Hi everyone, I know it's been a while and I do have plans for a few big stories in the near future but until then I give you a little one shot inspired by Miranda Lambert's song The House that Built Me. Thoughts are always appreciated. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I own nothing
"Ms Weasley, do I need to repeat the question?"
Ginny blinked and focused on the reporter, "Sorry, what did you say?"
The reporter, Ginny could not for the life of her remember his name, smiled and nodded, "It's quite all right Ms Weasley. I could see why you would be distracted. How do you feel about your new role as captain of the HolyHead Harpies?"
Ginny took a sip of water and tried to come up with an appropriate response. In truth she had yet to accept the position. "It's a very big honour and I truly appreciate even being considered for it."
The reporter nodded, trying to get more. When it became clear Ginny had nothing to add, he tried a different question. "And how do your family and friends feel about it? Your boyfriend Harry Potter must be very proud."
Once again Ginny paused and wondered why she had even agreed to do the interview in the first place. She had yet to share the news with her family and Harry…well things weren't going great between them. She had quidditch six days a week and Harry was busy with work and was well on his way to becoming Head of the Auror department. Things had been strained between them and Ginny couldn't remember the last time they had had a meaningful conversation. "I have a strong support system. Everyone has always supported my dream to play professional quidditch and becoming captain is just the pinnacle of this dream."
That sounded proper. While relations with her boyfriend were rocky, her family relationships were not doing much better. It had only been five months since the death of the matriarch of the Weasley house, Molly Weasley. It had been sudden; an aneurism the healers had said. She felt no pain, but left her family in a heap of grief. They had already been broken without Fred for five years now, but with the loss of Molly, the foundation of the family was crumbling. The distress of losing his wife was too much for Arthur and last month Ginny and her brothers had decided it was best for him to live in a healing center with round the clock care. The upkeep of the Burrow was too much for just him as the children had long moved out. Despite the protests of a few, the Burrow was sold.
"Tell me about this support system?" The reporter asked, interrupting Ginny's thoughts once again.
"My family is great." Ginny replied. "My brothers allowed me to develop my competitive nature and my parents always believed in me. We're very close."
That was a lie. Percy had closed himself off again and his focus was on reaching his ultimate goal, becoming the Minister of Magic. Ginny hadn't spoken to him since the day they had dropped Arthur off. Charlie was still in Romania and Ginny had hardly spoken to him before the death of their mother. Now the silence between them was toxic. Poor George, he had already lost so much, now practically mute with grief. Ginny still saw him at the weekly lunches she initiated, but hadn't seen him smile in weeks. Bill her favourite brother was busy starting his own family and just didn't have time anymore. And then there was Ron. The brother that Ginny was the closest to, the one who came and cheered her on at all of her games, the one who had married her best friend, the one brother who would not speak to her when she voted to sell the Burrow, opposing his and George's vote to keep it.
"And your friends?" The reporter asked, digging deeper.
"They are fantastic. We've known each other since our Hogwarts days and still have a great relationship."
Another lie. Luna had married Rolf Scamander and was traveling the world with him looking for her strange creatures. Hermione was Ron's wife, and things between them were strained as Hermione was put in an awkward position.
When Ginny missed another question she decided she had had enough. "I'm sorry but I just can't do this right now. Perhaps another time?"
The reporter looked stunned at this news, and shuffling through his notes he nodded, "I think I have enough now anyways…"
Ginny didn't let him finish before she walked out the door.
She started thinking. When she was younger, planning for the future, she could never have imagined it would turn out the way it did. A feeling of brokenness filled her inside. She doesn't know how to fix it.
Wandering, she let her feet take her anywhere, anywhere but there. Eventually she stumbled down an old familiar path. It was the path to the Burrow.
The house looked different now, cleaner maybe. Clearly the new family was not as messy as the Weasley's.
Whoever said you can't go home again; but then, was this home anymore?
She had done the final walk through on the house before it had been sold; making sure nothing was left behind. She had hardly been in the house since she had moved out three years before. It had been so hard to go back then. What would possess her feet to think of coming back, even just one last time?
A rush of Gryffindor courage ran through Ginny and she walked up to the front door.
Her quick knock was answered by a young, very pregnant woman with blonde hair the color of dish water.
"Can I help you?"
Ginny bit her lip, but then nodded. "Ma'am, you don't know me, but my name is Ginny Weasley." She said with a confidence she thought had long disappeared.
A little girl no older than seven suddenly appeared behind the woman, "Mum, that's Ginny Weasley, the Harpies new captain!" The girl exclaimed.
The woman looked surprised, "What are you doing here?"
Ginny looked down for a minute and smiled and pointed further along the porch, "That handprint over there is mine. The others belong to my brothers."
The little girl looked at her in awe while her mother asked, "You used to live here?"
Ginny nodded now feeling a little sheepish. "I was hoping, as long as I wasn't intruding, if I could possibly take a look around?"
The woman smiled, "By all means do come in. Would you like a cup of tea?"
Ginny nodded, "Please," and had to hold back her tears when she saw the woman waddle into the kitchen, reminding her of her own mother.
She entered the house slowly, taking in the memories. She ran her hands along the banister of the stairs and looked up. The little girl was sitting on the steps with an even younger child playing with dolls.
"In the first bedroom there, that was my room." She told the girls.
