Ginny Weasley was staring intently at the glass of champagne in her hand, following the rising bubbles with her chocolate brown eyes. The boy who'd handed her the drink, Miguel, was prattling on about some aspect of Beaubattons, which he was apparently under the impression she would find fascinating.
"Are you trying to catch a humcup?" interrupted a singsong voice. Ginny looked up and smiled at Luna Lovegood. Her friend's pale face was pink in the cheeks from dancing.
"Should I be?" Ginny asked sweetly. Luna had a wonderful way of distracting her when she needed it, sometimes with a sort of sixth sense that drew them together.
"Well they aren't terribly useful, but daddy says they're quite beautiful. You're better off using soda water though, the champagne attracts more of them, but they get rather silly once they spend too much time in the glass." Luna explained to Miguel's bewilderment.
Ginny took the opportunity and delved into the topic of magical creatures with Luna, and it wasn't long before she looked up and noticed Miguel moved on to another guest. She sighed with relief and Luna changed topic as if she'd been watching too.
"I thought you would be sitting with Harry, weddings can be quite romantic."
"I guess so, but that's probably why we're avoiding each other" Ginny sighed, glancing at the redhead on the other side of the dance floor, who was supposed to be her cousin. She set down her glass and leaned closer to Luna.
"You really mustn't tell anyone about us Luna, Harry and I - we - well, he needs us to be apart." Ginny explained softly. "If the Death Eaters knew about us, they'd use me to get to him. I hate going along with his chivalry nonsense, but Hermione's right, he is too much of a hero sometimes."
"I won't tell anyone. I'm fairly sure your brothers know you love him though, but they won't tell the Death Eaters either." Luna mused, and then suddenly added "would you like to dance with me instead? Then you won't have to lead that other boy on." Ginny grinned at Luna as she noticed Miguel eyeing their table once more.
"Bien sure mademoiselle!" she replied in the French accent she'd perfected over the summer. Luna took her by the fingertips and led her primly onto the dance floor, champagne and humcups forgotten.
The two girls danced through the crowd, Luna leading the pair, twirling and dipping Ginny expertly as they went. Ginny's gold dress spun out like a flower in bloom, then wrapped itself around her slim body as they made their way across the floor. She found herself truly enjoying herself for the first time since those stolen moments with Harry in her room.
The pair dipped their heads in greeting as they pranced around other couples, Charlie winked at them as he waltzed with Madame Delacour. They nearly tripped up Gabrielle's dance partner as Ginny took advantage of a particularly exuberant spin and kissed Fleur's sister on the cheek when she paused mid-twirl.
The song ended all too soon and Luna swept into a low bow, kissing Ginny's hand, her other arm flung out with extravagance. Ginny made a show of turning her face away as if blushing at the attention of her dance partner, letting a few girlish giggles escape her lips.
Other guests clapped as the band took a moment to poise their instruments for the next song, but as Ginny turned to Luna, Kingsley Shaklebolt's voice boomed over the crowd.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
Ginny spun around in time to see a patronous dissolve from the center of the tent, her hand flying under her dress to pull her wand out of its garter strap. Someone nearby screamed and Ginny found herself slammed to the ground, softening the fall for the small body that had knocked the wind out of her.
"Protego!" Luna's spell was echoed a dozen times around them, Ginny frantically pushing Gabrielle's long hair out of her face, searching for signs of life as chaos erupted around them. Hagrid was rushing towards the masked figure that was bearing down on the three girls. Ginny felt her heart start beating again as Gabrielle moaned and stirred in her arms.
"STUPEFY!" The double spell from her and Luna knocked the Death Eater off his feet.
"Hagrid! Take her, take Gabrielle and anyone else who can't Apparate!" she yelled, lifting the girl's limp body off the floor. Hagrid cradled Gabrielle in one arm and shielded her with his bulk.
On her feet now, Ginny saw Hermione's bushy hair bobbing through the crowd, Harry in tow. If he didn't get out in time, if they were captured and his Polyjuice potion wore off while they were surrounded by Death Eaters…
A jet of red light shot past Harry's head, and Ginny could feel blood pounding in her ears.
"Impedia!" the Death Eater froze where he stood, Ginny sent a Bat Bogey Hex through his mask for good measure. The tent was filled with rebounding spells and loud cracks and guests fled and members of the Order dueled Death Eaters and Ministry workers alike. Ginny felt herself back into someone and spun around, her wand pointed at the space between Bill's eyes and his pointed at the top of her head.
"Stay close" her eldest brother ordered as the two whipped back around, backs to each other, firing shield charms and hexes from the center of what had been the dance floor. Ginny could feel Fleur's long gown brush against her and chanced a glance over her shoulder.
