Chapter 67: Ginny's Lessons
Blackmoor, Essex, England
May 30, 1991
"Very good," her grandmother, Cedrella Weasley, praised her. Ginny was relieved that she had answered the last question correctly. For the last half hour, her grandmother had been quizzing her on the Lords of the Great Houses of Britain and on their Heirs. It was a subject that Ginny had only recently begun to study. Her mother didn't really think it was necessary for Ginny to learn about the Great Houses yet. Molly Weasley insisted that Ginny needed to spend more of her time learning how to sew and how to cook instead of filling her head with information about the Great Houses and their political leanings. Her mother insisted that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Learning about politics should come later as far as Molly Weasley was concerned.
Ginny loved her mother dearly, but she didn't think her mother's simple way of looking at things would benefit her. Her Grandma Cedrella had made Ginny's position plain to her two years ago when she had taken full control of her education.
"Ginevra, you are the only daughter of House Weasley," Cedrella had started by stating the obvious. "This is a great boon for our house since your future marriage shall bring a great alliance to this house, one that House Weasley is in desperate need of."
"Like Ronnie?" Ginny had asked. "He's betrothed the marry the Heir Parkinson."
Cedrella had smiled at her then. "Yes, very good," she praised. "Your father was to marry Avice Parkinson and he broke his betrothal to her in a most insulting way by eloping with your mother," she informed Ginny.
Ginny had frowned at that. She had grown up with the story of her parents' great love and how they had eloped. Their story had seemed so romantic to her, but the way that Grandma spoke of it, she made it seem like something for which to be ashamed. Ginny had never paused to wonder what Avice Parkinson must have felt when she learned that her betrothed had thrown her away for someone else. If it were Ginny who had been thrown away like that, she'd have been hurt, embarrassed, and angry. With this new insight in mind, Ginny found it remarkable that the Parkinson's had chosen to take a chance by betrothing their Heir and Ron.
"Will you and grandfather be considering suitors for me?" Ginny asked, and she felt a moment of panic because she didn't like the idea that her Grandparents might have someone in mind for her. She didn't want to be like Ron!
Her brother had his whole life essentially planned out for him. He would marry Pansy Parkinson and be the father of her children. Would he be allowed to have a job? She had no idea and she wondered, for the first time, just what his betrothal contract entailed? Regardless, she knew that she wanted more autonomy of choice than Ron had been given. He had been a year old and her a few months old when the Parkinson's and Weasley's had sealed his betrothal. Ginny didn't think she could live the same way that Ron did, but then they were of different temperaments and he really liked Pansy. Would she like her betrothed? And what if she fell in love later? Her dad had liked Avice Parkinson well enough, but he had fallen deeply in love with Molly Prewett. In the end, it had spelled near disaster for the Weasley's. She didn't want to end up in a position like her dad had found himself.
"We are considering, but your grandfather has agreed that there shall be no betrothals without your willing consent," Cedrella said kindly. "Let's just say he learned his lesson after what happened with your father."
Ginny smiled her relief. "Thank you, Grandmother," she had said, her relief not at all hidden.
Ginny was brought out of her memories by her Grandmother's insistent voice commanding her to name the Lord and Heir of House Abbott.
Ginny smiled because this one was easy. She had on a few occasions interacted with the Heir Abbott. She quite liked Hannah Abbott. The girl was very kind and she wasn't afraid to mount a broom and play Quidditch with the boys. Ginny's mother hated it when Ginny played with her brothers, but Alicia Black didn't seem to mind a bit when Hannah played with Leonis. "Warring Abbott is the Lord of House Abbott," she answered easily. "His Heir is his granddaughter, Hannah Abbott."
Cedrella nodded in approval. "House Avery?"
Ginny thought hard for a moment, trying to remember all that she had studied. "Aldous Avery is Lord Avery. He is the last of the male Avery's as his son and former Heir, Richard Avery passed away in 1980. His current Heir is Raphael Corner, his nephew."
"Very good," Cedrella said with a smile curving her lips. "And do you know how Richard Avery passed away?"
