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ATTENTION: THIS CHAPTER WAS CHANGED!
A/N: Here's another one for you. I love writing this story…lol. I hope you all love reading it. I know a day (or two, depending on where you are) isn't much time to read both of these but I promise you'll like this one A LOT. Thanks to all the reviews…keep them coming!
Elizabeth Theresa: I'm glad you liked it. Here's the reception…
Yume Rinku: thanks. Here's some more.
Chapter 7: In Parties, Surprises, Secrets and Cake
Bill and Fleur Weasley sat at the front of the room with both sets of in-laws beside them. Sixteen round tables surrounded them. At the table nearest to them sat Ron, Hermione, Harry, Fred, George, Ginny and Angelina. "I think I could dance," Angelina hinted to Fred. He looked at her and rolled his eyes.
"Of course you could. Fine lets go," Fred sighed and stood up. George laughed at him and Fred tossed him a look from the dance floor.
"Hermione, care to show them how it's done?" George asked her. Ron perked up and looked at him. Hermione agreed and Ron looked like he could kill his brother. "Don't worry, I'll bring her back. Promise."
"Git," Ron whispered. Ginny laughed. "They are dancing so they don't get in trouble." He laughed.
"What do you mean?" Harry and Ginny asked.
"Well, Bill made Fred and George take an Unbreakable Vow so they can't pull any tricks or jokes at the wedding. No pranks, nothing. They weren't very happy after they did it." This statement was joined by incessant laughter from the remaining three.
"I don't think I really understood that whole wedding thing…Actually, I know I didn't," Harry added.
"Oh, well it's really simple. Er…let's see. From the beginning I guess. Ok, the fathers walk down the groom and the mothers walk down the bride—that is to symbolize that both people are mature enough in their manhood and womanhood to accept the responsibility of marriage. It also means that both people were taking lessons of what it is to be a wife and husband," Ginny smiled.
"What are we talking about?" George asked as they rejoined the table.
"Harry doesn't know what any of the wedding meant." Ron stated. A silent 'Oh' came from Fred.
"Anyway…the next part…vows of eternal love and togetherness even in death. The wizarding world doesn't believe in separating ways of the married." Hermione whispered to Harry that it was like a Muggle divorce and Ginny continued. "There is no way, once you are married to split up. Of course there are circumstances…like if one dies or if one is unloyal or dishonest…but that rarely happens."
"And there was the dilemma part. Usually, that is a test how they would handle the stress and problems that come with marriage. The cup thing is just a Veela custom, as was the song. That about covers it." George added.
"But the doves, what happens if they don't fly off together? And how did all the decorations change?" Harry asked, remembering the words that were said with them.
"It was an illusion…it's planned that way so you don't have to buy anything but the clothes," George smiled. "And for the bird…if that happens, you can not get married. The doves are love birds and they are paired with one bird from the beginning days and are separated for only an hour…if they don't fly off together after an hour apart then they obviously aren't meant for each other." Harry nodded in understanding.
"I for one, am leaving that out of my wedding. I'm not leaving my fate up to a stupid bird." Ginny laughed.
(sc)
"Did you see who Harry was sitting by during the wedding?" Fred asked, rejoining the table after Angelina left.
"Yes. I'm surprised he's still alive!" George laughed. Ron joined in but Ginny did not find it funny. "But look who he was beside, Gin."
"Who was it?" Harry asked.
Everyone's eyes scanned the room and they stopped on the mysterious girl. "Mafalda… Mafalda Grimm." Fred said it as if it were dirty. Harry and Hermione asked no questions about the girl who caused them such distress.
"You are over-reacting. She wouldn't have hurt him…not in public anyway." Ginny said solemnly but she didn't look convinced. The Weasleys looked at her before they began to explain.
"Mafalda is the daughter of Mum's second cousin or something. They all got in some kind of fight and didn't talk for a while. Then one day, he and his Muggle wife had a witch for a daughter…Mafalda. They asked mum and dad to help introduce her to magic before she went to Hogwarts," George explained.
"Hogwarts? I've never seen her there." Harry said.
"That's because she never made it. Our parents kept her for a couple of weeks but mum suspected that her parents simply wanted to get rid of her for a while, because she turned out to be the most unpleasant child mum has ever met," Fred said.
"Even said once that she put Draco Malfoy to shame," George added with a laugh. She had to have seen them all gawking at her from two tables over…but if she did, Mafalda made no notice to anything.
(sc)
"Look there!" Fred stood up and pointed. "Isn't that—?"
"No. That-that can't be…" Fred added.
"Well, if its not it sure looks like him," Ron said. They all looked to the entrance by the door. Charlie was there with them now, looking at what everyone else was looking at. At the gift table stood the one, the only, the unchangeable, and the prefect, the traitorous—Percy Ignatious Weasley. (Who was also known as the lost brother.)
"I can't believe he showed up here!" George fumed.
"Bill is his brother, too. He has as much of a right as anybody," Ginny defended, hoping that was the real reason he was here.
