Hey, Helena here, and yet again we cut the Sunday upload line thinner *facepalm* so here's the deal guys whenever the upload is late you know it's probably me. Okay it goes both ways, whenever I upload it would probably be late. Ermory is traveling so we can't really blame her.
Anyways umm enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: We don't own this. The characters and plot belong to JK Rowling and the original story is written by EmPotter. We just tranlste and edit.
The original story can be found in Itailan on EFPfanfic, called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'
Goodbye Hogwarts
The euphoria of Gryffindors finally winning the Quidditch Cup remained for the entire next week, that even the days and the weather seems to be celebrating with them. Under the days of June that were gradually getting warmer, Ginny and her friends spent most of their time wandering in the meadows around the castle, throwing themselves among the flowering shrubs, or splashing in the water, feeding the Giant Squid with Hagrid's rock cake.
Nevertheless, as time continued passing, they couldn't do much of that anymore: the exams were approaching. For the second year students it's particularly horrible, since it's their first exams. As for Ginny, she finally started studying when she saw, in horror, Fred and George bent over books in the library, studying for their O.W.L.s; and Percy, preparing for the N.E.W.T.s (the highest qualification Hogwarts offered), becoming irritable as never before, screaming and punishing a pair of lively fifth year Gryffinors.
The exams were just around the corner now. For Ginny's nervousness, the first exam, scheduled for that Monday, was Transfiguration.
Demelza seemed to have swallowed a toad, her eyes were twitching with anxiety and the nervousness there could kill: she repeated one after the other the transfiguration spells McGonagall had given them, such as the one turning animals into a glass goblet, and spent every free moment staring into the air drawing invisible numbers and complicated formulas; Colin, like Demelza, exhibited his nervousness by talking in rapid bursts, even much more than he already did on normal occasions, and by shooting strings of nonsense one after another, disturbing the quiet mind of every student; Ginny, Vicky (who's almost constantly trying to rip her flesh with all her fingernails), and Ritchie talked only when it was absolutely necessary; while Christopher and William seemed, albeit slightly tense, confident enough.
After they had their first exam, they really discovered that what was supposed to be the most difficult test had turned out to be not so bad at all, partly because McGonagall had not been as strict as usual and had tried to ease the tension by not showing her serious frown to her students who, in one way or another, managed to transfigure matches, buttons and small canaries. Demelza had full marks. That afternoon was also the Charms exam, with the little Professor Flitwick under a Cheering Charm, for which the students were really grateful. For the written exams, special anti-cheating quills were administered, charmed with a spell that prevents them from copying.
"Which basically means," Ritchie exclaimed indignantly. "they do not trust us!"
But the exams with Snape were the worst ever: the overgrown bat glided through the room, breathing on the back of their neck while they, nervous and turning occasionally to check whether Snape had disappeared from their shoulders, tried to remember the ingredients for the Forgetful Potion. Ginny was more nervous about having Snape behind her than doing a difficult Potions exam, and that was saying something. On Tuesday morning, she got through History of Magic; Herbology on Wednesday; Defense Against the Dark Arts on Thursday morning with Professor Lupin.
Ginny knew that the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam would be fantastic with her favorite professor, also because a look at the lawn told them it's a nice exam. Lupin had prepared a strange obstacle course right there on the school lawn, placing between obstacles the magical creatures studied that year: they were to deal with the small and mischievous Pixies, brought in the year before by Professor Lockhart but never addressed; make their way through trunks containing small slimy creatures; fighting a test dummy that tried to prevent them from moving on to the next obstacle; and coping with a boggart.
"Very simple, no?" Lupin said, with a big smile.
Ginny watched her friends face the tests, thinking she had never seen a more amusing examination than that: Alice, Rose and Vicky fell on the overflowing trunks and shrieked like crazy when the slimy creatures clung to their arms, wrapping them in a disgustingly sticky fashion; Colin spent so much time trying to get the Pixies out of his way, that they seemed to have taken a particular liking to him; Ritchie, William, and Christopher did everything right, but they were slow enough in trying to pass the test dummy; Demelza did not seem to have passed the Boggart.
"Oh, heaven!" she shrieked, running towards Professor Lupin, shaken with tears. "Professor!"
"Demelza, what happened?" Lupin shouted, slightly scared.
"There were the p-professors ... with M-McGonagall ... they told me that I will fail in e-everything..."
Alice and Rose giggled but the others did not, even though everyone was really tempted and Ginny was not far behind. Christopher and Ritchie offered to take Demelza to the hospiral wing to be calmed, and Professor Lupin called out to Ginny who, as usual, was the last one yet to complete her exam. Now the eyes of her friends were all fixed on her.
"Come on, Ginevra!" Lupine exclaimed.
"Don't call me Ginevra..." the girl muttered to herself angrily, and advanced towards the path.
She did not even move a step before the Pixies were immediately all over her, starting to pull her hair and tickle her all over. Ginny nearly panicked, but then remembered something Hermione had told her about those bizarre blue electric bees, that a simple freezing spell was enough to get them completely out of the game-
"Immobulus!" Ginny shouted, pointing her wand at the Pixies, and they froze immediately in mid-air.
Pleased, she headed for the trunks, and as soon as she entered their area they began to shake violently.
Now or never, the girl thought, and ran fast, shouting "Finite Incantatem!" right and left, before the creatures emerged from the trunks that had sent girls screaming- except Demelza, who was really agile. She reminded Ginny very much of a Chaser moving between the Bludgers to score, and told herself that perhaps, one day, he would force her to show up for the Quidditch team trials. When it was time for the dummy, she set off on impulse and disarmed it with an Expelliarmus, which Professor Lockhart had taught them the year before in the Dueling Club, then she prepared to deal with the Boggart.
As Ginny turned, she glanced at Lupin: he was worried. Then she noticed that Demelza, Christopher, and Ritchie had returned and that the rest of her friends were there, trying to pass on as much support as possible. Tom Riddle appeared suddenly from inside the closet and firmly walked towards her- the same way he walked out of the diary the year before- Ginny tried not to think about anything and, trying not to look into the eyes of the boy she once believed to be her friend, exclaimed: "Riddikulus!"
Alice and Rose snorted when the charming Tom disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Great, Ginerva, full marks!" Professor Lupin roared, smiling encouragingly.
No one had had full marks except for her: her friends ran forward and hugged her tightly. Yes, Ginny had not forgotten Tom Riddle, and she was sure that she wouldn't even if they Obliviated her brain, but now that boy belonged only to her nightmares, he belonged to the past, and although the memories hurt her more than she admitted, she was happy to have defeated him.
He had certainly made her stronger than she had ever been.
- . - . - . - . - . - . -
Demelza always enjoyed reviewing the spells and formulas from the exams but, as William rightly said, doing them once was more than enough, one only had to enjoy the last days of school in peace and serenity. That evening was spent in the best way, with the twins turning the Common Room upside down with Filibuster Arctic Fires. The next morning, the day of departure for the summer holidays, they were all happy to have finally finished school and many of them still seemed to have their heads in the festivities, especially the Slytherins, who were more excited than ever and kept miming wolf howls in an idiotic and childish way. And who knows why.
"... Snape told the Slytherins, I'm not lying to you!" a Hufflepuff protested, sounding offended, when Ginny and friends passed between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor table. Colin immediately turned to his friends, beginning to show his ability to never shut up.
"Did you hear it too?" he asked, raising his voice. "Did you hear what he said, that one there? It couldn't have been just me; you guys were right behind me! That Hufflepuff just said ..."
"Sshhhhhh" Vicky hissed, covering his mouth and taking a seat on the bench.
"We heard, we heard!" William became impatient, taking his place too.
The others, including Ginny, were still looking at Hufflepuff, trying to figure out what the boy was really saying to his friends, and they were curious to know what Snape had said to the Slytherin specifically to make them so excited, more hysterical than usual... howling.
Ginny looked at the teachers' table and saw a certain change: something had certainly happened.
"Look at Snape ..." the girl whispered.
