Chapter 6: Ginny
6th July 1996
The following Saturday Ginny Weasley awoke to the sun streaming through her window. She rolled over to look at her clock; it was only six in the morning. "Damn forgot to close the curtains, I'll never get back to sleep now." Enjoying the warm fuzziness of her blankets around her she let her mind wander over the events of the past few days, the coming day and her brothers. Ron seemed to be finally getting a clue about Hermione, the chat they had had over Quidditch earlier in the week had been enlightening and made her realise how Ron had, in some ways at least, grown up without her noticing. While she wasn't supposed to have favourites among her brothers Ron and Bill had always been special. Ron because he was the closest in age and he too knew the difficulty in growing up last in a large family and Bill because he would stick up for her when she was growing up. Although that seemed to be changing she'd noticed an overbearing aspect of his personality in the few days she'd been home from school. But with girls maturing faster than boys and the events of her first year she'd always felt as though she had grown up faster than Ron and, while to a certain extent that might be true he wasn't as far behind her as she liked to believe. Once he'd degnomed the garden earlier in the week they'd gotten their brooms and taken off for the paddock. After only an hours play Ron had asked if they could talk and while she'd suggested they move to the ground he'd explained he didn't want the twins to overhear with their Extendables or whatever they had invented now. She'd braced herself, expecting him to finally have a go at her about the trip to the Ministry. While he'd hesitated for a minute or two, she'd managed to work herself into a temper. She recalled how angry she'd been with him.
"I can't believe you Ron, I thought you were different, I thought you'd realised I wasn't seven anymore. But oh no, the Weasley brothers must unite when it comes to 'protecting' their sister. As if I can't look after myself. Yes, I was manipulated before, but I'm not going to fall for that again. And I did try and fight Tom and his diary, I really did and I might have succeeded if Harry hadn't found it after I threw it away, I really might of. But I knew by then that something wasn't right about it so I couldn't leave it with him. But don't you DARE baby me because of a mistake I made when I was eleven. That mistake gives me as much right to fight Voldemort if not more, so stop trying to talk me out of fighting at your side." She'd begun to turn back to the house when Ron had told her.
"I was going to apologize for the train."
She remembered she'd frozen with the sense of having just done something incredibly stupid. She recalled she'd then uttered the most coherent sentence known to womankind as she looked back over her shoulder at him.
"Huh?"
"You know the whole hinting at Harry thing." He'd explained. "I'm sorry I just want you to go out with someone who'll treat you well and I think Harry is that person for you. But at the end of the day that's a decision you'll need to make for yourself and I won't interfere….much. I'll probably have an opinion or two along the way."
"Oh!" Yes, she'd been very intelligent in speech that day. "Thanks Ron…. Um sorry for, you know, blowing up at you."
"Don't worry about it. I thought you'd sorted Charlie out?"
"Yeah, look don't worry too much about Charlie. I think he's still coming round to the idea that we've had the cheek to grow up on him, he hasn't been home since the World Cup and a lot has happened since then, he didn't even meet Sirius, let alone know he was a good guy."
"I know. I just hate it when they baby is and yes," he'd rolled his eyes at her "I know I do it to you too."
"I hate it as well and Ron you baby me the least, well, recently that is I honestly thought that you'd put up more of a fight about me going to the Ministry."
Ron had looked at her guiltily. "Well I was going to but then I realized that if you saw another older, wiser wizard had been tricked then you'd understand that you weren't a silly girl back when you started school. I know that sometimes you think that even though you also know that that's not true and well I wanted that for you." She remembered that her eyes had begun to moisten as he said those things, she'd also realised that her brother had begun to mature, thank goodness and reached out for a hug.
"Thanks Ron."
"You know Gin" as he withdrew from her embrace "war is starting and…well….I can't promise I'll forgive him , he was such a git about Harry but I will try and be civil to Percy when we go to see him. I know mum would appreciate it."
"You've done that a couple of times now" at the puzzled look that his face now wore it took all her energy not to giggle at him but explained "called me Gin. What's with that?"
