Chapter 10:
The next morning Ginny awoke at five, shaking nervously. Today was the day- going to live with the Weasleys. Ginny put on her outfit for the occasion, long emerald green robes. She straightened her hair today, but left it its Weasley red. She didn't want to lose her blue eyes, as she had liked them very much, but she supposed it was inevitable that they should return to their natural color. She asked Nixie to do it. Nolly had died years ago and then Nixie became Ginny's favorite House Elf. Nixie did so, sobbing all the while.
"Oh, Mistress Ginny! The House Elves is missing you already… Nixie remembers the day you came to the Manor. Such a sweet baby, you was! What is Nixie to do never seeing Ginny again? Now Nixie's horrid brother Kreacher will serve Mistress Ginny- Mistress Ginny deserves better!" Ginny didn't console the elf, but nor did she tell it to shut up. Ginny was fighting back tears herself.
When she arrived at breakfast her owl and trunk were already there. Her mother was sitting at the table, crying softly. Draco looked mad enough to kill, as did Lucius.
"G-Good morning," she choked as she sat down.
"Morning, darling," said her father. Breakfast was a very melancholy affair. After breakfast, Lucius stood. "Come along, Ginevra. We're to meet Arthur and Molly Weasley in Diagon Alley at nine… outside the ice cream parlor." Ginny nodded slowly, sadly, and stood. It was eight forty-five. "We're just going to Floo, all right?" Again Ginny nodded.
"Darling… you can do it," said Ginny's mother suddenly. "Everything will be fine. You'll be home soon, dear. Show them how well you were raised- just- act like a Malfoy, all right?"
"Yes mother," said Ginny, crying silently. She walked over and hugged her tightly. It was then that Ginny knew she could prove to anyone in their right mind that Malfoys were capable of love- nobody could deny it by looking at the Malfoy family that moment. Of course, staying out of prison and service to the Dark Lord seemed to come first.
Ginny then hugged Draco tightly. "I-I… I love you, Ginny," he said softly. Ginny looked up at her brother, astonished. He hadn't told anybody that(besides his girlfriends) since he was just five or six. "I'm really going to miss you- but have a little faith. You'll be home soon, and if you're not, I'll see you at Hogwarts."
"I love you, Draco…" With that, her father picked up her trunk and she picked up her owl and they Flooed to Diagon Alley. When they reached the Ice Cream Parlor, she spotted Arthur and Molly Weasley immediately. They were pacing excitedly, smiles shining on their faces. Dread filled Ginny and threatened to spill over. Lucius stepped up to the Weasleys, Ginny behind him. She was more nervous now than she had been even before Hogwarts.
"Hello," said Lucius coldly. The Weasleys spun around, looking not at him but at Ginny. Mrs. Weasley's arms flew around Ginny, who stepped back quickly. Mrs. Weasley then looked a bit hurt- but it was obvious how happy she was. Mr. Weasley looked intently at Ginny, as if amazed by her. Ginny looked at her father nervously.
"Daddy!" she cried, grabbing him. "Please don't let me go! Don't let them take me!"
"I don't want to, Ginny… but I have to. Come on, dear… we'll still see each other." Ginny cried harder and before she knew it, her father was gone and she was in the hands of the Weasleys.
"Shh… there, there," hushed Mrs. Weasley. Ginny slowly stopped crying and looked at the woman. She looked kind enough. But Ginny hated her, for being her mother and for taking her back. "I'm sure you must be very upset and confused. But we'll explain it all on the way to where we're living. Now do you have any Muggle clothes, dear? Because we're going back via the streets of London." Ginny nodded.
"Yeah. I suppose I'll go change…" She took from her trunk a pair of jeans and a silky white halter top. After she changed in the bathroom, she considered simply running away to the Malfoy Manor- or just never coming out. But she knew that would only make matters worse, so she exited the building, walking over to the Weasleys tentatively. They were shrinking her trunk and owl and pocketing them.
"Hello, dear," said Mrs. Weasley kindly as Ginny emerged. "Come along. Would you like to know anything? Any questions?"
