Author Note: This story does NOT follow DH canon. It is the inbetweens of my two previous fics "Derailed" and "Adventures in Dress Shopping". This is pretty much canon through HBP and takes certain things from DH, however, I've put together different pairings and kept certain characters alive because I love them, and that's just how it is going to be. Reviews are more than welcome and I'd love constructive criticsim. I really hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am not JKR. I do not own any of the characters. This story is merely my own interpretation of events based in the Universe that she created. Please don't sue.
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Ginny had made it through Christmas day without facing Harry again. There was a close call when she was cleaning up all the wrapping paper from the sitting room, but Tonks had walked in looking for a misplaced present before Harry could get more than three words out and Ginny used the distraction to sneak into the kitchen with her mum to help with dinner. The rest of the day she made sure to stick close to anyone else and she was the first one through the fireplace when it was time to leave.
Stepping out of the fireplace and into her living room was very much like escaping a crowded train onto an abandoned platform. The anxiety began to quell as she dusted off her pants and sweater. She felt more relaxed already, just being out of the Burrow and in her own space. Ginny let out a sigh; it was easier to breathe here. Simply knowing that there wasn't a chance of her being accosted by a sibling looking out for her well-being or cornered by her father telling her that she should at least give him a chance to make things right. Knowing they meant well didn't do much to make the conversations easier to have.
There were a few things she should've taken care of as soon as she got home. For instance, she'd returned with a bag full of presents that she needed to organize and write down what was from whom so she could send the appropriate thank you note. Unfortunately, she was so frazzled and overwhelmed right then that she could hardly see straight. They could stay shrunken for now and tucked in the corner until she could think straight enough to put them away. For the moment, she needed a glass of the cheap wine she kept on hand for emergencies and piece of the chocolate cake her mother had sent her home with. Those two things had gotten her through so much of this already and she was going to rely on them now to help her think the events of the previous night through.
In the short amount of time it took her to reach the kitchen the small amount of calm that had fallen over her upon entering her flat had faded. In its place, a small fire had ignited itself deep inside her. Fury was bubbling just under the surface, ready now to boil after being forced to simply simmer for the past twenty-four hours. Each and every thing that she had wanted to say to him—scream at him, was coming back to her thoughts, eating away at her as she flipped open the cabinet with a resounding WHAP! She couldn't figure out if she was angrier at him or at herself, though right in that moment it didn't seem like it mattered much.
The first wine glass broke in her hand before she even set it down on the counter, slicing through her pale skin with a dulled sting. She couldn't be sure if it was magic or force that had done it and while she was worried to let her magic get that out of control…again, she didn't exactly have the time to figure it out just then. She was cursing loudly, trying not to bleed everywhere as she grabbed the closest rag to cover her wound, searching franticly for her wand. Tonks had just bloody well given it back to her, how could she have misplaced it already? Rushing back into her sitting room, she spotted it on the table and made her way over to grab it to fix up her hand and clean up the kitchen. Just as she was reaching for it, Fred's head popped into the fireplace.
"Gin, you left a present here do you want me to…What's wrong with your ha—Are you ibleeding?/i" He demanded. "Hold on, I'm coming over."
"No! Fred! I'm not…" But she broke off when his head disappeared. In the next moment he was stepping through the fireplace, not bothering to dust himself off he walked over to her deliberately and grabbed her hand to take a look at it.
"Can't leave you alone for three minutes, can we?" He teased, looking a bit grossed out by the bloody towel she'd used to stop the bleeding.
"Fred. I'm fine. I broke a glass. Would you let me get it?" Ginny was clearly not amused by his antics and was just about ready to burst with anger as it was.
"Ginny, out of the pair of us, I think I know a bit more about fixing small wounds. Remember when we used to test products on ourselves?" With that, he tapped her wound with his wand and watched as the bleeding stopped. After a few more taps, the cuts closed and healed over a bit, though they still looked tender to the touch. "There, that should be alright, just be a little careful of it." Fred looked rather pleased with his work.
"Thank you." Ginny said, sounding more annoyed than grateful. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a long night of cheap wine and chocolate cake ahead of me. I'll see you tomorrow I need to head to Diagon and I'll stop by the shop."
