Disclaimer: All characters and main ideas recognized in the Harry Potter series belong to J. K. Rowling. If they belonged to me, then I would be very rich right now, and I wouldn't be sitting at this computer, uploading to a site.
Claimer: The plot of this fanfic belongs to me, and to no one else. This plot is an original creation which blossomed while trying to evade insomnia.
The Forgotten Prophecy
Written By: Jeeths
Chapter 13: Aunt Prewett
"Ginny, dear!" Molly called from downstairs.
"Yes, Mum?" she yelled back from within her room, lying on the bed.
"Come downstairs for dinner!" her mother replied.
"Not hungry!" making an attempt to weasel her way out of seeing certain faces at the dinner table.
"No excuses young lady! I want you down here all washed up in five minutes!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. She was greeted with a long pause, "Do you hear me?"
"Yes Mum," Ginny called back, pushing herself up from the bed, going to the washroom, preparing to face the inevitable.
Five minutes later she was at the bottom of the stairs making her way towards the kitchen, for she did not dare defy her mother.
She sat down quietly at the table, ignoring the questioning glances that were directed towards her.
Molly's glance questioned, 'What is that ring for in the first place?'
Harry's glance said 'Why did she run away? I thought she fancied me...'
Ron's perplexed glance said, 'What's been going on between her and the ferret?'
Her head pulled up and her face broke into a grin as she saw her father, Arthur Weasley, stride in through the back door of the house.
"Sorry dear, Ministry's been a real wreck today, and I've got a meeting to go to later tonight," Arthur said, kissing the tops of Molly and Ginny's heads.
Now that the return of Voldemort was out in the open, the Ministry was working alongside the Order of the Phoenix to bring him and his Death Eaters down. The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts temporarily forgotten, Mr. Weasley was the head of connections between the Ministry's Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix members. There was the ever-watchful lookout for Death Eater spies in the Ministry, so Arthur made sure nothing leaked out, while Auror activities were leaked into the Order.
Arthur clapped Ron and Harry on the back and pulled up a chair to the dinner table, oblivious to the tension that surrounded its occupants.
Ginny decided that it was the right time to tell everyone what the ring was about. "Dad, Mum, I wanted to tell you some-" she started, but was interrupted by an owl at the window, noisily tapping against the glass.
Molly wordlessly went to the window to retrieve the letter. She opened the latch and grasped the envelope clasped in the bird's beak. Having taken some scraps from the dinner table to the window, she gave them to the bird and flipped the latch back in place. Seeing the letter was indeed addressed to her, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the crisp parchment from inside. Her eyes scanned the parchment before all color drained from her face and tears welled up in her eyes.
"What is it Molly?" came the concerned voice of her husband. By now all faces were turned towards her.
"No...it can't be..." was all she whispered before tears began to fall down her face and her body was racked by her uncontrolled sobbing.
Mr. Weasley rushed to her side by the kitchen counter and bent down beside her, holding her and whispering comforting words to her. The others looked on helplessly while he picked up the letter which had dropped to the ground with his free hand. He silently read the letter and a saddened look took over his concerned face.
"Ginny, Ron, your Aunt was killed in a Death Eater attack." Arthur said in as calm of a voice he could possibly muster. As he said this, Molly's sobs became deeper.
Harry made to stand up and leave, thinking it was a family matter and it would be awkward for them to have him see them like this.
"Harry, where are you going?" Arthur questioned, noticing the boy's movement.
"I just thought-" Harry began.
"Nonsense," said Arthur as if reading Harry's mind, "You're a part of the family too. Now sit back down."
Ginny and Ron had been sitting in shock. Ron patted Ginny's back subconsciously.
All thoughts of Ginny's announcement flew from her head as she silently mourned her favorite and only aunt. Mr. Weasley had two male siblings, and Mrs. Weasley, being a Prewett before marriage had one female sibling for Ginny to look up to. They were very close and had been inseparable since Ginny's birth.
Mr. Weasley got up from the subdued Mrs. Weasley and made his way towards Ginny. "Dear, I know how hard this must be for-" he started but Ginny shot up from her seat and flew up the stairs, slamming her door shut behind her before he could say more.
