Prologue

 It ain't easy growin up in World War III
Never knowin what love could be, you'll see
I don't want love to destroy me like it has done
my family


Ginny listened to the screams of anger and sadness that reverberated through the house. So they had started up again.

She burrowed down into the bed, pulling the covers over her head, trying in some way to block out the sounds of shattering glass, all the while wishing she lived in a normal family. A family that loved one another, who never shouted or raged. But, alas, Ginny had little hope that wish would ever come true.

Then it happened. Ginny heard her name mentioned in the screaming match of wits. There it was again, and a third time. She strained to listen, half hoping she would hear her name again, and half dreading it.


She's got every right to know, Arthur!

And what then?! Do you know what he'll do if he finds out about her?!

But what if she finds out without us telling her?! She's not stupid, Arthur, she'll figure it out for herself if we don't stop her!

But at that'll buy us more time! You don't understand, Molly, you never do! He'll kill her without a second thought! He's already tried to twice! I won't have you putting her in danger just to free your conscience!


Ginny froze. What were they saying? Were they talking about her? Was her life in danger? Hers? No, it couldn't be........ No one wanted anything to do with her, Ginny, much less this mysterious . So why then the desperation in her father's voice?

Thoughts swirled in her mind. But with her parents deadlocked in another daily battle, the was only one person she could turn to.

She crept down the hall way silently lest she disturb her irate parents.

she asked as she opened the door. A muffled grunt from somewhere beneath the piles of bedding signified Ron's presence in the room.

Ginny sat down on the edge of the bed, careful to avoid any lumps in the covers that had the possibility of being her older brother.

She heard another grunt as the creature under the covers moved. Slowly the somewhat gangly figure of a teenage boy appeared from the depths of the bed.

Ron, are you awake? Ginny asked tentatively. Judging from the direction of a pillow thrown at her, Ginny guessed that yes, Ron was awake.

Ginny, what do you want? Ron groaned. Clearly he didn't realize that the ever lasting war between husband and wife was currently being fought, or he would have sounded more sympathetic

They're fighting again, Ginny informed him tearfully. Ron sat bolt upright. he asked incredulously. That's the fifth row this week. He caught sight of Ginny's pale, worried face, and his voice softened.

Ron, I'm scared, Ginny confessed, though she needn't have said a word; Ron could tell straight away that something was the matter.

He looked at her tenderly, and motioned for her to come sit by him. When she had done so, he put him arm around her. She leaned against his shoulder, trying to fight back the tears that kept threatening to over come her.

Aren't you getting a little old for this? Ron joked weakly. But Ginny could tell he needed it just as much as she did.

Neither one of them said anything after that; but, then again, they didn't have to when each knew what the other was thinking, feeling.

Ron and Ginny had always been close; closer, in fact, than their five other brothers, even if Ron denied it, and he did deny it, at least at school. But he was always a pain at school anyway. That didn't reflect on their relationship at home. If anything, the war had brought them closer.

It's not your fault, Gin, he reassured her, these things happen. Ginny trailed off, fingering at a loose thread in Ron's Chudley Cannon bedspread.

Ron, they were arguing about me. she said softly. She decided not to say about what. Ron stiffened.

Ginny looked up into Ron's face. He seemed to be wrestling with an intense problem. There was a look of agitation on his face, and he was sweating.

Ron, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? she asked curiously. Ron shook his head half heartedly, and said, almost in a whisper,

Ginny sat straight up. she raised her voice to get her brother's attention, Ron, look at me and tell me you don't know why they were fighting over me. She put her hands on his shoulders so he was forced to look straight into her eyes.

No. I don't know Ginny. I don't know a thing.

Ginny almost believed him. Almost.