The Riddle of Jim Lillian
Part Five: Ginny's Tale
Standard Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
WARNING: Major Character Deaths, Violence and Adult themes.
Part Five Summary: Ginny deals with the aftermath of the Final Battle
19th December, 2004
Ginny apparated into a secluded alley near Hermione's flat in Muggle Edinburgh. She checked to make sure she was wearing her Muggle clothing properly: a pink polka -dot skirt, plaid sweater, a baby-blue trench coat, and a large lime-green foam hat before walking to her best-friend's home away from school.
As Ginny trudged up the stairs to Hermione's flat, she heard the distinct sound of a woman giggling. It must have been coming from another flat because Hermione was anything but a "giggler." Then the oddest thing happened as Ginny knocked on her friend's door: the giggling abruptly stopped. A scant second later, she heard a soft "pop."
'Was that someone Apparating? And was it coming from Hermione's flat?' Ginny thought as Hermione answered the door and greeted the redhead. Ginny noticed that her friend's checks were flushed, and Hermione's mouth was twitching as if she were fighting a smile.
"Did someone just Apparate?" Ginny asked.
"Hello to you, too," Hermione said sarcastically.
"Sorry, hi," Ginny waved theatrically. "But was that someone Apparating?"
Hermione ushered her friend into the flat. She walked ahead of Ginny to the dining table in her bare feet with her pumps in her hand. Ginny casually noted that her friend's hair was even bushier than normal and that Hermione had a light bounce to her walk.
"Ginny, we're in a Muggle town; it could have been a car backfiring," Hermione explained. An image of a car spitting fire out of its tail pipe filled Ginny's mind. She would never understand Muggles and their devices.
"So, where are we going today?" Hermione asked as she slipped on her shoes.
"I was thinking Diagon Alley?"
"Good, I haven't been there since the summer." Hermione stood and walked next to her friend as they both put on their robes. With two loud pops, the pair disappeared.
After several hours of shopping, most of it spent in Flourish & Blotts, Ginny finally dragged Hermione over to Quality Quidditch Supplies. When the pair entered the store, Hermione predictably headed straight for the book section of the store, while Ginny browsed the broom care section.
As Ginny shopped for polish for her broom, she felt a small hand tug at her robes. She looked down and saw a young boy no older than ten staring at her with wide eyes.
"Excuse me, ma'am, are you Ginny Weasley?" the boy asked politely.
"Yes, I am," Ginny responded.
"Could you sign this for me?" he asked and handed Ginny a pre-inked quill and a battered and worn Play Roster for the 2004 British Quidditch Team. Ginny smiled and flipped the book open to her "Stats and Bio" page. Ginny signed her name on the bottom corner of her picture that showed her scoring a particularly difficult goal.
"Is Team Britain gonna make it to the World Cup Finals this year, Ms. Weasley?" the boy asked as she handed back his book. "I heard the team is looking for a new Seeker 'cause Sass finally retired."
"Yeah, Sass retired after Germany beat us out of the finals," Ginny confirmed.
"Good, he was rubbish as a Seeker."
Ginny wrinkled her nose and nodded at the boy's comment.
"Yes, he was, wasn't he?" Ginny said in a whisper. "But don't tell anyone I said that."
"Have they found a replacement yet?"
"Oh, yes," Ginny said with a bright smile. "And he's brilliant."
"Who is he?"
"An amateur, you wouldn't have heard of him."
"Yes ma'am," the boy smiled. "Is it true that you replaced Harold Potter as Seeker when you were at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, I did," Ginny replied.
"Could you sign it 'Harold Potter's friend' or something like that?" the boy asked as he handed her the book again. Ginny frowned slightly and shook her head.
"Oh, okay," he said with a sheepish grin, "thank you for the autograph."
The young boy turned and walked away.
"Do you get that a lot?" Hermione asked from behind Ginny.
"Not too much anymore," Ginny said. "Although they used to ask for my autograph because I was Harry's friend, not a 'Star Quidditch' player."
"Has that happened in a while?"
"Not for about a year or two," Ginny replied. "How about you? When was the last time someone asked for 'Harold' Potter's girlfriend to autograph something?"