"I'm going to go talk to him," Charlie said, walking toward Percy. Percy saw him coming and started to make a dash for the door but decided against it at the last minute. Instead, he stood there and waited as Charlie arrived. "Hey, Percy." Percy muttered a small 'hello.'
"I didn't think I'd see you here. You want to stay? Have a butterbeer? Talk a bit?" Charlie asked.
"No," Percy stated. "I don't think so. I just came to drop off a gift. So…" It was obvious that Percy wanted to leave but Charlie pressed him.
"You want to say hi to mum? Or dad or someone? I'm sure they'd like knowing you were here."
"No, Charlie. I'm just going to go. I'll talk to you later," Percy turned and walked out the door but paused and looked back at Charlie. "Tell Ginny hi for me, unless they've turned her against me too." Then he was gone. Charlie looked back at the eyes that hovered over the table and shrugged then walked off.
(sc)
"I love cake!" Ron smiled as they the cake appeared on the table before them. But Ron's joy was soon gone as a scream came from the other side. Standing over a body on the floor was Mafalda.
Fleur added a scream to that went along with the rest of the bellows that surrounded. Mafalda was standing over Ginny, wand in hand. Ginny lay motionless on the ground. Harry and Ron jumped from the table. As Harry looked in that direction, he felt his heart begin to pound in his head and he didn't breathe. She couldn't have hurt Ginny…not his Ginny.
The six joined the other guests in the circle around the two. Ginny wasn't moving on the ground. Mafalda wasn't moving either. Harry couldn't tell whether she was in shock or whether she was staring happily at what she had done. "Move! Move!" Charlie bounced past the crowd with Fred and George.
They knelt down beside Ginny. "She's alive!" Fred yelled, giving Mafalda a look.
"Of course I'm alive! Get off me Fred…" Ginny muttered. She stood to her feet and looked at Fred. "What?"
"What? We all thought you had…what happened?" George yelled back, looking at Mafalda. The crowd had gone back to their seats, all except Harry, Hermione and the Weasley brothers.
"No. Mafalda saved me," Ginny laughed. "Thank you Mafalda." Mafalda shook her head and sat down beside her parents. Ginny and the others walked back to the table and sat down.
"What on earth did she save you from?" Ron asked. Ginny pointed to the pole that lay on the ground beside the place her still body had rested. That part of the ceiling was being held up by nothing now…except magic. "Oh. I see." Ron shook his head.
"I told you guys already…she'd never kill in public." Everyone laughed. But Harry could feel that there was something Ginny wasn't saying…something that she should have said.
(sc)
The night left and extra room at the Burrow…lots of room actually. The remaining Delacours had left directly after Bill and Fleur went off to their honeymoon. After all the quests were gone, the Weasley family settled into sleep—half without even taking off their shoes.
Hermione and Ginny had fallen asleep in Ginny's room—Hermione in the chair and Ginny on the bed. Charlie was at the kitchen table, head down on the wooden table, snoring loudly. Fred was leaning against the wall of the living room and had fallen asleep standing there. George, however, was asleep at the bottom of the stairs, one shoe on and one on the floor and a sock hanging halfway off his foot. Ron was asleep in his bed. He was talking to Harry and then the next second he was out.
Harry laughed to himself as he walked into the bathroom. On the way back out, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked past him. "Goodnight Harry." They smiled at him.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Well, Fred and George are in the living room, Charlie is in the kitchen and the girls are in the room, all asleep." Mr. Weasley smiled.
"Shouldn't we move them to bed? The kitchen doesn't sound like a nice place to sleep."
They looked back at Harry with amused faces. "We probably should. That would be a nice gesture…but you know what they say Harry, let sleeping dogs lie." Mrs. Weasley smiled at him and the walked to their room.
(sc)
Ginny had never seen it like this before. She'd spent a lot of time in the old hallways but she never remembered it being this…empty. She walked down past all the familiar paintings that hung on the wall, sleeping. There was something to be said about the night, even a place like this. She'd only just left it a week ago and here she was, back already.
She turned the corner to the old gargoyle and whispered the password, "Fish beans." The gargoyle jumped back and the door swung open. Ginny stepped inside the room. "Miss Weasley, I've been expecting you," a man's voice came from behind her.
"Yes. I know you have. Sorry it took so long to get here…"
"Not a problem," the voice interrupted, "I know all that has been happening with you as well as a wedding between a certain brother and Miss Delacour…but these matters are for a later discussion. Please come sit and talk to me about your first adventure. Which I must say, was done rather ingeniously."
Ginny blushed and whispered a 'thank you.' She got comfortable in the chair and began to tell him everything that had happened in the last week.
(sc)
There was a scream from the next bedroom. "Ron! Harry!" Hermione yelled from the room. Within the next second the three, followed by everyone else in the sleeping house, met in the hallway.
"Bloody hell Hermione! What's wrong!" Ron asked half-asleep. Hermione looked at them all with fear in her eyes. She almost didn't want to tell them. "What is it?"
