One week later and on a bright morning, Ginny lay in her bed, she had tossed and turned all night. The worry, which she had been so keen to keep at bay, was now forcing its way to the front of her mind. Where could he be? The Auror's report to Mr. Robards was impending after they had successfully arrived in Albania and began their search for Harry and his trope of Auror's. Today was Ginny's birthday, she looked to Harry's side of the bed. Empty. He always treated her on her birthday and made it special, but this year would be completely different.
She rubbed her eyes, preparing to get out of bed when a knock at the door startled her. Then Lily's voice sang, 'Mum!' followed by louder knocks.
'Hello?' Ginny asked inquisitively as she sat upright.
The door opened and in walked James, holding a breakfast tray, Albus holding a bouquet of peonies and Lily holding a pile of presents. Ginny's face lit up immediately. 'What on earth?' she asked, shell shocked.
Happy Birthday mum!' they all said in unison. Albus perched himself on the end of the bed, Lily sat next to Ginny while James placed the tray to Ginny's side.
'Dad always makes you breakfast in bed on your birthday, so we thought we'd do it this year,' James said. They were all smiling at her as her eyes began to water.
'Thank you,' she managed, her throat had clasped suddenly as she looked meaningfully at all of them. Looking down at the tray she saw a birthday card, a pot of jam, a mug of black tea and two pieces of toast that were black and covered with butter, 'maybe I spoke to soon,' she added, chuckling.
'James was in charge of the toast,' Albus said giving his brother a disappointed look. Lily started laughing.
'Maybe you should have made the coffee,' Ginny suggested.
'He tried,' Lily giggled, 'it looked awful.'
James rolled his eyes. 'Anyway,' he interrupted loudly, 'open your card mum.'
Ginny opened the envelope and took out the card which burst in her hands, sending a glorious swarm of butterflies into the air. They flew around the room for a minute and then melted into flower petals which fell elegantly to the floor. A tear was rolling down Ginny's face. Lily placed the presents on her lap. Before she opened them, Ginny took a gulp of coffee, mainly to hide the tears in her eyes and then cleared her throat.
'Where did you find the money for presents?' she asked them all.
'We put all of our money together, and Teddy chipped in too,' James replied. Ginny smiled widely. 'Uncle Ron took us to Diagon Alley last weekend when we went to his,' he added.
'You didn't have to do this,' Ginny said.
'Dad always does,' James started, 'we wanted to do it for him.' Albus and Lily nodded in agreement while a lump formed in Ginny's throat.
Lily handed her a present, the biggest of the pile, with an excited look on her face. Ginny opened it to find a handsome photo album, the exact colour of the Holyhead Harpies uniforms and lettered with her initials, GMP, in gold. Inside were pictures of her, Harry, and the kids. All moving as wizard photographs do, and all showing smiling faces. Occasionally there would be photographs with other members of the family and with every photograph came a memory.
After sitting together and looking at the photographs for a while, the kids eventually retreated downstairs to clean up the mess they had made before Ginny could see. Ginny herself, got dressed and began to make the bed.
The kids were upstairs getting ready to leave for The Burrow, they all needed showers after the disastrous cooking they had performed in the kitchen. Ginny had set to work on cleaning up, but this didn't take anytime at all as she used a quick spell she had found in Witch Weekly. She sat at the table now drinking a coffee and enjoying the moment of silence to herself.
Ginny never used to like these moments of solitary silence, even while the kids were home, she would cherish the silence whenever she could and sit alone in the kitchen or in her bedroom, but she sat now thinking hard, recalling memories, and hoping that if she were to think about Harry, he would somehow know that she was thinking about him. Ginny hugged the coffee mug in her hands with her heels resting on the edge of the chair and she thought of a memory that had been triggered by the photo album, from a Christmas long ago;
It had been Christmas eve; the same year Harry and Ron had finished Auror training and were expecting letters imminently to tell them whether they had passed or failed. They had been living in a flat in central London for a year now and had both returned to spend Christmas at The Burrow. That particular morning, George had visited to announce that Angelina was pregnant. Everyone in the kitchen that morning erupted into hysterical cheers. Especially Ginny's mum who bounced on the heels of her feet and did the same again once Mr Weasley had come home to the happy news, he had subsequently nearly fainted.
For the rest of the day the whole house had seemed in great spirits at this happy news, it even drove the realisation that a snowstorm was imminent from all of their minds. They had also enjoyed a celebratory dinner and now, at midnight, everything had returned to its usual nightly silence. The wind blew roughly against Ginny's window as she sat in bed reading. The sound was soothing and increased Ginny's excitement for Christmas day, even though she was no longer a child. She had always loved the Christmas holidays best, even more than her birthdays. She and her brothers were never spoilt at Christmas, but it was the sheer fact that everyone came together as a family and that what was she loved most.
