Chapter Two:2
Ginny Weasley stepped through the hole in the bricks of the wall in the back room of the Leaky Cauldron. Once again, Diagon Alley was the cheery, jovial place it had been when she was a child. The shop windows were filled with models of their products, everything colorful, and people everywhere stopped to talk with one another, laughing and happy.
Ginny dearly wished she could join in the joyfulness of it all, but something inside of her wrenched at her heart, telling her that all the happiness was only temporary.
I've become such a killjoy, Ginny thought to herself, slowly shaking her head and withdrawing her 2-foot long shopping list from her left pocket. Quietly wondering where to begin, Ginny moved slowly down the street as she read her list over again. Seconds later, she bumped into something large and somewhat furry.
"Oi! Watch where yer goin', why don' cha…" Rubeus Hagrid screamed, looking around for the person who bumped into him.
"Oh! Hagrid, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention…"
Hagrid looked down to see a shock of scarlet hair.
"Ah, Ginny, allow me ter apologize…Shouldn' have yelled like that," Hagrid explained ruefully. Ginny rubbed her head, and nodded in acceptance of Hagrid's apology.
"So, Professor Weasley," teased Hagrid playfully, "what brings you to Diagon Alley? Start of Term's tomorrow, ya know, I'm sure."
"I've begun my shopping a bit late I 'spose," Ginny said, handing her list to Hagrid. "Do you think you could give me an idea of where to begin?"
Hagrid considered the list carefully, pausing only to scratch his head, before he handed the list back to her.
"Well, somethin' that's not on yer list that every teacher at Hogwarts should have is a First Aid kit. Apothecary's got them on sale today. You should head over there first, then pick up your books, I 'spose."
"Thanks, Hagrid."
Hagrid smiled, and Ginny rolled up the parchment again before stuffing it back in her jeans' pocket.
"So, what are you doing here, Hagrid?" Ginny asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Hagrid looked quite taken aback by the question, and clumsily replied, "Er, just a bit of, er, shopping. Ya know, chores an' all…Well, I'd better get goin'. Gotta get back, o' course. I'll see you tomorrow then, Ginny." Hagrid backed away from her slowly, then turned around and nearly sprinted back into the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny raised one eyebrow suspiciously, but didn't pursue the matter any further. She had much shopping to complete.
She bought the First Aid kit, as Hagrid suggested, and then picked up her set of A Guide to Defense Against Dark Magic at Flourish and Blott's. Ginny sighed, realizing that she'd barely made a dent in her list.
Before she knew it, it was a quarter to five in the evening; she'd promised her mother that she'd be home in time for supper. Hurriedly, Ginny paid for her hair care products and dashed off to Madam Malkins's to purchase some new robes.
As she walked quickly towards the shop, Ginny shrunk the bag containing her toiletries and placed them in the tiny paper bag with the other twenty-six shopping bags.
The shop was empty save for Madam Malkin and an elderly witch who was helping tidy up. Ginny burst through the door, nearly out of breath, realizing she had made it seconds before closing.
"Madam Malkin, forgive me, I'll only be a few minutes. I'm terribly sorry, I know it's almost closing but-"
Madam Malkin shook her head and provided a warm smile.
"Ginny Weasley, you are always welcome in this shop, at whatever hour you choose to come. Now, let's just get you measured…"
Ginny furrowed her brow for a moment, then glanced over at the elderly witch who appeared to be in a state of shock.
"Erm, ma'am? Are you all right?"
"You are Ginny Weasley? The girl who helped to vanquish, er," the woman hesitated at the thought of his name, "oh well, he's dead! You helped Harry Potter kill Voldemort!"
Ginny forced herself to smile, but felt an embarrassed flush spreading over her face. This old, frail witch was the first to recognize her as the assistant in Lord Voldemort's death.
"Oh, now, Agnes, leave the poor girl alone!" Madam Malkin admonished gently, taking Ginny's forearm and pulling her over to the measuring station.
"Please, forgive her. She's just excited, you know. We all are…" said Madam Malkin dreamily as she measured the girl with her wand. Again, Ginny managed an uncomfortable smile, wishing to leave as soon as possible.
"I'd like a few different colors, if you don't mind," Ginny asked politely of the Madam, who conjured a variety of colors and shades of robes for Ginny to choose from.
"These would look lovely on you, dear." Madam Malkin held a pair of emerald green robes up to Ginny, and stepped back to admire her fashion sense. Ginny looked down at herself and had to agree.
Ginny nearly sprinted towards the Leaky Cauldron after leaving Madam Malkin's with black, emerald, and plum colored robes, hoping her mother wouldn't be waiting by the door for her.
Ginny apparated just outside of the kitchen door of the Burrow, expecting her mother to rush out and demand an explanation of why she was late. However, the house looked deserted. As Ginny moved closer to peer into the house, she noted that the lights were all out.
A knot of apprehension formed in the pit of her stomach as she slowly entered the kitchen, wand at the ready. She dropped her single bag on the kitchen counter, and nonverbally lit her wand.
Stealthily, she crept past the kitchen table, and pressed her ear against the door leading to the living room. Silence. Taking a deep breath she pushed open the door…
"SURPRISE!"
Ginny let out a deep breath, and grinned, lowering her wand. She surveyed the faces of her friends and family positioned in her living room (which was decorated, no doubt, by Fred and George), each of them laughing or else trying not to. Apparently, they'd noticed that Ginny was prepared to curse them into oblivion before she realized what was going on.
"Go ahead, you can laugh," Ginny told them, moving towards the crowd. When no one made any noise, she repeated, "I said you can laugh!"
An uproar of hilarity followed, and continued for nearly a minute without dying down. Ginny raised one eyebrow, signaling that it was quite enough.
Mrs. Weasley rushed forward and smothered her daughter in a stifling hug.
"Oh, Ginny, we all just wanted to say good-bye to you and wish you luck. We're all just so proud of you!" Her mother squeezed her extra-tightly until Ginny emitted a choking noise an began gasping for breath.
Abruptly, Mrs. Weasley released her daughter from the hug-of-death; Ginny massaged her sore ribs tenderly, cracked her back and stretched her arms out before facing the rest of the party.
She scanned the faces quickly but thoroughly, searching for Harry. She even stood on her toes, making sure that he was not obscured behind someone taller than him.
"Looking for us, dear sister?"
Hiding her disappointment, Ginny smirked at the sound of George's voice and turned around to find him and Fred holding a gigantic package wrapped in green paper that resembled dragon hide.
"Of course I was. Now, what on earth are you two holding?"
The twins looked at each other, wearing identically puzzled expressions.
Ginny strode over to the two of them and tapped the package impatiently. Though she would never admit, she still loved receiving gifts as much as she had when she was a child.
"George, I think she's gone mad. She's tapping thin air, thinking that something's there!"
"You two are truly impossible," Ginny told them before wrenching the package out of their hands and retreating to the closest armchair to begin to unwrap it.
"Er, Ginny, why don't you save that one for last?" Ron suggested nervously, glaring at Fred and George.
"We want you to open our present first," Hermione explained quickly, smacking Ron in the back of the head when she thought Ginny wasn't looking.
Ginny glanced down at the green-wrapped parcel once more, then decided to play along with their game and set it aside.
Ron handed Ginny a small, rectangular gift and Hermione clasped his arm lovingly. Ginny unwrapped it quickly, throwing the paper aside, and removed the lid of the green box.
Ginny stared down at a beautiful necklace, gold-chained with three emeralds dangling from the middle.
"Oh, it's gorgeous," Ginny marveled, holding the jewelry in her hands.
"She leapt up and threw her arms around her brother and sister-in-law, whispering, "Thank you," through silent tears.
"Don't worry, it's just a regular necklace. You won't hear me talking to you through it, I swear," Hermione joked when Ginny released them and wiped her eyes free from tears.
"It must have cost you a fortune, you shouldn't-"
"Don't worry about it, sis, you deserve it."
Once again Ginny felt the uncomfortable sensation she'd felt in the robe shop. Ginny sank back into her chair, carefully placing the necklace back into the box, and resumed opening her gifts.
Twenty minutes later, Ginny had a set of useful spell books from Lupin and Tonks, a pair of exceptionally fuzzy socks from Luna, a silver, monogrammed mirror from Ebony, a Sneakoscope from Moody, dragon hide slippers from Charlie, a huge supply of Floo Powder from Bill, a mysterious, beautiful green and pink plant from Ivy, and a large amount of Honeydukes chocolates from Dean, Seamus, Cho, and various other D.A. members.
Dumbledore stepped forward with an extremely thin, long package in his hands. He carefully handed it to Ginny and watched happily as she unwrapped it. Ginny glanced up at the Professor lovingly, his twinkling blue eyes seemed to be on the verge of tears. Ginny cleared her throat rather uncomfortably, not wishing to see Dumbledore cry.
Slowly and delicately, Ginny removed the scarlet paper. Her hands carefully picked up the scarlet and gold feather, not wishing to damage it. The feather glowed slightly, and Ginny dropped it back into her lap.
