Back at the Burrow

As soon as Ginny woke up the next morning, everything from the night before came back to her. She groaned and buried her face in her pillow, feeling like she never wanted to show her face again as she remembered how she'd ended up crying like a baby in the library and that Blaise Zabini had been the one finding her...

You look beautiful tonight, Weasley.

She also debated with herself whether or not she should talk to Dean and maybe even apologize. After all, they had been friends for a long time and she'd never wanted things to end up like this between them... Besides, now that she thought about it, the whole argument seemed silly. But then again, Ginny hadn't done anything wrong... Or had she?

She sighed deeply and then got out of bed, thinking how nice it'd actually feel to come home. As she looked out the window she saw the snow lying thick on the grounds and she smiled to herself, knowing that she couldn't wait to have a real snowball fight with her brothers... She also really hoped that Remus and Tonks would be there, she hadn't seen them in months and she was curious to know how Tonks was, being pregnant and all.

After she'd made sure that she'd packed down everything she needed (like christmas gifts for her family) she got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall to have breakfast with her friends. Neville smiled widely at her and handed her a piece of toast as she sat down.

"Ready to go home?" he asked and Ginny nodded enthusiastically.

"As ready as I'll ever be"

How do you make a time line haha

On the train ride back to London Ginny spent most of the time reading. In fact, it was not because she needed to catch up in any subject. She had actually enjoyed reading recently, it was an easy way to step into another world and forget about the real one, if only for a short while...

"I think you've spent too much time with Hermione" Neville pointed out and Ginny laughed and hit him playfully with the book.

"Shut up! Realizing that reading might actually be nice every once in a while doesn't make me a bookworm"

"If you say so" Neville said, grinning.

A couple of minutes later Luna put down The Quibbler that she'd been readingand stood up.

"I'm going to buy some pumpkin pastries from the trolley" she told them. "Would you like some?"

"Oh, I'm fine" Ginny said and Neville nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Do you... Do you want company?"

Luna smiled but shook her head slowly.

"Oh no, that's fine"

Neville looked a bit disappointed but just nodded slightly, his cheeks turning red.

"Okay" he said quietly.

As soon as Luna had closed the compartment door behind her he turned towards Ginny.

"See? That's why I think she only wants to be friends..."

"Because she said you didn't have to accompany her to the trolley?" Ginny asked, laughing. "Neville believe me, I know what it's like to have a boyfriend who wants to help you out with everything and it's really annoying. Girls need some alone time too, you know"

But he still didn't look convinced so she added:

"You just have to give her time. I'm sure she's just as new at this whole relationship thing as you are"

Neville nodded slowly.

"I guess you're right"

Ginny smirked.

"Of course, I always am"

How do you make a time line haha

A couple of hours later the train finally arrived at platform 9 and 3/4. The station was really crowded; Ginny suspected that most students wanted to go home and see their families as often as they could these days. She hadn't heard of any students that had decided to stay at school during the holidays this year.

After she'd hugged Neville and Luna goodbye (and said hello to Neville's grandmother who seemed delighted to see her) she got her trunk, searching for any familiar faces. It didn't take long before she spotted her mum standing a few metres away, obviously looking for her daughter. The bare sight of her made Ginny's heart ache and she realized how much she'd missed her. She hurried towards her, accidentally bumping into someone on the way.

"Watch where you're going, bloodtraitor"

Daphne Greengrass, accompanied by Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson, blocked Ginny's way. They all looked at her as if she were something the dog had brought inside.

Ginny smiled sarcastically before saying:

"Oh, I'm SO sorry Greengrass, I really didn't see you!"

The look on Daphne's face made Ginny realize she'd guessed right; telling someone like Daphne that you hadn't even noticed her was a real insultment. She smirked to herself as she passed them by, Daphne's shocked face expression still plastered on her mind.

It didn't take long before she had her mum's arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Mum, I've missed you so much!" Ginny exclaimed as they let go out and Mrs Weasley laughed before hugging her daughter again.

"Oh dear I've missed you too! You have no idea..."

For a moment, Ginny could have sworn that she saw a trace of sadness in her mother's eyes. She also noticed that she'd become paler and just like professor Mc Gonagall she looked... tired.

"I think I do" Ginny said, smiling as she thought of the fact that she would now get to spend two weeks with the people she loved the most. "Let's go home"

They both turned around, heading for the barrier that would take them from the platform and back to the muggle world waiting outside. Ginny saw two boys, one dark haired and one blonde, walking through the barrier, both holding trolleys with trunks and cages. She couldn't help wondering why nobody was here to pick Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy up.

Nobody hugged them. Nobody asked them how they were or told them that they'd missed them.

They were all alone.

How do you make a time line haha

As soon as Ginny opened the front door leading into the Burrow, her home, she realized just how nice it was to be back. She took a quick turn around the house after she'd hugged all of her family members (well, apart from Ron and Percy of course) and just took it all in. The somewhat untidy rooms, the gnomes in the garden and that lovely scent that was just... home. She sighed happily. Even seeing Phlegm (Ginny still didn't completely approve of her and she was so used to the nickname by now that it was hard to call her Fleur) again was nice.

After Ginny had unpacked most of her things that she'd brought home from school she helped her mum making dinner. She couldn't help feeling as if Ron's absence was in the house, like a cloud that constantly shielded the sun. But she decided not to say anything. At least for tonight she didn't want her mum to burst into tears.

"Are Lupin and Tonks coming over for dinner?" Ginny asked hopefully and her mum shook her head.

"No, Tonks was a bit tired tonight. You know, with the pregnancy and all..."

Ginny nodded disappointedly.

"I'd hoped I'd get to see them" she said.

"Well, they'll be here for christmas of course!" her mum replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Remus has a lot going on with the Order..."

"Like what?" Ginny asked immediately but the look on her mum's face made she realize that she might as well forget it; she wouldn't get to find out anything.

You're not out of age yet...

"You're not out of age yet Ginny. The only thing you should be focusing on is your studies..."

"Yeah, that's easy with everything else that's going on..." Ginny muttered but luckily their conversation was interrupted as the rest of the family joined them in the kitchen.

A loud sound was heard from Fred's stommach and Bill and Charlie laughed whilst Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Time for dinner soon mum?" George asked, sitting down by the kitchen table. "I'm starving..."

"If you actually helped me out every once in a while..." Mrs Weasley started and Ginny had a feeling what her mum was about to tell her brother. "... instead of spending so much time in that joke shop of yours..."

"Mum, Ginny just got home" Charlie reminded her tiredly. "Not the fight over the shop again, please..."

Mrs Weasley simply muttered something under her breath before she waved her wand and plates came soaring through the air.

"Besides, we make more money than anyone else in the family..." Fred mumbled under his breath to Ginny, who laughed silently.

"Care to give me some free samples that I can test on Snape and the Carrows?"

"Can't say no to that, can we Fred?" George asked and the twins smirked identically.

Their conversation was interrupted as dinner was served and they all tucked into their food. Ginny enjoyed every piece of it; even though the food at Hogwarts was great it was nothing compared to the one her mum made. After all, Ginny had grown up with it...

"So, how are things at Hogwarts Ginny?" Bill asked curiously. "I heard that the Carrows waste no time being civil..."

"You have no idea..." Ginny said gloomily. "I actually received detention a couple of days ago simply because I stood up for a girl that Amycus called 'mudblood' so many times that she started crying. Though Mc Gonagall never actually gave me detention..."

"Wait, hold on a second"

Mrs Weasley held up her hand and silenced her daughter.

"You received detention from Amycus Carrow?"

Ginny grimaced and took a sip from her goblet filled with pumpkin juice before saying:

"I know, it's crazy. I only did what's right..."

"You shouldn't draw attention to yourself like that dear" her mother said and even though her voice was soft Ginny could tell that she was deadly serious.

She rolled her eyes.

"You know, that's what Mc Gonagall said too. But should I just sit there and do NOTHING? That's not what you've taught me..."

