Backfire

CHAPTER 2

Growing up Is Hard to Do

Dinner had come and gone hours ago. Ron, Hermione and the twins were all crowded around him, one by one giving him their individual greetings, but only after Mum had finished smothering him and offering him food. Ginny was standing in the background, leaning sleepily against the doorway that led from the foyer into the front sitting room, arms crossed haphazardly over her stomach. Remus, Tonks, Bill, and Moody had followed him in, and were spreading out around the fawning Weasleys and Hermione.

Clad only in a pair of Charlie's old boxers and a worn t-shirt that she had long ago inherited from Ron, her hair in a messy sort of bun near the top of her head, Ginny would have looked deliciously rumpled to any number of boys at Hogwarts. But currently she wasn't looking like anything to anyone, because no one had noticed she was there. She watched with some measure of satisfaction as his mind registered that the house had been dramatically altered and, for what seemed like the first time in months, she heard Harry Potter's voice.

"What happened to this place?" he asked, the shock evident in his tone.

"Ginny," Fred blurted out, and Harry's head jerked up toward Fred's face as if he was just remembering that she ought to be there as well. "She recruited a bit of help from Hogwarts." Harry still looked a bit startled at the new, bright demeanor of the house, though not too startled to notice what Hermione had not.

"Where's the painting?" he questioned. Hermione's face registered her own surprise at having overlooked such a detail.

"That was all Ginny. No help on that one." George answered this time, shooting his sister a proud grin and a knowing look. George's glance caused Harry's head finally to turn in her direction, and she got a look at him for the first time.

At first he just stared, probably still trying to figure out how she had been able to defeat the painting. But then his eyes betrayed his grave and depressed countenance, looking her up and down as if seeing a teenage girl for the first time. Bloody hell. She could practically feel his gaze burning on her skin as it traveled slowly up and then back down again. And it felt divine. But that now-familiar force began to swell, and she battled to keep control--she couldn't give herself away, couldn't risk accidentally blowing up a lamp or something.

Ginny had hit puberty with a vengeance about half-way through her fourth year, and by now had more than caught up with Hermione in certain areas, though she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never be taller. The effect of the changes in her appearance was even greater, given the loose school robes and the ill-fitting, hand-me-down shirts she wore at Hogwarts, which covered her up all year long. Harry hadn't seen her in summer pajamas for quite some time.

He visually swallowed, but for all the chatter and commotion at his arrival, no one else seemed to have noticed his gaze lingering so indulgently on her. Except, predictably, for Remus. Remus' hand on Harry's shoulder caused the young man to jerk out of his gaze and look quickly up at his old professor, before blushing and turning back to Ginny.

"Hey, Gin."

"Hey, Harry." She smiled at him, trying to make him feel a bit less uncomfortable even as she fought to quell the wave of magic, now rising up toward her shoulders. Get a grip, Gin, she ordered herself silently.

As she began to study his appearance in an effort to gauge his level of emotional wretchedness, she felt a slight tug on the side of her shorts. Oh merciful distraction. The building magic immediately subsided. She looked down to find Dobby and Winky standing half-behind her. Ginny smiled and turned back to Harry.

"Harry." His gaze cleared and he looked her in the eye. She gestured with her head down toward the house elves and as his eyes found the two hopeful-looking creatures, he couldn't help but smile.

"They did most of the work on the house. Dobby insisted on helping, of course, and Winky, here, seems pretty happy to be working in a proper house again."

"Hi, Dobby. Hi, Winky," he said to his small friends, whose delight at seeing their favorite wizard was evident on their faces. He walked over next to Ginny as he greeted them.

"Harry Potter, sir! Dobby is so happy that he has come home!" Home. The word obviously had an effect on Harry, because he looked up at Ginny with a mixture of anxiety and hope in his countenance that made her heart clench. For a brief moment, he looked as though he might burst into tears, but it passed as quickly as it had come. Oh, Sirius. Ginny just smiled slightly, and nodded. Harry turned back to the elves.

"Thanks, you guys. The house looks beautiful."

He patted Winky affectionately on the head and shook Dobby's hand. Both were exceedingly pleased at this response, the former because she had found a master to adore, and the latter because he was treated as an equal by the wizard he loved. Harry stood up straight and turned to ask Ginny something, but he was suddenly assaulted (in every manner of the word) by Ron for a game of chess. Ginny took this as her cue.

"Good night, Harry. It's nice to have you home." At the sound of her voice, he had turned his head away from Ron.

"Night, Ginny." She turned around to walk up the stairs, but she could feel him watching her all the way up.

Once she was upstairs and out of sight, she halted abruptly and leaned her back against the wall, closing her eyes. Get a hold of yourself. She breathed deeply to calm herself down, but it felt as if there was no way to pacify her nerves after the way he had just looked at her. It was probably just hormones (on both of their parts) but when his eyes had traced the contours of her figure and lingered on her like that, she felt as if she might explode instead of the usual random piece of furniture.

She knew that part of it was hormones, but the other part was magical power gaining strength within her. Bloody brilliant, she mused. Add physical attraction to the running list of feelings she now had to restrain until she got back to school. And as much as she couldn't deny her immense satisfaction at his reaction to seeing her, she refused to get her hopes up. Hadn't he always been dumb-founded by the physical appearance of Cho Chang? And damned if Ginny wasn't going to avoid ending up like her.

