Disclaimer: None of the characters in this piece belong to me; they are all JK Rowling's!
A/N: For thefirstservant's Chinese Moon Festival Competition (the friendship slice) and cheryredxx's Non-Romantic Love competition, and because after a mug of hot chocolate, Ginny Weasley was perfectly alright again is a load of rubbish.
The screaming wakes him, and terrifies him. He's reaching for his wand and casting a shield spell before his eyes are even fully adjusted to the darkness, and is halfway to the tent flap when realises that the screaming isn't coming from outside, it's coming from inside – from Ginny's bed. He races over to her, as she cries out in her sleep, and he realises that she must just be having a nightmare. "C'mon Ginny," he says loudly, shaking her. "Wake up. It's just a dream. Come on, Ginny-Gin! Time to wake up..."
Slowly and fitfully, she wakes from her dream. He holds her upright, feels the tremble in her shoulders, marvelling at how thin and small she feels. Only part of that is what's normal for an eleven year old girl, he's sure, part of it must be because of what happened to her over the past year – whatever it was, at any rate. No one – least of all Ginny – is talking about it.
"Bill? Where am I?" she asks, looking around wildly. "Where is everyone? Did I hurt them?! Did I?"
"Shh, Ginny, it's okay," he says, stroking her hair. "Nothing's wrong. You're here with me in Egypt. Mum and Dad are in my bedroom in the villa, and we're camping out here in the garden in the little tent. Ron and the others are all in the big tent next to us – do you remember sorting it out this evening? Fred and George wanted to have this tent to themselves, but Mum put her foot down. 'You two will camp unsupervised only when I want the house destroyed'," he says, in a passable impression of their mother at her fiercest. "Mind you, speaking of destroying things, I think you've done in my eardrums now with your screaming! You've got quite a pair of lungs on you, haven't you kiddo?"
The joke's not a good one – in fact, it's pretty terrible – but it's the best he could come up with on short notice and he thought it might get a grin out of Ginny if nothing else. But instead of laughing, smiling, or even telling him that it's rubbish and he should shut up, she bursts into tears. "Hey, hey now," he says, as her whole body is wracked with sobs. "Come on now..." Ginny just cries harder, and Bill wonders if he should go and fetch their mother.
Eventually, she calms down enough for him to ask her what's wrong. "Nightmare," she sniffles.
"What about?" he asks. "D'you need your big brother to scare away the monsters?"
She hesitates for a moment, and then it all comes out. Over an hour and a half, he sits and listens and soothes her as she tells him about her terrible year, about the diary, about everything that their parents have been refusing to talk about. He understands why they were so secretive – they simply told him that Ginny had been 'enchanted' by a diary – as he doesn't like to think of his baby sister being used like she was, but they're not helping her. She needs to stop bottling all of this up and talk to someone about it, but, Ginny being Ginny, she's trying to be strong by herself.
He tells her to talk to him, that it will help her with her nightmares. "But you're not there!" she says, and he raises an eyebrow.
"I'm not exactly a figment of your imagination now, am I?" he asks.
"I mean when I'm at school," Ginny replies. "You're not there then, and I'm going to get nightmares and—"
"Shush, calm down," he says soothingly. "You can tell me all about your nightmares over the summer, and I will help you deal with them. And if you're still getting them when it's time to return to school, you can write to me about them, and I'll write back, I promise."
"You do?" she asks, and he hugs her gently.
"I, Bill Weasley, promise to help my little sister get rid of her nightmares," he says solemnly. It's a promise he intends to keep.
Over the years, the nightmares get better. Surprisingly, given that that's where the whole thing started, she never has any bad dreams at school – or at least, no bad dreams like that one. At school she simply has the usual worries: will Harry ever notice her? What if Michael wants to go further than she does? What if she doesn't make the Quidditch team? And oh, Merlin, what if she fails Potions?! These concerns are pressing, but none of them are really that serious, and for that, she's thankful.
She thinks that the nightmares stay away at school because she's busy, and she can concentrate on other things. She makes it her mission to make friends with as many people in her year as she can, and to join things too – the Quidditch team, the Gobstones Club, even Colin Creevey's Camera Club though she has no interest in photography. She throws herself into her schoolwork, and manages to achieve well above average marks in her subjects and even volunteers in the library in her spare time.
