July 2, 1995, The Burrow
It's early. Too early. In fact, I don't even know why I'm writing here this early. I just want to get back in my bed and fall asleep until noon. But because Percy decided to wake up the entire house at five this morning, bellowing up the stairs that we have no Floo powder left, I'm wide awake.
It was rather amusing, actually. Ron and I were standing in the hallway, wondering why on earth the prat that we call an older brother doesn't just Apparate into work like he normally does, or why he wanted to get to the Ministry at five in the morning. God. If boys are always this confusing, I think I should go break up with Michael.
So anyway, Mum comes rushing down the stairs and starts yelling at Percy for waking everybody up. Fred and George looked happy. I think they like it when Mum yells at someone else but them. It's a big change not to hear, "Fred, George, what did you do!" in Mum's rows.
They went at it for fifteen minutes until Dad finally came downstairs, still in his pajamas. I decided to take a closer look at what was going on, but Ron decided to go back to sleep. Dad asked Percy why he wanted to get to the Ministry so early, and Percy, that pompous freak, told him that he wanted to make a good impression on Minister Fudge by arriving early, and by arriving in such a manner that everyone would notice him.
Dad told him to go back upstairs and sleep for another two hours, and Percy had the nerve to tell him that he(Dad) was wasting his time by sleeping, and that he(Percy) was not going to get anywhere in the Ministry by wasting time. Dad just raised his eyebrows and stomped off back to bed. Mum shoved the last of the Floo powder into Percy's hands, and then he was off in a whirlwind of green fireplace flames. Crazy, I tell you. Barking mad.
So now I'm sitting here in the hallway, leaning against the wall. It's just before six, and Mum's making breakfast. She said that since everyone's already awake, there's no use in waiting to start cooking. Besides, we're expecting Bill to come via Portkey from Egypt at eleven. She probably wants to be ready to smother her oldest son is hugs.
Once in a while, she shoots me this look, like she wants to know what I'm writing. That's one of the reasons I'm still writing in here: I want express my thoughts, but I don't want another human being to hear them.
But I also want everyone to see that I'm barely affected by the past diary experiences that I do not wish to mention at this time.
I know, I know! I'm going to have to explain them sooner or later. But by mentioning them in detail, I show that I'm still affected by them, which I am mostly certainly not.
Okay. That's a downright lie. I've been having nightmares since the summer after my first year, and they've been coming back more frequently ever since the Third Task. But if I told someone about these nightmares, everyone would think of me as the small, defenseless little girl that I was. But I'm not a small, little girl anymore. I'll be fourteen in August, and I do believe that I am perfectly capable of dealing with these things myself.
All right. Enough of the drama.
Hermione's arriving at one this afternoon. Dad said he's had her house hooked up to the Floo Network, but he seems pretty nervous about it. From what I've heard from his conversations with Mum, the Floo Network is being closely watched because of You-Know-Who and all. Unknown house addresses on the master Floo list aren't exactly going to make the Ministry happy if they should find out.
Speaking of Hermione, I do believe that she is the reason Ron is sleeping. He probably wants his beauty sleep so he can look "handsome" when she comes. Ha.
Hmm. Do you think I should tell Hermione that I've been keeping up with my journal? Maybe I should just act like I don't know what she's talking about if she asks me about it. No. That's a bad idea. Because then, she'll go off and tell Ron that I'm not using her gift, and then Ron will start yelling at me for making Hermione upset, and then Mum will shout at Ron for yelling at me, and then…yeah, you get the point, don't you?
Oh. Ron's just come downstairs. He doesn't look any better than he did at five. Maybe I should tell him that Hermione wants him to get his beauty sleep. I think I will. Excuse me.
…
I've never noticed how red Ron's ears get whenever Hermione and him are mentioned in the same sentence. Hmm. Ideas, ideas…
Okay. I'm not evil. I would never talk about that when Hermione was here, partially because she would get embarrassed, as well as Ron. And as of now, Hermione's the only girl that I will see, probably all summer, and I don't want her hiding up in a bedroom from all of my brothers.
Lovely. Breakfast is ready! I'll write more later, I promise!
Later
Oh. My. God.
I'm going to be sent to Azkaban tonight.
Why?
Because I'm going to murder my brother.
No. Percy is not my brother. My brother would not have packed his bags for London, leaving Mum and Dad and all of us behind.
I can't believe this. I want to strangle Percy with every ounce of my strength, until he can't breathe anymore and he falls to the ground dead, blue in the face from lack of oxygen.
I guess I should start at the beginning, because you're probably very confused right now. Okay. Here it goes.
It was around six, and we were all sitting in the living room. We, meaning Mum, Fred, George, Ron, Bill, Hermione, and I. We were all waiting for Dad and Percy to come home, so that we could have a big family dinner together.
Well, Dad came home at half past six, but still no Percy. We waited and waited. And finally, Percy came striding into the living room. He dropped his briefcase on the ground and told all of us that he had a special announcement.
He's been promoted directly into Fudge's office, as "Junior Assistant to the Minster".
Percy asked us if we were proud of him. Dad looked a little upset. He stood up and said that the only reason Percy was promoted was so that Fudge could spy on the family, since we're very close to Professor Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's name is mud with the Ministry these days. Everyone thinks he's just making trouble by saying that You-Know-Who is back. The look on Percy's face was priceless.
But that's when the trouble started.
Percy started yelling and saying that Dad was just jealous that he was moving up in the Ministry. They started shouting back and forth, and even Mum looked a little frightened. Percy even had the nerve to say that Dad's "lousy reputation" is the reason that our family doesn't have a lot of money!
At that point, Dad was really riled up. He started shouting some more, but Percy interrupted him. Percy said that his loyalties were staying with the Ministry, and if the family didn't follow him, then he wanted everyone to know that he wasn't part of our family anymore.
Percy ran upstairs before Dad could stop him, He packed his bags and left for London within the hour. He said he has a few friends in the city that can get him a decent flat.
You don't know how much I want to Floo up to London and beat the living crap out of that-that-that boy.
It's nearing midnight now, and no one's sent anyone up to bed yet. Bill's out in the garden with Mum. She's been crying ever since Percy left. Dad's locked himself in the den. I keep hearing ripping noises. I think he's tearing apart every last picture of Percy in there. Hermione and Ron are talking quietly at the kitchen table, and I've resumed my place in the hallway. Fred and George are writing to Charlie in Romania, to tell them about what happened, and probably to plot revenge.
I've never really been that close to Percy, but now that he doesn't want to belong to our family anymore, it makes him seem farther away then ever. No, no, I certainly don't miss him, but he ran away, like a coward, after saying those things to Dad.
Oh. Ron's going upstairs. He's saying goodnight to Hermione. He waved at me.
Oh, lovely! Hermione's spotted me writing in this journal. She looks happier that I've seen her all night.
I'll go tell her all about this journal. I'll write more tomorrow.
-Ginny
I'd like to thank my reviewers:
FrogsOfChocolate-Thanks for reviewing chapter one!
Kelso the Great-Aw! Thanks so much! Can't wait to read your next review!
Mingingbent-Thanks for reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter.
Prongsgurl1120113-Oh, you want the pairings? Well, it's definitely going to be Ron/Hermione. I'm not revealing anything else…yet! Thanks for reviewing!
Uasoccerbear08-Glad you liked this chapter. Thanks!
If I missed anybody, I'm sorry, but thank you everyone for reviewing!
So…how did you like this chapter? I tried to make the Percy thing seem more realistic than it did when Ron was explaining it in OotP.
RHr Shippers: Should I drop in some more Ron/Hermione moments?
Thanks, again, everyone! You guys really made my day with all of those reviews!
So…what are you waiting for? Review!
-Rox