She'd never seen such hate and anger on her sister-in-law's face; her beauty had twisted into a look of indescribable fury, which somehow made her more terrible and breathtaking at the same time. Fleur wasn't flourishing her wand as she had while performing charms over the summer; she was jabbing and slashing at the air and her hexes hit their mark every time.
"Gabrielle is safe, I sent her with Hagrid" Ginny shouted as she and Fleur stunned a pair of Death Eaters. Fleur answered with a few words in French and continued dueling.
"We're outnumbered, they just keep coming!" Bill shouted over the din as he pushed the two women down and a spell grazed Ginny's cheek. Someone was shouting from the other side of the tent.
"We need to hold them off as long as we can" Ginny said desperately as she lifted herself back up and scanned the diminishing crowd for Harry. She wouldn't stop, not until she knew he had gotten away. "Did they get out? Have you- "
"Ginny, DOWN!" Bill roared. But she'd let herself be distracted for a moment too long. She could feel, simultaneously, Bill's arm reach up to her waist to pull her out of the line of fire, and what felt like a battering ram slam into her back between her shoulder blades.
"Stay down you mad girl" she heard Bill growl in her ear, his body lying protectively on top of hers as she lost consciousness.
The first thing Ginny could feel when she woke was her throat burning. Her eyes flew open to see her mother tipping a goblet of potion into her mouth as someone held her upright on her bed. She pushed them aside and leaned over the edge, her throat burned again as she retched. Taking advantage of her position, she took three shaking breaths as she let her mind race before someone shoved her back up roughly.
Cringing, she let out small scream and shrank back against the wall, her eyes darting around the room. Fleur must have been supporting her when she had woken, but had been pushed aside and was now righting herself. Her wedding dress was singed in places and stained with grass, dirt, and, Ginny nearly retched again, blood.
"Where is Harry Potter?" spat the final occupant of the room, the witch who had shoved Fleur to the ground.
"I… what? How should I know?" Ginny choked, still staring at her sister-in-law. "What happened to Fleur, why's her dress been ruined?"
The Ministry witch slapped her. Ginny could feel that her face was tight with dried blood, and the slap stung sharply against the gash on her cheek. Ginny coughed and sputtered, then forced herself to look at her mother.
"Mum, what happened? Who is she? Why is Fleur wearing her wedding dress? Why was I-" she watched the colour drain from her mother's face as the Ministry witch raised her hand again. Molly reached an arm forward to shield Ginny from the second blow.
"Ginny, do you know what day it is? Do you remember what happened?" Molly asked, her hands clamped on either side of Ginny's face, eyes wide and terrified.
"I… It's Tuesday isn't it? I was helping Charlie de-gnome the garden… He must have…" She let her voice trail off and gave in to the shaking her body had been fighting off since she'd woken. She looked wild eyed from her mother to the other two witches in the room; Fleur had a hand covering her mouth in shock, but Ginny would swear she gave the slightest nod when their eyes met.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Molly turned on the Ministry witch, shielding Ginny from further interrogations. Ginny knew she had to shrink back, had to play the confused child, least she say something to contradict the story the others would have told.
"Stand aside Mrs. Weasley, I agreed to let you be present as your daughter woke, but you will NOT interfere with my questioning." Ginny noticed her mother's hand reach for the pocket she would normally have pulled her wand from, and caught her breath when she realized it was empty.
"QUESTION HER? The child can't remember the past three days, let alone what was done to her last night or where her brother's classmate could be!" Ginny's jaw dropped slightly, although the look of shock was not entirely feigned. It was one thing to see her mother tell off Fred and George, but there was something impressive about seeing a middle aged witch on the receiving end of her rage.
There was a commotion in the hallway and Ginny's father burst through the door, pushing two men in Death Eater robes aside. Ginny flung herself at her father, and as his arms held her in a tight grip, muffling the sound of shouting.
Ginny could feel her father loosen his hold and twist as Fred appeared at Arthur's shoulder and gently pulled Ginny into the hall and led her down to the kitchen.
Fleur followed behind them and joined Bill, who was arguing with a wizard in Ministry robes. George was wrestling slightly with the shoulder of Charlie's robes, which looked torn and scorched. Noting the man next to Bill eye her suspiciously, Ginny sank into a kitchen chair and let Fred fuss over the cut on her face.
"You just missed the new Minister for Magic" George said as he overpowered his brother and began to apply a salve to his wound. "You've been out for about six hours; apparently he didn't think you would have much to say when you came to. Sit still ya git" he added as Charlie tried to pull away again.
