Today the Guns are Silent

July 1, 1997: According to Ron, in just a few minutes, Harry would be arriving at the Burrow, and Ginny wasn't looking forward to it. After she had gone back to the Burrow for the summer, she'd been trying to get over Harry. Seeing him again would bring back the pain of the break-up. She had lied through her teeth when she had told him she understood and was happy just being friends.

She heard the door fly open and her mother squeal at Harry's arrival, but she was not listening to what exactly they were saying, she was more interested in escaping. As soon as she heard his voice, she bolted into the kitchen and clumsily sat in the chair which was concealed behind the staircase, making a loud screech as the legs scraped against the wooden floor.

"Oh, hello, Ginny," Harry said politely, peering around the corner, probably to find out the source of the sound.

"Hi," she replied tensely, clutching the arms of her chair with her hands and avoiding his eyes.

At least he didn't stick around to have a conversation. He returned to the living room to tell Ron and Hermione about something Dudley did in the beginning of the summer. It involved an overweight girl, bright orange thong knickers, and a jar of peanut butter. Ginny felt too sick to her stomach to make any attempt to eavesdrop further. The three friends laughed uproariously, and for a moment, her eyes met those of Hermione, who leaned back and gave Ginny a feeble smile as if she was trying to apologize.

Ginny thought it was pathetic that the break-up even prevented her from enjoying a funny story. She decided to slink quietly upstairs and lock herself in her bedroom, blasting the Weird Sisters.

-----

A knock on the door woke Ginny from her torch-song trance. Out of habit, she opened it, and instantly considered slamming it when she saw it was Harry.

"What?" she asked gruffly. An awkward pause ensued. Harry shifted his weight about awkwardly for what seemed like three minutes.

"What?" Ginny repeated.

"It's hot out, yeah?" Harry asked with clumsiness in his voice.

"Look, I know you're not here to discuss the weather, so what is it?" Ginny said sharply.

"Well, I was, erm, wondering if you and I could give it another shot," Harry said sheepishly.

"Make up your mind, Harry," Ginny said, her eyes narrowing into angry slits.

"I have... And I want--"

"Well, it's too late." Ginny was about to shut the door, but Harry propped his hand against it.

"Come on, Gin," he pleaded, smirking suggestively.

"I can't believe you," Ginny gasped. "How insensitive can you be?"

"What do you mean, insensitive?"

"You dumped me, Harry. You broke my heart, and you expect it to be okay now?" Ginny said in a tone that was barely below a yell.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, but--" began Harry, who pressed his hand more firmly against the door.

"I'm trying to get over you, Harry, and you are not helping. Please go away now."

"Ginny, I'm trying to make things right again," Harry implored.

"Sod off," Ginny growled, ducking under Harry's arm and scrambling down the stairs before Harry realized what had just happened.

"Vere are you going?" Fleur asked from the kitchen in her usual airy tone as Ginny raced past her to the door.

"None of your business, phlegm," Ginny replied. Normally, she would never call Fleur this to her face, but in her fury, Ginny didn't realize that she had confused Fleur's real name and the mean nickname she gave her.

"But eet eez dangerous out zere," Fleur called after her just as Ginny stormed out of the Burrow. Fleur's words hardly reached Ginny's ears, however.

As Ginny stepped out into the front yard, she looked up and noticed that there was not a star in the sky. Dark, heavy-looking clouds hung low, hinting that a much-needed rainstorm would occur the following day. The nights had been sticky and hot for the past couple weeks and this one was no exception. A break in the clouds revealed a full moon.

Her head was spinning, she was extremely puzzled. The relationship had been temporarily halted because Harry was genuinely afraid that Ginny would become a target, and she believed that these were his intentions. But she told him she didn't mind. In fact, she wanted to fight Voldemort alongside Harry and the others. But Harry was famous for vanquishing Voldemort, not for being open-minded. Yes, his vendetta was extremely personal, but she wanted to help him. She felt that Harry let her down, even hurt her, though very unintentionally. It seemed selfish that she was so angry at Harry because he was clearly distraught and confused.

She wanted to be more understanding, she really did, but the Weasleys were a hard-headed bunch. He hurt her and that was first and foremost in her mind.

All of a sudden, Ginny heard a rustle followed by the sound of something slowly creeping, swishing through the tall grass. While mulling over the status quo between Harry and herself, she had strayed pretty far off from the Burrow. A low-pitched growl caused Ginny's train of thought to derail and she stopped, carefully drawing her wand from her back pocket, where she had mindlessly tucked it much earlier that day.

"Lumos," she whispered with a quiver in her voice. The light produced by her wand revealed a wolf crouched about two metres before her, frothing at the mouth, ready to attack in an instant.