She does all this to keep her mind busy, so she doesn't have to think about it, and mostly, it works. The bad dreams stay away, and her roommates never suspect that she's put a Silencing Charm around her bed just in case she does end up crying out in her sleep.
But during the holidays, at home, when there's nothing to do and no one to see, when her mind is free to wander to places it shouldn't, the nightmares return.
After the events Quidditch World Cup, they're worse than they've been for a year, but it's okay because Bill's home and he comes and sits with her and doesn't make her feel stupid when she demands he leaves the light on in the room all night. The first floor holds both their bedrooms and their parents', which is good, because she couldn't bear the thought of any of her other siblings finding out about her nightmares. She shares a room with Hermione, but luckily the other girl is a heavy sleeper, and after the first night, she makes Bill put up Silencing Charms around her bed, in case she does wake her.
He agrees, but only on the condition that she'll come and wake him if she has a bad dream. "There's an armchair in my room for you to sleep on whenever you need to," he says, and she takes him up on that offer more than once. The fear that Tom Riddle (for that is how she thinks of him, not as You-Know-Who or Lord Voldemort) might be returning frightens her so much she can barely breathe.
But once again, she keeps herself busy at school. There's the Yule Ball, the fun of the TriWizard Tournament – and it is fun, at least at first – and the interesting students from Europe to find out about. And there's Michael – her first boyfriend! He's not Harry, but he's lovely, and they spend many a happy hour in the library and the school grounds together.
Once, though, she's in the library alone, when she's approached by Romilda Vane, a fellow Gryffindor with whom she's never been on very good terms. Romilda says all sorts of nasty things to her – that Michael's only with her because of her family's connections with Harry Potter, that there can't be any other reason he's with a plain boring girl like her, unless it's because she's a slag and puts out for him.
She's so shocked by this outburst that she just sits there, blinking back tears, and can't think of any biting retort in return. Romilda sneers and Ginny curses herself for taking the girl's words to heart (she can't be telling the truth...can she?), when a distinctly French voice asks Romilda to move. "You are een my seat," the voice says, and Ginny looks up in shock to find Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons Champion, glaring at Romilda.
The other girl scuttles off, and Fleur takes the seat next to Ginny, opening Magical Lakes of Britain and Ireland as she does so. She thinks that will be the end of their interaction, and so she's even more surprised when Fleur leans across the table and says, "Zhis Michael, 'e ees your boyfriend, non?"
"No," Ginny says. "I mean yes, yes he is."
"And zhat girl, does she know 'im?" Fleur continues briskly.
Ginny can't believe the direction this conversation is going in, but replies anyway. "Um, well, they went to the Yule Ball together, but only because she asked him. He didn't really like her very much, I don't think. They weren't ever going out..."
"I zhought so – she ees jealous of you," Fleur says. "You are quite pretty – for an English girl." Ginny wonders if she has just been complimented or insulted. "I know what eet ees like to be judged like zhis – people zhink zhat because I am beautiful, I am stupid, but I am zhe champion for my school am I not? You must get used to people zhinking zhat you, too, are not clever or worth anything other than your looks – but you must know eet ees not true. And you can prove zhem wrong eef you try."
"Um...okay," she replies, unsure as to where all this has come from. "I'll do that. Thanks."
"You are welcome," Fleur says, smiling serenely before turning back to her book, and that is the end of that.
The rest of the year passes smoothly – at least until the end, when Cedric dies and Harry nearly does too. She honestly thinks that, no matter what happens in the rest of her life, she will never, ever forget the look on Harry's face when he returns, nor the look of fear on her mother's face when she realises what this means: that You-Know-Who, Tom Riddle, is back.
She manages to keep the nightmares at bay – just – when she's at school, but the minute they leave and move into Grimmauld Place, they return with a vengeance. Once again, Bill is there to help her, and, perversely, she's a tiny bit glad for everything that's gone at school over the last few months because it means that he's back in England at least for the foreseeable future.
When Hermione arrives, she explains the situation to her – she's terrified of what the other girl will think if she doesn't, waking up to hear Ginny screaming in the bed next to her – and she's good at helping her calm down when she needs a friend.
