I still remember that day long ago,
You looked away but I saw you crying for me.
"Sayonara", you said, my love
The morning came, you left an ivory flower.
My lone memory of you.
I walk alone still hoping to find you,
The flower that blooms inside of my heart.
I walk alone still hoping to find you,
The flower that blooms inside of my heart.
-When A White Flower Blooms
Chapter Two: Owl Posts
For the next couple of weeks the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione tried to put their lives back together. Though some had it a lot harder than others.
Hermione had to wait until Kingsley Shacklebolt could get in touch with the Minister of Magic in Australia to see if she could have some assistance in tracking down her parents. Unbeknownst to her, while the horcrux hunt was taking place, the ministry had known what Hermione had done and had unknowingly assisted her with her parents. Death Eaters had been there to hunt so the Australian ministry had moved the Grangers and changed their identities a good six times. And with Death Eaters still on the loose, their whereabouts were disclosed.
George opened up the shop once again with the help of Angelina, Lee, Alicia Spinnet, and Verity. Though not having Fred around was a terrible blow, they were determined to keep it going. They knew Fred would want it that way.
Mrs. Weasley seemed to do everything over the top. Cooking, cleaning, talking. She tried to keep herself busy as much as she could to keep herself from mourning too much. Mr. Weasley dove into his work which had grown considerably as he had gotten a promotion.
Bill had went back to Fleur at Shell Cottage. She had not attended the funeral, as she had her family to look in after. Charlie and Percy went back to their respectable jobs.
Ever since the encounter with Daphne, Harry tried his best to not be a downer, especially when he was in the presence of Ron and Hermione. He smiled a bit more and tried to join in on activities. But he still felt the pain of guilt from deep within.
One day while the trio, Ginny, and George was having breakfast with Mrs Weasley when four owls and a falcon flew into the window. Three of them landed respectively on the perch that was set out for them. They watched the other smaller one fly around excitedly and wobbly as it tried to reach Ron, its letter seeming to be too heavy for him to carry straight. The falcon landed regally on Ginny's shoulder.
"Hold still Pig!" said Ron as he tried to catch the tiny owl. Pig finally landed in Ron's hands, the letter covering his body like a blanket.
Mrs. Weasley retrieved the other letters from the other three owls and gave them some treats before they flew away, while even after Ginny plucked the letter from the falcon's beak and gave it a bit of ham, it stayed perched onto her shoulder as if it was waiting on something.
"Who is the letter from Ginny dear?" asked Mrs Weasley as she looked at the falcon with a bit of annoyance for it still hanging around.
Ginny looked at the envelope. She saw her name, her whole name to be exact, written in the fanciest writing she had ever seen. She flipped it over and seen the seal was stamped with an M seal.
Ginny groaned. She instantly knew who it was from and really had no intention to read it. However, she didn't want her family to know who it was from so she stuck it in her pocket.
"I'll read it later. It's from a friend from school, her bird is probably waiting for a response." said Ginny as she bit into a biscuit. The bird affectionately rubbed its face against Ginny's a gesture she couldn't help but find cute as she gave the falcon another piece of ham.
Ron looked at the letter in his hand. "Mum, I got a Hogwarts letter." he said after looking at the seal on the back of the envelope.
Mrs. Weasley gave Harry, Hermione, and Ginny theirs as well. "Well I guess Minerva got them to reopen the school and is allowing you three to finish up your education."
"Oh my goodness! I'm so happy!" squeaked Hermione as she ripped the envelope open vigorously. The first thing that dropped out of it was a shiny gold badge with an H on it.
"I MADE HEAD GIRL!" cheered Hermione as she picked up the badge and hugged it to her heart.
Ron, Harry, and Ginny looked at each other and back as Hermione. "As if they would pick anybody else, Mione. You should have known."
"That's not true." said Hermione trying to sound humble but was way too excited. "Ginny could have easily gotten it. Or Luna."
"Yeah right Hermione. Don't be modest." said Ginny as she opened her letter.
Ron opened his and the same badge fell out of his envelope that fell from Hermione's. Hermione gasped and hugged Ron tightly as Ron just stared at the badge.
Mrs. Weasley started to tear up. "Oh Ron! Another Head Boy in the family! Wait til I write your father and brothers!"
"Why would you do that? I'm not going back." said Ron promptly.
The kitchen got so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Then Hermione exploded.
"Not going back?! Not going back? Why wouldn't you go back?! We have to finish school Ron!"
"No, you have to finish. I can do something else with my life but going back to that place isn't one of my options." said Ron very much sure of himself.
Hermione dropped her jaw. "You most certainly will go back to school Ronald Weasley!"
