Broken people come from broken homes and drag broken smiles whereever they go...xxxDean Kirbison
Daughters Of Rock Stars Stay Princesses Forever
The first few days of school passed in solitude. In silence. It was not the same. But no one dared say anything. If they didn't say anything perhaps it wasn't true.
Ginny was locked in a state of permanent frustration, devastation...she would have given anything to not care again. To love life again. To be perfectly content with just sitting and doing nothing. At laughing at nothing... to feel something, to feel at all. She was so envious of Kyler, of Caroline of anyone who was not her. At least they loved. At least they were loved in return. She felt as though her life had peaked at fifteen. It was too late for her to do anything amazing, or to even have any fun. It wouldn't be as amazing as it would have been if she had done it when she was fourteen. It wouldn't be as fun. And every night something broken haunted her dreams... and though she would have given her all for it to be rebuilt...or simply to know what it was...she knew it was not her friend. No more were the shadows that seemed untouched by it... Living just seemed so hard. She was always wondering, what people were thinking and why. And when everyone else would start catching onto Kyler's sentiments. She wasn't perfect anymore. Perhaps she never was. Who could be next to Ron, best friend of the famous Harry Potter, hand in defeating Lord Voldemort three times...Percy, one of the youngest ever employees at the ministry...Charlie, captain of the quidditch team...best seeker since Harry's own father.
She just wanted to turn off her mind. She didn't want to think. She didn't want to be. But you always lose control, just when you need it the most.
I think I'll just close my eyes
"Come...we must see that it is working..."
"My Lord it's far too cold...it is far too dark..."
"I do like the dark..." Ginny murmured almost longingly in a cold voice "I have always liked the dark...unless...you wish to hide it from me?"
"No my lord!" the faceless man cried frantically
"Good...good...so then...you mean to say...it is working. Yes?"
There was a pause...Ginny's voice had sounded almost scared. And somehow this seemed most irregular.
"Yes!"
"Yes my lord!" the voice responded immediately "It is...it is working."
"And you are sure?"
"I am sure."
Ginny slapped a hand to her head as the sun gleamed through the newly opened window and ended her nightmare.
"Rise and shine." Davinee's groggy voice could be heard saying.
Ginny sat up in bed to see she had pulled the curtains open. She sighed. If only...if only...she had really wanted that dream to continue.
Laura gave a grunt from underneath her pillow and Davinee smiled.
"You need to get up La." she said gently, walking over and yanking away her covers.
"Urrrrgggh..." Laura groaned. She sat up in bed too. "I miss the summer."
"Oh, just get up." Kyler grumbled tying her hair back, and making her way to the bathroom.
Ginny stood up too. She wasn't in the mood to stay in bed. But Kyler had the bathroom first, so she would need to wait a few minutes. She pulled her robes out of her trunk and ran a brush through her hair.
"Gin, what are you doing?" Davinee asked as though just noticing her
"Huh?"
"Don't you have quidditch practice?"
She shook her head
"Got moved to tomorrow..."
"Oh." Davinee answered, "All right."
Kyler stumbled out of the bathroom a few minutes later, wearing a lot of make up and left the room without saying a word. Ginny just took a minute to change and splash some cold water on her face, before she closely examined her figure in the mirror... It looked awful. She gave her hip a pinch, and it hurt her. But she deserved it. She pinched it one more time, as if trying to make herself thinner. Then wrinkled her nose at what she was doing. It was odd. It was odd that she enjoyed it. She shuddered, sweeping her long red hair behind her shoulder and left the bathroom.
"I'm heading down." she told Davinee. Laura had already left the room.
"See you in a minute." Davinee said with a yawn.
Laura and J.J sat waiting for Ginny and the others on the couch. Travis was in the chair next to them with his feet up on the little wooden table by the fire, finishing his Charms homework. Suddenly the portrait hole gave a loud slam and a husky boy of about sixteen walked in strongly looking around. The common room was almost virtually empty, and the first person the boy spotted was J.J so he gave a curt nod and walked over.
"Hey." the boy said in a deep, but welcoming voice "I'm Barry. I got transferred to Hogwarts really late last year so I don't know many people here."
"Oh, hey." he smiled in return "I'm J.J, and this is my little sister Laura...that's Travis over there..."
Laura smiled and Travis raised his index finger in a way of greeting but didn't look up from his work. And Laura didn't bother to correct her brother. She never did. Whenever he introduced people to her, he always called her his little sister. His younger sister. It was never his twin, or even just his sister. Of course technically J.J was born first, but only by about seven minutes. But Laura never even noticed the way he always introduced her. It just seemed normal. It always had.
"Hey." Barry gave another toothy smile to Laura, "Any of you guys know..." he paused to lift a worn little piece of paper to his eyes and let them fly briefly across it "A...Katie Bell...Ginny Weasley...Ron Weasley...and Harry Potter?"
"Yeah, why what's up?" Laura asked
Barry waved his hand
"Quidditch stuff...you know where I can find them?"
"Well Ginny's upstairs, she'll probably be down any minute...I actually haven't seen Katie since school started..." she shrugged
"Yeah, and I saw Harry and Ron in the Boy's Dorm Hallway when I was heading down. You can go look for them up there but I expect they'll be down pretty soon too."
