Chapter 24

It wasn't until Ginny made it to the complete other side of the train when she finally found refuge in a compartment that was only containing one old lady in it. She opened the door, pulled in her suitcase, and collapsed on the bench opposite the lady. Normally she would have made use of some good manners, but she was tired after running around the train for about half and hour.

After a couple minutes of calming herself down, Ginny looked up at the woman with a small smile and said, "I hope you don't mind me sharing this compartment with you, but it was the only one I saw that had enough room."

She studied the woman's features; her wrinkled skin, light gray hair, moth eaten clothes, and there was even dead flowers on her hat. The only thing that didn't fit into this decrepit picture was the old woman's eyes. They sparkled with something akin to youth and joy in their strange mix of green and brown, even a small bit of gold.

For some odd reason, this old woman mesmerized Ginny, as if she held a secret that Ginny had been searching for. The woman had both of her wrinkled hands together, resting on her dusty green purse, and she smiled to reveal white teeth.

"No deary, I don't mind one bit," she replied cordially. The sparkle of her eyes danced around as they looked over Ginny, reminding her of Dumbledore. He had always had a sparkle in his blue eyes. What was it with this Muggle woman?

They sat in silence for a couple more minutes, Ginny's eyes kept returning to the old woman. Finally, she decided to break the silence. Perhaps starting a conversation with this woman would distract Ginny from subconsciously replaying her scene with Draco over and over again like she did before in similar circumstances. Ginny offered her hand to the woman across from her and said in a friendly manner, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Ginny Weasley."

The woman took her hand and they shook, but afterwards the lady held Ginny's hand with one of her hands over it and the other underneath. Her hands were cold to the touch, but Ginny didn't want to be rude and pull her hand away from her.

"You must be on your way to the Granger and Weasley wedding then," she responded, shocking Ginny with her remark. Her eyes penetrated into Ginny's, and for a second it felt as if all stood still. Slightly woozy and confused, Ginny fell back into her seat.

"How- how do you know that?" Ginny asked while breathing heavily, beginning to get spooked by this old woman. She was starting to doubt that her companion was a Muggle at all; there was just something about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

The lady smiled. "I know all, dear."

What was that supposed to mean? Either this woman was mad or she was more then a woman- maybe a witch or a god or a guardian angel of some sort, if those exist...

The woman broke Ginny's concentration when she continued talking. "Of course we exist, love. I have been watching over you since you were a wee little babe."

Ginny got the impression that this- this guardian angel as the woman said she was- was either Irish or Scottish. Either way though, she know the woman could read minds, for she had to have been reading Ginny's mind to say that to her. Her heart was racing, who ever though that she would meet her guardian angel?

"You are my-" Ginny began, not sure where to start. What does one do when they meet their guardian angel? It was all too strange, but this incident had proved to wipe Draco completely off Ginny's mind. Well, not completely, but she was much less focused on him when she began talking to what only appeared to be an old lady.

"Your guardian angel," the lady completed for her with another smile. "My how you have grown. What a fine young woman... You will make your husband proud."

"So, why are you here?" Ginny asked the first question that came to mind, which seemed to be an important one to her. She had never met her guardian angel in all of her years of existence, so why would she pop up now?

"You were in distress and I felt that I needed to give you a bit of advice," she answered warmly. Her eyes were kept on Ginny's the whole time, emitting a feeling of warmth and safety. Ginny's interest was peaked, and her ears were listening.

"What it is?" Ginny asked after waiting for her guardian angel to tell her. She didn't bother to analyze her visitor or the form that she took in order to converse with her. Ginny was too busy thinking about other things, such as what advice could be so important that she would have to tell her face-to-face. What could it be about?

"Oh right, the advice," the old lady replied, appearing as if even she forgot what she was talking about. "Yes, it was... follow your heart."

When she said her three words of wisdom she took Ginny's hand and placed it over her heart. Then they both smiled. Ginny was not sure what she was happy about, but was immersed in a strange feeling of joy. The woman gave her a hug, and then after releasing her she smiled at her again, and then with the snap of two fingers she was gone.

Ginny was left alone, staring at the empty space in front of her. The feeling of joy was gone and replaced by a feeling of confusion. Had she just imagined that conversation? Was she going insane? Or did she really just speak to her guardian angel? How would she ever know?

As if she were answering her question, the lady's hat appeared on the seat across from her, and Ginny watched as the dead flowers decorating it turned into live ones, beautiful roses and tulips full of color and a sweet fragrance that was wafting over to Ginny.