"No," whispered Ginny. What a lie. She had a million questions, all which were unanswerable. After a few minutes walking in London, she paused wearily. "Er- Mrs. Weasley? Why is that woman following us? It looks like my cousin, Nymphadora… and- is that Mad-Eye Moody?" she exclaimed incredulously. Tonks, her cousin, had stayed with the Malfoys for half a summer after Ginny's first year. Ginny had liked the girl a lot, Draco had been annoyed by her, Lucius detested her(she was a half-blood), and Narcissa had seemed almost intrigued by her- probably since it was her dead sister's only child.
"They're- well- part of our guard," explained Mr. Weasley. "We'll tell you when we reach the Manor."
"You have a Manor?" asked Ginny dubiously. "Why do we need a guard?" They were now in a much shabbier part of London- darker.
"No, not ours," sighed Mrs. Weasley. We're going to bring you into a Fidelius Charmed place. You can't tell your family about it even if you try…"
"You got a Fidelius Charmed Manor to hold me in?" asked Ginny angrily.
"No- not for you," said Mr. Weasley. A while later, they turned onto a street called Grimmauld Place. Then Mrs. Weasley gave Ginny a parchment. "Study it really well and then give it back." Ginny nodded, confused. But when she looked up she saw a house popping up, stretching past the ones on both sides. She looked up at it, amazed.
"Now come along in… your five brothers are here to meet you."
"What?" asked Ginny. "I have five brothers? Any sisters?"
"Well, six brothers… but Percy got into a fight with the family…"
"I never liked him," remarked Ginny as they began up the steps. Tonks and Moody came behind them.
"Wotcher, Ginny," she smiled, winking. Ginny didn't answer. How dare these people be so friendly? They weren't her real family! Just as Tonks was about to ring the bell, Mrs. Weasley stopped her. "No, Tonks! Honestly, do you want to wake Mrs. Black?" she hissed.
"My dear Great Aunt…" groaned Tonks. "I almost forgot. Sorry, Molly!" The door then opened, and the group entered cautiously.
"Come along- into the kitchen, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, ushering her inside. The house, Ginny noticed, was very dark and eerie. It looked even more frightening than Malfoy Manor's basement floors… and that was saying something. Ginny followed the Weasleys, her cousin, and Moody (who was giving her the creeps) into the kitchen, repressing a shudder. She wished more than anything she was back with her family. Her real family, the Malfoys. Daddy, please break the contract quickly!
The kitchen was considerably brighter than the rest of the house. It was filled with cheerful people and good-smelling food- Ginny spotted Fred and George, who she hated for blackmailing her into this, Ron and Hermione, for some odd reason Professor Lupin- and another of her Malfoy cousins, who made her stomach lurch in fright. Why was he here? Of course Ginny recognized him immediately; his pictures had been all over London last year. Sirius Black!
"Wh-what," she began in fright. Two older boys with red hair were looking at her intently. Actually, everyone was. She began backing up.
"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley was saying, "I'd like you to meet your brothers-" Ginny had backed into the door. She began feeling behind her for the doorknob, feeling like a foolish frightened rabbit. "We're not going to hurt you, Ginny- Oh. Sirius wasn't really the murderer; he was framed by Peter Pettigrew… Ginny?"
"Hello, Ginny," said Professor Lupin warmly, smiling. A werewolf! Ginny was truly frightened. She gave a strangled squeak and hurried out of the kitchen, up several flights of stairs until she came to a room with an empty half room- she was sharing a room, with the Mudblood. Wonderful. When she reached her bed, she collapsed upon it, crying. She cried more than she had thought possible before. She didn't belong here! Maybe she could run away… No, of course she couldn't. Ginny decided to write a letter to Ceridwen.
Ceridwen-
It's Ginny. The Weasleys took me back; my father did some sort of contract thing, and it was true- I was a Weasley, and they kidnapped me, and now the Weasleys took me back and I have a million brothers and new horrible parents and I'm sharing a room with Granger, and I'm stuck in a house of lunatics and werewolves and Merlin knows what else. I am so scared; I hate it here, and I want to go home! Please, do you think you can invite me to your house for the summer? I'll give you however many galleons you want- I just need to be away from these people! Help!
