When Ginny woke up the next morning, she had a vague memory of Harry kissing her goodbye before he left for the airport. She had chosen not to tell him about her probation; he had too much to deal with without having to worry about her silly argument with her boss. In a way, it was a good thing he was going to be gone because part of her probation was working the graveyard shift. She looked at the spot on her bed that Harry had occupied mere hours ago and sighed. She was amazed at how quickly she had become dependent on sharing her life with him again. She was distracted from her thoughts by a small tapping on her window. She got out of bed and opened the window to let a small brown owl fly in.
"Hello there," she said to the owl. "I don't recognize you." She pulled the letter off of the owl's leg and sat back down on her bed to read.
Dear Ginny,
I know you and I have never been friends, but we were teammates once, and I write to you now in my time of need. I've just come from visiting Colin. He's awaiting trial, and he doesn't hold much hope for going free.
He told me what he did. He also told me that you aren't aware of the entire story. He told me that you were so consumed with your anger you didn't give him a chance to fully explain his horrible actions. He was being threatened Ginny; our whole family was. You know that we're muggle born, and we were prime targets. Draco Malfoy promised Colin security for our family, and you, if he would help him. He then countered his promise of security with a guarantee that if Colin didn't help him, everyone Colin loved would be dead by the end of the year. Colin did the only thing he could do. He did it because he loved his family; because he loved you.
Colin is openly admitting to killing Draco. He did it out of self defense. After everything that had happened Draco was going to kill you and Colin out on the cliffs so Colin did the only thing he could; he killed him first. Our lawyer is sure that he can get that charge dropped.
That's where you come in, Ginny. You're the only one with the power to keep Colin out of Azkaban. The rest of the charges Colin is facing come from what he did to you and Harry. Drop the charges Ginny, please. Sending Colin to Azkaban isn't going to bring back the time you lost with Harry. Colin was just as much of a victim as you were. Think of all the times he was there for you when you were suffering. I know he was a good friend to you, I know he loved you.
If you can't find it in your heart to drop the charges completely, at least consider asking for a lesser penalty. This is destroying our parents. I've had to explain to them about Azkaban, and the dementors. My mum hasn't come out of her room since. If he was in a muggle prison they could at least go visit him, and my mum wouldn't have to live with the thought that her son was slowly losing his soul.
Please, Ginny, I'm begging you. Find a place in your heart where you can forgive Colin for the horrible things he did. He acted out of love. Can you say the same for when he was petrified? He forgave you without another thought. He's truly sorry for what he did, and the guilt has been eating away at him for years. You should have seen him crying when he confessed to me what he had done. Try to find mercy for Colin somewhere. I know you're a strong, good woman; the question now is if you are a forgiving one as well.
The future of my family is in your hands.
Dennis Creevey
Ginny sat frozen, tears streaming down her cheeks. She dropped the letter and let it fall to the floor. "He's lying. He's lying," she muttered to herself. "I know he's lying. He wasn't being threatened. He acted freely." She buried her face in her hands. "Does his family really blame me for what happened in our first year? Or are they just bringing it up to try and guilt me into letting Colin walk free?" Ginny stood up from her bed and walked into the bathroom. "I need a long, hot bath. I need to rid myself of all this filth." Ginny turned on the water and watched as the tub started to fill. "I need to talk to Dad about this; I promised them no more secrets."
As Ginny left her flat she was nervous. She had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. She walked down the street, pausing every few steps to look behind her as if someone was following her. She stopped in front of the pub that Harry had been pictured in. Fighting her instincts, she went inside and walked over to the bartender.
"Hello miss, what can I do for you?" the bartender asked.
"Actually I'm looking for someone," Ginny began but the man interrupted her.
"I know you! You're the minister's girl! I've seen your picture in all the papers!"
Ginny forced a smile. "I bet you have."
"You're in here 'bout that Potter boy, aren't you?"
"Yes, yes I am," Ginny replied.
The bartender crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Ginny defensively. "Oy, he was very pissed before he came into my pub. I didn't make him that way if you're looking to yell at me. I didn't let him leave either. He went off with Bella when I was serving another customer."
Ginny tried to hide her excitement. "Bella?"
"Yeah, he left with our Bella. She's in here all the time, although it was the first time in a long time I've seen her leave with a different guy."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"Well, I love Miss Bella, she's a great customer, but when she first started hanging around here she left with a different guy every night."
"What changed?"