A grin spread across Barry's face.
"That's great, thanks. Then I'm just missing..."
"Redpath and Junior?"
Barry scanned his minuscule list again.
"Dustin Redpath and Danny Edgar Plinch Jr..Yeah."
"They usually get up pretty early and head down for breakfast before anyone else. They might be in the Great Hall." Laura said helpfully.
He grinned again.
"Thanks, you've been a big help, I-"
Just then Ginny appeared at the bottom of the Girl's Staircase
"There she is." Laura said pointing to her friend with her thumb.
Barry's eyes jumped to the parchment in his hand.
"Katie?" he asked wildly
"Ginny." she corrected "And you are..."
"Barry." he answered, in a hurried manner.
"Oh." she said figuring it out and wrinkling her brow, "Is something up with the practice tomorrow?"
He shook his head quickly
"Nope. I just need to round the team up because we've got practice right now."
"But...what about the practice tomorrow?" she asked confusedly
"What about it? It's still on. We just have one right now too. And maybe tonight. I haven't decided." he said extremely fast
"But class starts in like a half hour!" she exclaimed
Barry just shook his head again.
"Screw class. Forget about it. The practice is just an hour and a half. Nothing big. You'll be able to make it to second period. What d'you have this morning anyways?"
"Honour's Potions." Ginny said in almost a nervous voice. It wasn't an easy class to catch up in.
The Quidditch Captain's eyes widened.
"You're taking Honour's Potions?"
"Yeah...yeah...actually most of my classes are Honour's Classes this year."
"Try, all." Travis grunted without looking up.
Barry looked disbelieving.
"You're in all Honour's Classes." he said staring at her
"I'm in all Honour's Classes." she said bluntly
He raised his eyebrows.
"That had better not get in way of your training."
She stiffened.
"It won't."
"Well- good. Okay so you said Harry and Ron-"
"What about Harry and Ron?" Ginny heard her brother's voice comment out of no where.
Barry looked up.
"Well, I assume you're Harry." he said as his eyes groped Harry's hairline "Ron, then?"
"That's my name." Ron said simply "What's it to you?"
"Oh-well-I'm Barry."
"Oh." said Ron understandingly "What's up?"
"Get your robes on and get onto the pitch. Practice. Now."
Ron and Harry both grinned. Ginny knew they had nothing against missing an hour or so of class.
"Whatever you say, coach." Ron said almost giddily.
The two of them headed back up the stairs immediately as Barry glanced yet again at his list.
"Okay. Well then, I'll go down the Great Hall and try to find...Dustin and Danny. Ginny you find Katie." he said nodding matter-of-factly, not offering good byes before he smoothly exited through the portrait hole.
"I guess we'll catch up with you at lunch then Gin." J.J shrugged scribbling something on a piece of parchment. Ginny bit her bottom lip.
"Actually, I think I might skip lunch to catch up with the Potions I'll be missing. But I'll catch up with you guys sometime...hey...have any of you seen Kyler?"
"She hasn't come down yet." Laura shrugged.
"She left the room before you did." Ginny pointed out
She frowned
"Hey yeah...that's weird..."
"We didn't see her come down and we've been up a while." J.J shrugged
Ginny wrinkled her nose
"Well...she'll turn up I guess. I've gotta go." she said turning to head up the stairs.
J.J scribbled something else on the parchment...
"You know I feel like we haven't seen Ginny or Kyler in ages." Laura blurted out
Travis just shrugged
"We see them everyday, Ginny's just busy with her classes and stuff...and Kyler...I dunno...it's still the first few weeks of school, once we all get settled in...it'll be fine."
"I guess..." she frowned "Hey I'm...I think I'm gonna head down to the Great Hall now, I'll meet you guys there."
"Okay." J.J grunted as Laura walked toward the portrait hole...
Promise me forever...we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie...
"Daddy!"
Laura hopped off the big yellow school bus and jumped into her father's arms. He had been waiting for her...
"Hey baby, how was school?"
I just can't make that promise. I promise you I can't.
Laura wiggled her nose thinking about her answer.
"Normal!" she giggled finally
"Normal!" he gasped in mock surprise "That's no good!"
Laura giggled some more, still in her father's arms.
"You can't think of anything interesting that happened?"
She shook her head wildly.
"Nope! Just normal daddy!" she squealed squirming around
"Well, tell you what. Daddy has a meeting tonight, so it's your job to think of something interesting that happened. And then you can tell daddy when he gets home."
Laura grinned, revealing a mouth missing both front teeth
"Okay!" she exclaimed "Hey, daddy I have another loose tooth!" she wiggled in his arms
"You do!" he gasped "Well you can show me later baby, where's your brother?"
"I'm right here!" J.J yelled hopping off the bus after Laura.
"Hey buddy, what took you long?" he asked his son as Laura hopped out of his arms.
"I had to give Cody his birthday present before I got off the bus!" J.J told them energetically "I think he really, really loved it Dad!"
"Well that's a relief!" he answered, "But you know what I really, really love?"
"What, daddy!" Laura cried
"YOU TWO!" he yelled swinging her over his shoulder and spinning around as both twins shrieked with laughter...
"Hey!"