"Eighteen months and six days," Hermione said. "And it has been twenty-two months and seventeen days since I was asked by any paper for an interview."
"You actually keep count?"
"It's the way my mind works," Hermione said in a mater-of-fact tone
The two witches paid for their purchases and headed back to The Leaky Cauldron.
"So, Hermione, what's got you all happy?" Ginny asked as she sipped on her butterbeer.
"What ever do you mean?" Hermione asked innocently.
"I could have sworn I heard giggling coming from your flat, and you've been practically skipping wherever we go today."
"Giggling? Do you honestly think that I even have the ability to giggle?" Hermione asked, to which Ginny shook her head impishly. "As for being in a good mood, can't a witch be happy to spend the day with her friend? Besides, the last few weeks have been a little rough," Hermione said as the waiter placed two bowls of stew in front of them. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher only lasted two months before quitting, so the rest of the staff had to pick up the slack."
"What happened this time?" the redhead asked.
"Oh, a fourth-year was practicing a switching spell with the DADA Professor. The young girl was going to switch the Professor's wand with a quill, but she did the wand movements wrong and accidentally switched his arms with his legs."
"Ouch!" Ginny said while trying to suppress a giggle.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad. Poppy was able to sort him out in tic," Hermione said. "But this man was such a dandy that he fretted that his robes were ruined and stormed off and left the school in a huff."
"Ponce."
"He was an incompetent moron anyway," Hermione stated flatly. "I think he had taken the job as DADA Professor just for the bragging rights that come along with the position. We go through this every year."
"You're kidding?" Ginny asked. "The 'One-Year Curse' still hasn't been broken?"
"Nope, Hogwarts has had to get a new instructor every year since Quirrell died."
"Well, at least they don't die or end up in St. Mungo's anymore," Ginny chuckled.
Hermione shook her head.
"What?" the redhead asked as her jaw dropped.
"Last year, Minerva had to call in a DADA Professor who had retired over sixty years ago. Unfortunately, the old girl died in her sleep a month before final exams. Then that arse, MacGilacuty, who taught the year before that, was showing the students how to use Summoning and Banishing Charms for defense. The twit summoned a small boulder and forgot to dodge out of the way. Filch spent a week sponging up what was left of him."
Ginny cringed at the mental image that Hermione painted.
"The year before that the Professor had an accident with a pack of grindylows…"
"Okay, that's enough. I get the picture," Ginny said.
"So, what did you get Archie for Christmas?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.
"Well, I got him some Little Wizards and Witches Quidditch supplies," Ginny told Hermione of the gifts she got her boyfriend. "A coach's whistle, playbooks, and some protective pads."
Ginny met Archie Grant almost two years previously when Team Britain was doing a promotional tour. Archie was the coach for his daughter's Little Quidditch Team, and Ginny posed with him and his team for photos for the Daily Prophet Sports page. They had bonded almost instantly.
Besides their love of Quidditch, they had both been affected deeply by the war. Archie knew that Ginny's brother was murdered and that Ginny herself had been tortured. Nearly everyone knew; it was in the papers for weeks after the final battle. Archie had lost his wife to a random Death Eater attack shortly before the end of the second war and had been raising his only daughter by himself ever since.
"Oh, please," Hermione chastised her friend. "You just got him Quidditch supplies? Then why did you spend so much time in Madam Malkin's lingerie section?"
Ginny blushed furiously.
"Let, me guess; a Red Teddy?" Hermione jokingly prodded. Ginny buried her face in her hands. "No? Okay, a black lace bustier?"
"And matching g-string," Ginny mumbled through her hands.
"Oh, you are a wicked witch," Hermione nearly giggled, but bit her lip.
"It's just he's a great bloke, and I'm in love him and I want to make him happy," Ginny rambled as she raised her head.
"Yes, he'll be so happy that he won't be able to stand properly."
"That's the plan," Ginny said in a stage whisper.
The pair of witches laughed out loud.
"So, you're in love with him?" Hermione asked, wiping a joyful tear out of her eye.
