Chapter Three "All You Ever Wanted"
DISCLAIMER: The characters and story plot of the Harry Potter franchise do NOT belong to me, I am just one of the many privileged enough to write on J.K Rowling's marvellous novel series
There he was thought Ginny just as her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, her eyes watching the picture of Harry replay, his dark hair a great contrast to the crimson Gryffindor Quidditch sweater he wore on the picture displayed across the front window of the Quality Quidditch Supplies store. A slogan underneath the image read 'Even a great wizard needs great gear, all Quidditch necessities and supplies found within!'
How could she have been such a fool to have fallen for such a cliche as a picture, did she actually think it was him or did she just want to believe it was him? Closing her eyes, it helped put a dull numb silence to the bustling rowdy streets that surrounded her.
"Ginny, are you alright? You seem off?" asked Hermione, putting an arm around the young red head. Her eyes gently reading the girls emotions that always lay so evident on her face.
"I thought he was here," Ginny said softly, her eyes drifted slowly to Ron' whose eyes had originally directed her own. "Didn't you?"
Ron' swallowed hard, his eyes still fixated on the image posted up on the Quidditch stores display window. "I don't know... It's an honest mistake."
"An honest mistake," mumbled Ginny, turning her head to rest in the crook of Hermione's arm, the general warmth given off her brother's girlfriend was enough to quell the young red heads superseded nerves.
Brushing back Ginny's red locks, Hermione nestled the younger girl in her arm while she met the focus of her boyfriend. "I think it's time we met with your parents, don't you Ron'?"
"Already? I think we've still got a bit more time than tha-" Ron' caught himself before going to far off track by the glare Hermione threw his way. "Actually, I suppose we're behind time?"
"Then it's best we hurry back," Hermione said quickly in response, her voice poised and purposeful as she led Ginny with one arm around her and even though her other arm was weighed down with school supplies she still managed to lift her hand enough to clench Ron's arm and drag him along.
"'Mione love?" Ron' hissed through clenched teeth as Hermione's grip on him slipped tighter between two of her fingers so it morphed into more of a pinch than a hold.
"What?" whispered Hermione in return, her main focus being on towing Ginny away from the tormenting image of Harry.
"You're killing my arm, love," Ron' whimpered, tugging his arm from Hermione's grip be rubbed tentatively as if nursing it back to health. His feet dragging behind him as he followed Hermione and Ginny's quick pace. "If being a witch doesn't work out you've got yourself a guaranteed career as a boa constrictor."
"What's that?" asked Hermione absentmindedly, the old masonry work of Diagon Alley's brick fireplaces coming into view not far ahead.
"Nothing." grumbled Ron', his hand still soothing the throbbing sore on his arm.
Through the shuffling mass of the busy crowd emerged both Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, they themselves loaded with different shopping bags from Diagon Alley's wide variety of stores.
Both the patriarch and matriarch of the Weasley family appeared astonished at the early arrival of their children and Hermione.
"Here already, my time must be off?" said Mrs. Weasley, she looked them over and found Ginny to be in a state of condition that held all the symptoms of Harry Potter. "What happened?"
"Nothing to be concerned about, Molly, just a small surprise is all." Hermione replied, giving a small smile she ushered Ginny towards the fireplace.
"Yeah if you can consider Harry rearing his ugly mug on some advertisement in the front window of the Quidditch Supply store," Said Ron', receiving a glare from both his girlfriend and his sister, he sighed and looked down at his feet. "Before you say anything 'Mione, let me save you the time and apologize now."
"It's not me you need to apologize to Ronald." Hermione chastised as she whisked past her confused boyfriend. "I'm referring to Ginny."
"Ah, right," Ron' mumbled, absentmindedly scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry Gin'."
"Save it. I'm sure you'll be apologizing for a lot more before the day ends." Ginny called back at her brother as she stepped into the fireplace with a handful of green travelling powder.
"There's no winning with women is there Dad?" Ron' asked as he came to stand at Mr. Weasley's side.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Mr. Weasley replied, he gave a small chuckle and clapped his son on the back. "Though I will say it's gets easier as you grow older, by the time your forty you'll have had enough experiences in what not to say that the later years will be a breeze."
"Forty?" Ron' scoffed as he watched Ginny vanish in a plum of green flames. He looked over to Hermione and heaved a heavy breath of air. "What have I gotten myself into?"
Mr. Weasley smiled. "Love, of course. It get's the best of us."
"Ronald you're next come here dear." Mrs. Weasley called out interrupting the two male Weasley's conversation, her hand clasping a bowl of floo powder in her hand for her son to take.
Going forward Ron' filled his hand and walked into the fireplace, the soot and residue of ash that clung to the bricks of the fireplace made the air of the enclosed space thick and heavy. Raising his hand above him, he cast his parents and Hermione one last look and threw down the powder, the eruption of green flames grew and grew until he was completely engulfed.
"THE BURROW!" called Ron', he closed his eyes and by the time he thought to reopen them he found himself standing in the blissful silence of his family's living-room fireplace. Stepping out he found his sister laying draped along the plush sofa, her shopping bags discarded carelessly on the floor in front of her.