Laura looked around. A girl about her height, but clearly quite a bit younger was standing timidly in front of her blocking her path.
"Erm...hi." Laura muttered
The girl seemed to be struggling to find words
"Um...my...my friend told me that you're...is...is your dad really Joel Porter?" she blurted out "Was he really the drummer in UnderCompany?"
Laura paused...
"Yeah...yeah he was...I guess you're muggle born then?"
The little girl nodded vigorously
"My name's Amanda." she said quickly...she was twisting a piece of parchment in her hands.
"D'you...d'you think...I mean...maybe could you get your dad to write me an autograph!" she asked hopefully raising the parchment up, in her little shaking hand.
Laura gave a small smile.
"Sure...next time I owl him...I'll...nice to meet you Amanda."
Amanda blushed.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Laura." she said lightly
"Okay, thanks so much Laura." she said blushing furiously before she scurried off in the opposite direction.
Still Laura smiled. When the girl was far enough away she pulled out her quill and bent down resting the parchment on her knee. She scrolled the words Joel Porter in messy rock star like writing, and made a mental note to hunt the kid down again in a few days...
"Let me see the note dad left." J.J said exasperated, pulling it from his sister's hands.
"I can read!" Laura yelled at him, "I wanna read it!"
"No!" he yelled yanking it from her and holding it high in the air where Laura couldn't reach it. "It says...he has a meeting...we can eat whatever we want for dinner...he wants us to clean the downstairs up...and mail some letters for him...and if we have time...to go buy him some smokes from the News Stand..."
Laura pouted.
"It doesn't say anything about when we next get to see mommy?" she whined
"No, I just told you what it said."
"I miss mommy."
"No, you don't you just miss Bear." he said referring to their mother's old sheep dog
"No! I miss mommy!" she insisted stamping her foot.
Her brother raised his eyebrows.
"So do I." he agreed "But we have to do these chores for dad and we need to make food."
Laura wrinkled her face
"I don't know how to make food."
"Well I do."
"Call mommy, she'll come make us food."
"No she won't!" he snapped "You still don't get it! Mom and dad don't like each other!"
Laura pouted again dangling her feet as she sat on the counter.
"Why not?"
"I don't know...they just don't." he concluded. "Go clean the living room, I'm making food."
"Fine..." Laura grumbled stalking away...
"Hey Laura," Caroline appeared as Laura neared the Gryffindor table
"Yeah?"
"You haven't seen Kyler have you?" she asked
Laura made a face
"No, I thought she was with you."
"No...I haven't seen her...if you see her let me know! And if you see your brother let me know too!" she called running out of the Hall
"Will do!" Laura lied loudly... "Bitch..." she added after Caroline was out of sight.
"What is that!" Laura turned around on the couch to face the window. "It's daddy! Daddy's home!"
J.J grabbed his sister's wrist just as she was about to run and greet him.
"Don't show him your burn you got cooking...it'll make him mad." he said wisely.
Laura looked down at her left arm. Blood was soaking through her shirt...her face was still stained with tears...she carefully hid her arm behind her back as she ran to greet her father.
"Daddy! Daddy guess what!" she yelled running up to him as he appeared in the living room.
"What!" he barked at her cruelly. His hair was bedraggled, he smelled of beer and he didn't seem very steady as he stood.
"I thought of something not normal!" Laura exclaimed "A girl on he bus puked today daddy, it was gross!" she giggled
"So the fuck what!" he yelled at her "In the high schools the damn kids puke on the bus every fucking day!"
"They...they do?" Laura asked timidly
"Of course they do, they snort too much god damn heroine not to!"
Slowly Laura edged away, not speaking...
"I thought I told you stupid kids to clean this house!"
"We did clean it dad..." J.J mumbled
"Like hell you did! What the fuck is this?" his eyes flashed to the mantel and got caught on an old picture he had always kept there of him and J.J and Laura's mother grinning with their arms around each other. He turned viciously to his only son and daughter. "DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT? WHY THE FUCK IS THAT UP THERE? IT'S OVER BECAUSE YOUR MOM IS A GOD DAMN WHORE WHO HAD TO KEEP ALL OF HER SECRETS FROM ME UNTIL SHE'D ALREADY PISSED OUT TWO STUPID KIDS AND IT WAS TOO LATE TO CUT ALL TIES WITH HER ANYWAYS! SO WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT THIS UP HERE!" he bellowed
Tears were rolling down Laura's cheeks. She had seen her daddy like this before...and she knew there was no where to run...
"Dad, you didn't tell us you wanted us to take the picture down!" J.J pleaded
"Like hell I didn't you stupid brat!" he cried "Well I'll do it myself then, I always fucking do everything myself!"
He violently yanked the picture off the mantle and walked angrily to his daughter. With a heart stopping crash he broke the picture over Laura's head. She gave a strangled whimper and put her hands to her face...she didn't want J.J to see her bleed...it would just scare him.
Not through yet, as his son cried for him to stop he lifted the poor girl up by her hair and swung her into a wall, letting go as she fell to the floor. And then he beat her. And he wouldn't stop.
"THIS-IS-THE-HELL-YOU-PUT-ME-THROUGH-EVERY-FUCKING-DAY-OF-MY-LIFE!" he bellowed.