Love from Ginevra MALFOY
There. Only- Mr. Weasley had her owl in a cage. "DAMN IT!" she yelled as loud as she could. She sulked on her bed for a minute. The there came a tentative knock on the door. "Come in," she said indifferently.
Hermione Granger cautiously opened the door. "Hi, Malfoy… we're roommates."
"So I've noticed," said Ginny coldly.
"Listen- I know that this whole thing has had to be really rough on you… if you ever need anything or want to talk… I'm, er… here and all." Ginny ignored her.
"What is this place?" she asked. Hermione frowned.
"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It's a movement against You-Know-Who. The people here, the adults anyway, are fighting him… in little ways, of course. Anyway… there are a lot of members. I don't even know all of them…"
"And there's nothing you don't know, huh?" asked Ginny angrily.
"Listen," snapped Hermione. "You could at least try to be nice, you know… you're living with your own flesh and blood for the first time in your entire life. Open up your mind to some new things; it could really do you some good. You're really stubborn… why don't you at least try to get along?"
"Because I don't want to be here with murderers and werewolves and Mudbloods and Blood traitors!" screeched Ginny, tears threatening to spill over once more. Hermione looked at her pityingly.
"You should meet Mrs. Black," she muttered.
"Who? As in Great Aunt Desdemona?" Hermione scrunched up her nose.
"I suppose… have you ever met her?"
"Not since I was very young," replied Ginny. "I think she died when I was about two or so… Draco remembers her, though. Why?"
"You'll find out the next time somebody's really loud in the Entrance Hall."
"Oh," said Ginny, confused. "Whatever. Is the Mad-Eye Moody here the-"
"Real Moody?" Hermione grinned. "Yeah. Wasn't in a very good mood the last few days, spending a year locked up in a trunk."
"Well, can you really blame him?" asked Ginny. "So who all is living here?"
"Well, me, the Weasleys, and Sirius…"
"The murderer?" asked Ginny, annoyed. Hermione frowned.
"He's innocent. Your 'father' has killed masses more people than Sirius."
"Don't say that!" exclaimed Ginny.
"But it's true," said Hermione, shrugging. Ginny couldn't deny this. She knew that her father had murdered maybe even hundreds of people, Muggles and Wizards alike… but he didn't act like a murderer in front of his family. Ever! Several moments of silence passed before Hermione finally spoke.
"I'm going to go write a letter to Harry- he's not doing very well, I'm afraid… "
"He's not?" asked Ginny curiously.
"No… Dumbledore isn't letting us tell him anything. He's going to be so mad after a few weeks, which is when we'll be getting him, I suppose."
"He's coming here?" asked Ginny all too quickly. Hermione grinned slyly.
"You fancy him, don't you? I never realized- but I've seen the way you look at him, Ginny…"
"I used to," said Ginny wistfully. "But I gave up on him at some point this year." Hermione nodded understandingly. "But I don't know why I'm telling you this, Mudblood… just go and write your letter!"
"Fine, your Highness," said Hermione sarcastically. "But dinner's at six. If you don't come, you don't eat." She then stomped away regally. Ginny rolled her eyes. She stayed in her room until five forty-five, when she could no longer stand the silence. She walked downstairs tentatively. When she reached the Entrance Hall she almost considered purposely making a racket to see what the Mudblood had been talking about, but decided against it. Then, without warning, she ran into one of the older boys with red hair. Her stomach flipped- her brother. He was cool-looking, with a ponytail and an ear pierced.
"Er- hello, Ginny," he said kindly. "I'm Bill… your brother. I'm twenty-three. Nice to meet you." Ginny couldn't help but smile- he looked really nice, after all. Twenty-three. He was nine or ten when I disappeared, then.
"Hi. I guess you know I'm Ginny… Nice to meet you, anyway." Bill grinned.
"You know… I always wanted a sister. I'm glad you're back. I hope you like it here. Maybe you can come do some bonding thing with me one day- have you met my girlfriend, Fleur Delacour?"