She noticed that the only teacher looking cheerful was just Severus Snape, who stared around at everyone (especially the Slytherins) with a certain wild cheer in his eyes and with a strange crooked grin: something rather strange. Usually Snape had it with everyone, even the teachers- especially Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, because as the older students said, he wanted that job more than any other person in the world and no one knew why Dumbledore did not give it to him. But if he began to look excitedly at everyone there was something wrong. The empty seat at the teacher's table belonged to Lupin.
"Mmh, ugly as usual" Christopher noted with a shrug, and began eating.
"Uglier than usual" Ritchie corrected, staring at the professor.
"Why is Professor Lupin not there?" Demelza said, stretching her neck. "Do you believe that-"
She did not finish his sentence, because Dumbledore got up and went to the lectern, where he usually did his speeches. Ginny looked as he cleared his throat declaring a happy summer, since the carriages at the entrance were waiting for them alone. A pause and then ... began to explain the successful escape of Sirius Black, calming the students and telling them that they were no longer in danger because Black had escaped very far from there. He told of the fact that three students had come face to face with Sirius Black, who, thanks to Professor Lupin and Professor Snape, were safe and sound in the Infirmary.
Ginny looked around: her brother, Harry, and Hermione were missing. She paled visibly.
"What's going on with you?" William asked, staring at her worriedly.
"Merlin, you're as white as the yogurt that you're eating ..." Colin mumbled through a mouthful of breakfast.
Ginny did not answer because Dumbledore continued with his own speech. "So, we assure you that you will all be no longer in any danger: Sirius Black has no reason to do more harm to you ... Also note that the next year will welcome a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Now, please continue with your meal." he concluded cheerfully and went to sit back down at the teachers' table.
The Slytherins howled and Snape grinned even more. McGonagall glared at him furiously.
"Ginny!" Demelza snapped her fingers in front of her eyes. "What's wrong with you?"
"I'll be right back ..." she declared weakly and darted away from the Great Hall, leaving her breakfast half finished.
She headed at full speed to the infirmary, with a lot of questions that swirled in her mind desiring to know everything with precision and details, because she was tired of always knowing things halfway, and that made her mind tremendously tired and confused. She had to know if the three students Black had attacked were really her brother and his friends, even if it seemed obvious. She was also curious to find out what's wrong with the Slytherin, from their howling to Snape's grin, to why Professor Lupin was leaving. Perhaps, since he tended to get sick many times (which often happened that year with Snape annoying taking substitute), he couldn't continue staying at the castle because his presence would be discontinuous? Probably, the girl answered herself. When he reached the infirmary corridor, stopping fast and breathless, she was not surprised to see Ron and Hermione together, walking toward her, chatting and moving further and further away from the castle infirmary.
"Ginny, what are you doing here?" Ron shouted, before his sister hugged him, literally flying at him. "Bloody hell…" he added, embarrassed, giving Hermione a fleeting glance.
"You were the ones who were hurt by Sirius Black, weren't you?"
"Oh... we're fine, really..." Ron reassured her, stroking her hair.
"What did Dumbledore tell you, Ginny?" Hermione asked when the girl broke away from her brother.
Ginny took a breath and began to tell what Dumbledore had said, while Ron and Hermione listened curiously, nodding at each statement and occasionally glancing at each other from time to time. "Why does Professor Lupin go away?" Ginny asked finally.
"Er ..." Ron said.
"Because Professor Lupin is ..."
"What?"
"Well, Lupin is ... oh, Ginny, Professor Lupin is a Werewolf!" Hermione declared hurriedly, and Ginny's eyes and mouth widened at the same time, shocked and incredulous of what the girl had just said. What do you mean Professor Lupin was a Werewolf? It was a joke. "No, it's not a joke," Hermione added, as if reading her mind.
"B-But, how is it possible?"
"You didn't have to tell her!" Ron snapped, crossing his arms to his chest.
"Oh, Ron, she is old enough to face the truth!" Hermione replied, flushing immediately.
The Slytherins at breakfast came to Ginny's mind for a moment.
"And that's why the Slytherins were howling today and Snape was grinning like that..." Ginny said in a whisper.
