Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! Don't sue me!
"Adulescens Agnosco!" Ginny sucked in her breath. This was it. Harry had cast the spell. In a matter of seconds, they would know if the spell Hermione had spent relentless hours searching for worked. Voldemort's red eyes widened in shock. His receding hairline seemed to be marching right back, his wrinkles disappearing. It was a de-aging spell, the Latin translated into "to know youth again." Harry couldn't stand the idea of being a murderer—even if it was Voldemort—so they decided to make him so young, he couldn't exist.
It started slowly at first, he grew a year younger every few moments, but then it sped up…5 years younger every few moments…10…Ginny suddenly found herself staring at the 16-year-old boy who led her into the Chamber of Secrets nine years ago. She closed her eyes and shuddered before she managed to open them again. She was older than him now. He caught her gaze, opening his mouth to speak, "Goodbye Virginia, I am truly sorry." There was a sudden pop and a flash of light, the spot Ginny had been staring at held an infant for a matter of seconds before the Tom Marvolo Riddle disappeared from existence all together.
All around her, Ginny heard celebratory cheers and yells, she even saw some people crying out of joy. That all changed when Harry collapsed, the cheering surrounding Ginny stopped almost as suddenly as it began. Ginny stood frozen, her eyes transfixed on Harry as Ron and Hermione ran over to him. All of a sudden, Ginny's heart felt as if it was being ripped to shreds. Harry was dying; Ginny could feel it. She could barely stand. Her life with Harry began to flash before her eyes. They had started to go out four years ago in her fifth year. They had been together so long that they had even begun to consider marriage. He can't die! Ginny thought frantically, Not now, when he's finally free of all the pressure! But Ginny knew it was inevitable, and she couldn't stand to watch him die. As Ginny attempted to calm down, she vaguely heard Hermione ask if she was all right. Ginny shook her head before disapparating. She only stopped in her flat for a few minutes to gather all her savings and any possessions of importance before disapparating again, leaving the life she knew and loved behind.
It was October of 2001.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
11 Years Later…
Jennifer Wright sighed and let the black ballpoint pen fall out of her grasp and fall onto the desk where she sat. It was that time of year again, when she would send a letter to her family, letting them know that she doing fine. She had done it once a year, every year, for the past ten years. Of course, Jennifer's parents had know idea where she lived, or how to reach her, for Jennifer had run away and changed her name. Jennifer Wright used to be known as Ginny Weasley, but know one knew that. A loud squawk brought Jennifer—or Ginny—out of her trance. Looking up, Ginny spotted the source of the noise. A large snowy white owl sat on her windowsill, eyeing her impatiently. Smiling, Ginny thought of how this owl was the only other living being that knew her secret. But Hedwig wouldn't tell, and Ginny had placed an anti-tracking spell on her so her family couldn't use Hedwig to find her.
Sighing, Ginny pulled out a blank sheet of computer paper from her desk drawer, and the pen was once again poised into a writing position. "Dear Mum and Dad—" Laughter from the next room caused Ginny to stop writing. Her family didn't know about them, and Ginny didn't intend to tell her family. Ginny could just imagine her mother's face if she found out that Ginny had given birth to children out of wedlock. They were twins—Lily and James.
After leaving her flat, Ginny found herself in the middle of the world's largest all-wizarding town. Ginny snorted. Of course it would be the largest, as it was hidden in the depths of New York City. She could still see the high-rise buildings from the town square where she stood. The first thing Ginny did, was go into the city hall and change her name. After that she bought a new wand, so her family could not trace her magic. Next she hurried off to the New York division of Gringotts and exchanged all of her money for American Muggle money. In a matter of hours, Ginny had found a paying muggle job and a low rent apartment. She thought she couldn't be found, but the next day when strolling through the village she had arrived in, Ginny spotted her photograph on the front page of a newspaper. Immediately, Ginny charmed her bright red hair blonde and her soft brown eyes an icy blue. She finally felt relieved.