At least I'm a better Seeker, she thought.

Her nerves and internal magic now calm enough to be going on with, she turned and continued on up to her room. She had to get to sleep before Hermione came up for bed, else she face the Spanish Inquisition about the destruction of the painting.

***

Ginny was floating on the edge of consciousness, just beginning to perceive sunlight coming into the room. Taking in the warmth of her bed, she rolled over and opened her eyes, only to see a blurry clock. Now fully awake, she rubbed her eyes and made out the time: 10:23 a.m. She sat up, still ensconced in the covers, and examined the bedchamber she had appropriated for herself.

Hearing a small scuffling noise, she turned her head to find what appeared to be a kitten messing about on one of the freshly waxed hardwood floors of Spinners End, the main house of the ancient Potter estate, Harry's grandparents' house.

Well, Ginny supposed it wasn't so much theirs anymore, since they had died and left it briefly to Harry's dad, who had died and left it to Harry.

Except that Harry hadn't even known Spinners End existed until a few weeks ago, when Dumbledore had deigned to divulge the information. The fact that Dumbledore had known about it all this time without telling Harry was a conversation for another time, though Ginny could imagine how that one would go (at least, from Harry's point of view).

Apparently, prior to Sirius' death, they simply couldn't find the place. Ginny figured that it was better protected than Grimmauld Place, considering the one person who could find it hadn't even known it existed. But prior to the events at the Department of Mysteries and the revelation of Voldemort's return, there had been more pressing concerns for Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix than finding a big old family mansion.

That situation changed a few weeks after Sirius died. The circumstances surrounding Sirius' demise and the clean execution of his will proved to be more precarious than expected, particularly when Narcissa Malfoy (read: Lucius Malfoy) challenged the validity of Sirius' original inheritance, and thus Harry's as well. Due to this unwelcome development, Dumbledore arranged for Harry to locate his family's estate, with the intent of procuring a back up headquarters in the event that Grimmauld Place was lost to the Malfoys.

Even after Grimmauld Place was safely declared to be Harry's, the prospect of a second, secure, Order-friendly location was appealing. Recruiting for the Order became considerably easier once the Ministry acknowledged Voldemort's reincarnation. In combination with the broader concern for Harry's safety it seemed practical to have a more removed and exclusive safe-house for Harry that was separate from the main headquarters and primary stop-through for the Order.

The more extensive Order membership became, the more dangerous it was for Harry to be at Grimmauld Place. Though the Order took care not to extend invitations lightly, its senior members--particularly Dumbledore, Moody, and Remus--remembered that it had been betrayed before and were determined that Harry wouldn't suffer for it a second time.

The kitten was dark, slate grey, and was having it out with Ginny's slipper. It must have sensed her gaze, because it suddenly jerked around and gazed right back at her, forgetting about the slipper for a moment. Then it tore out of the room like its tail was on fire. Ginny shrugged and got up, heading down to the kitchen to see if Dedalus Diggle and her brother Bill were still eating breakfast.

Two Weasleys and a trusted Order member from the first war made up the human elements of the team who had volunteered to transform the house into a safe and presentable residence for its owner. Bill and Ded were there to analyze, repair, or enhance the wards and protective charms, while Ginny, Dobby, and Winky had become the ultimate domestic tag team.

Ginny much preferred working on Spinners End to the mess that Grimmauld Place had been when they tried to clean it up the summer before. It helped that the Potters hadn't been Dark Wizards. She and the elves had fashioned a mutually pleasing arrangement, where Dobby and Winky would do the cleaning, and Ginny did the decorating.

So why were these five entrusted with this particular job? Well, since Harry couldn't leave Grimmauld Place until Spinners End was ready, Ron and Hermione had insisted on staying there with him. Most of the other Order members that Harry knew well had other duties to tend to, and Bill was the top choice for securing the house, with his extensive curse-breaking experience. Ded had been in the Order before and could be trusted, he knew Harry, and he was particularly gifted with Charms, which was exactly what Bill needed in a partner for the task. Dobby and Winky were obvious choices because of their loyalty to Harry and the spectacular job they had done on Grimmauld Place.

Ginny had volunteered, knowing that otherwise she would be bored and often excluded by her brother and his two best friends. Plus, it sounded like fun. And she was skeptical of Dobby's taste in decorating, having seen his extensive collection of mismatched socks.

They had been there about two weeks, having left Grimmauld Place early the morning after Harry had arrived, and tonight Ginny would be trading Bill and Ded for Harry, Hermione, Ron, Remus, and her parents. That brought the total number of wizards who could gain entrance to Spinners End to ten, plus two house elves, though Tonks, Charlie, and the twins would undoubtedly be allowed to gain entrance at some point in the future.

Ginny was extremely proud of Harry (and relieved, to be honest) for demanding to be the Secret Keeper for his own house. She could sympathize with Harry's frustration at someone else constantly trying to run his life, and she thought it was a good sign that he still had the spirit to fight for something that was important to him. The best part was, Dumbledore couldn't let anyone in unless he ran it by Harry first.

