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Chapter 6
The Language of the Rose
Ginny laughed as Hermione recounted to her Bella's first day at wizarding pre-school. "Then she decided that she wasn't going to play with the paints because it wasn't the special mess-free ones that she likes and she didn't want to get her dress dirty. So one of the teachers had to take her back inside to read a book and I came back to see that she was lecturing this poor girl about the proper ingredients that should be used in a healing charm."
"Oh god, Bella knows that already?"
"Only a very basic one"
"Still!" Ginny laughed as they passed into Madame Malkins.
"So…hows Harry getting on with the kids?" Ginny asked nonchalantly, examining some black robes."
"Oh, he loved them, and they thought the world of him but he's actually moved out"
"Really, why?"
"Well, he said that since he's staying around he wanted to get a place of his own and he found somewhere so he and Ron moved his stuff out on the weekend"
"Oh, that's nice." Ginny said, pretending like she didn't care. "Hmm, I need a new pair of robes to wear while I'm teaching…oooh, I could also use some new dress robes."
Hermione, however, was not the smartest witch Hogwarts had ever seen for nothing and she was not fooled by Ginny's attempt at indifference. She did, however, decide to help Ginny look for her robes, leaving the matter for the moment so that she could bring it up at some later point and interrogate Ginny for information properly.
The black robes were easy and took about 5 minutes to select. The dress robes, however, were harder to choose as this year's selection was quite unflattering on a frame like Ginny's.
"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "I have an idea! You know how it's your parents thirtieth wedding anniversary in a few weeks?"
"Yes." Ginny replied, frowning at another robe that resembled a bright blue sack and discarding it quickly.
"Well, you know how Bill's trying to organise a party for them, we should make it a muggle-themed then we could go find some muggle dresses together! They're really much prettier and there's a greater variety in shapes…"
"Hermione that's a brilliant idea!" Ginny gasped. "And dad would love that! You've just proved to me once again where Bella's genius comes from! Not that that was a hard thing to work out considering you married my prat of a brother but still…"
"Hey!" Hermione shouted indignantly, swatting Ginny. "I'll have you know Ron is a fine specimen of the male species, especially when it comes to our night-time activities…" she added, grinning slyly.
This time it was Ginny's turn to look horrified, covering her ears and howling "Nooo! I SO did NOT need to know that!"
Hermione smiled smugly but noticed the elderly sales assistant glaring their way.
"Excuse me ladies," she said in a rather snotty voice. "But if you aren't planning on making any other purchases, perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere…"
"Alright, alright, we get the hint." Hermione hissed softly under her breath as she grabbed Ginny's arm to lead her out. Obviously not soft enough though as the sales assistant gave a loud sniff and muttered loudly, "Young people these days, honestly!"
Ginny and Hermione stifled their giggles and quickly walked outside.
There they both burst into peals of laughter, unable to stop. When the laughter finally subsided, Hermione looked at Ginny.
"So, what are you thinking of getting your parents anyway? Ron's hopeless, he's at a complete loss."
"Well, this was just an idea, but I was going to maybe put together a big family scrapbook, I mean we have heaps of pictures but no one's been organised enough to arrange them chronologically or label them or anything, there's just huge boxes of photos around. So I thought I'd do something about it. Only I'm so messy and unorganised and its such a big job…do you want to help?"
Hermione's eyes lit up at the prospect of a large job involving organising, labelling and sorting out and she readily agreed.
Ginny laughed. "I knew I could count on you to do the boring side of the job and enjoy it. That way I can make up captions and stories to go with the photos."
"Its not a boring job!" Hermione protested weakly but Ginny's laughter drowned out her words.
Scowling, she checked her watch. "Come on, let's go to The Three Broomsticks and get a drink"
"Alright." Ginny agreed, the laughter fading, and the two walked in a companionable silence, stopping occasionally to peer into the brightly decorated window displays they passed.
They had just taken a seat and were about to order when Ginny had that prickling feeling of someone watching her. Looking around, she was sure that she was just imagining things when her warm hazel eyes met and locked with glittering emerald ones. She felt her breath catch in her throat at Harry's intense stare and remembered the letter she'd gotten a few nights ago.
"Ginny?" She heard a voice say and she reluctantly dragged her eyes away to look at Hermione.
"Hmm?" She asked, still slightly distracted.
Hermione laughed. "I asked you how Nick was, you know, your fiancé? What's got you so preoccupied?"
"Oh, no, its nothing, Nick, he's fine. Doing well and all." She muttered as she saw Harry stand and move in their direction.
"Nothing hey?" Hermione asked, looking around herself. She paused when she saw Harry and turned back around to give Ginny a knowing glance.
"Hey Harry." Hermione called out, waving him over.
Ginny felt herself sinking back in her seat as Harry came forward until he was standing right in front of her.
"Hey Hermione," Harry replied before looking over at her. "Ginny."
Ginny nodded. "Harry"
"So," Hermione asked, trying to ease the obvious tension in the air. "What are you doing here? Would you like to join us?"
'Please say no, please say no' the little angel perched on Ginny's right shoulder said, while the little devil on her left broke into a chant of 'Yes, yes, yes'
"Sorry," Harry's replied, causing the little devil to jump up and down in anger, banging his fists. Even the little angel gave a light sigh of disgust. "I would but I've got to get going. I have some stuff to organise."
