Chapter 1

"Ah look at the little Weasley girl. Tell me, where are your brothers to protect you now?" The figure went closer to the terrified girl before him. Ginny could see his cold black eyes, and crocked smile. His breath was horrid and he could feel it on her neck.

"Are you ready to die?"

Ginny shot up from her bed with a start. She looked around her room with tears in her eyes. "It was just a dream, just a dream." She repeated the mantra over and over again to herself as she rocked back and forth on her bed. When her mattress squeaked with a new wait on her bed, she only opened her eyes and smiled. It had been a week ago that her new friend had come into her bedroom.

She had found the fox on her windowsill watching her curiously, its bushy tail wagging back and forth. At first she had been surprised to find that a wild animal had made its way past the magical enchantment on her window. Then she remembered that with her twin brothers, this kind of thing would happen eventually.

The fox had been surprisingly tame and very gentle. It had hopped up on her bed and snuggled up close to her, much like it was doing now. At first she didn't know what to do, but the fox had nuzzled her hand in encouragement and she would pet it till she fell back asleep. When she awoke in the morning the fox would be gone. The routine had been going on for a week now, and it was the only small comfort she had after her nightmares.

Originally she would have gone to Ron's room, but with everything that happened to him, and the fact that he had to take sleeping potion to even get and hour's rest she didn't think it right to bother him. Ginny often worried about her brother. She had seen him struggle and scream in the department of mysteries, telling the voices to stop. She had then watched the healers try to make him sane again. She also knew that if something was bothering him, he would hide it. If anything was wrong with any of the Weasley children they would hide it till it went away.

"You're a rather strange fox." The fox opened one eye, and made a movement that looked like a shrug. Ginny laughed at the fox's odd human like actions and scratched him behind the ears. The fox licked her hand then snuggled in closer to her. "You're strange, but I don't know what I would do without you."

…

"Fred, George, leave Ron some breakfast, I'm sure he'll be hungry when he wakes up." Fred and George both looked at their heaping plates, then at one another, and scrapped off some of their eggs back into the frying pan. They both sat down in front of their older brother, and he looked at the worried looks on their face. "What is it?"

"It's Ron he hasn't…" George stopped at the warning look his twin gave him. They looked at each other and Bill could tell they were having a silent argument. Finally Fred sighed and looked down at his plate like it was the most interesting scrambled eggs in the world. "He hasn't been eating like he usually does."

"I haven't seen him eat breakfast since he got home." Bill looked at his brothers waiting for one of them to start laughing, when they didn't he stood up and started for the stairs. They had never looked so serious in his life, and that scared him.

"Ron?" He knocked on his bedroom door gently. He heard shuffling behind the door and a grunt of pain. He opened the door and was greeted by the sign of a very tired looking Ron, fresh out of the shower bandaging his arms. "Are you coming to eat?"

"Oh… um, I'll eat in a little bit. The pain potion makes me nauseous." Bill gave Ron a stern look then turned around to walk down the stairs. As he walked past the bathroom he saw Ginny looking in the mirror while holding her hair. She looked disgusted at it.

"You okay Gin?" Ginny jumped and turned around to face her older brother. Bill noticed how startled she was and made a mental note not to do it again.

"I'm fine Bill; I'll be down in a minute." Ginny gave him her usual sweet smile, but Bill couldn't help notice that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

…

Fred, George and Bill were all unpacking boxes. Ginny was sitting by the window picking at some chipped paint and looking at the shops. Ron was sitting on the stairs looking at the ground, he wasn;t aloud to do heavy lifting yet so he had sat there to be out of the way.

"I thought bringing them to Diagon Alley would have cheered those two up a bit." Bill said in a hushed tone, hoping his two youngest siblings hadn't heard him. "Do you two have any ideas?"

"Let them run free." Bill gave the twins a questioning glance and then looked over at his siblings. He was biting his lower lip in worry, he wasn't so sure that was a good idea.

"Ron can't lift anything heavy…"

"And they are both underage, so they can't help with anything magic." Fred and George looked at each other and smiled. They both took out some money and handed it to Bill.

"Give them this and tell them to go enjoy themselves." Fred gave a thumb up to George's suggestion then pulled bill down to their height.

"But if you tell them it's from us…" Fred started and looked at George. They both took out their wands and put it to their older brother's ponytail.

"You'll regret it." Bill laughed and slapped his brother's on the back. The commotion caused Ginny to look over, a hint of confusion on her face. Ron only looked up for a bit then looked back down.

…

"So what are you going to buy?" Ginny looked at her oddly quiet brother, hoping he would hop into her third attempt at a conversation.

"I'm getting a book." If she hadn't of heard it herself, Ginny would never believe the words that had just come out of her brother's mouth. Ron obviously noticed her surprised reaction and gave her a small smile. "I can read you know." Ginny laughed, and Ron gave a small chuckle as well. It was the first time either of them had a laugh, even a small one. It felt alien, and if it bothered them they didn't dare say it to the other.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Ron shook his head no and gave Ginny some additional coins. She began to give them back but he shot her a look and she put them in her pocket. "Thanks."

