Chapter 1: The Sea

When she was young, there was always the sea. In the well-loved Weasley house just outside of Ottery St. Catchpole, Ginny would pass the time waiting for summer with the youngest of her six brothers, Ron, as her only playmate. The family had lived in the aged house for years. Shutters in disarray clung to the hinges they did not want to leave. Paint color faded on the door and the porch step creaked every time you stepped on it. For the time and place such a well-loved house was not unusual. That area of Ottery was full of families in the same working class with similar lives. The best luxury Ginny's family could afford was summer at the sea. The entire family went and it was always to the same one-story rented house with back steps that lead over the dunes to the sea's shore. It was not only Ginny's favorite time it was also the single time a year Mr. Weasley was allowed to drive the muggle car hidden in the garden shed. Mrs. Weasley always gave him this little indulgence lest he try to turn the car into something ridiculous. Or, Merlin forbid, add something to it. Every year without fail the drive seemed to always take forever for Ginny, crammed in the back of the family's car she was begging to smell that salty air that meant everything to her.

It was the summer just after her sixth birthday, and she seemed to know this summer would be more special than all the others. For one she had gotten two very special birthday presents. The one from her mum had been a brand-new yellow dress. For a girl that only wore hand-me-downs from her brothers, this was certainly a very big deal. She had nearly worn it her entire birthday month, even would have slept in it if her mum had let her. The other very special gift had come from her Dad. She remembered sitting on his lap while he held a handkerchief, folded into a small square in his hand. She very much wanted to know what was in there, as it was most certainly for her. She had tried her very best not to stare at it to much as he told her a story. On a trip to the Isle of Mann, he had stopped in a shop that was a mix of everything, just like their family, he had said. He opened up the cloth to show a small mass of dirty, old metal. Ginny had been very confused and slightly disappointed because that was not a pretty birthday present. It soon became much clearer as her father explained and had her help him clean the metal until was as bright and shiny as the day it was made. What Ginny saw was a pretty necklace with a small silver pendant of an intricately carved design that over all took the shape of a lower case 't'. She remembered her father saying some people put meaning in the letter and saw it as protection and love. That day she learned there are good things in even the most unlikely of places.

The car jumped over a bump, and Ginny blinked a few times, not ready for the jolt that had thrown Ronald's elbow into her side and out of her daydream.

"Ow! Stay on your side Ron!"

Ronald only stuck his tongue out at her and went back to playing 'Eye Spy' with their oldest brother. Her eyes went out the window again as they passed some very large houses. Each year she remembered a bit more detail and began wondering what sort of people lived in them. Usually this thought was quickly passed over by the houses dropping away to reveal the sand dunes and the ocean that sparkled like gems from the sun overhead and beyond them. She took a breath of air and pressed her face to the window as if this would make her closer. Her feet were itching for that warm seawater, and her hands the sand for her sandcastles.