"Nope, I'm staying." Fred said taking a seat on her favorite chair, stretching out with an exaggerated yawn. "Ange and I had a spat and I was going to have to sleep on the couch anyhow. Might as well make sure my baby sister doesn't go ahead and drink herself stupid. "Besides, it's about time you and me had some bonding time."
Leave it to Fred to infringe on her personal space. "Fred, I am not in the mood for bonding time. I just want to get pissed and not think about anything for the rest of the night." Ginny sighed, running her uninjured hand through her messy hair.
"Which is exactly why I ought to stay." Fred said simply. "Who better to distract you? And really, getting pissed on your own is a sign of alcoholism. This way you're not nearly as screwed up." He reasoned, making himself comfy in the armchair. "Now, how 'bout that wine, love?"
"One mention of Harry and I'm kicking you out if I have to body bind you and take you through the floo myself." Ginny warned with a pointed glare.
"Oi! Give me a spot more credit than that, Gin!" Fred argued. "I know you don't want to talk about it. I think you made that painfully obvious when you tried to walk to London from the Burrow last night. And then all today when you simply left the room anytime anyone tried to talk to you." He paused and remained quiet for a moment before picking up a frame holding a picture of the Weasley's at Bill's Wedding. "But you know…if I iwas/i going to say anything about it, I'd tell you that he really does mean that he's sorry about it all."
"So everyone is so keen on bloody well telling me." Ginny grumbled on her way back to the kitchen to grab the wine jug and two glasses. With a flick of her wand the blood and the glass on the floor and counter clean themselves up and she headed back out to the living room. "What did you all get together and decide that the pair of us simply ihad/i to make up because of how bloody well isorry/i he was? You know what? I'm sorry too. Sorry that you're all apparently suffering from amnesia of how I felt for the last two and a half years." She snapped pouring wine in the two glasses, handing one to her brother.
Fred sighed and set his glass down and looking straight at Ginny with a soft smile. "We don't have amnesia 'bout it Ginnikins. We just figure you wouldn't have been so bloody upset if you didn't care about him a whole lot. And seeing as he's back, for good this time," He paused as Ginny scoffed and rolled her eyes, "And seeing as he wants to make things right with you, we figure we ought to maybe help that happen." Ginny remained silent and folded her arms across her chest, looking intently at the coffee table. "You think we'd let him even near you if we didn't believe him? You think there was even a chance that he'd be at Christmas at the Burrow if we didn't think he was really trying? It hasn't been easy for him to come back, but he's still sticking around…"
"For now." Ginny said with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Until he finds another reason to take off without a word to anyone. Until he gets claustrophobic again and needs to get away. Until who knows what the bloody hell happens because he keeps it all bottled up inside until he can't take it anymore and then he fecking snaps and treats everyone like shite for not understanding, but how the feck are we supposed to understand if he keeps it all bottled up?" With each statement she was growing more and more upset until she was so worked up she could feel angry tears stinging her eyes. She took a long sip from her wine glass and set it down on the end table to keep herself from breaking that one too. "I can't do it again, Fred." She murmured more to herself than to her brother.
"We just want you to be happy, Gin." Fred said giving her knee a gentle squeeze. "Oi, before I forget. Mum found this under the tree." He pulled a small box with a scroll of parchment taped to it. Her name was scrawled across the top of it in messy handwriting.
"Who's it from?" Ginny asked, mildly interested as she took the clumsily wrapped package from her brother. Fred simply shrugged and sat back on the chair, taking a sip of his wine. She unrolled the bit of parchment first and quickly read through the note there, frowning in confusion.
isGinny/s sGin/s sGinev-/s Ginny,
There's a good chance you're going to chuck this in the fire, but I just thought you should have it. Happy Christmas.
Try not to hate me forever. /i
She stared at the parchment for a long moment, debating whether or not to open the gift. Eventually, Fred leaned over and swiped it from her with an exasperated sigh.
"For Merlin's sake, Gin! You're killing me here!" He gave the paper a tear and revealed a small white box. He offered it back to her to let her do the honors but she shook her head and gave him a nod to go ahead. Shrugging, Fred lifted the lid and gave a look at what was inside. Purposefully he made a few interesting faces, shielding the contents from Ginny's view.
