CHAPTER SEVEN

GINNY'S TALE

Ron and Ginny found that working for their brothers wasn't bad at all. Business was good and they were paid quite a bit of money. Fred and George kept them laughing with their antics, but the only downside was that they were often used as test subjects. When they did put their foot down, Fred cheerfully offered his services.

The months flew by quickly and before they knew it, it was November. The weather became crisp and cold. It was beginning to show signs of the upcoming holiday season and business became hectic.

One day, in the middle of the month, Ron was counting money when someone very unexpected appeared.

"Professor?" Ron gasped.

The man flicked the hood of his cloak off his head and waved at him dismissively. His hair had grayed considerably, but otherwise he was exactly as Ron had seen him last."Call me Remus. I don't know how long it's going to take to get you kids to-- what on earth are these?" He was holding a box of Exploding Parchment in his hand.

"When you write on them they explode," Ron informed Lupin with a grin. "Fred and George recommend that you try to get your friends to use them. Not a good idea to use them yourself."

"Right."

"How on earth have you been?"

"Busy with some extra paperwork. I've been working at the Ministry for the Magical Creature Liason Office. As you probably know, they renamed all the offices after the war. Big waste of time and money, if you ask me, but there you go. Even your father thinks so. But the After War department decided people shouldn't be reminded of it. And I'm applying for the Care of Magical Creatures job at Hogwarts."

"That's great," Ron said as his brothers and sister emerged from the back room. They all had black smudges all over their faces; apparently Lupin had found it better not to ask. The three test subjects looked positively thrilled to see their old friend.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" George asked excitedly after Ginny hugged Lupin.

"No, not really. I suppose I have some work to get done, but--"

"You should come to eat dinner with us. Mum's invited all of us over to the Burrow."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't want to trouble her. And I'm sure she hasn't made enough food--"

"Are you joking?" Ginny laughed. "Mum would completely be in her element. She always overcooks anyway. She was so used to feeding eight of us that now she cooks twice as much food as we need. Please? I'm sure she'd love to have you."

"If you're sure," Lupin said, trying to look nonchalant, but looking eager all the same.

"Well, you need to hurry up," said Fred, using his wand to shut everything down. Contraptions stopped whizzing, noises stopped coming from the Every-Animal-Candies display, and the lights turned off. The clicking noise from the door indicated that the door was locked. "I'm sure Angelina and Alicia Apparated about a century ago and are furious that we're not there yet."

They Apparated separately, deciding it would be best if Lupin came a second after everyone else did.

"Guess who's coming to dinner?" George said as Lupin Apparated on the carpet.

"Well, that sort of ruined the surprise," Angelina laughed as she emerged from the kitchen and wiped her hands on her apron. "What took you so long?"

"Your husband is a slave driver," Ron noted as he hugged his sister-in-law.

"Well, you don't want to get on his bad side. Remember, he was a Beater."

"What about me?" George said, looking put out.

On cue, Alicia emerged from the kitchen, too. "You're just cute."

"Hey!" George protested, but Ron didn't think he looked too upset. He enveloped Alicia in a giant hug and kissed her again and again.

"Ew," Ginny joked.

Mrs. Weasley came out as well and ran over to Lupin. "It's been such a long time! Are you staying for dinner?"

"If you'll have me," Lupin said, looking shy and slightly out of place.

"Absolutely. I cooked more than enough food--" Ginny shot Lupin an I-told-you-so look "--and a member of the Order is always welcome in our home."

Ginny, Lupin, Ron, Fred, and George retreated to the living room as Angelina, Alicia, and Mrs. Weasley went back into the kitchen to finish making dinner.

Ron walked past the Weasley family clock. Although Percy had not spoken to them in years, Percy's hand of the clock had not been removed. It pointed to 'Home,' wherever that might be. Bill's pointed to 'Work' and so did Charlie's. Everyone else's pointed to 'Home' except for his father's. A few seconds later, his hand of the clock moved from 'Work' to 'Home.' Mr. Weasley Apparated into the living room and sank into an empty spot of the couch.

"Long day," he sighed as Ginny came over to hug him. She sat down next to him and sighed sympathetically.

"Me, too," she said. "If Fred and George stopped asking me to be a test--"

"Hey!" Fred protested. "We do it, too."

Mr. Weasley smiled weakly. Apparently Mr. Weasley suspected something was up unless there was an argument going on somewhere. His father ignored the scuffle. "Well, it looks as if some of the remaining Death Eaters are mobilizing themselves."