And when his daughter could not even move he dropped his coat, baggies of white power falling from the inside pockets. He moved on, to his only son. Picking him up by his throat he smashed the six year old against the wall as he flailed and begged for mercy.
"MY BAND IS GOING TO HELL!" he screamed punching him round the face, "IT'S BECAUSE I HAVE NO TIME- BECAUSE OF YOU- LITTLE- BASTARDS! AND I CAN'T PAY MY BILLS!" he pushed J.J out of the way and he banged against the table shattering a lamp. "I CAN'T PAY FOR MY GOD DAMN COCAINE!" he bellowed whacking him again round the face "JUST-PUT-A-GUN-IN-MY-FUCKING-MOUTH! YOU'VE TAKEN MY LIFE ALREADY YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE ASS!"
But he didn't know his daughter was still awake...sobbing silently in her corner, hidden by the couch...listening to her daddy's torturous words...not that he really cared at all...
Laura dished scrambled eggs onto her plate and loaded her pancakes with syrup, as J.J and Travis approached with Leon somewhere behind him and Adam and Davinee a ways back arguing over Transfiguration homework.
"What's for eating?" J.J grunted taking his seat
"Here..." Laura passed him the dish "Have some eggs."...
"I made scrambled eggs..."
Laura blinked her eyes open. She was lying on cold floor, and as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes she could see her fingers were stained with blood...the words were echoing in the girl's aching head. "Scrambled eggs...eggs...eggs..."
She looked up. She was face to face with her father. He had bags under his bloodshot eyes and his hair was uncombed. But he was smiling.
Without thinking Laura edged away a bit. She could see her brother sitting solemnly at the small kitchen table, not far away. He wasn't looking at her...
"You dozed off in here last night bugaboo." her father smiled playfully, "What say we get some food in your tummy?"
Laura said nothing. She wanted more than anything for her brother to look at her.
"Awwww, you're not mad at daddy are you?" he asked in response to her silence "You can't stay mad at daddy. He was a little bit mean last night right?"
Laura nodded slowly
"Well you're not gonna tell anyone are you? Because you know it's not daddy's fault. He knows he had a little too much to drink. He didn't know what he was doing. So you have to forgive him."
Laura didn't blink. J.J was looking up at her from his cereal, with a serious look in his black eyes. His face was bruised.
"So you're not mad at daddy are you?" he prodded again "Because if you were, that would make you not a very nice person. You wouldn't be my little girl anymore."
He stared back down to his cereal and slowly began to eat.
"So why don't you make daddy a promise, you won't tell anyone what happened last night. You're good at these promises bugaboo. We've done this before remember? Just promise daddy and we'll get you some eggs."
Laura hesitated slightly. But then she slowly raised her chin up and nodded her head. A grin spread across her father's face.
"Good girl."
"So, we goin' out there then?" Ron asked rubbing his hands together with anticipation.
"Pep talk first." Barry said smiling at how excited he was. "Now I know, it's my first year on the team...hell it's more or less my first year at the school. And it must be irregular as hell to have a captain you've never met." he paused, looking around. "The one thing I can promise you is I don't suck." he told them bluntly "And from what I've heard, none of you do either. Just gimme a minute to see if I have the right information...Harry you've been on the team for...five years?"
Harry nodded
"Okay...Ginny and Ron, it's the second year for both of you...but it says here Ginny was an alternate seeker for two years before that."
Ginny nodded too.
"Yeah that's right." she said.
"But you play chaser now?
"Yeah."
"Okay...Katie...seventh year?"
"Yup." she smiled.
"And Dustin and Danny you're both first timers just like me right?"
They both nodded though neither of them seemed too happy about it.
"Okay." the captain clapped his hands together "I'm not gonna skirt around this. I've heard this team is magnificent as hell and has been robbed pretty much every year. And I didn't hear this all from Gryffindors either. I think highly of you."
Ron's ears went pink and he puffed out his chest.
"But we can't afford to be robbed this year." he frowned "I don't care if we deserve to win and we don't. I care if we win. And it isn't gonna be easy."
He raised his eyebrows scanning every player.
"I put this to every last one of you. I know you're all great athletes to be where you're sitting. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be damn well willing to work. I'll say it again. This is not going to be easy."
No one was smiling anymore.
"We train three nights a week and five mornings a week. I've booked the pitch and that was all the time I could get for certain. But if any other time frees up I expect you all to be there to work. Other than that? I know we're all teenagers and I don't wanna deprive you of your funbut no drinking, no smoking and no staying up past 4:00 AM wandering the school in an invisibility cloak."
Ginny watched Harry and Ron exchange glances when the captain raised his eyebrows at them
"So you've uh...spoken to Dumbledore then." Ron said lamely
"Yeah, when I first transferred and Angelina gave me this job I talked to Dumbledore about the team." he answered.
"Hey." Dustin Redpath asked suddenly "If I can ask-...where did you transfer from?"
There was a silent pause as Barry surveyedRedpath through his monster blue eyes.
"Not from Durmstrang...if that's what you mean."