"Oh, well I'll see you later then." Hermione said, smiling at him.
"Yeah, I'll see you around." Harry said, directing it at Ginny.
Ginny smiled weakly then watched as he turned and left. Pretending to be very interested at two businessmen discussing the benefits of changing their restaurant's toilet paper from white with daisy's to pink with love hearts, she tried to avoid Hermione's probing gaze.
"Well?" Hermione asked impatiently when she saw that Ginny wasn't going to share information of her own accord.
"Well what?" Ginny asked, acting blasé
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know very well what I'm talking about missy." She said, using her I'm the mother and I'm the boss voice that all the Weasley wives had learnt from Mrs Weasley.
Ginny laughed. "Nuh uh, don't try that tone with me, it only works on the Weasley men, the Weasley women have immunity to it."
Hermione scowled. "Oh, well it was worth a try. But come on! I haven't had a girly gossip with someone for ages! What's going on with you and Harry? And where does Nick fit into it."
"There is absolutely nothing going on between me and Harry and Nick still fits in the exact same place, as my fiancé." Ginny's voice was firm and her eyes were daring Hermione to continue and face the wrath of the Weasley temper.
Hermione raised an eyebrow doubtfully and looked about to say something, but instead checked her watch.
"Well, we're all done here, and I don't have to pick up Bella and Paul for another two hours. What should we do now?"
Ginny seemed pleased at this change in conversation and checked her watch also. "Well, if you wanted, we could go back to my flat and start organising the photos for that scrapbook…" She started and looked up to see Hermione had already started to apparate eagerly.
Ginny laughed and took off after her. Arriving at the apartment block, Ginny found Hermione impatiently waiting outside the main door. Laughing, she opened the door for Hermione and they headed for the second level. When she got there, however, she stopped. There, resting against her front door was a beautiful multi-coloured bouquet of the freshest roses she had ever seen.
"Oh, Ginny." Hermione gasped. "They're beautiful. From Nick?"
Ginny nodded, a soft pink flush on her cheeks. "I guess." she said reaching over to pluck the single sheet of pale pink parchment that rested against the flowers.
"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart."
Cream to show the perfection that is thee,
White to show my reverence.
Pale Pink for the perfect happiness you bring to me,
Dark Pink for my thankfulness.
Lavender for the enchantment you make me feel,
Yellow to show I care.
Coral to show my desire for you,
Two roses together, one red, one white, to show the unity and bond that we share
But most importantly, three red roses to say I love you.
I loved you then
I love you now
I love you, always and forever
~ Harry
"I love you always and forever, Harry?!" Hermione gasped, reading over her shoulder, as Ginny tried desperately to hide the parchment.
"It must be a mistake…" she mumbled desperately, her face getting redder
"Oh yes, Harry accidentally went into a florist and bought a dozen beautiful roses, put a long-lasting charm on them then went to the trouble of finding out what each colour meant so that he could send you a love letter."
"Yes…it's a possibility…and besides, its not a love letter…"
"Its not a love letter? What is it then? Hate mail that just happens to go on about how much he loves you?"
If at all possible, Ginny blushed even deeper while Hermione watched her with her hands on her hips.
"I don't care if you're immune to this tone missy because we are going to go into your flat and you are going to tell me exactly what's going on between you two because with two kids running around, I never get the chance to gossip and by god I'm not going to let this chance slip past!" Hermione said firmly, marching Ginny into the flat.
Pointing to the couch, she ordered, "Sit!" which Ginny did meekly.
Hermione then sat beside her, eagerly leant forward on her elbows and said excitedly "Tell!"
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Thanks to:
Raiining: I guess I didn't really explain properly before, but Harry left because after he defeated Voldemort, there were still stray death eaters who wanted him dead and he was sick of people dying for him so he figured it would be safer for Ginny if he left to capture them rather than wait around for them to get him. Hope that makes it a bit clearer! Thanks for all the reviews you've written, they mean a lot
Juvefan: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're liking the story, please keep reading!
Annie: Don't worry, it'll happen ;)
Ginny1147: Yes, it was very sneaky of him wasn't it? Thanks for reviewing and keep reading!
Anna: Hey, let the cheerleading team party away! Thanks for the review!
Sarahamanda: Thanks for that, and thanks for reviewing all of the chapters, please keep reading!
Chole Black: Yes, Harry is a very smart little cookie and don't worry cos he's got some more plans up his sleeve for winning Ginny back! Keep reading!
RaRa: Thanks for the review! It's nice to know people are reading and enjoying the story
Hpgoldensnitch: Thanks heaps for the review! I hate stories that show Ginny as some lovesick puppy who pines after Harry for years and years (I mean really, we know she got over that in her 3rd year), I wanted to show that she was strong enough to move on. Thanks for reading and please don't stop!
MrKlortho: Thanks for that and thanks for the advice you've given me, its helped me to improve. Keep reading and reviewing!
Anon: Thanks for the review! I might take you're advice and try those sites. Nice to know that I'm better even than grandmas apple pie! Please keep reading!