'Lo!
Darkbastet596- Gimme your e-mail address- I want those brownies! lol :o) Thanks for that generous and humorous review- hope the alternate ending is to your liking, although I've gotta warn youse (that right, EB?) that it doesn't involve Ginny staying in Aus...but I refuse to divulge any more of it at this time...
S'lata!
Gnomes :o)
Ginny was astounded by how many people she'd met after less than two months in Aus, and more so by how many of them she regarded as friends. After a final visit to Ryan's parents ("I put the recipe in the box, dear, enjoy them!"), Ryan accompanied Ginny home and together with Bill (after giving him his new jacket, which he vowed to replace with his beloved old one), they began making the rounds. Patty and Barney gave her a warm, tearful goodbye, plus loads of goodies to bring home("Now, don't forget to keep this baggie closed tightly; otherwise the magic wears off and the chokie'll get stale and squashed!") . They stopped by a few of Bill's friends, each of whom wished Ginny a safe trip and gave her a small souvenir to take with her. Characteristically, Natalie gave her a bottle of butterbeer ("Wait till you're legal! Nothin' like the real stuff!") Finally, they returned home, squeezed the presents she received into the spare luggage Bill had given her, and firmly strapped on to it her Comet and the Firebolt.
Oddly so, it was only after bidding Bathilda farewell that Ginny's eyes filled up rather quickly. Bill eyed her strangely.
"I said goodbye to Bathilda. That means it's really the end," she explained, sniffling.
"There's always next summer," Bill reminded her sympathetically.
Ginny took a final glance at the little house she had grown desperately fond of. Turning back to Bill and Ryan, the two men in her life she couldn't fathom living without, she felt like a lumpy, unidentifiable object caught in her throat. Unable to reply, she simply nodded.
---
Important Information (DO NOT LOSE)
Portkey leaving from: Giant Rock, Sydney, Australia
Shape: Empty bottle of Surfing Potion
Departure: Promptly 2:00 pm, August 28
Stops in: Shanghai, Bombay, Frankfurt
Portkey arriving at: King's Cross, London, England
Arrival : August 29, 6 p.m.
Name of Escort: Gaddy Pilwickle
"Ginny! Ginny, wait!"
"Ren?" Ginny dropped her bags and ran to greet Lauren, who hugged her fiercely and broke into tears at once.
"I can't believe I almost missed you! The shop was so busy, and Cal kept insisting he couldn't manage without me..."
"Jealous little thing, isn't he," Ginny remarked, thinking of Nikki. Lauren blushed.
"I felt bad leaving him with all those people. But finally I couldn't take it anymore and bailed out. I had to come see you off."
"You're the best, Ren, thanks," Ginny said, touched.
Lauren leaned toward her, pushing her hair away from her moist face.
"Nothing I do for you could ever compare what you've done for us," she said gratefully.
Ginny shook her head.
"The magic was there; someone just needed to do a bit of wand waving."
"Whatever you want to say it is," Lauren said, and laughed melodically. She placed her hand in her bag and retrieved a small gold box. "A parting gift, and to say thanks."
Ginny undid the ribbon around the box and opened it. Inside lay the dazzling emerald earings Lauren had lent her for the banquet. She gasped.
"You can't give these to me, Ren. I won't take them."
"Don't you worry about me. I work in jewelry, I'll find another pair."
Bill came over to them and put his arm around Lauren's shoulder. "My girlfriend is some angel, isn't she," he said, grinning broadly.
Bill and Lauren then stepped aside for a moment, murmuring softly to each other. Ryan approached Ginny cautiously as she stood admiring the precious earings.
"I'd been hoping my present was gonna knock off all the other ones you got," he said dryly, a hint of nerves in his voice. "I hadn't anticipated these...um..."
"Earings," Ginny filled in. "And you got me a present?" She quickly closed the box and shoved it behind her back. "So, where is it?" she asked curiously.
Ryan reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a wad of tissue paper. "Uh, here," he said, handing it to her. He ruffled his hair, embarrassed. "The lady in the shop wanted to wrap it but I was in a hurry. Didn't know the bloody things get wrapped."
Ginny quickly did away with the tissue paper and when she beheld what the item was, the weird lump in her throat returned; A delicate, white gold necklace with a stunningly-crafted emerald snitch surrounded in white and yellow gold. On the back, into tiny script, was the inscription, You Were Borne to Fly. Love, R.B. Ginny was speechless.
"I, uh," began Ryan. "I thought you looked great in that colour at the banquet, so I figured..."
Ginny, the necklace secure in her clenched fist, threw herself into his arms. Describe the moment as you will. Blissful, heartrending, bitter-sweet, never-ending, too-blooming-short are just a few simple suggestions on my part. All I can tell you for certain is that it was interrupted by Gaddy Pilwickle's polite cough, signalling that it was only a minute or so to 2:00, and therefore time to go. Reluctantly breaking apart, Ryan whispered urgently into her ear,
"Don't forget me."
Ginny couldn't give proper answer, and didn't want to cry in front of him again, so she turned away and busied herself with storing her new earings safely away and then fastened the chain around her neck.
Bill tapped her luggage with his wand to make it weightless.
"Mr. Pilwickle, sir, I trust you'll bring my sister safely back home," he told the gentleman.
"Certainly, dear boy," Pilwickle replied. "I've made identical business trips countless times before. I know the route like my own backyard, or perhaps better, what with those blasted gnomes dashing about...Anyway, come along now, Ms. Weasley. We've got a long journey ahead of us. In...fifty-eight seconds, to be exact."
Ginny gave Lauren and Bill a final hug and thanked him again for the all he had done for her that summer.
"You know you're always welcome back whenever you like," he said generously.
She adjusted her backpack and checked for the millionth time that the Firebolt was securely attached to her luggage. Thirty seconds to go. She gathered her courage and faced Ryan. It was harder to leave him, because of the uncertainty of their seeing each other again. She stood before him, he a formidable 6 feet, she a pleasing 5"4, his eyes speaking all his sorrow at their parting, and she feeling more miserable than ever, knowing she was causing it.
"You got taller, y'know. I just noticed. You're almost as tall as me," he said, flashing her a huge grin, but it failed to reach his eyes, and didn't fool Ginnny at all.
"You will write?" she asked him, in a voice not quite her own.
Ryan's grin faded into a sad smile. He nodded."S'lata, Weasley."
"It's time," said Pilwickle gently, tucking his pocketwatch away.
Ginny took hold of the Portkey, taking a final, wretched glance at Ryan.
"See you, Captain."
Ginny felt as though an invisible force pulled from behind her navel and jerked her irresistibly forward. Her feet lifted off the ground, and then she was gone.
