The Yearbook

Ginny and Bill stoood in the middle of the living room, dressed in wizard's robes that looked vaguely different to Harry's. He stopped, unsure whether to sit them down and talk to them or to nick off and have a shower.

"Hey, Ginny," he said finally. "Hey Bill. How are you?"

The taller red-head relaxed. "Not bad," Bill said easily. "Nice place you've got. Where's everyone else?"

Harry was cut off by Ron's arrival, as he burst through the front door. "You wouldn't believe what's happening!" he cried when he saw Harry. Ron had been training with Arthur Weasley, and wuld soon take over the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. "We had to do a raid, and -"

He looked over and saw Ginny and Bill, and stopped. "Oh, hey guys," he said. "Um - how are you?"

"Fine," Ginny said, speaking for the first time. Her voice had changed, it was a little deeper, and more musical. But she was still the same short red-head that had left for Egypt three years ago. "Mum's been nagging me for ages. First she wanted me to come home, now she wants me to stay with Bill -"

"Yeah, she doesn't trust you," Bill said, clappping a hand on Ron's shoulder. They all laughed.

"Nobody can trust Ron," Christina said, entering the room. She'd dressed in a long sleeved black shirt with a flowing black skirt, and looked wild and free at the same time.

"Hi, you must be Ginny. I'm Christina Applegate. And you must be Bill," she said, turning on him and favouring him with the full thousand watt smile. "Nice to meet you both."

"Hi," Ginny said shyly. "You're - you're the American girl, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Chris said with a grin. "That's me. Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes. Do you want a drink, or anything?"

"All right," Bill said, not taking his eyes off Chris. "what have you got?"

"Umm..." Christina bent over to look in the cupboard. "Butterbeer, Elderflower Wine, Ogdens Black Label, and fruit juice."

"Chuck us a Butterbeer, Chris," Ron said, sitting down on the couch, narrowly missing the bottle that whizzed by.

"I'll have the whisky, thanks," Bill said. "Ginny can have fruit juice -"

"Bill," Ginny said. "Can I have a glass of wine, please? Do you need a hand or anything?"

"Sure," Chris said, pulling out a tumbler glass, ice and different bottles. "There are wineglasses in the second door - no, the other way. That's it. Pull three out, Hermione will want one when she comes down. You want this straight?" she asked Bill, motioning with the glass.

"Yep," Bill replied. "Here, I'll get it." He stood up, taking the glass from her. "So - how long have you been living with Hermione and the guys?"

"About two years," Chris answered. "I met Hermione at the Ministry. Here, sit down," she offered, gesturing to a chair. She sat on the couch, between Harry and Ron. Ginny stood for a few seconds, then took the armchair.

"So... why are you coming back to England?" Christina asked Ginny, to try and get the conversation going again.

Ginny spilled her drink. "Oh, God, I'm sorry about that," she said, jumping up as wine trickled everywhere. Christina waved her wand and the wine disappeared, and then she stood up and got the wine bottle.

"Here," she said, refilling Ginny's glass. "Don't worry about that. I'm just going to check the dinner. Harry, can you give me a hand?"

Grabbing his arm, she draggged him up off the couch and into the kitchen. She checked the oven, and opened the door.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. "You obviously didn't pull me in here to check the food."

Christina turned around. "Call me crazy," she said, avoiding his eyes, "but I have the feeling Ginny doesn't like me."

"She doesn't even know you," Harry consoled her. "She's been in Egypt for three years, and now she's back for the first time and she has to get to know you. She's just nervous." He patted her hand reassuringly.

Chris rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. She picked up the soup tureen, and a stack of soup bowls, and went through to the dining room.

"Coming?" she asked over her shoulder. "Hermione should be down by now."

She was, and as the meal progressed, Ginny seemed to be drawn out of her shell. But Chris couldn't entirely shake the fact that there was something in Ginny's gaze.

Maybe it wasnt that Ginny disliked her, but it was a glance Chris would have called furtive. As if Ginny had done something wrong, and was making sure no-one else knew.

Christina saw that look all the time; it was part of her job - the least enjoyable part - to weed out suspected Dark Wizards or Witches. The year before she'd been transferred to the English Ministry, she'd had to arrest her best friend. She remembered the words Diana had spat at her, right before the Aurors led her away.

"Be careful, Christina. Good will only turn on you in the end, the second they find a shadow living on you!" She kicked away from the Ministry wizards, and faced her old friend. "Understand me, nothing good can come of this world. Look around you! Darkness will win!"

Three weeks later, Christina's transfer had come through. She couldn't stay in America any more.

"So, Christina," Bill said, smiling at her, "what do you do?"

"As little as possible," Chris replied blithely. Then she laughed. "Actually, I work in the Department of Mysteries. It's fascinating. Just yesterday we had a case where -"

"Christina, shut up," Hermione said, kicking her under the table. Chris looked annoyed for a second, then clapped a hand to her mouth.

"Darn," she said through her hand. "I really should learn to shut up."

Everybody laughed, and Ginny lost the look of awe that she'd had since she met Christina. "Bill says that to me all the time," she offered. "I've never had to though."

"it's tough," Chris replied with a shrug. "What do you guys do in Egypt, anyway?"

