Juliet III
Ginny woke up the next morning with her head pounding like mad.
"Oh," she groaned, throwing the blanket over her head.
"She's up!" she heard a voice squeal, and in reply, two others harshly said, "Sh!"
"Stop that bloody noise," Ginny groaned, covering her ears.
"We're sorry, Gin," someone apologetically whispered, whom Ginny concluded was Hermione.
"Leave now, everyone!" Madame Pomfrey commanded. "The girl needs her rest!"
"Poppy, would it be alright if her brothers stay with her?"
"Yes, yes. That would be quite alright, Headmaster."
"Will someone please close the drapes before my head bursts open?" Ginny moaned.
"Of course, dear." Even though her head was underneath a blanket, she could tell the room was considerably darker.
"Miss Wesley, take this for your migraine," Madame Pomfrey said. Ginny came out from underneath the soft blanket and squinted her eyes. Madame Pomfrey handed her a flask of bubbling, purple liquid.
She took the medicine and drank. She instantly felt relief; her neck and shoulder muscles were no longer tense, and her headache was completely gone.
Ginny looked around at her brothers who all had solemn looks on their faces.
"I'll leave you all to it, then," Madame Pomfrey said, walking out of the room.
There was an awkward silence in the room until Ron stammered, "Their f-funeral is going to be Wed-Wednesday."
Ginny felt tears flood her eyes, threatening to spill. "How are we going to pay for it?" she asked, quietly. "Don't funerals cost a lot of money?"
"Bill, Charlie, and Percy are all pitching in," George replied.
"Along with us," Fred added.
"What about school?"
"Professors are letting both of us out the whole week. Of course Snape wouldn't let us off that easily. Out of the goodness of his big, golden heart, he's giving us our whole week's worth of homework so we can turn it in the day we get back," Ron replied.
"Why don't I feel upset that they're dead?" Ginny asked, tears running freely down her cheeks.
"Not upset? You're crying, you know," George said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"I'm not crying because they're dead! I'm crying because I'm not upset about their death!"
"It's just shock, Ginny. It's better than the feelings going to come. They'll feel a million times worse," Ron replied, shaking his head. "After Lavender's Mum died, it took a couple of days for it to sink in. After it did, though, she cried for months afterward."
"I feel so bad, though. They're dead, and I'm not even upset over it."
"I know what you mean, Gin," Fred said.
"It feels like Mum's at home, starting on our sweaters for Christmas," George started.
"And Dad's at the ministry, doing his job," Ron finished. "Any moment I'll get a letter from Mum either saying how proud of me she is, how disappointed she is about my bad behavior, or how much she misses me."
"And Dad sending me a sugar quill with a note that says, 'I know how much you love these! Don't tell your mother!'" Ginny added.
"Well, Bill, Charlie, and Percy are supposed to be coming tomorrow or tonight or something," Fred said.
"Oh."
"Well, we've got to go pack and close the store. See you tonight, Gin," Fred said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Ron."
"Bye," they replied in unison.
"Toodles, my youngest sister," George said, kissing Ginny's cheek.
"I'm your only sister," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"No, you're quite mistaken," he replied, eyeing Ron, who stuck his tongue out in reply.
"Bye Ron!" George said, waving and winking at him.
After that, Ron stayed by Ginny's side until it was lunch. He didn't want to leave then, but Ginny convinced him that she would be fine for an hour by herself. She was thankful when he finally left, because she really wanted to just be by herself at the time.
Madame Pomfrey brought Ginny her lunch and left, leaving Ginny to be the only occupant in the hospital wing, other than a 5th year Slytherin girl who was asleep. Even if she wasn't, Ginny wouldn't have bothered to make conversation.
After she finished her lunch, Ginny drowned herself in negative thoughts, making herself more and more upset by the minute.
'I'm fat. Gained 16 pounds over the summer. I'm ugly. Pale skin. Stupid, flipping freckles. Flaming red hair that sticks out everywhere. Poor. I've always worn boys' clothes, all my brother's hand-me-downs. Can't ever have anything nice. Parentless. Both my parents died at that bloody Malfoy's hand. Friendless. Always the fourth wheel to Ron and his friends. Boyfriendless. I have no boyfriend because no guys like me. What a life.' She sighed audibly, desperately wanting to cry, but not able to shed a single tear.
'Maybe if I died, no one would notice. Just one less burden to everyone.'
She jumped when something landed on her shoulder. She gasped in awe when she saw what it was: a huge, black owl, each father as shiny as the last and big, round, purple eyes.
It took her a minute after studying the owl to realize that it had a red rose with silver trim and a note tied to its leg.
She took the rose and the letter off of its leg and stared at them both. 'This is for someone else,' she thought. 'This certainly isn't for me.'
"Who do you belong to?" she asked the owl, tenderly stroking its beautiful feathers. She noticed there was a loose collar around its neck.
It was white, studded with emeralds. The tag on it read, Juliet III.
"Juliet the third?" Ginny read in surprise. "Well, Juliet. You sure are a pretty bird. Let's see who you need to deliver this to."
She flipped the letter over and the front read, Miss Weasley.
'It is to me.'
She carefully opened the seal on the back and quickly read the letter.
Ginny,
I'm very sorry to hear about the death of your parents. It must have been devastating. Take this rose as a token of my deepest sympathy. Also, take this owl as a present from me to you for your loss.
Ginny read and reread the letter at least 10 times before realizing they didn't sign a name. 'I wish I knew who it was from. I could thank them. Give them at least a hug.'
She reread the card once more before placing it on her bedside table, beside the rose. Ron came in at that very moment.
"Sorry, Gin!" he panted. "I tried to hurry as fast as I could. Were you okay by yourself?"
"I was fine, Ron," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I would have been here faster, but..." He stopped mid-sentence and was staring at Juliet.
"Who's owl is that?" he asked, peering at it curiously.
"Mine."
"No, it's not."
"Yes it is. Someone sent that, a rose, and a card to me."
"It's not your birthday, is it?"
"No, Ron."
"Well... why send those things?"
"Read the letter, and maybe you'll find out."
"Oh, okay."
Ron read it a couple of times and said, "There's no name."
"Did you figure that out all by yourself, genius?"
"Juliet the third," Ron read aloud. "What a stupid name."
"Hey!" Ginny yelled, offensively, as the bird snipped at him. "I happen to like that name, and apparently Juliet does, too!"
"Stop, you bloody bird!" he yelled, swatting at it.
"Don't hit her!" Ginny screamed, jumping up, as the bird screeched at Ron. "Stop it, Ronald! You're scaring her!"
"Sorry, Ginerva!" He once again reached for Juliet's tag, but she bit him and he quickly pulled his hand away.
"Ginny! I saw something on the back of the tag and it won't let me read it!" he whined.
"Juliet," she cooed, stroking her feathers. "Let me read your tag, sweetie." She looked on the underside of the tag and there was a ruby in the center. Above it was inscribed: Ginerva Ann. Below the ruby, the word Weasley was inscribed.
Ginny covered her mouth and gasped, "It's beautiful." Ron leaned over her shoulder and read it.
"Big deal. It's your name. So what?"
"Whoever sent this knows me. But I don't know anyone with this much money."
"Two words: my best friend."
"Three words, Ron: You're stupid."
"But that's only two."
Ginny rolled her eyes and scoffed. Her brother could be so thick sometimes.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. Really bad writer's block. Hope you like the chapter and sorry it was so short. Thanks to the following!
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