"In times like these we sometimes must choose between what's right..." her dad started, his voice low. "... and what's the best way to stay out of trouble"

"Well, then I choose to do what's right!" Ginny said angrily and her parents both fell silent, apparently unwilling to continue the discussion.

Charlie cleared his throat uncomfortably and then said, probably to change the subject:

"So, dad... Loads to do at work today?"

"More than ever"

Mr Weasley sighed tiredly before taking off his glasses to clean them on his shirt.

"It's been several months since the mass breakout took place and yet we're still dealing with it... Once the prisoners had escaped they probably panicked; ran off in all directions... We had to modify the memory of so many muggles I've lost count..."

Fred snickered.

"Yeah, I can imagine Lucius Malfoy turning up on Oxford street with his wand visible, dressed in those prisoner clothes... No wonder the muggles got curious..."

"That's not funny Fred" Mrs Weasley said sternly and Ginny turned towards her dad, asking:

"Do you know if any of the Zabinis were in Azkaban? Or anyone related to them?"

Mr Weasley furrowed and put on his glasses again.

"No, not that I know of. Why?"

"No reason" Ginny said quickly.

Too quickly, she realized a second later as Fred and George both smirked at her.

"Yeah, why would you care about that slimy git Gin?" George asked. "Don't tell me you've followed the Girls at Hogwarts love Blaise Zabini simply because of his hot mysterious appearances- trend..."

Ginny snorted.

"There is one of those?"

"Oh yes" Fred told her. "Even girls in our year used to fancy him... Bet they never saw him for what he really was... A death eater just like Malfoy"

"Well, there are no proves the Zabinis were ever linked to You-know-who" Mr Weasley told his children. "If they actually are loyal towards him, they're good at hiding it. As far as I know, they've all managed to stay out of trouble so far"

Ginny was silent. Why, if no member of Blaise's family had escaped from Azkaban during the mass-brekout, did he look so pleased when he found out about it last spring? She didn't want to believe it, but maybe he was simply happy about the fact that Voldemort was getting his supporters back.

But that was not what he'd told her in Hogsmeade...

"Why doesn't the Order do anything about the situation at Hogwarts?" Bill asked his dad, interrupting Ginny's thoughts.

This was something she'd really like to know, too...

"Well, what could we possibly do?" Mr Weasley said, sounding almost exhausted this time. "We are not that many and with the Ministry infiltrated..."

"Arthur, I thought we agreed on not talking about this in front of the children" Mrs Weasley interrupted him and Ginny glared at her.

"I am not a child!" she said heatedly. "And it's not like I'm not involved in any of this..."

"DESSERT!"

Mrs Weasley stood up hastily and with a wave of her wand all plates soared over to the sink where they started cleaning themselves. Soon, the treacle tart was on the table and Ginny had such a nice time with her family that she momentarily forgot that there was so much to worry about.

How do you make a time line haha

Two days later, on Christmas Eve, Ginny spent almost the entire day helping her mum and Fleur preparing for the next day when Remus, Tonks and even Hagrid would show up. She noticed that her mum seemed even more stressed out than usual and ran around the house, yelling at Fred and George for not helping out.

"IF YOU TWO ONLY SPENT HALF AS MUCH TIME TRYING TO COME UP WITH NEW WAYS TO PLAY PRANKS ON PEOPLE THINGS WOULD BE A LOT EASIER FOR ME AROUND HERE!" she yelled up the stairs and it didn't take long before she'd put them to work as well, not letting them out of her sight for a second.

"It's so unfair" Fred muttered Ginny. "Charlie's here too, how come he doesn't have to help out?"

"Charlie has a job, he could use some rest once he's home" Ginny imitated her mum, but not so loud that she'd actually hear her, and Fred snorted.

"We work too! And I doubt taking care of dragons is more exhausting than making sure that hundreds of customers are pleased, EVERY day!"

Ginny was still impressed by the fact that Fred and George's joke shop seemed to run just fine even though half of Diagon Alley had closed down. She supposed Hermione was right though; people did need a laugh these days...

