A Year Of Trials and Tribulations

Chapter Two- Fight or Flight?

The next few days were hard for Ginny. She would wake up in the middle of the night and Hermione's camp bed would be empty or she would walk into a room and Ron and Hermione instantly went quiet if it was just them two. Ginny had never felt so alone.

It was the fourth day of Hermione's arrival and Ginny had excused herself to de-gnome the garden, something which caused alarm bells because she never volunteered to do that chore; she always would always avoid it like the plague.

She sat on the wall of her garden when she saw a figure forming at the end of the path. She narrowed her eyes and smiled when she saw it was Neville. She ran towards him, who held a hand out to stop her as she went to hug him.

'You not going to ask me something only I would know?' he asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Neville, seriously, I know it is you!' she laughed. He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes.

'Fine. Erm, what did Dumbledore ask us to do last year?' she asked, struggling to think.

'Nothing. He told us to just carry on as normal and be our normal selves' he replied, smiling.

'When did you become the smart one?' she questioned, hugging him.

'I don't know tbh. Maybe I was tired of being a victim and did not want to be an easy target for Bellatrix' he admitted, sighing.

AYOTAT

'Has he wrote to you at all?' Neville suddenly asked, as they sat near the large pond that was near her house.

'No, he hasn't. Think he is giving me space. The noble prat' Ginny replied, as she made daisy chains.

'He does love you you know right? I used to share a dorm with him, remember and he has the habit of speaking in his sleep' he told her, giving a small smile.

'I'd rather hear that from him to be honest, Neville but as long as You-Know-Who is alive, he probably won't come near me or touch me' she sighed, putting her chain down and stood up.

'Get it out, Gin. It is only me. You can't keep it bottle up' he said, standing up.

'Doesn't he know I already have a target on my back? Look at my family! My grandmother was a Black and she married a muggle! We are the biggest targets going! I should have died at eleven years old. He has already done the damage. If he really did love me, he would not have not involved with me in the first place. He would have left me alone' she replied, close to tears.

'Do you wish he did?' Neville questioned, raising an eyebrow.

'No' she bit her lip, looking down. She shook him off as he went to hug her.

'What am I supposed to do? He could be gone for months, he could be gone for years, am I supposed to sit about waiting? Because there is not anyone else for me but I also don`t wanna be that desper-' she lost her footing not looking where she was going and went falling into the pond. She smacked her head on the floor of the pond and everything went black.

AYOTAT

'She does not look too clever!'

'She will be fine. The wedding is in a week, she will be right as rain'

'Mum, your only daughter has suffered a head injury and you are worried about how she will look on the wedding day?'

'Head injury? Do not be so dramatic, Ron. She has bumped her head, lots of rest for the next few days and she will be fine'

Ginny's eyes fluttered open and she realised she was in her room. She has a dry set of clothes on and she felt like someone had a nail and hammer to her head. She groaned as she came around.

'Don't try and do too much, sweetheart, just rest for now' her mother told her, giving her a smile.

'But you have the You-Know-What tomorrow, you need help with that' Ginny replied, trying to sit up.

'We will worry about that tomorrow, Ginny. Right now you need sleep, you were out cold for nearly an hour' Mrs Weasley said, squeezing her hand.

'Yeah, it was the quietest hour of my life' Ron told her, who was behind Mrs Weasley. Ginny narrowed her eyes and made an annoyed sound

AYOTAT

She woke the next day, her head feeling heavy. She looked across at her clock and saw it was five o'clock in the afternoon. She shot up, ignoring the pain in her ankle. Her mother told her she had sprained it. Just what she needed. She sighed. She quickly got changed. She was relieved when she felt the bump from her fall was on the side of her head. She styled her hair so it was not as noticeable. She looked like death she had to admit. Her hands were on her make up drawer when she realised what she was doing.

'Come on, Weasley, pull yourself together, woman' she said to herself, moving away from her dresser. She heard the front door slam downstairs and she hurried downstairs.

'They have just gone to get him. Do you wanna help me with the tea?' Mrs Weasley asked, as Ginny stared at the door. She nodded and began to help.

AYOTAT

George laid on the sofa later on with a missing ear. Snape had performed a dark spell on him which has resulted in him losing his ear. Everyone had gone to bed and Ginny could not sleep, partly down to her head injury.

'Nice performance, tonight, sis. You almost looked like you don't have feelings for a certain boy who lived' George said, as she walked into the living room.

'Don't, just don`t. My head hurts too much right now to deal with that' she admitted, sighing.

'Bumped head and a broken heart, you are a wreck!' he told her 'There is some potion on the side Mum left out for your head but there is nothing I can do for your heart'

She nodded, heading over to the kitchen side, picking up the potion and downing it in one. George stared at her in amazement but said nothing.

'Does Mum have any of that dreamless potion left in the cupboard?' she asked, putting the bottle down.

'You know she threw that out after Dad's accident and won`t make anymore' he replied, giving her a look.

'I just wanna sleep without any nightmares' she sighed, sitting opposite her brother.

'Where is Hermione? She might know something' he questioned, giving her a smile.

'She's upstairs with the boys. She sneaks back into my room at 5AM and pretend I don't know that she is not sleeping in my room' she replied, exhaling deeply.

'Ginny, they will be gone in 5 days and you can go back to nor-'

'Normal? This family will never be normal whilst they are away. Mum won't sleep. Dad will have to act 'normal' at work. I am going back to bed. I hope you feel better in the morning' she said, coldly and hurried upstairs when she bumped into Harry. She hated the fact the bathroom was on the same floor as her in that moment.

'Oh hey, sorry are you okay?' Harry asked her, smiling at her. He held onto her as he caught her. The sight broke her heart.

'I am going to bed' she quickly replied, hurrying into her room. She shut her door quickly, exhaling deeply. She heard a light knock on her door. She sighed and opened the door.

'Don't make this harder than it needs be' she told him, sighing.

'You know why I am doing this don't you?' he asked, leaning against her doorframe. He was close, too close.

'Yes, for some stupid, noble reason' she sighed, looking up at him. She tried to work out what he was thinking, what he was feeling but she could not work it out. He was so close off, so guarded. He raised his hand to her face, resting it on her face. She sighed, closing her eyes and opened them again and took his hand away from her face.

'Don't because you'll start something we both can't finish' she told him, dropping his hand. He nodded, looking down. Her heart ached. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and then hugged him. Something she wanted to do the moment he crashed into the house earlier that evening.

'Just make sure you come back in one piece' she told him. She felt him nod against her and tightened the hug.