Ginny bookmarked the chapter of her book and was about to turn over and go to sleep when she fully noticed the pitter patter of the snow slamming against her window. She slipped on her dressing gown and slippers and headed for the kitchen to get herself a glass of milk and watch the garden turn from wet to snowy.
She entered the kitchen and headed for the fridge, she glanced out of the kitchen window and noticed a figure stood at the very end of the garden. Harry was stood at the gate with his hands in his pockets and looking incredibly windswept, his hair appeared to be wet from the snow. She shook her head thinking it ridiculous that anyone could stand out in the blizzard, but then she decided to join him.
She moved to the coat pegs and plucked her green parka off its hook and wrapped it over her dressing gown, she also placed a Holyhead Harpies woolly hat over her head and pulled her wellington boots on. Once she opened the door, she was struck by a cold gust of wind that stung her face. Her hands flew into her pockets as she walked carefully to Harry. She cleared her throat as she approached, and he jumped slightly. The wind seemed to muffle any other noises here, and the hounding silence made her feel like they were the only two people in the world.
'What are you doing out here?' she asked, louder than usual because the wind was howling. She looked at him, his scar was more noticeable in the snow and his nose was red and his lips looked slightly chapped.
'Just watching the snow,' he answered with a smile.
'It's freezing,' she said. She tried to push her hands deeper into her pockets.
Harry simply smiled again and said, 'you get used to it.'
He pulled his hand out of its pocket and held out his arm, Ginny moved next to him and nuzzled her head into his chest whilst he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. His coat was damp, so she pulled her hat further down her face.
'How long have you been out here?' she asked.
'Only about ten minutes,' he said, wrapping his arm tighter around her. 'I love watching the snow,' he admitted.
Ginny nodded her head in reply. 'It's so peaceful,' she acknowledged.
'Yeah, I remember before me and Hermione visited Godrics Hollow back in 1998, we camped on this field that was covered in snow.' Ginny lifted her head to look at him. 'I was taking the first watch and I remember just sitting there, enjoying the snow and silence, and imagining that everything was normal for once. Pretty ridiculous right?'
'I don't think so,' Ginny replied. 'I think you of all people enjoy the silent moments in life. More than most would.'
Harry looked down at her with a questionable look. 'Why me of all people?' he asked.
'Because you let Voldemort kill you. And I think since then, you appreciate everything in life, even if certain things stress you out,' she smiled.
Harry sniggered slightly and nodded his head. 'You know me too well Gin.'
'I know,' she laughed. He pulled her closer to him. 'You know, if you stand at the top of the dirt track on the top of that hill you can see the snow covering the fields and the village below.' She pointed in the distance where the dirt track that was now covered in snow, but where Harry knew was the village of Ottery St Catchpole.
'Race you?' Harry asked playfully. He took his arm off her shoulders.
'What?' she asked. Not in this weather, she thought.
'Go!' he shouted, and he ran off into the distance.
Ginny pursued her lips, cursed him under her breath, and sprinted after him.
Harry had reached the top of the hill by the time that Ginny had caught up. Out of breath, his cheeks were flushed, and his breath clouded in front of him.
'You cheated,' she managed after several hasty breaths. Her body seemed to have warmed up slightly. 'When did you get so fast?' she asked out of breath.
'Auror training, I had to pass the physical exam, so I've been running,' Harry admitted.
'I bet that's done remarkable things to your body,' Ginny mused. Harry smiled lopsidedly and his eyes flashed. Her comment forced Ginny to remember that it had been a while since she and Harry had been alone together.
'Wouldn't you like to know,' he retaliated playfully. Ginny thought she was probably blushing, but her cheeks were probably too red already to tell.
Harry glanced behind and noticed the village ahead of him. 'Wow,' he muttered.
'Nice right,' Ginny said. She looked out herself and the entire village below them was smattered with snow, in the distance the mountains were fully covered, and she could only just make out their silhouettes against the dark sky.
Harry turned back towards her, 'Gin, you know that letter that arrived for me this morning?' he asked.
She cottoned on quickly, 'I knew it was from the ministry!' she replied and nudged him on the shoulder.
'Yeah, it was,' he replied.
'And …' she urged.
'I'm officially an Auror,' he said with a wide grin that lit up his face. Ginny's eyes widened. She hugged him tightly.
'I'm so happy for you!' she shouted down his ear. She stood back to look at him, his smile was wider than she had seen it for a while. She kissed him quickly.
'Why didn't you say anything?' she asked, her face inches from his.
'I didn't want to steal George and Angelina's thunder,' he admitted. She nodded slightly.
'Well, I knew you could do it!' he said happily. They hugged again for longer this time.
'Why don't we go back inside, I bet you're freezing,' Harry said.
