PLEASE READ- Hey guys, you probably remember me from my old story "The Kidnapping of Ginevra Weasley". One day, I was casually reading over it when I realized something… it was the worst fanfiction that I've ever read, and that's saying something. I mean, it wasn't the idea that was so bad, it was the story. The real reason that I've created that story was that I was hated Ginny as a character in the books and movies. I mean, she just had such great potential to be someone but then JK Rowling just created someone that was bland and awful. I mean, I love JK, but Ginny didn't do ANYTHING. Also, I didn't like how her life revolved Harry Potter like he was a god. Based on personal experience, when you have a crush, your life doesn't revolve around them. I mean, yeah, sure, Ginny's reaction when she first saw him was natural, but waiting for FIVE years and dating other guys to occupy her was a LITTLE too much. I don't know, I always felt like JK Rowling could've written her better, or at least include her in the storyline a little more. Take Hermione Granger for example. She was an extremely well-written character; brilliant but bossy, sensible but a little judgemental, a very good heart but naggy. Hermione was very likable but she was also human. That's what made her so great. I don't even know what Ginny is, and it frustrated me that there couldn've been a much better character than what we were given. That's why I made "The Kidnapping of Ginevra Weasley". All I really wanted to do was give her a better character, but I failed miserably. Ok, I'll admit it, I turned her into a Mary Sue. Today I was reading over my story and I was horrified by what I've written. I wrote a story about this perfect girl whose world revolves around her and everyone loves her, and how she gets all the attention. How she is just so kind and accepting and smart and pretty and how everyone wants to be friends. How she was the victim for the entire story. I was incredibly surprised that I actually got no negative reviews for it. Oh, and one more thing, I am NOT some sort of crazy "Hinny" shipper. Don't get me wrong, they were a pretty good couple, but Ginny always got overlooked. For example, in the Cursed Child, when Albus and Scorpius went time traveling, not once did he check how his mother was like back then, it was all about Harry, Ron, and Hermione. When people write fanfictions about Harry and Ginny's kids or time-travel fanfictions, they don't care about Ginny. They're always like "Oh look! That's my dad!" And then Ginny is just in the corner blushing and no one really cares about her, they're all just like, "Woah, you're Harry's kids; that's so cool!" I mean, in that aspect I guess it's understandable because the books are about HARRY POTTER, but it's not just that. When they think of Ginny, they think of Harry. JK Rowling is an exceptional writer and she was really spot on when it came to human reactions, but she messed Ginny up completely. I think that when she was writing Hermione, she knew from the very beginning that she was going to be the heroine and that Ginny was just going to be a background character, like Colin Creevey or someone random. Later when she reached Half-Blood Prince, she kind of realized that Harry needed a love interest and wrote sort of hastily wrote some random personality for Ginny. In the Deathly Hallows, Ginny was underage so she obviously couldn't come along for the Horcrux Hunt, and the Horcrux Hunt/Deathly Hallows were the ultimate parts of the entire series. Harry was understandably not a very lovey-dovey person and would use subtle words to describe Ginny. Honestly, I love how realistic JK was; Harry wasn't super romantic and didn't know how to deal with love. It made absolute sense. The entire story doesn't revolve around Ginny/Harry, and I love how JK acknowledged that instead of turning it into some disgusting love story between the two. I'm not saying that Harry should've been more affectionate towards Ginny, I'm saying that there should be Ginny moments of her growing from a starstruck little girl to a confident, powerful young woman. Also, she was quite rude to Ron when he ambushed her and Dean in the abandoned hallway. I just don't imagine Ginny snogging someone like that, I'm not saying it's not normal for teenagers to be acting this way, I'm saying that that's probably not something that Ginny would do. She would definitely not do that with Dean and probably do a 2-second long kiss at most. Anyways, back to the point. I wasn't aware of how I was turning Ginny into a completely different character. I turned her into someone who wasn't human. It was like she was perfect and everyone else was horrid. That wasn't the case. I've come to realize that there are equally if not, more important elements to "Harry Potter" than Ginny Weasley. Like, the