"I'm a cursebreaker for Gringott's Bank," Bill replied. "Ginny led a team of magical archeologists, actually. She went on expeditions all over the country."

"Well, he says led," Ginny said with a smile. She seemed distinctly more guarded than she had a few moments before, though. "I haven't been in charge of a thing since I left Hogwarts."

"Did you like it?" Hermione asked. "I think it would be excellent."

"Hermione, you already rule the world from here," Ron said. "Stay put and let other people have some glory."

"Hermione's taken over the world?" Bill asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Practically," Harry answered. "Have you seen her books? She just can't stop writing. They've been published everywhere. All of Britain, Australia, America, Canada, half of Europe, and now she's negotiating a deal with Hogwarts. They're going to use her books as school texts."

Ginny looked distinctly impressed. "What did you write about?" she asked. "We haven't found any of your books in Egypt yet."

"My first book was about the history of the Dark Arts," Hermione answered. "A lot of people thought that the Dark Arts only started when You-Know-Who came to power. It's wrong. The Dark Arts have been around for centuries."

"Now you've done it," Christina murmured to no-one in particular, as Hermione took a deep breath. "Hermione, why don't you just lend Ginny a copy of your books?" she asked loudly. "And Bill too. Dessert shold be ready. Should we have it here or the living room?"

"The living room," Hermione answered absently. "Yes, I should lend you a copy, Ginny. And you, Bill. You're a genius, Chris."

"What else have you written?" Ginny asked. "Or did you only write the one book."

Hermione ignored Harry, Ron and Christina groaning. "I wrote about magical education all over the world," she said, "and my third book was about the Salem Witch Trials. Did you know that -"

"Hermione,," Harry said. "Let's just stop for now, ok?"

Hermione nodded. "Sorry. So what brings you back to England, Ginny? Didn't you enjoy the job?"

Ginny choked on her wine. "No, nothing like that," she said once she could breathe again. "I - I just got homesick. That's all."

Ginny played with her wineglass. She really hoped she'd be able to keep this facade up for a while. She didn't want to go home, not yet. The idea of what her parents would say...

It had only been a tomb opening. Ginny had been confident she and her colleages could handle it. Then he had apeared.

Ginny shuddered, and hoped no-one had noticed. That girl Christina was already looking at her oddly, and Ginny didn't want to give her a reason to speak to anyone about it.

"Ginny." Ron poked her.

"Huh - Oh, I'm sorry, what?" she asked, noticing that everyone was staring at her.

"We're moving into the living room," Hermione said. "Would you like some dessert? We're having strawberry shortcake."

"Oh - yes please." Ginny allowed Harry to help her up and walked into the living room behind him. The living room was arge and cosy, with a couch and two armchairs strewn with cushions. The drapes were a cream colour, and were drawn. Christina waved her wand and lamps placed at intervals on the walls lit up, lighting the room with a warm glow. She placed the shortcake on the coffee table, along with a pitcher of cream and some fresh fruit.

"Christina, didn't I tell you that the shortcake would be enough?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes.

"It might feed five Brits, but that's not nearly enough for one hungry American."

"You just had dinner!" Ginny said, agape. "How much do you eat, anyway?"

Christina shrugged. "As much as I need to. Now, everyone eat."

After they'd finsihed, it was decided that Bill wuld stay the night on the couch, and Ginny could share either Hermione or Christina's room.Sleeping arrangements decided, Chris disappeared and came back with a deck of cards.

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" she asked, deftly shuffling. "Ten knut bet, minimum."

"I'm in," Ginny said. "But what do you mean, ten nkuts?"

"We play for money," Harry explained. "You don't make a lot, but it's funny how worked up people can get over ten knuts." He threw his money on the table. Ginny grinned and followed suit.

"Yeah, I'll play," Bill said. "You said it's a ten knut minimum? I'll put fifteen in then." He did so.

"Twenty," Ron said. "I'm a champion at this game." He placed his money i a neat pile. "Your turn, Hermione."

Hermione placed the minimum; Christina threw a silver sickle onto the table. Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Someone's confident."

"Or stupid," Chris replied with a shrug. "I'm just trying to have fun. Who's starting?"

They were just finishing their sixth game when the clock sturck midnight. Christina scooped up the last of the money with a laugh. "I think we all got our money back," she said with a chuckle, "in spades."

"Something like that," Ginny grinned. Then she yawned. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. Must be somehting to do with Apparating halfway accross the world."

"I'd say it was, except I'm tired too," Hermione said, rising. "Where are you going to sleep, Ginny?"

"Hermione's room is pretty much covered in notes," Harry said. "But you'll get a chance to sleep in. Christina has to get up at six to get to work."

"You had to remind me," Christina grumbled. Then she checked the clock. "Wonderful. I'm not even going to get six hours sleep. Maybe you should stay in Hermione's room, Ginny. I'm as grouchy as a bear in the morning when I get ten hours sleep. You don't want your head ripped off."

Shedoesn't want me in her room, Ginny thought. Well, that's fine, I wouldn't be comfortable there either. She nodded. "Okay."

"Damn, now I have to clean my room up," Hermione said, elicting laughs from her friends.