Redpath fell silent
"Other than that...I don't mean to insult anyone but I need you all to really be watching what you're eating. Quidditch players should be light and speedy. Danny and I get off a little bit on a bit of a technicality, since we're beaters and we're gonna need our weight the be clubbing bludgers..." he smiled "But the rest of you, and even us too. Seriously. We're playing to win this year. I want you all to try and cut back on the food you're taking in. And know what you're eating too. Oh and Katie, Dustin and Ginny?"
There was another pause
"Yeah?" Redpath grunted
"No meat." he told them "I want our chasers to be our strong point.No more than 1000 calories a day for the girls. 1500 for Harry, Ron and Dustin. and 1800 for Danny and I. I don't want you to be tired all the time so don't go overboard..." he stopped talking for a moment and considered what he said "Scratch that. You know what? Go overboard. Do all you fucking can to make this team good. As long as you're scoring goals, and catching snitches and beating bludgers and protecting the goal posts...I don't care. Stop eating if you have to. Do a thousand fucking sit ups a day if you have to. As long as you're not falling off your broom I don't give a damn."
He looked around the room.
"Everyone got that?"
There were some random, weak nods and a couple shoulder shrugs, but no one seemed too enthusiastic.
"THEN GET OUT THERE!" he bellowed in a pumped voice, gesturing to the pitchwith his left hand.
The team ran out after him. They were all excited about the possible outcome of the season, but no one was too excited about the sacrificesthey were going to have to be making. They all mounted their brooms and Ginny took a deep breath as she felt the cold air on her face.
The practice seemed to go on forever. No one was really on top of their game, what with it being their first time back but of course Barry was not at all forgiving.
"HARRY WHAT THE HELL!" he bellowed full of rage as the wind began to pick up again, "THE SNITCH WAS RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE!"
"I'M FUCKING SORRY, ALL RIGHT?" Harry yelled back frustrated. Harry was playing well least of all, even for him...he seemed strangely distracted...
"Mama look what I drew!" Ginny cried happily running up to her mother. But she seemed strangely distracted... She was peering through curtains of the window near the front door. "Mamaaaa!" Ginny whined again. Her mother turned to face her.
"Ginny dear...is that really what you're wearing?" her mom asked glancing at her daughter's overall's stained with blue paint, that was plastered all over her face as well. She was smiling beneath tangled hair.
"What mommy? What I'm wearing for what? Oh! Look what I drew! It's a puppy dog, mama see?"
Her mother stared her down before making a decision.
"Honey, come here." she said gently, taking her daughter's hand. She led her up the staircase to their only bathroom and opened up a drawer. Ginny wrinkled her nose
"See this baby? It's called lipstick okay? Now mommy's gonna put some on you."
Ginny shook her head
"Noooo, I don't want to." she frowned as her mother opened up the tube of dark red lipstick.
"Ginny I really need you to cooperate." she said turning red with frustration. She seized her daughter's face and applied the lipstick. Ginny pouted with confusion
"I don't like it, why do I have to wear it mama?"
"And this is called eyeliner" she continued without answering. "It goes on like this..."
At long last Barry swooped low and touched down onto the ground.
"OKAY, OKAY!" he called to his teammates "THAT'S IT FOR TODAY!"
Everyone was immensely relieved at the end of practice.The entire team, minus Barry stumbled, grumbling into the change rooms. Ginny was last to touch down on the groundonly to see that Barry was waiting for her.
"Good work today Weasley." he nodded. Coming from him Ginny took this as a huge compliment.
"Hey thanks." she replied breathlessly. He wasn't heading in. "You wanna talk to me or something?"
Barry considered his words
"Harry...he...he seemed kind of off today didn't he?"
Ginny nodded a little hoping that this chat wouldn't somehow get back to Harry.
"I guess maybe a bit..." she muttered
"Does he...does he always play like that?"
Ginny said nothing. What the fuck was this kid playing at?
"Because...well you played seeker last year right?"
"Yes..." she said suspiciously.
"Well...I mean...if he keeps playing like that...I mean we can't really afford that can we?"
Still she said nothing
"Just...just keep open...in case the position needs to get dropped in your lap...don't be surprised okay? Really be watching yourself...the team is riding on the seeker's ass...and that could be you."
Ginny was absolutely speechless. Did he seriously want Harry off the team?
Mrs. Weasley glanced through the curtains one more time.
"Mama, what's going on?" Ginny moaned "I don't like this."
"Shh, just be quiet baby...I think...yes I think he's here."
Ginny frowned. Something wasn't right at all. Her mother had forced her into a bra, though she had absolutely nothing to hold it up at barely seven years old. And into a short leather skirt, and a white belly top, she had bought for Ginny just yesterday. She had told Ginny to take her underwear off...and the make up. Ginny didn't like it at all. The mascara and eyeliner was getting into her eyes. She didn't understand what was going on. Finally there was a knock on the door. Mrs. Weasley hurriedly turned the knob.
"There you are." she said in a hushed voice to a middle aged man with dark eyes. "You're late."
"Where is she?" the man asked looking around
"Show me the money first. You agreed." Mrs. Weasley told him.
The man pulled a large bag from his pocket and emptied it on the floor. With a loud crash, coins and coins of gold and silver flew out. Ginny had never in her life seen that many galleons...
"Now where is she?" he asked impatiently...Ginny did not like this man.
