"How did you do, love?" my mother asked as she hugged me so tightly I thought she might break one of my ribs.
"I passed." The sound of my voice was muffled against her shoulder.
"What was that dear? 'You guessed'? What on Earth did you guess about?" she let me go and looked me over, nodding happily when she saw my lime green robes were spotless.
"No, mum, I passed!" I said excitedly.
She beamed at me and grabbed my hand as she guided me to Rosa Lee's for lunch. "Of course you passed – was there ever any question about it?"
I laughed, remembering just how difficult the exam had been. Especially after last night … I shuddered a little as I remembered just how much I'd hurt this morning as I applied more Soothing Balm and Bruise Removal Paste. I was all healed now of course – that was the good thing about Magical Healing. Minor injuries could be fixed in the blink of an eye.
But I still blinked back a few tears in spite of it. There was nothing that would ease the hurt in my heart every time it happened.
"Oh, my sweet Ginny! Were you really that nervous?"
I blinked hard and looked at my Mum, whose eyes were full of kind, warm concern. Not for the first time, I simply nodded and said, "I was! The Potions, you know – hard to catch completely up on all the advanced techniques."
She opened the door ahead of me, and we walked into the warm tea room, which was also well known for providing a good lunch. The waitress found us a cozy table next to the fireplace, as I couldn't seem to stop shivering. It was getting close to December, and it had been sleeting on and off for days. I couldn't seem to shake the chill, especially after experiencing such intense heat …
" … is really good, I heard from Angelina at least, but Penelope says to order one of the pies, that any of them are phenomenal. What do you think dear?"
I shook my head, trying to snap out of my daze. "Whatever you want to order I'll have as well."
"All right then. Two of the chicken and leek pies, and a pot of Earl Grey. And some of those Jammy Dodgers – those are your favorite aren't they?"
I nodded and smiled at my mother's brown eyes, so bright and vibrantly brown, just like mine once were.
"Okay – the Jammy Dodgers and maybe the Treacle Tart along with –"
"Mum, it is just the two of us," I said, giggling as she continued to order down the menu as though every last one of my brothers were present.
"But we are celebrating!" she said, almost crowing her delight. She stood up and clanged her fork against her water glass, causing the other patrons to look up. I ducked my head a little, hoping I wouldn't see anyone I knew too well. "Attention all! I just wanted to announce that my daughter, Ginny Weasley, has just become the first triple specialized Healer in the history of all of St. Mungo's! Not even Dilys Derwent could say that!"
I blushed so deeply red I was later surprised it didn't reactivate my hair back to its previously carroty state. There was round of hearty applause around the shop, and even the manager came to the table and clapped me on the back, telling me it was –
- "impressive work you've done on the Potion, Severus. How soon do you think it will be ready?" Minister Shacklebolt asked as he thumbed through the meticulous notes, written in exacting, spiky scrawl across the countless pages of parchment.
"After I finish the final formulation, I will have to test it – on myself, naturally – as per the norm. I hope perhaps in two weeks to a month at the longest, to reach the test state," Severus said, staring into the grey slime bubbling in the cauldron before them. It was not progressing as he'd hoped, and he was going to have to research carefully to figure out the last couple of ingredients.
"Two weeks would be better," the Minister said, his low voice – almost as low as Severus's own – reverberating slightly throughout the lab.
"I could do two weeks if you could ever find me a qualified Apprentice," Severus replied, knowing one didn't exist and never would. No one could meet his standards, and he was far more advanced in his knowledge than would suit an advanced beginner.
Kingsley snorted before he set the parchments down on Severus's desk and walked to the door. "Good work, as always. Just keep us updated on your progress."
"Of course," Severus said, just before Kingsley walked out of the door and shut it firmly behind him. He frowned as he looked at the murk in front of him, then sighed heavily as he walked to his specimen wall.
Nothing had worked as he had intended for it to. Nothing was producing the desired results for sleep – it was as though the ingredients were fighting each other. Of course, if he could keep his mind completely present in the lab, and not think of the girl he was taking out to dinner tonight, he would be able to work much more efficiently.
But thoughts of her randomly appeared in his mind, unbidden, throughout the day. Sometimes he felt as though every time he closed his eyes he could see her in those red, lacy knickers that showed more skin than they covered and see the way her breasts swayed as she rocked on top of Potter's scrawny, selfish body.
She was real, and she made him feel real by just being in her presence now. Even when he watched her as she read her books or just slept, he felt as though he –
- didn't have to get my anything, Mum. Really, it's too much," I said, blushing even more as I accepted the envelope from her hands.
"It's just a little something dear," she said, motioning for me to open it.
I put down my raspberry biscuit and licked my fingers before I broke the red wax seal on the envelope and opened it, pulling out a heavy, cream colored card inside.
For the beholder of this card:
Anything you want, anything you need, anything you desire (within reason, love)
at Twilfitt and Tatting's in Diagon Alley
With hugs and kisses,
Mum and Dad
"Oh, Mum – Twilfitt and Tatting's! It's – "
"Not too much, now hush," she said, popping a biscuit in my mouth.
I frowned at her as I started to chew on it, trying to hurry so I could start protesting again.
