Well, I sincerely hope you enjoy this story. It was born out of a frustration with Harry/Ginny pieces and a plot bunny that wormed its way into a dismal writer's block. I simply had to go with it.
Enjoy:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry, Ginny, Hogwarts, Voldemort or any people/places/things you recognize from the wonderful JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Cricketlover: Wow. I totally missed that. It's a good point, though – I guess I meant that Hermione was working up until she hit nine months. She wanted to work through her pregnancy as much as possible.
Peas and Carrots: You're right. I think I explain the whole Auror-too-soon thing in this chapter. The Order was so desperate for Aurors that they grabbed them up with a month or two or basic training.
Ginny was not an early riser. This morning, however, the sun woke her, coming in through the window and settling on her bed. She grinned. It was nice that the sun could shine, even though the war was on and Aurors were dying daily. It was nice that Voldemort couldn't cap the sun, even though he managed to stall, hurt or kill everything else that made her world bright.
She sighed. Sometimes she simply wished Harry would just go and face off with Voldemort. Ever since the Daily Prophet had discovered the prophesy and had published it, Ginny had fearfully awaited the day that Harry or Voldemort would die.
Even though she would care about Harry's death, even though it was more for her mum's sake than anything else, Ginny wished that they would go at it already, and end the suffering of wizards and witches everywhere. After all, it seemed a bit selfish for Harry to wait and watch all the others get killed, while he – and only he – had the power to mend the whole mess.
Ginny took a quick shower and pulled out the blue and green robes she had to wear as her uniform. They weren't too strict out on the field, and several members of the medi-squad liked to wear muggle clothes, for there was always the fear that a dangling sleeve would knock a dangerous potion to the ground, spilling the contents and perhaps injuring the wizard or witch or the patient.
Ginny liked the robes. They made her feel a little more grown up in the crazy, mixed-up war. She didn't have to remember that she had graduated early from Hogwarts, that she was the youngest mediwitch or wizard on the squad.
"You're up," Mrs. Weasley said as Ginny walked down the stairs. "Do you have time for a bite?"
"Yeah." Ginny sat down at the table. "I've got a week-long shift, Mum, you know. I'll try and owl, but it's likely to be awfully hectic."
"Of course, dear," Molly Weasley said absent-mindedly. She laid a plate down in front of Ginny: a traditional English breakfast, complete with eggs, mushrooms, tomato, sausage and buttered toast.
"Thanks," Ginny said, and set about clearing the plate. When that was done, she grabbed her kit from the sideboard and stood up, to give her mother a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't do anything dangerous," Mrs. Weasley said. "And come back as soon as you can, dear."
"Of course." Ginny kissed her mother and quickly Disapparated.
Ginny surveyed the tent. It was Tent C today, the worst tent to be in because it was situated in the center of the battlefield and the worst injuries were brought in. It staffed four wizards or witches, rather than two, and ran eight beds, rather than four. The potions stock was kept nearly bursting and if any wizard or witch so much as thought of another tool they'd like, it appeared in front of them.
But that didn't make Ginny any happier. She would've traded a full bottle of Pansiala any day for a week in Tent A, where the most anyone saw was a broken kneecap or a shattered femur.
"Hey, partner." Jeremy Lewis walked in. Ginny smiled shyly. Jeremy was handsome and smart and one of the best wizards on the medi-squad. And he liked her, too – several witches had confided as much.
"Hi," Ginny said.
"Tent C," Jeremy said with a grin. "It's a great day to be alive."
"If you like the sick and the wounded and the dying," Ginny replied, pretending to be busy pulling on the standard issue smock and filling it with basic medical supplies.
"That's not what I meant," Jeremy said. "There are dying people everywhere. You're only in one tent."
"O-oh." Ginny quickly walked toward the cabinet, as if her intent was to fetch more gauze strips.
"Ginny." Jeremy leaned against the cabinet. "Was it something I said?"