Ginny watched her brother out of the corner of her eye. Part of her didn't want to know what was in the box at all. If she didn't know what it was, she could pretend she'd never gotten it. Curiosity however was eating away at her…what was the saying about the blasted cat?
As if on cue, Ginny leaned over and snatched the box back from her brother to take a look for herself. Inside was a framed photograph that Ginny was all too familiar with. It was the same one that had had her in a helpless mess on the floor of her bedroom when she'd happened upon it cleaning one day. It was a muggle photo, taken by Colin, she was nearly positive, of the pair of them from her fifth year at Hogwarts. The photo was a candid shot, the both of them were laughing about something Ginny couldn't even remember. His arm was around her and her head was thrown back, eyes squeezed shut, wide grin pulling across her face. There were other people sitting with them. Ron and Hermione presumably, but they weren't quite in focus enough. Ginny remembered thinking when Colin had first given her the photo that it fit perfectly.
Gingerly, Ginny removed the frame from the box and stared at the photo for a long moment. And while she vividly remembered the breakdown that had ensued the last time she'd seen the still-life of sheer happiness, this time was different.
"Hmmm…now ithere's/i that Weasley smile we all fell in love with." Fred said softly, quite pleased with himself that he'd managed it out of her. And Bill had been so doubtful! Ha!
"What?" Ginny asked coming out of her daze and quickly setting the picture back down. She shook her head for a moment as though she were clearing it and gave a tiny sigh.
"That's what I thought." Fred was grinning proudly now. "See, Gin? I was right. By the by, you mind telling Ange that? She seems to think I never am and well, I'd like to mark it on the calendar and everything." He was teasing now of course, but he felt a teensy bit entitled.
"Who said you were right?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow. "Smiling, and I'm not convinced that's what I was doing, does not mean that I forgive him. It doesn't mean anything!"
"Well you see, you iwere/i smiling, don't even bother trying to argue, you'll lose. And it does mean something. It means that you're not as indifferent to him as you claim to be. Sure you're still ready to throttle him for being the World's Biggest Prat, which we were all sad to see Percy lose that title, you know, but somewhere. Deep down. Very deep down judging by the look you're giving me now, you still care about him. And that means that you ought to at least give him another chance. Could you imagine if Ange didn't give me a second chance? Or the fifty-ninth one she's bound to give me when I get home?" Fred took another drink from his wine glass, emptying the goblet and placing it back on the table. "At least he's going and admitting he was wrong. Unlike a certain brother of ours…who I believe gets his title back now that Potter's shown back up and apologized like."
"They can share the title. It's a tie." Ginny said simply. "And Ange gives you loads of other chances because you never muck things up itoo/i terribly. Just bad enough to make her want to hex you a bit. What Harry did…well I wanted to do more than just hex him a bit."
"Oh believe me, Gin. Your brother has had his fair share of mistakes along the way." Fred said with a laugh. "Finish your wine, have a sleep on it, and then decide in the morning. But I'm telling you, you missed Harry for how long? Now you're going to pass up the chance to have him back in your life again? That just doesn't make a lick of sense." He stood up and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"I hate it when you use actual logic. Throws off my entire view of the world, you git. Bill is supposed to be the sensible one, remember? You are supposed to help me come up with outlandish ways to cause him bodily harm." Ginny grumbled, holding her hands out for Fred to help her up. Fred gave her a tug, pulling her into a tight hug.
"I like to keep you on your toes. Can't let myself become predictable now can I" He chuckled. "Now let's get me some blankets for the couch and tuck you into bed. I expect waffles in the morning for breakfast you know. And you'd better have a good supply of syrup. All this brotherly advice doesn't come for free you know."
Ginny simply rolled her eyes and gave her brother a peck on the cheek. "You will get what I make and you will like it." Ginny teased as she grabbed the wine glasses and headed towards the kitchen. "Blankets and pillows are in the hall closet. And you'd better owl and apology to Ange in the morning." She called over her shoulder.
"Oi! I didn't tell you what we rowed over. How do you know I owe the apology?" Fred asked sounding indignant.
"Because she's always right, Fred. I thought we've already covered this." His sister reasoned with a smirk.
"I hate you all." Fred mumbled as he opened the hall closet to grab down some blankets.
"Love you too, Fred. G'night." Ginny called in a sing-song voice as she made her way to the bedroom.