"Oh, she's over here hiding.." Mrs. Weasley chuckled "Gin, baby...come out now okay? Come and greet our guest."
Slowly Ginny edged into view...a psychotic grin appeared on the man's face as he looked her up and down.
"Perfect." he muttered licking his lips. "I love little red heads. I can never find a little red head quite this pretty."
Ginny bit her bottom lip. She didn't dare speak.
"Remember the deal, you only get half an hour, if you want longer you pay more." Mrs. Weasley told him in a business like manner.
"Half an hour will do just fine ma'am." he replied not taking his eyes off Ginny.
"Ginny darling." said Mrs Weasley in a pained voice. "I need you to go with this man now...you do whatever he tells you. Whatever he says. You do it. And I think we just might be able to pay the rent." her eyes were welling up with tears.
"Mommy, I don't want to." she whimpered as the man neared her
"Ginny go."
He took her hand and pulled her along, up the stairs into her room, all the while disregarding her screams...
Ginny made her way back up to her dorm. The was still about twenty minutes of class left, but going would be pointless. She gathered up her books for her next subject and washed her face, feeling a little odd. On some level she was honoured to have Barry think she was good enough to replace Harry. On another she just knew it simply wasn't true, and felt helpless at the prospect of what to do if she ever was asked to play seeker. Quidditch practice seemed to have helped her a little bit she noticed glancing once again at her figure in the mirror. She still had a long way to come though. Barry's speech had opened her eyes to how little she was trying.
She walked back down to the empty common room. Everyone was in class...she didn't have to leave and face everyone, and face class for another few minutes. She took a seat on the couch by the fire and began to skim through her Honour's Herbology book until something caught her eye...
The garbage had not yet been emptied since they had come back to Hogwarts. There wasn't much in it. People never ate in the common room...
Ginny remembered that first night back, and the occurrences. She couldn't tear her eyes from the garbage can. The Vietax was still sitting in there.Travis had thrown it out...Ginny was surprised Kyler had not picked it back up. And she was still generally oblivious as to why Kyler had put it in her backpack in the first place. Perhaps it had been to warn her of the weight she was gaining...and with the Quidditch World Cup at stake...
"Starve yourself if you have to...as long as you're not falling off your broom I don't care."
She got up and walked over to the garbage can.
"The team is riding on the seeker's ass and that could be you."...
Without anymore thought Ginny pocketed the Vietax, gathered her books and left the room.
"J.J!" Laura gasped when her big brother entered her room. "I...I thought you were downstairs." she said shakily as a tear rolled down her cheek. She could still her father raging and screaming from the first floor.
"I thought you were downstairs." he said as his terrified expression faded from his face.
"N-no."
She got up off her bed as her brother approached her and pulled her into a hug.
"D'you think...d'you think he's just so screwed off the beer he...thinks we're down there or something?" Laura asked him, in a horrified voice
"Maybe...maybe he's on the phone..." J.J suggested.
"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT MELINDA!"
Both twins paused to listen to their father.
"Melinda?" Laura repeated in a small voice.
J.J shook his head.
"No, it can't be."
"Mom, must be here." Laura concluded
"Mom is not here." he insisted, trying to convince not only his sister, but himself. "Look La...I'm gonna go down."
"Jay no don't!" she cried, breaking into tears again. "Don't fucking go down there!"
Her father had not taught her many things, but how to curse when you're not even eleven was definitely something she had picked up from him.
"It'll be okay." he promised her, though he looked nervous. "Just stay in here...and no matter what you hear...don't come out. I promise, I'll come back and get you when it's okay to come out okay? I promise."
"Y-you...you really promise? You swear?"
"I swear I will...okay...I'm going down.
Laura was shaking her head and sobbing dryly.
"No." she mouthed, though no sound issued from her mouth. "No."
But J.J left the room.
"You know I fucking hate that class." Travis grumbled as they exited Transfiguration
Laura giggled
"You just hate it because you couldn't transfigure your fucking pig you ass." she snorted
"Not true." he insisted. " I could transfigure it."
"Trav, you were supposed to turn it into a box." she reminded him. "Yours just ran around the room until it almost broke Haley's ankle."
"At least I didn't name mine like you named your stupid pig.
"Don't you call Shiggy stupid!" she snapped
"Shiggy?" J.J questioned
She glared at him.
"Yes Shiggy moron. Shiggy the Piggy."
J.J shook his head.
"Whatever, freak of nature. Hey, has mom mailed you back yet?"
Laura shook her head
"Not yet, nope."
"Man...we haven't heard from her in ages."
"Mom! We haven't heard from you in ages." J.J cried astonished when he reached the bottom of the staircase. His mother was standing in front of the door unharmed, but with a foul look on her face. It disappeared at the sight of her son.
"GO TO YOUR FUCKING ROOM JASON!"
"My name is J.J." he told his father trembling.
"LIKE HELL IT IS!"
"J.J." his mother said "Baby, where's your sister?"
She looked frightened
"She's upstairs." he said in a small voice.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE MELINDA." he bellowed. He lunged forward and punched her in the face. She did not wince.
J.J took a step backwards.