"No." Ginny found the gauze box and grabbed a few strips. The truth was, Jeremy reminded her of Harry, back in school when Harry was full of himself for being Quidditch captain and a good student. Maybe Harry wasn't full of himself, exactly, but during his seventh year he'd been awfully pleased and somewhat cocky. Cocky enough to date Ginny out of pity. So, of course, it would make sense that Ginny didn't want to acknowledge Jeremy's feelings for her because he was probably only feeling them out of pity. Right?
Ginny shuddered. There was another possibility – one she hadn't considered for nearly a year. Maybe she was still in love with Harry. Maybe she didn't want to acknowledge Jeremy's feelings toward because she wanted Harry's love. She hoped that wasn't true. She wanted to forget Harry because he had certainly proved that he didn't like her.
There was a light bell sound in Ginny's ear and she turned expectantly toward the tent flap. There was a patient coming in.
"I'll take it," Jeremy said unexpectedly.
"No." Ginny smiled half-heartedly. "I was off last night. I'm ready."
She winced as the patient was wheeled in – a girl, her blonde hair and camouflage robes caked with blood.
"Fiona," Jeremy said, shaking his head. "Member of the Squad, you know. Excellent Auror. You're right. You take her. I'll handle the next one."
Ginny stared after him, curious, but relieved. Already the next patient was being rolled in and this time it came toward his station.
Ginny picked up the card on the table beside Fiona.
Fiona Collins
Age: Twenty-three
Schooling: Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Injured: Fiona was injured in a duel between a Death Eater and herself at approximately six-thirteen this morning. She was found on the ground beside injured Aurors Harry Potter and Bram Willis.
Ginny sighed. As usual, the card wasn't informative. Obviously, there had been a duel. That or some stray hex or jinx or curse. And why did a medic need to know where their patient had been to school? Seemed like useless information to Ginny. She'd like to know more about the injury – it was so much easier to deal with wounds when you knew what had caused them.
"Fiona?" Ginny asked quietly. The girl made no response. Ginny reached into her pocket for her wand and murmured a quick spell. Suddenly, the girl was clean, her body and hair clear of the caked blood.
Sighing, Ginny began to work on the girl.
When all was clear with Fiona, about three hours later, during which Jeremy had quickly healed thirteen patients, Ginny stepped outside for a bit of fresh air.
It was rather odd, she'd always thought, that when you stepped out of the medical tents, you were in the middle of the woods. The war was being fought secretly, with loads of disguised Death Eaters and plenty of guerilla warfare. Therefore, the tents were strategically placed around the battlefield – which was, in reality, the entire country of England.
Ginny smiled. From her Muggle Studies classes she knew that it would be a strange idea to the non-wizard people, because they had to spend large amounts of time getting places. She could simply Apparate.
"Ginny?" Jeremy tapped her on the shoulder. "Are you all right?"
"Just tired." Ginny grinned half-heartedly. "How do you know Fiona? She's going to be all right, by the way."
"Thanks." Jeremy sighed. "Yeah, Fiona and I were dating before the war. We went to Hogwarts together and we were this close to marriage…and then we separate ways during the war. Fiona became an Auror – one of the best – and I joined the medic squad. And suddenly we had no time for each other and our relationship dwindled down to nothing. That's it. No drama."
"Oh." Ginny leaned against the tent pole.
"Are you with somebody?"
"I'm seventeen," Ginny said with a tiny smile. "I'm not ready to date anybody. Not yet, anyway."
"Oh." Jeremy nodded. "I forgot. Still, I remember dating in Hogwarts."
"Yeah…Harry Potter." Ginny flushed red with the memories. "We dated for three months. But that's over now."
"I saw him today," Jeremy said quietly. "Carol had him over on the other side of the tent. He wasn't in good shape."
"I don't care," Ginny said stiffly. "Honestly, I don't care about Harry Potter anymore."
And yet, somehow, she didn't feel as comfortable saying those words as she should've.