"What is it Ron'? I can feel you staring at me." Ginny said nonchalantly.
"I'm not staring," Ron' retorted, crouching down he placed his new attire and school supplies on floor to the side of the room. In the back of his mind he thought to the conversation he had with Hermione in Madam Malkin's shop. "Though, do you think we could go somewhere and talk, just you and me."
Turning to look at her brother, Ginny fixed him with a suspicious expression. "Talk about what?"
"Do I really have to say."
"No," Ginny said, knowing all to well what he planned on discussing. Sitting up, she got to her feet and lead the way out of the room. "Are you coming?"
Shaking his head, Ron' followed his sister from the room, behind him there was a flash of green to signal someone else had arrived but he paid them no mind as he tread after her. Exiting the backdoor of the Burrow, the pair strolled across the freshly cut grass and into their fathers shed.
"Is this enough solitude to have our little one on one?" Ginny asked, pushing aside a few of her fathers muggle tools that lay cluttered on top of his work bench, she hopped up to take a seat.
"Yeah, this will do," Ron' answered, he dusted off an old stool and took a seat across from Ginny. "Before I start, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Ron'." Ginny said, however her tone may have suggested otherwise.
"It's just back in Diagon when you saw that picture, I mean when you realized it wasn't him... Well you kind of froze up and you instantly became this weird sort of shell of yourself." explained Ron'.
"I was disappointed, what can I say I thought it was him and I know you thought so as well." Ginny said, looking down she brushed a few loose auburn strands of hair behind her ear.
Giving a subtle nod, Ron' sighed. "I'll admit I thought it was him at first, I can't deny that... But how I reacted compared to how you reacted when we realized it wasn't him was totally different, Gin'. I don't think it's healthy for you."
"It? What is it?" enquired Ginny defensively, she scooted forward to the edge of the work bench.
"It being Harry," Ron' bluntly replied."It's been almost three months Gin' and he's not sent so much as an owl to any of us, not to mention he didn't attend Fred's funeral. It's time we and you included have to face the reality that Harry might not be coming back."
Clenching her jaw, Ginny looked away from her brother. "You're wrong."
"Maybe I am wrong, but maybe just maybe I'm right and you need to prepare yourself for that possibility." declared Ron'.
"You don't think he's going to attend Hogwarts do you." stated Ginny, catching on to what he was trying to say.
"I'd be lying if I said I thought he will," Ron' replied honestly, getting up he approached Ginny slowly and laid a hand on her knee as it dangled over the edge of the workbench. "I'm not telling you this to be an arse, I'm telling you this because it's for your own good to hear."
Eyes shining, Ginny suppressed the compelling urge to cry. "If it's for my own good why does it hurt so much to hear?"
"When does somebody telling you something you don't want to hear ever leave you feeling good," pondered Ron', he patted her knee and took a step back. "The sooner you decide to move on, the easier it will be on you."
Shaking her head, Ginny dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. "And if I'm not ready to move on or ever will be?"
"Then you'll only be making life harder for yourself and everyone else, do you think Mum and Dad enjoy seeing you like this, haven't they had enough suffering with Fred's loss?" Ron' enquired.
"So this is my fault?" Ginny snapped back.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ron' let on an exasperated groan. "No that's not what I'm trying to say, I'm muddying this all up. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you've got your whole life ahead of you why not try and live it?"
Taking a moment to absorb it all in, Ginny knew her brother had made some fair points. Could she really just disregard it all and keep up this hopeless wait for Harry to return? As well she knew it wasn't fair on her behalf to keep ringing her family along for the ride of her whirlwind of emotions at times.
"Ginny?"
"Oh," Ginny said, pulled from her thoughts she looked up to her brother and offered a halfhearted attempt for a smile. "I'm not going to say it will be easy, but I'll try and move on."
With a look of relief stretching across his face, Ron' let his tense shoulders relax. "I can't ask for anymore than that."
"And you better not." Ginny stated in a lighter tone.
Letting out a gentle chuckle, Ron' nodded in agreement. "So we're okay then, me and you? I'm not going to have to worried about any bat bogey hexes do I?"
"We're fine, Ronald. Don't worry," Ginny answered. "You should probably go on back inside, Hermione's probably looking for you."
"You're not coming?"
Ginny shook her head as she twiddled her fingers on her lap. "You go ahead, I'll be in shortly. I just need some time to collect myself."
"Alright, but don't be out here long. If you need me, I'm just a shout away." Ron' told her, he paused shortly at the doorway of the shed before stepping outside and pulling to closed behind him.
Left alone to silence and herself, Ginny thought more on her conversation with her brother. She had told him she would try and move on, but was he even right to suggest it? It had only been three months since the final battle and Harry's disappearance.
Besides she had waited longer for him than this, the whole of last year as he, Ron' and Hermione went gallivanting off to save the wizarding world, she had waited, she had been patient, even when in the end it totalled up to just a few spare moments with him shared between her and the rest of Dumbledore's Army in the Room of Requirements just before his showdown with Voldemort.
