Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot everything else belongs to
the queen of literature J.K.Rowling. I am making no profit from this story.
AN: Okay forget everything I said in my AN in the last chapter about chapter 10 I changed my mind. I've had chapter ten written since the day I posted chap. Seven. I was just waiting for reviews, guess I waited long enough. I'm kinda disappointed I only got 3. Don't know what I was expecting, but I knew I was expecting more than three. Oh well. Hope you like this chapter, it's probably my favorite so far. Oh and I hope you guys will read and REVIEW.
-Shortstuff
Ginny had just pulled out a pack of exploding snap cards when Harry walked in through the portrait hole. Ally got up swiftly and left glancing back to catch Ginny's eye with a significant stare that re-enforced Ginny's stretched courage. Harry was a friend and so she didn't want this conversation to turn out the wrong way but she still wanted to make it clear that she had no interest in him whatsoever.
"Hey Harry," she ventured.
Harry felt a wave of relief wash over him, she was talking to him. He had been worried that he had gone and ruined things between them. "Hey Ginny he said putting on a smile, how are things, look I'm real sorry for the way I acted." He hadn't meant it so straightforward because he knew there would be question but he just couldn't find any other words for it.
"Why'd you do it Harry just tell me why you're bound to have a reason."
Well he might as well tell her the truth, leading up to that morning he had been thinking a lot about what happened with Cho and he had figured that if he was ever going to get a girl he had to take action. He was never a wiz with words and that was the only thing he could think of doing that would portray his situation with out a tangle of words. "I didn't want to lose my chance with you like I did with Cho, I guess it was to late for that but I swear to you I didn't know that you had a boyfriend honest and I am sincerely sorry. Will you please forgive."
"Well why didn't you tell me this morning Harry it would have saved me a lot of thought, not that I'm fine with what happened. I guess I get where you're coming from though." Ginny replied uncertainly.
"I don't know I was in an odd mood I guess, I'm sorry can we just forget about it please and go back to being friends?' he asked almost pleading, he wanted to be around her even if he couldn't be her boyfriend.
"Ya fine,' she really didn't want to lose a friend, she was real picky with her friends, not really trusting people after what happened to in her first year at Hogwarts.
Suddenly Ron walked in with a pale grim face on. He looked like someone who had lost everything he had. Hermione followed him with a worried look on a face. Ron swept the room with one glance and saw Ginny sitting in front of the fire. He tossed a single roll of parchment onto her lap then collapsed into a chair across from her without a word.
Harry shot a questioning glance at Hermione who distractedly shrugged her shoulders while trying to see if Ron was okay. Ginny grabbed the roll and quickly unfurled Harry watched as her eyes raced from side to side as she quickly skimmed through what seemed to be a letter. Before harry could circle around her chair to read over her shoulder it dropped from her grip onto the floor. Ginny didn't seem to notice she merely stared blankly into the fire, which was flicking steadily lower. Harry stooped down and grabbed the letter. He read it aloud in a soft whisper.
Dear Ron, We would just like you to know that Bill passed away while working for Gringotts on a treasure recovery job. We know it hurts you and believe us we have spent the past two hours crying. I'm sorry to put it so abruptly Ron but we just don't have the heart to sugar coat it. All we know is that he was found dead in the outskirts of some town in Albania. By the way we have no doubt in our minds that you-know-who had something to do with this just so you know that we're not completely oblivious. We want you to do NOTHING about it no matter how you feel. Maybe now you understand why you're not in the order. Please tell Ginny. If you want to attend the funeral you can but you don't have to, just ask Dumbledore it's next Saturday, just the family. Stay out of harms way as always not that anyone ever listens to me. Love, Molly Weasley
His voice ended in a hushed whisper. He looked up to see silent tears pouring down Ginny's face and Hermione shocked face. Ron was as still as a statue, he didn't seem to have heard anything at all.