She wondered what kind of excuse Dumbledore had given for keeping Harry's family home a secret. It certainly didn't look good that he only divulged it to Harry when he needed Harry to find it. For all his alleged wisdom and experience, Dumbledore was rubbish when it came to dealing with Harry. Over the course of her fourth year, Ginny had heard (or overheard) Ron and Hermione's anxiety about how Harry's faith and trust in Dumbledore had begun disintegrate.

Ginny had done her best to make the place feel like Harry's home. She was especially proud of restoring and rearranging a large number of family portraits and lining the main hall of the house with them, so that on his way from his room to the kitchen or the dining room, Harry could follow the progression of those who came before him.

She tried to infuse the house with one theme more than anything else: family. The largest gap and most desperate desire in Harry's tumultuous life sprang from his lack of a family, and Ginny had tried to draw out evidence of his blood relations subtly (or not so subtly) in every room. The exceptions to this theme were his parents, whose pictures and memorabilia she confined to his and Remus' rooms.

There were more bedrooms in the house than Ginny could ever have imagined, but it was clear that the master suite was in the east wing, so that was where she situated everyone else as well. There were less bedrooms on that end of the house, but she thought that suited Harry just fine. He was a much more private person than the average teenage boy, and would not mind in the least if additional guests had to stay on the other side of the mansion.

The master suite was, predictably, enormous. Harry had his own, generously proportioned bathroom, two walk-in closets, and rather large sitting room all to himself. Since this series of rooms took up so much space, there was only enough area for three more bedrooms on the penthouse floor. The one bedroom adjacent to Harry's Ginny took for herself. The reason? Nightmares. Having had her share of them, she suspected that Harry must be humiliated by them, and probably not enamored of the prospect of anyone seeing him upset more than they already did.

In light of their similar sleeping patterns, she made the executive decision that she'd be the one to share a wall with him, so she would be the first one to hear him in the middle of the night and hopefully would be able to wake him up before anyone else was disturbed. She hoped that he wouldn't be as embarrassed about his nightmares and visions when she reminded him that she'd had some nasty ones of her own.

Ron and Hermione were to be placed directly across the hall from their best mate. She put Remus by himself on the floor just below them, and her parents on the floor below that. This, too, was a strategic move on her part. Obviously, she didn't want (and she figured Harry didn't either) any adults on their floor. But she thought Remus ought to be the closest, as he was the next logical person to be Harry's guardian after Sirius. And her mother was becoming a right pain in rear, so she would just have to deal with living two floors down.

Her own room was the smallest on their floor, but still more than twice as large as her room at The Burrow. She had decorated it simply, in Dutch blue and butter yellow. It added to the general lightness of the house, especially in comparison to Grimmauld Place. The best part was the large bay window and window seat, where she could lay about, read by the sunlight, and look out at the amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean.

The house was situated on the outer edge of a forest, on the western edge of Inis Meain, the middle island of the Aran Isles, off the west coast of Ireland, and provided a breathtaking view of the water. From her bedroom window, Ginny could tell that the house, for all its size, was well-hidden by the trees, but for the clean line of sight from the master suite to the ocean. As her room was adjacent to Harry's, she got to share in the magnificent view.

She had already unpacked and put her clothes in the bureau and the dresser, and her school books and materials lay about the desk and the room haphazardly. It wasn't messy so much as it was evidence that the room was lived in and comfortable.

But she had spent the largest amount of time and effort on Harry's room. With curtains and linens in deep Gryffindor crimson, a soft grey-colored couch in the sitting room, and more red in the bathroom, she thought she had made his private living space just the right mix of warmth and Harry-ness, with a masculine tone to it. Right above the head of his bed, she hung what she assumed was the only portrait that had ever been done of Mr. and Mrs. James Potter. They really were an exceedingly gorgeous couple and could not have been older than twenty in the picture.

She had discovered from Ded that she could stun a painting and it would revert to the stillness of a Muggle painting. She had decided it would be best do so for Harry's arrival; it would probably be hard for him to see it at first, let alone talk to it, so she would tell him he could simply Ennervate it when he became comfortable with the idea.

Flanking the portrait were large, still pictures of Sirius and Remus. There were pictures of Harry and his friends spread out over the rest of the bedchamber, and a family photo of the Weasleys in the sitting room.

Upon sending Dobby to explore the house and the grounds, the elf had discovered two full and functional sets of Quidditch balls, and a collection of trophies, awards, brooms, and team photos that demonstrated the Potters to be a long line of brilliant Quidditch players. Since the sport was one of the few bright spots in Harry's existence, Ginny arranged for all the trophies and Quidditch paraphernalia to be brought up to his room and displayed in one of the outrageously large walk-in closets.

Taking a break to explore the awards herself, she had been pleased to notice that there were almost as many outstanding female Quidditch players in the family as male ones.

***

The next few days found Ginny studiously attending to her Potions and Transfiguration texts. She kept mostly to a small study she had discovered near Remus' room, out of the way and free from questions and dangerous emotions. She didn't avoid Harry, so much as she didn't go out of her way to see him. Ron and Hermione pretty much had a monopoly on his time, anyway, so it wasn't like she was missing any quality time.

