Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Series. Nope, still don't. You know, I don't need to own them if I could just have small portion of their profits! I'd be rich enough to buy myself a Tom Felton clone. Who's in? We could all have clones!
Look guys! Two chapters in two days! And I've already started the next chapter! I'm super motivated to write right now guys, and this is fantastic!
Read on my lovelies!
Without further ado…
Chapter 18
Ginny POV
After a long moment of discomfort, like being forced through a straw, we appeared on a slightly overgrown lawn in the middle of a rather inconspicuous suburban street, the sun setting below the nearby houses as streetlamps flickered to life. "Your parents gave you the address, yes?" Aunt Muriel demanded, her claw-like hand finally letting go of my arm. "You see the house?"
I nodded, having read the address of the slip of paper Mum and Dad had given me when we decided this would be my safe house. In front of us was a house with the number from the paper on the front. The house looked like it had once been a beautiful, large home with a white picket fence surrounding the front yard. However, the paint was beginning to peel and the flowers in the front garden were wilting in the dry summer heat.
"Let's not dally," she said, nudging me along as she waddled her way up to the front steps. "Everything from the front gate to the back lawn are under the Fidelius Charm. You may go outside if you wish, but I would not suggest the front yard. I feel least safe right at the street."
I followed the old woman up the fading wooden steps onto the wide front porch. She unlocked the door with a flick of her wand and strode inside, lights coming to life at her appearance. "Now, I see I only have one of you four, where are the others?"
"They're not coming," I told her, looking around the entryway as I wrapped my arms around myself. My heart was still racing from the adrenaline. I wondered if Mum and Dad were able to apparate out before the Death Eaters showed up. There may have only been moments before they arrived. "Evidently they never planned on it. It's just me."
"Well, three less mouths to feed," she said with a shrug, making her way down the hall, pointing out things as she went. "Sitting room is through there, kitchen that way, dining room here. There's stairs lead up to the extra bedrooms and one bathroom. There's also a small study, feel free to use it. There should be parchment and ink in the desk and a small number of books." That perked me up a little, at least there would be books. "My own bedroom is downstairs, and my personal bathroom. Please don't go into either of them."
"I won't," I assured her, taking everything in. I really, really wanted to go and try and floo Shell Cottage and make sure everyone was safe and accounted for. "Is the floo secure?" I asked, praying it was.
"Yes, both the one in the study and the sitting room are. You cannot contact anyone outside one of the other safe houses though," she said with a wave of her hand. "Now run along. I'm in need of a glass of wine and a bath."
The woman had already had too many glasses of wine to count, but I took the reprieve from her presence without a word. She waddled off towards what I assumed was her bedroom and the door clicked closed behind her. Maybe if she left me alone like this, living with Aunt Muriel wouldn't be so bad.
Without any more delay, I hurried up the stairs of my new, hopefully very temporary home. Like she had said, there were only two bedrooms up here. Both only had one bed apiece, but I assume she had planned on conjuring more beds if needed. I decided I would use the west facing room, preferring to look over the back yard and avoid too much direct sunlight in the morning. Across the hall was the second room and the bathroom. At the far end was the study, and I made a bee-line for it.
The room was small, but there were a couple of bookcases stocked with various books. In the middle of the room was a small writing desk and chair. Behind it was a fireplace. On the mantle was a pot of the green powder and I quickly tossed a handful into the fire. "Shell Cottage," I said clearly as I knelt and stuck my head in the swirling emerald flames.
Suddenly I was looking up from an unfamiliar fireplace into a small living room. I could hear muffled conversation coming from the other room and called out. "Bill? Mum? Dad?" I called, hoping to get someone's attention.
The talking stopped instantly and several pairs of feet could be heard walking this way. "Ginny?" I heard Mum's voice say seconds before she appeared in my field of vision. "Oh thank goodness you're alright. Did you make it there safe?" We avoided using names of places. If, at any time, anyone managed to get into the secure floo of the Order, we didn't want them to have any idea where we were at.
"Yes," is said, breathing a sigh of relief as Dad, Bill and Fleur walked into the living room too. "Is everyone else safe?"
"We've already heard from Fred. They made it without incident," Dad said over Mum's shoulder, kneeling down beside the fire.
"Good," I breathed, relieved. Hermione would have gotten the boys to safety, so I knew they'd be alright. Not knowing where they were was probably the best thing.
"I know it's going to be tempting, by try not to use the floo much," Mum said softly. "They should stay secure but the less we use them the better. Now I sent a package where you're at a few weeks ago, when we decided it was where you'd go. It's got some clothes and other essentials. I know it's not much, but it'll get you by."
"Thanks Mum," I said, tears stinging my eyes at the realization that this might be the last time I see or talk to any of my family for a while. "Promise you'll floo if something happens?"
"Of course, dear, of course," she assured me softly.
I nodded, knowing I had to go. "I love you all," I said thickly.
"We love you too, Gin-bug," Dad said, smiling at me reassuringly.
Hating long goodbyes, I left it at that and withdrew my head from the fire. As I sat back on my heels, the fire returned to its normal color and the connection to my family was gone. I let out a sigh and stood, walking back out into the hall and to the bedrooms. I check the one I had picked out first and there was no box of my things. I found it in the other room and picked it up, carrying it back with me to the bedroom overlooking the back yard.
