Only Half-Weasley
Chapter 21
A/N: I know a lot of you have been waiting for this chapter. It's been a while since I last updated, but since then I've applied to graduate this fall from University, gotten engaged and will be married next summer, and have also been asked to be in two weddings. Needless to say, I'm very overwhelmed. On a good note, I wrote this chapter today and have already started on the next one so it won't be such a long wait between chapters.
Thanks for everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate the support. Hopefully this chapter will make the wait worth it.
While a sense of relief had filled Holly after her conversation with her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, it did nothing to stop the whispers that seemed to follow her that first week of school. Before the end of the week it became common knowledge that Holly was indeed the daughter of Ginny Weasley, despite there being no mention of Holly in the Daily Prophet. If anything, this added to the young redhead's popularity as she could not go anywhere without people asking whether she really did live in a shack with Muggles or was forced to eat raw cows. These inquiries finally ceased after several sixth year Weasleys took it upon themselves to escort Holly to her classes. It was on one of these afternoons between classes that Ryan Mason made an attempt to catch Holly on her way to Charms.
"What do you want, Mason?" Caleb Weasley growled to the young seeker.
The third year turned slightly pale, but did not step away. "A word with Miss Miller, if you don't mind," he said rather boldly.
Two of Holly's cousins flanking her crossed their arms. "Not allowed, Mason," one of them answered. "Not unless you want to be a target."
"I have a note from Professor Potter," Ryan responded, holding up a rolled up piece of parchment. Holly's name was penned across the top in the teacher's familiar scrawl. At this, the Weasley brigade backed off.
"It's fine, guys," Holly told them. "You go ahead. I think I'll be alright."
The Weasley cousins hesitated before moving on without their ward. It wasn't until they disappeared at the end of the corridor that Ryan finally turned to face Holly. They were now alone.
"Have a good holiday?" Ryan said nervously.
"Yeah," Holly replied, wondering where this was going.
Ryan nodded. "Great," he said with a smile. "Look, Professor Potter wanted me to give you this note. I think it's about flying—if you still wanted to continue the lessons."
"Oh!" Holly said. She had almost forgotten about her flying lessons in the chaos that erupted after the Daily Prophet article had come out. "Yeah, I'd like that."
The blond-haired seeker beamed. "Cool," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow night, then."
Holly did need to read the contents of Professor Potter's note to know that it contained the information for their next flying lesson and, just as promised, she found herself wrapped in her warmest cloak in front of her Defense Against the Dark Art teacher's door.
"Enter."
Just as she had every week the previous quarter, Holly opened the door to find her teacher bent over a stack of parchment. "Evening, Miller," he greeted her. "Ready?"
"Yep," the eleven-year-old responded. Professor Potter covered her in his invisibility cloak and together they made their way to the Entrance Hall where they met Ryan Mason who was dressed in Quidditch gear.
"Hello, Professor," Ryan greeted his Head of House as he did each week. To the rest of the school, it appeared as if Ryan Mason was being given private training from Harry Potter who was a known Quidditch star and superb flyer. It would have never crossed their minds that the reason for these meetings was to help a first year and Professor Potter was determined to keep it this way. "Are we ready to continue our lessons?" Ryan said.
Professor Potter nodded and the three exited through the front doors, Holly careful to follow Ryan's footsteps in the snow. They arrived at the Quidditch Pitch a few minutes later, Holly a little tired from having to step so precisely. However, once they reached the pitch, a surprise was waiting for them.
"Harry!" Madam Hunt called to them from the center of the pitch. Professor Potter and Ryan stopped so quickly that Holly nearly ran into them. She had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming in fright under the cloak. "I heard Mason got a new broom for Christmas. I thought I'd stop by and see how it flies." She beamed at Ryan who looked away, his face turning red.
"Er…thanks, Jane," Professor Potter said nervously, "but this is a private training session."
Madam Hunt laughed. "I hope you're not afraid me!" she answered. "Besides, Gryffindor's next game is coming up in March and it wouldn't hurt to see what tricks are up your sleeve."
Professor Potter did not say anything. It was apparent to Holly that this little visit was out of his control. As the flying instructor, she also ran the pitch and it would have been very suspicious for Professor Potter to seem too eager for Madam Hunt to leave. Instead, he turned to Ryan. "Let's start with the first formation," he told him.
If Ryan found the instructions confusing, he did not let on. He mounted his broom and soared in the air, doing a lap around the pitch before breaking and moving in a spiral towards the ground. "Good!" Professor Potter told him after his eighth spiral. "Now move on to the fourth formation."
Ryan stopped midair and turned around, bobbing up and down in the air as he flew around the pitch. Holly watched in silent amazement while Madam Hunt whooped and hollered as Ryan completed stunt after stunt. There did not seem to be a pattern to his moves and at some points, Holly wondered how exactly he would use these moves to catch a fast snitch. But this was the least of her worries. After an hour and a half of standing in the same spot in the freezing snow, Holly's limbs began to freeze and she found herself wishing she had kept inside in the warmth of the castle.
"I think that will do," Professor Potter said satisfactorily as Ryan landed several feet away.
"Spectacular!" Madam Hunt added enthusiastically. "Hufflepuff won't stand a chance!"
Ryan turned slightly red as he rested his broom on his shoulder and turned to leave the pitch. Madam Hunt followed leaving Professor Potter and Holly to trail behind. "I apologize," Professor Potter whispered. "That was not expected."
"I know," Holly answered as she followed in Ryan's tracks back into the hall.
"We will need another plan for next week," he added. "Take the cloak with you back to the common room and follow closely to Ryan. You can drop it off at my office tomorrow."