That is, until a few weeks later, when she began to get sick each morning. After the fifth day of nausea, Ginny went to Emergency Room, vaguely remembering Hermione telling her that check-ups in the ER were sometimes free. That was when a nurse told her that she was pregnant. Fairly shocked, Ginny decided to keep her unborn child, and almost nine months later with the help of the very same nurse, Ginny gave birth to Lily and James. As soon as she saw Lily's dark red hair and beautiful green eyes, Ginny knew to name her after her grandmother. And when James arrived a few minutes later, she decided she couldn't have a Lily without a James. After a month or two of motherhood, Ginny decided New York was no place for a single mother to raise infant twins. So once again, she gathered her belongings and moved her family west to small ghost town in Arizona named Jerome.
This, of course, was where Ginny was, sitting in the apartment above her store, The Cactus and Curiosity Shop (where she worked first as an employee, and then as the owner), trying to ignore her loud children, and tries to write to her parents, whom she had not seen in years. There was a yelp from the other room and Lily rushed in scowling, "Mum, James pulled my hair again!" Ginny shook her head remembering when that was her greatest worry. Ginny had opened her mouth to tell her daughter not to be a tattletale, and that it meant James loved her, when there was a knock on the door. James rushed in and pulled open the door, obviously hoping it would be one of his schoolmates at the door.
Instead, he found a businesswoman around Ginny's age with bushy brown hair. "Who are you?" Ginny, who had been too busy fixing Lily's hair to notice her visitor, looked up to scold her son for being rude just in time to see the surprised woman gasp, "Harry?" Before Ginny could stop him, James opened the door wider and answered, "No, that's my dad. He died before I was born, but Mum says I look just like him." The woman's wide eyes narrowed when she stepped inside as they scanned the room, stopping on Lily, then Hedwig, and finally, Ginny. "You still haven't answered my question." Without breaking her gaze from Ginny, she replied, "I'm your Aunt Hermione, or, I will be once your mother decides to come home. The jig is up, Ginny." Exhaling deeply, Ginny nodded, and motioned for Hermione to take a seat on the couch. Hermione was much too stubborn for Ginny to convince she was wrong, and Ginny supposed eleven years of isolation from her family was enough. She just had to except that Harry was dead.
"You're right. I am Ginny. But I won't tell you anything until you tell me how you found me." Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Hermione expectantly, who, in turn squealed and hugged Ginny tightly. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," she cried. "I have so much to tell you!" Realizing how immature she sounded, Hermione blushed and tugged on her suit for a moment before sitting back down. "I work at Hogwarts. Dumbledore must have known where you were all this time, or at least since they—" she motioned to Lily and James, "were born. He gave me two addressed envelopes with the names Lily and James, telling me that their mother wanted them to go to the same school where she learned it all. There was no last name." She pulled to letters out of her coat pocket and handed them to Ginny.
"Their last name is on here, look." Ginny pointed to Lily's letter where it clearly stated Lily Potter. Hermione gasped, "He must have put some sort of charm on it so it would state their surname when it reached you." Ginny shrugged, "Is that your story?" When Hermione nodded, she took a deep breath, and began her story, starting with the last battle. When she had finished, there was a moment of silence, as Hermione mulled over what she had been told. Abruptly, she stood up and stared defiantly at Ginny, "You're moving back to London." Ginny gaped at her, "What? I can't just do that! I—I have a family! I'm not going to pull my kids away from their home!" She had forgotten that Lily and James had heard the whole thing, and being ten years old, were fairly capable of making their own opinions.
That was how, a little more than eight months later, Ginny found herself once again in London, at a park just outside of Diagon Alley, watching Lily and James play on the swing-set. She couldn't concentrate on the book she was trying to read, so she began to observe her surroundings. There was a young couple trying to teach their infant son how to walk on a nearby field, and an older couple quietly walking side-by-side, just enjoying each other's presence. What really caught Ginny's eye, however, has the homeless man who sat on a bench just down the path from her. His face was unshaven and his rusty hair seemed not to have been washed in fair amount of time. His clothes were dirty and ragged, yet he wore them in such a fashion that Ginny could imagine him as an important government official. He reminded her a bit of Percy. When the man spotted Lily and James, his eyes widened. A shaky hand reached into his coat and removed an old, tattered photograph. He compared her children to it and disappeared with a pop.
