CHAPTER TEN
TROUBLE
Christmas was not a particularly cheerful event. Ginny walked around as a woman condemned. She quietly sat down by the Christmas tree and didn't complain, not even when she opened a pack of Canary Creams from her brothers. Katherine and Bill weren't talking. They'd had a major blow out earlier that day. Each one of them were so mad at the other, they hardly made contact. "Ginny, please tell your brother that the snowman building party we'd planned is off," Katherine would say, very pleasantly. Bill, who felt as if he had an advantage since he had been Ginny's favorite brother for a long time, would try to get Ginny on his side. However, Hermione doubted that after the night before Ginny would feel much like taking sides. Bill also was on cautious terms with his mother.
Needless to say, the engagement ring was never unwrapped.
Although she was surrounded by a few unhappy Weasleys and potential Weasley-to-bes, Hermione thought Christmas was... pleasant. She wished she was with her mother and father, but she appreciated the fact that Mrs. Weasley had worked so hard to make her comfortable. Ron had given her a book entitled Why Can't Our Boys Win? The History of the Chudley Cannons. She'd grinned. He had to know she wasn't as fanatical about Quidditch as he was. In return, she'd bought him a Chudley Cannons jersey. "I have no idea who wears number 7, but I hope you do."
"Norman Longfellow!" Ron said, looking as if she'd made his day. "Wow, thanks, Hermione!" She hoped with all of her heart that whoever Norman Longfellow was, he was an excellent Quidditch player. Ron pulled it down over his maroon sweater Mrs. Weasley had given him and showed it off to everyone.
One of the most thoughtful gifts she'd received was one of Mrs. Weasley's famous sweaters. Hermione had never gotten one while at Hogwarts; that had always been Harry's tradition. But this year, she unwrapped a big yellow shirt with an H on it. "I wasn't sure what your favorite color was, dear, but I saw this yarn and thought of you immediately." Mrs. Weasley was looking at her fondly as Hermione put on the sweater.
"Do you think Hermione will forget her name too, if you don't put an initial on it?" George asked.
Everyone laughed, including Mrs. Weasley. In a few minutes' time, all wizard type people were sporting one of her famous sweaters.
Later that night, Hermione sat by herself, clutching a mug of tea and watching the snow fall outside. Her heart thumped as Ron came over and sat down next to her. "I see you haven't taken off your shirt yet. I took mine off ages ago." She noted that he was still wearing her Chudley Cannons shirt, which was something that made her secretly very satisfied.
"Nice Christmas, huh?" Ron looked at his tea for a second and then took a sip. "Hope everything works out between Bill and Katherine. They were arguing for about fifteen minutes earlier today."
Hermione smiled. "Yeah. I really do hope everything's okay." Why were they talking like this? It used to be that they could sit for hours and chat freely about whatever came to their minds. But, she supposed, there was a long way to go before they would feel comfortable around each other again.
Ginny walked past them suddenly. Her face was pale as she bent down to work on picking up some wrapping paper.
"Need some help?" Hermione offered.
"Er-- no." She looked slightly surprised at the offer. "I'll just put this in the trash can, and then I'll be done."
When every last piece of wrapping paper was picked up, (and this was no easy task, since Fred and George had both taken to ripping every piece of wrapping paper into tiny pieces) Ginny moved out of the living room.
"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked, eyebrows raised.
"Oh, nothing," Hermione said. She suspected it had something to do with the events of last night, but earlier that morning she had been sworn to secrecy.
"You do know something!" he said, leaping to his feet. "You should tell me. I'm one of your best friends."
"I can't," she said, feeling sorry for her friend. She really did want to tell Ron, but she had been sworn to secrecy by Ginny, and knew it would absolutely crush her if Hermione betrayed their trust.
"Well, fine then," Ron said, obviously feeling offended but not wanting to show it. He stood up, and in his fervor, tea splashed all over his shirt. "Damn!" he yelled. "We need a house-elf in here!"
Hermione glared at him, but she noticed he was ignoring her. He ran into the kitchen, and by the loud bangs she heard, Hermione assumed that Ron was in a positively sour mood. Upset, she picked up the book Ron had given her.
