Chapter 1 – Longing
Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
- Sun Tzu
She sat at the kitchen table, staring out of the window, constantly checking the hands of the rather unusual clock that hung on the wall. It had pictures of every member of her family instead of hands and had different words where the numbers should be. Every single one pointed at the words mortal peril, including her own. She often wondered whether the clock was broken, but knowing where her brothers were at this moment in time, she knew it wasn't. As she watched her mother anxiously washing the dishes and folding the clothes, she wished that she was with them. She couldn't bear not knowing where they where and if they were okay. She especially worried for the fate of a certain raven haired boy who had had her heart for so long. She thought back to the secrets and memories that they had shared underneath a shaded tree at Hogwarts and her heart shattered to pieces again. She knew that he loved her too, and she knew that he hated being apart from her and that it was for her own good that he would not be with her any more But she didn't care, she would gladly take death if it meant that she could just say that he was hers, until the very end. But of course, she never showed it, any of it. She was Ginny Weasley, pillar of strength and composure. Even if she was falling apart inside, that strong exterior would remain.
She was brought out of her reverie as she heard an almighty crash out in the garden. She prayed that it was Ron with Tonks, that they had just missed their Portkey and had apparated home. But it wasn't it was Harry, with a rather scratched-up Hagrid. She grabbed Harry immediately and pulled him into a tight embrace which, after the initial shock, he returned just as tightly. She gently and carefully placed her hand in his and squeezed it tightly, wondering if this was allowed. Again she was surprised as he returned the gesture before carefully letting go of her hand as they entered the front door.
"Have any of the others arrived yet?" he asked casually. She took a deep breath before saying."Ron and Tonks were supposed to arrive ten minutes before you did, but their Portkey came back without them." She gestured towards the object sitting on the table in front of them. His face twisted with worry and guilt as she said this. She so badly wanted to reach out to him and hold him, to stroke his hair and soothe him but she knew that that would be crossing the line and turned away from him, refusing to let him see the pain and longing that she knew he would find if he looked into her eyes.
A few minutes later, a second crash came. Harry and Ginny both raced out to see who it was. What they saw made her want to throw up. It was George, covered in blood, his ear completely cut off. She heard Remus tell Harry "Snape's doing" and in that moment, she had never hated anyone more than she hated Severus Snape. He had reduced her mischievous, funny big brother into a bloody mess and the rage inside her was unimaginable. As her mother sobbed over and cleaned up her son, Ginny looked at Harry, so incensed that she let a brief flicker of something pass over her face that he had never seen in her before, it was pain. This made Harry want to reach out and take away her pain. He so badly wanted to kiss her until they both forgot all their troubles, but he wouldn't do that. He knew it would just cause them both more pain in the end. He sighed and walked away from her under the pretence of going to talk to Remus.
Later that night as she lay in her bed , she felt a swirl of emotions going through her body. She felt relief, that all of her family were safe, grief over the loss of Mad-eye, worry about her brother, confusion about what would happen to them all next and above all, an intense longing for Harry. She wanted to be with him, always and in every sense of the word. She went over this again and again in her head and once she had finally decided what she was going to do, she slept.
A/N
Sorry this chapters so short, they'll get longer I promise. Please leave a review, I really appreciate your comments so that I know what I'm doing wrong and I'll try and improve, thanks :)