"Ginny Weasley and the Shadow of What Remains"
By Jedi Amoira
--Dedicated to the "Club" with thanks for all our great discussions. Here's to many more!! ;-)--
Disclaimer--If you like it, assume I don't own it. The Potterverse belongs to JKR, Steve Klowes, Scholastic and WB. Fanon belongs to the multitude...I'm simply paying homage with the sincerest form of flattery. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made.
Author's Notes--This is being posted simultaneous with the last chapter of "Ginny Weasley and the Specter of Atonement", and is intended as a sequel to that story intended to cover the events of Ginny's third year at Hogwarts. For those of you who know my posting habits, an advance warning that progress may be a lot slower in this work. I really hope you'll make the effort to stick with me anyway. As you all know, I may not own it, but I work hard, and I love it, so if you read it and enjoy it, please review it! And now...another first post, and another beginning! *drum roll*
***************
Ginny Weasley could scarcely contain her excitement.
She had been waiting for this moment ever since school had let out for the summer. She had begun to think it would never come, but the time had come at last. She looked around anxiously at the thought, as if fearful acknowledging her opportunity would cause it to cease to exist entirely. Nothing happened.
Ginny drew a deep, calming breath and squared her shoulders as if to greet anticipation with equanimity before stepping away from the back door of the Burrow.
She paused after a few steps to look around again, but her brothers were nowhere to be seen--or heard. Trying to ignore the prickling at the back of her neck that insisted there was something unnatural in the solitude, she darted across the overgrown garden. The door on the shed squealed loudly as she eased it open. Ginny was convinced it had done it on purpose just to mock her. She gave it a dark scowl to let it know it didn't intimidate her, and slipped inside.
Boxes and crates formed blocky towers in random spaces across the hard-packed dirt of the floor. In the sparse light that filtered through the single filthy window in the back wall and the crack of the open door, Ginny could see the vague outline of drooping shelves overrun with a variety of muggle plugs, gears, springs, and the like. Dust motes hovered in the air around her like a strange, musty faery mist that made her want to sneeze. She swiped a hasty hand under her nose, snorting softly in the effort to relieve the feeling.
It didn't take her long to find what she wanted--she knew exactly where to look. She grabbed one of the twins' brooms--she didn't really care which--and carried it into the yard. It prickled in her hand, a limb that had gone to sleep finally beginning to reawaken. Joy swelled painfully upward as she burst into balmy blue freedom. Suddenly exuberant, Ginny somersaulted across the sky, sprawling into a speedy dive leveling abruptly into a burst of speed toward an imaginary goal. Lee Jordan's voice echoed in her head, announcing her brilliant moves to shouting stands as she whirled and danced, sprinted and soared across the sky.
As years of habit slowly began to reassert themselves, Ginny's mind began to wander. It seemed inevitable--whenever her mind began to wander, it would eventually find its way to Harry. She knew she shouldn't give in to the urge to dream about him, reminded herself he never gave her a thought, let alone a second or a third one, but the less she wanted to think about him, the more he seemed to appear in her thoughts, a weed in the cracks of the village sidewalks. She hardly noticed her own frustrated sigh as she pictured what how he would react if he saw her practicing Quidditch on a borrowed broom.
Before the image had really solidified itself in her head, a shout slammed through it like a Bludger, pushing Ginny's broom into a precarious sideways plunge. Blood humming with adrenaline, Ginny reined the broom into a smooth--and somewhat more sedate--landing. She hit the ground looking around for her brothers, convinced her secret had finally been discovered, but she didn't see anyone. She replaced the broom, expecting someone to pounce at every step, but nothing happened until the door the shed squealed again and she nearly fell backward over her own feet.
She regained her balance feeling unaccountably annoyed as several more shouts rose, sounding as if several people were trying to talk--or yell--at once. Yelling--especially from Mum--was a several-times-daily occurrence in the Weasley household, but it was a bit unusual for people to yell back. Finding herself with nothing better to do with her stolen broom returned, Ginny decided she might as well investigate.
She found everyone but Percy congregated in the comfortable clutter of the family room. Mum was in full-rage, Dad seemed to be alternating between reasoning with her and supplementing her rant, the twins held themselves somewhere between defense and indignation, and Ron appeared to be trying to roll on the floor in a fit of laughter without drawing attention to himself. They all paused to turn and look at Ginny, making her feel as though she had toothpaste smeared all over her face or some other embarrassing flaw. "What?" she asked, making a stab at being light-hearted and casual. "Did Dad win the Daily Prophet Galleon Draw again?"
"Do you have any idea what your brothers have done?" Mum demanded, hands on hips.
It was on the tip of her tongue to point out she didn't, or she wouldn't have asked, but Ginny rather wanted to live. "Uh..." Ginny racked her brain. "Charmed the soap to hide again?"
"Not exactly."
"But thanks for the idea." Fred flashed a reminiscent grin in George's direction, and Ginny almost smiled too. She had to admit, that had been hilarious.
"GINNY," Mum reproached. "This isn't a joking matter."
"Well, actually, Mum--"
"If you want to get technical--"
"That's exactly what it is." The twins finished together, folding there arms and looking at her like cats in a room full of canaries.