She suspected that he wasn't being as forthcoming with feelings or information as Hermione would like--Shocker, that--because at meals there seemed to be a tension between them. Ginny noticed that Harry would never sit next to or across from Hermione, barricading himself between Ron, the twins, Charlie, Bill, Remus, and Ginny herself. And each day saw Harry's mood darken from the temporary joy she had seen in him the night of his arrival. That was probably inevitable, but Hermione's apparent nagging was only speeding up the process. Even his birthday hadn't been able to improve his spirits for very long.

At the moment however, early O.W.L.s and Harry Potter had been forgotten in favor of more mundane concerns. Ginny was rifling through her trunk trying to fish out all her uniform shirts for Hogwarts. Her mum had directed her to try them on so she would know if they still fit. Ginny had never had proper girls' blouses, always Percy's old ones, since he had the smallest build of all her brothers. It had never been a problem, at least until this spring, when she found them to be a bit too tight toward the top, and bunchy and unkempt at the bottom. She doubted that she would fit into them at all by now.

She tried them on, and sure enough, she could only button them half-way up. She wondered if she would be getting shirts from Ron or the twins this time, and cringed at how huge the shirts would be. Their arms were much longer than hers, and she would look ridiculous trying to tuck all that excess material into her skirt.

And it wasn't like she could inherit Hermione's old shirts, because...well, Hermione was quite a bit smaller than she was...at least, up there. Bugger that. She never asked for anything. This year, she would have her own shirts, for crying out loud.

Changing back into her t-shirt (an old Gryffindor Quidditch shirt of Charlie's), she grabbed the offending articles and went downstairs, coming across a small crowd in the kitchen. Hermione, Ron, Harry, the twins, and Remus were all sitting and standing around the table, apparently discussing the possibility of a trip to Diagon Alley once they received their Hogwarts letters. Mrs. Weasley was doing something at the sink.

"Mum," Ginny began.

"Yes, Ginny, dear?"

"I need new shirts. These don't fit anymore." Her mother finally turned away from the sink and eyed her daughter, then the shirts clumped in the girl's hand. She gave her daughter an appraising look, to which Ginny replied patronizingly, "I can't button them, Mum." Mrs. Weasley seemed to give in and turned back to the sink.

"I'll have to look at some of Ron's old ones next time I'm at the Burrow." Ginny's face fell and she did not notice the attention of every other person in the room, though it was now trained on her.

"But, Mum! Wearing Percy's was bad enough. Shirts for blokes aren't cut right! They're too long and there's way too much material to tuck in," Ginny pleaded.

"Percy's shirts always looked just fine. I'm sure Ron's old ones will suit."

"Mum, I need girls' blouses, I'm telling you. Otherwise, I'll look ridiculous."

"You didn't look ridiculous last year," her mum reasoned. Bloody hell, Mum! Ginny was starting to get agitated, and in anticipation of a row, Harry, Hermione, and Remus were starting to get uncomfortable. Ron and the twins, however, looked on with interest. It had been a while since the two Weasley women had gone at it, and now that Ginny was older, they were devilishly curious to see what would happen.

"Well, that was before I got--" breasts. She cut herself off and tried desperately contain her exasperation. Mrs. Weasley turned around, looking at her questioningly. I hate you, Mum, I really hate you right now. This was going to be humiliating. "Mum, can we talk about this in the other room?"

"No, just tell me what the problem is."

"Mum..." she whined.

"Ginevra," Mrs. Weasley said with a warning tone. She was getting mad, too, now, though Ginny couldn't conceive of what on Merlin's green Earth she had to be ticked off about. "All of your brothers have worn whatever they were given. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to do the same." Bollocks. She thought Ginny was embarrassed about being poor. Honestly. If only that were the reason.

"Mum, I know, I don't care about having to wear hand-me-downs, but I'm a bloody girl! I can't wear boys' shirts! I don't see you wearing Dad's shirts, do I? Of course not! Because you're not a bloke! And in case you failed to notice, I'm going to be fifteen tomorrow and I'm not a bloke either!" She was almost yelling, and on the word bloke she had emphatically gestured at her chest area to drive home her point.

Her mother's face paled a bit at her outburst, and Ginny was jerked into paralyzing self-awareness by a strange, muffled noise of distress that she was pretty sure came from Harry. Or Ron. She wasn't sure. It could have been Remus.

The kitchen was filled with an awkward tension, and Ginny didn't dare turn around. If she had, she would have seen Harry trying to look anywhere but at Ginny, face flushed, plunging his hands into his pockets. Remus looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world than in the kitchen just then, Ron was absolutely pink with embarrassment, and the twins and Hermione were desperately trying not to laugh. Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and broke the horrifying silence.

"Well. Perhaps you have a point." Ginny shut her eyes in abject humiliation and nodded. Could this get any worse? Yes, it could.

"Well, Ginny could have my old shirts," Hermione offered, most likely in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Oh, Hermione. Why are you doing this to me? Yes, it could definitely get worse. Naturally, her mother failed to see the flaw in Hermione's plan. Naturally.

"Oh, thank you, Hermione, that would be very nice of you," Mrs. Weasley answered pleasantly. Ginny braced herself for the massive discomfort she knew was coming, and intervened.

