A/N: Written for the International Wizarding School Championship.
I've obviously seen Wizard of Oz too many times. AU where Voldemort wins.
School: Beauxbatons
Year: 4
Theme: Charing Cross - Wizards in the Muggle world
Main Prompt: Unlikely Friendship [Plot point]
Side Prompts: Muggle Playground [Setting], Segregation [Plot point]
Word Count: 1117
Ginny Weasley hummed as she scrubbed the dishes in her small Kansas cabin, watching her mare's little foals gallop around. She smiled at the young red roans, fondly remembering the centaurs from the Forbidden Forest. At the thought of Hogwarts and the magic she'd left behind when Harry had died, her smile slipped, and the dish crashed into the sink, chipping on the edge. She shook her head violently, trying to get all the memories out of her head. No. She'd repressed the memories of her family being tortured, Harry's dead body in Hagrid's arms, and her narrow escape with the assistance of Draco Malfoy — they'd actually been friends, well, frenemies, in her sixth year, and he'd helped her Disapparate from Malfoy Manor at the last second.
But none of that mattered now. That was years ago, and to Ginny, it could've been someone else's life. She'd given up magic as soon as she had woken up in a Muggle hospital in Kansas, splinched from the bad Apparition. Her wand was safely stowed in a chest up in the attic, along with all the memories and treasures of her past life. Ginny had bought a small cabin a few hours away from the hospital she'd shown up in. It was in the middle of nowhere, at least a mile from her next-door neighbors. They were sweet Muggles, er, people, as Ginny had come to force herself to think, a small family with a young daughter of about nine or ten.
Ginny finished washing and drying the dishes before placing them in her cupboard, fixing herself a cup of tea and heading upstairs to do some light after-dinner reading.
Abigail Mason was flying. Well, not actually flying, but she felt like she was. She was on the tire swing at the playground near her house, spinning and laughing as she heard the tree branch above her creaking. With a quick jump, she sailed through the air and landed on the ground, feet-first like a cat. Her parents were gone for the day, taking a few of their cows to the butcher, something Abby hated, so she had free reign of her house for the next couple of hours. She wiped the dirt off her hands onto her overalls, which were hand-me-downs from her mother's childhood. As she stood up, stretching and reveling in the late-afternoon light, she saw something that made her freeze — the sky was green. And Abby knew what that meant; tornado. Normally, this was the time when she'd run off panicking to her mother, but her parents were gone. Mentally, Abby ran through a list of her neighbors. The closest was Mr. MacPalmer, but he was a crotchety old man who allegedly ate children. She doubted that that was true, but she wasn't about to take her chances. In the other direction was the quiet, British, redheaded lady — what was her name again? Oh right, Ms. Weasley — who seemed nice, although also a bit hermit-like. In a split second, she was off, running towards the quiet little cabin.
Ginny had just finished another chapter of her book and was going downstairs to make another cup of tea when a loud banging noise sounded at her door. Startled, she put the cup down and went to see who it was. Peeking through the peephole, she saw that it was a Muggle, and for a quick second, Ginny had the urge to ignore it and pretend nobody was home, but she quickly stamped down the instincts that had been instilled in her in her fourth year at Hogwarts. The door swung wide open, the wind slamming it against the wall. Behind it was her young neighbour, her breathing heavy, as if she had just run the past mile-and-a-half.
"Abigail, right? Are you okay? Can I help you with something?" Ginny asked, her maternal instincts kicking into high gear.
"Hi—Miss—uh—Weasley!" Abby said, panting heavily. "Uh—there's a—uh—tornado headed this way—and I don't know what to do! My parents are—in town." Normally, when Abby panicked, she would start to talk a mile a minute.
"Okay, well, why don't you sit down for a second?" she said, ushering her into the kitchen and shutting the door behind her. Abigail sat at the small table, catching her breath as she trembled. Ginny finished fixing her cup of tea and made one for her young neighbor. She passed it over to the child and sat down next to her, prompting her to explain what was happening.
"Well, I was outside, swinging on the tire swing, when I saw the sky, and green clouds — that's the telltale sign of tornadoes and funnel clouds, you see — and since my parents aren't home, I didn't know what else to do!" she said, trembling worse now. As Ginny watched, the teacup started to float, then crashed down onto the table, pouring the hot liquid all over it. Abigail's eyes widened, mouth open in shock. "Was — was that me?" she asked, holding her hand over the shattered fragments.
Ginny's mind raced a mile a minute, but the only conclusion she could come up with was underage magic — it had all the telltale signs of it. She could only nod, realizing that this made her position significantly harder, yet easier.
Snapping back to the present, Ginny remembered the tornado and jumped up to look out the window; the twister was much closer now and would be on them in about a dozen or so minutes, if not sooner — much sooner.
"I don't have time to explain," Ginny said, racing up the staircase into her attic, her small shadow trailing her all the while. "But what you have, and what I have too, is magic, and this can stop the tornado — I promise."
A few moments later the pair were racing down the stairway and out the door, Ginny with her wand in hand. They stopped at the end of her walkway, and Ginny braced herself, realizing that for the first time since the war and all of the pain and suffering, she would use magic again. Wand raised to the sky, she looked down at the young girl who was watching her in awe, and with a slight smile, said, "Watch this."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please review! I'd love to hear from you!