Word count: 2178

Fairytales OWL: Little Red Riding Hood (a woman in red + a grandmother) and Beauty and the Beast (a revelation of a character's true nature + a beauty)


Nowadays - for the public eyes, at least - Ginny Weasley was known as the Woman in Red. Firstly, because of her bright red hair, secondly, because of her fiery attitude, and thirdly, because of her flagrantly offensive behaviour. Well, that was, in the eyes of the magical population of Britain.

She hadn't always been like that, however, the circumstances dictated otherwise. At some point in her life, it had become painfully obvious that she needed to put up a facade for the public to see.

It all started when she broke up with Harry at eighteen. She had been a fresh graduate at Hogwarts; back then, she had various plans for her future, and it was then that she realised that the Chosen One somehow didn't quite fit into this picture she had painted of herself and her future.

She wanted to travel; she wanted to see the world while Harry had already explicitly stated at that point that he only wanted some peace and quiet for once in his life. Having been left disappointed, Ginny made the decision to part ways with him. It was a quiet affair, and they had agreed to keep being friends, however, for the public eyes, it was something entirely else. For weeks - maybe even months - almost every edition of the Daily Prophet found a particular topic to gossip about - surrounding the breakup, per se.

More often than not, it was, of course, Ginny, who was painted as the scarlet woman, the one who broke the heart of The Boy Who Lived. For a certain period of time, she grinned and bore it; she, with Harry on her side, tried to convince the press that it was nothing like that; they even asked for help from Hermione, but even then, the redhead's public reception was way too difficult to influence.

And so, she did the least courageous thing she had ever done - she packed her trunks and bid the British Islands goodbye in order to fulfil her dreams.

What she didn't account for was that nevertheless, her fate would inevitably follow her to wherever she went. At this point, it happened to be in Brazil.

Ginny was currently gazing out of her window - elbow on the windowsill, jaw resting on her palm, she peered down at the busy streets of Rio, where people were surging to work, or to home, or to wherever they were heading.

If she was going to be perfectly honest, Ginny was rather bored, but it was way too hot for her to function like she normally would. She was still not completely used to the scorching hot weather of the country - especially not after the first nineteen years of her life, which she had spent living in the rainy United Kingdom. She was also not sure how her grandma - whose home she was currently staying at - had managed to accommodate to this weather.

Then again, it was not like she particularly needed to do anything at the moment - she worked at a local bar as a bartender - or, as the regulars referred to her, the northerner beauty of the place. At that point, this bar would open only a couple of hours later. Normally, she would use this time to nap before heading to work, but with the summer arriving early, at around 1 PM, it became much too scalding for her to sleep. Ever since, she had been philosophising - well, more like daydreaming - while staring at the window.

She was on the verge of standing up and doing something productive for once, when an owl zoomed in, landing on the floor, facing downwards due to the awkward landing angle. Ginny hopped up from her seat and hurried over to the animal to check if it was alright - but mainly to see what it had brought.

When she reached her destination and picked up the bird, though, she was surprised to see a letter attached to its leg, which was addressed to her specifically. Having completely forgotten the owl - which, meanwhile, hooted a goodbye and shooted out of the window, seemingly unscathed - Ginny ripped the letter open. She hadn't received a single message ever since she had left England - it made her wonder what could've made anyone back there to write a message to her.

Dear Ginny, - or should I say the Beast besides the Beauty?

I found this newspaper clipping recently. To be fair, I'm not surprised. Thought you ought to know, simply.

See you,

A 'fan' of yours

Ginny furrowed her eyebrows. She had no idea who could've sent her such a letter - she hadn't told anybody where she went, and she trusted her grandma enough not to send messages back home. At the same time, though, it was somewhat unsettling that there was somebody out there in the throng of her haters who knew where she was. Completely baffled still, the witch rolled out the clipping and pursed her lips as soon as she glimpsed the headline.

The Beast Beside the Beauty - How Ginevra Weasley Chose to Flee, it said.

She had a sudden feeling of uneasiness, even though she already knew what would lie between the lines of the article. It was probably about the fact that she left England after failing to deal with the press. She had previously assumed that would happen, but now that somebody was kind enough to clear any and all hope she had had left, it set her in an even more worrisome mood.

Placing the clipping aside, Ginny noticed another slip of paper on the ground. It was another fragment from a newspaper - Witch Weekly, like the one beforehand - with a similar but very different heading.

The Beauty after the Beast - Possible New Princess Charming Contender? - was written on the paper. Under the heading was a picture of Harry and, of all people, Lavender Brown, as the two of them strolled down Diagon Alley.

"So, that's what has happened while I was away," muttered the redhead, dropping the articles on the floor, beside the still suspicious letter of unknown origin.

Just as she was about to scrap herself together and throw it all in the garbage can, she heard a voice, coming from the main entrance.

"Ginevra, I'm home!" the witch's grandmother shouted, followed by a clicking sound - presumably her locking the front door.

Ginny, still in quite a worrisome state of being, descended down the stairs and greeted her grandma with a hug.

"Granny, did you write back home about me being here?" Ginny asked, not even bothering to say 'Hello.'