When Ginny entered the room, she was surprised to find an owl there hooting indignantly. It seemed to have a look on its face saying 'Took you long enough!'
'Oh Lord, please don't let it be another tremendous surprise! I don't think I can take another one!' she silently prayed.
She gave the owl some treats and took the envelope from its beak. She expected the owl to flap its wings and fly out the window, but all it did was sit there with its head cocked to one side, staring at her. She gave the bird a quizzical look before opening the letter and reading it. Her jaw dropped as she finished reading the letter and felt nothing as the world began to dim and grow black.
Ginny floated back to consciousness with a dull throbbing at the back of her head. She felt something extremely cold being placed against her forehead. She quickly snapped her eyes open and yelped, jerking her body away from cold. She immediately regretted it as her eyes met with a pair of green ones that she knew too well and the dull throbbing painfully increased. She shut her eyes with a groan at the brightness of the sunlight streaming through the open lace, pink curtains at the window. The cold, wet feeling on her forehead was back and her eyes fluttered open a second time, still wary of the penetrating light, but slowly adjusting.
"Harry, what happened?" she groaned.
"You fainted," he simply replied, the usual brightness in his eyes fading away. As he peeled off the washcloth from her forehead, which he had been using to revive her, she gingerly sat up from where she lay in her bed.
"Your dad left for work, trying to see why the Death Eater attack wasn't prevented, while your mum went to the Ministry to clear up some paperwork. She sent Ron on some errands, mostly grocery shopping, and he told me that I didn't have to come. I came up here to see if you were alright since we didn't see you come out after last night." He said this dully, never looking her in the eye.
"Ummm, thanks I guess, you know, for helping me...I guess too much happened yesterday and that letter just took it over the edge," she explained, gingerly prodding the lump on the back of her head.
"Yeah well, I'm sorry about your aunt, I know you two were very close," he replied.
Ginny nodded and looked away from Harry who was taking the washcloth and bowl and cleaning them up. He obviously didn't know about the third news filled letter that she had received, the one that had sent her toppling over the edge of consciousness. There was an awkward silence, which distinctly reverberated around the room.
"Ok, well... I'll be going now..." Harry said, breaking the silence and slowly getting up, taking the bowl and washcloth with him.
Ginny didn't know what to do and she didn't want him to leave without an explanation.
"Harry, wait, let me explain," Ginny called.
"Oh no, I think I have explanation enough," Harry said ruefully from where he was paused at the doorway.
"Harry," Ginny said, hopping out of bed and dashing to the doorway, making sure he couldn't escape, "Just hear me out!" she exclaimed, pulling him back to her bed and making him sit on it and repeating the motion as he tried to get up, giving him a stern look that could rival McGonagall's any day.
"Fine," he grunted, crossing his arms about his chest and staring at the ground.
"Harry, look at me," she demanded, placing her finger underneath his chin and raising his green eyes to meet her brown ones. "The reason I..." she sighed, she had to tell him! "The reason I didn't kiss you back is because a while ago I told myself that I should move on, and if you didn't notice me as I waited, then I shouldn't wait, and I lost my school girl crush on you," she said, noticing Harry looking forlorn and distraught. "But last night," she continued, "when you kissed me, it rekindled that feeling which I had lost so long ago," Harry's eyes now glittered with brightness, but were still etched with underlying confusion.
"Then why did you run away?" he questioned.
Ginny sighed once again. "Because I realized that if I got too close to you before I head to Beauxbatons, then it would be more difficult for me to leave. Right now, there isn't anything left here for me to stay for, and I need to take this once in a lifetime opportunity now, whereas I only wanted to before," she said.
"Well how are you going to afford this? And what do you mean you need to, whereas you only wanted to before?" Harry inquired.
Frustrated with answering so many questions with lengthy explanations, she handed him the piece of parchment she had received the previous day, which had been lying unnoticed on the floor. He quickly scanned its contents.
Dearest Ginevra,
This is your Aunt Prewett dear. I'm sure you have received a letter about my death from the Ministry by now, if not, then the Ministry is slacking these days and need to get a move on it.