She can't reassure her in quite the same way that Bill can, though.
Back at school, the nightmares don't quite abate, but the Silencing Charms she places around her bed-hangings, combined with the fact that most people are quite jumpy these days mean that her bad dreams are not as unusual as they once may have been. If any of her roommates realise what's going on, they don't mention it, and she can at least write to Bill about it (even if she does have to write in code so Umbridge doesn't find out).
Despite the general fear and jumpiness in the atmosphere, and the constant presence of Professor Umbridge, Riddle's return doesn't feel real until the events in the Ministry. She gets through the last few days of term on a nightly dose of Dreamless Sleep Potion and the fact that she'll be moving back into the Burrow with Bill in less than a week. She manages to keep up a brave face all the way through that week, and on the train ride home, knowing that she can collapse into her big brother's arms and he'll scare away the monsters like she's five again the minute she sets foot on King's Cross platform.
But Bill's not there when the train pulls in; it's just her parents standing there to welcome her back. "Where's Bill?" she asks, as her father goes off to talk to those horrible relatives of Harry's and Ron lingers with Hermione for a few moments more. Her mother frowns and shakes her head slightly at her.
"He's been...held up," she says, and for a second Ginny fears the worst. Then she notices the expression on her mother's face – more annoyance than worry – and she wonders what's going on.
She's given an answer as soon as she returns to the Burrow. The twins are there, both giving her bone-crushing hugs and telling her how proud they are of her. "Now now, don't encourage them – Ron, mind the flowerpots with that trunk! Arthur, Arthur, be careful of the chickens! Now, where did I put my..." her mother dashes indoors, wringing her hands distractedly.
"Is she okay?" Ginny frowns, glancing at Fred and George for answers. They each sling an arm around her and guide her into the house. She knows that expression on their faces – it's the one they wear when someone else is going to get into trouble for something. "What?" she asks. "What is it?"
But they don't answer her, instead continuing to grin and depositing her in the kitchen. "Need any help, Mum?" asks Fred.
"You two can lay the table – and no magic!" their mother says.
"That takes the fun out of everything," sighs George.
"Oh hush," she says. "Now, you two know that you can't stay overnight, yes?"
"Why not?" asks Ginny curiously, as the two of them nod.
"We're out of space, dear sister," Fred replies.
"There is no room at the proverbial inn," George adds.
"Are Hermione and Harry coming to stay?" Ginny asks excitedly.
"Yes, in a week or so they'll be here," Molly says, chopping a bunch of carrots in record time with her wand.
"But we've never had any trouble fitting them in before," Ginny replies, confused.
"Well, we've got a few extra guests coming soon," her mother tells her, and she thinks that she might have heard a few sniggers behind her back, but when she turns to her twin brothers, they both have poker faces. "Bill," her mother sighs eventually, "is bringing around a friend to stay."
"A ladyfriend," George says suggestively, and Fred makes a chocking sound.
"That's enough!" Molly says, rounding upon him. "Yes, Bill will be bringing around his...current...friend of..." To Ginny's amusement, she can't finish the sentence. It seemed hilarious that her mother was so distraught about the idea of her sons partnering up and settling down, especially given the fact that Bill had been living in Eygpt for so many years previously - far away from his family.
"It'll be fine, Mum!" she says cheerily. "I'm intrigued to meet this mystery lady now..."
Her mother frowns and pokes a pot rather angrily, telling her to head upstairs to wash up before dinner. She does so, and ends up forgetting about her brother's girlfriend as the meal progresses and over the next few days, she barely spares a thought for either of them – except to hope that Bill will bring her round soon so that he'll be in the house for her when she has her nightmares.
She's surprised, at first, to see that Bill's girlfriend is Fleur Delacour – it feels like one of those out of body moments when she realises that it is her, with her perfect blonde hair and her million Galleon smile walking up the front path – but she doesn't immediately dislike her. Fleur's intense, but she's not awful – though she can see why her mother resists her, as Fleur is the antithesis of everything she stands for.
Having her family back together, and watching as Fred and George poke fun at Bill behind Fleur's back, is enough to keep away the nightmares for a night. But they don't stay away for long, and by the second night she's back to her screaming and crying as memories of the events at the Ministry and Riddle's diary combine in her mind to form a perfect storm of horror.
