July 18, 1995, 12 Grimmauld Place
Well, I did find ink, just in time to write in this journal tonight. Hermione had an entire bottle of ink that she never used, and she said I could have it. I looked in her trunk to see if she has any extra quills, and she has about twenty extra bottles of ink, and an entire box of one hundred quills in there. Talk about being prepared for the O.W.L.s…
Breakfast this morning as a complete fiasco. Actually, fiasco is an understatement. What was that word that Hermione used in her latest letter to Harry?
Oh yeah. Scratch that last paragraph.
Breakfast this morning was pandemonium.
Sure, it started off peacefully enough, like all of the breakfasts have been so far during the summer, give or take a few meals. Dad left for work early, so by the time Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George got downstairs, Mum already had eggs and sausages set out of plates for us.
Then, Sirius came downstairs, and we were launching into a discussion of what cleaning had to be done today, when suddenly, Professor Lupin burst into the kitchen and said that a Howler had just arrived. And guess who it was addressed to?
Nope, not Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Professor Lupin, or me. No.
The Howler was addressed to Mum.
The look on Mum's face told me that she already knew who had sent her the Howler, but I sure as hell didn't know. She took the red envelope in her hands, opened it, and suddenly, a huge explosion of sound echoed off the stonewalls. I remember the Howler word for word. I'll probably remember it until my dying day:
"STOP WRITING TO ME, WOMAN! YOU ARE NO LONGER MY MOTHER AND I AM NO LONGER YOUR SON! I AM NOT A PART OF YOUR FAMILY! I DO NOT WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE UTTER LIES OUT OF DUMBLEDORE'S AND HARRY POTTER'S MOUTHS! IF YOU WRITE ONE MORE LETTER TO ME, BEGGING ME TO COME HOME, I SWEAR ON MY LIFE THAT I WILL REPORT YOU TO THE OFFICE OF MAGICAL POST REGULATION AND HAVE YOUR OWLS CONFISCATED! FROM PERCIVAL IGNATIUS WEASLEY, JUNIOR SECRETARY TO THE MINISTER OF MAGIC."
Yes, dear journal, my ex-brother, Percy, had the nerve to send Mum a Howler.
None of us knew that she had been writing to him. As soon as the letter ripped itself into thousands of shredded pieces of parchment, Mum burst into tears and leaned over the stove, sobbing. Professor Lupin jumped up and walked briskly over to her, and she started crying on his shoulder. Fred and George left the table wordlessly, without even touching their food. Hermione seemed close to tears at the sight of Mum, and Ron and Sirius sat there, angry in the near-silence.
Professor Lupin brought Mum upstairs, and after that, Sirius told us that he needed our help to confiscate the "worthless junk" that Kreacher had stolen. Hermione was fuming. She told Sirius that Kreacher had every right to own his own possessions, but he kindly reminded her that everything belonged to him (Sirius), and not Kreacher.
So, right after breakfast, Ron, Hermione, and I (Fred and George refused to leave their bedroom) followed Sirius up into the attic, where Sirius believed that Kreacher was hiding all of the junk.
Sure enough, Kreacher was crouched down in a dusty corner of the attic, crooning over a sulking picture of Bellatrix Lestrange, whom Sirius told me was in Azkaban and has been for several years. Sirius managed to get a hold of the picture of her, and Kreacher ran off, sobbing angry tears. Hermione kept throwing dirty looks at Sirius behind his back while he tossed everything in Kreacher's junk pile into a plastic rubbish bag.
After we finished finding most of the junk (apparently, Kreacher smuggled some old socks into his loincloth, which I find rather disgusting and disturbing), we heard Mum give a tearful scream from her bedroom, followed by Dad's soothing voice. Ron said he was going downstairs to check on her. I just couldn't bear to see her in such a state, caused by my ex-brother…Mum's own son. The nerve of that git…
Hermione and I found some old photo albums in a dusty cardboard box, and Sirius said we were welcome to take any pictures that we found amusing. Well, I combed three albums for any more baby pictures of Draco Malfoy, and I managed to find seven pictures. Hermione asked me if I fancied Malfoy, and I said: "No way in hell!" I just want these pictures for blackmail once term starts, that's all.
Me…fancy MALFOY? Ew!
Sirius fixed us lunch, because Mum was still crying her eyes out. I found out from Professor Lupin that Dad came home from work for a while to try and calm Mum down, but she won't stop sobbing. I saw Dad Floo back to work…he looks fit to strangle Percy until he drops dead on the floor. Go, Dad, go!
After lunch, we all went our separate ways. Hermione started reading some Arithmancy book, Ron went off to see if Fred and George wanted to play chess(I can't play, and it's not even worth it, because Ron beats everyone), and I decided to retreat to my journal.
And here I am now.
I'm wearing my ruby necklace again. I don't know why, but I just love the feeling of the gold against my skin. It reminds me so much of Michael…oh god.
Oh. My. God.
I feel just the way I felt when I used to like Harry, except this time around, the object of my affection is Michael.
God, I never thought I would ever have this feeling again! I was so set on Harry…but then I realized that he doesn't see me that way. I'll say it was, I'll say it again, I'll sat it a million times: It's the truth.
I better go before I start rambling on about Michael. I'll write tomorrow. I think I'll go visit Mum now. I think she's stopped crying.
Good night!
-Ginny
This is a much longer chapter than I usually write, so I hope everyone enjoyed it!
Hooray! My Hotmail account is up and running, and just because I'm so happy, I'm going to thank all of my lovely reviewers personally:
Morei Sky: The bazooka is not necessary, but thanks for reviewing!
Kelso the Great: Wow…it only took you three hours! Thanks for the review(s)!
Uasoccerbear08: To answer your question, I'm 13 years old. Thanks for the review!
Prongsgurl202113: Oh, I hope you get your book! Thanks!
MarliS: Aw…thanks!
IamSiriusGrl: Thanks so much!
Ronniekinzluvr: Thanks very much for taking the time to review!
Thanks to everyone who felt bad for me not being able to read Half-Blood Prince for like, a whole entire week. My cousin finished the book this morning, and she just HAD to call me up and she just HAD to tell me what a WONDERFUL book HBP was. So, Julia, my dearest cousin, if you're reading this, DON'T CALL ME TO TELL ME ANY SPOILERS!
I feel so…left out that I don't know the entire story behind HBP yet. I know some vague details, but that's it.
Do you think I should steal the book from my mom and read it in the dead of night? Tell me in a review! LOL
So…how did you like this chapter? I made it a bit longer, since everyone seems to be enjoying the longer chapters. I just had to include that bit about Percy and the Howler. I was reading OotP this morning, and I got angry with Percy all over again, and I had to put that in this chapter.
Please tell me what you think!
Please review!
Thanks!
-Rox