"How the hell did that happen, Ron didn't you tell me that he was working collecting antiques in an old mansion in Albania that used to belong to a wizarding family?" Hermione asked into the silence. No one answered her at first. Then a thought struck Harry could it possibly be the mansion that Voldemort was hiding in, the one he had dreamed about so many times.
"Did it happen to be in Little Hangleton?" Harry asked looking at Hermione. She looked baffled but Ron answered.
"Ya but what does that matter, he's dead and that's all that matters now who the hell cares where he was working."
"Well we know that it was Voldemort then because that's the mansion he uses for a hideout." At Harry's reply the confused look on Hermione's face was replaced by one of understanding.
Harry expected it when Ron burst out in anger, "That doesn't matter he's dead and he's never coming back so it's doesn't matter who killed him." Sure it was Voldemort but that doesn't change the fact that he's dead so just shut up or go tell dear old Dumbledore he probably cares he's the one who got all of us into this mess."
"Well what are we supposed to do sit around in a tight little circle and wait for us all to get killed at once you know hand him our lives on a silver palter." Ron had been the one who wanted to join in the order now he was pissed of because Dumbledore started the whole thing to confront Voldemort.
Ron opened his mouth to say something but Hermione cut in, "There's no point arguing over this it doesn't matter so just drop it."
They both shut their mouths. Ron looked down at his feet while Harry gazed out across the empty common room to the fogged up window.
"I'm going to bed," Ginny said speaking for the first time since she read the letter. Before anyone could respond She got up and dashed across the room and through the door to the girls' dormitories.
Slowly without a word Ron got up and dragged his feet across the room and disappeared behind the guys' dormitory door. Harry shot a sharp glance at Hermione. "We all knew someone was going to die I guess everybody hoped it wouldn't be someone they knew and loved. Poor Bill he was the oldest. Ron and Ginny will be put out for weeks."
"They have every right to I'm still sad about Sirius and nothing will change that we should give them their space." Harry thought about Sirius for a brief moment and pang of grief shot though him. "We should go to bed. They got up and each went slowly to their respectful dormitories in deep thought.
As Harry looked around the dormitory he saw that Ron was lying face up on his bed not even pretending to be asleep. Harry went over and sat on the edge of Ron's bed. "Go away," Ron mumbled his voice barely audible.
"I know how you're feeling," Harry replied ignoring Ron's comment. He braced himself for Ron to yell at him as Harry had done to Dumbledore in his fifth year.
"No you don't you don't have the slightest of how I'm feeling, how could you?"
"Sirius," Harry said simply, he saw the angry look on his friend's face soften. He knew Ron was going to apologize, "Don't worry about what you said it doesn't matter I yelled at Dumbledore for way longer before I calmed down even a bit. That is why you have a best mate for so you can yell at him instead of innocent bystanders and wise headmasters"
Harry was trying to make Ron smile, lighten up the mood a bit but it didn't work. "Its all Dumbledore's fault him and that stupid order. Bill was the greatest he didn't deserve to die. If I get my hands on stupid Voldemort-" Ron's voice died of as he realized he had said Voldemort (without having Hermione nagging him to say it) then he began to speak again in a harsher tone. "The hell with it he can't do much worse than kill me if I say his name, fuck him if I see him I don't care how powerful he is I'll curse him into an oblivion."
"Well I'm going to bed Ron, don't think to much about it. Get some rest you may feel better in the morning." Harry got up and strode over to the foot of his bed and grabbed a pair of pajamas that he quickly threw on. He fell lightly onto his bed.
Thinking of the evening he figured that it hadn't been completely horrible, Ginny wasn't mad at him anymore. But Bill had been his favorite of Ron's older brothers excluding the infamous twins. Then as always when he thought about Voldemort or death he saw a crisp image of his godfather the picture of withered youth and happiness falling through the archway. Remembering the feeling of fleeting hope as he realized that Sirius was truly gone. He silently swore revenge as he had done many times already this year. Not only for Sirius but also for all the innocent people who had died because of Voldemort. That's what he was meant to do wasn't it?
Ginny dumped herself onto her bed without undressing. She pulled the curtain almost all the way around her bed leaving a small gap. Through the gap a ray of moonlight came through and fell on her midriff. She could feel the tears sliding down her cheek. She didn't know how long she cried for just thinking about Bill. He had been the oldest always looking out for his siblings. She remembered the time when she had fallen of her broom trying to mimic her older brothers. She lay on the ground silent willing herself not to cry it had been Bill who had come over to make sure she was all right and to tell her crying didn't make her a baby.
Most of the curses she knew she had learned from Bill and she admired the way he dressed so daring she had always wished she could be like her oldest brother but she had been afraid of what her friends would think. Now those things didn't matter now all that mattered was that her brother was gone and he wouldn't be coming back. Suddenly a wave of rage hit her, Voldemort had hurt the ones she loved so badly and yet she didn't have the power to do anything well she couldn't hurt him anyway, that only Harry could do. She knew this because she had picked up a lot of things hanging around the burrow, which over the summer was a traffic spot for members of the order.
Ginny closed her eyes as scene after scene of her youth with her brothers ran before her mind's eye. This time she cried not only for Bill but also because everyone in her family, everyone she loved and cared about was in danger and all because of Voldemort. A reckless feeling of rage swept over again her she didn't care about herself she just wanted Voldemort to pay. Then reality hit her, she was just a 15 year old girl what could she do against the likes of Voldemort. Sure she could fight the death eaters but it wasn't as though she'd be aloud. In the end she'd end up helping Harry but she knew that from her struggle with dear old Voldemort in her first year that Harry wouldn't be able to do it alone, no one could and yet he had to. All she could do was hope that no one else in her family was hurt during what was left of the battle.
Then a disturbing thought hit her. What if Harry didn't win what if Voldemort triumphed then she and her family would die or become his slaves. The thought wouldn't leave her mind as she drifted of into an uncomfortable sleep filled with dreams that played out dark and horrible possibilities of what would happen if Voldemort won. - End of Chapter 8 - TBC
AN: Tell me if you think it's turning kinda angsty.
AN: Okay forget everything I said in my AN in the last chapter about chapter 10 I changed my mind. I've had chapter ten written since the day I posted chap. Seven. I was just waiting for reviews, guess I waited long enough. I'm kinda disappointed I only got 3. Don't know what I was expecting, but I knew I was expecting more than three. Oh well. Hope you like this chapter, it's probably my favorite so far. Oh and I hope you guys will read and REVIEW.
-Shortstuff
Ginny had just pulled out a pack of exploding snap cards when Harry walked in through the portrait hole. Ally got up swiftly and left glancing back to catch Ginny's eye with a significant stare that re-enforced Ginny's stretched courage. Harry was a friend and so she didn't want this conversation to turn out the wrong way but she still wanted to make it clear that she had no interest in him whatsoever.
"Hey Harry," she ventured.
Harry felt a wave of relief wash over him, she was talking to him. He had been worried that he had gone and ruined things between them. "Hey Ginny he said putting on a smile, how are things, look I'm real sorry for the way I acted." He hadn't meant it so straightforward because he knew there would be question but he just couldn't find any other words for it.
"Why'd you do it Harry just tell me why you're bound to have a reason."
Well he might as well tell her the truth, leading up to that morning he had been thinking a lot about what happened with Cho and he had figured that if he was ever going to get a girl he had to take action. He was never a wiz with words and that was the only thing he could think of doing that would portray his situation with out a tangle of words. "I didn't want to lose my chance with you like I did with Cho, I guess it was to late for that but I swear to you I didn't know that you had a boyfriend honest and I am sincerely sorry. Will you please forgive."
"Well why didn't you tell me this morning Harry it would have saved me a lot of thought, not that I'm fine with what happened. I guess I get where you're coming from though." Ginny replied uncertainly.
"I don't know I was in an odd mood I guess, I'm sorry can we just forget about it please and go back to being friends?' he asked almost pleading, he wanted to be around her even if he couldn't be her boyfriend.