"Well 'bout two years ago she started hanging around with a young bloke who came in and got drunk about every night. I think our Bella fell in love, which is why I was so surprised when she left with Potter. Although I guess not many women could resist his money and fame. But I wouldn't need to be telling you about that would I?"
Ginny looked irritably at the man. "Do you know the name of the guy she was hanging around with?"
"I think she called him Colin, though he was never too keen on getting friendly with anyone here other than Bella. He was actually quite rude every time I tried to talk to him."
Ginny's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry to run without getting anything, but I'm actually late for a meeting with my father. Do you mind if I use your fireplace to get to the ministry?"
"Not at all Miss. Your family is good folk. Tell your father he's got a free drink waiting for him anytime he would want to come by my pub."
Ginny faked a gracious smile. "I'll be sure to let him know what you said."
"Ginny! What are you doing here? I thought you had to work?" Arthur asked his daughter when she appeared in his fireplace.
"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Ginny asked as she brushed the soot off her robes.
"No, this is actually the committee planning the banquet in Harry's honor. Why don't you have a seat?" Arthur summoned a chair and Ginny sat down. "Now Franklin, where were you?"
The older man sitting to Ginny's right spoke up. "Well the biggest problem we've been having is the guest list. You said that Harry wants to invite everyone who has ever been considered his friend, but we don't know where to draw the line. How do you decide who was a friend and who was an acquaintance?"
"Well you'd probably want to start with the Gryffindors he went to school with," a young witch spoke up.
"Do you mean just invite all of them?" Franklin asked
"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm sorry; I just don't think that is the best idea."
"I'm sure you've all heard about the impending trial for Mr. Creevey," Arthur said gently. "He and his brother were both in Gryffindor."
"I can probably help you create a list of Harry's friends from school. Beyond that, I think the most important thing would be the members of the Order that Harry knew well. He was always so honored that they spent their time and energy to look after him." Franklin nodded at Ginny gratefully. "Of course you'll have to invite the entire Weasley clan, and then all of the important ministry officials." Ginny paused and looked at her father. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to have to final approval over the guest list. I'd know better than anyone if there was someone Harry wouldn't want there."
"Of course dear," Arthur replied. "Now, is there anything else we need to discuss today?"
The young witch spoke up again. "Well, I know in the past Mr. Potter hasn't been much for dancing, so we were planning on having the event be more focused on dinner and speakers."
"The dancing won't be a problem, in fact I think Harry would enjoy it," Ginny said.
"Oh, well then we'll plan on having a dance floor. Thanks for letting us know." The witch wrote something down then looked at Ginny again. "Do you think Mr. Potter is going to want to make a speech?"
"I'm not sure on that one, but if I had to guess I think he would."
"Alright. Can you think of anyone he'd like to make a speech?"
"Definitely Dumbledore and Dad," Ginny said thinking aloud. "You might want to talk to Remus Lupin about speaking, and then maybe Ron. Beyond that it's up to you."
"Thanks, you've been a lot of help. That's it from me for right now. I'm probably going to have some more questions though at our next meeting, will you be there?" the woman asked.
"I don't know. Dad, will I be here?" Ginny asked.
"As long as it doesn't interfere with your work schedule I don't think that will be a problem. Okay then, this meeting is adjourned." Ginny waited patiently as her father showed his colleagues out of his office. "Now, I know you didn't come to my office just to crash my meeting about Harry's banquet. What can I do for you today?"
"I wish I had come to talk about the banquet. I came because I got this letter today," Ginny said as she handed her father the letter from Dennis.
"So that's going to be their defense," Arthur mumbled when he finished the letter.
"It's a lie. I know it is. When he confessed to me, his eyes were cold and malicious."
"That's where we have the problem though, he only confessed to you. Worse yet, he only confessed to you while he was being held at wand point. It's your word against his, and even if we have the courts review the memory of the day, it could be argued that he only confessed so you wouldn't hurt him because he thought it was what you wanted to hear."
"So there's a chance he'll get off completely?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"I'm afraid there's always a chance sweetheart," Arthur said gently. "We've reviewed his wand history and there's never been any dark magic performed by his wand. The fact that he killed Draco the muggle way shows that he was desperate. He's confessed to murdering Draco, and that only helps to back up the rest of his story."
"So what do we do?" Ginny asked.
"Well, for one thing, you don't let his family guilt you into dropping the charges. What you did in your first year is nothing like what Colin did. You deserve some justice for everything you went through; everything you lost."
"Thanks Dad, I needed to hear that. I may have something else that could help our case."
"What's that?" Arthur asked.