It didn't seem real, it was shocking news. Yes, it was shocking, but she was not afraid to have found herself face to face all year with a Werewolf, in fact, it didn't scare her at all. It surprised her, that's all. Because it seemed impossible to her that Lupin really was a Werewolf: it's something that would never have crossed her mind. It was like saying that Professor Dumbledore was a Hippogriff, or that Hagrid was a little elf.
"Snape was grinning, that son of-" Ron began furiously, but Hermione interrupted him.
"He would have told all the Slytherins, and now the whole school will come to know it in no time, poor Lupin!"
"He was the best Defense teacher we've ever had!" Ginny protested, ruminating on the evil abyss in which Snape could sink to have the position of the Defense teacher. "Lupin can't leave! Just because Snape told everyone he's a Werewolf that doesn't mean he has to leave!"
"I'm afraid so," answered a voice behind the girl and she turned abruptly. It was Lupin.
"Professor!" Ginny and Hermione exclaimed. Lupin smiled broadly: he looked very sick.
Ginny realized that he looked so much older than usual, and wondered if Ron, Hermione and Harry had found in front of themselves a fully grown Werewolf during their little face-to-face adventure with Sirius Black himself. The girl looked down and noticed that at his feet there was a trunk: a terrible, terrible sign.
"They fired her?" Ginny asked weakly.
"In fact, I had resigned," Lupine replied, still smiling.
"Snape made it huge!" Ron snorted, annoyed. Hermione seemed to be for the first time in agreement with Ron.
"You wouldn't leave just for this?" Ginny insisted, wanting to persuade in every way for Lupin to stay.
"No parent ever wanted a Werewolf to be the teacher of their children," Lupin said, and this time his tone was melancholy. Ginny felt an emptiness in her chest that had nothing to do with the missing breakfast. Lupin seemed to noticed, and added: "A really brilliant exam from you, Professor McGonagall told me what happened last year and I must say that this year you managed to overcome your greatest fear with courage."
Thank you, she wanted to say, but the girl had a lump in her throat that didn't even allow her to breathe.
"The victims of Voldemort" Professor Lupin continued, looking intently at the girl, as Ron held his breath, "they are always the bravest people, remember that- always remember that."
And having said that he turned to the other two and, nodding his head, turned away from them, declaring that one day, and he was sure, they would surely see each other again. Ginny was sure of that too, but when Professor Lupin stepped through the front door that would later take her to the carriage downstairs, she already could not wait to see him again, and the chasm in his chest did not shrink.
- . - . - . - . - . - . -
"Hell ... I can't believe it! I liked Lupin!" Demelza wailed, sitting on the train. The Hogwarts Express was already in the open country and the cows were grazing happily in the fields while the children talked about what's been happening recently, ready to go home for the summer holidays.
"Everyone did except those demented Slytherins!" William replied, throwing down his Chocolate Frog with ferocity. Demelza began to arrange her bag with the books she had borrowed from the library, smoothing them as if they were newborn puppies, under the amused gaze of her friends. "I cannot believe Snape really let it slip that Lupin was a Werewolf, so what if he is, who cares?"
"The parents of the students," Ritchie replied, but he too was annoyed.
Vicky sipped her juice, glaring at the Slytherins near their compartment as if she wanted to burn them all up. And it was probably just what she, as well as all the other students, wanted to do.
"We had a Werewolf as a teacher, I can not believe it." Christopher commented, with his usual tones. "And those damned Slytherins are always there to ruin everything ... they will pay dear!"
"You can say it for sure!" Colin replied and went over to give Christopher a five.
"Who precisely would be paying dear?"
Ginny turned, her red hair swinging: Astoria Greengass had been talking, at the head of a gang of Slytherins made up of the rest of the girls along with Harper, Jugson and Selwyn, the only Slytherin boys tagging along with this group. At the same time, Ginny, Colin and Christopher rose to face them, defiantly.
"You" Ginny punctuated, feeling as though she would ignite, while Demelza quietly whispered something about how she would now surely and unquestionably put herself in trouble, "and the other idiots of your dear House that got Professor Lupin fired!"