She wakes up – as has become routine – screaming and crying, and takes a moment to calm herself down. She can't quite remember what she was dreaming about, but she thinks it had something to do with Harry lying still on the ground, as though he was dead. Even the thought of it now is enough to make her heart beat faster and her breath hitch in her throat.
She needs a glass of water – or maybe a cup of tea, to calm her nerves. She gets out of bed as quietly as she can, and opens her bedroom door. She hears voices coming from Bill's room – Fleur's French accent sounds concerned. "...go and see eef she will be alright?"
"Who, Ginny?" she hears Bill ask, and she pauses. "She'll be okay."
"But zhe screaming..." Fleur protests.
"It was just a nightmare, she'll be okay. Besides, I'd rather stay here with you!" he says, and Fleur gives a girlish giggle before saying something Ginny can't understand in French.
The bed creaks, and it becomes clear that Bill is not coming out to check on her like he always does because he's in there with her. Her mind reels and her stomach churns – is this it? Is Bill replacing her with...that girl?
There's a rational part of her mind that tells her that the situation is not Fleur's fault – indeed, it was she who encouraged Bill to go and check on her! – but she's not thinking with her rational mind right now, and she blames Fleur for everything. She hates Fleur. She runs back into her room, burying her face in the blankets and pillows. Bill, her one guardian against the evil monsters that lurk in her brain, has finally given in and left her.
From this moment on, she resolves, she will do her best to drive Fleur – no, Phlegm, as that's what her voice sounds like, phlegmy and horrible – far, far away. Then maybe Bill will have time to save her from the nightmares again.
Fleur doesn't remember falling asleep, but she must have done because she wakes suddenly, her limbs stiff and sore from sitting up in the chair. Instinctively, she glances at Bill, but he is sleeping peacefully – the potions the Hogwarts Matron gave him seem to have done the job. But then, if he is sound asleep, what was the sound which woke her?
She turns around, and sees a small figure lurking in the doorway. It's not the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, but perhaps it is one of the children, needing assistance with an ill friend. "Can I 'elp you?" she asks kindly, trying to draw the person out.
The figure steps into a patch of moonlight, and Fleur realises at once who it is: Bill's younger sister, Ginny. "Oh," she says, more guarded this time. "Bonsoir."
"May I sit?" Ginny asks, pointing at the chair on the opposite side of the bed to Fleur's. The older woman nods, and Ginny takes a seat.
"Your parents—" Fleur begins, thinking that maybe she's looking for them, but Ginny cuts her off.
"My parents have been persuaded by Madam Pomfrey to go back home as there's nothing more they can do for Bill tonight, though Mum has promised to come straight back tomorrow morning," she says. "I know. I just...I wanted to come and see him again. I...couldn't sleep. And Bill, he..." She swallows sharply and presses a hand to her face. Fleur thinks she might burst into tears, but she doesn't. "Will he be okay?" she asks instead, and she looks so young and scared that Fleur can't help think of Gabrielle.
"For tonight, yes, 'e will be," she says confidently. "The rest...well, we shall see, non?"
"He should be okay," Ginny replies quietly. "Now that he has you to look after him, I mean..." Fleur looks at her for a moment. Is this going to be an apology for the way she has been treated since last summer?
"I will do my best," she says, and the younger girl nods earnestly. They fall into silence for a while – it's late, and Fleur has no idea what to say to her soon to be sister-in-law.
"Did Bill tell you about what happened in my first year here?" Ginny asks, taking Fleur by surprise. She shakes her head, and Ginny slowly tells her exactly what happened. Despite everything, Fleur feels nothing but horror for the fact that all that had to happen to an eleven year old girl. "And...Bill was the first person I properly told about the whole thing, because he knew I was having nightmares, and he promised me that he'd always be there to help me with my bad dreams. But last summer, when you came to stay...I heard him say that he'd rather stay with you than go and see if I was okay after a bad dream. And I...I think I was jealous of you. I felt that you were pushing me out, and that he wouldn't have time for me any more and so...I was horrible to you. And...I'm sorry."
Fleur reaches across the bed to take Ginny's hand. "'E zhinks zhe world of you," she says gently. "I could never replace you for 'im."
