Cast Away
~* Here's chapter 2, I hope you all like it! *~
Chapter 2 ~ Renovations
The Burrow, known to many as a large, old and rickety structure with many stories held up by magic. That would soon change. Molly had agreed to taking down the top five stories so that The Burrow would only be a two story house. Ron had also had the idea for them to expand the bottom two stories so that they were larger, and the house would look normal. Of course, Ginny was the one who had originally suggested to expand the bottom two stories, but it was somehow turned into Ron's idea.
'Hustling, Harry and Hermione will be here any second!' Molly Weasley shouted to her sleeping children at eight o'clock that morning. Ginny groaned and rolled over in her bed before she finally decided to get up and have a shower. She did not want to look scrappy when Harry and Hermione arrived, after all, they were her friends too.
'Ron! Wake up!' Molly's voice could be heard from Ron's bedroom door.
'I don't want to wake up.' Came the sleepy reply.
'If you don't wake up now, we'll tear down the house with you still in it!' Molly said impatiently. This got Ron moving. Ginny heard him scrambling around, and getting his things together so that they wouldn't be taken down with the house.
Ginny was smart, so she had already packed the previous night, so that she wouldn't have to pack when she first woke up. Ron on the other hand wasn't smart enough to realise that if he didn't pack the night before, he would have to do it early in the morning. Ginny carried all her bags down to the first floor, taking four trips to clear out all her belongings. As she set the final box down, Molly walked in.
'Mum, why couldn't we just use magic to bring all my things down?' Ginny asked her mother.
'Ginny dear, you know you're underage, you're not allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts.' Was the reply.
'But you or dad could have done it.' Ginny answered, gaining a stern look from Molly. Ginny knew there was no point in arguing, as she had already moved her things down manually. Molly continued to move furniture around using her wand, and Ginny was ignored once again.
'They're here, mum,' came Ron's voice from the front yard. Ginny looked out through the screen door and saw Harry and Hermione. She smiled and waved at them, and tried to look busy while she secretly listened to their conversation.
'Harry! Hermione!' Ron called out to his friends.
'Alright Ron, how have you been?' Harry asked.
'Not too bad, Harry.' Ron answered.
'How many OWLS did you get?' Hermione asked. Ginny smiled secretly, a typical Hermione question.
'Five.' Ron said shamefully.
'Oh, I got eight!' Hermione said proudly.
'Is that the most OWLS you can get?' Harry asked.
'Yes, it is.' Hermione boasted. 'What about you Harry, how many OWLS did you get?'
'Seven.' Harry said simply. 'I don't think Snape was too keen on giving me an OWL.'
'Oh, but seven is still very good!' Hermione said.
'Five isn't…' Ron said sadly.
'At least you did better than Fred and George.' Harry said cheerfully.
'So what are you doing around here?' Hermione asked, glancing around to see that The Burrow wasn't having a very normal day.
'Oh, we're tearing down the top five floors.' Ron said carelessly.
'What?'
'Really?' Harry and Hermione both looked horrified.
'Yeah, we figured because there's only four of us living here, so there isn't much point in having such a large house.' Ron explained.
'But I like your house!' Harry exclaimed.
'You don't have to climb the massive amount of stairs every day at least five times!' Ron said.
'Oh, I suppose that would be annoying after a while.' Hermione said, seeing the sense in it all.
'Mum said that you two can help if you like?' Ron chirped.
'Oh that would be great, I wouldn't mind one bit, how about you Hermione?'
'Um, I might just stay and do some homework, I planned on writing the essay for Professor Binns today.' Hermione said, looking a little sad that she wouldn't be able to help out.
'That's my Hermione.' Harry smiled and patted her on the back. 'We'll leave you to it.'
'Ginny's in there, she might like some company.' Ron explained.
'Alright, I'll go and sit with Gin.' Hermione said. She gathered her things and left them neatly in the kitchen. Hermione sat down at the Weasley table, took out her History notes, and began scribbling away.
'Hi Hermione.' Ginny said, taking a seat opposite Hermione.
'Hey Ginny, how are you doing?'
'I'm not too bad, yourself?' Ginny tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
'I'm okay, I have a lot of homework I have to do, I haven't really had much time during the holidays.' Hermione grinned sheepishly. 'Something the guys don't know about.' She added as an afterthought.
'Ooh, really? What?' Ginny asked curiously, leaning over. Hermione looked up from her essay with a large smile on her face.
'Well, my parents and I went on a holiday to a small island on the coast of England, and we stayed at a beach resort. While we were there, I met this really cute guy named Hank, and we kinda got together…' Hermione trailed off. Ginny looked shocked.
