- Rating:
- PG-13
- House:
- The Dark Arts
- Characters:
- Ron Weasley
- Genres:
- General Angst
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Quidditch Through the Ages Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Stats:
-
Published: 11/06/2005Updated: 12/27/2005Words: 11,357Chapters: 5Hits: 787
Reflections
HermioneRULEZ
- Story Summary:
- Excerpt: The final battle between Harry and Voldemort was so near, he could taste it. They’d finally destroyed the final Horcrux. Harry just sat here now, as if steeling himself for the battle. The silence was deafening. These are the reflections of seperate characters, including Ron, Ginny and Luna post HBP. They all have their path and they must take it, but however hectic their lives may be, there is always time to reflect, no matter what. When you look into the water what do you see staring back?
Chapter 03
- Chapter Summary:
- Apart from Harry, Ginny grows steadily more depressed. Finally she decides to go after Harry, Ron and Hermione. But what will she find when she gets there?
- Posted:
- 11/26/2005
- Hits:
- 157
- Author's Note:
- Thank you to Thinkpotter.tk for all your comments and kindness.
Chapter 3
GINNY
Ginny Weasley looked carefully out into the horizon. The sun was setting, pink and misty among purple clouds, across the pond. She picked up a rock and threw it. It skipped five times across the water before sinking into its depths.
"Accio Stone!"
The stone jumped out of the water and flew back into Ginny's hand.
Sighing, she threw it again.
The day after the funeral was still vivid in her memory. She had ridden back with the group on the train, but it had been an odd ride, full of strained silence. Harry had mostly stared out the window and the few times his eyes strayed he found Ginny, staring levelly back at him. He'd always looked back to the window quick enough. Hermione had been pouring over books, murmuring spells under her breath and Ron had just been staring into space, chewing his nails in a restless sort of way. Neville had babbled on and on to fill the silence, and Luna remained peacefully oblivious, reading the Quibbler upside down. Ginny had smiled ruefully at her friend, wishing she could be as at peace with herself.
She saw Harry, Ron and Hermione once more before heading back to Hogwarts, at Bill and Fleur's wedding. She had been forced to be a bridesmaid in a stupid itchy gold dress and seen them in the audience, Harry checking his watch a lot and Hermione glaring at Ron as he stared at Phlegm.
After the ceremony, Hermione had steered Harry up to Ginny to say goodbye and Ron had come along. Ron had hugged Ginny in his awkward way and said, "Stay out of trouble, alright, or I'll be coming for you."
"Oh, I'm scared now," Ginny had said, hugging him back. She's looked into her brother's eyes and said, "You take care of yourself. Don't do anything stupid."
Then Hermione and Ginny had looked at each other and said "Impossible," at the same time. Hermione hugged Ginny goodbye too and then elbowed Harry rather painfully in the ribs.
"Goodbye, Ginny," he'd mumbled, not meeting her eyes.
She looked straight at him, however and said, "Goodbye, Harry," and kissed him on the cheek. Harry had looked up, startled and she turned away. Only after she had heard three loud pops did she allow the tears to stream down her cheeks.
When she went to Hogwarts the next year however, she found herself in a constant state of depression. She couldn't pull herself out of it, couldn't concentrate, and couldn't even get out of bed sometimes. She quit the Quidditch team, among protests, despite being offered the position of captaincy. She abandoned all of her friends except Luna and Neville; the others just didn't seem to understand. Neville always sat with her at dinner and in the Common Room, trying to cheer her up, never giving her up as a bad job even though he wrought no change in her. The Common Room was seemed quite bare without the sounds of Hermione and Ron arguing, Harry, Ron and Hermione huddled in the corner whispering or Hermione's lectures on everyone's study habits, Ron's loud comments and laughter or Harry sitting complacently there, watching everything go by. In fact, the armchairs here the three of them usually sat remained vacated, as if waiting for them to come back. Ginny could hardly stand it.
Ginny knew why she was unhappy and knew what she had to do. She knew it would upset an awful lot of people, so she tried to suppress the urge, but it was too much.
In Transfiguration one day, she went up to Professor McGonagall and said, "Professor, I'm dropping out."
She had expected McGonagall to pitch a fit but she merely said, "I'm afraid you can't, Miss Weasley. You're not of age and under law I must prevent you from doing so."
