Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Queen Rowling. Everything else is mine. This is also my first fic so please be nice if you review. Thanks!
Chapter 1
Molly Weasley stood at the kitchen sink, washing the dishes. Many witches and wizards would mock her for "degrading" herself by using Muggle methods, but she found that washing them by hand soothed her nerves. Ginny Weasley, on the other hand, wasted away the time by alternating between pacing around the kitchen and sitting at the table tapping her fingers and toes. Neither were particularly helpful in distracting her from the fact that her brothers, friends and the boy she loves (no LOVED, you are not together now Ginny, she thought) were risking their lives at this very moment.
"Would you like some tea?" Ginny asked, purely so that she would have something to do with her hands. As was her habit, Molly went to offer to make it, however, she recognized that her daughter needed the distraction. Molly finished the dishes and sat down. Ginny placed a mug of tea in front of her mother and they both sat to watch the grandfather clock in the hope that it may give them any indication as to their loved ones' whereabouts. Molly looked at her wristwatch to get an idea of the actual time.
"They should definitely have left Surrey by now."
"I bet that was a weird sight to see. Seven Harrys…Merlin, the world could not cope with six more Harrys." Ginny tried to joke. Molly gave a small, sad smile in response and lifted her nearly full, cold mug of tea to her lips. The silence stretched on as they continued to wait.
Both women jumped up when five of the hands on the grandfather clock moved to 'Travelling'. However, almost immediately those hands moved back to 'Mortal Peril'. Ginny grabbed her mother's hand, biting the nails of the other. There they stood, watching the clock, for the better part of an hour. They heard a crash in the back yard. Molly and Ginny ran down the steps by the back door but found the unattended portkey that should have belonged to Ron and Tonks.
"Fuck," Ginny swore. Molly nodded, tearfully, so concerned that she didn't even scold her daughter for swearing.
"Oh no!" Ginny cried as Arthur and Fred's portkey landed in the garden unaccompanied. Molly turned back into the house, unable to stay there any longer. Ginny followed. She knew they had another five minutes to wait until the next one. She resumed her pacing; Molly unfolded and refolded a pair of socks. The clock whirled again. Molly and Ginny came running down the back steps to find Harry and Hagrid getting to their feet.
"Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?"* Cried Mrs. Weasley as Harry tossed aside a no longer glowing hairbrush.
"What do you mean? Isn't anyone else back?"* Ginny could see the guilt, panic, even apology in his eyes. He began to explain how they were attacked when Remus and George landed a few feet behind Harry. Something was wrong. Harry ran forward to help carry George inside. Something was really wrong. Ginny gasped. Why was there so much blood…?
Ginny was vaguely aware of Remus and Harry having an argument but she was focused on George. There was just so much blood. Ginny knelt down to help her mother clean up George's ear when she heard a commotion outside. Someone else must be back. She could sense Harry behind her, don't ask her how she knew it was him, she just did.
"How is he?"* Harry asked. Molly supplied him with an answer that wasn't so bleak. Ginny hoped George would be ok; knowing Fred and George they would come up with a whole load of ear-related humor but still, walking around without an ear is tough. 'I guess we all have battle scars in one-way or another. I would know,' she thought to herself.
More to break the silence than anything else, she asked Harry who else was back. He replied that Hermione and Kingsley were back. They looked at each other then and she felt a weird tension grow between them. It wasn't awkward, more longing. She could have sworn he moved his arm towards her but there was a commotion in the doorway, interrupting them. This turned out to be Arthur and Fred. As predicted, George made some truly atrocious ear-related joke. It was so bad, had he not just had his ear cursed off, Ginny would seriously have considered putting some hair-dye or itching powder in his shampoo again. Saying that, it was a relief to hear him joke.
Harry motioned Ginny to join him outside. She could see how scared and panicked he was and how hard he was trying to keep it in check. So she did the most natural thing to her, she reached for his hand; squeezing it, trying to communicate without using words. Sometimes there is nothing to say. Harry seemed to understand. It was like that with them. He squeezed back and looked down at her. Ginny realized randomly, as one does during times of stress, that he must have grown over the month since she had last seen him. Either that or The Twins had cast a shrinking jinx on her, which would have been stupid as she was tiny anyway.
'Focus Ginny! Your brothers and friends are out there, stop admiring your boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. Boyfriend. Gah!' Ginny thought to herself. On that note, Ron and Tonks appeared in the sky and Bill and Fleur shortly after. The relief on everyone's face was enormous. However, then Bill delivered that fateful blow:
"Mad-Eye's dead." * The silence was so intense that you could have heard a pin drop.
No way. Absolutely not, Mad-eye is so tough, so brave; a survivor. Firewhiskey was passed around. If you ask Molly this was Ginny's first taste of Firewhiskey. It's not FYI, she stole some at school and they got drunk in the dorms once, ok twice, ok three times…nope make that four. Well there was the time she broke up with Dean (but that was more of a celebration), Sally broke up with Adam, Leila ditched that loser chick from Ravenclaw, oh yeah and Ginny also brought some into the 6th year dorms with Hermione to commiserate Ron sucking face with Lavender. It's a pity that now Ginny will forever associate firewhiskey with death. Ginny suddenly realized that she and Harry were still holding hands – she looked at him then down at their hands. Harry shrugged as if to say, "screw it." Shoulders pulled back, they raised their glasses to Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the ultimate warrior.