Ginny sat at home and felt useless. She had been sent home two days ago following the attack from the Carrow's. She had spent two days in the hospital wing recovering and then came the news that her and others were being sent home. McGonagall has sent out letters explaining the situation and why it was necessary.
Ginny was bored. She couldn't even help defend her beloved school. There was no communication from Neville, Seamus or any of the D.A members. She felt completely isolated and alone. Besides which, they weren't even allowed to stay in the Burrow anymore. They were forced to live in Aunt Muriel's granny-like cottage. Luckily, it had two spare bedrooms.
Ginny sat on her bed reading a book when she heard the noise of people apparating. She glanced over to the edge of the garden and saw Fred and George walk in. She got up, pulled her dressing gown on and rushed to them. She hugged them tightly and Fred asked her concernedly, "Gin, what happened? Why were you pulled from school?" Ginny hugged both of them and she whispered tightly, "Carrow was going to make us practice the third unforgivable curse."
There was a silence in the kitchen and it was a silence she had never heard amongst her family. Auntie Muriel made her thoughts heard, "And it was about damn time too by the sounds of it! This Carrow Death Eater has had them practicing Crucio spells on each other! Would you believe it?!" Fred and George stared at me, mouths open in horror…and for the first time in their lives, they did not have a witty come back.
Fred hugged her tighter and he whispered, "Just as damn well then. I can't believe McGonagall let this go on for so long!" he said angrily. Ginny defended her professor profusely, "Fred! You can't say that! She's the one who's been protecting me this whole time! She's been giving me a potion on a weekly basis so that I don't have to spill my guts on everything about Harry. She protected and defended us against Amycus and his sister in front of the whole Entrance Hall!" George held up his and muttered, "We get the point Gin. I'm just surprised she didn't inform us sooner."
Her mother had been silent the entire time and she handed the letter she'd received from McGonagall to Fred and George. Fred opened it and read out loud:
Dear Mr and Mrs Weasley
I regret to inform you that I no longer feel as though I can keep my students safe anymore. I hope that you can come and collect Miss Ginerva Weasley from school at your earliest convenience. Please note that I am sending this letter to all Gryffindor parents, in the hopes that we can keep your children safe as long as possible. Two other fellow housemasters are taking a similar course of action.
Kind Regards
Minerva McGonagall
George shook his head and asked quietly, "And what about the Slytherin's? Are they just going to sit there and suffer under Snape's rule?" Ginny replied quickly, "That's the thing…they're under Snape's rule. Even if Voldemort does decide to pitch, they will be protected. He would never touch a Slytherin, half-blood or otherwise."
Fred glanced at his mother and whispered, "I can't believe it! McGonagall actually thinks it's safer here?" Ginny nodded and whispered, "When McGonagall stood up to the Carrow's, they both put her under Crucio simultaneously." Fred's jaw dropped. George just stared at her wide-eyed. Ginny nodded and murmured, "I intervened and ran in front to defend her. When that happened, McGonagall placed both of them under the Imperius Curse, if only to get them to stop."
The silence in the kitchen made Ginny feel uncomfortable. Fred whispered dumbstruck, "Well, I'm so proud of you Ginbug. Not many would have done that, that's for sure." Her mother had been quiet this whole time, but now she spoke up, "And she shouldn't have had to do that! It's why I decided she needed to come home. McGonagall sent an extra, private letter to us explaining how she was very grateful to Ginny, but that it shouldn't have been necessary."
George nodded and whispered hoarsely, "Sounds reasonable. Are you ok Gin?" Ginny nodded and hugged her brother, "Thanks for caring," she whispered. Fred smiled at her and told the room generally, "We have had some news from Kingsley." Ginny pulled out of her hug and he whispered, "They were spotted in a forest and now they're being held captive at Malfoy Manor." Ginny felt like she was going to faint. The coin had been right.
Her mother gasped, "Can't Kingsley do something?" George nodded, "Apparently he's sending in troops to go and investigate. We should hear soon." Ginny nodded and paced around the antiquated living room. She murmured under her breath, "Surely there's a way to get to them faster? I mean who knows what's happening to them now?"
At that moment, Kingsley apparated to their front door. Ginny jumped in surprise and then rushed over to let him in. Her father was at his side, looking red faced and flustered. Ginny frowned, "Mr Shacklebolt, what are you doing here?" Kingsley huffed out of breath, "I have news. Your brother, Mr Potter and Miss Granger somehow managed to escape the Malfoy property."
Her mother leaped up off the chair in relief, "Oh thank goodness!" she sighed. Ginny was about to run upstairs and then she turned and asked slowly, "Mr Shacklebolt…did you capture anyone?" She had wanted to ask about Draco, but feared that it would seem odd. Kingsley shook his head, "No. The Malfoy family had disapparated by the time we got there. They must have known we were coming."
Ginny nodded and thanked Kingsley. She hurried to her spare, cramped little room and fished out her coin from her school robe. It was not currently burning and once again it read "Shell Cottage." Ginny frowned and hurried down the stairs.
Fred was busy boiling the kettle and so she asked him tentatively, "Have you visited Bill or Fleur recently?" Fred turned and looked at her curiously, "No I haven't, why?" Ginny shrugged and smiled innocently, "I just have a feeling that they may have some visitors there, that's all." Fred folded his arms skeptically and smiled, "You know something, don't you?" Ginny shrugged and whispered, "Maybe. Don't you want to tell Bill that you're going to visit them soon?" He stared at her and asked quizzically, "Ginny, I will ask Bill if we can go and visit him soon. Will that make you happy?"