Ginny thought about it for a moment before slowly shaking her head in the negative. "No, Grandmother," she said.
"The Avery's sided with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the Time of Terror," Cedrella revealed.
Ginny shivered at that. "The Time of Terror" was a term that many used to describe the period of time when the Dark Lord Voldemort and his followers, his Death Eaters, had tried to take over Wixen Britain. Her mother had lost her two brothers during that awful time. Fabian the Heir Prewett and Gideon had been twins and they had died valiantly fighting against Death Eaters. Her oldest brother, Bill, had told her the story a few times. He had told her of how Fabian and Gideon had fought a losing battle against overwhelming odds and that though they had died they had taken almost all of their opponents with them to the grave. It was just like a tale from the Knights of the Round Table. She had spent years looking at images of her uncles and thinking that they were like those Knights of old. Sometimes she looked at her older brothers and thought that they had some of that same nobility of spirit. Even the playful Fred and George. Fabian and Gideon were said to have been playful pranksters as well. Perhaps Fred and George took after their uncles?
"Are you really going to teach her about the Time of Terror?" the voice of her Great-Grandmother, Lysandra Black nee Yaxley intruded upon her thoughts. Ginevra arose from her seat and immediately dipped into a curtsy of respect.
When she met Lysandra's gaze the woman was smiling at her. "Well, at least you have some manners," she said with approval in her voice. "I did wonder what Molly had taught you, but then, of course, my Cedrella would correct any mistakes that Molly might have made in you."
Ginny narrowed her brown eyes at the slight to her mother, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. To her knowledge, Lysandra had never spent any time with her mother. She was clearly judging Molly Weasley on what she had heard of the woman. Ginny didn't like it, hated hearing people say unkind things toward any of her family members, but she was slowly learning that she didn't always need to charge in and defend them. In the grand scheme of things, Lysandra's opinion meant little to Ginny. It stung, but it was like a stinging hex. It was aggravating but the feeling faded in time. Lysandra would return to her island in the Mediterranean and then she might not see the woman again for another five years. Ginny had decided to handle her the way she handled her Great-Aunt Muriel.
Tolerance.
"Molly didn't do a poor job with Ginevra," Cedrella chose to defend her daughter-in-law. "We agreed that while Molly would handle some parts of Ginevra's education, I would handle the rest. Politics, etiquette, history, and teaching Ginevra to be a good Lady of House is under my purview. Molly teaches her more domestic pursuits."
Lysandra wrinkled her nose at that. "Why would she need to know domestic pursuits?"
"So that I can properly manage my husband's home," Ginny chose to answer. "While it is true that I could order House Elves or other servants to tend to these matters, how would I know that they are doing it right if I don't first know how to do it myself?" she asked.
Lysandra tilted her head to the side scrutinizing her for a few moments. "Practical application then," she said and nodded slowly. "An effective method," she praised surprising Ginny. By her earlier slight to her mother, Ginny had assumed that Lysandra would never admit that Molly could do anything well.
Ginny gave her a tentative smile. "Mother believes in a practical approach to learning. She was taught that way by Lady Prewett and Lady Strahan," she said referring to her Great-Aunts Lucretia Prewett nee Black and Muriel Strahan nee Prewett respectively.
Lysandra smiled as she settled into a seat on the sofa beside her daughter, directly across from the chair that Ginny had been seated in. "I always did like Muriel's spirit," she admitted. "The old Lord Strahan once said that magic had wronged her by making her a female instead of a male," she said with a small laugh. "Then he pushed for a betrothal between his son and Muriel that her father couldn't dare refuse. It was a great bride price that House Strahan offered for Muriel," she said.
Ginny blinked in surprise at that even as she slowly resumed her seat. "I didn't know that," she admitted. "I have been learning a great deal about Weasley family history, but I have not learned much of Prewett family history yet. Lady Lucretia has arranged for me to spend time with her next summer so that I can undergo lessons," she informed Lysandra. She was looking forward to it. A holiday away from her brothers and her parents and she'd be undergoing those lessons with her cousin Mafalda Prewett the Heir Prewett.
