Chapter 3: Unjustified Anger
"What did you just say, Ginevra?" Molly Weasley said icily. Ginny swore she saw ice climbing her mother's silverware.
"I said I joined a Quidditch team." Ginny said firmly. She held her head up, trying not to flinch.
"That's what I thought you said." Her mother 's jaw was clenched.
"And?" Said Ron, turning away from a conversation with Arthur. "What about it?" He asked, setting down his fork and knife.
"Well, I just thought Ginevra of all of you would think to get a steady job with less possible injury and more practicality." Said Molly lightly, helping herself to more chicken.
"George has an occupation that you used to disapprove of, and he's pretty well off." Angelina said gently, who was holding George's hand.
"Yes, dear, but George's shop is profitable." Molly said firmly. "I don't want my only daughter to go into that kind of business."
"What kind of business?" Asked Angelina pointedly.
"Angie's the captain of the Northward Gnomes." George informed the group. Ginny had heard that name somewhere before . . .
"Oh, Angelina dear, I didn't mean-"
"No offense taken, Mrs. Weasley." Angelina said quickly.
"So," Said Gaby, turning to George. "How are things in the shop?"
"Fine," Said George, gulping some pumpkin juice. "By the way, Harry, that idea you had for the chocolate brooms was brilliant."
"What?" Asked Ginny, not able to master her curiosity anymore.
"Harry had this brilliant idea for brooms made of chocolate with players on them. He designed one of Viktor Krum and they're selling like hotcakes." George said proudly, patting Harry's shoulder.
"Wow!" Said Ron. "That's great. We need a selling point on that." He rested his elbow on the table and bit his lip.
"What?" Asked Molly again. "Ronald Weasley, are you working in the joke shop or the ministry?" She looked particularly angry now.
"Mum-"
"It's not everyday that two children disappoint me at once." Molly said angrily. Everyone looked pointedly at George, and the place beside him where Fred should be. "OK, maybe two at once, but not twice in one meal!" Molly exclaimed. "Ronal-"
"I'M NOT WORKING AT THE BLOODY JOKE SHOP!" Roared Ron. He stood up. "For god's sake Mum, don't you trust me? You've seen my office, you've met my co-workers, and you still think I might be lying to you?"
"Mum, Ron does work in the auror office, it's just that I've been having trouble managing the shop on my own. A lot of the old assistants quit and without Fred the place seems so empty. I needed someone else to help me hire some new employees, and Ron was happy to help. He just helps out around the shop occasionally." George assured his Mother.
"Oh," Molly said softly. "I'm sorry, Ron."
"It's fine," Said Ron, sitting back down. Hermione patted his hand and Ginny saw her trace a shape on his wrist. Ron looked up at her and smiled.
"Hey," Said Molly. "George, did you say there were any openings in the shop?"
"Mum, we all know what you're trying to do. It won't work, this is Ginny's decision." George said firmly. "We support her. You can be a part of that, or you can be against it." He said pointedly.
"Hello, all." Percy said, strolling in a bit late. "Sorry, there was a crisis. What have I missed?"
"Not much." Said Ginny dryly. "All you missed was Mum getting remarkably angry at two people in record time."
"Ginevra," Molly said in a warning voice. "Lasagna, Arthur?"
"Please." Mr. Weasley took a seat. "So, how are you, Hermione? I've heard there is some interesting legislation about house-elves you might have a hand in."
"Hey." It was after dinner, and Ginny had walked up to Harry, who was standing in the kitchen.
"Hi." Harry turned slightly to face her. He had carried his plate up to the kitchen from outside, despite Molly trying to convince him to let her take it.
"How are you?" Asked Ginny, pushing gently passed Harry to the sink. She started washing dishes nonchalantly as Harry piled them on the counter.
"I'm doing okay." Harry replied, passing Ginny the rest of the dishes that he was carrying. "Work is grueling, but I'm getting used to it." He ducked out of the kitchen and walked outside. Ginny tried not to feel slighted- he was one of the people she had been closest to in the world, and he had brushed her off.
Ginny bent her head over a piece of parchment as she wrote her thank-you note to Professor Slughorn. When she started writing, Ginny didn't really known what she would say. 'Thanks so much for helping me get this job! You saved me from having to work in a shop full of flying chocolate and small explosions!'
Ginny had long since finished eating. Everyone was talking and drinking outside. As a child, Ginny had always wanted to stay up and hear what the grown-ups were talking about. Now that she was one of them, she found herself receding from their company. She felt as though she'd returned to the years of her childhood, when she'd sit inside and wait for desert, just as she was now. Her Mum had said that the cake had to be iced, so the remaining adults were gossiping together. Most of the table was full, despite Gabrielle having been shooed away and Fleur following her so that they could talk and she could nurse her baby. Molly was in the kitchen, and Ginny was wandering aimlessly. She finally decided to walk up to the broom shed. It was dusk already, and the summer air was warm. Ginny knew no one would see her if she flew low. Ginny left through the front door then crept around the back so that no one would see her. She walked up, losing her breath. She was shocked at how out of shape she was. She'd not flown most of the summer, besides the try-outs. She unlocked the padlock on the shed and pulled out her broom. She gripped the broom's handle and pushed off, closing her eyes and feeling the wind rushing in her hair.
A few minutes later, Ginny put her broom down at the foot of her tree. As a child, her tree had been her only friend. She'd told it everything. Ginny had spent a lot of her childhood talking to her tree, telling it about her frustrations and complaining about her mother and brothers. Her tree had never been good at giving advice, but it was always ready to listen. Since her childhood, she'd gotten less painfully shy, and made friends, but something about that tree brought her back to it now, when she was alone again.
"Hey, Tree." Ginny said as she climbed to her favorite branch. It had been several years since she'd climbed to the top of her tree. "So, Harry and I broke up. Ages ago, really. More than two years. I miss him, but I guess he doesn't feel the same way. He's so distant now, I guess he just lost interest or something. Too busy being chosen. I can't resent that, because he wouldn't be himself if that wasn't his first priority. I'm just more selfish than that." Ginny gazed upward. Four years ago, she'd been able to see the night sky from her spot in the tree, but now the branches had grown higher and thicker. The years had changed the tree almost as much as they had changed Ginny. She parted the branches above her head and stood on her branch so that she could see the night sky as the sun started to set and dusk approached. Such was her wonder, looking so intently at the heavens, that she didn't notice a figure with broad shoulders in a leather jacket, get up from the foot of the tree where he had been sitting and walk away.
