Aching Bones and Wasted Years
By liquid lily
Prologue: All The Love That Disappears
Ginny tossed the cap in the air for about the millionth time before expertly catching it and repeating the process again. Her eyes, like those of her brothers and two friends were glued on the door at the bottom of the stair. A number of old butter-beer caps littered the front of the kitchen door, a result of their attempts to discover that; yes, the room had been imperturbabled. On the floor above her, where Ron, Hermione and Harry sat perched by the banister, her brother let out a huff.
"This is ridiculous," he whined. "Why are they bothering with a bloody meeting anyways. We all know he's guilty!"
Hermione's immediate, "Hush, Ron," was also ignored.
Harry, predictably, remained silent.
The cap arched in the air once more, but this time George reached out to snatch it up before it could finish its pattern. He gave her an exaggerated smile when she turned to him in question and made a show of setting the cap gently on the ground. Obviously, her nervous habit had reached the point of annoyance. She shrugged and started fiddling with her fingers instead.
"I wonder who'll bunk with," Fred said suddenly. "I thought all the rooms were full up."
Something dropped from the landing overhead and Ginny and the twins all looked up to see Ron glaring down at them. "You're acting like you think they're actually going to let him stay."
Fred shrugged, and just looked back towards the door.
"It's not really up to them though, is it?" Hermione spoke suddenly. "It's Harry's house."
They all turned to look at Harry as one. He remained staring fixedly at a spot on the wall, purposefully ignoring the door that had so enthralled the rest of their attentions.
"Probably with Lupin," said George.
"What?" Ginny asked him, taking his momentary distraction as an opportunity to claim her cap again.
"Where he'll stay," George told her. "With Lupin. So he can keep an eye on him, you know?"
"Lupin's with Tonks now," said Harry, speaking for the first time since they had begun their vigil.
"Oh," said George. "Right."
Ginny began her game of toss and catch again and ran the list through her head. Her parents were sharing one room, and Lupin and Tonks another, which took care of all the adults in the house. Then there was Bill and Phlegm, who she absolutely could not consider adults yet, despite their impending nuptials and ages more advanced than hers. Ron was bunking with Harry per usual, and the twins had their regular room, and she, of course, was in with Hermione.
Even if he did end up staying, there would be nowhere for him to stay. All the rooms were full up. Except Sirius' old room, a voice in the back of her head said. She quickly forced that thought away and returned to her unthinking state once more. The cap rose up in the air, and back down into her waiting hands.
Another wave of silenced passed and then; "What do you think Harry? You were there."
Ron, of course, tactless as usual. Ginny caught the cap in her hand and clenched it in a tight fist. She could just imagine the grim look passing across Harry's features.
"I dunno," Harry answered listlessly.
Ron hissed in a sharp intake of breath, which she hoped meant Hermione had just pinched him very hard.
"If you hold that thing any tighter you're going to melt it," George told her as he laid one of his much larger hands over her fist.
Ginny looked down at it, and let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The cap fell to the ground with a faint tin tap. George left his hand on hers and squeezed, she squeezed back gratefully.
Then all at once, the doors were open. The front hall exploded into a mass of bodies and conversation. Above them, the trio of friends scrambled to their feet. Ginny waited for Fred and George to rise and then let them pull her up between them.
The presented crowd did nothing to answer their questions. Almost each face was dour, which could mean almost anything. One face, however, stood out in the crowd. Minerva McGonagall, recently appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts stepped towards the stair, her eyes resting solely on Harry's.
"Mr. Potter?" she said, her voice rising high enough to be heard two floors above her. "May I have a word? I need to ask you a favor."
Beside her Fred gasped slightly, and somewhere above Hermione was trying to stifle a string of Ron's curses. Again Harry remained silent and Ginny watched as he made his way down the stairs towards the new Headmistress. His shoulders were dejectedly slumped, and it seemed as if he was trying very hard to keep his facial expression under control. Ginny didn't even need to look to know that his hands were forced in his pockets, and most likely clenched into white knuckled fists.
She sighed as she watched him enter the kitchen through the remaining stragglers of the ended meeting. That was it then. Draco Malfoy would be coming to Grimmauld Place.