Lupin nodded and was about to speak up when Mr. Weasley finally noticed him. "In the name of Merlin! I haven't seen you in forever! Er-- sorry, go on."

"Yes. Everyone's in an uproar," agreed Lupin. "The Death Eaters are mobilizing themselves and it looks as if they're ready for an attack any day now."

Ron felt his heart skip a beat. "What does that mean?"

Lupin looked right at him. "I'm going to have to be honest with you, Ron. It means that they're looking for remaining Muggleborns. Many of them, like Hermione, have disguised themselves as Muggles for their own protection."

"Why does it matter if they find them or not?" Ginny interjected. "I mean, they got what they wanted, right? There are no Muggleborns to muck up the wizarding world." Ron was surprised at how angry and bitter his sister sounded. From looking around, everyone else was slightly surprised at Ginny's outburst, too.

"Well, Ginny," said Lupin in as an even tone as if he'd been discussing the merits of using the Ridikkulus charm versus the Indelvo charm when chasing out Boggarts, "it's not enough to these people that they're gone. They're so angry from the war that they want them dead."

An involuntary noise rose in Ron's throat. Suddenly his stomach had dropped down to the level of his knees. It meant they were looking for Hermione. And he was totally powerless to stop it. "We've got to do something," Ron said as Mrs. Weasley emerged from the kitchen and announced dinner was on the table.

Everyone moved in the direction of the table and sat down.

"But we can't," his father said, looking tired. In the last three years of being Minister, he'd aged considerably. It was hard rebuilding a world that had been torn apart by war and the bags under his eyes reflected that. "How many times have I told you? The Ministry will keep an eye on the Muggleborns who are in hiding. It's the best we can do."

"But Hermione--"

There was a collective intake of breath from the table. The Weasleys knew an explosion was about to occur.

"Some chicken?" Angelina asked helpfully. She was absently dumping more chicken on Fred's plate than was really needed. Fred, however, was accepting each piece enthusiastically.

"Save some for us, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, looking caught between worrying about Ron and amusement at her children's antics.

Ron found that once he started, it was much easier to plow ahead. "I can't believe you all are just sitting there, waiting for something to go wrong. What if someone dies? Hermione is in danger, do you get it? Some of the most extreme Muggleborn haters in the world are still out there, waiting. Lucius Malfoy isn't dead, he's just waiting to find out where everyone is so he can attack. If we--"

"Ron, it would be more than foolish to go looking for these people. The Ministry is working hard to find out where these Death Eaters are meeting. Trust me-- we're not letting this go unchecked." Mr. Weasley helped himself to a plate of chicken. The plate had finally gone around and Fred had reluctantly given up some of his extras. "It's really all for the best."

Ron slammed his fist on the table. An almost uncontrollable wave of anger passed through his chest and made his cheeks hot. "She doesn't even have a wand!" he snapped, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork.

The table went deadly silent. Ron began to cut his meat, making as much noise as possible in the process. The ghoul from upstairs, however, apparently decided they weren't making enough noise; he began to clatter and throw antique rocking chairs as loudly as he possibly could.

"I'm going upstairs," Ron muttered, pushing his chair back. Suddenly, he had lost his appetite. "I'll see you guys later."

As he stormed up the stairs, the mirror exclaimed, "You really shouldn't get so flustered, dear. It does nasty things to your complexion."

"Yeah, well, stuff it," Ron snapped, glaring at it.

Thirty minutes later, there was a soft knocking at his door.

"Come in," he muttered.

Not surprisingly, it was Ginny. "You've really got to get rid of all your Chudley Cannons stuff. They're never going to win."

"They still will. They just need the right team." He was mostly speaking to his pillow.

"I brought you some apple pie. Angelina is a wonderful baker. I have no idea how Fred ended up with such a good cook."

Ron sat up, feeling guilty about his latest explosion. "I'm really sorry I was angry."

"Don't worry," Ginny said, placing a plate of pie next to him on the bed. "It was warranted. I know you're really frustrated and worried-- I am, too. And with any luck the Ministry will take care of it and Hermione will be able to come back into the wizarding world before you know it." A Bludger from a poster on the wall flew past them and Ron felt the hair on the back of his neck lift gently.

