Ginny Weasley and the Final Test of Friendship

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny sat at Florean Fortescues eating their ice cream. Ginny kept looking at her watch every minute or so and glancing down the street. The trio finally looked over at her and said something.

"Why do you keep checking your watch, Ginny? Waiting for someone," Harry finally said to her.

"Yeah," she sighed, spooning some more Ice cream into her mouth. "Will and Colin were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago"

Ginny looked down the street to see if she could see them. She sighed and slumped back down into her chair.

"Don't worry they'll be here soon-Hey, look," Hermione said pointing down the street.

"Ginny! Hey, Gin!"

Ginny turned around. Colin was jumping up and down in the middle of the street waving his arms in the air.

"Ginny! Gi-oh, sorry, Miss," he yelled running into a very disgruntled witch.

"Ginny--oww!" Will just smacked Colin in the arm. He stopped jumping and started rubbing his arm.

Ginny snorted back her laughter and turned to her other friends.

"I'll see you later. Thanks for the ice cream, Hermione."

Ron called after her. "Bye, Gin. We're meeting Mum at two o'clock, don't forget."

"I won't, Ron, thanks."

Ginny ran down Diagon Alley almost knocking into the same woman that Colin had stepped on.

"Sorry, Miss," she yelled over her shoulder laughing. She dodged a group of witches chatting on about the price of dragon's liver by the potion shop. She turned back to look where she was running when she all of a sudden slammed into Will's arms that were outstretched to stop her from running into him. The impact threw her to the ground.

"Ow..." she whimpered as she sat there on the ground, She cleared her hair out of eyes, cursing herself that she hadn't braided it back this morning. She looked up and saw Will and Colin laughing at her. Will finally held out his hand to help her out.

"Well hello to you too," Colin said trying not to laugh.

"Ha, ha," Ginny said sarcastically. She saw them both smiling at her and she nearly launched herself on them.

"It's good to see you two," she said hugging them both at once. The force of her hugging knocked Colin's head into Will's shoulder.

"Oi, Ginny, let go already," Colin said rubbing her head.

She released them and stood back to look at them.

Colin was still shorter than Will, and his wavy blond hair had grown longer over the summer. Ginny saw he still carried his camera around, although he had outgrown the "taking-Harry's-picture-phase."

Will on the other hand had grown taller still. He now towered above Ginny. His dark brown hair was tousled all over and his blue eyes were smiling back at her. He really was a handsome boy.

He'll steal hearts, that one, Ginny thought to herself shaking her head.

"Why you shaking your head at me for," asked Will. "What, you don't want to go anywhere? Fine, we'll just stand here in the middle of the alley and-"

She swatted at Will. "Shut up, let's go." Ginny said giggling.

"What are you so bubbly for?" Will asked raising an eyebrow at her.

Ginny just smiled and linked her arms through Colin and Will's. They walked down the street together and Ginny relayed the whole story of the "Malfoy Incident" as she was calling it now, to the both of them. The boys looked at her dumbfounded as she told in graphic detail how she had slapped him across the face.

"Why couldn't I have been there," Will asked to no one in particular. "I would have loved to see his face."

Ginny smiled. "I still can't believe I did it. I just don't want my mom to find out," she said turning to face them both. "Don't mention a word of it if we see her today, ok?

"How'll she find out," Colin said still rubbing his head. "Only Harry, Ron, Hermione, Will and I know about it anyway."

"I know, but I had a feeling that-"

"Hey, Ginny! Way to go!"

Ginny turned around and saw Fred, George, and Lee walking right at them.

"That's our little sister," George said ruffling her hair. "Way to show Malfoy who's boss!"

Ginny's eyes widened. "How did you find out? If Ron told you, I swear-"

"Hey, settle down, Gin!" Fred said holding his hands up in a peace offering. "Were overheard Malfoy talking to his henchman about, and I quote, ' that little Weasel girl.'"

Lee shrugged and smirked at her. "Just figured it was you."

"Fine," Ginny said relieved. "Just don't tell mum, ok? She'd lecture me all night when we go back to the Burrow."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Fred said coyly and patting Ginny's head.

Ginny swiped at his hand playfully. "Get out of here already!"

The three boys ran off laughing.