It turned out to not be so bad, after all.
It was after the holidays and things had gotten back to normal when it happened.
"Hey, Gin?" George said timidly. Ginny jumped. "Erm, I have a favor to ask you."
He was holding out a box of glass fake wands. "I need to go down and trade these in Knockturn Alley."
"What?" Ginny said, breathing in sharply. "What are you doing business with them for?"
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." George grinned and looked as if he was changing character. "Actually, it's because the shopkeeper of Banges wants to study our wands and make something similar. I wouldn't have done it, but he is offering quite a bit of money, and I made him promise he wouldn't develop anything sinister."
Ginny took the box and put on her coat. "How did you get him to promise that?"
"Fred and I volunteered some nice hexes. Let's just say that if we find out there's anything horrible coming from our wand idea, his abnormally crooked nose will, er, fall off."
"George!" Ginny laughed.
She Apparated, and ended up outside of a very dirty looking store. George Weasley, what have you gotten me into? she thought. Her eyes wandered upward, to a sign with two crossed broomsticks as decoration. One of the broomsticks were broken; the other was slightly crooked.
Her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch as she saw who was inside. The man had sleek blonde hair and looked like someone who was hanging on to the fact that he had once been rich. He was standing in front of the storekeeper, speaking in quiet tones. It couldn't be who she thought it was-- could it? No one would do business with a former Death Eater.
And then she heard it. "My family is enjoying some of the profits of your Manor, Lucius."
Every nerve in her body felt like it was going to snap. She didn't know much about what had happened on the front lines of the war, but she knew one thing. This man had killed his own son. She thought about running away, but she was determined to sell the wands, if only for her brother.
The shopkeeper saw her and waved a hand. "Sorry, miss, there's been quite a backlog today. I won't be with you for a few minutes." George had been right-- the shopkeeper did have an abnormally crooked nose. It made Snape's nose look like Gilderoy Lockhart's in comparison. The situation would have almost been humorous if Lucius Malfoy wasn't staring right at her, lip curled.
She found a rusty old table and sat down, fingering the box of wands nervously. Maybe she could sit here without notice. Maybe, just maybe, there wouldn't be a confrontation. The men went back to talking, and Ginny pretended to study the different odds and ends of the shop. It was interesting, but she couldn't seem to concentrate on anything.
Suddenly, the conversation stopped and Lucius Malfoy went out of his way to stand by her table. "Ginny Weasley," he said, sounding for a minute as if he was trying to be polite and failing miserably.
"How do you do," she said, coolly. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was certain he could hear it.
"I hear your boyfriend died." All façades of politeness were now gone as he spit out the name. "Harry Potter. What a shame. I would know what that's like. I believe my own dear Narcissa was killed quite suddenly. One of those fools from the Ministry, no doubt."
This was the most he'd ever said to her. Much to her relief, he began to walk away. Lucius got to the door and then turned around. "Hurts, doesn't it? Too bad your side relied so heavily on the Harry Potter boy and he was killed so tragically. Died upright like his father, though."
And then something happened that hadn't happened to her since before she went to Hogwarts. The lights in the shop dimmed and then brightened. When she was a little girl and angry at one of her brothers, she had been able to create a few tiny rattles that had felt like small earthquakes. However, she was no longer a little girl, and wasn't angry at one of her brothers. She felt the earth shake violently, and the shopkeeper swore at her as merchandise fell from the shelves. Ginny didn't care.
"Oh, I see I've hit a sensitive spot. Will it help you to know he died quickly? Probably didn't even know what--"
Ginny saw red. She thought that it had just been a figure of speech up until now, but she finally knew what that meant. Heat surged through her, giving her energy. She chucked the box of glass wands at Lucius, forgetting for a minute that he was a very powerful dark wizard and she was a nineteen year old witch who was just a few years out of school. The wands shattered into a million pieces and ducks, horses, and a confused looking chicken came out of the broken shards.
