Ginny looked at the clock again. To her dismay, Charlie's hand was still pointed to mortal peril. She resumed her pacing. She desperately wanted some news of what had happened to her brother, but she had a feeling the news would be worse than the waiting. She took a look around the room. Ron was sitting in the corner of the living room, ashen-faced, lower lip trembling. When he had come screaming "Mum! Charlie's hand! Mortal peril!", he had looked horrible. Mrs. Weasley couldn't understand what he was saying at first, but when she got the idea, she ran out of the room in hot pursuit, their dinner forgotten. When she saw the clock, she sat down, hard, in the chair next to it. All the color had gone out of her face.
Her father, afraid she would faint, sat down on the floor next to her, patting her hand, saying news would come, perhaps Charlie would be all right. Ginny could tell he was much more frightened than he let on, and that scared her more than anything else.
The twins, who were trying to slip a Canary Cream onto Bill's plate, had followed their father, and had slumped down in two chairs, white-faced. They were unbelievably quiet, and they kept jumping at the slightest noises.
Bill, who had just come home for a small holiday, was standing next to the clock. He was biting his lower lip and kept blinking his eyes.
Then, suddenly, in the midst of it all, she heard a small pop behind her. Her father and Bill looked up. She spun around to see a young looking woman who was very pretty, with a few gray hairs.
"I'm Arabella Figg," she said crisply. "Where is your father?"
Ginny pointed, and turned around just in time to see someone tumble out of the fireplace. Arabella walked over to the person and pulled her (for it certainly looked like a her) out and dusted her off. Once she was clean, Ginny saw that it was Parvati Patil, a Gryffindor fifth year. Ron was goggling at her.
Arabella walked over to Ginny's mother and father, and was about to start talking to them, when someone else fell out of the fireplace. Ginny knew who it was immediately.
"Harry?" she asked incredulously.
Ron looked up from Parvati and stared at Harry. Before either of them could say anything to each other, Arabella said, "Harry, please explain what you told me to the Weasleys."
Everybody's eyes were fixed on Harry. He looked nervous. He swallowed and started to talk. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley," he began, looking straight at her. "I'm connected to Voldemort through my scar. Sometimes, I can see what he is doing when he's feeling excited." He gulped. Ginny saw Ron's eyes grow wide with fear, as if he knew what was coming next. Harry continued. "I saw him torture Charlie for information as to the going-ons of the Ministry." Ginny saw her father's fists clench. "Charlie said he would rather die than betray our side. When he said so, Voldemort said he would oblige him. He was just about to kill him when Lucius Malfoy intervened." Mrs. Weasley gasped. Harry looked at her as if he was about to cry, and Ginny felt awful for him. "Lucius Malfoy said it would bring him pleasure to kill Charlie himself." Harry took a deep breath, and Ginny knew what Harry was going to say next. "And he did."
He looked around the room, trying to take in everyone's reaction. Ginny did the same, because she was too shocked to take in what Harry had just told her.
Her mother was in tears. Ginny started to walk over to her, but Arabella Figg got there first.
"There, there, Molly," she said, almost in tears herself, "Charlie died with honor and bravery. You should be proud of him." Arabella hugged Molly, and both of them rocked back and forth.
Ginny looked at her father. There was a fire in his eyes, and he looked ready to kill himself. But at the same time, there was one tear rolling down the right side of his face. Ginny knew he was thinking murderous thoughts about Lucius Malfoy. She also knew that there would be no way to prove what Harry had just said about him, because of what many witches and wizards thought about Harry. Many believed him to be "disturbed and dangerous".
Bill looked at shocked as Ginny felt. He was trembling all over though, as if to stop a miserable howl escaping from him.
Ginny had never ever seen the way the twins were looking right now. They looked as if all was lost, the twinkle was gone from their eyes. They were holding on to each other's hands as if they were two again. To Ginny, this was the worst to see. To her, it felt as if though nothing would ever be happy again.
She turned to look at Ron. Parvati was by his side, patting his hand and talking in whispering tones to him. He kept nodding, but he looked as if all he wanted to do was to just go to his room and cry himself to sleep.
"Ginny?" She looked up. Harry was looking at her, emerald eyes full of concern. "Ginny, I'm so sorry." Ginny realized how awful she must've looked herself, because at that moment, Harry gave her a very awkward hug.
At that moment, she also realized that she had no feelings for him anymore. They had all just evaporated. Harry had just brought her the worst news she could ever hear. He had just told her that her eldest brother, the one full of laughter and who loved working with dragons, was dead. She could never like him again. She knew it wasn't his fault, but she would always connect him with the death of Charlie.
She pushed him away, a little more roughly than she meant to. She saw the hurt look in his eyes, but she herself felt more hurt, and she was getting angry. "I'm fine," she snapped, and turned away from Harry, leaving him looking lost.
Finally, Arabella stood up. "Molly, Arthur, everybody, I'm sorry we had to bring you this horrible piece of news. But I thought it would be better off if you knew for sure what happened. Just remember to be proud of Charlie, and that he will be watching over all of you, never forgotten. Time will heal." With that, there was a small pop, and she Disapparated.
Parvati stood up as well. She beckoned to Harry, and they both walked over to the fireplace. She just looked sadly at everyone, stepped into the fireplace, and disappeared.
Harry looked at everyone, and whispered, "I'm so sorry."
Ginny's mother wiped away all her tears and stood up, walked over to him, kissed his forehead, and hugged him. "It's not your fault, dear. Don't worry, we'll make it through this."
Harry simply nodded, stepped into the fireplace as well, and with a tiny wave to everyone, disappeared.
"Well, I say we all eat," Ginny's father said. "We shouldn't starve ourselves." One by one, everyone walked into the dining room.
Ginny helped her mother clean up after everyone had left for their separate rooms. She was numbly washing the dishes, trying not to think of anything.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, and a deep voice bellowed "MORSMORDRE!"
Everyone came running down to the front door, her father in the lead. He pulled open the door, and Ginny's mother let out a gasp. In the sky was the Dark Mark. Ginny looked down at the ground, not wanting to see the horrible symbol. As a result she saw what the others didn't.
There on the ground, unmarked, eyes wide and staring, was the unmistakably dead body of Charlie. Ginny let out a dry sob, and everyone else looked at her, and then looked at where her eyes were trained.
It was too much for Ginny. The shock had disappeared. She fought her way through everybody, ran up to her room, locked it and threw herself on the bed. She thought about how Charlie was always the kindest to her, whenever he was around. And now that he was gone, Ginny felt lost.