Holly nodded, though knew that Professor Potter couldn't see her under the cloak. They remained silent until they reached the Entrance Hall. Here, Holly quickened her pace to catch up to Ryan Mason while Professor Potter went down another corridor and out of sight. On the fourth floor, Ryan stopped.
"You there?" he whispered.
Holly stopped just behind him. "Yeah," she replied.
"Care to go for a ride?"
Her heart stopped beating. "What?" she whispered.
"Care to go for a ride?" Mason repeated.
Holly didn't answer. How was she to respond? Professor Potter had just told her to go to the common room and the statement was clear enough…yet, she couldn't help that small portion of her that screamed for her to answer 'yes.' She could get into so much trouble! She could be expelled! Yet…what were the chances?
"Sure," Holly responded quickly.
Ryan groped behind him until he grabbed a piece of the invisibility cloak and pulled it over him. Even with the two students, the cloak was large enough to cover both of them and instead of heading back to the common room they walked back towards the Entrance Hall.
Once they were outside, the two made sure they were a little ways from the castle before they took the cloak off. Ryan mounted his broom and motioned for Holly to sit in front of him. With the cloak wrapped around both of them, no one saw Ryan and Holly kick off the ground and fly through the sky. For Holly, it was thrilling and frightening at the same time. She looked down at the broom but saw nothing. She was nothing. They were nothing. Ryan seemed to sense her fright and held to her tighter.
"Keep looking forward," he advised. "We'll be fine."
Holly did as he instructed and felt a sense of comfort come over her. They were flying above the forbidden forest now and Holly was in control. Ryan's new broom was fantastic, even more responsive than his last broom. It gave her more confidence, more daring, that she decided to try a few tricks of her own.
"Whoa!" Ryan cried as Holly jerked the broom around. "Don't try to kick me off!"
"What? The Gryffindor Seeker can't hold on to his broom?" Holly teased.
Ryan laughed. "Sure, I can—"
The broom gave a jolt beneath the two Gryffindors. "What was that?" Holly said, her face turning pale.
Ryan shook his head. "I don't know, but we had better get back. We're far away from the school—"
The broom jolted again, but this time it knocked Holly off of it. She reached out and grabbed Ryan's foot. "RYAN!" she screamed.
Ryan reached down, inches from grabbing Holly's hand, when an invisible force knocked into Holly causing her to lose her grip. She was falling and screaming, her face staring at the sky and the invisible broom that she knew was up there. She could hear Ryan's voice calling back to her, but it did not bring hope.
No, Ryan was not going to save her this time. She was going to die. She would fall forever through the black sky and then she would hit the ground and die.
Holly closed her eyes and braced for the impact, but when it came, it did not crush her. She landed on something soft just before she could hit the ground. It was soft and flying, though descending back into the trees. Holly held her breath. What had happened? She could see the trees grow around her until the thing she was on finally settled on the ground with a 'thump' causing Holly to slide off the side and onto the ground. A surge of pain from various parts of her body echoed their distress and Holly gasped with each throb as she tried to sit up. She wanted to see the object that saved her life, but when she looked, there was nothing!
She turned her head frantically left and right. There was nothing around her, nothing in sight, and yet she was not dead. How was that possible? Holly tried to stand up, but pain shot through her right leg and she fell back to the ground. Where was Ryan? Would he come down to save her? She remembered back when she was in the sky and had been looking at the ground. The forest was dark. Where would he begin? Could she yell to get his attention? However, when she looked above her, the night sky was hidden behind the layers of trees. No, she doubted it. Fate was not on her side. If she was not going to die from the fall, she most certainly was going to die from being stranded out in the middle of the forest.
Left with nothing else to do, Holly held her left leg to her chest and rested her head on it. She closed her eyes and waited. She didn't know what for, but it was all she could do. Any hope she had was quickly leaving her.
Ginny walked into the bookstore she worked at, a coffee cup in one hand and a copy of the Muggle newspaper under her arm. It was a part of her daily routine to open the shop and spend the first few hours reading the paper until business picked up. She was about to settle into this routine when the jingle of a bell startled her. Ginny looked up to meet a pair of familiar green eyes and took a step back.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.
The wizard looked disheveled and frightened with dirt in his hair and all over his robes. "Holly is missing," he told her.
Ginny froze. "What?" she said incredulously.
"She went off last night for a broom ride with a third year. Something hit their broom and knocked her off. She fell into the Forbidden Forest." Harry paused before adding in a whisper, "Ginny, she could be dead."
The world stopped. Time stopped. How could this happen? She tried to speak, but words failed her. She could only look at Harry in disbelief. Could this be a lie? A prank to get back at her? But that would be childish. Harry would never do that. No, the more she looked at him, the more she knew that he was telling her the truth.
"No," she finally breathed, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. She leaned against the wall behind the cash register and covered her mouth. "No."
Harry approached her and gently pulled her back on her feet. "You need to come to Hogwarts," he told her. "Everyone is searching for her and Professor McGonagall would like to speak with you."
Ginny shook her head. "I need to go find her. I need to go find my daughter."
"Ginny, we are looking—"
"That's not good enough!" she shouted.
Harry jumped in surprise. Ginny moved away from him to grab her cloak and then make a quick phone call before turning back to the wizard. "She is not dead," she said determinedly. "She just can't be. If no one else can find her, I will."
"Ginny—"
"DON'T GINNY ME!" she screamed. "I've already lost my husband. I can't lose my daughter." And with that, she left the store through the back door and Apparated with a small 'pop.'