Hey all!

Sorry it's been a while - as usual, I have had a tone of work and am writing this in my spare time (actually, I'm writing this instead of doing my work :p).

Thank-you again to everyone.

A special thank you to Annegirl11 for your constant reviews and for the inspiration for the next few chapters. I am very grateful for your input :D.

Now, without further ado, I present the new chapter and hope you enjoy it :).

Chapter 21 - To Auntie Muriel's

Easter had been a small affair. Tonks, Lupin, Andromeda and Bill and Fleur had joined us for lunch, and it had been lovely to see them. Tonks, nearing the end of her pregnancy, was more excited than I had ever seen her (although she complained that she still had about a month left). Lupin, however, looked excited yet terrified at the thought of the approaching birth of his child.

Tonks had felt exhausted, and they had just left, leaving us Weasleys alone together. We were sitting in the lounge room and there were various conversations around the room, none of which I was interested in participating in.

Now that I was at home, I had no pressing thoughts to occupy my mind, and this resulted in me thinking of the Trio more than I had before. It was nearing a year that they had been gone, and I began to worry that it would be years before I would see them again. And more years that we would have to suffer under the reign of Voldemort. I couldn't bear the thought of it.

I sighed, and glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to set; it had been such a beautiful day. I saw it as my opportunity to be alone, so I excused myself and sat on the porch outside, gazing at the sun through the trees.

I sighed again. It reminded me of the time when Harry and I had (literally) just begun our relationship, and had sat on the edge of the lake watching the sunset. With a goofy smile on my face, I remembered how Harry had stared at me like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time, and how we had kissed. I rolled my eyes at the sappy words we had exchanged that day, and in the days that had followed. But, I wouldn't exchange it for anything.

Oh, how I longed to relive those days. To spend every day seeing Harry - and Ron and Hermione, of course - and to share more happy times together in a world rid of the evil it was now in possession of.

I heard the door creak open, and swung around. The twins came out and gave me a grin, followed by Charlie, Bill and Fleur. They all came and joined me, a twin sitting on either side of me.

"'Ow beautiful," said Fleur, resting her head on Bill's shoulder. We all nodded, sitting there silently. I think it was the first time we had done so. I decided to rest my head on the twin to my right, not knowing that it would disturb the comfortable and rare silence that we had fallen into.

"What, I'm not good enough for you to rest your head on?" asked the twin to my left, clearly offended.

"Well, I can't rest my head on both of your shoulders," I said. "That would be weird."

"It's ok, Gin, you don't have to lie to us," said the twin I was resting my head on. "We all know that I, Fred, am your favourite twin."

"I beg to differ," said George. "She's only resting her head on you because she's imagining you as her green-eyed toad."

I straightened up, glared at him and punched his shoulder.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call Harry that?" I snapped at him and he just grinned.

"Well, what would you like us to call him? Spectacles?"

"Dreamy eyes?" suggested Fred.

"Hot stuff?"

"Scarhead?"

"Isn't that an insult?" I asked Fred.

"Aren't they all insults?" he countered, and I rolled my eyes at them. Instead of resting my head on Fred again, I took his hand and then George's. They both smiled faintly at me before George wrapped an arm around Charlie, who returned the favour. Fred wrapped an arm around Bill, who wrapped his around him and took Fleur's hand. He leaned in to kiss her.

I smiled as they got closer, ignoring the fact that we were intruding. They were interrupted by the sounds of kissing noises coming from directly in front of and behind me.

Charlie and I laughed as Bill turned and glared at the twins, who shrugged innocently back.

"We can't help it," they said at the same time and we all laughed.

"Don't worry, Gin. When Harry gets back, we'll make smooching noises at you two," said George and I swatted him playfully.

"Better get used to us, Gin. You're gonna be home for a while," said Fred and he was right. I was going to be home for the rest of the year, my parents had already told me that.

