Author Notes: I felt kinda bad about waiting so long to post the previous chapter, so I decided to post this one as soon as I could. Review responses are located at the bottom, even though I've only had nine, lol, but it's a start! Keep on getting those reviews in! Also at the bottom, are Latin translations, resources and explanations.
Chapter 6- What a minute, what?
The Weasleys and Hermione could hear angry footsteps stomping up the stairs, and then Ron burst into the room.
"WHY THE HELL IS EVERYONE IN HERE? WHERE THE HELL IS GINNY?" everyone winced at this remark, and so Ron said: "WHY THE HELL IS EVERYONE KEEPING SECRETS FROM ME?" and with that he stomped downstairs. Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up.
"I'd better go talk to him," she said.
"I'll come with you," Mrs. Weasley offered, and the two of them made for the door.
"Good luck!" the twins chorused, then apparated upstairs, and dissolved in fits of laughter.
Hermione rolled her eyes again and led the way down the stairs. They entered the kitchen, and immediately saw Ron sitting at one end of the kitchen table, clutching his knife and fork as if his life depended on it, and staring angrily out of the window. He looked briefly up to them, then down at his empty plate.
"I want to get this sorted out once and for all," he said menacingly, and then his stomach growled loudly. "Right after breakfast," he added.
Mrs. Weasley sighed and got them all breakfast. Ron cleared his plate in a few minutes, though Hermione just sat there, to depressed and worried about two of her best friends to eat a bite. Ron scraped to last of his food off his plate, then looked up expectantly.
"Well?" he asked, after neither Mrs Weasley nor Hermione made any move to fill him in. "What's going on?"
"Harry loved Ginny. Ginny loved Harry. Together they shared a magnificent bond. Harry ran away, and the tug of the bond made Ginny go after him. Please don't shout, Ron. You do my head in when you shout. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to wash my hair." Hermione explained icily, glaring at Ron. She scraped back her chair noisily, and stormed up the stairs. Ron sat in stunned silence, his mouth hanging open. He shut it and looked inquiringly at his mother, demanding and explanation.
"Wait a minute, what? Ginny ran away? To go to look for Harry? And you let her? Why? When? How? Explain." Of course, this was no way to speak to his mother, but she was so distressed that she overlooked it.
Ten minutes later, after explaining the concept of love to a very confused Ron, giving the twins breakfast, and calming down a distraught Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George, had gathered in the kitchen to mull things over. Ron had finally calmed down enough to speak without shouting, and Hermione eventually managed to stop sniffling and breaking down, but the conversation was scattered and scarce. Throughout the afternoon, the downhearted group took it in turns to look at the Weasley clock, but Ginny's hand was always on 'ON A QUEST'. Mrs Weasley had placed the picture frame which had was contained the words that had driven Ginny 'on her quest' in the middle of the kitchen table. Though the words had now faded into nothing, they were still engraved into the minds of all who had seen it, Mrs. Weasley in particular.
'Love made this picture. Lost love broke this picture, and therefore this picture cannot be repaired.'
The words kept swirling round Ginny's head, like a hurricane. She felt, for the third time since she had set off, her invisibility charm fading. She recast it, and once again cast the spell that caused the time to come out of her watch. '12.00', it read. Lunchtime, Ginny thought, and her stomach growled, as if reading her thoughts. She decided that she must eat to keep up her energy. Although she was a pro at conjuring spells, she was not welcoming to the idea of doing them, balancing on a broomstick, in the middle of who knows where. So she carried on flying until she found a suitable back alley to land in. She got off her broomstick, shrunk it, and stowed it away in the backpack that she conjured. She then lifted summoned her strength, and focused her mind into imagining a big flask full of hot tomato soup, and a hunk of warm bread.
"Advenio cibatus!" she said, and in her hands appeared a flask and a lump of smelly cheese.
"Well, I didn't get the bread, but at least I got the soup!" she exclaimed hopefully, and twisted the lid off the flask. She peered inside, and by the dim light of the back alley, could just about see a brown gloopy liquid.
"Looks like it's Muggle food for me then," she said, disgruntled. She vanished the flask and the cheese, then found the way out of the alley. Not used to the Muggle world, she headed for the first building she saw, which said on the top of it in big bold letters:
'The Great Ape.'
Back at the Burrow, Ginny's hand on the clock swiveled to the 'CONFUSED' section.
Ginny entered 'The Great Ape' and walked over to the reception desk.
"Um, do you sell soup?" she asked awkwardly, wondering where all the other customers were. The lady behind the desk looked very confused, and replied:
"I think you must be in the wrong place, we don't sell food here. We're an organization that works for the removal of the non-human great apes from the category of property, and for their immediate inclusion within the category of persons." She smiled apologetically, and Ginny blushed.
"Oh, sorry, I'm not from around here. Do you know the nearest place that I can get some food? I've been traveling all day and I'm famished!"
The lady smiled again and replied "The nearest place that sells food is the supermarket just down the street. This is a dead end street, surely you must have passed it to get here?"
"Oh, right, yes. Sorry to have wasted your time," Ginny replied, and hastily ran out of 'The Great Ape', blushing like mad.
How could she be so stupid! Her stomach growled again, and she walked up the street, sighting the supermarket almost immediately. She strode through the large automatic doors, which puzzled her slightly. She walked up and down the aisles until she found the soup section. She then realised that she had no way of heating the soup, seeing as she was in a Muggle area, so instead she went to the 'prepared sandwiches' section, and picked up a packet of turkey sandwiches. She chose a relatively short queue, and very soon she was being served. When it came to paying, however, she cursed herself as she remembered that she didn't have any Muggle money!
The Weasley clock slid effortlessly from 'CONFUSED' to 'IN NEED OF MUGGLE MONEY'. Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes, and hoped that Ginny was wearing that special coat that she had given her at Christmas.
Ginny felt a small plop in her coat pocket, and remembered at once its magical abilities. She reached into the pocket and produced the strange coins, handing them over to the friendly cashier, who smiled at her and gave half of them back. Ginny thanked her, and took her sandwiches and money out into the street. Thank God for her coat!
Review responses:
Nomad274- if you're still reading the story, you probably have a good idea of that now. However, I haven't actually told you the main reason yet, but if you keep reading then you'll find out soon enough.
Missmunky- thank you!
Gemini-ini- yes they will get back together, eventually. Sorry, but this story won't contain any R/Hr romance, I'm afraid. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Cooki- thanks for the review.
Swirlywhirlynutcase- thank you! Yes he did fly away on a broomstick.
Ethne Blough- thanks for the advice, but things will be explained more clearly later in the story, its part of the build up.
QueenNilya- good, I hope you like this!
Zippy-Wings- thank you!
Latin translations:
Advenio cibatus- this literally translates as: 'come, food'.
Resources:
The Great Ape- believe it or not, this is actually a real organisation, and part of the receptionist's line is taken directly from there website. For more information, type 'The Great Ape' into Google search, and click on the first option.
Explanations:
The coat- basically, this is a magical coat that Mrs. Weasley bought Ginny for Christmas. Mrs. Weasley has a matching coat, and anything that Mrs. Weasley puts into her coat's pocket will be duplicated into Ginny's coat pocket, and vice versa.