Realizing the time, Ginny ended up ushering her children home soon after the man disapparated. It was raining the next day, so her children were cooped up in their new apartment, while she worked in her new shop below. Ironically, the only vacant lot in Diagon Alley was right next to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Ginny figured the previous owners couldn't stand the loud bangs all day, she, however, had grown up with it, and found them oddly comforting. Business was slow that day, so she passed the time sitting behind the counter, writing a letter to her parents. Around noon, the bangs next door stopped, and about five minutes later, a bell jingled letting her know that some one had entered her shop. Before she could ask if her customer needed help, an eerily familiar voice called out, "Interesting shop you got here." Ginny nodded with a strained smile, "Can I help you?"
"Actually, you can. I'm Fred Weasley and this—" Fred gestured towards his twin, "Is my associate George Weasley." Ginny reluctantly shook his hand. "We have a business proposition for you." Ginny felt her eyebrows rise, "Oh?" George nodded, "You see, we noticed your 'trinket' shop attracts a lot of older customers, while ours attracts younger ones. If we merged shops, our sales would go up, because we have both young and old customers. What do you say?" Ginny was about to answer when Hedwig swooped in and dropped a letter into Fred's waiting hands before resting in Ginny's shoulder. Fred grinned and waved the parchment around.
"This is from our investor, we should actually set up a meeting for this later seeing as our mum will be stopping by our shop in a few moments and our investor really should meet you before we continue." Ginny nodded, her mouth still hanging open. "It's odd, Hedwig doesn't normally take to strangers." Ginny jumped at George's observation. Shrugging, she replied, "Owls just like me, I guess." The twins nodded and headed toward the exit. As Fred opened the door, Hedwig grabbed Ginny's letter and flew out the door. Horrified, Ginny began to run after her, only to have Fred pull her back, "Miss, we're really sorry, but I can assure you Hedwig will deliver that letter to the right person!"
"Fred, let me go!" She shouted as she hit him, "I need that letter!" Surprised, Fred let go, and Ginny fell to the floor from lack of support. "You—you can tell us apart!" George managed to stumble out. "Of course I can," she snapped. "I've only lived with you for twenty years my life!" Almost immediately she realized her mistake, and slapped her hands over her mouth. The three of them stared at each other silently for a moment before Ginny came to her senses, shoved the twins out the door, and locked up. But they didn't leave, they stood outside her door for a while, and when Ginny spotted her mother walking towards them, her letter in hand, Ginny raced up the stairs.
Unsurprisingly, Hermione flooed in a couple of hours later, with news that Fred and George were in a right state, and apparently, the night before Percy had burst in, in the middle of dinner claiming he had seen Harry's parents. Ginny, upon realizing that the homeless man in the park was Percy, had inquired about it, and Hermione informed her that, even though Percy had made up with his family in Ginny's fifth year at Hogwarts, he somehow felt responsible for Ginny's disappearance, and had pretty much exiled himself from his family and friends. Appalled, Ginny reluctantly agreed to be Hermione's guest to the Weasley family dinner that night, bringing along her children, though she refused to take off the charm on her hair and eyes.
Ginny paced around the living room in front of the fireplace as Hermione stuck her head in the fire and informed her family that she was bringing along some friends that night. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Hermione?" Ginny bit her lip, and plopped down onto the couch. Hermione sighed, "Yes, now I'll take James and you take Lily, alright?" Ginny nodded, and grabbed her daughter's hand as Hermione and James disappeared into the green flames of her fireplace. She was greeted by noise when she arrived home. It seemed her whole family, including Charlie and Bill, was there for dinner, and James' appearance seemed to have shocked everyone. No one had noticed her yet, and almost instinctively, she looked towards the clock and watched as her hand went form 'lost' to 'home'. Hoping no one would notice it, she walked away from the clock, but to her dismay, it chimed the hour, and eight red heads turned toward the clock.
