Chapter 9: It's a Long Ways Up

Egypt

Bill Weasley was infuriated.

His parents had practically abandoned his little sister. Heck! They completely abandoned their own daughter!

When they showed up, Molly and Arthur Weasley tried placating Bill by saying that she was seeing mind healers, but a quick talk with the twins showed that that wasn't true.

Yet, they still had the audacity to come see him in bloody Egypt. AND the only ones here who thought it was messed up were the twins. He was going to do something about this. He had to.

Bill started making plans with the twins and Charlie (via owl) to go visit Ginny.

They had it set. They would portkey to England on July 25th without giving a damn what their parents thought.

-The Truth Behind Major Events-

6:55 a.m. July 8

Ginny and Harry were both in the kitchen, half asleep and eating some toast and a nutritional potion Harry had been drinking since he was saved from the Dursleys. Ginny had snuck out of her aunt's house and had until none to be back. It was a Saturday and her aunt had been out practically until Ginny left.

At exactly 7:00, Sirius came into the kitchen. "Morning, kiddos! Let's get moving!" The duo groaned at his exuberance. Sirius chuckled, "Now, I bought clothes for you all yesterday. Go and put them on. Harry, they're in your room. Show Ginny the room across the hall from you."

Harry nodded and they made their way up the stairs. Harry pointed Ginny to her room and Ginny grunted in appreciation. Both preteens were still waking up. Inside of the rooms was an assortment of athletic wear with one outfit on top saying "WEAR NOW." They both changed and made their way downstairs.

"Ah, good! You can read!" Sirius began. "Now, let's begin. Follow me." When the trio came into a newly renovated room that happened to look like a cross between a weight room and yoga studio, Sirius led them through some stretches. Due to their relatively active nature, the stretches weren't too hard. Sirius saw this and was glad. Most wizards could care less about running around, even in jest.

After about 10 minutes of this, Sirius told them to "Keep up" and began to run out of the house and onto the street. It was still before 7:30, so the streets weren't too crowded. Sirius led them down Grimmauld Place and down Fairbank Lane jogging at a relatively slow place By the time 5 minutes had elapsed, both kids were struggling to keep up. Sirius noted how they kept on pushing, which was encouraging.

Keeping the same pace, they ran for 10 more minutes before stopping in a park. When Sirius stopped, they both practically collapsed on a bench.

"Stay standing and walk around a little. It will help." Sirius let them catch their breath and he expanded 3 water bottles he had shrank down in his pocket. "Now, we're going to do some sprints. I want you to race eachotther from this bench to the third light pole about 100 meters away. Go on my whistle."

"What did we get ourselves into?" Ginny asked as she began to stand on the line Sirius had pointed at.

"I don't know, but-" Sirius's first whistle cut them off. Both took off running and racing while Sirius stayed in the middle of the course.

Harry was slightly ahead of Ginny the first 50 meters, but Ginny, being the competitor that she is, passed him at the end.

"Come on Harry, at least give me some competition," Ginny teased with a smirk. Well, as much of a smirk as she could do while struggling to breath.

"Not this next time Gin," Harry bantered back, "you're going down."

Sirius blew his whistle and both were off faster than before. It was neck and neck. Ginny barely won. The next one, Harry won. Seven more sprints later, they were tied and too tired to talk.

Sirius came up to them clapping. "Nice job, kids. Y'all both pushed each other. Come on. Let's walk home." And the slow trudge home began.

However, the day isn't over. Sirius showed them some simple exercises and the mechanics behind some of the things he had bought. They worked out until 10:30 before showering and changing and heading into the kitchen for a snack.

"I'm famished," Harry exclaimed as he and Ginny walked into the kitchen. Sirius had already made three big sandwiches for them to eat.

"Both of you did good today. Tomorrow, I want you to run the same route again. Meet me at the bench by 7:20. Ginny you can take some clothes with you so you do not have to change here." with this Sirius stood up and began to leave. "Remember to stretch tonight! It'll help. We'll stick with this for a week or two before adding stuff. Have a nice day!"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other before he left and they groaned.

Harry was the one who spoke first. "This is only going to get harder, isn't it?"

"Yeah. But I guess we asked for it. Ugh."

Harry smiled at Ginny's sound affects. "So, do you want to go pick out some books for you to read? You might not die of boredom at Aunt Muriels."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny Harry. Not everyone gets to live with an old dog." Both laughed at this. "But yeah, that would be great!"

