My Hero, My Friend, My Love
I forgot to disclaim in my last two chapters, so here goes...
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot.
Chapter Three: Back to Grimmauld Place
December descended on Hogwarts with a vengeance. It was bitterly cold and windy. Snow seemed to fall in sheets, canceling all Quidditch practices and matches until after the holiday break. This did not sit well with Ron, Harry and Draco. All three boys were angry that the Gryffindor-Slytherin match would have to wait. What was normally a bitter rivalry was proving to be a friendly competition instead. Ginny grew tired of listening to the boys complain and Hermione's constant lectures on their study habits. She often sat in the window seat of her dorm and thought. She didn't dwell very much on her parents. Those memories were too fresh in her mind. She thought a lot about the war, and how things had changed when it was over. Draco was one of the most wonderful changes, so was Professor Snape. The Potions Master had definitely mellowed after the war. He'd never admit it though, and he remained cold and unkind during class. But outside of class and away from others, he was quite friendly to the five friends.
Before long, the time came for those going home for the holidays to leave. All four Gryffindors were frantically packing at the last minute. Ron and Ginny were afraid of leaving something at school that they might need in London. They'd both come to realize that the belongings they had at school were all they had in the entire world. Everything else had been destroyed at the Burrow.
"Ron! Come on! The last carriages are about to leave. Malfoy's holding them up for us." Harry shouted at his best friend.
"All right, all right. Keep your shirt on, mate. I'm ready," Ron replied sheepishly.
They ran down to the carriages outside the castle.
"It's about time. Who kept you all this time?" Draco smirked.
Three heads turned to look at Ron, who started to turn as red as his hair.
Draco let out a hearty laugh. "Weasley! I should have known. I swear, mate, you take longer to get ready than your sister and Granger combined."
Ron huffed past the tall, blond boy and climbed into the carriage. "Oh, bugger off," he said under his breath.
They rest of the group laughed, and Draco helped both girls into the carriage before climbing in after Harry.
Ginny was surprisingly quiet in the carriage. She didn't really say anything. She just rested her head on Draco's shoulder during the ride to the train station. As everyone emptied out of the carriage, Draco took her hand and pulled her aside.
"You know, Ginny, you can still change your mind and come with me. You can owl Black later to explain. My mom wouldn't mind. In fact, she'd be thrilled."
Ginny looked up at him and smiled. "God, you're wonderful. But I really want to see my brothers. I miss them terribly." She reached up and kissed his cheek, making him turn slightly pink.
The train ride was almost boring. Everyone had spent the last few days frantically studying for end of term exams, so the group mostly slept, or in Hermione's case, read a rather large book.
When the train pulled into the Kings Cross Station and screeched to a halt, half the group, including Ginny and Draco were still asleep. Ron cautiously woke them, knowing Ginny's temper, and helped his sister gather her belongings. They all dismounted the train and made their way to the barrier that would lead them into the muggle part of the station. Before doing so, Ginny stuffed a packed into Draco's hands and whispered, "Happy Christmas" before disappearing through the platform. He smiled to himself, knowing how much he would miss her.
After walking through the barrier, Ginny was immediately enveloped into a hug from George...or Fred. After gasping for air, she was released, only to be gripped into an identical hug from Fred...or George. God, she'd missed them, she thought. After Fred let her go, he went straight for Hermione and gave her and awkward hug and kiss on the cheek. Apparently, their "relationship" was now out in the open. Ginny smiled brightly at them. She then turned and saw Sirius striding towards her. He looked different than when she first met him years ago, when the Order was reforming. Since escaping from the Veil, his normally black hair was now streaked with gray. On anyone else, it would have looked awful, but Sirius Black was devastatingly handsome. So on him, it just added to his elegant features. His blue eyes smiled, but didn't dance with mirth as they once had, another side effect of his time on the other side. He didn't like to talk about his time there, so no one ever brought it up. Ginny wasn't even sure Harry knew about it.
Sirius came over to Ginny and gave her a small smile before reaching his arm around her shoulders in an awkward side-hug. "How are you, Ginny, dear?"
"Fine, Sirius. Thank you for having me," she replied, wriggling gracefully out of his grip.
"Now, Ginny, I told you. You're not a guest. This is your home. I mean, I know it's not your home, but I want you to feel welcome and wanted here. Please try. It's really important to me," Sirius said earnestly.
"Yes, sir," she replied with a wink at the older wizard.
At that remark, Sirius let out a loud laugh. "Bloody hell, woman! Don't you dare call me 'sir' again! You make me feel like an old man!"
The entire group laughed and walked out of the station together to go to Grimmauld Place- home.
Upon entering Sirius' house, everyone gasped. Apparently, while all the kids were away at school, Sirius had been busy redecorating the house. Gone were the horrible house-elf heads and ghastly family portraits one the walls. Everything had been painted bright, inviting colors. Sirius beamed at the reaction.
"So, I take it you all like the change, eh?" he asked smiling around at everyone.
"Sirius, man, it's fantastic. Why didn't you tell me you were going to do this?" Harry asked his godfather.