"Don't worry, it's just recognizing you," Dumbledore reassured her, gesturing for Ginny to pick the feather up again. Ginny held it between her thumb and her forefinger, turning it over an examining it. She thought It was extremely kind of Dumbledore to give her such a beautiful feather, but she had no idea what it was for…
"That is a phoenix feather, Ginny, from Fawkes' tail," the Headmaster explained kindly. "I'm sure you know the extraordinary healing powers of the phoenix. It is my great pleasure to allow you the full use of my phoenix, Fawkes, at any time. By holding the feather, much as you are doing now, you can summon Fawkes simply by speaking his name. It is the least I can offer you after all you have accomplished this summer, Ginevra."
Ginny felt a disconcerting lump rise in her throat. Dumbledore backed away slowly, bowing slightly to Ginny as he did so. Ginny finally realized the impact of what she and Harry had done.
In an attempt to prevent her daughter from crying, Mrs. Weasley rushed over to Ginny and softly placed a small, square box in her hand. Ginny sniffed quietly and smiled at her mother, slowly unwrapping the ruby red paper from the box.
"Now, dear, I know it's not much, but I do hope…"
Ginny's eyes sparkled with tears as she held in the palm of her hand her mother's engagement ring.
"Oh, Mum," Ginny sobbed as she flung her arms around her mother's neck; both women crying on the shoulder of the other. After a few seconds, the two of them giggled and wiped their eyes as they broke apart.
"Oh, now, we're being silly," Molly chuckled softly as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "Now, I knew you'd have to leave me sooner or later, and I want you to take this little piece of me with you."
Ginny smiled, her cheeks wet and shining. Fred and George came over to their sister and each of them handed her an oddly shaped package. Ginny looked up at her brothers and frowned, but tore the paper off of the gift Fred handed her.
"The Undying Dream Pillow," Fred explained as Ginny held the rich, purple, satin-covered pillow in her hands. "My own invention. You're guaranteed to have a pleasant dream if you fall asleep on that pillow."
"Wow, thanks, but-"
"Go on, open mine!" George interrupted, nodded towards the other package on his sister's lap.
Ginny ripped the paper back and was left holding a tiny, ten-sided gold object.
"That one is my own invention. You tap it with your wand," George said as he demonstrated, "and it opens up to as much as three meters in diameter, to conceal whatever it is you need to conceal. Simply tap it again, and it closes, returning to its miniscule size!"
"Thanks, both of you, the gifts were great, but I thought that that," Ginny gestured to the 6-foot long box on the floor beside her, "was from you?"
The twins looked at each other, then shrugged their shoulders with comically confused expressions on their faces.
"We've no idea who that's from," Fred told her with a wink.
"Well then, I guess I've got to open it to find out, haven't I?"
Ginny slinked out of her chair and knelt down on the floor beside her chair in front of the package. Slowly and deliberately, she tore back the green paper to reveal…nothing.
The package was empty. Ginny turned around to look at her family to see whether this was a joke, because she didn't find it funny. She was surprised to see them all smiling. Her brow knitted, Ginny turned back around and screamed.
"Harry Potter! Don't you ever do that to me again!" Ginny shrieked as she faced her fiancé on the floor in the wrapping paper, rolling on the floor with laughter. As much as she tried to stay angry, she relented and began to laugh too; soon everyone was laughing, and the night went on joyfully.
Everyone was treated to a wonderfully cooked meal from Mrs. Weasley, and afterwards everyone wished Ginny luck and hugged her as they departed the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny were all seated in the living room by the fireplace, chatting with Arthur and Percy's portraits and just enjoying one another's company.
Just as the hour turned nine, Harry stood up from his seat on the couch and took Ginny by the hand into the kitchen.
The two of them stood in the kitchen, holding hands, and saying nothing, just enjoying the presence of the other for what would probably be the last time for a while. Finally, Ginny broke the silence.
"Oh, Harry. I don't know if this is the right thing to do anymore! I'm going to be alone at Hogwarts; I'm going to miss my family so much! It's a long four months until Christmas! I'm only seventeen, I'm not fit to be a teacher!"
Ginny gave a dry sob. "And Harry, I won't be with you."
Harry enveloped his fiancé in his arms and let her cry against his chest for a few moments. Gently he kissed the top of her head, and when she looked up at him, he softly kissed her rosy lips.
"Ginny, I love you. You'll be fine, I know it. I know you. Don't start to doubt yourself now, Ginny. And Ginny, I'm going to miss you more than you will know. But I realize that four months is nothing compared to how long I'd wanted to be with you."
Harry smiled at the beautiful girl he held in his arms, and rested his head on top of hers. And the two them stayed that way for quite a long time.