"Yes. We've even spoken briefly about marriage," the redhead replied with a huge smile. Hermione practically squealed. "He sees me as Ginny the woman, not as the Star Chaser or 'Harold' Potter's friend. I can talk to him about anything…"
Ginny unconsciously ran her fingers through the stark white streak in her hair. The smile disappeared from Hermione's face.
"Have you told him about that day?" Hermione asked and continued in a whisper, "The truth?"
Ginny froze and noticed that her fingers were in the white part of her hair. It was a nervous habit she did whenever she thought of "that day," the Final Battle, the day her life changed forever.
"No," she said weakly as her hands dropped to the table. Hermione reached out with both hands and held her friend's hands in a comforting gesture. "It's just I don't want him to think of me differently."
"Ginny, he'll understand. You have to tell him."
"I couldn't stand it if he knew what happened. That I'm a …"
"No," Hermione cut her off before she could finish. Hermione knew what Ginny was about to say because they had had this conversation many times before, and she couldn't bear to hear her friend call herself that again. "No, you are NOT! It had to be done."
Hermione stood up and moved across the table and sat down next to Ginny and hugged her.
"We were at war," Hermione said as she stroked the younger woman's hair. "If anyone should realize the sacrifices that are made in war, it's Archie."
"You're right, I'll tell him…" Ginny said with a genuine smile, "eventually."
"Promise?"
Ginny nodded. Hermione moved back to her side of the table.
"Enough about my love life," Ginny said. "Let's talk about yours."
"Well, that will be a short conversation," Hermione replied with mirth in her voice. "I don't have one."
"That's my point," Ginny said. "I have met this guy, and he is really nice."
"So now you're playing 'little Ms. Matchmaker', are you?"
"Yes," Ginny said. "I met him when he tried out for the British Quidditch Team."
"A blind date?" Hermione asked, as she knitted her brow. "I don't know… What about the press? Don't you think that they would have a field day when they find out that 'Harold' Potter's girlfriend is dating again?"
"You just said that no one has bothered you in nearly two years!" Ginny leaned forward and pleaded with her. "Please, Hermione, I just want to see you happy."
"I don't know, Gin. What if you're wrong and he is chased away by all of the attention?"
"Don't worry about that," Ginny said with a flourish of her hand. "He's the new Seeker and he is ridiculously brave… or stupid. Either way I don't think he will be scared off."
"Wait, he's the new Seeker for Team Britain?" Hermione asked with a confused look.
"Yes, and you will have to agree to the date because he just walked in."
Hermione looked towards the door and saw a man with long auburn hair and glasses.
"This is Jim Lillian," Ginny said as the short man walked up to the table. Ginny turned to Jim and said, "Jim, this is my friend I was telling you about."
"Hello, Herm-own-ninny," Jim said with a handsome smile.
Ginny looked to Hermione who had her eyes narrowed and staring daggers at Jim.
"Actually, it's 'Her-my-oh-nee,' Jim," Ginny quickly corrected him, noticing Hermione's icy glare.
"Hermione, forgive me please. Mea Culpa," Jim said as he took Hermione's hand and kissed it.
"Did you plan this?" Hermione asked not taking her eyes off of Jim.
"Of course I planned this," Ginny replied taken back at Hermione's uncharacteristically stupid question. "I met Jim when he got the Seeker position. He's a nice enough bloke. Give him a chance. Please 'Mione, for me?"
After a moment where Hermione seemed to size Jim up while he gave the brunette witch a mischievous smile, Hermione said, "Alright, for you Ginny."
"Good, I leave you two at it, then." Ginny cheered and stood up. "Have fun!"
"What? Now?" Hermione stammered.
"No better time than the present." Ginny turned to Jim, "Now take good care of her or you'll have to answer to me. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" Jim said with a small salute.
Ginny kissed Hermione on the check and left the Leaky Cauldron. She smiled as she walked out of the pub, hoping that her two friends would hit it off.
9th August, 2005
The crowd was deafening. Ginny could barely hear Lee Jordan's play-by-play.
"This is just brutal! Weasley is the only Chaser left on the British team. Smith and Dilts are still unconscious after the New Zealand Beaters knocked them off of their brooms."
Ginny deftly threw the Quaffle past the Keeper to score another goal for Britain. The crowd erupted in cheers.