"I don't know about those three this year. Especially you brothers, Gin. I feel like it's going to be a long year with them being seventh years and all."

"No more than other years, Colin," said Will commented. "I think we need...too..."

Ginny looked at Will waiting for him to finish his sentence. She looked up at his face and saw he was staring into the sky ahead of them with a concerned look on his face.

"What's wrong," she asked looking in the direction he was.

Ginny's eyes widened. The sky had turned an eerie, greenish-black color and an increasing wind blew around the three Gryffindors' robes. Ginny pulled the hair out of her eyes and did a double take.

There in the distant clouds, four figures were flying towards Diagon Alley.

"What's going on?" Hermione yelled over the now deafening wind, running up behind them. Harry and Ron were following her struggling with their robes.

"I don't know," Ginny shouted back. "But look!" she said pointing to the four figures flying on what appeared to be overly large broomsticks.

The four hooded figures swooped down into Diagon Alley and halted right above where the six Gryffindors now stood. Barely above the noise of the uprising storm, Ginny heard them yell one of the last words any wizard wanted to hear.

"MORSMORDRE!" They bellowed pointing their wands in the air.

The screams of terrified witches and wizards rang out below the Death Eaters.

"Oh God," Ron whispered. He then yelled to everyone.

"Come On! We're not safe here! Duck in the alleyway, hurry!"

Ron shuffled everyone into the dark alley next to the potion shop. Ginny was the last to get there, and she looked around the corner to see what was going on.

The four hooded death eaters flew to the ground and were laughing hysterically at the madness that they had caused. Ginny frowned at the sight in front of her. She felt like she had seen this before.

I can't have seen this before, there never was an attack on Diagon Alley, she thought to herself. Her eyes widened. She remembered where she had seen this before: that night she woke up to the scream. The night she was screaming.

That's what I was dreaming about. I screamed when the potion shop...

The potion shop...

Ginny whipped around and yelled at the others. "Listen! We're not safe here, we need to leave!"

"Are you insane!" Ron yelled back. "Go back out there again with them on the loose!"

"I'm serious Ron! I have a feeling..." She stopped, realizing she didn't want to cause a panic by what she had dream about. She cleared her throat again and yelled louder.

"I have a feeling we're in great danger. Follow me, please!"

She looked over at Will and Colin, who were cowering in the back and pleaded to them with her face,

"Where should we go," Colin hollered above the noise. "It's not safe to go too far!"

Ginny looked around frantically. Through the blowing dust and debris, she spotted another alleyway across the street. It's wasn't far, but it was better than sitting here.

"The alley across the street," she yelled back to Colin. "It's better that right here, let's go!"

Ginny turned around to go, but Harry grabbed a hold of her robes.

"How are you so sure?" he asked her "We're just fine right here!"

"Listen if you really want to know, I have a... a feeling...they're going to do something to the potion shop. Trust me and go with me already!"

Ginny's eyes bored into Harry's, pleading him with all her might. Harry looked at the seriousness on her face and realized she knew something they didn't.

"Come on, everyone, let's go," Harry yelled to everyone stepping back into the street.

Ginny followed right behind him, holding her hair and robes to her body so she could see what was in front of her. The wind had grown deafening now. There was no one in the street now but the six of them.

Ron and Hermione ran for it first, struggling to fight against the wind. Will and Colin followed closely hanging onto the first two's robes. Ginny started after them but turned to look down the street. The Death Eaters were coming down the street right towards them.

"Hurry up!" she yelled. The storm's intensity had mounted now, she couldn't even hear herself yelling anymore.

She took off after her friends. When she was nearing the alleyway across the road, she turned and saw that Harry had stopped in the middle of the road to watch what was going on. Ginny turned back to him and waved her arms to get his attention and to make him hurry.

She watched as the hooded villains mounted their brooms again and hovered above the ground. They pointed their wands at the potion shop.

Ginny screamed Harry's name. He turned around and saw her yelling at him. Ginny ran back into the road to drag Harry into the alley with her. She reached him just in time, for when they started to run to the others, Ginny heard the Death Eaters yelled the fatal words.

"EXPLODIOUS!"

Ginny threw Harry into the ground in the alleyway and fell down next to him covering her head.

