Chapter Five: The Weasleys (*cringe* How unoriginal x_x;)
Written by Elluxion
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Read the story and please leave some constructive criticsm! Some Harry/Ginny, I put that there because it would further annoy Rie (whom I know wants me to write a Ron/Hermione fic... :P) and it would infuriate my cousin. (Ying murdered me over the weekend with killing blows from a pillow... all I did was innocently hint that I might add a tinge of Harry/Ginny into Carcrashes!) Dedicated to the fantabulous Marionette. I beta for her and I can tell you confidently that she's the best Hermione/Draco writer around. Mari, I'd dedicate an earlier chapter to you, but I was actually saving it up for my take on One Last Stand (a brilliant fic of Marionette's, I wanted to write my own versh - with permission form Mari, of course.). Right now almost five different variations of One Last Stand is resting on top of each other in my trash can... looks like that fic'll never see the light of day. :P So this chapter's allll for you and the gorgeous fics you let me sample, thanks for being a constant source of inspiration, a great friend, and a terrific writer to boot! ;) Hugs and cookies, -Five, When I Remember When Mists formed swiftly in front of their noses and dissipated just as quickly as Harry and Ginny Potter laughed in the winter air. It was December 29th - one more year into their marriage. Christmas was over, and a restful, yet slightly festive air had come over the young couple. New Year was approaching, and Harry looked forward to another year of dreams fulfilled, promises kept, serects shared... and another three hundred and sixty-five days (he hoped) of Ginny's presence. Harry had proposed when he was twenty-four, working as a professional Quidditch player - a Seeker, to be exact. He was getting closer to national standard, and he knew that he had a stable and fruitful career ahead of him. Ginny was twenty-three, a Ministry witch that was making her debut in society. Ginny had agreed almost before Harry had finished speaking. The two had begun dating when Harry was seventeen and Ginny was in her sixth year. "Give Gin a chance," he remembered Ron and Hermione urging him. Harry had known that Ginny was a pretty girl with a charming personality, but their schedules were starkly different and they hadn't really sat down and talked. Harry had known that Ginny still fancied him - although in a casual, not-so-serious sort of way. After all, Ginny had her own admirers to entertain. Then Harry had worked up the nerve to ask her out. Within one month, Virginia Weasley and Harry Potter were completely smitten with each other. "Contemplating some profoundly deep fact of life?" "Eh?" Harry shook himself out of his reverie. Ginny was looking at him with an impish smile on her lips and a teasing twinkle in her eyes. "A fact that you wouldn't want to share with me?" "I share everything with you, Gin." Harry tapped the redhead on her nose. Ginny was almost as tall as Harry, with a lean frame and auburn hair cut to a stylish bob. Favouring casual clothing, the green-eyed young woman wasn't beautiful in the strict sense of the word, but she was eye-catching and pretty in her own right. Ginny had a certain, honest air about her. If you made her acquaintance, you would find her easy to confide in and good to depend on. Her virtues made her a competent and popular Ministry witch. Harry himself? Tall, well-built but not heavy, Harry still had the same mop of messy black hair that endeared him to all. He attracted attention as well. Harry was pleasant to look at, but his good looks weren't the reason why so many people were captivated by his gaze. No, it was Harry's eyes, mirroring the ordeals he had to endure, intense, yet lightened by an irrepressible sense of mischief and the love he had for Ginny. A mish-mash of pain and joy, Harry's dark eyes were calm and unfaltering in their gaze, remarkable for a man that could be killed at any moment. "I should hope so, Mr. Potter." Ginny tossed her head and rapped on the door of the Weasleys' home. Harry had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that they had trodden the familiar path to the small, but welcoming, house. Molly Weasley opened the door. As her sharp emerald eyes flickered over Harry and Ginny, her face brightened and she caught first Ginny, then Harry into a hug. "Good to see you again, dears! We thought you were arriving tomorrow!" "Wonderful to see you too, Mrs. Weasley," Harry told her with a smile. "We just thought that we'd give you a surprise and come a little earlier." "Hi, Mom," Ginny greeted, hugging her mother again, eyes sparkling. Molly pulled them both into the foyer and shut the door. "You really