'Yeah, but I can't be with you if we go back inside,' Ginny said. Their faces were inches from one another's now, and Ginny noticed a playfully look in his expression.
'Well, we could always go to my flat,' he mused.
'Won't people notice if we don't turn up for breakfast,' Ginny replied.
'We'll come back early,' he replied with a playful smile. 'The flat is empty, we would be alone, completely alone.'
Ginny admitted to herself that nothing felt better right now. Before her mind could come up with another reason not too, she said, 'okay.'
When Ginny and the kids entered the Burrow that afternoon, it erupted with the sound of many people yelling, 'happy birthday!' Ginny felt her heart lift at all of their faces. Everyone smiled at her, many people rushed over to hug and kiss. And for a couple of hours afterwards, she had forgotten that one important person was missing.
After dinner, everyone settled around the Burrow for tea, the sky outside was getting darker. Ginny was sat at the table with her mum, Hermione, Ron, George, Luna, and Neville. Luna spoke animatedly about her travels around Africa and her possible romance with one of her colleges, Neville told them of a rare plant he had managed to purchase for the upcoming year at Hogwarts and George and Ron shared the great news that the business was beginning to really take off. Hermione had to leave a short while later following the appearance of her assistant in the Weasley's fireplace. Mr. Robards had apparently summoned her for a meeting, bringing the entire party to a standstill. It was apparent to Ginny that everyone's minds immediately turned to Harry.
'Sorry Ginny,' Hermione said sympathetically. She hurried out of the room looking slightly harassed. The table fell silent for a moment until Ron asked if there was any birthday cake leftover and the room quickly succeeded into chatter. Ginny's mind once again focused on the many stories floating around the room.
Slowly, over the next few hours, people began to head home. Ginny had decided to stay the night with the kids upon her mother's request. With the kids snoring upstairs, Ginny sat in the kitchen with her parents and Ron who was waiting to see if Hermione would return.
Luckily, he did not have to wait long as Hermione dissaparated in the garden half an hour later. To everyone's surprise, she was accompanied by Mr. Robards. The pair walked into the kitchen, each looking rather tired and Hermione looking just as nettled as she had when she had left. Ginny straightened in her chair.
'Good evening everyone,' said Mr. Robards. Molly gestured to a seat at the table and asked if he would like a cup of tea which he declined stating that he wasn't staying long.
Hermione sat next to Ginny with a troubled expression on her face which didn't fill Ginny with any confidence.
'We have some information on Mr. Potter,' declared Mr. Robards.
The air in the kitchen seemed to grow stiff. Molly quickly dropped the teacloth in her hands which she had been using to wipe the countertop and rushed over to stand near Ginny, placing a hand on her shoulder.
'Have they found him?' Ron asked quickly.
'No,' Mr. Robards replied gently. 'The Auror's found the warehouse that Mr. Potter and the others' were using as a base, but the was no one there and all of their possessions and equipment suggested signs of a struggle. The warehouse appeared to have been ransacked.'
Everyone glanced at one another.
'So, what does that mean?' Molly asked tentatively.
'This is difficult,' Mr. Robards shifted awkwardly on his chair. 'Our rescue team found the three junior Auror's dead at the back of the warehouse. They had all been killed by the killing curse. They were heading towards the nearby forest to escape, but it seems that the Death Eaters caught them before they could make it.' Mr. Robards sighed and rubbed his forehead. Molly gave him a sympathetic smile.
Everyone else around the table squirmed, looking at one another helplessly. The was an unbroken silence for a while.
'But what I can say is, the Auror's tracked some footprints that led into the forest which suggests that three people managed to escape. They are currently searching the woods to find them.'
'Do you think one of them could be Harry?' Ginny asked quietly.
'Well, with the three deceased and the three escapees, there is still one Auror unaccounted for. The Auror's informed me that after thoroughly searching the warehouse, they found Mr. Potter's wand abandoned on the floor under on the desks.'
Hermione sighed, suggesting that Mr. Robards was about to reach a terrible point of the story.
'So what does that mean?' Ginny asked louder than intended, she felt very strongly that she would not resist the urge to perform her Bat-bogey hex on Mr. Robards unless he reached the point quickly.
'It appeared to be discarded which we believe indicates that he had surrendered.'
'Surrendered?' Ron questioned.
'Yes.' Mr. Robards cleared his throat. 'Tomorrow we will formally be declaring Harry as missing. But we will not be informing the media that Harry has been captured. I am very sorry to tell you all of this.'
It was nearly midnight and Ginny was sat at the table, unaware of where she was or what she needed to do. The rest of the world still carried on; they didn't share her feelings. But Ginny couldn't escape the incontrovertible truth. Harry was missing. A voice in her head also reminded her that she had to tell the kids about their father before the news would hit the Daily Prophet. It was going to be one of the hardest things she had to do.