Chapter 13: Be A Simple Kind of Man
"Whazzgoinon?" asked Ron groggily, as he grabbed onto the arm rests. The plane was jerking, rising, and falling quickly.
"The plane's crashing," said Hermione. She was putting on her trainers and backpack, and had pulled out her wand. People around them were panicking and and yelling.
"Take out your wand."
Ron did as he was told and grabbed his bag also.
"What are we going to do?" he asked urgently.
"We're apparating out of here."
"But what about the Muggles?!"
Hermione looked at him and remembered the last time he had said something like that. What about the house elves? She remembered when she just had the hugest urge to kiss him. The only thing different about this time was that she pushed the thought out of her mind... to be thought about later.
"I've done as much as I can. No one should die."
"No one should die?"
"Come on Ron!"
Hermione grabbed his hand and they were gone.
XxxxX
Ginny was clutching Harry so tight it hurt, but Harry wasn't about to ask her to let go. He could remember the last hours crystal clearly...
Ginny and Harry sprinted down into the kitchen with the wireless.
"What is it?" asked Mrs.Weasley.
Harry put the wireless on the table and tuned the volume.
"...says the plane crashed due to technical difficulties..." the Muggle reporter was saying.
Mrs.Weasley dropped the dish she was cleaning and flung herself towards the wireless. The look on Ginny and Harry's faces answered her silent querie of whose plane the reporter was talking about.
"We are awaiting news on whether there are any survivors..."
With that Mrs.Weasley burst into tears. Harry owled Mr.Weasley, grudgingly went to inform George, and alerted the rest of the family. A quarter of an hour later he returned to find Ginny and Mrs.Weasley in the exact same positions he had left them. He sat next to Ginny and listened impatiently to the other Muggle news until they brought up Ron and Hermione's flight once more.
"Breaking news concerning this evening's plane crash. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported, but there were six passengers injured, and two have been reported missing."
The reporter listed the names of the injured.
"And finally, Meghan Gibson and Roger Wibley have been reported missing..."
At this point Ginny had began clutching onto Harry; her face buried in his shoulder. He knew exactly why: Ron and Hermione had put their plane tickets under the names of Meghan Gibson and Roger Hibley, just in case.
"Professionals are baffled at this crash. As one man was bold to say, 'Everyone on this plane should be dead right now. The plane hit the ground with unbelievable speed, nose-on. That only six people were injured and that no one is dead is astonishing.'"
So they waited and waited. Harry sent occasional updates, but spent most of those hours in the kitchen with Ginny, Mrs.Weasley, and George.
He comforted Ginny and George tried his best to console his mother. Ginny wouldn't stop clutching Harry, but he wasn't about to move. He found himself in need of comfort too, and oddly enough, Ginny's strangling embrace was doing just that. He would occasionally kiss her head or her forehead, and they didn't speak, but that was okay.
The following two days preceeding the unexpected revelation were tense and quiet. The evening they had recieved the news, at about three in the morning, Ginny had fallen asleep in Harry's lap. He picked her up bridal style and brought her into the living room; he layed her down the couch and summoned the wireless. He put it on a small table and turned down the volume so it was only a quiet murmer in the backround. Mr.Weasley had persuaded his wife to retire to their room at midnight, a few hours after he had returned from work. George followed soon after to his room.
Harry popped the foot rest on the chair and picked Ginny up once more. He sat down in the chair with her in his arms. She moved in her sleep to get comfortable; she snaked her arms around his neck and he in turn wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. He finally felt somewhat relaxed for the first time in a while, and drifted off to sleep.
XxxxX
Two figures materialized out of thin air with a pop! in a deserted alleyway in Sydney, Australia. One had bushy brown hair and the other had flaming red locks.
"We made it!" Hermione exclaimed with a sigh. She shrugged against a dumpster. Ron turned towards her and pulled her into hug. Figuring now was a more appropriate time to give into her thoughts, she pulled out of his grasp a bit so she could kiss him passionately. After a a few moments they broke apart and went back to hugging, though the tips of Ron's ears were pink, and Hermione cheeks were flushing red.
"We should owl Harry and my family and let them know we're okay. The crash will be on the Muggle news I expect," he said into her hair.