A minor explosion from next door caused the ghoul to stop rattling the door of the attic. Although the twins no longer lived with them, they often came back and used their old room as a laboratory. Apparently Fred and George were showing off their newest inventions to Angelina, Alicia, and Lupin. Sure enough, a few seconds later, there was a fit of coughing in the hallway, and Ron smelled smoke. A voice muttered an incantation to get rid of the smoke and all was back to normal again.

Well, as normal as it ever was in the Weasley household, he thought.

Ron took a bite of his apple pie and forced it down. Ginny sat down next to him and watched him eat for a minute. "What happened the last day-- when Harry left you guys?"

Now he definitely couldn't finish his dessert. "Ginny, I can't tell you that."

"Please." She looked sad and more than a little frightened. "I can tell it's wearing on you. I want you to let me know."

Ron put his plate on his bedside table and held Ginny's hand. A Snitch from his wallpaper floated as if it didn't have a care in the world, until a Bludger came by and it disappeared once again, probably to hide behind his dresser. "What can I say? Lucius Malfoy used me for bait. Pure and simple."

She squeezed his hand and he listened to the voices rising from downstairs. They were laughing and joking, and he heard George say, "So one of our customers..."

Ron opened his mouth and found he couldn't continue. "I'm not ready. I can't do this."

Ginny nodded. "I felt that way for the longest time, too."

He looked at her in surprise. She had her own story as well?

She stared at the wallpaper and said, "It was horrible when you three left. It was just us, the members of the D.A., without Harry, you, or Hermione. A man by the name of Daniel Jenkins took over the school. Everyone knew something was wrong. Dumbledore had always been polite about stepping down when members of the Ministry questioned his ability to lead, you remember?"

Ron nodded and swallowed. "Yes."

"We didn't know too much about him, just that Dumbledore really didn't want to give over the position of Headmaster to this man. He'd announced to us with the dullest expression that Daniel was taking over and that Dumbledore'd be gone in the morning. I'd never seen the twinkle in his eyes go out like that... well, maybe once or twice."

"I saw it after Harry and I ended up in the hospital at the end of our sixth year. And after our fourth year. Go on." He could see his sister's eyes fill with tears, but none fell.

She nodded. "So then a couple of members of the D.A. snuck out of our beds late that night. We knew we weren't supposed to, but we were using you three as role models, right?" She forced a grin. "Well, anyway, there was me, Michael Corner, Zacharias Smith, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood."

His stomach tightened. Besides his sister and Luna, all of those people had died.

"Luna and I had eavesdropped on McGonagall earlier that day when she'd gone up into the headmaster's office, so we knew the password. We snuck up the winding staircase and listened. There was a huge row ensuing from upstairs. And then we heard Dumbledore's voice." She shuddered. "It sounded eerily calm but guarded. 'I do not want you to take over, but if I must step down, I must. I do not want to duel with you.' Jenkins's voice had changed drastically. He sounded horrible and evil, and that's when we knew he was a Death Eater."

Ron involuntarily sucked in his breath. He'd had no idea his sister had been through all this.

"We used magic to force the door open and Dumbledore looked surprised, but slightly angry and worried, all at the same time. He held up his hand and told us to leave. I saw his eyes shimmer again, and I think he might have been crying a little. Well, Voldemort came through the fire and held his wand up to Dumbledore."

"You watched..." Ron faltered.

"Yes. Several more Death Eaters came through as well, and we tried to keep them away from Dumbledore, using every spell, curse, and hex we knew. But they blocked the door and every single one of them forced us, somehow, to watch the battle. Dumbledore told them that Voldemort would not touch Harry and he muttered some sort of charm under his breath. He told every member of the D.A. to take his hand, but the Death Eaters would not let us. Before we had a chance to run to him, he was dead.

"Voldemort was victorious. He said that after everything that had been done to protect Harry, none of it would work, and that he was as good as dead. At that moment, several of the Death Eaters killed Michael, Zacharias, and Neville, although I have to say Neville almost survived the battle until the last minute. Voldemort vanished-- I suppose to find Harry-- and Luna and I defeated the rest."

There was silence again and the ghoul began using what sounded like a heavy wooden block to make as much noise as humanly possible. Ginny looked spent and Ron allowed his sister to sit and cry for as long as she needed, which turned out to be quite some time.

How had he been so insensitive? Three years ago was when his sister had needed him most, and he hadn't been there for her. He'd been so wrapped up in his own problems he hadn't even thought he sister might be going through some of the same thing. He resolved to take care of Ginny as much as his sister had been taking care of him. And someday, maybe, he'd be ready to tell his own story.