To the one that asked if I wanted extra reviews: No, and if you noticed, I deleted the ones that were posted in response to the Author's Note. If I wanted more reviews, I would have kept writing hetero fanfiction pairings because a lot more people follow those.
To everyone else: Thanks for the encouragement. I was really going to stop writing after HBP came out. I don't really like AU fics, but I enjoy writing this one.
V: Thanks for betaing me, lots of love.
This chapter is dedicated to Stalker88. You should all thank her. I don't think I would have ever gotten around to writing it if it weren't for her.
"Ginny must have received a pretty hard blow in Knockturn Alley," Sukesh had said to the Weasley family. "Muggles call this amnesia. What happened is that the impact knocked Ginny's memory from her body. Her memory went one way and her body went the other. Her memory is in constant search for her body.
"A good way to help her memory find her body is to go about your routine as normal. Try to keep it the way she was used to. Try to incorporate things into her daily routine that she might have a fond memory of.
"When it's time for her to go back to Hogwarts, there shouldn't be a problem. She will still know the things she has learned, but she won't remember where she learned them from.
"There really isn't much else we can do other than wait"
That had been two weeks ago. Today was Ginny's first day back from St. Mungo's, and as the mediwizards had instructed them, the Weasleys went about their routine as normal. Mr. Weasley was back at work, Mrs. Weasley was back to disinfecting the house, Ron was doing who knows what, and Hermione and Ginny were in their shared room.
"This trunk is where you kept all of your old journals," Hermione told Ginny and patted the top of a trunk that sat at the end of Ginny's bed. "I think you kept all of them - except for your first year at Hogwarts," she said with a reminiscent smile. "You should probably start with the first journal you have from after you started school."
Ginny nodded. She felt kind of shy. It was strange to be surrounded by all these people who knew her, but that she couldn't remember knowing. A few minutes passed in silence. Neither of the girls really knowing what to say to one another. "Lunch will be ready soon," Hermione said, trying to make small talk.
Ginny nodded again and smiled. "I'm getting kind of hungry," she admitted. "The food at that hospital was pretty gross." Hermione smiled back. Before either of them could say anything else, Ron walked in the room and plopped down on Hermione's bed.
"Seriously, Ron, have you ever thought about knocking?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.
"I have," he admitted, "But then I'd miss that little annoyed expression I've grown so fond of." Ron smiled when Hermione scowled again. "Sorry," he said, still smiling. "Just came to tell you that Harry will be here tonight."
"How do you know?" she asked excitedly.
"Tonks just came by. I was down stairs. I overheard her telling mum that he'll be here in the morning." Ron told her.
"That's great," Hermione said.
"Who's Harry?" Ginny butted in.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. It was easy to pretend that nothing was different when they looked at Ginny. But when she spoke, when she asked questions that she should know the answers to, it made them both uncomfortable.
"Harry's my best mate," Ron explained.
"We've all been friends since our first year at Hogwarts," Hermione added in.
"Harry's famous. Wizards around the globe know his name," piped Ron. "When he was just a baby, he stopped the most evil wizard that ever existed from destroying the world."
"And for the last few years," Hermione added in, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the dark wizard Ron mentioned, has been trying to regain strength. Harry was able to stop him twice, but You-Know-Who finally made his way back into power. People say that Harry is the only one who can put an end to the Dark Lord's reign."
"We're talking about him like he's a character out of a story," Ron said, interrupting Hermione's explanation. "A lot of weird stuff happens to him, but Harry's as normal as you or me," he said.
Charlie Weasley covered his flaming red hair with his hood before ducking into Knockturn Alley. Nicci had left the Headquarters before anyone had a chance to question her. Today was the first day since the Death Eater's attack that he was able to get out, and he intended to find out what his sister had been doing with Nicci.
He'd never been to her shop before, but he knew that it was somewhere around there. The streets were nearly empty. No one wanted to be associated with the Dark Arts in times like these, and the ones that did were busy doing gods only know what. He scanned the front of the stores, keeping a watchful eye out for the store he was looking for.
It was a potions and charms shop rumored to sell things that were so strong that they were on the verge of being illegal. He found the shop. The front was boarded up and a large sign that said "CLOSED" was propped in front of the door. A lot of the stores on this street bore similar signs. Why would Voldemort attack a place like this that was so full of his supporters.
He knocked at the door, but received no answer. He wasn't going to give up that easily. He tried the doorknob. It was locked. "Alohamora!" he whispered, flicking his wand at the lock. No change. "Damn," he said aloud. It had been bewitched with something stronger than a simple locking spell.
"I thought your kind put others in jail for breaking laws, Charlie," came a strong feminine voice from behind him. He turned on his heel to come face to face with Nicci. She was a lot paler than Charlie remembered from Hogwarts, and she didn't look like she'd eaten since she left the Headquarters.
"I-" he started.
"Right," Nicci cut him off. She was obviously in a bad mood.
Charlie opened his mouth and closed it several times. "I just want to know what you were doing with my sister," he said finally.
"I bet you do," Nicci said with a maliscious grin.
"Oh cut it Nicci, we're not at Hogwarts anymore! There's no one here for you to impress, I just want to know what my sister was doing with y-"
"If your sister wanted you to know, she would have told you," Nicci said, interrupting him again.
"My sister lost her memory!" Charlie protested.
"This wasn't the first time Ginny visited me," Nicci taunted him. Tired of listening to him, she pushed past him and to the door of her shop.
"Is she like you?" Charlie demanded. Nicci stopped short, turning and glaring at him.
"Like me?" she asked, a fire in her eyes. "Charlie Weasley, you have no idea what it means to be like me," she shot, venom dripping from every word.
Charlie sighed. "I didn't come here to fight with you," he told her. "I'm just worried about my sister."
"Well it seems that it's a little late for that," she said, tears starting to fall from her eyes. Ginny had come to her to forget her heartache. When she left, she'd forgotten more than that. Nicci couldn't help but blame herself. She knew that the Death Eaters had been looking for her. She never should have let Ginny in.
"How long?" Charlie asked, knowing from the tears that there had been more than friendship between Nicci and Ginny. Nicci shook her head. She was now looking at her feet. "How long?" Charlie repeated the question.
"Ginny was a private person," the blonde woman told Charlie. "It would be betraying her trust to tell you something that she didn't want you to know." Charlie let out a heavy sigh and pursed his lips. His heart was pounding the inside of his chest. The fact that Ginny could be so distant with her family and so close to this stranger.
He supposed that while Nicci was a stranger to him, she had become Ginny's friend. "My family doesn't know anything about you," Charlie said to her. "They want to know what she was doing with you. What do I tell them?" he asked.
"Why tell them anything?" Nicci asked. "Pretend you don't know." Charlie frowned at the idea.
"Look," he said. "It's hard enough for me thinking about the possibility of my little sister being... like you. But that doesn't change the fact that she's my little sister and that it's my job to protect her. She obviously didn't want any of us knowing or she would have told us," he continued. "My family wants to know what happened to Ginny.
"They're not going to stop until they find out, or at least until some of the mystery surrounding the accident is cleared up. The Order is going to find out as much about you as they possibly can. And with your track record at Hogwarts...they're going to find out," he shook his head. "Ginny didn't want them to know. So for her sake, come by, tell them that you were walking home and that you found her.
"Make up a lie, just come and tell them something. If Ginny didn't want them to know what she was doing, then neither do I."
"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs to the three kids. Without waiting for a response, she walked back into the kitchen and began setting the table. With a flick of her wand, all the plates were in place. Another flick for the silverware. And a final flick for the cups. "Any minute now," she muttered to herself.
"Any minute now what?" Ginny asked as she sat down at the table. Mrs. Weasley jumped. She hadn't expected them to be in the kitchen already.
"Your father should be home for dinner any minute now," she said. "Always running late, that one," she complained. Ron and Hermione had told her about this. About how her mother was always worried, even when there was nothing to be worried about. Ron and Hermione looked at Ginny with a shared smile.
Mrs. Weasley had just finished dishing out the food when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock on the wall again and frowned. "Couldn't be Arthur home this early," she said walking out to open the door. Ron and Hermione both scrambled to the kitchen door, expecting to see Harry when Mrs. Weasley opened the door.
"Ahh," Ron grumbled, coming back to the table and sitting down. "Just Charlie." Hermione sat down as well and took a drink of her pumpkin juice. The three were just beginning to eat when they heard voices in the hallway. There were two women and a man. "Thought it was just Charlie," Hermione asked, prompting a shrug from Ron.
"Charlie is my oldest brother, right?" Ginny asked.
"Close," Ron said. "Charlie is second oldest. Bill is older," he explained.
"Oh," Ginny replied. At least she had tried.
Mrs. Weasley walked back into the kitchen followed by Charlie and Nicci.
"Hello Ginny," Charlie said with a smile and sat down next to her. "Have a seat," he said to Nicci and patted the one next to himself. "Ginny, this is-"
"Nicci." Ginny said, cutting him off. Mrs. Weasley's fork clattered to her plate. All eyes flew to Ginny.
"Ginny how did you know that?" Charlie asked her. She shrugged and looked in turn at the five sets of eyes that were fixed on her.
"I just have a face with a name," Ginny answered. "I don't remember how I know."
Mrs. Weasley looked to Charlie. This certainly added a twist to the story he and Nicci had told about how Nicci had just found Ginny lying in the street and decided to play the role of the good Samaritan.
"I think I told her my name before I got her back here. She was in and out of consciousness," Nicci quickly covered. Everyone in the room looked at one another. None of them really knew what to believe. Mrs. Weasley looked at Charlie and then to Nicci. Finally, she looked back down at her plate, not knowing what to say. Where to even begin.
When they were finished with dinner, Charlie and Nicci bade their goodbye. Neither of them wanted to wait around until Mrs. Weasley had concocted some questions to ask. They both knew that the story they had told was shaky and still left questions unanswered, but at least it threw suspicion away from Nicci.
"I thought you said Harry was going to be here," Hermione asked Ron before they went to bed.
"Tonks said he would be," the youngest Weasley boy replied with a sleepy yawn. "Well I'll believe it when I see it," Hermione said and leaned forward to give Ron a goodnight kiss. She looked over her shoulder at Ginny sitting on the bed watching them and thought better of it. She stepped out into the hallway where Ginny couldn't see them before kissing her boyfriend goodnight.
"What was that about?" Ron whispered.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Having to step out here to kiss me," Ron explained. Hermione shook her head. "Before she lost her memory, Ginny felt a little left out," she explained. "I just don't want to make her uncomfortable."
"She doesn't remember that she felt left out," Ron reminded Hermione, causing the girl to narrow her eyes.
"I think that was the most insensitive thing that I have ever heard you say," Hermione whispered back intensely. Without waiting for him to say anything, Hermione walked back into hers and Ginny's room and shut the door.
"I found the journal from my second year," Ginny told her when she walked back in. "It's really interesting."
Hermione smiled. "You used to have a really big crush on Harry," Hermione told her. "I noticed," Ginny replied, showing her an entry that she had signed 'Mrs. Ginny Potter', and another that had a big heart and 'Harry + Ginny' in the middle. "What happened?" Ginny asked.
"Uh, I guess you just sort of grew out of it," the older girl explained. "I think the only reason you liked him was because he was famous. The more you got to know him though, the more you realized he was just a normal person."
Ginny nodded her head in understanding as Hermione got into her bed. "Do I need to turn out the candle?" she asked Hermione.
"No, it's fine," the girl replied. "It'll be a while before I fall asleep."