"Except that...um..." She chanced a quick, apologetic glance at Hermione, but turned around before she could risk making eye contact with Harry.

"Except for what?" her mother pressed, sternly.

"Er, well, Hermione's shirts...wouldn't...um, fit." This had to be the most heinous experience of her life. Why couldn't they just look and see for themselves?! Why was she the only one who saw the problem here? Anyone with eyes would easily see that there was no way in the name of Merlin and Agrippa that Ginny would ever fit into one of Hermione's blouses.

"I can't believe that her shirts would be too big for you..." This was painful. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion and not being able to do anything to stop it. This time, Ginny couldn't keep the utter exasperation out of her voice.

"Mum, of course they're not too big. If you just look at us, you would see that I haven't been able to fit in one of her shirts since third year!" Ginny sighed, and her voice returned to normal. "I need new shirts. I don't care if they're second-hand, you know I've never cared about that. But I can't wear boys' shirts anymore." And with that, she turned to walk out of the kitchen.

And ran straight into Harry.

Bollocks.

Apparently he had been frozen in discomfort from witnessing the discussion, and had not seen her coming. They were both startled (in addition to being completely awkward and embarrassed) and sprang away from each other as soon as they realized that they were in such close physical proximity. Ginny looked up just in time to see a mortified look on Hermione's face and identical, shit-eating grins on Fred and George. She got the hell out of there, dumping the shirts on a counter as she left.

***

Needless to say, when she went down for dinner, Ginny wore a sweatshirt. She took Hermione out into the hall and apologized for dragging her into that debacle of a conversation, but Hermione owned up to her own foolishness in even making her suggestion in the first place. From past years and attempts at borrowing each other's clothes, they had long known that Hermione's things didn't fit Ginny anymore. So no harm done.

Dinner was another matter entirely. She couldn't look at Ron, she couldn't look at Remus, and she thought briefly that she'd rather face Voldemort than look at Harry right then. Luckily, Hermione sat across from her, so they could talk and avoid eye contact with the boys, but the only other place Ginny could look was at the twins, who were still eyeing her with unabashed glee at her utter humiliation. She wanted to hex them into oblivion. She settled for just a glare. It was dinner time and violence would have to wait.

Fortunately, Remus was sitting next to Ginny and not across from her, so they could talk without having to make eye contact and being completely awkward. He leaned over and spoke in low tones that only she could hear.

"I have made arrangements for your birthday." Humiliation be damned. She turned quickly to look at him.

"Really?"

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore has arranged for us to use the Room of Requirement for a few hours. I figured you might like to work on some other things besides your Patronus." She grinned gratefully at him, momentarily forgetting her self-consciousness from earlier.

"Thanks, Remus! That's really the best birthday present I could ask for." He turned back to face his plate.

"Other than new shirts, I presume?" The smirk on his face was absolutely wolfish. This is why he and Sirius were friends, she mused. Bastard. But she was grinning. After all, she supposed it had been funny if you weren't a participant. She couldn't really blame the twins for being amused, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to exact retribution on them for laughing at her expense. She turned and glared at Remus.

"How does one man get to be so funny?" she retorted, dripping with sarcasm. Remus threw his head back and laughed heartily. Ginny snickered at his reaction. Everyone else turned to look at them, not at all used to hearing Remus laugh like that. As Remus calmed down, Ginny glared around the table, shooting her brother Ron a challenging, "What?" to which he shrugged and looked down at his plate. Ginny grinned and went on with her dinner.

After dinner, Remus explained to Ginny that Harry would be accompanying them to Hogwarts, because the headmaster needed to speak with the three of them before she would be allowed to work on her magic. Curious at the cause for their visit, Ginny nodded in assent and pondered the potential reasons as she dressed for bed. Remus hadn't seemed to know what the visit was about either, and so she hadn't asked him.

The next day, Ginny woke up smiling. She had been dreaming about Quidditch, more particularly about Chasing for a team wearing scarlet robes that looked remarkably like the Gryffindor House robes. They had been trouncing a "nameless" green squad, that she could only assume was Slytherin.

Harry had been Seeking, Ron had been playing Keeper, the twins were the Beaters, and the other two Chasers were being played by two dead sexy blokes she knew from school--Duncan Moran, a seventh year Gryffindor, and her friend Andy McGrath. Neither of them actually played Quidditch, but they were friends of hers, and why shouldn't she have some nice scenery in a Quidditch dream? All in all, not a bad way to start your fifteenth birthday.

After a shower and selecting some comfortable clothes to wear for her visit to Hogwarts, she went downstairs for breakfast. She assumed that Hermione was off reading somewhere, because she had already been gone when Ginny woke up, and the only people eating breakfast were Harry and Remus.

"Morning Remus, Harry," she offered. Remus answered in kind.

"Morning," Harry mumbled. Obviously, he was still a little flustered from the previous day's events. Silence followed as Ginny served herself some eggs and toast. Remus looked at Harry like he was waiting for him to do something, but after a minute or two, apparently decided to proceed on his own.

"Happy Birthday, Ginny." She turned to him with a bright smile, as Harry's head jerked to attention, his eyes flicking back and forth between Remus and Ginny. He either hadn't known it was her birthday, or he had forgotten in the short time since she practically screamed it to her mother the day before.

