And here she is tail between her legs— yours truly editor helena— and the only reason ever for a late upload. But this chapter had me all over the place, I hope you enjoy as well :)
Protocol: We do not own this. The character and story belong to (Unfortunately ) JK Rowling and the og fanfic is called "Sono Ginny Weasley e questa e' la mia storia" it is originally in Italian and can be found on EFPfanfic. The translator is Ermory and the editor is Helena.
The nightmare starts again
It was with a crushed heart that Ginny packed her trunk the night before returning to the Burrow.
She had gone through terrible moments at the end of that third task: students screaming, crying, people despairing ... there was pain everywhere. Ginny had managed to sneak between the students and saw Cedric's cold body, lying on his back on the ground while his father screamed, in full agony and pain. That scene was the grain that broke the camel's back: that moment was when the girl began to cry, because she couldn't have kept from it... after all she was a little girl too.
Molly and Bill had to threaten Fred and George into getting them to take their sister away, and after a nervous breakdown from the girl, the twins hauled her to Gryffindor Tower. Why could Ron and the others help Harry in the Infirmary and she always had to be kept in the dark? She was tired, tired, tired ... tired of always being pushed aside, as if it could make her feel better.
But Hermione had been helpful: she confided in Ginny, and told her everything she needed to know. She told her that Voldemort had returned and murdered Cedric, that Harry had escaped Voldemort's fury for the umpteenth time and that the Minister didn't believe him.
Ginny seriously began to think that the hard times of yore would be back, even harder than before …
"Are you done with the bathroom?"
Alice Barlow's voice reached the girl's ears from miles away.
"Yes," Ginny replied mechanically, shoving the last few things into her trunk and looking at herself in the large dorm mirror as Alice ran into the bathroom. Ginny absently tied her red hair into a long braid, and adjusted her uniform.
"Are you ready?" Demelza asked, as she put a green ribbon in her hair that brought out her eyes.
"Yes ... but Vick?"
"She said she was going to get some fresh air"
Their friend was very sensitive and she let people see that without caring what people thought. Plus, she said she hated the Leaving Feast to death, now that Dumbledore had decided he would talk to the whole school about the Cedric thing and the third task. Demelza was just as sensitive, but she didn't break right away: it took her time and then she'd cracked and sobbed like a mad woman, prompting even Vicky to calm her down. And Ginny, who was always very tough and boyish ... she was absent in those moments, like she was a ghost and she was living through someone else's life.
"Let's go down to the hall, come on ..." Demelza urged her.
The two friends made the journey down to the Great Hall in silence, and the usually short walk seemed endless to both of them. Neither of them was too eager to talk, and there was a moment when Demelza sniffed and hastened to wipe her tear-stained eyes with a small flowered handkerchief. Ginny stared blankly at her friend, wanting to cry and break everything ... but her heart prevented her.
"T-terrible ..." Demelza whispered in a hoarse voice cracked with tears.
"Dem, don't cry—" Ginny said harshly, grabbing her by the arm and forcing her to face her. Then she pulled herself together, not wanting to seem too hard on her: "Don't cry, not now. Let's hear what Dumbledore has to say, okay?" she added, more softly.
Her friend nodded, coughed and wiped her eyes again.
The Great Hall, which was usually decked out in the colors of the Cup-winning House, was filled with black banners on the walls today for Cedric. The two found the others, and sat down with them: even the boys didn't have much desire to talk, and they all sat silently. Christopher was trying to make conversation, but even he couldn't carry on a conversation without his voice dropping.
Suddenly Dumbledore rose and the faint chatter in the hall died away; Vicky arrived just in time for the speech.
"I didn't want to miss it," she declared in a choked voice.
"The end of another year," Dumbledore began, running his gaze across every table and then dwelling on that of the Hufflepuffs. "There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight, but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here, enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."
There was a clutter of benches scraping as the students stood up and raised their goblets in obeyance of the Headmaster.
"To Cedric Diggory" his voice echoed in the hall.
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," said Dumbledore, as the students sat back down and Ginny glanced sideways towards the Hufflepuff's table, which was right next to Gryffindor's. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right to know exactly how it came about."
Harry, who was a few seats ahead of Ginny, finally raised his head and stared at Dumbledore.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."
The reaction was immediate: students whispered in terror among themselves and looked at Dumbledore, horrified by what he had just said. The Headmaster, for his part, seemed perfectly calm and waited for everyone to pay attention to him again.
"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so— either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think that I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as a result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."
More whispers broke out, this time of understanding, from Hufflepuff's table.
"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death, and I'm talking, of course, about Harry Potter," Dumbledore continued his speech, and all eyes in the room fell on the boy; many craned their necks to see him. "Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort, he risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of courage that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort. And for this, I honor him!"
Dumbledore raised his goblet and many students followed suit, except for a few Slytherins.
Ginny looked at the boy who now had his head down again: she wanted so much to hold him in her arms, to tell him that he was truly brave ... she wanted to somehow let him know that she was with him… and that he had always been her hero since as a child. But that couldn't happen, because to Harry she was just his best friend's little sister, or nothing worth paying attention to.
"The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened— of Lord Voldemort's return— such ties are more important than ever before." The Headmaster glanced quickly to the table where students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were sitting, almost frowning. "In the light of Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust."
Demelza began sobbing and dabbing her eyes with the usual flowered handkerchief, while Vicky's face was streaked with silent tears as she clung tightly to Ritchie's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Ginny mechanically looked at the friends she had argued with, who returned the same look. And without knowing how, the girl's hands found those of her two friends, carrying out what Dumbledore had just said. Because it was true: they were strong only when united, weak when divided. And in light of the misfortune, they could not help but tighten those strong bonds of friendship that had been created.
"Remember Cedric," Dumbledore said at last, painfully, "Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
dividerdivider
The students' trunks were packed and they waited for the carriages taking them to the platform at Hogsmeade station, chattering more cheerfully now and reflecting on Dumbledore's speech about the bonds of friendship. Ginny had taken that speech very seriously, and she had made peace with the two friends: there was no need for words, they had already understood everything. The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang bid farewell to the students from Hogwarts, and Ginny saw Fleur Delacour kiss Harry and Ron on the cheeks before Krum took Hermione aside.
"Do you think we'll ever have a quiet year at Hogwarts?" the girl asked her friends, sitting down like a refugee on the large luggage engraved with her initials on top: a glaringly large red GW.
"No!" Demelza, Christopher and Colin answered in chorus.
Ginny laughed and shook her head, as if to confirm her friends' response. "Will you write to me this summer?" she then asked them.
"As we do every year!" Ritchie retorted in offence.
"I took very little pictures this year ... but I'll send them to you anyway," Colin said, brandishing his camera. In fact, every year the boy sent his friends a fat envelope full of photos, which Ginny kept affectionately in her bedside table. "Group photo?" the boy added, smiling broadly.
"Yes, a group photo!" William exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Vicky's shoulders.
"Ritchie come here!" ordered the latter.
"I'll go in the center."
"No! I wanted to be in the center, that's not fair!"
"Demelza, you go on the left— no, on my left— I mean, to yours."
"Colin, make up your mind!"
"Go to the right, come on ..."
Colin stopped a blonde girl who was hauling a trunk initialed with LL, and placed the camera in her hands, politely asking her to take a picture of the bunch. She was very excited, and pressed one pearl white finger to the button as the boys struck a pose.
"You looked very beautiful," Luna Lovegood said dreamily, with a big smile.
"Thank you! Guys, this is Luna Lovegood ... er, she is taking our Care of Magical Creatures course, do you remember her?" Ginny said, trying not to laugh at the face Christopher had pulled.
"Ah, she's the crazy girl—" Ginny stomped Vicky's foot, hard "—the blonde girl you told us about!"
"You were the one to pet a unicorn first, I remember you," Demelza told her softly, trying to fix the dragon dung impression her two friends had just gotten into making.
The boys then also introduced themselves to Luna, smiling big smiles. Colin began to brandish his camera and take pictures around: the green trees around them; the Durmstrang ship, the Beauxbatons carriage. Demelza stared at Luna's magazine with a certain skepticism, watched by Ginny, Christopher and William who were on the verge of bursting out laughing. Ritchie was eating Chocolate, and there they were, all her friends together again, including herself and Luna, with her exaggerated pink and blue goggles.
"What an unpleasant year, I liked Cedric. He was a lovely boy, even though I never talked to him ..." Luna said, adjusting her glasses on her nose and reading intently the magazine she was holding. Colin took another picture of the magazine as he stole a Chocolate frog from his friend.
"Why are you reading that magazine?" Demelza asked, wrinkling her nose.
Ginny stared at the cover and read: The Quibbler. So, Luna read that stuff? They could fertilize the garden with it, and everyone knew that the paper never carried anything truthful except nonsensical stories invented by the odd editor. Weird editor ... maybe Luna was related to him.
"I'm curious about the article on Nargles," replied Luna serenely, glancing at Demelza.
"About what?" Christopher whispered with puzzlement, frowning and turning to William, who shook his head.
"But ..." Demelza objected, disconcerted, "Nargles do not exist, no one has ever found them. It is essentially always the editor who invents impossible stories to sell copies of the magazine, those little creatures are the fruits of his imagination. You would not believe him, right?"
But Demelza soon realized she had said the wrong thing ...
"My father is the editor, and Nargles do exist!" retorted Luna as calmly as ever.
"What exactly is a Nargle?" Colin asked curiously, his mouth full of chocolate. "You know, my parents are Muggles so I don't know much about this world, I still have a lot to learn. Well then ... what the hell is a Nargle?"
Demelza chuckled, then shot a reproachful look at Colin and said, "They don't exist, Colin!"
"Yes they do, look at the cover!" Luna insisted.
"Can I?" William asked softly and Luna nodded, her bulging eyes focused on the boy's gray ones.
"But have you ever seen them?" Christopher asked.
"If you believe in something you don't need to see it," replied the girl flawlessly, smiling.
Ginny, meanwhile, had scooted over to William to scrutinize the magazine cover, resulting in her almost burning her eyes with all those bright and strange colors: yellow, pink and fluorescent orange popping off one single page. What kind of paper was that?
"You can't believe in something that is non-existent," said Demelza, even more stubbornly than Luna.
"Who told you?"
"Well ... if you see something then it's real, isn't it? And if you said you've never seen them ..."
"And that doesn't mean they don't exist, Demelza. I find that a lot of people are too close minded."
"I'm not close— I wasn't saying that..."
"All right!" Ginny exclaimed, putting an end to that conversation, and clapping her hands once to end the show as well. If Luna's fantasies galloped beyond the imaginable it was not Demelza's fault, and if Demelza didn't believe a single word of what was written in that magazine it wasn't Luna's fault. "We're all different from each other and believe in different things, so ... I'd say we better get on the carriage!" the girl added, and trotted to a nearby carriage as she dragged her trunk.
Luna stroked an invisible thing beside the carriage and took the magazine William handed her.
"Excuse me, I'm very interested in the article on Nargles ... can I have the magazine?" Christopher asked, making a pleading face. The boys giggled, because Chris couldn't really be interested in looking for something non-existent… what the hell did he have in mind?
"Ohhh of course!" Luna softly answered and hopped away.
Christopher climbed into his friends' carriage with a grin and brandished the page on which it was written:
Nargles exist, by Xenophilius Lovegood.
Many researches have been carried out on these fascinating creatures, quite a few are nearing completion. Many wizards have long sought the existence of Nargles: many had given up their faith and no longer believed their actuality. But now I can declare but one thing: Nargles exist.