"Ya fine,' she really didn't want to lose a friend, she was real picky with her friends, not really trusting people after what happened to in her first year at Hogwarts.
Suddenly Ron walked in with a pale grim face on. He looked like someone who had lost everything he had. Hermione followed him with a worried look on a face. Ron swept the room with one glance and saw Ginny sitting in front of the fire. He tossed a single roll of parchment onto her lap then collapsed into a chair across from her without a word.
Harry shot a questioning glance at Hermione who distractedly shrugged her shoulders while trying to see if Ron was okay. Ginny grabbed the roll and quickly unfurled Harry watched as her eyes raced from side to side as she quickly skimmed through what seemed to be a letter. Before harry could circle around her chair to read over her shoulder it dropped from her grip onto the floor. Ginny didn't seem to notice she merely stared blankly into the fire, which was flicking steadily lower. Harry stooped down and grabbed the letter. He read it aloud in a soft whisper.
Dear Ron, We would just like you to know that Bill passed away while working for Gringotts on a treasure recovery job. We know it hurts you and believe us we have spent the past two hours crying. I'm sorry to put it so abruptly Ron but we just don't have the heart to sugar coat it. All we know is that he was found dead in the outskirts of some town in Albania. By the way we have no doubt in our minds that you-know-who had something to do with this just so you know that we're not completely oblivious. We want you to do NOTHING about it no matter how you feel. Maybe now you understand why you're not in the order. Please tell Ginny. If you want to attend the funeral you can but you don't have to, just ask Dumbledore it's next Saturday, just the family. Stay out of harms way as always not that anyone ever listens to me. Love, Molly Weasley
His voice ended in a hushed whisper. He looked up to see silent tears pouring down Ginny's face and Hermione shocked face. Ron was as still as a statue, he didn't seem to have heard anything at all.
"How the hell did that happen, Ron didn't you tell me that he was working collecting antiques in an old mansion in Albania that used to belong to a wizarding family?" Hermione asked into the silence. No one answered her at first. Then a thought struck Harry could it possibly be the mansion that Voldemort was hiding in, the one he had dreamed about so many times.
"Did it happen to be in Little Hangleton?" Harry asked looking at Hermione. She looked baffled but Ron answered.
"Ya but what does that matter, he's dead and that's all that matters now who the hell cares where he was working."
"Well we know that it was Voldemort then because that's the mansion he uses for a hideout." At Harry's reply the confused look on Hermione's face was replaced by one of understanding.
Harry expected it when Ron burst out in anger, "That doesn't matter he's dead and he's never coming back so it's doesn't matter who killed him." Sure it was Voldemort but that doesn't change the fact that he's dead so just shut up or go tell dear old Dumbledore he probably cares he's the one who got all of us into this mess."
"Well what are we supposed to do sit around in a tight little circle and wait for us all to get killed at once you know hand him our lives on a silver palter." Ron had been the one who wanted to join in the order now he was pissed of because Dumbledore started the whole thing to confront Voldemort.
Ron opened his mouth to say something but Hermione cut in, "There's no point arguing over this it doesn't matter so just drop it."
They both shut their mouths. Ron looked down at his feet while Harry gazed out across the empty common room to the fogged up window.
"I'm going to bed," Ginny said speaking for the first time since she read the letter. Before anyone could respond She got up and dashed across the room and through the door to the girls' dormitories.
Slowly without a word Ron got up and dragged his feet across the room and disappeared behind the guys' dormitory door. Harry shot a sharp glance at Hermione. "We all knew someone was going to die I guess everybody hoped it wouldn't be someone they knew and loved. Poor Bill he was the oldest. Ron and Ginny will be put out for weeks."
"They have every right to I'm still sad about Sirius and nothing will change that we should give them their space." Harry thought about Sirius for a brief moment and pang of grief shot though him. "We should go to bed. They got up and each went slowly to their respectful dormitories in deep thought.