Sirius shrugged. "It wouldn't have been a surprise then, would it? Come on everyone, I'll show you to your rooms." With that, he ascended the stairs, expecting everyone to follow him.
He stopped at the first door on the right, just off the landing. "Ron, this is your room. It's been decorated with Chudley Cannons stuff. I hope that's okay."
Ron was ecstatic. "Are you kidding? That's bloody brilliant!"
Sirius continued down the hall just a bit, pausing to open a door on the left. "Right, Harry, you know where your room is. Can't have forgotten since last summer, eh, son?" Harry glared jokingly at Sirius. "Okay then, let's keep going."
The next stop on the "tour" was a room that was further down the hall away from the boys' rooms. He opened the door on the right. "Ginny," he called, for she was at the back of the pack. "What do you think?" he questioned.
Ginny stepped forward and peered into the room. It was a rather large room, with a big sleigh bed angled in the back corner. The room was decorated in soft blues and yellows, her favorite colors. Books lined the shelves in one corner of the room, and a large wardrobe was situated across from the bed. It was the most beautiful, feminine room she'd ever seen.
"Oh, Sirius. It's perfect. I don't know what to say," she said as she teared up. She hugged him, making him slightly uncomfortable. Yet he didn't show it.
"Now, now. There'll be none of that. I'm glad you like it. Had to ask Tonks how to decorate it. Don't know much about teenage girls, you know," he said with a slight smirk.
Ginny released him from her hug and wiped her eyes. She whispered again, "Thank you."
He planted a small kiss on her forehead, before leading Hermione, Fred and George to the guest rooms up another flight of stairs.
The next morning at breakfast, everyone was chattering away about their plans for the day. Fred and George had to go into their shop in Diagon Alley to open for their last minute shoppers. However, Fred was scheming to get away in the afternoon to spend some "quality" time with Hermione. She blushed when he said this out loud. But her pink cheeks turned into a smile, when he winked at her.
Ron and Harry were planning on going into town as well, to look at new Quidditch equipment and also to do some last minute shopping. Sirius needed to go to Gringott's to handle some personal business of some sort. That left Ginny. She didn't really want to be a tag-along, but also didn't want to hang around the house by herself either. So she agreed to go with Ron and Harry. They would meet up with Sirius for lunch later on.
So off they all went. Ginny hurried to catch up with the two boys, so as not to get lost in the bevy of holiday shoppers. When they reached the Quidditch shop, the boys began drooling over the latest broom. She rolled her eyes at them and planned her escape.
"Guys, I have one last present to buy. So I'm going to run down to Flourish and Blotts, okay?
Harry glanced in her general direction. "Yeah, okay Gin. Don't forget we're meeting Sirius for lunch in two hours."
"I'll be there with bloody bells on," Ginny said under her breath. She hurried down the thoroughfare towards the bookstore.
She spent the next couple of
hours popping in and out of the different shops. She didn't really
need to buy another present, but she felt like she needed to get
Sirius a better gift, since he'd been so kind to her. However,
she had a hard time finding the right gift.
Just as she was about to give up hope, she found a small shop that carried cloth and material for making clothes. She smiled to herself and quickly bought what she needed for the gift. It would be perfect.
As she walked out of the shop, she realized that she was running a little late. She hoped the boys and Sirius wouldn't be upset with her as she hurried to the Leaky Cauldron. Luckily, when she arrived, only Ron and Harry were there. Sirius was running late as well. She breathlessly fell into a chair next to her brother.
Ron looked at her with a bemused expression. "You okay?"
She scowled at him, "Yes, I'm fine. I just hurried because I didn't want to hold everyone up. " As she said this, Sirius came in, laughing with someone behind him.
"Look who I found!" Ginny looked up to see Remus Lupin standing behind Sirius with a smile on his face. "I found Moony here wandering aimlessly through the streets. So I took pity on the old coot and asked him to join us," Sirius teased his friend.
Remus playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Who are you calling 'old'? If I recall, you're almost an entire year older than me, you wanker. And besides, I was not wandering. I was shopping."
The group dissolved into laughter as the two men sat down, Sirius next to Harry, and Remus between Sirius and Ginny.
Sirius noticed Ginny's shopping bag. "Buy something nice?"
She turned red before she replied. "Well, I hope it will be. It's for someone special."
"Ooohhh, for Malfoy, hmmm? What'd you get your boyfriend?" Harry couldn't resist teasing her.
Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "For your information, Mr. Potter, it's not for Draco. I already gave him his gift."
"Well, come on then. Who's it for?" Ron asked.
"You will all find out Christmas morning," Ginny said teasingly. "Now lay off. Besides, I'm starving!"
Remus couldn't help noticing her smile and how it seemed to light up the entire room. "Yes, he thought to himself, this girl is definitely special. Thank goodness she has so many wonderful friends who care about her."
Ginny, in turn, was thinking about Remus. "Why do I feel such an attachment to him? Probably because he saved my life. Yes, that must be it...But I never realized how handsome he is." She couldn't believe what she'd just thought, so she quickly turned her attention to the food that was now arriving at the table.