The Jingle in Her Step
Author's Note: Italics are flashbacks, Bold is Ginny's POV (in either italics or regular) and Regular print is present day. There is a character death which is why this fic is rated T. Please enjoy the story!
Molly Weasley was resting in the bed across from Ginny, her only daughter. The bed had plain white sheets; nothing like the warm and cozy quilts that were waiting for Mrs. Weasley at the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley was slipping in and out of consciousness. She had a nauseated sensation and couldn't feel the right side of her face at all. Molly had never been admitted to Saint Mungo's hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries before.
Molly looked across the room where her daughter sat. Ginny had grown up but Mrs. Weasley would always think of Ginny as her little girl.
"Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley hoarsely.
Ginny, who had wandered into the recesses of her mind, jumped slightly before focusing on her mother.
"Mom?" said Ginny as if she was questioning weather or not her mother was really the one in the bed in front of her.
"Ginny, dear," the words were hard for Mrs. Weasley to get out. "Why are you so…so far away?"
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Arthur Weasley stood in the heart of London; a young red headed girl was holding his right hand. The little girl was the youngest of the seven Weasley children and the only one who did not yet attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Arthur's wife, Molly, was busy at home making a howler for Fred and George, their mischievous sons. It had been a mutual agreement that Ginny should not be in the house at the time. In truth, Mr. Weasley didn't even want to know what his twin sons had done this time – as long as they were not going to be expelled.
As a matter of fact, Arthur was quiet pleased with himself. Molly had been so upset about Fred and George that she had forgotten to ask where Mr. Weasley planned on going. This gave Mr. Weasley the perfect opportunity to observe muggles in their "natural habitat." He also had the added bonus of having Ginny with him.
Arthur had discovered that muggles found the innocent questions of a little girl more charming and acceptable than the stupidity of an older man. He had learnt this when he had wandered into some sort of electronic store about a year ago.
One of the helpers came up and asked, "Can I help you, Sir?"
Arthur had jumped a little. He had been so engrossed in all of the wonderful muggle inventions around him that Ginny was the first to speak.
"What's that?" said her innocent, youthful, voice. Ginny lifted her tiny finger to a small item that was hanging off one of the shelves at her eyelevel. It was a long rectangular piece of plastic. There was an entire line of them, they were all the same shape and size but with different colors.
The helper bent down until he was only slightly taller than Ginny and gestured at the red one. "This is a cell phone cover," the helper had told Ginny. Ginny lowered her tiny finger and looked up at her father for an explanation but Mr. Weasley was not looking at his daughter. Arthur was looking at the strange muggle who had offered them assistance.
"Fascinating," said Arthur with earnest, "A cell phone cover…fascinating."
The muggle stood up to his full height and surpassed Mr. Weasley's head by an inch.
"Now, tell me," Mr. Weasley had continued conversationally, "what is a cell phone?"
Shortly after this incident that Mr. Weasley made his grand discovery that while his interest in muggle artifacts was considered strange in the wizarding world it was just down right misunderstood in the non magical world.
Today, however, Mr. Weasley had no intent of wandering into random stores. He had gotten the idea in his head that he could make Molly appreciate the genius of muggles and he knew just how to do it.
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Ginny walked over to her mother's side in the private hospital room. She pointed her wand at the chair and made it follow her so that she could sit right next to Molly. Ginny was so close that she could have touched her mother's hand – if only she was not afraid of how cold and lifeless Mrs. Weasley's hand might feel.
"Mom," she said again, "I'm not far away." Ginny felt like crying.
Mrs. Weasley's head turned away from Ginny as Mrs.Weasley closed her eyes.
"Mom?" Ginny said as if she, once again, questioned the identity of the woman in front of her.
"You…you sound so…so far away…"
Ginny couldn't make a reply. She needed her brother's to be here; she needed her father to hurry up and come. Ginny couldn't be alone – not for this.
She looked around the room in an attempt to find something that would distract her. There was nothing. They were just plain, barren, walls. The exact opposite of The Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley had been buying a new cloak for Ginny. It was Ginny's twentieth birthday and even thought Ginny insisted that she didn't need a lot of presents Mrs. Weasley had taken her to Diagon Alley to pick out which cloak she liked best.
Ginny had been excited about getting a new traveling cloak since she did need a new one.
It was as if her life was playing over and over again for her in slow motion so she could see exactly where she went wrong.
Voldemort was dead. He had been dead for several years now and most of his supporters who had remained loyal for a short period of time had rushed into hiding. Occasionally they would risk safety and anonymity in order to strike out at old Order of the Phoenix supporters.
Mrs. Weasley reached into her home made purse and pulled out three galleons and two silver sickles. She had placed them on the counter and been saying something to the shop keeper. Ginny hadn't been paying attention. Ginny had been admiring her new cloak in the side mirror.
Ginny hadn't seen the Death Eaters until they burst through the doors. Ginny turned around at the sound of their entry and was watching three stunning spells come straight at her when Mrs. Weasley pushed Ginny to the floor and took the entire impact of all three spells.