"But-"
"And don't think of trying to escape next Hogsmeade trip," Professor McGonagall said, turning her back to Ginny. "True, security is somewhat tight, but if you pay the owner of the Hogshead he always can get you out, once he checks out your background of course. But I absolutely forbid it, Miss Weasley and you had better not try it."
Ginny stared at the back of Professor McGonagall head. Was McGonagall actually doing what Ginny thought she was doing?
"Er, no, Professor, of course not."
"Then you'd best get to class, you're going to be late," McGonagall said.
"Yes, of course, Thank you, Professor," Ginny said, and she hurried out of the room. As she did so, she saw McGonagall's reflection in the window and could've sworn she was smiling.
She began to plan her escape that very night. She packed her trunk with everything she thought she'd need: jeans, trousers, T shirts, sweatshirts, a couple of books that could come in handy, though she imagined Hermione had that area covered, money, a great amount of food she'd gotten from the kitchen, her broomstick and other necessary items. She then, after a little practice as the charm was fairly difficult, managed to shrink her trunk and all the items within it to pocket size, so she'd be able to sneak it out of Hogsmeade.
After that, all she had to do was bid Neville and Luna goodbye. She caught Luna in a broom closet and after saying goodbye and receiving the gift of banana berries, eggs and sophomorous beans, she made her way to Neville.
He was rather upset that she'd decided to go, but seemed to understand all the same. He worried aloud greatly about her safety and told her to write as soon as possible and tell him how Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing because he was worried about them too. Ginny felt the same ache in her stomach as she's experienced while saying goodbye to Luna, looking into her friends round face and wondering if she'd ever see him again.
Nevertheless, she was ready next Hogsmeade weekend. Filch searched her with his Secrecy Sensor, but as she had not used Dark Magic to conceal her trunk, picked up nothing. She made her way swiftly to the Hogs Head, her breath puffing in the freezing air. When she ducked into the pub, she found it as filthy as ever and quite empty. The barman popped up from behind the desk, startling her.
"Ger-never-a Weasley?" he grunted
"Ginny, actually," she said.
"Like I care," he held out his hand. "Ten Galleons, then."
Ginny shot him a dirty look before giving him the money. The old man looked it over carefully, seemed to decide it was legit, and grunted, "Alright then. Yer gonna have to do some Side Along App'rition. I want yer to grab my arm an' hold on tight. Don't yer let go, no ma'er what happened, else I 'spect yer'll get cut in 'alf or sumthin'."
"Er, okay," Ginny said. She gripped the old mans arm tightly.
"Right then," the man grumbled.
Suddenly, Ginny was totally compressed, her body felt like it was being crushed into a tiny ball, her brain was pushing against her head like it was about to explode, she was going to die, surely her bones were going to break from the pressure...
And she was on solid ground again; gasping and cool cold air was whipping in her face. She gasped and stumbled and realized she was gripping something.
"Ay, let go, lass, ye're cuttin' off me circulation!" the old man cried.
Ginny let go and sank to her knees.
"Damn," she muttered. "Harry was right, that is horrible."
She pulled herself back up to find the barman considering her levelly.
"Well, thanks," she said, taking her miniature trunk out of her pocket. "Sorry I-"
She stopped short and gasped. The old mans eyes were a bright twinkling blue. She knew those eyes...and didn't Dumbledore have a brother?
"No way..." she gasped. "You're not...you can't be..."
The man merely nodded and said, "Good luck t' yer, Ginny," and with a faint pop, he Disapparated.
Ginny flew to the Burrow. Broomsticks, she decided, were the best way to travel. She didn't care if Apparation was quicker. When she compared the joy of flight, the cool wind whipping through her hair to the sensation she had just experienced...no contest at all.
Ginny touched down at the Burrow to find it quite dark. Her mother was out, she supposed, though she couldn't imagine where she could be. Probably doing work for the Order. Well, it saved a lot of hassle. Mum would've flipped her lid if she'd seen Ginny. Ginny said the family password to make the house open ("Airplane" Dad had picked it) the door unlocked.
Ginny crept in. She'd never really been in the house alone. At least, she couldn't remember being here alone. So she was here. How was this going to help her track Harry Ron and Hermione again? Oh, yeah. The clock.