She loved him, in her heart she knew it to be true. From the moment her parents had told her the tale of the boy-who-lived in her youth, of course she knew it was a simple infatuation with the story then. But that day at King Cross station before Ron' had shipped off for his first year at Hogwarts, when she laid eyes on Harry, she knew then that he was special, that he wasn't just some ordinary wizard that had entered into her life. One day she knew he would play a major role in her life.
Even with all that certainty however, Ginny's understanding had been completely turned topsy-turvy, her faith in Harry had been rocked by what her brother had said. Perhaps it would be good for her after all to forget Harry, at least for now. Should Harry ever return then she would deal with it.
Hopping down from her father's work bench, she felt a little more at ease as though the weight of worry she had been caring around with her for these last three months suddenly lifted off her. Straightening out her jumper, she put on strong face and walked out from her fathers shed.
"Hi Mum." greeted Ginny as she slipped inside the house, heading directly for the staircase that would take her to her bed.
"Hold on just a minute, where are you going?" Mrs. Weasley called out, stalling Ginny at the bottom of the staircase. "Dinner is just about to come out the stove."
"I was planning on going to bed." Ginny reluctantly answered.
"To bed?" Mrs. Weasley repeated, the surprise showed by her arched brows. "You've been eating less and less dear, I must insist you stay and have dinner."
Ginny took a deep breath, looked longingly up the staircase that held her room and the bed she deeply wished to crawl into and never get out of. Shaking the thought from her head she knew if she were to ever get over Harry Potter as she told Ron' she would or attempt to, she needed to take the first step towards that mindset, and that meant not hiding away in her bedroom.
"If you insist," Ginny said, she let a smile creep out and headed back into the kitchen. "Where did everyone go?"
Pleased to see her daughter stay, Mrs. Weasley beamed and reached out to turn off the stove. "Your father's showing your brother and Hermione some muggle contraption he picked up in London last week, as if he doesn't have enough strange muggle things laying about."
"He wouldn't be Dad if he didn't have something muggle to play around with," Ginny pointed out, her mind drifted to the time Harry tried to explain to her what a VHS tape was. Stop. She suppressed the memory, don't go thinking of him already she told herself. "What's for dinner by the way?"
"Roast beef with potatoes and carrots," Mrs. Weasley said, transferring a few pots from the stove to the kitchen table. "Would you mind setting the table while I go fetch the rest of our dinner party?"
"Sure, no problem Mum." answered Ginny, she went to the cupboards that sat nestled just above the kitchen counter tops and retrieved a neat stack of assorted plates.
Having set out a plate to each designated seat positioned around the worn kitchen table, Ginny pulled open a cabinet drawer and began to collect the silverware just as the others began filing into the room.
"Smells wonderful in here," Mr. Weasley commented as he went to expect the cooked meal laid out along the table. Taking a long whiff of the foods aroma, he patted his stomach. "You've outdone yourself, Molly."
"Thank you dear," Mrs. Weasley said, coming up to her husbands side she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now everyone please sit down before it all goes cold. And thank you Ginny for setting the table."
Giving a nod, Ginny took a seat across from Ron' and Hermione as her mother and father took a seat at each end of the table. After dishes had been passed from one to another and each persons plate was full, dinner commenced, conversations filled the kitchen of The Burrow.
"I forgot to ask earlier, did everyone get their supplies for school?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she carved up the beef on her plate into more manageable sized pieces.
"Yes, books, parchment, quills. I don't believe we missed anything that was on our list of requirements," Hermione said. "If we did I'm sure we'll be able to make a stop in Hogsmeade at some point during the year."
"It's strange to think you'll all be going off to Hogwarts again, you've all grown up so much in the last couple of years I'm beginning to get confused with how old you all actually are," Mr. Weasley noted.
"Oh come now Arthur you're going to make them feel as old as us, you three are young don't listen to him." Mrs. Weasley pipped in.
"He makes a valid comment though, I think we all grew up a little quicker than we had expected in the last couple of years." Hermione replied, she pushed a few potatoes around on her plate with the end of her fork. "Having this year at Hogwarts will be nice to be our actual age again before we go off and get jobs."
"Jobs?" Ron' mumbled out, his mouth stuffed with chewed carrots.
"Yes, Ron'. We do have to work for a living once we've graduated. Having helped Harry defeat Voldemort doesn't mean we get a pass to not work for the rest of our lives." Hermione said in her matter of fact tone of voice.
"I know, doesn't mean I have to look forward to it." Ron' mumbled to himself.
Watching her family converse and bicker made Ginny smile, looking past Ron' and Hermione to the calender that hung on the wall behind them, she could count down the days on one hand till September 1st. Well she thought, with or without Harry she was determined for it to be a good year and with her brother and Hermione there with her in the same classes she was ready to face the future.
A/N: Hello everyone, I know I have not updated this story in quite sometime but I vow to finish this story if it's the last thing I ever do lol. But be patient with me, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and give me some feedback. Until the next chapter everyone, take care and have fun reading!