"WAY TO GO GINNY!" Lee's voice boomed. Ginny could have sworn she heard her brothers, Fred and George, shouting; "That's our baby sister!"
"Weasley scores another ten points of Britain!" Lee boomed. "Bringing the score to 210 to 130, New Zealand."
The Kiwi Keeper passed the ball to one of his Chasers. The Chaser rocketed down the field as Ginny shot after him. Within seconds, she had caught up to her opponent and stripped him of the Quaffle. Ginny flew as fast as she could back to the other end of the field.
"It looks like the Kiwi Chaser, Wasserman, is gaining on Weasley," Lee's voice echoed through the stadium. Wasserman was known as a thug in the game; he enjoyed knocking opponents off of their brooms while hopefully breaking as many bones as possible. Ginny knew that if Wasserman caught up with her, the game would be all but over.
"Wait! What's this?" Lee shouted. "The British Seeker, Lillian, has spotted the snitch! He's gone into a steep dive towards the pitch! Graf, the Kiwi Seeker is at the other goal post, he'll never get there in time!
"Laurent, Beater for New Zealand, bats the Bludger towards Lillian!"
Ginny was almost knocked out of the air as a Lillian-shaped blur shot by her. As she passed through Jim's wake, Ginny heard a sickening crack behind her.
"OH, MERLIN!" Lee screamed. "Lillian tricked Laurent into hitting his own teammate! Wasserman is down!"
The "Lillian Feint," a maneuver developed by Ginny and Jim, worked exactly as planned. Jim fooled the Kiwi Beater into aiming for him, but Jim had timed it just right so the Bludger would strike the Kiwi Chaser.
Ginny saw her chance. The Kiwi Keeper was staring dumbly at his fallen teammate and not paying attention to the red-haired witch. She hurled the Quaffle to the left goal post.
"WAY TO GO GINNY! The score is now 210 to 140, New Zealand!" Lee bellowed. "That gives Weasley an incredible SEVEN solo goals and four assists!"
Ginny flew up to Jim as the referee retrieved the Quaffle.
"That was perfect, Jim!" Ginny thumped him on his back as she tried to catch her breath. "But find that damned snitch. I can't keep this up…"
Ginny could not finish her sentence because Jim charged over her shoulder. A second later the entire crowd drew a collective gasp.
"I am so glad that boy is on my team." Ginny muttered to herself without turning around.
"LILLIAN DID IT! HE CAUGHT THE SNITCH! BRITAIN WINS 290 TO 210! BRITAIN WINS THE WORLD CUP!"
XX
The party started shortly after Ginny, her friends, and her family arrived at The Leaky Cauldron. After the twins playfully pranked Tom, the barkeep, three times, they were asked to leave. The Weasleys and assorted guests made their way to the flat above Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
The twins had exhausted their supply of Filibuster Fireworks, among other nefarious products, in the first hour of the party. Catherine Wheels spun around the room being chased by fiery-multi-colored pigs. To add to the chaos of the flying fireworks, every quarter hour or so, people were turning into giant canaries at random.
"Congratulations, Gin!" a more than mildly inebriated Hermione shouted as she flung herself around the redhead's neck. "You did a superb job, if I must say."
"You must," Ginny replied. Even though Ginny had drunk more Firewhisky than her bookish friend, Ginny could hold her liquor better.
"That was the best World Cup game I have ever seen!" Hermione slurred slightly.
"Hermione, you've only seen two World Cups," Ginny informed her.
"Well then, that other one I saw was the second best," Hermione started to laugh hysterically at her own "joke" when Jim walked up to the two witches.
"Hey there, you," Hermione guffawed. "What are you up to?"
"Just checking on my two favorite ladies," Jim said as he took a sip from his glass of pumpkin juice.
"You're not drinking tonight?" Ginny asked.
"No, I don't drink," Jim answered.
"He's an old stick in the mud," Hermione said jokingly as she attempted to swat his shoulder and missed, causing her to fall into his arms.
"I think I better take you home, Hermione," Jim said as he cradled her.
"Now, you aren't going to take advantage of my best friend in her current state, are you?" Ginny said with a wicked smirk.