She found it in its usual place on the mantle. All twelve hands were pointed to mortal peril still. Ginny felt a start when she realized that while all twelve of the hands were pointed close to the middle of the space between the words "mortal" and "peril" their was a few centimeters difference in each hand. Percy's was pointing the farthest away. She supposed he was protected a bit, working at the Ministry. Fred and George's were second to last. Charlie and Ginny were tied for third to last. Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's were tied as pretty near the middle. Mrs. Weasley's was twitching. Hers was too, Ginny noticed. The clock was unsure of her life at the moment.
Ron's was almost dead center.
Because he's hunting Voldemort down with Harry, Ginny thought. She felt a bit scared at this thought and began to recount hysterically inside her head all the times she'd been rude to Ron and wishing she could apologize for every single one
Pull yourself together, she thought. There's a reason you're looking at this clock, remember?
Right. Now how did Mum do it? Oh, yeah. Ginny tapped the clock smartly on the side. The hands swung off mortal peril and went to various places. Fred, George, Charlie, Percy and Dad were at "work." Bill and Mum were "visiting", Ginny of course was "home" and Ron was..."traveling?"
"Traveling?" Ginny cried. "That's all you can tell me? He's TRAVELING? Of course he's traveling! I KNOW that. What sort of stupid clock are you!"
As a response, the clock snapped all it's hands back to mortal peril. She supposed she was stupid. The clock didn't give specific locations. She shouldn't have expected to see exactly where Ron was.
"Great!" she said aloud. "Just great! Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"
She rubbed her head exasperatedly. She supposed she could go and look up in Ron's room for clues. Harry, Ron and Hermione had spent and inordinate amount of time in there at the wedding, perhaps they had left something there? Her hopes were not high, though.
She trudged up the stairs and opened the doors to Ron's room. The place was strangely bare, save for a jumble of papers. Ginny went to the papers. A couple of them were merely doodles, apparently done my Ron in times of boredom. Ginny snorted aloud when she saw a picture of he'd done a little caricature of Hermione yelling. A lot of the papers were notes from Hermione, she'd written down some spells with notations on techniques and what they were for, One was Ron's handwriting, mostly indecipherable, though Ginny spotted the word "Horcrux" whatever that was. Finally at the bottom was a map. Ginny pulled at it in excitement, this was too good to be true. The map was of from some sort of book, a cluster of towns. Circled on the maps was a town labeled "Dealyford" and next to it in Hermione's neat handwriting, were the words "Godric's Hollow".
Godric's Hollow... The name rung a bell with Ginny... of course! That was where Harry's parents were killed! In fact, she'd heard the three of them whispering about it to each other in the train! That's where they must have gone.
"They might not be there anymore," she mused. "But I have to try." So she gathered up the map and ran outside.
And thus, began a long and perilous wild goose chase. She found Godric's Hollow and the rubble that was once the Potters home. The trio wasn't there, but three sleeping bags and several other assorted items were. Apparently they had left in a hurry and Ginny felt a bit sick and worried seeing that there were still dark red stains on the ground. She searched the campsite and by an incredible stroke of luck, Hermione appeared to have been working on something when they'd been ambushed. Papers were scattered all over and an inkbottle was spilt, but on the papers were several calculations in Hermione's handwriting. There was also a list. It read:
Places from V's past
Little Hangleton
Hogwarts
Bor-
The rest of the list was soaked in ink. But Ginny had what she needed. They might still be in Little Hangleton, wherever that was. Ginny found the town on a bunch of maps sold in a Muggle store and set off.
When she reached Little Hangleton, she found neither hide nor hair of the trio, but with a little flirting, she managed to get a drunken man at the local pub to inform her he'd seen three teenagers about.
"Aye, a tall redhead boy, a girl with wild brown hair an' a skinny chap wi' black hair an' 'lasses," the man mumbled. "Skulkin' round here. I follows them and they don't e'en notice, they arguin' 'mongst 'emselves so."
"What did they say? Did they mention any places?"
"The 'ossy girl, she says that this glen- Marlben Glen, I think it was, she says, 'I done some research and 'e was livin' near that glen, 'e should 'ead there next.'"
"Marlben Glen," Ginny muttered. "Well, thanks very much."
"Aye, you're a pretty lass," the man mumbled. "What say we go somewhere alone and...talk, eh?"
He gave her a wet kiss on the cheek.