should have waited until tomorrow or owled us," she fretted. "We'd have gone and picked you up from the weeping willow. You'll catch your death of cold." Harry inclined his head towards the window. Through the glistening, clear pane, a huge tree with sweeping branches was evident, although far in the distance. "It's not that far, Mrs. Weasley. I enjoy a good walk." "What did you do with the Portkey?" asked Molly distractedly as she busied herself with the business of hanging up or folding and putting away Harry's and Ginny's coats, mufflers, scarfs, and all sorts of winter clothing. (A/N: Bear with me here, we don't get the four seasons in Singapore and I've only seen snow once and it was only for one day, so my season descriptions may be a bit off.) "We hid it in the roots, Mom, in a fox's abandoned hole," assured Ginny. "I magicked it so that it can be used twice," Harry added. "Did you ask the Ministry's permission before tampering with a magical object?" Molly led them further into the house, into the kitchen. "Yes." Harry grinned. "Who did you clear it with?" Ginny winked. "Me." Molly chuckled as she bustled around the kitchen. Harry and Ginny seated themselves at the table. Giving her wand an annoyed shake, nine cups assembled themselves neatly near the sink with the briskness of an army squad, which Harry thought was fairly amusing. Molly gave her wand another sweep, and a jug hovered above each cup, filling it up with hot chocolate. A drawer shuddered open and slammed shut in the next heartbeat. Nine spoons floated uncertainly around a small container. Molly paused. "Sugar for you, Harry dear?" "Yes, please, just a dash," Harry said patiently. Molly nodded. Seven spoons dove into the container and came up with different amounts of sugar, and the unused, remaining two returned to the drawer with an indigant clatter. "Arthur and I like a lot of sugar, Bill and Charlie don't at all, Fred, George, and now you like just a little, Ron and Ginny like a moderate amount," explained Molly in one breath. "Spiffy memory, Mom," remarked Ginny warmly. "Speaking of the family... where are they?" Harry inquired politely. He watched, wide-eyed, as the spoons selected particular mugs and plunged themselves quite happily into them. "Oi, Harry! Ginny!" Harry turned, recognizing the voice even before the first syllable had left his lips. Ron Weasley grinned at him from across the kitchen and Harry returned the boyish smile. "Hey, Ron!" he greeted happily. Ron collapsed onto a chair next to Harry after reaching over to give Ginny a quick hug. "Haven't seen you since the Hogwarts Ball," commented Harry flippantly. "Anything new?" Ron fished around and came up blank. "No, nothing much." Ron had hardly changed since his days at Hogwarts save to shoot up. A familiar smattering of freckles still adorned his cheeks, and he still had unruly red hair and the same green eyes as the rest of the Weasleys. Ron towered over nearly all of them, and he was still pale regardless of how much time he spent in the sun. An easygoing man, with the same witty, yet warm, sense of humor. Ron hadn't hardened at all, even if he assisted Charlie in working with dragons. He still viewed life through a mist of rosy innocence, and Harry admired him for it. Molly distributed the mugs of hot chocolate and they thanked her. She sat and they sipped at the soothing drink... a blissful silence filled the air. "Fred and George, they're working on that joke shop of theirs, but they'll be back soon. Charlie's somewhere in the house. Arthur and Bill are at work." Molly sighed. "Ever since that clock broke down... I never know where everyone is, and that causes problems... Sometimes I get a bit worried if they work late and their owls haven't reached me yet," Molly admitted. "A bit?!" repeated Ron incredulously. At that moment, Charlie emerged from the direction of the bathroom, his hair wet and tousled. A towel was draped across his shoulders. "Hey, Harry!" He stepped over, footsteps assured and confident. Harry shook hands with him. Charlie ruffled the hair of his baby sister with a grin. "Nice to have you back, even if it's for a little while, Gin. Honestly, Harry's a bit selfish, he wants you all to himself and you come home too seldom," teased the elder Weasley. "Where's Althea?" Harry wanted to know the whereabouts of Charlie's wife after hitting him playfully in the arm. "With her parents, visiting for Christmas. Eleanor and Sarah as well," he added, anticipating Harry's next question about Fred and Bill's wives respectively. Ron and George were still left unattached, although the latter was dating a girl. It was a cheery hour when the rest of the Weasleys save Arthur returned home and found Harry and Ginny there. In the midst of their