"Oh, he would never do that," Hermione tittered. "Not without my permission, isn't that right… er…Jim."
Hermione held her hand in front of her mouth in a vain attempt to stop her belly laugh.
"Jim, I almost called you the other name," Hermione snorted as tears of laughter rolled down her checks.
"Then I definitely think I should take you back to your place," Jim stated.
"Are you going to use the floo?" Ginny asked.
"No, the Knight Bus," Jim replied as he set his drink down.
"I hate the Knight Bus, loathe it really," Hermione slurred.
"Yes, but if you apparate, you'll splinch yourself," Jim said as he led Hermione to the door. "And you'll get sick all over every fireplace from here to Edinburgh if we floo."
"Goodnight you two," Ginny waved as they left.
A few minutes later, Ginny's brother Bill staggered over clutching a half-empty bottle of Firewhisky.
"You were fantastic," Bill said as he hugged his sister. "Bloody fantastic, I tell you! Seven goals, all by yourself! Ron would have been thrilled!"
Ginny smiled politely to Bill.
"I tell you, you would have heard his voice over everyone!" Ginny quickly paled at her brother's statement. "He would have been shouting 'Go on Ginny! Go on and score another one!'"
Ginny found it very hard to breathe suddenly as her complexion turned a sickly green.
"It's not fair you know," Bill continued, oblivious to Ginny's discomfort. "He should be here. But some wanker tossed him off…"
Bill stopped as he attempted to compose himself.
"I tell you if I had the chance to get my hands on Malfoy… that bastard killed my brother!" Bill said thickly. "If anyone hurt one of my brothers, I'd kill 'em, you too Gin…" Her family's voices suddenly became too loud, as if they were yelling in her ear.
"I'd kill 'em for you, too," Bill concluded.
Ginny felt the room shrink and the walls close in on her. There wasn't enough air in the room anymore; she had to get out, to breathe.
"I have to go," Ginny said trying to swallow the bile that threatened to escape her throat. Bill drunkenly muttered something like, "You do that Ginny."
Within seconds, Ginny burst out of the flat and ran to the street below. She fell to her hands and knees and vomited.
Ginny did not know how long she remained there in the street, staring dumbly at her pool of sick. She took a few fortifying breaths and stood up.
'I have to get out of here,' Ginny thought to herself. 'I have to go home.'
She looked down at her trembling hands and realized that she could not apparate for fear of splinching herself. And the Knight Bus was out of the question; she did not want to be confined in that damned bus with Merlin knows how many people.
'I need Hermione,' Ginny thought as her feet began to move under their volition. 'She could help me.' An image of Hermione from earlier that evening playfully trying to smack Jim on his arm entered Ginny's mind. 'I can't bring her down, not when she's the happiest I've seen her since Harry died.'
Ginny broke out of her reverie realizing that she had entered the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was almost deserted save for a few people here and there. Ginny slinked across the wall, trying not to draw anyone's attention to her, when she spotted him sitting in one of the booths reading a book.
Ginny could recognize him anywhere; his hair had finally turned completely gray, and his robes were still tattered and worn.
"Re-Remus?" Ginny sputtered as she found herself standing next to her former Professor. Remus looked up from his book and was shocked at Ginny's appearance.
"Ginny, what's wrong?" Remus asked as he stood and held her shoulders.
"Remus, I need to talk to someone," she said in a barely audible whisper. "And I don't want to depress Hermione. She's the only one who knows what really happened."
"What is it, Ginny? What happened?"
"Please, Remus, you're the only person I know who would understand. But you can't tell anyone about it."
"I promise, Ginny, I won't tell anybody!'
A few minutes later, Ginny and Remus were in a private room above the pub. Remus sat across from her waiting patiently as she filled her teacup.
"Madame Pomfrey had just kicked us out of the Hospital ward, all of us except for Hermione," Ginny began. "When Hermione sets her mind to something, nothing will make her change it. The look she gave Poppy when she tried to usher her out…"
Ginny snorted slightly.
"I have been on the receiving end of that 'look' once or twice," Remus chuckled softly.