A red light emitted from the Death Eaters' wands and they quickly flew off. Within seconds, the potion shop exploded into the air.

The front widows shot out, shelling glass everywhere. Fire erupted in the center of the shot and potions ingredients flew everywhere. The shop crumbled into a blazing inferno.

After the explosion, Ginny put her head up again, and saw the ruins of the shop burning. She sat up and looked at the rubble that was the potion shop on seconds ago. As she stood up to step out of the alleyway, she noticed the wind had settled to a quiet breeze. Another roll of thunder rang through the valley, the skies opened up, and it began to pour.

Ginny looked up into the sky and felt the cool rain on her face. Her eyes welled up with tears and she put her face in her hands. She let go and sobbed into them, her tears mixing with the dirt and dust on her hands.

So much had just happened. So much that she couldn't even comprehend. It would take days to sort out in her mind what all had just happened in a matter of minutes. Five people she cared so much about could have died. She didn't even think about her own life. Ginny stood there thinking and crying when she was brought back to reality by someone who had just put a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around and was face to face with Ron. He had tear stains on his cheeks too. He grabbed her by the shoulders and brought her to him, enveloping her in a tight hug. Ginny clung to her brother weeping into his chest.

"It's ok, Ginny, it's ok," he said soothingly. "We're all just fine."

As she backed away from her brother, she looked at everyone else who was standing behind Ron and her. Everyone was full of cuts and bruises.

Will and Colin stood there looking dumbfounded. The dirt was being washed from their hair and faces. It streamed down their cheeks and onto their robes. They stood there and didn't bother to wipe it out of their eyes; they just blinked it away.

Hermione stood next to Colin leaning on his shoulder and nursing what appeared to be a sprained ankle. She rubbed it with her left hand, but her face was blank and showed no pain, no expression what so ever.

Ginny's gaze finally fell on Harry. He looked at her blankly but finally broke the silence of the rain and spoke.

"You saved my life, all our lives, Ginny."

Ginny stepped toward him. She and Harry stood there just looking at each other. Ginny walked over too him and threw her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Harry asked her softly. He pushed her back a little to look at her.

"We owe you everything, Ginny. You told us where to go. You...You knew something was going to happen, like you had seen it before. If you hadn't spoken up, we all might have..."

His voice trailed off, not wanting to say what could have happened if Ginny hadn't acted so quickly. He pushed a wet chunk of her hair out of her face and let her go from his arms.

Ginny looked around at everyone else. Ron was nodding at her, and Hermione was looking at her crying. Hermione limped over to where Harry and Ginny were standing. Ginny stepped away from Harry and hugged her friend. As they released their grip on each other, Hermione stood back and began to take charge.

"I think we better go find our parents, they'll be worried sick."

Hermione leaned on Ginny and Colin as they all walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. Harry, Ron, Will and Colin followed behind, still being drenched by the rain.

After five minutes of walking in the noise of burning wood, people reuniting with families, and the unstoppable rain, Ginny finally heard a voice she had been wanting to here more than anything.

"Ron! Ginny! Arthur, they're here, they're all ok!"

Molly Weasley was running frantically down the street closely followed by her husband, Bill and Charlie, the twins, and Hermione's parents.

Ginny let go of Hermione's arm around her shoulder and ran for her parents.

Molly had taken both Ron and Ginny in her arms and squeezed them tight. Reunions were happening with Hermione's parents, and Colin's family, who had just made their way to the group.

Ginny let go of her mom and hugged her dad.

"Oh, my little fireball is okay, I was so worried."

"Da-ad. Don't call me that..." Ginny whined. She rolled her eyes.

Is he ever going to give up that baby name?

Everyone slowly made their way into the Leaky Cauldron after the tearful reunions were over. Chairs were being brought over, and wounds were being mended the best they could until help came. The parents sat down their children and checked for injuries. Besides a deep gash on Fred's arm, Hermione's sprained ankle, and everyone's bruises and scratches, no one was seriously hurt.

Arthur Weasley performed a drying spell on everyone and then took his cloak off and put it around Ginny who was still shivering from the rain. He made Molly sit down before asking the children any questions.

"I'm not afraid to say it, but you all almost died today."

Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Arthur!"