Ginny didn't need to think twice. She pulled out her wand and as her mother fell to the floor Ginny stood up, showing the Death Eaters the total and complete wrath of her Bat-Bogey Hex before shouting "Petrifius Totalus!" The Death Eaters had not expected such a vehement fight from Ginny and this made them easy targets. As the three Death Eaters lay frozen in their half bat-like forms Ginny knelt down beside her mother.
Their hands had touched for only a second before Ginny pulled away. Mrs. Weasley was cold and shaking but it wasn't…it couldn't be…not the Mrs. Weasley that Ginny knew as her mother.
Ginny's mother never shook. Ginny's mother was never cold. Ginny's mother was always warm…like The Burrow…always the care taker…always…always…Mom…
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As Arthur stood at the corner of one of London's larger intersections he looked over the crowd of muggles around him. They were crossing the road from north to south but not from east to west. This was most disappointing to him because he was headed east and could see his targeted store just across from him.
Nine year old Ginny stood patiently by her father's side as Mr. Weasley thought through his options. Her left hand was loosely grasped in his right and even though the crowd around her was so thick that she couldn't see out she was not intimidated by all the tall adults. She was used to her father's escapades by now and knew that if it was necessary Mr. Weasley was not afraid to use magic. Still, Ginny would have preferred to be in Diagon alley or even the Ministry of Magic. Those are the type of places that her mother would have taken her.
Ginny couldn't help but wonder what her father saw in muggles or their strange objects. They were just so plain and boring. The magical world had so many different, interesting shops.
Ginny just sighed to herself as she felt her father's hand moving towards the front of the crowd.
Arthur stood on the curb on the intersection. The muggles around him looked at him strangely as he glanced up and down the street.
"Why aren't we crossing?" he asked out loud. A couple of glances were exchanged before one woman answered.
"Red light," she said and pointed to a glowing red light. Mr. Weasley followed her finger.
"Red light," he repeated slowly. The message seemed cryptic to him. Then, as if his staring at it had caused some rare and marvelous occurance the red light faded and was replaced by a green light. The crowd of people instantly pushed past Mr. Weasley and Ginny as cars came to a halt and allowed the pedestrians to cross.
Red Light.
"Ginny, come on," he said. Mr. Weasley nodded slightly and strode into the street with the muggles. When he reached the sidewalk on the other side he walked past three more storefronts before purposefully entering a jewelry store.
Ginny took in her breath as she looked at all the glass cases around her. She might have been only nine years old – almost ten – but she could appreciate jewelry.
"Would you like to help me pick out something for Mom?" he father asked her. Ginny nodded her head as her eyes paused on each of the long cases in front of her. She didn't get to come to jewelry stores or any high end places very often so this was a special treat.
Ginny noticed how her father knew exactly which case to go to. She had a sneaking suspicion that he had been here before.
Arthur Weasley had been in this shop before and the people who worked there seemed to recognize him. He had intended to buy something for Molly then but had to change his plans when he remembered that he didn't have any muggle money.
Arthur came closer to the case which he had determined was one of the least expensive.
"What do you think Mom would like?" he asked Ginny. The jewelry in this case did not have any gems or rare stones but was fairly plain. There were gold and silver chains of varying lengths as well as some cute dangles that could be attached.
Ginny pressed her face up against the case. Arthur watched his youngest child as she walked up and down the side of the glass and took in all of the different items that it held. Ginny paused at the far end and Arthur walked over to see what she was looking at.
In front of where Ginny was gazing sat a sterling silver bell that was smaller than a thimble. Like all the other plain jewelry there were no special engravings on the sides of the bell but something about it that was different.
Ginny tapped the glass and gestured towards the bell. A young clerk came over and smiled at Ginny.
"Can I help you, Sir?" she asked. "Would you like to look at some of our charms?"
"Charms?" repeated Arthur. Cheering Charms instantly came to mind.
"Yes, Sir," said the woman who was still smiling. She had not caught on to Mr. Weasley's confusion yet. The clerk unlocked the glass case and slid the door to the left. Reaching in she lifted the tray which held the bell and placed it on top of the counter.
"No, no charms," said Mr. Weasley as he nodded his head and cleared his throat. "Just these artifacts, thank you."
The woman scrunched up her eyebrows and was about to put the tray with the tiny bell back in the case when she asked, "Which tray would like to look at, sir?" she asked.
"Oh, uh," said Mr. Weasley, "this will be just fine." Arthur pointed at the tray that the woman had already taken out and returned the young lady's smile and expected her to walk away and help another customer. He was a little shocked when she continued to stand there looking at him.
"I like the bell," said Ginny, which startled Mr. Weasley slightly.
Arthur picked up the bell cautiously. He was not sure if the young woman would allow him to touch it; he had never actually bought anything at a muggle jewelry store before.
A small price tag fell out of the middle of the bell and Mr. Weasley fiddled with it for a moment. The tag read twenty five dollars.
Arthur took out a black, three-fold, muggel wallet from his coat pocket and opened it. It was a new invention from the Ministry of Magic for wizards who were in regular contact with muggles. They had determined that Mr. Weasley was one of the best people to use to test it since he was so fascinated with muggles anyways. Molly had, of course, been furious with the Ministry and accused them of being a bad influence.