"Thanks, Remus."

"Er, yeah, Happy Birthday, Gin." Ginny was slightly amused at the obvious conflict going on within the young man. His embarrassment at witnessing the shirt conversation was battling with the embarrassment of having forgotten her birthday. They finished their meals relatively quickly, and cleared their plates.

"Ready?" Remus asked, pulling out a bag of gummy bears. "We're going by Portkey. It's set for about a minute from now, so get a hand on it." Ginny and Harry did as they were told, and it wasn't long before the familiar tug behind the navel had dumped them right into Dumbledore's office. The headmaster was seated at his desk, and Fawkes was perched nearby.

"Hullo, Fawkes," Ginny greeted the phoenix, as she was standing nearest to him. He was still in the youth stage of his current life, but close to fully grown. They all sat down in three comfortable-looking chairs that Dumbledore must have conjured.

"Happy Birthday, Ginny," Dumbledore said. Ginny smiled and thanked him.

"You are probably wondering why I requested to speak with the three of you together." From the looks on their faces, his suspicions were correct. "I realize this is a sensitive subject, but I hope what comes out of this meeting is much less disagreeable." Now Ginny's curiosity was definitely piqued.

"Harry, shortly after you were born, your father and Sirius decided that they each ought to prepare a will, given the grave times and dire circumstances in which they found themselves. The main reason was to ensure your security, but in Sirius' case he also wanted to ensure that the Black family fortune would not revert to his cousins in the event of his death." Harry looked a bit pained at the topic of discussion, but it helped that the main subject wasn't Sirius himself or his death, per se; there was something else to focus his mind on besides his actual demise. Ginny was glad, too. Remus spoke up.

"But when Sirius estranged himself from the family, his mother disinherited him, so how would he have even gotten control of the estate in the first place?"

"A very good question, Remus. It was yet another example of his family's misguided obsession with the purity of blood that undid them. Sort of a nice little irony in an otherwise painful circumstance. They chose one of the few pureblood Magical attorneys that remains. You see, most of the old pureblood families are too wealthy to necessitate active employment, and thus there are very few purebloods in any trade or occupation, including the law. None of the solicitors who sympathized with me, the Potters, or the Aurors, would ever have accepted an appointment with the Blacks, let alone take them as a client. Sirius was the exception of course, as his loyalties were well known. Consequently, there was only one option for them, given their own prejudices, and luckily for all of us, that meant that the counselors who drew up the will did a less than thorough job of excluding Sirius from his inheritance.

"You see, the way it was altered did take Sirius' name out of the text of the will, making his brother Regulus the first son and heir. But they foolishly did not configure the will to protect the estate in the event of Regulus' early death. As I believe you all know, Sirius' brother was killed shortly after they all left school. When his parents died, the estate reverted back to the next blood relative in the direct line, which was Sirius. After Harry was born, and certain things became known to us, Lily, James, and Sirius knew they were in considerable danger, and James wisely convinced Sirius to make arrangements in case the worst should happen. That is how we came to install our headquarters at 12 Grimmauld Place last year, and that is how we have been able to remain there since the events at the Department of Mysteries.

"This is all by way of saying that Sirius left almost everything to you, Harry." At this, Harry briefly shut his eyes, Ginny presumed, to stop tears that were threatening to fall. "Including the house. I believe, if you wish, Winky will formally pledge herself to your house and your service as a house elf. Dobby, I think, did so a long time ago." At this small brightening of subject, Harry opened his eyes again and nodded at Dumbledore. "I have spoken with Dobby, and he would like to alternate between Hogwarts and whichever house you decide to call home, depending on where you are, while Winky will remain always at the house. Does that suit you, Harry?" Harry nodded, looking slightly less miserable than before.

"At any rate, all of Sirius' inheritance, with the exception of the house and his personal effects, have been safely removed to the Potter family vault at Gringotts, notwithstanding what Sirius dictated was to go to Remus." Remus looked slightly shocked at first, but then returned to his somber expression and nodded. "I doubt you have ever seen your family's vault, Harry. The vault that you visit to withdraw money for school is where your parents set up a trust fund for you, in case you ended up needing resources before you came of age. I am the trustee for your full inheritance, both from your parents and Sirius, until it vests to you next summer. Do you have any questions?" Here he paused, and when Harry shook his head, the headmaster continued.

Ginny was trying not to feel like a total voyeur, and wondered why on Earth Dumbledore had requested her to be here for this.

"That was all the result of actions taken many years ago. As such, I feel, in the interest of full disclosure, that I ought to inform you that Peter Pettigrew was also named in the will, since it was prepared before we learned of his betrayal." Harry's face darkened in anger. He looked like he was about to shout, but the headmaster spoke first. "However, since his official status with the Ministry of Magic is that he is deceased, his share of the inheritance reverted back to Harry. So no harm there, at least." Harry seemed to calm down a bit at this news.

"The last thing I have to reveal to you on the subject came about only this past Christmas. Sirius wrote three letters and gave them to me for safekeeping here at Hogwarts, to deliver should anything happen to him. I asked the three of you to come, because you are the addressees of those letters."