"Molly sit back down, and listen," he said kindly, sitting her back down into the chair.

He turned back to the children. "Can any of you tell us what happened?"

Ginny looked around and saw her friends and brother all looking at her.

Ron looked over at Ginny. "Ginny? Do you want to tell it?"

She swallowed and nodded back at him. She stood up and told them the story. From the brewing of the storm, to the conjured dark mark by the Death Eaters, and ending with how she had pulled Harry into the alley seconds before the potion shop had exploded.

By the end of her story she had tears in her eyes, but blinked them back, not wanting to cry in front of everyone again.

All of the adults stood there hugging their children, or pacing the floor as Ginny finished talking. They all stood there in silence for a few seconds before it was broken by a booming, questioning voice.

"And just how did you know to pull everyone out of that alleyway next to the potion shop? Did you know what was going to happen?"

Ginny looked over and saw the voice belonged to a man she didn't know. He was tall with a dark complexion and hair. His crooked nose and heavy eyebrows gave him a sinister look. Ginny's father stepped forward.

"And just what are you implying, Schneider?"

"Well aren't you going to introduce me, Arthur?" the man replied snobbishly.

Mr. Weasley's eyes narrowed slightly at the man. Without turning to his family, he introduced the man without looking away from him.

"Everyone, this is Alfred Schneider. He's an Auror. Probably here to investigate, aren't you, Alfred."

"That's right. And from the little girl's story, I'd say she knows a little too much on what happened. Now if you don't mind, Arthur, I'd like to ask her some questions while my colleagues here survey the damage done."

He turned to the men standing behind them and gave them a few harsh orders and they disapperated to the site.

Schneider turned and bent down to Ginny's face. "So little girl, would you mind telling me how you knew what was going to happen."

Ginny fumed. "My name is Ginny, not 'little girl'," she said through clenched teeth. "Why do you care how I knew to move them? I saved their lives."

Schneider raised an eyebrow.

"Quite a cheek on this one, Arthur," he said looking up Mr. Weasley.

"I just want to know if you were involved in any-"

"Now see here, Schneider!" Mr. Weasley roared. "How could Ginny possibly be responsible in what happened today! Are you implying that she-"

"Arthur, I am implying nothing. I just wanted to know how she knew ahead of time that the potion shop was going to blow up."

Ron finally spoke up. "How did you know Ginny?"

Everyone in the room looked at Ginny. Her cheeks blushed from the attention. She looked down at her feet and began to tell the story.

"The other night, I had a dream. I guess I woke myself up because I was screaming. It was that night you and Harry came in my room, Ron."

She paused for a second and then continued with the story.

"I saw it happen in the dream."

She recounted the details of her dream, and how she realized that it was exactly what was happening at that very moment. She never remembered the dream until the moment of déjà vu that occurred. She relayed the entire dream to everyone standing in the room.

Ginny stopped talking. By this time she was crying again. Molly ran over and hugged her.

"Ginny, dear, why didn't you tell us about the dream?"

"I...I couldn't remember what happened. And when I did, it was too late. I didn't mean too..."

"Hush now, Ginny. There's no reason to cry."

Ginny brushed away her tears and looked up at her mother. "Can we go home?"

"Of course, it's been a long day for all of you. You need to rest and recover before we take you to King's Cross on Sunday."

Ginny quickly said her goodbyes to Hermione, Colin and Will. She'd be seeing them again in two days, so it was a quick farewell. Ginny grabbed a pinch of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"The Burrow," she articulated throwing the powder at her feet.

The swirling came and went and Ginny soon walked out of the fireplace and sat down on the couch, exhausted. As the rest of her family appeared one by one she became sleepier sitting on the couch. She picked up her Hogwarts letter, which was sitting on the table next to the couch.

So much for getting dress robes, she thought.

"Dinner will be ready in a second sweetie, come set-"

Mr. Weasley stopped when he saw Ginny sleeping on the couch. He smiled, carefully picked up his daughter and headed up the stairs.

As he laid her down on the bed and covered her up, he smoothed her hair and whispered to her.

"Goodnight, little fireball."

Ginny snuggled under the covers and yawned sleepily as she rolled over.

"Dad," she said wearily, "don't call me your little fireball."

She settled down and drifted back to sleep.