By Jedi Amoira
--Dedicated to the "Club" with thanks for all our great discussions. Here's to many more!! ;-)--
Disclaimer--If you like it, assume I don't own it. The Potterverse belongs to JKR, Steve Klowes, Scholastic and WB. Fanon belongs to the multitude...I'm simply paying homage with the sincerest form of flattery. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made.
Author's Notes--This is being posted simultaneous with the last chapter of "Ginny Weasley and the Specter of Atonement", and is intended as a sequel to that story intended to cover the events of Ginny's third year at Hogwarts. For those of you who know my posting habits, an advance warning that progress may be a lot slower in this work. I really hope you'll make the effort to stick with me anyway. As you all know, I may not own it, but I work hard, and I love it, so if you read it and enjoy it, please review it! And now...another first post, and another beginning! *drum roll*
***************
Ginny Weasley could scarcely contain her excitement.
She had been waiting for this moment ever since school had let out for the summer. She had begun to think it would never come, but the time had come at last. She looked around anxiously at the thought, as if fearful acknowledging her opportunity would cause it to cease to exist entirely. Nothing happened.
Ginny drew a deep, calming breath and squared her shoulders as if to greet anticipation with equanimity before stepping away from the back door of the Burrow.
She paused after a few steps to look around again, but her brothers were nowhere to be seen--or heard. Trying to ignore the prickling at the back of her neck that insisted there was something unnatural in the solitude, she darted across the overgrown garden. The door on the shed squealed loudly as she eased it open. Ginny was convinced it had done it on purpose just to mock her. She gave it a dark scowl to let it know it didn't intimidate her, and slipped inside.
Boxes and crates formed blocky towers in random spaces across the hard-packed dirt of the floor. In the sparse light that filtered through the single filthy window in the back wall and the crack of the open door, Ginny could see the vague outline of drooping shelves overrun with a variety of muggle plugs, gears, springs, and the like. Dust motes hovered in the air around her like a strange, musty faery mist that made her want to sneeze. She swiped a hasty hand under her nose, snorting softly in the effort to relieve the feeling.
It didn't take her long to find what she wanted--she knew exactly where to look. She grabbed one of the twins' brooms--she didn't really care which--and carried it into the yard. It prickled in her hand, a limb that had gone to sleep finally beginning to reawaken. Joy swelled painfully upward as she burst into balmy blue freedom. Suddenly exuberant, Ginny somersaulted across the sky, sprawling into a speedy dive leveling abruptly into a burst of speed toward an imaginary goal. Lee Jordan's voice echoed in her head, announcing her brilliant moves to shouting stands as she whirled and danced, sprinted and soared across the sky.
As years of habit slowly began to reassert themselves, Ginny's mind began to wander. It seemed inevitable--whenever her mind began to wander, it would eventually find its way to Harry. She knew she shouldn't give in to the urge to dream about him, reminded herself he never gave her a thought, let alone a second or a third one, but the less she wanted to think about him, the more he seemed to appear in her thoughts, a weed in the cracks of the village sidewalks. She hardly noticed her own frustrated sigh as she pictured what how he would react if he saw her practicing Quidditch on a borrowed broom.
Before the image had really solidified itself in her head, a shout slammed through it like a Bludger, pushing Ginny's broom into a precarious sideways plunge. Blood humming with adrenaline, Ginny reined the broom into a smooth--and somewhat more sedate--landing. She hit the ground looking around for her brothers, convinced her secret had finally been discovered, but she didn't see anyone. She replaced the broom, expecting someone to pounce at every step, but nothing happened until the door the shed squealed again and she nearly fell backward over her own feet.
She regained her balance feeling unaccountably annoyed as several more shouts rose, sounding as if several people were trying to talk--or yell--at once. Yelling--especially from Mum--was a several-times-daily occurrence in the Weasley household, but it was a bit unusual for people to yell back. Finding herself with nothing better to do with her stolen broom returned, Ginny decided she might as well investigate.
She found everyone but Percy congregated in the comfortable clutter of the family room. Mum was in full-rage, Dad seemed to be alternating between reasoning with her and supplementing her rant, the twins held themselves somewhere between defense and indignation, and Ron appeared to be trying to roll on the floor in a fit of laughter without drawing attention to himself. They all paused to turn and look at Ginny, making her feel as though she had toothpaste smeared all over her face or some other embarrassing flaw. "What?" she asked, making a stab at being light-hearted and casual. "Did Dad win the Daily Prophet Galleon Draw again?"
"Do you have any idea what your brothers have done?" Mum demanded, hands on hips.
It was on the tip of her tongue to point out she didn't, or she wouldn't have asked, but Ginny rather wanted to live. "Uh..." Ginny racked her brain. "Charmed the soap to hide again?"
"Not exactly."
"But thanks for the idea." Fred flashed a reminiscent grin in George's direction, and Ginny almost smiled too. She had to admit, that had been hilarious.
"GINNY," Mum reproached. "This isn't a joking matter."
"Well, actually, Mum--"
"If you want to get technical--"
"That's exactly what it is." The twins finished together, folding there arms and looking at her like cats in a room full of canaries.