Ginny Weasley and the Seventh Year.
Summary: Ginny's sixth year was one she would rather forget. But, as life goes on, Ginny learns how to grow stronger, fall in love, pass her NEWTs and succeed in life.
Disclaimer: Most certainly not mine. I wish.
A/N: i'm back! i figured i might try for something that's not a one-shot...school holidays are almost over so don't be too surprised when i don't update regularly, i have to prepare for exams this term :( i'll be out of town til saturday, then out sunday morning, then back to school on monday. exams are early november, so dont expect anything until...maybe...middle of november.
enjoy :)
Prologue: The Start of the Beginning
It might have been the end, but everyone knew it was the start of the beginning. The Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, was finally dead. And they were free from the darkness that they had been trapped by. They embraced the light and the end of a dark reign.
Others weren't as joyous, and had good reason.
Their freedom did not come without sacrifice. Each family had lost a dear family member, if they family had not been entirely eliminated before the Battle of Hogwarts. Tears were being shed before the joy could settle in, and there was much to be done before they could move past the denial, the anger, the bargaining and the depression into acceptance.
The Great Hall was a bigger mess that it had ever been. There were huge holes in the walls that had once seemed so indestructible, with blood smeared over them in a way that had not been seen for 5 years. The giant tables that normally accommodated the students of Hogwarts were groaning once again under the pressure of students and travellers. The room was full of bodies: dying ones, injured ones, grieving ones, helping ones, dead ones. Death was a constant in this room; one had to only take a step inside the Hall to see the death and injury that marked this school.
Ginny watched as he talked to Luna for a few seconds before he disappeared. The battle had certainly not addled her brains – she knew that he had disappeared under his Invisibility Cloak, and she knew exactly where he'd go and who he'd take with him.
She did not feel offended as she watched Ron and Hermione stand up and leave the Great Hall. The exhaustion was too much for her, and she sighed. She looked at the table next to hers, where a few admirers surrounded Neville with the sword of Gryffindor. She was not surprised when Hannah Abbott joined him, nor was she surprised as they dove into a deep conversation once the crowd had dispersed.
She looked at her mother, whose shoulder she was leaning on. She knew her mother had a formidable temper – she herself had been on the receiving end of many lectures and arguments. She knew that her mother loved all of her children – even Percy, whose true colour finally came through in time for the battle. In spite of this knowledge, however, she had to admit to herself she had been a little surprised when her mum had come to Hermione's, Luna's and her own rescue. She could not be more grateful that her mum loved her the way she did.
"Mum?" she said softly. Molly Weasley turned to face her youngest and only daughter, who had suffered much during the year.
"Yes, dear?" she asked.
She wrapped her arms around her mother, who patted her head. "Thanks."
Molly's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It's alright, dear. We'll be alright."
It was at this point that Ginny looked directly across from her at her brothers. Or rather, the ones who were sitting down in front of her.
George and Percy were, in a rare show of brotherly bonding, were sitting quietly, Percy's hand around George's shoulder. Once in a while, one of them would say something – about Fred, she assumed – and the other would crack a forced smile.
Her heart contracted slightly at the thought of Fred. It was so weird seeing one without the other, and now...George would always be alone.
No, she thought. We'll be there for George. But deep inside, she knew this could not happen. They could not all throw their lives into helping George and forget to live. Fred would never forgive them if they forgot to live their own lives.
Fred would never forgive them if they cried at his funeral, either. She smiled at that. I promise you, Fred, I won't cry at your funeral.
Bill, Charlie and her father were presumably talking to the other survivors of the Battle of Hogwarts. She knew they'd probably re-write all the history books to cover Harry's life and this final battle. This was definitely history being made, something no historian would forget or miss out on. She also knew the reporters – and in particular, Rita Skeeter – would love to have an interview with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Especially Harry.
She sighed, and smiled to herself. Of course her mind would eventually come back to Harry. It always did.
Where could she even begin to start when it came to Harry James Potter? Everyone knew the story, everyone was familiar with the legend, but she was one of the lucky ones who really knew the real Harry Potter.
Her smile grows wider as she thinks of the jokes Fred and George would have made if she had said that out loud. And if Fred was physically, there, obviously...
And since she knew Harry so well – from years of observations, months of comfort and, unfortunately, only a month of being his girlfriend – she knew he'd be too tired to blame himself for the deaths of those who had died, especially Fred. She didn't feel as if she had to confront him and make him explain why she was left behind; she knew that conversation would come up soon enough. She didn't feel hurt or betrayed by his solemn 'no' when she had been begging to join the fighting, neither did she doubt that it was him who had walked past her as she comforted the poor dying girl. She knew that, if he wanted to tell her, he would tell her. She would let him come to her.
Without thinking too much, she stood up.
"Be right back, Mum," she said. "Just want to go talk to some people."
Her mum nodded in an understanding way that comforted her, and she walked away from her family and wandered over to where Neville was sitting with Hannah.
"You guys ok?" she asked as she placed both hands on their shoulders. "Good job fighting, by the way."
Neville blushed under the praise, but managed to say, "Yeah, we're good. We'll be alright, won't we?"
She laughed. It sounded wrong, and very off, but it was still a laugh. "We will. What about you, Hannah?"
Hannah looked up at her and smiled. "We'll live, I guess. They're having a memorial when they fix up the castle, someone said."
