A/N Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! It's been over a month since I last posted and I would like to apologize! School has been really tough with Regents prep, PSAT prep and end of marking period essays. Hope you like this chapter!
Side Note: I watched A Very Potter Musical today and it was hilarious! I recommend watching it, but it has some bad language in it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who, just the plot to this story.
Chapter 17: Love Potion
~ GINNY ~
"Wow! This place is amazing, guys!" Ginny said breathlessly, looking around the new joke shop now owned by Fred and George. She, Amy, Hermione, Harry, and Ron had finally been able to check out Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley while Arthur and Molly were retrieving their school supplies for their next year at Hogwarts. Fleur had insisted on staying back at the Burrow, which Ginny had no problem with. Fleur had made it very clear to the Weasley's that she was not very fond of Fred, George, and their pranks. This was yet another reason that Ginny was not very fond of Fleur, or 'Phlegm' as Ginny called her.
Ginny, Amy, and Hermione had broken off from Harry and Ron to explore the shop more. Fred and George were on the other side of the shop helping out some customers while the girls went looking at their products. The girls went through the store, stopping at certain stands and products to observe them more carefully. Ginny let her thoughts cloud her mind again…
Tonks had also opted to stay back at the Burrow that day, trying to convince the others that she was ill. Tonks, over the past couple of weeks, had been isolating herself from the occupants of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley had been trying to draw her out of her new room, but she was unsuccessful. Once, when Charlie popped in for a visit, Mrs. Weasley decided to send him up to check on Tonks. Charlie and Tonks had gone to Hogwarts together and were in the same year. Although he was a Gryffindor and she was a Hufflepuff and they didn't have every class together, they had always been very good friends. When Charlie came back downstairs, he told his mother that Tonks had thrown a pillow at him to make him leave the room and that she had been crying. Whenever Bill stopped in to check on his fiancée, Molly would try to talk him out of marrying Fleur and that Tonks was available; Tonks did not seem happy by this. Ginny wanted to know what was going on with Tonks — she made a mental note to ask Amy later.
Ginny, Hermione, and Amy stopped in front of a wall that was covered in Patented Daydream Charms. "'Daydream Charms'?" Hermione read the sin hanging above, "This really is some amazing magic!"
"For that, Hermione, you can have one for free!" Fred walked up from behind them and wrapped his arms around Amy from the back. "Hello, beautiful," he said as he bent down and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Fred. Not to spoil 'the mood' or anything, but we need a bruise reducer."
"Why? What happened?" He finally caught sight of Hermione's eye. "Your punching telescope," Hermione muttered under her breath, still trying to hide the bruise. "Here you are, Hermione," Fred pulled the bruise reducer out from his pocket and handed it to Hermione. He then whispered something in Amy's ear and the pair walked off towards the counter to be alone.
"They want some time alone before she has to go back to Hogwarts," Ginny announced, seeing the confused look on Hermione's face. The two continued their journey around the store and ended in front of a large pink stand filled with many tiny potions.
They each picked up a bottle and Ginny saw that it read 'Love Potion.'
"Hello, ladies!" George walked up to them, Harry coming up behind him. "Love potions, eh? They really do work. Well, from what I can tell you're doing just fine on your own, sis."
Ginny's eyes narrowed, and Harry inched closer to listen to the conversation. "I have no idea what you're talking about." George raised his eyebrows as if challenging her. "Are you or are you not currently dating a boy named Dean Thomas?"
"Maybe I am. But it's none of your business, anyway," turning to Hermione she whispered, "Remind me to yell at Ron later for talking to Fred and George about me." Ginny turned back towards George and saw that Harry was starting to slowly walk away behind him. "Hey, Harry!" Ginny called, running after him. From behind her, Ginny could hear George starting to talk to Hermione, threatening a boy that was eyeing her from across the store, but Ginny ignored them and continued towards Harry. She smiled at him and he gave her a weary smile back, almost as if he seemed upset.
"What's wrong, Harry? Ever since George started talking to me and Hermione you've seemed down..."
"Don't worry about me, Ginny. So," he began, definitely trying to change the subject, "Dean Thomas, huh? I never would have guessed." Ginny laughed. She had never really had a normal conversation with Harry, she had always been too obsessed with him. Now that she had finally taken Hermione's advice to see other people, she seemed to finally be gaining Harry's attention. "Dean and I started talking while in Dumbledore's Army. Of course, I was still dating Michael Corner back then, but I wanted to make more friends outside of my year. I already spend a lot of time with you, Ron, Hermione, Amy, and Neville, so I figured I should get to know your friends more. Dean and I started talking and… now we're dating. That's really it."
"So, you're happy then? Is he good to you? He respects you?" Ginny laughed again, "Merlin, Harry, you sound like my brothers." He smiled widely, his eyes soon filling with worry. "I just want to make sure you're alright."
"I'm fine, Harry. And to answer your questions: yes I'm happy, yes he's good to me, and yes he respects me. Thank you for caring, though. You're better than my brothers," Ginny pulled Harry into a hug. She couldn't see his face, but she knew that he was taken aback by this. "All my brothers do," she started, pulling away, "is threaten to kill him if he hurts me. They never ask about how he treats me. At least you have some common sense."
"Harry, mate! Where've you been?" Ron came stumbling over. "I've been looking all over for you," he looked suspiciously at Ginny, "What're you guys doing?"
"Nothing," Harry answered quickly. Ron pulled Harry along behind him, away from Ginny; but not before Harry turned back to smile and wave at Ginny. Ginny felt her heart skip a beat as he smiled at her. Stop that, Ginny! Don't think about him like that! You're dating Dean now! You shouldn't like Harry anymore! Ginny was shaken out of her thoughts by the voice of Hermione. "Ginny? Are you okay?"