"I know, I know, but I..." Ginny pauses, searching for the right phrase. "It wasn't that I didn't want him to get married. It was more the fact that Bill has always been my sort of...my safeguard against the nightmares – against You-Know-Who. And now that he's back – properly back, I mean – and Bill's moving away from me...I was scared of what that meant. I thought I'd have to deal with it on my own, and...that's terrifying."
Fleur nods, considering this. "Do you remember," she asks, "back when I studied 'ere for a year, zhat time I met you in zhe library?" Ginny nods. "Zhe Veela – what do you know of our powers?"
"Um...beauty. And talons and stuff? I'm not really..." Ginny says slowly, trying to remember the Veela from the World Cup.
"Yes, yes, zhere is all zhat," says Fleur impatiently. "But zhere ees more to us than just zhat. We 'ave...'ow you say, a sixth sense? We can...we are not exactly psychic, we are more...we can tell things about people and events before zhey 'appen. Eef something ees a bad idea, or eef a certain person loves someone else, zhat sort of zhing. Eet ees not zhat complicated, but zhe point ees – when I met you, I could sense somehow zhat you would become important een my life. I did not, of course, know zhen quite 'ow you would become important, but I knew zhat you would. And so I zhought zhat I would talk to you because I wanted to get to know you."
Ginny nods, wondering where this is all going. "But zhe zhing ees, I wasn't sure eef you needed me to advise you, because I could tell zhat you were already a very strong person," Fleur continues. "And so zhe point zhat I am making ees zhat you do not need Bill to get over your nightmares – you are more zhan capable of doing eet by yourself. Zhat doesn't mean zhat 'e won't be zhere for you eef you need 'im, of course, but I zhink zhat you are strong enough to rid yourself of zhe nightmares alone. And eef you manage zhat, I zhink zhat zhey will not return."
Ginny bites her lip. "I don't know...I don't often feel very strong," she says.
"Nonsense!" cries Fleur. "Eet takes a very strong person to be with 'Arry Potter, zhe Boy-Who-Lived, does eet not? 'E 'as to be strong for zhe whole wizarding world, but you 'ave to be strong for 'im!"
"And he can be so stubborn, sometimes," Ginny sighs.
"Men!" Fleur says ruefully. They catch each other's eyes and grin.
"I don't know, though," Ginny says.
"You are a very brave, very strong young woman, Ginny. You just maybe do not realise it yet, non? I was zhe same, at your age. I was scared – I still am very scared of some zhings. But I do my best not to show eet, and zhat 'elps," says Fleur. "But remember – Bill will always be 'ere to listen eef you need him to – and so will I. We will be sisters soon, shall we not?"
"But...you already have a sister," Ginny protests.
"Zhat does not mean I cannot 'ave another," Fleur says gently. "And eef you do not want to be sisters, we can perhaps be friends?"
"We can be sisters and friends," Ginny says firmly. "And...I really am sorry."
"Eet will soon be all in zhe past," Fleur says. Ginny smiles, and then yawns.
"Sorry," she says. "It's been an exhausting day."
"You should go to sleep," Fleur advises.
"I know, but...I don't want to go back to my dorm. I don't want to leave him," she says, gesturing to the bed on which her brother is lying. "I mean, I know he will be okay now, but..." she drifts off helplessly, and Fleur nods.
"I understand," she says. "Believe me, I do. But...I do not zhink zhat zhis bed will be needed tonight. Perhaps you can stay een 'ere?" Ginny's eyes light up at the suggestion, and with a quick wave of her wand, Fleur has the bed made in a trice. "Come and lie down," she says, fluffing up the pillows and pulling back the blankets in an almost motherly way.
Ginny climbs into the bed and Fleur repositions her chair so it is exactly halfway between Ginny and Bill's beds. "Eef you wake up because of your nightmares, I will be 'ere to 'elp you," Fleur promises.
"Thank you," Ginny says, closing her eyes. But despite everything that has happened that day – Bill's attack, the attack on Harry and her friends by Death Eaters, Professor Dumbledore's death at the hands of another teacher – she sleeps dreamlessly and peacefully.
A/N: If you made it this far, I'd love a review!