"Well Ginny is well…. It's a bit babyish isn't it and I know that you are growing up and well I wanted to let you know that I meant what I said about you know about accepting that"
"You're growing up Ron, to be a brother I might just manage to be proud of one day" She was sure the grin on her face had let him know she was teasing.
"Yeah, dunno how I'll ever be proud of a sister like you. Picking my roommates to pretend to go out with."
"Better than pretending not to like someone you do," she had shot back at him
"Like Harry?"
"Like Hermione!"
The stunned look on Ron's face had told her that he had finally figured out his feelings for his female best friend. Realising this she realised she had to make sure to be supportive, Ron's self confidence was almost zero, she had to make him believe he could do this. Once she figured out what it was he wanted to do about the situation. Meanwhile Ron had been stuttering.
"What?… How?… Why?… Um…How on earth? I mean what makes you think? Oh crap have I been that obvious? Do you think she noticed? The last week of school was torture! And it's all so pointless she'll never like me that way, after all she has Vick – giant Bulgarian git."
"Hey there, he's just her friend."
"Yeah, well then what am I? An acquaintance? I'm not good enough for her anyway. He could give her anything she wanted. He must be rolling in it. Quidditch National team player at 17 and then there's me. Youngest of six boys. Hand me down everythings' – except for my broom, which is no good as she doesn't even like flying. Best friend to the Boy Who Lived, the sidekick, stuck in the shadows. And while I wouldn't change any of that Gin I just wish I could be seen as me Ron Weasley, rather than just another red headed Weasley."
"Ron you're plenty good enough for Hermione. You've shared experiences, you're best friends. Anyone who cares that we dress in hand me downs isn't worth knowing anyway, never mind wasting the effort caring what they think about us. You're just as much of a hero as Harry is and people do notice you for you. There were girls in my year who hoped you'd ask them to the ball."
"There were? But…. I never noticed. I saw girls asking Harry but no one ever…"
"Threw themselves at you like they did Harry. I pity him sometimes, people think that just because he is famous he's not like the rest of us, you know a teenager whose hormones leave them all over the place. Besides you weren't paying girls much attention then were you?"
"Well no, I was trying to figure out how to ask Hermione to the ball – as a friend nothing else. I wasn't attracted to her then. I mean, up until I had that falling out with Harry I thought she was only being my friend because of Harry but then she talked to me just as much as she did him and I wanted to let her know that I appreciated the effort she made. Trying to make me see that he hadn't entered his name into that cup was really good of her. I was such an idiot that year. Fourteen must have been the most stupid I've ever been. Just after my birthday was that major row with Hermione over Scabbers and then no sooner are we back at school I row with Harry. I'm a rotten friend. I should've trusted them both. Why is it Ginny that I would've protected both of them from anything but I couldn't trust them? Sorry I'm rambling like an idiot"
"A bit yeah." She recalled that that moment was the closest she'd felt to Ron in a long time. They'd been close as youngsters before he'd gone to Hogwarts but then when she'd joined him he didn't want her traipsing round after him. All of a sudden he was treating her like she was a baby the way her other brothers did. That feeling of aloneness after all her day dreams of becoming friends with Harry Potter and her inability to make friends in her own year had led her to put her trust in the diary and Tom more than she should've. A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled the events of her first year as it always did when she thought back. She shook off the chill that always seemed to envelop her when she thought back to her first year and instead remembered her advice to her older brother.
" Ron, I think the only thing that you can do is talk to them and tell them what you think, let them know that you care, that you don't mean to be a fair-weather friend, but that sometimes you can be immature – I'm sure that they have their moments too.""Thanks Gin, I'll try my best, I've already sent a letter to Harry letting him know. I'll write one to Hermione too."
To the best of her knowledge that letter had still to be written. She knew that there had been several attempts but nothing had yet been sent. She giggled to herself, boys were funny sometimes, denying that they even had feelings. She'd learned a long time ago not to suggest to Ron that he might feel anything. Hermione had him pegged right – teaspoon indeed, although perhaps he'd matured enough to be as deep as a teacup now.