The reaction was almost immediate. Her mother noticed it first, and burst out into tears, claiming the clock need to be fixed. There was complete and utter chaos for five minutes before Hermione had the sense to call order with a loud whistle. "Everybody be quiet!" A hush fell over the room. "Alright, if you can take your attention away from the clock, I'd like to introduce my friend, Jennifer Wrigh—" But Ginny stepped on her foot. "I'd actually like to introduce myself if you don't mind, Hermione." Hermione grinned and nodded, "Go right ahead." Taking a deep breath, Ginny stepped forward, positioned to catch her mother if she fainted, and pulled out her wand. As she removed the charms hiding her hair and eyes, she spoke, "My name is Ginny Weasley. These are my kids, Lily and James. If you have a problem with them, I'm leaving again." No one spoke. Mrs. Weasley's breathe hitched before she stepped forward and embraced her daughter for the first time in eleven years.
An hour later and many hugs and tear later, everyone was seated in the living room, listening Ginny's story. When she finished, Ron broke the silence that had surrounded them, "What I don't understand is, if you didn't leave because you were pregnant, why did you leave?" Ginny took a deep breath and calmly answered, "I left because he died." There was a puzzled hush before Charlie asked, "Who died?" Ginny didn't answer immediately; movement in the stairwell had caught her eye. When she saw what had caught her attention, she gasped, breathing out, "Harry." Before fainting.
When she came to, Ginny found herself lying with her head in her mother's lap who, with tears pouring down her face, stroked her hair, and Percy by her side, squeezing her hand. Upon spotting her consciousness, Ron fervently burst out, "What do you mean Harry died? He's been living with us for the past eleven years!" Angrily, Ginny stood up. "What do I mean Harry died? What do I mean? I mean I saw him collapse after the last battle. I felt him die! Do you know what it feels like watching someone you love die? It feels like your heart is being ripped to shreds!" Ginny fell to the floor and began to cry. She was immediately wrapped up into her father's arm, and he patted her hair as she cried into his shoulder.
"Ginny," Hermione cautiously began, "You're right. Technically Harry was dead for three minutes after performing the curse, but, by some miracle, he came back to life. Harry was in a coma for about nine months. He woke up suddenly claiming that you were in pain, but not danger. I guess we can assume that you were giving birth." Ginny hiccupped and nodded. "I didn't tell you at first because I knew you wouldn't believe me."
"So—so he's alive?" Ginny asked, wiping her tears away. Hermione smiled, "yes, although he has a severe case of agoraphobia. He never comes downstairs; we bring his meals up to his room." Ginny managed to stand up, "But he was downstairs! That's why I fainted!" Her family seemed surprised at this news. "We must have been causing such a ruckus that he came downstairs, I'll go check on him." Mrs. Weasley made to stand up, but a young voice stopped her.
"There's no need, Grammy, me and James already found Daddy." Ginny, who was facing away from the stairs, saw every mouth in the room drop open. Whipping around, she saw Lily being carried by a pale man with messy black hair and emerald green eyes that seemed to have lit up after being dull for a long time. James let go of Harry's hand and ran to Ginny, enveloping her in a hug. "I like Dad, Mum. Can we keep him?" A mischievous smile on his lips, Harry put Lily down and walked towards Ginny. "Yes Ginny, can you keep me? Because I know you've already made me the happiest man in the world, I want to know if you can make me the happiest man in the universe." Ginny did the only thing she could think of.
She kissed him.
FIN
A/N: I'm so glad this is finally finished, sorry if the ending was a little cheesy, but I wasn't sure how to end it. I'm definitely going to write some Missing Moments for this fic, and, depending on reviews, I may write a similar story with a different main character and an alternate ending. For anyone interested, Jerome, Arizona does exist as does The Cactus and Curiosity Shop! Please REVIEW, though, no flames!