"What happened? The last thing I remember is Charlie and I de-gnoming the garden…" Fred raised his eyebrows slightly, evidently remembering that she had skived off that particular chore. The boys skimmed quickly over the events of the past few days to keep up the ruse for the Ministry wizard, now standing alone as Bill ignored him in favour of his new wife. Finally they were able to fill her in on what happened after the Ministry attacked.
"Nearly everyone got out before the second wave of…" Charlie paused and snarled at the Ministry wizard, who seemed to be guarding the doorway. "Magical Law Enforcement arrived. Once dad noticed it was just family left and we were outnumbered three to one, he tried to call us all off... It was so bloody loud; I don't even think half of us heard him. Then…" His eyes grew dark and Ginny saw his fists clench tightly on the table.
"Well, you've always been one to command our attention" George continued in a low voice. "Sounded like a bludger on a bat when that curse hit you." His voice shook slightly and Ginny glanced around the room. Fred, Charlie and Bill were looking menacingly at the stranger near the doorway. George alone was staring at her, his face unrecognizable behind the calm fury.
Finally, Bill broke the tense silence. "Mum insisted the Delacours take advantage of the Foreign Wizards Protection Act and get Gabrielle and one of the other cousins to Saint Mungo's by portkey. The rest of us are under house arrest until interrogations are complete."
"Yes, and I think it's about that time" Arthur's voice made them all jump and he marched down the stairs. Ginny clenched her fists as she got a good look at him; his lip was bloody and he favored his right leg as he limped down the stairs. It seemed like her parents, the two Death Eaters, and the Ministry witch had come to some sort of agreement upstairs though, and Mr. Weasley was ushering them out the door.
"So we're clear? You and your sons may go to and from work, You may take the girl to King's Cross September first. All other excursions are to be cleared with the Ministry until further notice." The Ministry witch huffed as she handed Arthur a half dozen wands.
"Your foreign guests will be given transportation out of the country from Saint Mungo's. Your two eldest sons are to return to their respective homes by the end of the week. We are being more lenient than we should be Arthur, do not test us."
Mr. Weasley's upper lip curled as the four strangers turned and marched out of the yard. The sound of them Disapperating was almost lost as he slammed the door and threw the pile of wands onto the table.
Ginny opened her mouth to explain herself, but was silenced as her mother pulled her out of her chair and began inspecting her. She seemed satisfied with Fred's work on her cheek and began prodding her and feeling her forehead.
"Mum, she's ok, she lied to keep that Ministry hag off her back. I already checked her over" Fred explained, gently pulling his mother back. Molly stepped back and rested her hands on either side of Ginny's face, soaking her in.
"Oh you clever girl, you had me worried sick!" Molly breathed. "I suppose the boys filled you in?" Ginny nodded, the first time she had properly moved on her own in half an hour. She suddenly became aware of her aching muscles. Her mother, it seemed, had been spurred on with the knowledge that Ginny was relatively unharmed.
"Fred, if you're done with your sister, come help me fix breakfast. George, Charlie, set the table. Fleur dear, you really should change if we have any hope of salvaging that dress." The Weasleys numbly followed their mother's orders, but Fleur stumbled slightly on her way up the stairs. Her eyes were oddly out of focus, and Ginny knew the last time she'd seen her own sister, the girl had probably still been unconscious.
Bill had hurried to her side and half carried her up the stairs. Fleur looked about the same as Ginny felt; exhausted, overwhelmed and terrified. She realized she was halfway out of her seat on her way to the stairs to help, then sank back down to give the newlywed couple their privacy.
Bill returned to the kitchen as breakfast was being served. He handed Fleur's dress to his mother and accepted a tray set for two in return before retreating upstairs. Ginny doubted very much that Fleur would be awake when he returned with their breakfast.
Ginny suddenly became aware that Fleur was not the odd one out by remaining in her wedding clothes, although the dress robes the others wore stood out far less than her own extravagant dress.
"Do we know where…?" She asked quietly. She didn't trust herself with the rest of the question.
"No, but I saw them Disapperate while you were with Bill and Fleur." Arthur replied. "You should have gone with Hagrid and Gabrielle. I managed to convince them that Bill was casting your hexes, and we're lucky they believed it."
"I'm not just going to cower with the children when my family is attacked!" Ginny spat. "I can duel better than most wizards who are of age!"
"I'm well aware, but the ministry - " Arthur started, but Ginny cut across him.
"What about Luna? She was with me when the fight broke out, but I… I lost her" she finished, suddenly panicked. She'd left Luna to deal with the Death Eaters on her own, if she'd gotten hurt, she'd never forgive herself.
"Her father took her when he Disapperated." Fred answered quickly. "Looked right terrified until he found her too, I'd recon he's one of many either you or Luna could best in a duel." Ginny sighed and closed her eyes, letting relief wash over her. They'd all made it out safely.