"Well, Neville, Ron, and I went back up to the common room. Ron went to bed, while Neville and I stayed up to talk," Ginny continued. "You see we weren't dating really, but we did do a lot of things together, talking mostly. Dean Thomas had just broken up with me a few months before, and I was still really torn up. Neville spent weeks trying to cheer me up a bit, and I found out that he was a nice bloke. But we weren't dating. Anyway, that night we talked for hours and hours, about this and that, nothing important.
"Ron would come down every couple of hours to go check on Harry, and he would glare at us. I thought that he didn't like Neville sitting so close to me. But around one or two in the morning we said goodnight. Neville was a complete gentleman and walked me to the stairs.
"I should have kissed him then. He was so patient with me, waiting for me to be 'over' Dean before asking me out officially. I should have kissed him that night, at least then he would have been kissed once before dying."
Ginny took a sip of her tea.
"I'm sorry, I'm babbling," Ginny said uneasily. "I'm nervous and a little drunk."
"It is quite alright," Remus said with compassion. "I have all the time you need."
"I had planned on sleeping in the next morning, but I woke up real early, I don't know why. I just got up for some reason. I walked down to the common room and saw Harry's wand just lying on one of the tables. I thought that was odd, he never left his wand lying around. To my knowledge, he even slept with it under his pillow. I picked it up, intent on giving it back to Harry. That's when I heard his voice.
"He said, 'Put it down, Ginny.' His voice sounded really gruff and gravelly, like he hadn't been to bed yet, and I couldn't recognize it. I looked around, and I couldn't see anything. So I asked who was there. He just said 'Go on, Ginny… put it down.' I looked in the direction from where the voice was coming. I saw half of a wand floating in the air, as if the other half was invisible. I stared at it for a second, my brain not believing what I was seeing.
"He then cast the Cruciatus on me."
Ginny screwed her eyes shut as her mind was flooded with images of that day.
Ginny saw them head up to the Tower, she had to help them, had to warn them. She tried to climb the stairs after them, but her legs weren't working right just yet. She clawed and pulled her way up the cold stone steps.
"Ginny, do you need a minute?" Remus asked.
"No, thank you," Ginny replied, trying to compose herself. "It hurt so much. I'd read about the affects of the Cruciatus Curse in books, but none of it prepared me. It felt like my muscles were snapping, and my bones were being crushed."
Remus put a comforting hand on top of hers.
The only light in the dark and dank stairwell came from the cracks around the door at the top. Ginny forced herself up another step. She could hear yelling from the Observation Deck. She was too late; she wasn't able to warn them in time.
"He lifted the curse, and I could hear Neville come running down the stairs from the boy's dormitory. Neville must've heard me screaming. He ran to my side and reached down to check on me. That's when the bastard hit him with the Killing Curse. Neville was a nice bloke, a good man. He would always help his friends, no matter what the cost. And that bastard just killed him as if he was just an obstacle, something to be shoved aside.
"I saw Neville's face when his body hit the floor. He looked so scared. He deserved better! He deserved a chance!" Ginny was sobbing freely. "I should have kissed him goodnight…
"I tried to crawl away and noticed that I was still clutching Harry's wand and that blood was coming from my mouth. Then I heard his voice again. 'You should have listened to me, Ginny. No one ever listens to me!' Then he muttered something I couldn't hear. All of the sudden, Harry's wand started to shred right in my hands. I looked down at the splinters of his wand and this tiny voice in my head said, 'that's funny, where's the wand's core?' I got tortured, Neville got murdered, and I stop and wonder why the core to Harry's wand was missing."
Her hand fumbled with the doorknob, with a click the door swung open.
"…I LOST MY ENTIRE FAMILY!" someone shouted.
Ginny's eyes shot open.
"I looked up and saw a hand floating, holding the wand …I had seen that hand so many times before. When I was just a kid and I would fall down that hand would help me up…"
Realization dawned upon Remus' face.
"Oh, no," he muttered.
"I pleaded with him to stop." Ginny tore at the white stripe in her hair violently with her fingernails. Remus gently pulled her hand away from her hair. "I could feel his eyes on me, weighing his options on what to do with me; kill me or let me go. He then cast the Cruciatus again."
