Chapter 3- The Victims
Ginny sat on comfortable leather couch flipping anxiously through a Witch Weekly from January; it was the issue that showed all the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding world. She had just found the right page when Hermione walked into the room carrying several large books.
"What are those?" She asked putting aside the magazine making sure to lay it open on the right page. She stood up and grabbed half the pile from Hermione, "you shouldn't be picking up such heavy things you should have used your wand."
"Right," Hermione said blushing slightly, she had been living in the Wizarding world for about thirteen years now, but she still wasn't used to using magic for such simple things as carrying books. "These are the wallpaper books."
Hermione sat on the couch and grabbed one of them and began looking through it.
Ginny sat next to her and began to look through the magazine; she had a quill in one hand and began to read about the men, eliminating some automatically as too old, too young or too ugly.
"Ginny, what are you doing?" She said exasperated looking up from the book.
"I'm looking for my victim." She said.
"Is that what you are going to call him? You're victim?" Hermione asked astounded.
"Until, I pick one, and then I'll call him by his name." She said continuing with her reading.
"What happened to Brian?" Hermione asked, reminding Ginny of her ex-boyfriend.
Ginny smiled at Brian. He was everything she'd ever looked for in a man. He was handsome, intelligent and brave. He was one of the finest Aurors and according to Harry was a great guy. He smiled back, he had the best smile she'd ever seen, it really warmed up his brown eyes.
The door opened and her Dad pulled her into a hug, "Who is your friend?"
"Oh, Dad this is my boyfriend, Brian Sykes." She said and Brian shook Dad's hand.
"Nice to meet you sir, Ginny has told me a lot about you."
"Nice to meet you too." He said and he led them into the house. The furniture had been replaced recently by Charlie who'd finally convinced their Mum that furniture was not enough thanks for raising them. She'd let go of the worn and beaten furnishings tearfully. Not that the furniture could be seen as they were currently buried beneath three children playing on a pile of orange streamers.
"Aunt Ginny!" Yelled a black haired boy trying to untangle himself from a streamer. "It's my birthday!" He finally freed himself and ran to her wrapping his arms around her legs. He looked up at her with his clear blue eyes and held up four fingers, "I'm this old!"
"No your not, your birthday isn't until tomorrow!" Will said coming down from the couch, with superiority. He hugged Ginny and then looked at Brian, "who are you?"
"This is my boyfriend, Brian!" Ginny said happily taking Brian's hand.
"Hi, and who might you be?" Brian asked holding out his other hand.
Will ignored his hand an lifted up his chin and said, "my name is William Weasley J.R. and that," he said pointing at the small red head jumping on the sofa, "is my brother Arthur Weasley, he's named after grandpa, and this," he said indicating George who was still wrapped around Ginny, "is George Weasley and he was named after our uncle who died fighting Voldermort," Brian gasped at this, "and I don't like you."
"Will!' Ginny exclaimed, "apologize now!"
"No." The boy said and walked off into the kitchen.
"Um, everyone else is in the kitchen you should go say hi to everyone, I have to stay here, I'm on duty decorating the living room with the kids." As her father said this a puff of smoke came from behind one of the chairs in the corner and two dark skinned boys crawled out laughing, flames coming after them. "Castor! Pollux!" He ran to them and picked them up gesturing to Ginny with the babies, she recovering from the shock ran to the chair and sent a stream of water to the flames behind the chair where they'd begun to consume a pile of streamers. Behind her she heard various people run into the room. Angelina and Fred ran up to them, each taking a baby from Dad's arms.
"What did they do?" Angelina asked concerned, next to her Fred attempted to hide his smile behind Cas, though it didn't seem to work as she smacked him on the arm without looking.
"They just started a little fire." Arthur said dismissively and began to move towards the kitchen.
"Just a little fire? Our children are pyromaniacs, that's the fourth time in a month!" Angelina said sinking into the chair and holding Pollux against her as if afraid he would run out of her arms and set the house afire.
"Come on Lina, it was just a fire," Fred said, "they're nine months old, they're not doing it on purpose!"
"Don't worry honey," Mum said as she walked towards Angelina, "these babies are angels compared to Fred and George and you don't have Bill and Charlie to chase after." She freed Pollux from his mother's grasp and placed him in the playpen on her way to the kitchen. "Come Ginny and bring Brian along."
"Yes, Mum." Ginny said smiling at Brian who seemed a little shook up; she loved it when people came to the Burrow for the first time. She grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen where Hermione, Ron, Penny, Harry, Sally and Dad where seated around the table discussing The Electrifier. Well, Hermione, Penny and Dad were discussing it the others seemed to want to escape, but Hermione was resting her feet on Ron's lap and he was glaring at Harry begging him not to leave.