Lysandra smirked at that. "Have you reached the point in your Weasley History education where they have explained the Weasley and Malfoy feud yet?" she asked with a bit of relish.
Ginny frowned at that. "No," she said hesitantly. It wasn't that she didn't know about the feud. Of course, she did. It was why she had been so careful with her letters to Draco in the first place. Charlie and Percy were the only ones who knew that she was writing to Draco. Charlie because she had first enlisted his aide when she wanted to send a letter and a present to Draco when she had learned he had been hurt by that mean Auror, former Auror now. Charlie had thought she was cute and had liked her sense of kindness. It wasn't Charlie's way to keep her from getting her feelings hurt. He wasn't the sort to shelter her from the world. Instead, Charlie was the sort who would have her back and help heal her after she got herself hurt. Charlie believed in living one's life and not shielding yourself from its possibilities. Percy had been a surprise though. He had helped her by taking some of Draco's letters as though they were for him from school friends and then he would slip them to her later, always unopened. He had also allowed her the use of his owl in order to deliver her letters to Draco. It had been a relief after Charlie graduated and moved away to pursue his work and studies at the Romanian Dragon Preserve. Charlie was a Magiozoologist now, working on a specialty in Dragonology. He was Apprenticed at the preserve to Master Drago Krum.
"Pity," Lysandra said. "I confess, I was hoping you could shed some light on the mystery," she revealed. "Most of society knows that the feud is centuries old, but the reasons seem to be lost to time," she admitted to Ginny.
Cedrella nodded from beside her mother. "True, but we do know that a female Weasley was alive during that time," she pointed out. "It was the last time there was a female born of our house before you," she said to Ginny.
Ginny felt a chill trail down her spine at that. Surely it was a coincidence. It was a coincidence. Right?
Lysandra laughed. "Cedrella don't scare her," she said but it was clear that she enjoyed Ginny's small moment of fear. "It isn't like Septimus would ever consider a Malfoy for your husband, so there is nothing for you to worry about dear heart," she said to Ginny.
Ginny looked down at her hands at that and fought not to tighten them into fists. 'Draco,' she thought his name with longing. They had become such great friends over their years of correspondence. These last few days of being able to just hang out with him had been wonderful, even if the reason why they were all called together to Blackmoor were so tragic. She remembered back to when Draco's family magic began to settle on him. He hadn't been able to stand to have anyone near him except for her and Leonis. Ginny had held his right hand and she had run her fingers through his hair and she had tried to comfort him through the effects that the family magics were having on his body. Leonis said that Draco was being judged, to see if he was worthy enough to be the Malfoy Heir. That there had been times in the history of the Malfoy family when the family magics had judged an Heir Apparent unworthy. She had never heard of such a thing before and she had worried that somehow the Malfoy family magic would refuse Draco. She couldn't think of a reason why it would, but fear was far from logical and she had never thought much before on family magic. It was just a thing that existed to Ginny, who was the seventh child of the firstborn of Lord Weasley. She was the only Weasley Heiress though, and now she understood that it was naïve of her to have never thought on it before. She had made a vow to ask for Hermione's help in finding books about family magic. It would only have the history of such ancient magic and an overview but that was more than she knew now so it was a good starting point.
It was special that she and Leonis had been the only ones that could offer Draco any comfort during that time. Leonis had made that plain to her. She just didn't understand what it meant. Why them and not Lady Malfoy? Why not Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, or Dane Spungen? They were Draco's family, as dear as siblings to him, so why not them? It had to mean that she was somehow special to Draco, right? Her heart fluttered at the thought. Draco was special to her in a way that few of her friends were. Charlie often teased her that she had a crush. She wondered what he would think of how she had been able to comfort Draco as his family magics judged him worthy of being Heir Malfoy? Would he think it only a crush then? Ginny didn't know what to think of it, but she knew it wasn't a crush. It was deeper. She felt connected to Draco Malfoy in a way that she had never felt with another person. She longed to talk to someone about it, but she didn't know who she could confide in. She couldn't talk to her brothers about it because of that stupid feud! She had thought to perhaps speak to Percy about it, but she didn't want to put him in a position that made him feel like perhaps he should confide in the adults about her. She glanced up at her grandmothers as they continued to talk idly about recent events. Perhaps she should talk to her grandmother Cedrella. She wasn't born a Weasley and surely would not care as much about the feud?
Did she dare?
"Sirius is at the Ministry now, observing the questioning of that awful Dawlish," Cedrella was saying and it jerked Ginny from her worries about her connection to Draco.
"Dawlish?" she asked. "That awful former Auror that hurt Draco years ago?"
Cedrella turned shrewd gray eyes upon her and then after a moment, she smiled gently. "Yes, dear heart," she said gently to her. "It seems that he was one of those villains who killed our kin," she was still using that gentle tone of voice, careful with Ginny's feelings.
Ginny couldn't appreciate it. Not when she thought of that awful man and how he had hurt Draco. "Did he do it for revenge?" she asked with a hard tone.
Lysandra nodded. "Most likely," she said with disgust. "Ginevra, there are those in the world who will always think that they know best, that they are always right. John Dawlish was one such person. He felt no remorse for harming Draco Malfoy years ago because he didn't see him as something precious to protect. He was just a Dark Wizard, albeit one underage, as far as Dawlish was concerned. By his public ravings against the Malfoy family, after he was fired and banned from any form of law enforcement and security, I have to assume that he was targeting Lord Malfoy that day."
Ginny frowned at that. Dawlish was an Auror and you had to be very skilled at fighting to become an Auror. Ginny had heard rumors that Dawlish had been one of the best. He was a ruthless fighter who had been mentored by Bartemius Crouch Sr. when the man was still an Auror himself. The now Lord Crouch had a reputation for being a ruthless sort of man. Ginny was kind of relieved that her father and Grandfather didn't like him. Bartemius Crouch Sr. was kin to them since Charis Crouch nee Black was his mother and she was the younger sister of Ginny's Grandma Cedrella. Dawlish would be a vicious fighter. Still, she couldn't help but think that he had too many targets that day. "It wasn't just him though, right?" she asked.
Lysandra laughed with delight. "Oh, what a jewel you are!" she praised. "I admit I had my doubts due to your parentage, but you really are a bright jewel for the House of Weasley."
Cedrella glared at her mother but bit her lip against saying anything about her slight to Arthur and Molly. Instead, she gave Ginny a commiserating look and then answered her question. "We know that Dawlish was not acting alone."
"Unfortunately, we do not know whom his accomplices were," Lysandra revealed with a scowl. "I would love to be at the Ministry now with Sirius and Cygnus," she lamented. "I would offer my expertise in making offenders talk," she said with a dark look in her eyes.
"Mother," Cedrella said with a scowl.
"Ginevra shall be attending Hogwarts in a few months," she pronounced. "She's not too young to learn."
"No," Cedrella refused to relent. "You are not going to teach my granddaughter the Yaxley ways of interrogation," she insisted.
Ginny frowned as she watched her two grandmothers. Cedrella seemed quite determinedly dead set against Ginny learning whatever it was that Lysandra was intent upon teaching her. Meanwhile, Lysandra seemed to find the situation amusing. 'Are we all toys for her amusement?' Ginny couldn't help wondering as she watched the two women stare each other down.
Lysandra broke in the end laughing and rising to her feet. "Very well, have it your way Cedrella," she said easily enough. Then she pinned Ginny with a look. "You'll need the knowledge one day, Ginevra," she said cryptically. "Come to me when you need to learn what I can teach you." With that she turned away and left the room, leaving behind a confused Ginny and a flabbergasted Cedrella.
"And to think that between Hesper, Violetta, and mother I used to think that I won the lottery on mothers," Cedrella muttered.
Ginny laughed at that, her grandmother's exasperated levity helping to break the tension caused by Lysandra's cryptic words and her exit. "She's an interesting woman," Ginny said diplomatically. She bit her lip shyly for a moment before she sat up straighter and looked her grandmother in the eye. "I kind of like her," she admitted. "I mean, I understand that some of the things she would want to teach me are beyond awful, but still, there's something about her that makes me like her."