There was a horrible silence before Lucius Disapparated. She waited for a few minutes and then Disapparated herself, leaving a very disgruntled shopkeeper in her wake.
It took her a few minutes to catch her breath. She had Apparated right into the break room where George was waiting impaitently. "Did you give it to him? Did he give you the money?"
She shook her head, knowing that was all she could do.
"What? How come? What's the matter?"
It took her a second to catch her breath, but managed to tell the whole story to George. His eyes widened, and for a moment he didn't seem to be in the mood to joke at all. "That big slimy git."
Pigwidgeon flew into the room, wreaking havoc and dropping a few boxes from the shelves. They ignored him as he dropped a letter for Ginny in her lap. He looked seriously affronted as George and Ginny continued to ignore him. Pigwidgeon flew off, hoping for a treat from someone else in the shop.
She opened it, fingers shaking.
Dear Ginny,
Stay where you are. Do not move. The Ministry of Magic has heard about this, and we will seek further action. You may be in danger. Please STAY WHERE YOU ARE.
Love,
Dad
Ron was the next person to enter the breakroom. "What's going on? Pig's going mad out there." He showed them the nicks on his finger. "Ginny, are you okay?"
She shook her head and hid the note from her brother. He couldn't know about this. After what had happened to him during the war, he would only do something rash and get them further into trouble.
A few more owls flew into the shop, and Ron went out to change the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.
The notes all said similar things. It made her feel better that apparently the Ministry was on her side, and they realized her 'earthquake' had occurred because she had been extremely angry. However, there was always one little line that made her heart pound. You May Be In Danger.
A loud popping noise made both of them jump, and at the next moment, Arthur Weasley stood in front of them. Her mother appeared a moment later, looking frantic. "The clock-- said 'mortal peril'--" was the only thing Ginny could make out.
Arthur sat down next to Ginny and said, "I'm getting letters all over the place. Both sides. The shopkeeper, who, unfortunately, was the only witness, says you threw it at Lucius and there was no real reason for it. However, most former members of the Order and people who, er, weren't there, seem to think there had to be a reason."
"Is Lucius going to seek legal action?"
"That's a distinct possibility," her father said, looking extremely worried and angry. "The bad thing is, he's unfit to seek legal action in a normal court. You know, the Ministry declared him unfit to be with regular wizards after the war. He'll probably sue at a court that plays as dirty as him."
Her mother gasped. "You mean the one in Knockturn Alley?"
"Most likely."
She sat down too, and Ginny could feel herself start to cry, although she had been fighting against that for quite some time.
"I wish Azkaban hadn't been destroyed after the war," George said. He frowned and looked worried too, which slightly surprised Ginny. "That's where people like Lucius Malfoy belong."
There was silence for a long time, and Mrs. Weasley hugged her daughter. It calmed Ginny for awhile. There had been no official declaration from anyone, so maybe they were safe.
"I'll go to McGonagall," said George suddenly. "I know if there's a way to get out of it, she'll have it figured out..."
No sooner had George spoken than a severe looking owl flew overhead and dropped a letter in front of Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Her mother opened it for her, and recoiled immediately. "Oh, Arthur--"
"What?" said Mr. Weasley, looking at his wife and daughter. They had seperated.
Ginny picked up the letter and her stomach lurched. She read it out loud:
Dear Ms. Ginevra Weasley,
I have thought for a long time now about the prospect of seeing you in court for the events that transpired this afternoon. However, you and I both know that it would not come out fairly for you. I have decided that there is a way we can repair this without the help of a higher court. If you come to my Manor tomorrow morning at 8 am, I shall ask of you a few favors, at which time we can consider settling this.
If not, I may seek action in court.
Good day,
Lucius Malfoy
"About going to McGonagall..." George said angrily.
"What should I do, Dad?" Ginny asked.
"It's ultimately your decision, honey," he said, looking defeated. "I'll go smooth this over with the Ministry and then call some of the members of the Order. We'll have a meeting tonight."
Ginny nodded numbly. After an hour or so of Mrs. Weasley trying to comfort her, she had made up her mind.
She'd have to take a few days off work first.
