Learning to be 'Normal' Chapter Five By Jess

Quick Author's note: This chapter may be a bit confusing. Try to keep in mind that Ginny is Alison, Mum is Lily and Dad is James while Mother is Molly and Father is Arthur. I'd hate for people to be scratching their heads thinking 'Huh?' while reading.

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(Ginny's POV)

I leaned against the doorframe to my room as I watched Dad shrink all of my belongings and pack them into a single box. He kept turning back at me, as if waiting for me to stop him and tell him that I'd changed my mind. Mum was downstairs packing the kitchen. I'd just come up from there; she'd been giving me funny glances as well.

It was strange, knowing that I'd been living with Harry's parents for two years. I probably knew them better than even he did. And while I didn't want to go back and leave all I'd come to love, I knew that it was what they needed. They needed magic and the wizarding world they'd grown up in. They needed Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, as friends and as a way to deal with the knowledge that they'd been betrayed, to learn the whole truth of that night. But most of all, I knew they needed Harry, almost as much as I did. They needed to know who their son is, and to come to grips with the many years they'd missed with him.

The doorbell rang and peeled myself from the wall and headed down the stairs hoping and praying that I wouldn't get another scene like yesterday.

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(Harry's POV- Flashback)

Around half past noon I apparated to the front yard of 5 Privet Drive with Dumbledore, Arthur, and Molly. The latter was fairly composed compared to the hysterical mess she'd been last night upon receiving the news that her only daughter was alive. I strode confidently up to the door and rang the bell; the others were close behind me.

A bubbly brunette danced up to the door and pulled it open; she froze for a moment, her expression wide and scared. But all at once it was as if a switch had been flicked and she smiled, stepped back, and invited us all inside.

We stepped into the lightly air-conditioned hallway and Molly stepped forward to grasp the girl's arm. She looked up at Molly, startled by her actions and the desperate look upon her face.

"Please, you have to help me. I'm looking for my daughter, Ginny. Do you know her?"

The girl stared a moment more before looking back at me. I knew what she was asking without words. She wanted to know why Molly didn't know, why none of us had come to her rescue. I shook my head in response and she turned back to Molly, stammering incoherently.

Arthur put his hand on his wife's shoulder and spoke in soothing tones. "Molly, this is Alison."

It took Mrs. Weasley a moment or two before she let out a startled gasp, scaring Ginny back a few steps. I couldn't see Molly or Arthur's faces but Ginny's was terrified. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and they darted from face to face. Her mouth opened and closed like a beached fish but no sound was produced. Molly took a step forward and raised her arms to her daughter, but Ginny backed away. I could taste the disappointment, anger, frustration, and fear on my tongue; I could feel it on my fingertips.

Tension filled the air, suffocating all of us but all were too afraid to move and break the mood, no matter how horrible. My mum and dad came bursting in then, causing all eyes to snap to them like magnets.

"Alison, dear, who was."

My mum trailed off as she stared at the lot of us. I saw Molly straighten as she turned the pent up emotions onto my mother.

"Her name is Ginny."

Arthur put his arm around Molly's shoulder, visibly supporting his wife and her argument. Dumbledore slid up next to me and whispered in my ear to keep the row under control and that he was returning to the school. Meanwhile, Ginny was slowly scooting out of the middle of the 'battlefield' and towards me, much to my delight and dismay, and my Mum was searching for something to say. Molly cut her off.

"I don't know why you think you can keep her here. She is not your daughter, she never was and never will be, not by any stretch of the imagination."

I'd never heard Molly talk so tough to anyone. Under normal circumstances Molly would simply adore just about anyone. But these weren't normal circumstances. My mum gazed at her feet before narrowing her eyes and looking up.

"But what is Harry to you?"

"He's like my son."

I smiled; Molly didn't even think about her response. She was feeding into my mother's obvious case.

"And Allison, Ginny rather, is like my daughter. I don't need blood ties to love her like that. Just like Harry doesn't need to be your flesh and blood for you to treat him as one of your own. I don't want to keep her from you, that isn't my problem, I'm just not willing to give up on her entirely."

Molly sputtered and put her hands upon her hips. I stepped back; this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Well! If that's the case then why wasn't my daughter returned to me last night?"

I felt rather than saw Ginny get upset quickly. She placed herself next to her mother and father.

"Because I was scared last night! They both tried to take into consideration the promise that everyone made me, the promise that things wouldn't change. I didn't know if I could handle losing everything again. And I am not a possession to be haggled over! My feelings in this count! Has anyone asked me whether or not I want to leave or stay?"