"Well do you remember the picture in the Daily Prophet of Harry with that woman in the bar?" Arthur nodded. "Well I found out that her name is Bella, and apparently she's been dating a guy named Colin for the last two years."
"Now that is interesting," Arthur said thoughtfully.
"Does it help the case against him?" Ginny asked.
"If we can prove it, it would probably say a lot about his character," Arthur said.
"Good. I don't want Colin to get off based on a technicality," Ginny stated firmly.
"Now why aren't you at work?" Arthur asked.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I meant to tell everyone last night, but you know what happened. Yesterday I got in trouble with my boss for being late and taking too much time off."
"Doesn't she understand at all what you've been going through with Harry?" Arthur asked.
"You would think!" Ginny exclaimed. "But no, not her! In fact, the only reason I got put on probation is because I yelled at her when she had the nerve to tell me that the hospital didn't approve of Harry living with me!"
"Ginny Weasley I'm disappointed in you! You should know better to yell at your boss, whether or not she was in the wrong."
"I'm sorry Dad, but I couldn't help it; the day before had been so emotional that I just lost it."
Arthur shifted uncomfortably. "Well now that the topic has been brought up, I think Harry should start looking for a place of his own. It was one thing when you were trying to help him recover his memory, but now that his memory is back your mother and I think it would be best if he moved out."
"Not you too Dad," Ginny said as she rolled her eyes.
"Your mother and I aren't going to make you do anything, but with as public as yours and Harry's lives are, we think it would be for the best."
"Well there's nothing to discuss right now, Harry's gone." Ginny stood up from her chair. "I'm stuck on the graveyard shift for the week as punishment, so I'm going to go get some rest. Let me know if there's anything you think I should do for Colin's trial."
"I will dear. Take care of yourself," Arthur said as Ginny walked over to the fireplace.
"I will Dad. I'll see you later."
Ginny sat alone in her kitchen eating the small dinner she had prepared. She was due at work in about two hours and was growing restless. "How did I manage to live alone for so long without going crazy?" she asked herself. She pushed her food around her plate. "I hope they won't keep me on the graveyard shift for very long," she mused. She dropped her fork when a sudden thought dawned on her. "What if they won't let me have off for Harry's banquet?" She shook her head. "They have to! I'm the minister's daughter and this is a ministry banquet. They'd have to let me go!" Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm talking to myself again." Ginny turned her attention to the window. "What was that?" She walked over to the window and peered out. "I swear I just heard something out here."
"Ginny are you there?" she heard a voice call from the other room.
Ginny abandoned the window and walked into her living room. "Hermione! What are you doing here?"
"I wish I was here with good news, but I'm not."
Ginny walked over to her sister-in-law and put an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"I think they're going to suspend you from work and it's entirely my fault!" Hermione exclaimed as she began to cry.
"Hermione calm down, tell me what happened," Ginny said as she led her friend to the couch.
"Well, I know you don't get the Prophet, but there was an article today about Colin's trial and then Mrs. Bletchley was talking to that suck up new nurse Melinda about what happened with you yesterday. Well I could only take so much in one day. I went over there and told them that you were going through so much right now that they were lucky you still bothered to come in at all! I let something slip about your involvement Colin's trial and how much it was affecting you, and Mrs. Bletchley snapped."
"What do you mean, snapped?" Ginny asked.
"She went off about she's let you get away with too much because of who your father is. She said that you're disrespectful and that you need to be taught a lesson in manners and that she wasn't going to let you slide anymore."
"I tried to protest, but she said that if you had so much going on then maybe you'd enjoy being suspended for awhile." Hermione dropped her head on Ginny's shoulder. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed.
"It's okay Hermione. That woman has had it out for me for awhile. It was bound to happen eventually." As if on cue, a small owl began to knock on Ginny's window. "Maybe that's what I was hearing earlier." She walked over to the window and opened it. She removed the letter from the owl's leg and read the short note. "It's official, I'm suspended."
"Ginny I didn't mean for this to happen!"
"I know you didn't. I'm just going to have to try and find something to do while Harry's gone and I'm not working. Now you go ahead home. You have a daughter and a husband waiting for you."
"Okay," Hermione said through her sniffles. "I'm so sorry!"
"That's enough, I'll be fine." Ginny watched Hermione disapparate from her flat. When she was gone Ginny let out a loud groan. "Great, this is the last thing I needed." She stopped suddenly when she heard a loud crash from outside her still open window. She ran to the window and stuck her head outside. "Is anyone there?" she called nervously. Hearing no response, she shut and locked the window. "I was never this paranoid living by myself before. Of course before I didn't know that my then boyfriend had previously plotted to kill me."