Settling onto the bed, I set the box in front of me and open it. Inside I find a few pairs of pants, several shirts, a good set of robes, some sensible shoes, socks and underwear, some pajamas, a hairbrush and a toothbrush. I pulled out the items one by one, putting them into respective piles. At the very bottom of the box I found an old, worn teddy bear. Tears press against my eyes as I pulled the bear out. I'd had it since I was a little girl. Ron had given it to me after Fred and George had transfigured it into a spider. Even after it was a bear again, he didn't like it near him. I hadn't seen it in ages. It had been put away in a box of old toys in the attic.
The bear got a coveted spot on my pillow and the clothes got put into the empty dresser. Outside was dark and the stars were starting to come out. The moon was all but a sliver in the sky, providing very little light. I couldn't make out details of the back yard, but it looked spacious. Turning back to the bedroom that was now mine, I grabbed the brush, toothbrush and a pair of pajamas. It was time to get out of this dress and take a shower.
I spent a very long time under the stream of hot water, letting it wash away the makeup and sweat and stress. Slowly my muscles unknotted and I was able to close my eyes, resting my head against the cool tile. Today had been too crazy and I was drained. I dreaded getting out of the shower and going to bed though. I knew I wasn't alone in this house, knew that Aunt Muriel was just downstairs, but I had never felt so alone. I was used to a house full of family or a castle full of kids. I wasn't used to being alone.
That night was hard and I didn't sleep much at all. When I finally did doze, I was woken by nightmares. The entire first week was like that, hardly sleeping and barely able to function. Eventually my body forced me into a deep sleep, exhaustion taking over. After that, sleeping in the new house got easier.
Living with Aunt Muriel proved not to be too awful. She never went upstairs. I did eat meals with her, often time cooking them myself, and had to suffer through her endless complains and repetitive stories from her youth. It was a small price to pay for safety though. Most often I found myself holed up in the study upstairs, reading the various books she owned. I was eagerly awaiting being able to return to Hogwarts and get out of this cage. What places could be safer than Hogwarts?
My plans of freedom changed however with the arrival of the Daily Prophet one fateful morning. The headlines on the front page caught my eye and made my jaw drop. I had known that the Ministry had fallen, that You-Know-Who would have taken over it. But seeing a picture of Professor Snape, the very man who had murdered Dumbledore, plastered on the front page with the bold word Headmaster above it, made me feel sick.
For the first time in several weeks, I flooed Mum and Dad at Shell Cottage. We didn't speak for long, but it was decided I wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts. With a heavy heart, I withdrew from the fire and ended the connection. With a murder as Headmaster and Death Eaters as Professors, Hogwarts would no longer be the haven it had always been. Unfortunately, it was safer for me to stay with Aunt Muriel.
And so my exile continued. More often than not Aunt Muriel wasn't even home. She had many old friends who seemed to, somehow, enjoy her company. She wasn't under suspicion like many others and it would be more suspicious if she just suddenly disappeared. I was completely alone most days. Taking Aunt Muriel's advice, I didn't venture into the front yard. She was right, it was rather unsettling to see the passersby knowing they couldn't see me yet fearing they'd make eye contact. So, that left either the house or the backyard.
I grew stir crazy inside quickly and took to reading books in the back yard or tending the garden. The garden wasn't big but it grew a large variety of vegetables and herb. It had obviously not been well tended before my arrival so I made it my daily task to take care of it. I had it looking pristine before long and eventually the dinner table would be graced by fresh food. I had plans that, if I could get the seeds, I'd add a new section to the garden to grow potion ingredients.
It was a tedious existence as the weeks blurred into one month and then another. The start of term came and went. I asked Aunt Muriel if she'd be willing to get my school books. I wanted to at least attempt to keep up with my studies. And it would give me something to do. She rolled her eyes and rambled on and on about money and how I didn't need book studies so long as I found myself a good husband. She bought the books anyway, but I had to sit through that lecture more than once.
In the attic, I managed to find a cauldron and a decent supply of potion ingredients. I didn't bother bringing it downstairs, just set it up where it was at. There wasn't much in the way of supplies, so what I could brew was limited unless I could talk the old bat into buying anything. I detested being solely at her mercy. As the leaves on the trees began to change color, I had managed to read through all the text books I'd gotten and practiced spells and the potions I was able to.
Boredom was my constant companion. I found myself sleeping more and more, but that meant more dreams. As Draco Malfoy came to me in my dreams so frequently, I couldn't banish him from my mind while awake. Some days I was able to convince myself that I was over him and he meant nothing to me, others I hated him as much as I had the day he ripped my heart out, and others I loved him so fully it hurt. I even began to look forward to that good dream I kept having, the one where I was pregnant. I still woke up desolate and crying, but for those few brief moments I knew happiness. It was all the happiness I could find in this gilded cage.
Three months into my stay with Aunt Muriel, however, everything changed.
Suspense! Oh, I'm so excited to keep writing guys! I hope you're just as excited to read! I've even gotten the next chapter almost complete! Maybe if you all leave lots of good reviews you'll get it sooner!
And, as always, remember a happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy!