I own nothing but the plot.
August 31st, 1998
"Well… at least Mum's stopped yelling at me for a while?" Ginny mused, falling onto her bed with a huff of air. The sounds of barely muffled shouting could still be heard floating up the stairs of the Burrow, the heated row in the kitchen showing no signs of slowing down or reaching a conclusion any time soon.
Tensions had been high in the Weasley household over recent weeks. To say Molly Weasley was upset at her daughter's choice to get a tattoo would be an understatement, and Hermione hadn't fared much better under the wrath of the Weasley matriarch. The only one safe from her wrath these days was Harry, and that wasn't even because he had done anything in particular. No, instead the Boy Who Lived had left little over a week ago, opting to return to 12 Grimmauld Place, determined to make the ancestral House of Black his new home.
"I can see her point…" Hermione trailed off, wincing as both girls heard Molly's voice go up another octave. Settling back on the camp bed she was calling her own, Hermione ran her fingers idly over her forearm, once again admiring the ink work that had been laid over the scars left by Bellatrix during the War. It had taken hours and been more painful than she imagined, but now that it was there, she couldn't imagine her life without the vibrant splash of colour and life on her skin. Ginny had fared better, opting for a more modern approach, and the golden snitch gently fluttering over her hip was bold now, but both knew it would fade with time.
"Can you believe we're going back tomorrow?" Ginny turned to Hermione after the pair had sat in silence for a while, just listening to the argument down below. "I don't know how to feel, y'know? Last year was so… messed up."
"Trust me, I know… I spent most of it in a tent, remember? I guess getting back to normal is a good thing?" Hermione stopped prodding her arm and instead sat up, remembering that the pair of them were supposed to be packing their trunks for the trip back to Hogwarts in the morning.
"Will it still be normal though?" Ginny mused, sitting up as well and following Hermione's lead, grabbing a handful of books from the bedside table and tossing them carelessly into her open trunk. The dull thud of the books hitting the bottom was echoed down below with a door slamming as the heated row reached a peak. "Oh God here he comes…" Ginny winced as footsteps thudded up the staircase, stopping before her bedroom door before it was thrust open, the timber thudding against the wall.
"Just where does she think she gets off telling me what to do now… I'm a fucking adult!" Ron fumed as he stormed into his younger sister's room, his face still the same shade of red as his vibrant hair.
"Ron, you're 17… you can hardly blame her after what happened last year," Hermione started, trying to placate him instead of going on the attack like she usually would, doing her best to tread lightly in their new relationship.
"I already told her, I'm not fucking going back! Harry's not, and I'm not! I can't even believe you are. Well, you're a bookworm so I can, but. I'm not going back!" Ron ranted, storming through the bedroom until he jammed his foot on one of the open trunks. "SON OF A FUCK!" he howled as he jumped back, clutching his now throbbing foot.
"Okay, okay, calm down, jeez…" Hermione held her hands up, a frown marring her face as she registered the slight insult. Tucking her legs up under herself, she scooted back on the camp bed slightly as Ron hopped around the remaining space, still cursing colourfully. Ginny just kept throwing books into her trunk, giving an exaggerated sigh and rolling her eyes at her brother's antics.
"We get it, you don't want to go back to school. Calm down before you put a hole in my wall," Ginny scowled as Ron's elbows came dangerously close to the thing walls, his movements knocking items on her desk.
"How can she think we'll just go back to school. Like the War didn't happen. I'm a war hero for fucks sake! People respect me!" Ron fumed, dropping his foot down to stand normally instead, his arms now folded over his chest as he towered in the room, his height making him seem larger in the small space.
"We're all war heroes…" Ginny muttered, rolling her eyes at him again.
"You're not part of the Golden Trio though. I am! Well, 'Mione is too but again she's a bookworm so we all know she's going back to write the new edition of 'Hogwarts: A History'."
Hermione's frown deepened as she heard the second insulting comment, not sure if he was just joking and teasing, or actually having a dig at her now. She didn't think on it long, deciding to let it slide for the time being. She was still regaining control over her life, but she was stressed. They all were. She knew the War had taken a lot out of all of them, and their new relationship after so many years of friendship was the only ray of light in the world at the moment.
"Fine, you're a war hero. Don't go to school, honestly I don't care, but if mum has kittens again I'm blaming you," Ginny groused, slamming the lid on her trunk down. "Now kindly, sweetly, get out of my room, brother dearest. You're really cramping my style," She finished with a pillow thrown at Ron's head, the subsequent collision not helping his already frayed temper.
"Go fuck yourself, Gin. I need to fucking… ugh do something. Fuck this. You coming, 'Mione?" Ron scowled at Ginny before directing his question to Hermione, not that he waited for an answer. Instead he just reached out and grabbed for her hand, missing it and instead wrapping his large hand around her wrist. Tugging, he pulled the rather petit witch up off the camp bed, practically dragging her along behind him as he made his way out of Ginny's room to continue the trek up to his. Turning her head, Hermione gave Ginny a pleading look, only to be met by one of pity as she followed along behind her boyfriend, the pair set to be alone properly for the first time in weeks.
Shaking her head once her door closed, a little more crooked than it used to be, Ginny sighed.
"Yep, totally normal…"