Ron glared at his girlfriend. "I most certainly will not, you aren't my mother! You can't make me go!"
"She can't but I certainly can Ronald Bilius Weasley and you are going!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley.
Ron looked at his mother shell shocked. "MUM! I don't want to go back! Why would I bloody go back to the place where my brother died?!"
"Because I'm going to go back too." said George.
The others looked at him in confusion.
"Look, Fred and I should have finished. Even though we still became a success there are still things I need to know. Plus itll make me feel closer to Fred. I'm going to write the old bird and see if I can at least take my N.E.W.T.S. or something. For me and Forge, you know? And Ron you know you want to go back. What would you do without your Hermione?" said George.
Mrs. Weasley teared up and hugged her son tightly. Ron glared at the scene but couldn't help but soften.
"You did say you wanted to be able to be a normal teenager remember Ron?" pleaded Hermione. "We will all be together. We won't have to worry about any danger, no evil, and we...well.."
Hermione stood up on her tiptoes and whispered something in Ron's ear hat made Ron's expression turn from disgruntled to intrigued.
"Well?"
Ron blushed. "Well I guess I can go back to school." he said almost in a whisper."
"Hermione said what?" said George loudly.
"NOTHING!" yelled Ron and Hermione at the same time.
"Well I'm not even going to fight it. I already know I have no choice in the matter." said Ginny as she got up from the table, falcon still perched on her shoulder, and walked up to her room.
Harry opened up his letter and two shiny badges fell out. One had a P on it and the other had Gryffindor colors with a C on it.
"Prefect and Quidditch Captain. Nice." said Ron. "Wonder why you didn't get Head Boy though mate."
"Because I had told McGonagall I didn't want to be Head Boy." said Harry as if the matter was nothing.
'You knew about this?" asked Hermione.
"Well, not exactly. She had came to me after the funeral and asked if I wanted to if she did indeed get the school opened in time and I had told her no. That you had deserved it better than I did anyways." said Harry.
"Well then, that's settled. We should celebrate! I'm going to start planning right now." said Mrs. Weasley as she went up to her room.
Ginny sat at her vanity and looked at the seal on the back of the envelope. She really didn't want to open this letter. She didn't have anything to say to Draco Malfoy.
He had never been nice to her family, he had gotten Ron poisoned, he had let the beast in that almost killed Bill, he was supposed to kill Dumbledore, and to top it all off, he was a Death Eater's son. He was everything that Ginny was against and she didn't want shit to do with him. Still.
However, she was curious as to why he would write to her. She hadn't interacted with him since that night during her sixth year...but surely he didn't remember that. Nor did he care. She certainly didn't. Much.
"I assume that Malfoy owns you pretty bird." she said stroking the feathers of the falcon. "What does he want with me? Can you tell me?"
As if answering her, the falcon nudged her hand toward the letter. Ginny mocked sneered at the bird. "Guess I have to huh?"
She opened the letter and pulled out the letter.
'I still remember that day long ago,
You looked away but I saw you crying for me.
"Sayonara", you said, my love
The morning came, you left an ivory flower.
My lone memory of you.
I walk alone still hoping to find you,
The flower that blooms inside of my heart.
I walk alone still hoping to find you,
The flower that blooms inside of my heart.'
-When A White Flower Blooms
Draco
P.S: I'm sorry.
Ginny sighed as she read over the poem another five times and read his apology even more times than that. She was hoping that that moment in time long forgotten. That she could bury it in the things that just happened and leave it there.
But she could see that Draco wasn't going to let that happen. And that surprised her the most.
"What do I say back pretty bird? I don't want anything to do with him anymore. I never did." she said as she looked at the falcon.
The bird watched Ginny intently. He didn't know what was going on. He was only the messenger. His only instructions were to deliver and wait for a response.
Ginny sighed again, not knowing what to say.
She took out a small piece of parchment and wrote a quick sentence. She then rolled it up and then tied it with a string and sent the falcon back to his owner.
Later on that night Draco was taken out of the book he was reading by a tap on the window of his bedroom. He opened the window to let a very impatient falcon in. The falcon landed on Draco's bed and held his talon out for him to take the letter off.
"Well Swift, I see she actually answered." said Draco as he untied the small roll of parchment. He unrolled the letter and read the seven words written along with the name.
"If you're really sorry, then prove it."
-Ginny
Draco smirked at the short answer. He couldn't blame her. He was actually surprised he had gotten this much out of her after what had happened.
Okay fine. She wanted proof of how he felt, she was going to get it. He had been invited to do his seventh year over as well.
And those seven words had given him all the reason to go back.
