Cast Away
Chapter 5 ~ Last night
It was three days later, and Ginny was completely stoked that her parents had taken her side over Tonks'. She couldn't believe it, and she actually believed things would be different. However, not twenty-four hours after the incident, things were quite back to normal. Molly fussed over Harry and Hermione, especially, and even Ron. They were her sure favourites.
Ginny sighed as she rolled over on her bed, trying to find a more comfortable position to read her favourite book, Reunion.
'Ginny,' A voice rang out from behind Ginny's sturdy wooden door. She jerked up from her relaxed position and recognised her brother's voice at once. 'Ginny!' He called out for a second time. Ginny got up and opened the door.
'What do you want?' She said, her eyes boring into Ron's.
'Geez, no need to be vicious, mum just wanted me to tell you to be packed and ready to leave at eight tomorrow morning for Kings Cross Station.'
'Is it the last day of August already? Well, that certainly went fast.' Ginny pouted, not particularly wanting to go back to Hogwarts quite yet. It meant that she would have even less time with her parents. She did love them, but they never had the time for her which she wanted.
'It sure did, okay? So pack.' Ron said, and he walked off, eager to rejoin Harry and Hermione in doing whatever it was they were doing.
Ginny decided that it was essential that she started packing as soon as she could. She glanced at her round wall clock, 5.59pm. Ginny had always liked her clock, she had gotten it for Christmas when she was four. It was a brilliant blue around the edge, with a creamy purple colour on the face. The numbers were written in calligraphy, sparkling gold just like the hands. Each hour, the clock would chime three times, with a light, tinkling sound which always reminded Ginny of soft bells.
Throwing all items which she would need throughout the school year into her truck, Ginny hummed a tune. It was a song which she heard, written by a girl her age. It was a beautiful tune, reminding Ginny of her own life. The song was called Cast Away, and Ginny loved it almost as much as her book, Reunion.
~***~
That night at dinner, Harry, Ron and Hermione were busy talking about starting their 6th year the next day. They were very excited about it.
'I had to choose Advanced Potions, I need it to be an Auror.' Harry grumbled. 'McGonagall obviously talked to Snape about me taking Potions this year, there's no way that old grouch would let me in his class otherwise.'
'You'll surely be the only Gryffindor in that class, tough luck Harry.' Ron said, causing Hermione to clear her throat rather loudly.
'Excuse me, Ron, I believe that I am taking Advanced Potions this year, am I not a Gryffindor?' Hermione scoffed.
'Sorry Hermione.' Ron blushed.
'Anyway, this year will certainly be a blast, they elect Head Boy and Girl at the end of term, I certainly hope I'm in with a chance.' Hermione said brightly.
'I heard that it's a vote, and that the students have more of a say than the teachers!' Ron exclaimed.
'Students have to be nominated to run for Head Boy or Girl, that's what I was told.' Hermione said.
'Shouldn't it be more up to the Professors, and Dumbledore for that matter?' Ginny piped up. Three heads snapped in her direction, looking annoyed that she had interrupted.
'I don't know Ginny, this is what we've been hearing. You can worry about this next year, okay?' Ron said impatiently. Ginny said nothing, putting her head down to her plate of untouched food.
'Not hungry dear?' Molly asked, seeing that Ginny hadn't even touched her beef casserole.
'No, not really.' Ginny replied, quite annoyed that her mother had made Ron's favourite dish the night before they go back to Hogwarts. Ginny had never really liked her mother's beef casserole, but she continued to prod it with her fork.
Why wouldn't Dumbledore choose the Head Boy and Girl? Ginny wondered. She didn't want to say anything more, because Ron would snap at her for sure.
'So Ron, have you had any thought about what you want to be after Hogwarts?' Molly asked, to make small talk.
'Oh, I don't know, I probably would like to be a Professor at Hogwarts, or maybe even work for the Ministry of Magic.' At these words, Arthur looked up.
'I would be delighted to put in a good word for you at the Ministry, all you have to do is ask.' Arthur said, stopping to finish a piece of meat.
'Thanks dad.' Ron grinned. Ginny's heart sank, she knew that if she had wanted a job at the Ministry when she left Hogwarts, her father wouldn't make such an offer.
Dinner ended rather soon after that, not much else being said. Ginny quietly slipped away from the gathering in the lounge room, she did not want to watch Ron, Harry and Hermione play exploding snap, and wizard chess, all the time having fun. She would much rather be in her room, reading her book.