And Harry and Ginny spent the rest of the morning before Ginny had to return sorting through books in a way that was somehow very fun and amusing. Eventually, Ginny had to leave.

-The Truth Behind Major Events-

12:30 p.m. July 6: Aunt Muriel's House

Aunt Muriel was just now waking up with a horrid headache. Why did Mrs. Bellion have to always have her favorite wines in stock?

Aunt Muriel had just finished getting ready when there was a knock on her door. She opened it to finst a sharply dressed young man who bore the head of the house of Black signa on his chest.

"Hello, Ms. Muriel Prewitt," the man began, "I am Orion Black and I would like to talk to you. May I come in?"

With the Black family being one of the most influential families in British wizarding History, Aunt Muriel could not bring herself to deny his request.

"What are you here for, Lord Black?"

"Well, you see, Ms. Prewitt. My godson has befriended your daughter. Both are exceptionally bright students, so I was wondering if Miss Ginevra could come join us to study each day?"

"That would be acceptable. Now Lord Black, who is your Godson, if you wish to tell me."

"Harry Potter," Lord Black said with a wink before leaving the house.

Muriel was flabbergasted.

-The Truth Behind Major Events-

July 7 - July 20

The rest of the two weeks continued in a similar fashion. Harry and Ginny met at seven before proceeding to run two miles and then doing sprints with Sirius. They then worked out in the weight room. Overall, the workouts were getting easier and easier.

After the grueling workouts, Harry and Ginny would eat and then study some aspect. They had gone over Ruins and Arithmancy and Wards and Defense and whatever other subject had interested them. Harry had enjoyed these subjects so much that he had asked Mcgonagal to change electives via owl. He was now signed up for Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Ruins, and Arithmancy. He had also promised Ginny to teach her everything he learned in those classes.

Then, they would meet Sirius in another room that had been renovated into a Dueling room. There, they would learn some of the spells they had studied in addition to reviewing the First and Second Year curriculum. Both had finished their homework in the first week and were beginning Third Year work. Everyone was astonished by how fast Ginny was picking up the material.

At the end of the day and each Sunday, Harry, Ginny, and Sirius would sit by the fire and talk about everything from Quidditch to James and Lily. Both loved hearing Sirius regal some great adventure. Sirius, however, did not like what he heard about both children's time at Hogwarts. What they had faced was outrageous; thus, it only encouraged him to give them the strongest tools to keep themselves alive.

At the end of the two weeks, the routine continued, but it intensified. The run was upped to three miles, the sprints were now 150 meters, and the workouts were much more intense. They both adapted much easier than the first cycle due to the strength that they gained during the first two weeks. Now, martial arts and boxing were added.

Ginny was a very impressive fighter since her brother Bill had taught her some before he went to Egypt, but Harry still had the upper hand on strength. This made them a good match.

This routine would continue for the next five days, before it was interrupted.

-The Truth Behind Major Events-

A random day in the 2nd cycle of training: Grimmauld Place

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed. "Give that back to me!"

"No way!" Harry said, holding the book Ginny had been reading above his head. "Not until you tell me the main reason your brothers picked on you."

"Fine! I will once you give me the book back."

"No way, Gin. You're too clever for that. Come on! How bad can it be."

"Argh! I had a Harry Potter doll alright!" At this Harry froze. He was trying so hard not to laugh. "I was five!"

Harry subsequently lost it. Then, he started thinking. Her brothers wouldn't tease her that bad just for a doll, would they?

"I don't think that's all Gin. What are you leaving out?"

"I may have had Percy officiate a wedding." Ginny said while avoiding eye contact with Harry. Harry started laughing even harder. "If you are just going to laugh at me I'm going to head back to Muriels. With my book."

Ginny grabbed the book and walked out the door. Right before Ginny closed it, Harry shouted, "Bye Mrs. Potter-Doll!"

Ginny yelped in annoyance. "You're going to pay for that Potter!" With that, Ginny slammed the door.

"Oh, I know I will."

-The Truth Behind Major Events-

A/N

Hello all! Sorry this took so long to update (though not at all my longest of practically 3 years). I got my wisdom teeth out and the medicine knocked me out!

Please comment and let me know how you like it. I think Muriel is going to become a low key ally while the 4 Weasley brothers for sure are.

But seriously. Comments mean so much to me.

Also, the traffic graph on the stories is so so so cool. Like the Isle of Man. Never heard of it before but it looks so pretty. We're almost to 2k American viewers as well. Whoop Whoop!

Hope your spring is great!

~SS