For more information on the research, go to page 10.
"Don't you understand, Demelza?" Christopher said wryly, as the carriage pulled up next to the station. "You are a fool not to believe in their existence! Nargles are fascinating little creatures and how can you not believe in them?"
"Chris, fu—" Demelza began but Ginny interrupted her, barely holding back a laugh as the others burst out laughing, and Colin snapped more photos to keep that moment in everyone's mind.
"Go take a walk in the train to find a compartment!"
The ride home went well and the teens spent their time gossiping, playing chess or Exploding Snap. Then, towards the end of their journey, some dozed off with their heads dangling, while Colin, as he does, took a few more photographs of the landscape and Ritchie nibbled licorice wands. Ginny, who had also dozed off on William's shoulder to catch up on the hours of sleep which had been stolen from her on the night of the third task, got up stretching and announced to her friends she would go find Michael Corner. She found him just towards the end of the train with his two best friends, and the rest of the journey she spent with him in his compartment while Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boots were chased away.
"Where will you spend your holidays?" Ginny asked, stroking Michael's hair and lifting her head from his chest.
"I don't know, I believe at the beach ... I want to get a tan" answered the boy.
"I'd like that too. Someday we'll go to sea together, won't you like that?"
"Maybe!"
Michael gave her a kiss, then got up and took off his Hogwarts robes. The girl did the same, before remembering that her blouse was slightly too low-cut: when she was hot, she had unbuttoned her shirt more and more because the cloak covered her. She only realized right then for Michael was staring at her with a grin, then pulled her to him.
"I think it's better that I ..." she said and began to button her shirt, up to the top.
When they had finished doing everything they had to do and said goodbye, they both left the compartment, dragging their trunks with difficulty. Ginny didn't want her siblings or her parents to see her with Michael, so she walked away towards the head of the train.
"Will you write to me?" the girl asked, kissing her boyfriend for the last time.
"Only if you do!" he retorted, and Ginny told herself that this was a long-lost cause as she got off the train.
Michael was a pretty cool guy, but he only had one flaw: pride. At first, the girl would never have imagined him as a guy who spent his time following you around all the school corridors and meeting you at every turn, but knowing him ... well, Micheal Corner never took the first step towards someone he'd known for a while, and among these people Ginny too belonged now.
Now it was up to her to look for him first, always.
"Mum! Bill!" Ginny exclaimed, running towards the two family members and Bill wrapped her arms around her. Behind Bill, her friends were making frantic gestures with their arms to get her attention and she greeted them by sending an invisible kiss from afar, which Colin grabbed and slapped on his cheek.
"Come on, let's go home ... we have so many things to do!" Mom said, once she had retrieved Ron and the twins too.
"Mum, are Hermione and Harry visiting us?" Ginny asked as they walked towards the barrier.
"We'll see ..." she muttered.
"Hermione yes, but Dumbledore said Harry must stay on Privet Drive," Ron whispered into his sister's ear.
"Why?"
"I have no idea, but I guess we have to trust him"
Trust ... it was the only feeling on which relationships were to be based, those indestructible bonds that Dumbledore had spoken of. And from that moment on the nightmare had a new beginning.
Author's corner
This chapter contains a bit of the journey that the various characters (Ginny and her friends of hers) made after Cedric's death. Obviously, Ginny doesn't feel like nagging her friends and forgives them, as if there was nothing that would divide them. Dumbledore was right, and they immediately implement her suggestion without hesitating. I thought that in this sad atmosphere the saucy conversation with Luna Lovegood would brighten the spirits, and I also hope I have made the character of Michael Corner well understood: to get something he would take the first step, while once he has achieved that thing he begins to be proud.
Well, I hope you enjoyed it!
T/N
I left the authors note translated and didn't modify anything, i'm going to slowly add the previous ones lol. And before i go, guys remember ginny is 13, of course she is going to be immature and insensitive, she's a tween of middle school age. We all know middle school sucked.