Marauders Era, the life of Petunia Dursley, Tom Riddle's background, Merope Gaunt, Dumbledore's past, Grindelwald, I could go on and on. Ginny is obviously not going to be the next Dumbledore, but she could've been someone more important or someone who was important in some way, shape, or form. Like Fred and George, reminders of how happiness could always be found in the darkest times, Lily Evans, who shows that love is the most powerful magic, Luna, who shows that intelligence comes in different forms, Cedric, who shows that people don't have to be cruel to be powerful, or Ron, who showed courage and loyalty, who stuck by Harry's side and apologized when it was called for. Or Neville, who showed that bravery was not always seen. These people may have not been awfully important, but they made the story significant and beautiful. Truthfully, the only main characters were probably Harry, Dumbledore, and Voldemort. I feel like Ginny would've not gotten caught when she was stealing the sword from Dumble… Snape's office. Growing up with six brothers, she learned how to be clever and discreet about things. Like, sneaking into the broom shed to fly was pretty sneaky and hilarious if you ask me. Ginny knew how to get around things. I feel like she was only accepted into Gryffindor because she chose to be there. I kind of want to rewrite… no, partially rewrite her character. It was so unfair how everyone treated her, but I guess I'm only saying this because I can relate to her. Smh. Anyways, thank you for reading this long author's note, on with the story!
Why did you leave me here to burn?
-Camila Cabello, I Have Questions
Ginny looked around the destruction spinning around, the dead lying on the ground with their eyes closed and blood all their own blood splattered across their tattered clothes. People were walking around the mass debris, some sitting beside their loved ones, some sobbing, some celebrating, some just sitting still and some carrying the dead bodies across of what was supposed to be the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts. Now it was just a pile of rubble, with large burn marks marking the walls, piles of ash and debris in random places on the ground. The green grass was replaced with cold hard dirt littered with little pieces of the school on the ground. Ginny took a deep breath but that didn't seem to help. She was sniffing the air, trying to find some oxygen for her lungs but the attempts were futile. Her heart stopped when she sneaked another glance at Fred, her dead brother being carried by two people whom she did not know of. His fiery red hair was a vibrant red because of the blood and his face was a deathly pale, but he looked… happy. He looked happy, despite the fact that his eyes were permanently shut and his body was limp. She couldn't see it at first, but when she dared to look closer, she saw what state he was in before he died. He was always happy, always smiling and cheerful to an extent where Ginny thought it was becoming a bit of a problem. She never thought about how important her family was. She always loved her family so much, but it was like they were expected to be there like they were never going away no matter what happened like there was no possibility that they wouldn't be there. She never even touched on the subject of one of her family members dying in the war that had already come and gone. Even Percy. When she threw food at him, it was really a silent way of saying to come back. To say that it was time to get his head out of his arse, and she knew for a fact that Percy knew what it meant. She knew that Percy would eventually come back, even if it would take a while - because that was what was supposed to happen. No one was supposed to die, that's not how this stuff works. It wasn't fair, no, it wasn't. 'But that's how it worked,' a small voice in her head said. Suddenly, Ginny felt a large blow hit her side internally and she felt herself sink to her knees as the immense pack of sadness hit her like Avada Kedavra. Still, she couldn't bring herself to cry, it was too extreme. Her thoughts went to Tonks, Tonks. She was like a sister - no, she was a sister. She was a sister to Ginny, and like Fred, she was dead. Ginny could vividly remember the day when Tonks asked her to be godmother. Of course, Tonks had other best friends that would be suited for the role, but Ginny was like a sister to her, and she couldn't think if anyone better. Of course Ginny accepted, but she never thought of the possibility of her being godmother important, just happy to be appreciated and for Tonks and her to have such a close bond. But she didn't realize the significance of this action. Tonks is dead. Remus is dead. Andromeda died a few days ago from the pox. Everyone in Teddy's family is DEAD. Ginny sank to her knees, realizing