Ginny sat on the cold metal chair, staring absentmindedly out the only window. What a view: rock and a vast expanse of sea. At least they had given her that much. On the floor, a blond boy began to whimper in his sleep. His face was distorted, as though he was having a bad dream. Ginny got up from her chair and curled up next to him, caressing his soft hair and kissing his forehead.
"Don't worry, Draco. I'll get us out of here, no matter what it takes." The boy merely yawned and curled into Ginny. "No matter what," she said with a strong resolve.
Ginny had once lived the perfect life. How did she get here?
Ginny lay in the grass in a meadow near the Burrow, staring up at the passing clouds. After everything that had happened in the past year, Ginny could hardly believe that there would be no Hogwarts to return to. Dumbledore was gone and the wizarding world was engulfed in fear. But how could Ginny worry? She had been riding cloud nine ever since Harry kissed her, and even though they had to be apart for the time being, she knew the reasoning behind it and knew she and Harry would be together soon enough.
Thinking about why she couldn't be with Harry, Ginny frowned and angrily uprooted some weeds. It was terribly unfair that she wasn't allowed to be a part of the resistance movement, with the excuse that she was just sixteen. Did Molly just expect her to sit around and knit socks all day with Fleur? Another surge of anger overtook Ginny. Her own mother should know of her abilities, and there was just no way she was going to spend the next year or so playing house with Fleur. She was too smart for that. Thinking for a moment, she picked herself off the ground and stalked back towards the house.
"Mum?" she called, opening the door and looking around.
"In here, dear," called Molly from the kitchen. Ginny followed the voices and saw Molly and Fleur cooking something, probably dinner for the members of the Order.
"Mum, I want to talk to you about-"
"Ginny dear, we've talked about this," Molly sighed. "The answer is no, and your father agrees with me."
"Why?" Ginny replied, angrily stomping her foot. "Ron and Hermione both get to go with Harry, and I think I have a right to go too." She crossed her arms.
"Don't you think it is quite enough for me to bear knowing that my husband and sons are out there fighting You-Know-Who? You're my only little girl, and too young to be off fighting." Molly put down her utensils and turned to face Ginny.
"I know you think it would be some kind of great adventure, like some kind of romance story where you and Harry ride off into the sunset on his broom after single-handedly defeating the Dark Lord. But it won't be like that. Ron is of the age now where he can make his own decisions, and Harry and Hermione aren't my children.
"You, on the other hand, are my darling little daughter, and you are still too young to be deciding things like this," Molly said, her voice tired, taking Ginny's pouting face into her hands. "Why can't you just stay here and help out like Fleur and I are?" she said, returning to her cooking.
"You don't get it mum!" Ginny flung her hands up in the air. "I can't just sit here while everything is happening!"
"GINEVRA!" Molly had heard enough, slamming down her knife and causing Fleur to jump. "Do you not think it is enough that I have practically lost your brother Percy and that your brother Bill is in such a state! I SAID NO. LEAVE. IT. ALONE!"
"Fine," Ginny murmured, feeling slightly guilty hearing her mother sniffle, but still feeling quite indignant over the way that she was being treated – like a child. "I'm going to visit Harry anyway."
Molly said nothing, but continued chopping with increased force. Ginny reached into the pot above the fire place and threw the floo powder into the flames. Stepping in, she said, "Diagon Alley," and tried not to notice her mother bursting into tears. The familiar rush took over and she maintained as much grace as possible stepping out of the grate.
Ginny took a moment to brush herself off and check herself in a mirror before going to Harry's place. He had taken a room in The Leaky Cauldron for the time being until he could sort out where it would be best for him to stay. She smiled at herself in the mirror. She was looking particularly grown up today, and anyone could see that she was turning out to be a fine young woman. Anyone but mum and dad, she thought, frowning again. With a deep breath, she regained her confidence and headed towards The Leaky Cauldron.
Climbing the stairway, she tried to remember which room Harry was in. Had he said room six or seven? Or maybe she was wrong on both counts. She stood helplessly in the hallway, hoping that the room number would come to her. Suddenly, she heard Harry's voice coming from room six. Ginny smiled, she had been right in the first place. She had to quit doubting herself. Raising her hand to knock, she noticed that the door to the room was slightly ajar. Feeling mischievous, she thought she would surprise Harry instead and slid the door open and snuck inside.
Ginny did not find what she wanted, however. Instead of Harry sitting lovesick on his bed, wishing desperately he could be with Ginny, she found him locked in a passionate kiss with someone. Someone who had brown bushy hair. Someone who looked an awful lot like….