"It-It's…I woke up and…she wasn't…" Harry realized what she was saying and jumped past the group into Ginny's room. She wasn't there. She was gone.
Harry didn't have to tell anyone that though. They knew by the look on his face. The four Weasley boys went into the room and looked around, as if they didn't believe anything. But they knew it too…Ginny was gone.
(sc)
"That is so marvelous, my dear… so marvelous indeed. I am pleased in the decision to choose you. But I am afraid that this meeting must be cut short. You need to return home. I will contact you with farther details. Goodbye, Ginny." The voice walked away, leaving Ginny alone in the empty room, empty except for the portraits of the other headmasters of the past.
Ginny picked up the thing she was instructed to take to him and left the room. She had that feeling too…she was in trouble.
(sc)
"Where on earth could she have gone at this hour?" Mrs. Weasley paced in the kitchen. No one dared to say anything. "Is there nothing we can do?" She looked from one son to the other then to Harry, Hermione and her husband. She turned on her heel and continued to pace. There was a clank upstairs and everyone ran up the stairs.
Ginny was sitting on the bed when the door swung open. "Hi mum, dad…why's everyone out of bed?" As soon as she had said it, she regretted it.
"Ginevra Weasley! What are you playing at? 'Why's everyone out of bed?' 'Why's everyone out of bed?' Everyone's out of bed because you disappeared in the middle of the night! Where in Merlin's name were you?" Mrs. Weasley yelled.
All eyes were on Ginny, waiting for an answer. She looked around the room. There was no way out of this. She would have to tell them everything. She sat down on the bed and it slid beside her. Maybe she wouldn't. "Ok. I'll tell you. I had to go pick something up."
"You what? At this hour?" Mr. Weasley questioned.
"I had to pick up something. For tomorrow…" Everyone's faces changed.
"That still doesn't change anything. It's so late Ginny, you could have picked up in the morning. Or at least told somebody!" her mother added.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't think I guess. It won't happen again."
"I know it won't happen again…because you won't leave this house for quite a while. Now, all of you to bed…the three of us will finish this discussion tomorrow." Everyone did as Mr. Weasley had instructed without another word. He looked at Ginny and shook his head. "I am surprised at you. When you tell me what you have been up to, we will revoke your punishment…until then your secrets will just have to be."
(sc)
Harry woke up to an extraordinary smell in the air. He rolled over in Bill's bed but couldn't ignore it. After a peaceful shower, which was a rarity in the Burrow, Harry walked down the stairs into the kitchen. "Good afternoon Harry."
"Afternoon? Is it already that late?"
"Almost. But we all had a rough night. The boys are out back…lunch be along shortly." She dismissed him without even turning to look at him. As he walked out the back door, he glanced at the clock above the table, which still seemed to be broken. The hands were jumping back and forth from 'Garden' to 'Mortal Peril.' (Mrs. Weasley's was 'Home') Except for Ron and oddly enough, Ginny's…who were stuck on 'Mortal Peril.'
Harry walked outside. "Happy Birthday Harry!" Hermione ran to him and gave him a hug.
"What's all this?" he asked.
"It's for you mate," Ron said coming over to them. The table was covered with more food than he'd seen (some of it left over from the wedding) and some presents.
"You didn't have to do this…"
"Yes we know," Mrs. Weasley said coming from the inside of the house. "But we choose to. It is afterall, or will be, your birthday. And since you plan on leaving tomo…it's an early party." She sat at the table with everyone else.
"I don't know what to say," he said as he sat beside them. The food started around the table and Harry smiled a true smile for the first time in a while…
(sc)
"Open this one. It's from George and I," Fred said. Harry unwrapped the package. Inside was everything he'd asked for from them for the trip…Shields, Decoys…all if it. Mrs. Weasley did not look too happy so Harry went on to the next.
"Ginny should be next. I've been dying to see the present she had to pick up at 2 in the morning," Fred teased. After everyone agreed Ginny rolled her eyes and got up from the table.
"Fine! Here you are Harry…this one's from me." Harry opened it and saw a watch. It was really exactly his style. There was a note attached that said "It will help you when you feel lost. Never forget there are people here who care immensely…Love Ginny." Harry smiled at her and she smiled back.
"You had to go out at 2 for a watch!" Charlie asked his sister.
"No. I had to go out at two for this. It's not from me; I'm just the messenger." Ginny pulled a huge box and placed it gently on the table. Harry opened the top of the box and looked down in disbelief.
"Where did you get these?" He had seen it many times before but this time it was different. It meant more…
"He gave them to me." It was a simple statement but it caused Harry much confusion as he repeated the words she had just said in his head over and over.
"How did he give them to you?" Harry asked. He couldn't look away from her.
"Harry, it's okay. Really it is. He wanted you to have them, I promise you." Ginny said it with so much confidence and sensitivity that Harry couldn't help but believe her…even if he wasn't sure how she got them.