what she had to do. Teddy didn't have any family but HER. SHE had to care if Teddy because everyone in Teddy's family is dead. She shivered in the realization of the responsibility that she had to take care of. She had to raise Teddy, she had to take in Teddy. Ginny was now on the ground, her arms enveloping her knees. Her heart was pounding furiously. There was a newborn an hour from here, probably sleeping or something, but that newborn was the newborn that she had to raise. She had to raise a baby. She had to raise a baby. She had to raise a baby, that would turn into a toddler, who would turn into a kid, who would turn into a teen, who would be an adult. Only her mum and dad knew about her being Godmother, that was it. Ginny was lost - if only things were made in the Muggle way. If only someone more responsible, more prepared, someone with more experience could take Ginny's place, but it was a magical contract. Molly could only take care of Teddy when she was at school, but that was only because she co-signed along with Arthur. Ginny thought that it would be okay, that there was no way Tonks would die because she was such an amazing auror and fighter, because of how she was a metamorphmagus. Because she was… her awesome older sister and older sisters weren't supposed to die, well, older brothers weren't supposed to either. The impact that two of her siblings died had kept on hitting her like a bunch of bees that kept in stinging over and over. It wasn't just one sharp stab in the heart, it was a bunch of needles cutting into her, each stab with such extreme pain that there was a little bit of a numb element to them. For the first time, Ginny was all alone in this, she was the only one who could do this. Her mum can't help, her dad can't help, her brothers can't lift her spirits, Tonks wasn't there to give her words of wisdom and encouragement that she was important. No, she was all alone in this, until she realized that she wasn't. Harry. Harry was godfather and hadn't crossed Ginny's mind once. Ginny's sapphire eyes widened in realization at what it meant. She was raising a kid with Harry. Harry in which she hadn't seen in over a year, Harry who broke up with her last year, Harry who she had no chance of getting back. Harry was somewhere with Hermione and Ron, sharing a moment of clarity when they realized that they were done with the hunting and the war and all the madness and death and blood. But at what cost did that come in? So many people died, so many people… so Voldemort was gone but dragged down so many innocents with him. Fred, Tonks, Colin, her friend, Mary… her best friend. Wait, Mary was dead?! Ginny looked sideways and for the first time noticed the corpse on the stretcher. Ginny rushed over to the corpse where her beautiful companion was lying. Mary was the one that Ginny went to for advice, she was a bright ray of sunshine, going out to muggle clubs at fifteen in London in the summer, blowing class to go and blow some dandelions, singing off key with her hairbrush as her microphone… oh, Mary. That was the moment when Ginny broke down. Luckily, no one noticed her kneeling over her best friend's corpse, sobbing her heart out. How could they do this to her? Why? Ginny stopped crying instantly. She had to stay strong, she was about to be raising a kid.
Ginny got up and walked a steady gait to the castle. She knew who she really needed right now, she needed the people that had stuck with her for the entire time, the people that helped her transport the first year muggleborns to France when they were getting tortured by Alecto, she needed her best friends. Ginny walked inside the castle where there were fallen suits of armor and torn paintings. Blood also splattered the ground along with ash and a couple of leaves. Ginny took a U-turn and finally found the people that she was looking for.
Luna and Neville were sitting on a ledge, looking at the cloudy sky and destruction. Luna turned her head and looked over at Ginny. "Oh, hello Ginny, we were looking for you." Ginny nodded at sit beside them, not saying a word. The trio gazed off into the distance for hours until Neville pulled them out of their trance. "Professor McGonagall wants to give us an… award, or title or some sort. Something about saving the muggleborns." Ginny heard what he said but didn't even care at this point. Yes she saved people, yes she treated people when they weren't allowed to go to Madam Pomfrey, yes she managed to make a portkey to France, but none of those things mattered. People died, students died, everything went to hell. Luna then spoke. "You know, you guys will always be my best friends no matter what happens." Ginny nodded in agreement and a comfortable silence fell. The three watched the sun fall and the stars come up. Ginny finally said something after eight hours.
