The Blood of Ronald Weasley
This is just my little plot bunny. All the characters (and everything else) belong to JKR. Hats off to her. If I wasn't for her, I would have nothing to do on a summer afternoon…
CHAPTER FOUR: A WALK IN THE RAIN
Ginny was a little worried about Harry. He looked really concerned when he left Dumbledore's office. She supposed he was unhappy about the fact that he had been involved in getting rid of Voldemort since he was a year old only to have him replaced by more power hungry wizards.
When they reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, Ginny took Harry's hand. "Want to go for a walk?"
"Yeah. See you guys in a bit," he said to the rest, then walked hand in hand with Ginny out the great oak front doors.
It had turned overcast and chilly and Ginny took that as an excuse to walk closer to Harry. He wrapped and arm around her waist and she did the same.
"So, have any ideas about how we're going to spy on those students?" Ginny asked as the passed Hagrid's cabin.
"A few. But I don't think you and Hermione should do this. It'll be dangerous." Harry stopped and turned to face Ginny. "I almost lost you last year and I won't risk it again."
"That works both ways you know. All I could think about was you and my family when I was kidnapped. I was so scared I'd never see my parents or brothers again. And you either…And I prayed that you wouldn't come after me. What if you got…what if you got killed? What would I do without you?" Ginny looked into those emerald green eyes she had come to know so well. She knew he was concerned, but not letting her spy for Dumbledore? He was beginning to sound like Ron.
"Listen Ginny, I have to do this. I've been knee deep in fighting these dark wizards since I was a baby. You don't have to be in the middle of this, but I do. I always have been."
"Don't play the martyr, Harry. You're talking like your life is indispensable. Well, its not. Ron, Hermione and I care deeply about you. You are our friend first, the Boy Who Lived second. I'm in this whether you like it or not. I'll be careful if you will. Promise me you won't be stupid about this. Promise me." Ginny looked imploringly into his eyes.
He sighed and looked away. She wasn't sure he was going to answer, but then he said, "All right. I can't argue with you and I can't tell you what to do. I promise I'll be careful, and I won't do anything crazy." He looked back at her. She saw his eyes were sad.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. Why can't we have a normal relationship? No other girlfriend has to worry that her boyfriend will be killed or something. And normal dates don't consist of spying on dark wizards. And most boyfriends don't get their girlfriends kidnapped by Voldemort…"
"Damn it Harry, that wasn't your fault. You didn't owl Voldemort and say 'Gee, why don't you kidnap my best friend and my girlfriend just for kicks.' You and Ron didn't do anything wrong and its time that you stopped beating yourselves up over it. Can we change the subject?"
Harry nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He could have stayed like that forever-entwined in his true love's arms and feeling more in balance than he had all day. At least with Ginny, he knew where he stood. With the world, it seemed like he was always trying to keep his feet on the ground.
Suddenly, they heard a loud crack of thunder. It began to rain quite heavily.
Ginny giggled. "Oh, I love the rain." She stood still, eyes closed, for a long time. Harry just watched her. She was grinning from ear to ear, face pointed skyward. Her auburn hair was now plastered to her head and her clothes clung to her body.
Ginny opened her eyes and looked at Harry. "I'm soaked. Let's go inside," she said finally.
Harry took her hand and they ran all the way back to the castle. Harry opened the doors and led Ginny inside. They were so wet puddles formed instantly at their feet.
"Uh oh. Filch won't be happy," Harry said.
"Hang on, I'll fix it." Ginny produced her wand and muttered a spell and the puddles disappeared.
"Great. Do you want to go back to the common room?" Harry asked.
Ginny grinned mischievously. "Not really. You?"
"Naw. What do you want to do?"
"I can think of a few things. C'mon." Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and ran down the corridor.
***
Ron took Hermione's hand after he watched Ginny and Harry walk away. Neville hadn't said anything during the meeting, and afterwards he just walked down the hall alone and silent.
"I don't know about those two," Ron muttered.
"Hmm?" Hermione asked.
"Harry and my sister. He shouldn't—they shouldn't be—she's just a little girl," he finished lamely.
"Ron, she's sixteen years old. She can take care of herself. What are you so worried about?"
"I dunno. I just don't think that they should be…left alone is all."
"Oh Ron. Harry wouldn't do anything to hurt her. Do you remember what we were like last year?"
"Yeah," Ron said and blushed.
"They're not doing anything that we didn't do."
Ron turned to look at her. "Why doesn't that make me feel better?"
"Well it should. Unless we've been doing things without my knowledge." She grinned slyly.
"It isn't my fault that we haven't—never mind." Ron looked at his feet.
"You're lucky you stopped there." Hermione smiled. She put an arm around his shoulder. "Let's go sit by the fire."
Neville didn't say anything the entire time he was in Dumbledore's office, and when he left, he walked away silently. This was big. A new Voldemort on the horizon, and recruiting students? What a nightmare. And Dumbledore thought that there might be some of these students in Gryffindor? What was the world coming to?
He walked past Ron and Hermione and went straight up to Gryffindor Tower and up the boy's staircase to his dormitory. He sat on his four poster and drew the curtains around him. He pulled out a small photo album that his grandmother had given him years ago. There were pictures of him and his parents, laughing and playing. His mother smiled and waved up at him. His father grinned broadly and put an arm around his mother.
Neville couldn't help but think. What if things had been different? What if he had little brothers and sisters to worry about? Maybe he would be a different person. But he would never know. Thanks to the Death Eaters, he had never really known his parents. He suffered in silence. Harry Potter was so famous because Voldemort killed his parents but failed to kill him. Well, hadn't the same happened to him? Except his parents were worse than dead. They were insane. They didn't know who he was or what had happened or anything.
Damn it. I have to figure out who is behind this, Neville thought. I owe it to my parents. I'm Frank Longbottom's son, he thought again. I have to do something…Neville sat for a long time looking at the pictures, tears streaming silently down his face.
Oh, I felt so bad for Neville even though I wrote it. I'm a big Neville fan and I hate to see him sad, but that's the way it has to be. Please review!!