"Ginny, it wasn't him," Remus said and embraced the young witch. "It had to have been the Imperius Curse. He wasn't in control of himself. Someone else made him do it."
Ginny sobbed and clutched onto her former professor.
"Why couldn't it have been that way?"
11th August, 2005
Ginny sat at a small table in Madam Puddifoot's watching her friend wrestle with her bushy hair to no avail. Hermione's hair was the wildest Ginny had seen it in a while. After a few futile attempts at tying her hair in a bun, Hermione gave up with a sigh. Ginny smirked at Hermione's discomfort.
"Not all of us are blessed with manageable hair," Hermione huffed, a rosy bloom in her cheeks. "I hate this mop."
"I happen to love your hair, Hermione," Ginny said.
Hermione shot the redhead a disbelieving look and took a sip of her coffee. Ginny nervously fidgeted with her cup.
"I told him, I finally told Archie," Ginny said softly.
"How did it go?" Hermione asked as she leaned forward.
"It was… wonderful," Ginny said with a genuine smile. "I cried, and then he cried. We just sat there all night, holding each other and talking."
Hermione smiled and held Ginny's hand.
"Um, Hermione…" Ginny said hesitantly. "Um, I also, I…. ItoldRemusaboutittoo," she finished hurriedly.
"Okay," Hermione said simply.
"'Okay'?" Ginny was shocked. "I tell Remus Lupin, without your permission, the secret that we've held for over six years and all you can say is, 'Okay'?"
"Was he able to help you?" Hermione asked.
"Yes."
"Then it's okay."
"You're not bothered by it?" Ginny asked sheepishly.
"Of course not," Hermione said, squeezing Ginny's hand. "Remus is trustworthy; he won't tell anyone. Now if you told Colin Creevey I would be upset."
Both witches laughed at the thought of confiding anything with either Creevey brother.
"So, Miss Star Quidditch Player, now that you won the World Cup, what are you going to do now?" Hermione asked.
"I am going to retire," Ginny said.
"Really?"
"Yes, I want to go out on top, you know. Not wait until my career starts to lag."
"So, what are you going to do then?'
Ginny chuckled slightly.
"I haven't got a clue." Ginny shook her head.
"Would you mind a suggestion?" Hermione asked with a devilish grin. "Madam Hooch is finally retiring, and Hogwarts needs a new flight instructor."
"But I didn't graduate from Hogwarts," Ginny said with a frown. "I couldn't go back for my final year. It was too soon. McGonagall would never hire me."
"You got nine O.W.L.S in your fifth year, and you finished your N.E.W.T.S independently, so you cannot use 'I didn't graduate from Hogwarts' as an excuse," Hermione lectured as she pulled two rolls of parchment out of her robes and handed them to Ginny. "You are wonderful with children, and you're an expert on all things Quidditch."
Ginny unrolled the parchments and read through them quickly. The first was an application form for the position of Flight Instructor. The second roll was a very lengthy letter of recommendation from Hermione.
"You knew I was retiring?" Ginny asked as she held up the letter.
"Yes, Jim told me." Hermione practically started glowing at his name. Ginny narrowed her eyes. Ginny recalled Hermione's appearance from earlier--she was almost skipping during their shopping trip, and she was constantly trying to hide a goofy grin.
"I think you would be perfect for the job," Hermione continued. "Besides, I would like the chance to work with my best friend."
Hermione's mussed up hair, the glow in her cheeks, it all made sense to Ginny.
"I am the best match maker ever!" Ginny concluded aloud. "You've been shagged!"
"Ginny!" Hermione hissed as she attempted to hide her face behind her hands.
"You've been shagged rotten!"
"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"Yes, I do. And I do a lot more with my mouth than that. And you know it. How do you know it?" Ginny said wagging a finger at her. "Because I share the details of my love life with you, my best friend. Now it's time to return the favor. I want details, all of the juicy messy details." Ginny playfully slapped her hand on the table.
A rascally smile crept across the brunette's face.
"Okay, where should I start?" Hermione asked.
"Measurements! Temporal and physical…"
TBC
Author's Notes: Thanks to my betas sasqch and Penelope78