'You slept with a guy you hardly know?'
'Oh no, nothing like that, but we're dating!' Hermione said.
'Oh, really? Is he a wizard? Does he know you're a witch? How old is he? Where does he live? Will he visit you at Hogwarts?' Ginny was full of questions.
'Woah, one at a time Gin.' Hermione said.
'Is he a wizard?'
'No, he's not a wizard or he would attend Hogwarts.' Hermione answered.
'Does he know you're a witch?'
'Yes, I told him on our first date, he took it really well.' Hermione said.
'How old is he?'
'He is seventeen, one year older than me.'
'Where does he live?'
'He lives near the resort I was staying at.'
Will he visit you at Hogwarts?'
'I'm not quite sure about that, but I hope he will.' Hermione said dreamily.
'Did you tell him about Hogwarts?'
'Well, he asked where I learnt it all, and I mentioned Hogwarts, but I don't think he'll be visiting me there.'
'Why not?'
'Because Muggles can't get to Hogwarts, remember?' Hermione said sadly. 'But I'm going home for the Christmas Holidays, and we're going back to the resort so that I can see Hank again.'
'Do your parents know about him?'
'No, but we're going back anyway because mum and dad loved it so much!' Hermione said.
'You didn't tell them about Hank? Why not?' Ginny asked, surprised at Hermione.
'I didn't tell them about Hank because they wouldn't approve of me dating someone like him.'
'What's wrong with him?'
'He's a typical surfer guy.' Hermione said.
'Oh, why is that bad?'
'They don't like people like him, they would want me dating a smart person, just like I am.' Hermione answered.
'So what does Hank look like?'
'He's six foot two, big, bright blue eyes, sandy brown hair that's messy, and a surfer's build!' Hermione sighed as she recalled Hank's appearance.
'Oh, I wish I could date a guy like that!'
'I'll introduce you someday.' Hermione said. 'Would you like that?'
No you idiot! I wouldn't like to meet him because then I would be reminded of how lucky you are to have a guy like that, and that I'll never get a guy like that! 'Sure, I would love too meet him.' Ginny lied.
'Great!' Hermione grinned. 'I really should get back to this essay.'
'Okay then.' Ginny wandered outside, around to where her family and Harry were working. She noticed that the top three floors were stationed around their enormous back yard, and they were in the process of removing the fourth floor.
'How's it going?' Ginny asked Harry.
'Not too bad, it's a lot of work though.' Harry replied with a smile. Ginny smiled back, but it was a weak smile. If I stay here I'll just get in the way somehow, Ginny thought to herself, and walked away where she could play with Hermione's cat, Crookshanks.
~***~
After three more hours, the house was two stories, and a lot wider than it had been. Molly, Arthur, Ron and Harry stood back and proudly admired their handy-work.
'It looks rather nice, much neater than the usual seven stories!' Ginny exclaimed. Hermione, who was standing beside her, nodded. She had finished her essay an hour ago, and had kept Ginny company.
'Alright, now that all that renovating is over and done with, we should probably get to Grimmauld Place, the Order is expecting us.' Molly said, dusting her hands. 'Now where did I leave that port-key?' She left the others to hunt for her port-key.
Several minutes later, Molly returned, with no port-key. She sighed.
'Looks like we'll just have to Floo there.' She said, exasperated. Molly got the jar in which they kept their Floo powder, and she handed it to Hermione. 'Ladies first.' Hermione took a handful of Floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, threw the powder and yelled,
'Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!' In a flash of green fire, she was gone.
'You next Ginny dear.' Molly offered the Floo powder to Ginny, who took a handful and stepped into the fire, as Hermione had done before her.
'Number twelve, Grimmauld Place.' Ginny said as she threw her powder into the ashes. She felt her bellybutton jerk as she was transported to the desired destination.
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~* That's the chapter! I hope you all liked it! *~
~Gryffindor Gal~
Orli-anon ~ Thanks for that! I like Ginny/Draco too, they just seem so cute together! I go to Bribie Island State High School, okays? Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Tylah ~ Thank-you! Ginny and Draco are very cute together aren't they! Thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you liked this chapter!
Samilia ~ I am trying to explain Ginny's feelings, I'm glad you like that! I think that Ginny should play a more important role in the next book, but it's not up to me, however, if it was… hehehe! Thank you for reading and reviewing! I'll be sure to keep on writing!
SexySlytherinChick ~ I hope that this fiction will be as good as my others, but one can only hope! It should only be a few more chapters until they get to Hogwarts and we find out about Draco! Thank you for reading and reviewing!