"Did we really do it?" said Harper, faking worry.
"Get out of here! You won't get away with it this time, you fired Professor Lupin!" Colin squeaked, managing to stand up to Harper, who was really powerful for his age. Christopher made a vulgar gesture with his hand, and Vicky, for the first time, approved the boy's uncivilized ways, raised her thumbs in approval. Demelza and Ritchie seemed troubled to have Slytherins there. William enjoyed his Chocolate Frog quietly.
"You really are cowards, you Slytherins! If only Lupin could have turned into a wolf when he had a lesson with you-"
"Oh, shut up, you idiot Mudblood," Selwyn snapped.
Colin blushed. Demelza opened her mouth, horrified, and, with a look of deep disgust and anger, began to scream and protest loudly against those Slytherins, every rule and every piece of dignity forgotten. Following her example, even Ginny and the others began to protest against them but never as much as Demelza, who seemed almost to have lost her mind. The insult of Muggle-born disgusted her not just a little.
"Oh, shut up, buck," Astoria said curtly, when Demelza's voice reached a sharp tone.
"Leave them alone, Astoria," said Grace Bennet, a girl with hard features and fair hair perfectly in order every time, "I heard that the only friends she can afford are those and the boring ones never heard of social life, Robins?"
Firstly, Demelza's eyes filled with tears, then all the boys started off with insults, with Vicky captaining everything with her shrill voice, which was becoming more and more like Demelza's before Astoria interrupted her. Ginny could not take it any more: she knew that the insults slipped off the Slytherins like rain off the windows. The girl drew her wand, pointed it at Grace, and with a spell that the twins had taught her that year, she attacked: Grace moved with surprising speed and the spell caught Jugson, who twisted and began to laugh, clinging to his companions, who moved from him and ran away, cursing. Harper, before leaving definitively, took him by the scruff of the neck and carried the other boy with him, disgusted.
"But ... SWEET!" Christopher roared, patting festively on Ginny's shoulder.
"You have to teach me that spell!" William immediately exclaimed, fascinated. "Did you see how that Jugson idiot laughed? I bet no one ever saw him like that, you were too kind to him, in my opinion."
"It was the only spell that came to mind!" Ginny protested, smiling, as a defense. "Those are Serpents, the insults don't make him hot or cold, I had to do something more!"
"Really a fantastic shot, Red Head!" Ritchie exclaimed and nodded vigorously.
Demelza and Vicky got up from the seat and hugged her, while Colin began to tangle her red hair ungraciously; everyone celebrated happily, teasing Jugson and his tremendously silly and funny laugh. While she was in the arms of her friends and the train was slowing down more and more, Ginny brought to mind something that had totally escaped her earlier, something very important that would have made her Quidditch fan friends even more excited, even though they probably already know about the great news…
"Hey, I almost forgot: this year there will be the Quidditch World Cup! Will you guys come?"
"I know about it; of course, I'll be there, I can't wait!" exclaimed Demelza, lighting up immediately and letting go of her friend. "My parents work at the Ministry and they will have already booked tickets for me and my little sister, even if we still do not know if she is a witch or not ... we believe she might be a Squib."
"What is a Squib?" Colin asked suddenly, curious.
"Yeah, what's that?" Christopher echoed; although he grew up with wizards he ignored many things in their world.
"One who was born into a wizarding family but possess no magical abilities." Demelza replied grimly.
A silence filled with regret followed, then Vicky spoke. "Anyway, I'll be there, my mum would not want to miss it: she is the director of the Sports Department, and it seems to me the least she would want is coming to see the World Cup!"
"Wow, I would not miss the Quidditch Cup for anything in the world!" Ritchie exclaimed, getting up to prepare his stuff.
Ginny followed his move and climbed onto a seat to retrieve her trunk, as the train finally slowed down to a stop at platform nine and three quarters: some tiny kids yet to begin at Hogwarts chased the train to find their siblings. Ginny, between the chaos outside the window, could not make out her parents' silhouettes but she was sure they would be in the usual place, next to the railroad wall.
