Chapter one- First(Part one)
Picture this: a wide patchwork blanket of blue and white stretched lazily in the sky, failing to obscure the bright, familiar sun which shone down. It was a perfect day. The kind where each moment seems unreal, borrowed straight from a storybook. The light breeze seems to echo freedom itself.
Now imagine this: Rolling green hills sprinkled with delicate, ivory flowers each one intricate and unique. In the midst of this natural beauty add in the figure of a young woman, lying on her back with her eyes closed; long red hair framing a pale oval face. On her pretty features there was a spray of freckles and her pink lips curved up in a smile.
She was Ginny Weasley and in that very instance she was happy. For nearly two years, ever since Voldemort had returned, the wizarding community had lived in fearful confusion but things were finally getting better. Dumbledore had rallied a strong group of followers and the people were uniting under a common cause, ready to battle the evil of the Dark Lord. Ginny thought herself lucky, she had a family that loved her and a future that looked bright. As a result of her outstanding O.W.L results she had been offered the chance to study abroad after she graduated from Hogwarts. She was no longer the meek little girl she had once been, hiding in the shadows, desperate for acceptance. She had become a strong and capable young woman with everything to live for.
It was a shame it was all to change.
Ginny opened her eyes; to capture the colour think of leaves in autumn, the blending shades of brown, russet and soft orange. She quickly shielded them from the midday sun with one white hand and slowly stood up. Looking into the distance, Ginny's smile reappeared as her eyes met with the comforting sight of the Burrow. Feelings of safety and nostalgia flooded through her. The Burrow was her family home, the place she had lived for sixteen years, it was made of memories. She could almost see her younger self being chased around the many-floored house by a brother or six. She could her laughter and screams as she played reluctant victim in one of the twins many 'experiments'
Tonight was to be extra special: it would be the first time the whole of the family had been together for at least a year. Charlie and Bill were coming back after both spending a long period abroad, attempting to gather foreign support. The twin's had apparated over from their home in Hogsmeade and even Percy, who had only recently begun to build bridges with the family he disowned, was making an appearance. Ron and his best friends, Hermione and Harry were busy helping Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.
But the person that Ginny was most looking forward to seeing was her father. As far as she knew, her father had been helping the casualties of You-Know-Who in Romania (which had suffered greatly from death eater strikes) a noble cause to be sure, but that didn't stop her from missing him deeply. Although she would never admit it (It would be far too un-teenage like) she really did miss the nickname 'Ginny Bean' which her father had used for as long as she could remember.
Now to understand what happened next you have to believe in instinct, the feeling which comes from the deepest recess of your soul and gives you no choice but to listen. It was this intuition which took control of Ginny's mind in those fateful minutes, it was that feeling of anxious foreboding which installed in her the greatest fear she had ever known.
It was that feeling which made her legs begin pumping, frantically down towards the house and ensured that her blood ran cold; the hairs on her neck stood alert and a scream remained trapped in her throat.
But if you thought that this wild emotion would enable her to clear the fields in a matter of seconds, that the adrenalin cursing through her veins would give her extra speed, provide her with a last chunk of coveted energy; then you'd be wrong.
If you thought that she would come crashing through the door, sweating but energized and catch in her arms, her horror struck mother, then you'd also be mistaken.
For this is not a film, this is real life and in life things don't happen at breakneck speed, they are slow and agonizing. Ginny's raged run lasted not seconds but long minutes. She stumbled and fell, swore and cried. By the time she reached the door, her knees were filthy and bloody. By the time she reached the kitchen, her mother lay, fainted on the floor and her brother's stood shell shocked with tears in their eyes. By the time she looked at Dumbledore, she knew her father was dead and she knew it was his fault.