Ginny grinned and hugged Fred again, "More than you can imagine." Fred laughed and hugged her back until he said, "I'll send a letter with Pig. Where's the owl?" Ginny pointed, "He's in my spare room." Fred smiled at her and then went to go and send a letter to Bill. If Ginny was right, then Harry was not too far away!
XXX
A week had gone by and there was still no word from Fred about Harry being at Shell Cottage. This had made her extremely anxious. They surely wouldn't stay there for much longer? Ginny was surprised they had even ventured so close to home. She even sent Bill a letter yesterday with Pig. She had tried calling upon Dobby, but there was still no response which she found very strange and unusual. It made her worry.
It was the beginning of April and Ginny longed to know how her friends were she had also sent Neville a letter yesterday and was waiting for a response from him. The lack of communication between everyone was exhausting. The attack on her more than a week ago had also left her feeling perpetually tired. It was horrible trying to get up and then about an hour later feeling like she couldn't walk up straight anymore. Madam Pomfrey had warned her that it might take a while to recover fully.
Finally, on the first Saturday afternoon of the month, Fred popped over with George. It was prime time because mum was out doing shopping, and Auntie Muriel was taking a late afternoon nap. Dad was at work because loads of people were selling illegal objects and so he worked almost all the time now. He was getting paid some serious overtime.
Fred and George appeared at the end of the garden, and they came running up the path to the little cottage. Ginny had been in the kitchen and baking. It was one of the few things she could do which didn't zap all of her energy. Fred was in the house first, huffing and puffing and he grinned at her, "Gin, we…you won't believe…" George grinned at her idiotically and said, "You'll n…never guess." They were out of breath for some reason.
She put down her mixing bowl and wooden spoon to focus her attention on them. Ginny raised her eyebrow, "What?" she asked skeptically, not daring to get her hopes up. Fred swallowed and whispered, "They're at Shell Cottage!" He glanced at George, who nodded emphatically and seemed at a loss for words. Ginny gasped and gaped at the pair of them, "You just saw them, didn't you?"
Fred laughed in a giddy kind of way, "Yeah! They're alive! And well! They…" He stopped short as Ginny began crying in relief. She hadn't realized she'd been holding on to this hope for so long. She knew…but now it hit home. Her brothers instantly flanked both of her sides, and clasped their arms around her lovingly. She told herself firmly 'Come on, Ginny. Get it together! You don't want to be like this in front of him do you?' No. Ginny would not let Harry see how much his departure had affected her, especially not in the beginning.
Ginny wiped the tears from her eyes and George smiled, "I'm sorry we made you cry, Ginbug." Ginny laughed loudly for the first time in who knows how long! She smiled, "It's fine. I'm fine. I'm just relieved. I'm sorry for crying." Fred smiled at her sympathetically and then Ginny asked suddenly, "So when can I go and see him?"
Fred glanced at George nervously. Fred wasn't good at confrontations. At least, George generally had more sensitivity. George whispered apprehensively, "He doesn't want you to come there, Gin." Ginny froze and then felt her jaw tighten as she snapped angrily, "WHAT? He doesn't want to…" She felt herself break. Completely and utterly break. Clearly he was over her then.
Ginny swallowed and said stiffly, "Fine. I suppose he's moved on then. I better do the same." She stared at the tiled kitchen floor and George shook his head firmly, "No Gin, it's not like that. It's just…" She stared at him fiercely, "What?" She felt like she had lost all willpower. She needed to get it together. She needed Fred and George to say what they had to say so that she could go to her room and cry into her pillow.
Fred whispered reluctantly, "Harry thinks it's best for you to stay where you are. You aren't up for travel, clearly. And he also feels like you're still single, so he doesn't want you to get your hopes up. In fact, we're not meant to be saying this right now." Ginny clenched her jaw and bit the inside of her mouth. She was trying to regain any sense of control in her being.
George hugged her calmly and whispered, "I'm so sorry Gin. He said he was planning to go to Hogwarts…" Ginny snapped up her head and stared at him in disbelief, "He said that? When?!" Fred sighed and scoffed, "Nice one, George. That was also supposed to remain a secret." George smiled and shrugged, "Slipped out by accident. Or we can just tell him that she forced it out of us."
Fred chuckled and nodded in agreement, "True. He wouldn't put it past her. Our Ginbug can be very forceful." Ginny rolled her eyes and folded her arms, "So, are you guys going to tell me when I can see him or not?" There was silence again and George scratched the back of his head before whispering, "You're underage…"
Ginny snapped then, totally losing it, "I don't CARE! I've been to the Ministry with him! I've been put through pain too and guess who insisted I stay at school so that I wouldn't get hurt! Harry. He made that decision for me and guess what happened? His nightmare came true anyway! So I get to make my own decisions from now on."
George looked at Fred and shrugged, "You know, she is right." Fred sighed and then buckled, "Fine. We'll take you when and if we know he's going. They're still working on a plan." Ginny nodded in satisfaction, a smile of hope spreading across her face, "Good. I think I deserve to see my boyfriend."As she said it, she realized she hadn't called Harry that in a long time. George smiled at her genuinely before whispering, "And there's something else too." George glanced at Fred who inhaled sharply before whispering, "Dobby is gone."
A/N: Hey all! Thanks so much for such great reviews!
Thanks as always to torchy22, starrya47, pottermum, (nice to hear from you again!) and topofthemuffin: I'm so sorry about your surgery! I hope you are recovering nicely and I'm so glad you look forward to the next chapters! I'm glad I can give something for you to look forward to!