You and none of the family knew that I was a Seer and I foresaw my upcoming death and how it happened, or how it will happen...whatever...so I pre-wrote my will. My death occurred in a random wizard village attack in Ireland where I was staying for the past couple of weeks. My death is essential for future significant events to occur.
I made a prophecy about two months ago, but there was no one there to witness it. Therefore, I do not know the exact details, but I have premonitions. I know that this prophecy has to do with you dearest, and with a few others. You are destined to do great things. Take your opportunity to go to foreign schools to learn how the rest of the world thinks and acts. It would do well to help you in the future.
How will you do this, considering your financial problems, you ask? I have left my possessions to you, including the key to my Gringotts vault. I never had any children and I consider you my own. My last wish is that you take this opportunity to go to these foreign schools and earn the respect of those worldwide as well as in your community.
Molly should come across everything official when she goes to the Ministry to take care of my paperwork.
I love you all and don't worry, keep your chin up, and don't mourn my going, because I went willingly.
All my love and best of luck,
Aunt Prewett
Harry looked up from the letter he was reading and towards Ginny. She gave a frustrated sigh and gently lay down, placing her head upon Harry's lap.
"So you really are going then? And using your aunt's money?" he asked, absently stroking her red locks.
"Harry, I have to go, it was her last wish...and what if it meant something significant in her prophecy?"
"If it's what you want, then I'm behind you all the way," Harry replied with a sad smile, "but I don't want to let you go."
"Oh, Harry," she said, getting up and giving him a hug, "thank you. But don't make this any harder than it will already be."
"You sure I can't change your mind?" he said, before swooping down and capturing her lips in a soft kiss, pulling her body closer to his. Ginny began to kiss back, but, upon coming to her senses, pulled away, shoving his chest away, making him fall back on the bed and hit his head with a thump on the footboard. She may be small, but as George had once said, "size is no guarantee of power" referring to her hex talent, but she was also pretty strong physically despite her outward appearance. She had years of living with six older brothers to thank for that.
"What the bloody hell was that for?" Harry asked, nursing the back of his head, "I thought you said you liked me! Did I read you wrong or something?"
"Harry you self-centered prick! You were the sole reason I might have considered staying, and now you're another push factor leading me straight towards that exchange program!" she fumed.
Before Harry could say anything, he heard the distinct bellow of Ron's voice carrying up the stairs from the kitchen saying, "Harry, I'm back, help me get these groceries from Diagon Alley! Put 'em away Gin!"
She gave a pointed look at Harry before racing down the stairs to the protection of her brother's presence.
"Women," Harry muttered before getting up off of Ginny's bed and heading downstairs.
To Be Continued...
Review Please!
Thanks to Kelley for another awesomely BETA-ed chapter.
A/N: Sorry for keeping you guys in suspense but yea I have this thing called Renaissance English where we have tons of projects at a time and right now I have all A's in all my classes, and you guys might think I'm an over-achiever but I'm really not, because I work hard for those A's and that's what has been taking up a whole lot of my time. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a big novel fic, so bear with me as I proceed slowly...I might be a bit slow throughout the school year, but trust me, during breaks and summer vacation will be the time with the most updates! Ok well I think I smell something burning...so let me wrap this up really quick with thanks to all my reviewers and people who have stuck with me so far! I hope all of you like it!
I wasn't quite happy with the reviews for the last chapter! I worked hard on that! I only got six reviews! Oh well, might as well start small and get bigger as you go right? Well now I would like eight reviews for this chapter, to get me to 100! Please fulfill my wish you guys! I don't think I'll update until you do!
I'm sorry about the H/G parts in here, but it will come to use with my over-all idea! Please don't hate me!
Zohra: Sorry if you want D/G action, it's not going to happen till a while later! By the way, YOU NEED TO UPDATE!
MiMi: Glad to know you like it! I always love my best friend's opinions!
Also, special thanks to Damia- Queen of the Gypsies, PnAyxTrAcKsTaR01, jelly beans beware, and JediPirateElfyDude! These are all the readers that helped to keep me going and come out with another pretty long (for me) chapter! I hope all of you like it!
I still Love You ALL!
Jeethi