"We should go…" she said, making eye contact with her lifelong friends. "Yeah, we should," Neville said. Luna got up dreamily and they all walked to the Gryffindor common room. "Luna, you wanna stay here for tonight?" Ginny asked and Luna nodded in response. Ginny smiled and they all plopped down on a couch. Yet again there was another silence, so Ginny decided that it was her turn to break the silence. "Remember when we first met?" Ginny asked, and watched Neville and Luna laugh and smile in their reminiscing. "Yep, it was in our second year and Neville's third year. I was talking about Crumple-horned Snorkacks and Neville came bursting through the compartment door and tripped on his chocolate frog. It was quite a sight to see." Luna said serenely and seriously, making Neville blush and Ginny laugh for the first time since the war. "Yep, if only Colin was in there and took a photo of that. He really was brilliant." Luna nodded sadly at the mention of his death. He was one of the rare ones who didn't tease her. "Yeah, but he was really funny." They spent the rest of the night discussing everyone who died. About Remus showing Neville Snape in his Grandmother's clothes, about Fred's pranking, about Mad-Eye's ranting about 'diligence', about Mary's carefree nature, and about Tonks' death and her son. Ginny had never cried, laughed and talked all at once so much before. "Hey, I know that Harry is the godfather, I wonder who the godmother is," Neville said casually. Ginny visually stiffened and almost choked her butterbeer. Although Neville didn't notice this as he was busy picking up chocolate frog cards, Luna saw the reaction.
"You're godmother, aren't you?" Luna asked loudly and bluntly, causing the many people in the room to gape at her. Ginny shrunk under the stares. "I.. er,... yeah…" She said nervously, with a little bit of a nervous chuckle to all the people. Before anyone could respond, Ginny quickly got up. "I should go upstairs, I have to go wake up early or mum's gonna go ballistic," she said in a blur while running up the stairs. She went up to her neat dorm where everything was untouched. The red curtains were pristine and neat, with the bed-sheets made and Mary's book resting on her bead. Ginny walked over to the bed and sat on it, engulfed in sadness. Suddenly, she sank into her late friend's bed covers and sobbed. She sobbed and sobbed, sobbed for her brother, sobbed for Colin, sobbed for Remus, Tonks, Sirius, even Lavender, who she didn't really like too much but knew always meant well.
She went to the bathroom and turned on some hot water while stripping down. Her mother would probably have a heart attack when she saw how thin Ginny had become since the beginning of Hogwarts when she didn't have time to eat or play Quidditch. Ginny had made a life plan on what she was going to do with her life when she only a measly eleven-year-old. She was going to play Quidditch, becoming the next Gwenog Jones, she was going to be famous and finally earn herself a name instead of a little sister of someone. She was going to marry Harry Potter and have two kids when she was thirty and the entire family was going to live in a mansion from Harry's inheritance and job and Ginny's Quidditch money. They were all going to be so happy, and she'll finally find who she really is by being with Harry. But that was not how things went, not even close. Well, for one, Harry was gone.
Ginny didn't want to accept this and her heart was about to shatter into a million pieces, but Harry was gone. When Ginny met Harry, she didn't have a crush on him, no matter what anyone. It was like meeting Gwenog Jones, she was a celebrity, someone that the entire world knew. Someone amazing. She was more intrigued by Harry, it was like Mrs. Weasley and Celestina Warbeck. Her mum would go bananas if she met the singer, but that doesn't mean that Mrs. Weasley had a crush on the singer. No, Ginny never claimed that she was in love with Harry Potter but everyone thought of it automatically because she was so obsessed. No, she was obsessed because of the fact that she just met someone who had done the impossible, someone who was a star, while Ginny was small and insignificant. No, Ginny did not love Harry Potter because he was the vanquisher of the Dark Lord. It was like loving someone for the money they had. Besides, if she only loved men for their fame, that wouldn't explain how she didn't love Victor Krum, who was handsome and was as famous as Harry Potter. Harry was kind, modest, imperfect, noble to the point where it made you feel guilty for not feeling bad for the things that he feels bad about. She had gotten to know Harry better in her third and fourth years, so her obsession with the celebrity had vanquished. She fell for Harry James Potter, not whatever the media says.
