Ginny and Draco woke to the sound of Molly Weasley screaming hysterically. They jumped out of bed, grabbed their housecoats, put them on, and ran out the door and down the stairs. As they rounded the landing on the second floor, they caught up with Ron, Hermione, Harry, Fred, George and Percy; who were also running for the family room.
There were questioning glances tossed amongst all of them, but no answers were found or given. They continued on their path to the family room and found Molly and Arthur together on the love seat. Arthur was holding an official document of some kind and there was a barn owl sitting on the top of the sofa behind him. Molly, half-lying across Arthur, was sobbing her eyes out. Arthur was gently stroking her with the hand that was not holding the parchment; he, too, was crying, albeit quietly.
Percy, with a timidity not usually seen in his stance, moved to the front of the group and quietly inquired what was wrong.
Arthur, almost as if being pulled from another world, started at the sight of the Percy and the rest of the people before him. He gave them a long look, hung his head and gave it a gentle shake.
"Molly…Molly…Molly…the kids are here. Molly, they want to know what is going on. Molly, we need to tell them." Arthur said with a voice that was hesitant at first, but by the end had gained conviction.
"Mom…Dad…what is going on?" George asked with real fear in his voice.
By this point, Molly had lifted slightly off Arthur and was looking at her babies. This made her cry even harder. She simply wailed and shook her head. There were no other sounds coming from Molly Weasley; she was physically unable to talk from being so distraught. This only served to fan the fear of everyone in the room.
Arthur took a long look at his children and dropped his head again. When he raised his head several seconds later, there were fresh tears running down his face. He took a visible breath and began speaking, "Children, we have received a notice this morning about your brother Bill."
"What about Bill? Is he coming for a visit? We have not seen him in forever…," Ron blurted out before Hermione could stop him. When Ron there was a break in his speaking, however; she gave him a harsh glance. He shut up.
Arthur continued speaking as if he had not heard Ron. He raised the hand with the document in it and continued, "This notice was sent by the Ministry after something happened yesterday. Apparently, your brother was attacked by a vampire last night. He…he…he died. They found his body this morning in a Northern Scottish town. He was there on business for Gringotts. His plans were to surprise with a visit this afternoon."
When Arthur finished speaking, he once again dropped his head. His sobs could be heard by all.
Hermione and Harry grabbed Ron and pulled him in tight. Ron was already seeking their embraces and sobbed into their arms.
Fred and George were stunned. They simply looked at their mother and father in disbelief.
Percy was in shock, but he walked over to his mother and father and embraced them.
Draco was watching the family's interactions. He had never had a close family like this and he simply did not know what to do; he turned to Ginny in time to see her sway on her feet. He took in her extremely pale face, the blank expression in her eyes and the way her mouth had frozen while saying the word 'no.' However, it was too late to catch her; she had fainted dead away and bumped her head on the stone fireplace.
"Ginny!" Draco yelled as he dropped to her side. He was dying inside. He should have been there for his wife.
The others came out of their grieving to see Ginny lying on the floor with a trickle of blood running down her neck. Molly screamed and went into further hysterics. Ron, Harry and Hermione came over to take a look. Hermione withdrew her wand and muttered a healing spell. Ginny woke almost immediately and looked around. Hermione gently grabbed Ginny's head and made sure the wound was successfully healed. It was.
Ginny looked around and saw Draco sitting on her other side. She looked at him and whispered, "Was it true? What Dad said about Bill, was it true?"
Draco took her into his arms and placed her head against his chest. He cuddled her and soothed her with soft words of comfort and sympathy. She nodded in understanding and cried.
Once everyone was sure that Ginny was all right, they returned to their embraces and grief. Minutes later, however; they were distracted again when a large Ministry owl tapped on the window.
George, while getting up to get the parchment from the owl, muttered, "What now?"
He opened the window and deftly removed the parchment from the owl's leg. He threw the owl a treat from his pocket, waited for it to fly away and closed the window. He turned the letter over and read that it was addressed to a Miss Hermione Granger.
"Hermione, it seems you got a note here." George said while walking towards her with the letter out in front of him.
Hermione took the letter and flipped it over several times with a questioning look. She finally opened it and said, "Oh Shit!"
"What is it, Love?" Ron asked Hermione.
"When I did that Healing Spell on Ginny, I did magic outside of Hogwarts. I have been sent a warning from the Ministry of Magic. I would do it again if I had to, but this goes on my permanent magic record. Oh Merlin, I cannot believe I said that! With all that has happened this morning and I am worried about my stupid record. I am so sorry…so…so sorry." Hermione dropped her head in her hands and sobbed.
Ginny walked over to Hermione and put her arms around her.
"Hermione, you have every right to feel that way. Yes, we have been through a lot this morning, but so have you. You are a member of this family too. You are dealing with this too. About your record, I will see Dumbledore when we get back to school and I'll tell him what happened. He'll fix it. Don't worry about it for a second…all will be well."
Hermione gave Ginny a tremulous smile and pulled her in tight.
The rest of the day was spent solemnly. There were visits from several wizarding families as word of Bill's death got around.
Mid-morning Dumbledore showed up at the Burrow with a long, sad face. He gave Molly and Arthur a hug and said a few comforting words. He acknowledged each and every person in the room, which did not include Ginny and Draco, and assured the kids that they were not expected to be back at Hogwarts that day.
Dumbledore spoke with several of the visiting wizards and witches. He drank tea, ate crumpets and offered solace to Arthur and Molly when it was needed.
After an hour at their kitchen table, Dumbledore rose and went to find Ginny and Draco. He found them in the bedroom they were sharing. Ginny was taking a nap while Draco was holding her and staring into space.
Dumbledore had a slight smile on his face when he quietly cleared his throat to gain Draco's attention. Despite Dumbledore's care to not startle Draco, he still slightly jumped. He gave a small relieved smile when he recognized the intruder.
Dumbledore walked closer to the bed and whispered for him to wake Ginny. Draco nodded and gave Ginny a gentle nudge. She mumbled unintelligibly and snuggled closer which brought smiles to Draco and Dumbledore's faces.
Draco nudged Ginny again with a bit more force. Ginny rustled around and finally opened her eyes. She immediately sought out Draco.
When she caught his eye, he gave her a wink and said, "We have company, Gin."
Ginny turned her head and saw Dumbledore with his again twinkling blue eyes.
She gave him a smile and asked him how he was.
He assured her that he was very well. Then, he asked Ginny and Draco if they could talk. They both nodded in agreement.
"Before I forget Mrs. Malfoy, I have heard about Miss Granger's misuse of magic infraction and I have already sent a note to the Minister of Magic. Never fear, I will make sure all is well. Please assure Miss Ganger of this as well."
"Thank you, Professor." Ginny said.
"Now, I have something else of great importance that we need to discuss. I have reason to believe, based on some information gathered by friends of mine, that Merlin may have returned and revealed himself. Last night, there was an overwhelming garnering of magic in Northern Scotland. It was strong enough to cause local muggles to believe there was an electromagnetic phenomenon. I had my friends search through several areas and they found three incidents that could have been, based on magical afterglows, Merlin. Only one of those incidents is tied directly to you."
"Bill," Ginny whispered.
"Yes." Dumbledore responded gravely and then stayed quiet while this information processed in their minds.