laughter and talking, something struck Ginny, a poignant understanding and realization. Quietly, she stemmed her flow of conversation, lasping into silence. "What's wrong, Ginny?" asked Harry softly, noticing her stillness. "It's Percy." Ginny raised tear-filled eyes to his. "I was just thinking that he should be here, sharing this moment with us. He should be here, talking and laughing and making those ridiculous, pompous remarks. He didn't deserve to die, Harry, he didn't." "You all don't deserve to die," said Harry quietly. "Nobody deserves to die." "You're wrong. You-Know-Who - he deserves to die. Those foul Death Eaters - those traitors, working in the Ministry... they all shouldn't have the priviledge to live." The front door slammed open. Molly quickly blinked her tears away as she went out of the kitchen to greet her husband. The kitchen was quiet, with a few whispers and mumurs, and Ron vehemently agreeing with Ginny. There was more than one person that was teary. Although Percy was a strange character, the absence of his presence was profound and obvious. Percy was well-loved, an irreplacable member of the family. Low voices reached Harry's hearing, and Molly and Arthur Weasley paused at the door. Something in their pale faces and pursed lips gave him pause, and immediately he asked, "Mr. Weasley? Mrs. Weasley? What's wrong?" Arthur seemed to snap out of a daze as he stared at Harry blankly. Relief dawned on his face as he studied Harry and Ginny anxiously. "What's wrong, Dad?" echoed Ginny. "Ginny... Harry... Thank God you're here," said Arthur quietly. "What's happened?" questioned Ron sharply. He didn't care for the tense expressions on his parents' faces. "What happened, Mom?" he asked again impatiently. "It's your house, Harry," Arthur said, staring at them both straight in the eye. Under the table, Ginny found and clutched Harry's hand. "It's... gone." "Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Arthur bit his lip. "You don't have a home any longer, Ginny, Harry," he said gently. "Death Eaters came and completely destroyed your house. Nothing can be salvaged from the ruins." "Hedwig!" cried Harry a little too loudly, his voice urgent. Beside him, Ginny was shaking her head slowly in utter disbelief, tears coursing down her cheeks. The home that she had worked so hard for... it was gone? Just like that - in the space of an hour? "We didn't find any sign of a snowy owl anywhere," said Arthur quickly. "Most likely Hedwig escaped on her own." "I hope she did," said Charlie awkwardly, attempting to fill in the debelieving silence. "Hedwig's pretty smart." "Who are the suspected Death Eaters?" asked Harry evenly, raising his chin and locking his eyes on Arthur's. "We don't know," said Arthur gravely. Harry dropped his head in his hands. "I have some other news." Arthur's voice seemed to strengthen. "Look at me, all of you." Harry raised his head, trying to fight back his tears. "Recently the Death Eaters have been especially active. Remember how You-Know-You got his full power back? Just a few months before? Remember how we all found it strange that he wasn't planning a return to the throne he once sat on? Well, he's planned a whole bloody war," Arthur spat out bitterly. "Today's reports indicate that he and his rubbish Death Eaters are returning. We don't know the exact day he will strike, but it's going to be soon. We're trying to spread the word as discreetly as we can so we don't drum up suspicion - so nothing will be talked about it in the newspapers. I suggest that you people go to your rooms and start owling everyone you know - tell them to meet you; don't mention anything about You-Know-Who or Death Eaters in case the owls are intercepted. Raise the alarm - quietly." With a general murmur of consent, the Weasley children and Harry stood from their chairs. Ginny was still silently crying for the loss of their home. Harry took her into his arms, whispering into her hair consolingly. "At least we weren't home, Gin, at least we're still alive. We can make sure that nobody else faces losing their home." Just as Bill was about to lead the way out of the kitchen, Arthur Weasley said three words that they would never forget. "Prepare for war." ~*~ Dear Hermione, We can't reveal too much in case this owl is intercepted. We've got bad news. Can you meet us at the Three Broomsticks on January 2nd? And bring Dumbledore. Much love, ~*~ "Draco Malfoy, you are insane." Hermione Granger fixed her eyes on the handsome wizard that sat opposite from her as she pushed a lock of hair impatiently out of her eyes. "I had to get your attention." "By plauging me with five owls every day?" Hermione shot back dryly. Draco rolled his eyes, an action decidedly immature for someone like