The warm fuzzy feelings of her bed were starting to dissipate and she figured that the best thing to do would be to get up for a shower before Ron beat her to it, that way she'd be down to breakfast first and get her pick of the sausages. She stumbled up the stairs to the next landing and the shower. The nice thing about so many brothers not living at home any more was that there was more hot water to go around in the mornings and nothing woke he up like a good hot shower. And she was going to need to be awake today if they were going to visit Percy, if only to ensure that nothing came to blows although if there wasn't a restriction on underage use of magic she knew she'd be likely to throw a Bat-Bogey Hex or two around the place. She was tempted sometimes to knock some sense into Charlie. He blamed himself for what happened during her first year, but had always been vague as to why. She knew it had something to do with a girl, but as far as she knew Draco Malfoy was an only child so it couldn't have anything to do with a Malfoy girl, she had in the past turned over the idea that perhaps Lucius had had a younger sister and that was who this mysterious girl was but her dad had told her that Lucius Malfoy was an only child as well. But she clearly remembered Charlie pulling her aside while on their family holiday in Egypt and saying he was to blame for making Katelyn Malfoy break her engagement, there was more to the story she was sure but she couldn't get anything out of her older brothers on the subject. Only Bill and Percy had been at school with Charlie and when she'd asked them about it individually during trips around pyramids Bills' face had hardened to one of anger and asked her not to ask about it and Percys' had been one of pure anguish and just told her that they were two people who had loved each other very much but were much too stubborn for their own good and not to ask Charlie about it as he was still upset over it all. She'd tried earlier in the week to get him to talk about because she could see that he was still tying himself up in knots about her getting in danger and thought that it was all rooted back in this part of his life. But nope all she could get out of him was that he'd given his heart away and in turn broken the heart of the girl he loved and endangered his sister, then he'd clammed up. She tried to let him know that it wasn't his fault Lucius Malfoy was evil and it wouldn't have mattered what Charlie may or may not have done in the past Malfoy would still have passed the diary to someone. He'd obviously been lurking round Flourish and Blotts just waiting to sneak the diary to someone and then opportunity had presented itself when the younger Malfoy and Harry met up and the ensuing fisticuff session between her dad and Malfoy. That and she had been stupid enough to ignore her dad's lifelong advice to never trust something whose brain you couldn't see. But for some reason Charlie felt that he had to hold all the blame for what had happened within himself. She only hoped she could get through to him before it twisted him up on in the inside.
By this time she was wandering down the stairs for breakfast and wondering how as the youngest of seven children she seemed to spend so much time worrying about her elder brothers. First Ron, then Charlie and later they were going to try and sort out Percy. She missed him. The family worrywart, just wanting them all to do their best that they could. He'd kept a protective eye over all of them while he was at school letting him know that he was there if they wanted him. But she hadn't she'd wanted her friendship with Ron back. But enough of this dwelling on the past she'd been at it all morning, she was past all this she knew, but for some reason it just kept coming back to her today.
"Morning mum, breakfast smells yum." Her mum smiled up at her from the stove.
"Morning love, sleep well?"
"Like a log, any sign of Ron yet?"
"You know your brother, I doubt we'll see him before 11"
"I'm not so sure this morning mum," Ginny said as she dished her sausages and bread to her plate "Bill said he wanted to get an early start on the day if he was taking us to Diagon Alley. Probably because it's a Saturday doesn't want to get caught up in the crowds with the pair of us in tow."
"Hmmmm…. As to why you'd even want to go and see this shop of your brothers."
"Mum" Ginny sighed "Shouldn't you be proud that they've succeeded to do something that they are good at? What's wrong with their shop? Can you honestly say that you can see them in a Ministry job? Or even working for someone other than themselves? Sure they didn't leave school a conventional way but when have they ever done anything conventionally? Besides Mum they are my brothers can't I go see them from time to time?"
Molly Weasley gaped at her daughter, as much as she hated to admit it her daughter had a point there twins were not cut out to take orders from anyone. The only person they were properly afraid of was her and she wouldn't be following them around for the rest of their lives.