As Harry looked around the dormitory he saw that Ron was lying face up on his bed not even pretending to be asleep. Harry went over and sat on the edge of Ron's bed. "Go away," Ron mumbled his voice barely audible.
"I know how you're feeling," Harry replied ignoring Ron's comment. He braced himself for Ron to yell at him as Harry had done to Dumbledore in his fifth year.
"No you don't you don't have the slightest of how I'm feeling, how could you?"
"Sirius," Harry said simply, he saw the angry look on his friend's face soften. He knew Ron was going to apologize, "Don't worry about what you said it doesn't matter I yelled at Dumbledore for way longer before I calmed down even a bit. That is why you have a best mate for so you can yell at him instead of innocent bystanders and wise headmasters"
Harry was trying to make Ron smile, lighten up the mood a bit but it didn't work. "Its all Dumbledore's fault him and that stupid order. Bill was the greatest he didn't deserve to die. If I get my hands on stupid Voldemort-" Ron's voice died of as he realized he had said Voldemort (without having Hermione nagging him to say it) then he began to speak again in a harsher tone. "The hell with it he can't do much worse than kill me if I say his name, fuck him if I see him I don't care how powerful he is I'll curse him into an oblivion."
"Well I'm going to bed Ron, don't think to much about it. Get some rest you may feel better in the morning." Harry got up and strode over to the foot of his bed and grabbed a pair of pajamas that he quickly threw on. He fell lightly onto his bed.
Thinking of the evening he figured that it hadn't been completely horrible, Ginny wasn't mad at him anymore. But Bill had been his favorite of Ron's older brothers excluding the infamous twins. Then as always when he thought about Voldemort or death he saw a crisp image of his godfather the picture of withered youth and happiness falling through the archway. Remembering the feeling of fleeting hope as he realized that Sirius was truly gone. He silently swore revenge as he had done many times already this year. Not only for Sirius but also for all the innocent people who had died because of Voldemort. That's what he was meant to do wasn't it?
Ginny dumped herself onto her bed without undressing. She pulled the curtain almost all the way around her bed leaving a small gap. Through the gap a ray of moonlight came through and fell on her midriff. She could feel the tears sliding down her cheek. She didn't know how long she cried for just thinking about Bill. He had been the oldest always looking out for his siblings. She remembered the time when she had fallen of her broom trying to mimic her older brothers. She lay on the ground silent willing herself not to cry it had been Bill who had come over to make sure she was all right and to tell her crying didn't make her a baby.
Most of the curses she knew she had learned from Bill and she admired the way he dressed so daring she had always wished she could be like her oldest brother but she had been afraid of what her friends would think. Now those things didn't matter now all that mattered was that her brother was gone and he wouldn't be coming back. Suddenly a wave of rage hit her, Voldemort had hurt the ones she loved so badly and yet she didn't have the power to do anything well she couldn't hurt him anyway, that only Harry could do. She knew this because she had picked up a lot of things hanging around the burrow, which over the summer was a traffic spot for members of the order.
Ginny closed her eyes as scene after scene of her youth with her brothers ran before her mind's eye. This time she cried not only for Bill but also because everyone in her family, everyone she loved and cared about was in danger and all because of Voldemort. A reckless feeling of rage swept over again her she didn't care about herself she just wanted Voldemort to pay. Then reality hit her, she was just a 15 year old girl what could she do against the likes of Voldemort. Sure she could fight the death eaters but it wasn't as though she'd be aloud. In the end she'd end up helping Harry but she knew that from her struggle with dear old Voldemort in her first year that Harry wouldn't be able to do it alone, no one could and yet he had to. All she could do was hope that no one else in her family was hurt during what was left of the battle.
Then a disturbing thought hit her. What if Harry didn't win what if Voldemort triumphed then she and her family would die or become his slaves. The thought wouldn't leave her mind as she drifted of into an uncomfortable sleep filled with dreams that played out dark and horrible possibilities of what would happen if Voldemort won. - End of Chapter 8 - TBC
AN: Tell me if you think it's turning kinda angsty.