Cedrella looked amused at that. "The Yaxley's are a proud Pure-blood family with ideas that lean more toward Pure-blood supremacy. They leaned that direction when mother was a child. Now, I hear that they are practically immersed in them. For that alone, I have been hesitant to reach out to Charis's descendants," she revealed. "She has a great-granddaughter, Cordelia Yaxley,"
"The Heir Yaxley," Ginny said with a proud grin.
Cedrella laughed at that. "Yes, clever minx," she complimented in a light-hearted tone. "Both Callidora and I have agonized over whether or not to reach out to the Yaxley's over the years so that we might better get to know Cordelia."
Ginny nodded along at that because really what could she say? Family was important, she knew that much. It seemed wrong to be so estranged from kin. She could understand how that would weigh upon someone like her grandmother who did believe in keeping up a good rapport between family members. "Cordelia is my age, right?"
Cedrella smiled. "Yes, she is. She was born on New Year's Eve in 1979. She'll be one of the older students in your year group."
Ginny smiled at that. "Hermione's one of the oldest. She was born on September 19, 1979," she said simply even as she thought about Cordelia Yaxley. "Have you thought about writing to her mother?" she asked because she knew about writing letters. Her friendship with Draco had started with a letter wishing him well. She often wrote to Luna. That little tradition had begun after Luna's father had died in an explosion at Rook House a few years back. She and her mother had moved to Malfoy Manor after that and had some months later settled into Crystal Hall, the Malfoy Dower House on the far side of the Manor grounds. She had visited twice to play with Luna but allowing her to go there made her parents uncomfortable because of the old feud.
"That would be the way to go about things," she admitted. "I had thought to invite Lady Yaxley and Cordelia to tea at some point," she informed Ginny.
"Can I come?" Ginny asked. "I would like to meet my cousin."
She also wanted to be present to offer a little bit of support to her grandmother. She was too young to be of much support, but maybe her presence would be enough. Surely, Corinna, Lady Yaxley, and Cedrella could manage to have a pleasant afternoon bonding over Cordelia and Ginny the bright jewels of their respective houses?
"I think that is a wonderful idea," Cedrella agreed. "Though it will have to wait," she admitted ruefully. "We have funeral rites to undergo and a time of mourning to attend to," she reminded Ginny. "It is a shame that the summer before your first year at Hogwarts shall be spent with the family in mourning," Cedrella said softly and there was pity in her eyes as she looked at Ginny.
Ginny nodded, understanding why. If it had been a normal summer then she and her cousins might have gone on various little vacations with one another. There had been some talk of spending time in Italy and Sirius's home there, but now she wasn't sure if that would happen. Even if it did, they'd have to remain mostly inside the wards at Belvedere. She rather thought Blackmoor was better. It was larger and much more accommodating with a larger property. There was even a Quidditch Pitch for those that liked to play. It was also a golden opportunity for Ginny to get to know her various family members better. No, Ginny wasn't too dismayed by the turn of events, though she still wished that none of this happened. She wished that their kin and Draco's Grandfather had not been murdered.
"Death has no season," Ginny said softly remembering the line from a book she had read. "It does not discriminate."
Cedrella nodded at that and then sighed. "Let us return to your lessons," she said after a few moments of heavy silence. "House Pucey?"
Ginny fought against the groan she wanted to let loose. She had been so hopeful that her lessons would now be over for the day. She should have known that her grandmother wouldn't let her get away that easily. She released a soft sigh and then she once again applied herself to her grandmother's lessons.
Confession time: I originally had a completely different chapter written but then I had computer troubles. I sent my laptop to the shop to see if anything can be salvaged. In the meantime, this chapter idea came to my mind and I decided to go with it. So here's a little bit of Ginny Weasley for everyone. She's one of those characters whose birth years I manipulated so that she would be going to school at the same time as Leo, Harry, Hermione, and many others. She often hung out with Hermione, Neville, and Harry in the books so I figured it would be a good idea when I began writing Renewal. Anyway, thank you once again for indulging my whims!