"Ginny, we won't take no for an answer on this. Your dad got a raise or two in the last couple of years, and we wanted to … well," she said, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes. "It always hurt me a little having to put you in second and third hand clothes, and I thought you might like to have something really nice to celebrate is all. We're just so proud of you!"
I swallowed and looked at my Mum's sweet, generous face that had been through so much in her short life. Somehow, it didn't show – her face was still as open and dear as it had been before the Battle of Hogwarts.
Before Fred died.
I sniffled and looked at the card again, thinking of what Freddie would have to say about me shopping and T&T's.
"Oh Gin – look who's going to be the Queen of the ball? My little sister, that's who!"
I sighed and put the card in the front pocket of my robes, putting on a smile as I heard the sound of Fred's happy laughter in my ears. "Alright, mum. Thank you so much – and give dad a kiss for me too."
"Will you go today? Just make the afternoon about you?"
I nodded. "I have a patient after tea that I need to do a little research on, but I should have enough time to go by."
"Good!" she exclaimed, looking -
- up from the maps and rubbing her eyes.
"Tedious, isn't it?" Harry said. He shifted in his chair and tried to adjust himself discreetly as she stood up and walked to him, kneeling between his legs.
"I know something that would give us both a little relief," she said, her ruby red lips parting a little as she unzipping his trousers. He moaned and ran his fingers through the heavy reddish-gold strands that were the color of the sunset, the color of -
- the Slytherin banner! Harry will kill me," I said, moaning a little as Astoria held the silk in front of my face.
"But look what it does to your skin, Ginny. Here, take off that veil and wimple – there's a girl," she said, taking it and the mantle from me as I unwound the braid from the back of my head. "It's a marvelous color for you," she sighed.
I looked at myself in the gas lights of the store and removed Harry's revulsion for me wearing green from my mind.
She was right, of course.
The bright green made my skin look like alabaster, making my freckles look more dramatic. Yet, somehow that looked right, especially with the dark red lights popping out from my hair like embers in a fire that needed to be stoked.
Fire … and heat.
Even without his touch, just by thinking about Mr. Snape, I started to burn inside. I watched in the mirror as my lips reddened a little and swelled.
"You see! You have to let me put you in this color," Astoria sighed, flipping back a rope of her thick brown hair.
"Yes, you do," I said firmly.
She squealed, earning a disapproving look from the grey haired matron behind the desk in the back of the shop. Astoria winked at me as she went to a wardrobe to the side and pulled out an emerald green dress cut from the same silk.
I knew it would be perfect the second I saw it. The hem of the pencil cut skirt would end just below my knee, but there was a high slit up the side, probably ending almost at my hip. The bodice could have been called a cowl neck line if it'd been higher and not dipping so low that I wouldn't be able to wear a bra. Heck, the fabric was so thin I wouldn't be able to wear knickers, either.
The matron looked up again, eyeing the dress with disapproval.
"I'll take it," I said. "But I'll need some shoes to wear with it, along with a heavy cloak that doesn't look like …" I pointed at my serviceable black cloak hanging on a hook by the front door.
"We've got just the thing," she said, walking to another wardrobe and removing a heavy, dove grey cloak that would fall to my ankles. "And it's charmed to keep the wearer toasty warm."
"Sold," I said, laughing now with real joy. "I'll buy the cloak myself, and the rest my parents are taking care of." I showed her the card, which she took from me as we walked to the matron's desk.
"What a little tart you'll look like in that," she said, with a loud sniff of disapproval.
Suddenly, I heard Harry's voice in my mind, telling me the exact same thing. "You aren't a whore …"
Astoria's angry voice brought me back to the present. "Really, Gram – how could you say something like that to her? I have this exact dress! In red!" she finished, her face sneering but also as hurt as mine was.
"Then you ring her up," the old woman said as she got up and walked to the back door.
Astoria and I stared at each other for a minute before she wiped a tear from her eye and asked, "What size shoe to you wear?"
"A seven," I said, clearing my throat.
She nodded and looked at the shoes behind her, grabbing a pair of gold, strappy heeled sandals. A tap of the wand to their soles, and they lengthened to the perfect size seven. "These are what I wear with mine," she said, not meeting my eye.
"Hey," I said, lowering my head so I could catch her gaze. "You aren't responsible for her."
Astoria nodded and sighed. "It's why I'm in this shop. Mum and Dad want it to succeed and grow past the regular clientele we've always had, and they know that her not giving up her position is holding us back from being a bigger and better store." She started to pack up the purchases in a few large bags before she giggled to herself. "Actually, I'm glad she's gone now – I've got something for you she'd completely hate."
I watched her run to a dresser a few feet away, open a drawer, and pull out a piece of nude colored lace. She turned back around mischievously and showed me what was in her hands.
"Are those … ?"
She nodded and grinned. "This way you'll still have a little coverage, but there won't be a line under your dress."
"Little is right," I said, taking the tiny scrap of intricate lace from her hands. "This goes on my bill, too."
Astoria laughed outright. "Definitely not the kind of knickers you want your Mum to know you own."
"Quite," I replied, giggling nervously as I handed them back to her.
"You are going to drive Harry crazy in this, green or not," she said as she started writing up the two bills.
"Harry," I said, nodding absently. But I knew the second I saw the dress that I would never wear it for the man who I had a home with.
I was going to wear it for the man whose touch set me on fire.