"Of course you can go see them Ginny, they are your brothers and I suppose I just wish that they had finished school and talked a bit more seriously about this to your father and me before they started."
"But mum did you want to listen to them? They've been planning this for two years, since before the World Cup."
"Yes dear, but honestly who would think that they were serious about such a thing?"
"Mum, the twins and jokes. The only thing they are serious about is jokes."
At that moment Bill Weasley apparated into the kitchen thus breaking the small amount of tension beginning to build between mother and daughter.
"Morning all. Nearly ready to go?"
"I am," Ginny told him, "but I think you'll have to yank Ron out of bed to get him going."
"I'm up, I don't think I'm awake but I'm up. Food, shower and I should be ready to go in half an hour Bill."
"Make sure it's only half an hour Ron I've a lot to be getting on with today."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Yes actually, some of us have social lives that do not revolve around chaperoning their younger siblings around shops."
"Hear that Ron," Ginny grinned, "Bill has a social life. I'm sure the lovely Miss. Delacouer is anxiously awaiting his arrival somewhere."
"Stuff it munchkin." Bill flicked a sausage across the table to his sister.
"Enough, honestly, I'd swear you were all toddlers. And tell me William when is it that I am going to meet this young lady of yours."
"But you did mum, she was the Beauxbatons champion during the Tri-Wizard," smiled Ginny
"A schoolgirl!"
"She's finished school mum, she works for Gringotts now. And she is not my young lady! I gave her some English lessons last year, explaining some of the technical terms the bank uses, that's it. She must be ten years younger than me. Ron shouldn't you be getting to the shower." Bill turned to his younger brother to find him already gone.
"Nice try at changing the subject, Bill, but Ron is long gone. Shame for you."
"Ginny leave your brother alone."
"But mum there's no fun in life if I can't tease them."
Ten minutes more of bantering and warnings from her mum to Bill about not letting Ron and Ginny out of his sight meant that it wasn't Ron holding them up on their trip to Diagon Alley.
"Will you have them back for lunch Bill? Charlie said he'd be out and I was wondering if it would just be your father and I at home."
"Yeah mum, I'll treat them to lunch in the Leaky Cauldron before I drop them back."
And with that they were away through the floo network.
A/N Well that's it for Ginny has been really difficult to write. You'd think the fact that I was once a fifteen year old girl turning sixteen would make her easier to write but no. The next chapter is going to be form her point of view as well. But shouldn't take as long to get out. I had real life issues to deal with in the last while as well. Including getting diagnosed with an underactive thyroid which thankfully explained why I've been so lethargic for the last while – and possibly why I haven't felt like writing. So hopefully I'll get into the routine I want of a chapter every fortnight. Hope you all enjoyed this one. Even if I think it's a bit off
Gingerbed Cheers for the review. Glad you liked Harry. Well as you can see Ron won't forgive Percy at least not until Percy looks for forgiveness. And Ron has spoken to Ginny.
Ghosette Cheers for reading, as we get further in and they all start to get back together the chapters may not all be from one persons point of view although I am enjoying writing that way, we'll wait and see exactly how the story develops but I may have to figure out which symbol I like to symbolise a change of POV. Glad to hear I motivated you, you've no idea how your reviews motivate to get off my behind and get my fingers working. :-)
Straycat Thanks for your review – on my birthday, a great present. Back in your review of chapter one you asked about the use of the name Katelyn. I use it this spelling 1) because it's the way a friend spells if so I thought I had it right and 2) when I looked it up on an internet baby name search engine it means pure one which I thought was apt for the Malfoy family. Thanks for the compliments, hope that you'll be honest and tell me if the writing gets bad again. To be honest I didn't enjoy this chapter myself, I don't know if it was that I was writing Ginny or because I was trying to bring a couple of things together in the chapter. When I said fifteen year old at the top of chapter 4 I meant Harry not be I am now 26 – time to update my profile – I can see where the confusion came from though.