled the room: Percy and Charlie's analytical observations, the twins' jokes, or the complaints from Ron, who had ended up sleeping next to his two older brothers...
"And what about you, Red? Does Ginny snore as much as Ron?" Fred teased.
"Yeah, how was sharing a room with the girls? Any urge to wear a dress?" George chimed in.
Of course, teasing was par for the course, and Molly scolded them as usual. Even if that was routine back home, a few kept a close eye on the trio's reaction. After what happened the day before, some had considered it improper for Red to sleep in the same room as the two girls and had even thought about bringing up a room swap with Xenophilius; but to everyone's surprise, the general response was indifference. Red simply shrugged while continuing to eat. Ginny glared at the twins for a few moments and huffed, while Luna didn't even seem to notice the teasing as she chatted with her father about magical creatures.
In the end, the topic blew over without incident, and the conversation drifted until it hit the main agenda.
"Well, where are we heading today, family?" Arthur asked as he unfolded an enchanted map he had acquired the day before, which Bill had already verified.
"To the pyramids!" the twins shouted in unison.
"We can't go just yet," Arthur declined. "We'll go when Bill is free. He told me today isn't the ideal time and that if we wait a bit, we'll enjoy a much better experience. He'll let us know and act as our guide."
"I heard there's a grand library where..." Percy began.
"Shut up, Percy!"
"Yeah, who wants to go to a library on vacation?"
He was shut down by his less academically inclined brothers.
Percy could only keep silent with a furrowed brow, mentally lamenting how uncultured his brothers were.
"Let's go look at flying carpets," Ron suggested. "I want to see how different they are from broomsticks."
"Even if you have a bit more money, you won't afford even the cheapest one; they're quite a bit pricier than brooms," Charlie remarked, taking a sip from his mug as he leaned back in his chair.
"I was thinking of taking Luna to look for what magical creatures inhabit these parts; I don't know if anyone else wants to join us," Xenophilius offered, to which Luna nodded from her seat.
"I want to see the desert," Ginny chimed in. "I want to slide down a sand dune."
The restaurant ended up engulfed in a tangle of Weasley voices debating which route to take during those first few days. They had agreed to stick together as a group at first, splitting up only later on, so Percy would have to wait for the library, Ron for the carpets, and everyone else for their respective plans.
Despite the clutter, it was the picture of a close-knit family. Even though Bill couldn't join them in the morning and would only meet up with them late in the afternoon, they looked happy. Soon they settled on exploring the local culture, catching a show, or visiting iconic landmarks.
The family left the lodging bound for their first tourist destination. They stepped out of the Egyptian magical district to blend into the Muggle world as they moved along. Although they had magical transport available to shorten distances, the idea of saving a few coins and experiencing a foreign country up close ultimately prevailed.
However, as soon as they ventured just a couple of streets into the mundane environment, they hadn't taken many steps before running headlong into local chaos.
*VROOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!*
As if time froze for a second, the Weasleys had to take a step back out of pure instinct as they witnessed a motorcycle carrying three youths burst at full speed through the narrow street. The vehicle launched into the air in front of them before touching down and continuing to accelerate through a cloud of dust, leaving behind clutter and its pursuers.
The family stood motionless after almost being run over, watching as the overloaded Muggle machine power-slid through the narrow alleyways until it vanished, amidst the shouts and curses of pedestrians.
"Woooo!" the twins were the first to react.
"That was awesome!"
"That was extremely dangerous!" Molly interjected.
"The Muggle world is amazing..."
"It went as fast as a broom!"
"I want to meet those guys."
"I think it was two girls and a guy."
"I'm so jealous, I wish I could do..."
"You are not doing anything!"
"Yes, Mum..."
The members of the family were left dumbfounded, though each processed it in their own way. While adults like Arthur and Molly questioned such recklessness, the younger ones couldn't help feeling a rush of adrenaline at the display; especially after noticing how the motorcycle dodged obstacles by taking the trickiest routes and pulling off risky yet spectacular maneuvers.
What no one in that family imagined was that they were admiring—and criticizing—their own.
—Moments earlier—
"Do you really want to drive?" I asked Ginny as she looked with fascination at a motorcycle on display.
—A few moments after those moments earlier—
I had ended up swapping places with Ginny. During her brief driving "lesson," the little girl had made a colossal mistake, forcing me to take control to speed away and escape. The two girls were clinging tightly to each other and holding on to my back, screaming from the acceleration, their adrenaline pumping.
I could have resolved that chase in the blink of an eye with a bit of magic... but what we were after was precisely the thrill of the mundane experience. And that was how we ended up wrapped in a Fast & Furious-style getaway: thrilling, frantic, and bursting with life.
To the bystanders, we were nothing more than three rebellious twentysomethings wreaking havoc on the streets; to us, we were simply three kids soaking up the madness of this trip.