"No problem, I only need a little anyways. I might be a while so why don't we just meet each other at lunch." Ginny nodded and walked in the opposite direction of her brother. She turned around and watched him disappear into the book store.

Ginny walked around for a while in the quiet streets. Since it was an early Tuesday morning there was not a lot of people in the streets. It made it easier for her thoughts to wonder. She had no clue why Bill had given her the money, but she accepted it because she knew the twins were just trying to be nice, although they would never admit it.

Her eyes drifted to a brightly colored shop. It wasn't nearly as loud looking as the outside of the twins' joke shop, but it was a lovely shade of rose pink. She walked into the shop, not really looking at the sign to see what it was. She looked around and noticed all of the tall chairs, mirrors, and sinks. She was in a hair salon.

"You have the most beautiful shade of red hair I have ever seen." Ginny turned to look at the only other person in the salon. She was an older witch, her hair was an interesting shade of aqua and it was curled to perfection. Her wand was behind her ear, and she seemed to be older. "My name is Lucy, I own the place."

"Oh, I… I really liked the color." The women gave Ginny a warm smile, and patted her on the shoulder. The women could tell that the young red head before her only walked in because she was curious.

"Would you like a trim dear?" When the young girl gave no answer Lucy gave her a magazine. It was a muggle one, full of popular haircuts in the non-magical world. Lucy's shop was one of the only salon's that offered both magical and muggle hair care.

She watched as the girl sat down and began flipping through the pages; her eyes looking at each page with curiosity. While the girl looked at the book, Lucy looked at the girl. She was rather lovely, with a slender body with soft curves. She had the longest red hair she had ever seen almost reaching to her waist, and it was very beautiful and thick. The girl had wide brown eyes, which looked very tired and very old for her young age. The freckles only completed her look, giving her obvious charm. She could tell that the girl was a spitfire, and a bit of a tom-boy. Her thoughts went away from the girl and to the page that she was looking at so intently.

"I'll give you the haircut for half off, and I'll even throw in a free bottle of whatever shampoo and conditioner you like for free. You get the shampoo and conditioner for free because I'll be donating the hair." The girl looked up at Lucy and beamed.

"That would be wicked Lucy. My name is Ginny by the way." Lucy walked Ginny to a nearby station and put an apron around her shoulders. "Do you think it will look good?"

"I think it will look magnificent."

…

Ron walked out of the book shop with two books tucked underneath his arm. The witch who had helped him had been rather rude at first, but when his too short sleeves rolled up to reveal his bandages she had made him a deal. Know he had enough money to buy some lunch, and maybe some treats for Pig.

The tall red head made his way to the small restaurant that Ginny had pointed out to him. She figured he could order something and wait for his sister to meet him there. When he entered the near empty place, he took a seat next to the window by the door so Ginny could see him. The old waitress came up to him and put some tea in front of him. He had protested that he didn't need it, but she replied it was on the house because he looked like he needed it.

Ron sighed and looked out the window watching the streets of Diagon Alley get busier and busier. He got lost looking at the people so he didn't notice that his sister was there till she tapped him on the shoulder.

The youngest Weasley boy whipped his head to look at his sister and his mouth opened in shock. Ginny had gotten a haircut, and not just a trim. The base of her hair wasn't even touching her shoulders. She looked down and blushed before looking back up again at the small grin on his face.

"Do you like it?" She knew she would have never have gotten away with the short haircut with her mother around, but that's not why she got it. Ginny needed a change, a big change. This new haircut made her look older, and according to the hairdresser it made her seem more confident. When she had looked in the mirror she was startled, but then she instantly loved it. Now she only hoped her brothers would like the major change as much as she did.

"I think it's wicked." Ginny saw her brother's smile reach his eyes for the first time in a long time and she threw her arms around him. It had felt nice to hug her brother again, but she instantly jumped back when she heard his moan of pain.

"Sorry." Ginny looked to the floor. She was embarrassed that she had forgotten her brother's recent injury and had hurt him. She was startled when her taller brother stood up and gingerly gave her a hug back. It wasn't the usual bear hugs he was used to, but it still felt nice.

…

Ginny was actually having a pleasant dream that night, so she was a little angry to be disturbed from her sleep by someone other than her little friend that had been coming in most nights. She looked up to a very tired yet scared looking Ron. He was breathing hard like he had just run all the way up the stairs to her room.

"Gin, its Charlie, there was an accident."

Author's Note:

Clift hanger! DUN! DUN! DUNNNNN!

Anyways, yes I cut Ginny's hair, if you want an idea to what it looks like it looks like Keira Knightley's chin length bob haircut when it is straight, but red. If you google image it, I picked out one that was slightly longer so it was past her chin but not quite at her shoulders.

Next chapter you'll find out what's up with Charlie, and a little but about Ron's new books.