Her voice rose with each word until she was shouting at the top of her lungs. Molly was clearly flustered and I could see both daughter and mother's eyes swimming with tears.

"But Ginny, darling, don't you want to see your bothers? Bill's finally found himself a girlfriend and Charlie is married to an Irish witch and about to give me a grandbaby. Percy is engaged and the twins have started a very successful, though silly, joke shop. And Ron is sharing a flat with Harry and he's still dating Hermione. Don't you miss any of that? Don't you want to share in any of that? And your father is running for Minister of Magic this year.We all just miss you."

"I know."

"Well, it's settled then. You'll come home tonight. Now about that hair of yours."

Ginny's once downcast eyes now stared imploringly at her mother. Molly paid her no heed, and I could see that Ginny wasn't happy about it. Molly cast a restoration charm on Ginny and my parents, turning them back to their original coloring.

I could see it now, very definitely, why everyone said I looked exactly like my father. Even the way he moved was similar to the way I moved. And my mum was beautiful; there was no other way to describe it. She couldn't be too much younger than Mrs. Weasley, but there was no comparison.

My mum bit her lip and turned her gaze to me. I smiled broadly despite my anguish. Ginny sighed and examined her fiery red locks while my father ran a hand through his messy black locks.

My eyes settled on Ginny again and for once her chocolate brown eyes clearly met mine. I took a step forward and placed a hand upon her cheek, the romantic tension building. And it was then that the two sets of parents, both feeling paternal feeling toward both children, came forward and separated the two of us. My dad put a hand to my shoulder and pulled me away while Ginny's mum grabbed her round the middle and swept her away and into a hug.

None of us expected her to struggle as she did, after all, most of us felt the situation to have been resolved. But not Ginny, she wrenched herself out of her mother's arms and glared at her parents.

"I'm not ready for you yet! How many times must I back away and pull away for you to get that? I don't want to leave tonight and you know what? You can't make me! I'm seventeen, a legal adult in the wizarding realm. So bugger off, I'll come back when I'm ready!"

Her face was red from shouting and her chest heaved in anger. Without another word she turned about and stormed up the stairs, making sure to slam the door behind her. Molly's eyes filled with tears and a great sob escaped before she apparated away, Arthur following close behind. And that left me alone in the foyer with my mum and dad.

I stared up the staircase, silently willing Ginny to come back down and kiss me like I knew she'd been about to. A hand was placed on my arm and I followed it up to its owner, Mum. She wasn't making a sound but I knew what she wanted. She didn't want to make the same mistake that Mrs. Weasley just had and pull me into something I wasn't ready for.

But that's where Ginny and I differed, I'd seen enough separation and heart ache to be apprehensive. I threw my arms around Mum's middle and held on tightly. I felt Dad's arms go around the both of us and I'm not sure who started it but before I knew it the three of us were rocking one another and crying our hearts out.

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(Ginny's POV- Back to present)

When I opened the door a very angry looking Petunia Dursley stood on my doorstep. A look of bewilderment crossed her features and I remembered the hair. I grinned cheekily at the woman; it was payback time.

"Why hello Mrs. Dursley, won't you come in?"

She sputtered and asked, "Alison?"

I nodded, "Yes, and at the same time no. My real name is Ginny. You see, we've all returned to our true-selves."

Once again Mrs. Dursley got angry. "So it's true then, that... that man yesterday was right? There are freaks living here."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Now, now, is that anyway to talk to family?" I accented the last word, hoping to resurface the connection I knew Mrs. Dursley had made about 'Lydia' and Lily looking similar.

Mum came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dishtowel. She didn't pause when she saw her sister. "Hello Petunia, how are you today?"

Mrs. Dursley whirled around and gasped so hard she began to choke. "You! But I-I though y-you were d-dead!"

Mum shrugged. "I was, but now I'm not. Would you like to join me in the kitchen for a bit of tea?"

Mrs. Dursley shook her head wildly. "I want you out! You do NOT belong here, do you understand?"

"Don't worry, we'll be leaving tonight to rejoin the wizarding world. Tea?"

Mrs. Dursley made a noncommittal grunt and marched out of our house. I waited until the door shut to begin laughing. Mum simply shrugged again and went back to the kitchen.

Author's notes: GASP! I've been soooooo lazy about my stories. I've been so busy beta-ing other people's stories (Banshee- In A Drunken Rage and lemonskittle and her stories) that I simply didn't have time to write. That and I sorta lost inspiration for this story, see... my eyes have been opened to other options. Like I used to be a straight-laced Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, and James/Lily. Now my absolute favorite is Draco/Ginny. (No worries though, this fic will remain a H/G).