Ginny walked up to her bedroom and packed a small overnight bag. "I can't keep staying here by myself. I'm going to go crazy!"
"Well isn't this a good day!" Arthur said happily when Ginny appeared before him. "Two visits from my favorite daughter in the same day!"
"Why aren't you at work?" Molly asked harshly, forgoing the pleasantries. "Your father told me about your fight with your boss. You're on probation and now you're going to be late?"
"Sorry to be a disappointment Mum, but the new status is suspension," Ginny said bluntly.
"Well how did that change without you ever stepping foot in the hospital?" Arthur asked.
"You didn't go in this afternoon to stir up trouble, did you?" Molly asked.
"No, Hermione did that for me. My boss, Mrs. Bletchley, was basically gossiping about me with one of the new nurses and Hermione overheard. Long story short, what Hermione thought was defending me was actually just digging me a deeper hole with our boss. I got the letter announcing my suspension a few minutes ago."
"Your direct superior is Ester Bletchley?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well then I'm surprised you weren't suspended sooner. Her family isn't one of my biggest supporters. In fact, they down right despise me. They never were officially accused of anything, but they were mighty chummy with the Malfoys," Arthur explained.
"And I bet with Harry coming back and Colin's recent arrest she was just looking for a reason to punish me," Ginny finished.
"Exactly. Plus, her son, Miles, was at Hogwarts around the same time as you, he was the keeper for the Slytherin Quidditch team. You know how much they hated losing. If that wasn't a reason for her to despise Harry and our family, I don't know what would be," Arthur added.
"Oh Ginny dear I'm so sorry," Molly gushed. "You must be furious. If it were me I would have gone straight to the hospital and complained."
"Well, the thought definitely crossed my mind, but I figured I would have just gotten myself in more trouble. I could honestly use the break with everything that's been going on; I'm just going to be bored with Harry gone." She turned and looked at her father. "Actually that's one of the reasons I'm here. I want to be put on the committee that's planning Harry's banquet. I really enjoyed the brief meeting I attended this afternoon."
"Of course dear. I think Franklin and Margaret will be grateful for your help. Neither one of them has ever even met Harry." Arthur paused and looked at Ginny with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Although Marge did admit to me once that she always had the biggest crush on Harry."
Ginny grinned. "As long as she keeps her hands off of him I don't think we'll have a problem."
"What was the other reason you came by tonight?" Molly asked, eyeing the bag Ginny was holding.
"Oh well, I wanted to stay here while Harry was gone. I don't know why, but suddenly I'm going crazy living by myself. I'm hearing things, I feel like someone's been watching me through my windows, I'm afraid someone's been following me when I leave the house. I've turned into a full fledged paranoid freak!"
"Ginny you can stay here as long as you like. You know I've never liked you living by yourself," Molly said.
"Ginny, are you sure that you're being paranoid?" Arthur asked, concerned. "You are living a fairly high profile life right now; especially with Colin's trial."
"I've never actually seen anything, but I would just feel much better staying here."
"Have you heard from Harry since he left this morning?" Molly asked.
"No. He's going to be fairly restricted to the muggle way of doing things while he's gone, and I hope that he'll be back in the amount of time it would take to send a letter the muggle way," Ginny said.
"Well, hopefully he'll be back soon, although I wouldn't count on him not wanting to find his own place when he does get back," Molly said.
"So you don't like me living by myself or with Harry? Mum, I've already had this conversation with Dad today. Harry will move out if and when he and I think he should. I am aware of yours and Dad's opinion, but the topic is not open for discussion," Ginny said bluntly.
"Alright, alright," Molly said as she picked up her knitting. "Are you planning on staying up, or did you want to go straight to bed?"
"I think I'll go to bed. Are any of the girls coming over tomorrow?" Ginny asked.
"Is there ever a day when I don't have at least one of my granddaughters around the house?" Molly asked with a chuckle. "Tomorrow Julie and Jessica are coming over."
"The next meeting for Harry's banquet will be on Monday, so you may want to start thinking of things you'd like to discuss," Arthur spoke up.
"Okay. Good night Mum, Dad," Ginny called as she walked up the stairs to her childhood bedroom.
"Good night dear."
A/N Okay I hope you all liked this chapter. Poor Ginny, she has to go through so much! Thanks again for all of the reviews! I've got a head start on the next chapter, it should hopefully be a little happier. Hopefully I'll be able to write on my plane ride home tomorrow.