I couldn't help but feel disheartened at the fact that I wasn't going back, that I wouldn't see Neville or Patty or the others for a while now, but I knew it was for my safety. I knew that as soon as I set foot in that castle again, I was dead.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of the breeze that was a mixture of cold and warm; that was just the right temperature as it sifted through the strands of my plaited hair.

I opened my eyes, and watched the sunset in that comfortable silence, our hands or arms linked together. We watched as the colours of yellow-orange merged to orange, to red-orange, to pink and finally to purple which eventually faded to the dark night sky.

Even after the sun had set completely, leaving us in darkness with that slightly cool night breeze, we didn't move. We continued to sit there in content silence, savouring our last peaceful moment together with a majority of us siblings, before our lives turned hectic again.

GWGWGWGWGWGWGWGW

I sighed and stared out the window. It was another beautiful day, and I could not completely enjoy it. We had just been to visit the Tonks to give our condolences for Ted's passing. They had said that they had suspected he had been for ages, but I knew that it didn't ease the pain.

Their heartbroken expressions replayed in my mind, and I had no idea how they were coping with it. I wouldn't know what to do if I ever lost one of my loved ones. How did you move on when they were no longer a part of your life? I know everyone always says that they're watching over you and in your heart, but how did you cope without them physically there? I didn't know, and I never wanted to know.

My eyes moved over the hill that I knew the Lovegoods lived on, and I felt ever more saddened. I continued to stare at it, and found myself thinking simultaneously of Harry. I wanted nothing more than for him to come back safe and unharmed; to be able to see and touch him and treat him how he deserves to be treated. I wanted it to be soon, but I had no way of telling how long it would be before we saw each other again.

It was just mum, Charlie, dad and I at dinner that night. Fred and George had gone to do another broadcast of Potterwatch. George had been replaced by Fred, who had donned the name 'Rapier', because he wanted a chance to broadcast as well.

We heard a 'crack' of apparition, and waited for a second one. When we didn't hear it, we began to wonder who had come. We heard footsteps on the porch and then the door opened to reveal Bill who looked very worried.

"Bill, what is it?" asked mum, sounding frantic.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione just showed up at my house with some people, a goblin and a dead house-elf."

We all sat there in silence, our mouths hanging open, chills running down my back as his words sunk in.

"What?" my father asked.

"They just came from Malfoy Manor, which means that you all to pack your bags quickly and -"

"- head over to Muriel's," finished my father. We all shot up from the table.

"What about the twins?" asked mum.

"I'll pack for them," said Bill. "And if there's anything they need they can come back for it later."

We headed to our rooms, our meals forgotten.

I took the stairs two at a time, and once inside my room, pulled out my trunk and opened it. I threw some clothes, books, my diary and the stuff of Harry's I had borrowed into it. My heart was knocking against my ribs, and I went next door to see if Bill needed any help. We packed their stuff to the best of our ability, and Bill took their stuff downstairs while I double-checked what I had packed.

Once finished, I went downstairs and rushed to the bathroom to grab my toothbrush and returned to my trunk. Once it was safely in it's travelling case in my trunk, mum and dad did one last check of the house, and then we hurried outside to the apparating point. Once there, I grabbed Charlie's arm (as he was the closest to me) and we apparated to Muriel's house.

We landed in her backyard, and quickly made our way to the house. It was quite large and mansion-like - her husband had been very rich and they had lived a comfortable life - and I marvelled over it's beauty. Unfortunately, Muriel was waiting for us on the porch.

"Arthur, Molly and children, it's great to see you all," she said, ushering us inside. I highly doubted that she was pleased to see us; she basically hated everyone. She kissed us all hello, and Bill left, promising to alert the twins of the change and to return later.

After he left, she showed us our assigned rooms. Mine was on the second floor, next to Charlie's. Once we had unpacked, we had tea, and the twins arrived. After checking that our packing was to their satisfaction, they joined us. It was during tea that Muriel reinforced the reason why we disliked her so much. But, I was kind of grateful for it because it distracted me from worrying about the trio.

"Charles, you're covered in burns!" she exclaimed, horrified at the state of Charlie's skin. "I've said it before and I'll say it again; it's about time you stopped playing with dragons and settled down with a nice and respectable woman."