"C'mon now, 'ive me some love, la-OW!"
He yelped as Ginny stomped on his foot.
"Sorry," she said, jumping out of the barstool and walking away. "I already have a boyfriend."
Ginny flew to all night and all of the next day before she reached Marlben Glen at dusk. She spotted a cave there and a forest beside it and in front of the cave was a figure stooped over a fire.
Excited, she touched down in the forest. Peeking out from behind a tree, she saw the figure was Hermione, crouched beside the fire and tending to a wound on her leg. She was passing her wand over it and it was slowly knitting. Inside the cave she could hear Harry and Ron shouting at each other. She edged round the tree to get a better look.
"Harry, you need to rest. We destroyed one, we've done good, we need to take a break for a second," Ron's voice sounded.
"Why? We need to find the next one as soon as possible," Harry's voice echoed hotly.
"Harry, you nearly died! What am I saying- you DID die! You're pulse stopped for two minutes. And Hermione still finding new cuts and even though she fixed her arm it's still all stiff."
"And you keep retching blood," Hermione called.
"Yeah, well, I can deal with that," Ron said in his "macho" voice. "It'll stop soon."
"Look, I told you two it was dangerous," Harry said. "You should just go home-"
"Forget it, Harry. Without us, you'd be dead, remember?"
"Yeah, thanks, I know. But look, I'm fine, we need to get going."
"Harry," Ron said slowly. "You.... can't...even...walk."
"Yeah, I can, look I'm getting up, and I'm walking... Ugh!"
"I've got you," Ron said, apparently Harry had fallen when he attempted to walk "See? You're in no fit state. You're getting obsessed again, mate. You have to recover."
Ginny heard Harry sigh. Hermione looked away from the cave and went back to tending her wound. Ginny thought this would be a good time to make her entrance. She stepped out from behind the tree, cleared her throat and said, "Hi, Hermione."
Hermione whipped around and pointed her wand at Ginny. Then when she saw who she was, she lowered her wand and said "Ginny?" with an astonished expression on her face.
"Yep, it's me."
"What-what on earth are you doing here?"
"I want to help you three destroy Voldemort."
"Oh...er.... Harry, Ron, um, Ginny's here!" Hermione called.
"WHAT?" Ginny heard both Harry and Ron ejaculate loudly. There were a great deal of thumps from inside the cave and then Ron came out, dragging Harry along. Looking closely at the three of them, she saw they all looked very tired and pale. Harry was the worst, whatever he was sick with had rendered him as white as a sheet with a tinge of green and he was much more thin than usual, which was really quite alarming.
"G-Ginny, what the hell are you doing here?" Ron cried, staring at her.
"It might not really be Ginny," Hermione pointed out, looking warily at her. "It could be a Death Eater or someone, under the Polyjuice Potion."
Harry didn't say anything, but from the way he looked at her she could tell he doubted she was a Death Eater. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off.
"What happened too you three? Why can't you walk, Harry? What does Ron mean you were dead? You've destroyed what? And I agree with Ron, if you're hurt you need to rest and you need to stop being so stubborn and sullen and annoying. Honestly, it gets old. Why are you in this Glen anyway? I doubt Voldemort's here."
"Yes, that's Ginny all right," Hermione said, smiling.
Harry didn't answer her, he just glared at her and said, "You shouldn't be here, Ginny."
"Why not?" Ginny said hotly. "If Ron and Hermione are helping you why can't I?"
"I didn't want them to come with me. They forced it on me."
"Well, I'm forcing it on you too."
"You can't Ginny."
"Ron and Hermione-!"
"It's different," Harry said forcefully.
"How is it different, Harry? How?!"
Harry didn't answer; he just glared at her some more. Hermione broke the silence.
"How on earth did you get here?"
Ginny told her.
When she finished, Ron goggled at her.
"Mum's going to KILL you," he said.
"Yeah, well, I left her a note and anyway, if she lets you go off and fight Voldemort, she should let me also."
"You aren't going off to fight Voldemort!" Harry cried.
"I am, Harry, I'm going to help you!"
"You can't!"
"Why?"
Again Harry had no answer.
"You know what Luna gave me when I said goodbye to her?" Ginny said heatedly.
Harry looked startled by this random question. "Er, no."