Ginny loved him, oh she loved him and loved him and loved him. It wasn't an obsession, she didn't need Harry to be with her at all times, it was love. When she realized just how much she loved him, it was pure, untainted… perfect. Now, it was.. grey, damaged,.. tattered. But all of it was still intact. At first, it would make Ginny blush and giggle and dance around her room in a state of euphoria. Now it burned, oh it burned. It was still there, rocking violently back in forth in the back of Ginny's mind, constantly reminding her that the love was there, marking its presence no matter how much Ginny tried to get rid of it. When she saw him dead, it was like that presence grew from a small piece of darkness in the back of her mind into a large shadow engulfing her entire brain, clouding her senses and prevented her from thinking straight thoughts. Everything was distorted, and everything that she denied to herself and buried in the shadows had risen up to the top of her mind. Her eyes dilated, but she wasn't in denial. That was Harry, he was dead, or so she thought. It was the best and worst feeling when he got up from Hagrid's arms and the attack started.
Ginny knows why it burns so much. Harry didn't love Ginny like Ginny loved Harry. She remembered when Harry had defeated Voldemort and how he went up to get some rest. After a couple of hours, Ginny went up to see Harry, gullibly thinking that he would be happy to see her. She went up to see Ron and Hermione guarding the door, telling her that she shouldn't bother Harry at that moment, almost pleading. Ginny got the cue right away and backed away, trying to reason with herself that it was justified. It was after five minutes when Harry was walking around, talking to Luna, Ron, and Hermione. It was what really stung. Of course, Ginny understood and wouldn't dare to yell at him about it, but she still felt so… hurt. So rejected. So stone cold.
Ginny always wanted to be a Quidditch player, but there was no way that she was going to become right now. She met Gwenog Jones last year at the Slug Club and was thrilled when she offered to have her tried out when Ginny graduated Hogwarts. But Ginny felt like that would be such a waste now. A Quidditch player? She created a portkey and transported muggleborns out of danger, she helped treat her fellow classmates when they got "detention" with the Carrows, she fought in the war despite trying to be held back. She has been through so much like other students and she was going to be a Quidditch Player? Of course, she wouldn't judge anyone who wanted to be after this experience, but she realized that that was not who she was meant to be. Some people were made for athletics, made for entertaining people and making them happy. Ginny wasn't meant to be a Quidditch Player, like how Hermione wasn't meant to work at Zonko's, or how Goyle wasn't meant to be the minister.
Ginny never thought that she would have to raise a kid at sixteen years old, she never thought that she would end up being one of those teenage moms. Of course, this was far different than what the typical situation would be, but still. Teddy was being taken care of by the Aurors right now and she was expected to take him tomorrow. Tomorrow. Ginny pushed that thought out of her head and stepped out of the shower to put her clothes on.
She slipped under the covers and snuck one last glance at the empty bed across from her while muttering a silencing spell so that she won't be bothered when her roommates get there. With that, she drifted off into a nightmare riddled sleep.
Ginny woke up at three A.M but oddly well-rested. She got ready and put on some clean clothes. Her sapphire eyes were staring right back at her in the mirror, analyzing and observing her appearance. She had changed a lot - appearance wise. Up until her sixth year, she had an array of freckles across her face; but then the war happened and every single freckle was cursed off her. Her red hair had changed from ginger to a dark scarlet, her thick red hair hanging loose on her head. She had lost a lot of weight and quite frankly, Ginny hated it. She couldn't wait to go down and eat everything on every table. Ginny didn't even know is she looked beautiful or awful anymore, she just looked… abnormal. Ginny couldn't even talk to any of her family since Fred's death, she just couldn't face her parents or siblings. But now she had to, and she had to take Teddy today, something that she had zero experience in. She took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom, going down the staircase. Now Ginny didn't know what drove her to do this next action, but it was like some sort of spirit was calling her to do this.