"Let's find a place to stay and then we'll send an owl."
Ron agreed and they booked a room in a nearby hotel. Then they found a nearby Wizarding village and found an owl to send word to Harry and the Weasley's. They went back to the hotel and collapsed into one of the beds provided. They were asleep before they could even consider getting up and changing.
XxxxX
Harry awoke in a very uncomfortable spot. He climbed out of the recliner and walked into the kitchen to find Ginny making eggs and toast. Now normally, this wouldn't be surprising to someone, but Ginny rarely cooked. She was more of a cereal kind of person.
"I'd take that pan of the burner unless you want black eggs," warned Harry.
Ginny jumped; she had been looking out the window.
"Geez Harry you're going to give me a heart failure! And since when do you know anything about cooking?"
Harry took the pan off the burner and scraped the eggs into a bowl.
"Since the Dursley's constantly made me cook breakfast for them," he replied. "Toast," he added, nodding to the toaster.
"Wha-OH!" Ginny rushed over to the toaster and popped the toast out. It was very dark toast now. Ginny sighed and put the toast on a plate on the table. She sat down at the table and grabbed a piece, biting into it. She looked up at Harry.
"I should probably stick to cereal."
Harry grinned and sat down next to her.
"What time is it?" he asked her, noticing it wasn't very bright outside.
"Six thirty. I couldn't sleep," she explained at Harry's shocked look.
He nodded knowingly and put some scrambled eggs on his toast (A/N: Soooo good!;D) and bit into it. He made a face.
"Definately stick to cereal."
Ginny gave him a small smile and threw a bit of egg at him. They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. After she was finished, Ginny got up and started to clean the dishes. Harry got up to help her. After more silence Harry grabbed one of Ginny's hand off the edge of the sink and intertwined his fingers in hers.
"They'll be alright Gin."
Though he was trying to persuade her, he was trying to persuade himself as well.
Two days after the news of the crash, an owl flew into the Burrow's kitchen. Ginny, who had been eating lunch while Harry sent out more updates, flung herself towards the owl and untied the letter.
"HARRY!" she called as she saw who the letter was adressed to: the Weasley's and Harry. "Mum! Dad! Get in here!"
"What is it Gin?" asked Harry as he ran in, Mr. and Mrs.Weasley close behind him, followed by George. Ginny ripped open the letter and read aloud"
"'Dear the Weasley's and Harry,
RON AND I ARE OKAY.'-" Ginny beamed as she read this, as did everyone else. "'We managed to apparate out of the plane and make sure no muggles would be killed. We're going along with everything as planned. We are completely okay. See you soon.
Love from,
Hermione, and Ron.
P.S. Ginny, Ron says to go easy on the huge snogging he knows you have planned at this very moment for Harry. I know, it shocked me he thought of that, too.'"
Ginny turned red at this last note and handed the letter to her mother. Harry laughed at Ginny's expression and followed her into the living room when she left. She turned around as Harry said,
"Ron is rarely right, so let's not prove him wrong okay?"
Ginny laughed and kissed him deeply on the lips. After a few moments she parted her lips and Harry followed suit. She put her arms around his neck as he laced his arms around her waist. She pulled him onto the couch without her lips leaving his. When she braided her fingers in his hair, Harry pulled away reluctantly and said,
"What about Ron's warning?"
"What Ron doesn't know won't hurt him," she breathed, before kissing him once again.
--
A/N;
Sorry for the impecably long wait. I've been soaking up the glory that is summer. But then I discovered I have homework due on the first day of school, so I'm putting it off. I have the next chapter partially written, I'll be posting it after I (finish it obviously) and edit/add/remove some things. I will not be updating as often, because I'm starting high school in like a week (!) and I'm gunna focus on getting settled and in a routine before I start adding another thing (this fic and my other one, I Solemnly Swore We Were Up to No Good) to my long list of homework/things to do. And alas, I've been having terrible writer's block. Yeah, so sorry again for the horribly long wait, because I do not plan in any way to become one of those fanfic writers that waits like 6 months to a year to update stories.
FYI;
I love reviews; good or bad. They inspire me to write. So basically, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to update. So please REVIEW! (: