Ginny

Walking home in the rain was one of the things Ginny loved doing more that anything else. To feel the rain washing down her face while she contemplated every thought her mind could conjure up meant that when she got home she was totally relaxed and calm and could run a warm bath and then spend the rest of her evening reading a book or watching a film, one of those typically girly things that she revelled in so much.

She took a glance out of her office window and smiled as she saw raindrops falling gracefully in set patterns down the windowpane. Then she took a quick peek at her watch. She had five minutes left until her shift was over. She smiled to herself and then started to pack away all her pens and scraps of paper so as they fell in to some form of order, ready for her to return back to it all on Monday. Looking at the clock again it chimed gently to inform her it was time for her to leave.

She stood up and said good-bye to her two colleagues that she worked closely with and then shouted goodbye to her boss who was down the other end of the office. Then, pulling her jacket over her shoulders she left the building, not to return until the weekend was over.

She embraced the summer temperature as she stepped outside and closed her eyes for a moment as she allowed herself to get used to the raindrops falling on her face.

Today had been a fairly strange day in the office for her. Firstly she had sworn someone had called her name but apparently she had imagined it as no one in the office claimed to have called it. Also for some reason her phone would start ringing, ring only three times and then stop. Whenever Ginny tried the re-dial there would be no last number, it was as though the phone was ringing by itself, with no command from someone on the other line. Also as about midday she had sworn she saw an own sitting on the windowsill and was almost convinced she had heard it screech to her whilst holding a letter in its beak, however when she looked again after raising some alarm the owl had disappeared. And finally, when she had the chance to read the newspaper in her lunch break, she had noticed that there were irrational actions and behaviours taking place; unexplainable crimes and mysterious disappearances.

Just as she had run through the last of the days bizarre happenings she realised she was at home. She rummaged in her jacket pocket and pulled out her keys and stepped inside. Her cat, a small black stray she had called Misty ran up to great her as anyone would expect a house trained dog to. Ginny stroked Misty a few times but something didn't feel right about the atmosphere. Misty purred gently and then went out of the front door, only to return in a few minutes because of the rain.

Ginny walked up the stairs and started to run her bath, still feeling a strange sense of unease when she heard a screeching sound again. She walked over to the bathroom window and opened it just enough for a small brown envelope to fall through. As she opened the window wider she saw a brilliantly white barn owl fly away over the houses.

"Miss G Weasely," she began to read out the front of the envelope. Weasely? Ginny shook her head. She hadn't gone by that name in years, ever since she ran away from home when she was ten years old.

She stopped for a moment. She hadn't thought about her old life in years, she was twenty-five now and it felt suddenly sickening to realise that maybe she would never escape. She took a deep breath and then turned the envelope over.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…?" she ran her delicate fingers over the strange wax seal before splitting it and opened the envelope.

"Dear Miss Weasely,

"Once you had read this letter I implore you to burn it so that no evidence remains of its existence. You were once destined to become a power and magical witch but because of circumstances out of my control I am afraid to say that you are in grave danger.

"You had a fate Miss Weasely and now you are in danger. I must ask you now to contact me and I will help you. You may call me or write back to me at the phone number and address below. Please do not think that I am kidding because further more, as well as you needing my help, Miss Weasely, I need yours.

"I hope to hear from you very soon, Mr H Potter."

Ginny shook her head and suddenly felt violently sick. She took deep breaths. Though not easily frightened or even shaken, she suddenly felt as though her whole past was about to be brought up again.

She read the address and number and then ripped that part of the letter away from the main message and crumpled the letter up and threw it on the floor, holding the address in her hands. She re-read it again and decided she would keep it…just in case.

She was shaking.

Suddenly she was brought to her senses. The tap water was still running and the room was filling nicely with steam and the scent of lavender. She stopped the taps and then went down stairs the let Misty in. The she went back upstairs and sank in to her bath.

Her eyelids started to feel heavy and her yawning was becoming more frequent. So much for the rain clearing her thoughts today…

When she awoke she stepped out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel then with a violent jolt to her gut she noticed that she letter that she had carelessly thrown on the floor was gone.