When the War is Over: Chapter Four
(I don't own any copyrights to the Harry Potter series, or anything to do with it)
Glass crunches underneath my feet as I step into what used to be Master Olivander's wand shop. I remember this place, faintly, from my memories; I haven't been in here since I got my own wand years ago. Shelves are overturned, boxes are lying everywhere, the cash register's drawer is open. The front display windows are boarded up, but thin strips of light find their way through the boards, illuminating tiny motes of dust as they dance before my eyes.
"It's eerie, isn't it?" Hermione says from beside me. There are twelve of us here, besides Ron, Hermione, and myself, although I do not know most of their names. Tonks wanted to join us, but a pregnancy of six months prevented her from going, on Lupin's orders. She's been doing limited amounts of work inside the ministry, helping the order in small ways, and she and Lupin are joyfully looking forward to their first child, a boy, late in the summer. Tonks showed up late last night, and she told me the good news. She and Lupin were married in the summer; They are not concerned with their child being a werewolf. I told Tonks I wanted to be there when she had the baby; She smiled and told me she'd be overjoyed if I could. It makes me think of my own life. What would it be like to be married to Harry? Have a family with him? Sometimes it feels like life is so short...
Bill steps up beside me and puts a comforting hand on my shoulder; He squeezes, giving me a rough smile, and moves towards the back of the store. Bill's scars are not as bad as they once were, although if he meets anyone now-a-days who didn't know him before, they would probably never be able to call him handsome. He and Fleur were married just before Harry left, they've had some rough times...but they're pulling through; They have a beautiful one year old daughter, Elizabeth, who my Mum spoils rotten. My mind wanders back to that day...
"After the wedding, I'm leaving..." he says, leaning against the trunk of a tree, crossing his arms and trying to appear collected. "I hope you understand..."
"I don't understand!" I shout at him, "I don't understand at all!" We so rarely fight, that the sharpness of my own voice surprises me; A tone tinged with bitter and hurtful feelings of betrayal.
"We've been over this already Gin," he scrubs a hand through messy hair and closes his eyes for a minute, collecting his thoughts, "I'm not willing to put your life on the line, not for anything! Stay here, where you'll be safe...how do you think I'd feel if something happened to you?"
"I don't know, how would you feel?" I snap, regretting the words instantly. His eyes widen, and I spin around and drop to the grass, wanting him to be here with me, yet at the same time, wanting him to be as far away as possible.
"You don't mean that," he breathes, suddenly pressing against my back, "your angry with me, and you have every right to feel so...but, I want you to be my reason for returning. I want you to be my home. Can't you understand that?" All the anger drains from my body as he runs his hands through my hair, kissing the back of my neck lovingly. I lean into his warmth, enjoying the way his arms wrap around my stomach, the way we entwine our hands, the gentle little song he sings, ever so nervously, into my ear.
"Will I see you after the wedding?" I ask.
"Someday Gin, if this war is ever over...someday, if I survive...I want to come back to you, and if your not taken by anyone else...I want to marry you." I shift around in astonishment; His bright green eyes are fixed on me, he looks a little nervous.
"Someday?" I ask in a small voice, feeling as though 'someday' is a little to vague.
"Someday," he replies.
"Yes!" I suddenly shout, and he falls overbackwards in astonishment; I lay on top of him and we entwine hands again and share a kiss; Eventually he wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer, lifting his head to deepen the kiss while I cradle it gently on my forearms.
"--Is something!" Someone is saying. My mind returns to the present, and I notice that Hermione and Ron are waving their hands in front of my face.
"Sorry guys," I shake my head in an attempt to clear it, "I just spaced out for a little bit. Did we find something?"
"Not yet," Hermione replies, "but we're gonna start going through boxes now. All the wands that can be saved are gonna be returned to headquarters; Hopefully we can use them at a later date, but if not, at least the enemy won't be able to get their hands on them."
"Ginny, start with the boxes in the back of the store," Ron points, already ripping the lids off boxes. Hermione and I cringe at his lack of delicacy; Didn't handling the wrong wand cause sparks and make things explode when we tried them out? I leave Hermione to deal with my brother, and head to the back of the store. Is it just me, or can I hear the faintest sound of bells ringing in the musty apmosphere? It is very curious Mr. Potter, that you should have been destined for this wand, when it's brother gave you back that scar!...The wand chooses the wizard Mr. Potter, it's not always clear why... I shake my head again, to clear it of these strange voices, and begin taking the lids off of some boxes.
It's quite a while, but finally I rescue all the usable wands; I than turn my attention to a crowded antique desk with a smashed brass lamp lying on top of it; The desk is crammed with odds and ends, old inventory sheets, spell books, newspaper clippings...I force one of the drawers open, and inside I find an emerald green, leather bound book, it's cover cracked, the pages faded and falling out. Wonderingly, I thumb through it, and find tiny cramped handwriting on the stained pages. It says:
Two were fated, two did come, two and two were one. What was lost was reclaimed, what was fated was reborn, what was done could not be undone, and so the two were one. Be wary all ye who dare attempt, the two are meant to be: Two and two were one, and one more than, was three.
I cannot attempt to decrypt this message, I heard it while I was selling Professor Trelawney a new wand earlier in the month, but I believe it is another prophecy, concerning the Potter boy. Now that the enemy knows I have heard,I will attempt to flee---I only hope whoever finds this is both pure of heart and good of cause as I may never return---
The last words were dashed onto the page in a hurried scrawl. I rush out to show the others what I've found.
"What do you make of it?" Ron asks, scratching his head.
"We should take it back to headquarters before we try to figure out what it means. Anyway, I think we've found all there is to find here, and it's getting late, shall we head back?" Bill says.
Everyone agrees; I'm not sad to leave this place,the air is far to heavy, full of the deep, sad, lonely memories. I cheer myself up by thinking: I'm one step closer, one step closer to finding him. I promise myself that I will uncover the mystery of this second prophecy, and I willuse it to save him...even if it means my life!