She walked up the boys' steps carefully, making sure that she didn't make a sound. She crept around until she found where the person she was looking for. Harry was in an isolated room by himself, his face looking pale and his messy black hair in all directions on his forehead. He had a lot of scars and it was obvious that he was hiding from Pomfrey. They were nasty gashes cut across his skin, some turning a purplish-yellow color. Ginny could tell that Harry was in a deep sleep; it was the face that he would make when the two would accidentally fall asleep on the couch at the end of her fifth year. He was calm, yet Ginny could tell that Harry was really in distress in his dream. He looked so young, yet the lines on his face were so mature and aged-looking. Ginny couldn't fight the impulse so she went over to the sleeping figure. Ginny took out her wand and rested it beside her as she sat down on the bed. Ginny knew what Harry was feeling, why he didn't get the wounds treated, why he would only talk to a couple of people for only a short amount at a time. Why he was distancing himself from her mum, her siblings, the population. She knew all of it. He was feeling guilty that he couldn't kill Voldemort earlier, how he thinks that all those deaths didn't have to take place, how he was so overcome by everything and how all the people died for him when it was so clear that he "didn't deserve it". Ginny could understand every single part of Harry just with one glance. He didn't understand that all those deaths had to take place and he couldn't stop them. He didn't understand that people didn't love him just because he killed the evilest being on earth, but because he was kind, smart, courageous. Harry was always a stubborn one, he would always think that it's his fault for everything when it really wasn't. Ginny knew that there that the only thing she could do to make things less difficult for him was to just stay out of his way. She remembered what it was like to have Dean in the way of everything: her friends, her studies, her life. But he was just so… nice and sweet, and she couldn't bring herself to break up with him, she just kept on convincing herself that she will get used to Dean and WILL fall in madly in love with him when the time comes. She just kept on convincing herself that, until he just got too much and Ginny couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't let Harry go through that guilt, that overwhelming feeling of not being happy because they're nice and your brother's sister. Harry couldn't go through that, Ginny wouldn't let him. It wasn't that Ginny had bad self-esteem, it was that she was so sure that Harry didn't love her. So she had come to say goodbye. Say goodbye to Harry and get a little bit of closure before splitting ways.
She tentatively lifted off Harry's shirt, revealing all of his untreated scars. She took her wand and nonverbally shot advanced but small healing spells at the infected wounds and watched them fade away. The only thing left was untouched fair skin, but Ginny knew that there was still some more damage that only someone as advanced as Madam Pomfrey would be able to take care of. She distinctly remembered herself being trained by Madam Pomfrey who wasn't allowed to treat anyone, how she taught her the fundamentals of conjuring and vanishing spells, how they worked. Then Ginny remembered the portion about loosening tightness and bone structure.
She delicately put her hands on Harry's broad shoulders and gently pushed them back and forth, expelling out all of the many knots caused by stress. Harry stirred and relaxed greatly but thankfully didn't wake up. She went all across his neck and arms, releasing all the tension he was holding. After a good twenty minutes, she stopped and got up to see what she did. He looked so much better, the most major injuries were still there but the many smaller ones were still gone. The lines on his face were gone, making him look seventeen, and he seemed a lot more relaxed. Harry obviously had a lot more to take care of but Ginny had cut off a good portion. She put his shirt back on his body and slowly walked out, strolling through the boys' hallway and down the steps. Ginny sat down on a sofa and watched the dancing flames. 'It would be alright', she reminded herself. She… she would be a good mother-figure, right? Her mum was there to help her, and Harry would be there, along with her brothers and friends to help her every step of the way. Yes, everything would be alright. She rested her head on a pillow and curled up by the warmth of the blazing fire, feeling the drowsiness overcome her. She fell asleep in the Common Room. Tomorrow was another day…