"I would love to come but my mother is a Muggle ... how the hell do I tell her without giving her a heart attack?" William said, annoyed, as he prepared to part.
They hurried with their stuff, ready to step off the Hogwarts Express and enjoy the freedom of the moment. The train stopped altogether and the students poured out, cheerful and carefree, reaching their families. Ginny caught a glimpse of the twins, walking in one direction, and began to follow them, convinced that they would take her to the Weasleys. With her friends trotting beside her and still talking about the Quidditch World Cup, she stretched her neck between the crowd to join her parents, who were waiting there at the station in some remote corner.
"Pig! Would'ya find your own!" blurted a tiny girl, running through the crowd.
Ginny giggled. "Pigwidgeon?" She repeated, confused and amused.
"It was 'Pig, Find your own'; for the record, she also had a cold, Red Head," William replied, barely repressing a laugh. Demelza and Christopher, on the other hand, burst out straight away.
"Oh, there's my father! I'm glad he did not bring mother too: she would not stop asking about magic, we'll talk to you by letter, write to me!" and having said that, Will darted away from the crowd to join his father, a tall and handsome man, who looked very much like him.
"That's where William got his looks from ..." Vicky mumbled, mischievous and with a tinkling giggle, "see you at the World Cup!"
"Bye! see you!" Demelza and Ritchie shouted in unison, walking away with Vicky to find their families.
"I will write to you all, I promise!" Colin exclaimed and approached his parents, who seemed profoundly confused and looked at the railroad barrier with fright, as if they could not wait to get out of that chaos of wizards.
"I hope I'll come to the cup, redhead," Christopher declared, when in the crowd they remained alone, while pushing through the crowd "I know there will be many pretty girls there and I don't know if I can stay indoors with that," he chuckled and made the girl giggle.
"Christopher, move!" a corpulent man roared.
"Coming, coming!" Chris shouted back, moving away. "I'll write to let you know about the Cup, Ginny!" he added.
When Ginny finally joined her parents, thanks to Fred and George, her mother hugged her as if she had not seen her for years. Holding her hand, they set off for the platform barrier, with her father who would not stop messing her hair and screaming at Fred and George to be careful where they put their feet, because they almost tripped an old lady.
"I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron shouted to Harry, who was moving away to join his uncle and aunt. Ginny became a delicate shade of pink, thinking about the fact that she would be spending some time with Harry Potter that summer. Well, what did you expect? It was obvious that Ron invited his best friend. The same would be true for Hermione: she will also be there for sure.
"I knew you would invite him," Ginny said, turning to her brother, smile betraying herself. Ron, in fact, chuckled swiftly as they walked out to the station. "And who is this?" the girl added, changing the subject.
Ron handed her the owl. "My new pet," he replied.
"Hey...Pigwidgeon" Ginny greeted him, remembering the funny name she had heard from the girl with a cold.
"Pigwidgeon?" Ron stared, horrified.
"Well, he must have a name, right?" his sister replied cheerfully, stroking the owl.
"Yes, but not this!"
"Pigwidgeon likes his new name, right?" Ginny stroked it and Pigwidgeon cooed happily.
"Bloody Hell, I was meant to give him a name"
"Too late, snail-nold Weasley"
"Stop arguing, you two?" the mother burst brightly, but she was not angry. "Fred! George! Be careful, for heaven's sake! Come on, hurry up, you'll find a wonderful surprise at home ... I can't wait to see my beautiful children, even if I don't understand why Charlie still hasn't gotten engaged… Well, the best news is that Bill has left the Egyptians: I could not wait!"
Ginny opened her mouth and looked at Ron, who stared back with an identical look:
"BILL AND CHARLIE ARE HERE?" They shrieked.
Ah, finally! Can't believe we're saying goodbye to Hogwarts again! Here we are reading about their summer as kids that just got into our summer. This is nice.
So, did you like the chapter? Please leave us a review and tell us what you think!
~Helena H. (editor)
Translator and owner of this account: Ermory
P.S. Sorry again about cutting the time urgh.
Next: Weasley Wizarding Wheezes