Ginny was quite shocked. She had treasured her short-lived friendship with Sirius, but never expected that she'd had as deep an effect on him as he had on her. There was a storm of emotion brewing inside of her now, and she was glad to be at Hogwarts in the event that her magic got out of hand. It was not long before she felt the familiar swelling of power rising up. She squirmed in her chair for a second, before bracing herself against it for support.

Dumbledore took out three letters. Harry's, naturally, looked to be quite a bit longer than the other two. Each of them reached toward Dumbledore's desk to retrieve the sealed packet with their name on it. Ginny was starting to struggle against the tide of magic that was now up to her shoulders, and she grabbed on to the chair tightly.

"Excuse me, Professor? I don't want to wreck any of your things, but..." He obviously sensed that she was having trouble controlling her magic and cut her off.

"There is nothing to fear, Miss Weasley. Anything that might break or explode can easily be replaced. I daresay I have too many possessions as it is." With that last statement, Ginny saw Harry's head jerk up toward Dumbledore. He looked at her suspiciously, back at Dumbledore, and then went back to his letter.

With trembling hands, Ginny opened her own. When she saw the words "Dear Ginny," in Sirius' handwriting, she couldn't contain the small sob that leaked out. She immediately clapped a hand to her mouth, took a breath, and left her chair to sit on the floor in between some bookcases, where she would be slightly obscured from view. Once she calmed herself a bit, she took a deep breath and opened the letter again.

Dear Ginny,

If you are reading this, it means that something has happened to me. I hope that, at the very least, I was able to die helping you, Harry, Remus, or the Order. At best, I hope that Voldemort has been defeated, the war is over, and that you still have some of your childhood left to enjoy without such an ominous cloud hanging over you. It was always a pleasure to have you at the house. We are kindred spirits, you and I. Both left out, both frustrated, both with more knowledge of dark things than we deserve, especially you. I hope that you were able to find some level of comfort or reassurance from our many late night conversations. I always did, and you'll never know how grateful I was for them. You are a brilliant witch, Ginny. Don't ever forget that. Use what Tom did to you as a strength--don't let it be a weakness. Always remember that it took a strong heart and a strong soul to survive what he did to you, and you should be proud of yourself. Do not shrink from it, or hide from the memories. They are a part of who you are, and they will help to shape the witch you are becoming. If you face them head on, Voldemort and the Dementors can never use them to harm you.

She was so overwhelmed with emotion, she could barely read for the hurricane of magical power crashing around inside her. The power had filled her abdomen, and out through her arms, and for the first time it flowed down her legs as well. It was all she could do to hold off an explosion; of herself, or something in the room, she didn't know.

You are unlike any girl I have ever met. Your kindness, intelligence, strength, and power have only been matched by one other young woman I've known--another redhead. Maybe it's something about the hair, but when you kids were here for Christmas, and you got in Harry's face about being possessed by Voldemort, I swore I was having déjà vu of Lily and James. James was very different from Harry in some ways, as you and Lily are not the same, but one thing you have in common with her is an inner strength that makes you seem fearless. When Harry's friends have been afraid to stand up to him or make him angry, you have been there to do the job. Real friends don't tell you what you want to hear, they tell you what you need to hear. It takes a while to figure that out when you're still in school (I speak from personal experience), but I can tell that you have already learned that lesson well. I only hope Harry learns it soon and credits you for the loyalty, friendship, and love that you deserve.

BANG!

She jumped. The planet Jupiter in a model of the solar system had exploded on the other side of the room. Fawkes looked at the mess it made on the floor, and looked back at her reprovingly. Ginny caught her breath and resumed reading, having felt the magic recede back to her stomach.

I promise not to stick my nose in yours or Harry's business too much, other than to say that he couldn't do better than you. I sensed that you've got it pretty bad for my godson, and I was always in awe of how patient you are with him, when you could probably have any bloke you want. James and Lily would have thought you brilliant, too, by the way. James always did like feisty girls (he married Lily and his favorite teacher was McGonagall--go figure) and I reckon Lily would like a girl who could keep her boy in line. And that's saying something--as you know first hand, not everyone is willing to stand up to him like you, not even his two best mates. Please stay strong for him. If Voldemort is still out there, Harry's going to need you before the end, whether he realizes it now, or not. He's got an extraordinary burden to carry, and while he might think he has to carry it alone, you have to keep up in his face, reminding him that he doesn't have to. I know you, at least, are up to that challenge.

She stopped reading for a second, and sighed. She could already feel the swell building up again, and was torn between wanting desperately to finish the letter, and not wanting to disturb the others as they read their own letters. She figured it would be much less trouble to explode things now, where the adults knew about her powers, rather than back at headquarters where people would ask questions. She'd just have to apologize and make up some excuse to tell Harry.

In my absence, I hope you are able to befriend Moony. He is a much more sensitive bloke than I ever was, and he could do with a laugh. You were always able to make me laugh, and I think if anyone could get a chuckle out of Remus, it would be you. I am afraid that he will feel that Harry is all he has left, and will close himself off. He never expects people to care about him; we had a hard enough time at Hogwarts convincing him that we were his best mates. I can only imagine what he thinks now that James and I are both gone. As the only daughter of Molly Weasley, I am sure you've inherited at least some of her incredibly strong maternal instincts. Please use them where Remus is concerned. I expect he'll need some looking after.