"No, my dear, I didn't," the elderly witch shook her head. "You asked me not to, so I didn't. Though, I was very tempted to; I was worried Molly would come screeching to me - which I can understand. That poor sod has too many children to take care of. I never understood why she had so many; I used to tell her all the time just how much trouble it was raising her and her brothers."

"So, you didn't tell her, nor anybody?" Ginny inquired, raising her eyebrow slightly.

"No, I didn't," the matriarch answered. „Have you eaten lunch? You need the energy to work; you know that well."

"Yes, Granny, I ate the leftovers from yesterday," Ginny dabbed, getting somewhat impatient. "Look, Granny, do you by any chance know how somebody could've gotten info about where I'm at right now?"

"Why would you ask, Ginny, dear?"

"Take a look at this." Ginny thrust her hand forward, placing the letter in her grandmother's hands.

"Is this why you took a Portkey here?" the other woman asked, wide-eyed, having read through both the clippings and the letter.

Ginny sighed. "Yes, it is. Now, I honestly don't know where I could go anymore. I just wanted peace; can you help me?"

"If I learned anything in my life," the other witch said, "it's that us, Prewetts never give up. We always face difficulties head on, and I can advise you the same. Ginevra, dear, you should go back to England as soon as you can, and you should show them that you're not afraid of them. You were sorted into Gryffindor, were you not?"

"Yes, Grandma," Ginny mumbled. "I'll think about it, but for now, I need to head to work. See you later, okay?"

"Fine," the grandma said. "Be safe, and give some thought to what I've said."

It was past midnight already, but the bar named Jalapeño - where Ginny worked - had just about reached its highest traffic time. The redhead, though, was currently taking a break, sitting in one of the boxes with a completely normal, Muggle Cachaça in hand. It wasn't long before the person she was looking for also entered the bar.

Much to her surprise, it was the person she had least expected to be there. At the same time, though, she was a hundred percent sure that it was her that she had been looking for. Before she could've thought about it twice, she hopped up from her seat and sauntered towards the blond, who was now leaning on the bar counter. Upon reaching her, Ginny grabbed the sleeve of the girl and dragged her out onto the street, not even caring about the curious eyes that followed her.

"Lavender," she exclaimed as soon as the two of them were outside. She had not loosened her grip on the other girl, but she did as soon as she took notice of the painful hiss that had escaped the blonde's lips.

"Ginny," Lavender replied. "I was just about to ask for you at the counter. How are you doing?"

"Come on, we both know you're not here to talk about such minor things. I do wonder why couldn't you come and face me in the first place, though. I thought you were a Gryffindor, rather than a sneaky Slytherin."

"What do you mean 'in the first place?'" Lavender looked puzzled. "This is my first attempt at speaking to you since... Well, you left. But we never really talked even before that anyway."

"Do you mean to tell me that it wasn't you who sent that message?" Ginny furrowed her eyebrows, completely and utterly confused.

"What message?" Lavender asked with a helpless voice. "I never sent you a message. I just wanted to talk with you about… some things."

"Then who sent that bloody letter?" Ginny seethed, scowling at no one in particular.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Ginny," Lavender shook her head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay with me and Harry since you left so abruptly after your breakup. Are you okay?"

"Well, I have had better days," Ginny replied, pent up anger still evident in her eyes. "Look, Lavender. Somebody sent me a letter with various clippings from articles about me and Harry. They were all from Witch Weekly, and there was also a personal message attached to it. Do you know who hates me this much? And how in Merlin's name they had gotten hold of the fact that I was staying at Brazil?"

"Um…" Lavender suddenly averted her gaze onto her shoes, biting her lower lip in the process. "I may have a guess."

"You may have a guess?" Ginny hissed, her voice dangerously low. "And who is it?"

"She was a friend of mine," Lavender admitted, still avoiding Ginny's – rather justified – glare. "The stress is on was, though. She wasn't… fond of you, not after what she had read about you in the paper. It was also rather tough for her to acknowledge me and Harry together; she was sceptical about it. Back when I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts, Ron had told me that your grandmother lives in Rio, and it may have slipped while I converse with her. But, if it satisfies you, I've cut all my ties with her since."

"I'm not seeing why I should forgive you," Ginny replied, her gaze way colder than it had been just a moment before. "Fine. You can have a relationship with Harry all you want; we're only friends. Otherwise, I'm not seeing why we should be on friendly terms."

"I'm sorry," was all Lavender could muster.

"Tomorrow, I'll grab a Portkey back to London," Ginny said. "I'm not afraid of the press anymore. Maybe you can help me, and then, we can hopefully agree on a few things."

"Sure," Lavender nodded. "I'd love to help. Say, can you help me find accommodation for tonight? I made a rash decision when I came here, and I'd rather not travel this late."

"I live just down the street," Ginny said doubtfully. "My grandma has another guest room."

"Thank you," Lavender grinned. "You're a lifesaver."

"Thank Granny," Ginny dodged. "She helped both of us the most."

It's time for the Woman in Red to come back into action, Ginny thought.