The older girl grinned, "That's my room! I can't believe Ginny Weasley slept in my room!"
Ginny continued to reminisce. "Everything that was ever important to me was in there at one point. I even had a muggle guitar one summer. I was determined to learn to play. Of course I never got past learning the names of the strings. That same summer I learned to fly."
The younger girl giggled and clutched a doll tightly. Ginny continued walking to the back door, the two young girls now trailing behind.
Ginny almost laughed when she saw three young boys playing in the yard. Overwhelming thoughts of the past filled her head and the games she and her brothers used to play suddenly came back to her.
"See that big tree over there?" she asked the girls. "I got stuck in that tree when I was eight because I wanted to prove I was old enough to play with my brothers. But when I got stuck my brothers Fred and George climbed the tree to get me down, and George fell out and broke his arm. Fred was his twin and not wanting to be left out followed suit and fell breaking his arm too. I was still crying in the tree. My big brother Bill thankfully was tall enough to reach for me with his feet on the ground and he pulled me to safety."
"Tea's on!" The woman called, "Girls quit bothering Ms Weasley and go and play." She shooed them.
Ginny smiled as the resemblance to her own mother shined in the woman. "Please call me Ginny."
The woman smiled, "I'm Miranda"
They walked to the kitchen and Ginny wrapped her hands around the mug of tea. The kitchen really hadn't changed.
"So Ginny, what brings you back here, really?" Miranda asked, once she was seated comfortably.
Ginny bit her lip, trying to word her feelings properly, "I've been feeling lost, I suppose. I thought maybe I could find myself here. This house…it used to be the center of my life. And I'm just realizing now how much it grounded me and my family."
"And?" Miranda prompted.
Ginny sighed and took a sip of tea, "I'll I've found are memories within these walls. Most of them are good, but some, some are just too painful to remember."
"My husband and I had been looking for a bigger home for years." Miranda offered, "When we looked at this place, I knew immediately it had been a home that had been loved. It just had that feel to it. I told my husband we had to buy it. This was where I wanted to raise my family. I had no idea it was such a famous house. We weren't living in Britain during the war you see."
Ginny smiled, it was nice to know that the new owners loved it as much as they had. "How big is your family?" she asked this time with genuine curiosity.
Miranda smiled, "Well there's my husband Rick and myself, and then we have Daniel, our oldest. He's fourteen and attending Hogwarts. Mark is next; he just turned eleven. Then there is Blake who's ten and Simon is eight. The girls, Joanne and Tessa are seven and four. And the twins, Jamie and May, are due in March." She said patting her stomach.
Ginny couldn't help but smile, it was just like her own family. "I grew up in a big family too. There were nine of us."
"This house really is perfect for us it seems. Do you know its history?" Miranda asked.
Ginny nodded, happy to share. "There used to be an old Tudor building on the land, but it decayed years before my parents bought the land. So they moved into the stone pigpen and built their life. We were never rich and as our family expanded the house needed to as well. My mother would flip through home and garden magazines, putting together her dream home, and my daddy would add to the house with the bits of building materials he could find. He was quite the muggle fanatic and apparently tried to add the additions with nails, the muggle way, but it was really hopeless. The house is literally held together with magic. And my mother used to tell me it was held together with love. The final product is a far cry from my mother's dream home, but I don't think she ever minded. She loved this house so much and she made everyone who ever entered feel loved too."
"That's a wonderful story." Miranda said, "I love knowing the history of where I've lived, I find it fascinating. But what would cause you mother to give up a home that was clearly dear to her?"
Ginny's smile faltered, "She passed away five months ago."
Miranda squeezed Ginny's hand, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry."
"Thank you. I never realized just how much of me is in the house. It kept me steady. I feel like I'm flying out of control. Nothing is going right." Ginny said close to tears.
Miranda smiled, "We can all feel that way sometimes. Family is clearly important to you and its a defining characteristic of the person you are now. This house gives you that sense of family and love."
Ginny shook her head, "You must be some kind of seer. You were able to put how I feel into words. That's something I can't even do."
Miranda shook her head, "I'm no seer, but I am a mother. And I can tell you are dearly missing yours."
"Thank you for letting me come in." Ginny said, "But I feel I've intruded on you enough. I really should be going. Thank you so much for the tea."
Miranda nodded in understanding and walked her to the door. "You are welcome to come back anytime Ginny. Sometimes it's hard to let go and you get lost."
Ginny nodded in appreciation. "I might take you up on that offer. I really enjoyed talking to you and I feel like when I'm here, I find myself, my real self, not the self that everyone else sees."
"It wasn't just your parents that raised you Ginny, this house did too. I can only hope it does the same with my children. If they turn out to be a wonderful as you then I know we moved to the right place."
Ginny hugged Miranda and left the Burrow with a smile on her face. Taking her memories of the Burrow with her, she vowed to herself to fix her relationships, with Harry, her family, even her friends. She also decided to turn down the captain position. Thoughts of starting her own family in a home that would be as loved at the Burrow were now on her mind. Nothing could change her past, but she had control of her future. And she would return to the Burrow, not to regroup but to start afresh and find a friend in Miranda. She was reassured about her future and knew that if she got off track again a trip to the Burrow would fix it. After all whoever said you couldn't go home?
If I could walk around I swear I'll leave
Won't take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me