"Fleur Delacour is going out with you?" asked Ginny, surprised. The Delacours were a very prominent family- half pureblood and half Veela… Fleur was three fourths Pureblood. How odd, that she would fall for a Weasley!
"Yeah," said Bill, a sappy grin forming on his face. Ginny suppressed a giggle.
"Well… I guess dinner's in a few minutes. I'm going to go and wait…" she trailed off.
"All right. See ya then, Ginny." Ginny nodded and began towards the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was bustling around the kitchen, talking to her other older son. Lupin and Tonks were there as well, engaged in their own conversation.
"Hello, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley happily. "Sit down! Dinner will be ready soon. Did you get a chance to explore the place yet?"
"I was almost eaten by a Hippogriff," said Ginny uncaringly.
"Whoops," said Professor Lupin, grinning. "Should've warned her about that…"
"Yes, dear, I'm very sorry- this house needs a good cleaning; it's filled to the brim with all sorts of Dark things and creatures. I wouldn't touch anything that looks questionable."
"Nonsense, Mum," said the boy, laughing. He had the same build as Fred and George. "Nothing in here is dangerous!"
"Compared to what you work with, Charlie! I wish you'd leave Romania and the dragons and just settle down here in England. Get a real job and a nice wife and-"
"Please, Mum! I'm only twenty-one!" he said, horrified.
"Yeah, Molly; give him a break. He's just a little kid… just joking, Charlie! But really… settling down is boring," she yawned. "Unless you'll settle the way I did…"
"In Auror training?" asked Professor Lupin, smiling. "I'd hardly call that settling down."
"It's the best type of settling down, like I said. New adventures and mysteries every day!" Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes.
"Don't listen to her, Charlie. She's a bad influence." Everyone laughed, and Ginny would've grinned if at that moment she hadn't remembered her real brother saying once that he'd like to work with dragons. Ginny decided to write Draco the moment she got her owl, which should be soon.
"So, Ginny…" She jumped at hearing her name. It was Charlie addressing her. "What do you like to do for fun? What's your favorite class? Tell us about yourself."
"I-" began Ginny nervously.
"She was quite excellent at Defense Against the Dark Arts, if I remember correctly."
"Thanks, Professor-"
"You can call me Remus; I'm not your professor anymore."
"Oh," said Ginny awkwardly. "Right. Remus. I liked Transfiguration the best. I hated Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Divination, Arithmancy, and Charms. I liked Transfiguration and Astronomy."
"Really? Well you did marvelous in them all…"
"Yeah. I suppose. Father always said… never mind. I like Quidditch."
"Really?" asked Charlie excitedly. "Are you on the Gryffindor team?" She shook her head. "Are you any good?"
"I don't really know… when I played with Draco I did all right, I suppose." A minute later, dinner was ready, and everyone was called down. Ginny ended up sitting between Bill and George. Ron kept shooting her peculiar glances, as if he didn't believe she was related to him either. That night when she went to bed, she was desperate for any contacts whatsoever to her old life. Why did this have to happen to me? She talked to Hermione for a few moments, and the conversation actually ended on good terms, though Ginny hated the girl as much as she had before. She sent her letters to Ceridwen and Draco and her parents, and fell asleep wishing their replies would come the next day.
But just as she was about to drift off to sleep, Hermione stood up and walked to the door as what Ginny first thought was an explosion sounded downstairs.
"MUDBLOODS, FILTH- BLOOD-TRAITORS AND HALF-BLOODS-"
"SHUT THAT OLD HAG UP!" There was a loud sound as if someone had kicked something solid and stubbed their toe.
"OUCH! BLOODY HELL!"
"CAN WE PLEASE START THE MEETING?"
"SHUT UP!" Then it seemed to all quiet a bit. Ginny rushed out of the room. Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione were sneaking stealthily down the stairs.
"What are you doing?" began Ginny curiously.
"Shh!" hissed Fred. "Come on- we're listening to a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."
A/N: Wow! Thanks so much for all the reviews! Keep reviewing and I'll update sooner!
((Jinglez))