Suddenly she knew that she was not insane, and all of that did indeed just happen. She was left alone with only those three words to ponder. 'Follow your heart...' But what exactly did she mean by that? What if Ginny wasn't sure what was in her heart or what if what was in her heart didn't make any sense at all?

She stayed in that compartment for the rest of the trip, which wasn't really that long after all. When the train stopped at the London platform, Ginny hurried out, dragging her suitcase behind her. Not wanting to run into Draco- 'Must start thinking of him as Malfoy again'- again, she quickly made her way out of the train station. Outside she hailed a yellow Taxi and told the driver the address of Hermione's parent's house. She had somehow memorized it and did not feel like taking out the invitation to check.

Soon the cab arrived in a neighborhood that contained a load of various colored houses, all with fresh cut lawns, and at least one car in the driveway. The Taxi pulled up in front of a light yellow house with blue shutters. Getting out of the cab and taking her suitcase, she thought to herself 'this definitely looks like Muggles live here. A cheery looking home indeed.' She wondered if her parents had beat her there yet as she made her way up the driveway and remembered that she was supposed to press the button so people would know that she was there. 'What is that called again... a doorbell?'

The door was opened, revealing Hermione. She gave Ginny a hug excitedly, and pulled her into the house. Ginny didn't even get a chance to saw two words when Hermione began rambling on and on. "I'm glad you finally made it. How was the trip? Not too bad I hope... Your parents are here; Mr. Weasley is getting along great with my dad... I can't wait for Thursday; all the preparations are pretty much done... The rehearsal is Monday and the bridal shower is Tuesday. Did you get a dress yet? We will have to go shopping right away... You will love the shops here, I'm sure you'll find something that you like..."

Ginny couldn't keep up with her friend who seemed to want to get everything out in two minutes like she was seeing how fast she could talk. She took Hermione by her shoulders and said, "Calm down Hermione, start from the beginning and this time go slow."

Hermione laughed, apologized, and then asked her how her trip there was. Ginny replied, telling her that it was nothing to talk about and then changed the subject to their parents. She didn't want to tell Hermione about Draco, she didn't even want to think about it, and she didn't even know how to describe the encounter with her guardian angel.

The house was very tidy, and Ginny found herself sitting in a parlor room with Hermione by her side continuing on with the information she felt was important for Ginny to know. The official wedding was set for Thursday, and it was only currently Saturday.

Tomorrow Hermione was forcing her to go dress and shoe shopping, Monday was of course the wedding rehearsal, then Tuesday the bridal shower, and finally Wednesday was the most relaxed of the days. Wednesday there were no real plans, only going out for dinner and such, plus double-checking on all of the preparations, making sure that everything is perfect.

Then Thursday was the big day, that night Ron and Hermione were going off on their four day honeymoon to some place in Japan that their travel agent suggested, Hermione's parents preferred that she went on a honeymoon the Muggle way because they wanted to pay for it as a wedding present. Arthur Weasley readily agreed, asking his son to describe to him what it was like flying on an 'airflane'.

Friday Ginny was heading back to her own apartment, after saying good-bye to everyone. She would get to see all of her brothers in one place for once, and for that she was excited. She occasionally saw Fred and George, who had opened their joke shop before she even graduated Hogwarts and they became very successful, but she didn't get to see Bill or Charlie that much. Percy was no one's favorite family member, so she wasn't as excited to see him. Actually, Ron wasn't even going to invite him to the wedding, but their mum made him.

After a long discussion on the topic of Hermione's impending wedding, Ginny looked up to see a group of people enter the room. In that group was her brother Ron, her parents, and Hermione's parents, who were the ones leading the way.

"Mum, Dad," Hermione said to them. "Meet Ginny Weasley."

Hermione's parents walked towards her and they shook hands with her. "So you are the youngest one of them all I hear."

Ginny replied politely, "Yes I am, it's nice to meet you both."

Then her own parents came in, and after seeing her, her mother pulled her into a tight hug. "Uh, mum, I can't breathe," Ginny struggled to say, and then Molly Weasley let go of her daughter.

"You never write me anymore," her mother said to her apprehensively. "How am I supposed to know what is going on in your life if you don't keep in touch?"

"Sorry mum," Ginny responded. Her mother was always worried about all of them. She didn't really have an excuse, so she said the only thing she could think of. "I've been busy."

A/N: Thanks for reviewing! I know I've been saying these for a while now, but there still are about one or two chapters left, depending on how it all goes when I write them.

Please review! (if you hadn't noticed I wait until I get about 4-6 reviews before I update, hint hint)