At 9.23pm, and Ginny decided to get off to sleep. She didn't want to over sleep in the morning, and she was sure that they wouldn't think to give her a second wake up call. This would be her last night at the Burrow for a whole year. Ginny planned to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, like she did most other years.
~***~
'Quickly! Wake up! We're running late!' Molly bustled around the Burrow frantically trying to find things, books and quills, for Ron, who had "lost" them at the last minute. Ginny noticed that she was awake half an hour later than she had planned to be awake.
'Harry, have you seen my sock?' Ron's voice could be heard from the corridor.
'No, haven't seen any socks. I don't like socks, Dobby does though, maybe you could borrow a few from him?' Came the reply.
'Nah, it's okay, I found it.' Ron called out. 'You can all stop looking for it now,'
'Like we were looking in the first place,' Ginny heard Harry mutter under his breath.
It was well after nine thirty before they got on the road. Arthur had loaned a Ministry car, which was jet black. Ginny could feel the heat melt through the car door as she stared out at the traffic. They arrived at Kings Cross Station at ten to eleven, and hurried around the crouds of people, trying to get to the barrier before the train left.
Ginny ran through first, not bothering to wait for Harry, Ron and Hermione. She handed her bags to the guys who were packing the train, and she jumped on the Hogwarts Express.
Ginny walked down the isle, trying to find Maria Brently, Julia Thorn and Cassandra Chambers, Ginny's fellow fifth year girls. She finally found them, in a compartment with Phillip Cassady and Drew Hickling, fifth year boys who were quite popular. Ginny noticed that flashing on Phillip's and Maria's chests were shiney, new prefect badges. She knew Maria would get the badge, so that was no shock.
'Hey Ginny, it's been a while.' Phillip said, flashing Ginny a smile.
'Hi Phillip, Maria, Julia, Cassandra and Drew.' Ginny said, taking a seat by the window. She stared out as the train began it's journey to Hogwarts, knowing that she would hardly be spoken to. Each Gryffindor said hello to Ginny in turn.
'How was your holidays?' Julia asked. Ginny thought about telling them about Sirius's house and belongings, but she decided it would be best not to, as Tonks would probably hunt her down if people started talking about the situation.
'Pretty boring actually, we renovated our house, but that's about all.' Ginny replied at last.
'Oh, that's a shame then.' Julia said, losing interest quickly and turning back to Phillip.
I'm in for a long trip… Ginny thought, and she sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Serpent of Light ~ Thank you for your words, I hope I got this chapter up nice and quick for you! I didn't notice the rhyming until you said it! hehehe. Yes indeed, Draco/Ginny is pretty cool, there's a really good fiction that has just been finished on D/G, it's called The Source, and it's by LuckyDucky7, so if you come across that, give it a read!
Orli-anon ~ I wasn't sure which story to read, so I just randomly picked one! I think I left a review on every chapter, I did enjoy reading it, I hope you continue with it. I hope you like what I did with the dinner scene. Don't worry, they all like Ginny still, but her attitude is getting them all down at the moment, things will change! Thank you for your review, it's okay that you didn't get to read the chapters sooner!
HarryzBabe ~ Good to hear that you're working on the next chapter! You don't need suggestions for your story, it is coming along quite nicely. Thank you for your kind review. Did you like how I made Tonks out? Someone told me that Tonks is a Mary-Sue, and that JK wrote one! I was shocked, but I realised that it's true, so I made her a bit of a bitch. Lol. Hope you liked this chapter!
rose petel ~ Oh, I didn't think of making Molly slap Tonks, that wouldn't be something that Molly would do though. Tonks won't come up much more in the fiction, so we don't have to worry about her! I hope you continue to read & review.
kura52 ~ Yes, I intentionally made Tonks a bitch. She does seem like a Mary-Sue in the Harry Potter books, so I twisted her character a small bit. I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
purfectchild ~ Ginny will see soon enough that not everyone hates her, she just has a low self-esteem at the moment. She will improve in upcoming chapters now that she's back with her friends. Draco will be coming up in the next 2 chapters, I can assure that. I love him too, so I'm getting quite impatient myself! I hope you liked this chapter!
scholcomp25 ~ Thank you for continuing to read! I hope you liked this chapter too. Thank you for your kind review.
Tylah ~ Thank you for your long review! I like reading long ones! Who doesn't? Yes, I do live in Australia, but I wasn't a big fan of Idol, I just chose to use Shannon's name because it was handy at the time, lol. Bad excuse, I know! I'll try to update as soon as possible, I want to get this fiction to the level that my others are at quickly, so you should see updates soon. I hope you liked this chapter!