"A potion for Suffering Heroes," Ginny said, pulling the ingredients out of her bag and shaking them in Harry's face. "To cure you. And you know what, I think she's on to something there. Because you're just being thick headed."
There was a long silence in which Harry stared at Ginny, his expression unreadable. Then he said finally, "You can't come. You just can't."
And with that, he pushed Ron away and stumbled rather clumsily into the cave, leaving Ginny staring after him.
Ginny sat outside the cave that night, looking at the starry blanket that was the sky. The wind whipped eerily through her hair and she shivered, the cold clear air of the night pressing in on her. Ron's snores echoed through the night. Ginny sighed and closed her eyes. Suddenly she heard a rustle behind her. She looked around and saw Harry crawling towards. Even crawling his legs didn't seem to want to move very much and he had a bit of trouble climbing up the small slope. Ginny smiled and gave him her hand. She pulled him up beside her. She stared at him for a second, question in her eyes. Then Harry put his arm round her and she felt as if a warm flame rekindled in her stomach.
"I'm not going to let you push me away, Harry," she murmured. "I'm going to stay no matter how stupid you get, you know that, don't you?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "Maybe that's why I like you so much."
Ginny laughed and hugged him. And they stayed out there, watching the stars for a very long time.
But she did leave, Ginny remembered. She'd stayed with Harry, right there, in the danger, all right. She'd learned about the Prophecy and the Horcruxes and helped destroy them all. But when the last one was gone and Ron and Hermione were busy someplace, probably either fighting or snogging, you could never guess with them these days, Harry had taken her aside, into a forest.
"Ginny, I have to tell you something."
"You're being stupid an noble again, aren't you?"
"Ginny..."
"Harry..."
"Just listen alright?" Harry pleaded.
"Fine."
"We've destroyed them all so I have to go fight Voldemort now..."
"And I'm going with you!"
"No, Ginny, you aren't," Harry said forcefully. "And neither are Ron and Hermione. I'm going this one alone."
"No, you're not. Me, Ron and Hermione are going with you."
"Ginny, listen. I've got to do this alone. Defeating Voldemort...or not..."
"Harry!"
"It's a possibility, Ginny and I've got to accept it! Anyway, getting rid of Voldemort is my task alone. The Prophecy-"
"Who gives a shit about the bloody Prophecy?" Ginny exploded.
"I don't. What I give shit about, Ginny, is you, Ron and Hermione getting killed by Voldemort!"
"We won't get ourselves killed! You manage not to, don't you?"
"I BARELY manage, Ginny! And this time-"
"This time, you need all the help you can get!"
"NO!" Harry shouted.
"YES!" Ginny shouted back.
Harry stared at Ginny for a minute. Then he said, in a much quieter voice. "Ginny, you were right about the helping me with the Horcruxes. I was stupid to try to stop you from coming along. But this is Voldemort. I've seen what he's capable of. I don't want you to end up like Cedric, or Sirius, or Dumbledore, dead because of me."
"Harry, none of those deaths were your fault."
"Sirius's was," Harry said in a defeated voice.
"Harry, no, it wasn't, it was a bunch of people, well basically when you get down to it, it's only Lestrange's fault-"
"Ginny," Harry cut her off. "Please. Please don't go. Don't follow me. I have to do it alone. You know I do."
"Harry..."
"Please, Ginny," Harry begged, his voice cracking. "I know you're brave and a good witch and would be a really big help, but I- what if he hits you with a Killing Curse? I wouldn't be able to stand it, Ginny. Please. Promise not to go."
He looked into her eyes and Ginny saw no stubbornness there, no stupidity, just pleading and fear, fear for her. He was trying not to cry. She so wanted to help him. But she couldn't hurt him that way. She couldn't.
"All right," she said softly. "I promise."
"Not to follow me? Or anything?"
"Yes."
And she hugged him, leaning her head against his chest trying to keep the tears back. Then she kissed him, softly.
They stayed in the forest for a long time.
It began to rain, but she kept throwing the stone into the pond by the Burrow. It skipped and kept going until finally it sunk casting deep ripples in the pond, funneling it into oblivion. She didn't summon it this time. She just watched it sink. Lightning forked across the sky and thunder rumbled. Her reflection shimmered in the water; she saw she was pale with hair turned a dark red plastered to her head. She hugged herself and stared at her reflection until she couldn't stand it anymore and turned and walked away from the pond.