"When I'm ready I will," he replied quietly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Fred and George, I'm pleased that you both are doing very well with your business, but I do think you are both at the age where it is time to settle down," she told them, and they glanced at each other and grinned mischievously. "You both don't want to end up like poor Charles here, do you?"

I stifled my laughter as Charlie, mum and dad all looked affronted. The twins shook their heads in unison.

"No, we don't want to end up like poor Charlie over here -" said one twin seriously.

"- With the ideal bachelor life; a good-paying job that we love and different women to spend every night with," finished the other one, and I stifled my laughter as Muriel interpreted every word of theirs seriously. She turned to me, and the dreaded moment I had been awaiting arrived.

"Ah, Ginevra," she said, taking a sip of tea. "You've grown into a beautiful woman," she began, and I was shocked and apprehensive for what would follow, "but, judging from what I've heard, you need to settle down and act like a proper woman. You're almost of age and will then need to start looking for a husband. Let's face it, no man is going to want a wild woman."

And there it was. I was shocked and unsure of how to reply to that. I saw my brothers snickering behind my back, and smiled.

"Thank-you for the advice, Auntie Muriel," I said, trying to sound sincere. My mother smiled encouragingly behind her back, and I felt proud that I hadn't told her off for her comments. However, that was pretty tame compared to what she could say, and I wasn't sure that I would always be able to remain cool and collected in such a situation.

"Yes, well, I'm always right," she said. Just then, there was a knock on the door. We all sat up straighter and dad went to answer it. We heard them exchange the usual questions, and then he returned with Bill.

"The elf's been buried and everyone's all right," he informed us, and I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding.

"Do you know the name of the elf?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Dobby."

"Where did you bury him?"

"Harry buried him at the end of the garden between the bushes. Dug the grave with a spade and all."

"Yeah, he would've," I said quietly, suppressing tears at the loss of such a gentle and kind soul. "Dobby meant a great deal to him."

A silence fell around the room, and I used it to remember Dobby. I could feel eyes on me, and suspected they belonged to Bill, but I did not meet them.

"Who else was with them?" asked mum.

"Olivander, Luna and Dean," he replied, and I felt so relieved I could've jumped for joy. They were all alive and safe! I wanted to scream it from the rooftops. My prayers had been answered, and now I could sleep a little easier at night.

"What happened at Malfoy Manor?" I asked him, the question I knew we were all eager to know the answer to.

"They got captured by Snatchers and taken there. The boys were locked in the cellar while Hermione was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange," he said, and we all gasped, horrified.

"Oh, I have to go see -" said mum.

"It's all right," Bill assured. "Fleur took care of her and she's doing fine."

"But -"

"Bill, please continue with the story," said dad, and mum fell silent.

"Then the goblin was taken up for questioning and Dobby appeared and dropped off Olivander, Luna and Dean at my house. Then he went back for the others, and while they were apparating, Bellatrix threw a knife and it stabbed Dobby."

We all stood there in silence, letting his words sink in. I was deeply saddened that Dobby had died, but I couldn't help feeling euphoric that the others were safe and alive.

"I need to see them," said mum defiantly, daring Bill to stand up to her.

"Me too," I said, matching her tone.

"No," he said flatly. "They've been through enough today -"

"I don't care!" said mum, standing up. I felt anger flare up within me as well. "Ron is my child and the other two are as good as!"

"Molly and Ginny," said dad calmly. "I know that you want to see them, we all do, but it would not be wise."

"Not wise -?" I began, standing up, but he cut me off.

"Yes. They need time to rest and heal, and even then it might not be a good reason to see them."

"And why not?" we asked at the same time.

"Because they have a task to do, and our appearance would just distract them."

"But -" mum protested weakly.

"Molly," he said sternly, and she fell silent. We knew that he was right, but that wouldn't stop me from finding a way to see them.

I hope you enjoyed it! The next one's in progress so I hope it'll be up soon :).