"Hermione," Harry whispered as the not-so-mysterious female nibbled at his ear. She giggled and came back in for another kiss.
Oh, there is just no way, Ginny thought to herself. She blinked once, then twice. Realizing that she was in fact witnessing Hermione and Harry hook up, she put one hand against her forehead and shut her eyes tightly. What could they possibly be thinking? What about Ginny? What about Ron? Ginny was sure that Ron had mentioned something about finally making things official with Hermione. Even though technically Harry wasn't cheating on her, it sure felt like he was being unfaithful. It had been an eternity since she had first entered the room, or at least she felt like it had been. This had to stop. She turned and slammed the still ajar door shut.
As though a gunshot had been fired, Hermione and Harry quickly broke apart. They both pulled out their wands anxiously and scanned the room. Their faces changed from shock to guilt and then just as quickly to feigned annoyance as they noticed Ginny standing by the door.
"Jeez, Ginny," Harry said, nervousness apparent in his voice, "you nearly gave us a heart attack there."
"Indeed," she replied frostily, hardly knowing what to say.
"How long have you been here?" Hermione's hand went up to straighten up her hair.
"Long enough. So I see now why you ended things with me and why you're so insistent I don't come along with you all." Again, she frowned and crossed her arms, biting back tears.
"Ginny, you don't understand…," Harry started, but she cut him off.
"I think I understand perfectly Harry. You should have just told me. As for you," she said, turning on a very sheepish Hermione, "I thought you and my brother were…."
"We are," she said defensively.
"Then what in the bloody hell is all this?"
"Harry's right, you don't understand Ginny, you couldn't possibly…."
"Oh let's just humor me and give it a shot, shall we?"
"It's complicated, you're too –"
"Oh I just DARE you to say too young, which would be pretty rich coming from two people only a year older than me."
"Listen, Ginny… you can't tell Ron," Hermione said. "He'll be crushed."
"And whose fault would that be?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
"He doesn't have to know," Hermione said. "This has been going on for a while now."
"Way to make things better, Hermione," Harry said in a low voice.
"Ron doesn't have a clue," Hermione continued, ignoring Harry. "He's been in love with me for years, and I think after dating me for a while it will get out of his system."
"How does that make any bloody sense?"
"We date for a while, then when things get dangerous I tell him that we can't see each other until this is over. By the time this whole mess ends," Hermione's voice wavered here, and she paused as if in silent prayer, "if it ends, he'll be over it. But if you tell him…Ginny, you'll kill him. What if something happens to him? Do you really want that on your chest? At least," she paused again here, "at least if something happens to him during the war, then he'll die happy. Hopefully there will be time to explain things later."
Ginny could say nothing. Her heartbreak was enough. Maybe it would be best to let Ron go on thinking everything was ok. She stood, staring at the pair, then looking away and staring into space as she thought. Ron deserved happiness, even if she didn't have it right now.
"I'm leaving," she said, cutting through the awkward silence that had overtaken the room for several minutes.
"You won't mention this to Ron?" Hermione looked at her nervously.
"No," she said sadly. "I think one heartbreak is enough for now." She looked pointedly at Harry. He hung his head, feeling terrible and ashamed of himself. As Ginny turned to go, he stopped her.
"Did you come here for something?" he asked softly.
"Yea. My mom won't let me come with you guys," she said. "Not that it really matters anymore."
"She's right, Ginny," he said. "You're not ready and I would hate to have something happen to you."
"I am too ready." She scoffed loudly. "And like I even believe that you care one scrap about me."
With that, she turned and walked out the door. Ginny grasped the cold doorknob in her hand and shut the door behind her. She stood there, alone in the hallway for minutes after the wooden door had closed with a click. She could hear Harry and Hermione talking in his room, but that's not what she was paying attention to. Everyone was taking her for granted. She was so much better, so much smarter than everyone seemed to be giving her credit for. I'm ready, she thought to herself. She had to find a way to prove them wrong. Ginny wiped away the tears she had been shedding angrily. Suddenly, the unjustness of it all came crashing down on her. She was furious. How dare they? How dare her parents keep her confined to the Burrow when she had already experienced so much? How dare Harry and Hermione betray her this way? How dare they put Ron's happiness on her? No, she thought, her face contorted with anger. She would show them just what she was capable of. She would show them the consequences of underestimating Ginevra Weasley. And she knew just how she would do it.
Wordlessly, she descended the staircase and walked up to the fireplace in the corner of the bar. Looking around to make sure no one would see her, she took a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire. Stepping in, she took one final glance around the room and whispered her destination into the flames.
"Malfoy Manor."