"What? Oh — hey, Hermione. Yeah, I'm fine." Hermione narrowed her eyes at Ginny. "I'm fine, Hermione. Just thinking..."
"About Harry?" Ginny gaped at Hermione. "I heard you two talking," Hermione cleared her throat and changed her voice to mock Ginny's, "'Thank you for caring, Harry. You're so much better than my brothers. I love you so much!' Honestly, Gin, could you make it any more obvious?" Ginny blushed so hard that her face matched her hair. "Luckily for you, Harry is just as oblivious as you are obvious. He probably wouldn't even notice you fancied him if you started snogging him in the middle of the Hogwarts Great Hall."
"Hermione!" Ginny whacked her friend on the shoulder. "Can we please not talk about this here? At least wait until we get back to the Burrow."
"You're no fun, Ginny." The girls laughed.
"Hermione! We need to talk to you." Harry and Ron walked up to the girls. "What's wrong?" Hermione asked, but the serious looks on their faces made her leave with them immediately.
Ginny was left alone and decided to find her parents and shop with them for her school supplies. But on her way out, a girl called her name from behind. "Ginny? Ginny Weasley?" She turned around to see a girl with long blonde hair, and dreamy eyes facing her. "Luna! How are you?"
"Oh, you know. The usual. Father and I traveled across Sweden trying to hunt down some Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. But, sadly, we couldn't find any. Oh, well. I do hope to see you on the train tomorrow. Have a good day."
Luna skipped out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and down the street. Ginny watched her in confusion, walking out of her brothers' store and towards Flourish and Blotts to find her parents. She walked in the direction of the bookstore when suddenly —
"Ron, ouch! That was my foot!"
"Hermione, I didn't do anything!"
"Ron, shush..."
"It's Ginny."
"Do you think she hears us… ?"
"She hasn't looked this way yet so I would say no."
"Guys, shut up. Come on, we have to catch up with Malfoy."
That stupid Invisibility Cloak. Hermione had told Ginny about it before. They must've been using it to spy on someone — and from what Ginny heard, that someone was Malfoy. I can't pass up an opportunity like this!
Ginny looked around to make sure no one was watching her, and then followed the sound of her brother's voice trying to whisper. She caught things like: "What do you think he's… where are we… Harry… Hermione…"
Ugh… does he ever just shut up! Yes, of course, he does — but only when he's shoving food in his mouth. Ginny mentally laughed at her own thoughts. As she followed her friends, she almost didn't realize that they were beginning to lead her down Knockturn Alley. She hesitated for a moment before crossing from Diagon Alley to Knockturn Alley.
As Ginny made her way down the dark alley, she witnessed things such as men talking to walls and large dogs running rampant. As Ron's voice began to die down, she realized she was on her own — she would have to find her own way to follow Malfoy.
Malfoy and his mum had just stopped in front of a store with the sign reading Borgin and Burke on the front. Malfoy looked around, making sure no one was watching (Ginny had to hide behind a wall) before entering. The lights turned on in a building behind the store and, reluctantly, Ginny followed Malfoy into Borgin and Burke's.
She tried not to be seen as she did this, trying not to be caught by Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the process. Malfoy walked up the stairs after his mother. Ginny waited until Malfoy was at the top before following. She stopped herself from fully emerging at the top, only making the top of her head and eyes visible — just enough so that she could see. Her eyes found Malfoy, stroking a cabinet in the middle of the room. His mother walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. In the background, Ginny could see two more people in the room: one she recognized immediately as Bellatrix Lestrange. She could never forget the face of the woman that murdered Sirius. She looked to the woman's right and saw the other person. He was a tall man with his long hair slicked back. Ginny could just make out the fangs from his mouth. Greyback, Ginny thought. Lupin had told her about him.
There was a loud noise from outside and Greyback turned to look out the window. It's them, she said to herself, they're going to get caught if they keep this up.
But they didn't get caught; Greyback closed the curtains and turned back around, his eyes falling on Malfoy.
As they were about to speak, Ginny felt a slight tug on her arm and froze. This was it She was going to die at the hands of these Death Eaters and no one knew she was here. She felt the tug again. With her other arm, Ginny quickly grabbed her wand and spun around. She did not expect him to be here.
"George!" She mouthed, "What are you doing here?"
"Me?" He mouthed back, "What about you?"
He dragged her by the arm down the stairs and out of the store. With a frown on her face, Ginny was guided back to Diagon Alley by her brother.
"What the hell d'you think you were doing? Skulking around Knockturn Alley?"
"I could say the same to you!"
"Me? I followed you! I saw you heading in that direction and went right after you. What were you doing anyway?"
"I was trying to spy on Malfoy! He is up to something and I know it! So do Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were there too!"
"Oh, really? And where were they?"
"Outside. Under the Invisibility Cloak! I didn't want them to know I was there! But now that you pulled me out of there they probably saw us both!"
"Look, Ginny, just be happy that I won't tell mum or dad what just happened. Don't you remember what happened four years ago when Harry ended up in Knockturn Alley? Mum and dad went ballistic! And he's not even their kid. Imagine what would happen if they found out you were there —"
"But they won't find out. Right, George?" George gave her a stern look, Ginny had never seen him so serious. He sighed, "Right. Look just — just go find mum and dad. Stick with them until you get back to the Burrow. Promise?"
"Promise." She went on her tiptoes and kissed her brother on the cheek. "Love you," Ginny smiled up at him. "You too." On that note, Ginny finally proceeded towards Flourish and Blotts to find her parents before returning to the Burrow. This is gonna be one hell of a year.