Fleur was "helping" Mum, which meant talking about how great French food was while giving Mum suggestions. Mum nodded saying, "yes, dear" every once in a while and otherwise ignored her completely.
At Ginny's entrance Harry stood up and Sally looking relieved stood up also. "Ginny!" Harry said hugging her, he then exclaimed, "Brian!" and proceeded hug him as well.
"I'm glad you know our names," Ginny said coming out of her hug with Sally.
"Brian, I wanted to talk to you about that rogue group of Death Eaters," Harry said ignoring Ginny and pulling a confused looking Brian outside of the house.
"Hey, Sally so how's life with The Boy Who Lived?" Ginny asked taking Harry's seat next to Sally.
"You're not supposed to encourage them!" Angelina's screeched from the living room.
"It's great!" Sally said attempting to smile and only grimacing, "I love him, I really do, but I don't know. He's completely obsessed with this restaurant thing, and if he mentions it one more time I'm going to kill him."
Ginny laughed hysterically, "I'm – sorry!" A couple of minutes later she regained her composure, "I'm sorry, it's just? I thought you were going to talk about how being an Auror was dangerous or how closed off he gets."
"You don't understand, last night he started a fight with me because we hadn't won yet! We've been at this two years now, what does he want me to do? Then he completely blew up at me because I told him to give it up! He started on this rant about how where we'd be if he'd given up when he couldn't find the fifth horcrux. He's driving me completely batty." She said then started to laugh, "The Boy Who Lived taken down by a restaurant! In his honour!"
"Mum, where are Bill, Charlie and Percy?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, they're out by the Quidditch Pitch I think," Mum called, "and that Brian's more attractive than you said he was."
"Mum!"
"Well, it's true sweetie, he's real quiet though," she said while pulling out one of the cakes from the oven.
"Only because he's still in shock," Ginny said as Brian walked in from the yard, "speak of the devil."
"Ginny, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure," she said getting up and walking with him outside.
"I've got to go, I completely forgot I had to meet a contact today," he said looking down at her guiltily.
"It's Saturday, you haven't even met my brothers yet!"
"I already know Ron and I met Fred!"
"Listening to him fight with his wife hardly counts," she said as Angelina let out another shriek.
"I'm sorry," he said and kissed her gently apparating away a second later. She walked back into the kitchen glumly.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"Nothing Mum, Brian remembered a meeting he had."
She had put Brian out of her mind and had enjoyed the party, it wasn't often all the Weasleys found time to come together. She had just apparated to her apartment when she decided to surprise Brian. She quickly changed into her sexiest lingerie and apparated to his living room, she was starting to walk seductively to his room when she heard a giggle, a very feminine giggle, coming from his room.
"The yard was full of gnomes and here's the best part, Harry Potter, The Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, thought it would be fun to pass the time by de-gnoming the garden a bit, 'for Mum' he said." Brian's voiced drifted out to her. "Imagine voluntarily becoming part of that bunch!"
Ginny was so hot she knew she must have been red from head to foot as she stomped into the bedroom. "You fecking bastard!" She said her gaze falling upon the very naked Brian who'd stood up abruptly upon hearing her approach, on the bed lay a brown haired woman who wasn't even trying to cover up.
"Ginny! It's not what it looks like!" He yelled stupidly reaching for a sheet on the ground.
"I don't care what it looks like, it sounded bad enough!" She yelled raising her wand at him.
"I didn't mean it like it sounded!" He pleaded forgetting the sheet.
She said a quick spell a grey light hitting his genitals, "What did you do to it?" The woman spoke up for the first time staring anxiously at his crotch where there was nothing to be seen. Brian stood there his eyes fixed in horror at where his penis should be. Without another word Ginny apparated home, too bad it only lasts twenty four hours
"He's lost his appeal." Ginny said simply.
Hermione apparently decided to ignore it and continued to browse the book, "you're supposed to be helping me, not looking for a victim."
"I'd be easier if you knew the sex of the baby, there is a spell that will tell you quickly." Ginny said not looking up from her magazine.
"I know about the spell, I just don't want to know, I want it to be a surprise." Hermione said rubbing her large belly affectionately.
"You could close your eyes; I'll do the spell and then pick the wallpaper for you."
"But once I saw the wallpaper I'd know the baby's sex. Besides, that would involve you actually looking through the books, which is what I want you to do anyway."
"Fine," Ginny said putting magazine placing a large red X over one of the men, "what are you looking for anyway?"
"Something neutral."
Ginny flipped through one of the books disinterestedly until her eyes fell on a red and gold wallpaper. "How about you do it Gryffindor themed?"
"That's the one Ron wanted, but I don't want the child to feel pressured into being a Gryffindor. That way if he's sorted into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw he won't feel like he'd be betraying us somehow. Besides what if he's a squib? He'd feel horrible."