Mr. Weasley opened up the wallet and held it in his left hand as he punched in the number twenty five. The clerk looked at him confused. From where she was standing it just looked like Mr. Weasley was poking his leather wallet for no apparent reason.
In the little screen that was imbedded in the center of the wallet appeared the number of galleons. Mr. Weasley took in his breath and pulled the correct amount out of his pouch and pushed them behind the screen where a muggle would have put something called a license. The galleons were transformed into muggle money which appeared in the wallet's pouch where – Mr. Weasley was told – muggles kept their cash.
Mr. Weasley pulled the cash out of his wallet and laid it out on the glass case.
"I'll take this bell, please" he said.
The clerk took the bell from his hand and removed the price tag.
"Would you like a box for it?" she asked.
"Oh, um, a small caldron will do, thank you," said Arthur who did not realize his mistake until the woman gave him a very strange look. "Or," said Mr. Weasley hurriedly "a box will do just fine." Mr. Weasley's face now matched his scarlet hair. The clerk just smiled back.
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"Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny looked up; her mother was looking at her. Ginny was shivering.
"Ginny," Mrs.Weasley repeated.
"I'm here, Mom," said Ginny.
Mrs. Weasley pushed some of the pale covers off of herself and grabbed at a very thin silver chain around her neck. As Molly pulled on it a small bell appeared from underneath her hospital gown.
"Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley very faintly, "Arthur gave this to me this. You were only a little…little girl."
Ginny remembered choosing the bell out of a sparkling glass case at a muggle shop but she had never seen her mother wear it. Ginny never knew what had happened to the bell.
"I've worn…worn it," said Mrs. Weasley as if she knew what Ginny was thinking, "everyday since he gave it to me."
Ginny's eyes followed the bell, dangling in midair off of the silver chain.
"I want…I want you to have it," said Molly as Ginny gasped. "You'll take care of it…"
"…No, Mom, I can't…it's your bell – "
"Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley, "Don't pretend like – "
"Like what?" said Ginny defensively. "You're fine! You're going to be fine!"
"Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley again, very faintly. Molly turned her head away and closed her eyes. She was using too much energy. Without looking back at Ginny she spoke.
"Ginny, I want you to have my bell…take it"
"Mom, I," Ginny's voice cracked.
"Take it, Ginny…please."
Ginny stretched out her arm and grasped the bell in her right hand. The silver chain was so long that Ginny was able to slip it around Molly's head without undoing the clasp.
Mrs. Weasley's hand rested on Ginny's forearm and Ginny had an urge to pull away but she didn't. Ginny had never been afraid of death but for some reason watching her mother slowly slipping away frightened her to the core.
"Mama," it was Mrs.Weasley who spoke this time. A chill ran down Ginny's spine as she slipped the tiny silver bell over her own head.
"Mom, grandma's not – "
"Do you recognize Ginny?" asked Mrs.Weasley. "She was only a baby last time you saw her. Hasn't she grown up?"
"Mom," Ginny's voice was very sharp and sounded more like a squeak than an actual word.
"What do you mean you don't see her?" asked Mrs.Weasley. "She's sitting right…Ginny? Why are you so far away?"
"I'm here, Mom…I'm right here," Ginny squeezed her mother's cold, dry hand but Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to be able to feel it. Mrs.Weasley looked at Ginny in a distant way before turning her head away again.
"Mom," begged Ginny, "Dad's on his way…with Ron, and George, and Charlie, and Bill…Mom…even Percy is coming…Mom?"
"George?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Yes, George –
"Fred!" exclaimed Molly. "Fred!"
Ginny remained silent.
"Ginny, why are you so far away?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "Why are you leaving?"
"I'm right here, Mom," Ginny began to cry now. She couldn't stop herself. "I love you, Mom."
Ginny never imagined that loosing someone who was so close to her would be so hard and sudden. Arthur and her brothers had arrived only minutes after Molly had drawn her final breath but there was no bringing her back; just like there had been no bringing Fred, her older brother, back from where he had gone.
For days afterwards Ginny's nerves were on edge and she could have sworn that she had heard her mother walking beside her. There was this sound that Ginny kept hearing. It was just around the corner, or no, right beside her – traveling with her.
A little rattling sound.
A little clattering sound.
A little jingling sound.
The sound was so faint and Ginny had grown so used to it without realizing that she had. It took her an entire week to figure out what the noise was.
The tiny, silver, bell which now hung around Ginny's neck gave a little ring with every step she took.
Molly Weasley had left her daughter the most precious gift of all – the jingle in her step.
A/N: As a Huffelpuff I have a loyalty to my reviewers and I promise to read and review at least one of your stories in return for reviewing any one of mine (assuming I know the characters in the story).
Additional Stories:
Lightning Struck Tower – Pro Severus Snape, Pre Deathly Hallows, not complete
Behind the Veil: The Choice to Die (my favorite) – Sirius fic, oneshot, complete
The Circles End - RLNT, DH Spoiler, oneshot, complete