"WE HAD A FUCKING DEAL JOEL, DON'T MAKE ME GET THE COURT ORDER!" she bellowed, as blood spouted from her nose, "IT'S TIME FOR THIS HELL TO END FOR OUR CHILDREN. THEY'RE ELEVEN YEARS OLD. AND I'LL NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF FOR AGREEING TO LEAVE THEM WITH YOU THAT LONG. IT'S TIME FOR THEM TO START A NEW LIFE! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO TELL THEM WHEN THEY GET THEIR LETTERS ANYWAYS? ARE YOU GONNA EVEN LET THEM GO! THEY DON'T DESERVE TO BE HELD BACK THEY FUCKING DESERVE TO GO!"
"I TOLD YOU TO FUCKING GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, WITCH!" he screamed, his eyeballs jumping from their sockets.
"J.J, go wait in the car." his mother told him. "Lock the doors-"
"YOU'RE NOT GONNA FUCKING TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME.
"Whatever happens-"
"JESUS MELINDA!"
"Don't come out."
His father swung at her again, catching her face a second time.
"Mom, what about Laura?"
"J.J-"
His father raged, swinging off his belt
"Go."
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME HERE AFTER ELEVEN YEARS-"
"Just go, baby."
J.J wasted no more time in obeying. He lunged for the doorknob and ran outside, where he saw the comfort of his mother's car. Every other month she would come and take them away in that car...he loved seeing that car.
"There she is." Laura exclaimed as Ginny approached the dinner table. "Hello lovely."
Ginny slumped into her chair. She had taken a Vietax and a half since that morning, and skipped both breakfast and lunch. She thought she was doing pretty well.
"Is she living?" Travis asked as Ginny buried her face in her hands.
"She's tired." she answered him, peeking out.
"Eat, fool." J.J said jokingly, as he dished mashed potatoes onto her plate "Before you pass out."
She grinned at him and agreeingly and dished herself vegetables. There could hardly be any harm to come out of eating one meal.
"Laura, what's up?" she asked wrinkling up her nose "You look sort of...glazed."
Her head snapped up.
"It's...it's nothing." she disregarded, "So...no Kyler again. Or Adam. Or...Caroline." she raised her eyebrows at her brother who said nothing and looked away.
"Hey yeah where is Adam?" Ginny asked, noticing his absence.
Travis just snorted and pointed to a corner of the Hall where Adam had his hands all over the back of a lanky brunette girl, as they made out animatedly.
"Oh." Ginny said shortly, "Who is she?"
J.J shrugged
"Who knows, he missed lunch too, and third period. My guess is whoever she is, she's the cause."
Ginny glanced at the skinny, tall, shiny haired girl snogging furiously and chewed her food slightly slower
Quite suddenly the evening post arrived and everyone at the table craned their necks upwards. Before Laura had even swallowed her mouthful of beans a large brown owl gave a high pitched squawk and collided with her plate.
"Gragh!" she cried, toppling half over backwards before Travis caught her with one arm. The owl finally dropped the letter onto her plate and flew away. Laura gave a snort. "Hey thanks, buddy." she said to Travis patting him on the back as she tore open her letter and let her eyes fly across it.
"Whose it from?" Ginny asked her lightly.
But the grin was slowly fading off Laura's face.
"Um...um..." she mumbled running a nervous hand through her hair
"Laura?" Leon asked questioningly
"Um...I've...I've gotta go up to the common room and do some work." she said hurriedly as she crumpled the letter into a ball and shoved it into her pocket
"We didn't get any homework today." Travis pointed out
"Yeah I'll do it, see you in a bit." she said absentmindedly hurrying off
J.J rolled his eyes
"All right then."
Ginny could hear the alarm clock buzzing...but didn't want to get up. It was Saturday. He came on Saturdays. She hated Saturdays. Her mother walked into her room without knocking, and began beating dust out of the curtains before she pulled them open and the sunlight beamed in.
"Up, Ginny dear." she said without a trace of guilt in her voice. "It's Saturday. We have...things to do."
Ginny sat up in bed.
"Mom...I don't want to do this." she felt tears welling up in her eyes. But she did this every Saturday. It never made a difference.
"Ginny-..." she started "We've-we've talked about this you know. We all have to make sacrifices for this family." her voice trailed off into nothingness. "Frank has asked for a bit longer today..."
"I won't mom." she said her voice shaking. "I hate this. I hate it all. I hate this house. Why couldn't I have gone to Hogwarts with Ron? Away from here?"
"When you're of age, which is soon enough so stop badgering me and get up." her mother snapped not looking at her.
But Ginny was staring intently at the nail scissors on her bedside table. She had the strong urge to grab them.
"I know you don't like this Ginny, but would you rather be living on the streets? Would you rather be stealing the bread you ate and sleeping in the cold and wet?"
"Yes..." Ginny said in a hollow voice, as she felt her fingers reach for the shiny scissors...
"Oh, you say that now in your silly preteen angst and rebellion. You'll see one day I was doing you a favour. I was keeping this family strong and you know Ginny-"
"You know what mom?" she interrupted, her voice quavering uncontrollably "Your drunken financial provider can't rape me if I bleed to death."
And she plunged the scissors into her wrists, only ripping them out the stab again, and again. It was hard to feel the pain. It was hard to care about her mother's screams when she knew what she was preventing...at least for one more week...