"Wow, you've put a lot of thought into this haven't you?"
"Of course. I want my child to be the happiest child possible; I want him to be the best, which means I have to be the best mother."
Yeah like he won't feel pressured with that attitude, "But you and Ron are both Gryffindors and our whole family is Gryffindors."
"That's just it, the Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, and it told Ron he'd do well in Hufflepuff, and you just know Percy should have been in Slytherin, but Ron and Percy both chose to be put in Gryffindor because the rest of the family was in Gryffindor."
"Actually, come to think of it, George told me once the Sorting Hat had wanted to put him in Ravenclaw," she said remembering her brother's smiling face. After his death it seemed she would never be able to speak of him again, but with time she'd been able to remember all the smiles he'd created merely with his presence.
"See, I want to do my best to make sure that this baby can choose whatever house he's put in, even if it's Slytherin," she said with a grimace.
"You might have to work on that facial expression," Ginny said flipping through the book once again.
"Yeah, well, I'll change my mind the day I meet a nice Slytherin." Hermione said putting down her book and picking up another.
Two hours later they'd finally chosen a cream one that had a repeating pattern of toys. Hermione came into the living room carrying a tray covered in snacks, "well, now that we are done, it's time to rest."
"Look! It's Viktor Krum!" Ginny said sitting up.
"What?" Hermione asked a biscuit halfway to her mouth.
"He's one of the most eligible bachelors." Ginny said moving over so that she sat right next to Hermione and showing her the magazine.
"Well, he hasn't changed much." Hermione said looking over the picture and then grabbing another biscuit. Then her eyes widened, "you'd better take that magazine with you before Ron comes home."
"Why?" She looked at Hermione's panic, "you don't mean he's still upset over that, it was almost a decade ago!"
"Yeah, well, you know Ron, once he gets an idea there isn't anything that can dislodge it from his brain. Whenever he hears the name he seems to forget that we've been married six years and I'm carrying his child." Hermione said then started laughing, "The other day he was listening to a Quidditch game on the Wireless when the commentator mentioned Krum, he turned around so quickly, I thought his neck had snapped and he stared accusingly at me for the longest as if I'd been the one to bring him up! So I went to the loo, when I came back he looked so relieved!" Hermione exclaimed, "He really thought that hearing Viktor's name I'd realized my mistake and gone running to Bulgaria to profess my undying love."
"Ron's such a git," Ginny said chuckling and drew a huge X over his picture, "Krum's out, don't want to cause Ron a heart attack. Besides I'm hoping for someone more…British." Ginny turned the page and Hermione ignored her, eating her snacks and reading the newspaper. From time to time she heard Ginny saying things like, "Too old" or "too young" "divorced 3 times!" "doesn't speak English" "too tall" "too short."
After she finished reading the newspaper she looked up to see Ginny eating a biscuit forlornly. "What, have you run out of eligible bachelors?"
"Yes." Ginny said with a pout.
"Let me see," she said picking up the magazine, "although I still think your best bet if finding another job. What are you looking for anyway?"
"Someone 22-30 years old, anywhere from 5'7" – 6'4", that speaks English."
Hermione looked through the magazine, "well, there's Harry."
"Been there, done that."
"Eew." Hermione said smiling, and Ginny threw a pillow at her. "Well, there's Malfoy."
"After what we saw yesterday I think he'd rather date Harry!" She said and they both collapsed into a fit of giggles remembering yesterday's entertainment.
"The only other person that seems to fit is Prometheus Parkinson." Hermione said, "Why'd you cross him out?"
"Well, he was a Slytherin and he is Pansy Parkinson's older brother, that's bad news in itself, but even if I were to ignore that, look why's he rich and famous, he invented that contraption that let's you use Muggle devices."
"What's wrong with that? I think he's quite clever, I heard they've introduced a computer to the Hogwart's library; it makes it a lot easier to find the books than just using the card catalogue. I remember he was Head Boy my first year."
"It's not the Muggle devices, it's my father, imagine if he were to find out I was dating the man! Ever since he bought one of those he's been in that shed of his trying out all of his collection, Mum says she has to drag him out to get him to eat, imagine if he were to meet the inventor!"
Hermione nodded sympathetically remembering the crazy look in Arthur's eyes as he told her all about irons on her last visit to The Burrow. "I guess you'll just have to get a job."
That seemed to remind Ginny of her mission, "No, I'll go out with Parkinson."
A/N: This chapter takes place on March 11, 2004, Thursday, it is the day after Chapters 1 and 2. Ron's Birthday is on March 1st and their nephew George's birthday is on March 7th, the birthday party is on March 6th for both of them because it's more convenient for everyone that way. Yes, I named Harry's girlfriend Sally because of the movie, I saw it last night and just had to do it, her name originally was Camilla, I think it's a huge improvement.