Goodbye
Chapter 1: Diary and Letters
By: FallOutGirls
Disclaimer: Look, we're not Ms. Rowling, and never will be. There's two of us, first of all, & neither of us are billionaires getting rich off book royalties & money from HP movies, dolls, calendars, etc (although we wish we were!).
Summary: Pre-HBP. Ginny is sick of just being seen as the youngest Weasley, trapped in a family that doesn't appreciate her- so she decides to do something about it!
"Ginny, who do you keep writing to?" Ron asked suspiciously, pausing as he and Harry were about to go out into the yard.
"Dean," Ginny said exasperatedly, and Ron's face darkened and he muttered something to himself ominously. "Calm down, Ron!" Ginny snapped. "Honestly, you're acting like a three-year-old."
"I
don't like you dating him," Ron said. "Besides, you're a year
younger than him!"
"Well, you're three years younger
than Fleur, but that didn't stop you from making a fool out of
yourself and asking her to the Yule Ball, now did it?" Ginny
retorted sharply, and Harry hid a snigger as Ron immediately turned
purple. He began to move angrily towards her, but Harry held him
back.
"Ron, aren't we supposed to be playing a game of Quidditch right now? Come on, if you hurry up I'll let you borrow my Firebolt." These words instantly had Ron running towards the yard where Fred and George were already warming up.
"Sorry about him," Harry said quickly, smiling sympathetically at Ginny. "He means well, but-"
"-But he's a git," Ginny sighed, frustrated.
"Well, I'd better go," said Harry, pausing for a moment before hurrying out to the yard. Ginny sighed again; Harry only thought of her as a sister, it was obvious. Abandoning her letter to Dean, she went to the window and watched Harry and her three brothers zoom around on their broomsticks and toss an apple back and forth. After watching them absent-mindedly for a few moments, she hurried upstairs to her bedroom and pulled her diary out from its hiding place: under a loose floorboard under her bed. It had taken her a while to trust to write in a diary again, but now she was comfortable with it- especially since this diary did not talk back. Taking out a quill, she wrote in large letters across the page:
"Why doesn't he like me?"
She quickly scribbled under that: "He likes me as a sister-Ron's little sister- but not as a girlfriend. Why not? I mean, Hermione even said that we would be great together. Why can't he see that, too? Maybe we're just not meant to be together- but in that case, why can't I get rid of this crush? Merlin knows I've tried to forget about him- dating other guys, and the like- but I can't. There has to be a reason for that, doesn't there?" Frustrated, she snapped her diary shut and put it back in its hiding place.
"Ginny, your mum wants you to help prepare dinner." Luna told her as she walked to the doorframe; Luna, one of Ginny's good friends, had come to stay with Ginny, her father having been killed by Voldemort. Ginny sighed, nodded and went downstairs.
"Ugh," Ginny thought as she tramped upstairs, "I can't believe that the boys ate one hour's worth of cooking in just fifteen minutes! And I had to do all the dishes! All of them! I can't believe it! It's outrageous!" Ginny, who was grumbling about the injustice of it all, was definitely not prepared for what she saw when she opened her bedroom door.
"RONALD EBENEZER WEASLEY! GIVE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW! HOW DARE YOU BE GOING THROUGH MY STUFF! WHY IS MY PERSONAL, PRIVATE DIARY OPEN IN YOUR HANDS?" All this commotion brought Hermione, Harry and Luna up to the doorway. All of them started laughing at Ron's middle name, but quickly stopped with a look from Ginny.
"Well?" she turned back to Ron.
"Y-y-you see, Mum w-wanted me to take your c-c-clothes up to y-your bedroom, and I-I-I stepped on a floorboard, and found th…this!"
"But what gives you the right to read it?" Ginny shrieked. "I can't believe you!"
"Well-" Ron began, seeming to have gained enough confidence to speak, but he was quickly silenced by the expression on Ginny's face.
"OUT!" She screamed, pointing to the doorway. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM RIGHT NOW! GIVE THAT BACK!" She snapped, snatching the diary out of Ron's hands as he practically ran out the door; Hermione, Harry, and Luna quietly left the room as well to give Ginny some time to calm down.
Ginny flung herself onto her bed and, grabbing her pillow, buried her face into it and shrieked her heart out, the sound muffled down to a low roar. "I hate this house," she shrieked. "I hate this family, I hate this house, I hate my brothers, I hate Ron! I hate being the youngest, I hate being just 'Ron's little sister', I hate having no privacy, and I hate being…me!" Giving one final shriek, Ginny flung the pillow away from her face and rolled onto her back, looking blankly at the ceiling, her rage ebbing away into helplessness. If only there was something I could do, so people wouldn't just see me as a Weasley, or Ron's little sister… she thought desperately…and slowly, a seed of an idea began to bloom in her mind, until she knew exactly what to do. Drastic, yes; necessary, definitely.
"Good morning, Mum," Ginny said sweetly the next morning, sending Ron a glare that made him cringe.
"Good morning, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said, facing the stove as she stirred a pot of cooking oatmeal. "Ginny, I heard you yelling at Ron last night, and after hearing what happened, I think you acted quite inappropriately." Ginny gaped at her mother's back; how could she side with Ron?
"But Mum, he was reading my diary!" Ginny protested vehemently, and Mrs. Weasley shook her head.
"He says he had just picked it up when you came in," Mrs. Weasley replied.
"Mum, it was open in his hands," Ginny argued. "He was looking at the pages- he was reading them!" Mrs. Weasley finally turned away from the stove to face Ginny.
"That may be true, but you still have no right to raise your voice like that in this house," Mrs. Weasley chastised. Ginny huffed angrily, and stomped away. "Don't you dare get an attitude with me, Ginevra!" Mrs. Weasley snapped, raising her voice angrily. Ginny ignored her, slamming through the backdoor outside to the garden. A destructive urge rose up inside of her as she sat on the ground and eyed the carrots- then a gnome poked his head up from behind a rock. Ginny seized its knobby ankles and, jumping up, violently swung the gnome around and around before letting it go and watching it spin off into the distance. Feeling slightly better, Ginny de-gnomed the whole yard, pretending each gnome had Ron's face. Having released a lot of frustration, she walked back into the house, where her mother was standing at the sink, scrubbing dishes furiously.
"I de-gnomed the garden," Ginny said abruptly, as Mrs. Weasley began to open her mouth.
"Why, thank you, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley replied, obviously not expecting to hear that. "That was…quite thoughtful of you."
"No problem," Ginny replied. "Hey, Mum," she began suddenly. "Do you think it would be possible for me to get a job?"
"A…job?" Mrs. Weasley repeated, looking puzzled. "Why would you want a job?"
"So I can make my own money, instead of having to rely on you and Dad on money all the time," Ginny explained, making up her reasoning at that very moment.
"Oh, your father and I don't mind-" Mrs. Weasley began.
"I know, but I want to," Ginny said, looking at her mother seriously. Mrs. Weasley looked back at her for a moment, before sighing heavily.
"All right- well, perhaps later your father can take you into Diagon Alley tomorrow, and you can see if there are any available jobs there," Mrs. Weasley relented.
"Thanks, Mum!" Ginny said excitedly, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying upstairs to look for Luna and Hermione.
A\N: Okey dokey, peoples. That's the first chapter! Read on! Review! Review! REVIEW! In case you didn't know, the review button is the purple rectangle that says 'Submit' at the very bottom, on the left side (so you now have no excuse for reading and not reviewing).