The portrait hole swung open late that evening. The bright moon was shining in through the tall glass windows of Gryffindor tower, while J.J and Travis looked up from their game of Exploding Snap.
"Hey La." Travis grunted
"Hey..." she replied with an odd expression on her face
"What's up?" J.J asked questioningly, placing another card on the tower.
"Um...I...I got an owl from mom Jay." she said slowly.
"'Bout time." he said in an oblivious manner, not even looking at her
"She's with dad." Laura told him strangely.
J.J's head snapped up and he went red
"What did you just say!" he croaked
"She's with dad." she repeated shakily
"God damn it!" he roared "Why! What's going on? Is she okay!"
"She's FINE!" Laura spoke almost defensively. "Why wouldn't she be?"
J.J gave a sour laugh.
"Oh don't even, Laura Emily."
"Hey! Fuck you!" she snapped
"Well you know good and well why she wouldn't be!"
"I do not!"
"How long!" he questioned her loudly
"A while now she said!" Laura yelled back "That's where she's been taking off to all summer!
Travis sat unnaturally still staring at the two twins with concern.
"She said they're having a really good time!" Laura protested "And it kinda sounds like maybe they might be thinking of getting back-" her voice was trailing off with nervousness but J.J interrupted her regardless.
"Oh HELL no this is NOT going to happen, I'll make sure of it!"
"Yeah?" she screamed, angry tears welling up in her eyes "Well why the hell not? What the fuck would be so horrible about us having a father for once in five years!"
"He's a BURNOUT Laura, he's an ass, a loser, he's a crack addict, he's an abusive-"
"SHUT UP, HE IS NOT!"
"Why the fuck do you think he LEFT us when we were fucking two months old and only took us back when the JUDGE said that-"
"He only LEFT in the first place because mom never told him she was a witch and it damn well served her right for lying!"
"Don't you DARE say that about mom and I can't believe you buy that shit Laura, you're smarter than that!"
"He gave you your guitar!" she threw at him viscously
"Yeah so!"
"You play it every god damn fucking day!"
"SO!"
She paused.
"Don't act like he isn't a part of you Jay." she whispered tears still strangling her words.
"Oh fuck that!" he bellowed "He's not me and I'm not him and I never will be, I am NOT going to turn out like him!"
"What the fuck would be so horrible about turning out like him, he's a good man!" she practically begged
J.J stared intently into her blindingly green eyes that screamed with pain
"Don't you even remember what he did to you?" he asked coldly
Laura looked as though she's been punched in the face.
"No Jay." she whimpered slowly and sarcastically, "I've forgotten. But thank you for THAT because I SO love being reminded of it."
J.J didn't blink.
"So why do you want him back?"
"People change." she insisted, tears rolling down her face
"No. They don't." he shook his head
"Well I sure as hell hope you do!" she screamed
And with it, Laura tore up the girls staircase in pieces, to her dormitory.
"Well..." Travis ventured cautiously "That was new."
J.J shook his head.
"I swear man...I love Laura...I love her too much...but sometimes...sometimes...GOD, man how could she be acting this stupid about him?"
"She seemed really upset." Travis answered, patiently hiding his confusion.
"Yeah, well it's not like she doesn't have a good reason to be, but if she keeps acting this stupid about the...the...situation-"
"What is the situation?" Travis asked slowly
J.J smiled
"It would take a while to explain."
He saw the door handle twist and heard screams and yells from inside. He ran from the porch to the car, as he saw his mother's hand slam the front door shut trying to buy time. He jumped in the front seat, the closest door to him and locked it. The keys were still in the ignition. It was clear his mother had been prepared to run.
And he sat there for several minutes, simply listening to the horrible, heart stopping and all too familiar sounds from inside. He could hear Laura screaming from the second floor... In too much shock to turn the radio up...or even close his dark eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity, the front door slammed open. J.J's father had Laura swung over his shoulder. She was bleeding and sobbing. His mother was following closely, screaming and begging...
J.J had no idea what to do. He was approaching...the doors were locked, but it didn't matter in the least. Laura fell to the driveway as her father punched through the glass in the front seat window. It shattered, and he seized his son's neck with his one hand, bleeding furiously full of minuscule shards of glass. Both of them yelled in pain, as Melinda simply sobbed, trying to help her daughter who had not gotten up from the driveway.
"JOEL!" she screamed "DON'T FUCKING DO THIS!"
Clueless of what else to do J.J let his right foot fall onto the gas pedal. The car engine roared as it sped forward, and he felt his father's hands leave him only seconds before a sound too loud to describe stopped his heart as he lunged forward, his head smashing onto the steering wheel. He had crashed into the garage.
Melinda was shrieking now, as she ran forward with Laura in her arms. She unlocked the front door through the broken window and got in, quickly as J.J scrambled, hurt, into the passenger seat. Joel was right behind them. Laura fell out of her arms and on top of her brother, as Melinda forced the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway, faster than she knew she could have.
Her old flame fell to his knees, in the driveway still screaming and clutching his wrist as she sped down to the highway, bawling and knowing they could never be far enough away.
And Laura would never forget.
And she thought she would never forgive him.
But really there was someone else who she would never forgive for that day...