him, but he did it anyway. "Look, I just wanted to tell you something." "And we have to meet at Knockturn Alley for that?" Hermione arched an eyebrow. "I didn't want to say it by owl... " Draco hesitated, as if deliberating what to say next. The ruse worked. Hermione leaned forward, her eyes wide, her mouth opened breathlessly. Curiosity sparked in her eyes. Giving himself a secret smile and a congratulatory pat on the back, Draco plunged on. As he spoke, he could see Hermione leaning closer and closer, nearly falling off her chair, eyes getting bigger and bigger. "Are you serious?!" she gasped when he finished. Draco glanced around the dingy, dirty bar he had chosen for them to meet. When he met Hermione's eyes again, he was taken aback at the spirit and admiration he found there. "Yes, I'm serious, Hermione," he said gravely. He knew better than to break eye contact. "But - but!" "I am willing to die." "How can you think of doing this?" She cried. "Why not?" shrugged Draco. "I thought over what you said, Hermione... I've always known I can take a different path. I just needed someone to tell me that. Thanks." She grinned at him. "Glad that I knocked some sense into that thick head of yours." "So will you do it? With me?" "What do you think?" Hermione slapped him in the arm playfully. "I'll do it." "You may not live, you know." "Oh, to heck with my life," said Hermione impatiently. "Don't chicken out, you hear?" "I won't, Miss Granger. So it's settled, then? We'll meet by the Whomping Willow, twelve AM, on December 31st." Woo! It's finally longer than usual! ;) Writing about the Weasleys was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I kept forgetting to bring certain aspects of the Weasleys' home to life - for example, in my earlier version, Mrs. Weasley had made all nine cups of hot chocolate by hand; there was no mention of the magical clock; I forgot that they were all adults and most likely had wives... this chapter wasn't a very good one; it's just a link to the next chapter and kind of an introductory piece to darker times ahead. :D And my thanks to the most beautiful people on earth - you guys, the reviewers! ;) Rie - *huggles* Thanks for the constant reviews and the annoying messages for me to continue writing; you forced me to get through my writer's blocks. :P Thanks for not flaming me, either. *shiver* You can be very spitfire-ish when you feel like it. Sila-chan - Woo! Thanks for the comments on the layout, I appreciate it. ;) Hope you enjoyed the fic. And NO, you're not useless. :P *hugs* Nicole - YOU RULE! :D Absolutely love all your encouraging reviews and your brilliant e-mails, I'm soo glad to have known you. :-) Marionette - THANK YOU! *points up* I think I said enuff at the start. ;) SilverDragon - I'm glad you think it's interesting, I tried to make it as original as possible. :-) (Obviously it didn't work) f0xyness39 - Thanks for pressing me to put Anonymous reviews! It got quite a few more reviewers to my fics - thanks for your comments as well. :D Jen Drake - Intriguing? I sure hope so. Thanks! :-) The Elfin Child - I hate my writing style! LOL Thanks! Libertas - *grin* I don't know how my table appeared either - lucky shot for me, perhaps? Thanks for taking the time out to read my fic! Jaya - glad you think the interchanges were okay. I'm quite the homebody so I have to imagine a lot of conversations and answers - never been the social butterfly. ;) Slytherin's Angel - I *love* your pen name. Glad that it's your first taste of a post-Hogwarts story - there're many great ones out there. :-) Written Promises - you can't glomp the story, but you can glomp the author! LOL Just kidding. I absolutely love your story, Earth Plates. Do continue, and fast! StarpearL - thankies! I tried hard to make it original, I'm glad you picked it out and mentioned it. aime - you seem like a very intelligent person who knows exactly what to say - if you have any fics I'd LOVE to read them! Thanks for your remarks; I appreciate them. Enweth - I heard you were railing at Rie because I dedicated the chappie to you... don't! LOL Finally, I drove you out of hiding. ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing! Overly Eccentric - Absolutely adore your pen name, I should adopt it as my motto. Thanks for taking the time out to read and review on my lil' fic! Fruit Loop - I've planned a lot of twists and turns... continue reading! ;) beefywpac - Thanks! And yes, I kept writing. *grin* Individualists - Hehe, Draco and Cho! I can definitely look into that. Thanks for the suggestion! :D Whew! And that's all I have to say. I really do appreciate all of you... thanks for all your comments and reviews! :D *hugs* Hugs and cookies,
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