When Ginny, her mum, Fred, George and Fleur had put up tons of decorations, and made so much food that Ginny silently thought that they could live on it for weeks, the clock hanging on the kitchen wall made a sound and they all turned around to look at it. The pointers with Mr Weasley's and Bill's pictures on them suddenly changed from "Work" to "Mortal peril". A second later the front door opened and Mrs Weasley sighed out of relief.

"Thank god" she said and hurried out of the kitchen.

When had things become like this? People couldn't even be sure they'd get home from work safely...

"We're saved" Fred muttered.

But he barely had time to put down the knives and forks that he were supposed to lay the kitchen table with before a scream (most likely coming from Mrs Weasley) came from the hallway. Ginny, Fred, George and Fleur all hurried out there to see what was going on.

"Mum what's..." Ginny started but stopped speaking abruptly as she saw the photo adorning today's Evening Prophet that her mum was holding, her hands shaking badly. Ginny read to herself:

HARRY POTTER AND MUGGLEBORN FRIEND SEEN IN GODRIC'S HOLLOW

Her heart stopped for a second. She didn't have to read the words out loud; she was sure that the twins and Fleur had alread seen it, too. After a short silence Fleur put words to what they were all thinking:

"But if... if 'Arry and 'Ermione were the only ones there... Then where is..."

Mr Weasley, probably spotting the horrorstuck look on his wife's face, held up his hand.

"This does not have to mean that something has happened to Ron. Maybe he simply decided to stay behind or..."

"Or maybe he was under Harry's Invisibility cloak" George suggested and Bill furrowed.

"Harry has one of those?"

"What were they doing in Godric's Hollow anyway?" Fred asked.

"Boys, I'm sure he's okay!" Mr Weasley said loudly, probably to calm his family down, but Ginny had stopped listening.

There were simply too many thoughts spinning through her head at the moment. What had they been doing in Godric's Hollow? Looking for Voldemort? And where was Ron?

"Molly..."

Ginny was brought back to reality at her dad's voice and looked up just in time to see her mum leave the room, her face covered in her hands. Mr Weasley quickly took off his traveling cloak and was just about to hurry after his wife when Ginny said:

"Dad... Is it okay if I talk to her?"

Mr Weasley seemed to hesitate for a moment but then he sighed.

"Of course dear. Just... tell me if you need me"

Ginny nodded and then headed up the stairs to go find her mum. It didn't take long; apparently her parents had gotten rid of the ghoul that had been dressed up like Ron and Mrs Weasley now sat on his Chudley Cannons bedspreads on his bed, in his bedroom. Ginny felt a sting of pain as she entered the room; she actually missed Ron a lot even though she sometimes even had trouble admitting it to herself.

As she approached her mum she realized that she held what looked like a shirt in her hands. She looked up at Ginny and then held it up for her to see. It was one of the traditional, knitted Weasley-shirts that Mrs Weasley made every year and this one had a golden "R" on it.

"I... I guess I just couldn't help hoping that he'd be back by christmas" she said, her voice thick from crying.

Ginny sat down on the bed, slowly wrapping her arms around her mum. That was all it took for Mrs Weasley to burst into tears again and she even buried her face into Ginny's shoulder.

"Oh, Ginny..." she said quietly. "Where is he? Why isn't he with Harry and Hermione? I'm... I'm just so worried"

Ginny looked out the window. Just like that night in the library, after the christmas party, she couldn't make out a thing except for snowflakes swirling around in the dark. She sighed deeply before swallowing. It definitely wouldn't make things easier for her mum if she started crying now, too...

"I don't know, mum" she said softly. "I just don't know"

Author's note: I tried looking up when the mass breakout from Azkaban actually took place and according to Harry Potter wiki it was some time before July 27:th 1997. Anyway, in this story the mass breakout happened during late spring in Ginny's fifth year (halfblood prince). Just in case anyone was wondering about that one! :)

And I guess, in Deathly Hallows, that Harry and Hermione visited Godric's Hollow late at night but in this I guess it happened sometime during the afternoon, otherwise it couldn't be in the newspaper!

By the way, please review if you feel like it! It'd make me really happy :D