I know that I broke about a million etiquette rules by doing so and that, as my highly annoying co-worker and sometimes friend often tells me, those rules are there for a reason, but I had news. Big news. And I wanted to run over to her and tell her right away because what else are best friends for if not to be there when something important and wonderful happens?
Besides, you don't stand on etiquette with family and Hermione is family. Or at least she will be once she and Ron stop pissing around and seal the deal so to speak.
And that is what I was thinking when I burst into her home far too early on a Sunday morning.
She heard me call out and practically tripped over the rug in her haste to get to my side. She was wild eyed with her hair all frizzed out and her tattered old robe hanging haphazardly off of one shoulder. I smiled at her and opened my mouth to tell her what I considered to be the icing on the cake of my life but was cut off by her less than gentle tug on my arm and slightly angry hiss.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here Ginevra?" She said as she tried to pull me back to the fireplace.
"I wanted to see you Mione, that's all." I said in a slightly snotty voice. She knew I hated being called by my first name. She knew that it made me feel like I was five years old with Ron's nasty pet frog hidden behind my back and my Mother standing at the top of the stairs glaring down at me. And I knew that when she said my name like that I was in for a lecture of some sort, so I yanked my arm free and stalked over to the sofa, gave her a peevish look and plopped down.
"Oh for heaven's sake! You cannot stay here! Not right now anyway. I am…" She trailed off and a blush crept over her face. She glanced nervously back towards the bedroom and brought a hand to her face. I followed her glance and instantly knew what it was I had interrupted.
"Oh Merlin, Mione, I am so sorry. I never should have just barged in here like that." I heard a muffled male voice call out her name and felt a blush spread over my cheeks as well. "Tell Ron he had better stop by and tell Mum he's home before she finds out on her own or he'll be hip deep in it." I said with a slight smile.
Hermione looked confused for a moment and then shook her head at me in a way that made me feel like I was missing something before muttering 'whatever' crossly to herself. I stood and was almost to the fireplace before I remember what I had come for in the first place.
"Mione, I know you are busy, but I really do have some important news to tell you." I said while turning to face her.
"Not now. She said in a huff. "Can't you see I am not in the mood to listen to whatever it is you thought important enough to warrant disregarding social norms?" She scowled at me and crossed her arms. I was slightly taken back by her open hostility but then thought about how I would feel if she walked in on me while I was enjoying Harry's company.
"I guess it can keep till this afternoon." I said shamefacedly and reached out to grab a handful of floo. My fingers had just dug into the soft, clingy powder when an all too familiar figure came storming naked into the room while barking at Hermione to come back to bed. I felt the sand slip from my hand as I stared in horror at him, somehow unable to tear my eyes away.
He was midway into the room before he noticed I was there. I could see the moment when he registered my presence. His whole body stiffened and his eyes locked with mine. My hands instinctively curled about my stomach and I felt like I was going to be sick.
The man standing in front of me was not my brother.
Hermione starting babbling about being in love and knowing it was wrong but not being able to help herself because it was true love and pleading with me to understand. I shot her a glance that would have done Snape proud and pulled myself up to my full height.
"Don't bother explaining to me Granger." I said in full Weasley furry. "Save it for Ron, he just might care." I looked back at her companion and shook my head. "I would be lying if I said I was surprised. After all, he warned me that you might do this."
My voice sounded odd, as if I was listening to someone else use it. I felt tears sliding down my cheeks and resisted the urge to wipe them away. I pulled out my wand, muttered a quick spell and then raised it. I heard Hermione gasp and rolled my eyes.
"Don't be such a drama queen, I just want to leave you two to your affair" I snarled.
I heard weeping behind me and whirled about to see her attempting to sob into her lover's shoulder while he held her at arm's distance. I gave a shrill laugh and shook my head again. He opened his mouth to say something but I slapped a silencing spell on him before he could.
"I said I don't want to hear it." I hissed. Then I grinned malevolently at him and added in a singsong voice "And don't bother coming home Harry, all the wards have already been changed."
I went straight to my Mum and spent the next three hours sobbing hysterically without making very much sense. She did the mother thing and patted my back while making soothing noises whenever I attempted to explain. When my tears had all dried up and my sobs had faded into hiccups she sat me down at the table, handed me a cup of hot tea and asked me to tell her what had happened.
I ranted and raved about what I had seen and what it meant and when she had finally pieced it all together she flew into a rage the likes of which I had never seen before. She bustled about the kitchen harrumphing and spitting out orders as if she were a captain of a ship instead of a slightly overweight housewife.
She spent a good hour cursing his sainted name and shaking her wooden spoon at a picture of him that rested with the rest of the family photos on a shelf over the sink. The mini Harry inside cowed in a corner trying desperately to hide behind a tree. Then she turned to the photo of Hermione and Ron and let out a scream that should have brought the house down. Instead it brought the twins and my father rushing to the kitchen.
They stared at her in shock as she tore the half of the picture containing Hermione into little pieces with a single-minded viciousness that she had not shown since the end of the war. They listened in a hushed silence as she filled them in on The Betrayal and then exploded into a cacophony of threats and insults when she paused long enough for them to think she was finished.
Fred started patting my hand in a most distressing manner while he and George came up with plans that would punish Harry and Hermione while providing them with new products in hushed tones. I was more than slightly worried that the pair of them would do something illegal and when I said as much they smiled sweetly at me. I gave them both a sour look and then removed my hand from my brother's. Mum caught my look and snipped that they were to be on their best behavior and that she had better not hear about Harry or Hermione coming down with a mysterious sickness or sprouting extra arms.
Then she made me promise I would go straight to Luna and pour my heart out to her and at the same time letting the wizarding world know that the famous Harry Potter has betrayed his best friend, cheated on his fiancée and turned his back on the family that all but adopted him and considered him one of their own for the past eleven years.
When I bitterly mentioned that someone should tell Ron she told me not to worry because she and my father would take care of it for me. At that point I started sobbing again and she pulled me into her chest. I snuggled into her familiar warmth and tried to believe her as she promised that everything would be okay.
I was still sniffling when I reached Luna's. I stood out side her door and hesitated only a moment before knocking. When she didn't answer I assumed that she must have gone out and took the note that my mother had helped me write less than twenty minuets ago from my pocket. I was in the process of pinning it up when the door opened and a rumpled Luna came stumbling out. She took one look at my puffy eyes and shook her head. She threw an arm around my shoulder then leaned over and kissed me gently on my cheek. Then she invited me inside, sat me on the sofa and bustled into the kitchen to make some tea.
She hurried back out with the kettle floating slowly in her wake. Luna gave a little sigh as she settled into her chair and gave me a quizzical look before pulling out her quill and nibbling on the end of it. Her shrewd eyes missed nothing and I felt like a strange insect being slowly dissected. I squirmed a little in my seat wondering not for the first time if this was all a big mistake. She instantly recognized my discomfort and she reached out a hand to me.
I took hold of it as if not doing so would mean the death of me. I felt the unwanted tears welling up in my eyes again. I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. Luna cocked her head to the side and opened her mouth as if to speak. Then she shut it again and glanced down at the ink and pile of paper in front of her.
"Do you need me as a friend or a reporter Gin?" she asked with trepidation. I closed my eyes and tried my hardest not to start crying. She was next to me in an instant and as she rubbed my back I poured out my unhappiness. I told her all my hopes and broken dreams; I told her of my heartbreak and I told her about my need to understand all the emotions I was feeling. When I had finished I sat back and giggled.
Luna's lips twitched as I explained that I had just spent the last four or five hours doing the exact same thing with my mother. She reached over and squeezed my hand reassuringly and suddenly I knew that everything would work out. I took a deep breath and bit my lower lip.
"There's something else Luna." I said quietly. "Something I haven't told anyone else. Not even Harry." I broke down again but stiffened my spine and mentally shook myself. "I had wanted it to be special. I pictured all of our family together in a room, preferably right after the wedding, and then Harry was going to be bursting with pride and I would be a vision of loveliness and…" I trailed off and stared blankly at one of Luna's ugly chartreuse armchairs. "And that just isn't going to happen." I finished with a sigh.
"Oh Ginny, it's okay to be sad." she said as she started to rub my back again. I grimaced and gave an ironic laugh.
"No. I refuse to be sad. I refuse to let them ruin this for me." She made a clucking noise in agreement as I stood and faced her. "I want you to tell everyone Luna. I want it to be splayed across the front page of every magazine and newspaper out there; I want the whole world to know what he gave up without a thought. " I knew I was being a sore loser, but I didn't care. I wanted to hurt him, I wanted to make him feel an iota of the pain I was feeling and right now I didn't give a tinkers damn if what I was doing was morally just or not. With all of these mixed up emotions rolling through me I looked her straight in the eye and all but screamed "I want Harry to be the last to know that he is going to be a father!"