Tears, Memories, and a Broken Past
By ~*sexy_fleur*~
…the ultimate R/Hr, O/Hr, & L/S shipper!
A/N: This story is rather odd, and very difficult to explain…after much hardship, Ginny Weasley has fully detached herself from the wizarding world and has become a Muggle (for reasons you will find out through the story). This starts in place of Hermione's POV; soon, however, it will change to Ginny's story. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: All people, places, and events incorporated with Harry Potter are the property of J.K Rowling and Arthur A. Levine Books.
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Hermione
A voice.
Hermione
Who is it?
Hermione
My name....but from who's lips does it flow?
Hermione?
Distant....a distant voice....like a voice from the past....
Hermione!
It sounds fearful....it sounds panicked....
Ron, don't...it's all over....
Don't what? Wait, a different voice....a voice of another man....do I know that man? A memory....a memory of black hair and reckless green eyes....
Hermione...
The old voice....the one that calls my name so feverishly...
Hermione
The voice....it fades....do I know the man....
[sob]
A different voice....the voice of a girl....
[sob]
I know it...who is the weeping voice? She seems to be a long lost friend....
Hermione
That man again....?
Hermione...
Ron!
***************
It was all over. She was gone.
As her lifeless spirit slipped away,
it seemed the man would never be happy again.
He stared at her lifeless body....
it had never looked so beautiful, or so terrifying.
Her face had never before seemed so breathtaking, yet at the same time it was full of anguish.
He looked behind him....at the person who's sobs had been filling his wife's mind....
It was Ginny.
Next to her was Harry.
Ginny sobbed in his arms.
He held her; his face had no expression.
Ron stared at the body.
It was over.
Over....
*~*~*~*~*~*
10 years later
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Julia!" Ginny was calling her daughter.
A 30-year-old Ginny Weasley had flowing auburn hair, red hair that had grown darker as the years passed. If any of her old school friends could see her now, they would never know it was her. Her face had once held the expressions of a naive child. Now, though, she was a full-grown woman, and extremely beautiful. If Harry could see her now....
"Julia!"
"Coming, mum!" A girl, no older than 11, bounded down the stairs of the small house. She had the same face her mother had had, when she was her age. Tanned and freckled with striking red hair.
"Come here." There was angst in her mother's voice.
"What is it?" Ginny seemed more upset then usual. Any other child would ask "is something wrong?" But Julia knew better. Her friends said her mother always seemed sad and lonely, but this was how Julia had always seen her.
"I need to talk to you about something very important." Her voice was shaky, and she looked tired and weather-beaten as usual.
"What is it?" Julia always spoke quietly around her mother.
"Julia," Ginny started. She took a deep breath, but all that came out was, "never mind." Julia shrugged and walked out of the room.
This had happened so many times. Countless occasions in Julia's memory, she remembered her mother wanting to tell her something very important. But every time, all that came out was "never mind."
Watching her daughter walk off, Ginny's heart sank. She was never able to tell the truth. All these years she had been hiding a secret, and she could never come to tell her daughter. She never could. She couldn't tell her - about the magic.
Harry. Ron. Hermione. Hogwarts. Dumbledore. Wizards and witches. Ginny never told her any of that. She never could. She wanted to, but ever since her friends' deaths had occurred, she completely abandoned the magical community.
Hogwarts....what a fantastic place that had been. Mysteries around every corner, a magical air sweeping through the corridors. Those dreadful Potions lessons, and the exciting Transfiguration classes. Meals in the Great Hall. Late-night parties in the Gryffindor common room. Sneaking out to the greenhouses and kissing Colin under the star-studded skies. All of these memories had suddenly become so painful. It made her think of Ron. And Harry.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been a happy time. Ginny and Colin had lived in a different home in London. They were an average wizarding couple, their house holding many wizard furnishings. Things had been perfect. There was much interaction with Ron and Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Ginny could remember several happy Christmases with all her brothers and their wives and children. Fred Weasley had married Katie Bell, and they had three rowdy yet sweet boys. George Weasley had not married, but had been engaged to Alicia Spinnet the last time Ginny had met with all the family. She remembered receiving their wedding invitation, but it lay unopened in her chest of drawers. Percy, the 3rd to oldest Weasley boy, had married Penelope Clearwater, his fellow Head Girl from Hogwarts. Ginny did not know if they had children. Charlie was married, but she never even met his wife, nor Bill's. This shows just how separated Ginny became from her family. She had been close with them, until three years after she and Colin married. Julia had been just born.
