Ginny and Hermione entered the guest room which they'd been kindly offered by Euphemia. Though they'd tried to protest insisting that they'd simply be trouble, Fleamont's rather logical question of 'You have no money, where will you stay?' made them reconsider.
Never mind the fact that they'd lived the past 2 years without any money whilst on the run but the option of sleeping in a warm bed without worrying about any wild animals or worse, any death eaters upon them was too good for either of the girls to give up.
And so, after dinner (which Hermione and Ginny had practically gobbled up much to the sadness of the Potters and Black. They could see how long it had been since either of them had had a decent meal and it pained them that these two lovely girls had been starving out in the cold night for almost 2 years ) both the girls bid the boys goodbye and followed Euphemia to their room.
Euphemia handed them some clothes and towels, telling them that they could shower in the adjacent bathroom.
Thanking her one last time, Ginny shut the door before turning to Hermione who looked back at her. They then collapsed onto the bed.
"Hermione" Ginny said, her voice muffled by the pillow "Am I dreaming?Tell me I'm not because I won't be able to bare waking up in that cold cave after all of this"
"If you are Ginny" Hermione said "Then I think I'm having the same dream as you. Merlin can you believe we're actually here?"
Ginny looked at her "I know right? I mean when we said that last night, it was just wishful thinking and now we're here, Hermione"
Hermione smiled at her "Yes we are Ginny"
"We can change things. We can save people. We can create a new future, Hermione" Ginny said
"Yes but before that, we need to plan everything. We need to make sure that we don't mess this up. We can't afford a single mistake" Hermione said "We'll start to draft a timeline tomorrow.Right now, I'm in euphoria on this bed. Merlin, how long has it been since we slept on a bed?"
"Much longer for you than me" Ginny replied "You were on the run with Harry and Ron for a year weren't you?"
Hermione hummed before slight snores came from her, indicating that she'd fallen asleep. Ginny laughed shaking her head as she turned the lights off and went to sleep.
It was 3:30 in the morning when James entered the kitchen to get some water. As he was drinking, he heard a humming sound followed by a screech as if the swing in the porch was swinging.
He gulped his water, frowning as he wondered who could be up at this hour of the night and looked out of the window that looked out of the kitchen to the porch.
He saw the girl- Ginny- sitting on the swing, swinging back and forth looking up at the sky.
He put the bottle down and walked towards the front door, opening it and walking towards her. Her hair was flowing because of the breeze and James was taken aback by how beautiful she really was.
She had a shawl wrapped around her and her head was leaning on the holdings of the swing.
She looked at him when she sensed his presence and smiled "Hello James, what are you doing up at this hour?"
James smiled and said "I could ask you the same, may I sit here?"
"Sure" she said, scooting over to make space for him to sit.
"What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked
"I couldn't sleep" she replied "It's become a habit apparently. When me and Hermione were…" she hesitated before saying "Out there...we'd take turns sleeping. One would sleep while the other would keep watch. I guess I became accustomed to sleeping in breaks. She has too" she replied, looking up at the window of the room she and Hermione were sleeping in.
"She'll wake up in about 15 minutes and start looking for me," Ginny said, looking at him.
He swallowed as his eyes met hers. They were the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen, the deepest brown, like molten chocolate and champagne. There were specks of amber in between and he could see a deep pain in them.
He licked his suddenly dry lips and cleared his throat looking away from her "Right...um, I was here to get some water when I saw you sitting here alone, so I thought of keeping you some company, if you don't mind of course"
Ginny smiled "Thank you and who am I to mind the presence of the High and Mighty James Potter?"
He looked at her and they burst into laughter.
"So what do you plan to do now? You talked to Dumbledore, will you be joining Hogwarts?"
Ginny nodded "Yes, we don't have anywhere else to go. Dumbledore was kind enough to offer us a place in Hogwarts. So it's not like we have any other option"
James nodded "Well, for what it's worth, I'm sure you'll have a good time at Hogwarts. Besides, you've got me, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail to hang with"
He probably didn't notice Ginny tensing up at the mention of Wormtail because he gave no indication that he had.
Knowing that if the topic continued she would have let something slip out about her opinion on Pettigrew, she wisely chose to change the topic.
"Why do you call each other by those names?" Ginny asked.
She noticed James freeze as he tried to stutter out an answer.
Of course Ginny knew that they were animagi and helped Remus during the full moon, but it was amusing to see James trying to form a decent lie to convince her.
She laughed and said "Merlin James, you're acting as if I've asked you to sign over your entire inheritance to me"
He relaxed at her attempt to calm him and said "It's just a nickname, you know between best friends"
She nodded and so he continued "You must have one for your sister as well?"
She smiled mischievously "Oh I do but none that I dare say in her face"
He laughed "You must be very close"
She nodded "We are...she's like my best friend"
'More like she is my best friend or rather, my only friend left' Ginny thought wryly.
"We've always been close" she continued "We were the youngest and so naturally were stuck together"
He smiled "I spent my childhood wishing to have a sibling to play with but my parents couldn't get pregnant again. But then I met the lads at Hogwarts and well, they're like my brothers now"
Ginny smiled at him "I can imagine. At our house, there was never a dull moment. There was chaos all the time, everywhere"
James looked at her and said "I'm sorry about your family"
She looked at him "It's not your fault. Honestly, it's been so long that it doesn't even hurt anymore"
He looked at her and she said "Sounds horrid doesn't it? To not be hurt at the mention of your family dying but these past few years, me and Hermione...we've really toughened up, nothing bothers us anymo-"
"GINNY!" came a shriek from inside.
Ginny was on her feet and inside the house before James even had the time to process everything.
He rushed inside after her and the two ran up to the guest room.
Ginny burst into the room and saw Hermione writhing on the bed.
She had sweat all over her body and her face was pinched in a painful expression.
"GINNY NO!!!" she cried out again.
Ginny ran inside and shook Hermione, wincing when Hermione's hand came up to claw at her arm.
"Hermione!" she said as she shook her friend-cum-sister awake.
Suddenly, Hermione shot up and looked at Ginny with her breath coming out fast as if she had just ran a marathon.
"Gin" she said weakly as she broke down in her arms.
Ginny wrapped her arms around Hermione, rocking to comfort her.
"It's ok...I'm here" she said as she brushed Hermione's bushy hair "I'm here, it's ok. We're safe"
James watched Ginny comfort the distraught girl in her arms and gulped down the lump in his throat.
For the first time, he realised just how awful the war was. For the first time, he realised just how real the war was.
And for the first time, he got a real sense of determination to fight the evil out there.