"Good," Ginny nodded. "People need to know the real story before the history books screw everything up."
The couple laughed – for they were truly a couple now. Ginny remembered the countless conversations she and Neville had had throughout the year. The majority had been about Harry and Dumbledore's Army, granted, but once she got him to admit he liked Hannah, he'd been prone to bringing her up. Very often.
She scanned the room quickly and found someone else to talk to. "I'll see you guys later," she said, leaving them and crossing the room
"Hello, Ginny," Luna said as Ginny sat down next to the blonde girl. "I'm sorry about your brother, Fred. He was very funny. I liked him. How are you?"
Ginny cracked a smile. "He was funny, wasn't he? We're all going to be ok now, aren't we?"
Luna nodded. "Oh, yes. We'll be alright, eventually. Unless a swarm of Wrackspurts attack. Daddy's been monitoring a large flock of them, and he's sure they'll rebel like we did once. But they can't kill you – so yes, we will be alright."
Same old Luna, Ginny thought to herself when something Luna said struck her.
"We'll be alright." She's heard that phrase three times in the last half an hour. Would they really be 'alright'? Ginny was many things, but she was not stupid – she knew they would not 'alright' for a long time. The memorial Hannah had mentioned would be a messy affair – she had promised herself she wouldn't cry at Fred's funeral, but it wouldn't be right to hide her tears for Tonks, Remus and Colin. She had made no such promise to them, and she didn't intend to. She supposed that the memorial would act like a communal funeral for everyone to share their grief and their stories. Then the families would do what they wished with the bodies of their loved ones. She knew Harry would be invited to each and every one of them and she knew he'd be obligated to go to all of them.
She said goodbye to Luna and went to go talk to some of the others she'd seen before: Seamus and Dean; the Patil twins and Lavender; Hagrid; Cho and Michael (albeit grudgingly, she felt it would only be polite to talk to them); Bill, Charlie and her dad, who she had caught up to; Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Oliver Wood, who were yet to approach George; Mrs Longbottom; and finally, Professor McGonagall.
"You've been very strong, Miss Weasley," McGonagall said as Ginny started to walk away. The blush formed on her face before she could stop herself. She smiled at her professor before she noticed that the Great Hall was much emptier. Before, there had been hundreds of people; now, there were 10-20 people at each table.
"Where'd everyone go?" she wondered aloud.
"They have gone to tidy up, I believe," McGonagall responded. "There is still much that needs to be done before Hogwarts can open again."
She nodded in assessment before leaving the Great Hall. McGonagall had said that she had been strong...she didn't feel very strong. She felt tired and breathless and absolutely exhausted. If anything, she felt bloody pathetic. She felt like she hadn't slept in days, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse in her four-poster bed in Gryffindor Tower. If it was still standing.
Btu her feet didn't take her to Gryffindor Tower. Her feet took her to a deserted corridor on the second floor. The place was so deserted there was absolutely nothing to clean up. Not a single scratch on the walls.
Without thinking, she pushed the door to the girl's bathroom open. For the first time she'd been in here, it was empty – she supposed Moaning Myrtle would be surveying the damage and whining.
She walked right into the bathroom and right up to the taps, fingering one of them softly. She ran her hand over the tap and the sink. For her, this is where her real journey with Tom Riddle began.
The memories of her disastrous first year suddenly came flooding to her, and she watched her reflection in the cracked mirror as a tear slid down her pale white face.
For the first time, in a long time, Ginny Weasley let herself cry.
It was several hours later that Ginny finally made it back to the Great Hall. She could not remember the last time she had cried that much for that long. Ginny Weasley didn't cry. But even Ginny Weasley got tired of being strong.
After Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, she went to inspect her beloved Gryffindor Tower, to make sure it was still standing. She'd been standing in the same spot Harry had kissed her for half an hour, not moving, before she walked up to the girl's dormitory.
Not a single dust particle had been stirred during the intense hours of the Battle of Hogwarts. She ran her hand over her bed, her bedside table, her clothes that were still in her chest of drawers, her Hogwarts robes, the books she had chosen to leave behind...she was amazed that Gryffindor Tower had remained as untouched as it appeared.
She was shaken out of her stupor when she heard someone call her name.
"Ginny?"
She whipped around, drawing her wand instinctively, tucking it away when she saw a fellow sixth-year, Jessica Horwitt.
"They've just pulled us out of evacuation – what are you doing here?" Jess laughed.
Ginny strode over to where Jess was standing and hugged her fiercely. Jess laughed again.
"I missed you too, silly. Now, where the hell have you been? Your family are looking everywhere for you!"
"Oh, shit," Ginny cursed softly. "I'll bet Mum's going insane."
"Almost tore the door off every bloody room," Jess said. "Go, before she blasts the painting apart."
Ginny laughed with her dorm mate before running down the stairs and out of the common room.
As she slowed to a walk, she thought about how so much had happened in the last 12 hours. She thought about Fred, and Colin, and Tonks and Remus. She thought about Harry, as she always did, and how all this would affect him. She thought about Hermione and Ron, and how they had finally confessed their obvious love. She thought about what McGonagall had said, that much had to be done before Hogwarts could re-open.
"Only the start of the beginning," she said to herself before striding into the Great Hall.
review please :)