Word had arrived from her parents, Molly and Arthur, that Hermione was dying. It had all happened so suddenly. After, Ron completely broke down. It had been terrible. First he simply looked at her body, unable to comprehend what was going on. Then, he burst into tears and screamed at his wife to come back. Fred had actually dragged him out of the hospital room.
The scene was always vivid in Ginny's mind. It was incredibly painful to remember that night. It brought tears to her very eyes when she relived those moments. Harry had, as well, left, leaving Ginny and George in the hospital.
Percy wrote her constantly, saying Ron would not come out of his house, nor would he answer any of his brothers' letters. The very thought grieved Ginny even more. A year after Hermione had gone, Ron killed himself. Plain as can be. She remembered George coming over and quietly telling Ginny and Colin that Ron had stabbed himself.
As if that wasn't enough, Harry left. He fled the country; the death of his two closest friends was more than he could bear. So then Ginny had no one. She felt that Fred and George never really took her seriously. She couldn't confide in Percy, and her oldest brothers were always gone. Colin couldn't - or wouldn't - offer any sympathy.
Struck with grief after Harry disappeared, Ginny took 3-year-old Julia away from her father. They moved to the United States, where they lived in New Jersey for a year. Then, word came that Colin had died in a car crash. This simply intensified her sadness. Ginny took Julia back to London, to an new house.
Three of her closest friends were gone. Colin was gone. Ginny reasoned that if thinking of magic and Hogwarts pained her so much, she simply couldn't be a part of the magic anymore. She snapped her wand in half. She stowed away all her robes and spellbooks and hid them in the attic. The new house they lived in was an ordinary Muggle home. None of the rooms held anything magical at all. There was nothing. Nothing....
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So now Julia was eleven years old. She had never really known a true family. Ginny was so quiet and chronically depressed that Julia couldn't talk to her about anything. She did not know who her father was. She didn't remember any grandparents or distant relatives. The only life she knew was one in a dungeon-like home, with a zombie as a mother and no family. She had lots of friends, but none outside school.
Often times she asked her mother why she was so unhappy. Why were her friends' parents usually so bright and cheerful? All Ginny would say is that things had happened in her past, things she hated to think about. When Julia asked what had happened, her mother just burst into tears and walked away. Julia learned quickly not to ask this sort of question.
****************
It was on one particular morning that something very strange happened. No, it wasn't strange....just shocking. Ginny walked through the front door of her small house. In her arms were several envelopes that had just been taken out of the mailbox. She tossed the mailbox key onto the kitchen table and started skimming through the thick papers. Bills, bills, insurance, free coupon, more bills.... Then, to her surprise, she came across a different envelope. It was dark yellow in color, and Ginny's first thought was Hogwarts. But there was no Hogwarts crest on it. No familiar coat of arms bearing a snake, lion, badger, and eagle. It said
Mrs. Ginny
4729 Briton Street
London, England
While any other person would think this was a normal occurrence, it was most certainly not to Ginny. Her parents and brothers had long given up on trying to write her....she could think of no one willing to send her a letter. Then, she noticed the upper left-hand corner, the corner usually reserved for return addresses:
Mr. H Potter
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A/N: Did anyone enjoy the story? If so, I have the whole fic planned out, and I have lots of ideas and plot twists. And, yes, plenty of Dark Arts action occurs J Please do not flame for ridiculous reasons, such as the people being out of character. This story is my own work, so do not say things like "Colin wouldn't marry Ginny." Perhaps this is my perception of what would happen in
my story, you know?Luv,
~*sexy_fleur*~
…writer of this angst-ridden, torture-filled drama!
…in which I use a lot of italics to make it appear all vintage and dramatic and cool! :)
