Disclaimed: I have no possession of Harry Potter, and neither do I plan on it in the future.
The Weasley house was extremely busy right now, and everyone in the house had mixed feelings. They were extremely happy, for Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were to arrive later that day. Not only were the Weasleys excited because of their visitors, but the next day, August first, was the much anticipated wedding. Yet there was an air of regret and sadness hanging in the air, for the family was leaving the Burrow to go to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for the rest of the summer.
Ronald and Ginevra Weasley had finished packing all of their belongings, were ready to change houses, and they were both fully prepared for the wedding. They were sitting quietly right now at the front entrance to the Burrow, waiting expectantly, and the children squealed when they saw who was now coming to the Burrow.
Their father had come to the house ushering none other than Harry and Hermione. The two visitors ran up to the Burrow and went to greet Ron and Ginny. Except that they greeted Ron and not his sister. Ginny was somehow expecting something different this year, since she was dating Harry for whatever it was worth, and she had participated in their fights and battles against the Dark Lord. Ginny was disappointed.
Ron and Hermione were hugging each other tightly, and Harry was merely standing with them. Ginny was left out; it was as if she meant nothing at all to the trio. Small, tiny meek Ginny never meant anything and would never mean anything to the three seventh0year students. It was just a fact that Ginny did not want to accept as truth, but here and now, truth was blending in with reality.
Ginny expected this, knew that this was coming. Believing that she was really a friend to them was the greatest allusion ever. She knew that would not happen, and expected it to fail. Ginny was merely hopeful.
Then it happened. Something inside the youngest Weasley began to stir as Harry came over to her, but that gracious feeling soon left with a laugh. Harry greeted her a little too smugly for the little girl's comfort, and began to kiss her deeply. Ginny broke their kiss very soon, a little too soon for her boyfriend. Harry looked at her, not understanding. 'You've only just come back, and not a word? All I get is a kiss?' she asked seriously, but Harry interpreted it as a joke.
'I missed you, Ginny.' The girl sighed, not really caring at this point. In her mind, she had to go through with this, no matter how much it hurt. He kissed her again, but not as long this time. 'How are you?' It did hurt, a lot, and this kiss proved everything false.
'Busy,' she told him. 'The wedding is tomorrow, you know? I was-' Ginny started, but was not allowed to say anything else. At that point, Ron and Hermione called Harry over, and she was left alone. Ginny could not remember a time when she had felt so alone before, so sad and lonely, so betrayed.
The next day… After the wedding I didn't feel confident enough to write…
The wedding was over, and everyone had gone to celebrate this one moment of happiness in a blood-filled war at the after party. The bride and groom sat at the head table in the centre of the room. Fleur was wearing the most spectacular set of dress robes that anyone present had ever seen, or it was possibly just the fact that the bride was part-Veela. She wore full length dress robes silver in colour. The sleeves, which were cut short to a three-quarter length, were adorned with pink flowers and the end of the sleeve had silver and pink patterns embroidered on. The robes were satin and had a border around the front in blue. The robes were open in the front slightly to reveal a pink knitted vest with silver patterns. She was wearing silver high heels with lots of straps. Bill was dressed in a set of lovely silver dress robes with a light red trimming that matched how new wife. His hair was clasped in a ponytail with an ivory clip. The two looked beautiful together.
Ginny was watching them with envy, wondering if she would ever end up in a position like the two happy newly weds. Right now, she was sitting at a table with her brothers, Gabrielle, Hermione, Luna and Harry. This just embellished the fact that her life was going to waste. The only person keeping her going was Luna, but right now, the Luna was keeping Ginny from going crazy. It was all because of Harry.
Harry. The name was starting to unnerve her. She loved Harry, she really did, but Ginny loved all her friends. Ginny had heard all of the rumours, and they were starting to get to her head. Almost everyone was aware of them, and aware of how they were affecting Ginny. Even Ron and Hermione noticed, and they paid very little attention to Ginny.
Ginny was sitting between Harry and Luna, but Harry was barely speaking to her. Harry rarely spoke to her. He was not what she expected in a boyfriend. Even Michael Corner was better than Harry. He at least spoke to her like a person and listened to her ideas. Harry, though, was possessive. Ginny no longer felt like Ginevra Weasley, but more like Harry's nameless girlfriend.
Ginny flushed all of these thoughts from her mind, and turned to her best friend. Ginny began chatting idle with Luna. It was comforting to speak with the girl, for she was the best friend Ginny ever had, and probably the best friend that anyone could ever ask for.
Luna Lovegood was smart, so much smarter than Hermione or anyone else in school. Luna did not have "book smarts" as people would call it, but rather common sense, political intelligence, wit and creativity. The Ravenclaw had many traits of both Slytherin and Gryffindor houses, along with the strong loyalty and honour of the Hufflepuff house.
Luna would never let it show, but she was a trouble maker and a sneak. She was able to spread any rumour, no matter how outrageous, and have people believe it. She would enter into dark waters in which few Hogwarts students have ever dared to tread; Luna was involved in the politics of the Ministry of Magic, a very dangerous thing to participate in. She was also an outright supporter of many creature rights, which was an extremely brave thing to do, and, in some cases, suicidal. That was in direct opposition of the Ministry, and something that required lots of planning to get through safely.
Luna looked towards Harry, and saw that he was paying no attention to Ginny at all. 'What do you plan on doing about that?' Luna asked her best friend. Ginny winced, knowing exactly what Luna was referring to. 'I think that in this case, even though not mine, the word is true. I checked. I wonder if any of the sleep-eaters will come by and visit the two of you.' Sleep-eaters were a myth, and Luna loved to talk with reference to myths, legends and the unknown. In this case, Luna was wondering if Ginny's dating Harry would last. And who was Ginny kidding? This "relationship" was nothing more than a dream, or rather, a nightmare.
Luna had also confirmed one of Ginny's fears, the fear about the rumours. Luna was very active as a gossip queen. The school thought her very airy and spoke out of line, repeating what ever she heard. The school, though they did not outright trust Luna with their secrets, did trust anything and everything that the girl said, as long as it was not a reference to some long-forgotten species or legend. These particular rumours were that Harry was jealous that his best friends had hooked together, and was looking for love himself. The rumours claimed that Harry was the cause of the break-up, and that he had been present when Ginny broke up with her ex. If Luna said these rumours were true, they were.
'I would sure like to meet these sleep-eaters,' Ginny told her friend n a jovial manner. 'They would probably wreck some havoc, but it would probably be for the best. I never heard them described as bad creatures. Are they?'
Luna pondered for a moment. 'I don't think so. They only intervene when necessary.'
'Is there a way to see these sleep-eaters, Luna? I think that it would be wonderful if we could see them working.'
'There must be a way to meet them! I'm sure that we can find you a few to use as pets!' The two girls giggled, and Gabrielle looked at them curiously. 'What are sleep-eaters?' Their secret was safe. Now time to plan their moves and to set the wheels of happiness in motion.
'They're these little invisible creatures that feed off of nightmares and get rid of your problem. People were scarred of them because they spoke the truth and nothing else, so they went and tried to kill off the poor little creatures.' Luna smiled when an idea hit her. 'I think I might be able to bring some onto the Hogwarts Express.'
'Maybe they can get rid of Harry for Ginny then,' the young Veela said, startling Ginny and causing her to smile. To know that another person thought their course of action was right was comforting, especially one who did not know much about love, but for whom Ginny's predicament spelled trouble.
'Let's hope so,' Ginny whispered warily when she knew for certain that her boyfriend was not giving her any attention at all. 'Maybe some other people can send us information to encourage the sleep-eaters to return.'