I don't like the prospect of not being there to look after Harry, and you, and Remus, but I feel better knowing that the three of you will be there to look after each other. You can always confide in Remus--he keeps secrets better than anyone I've ever known. And you don't need better proof of Harry's protection than your first year; imagine how he'd react now that you're one of his friends. I'm sorry to have left before I was ready to. Please know that, wherever I am, I miss you very much. Please take good care of yourself, and don't ever lose hope. I'm sure we'll meet again someday.

Love,

Sirius

CRACK!

A large mirror shattered, and Ginny jumped again. She silently hoped no one had been hit by flying shards of glass. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them, trying to calm herself down. As she went over the contents of the letter in her head, her silent tears became quiet sobs.

Ginny put the letter down, buried her face in her knees, and wept for all the grief she had kept at bay with Potions and Defense and wandless magic all summer.

***

She didn't know how long she had been sitting on the floor like that, but it seemed like forever. When she was all cried out, she re-read the letter and folded it back into its original form. She wiped her eyes and peeked out of her hiding place to find her companions. It appeared that Dumbledore had kindly left them to read in relative privacy.

Harry was alternately reading from his letter and staring out into space. He was scrunched up much the way Ginny had been, but he was still on his chair. Tears were running down his face, but he wasn't sobbing. Remus had his eyes closed and covered by one of his hands, as he remained in his chair next to Harry.

Ginny got up and silently walked over to the door of Dumbledore's office, thinking she might leave them alone for a while and think. But when her hand hit the knob, she heard her name.

"Ginny, wait." She turned around to see Harry watching her. At the sound of Harry's voice, Remus looked up as well. Harry paused, and it seemed like now that he had her attention, he didn't know what he wanted to say. It was as if he just didn't want her to leave, but hadn't planned much further than that. "Can you, um...just...not go?" He was blushing like a tomato, and Ginny nodded.

"Sure." She was going to sit in her chair, but on her way, noticed the remains of Jupiter and the mirror in separate corners of the floor. She drew her wand and scourgified both messes, looking up at Fawkes for approval. In return, the phoenix gave her a brief trill and what appeared to be the bird equivalent to a nod of his head. Then Ginny sat back down in her chair.

She didn't know why Harry wanted her to stay, because it was quite obvious that the reason wasn't for conversation. But if it made him feel better, she wasn't about to deny him comfort where he could find it. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, the letter gripped tightly in her right hand.

At some point she must have fallen asleep, because she woke up at the feeling of someone touching--or rather, perching, as it turned out--on her shoulder. She turned to see Fawkes perched on her right shoulder, and looked up to find Harry watching her. Remus was in the far end of the room speaking quietly with Dumbledore. She smiled at the phoenix, who flew the short distance back to his perch, and then turned again to Harry.

"I didn't know you were such good friends with Sirius," Harry said, curious and sounding a bit guilty about not having realized that they had been close.

"Yeah, well, before you came last summer, we were stuck there all the time, and we were both pretty frustrated at being left out. One night I went down for a drink of water, and he was still up, sitting in the kitchen. We got to talking, and figured out that we had a lot in common, and we found comfort in knowing we were in the same boat, I guess. After that, we stayed up a lot of nights talking, after everyone else had gone to bed."

Harry looked even more guilty now, probably because he was remembering what a prat he had been the summer before, and hadn't considered that other people were frustrated or lonely, too.

"Wow. I didn't know."

"Harry, I think you'll find there's a lot of things about me you don't know," she replied, her tone a mixture of long-suffering patience and sadness. And maybe a hint of bitterness. Harry seemed a bit taken aback by her statement, but he didn't get a chance to reply, as right then Remus and Dumbledore turned their attention to the two teenagers.

"Ginny, why don't we head out for a while. Professor Dumbledore needs to speak to Harry. I think we could find some way to keep ourselves occupied, don't you?" He smiled warmly at her, and it was a huge relief to Ginny after having seen him in anguish a little while ago.

"You bet." She stood up and turned to Dumbledore. "Thank you, professor. I really appreciate you keeping my letter for me." She shook his hand, as always, gave Fawkes an affectionate pat on the shoulder, and turned to leave. Harry was wearing the latest in a series of befuddled expressions where she was concerned, probably in reaction to her blunt comment, but perhaps also the ease and familiarity with which she interacted with the headmaster.

"See you later, Harry."

"See you, Ginny." Remus said they'd be back in a few hours, nodded to Harry, and followed Ginny out of the office. They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes, until Remus spoke.

"Dumbledore is going to have lunch sent up to the Room of Requirement."

"Oh good, I'm starving."

"I assume that Jupiter, and the mirror, were your doing?"

"Yeah. I guess it's better to have that happen here than back at headquarters where everyone would freak out and ask a million questions."

"I believe that is part of the reason Dumbledore brought us here, instead of bringing our letters to us there. People wouldn't be smothering Harry, and you wouldn't get nagged and bothered about your magic." Ginny nodded in understanding. "Have you thought about what you'd like to practice today?" he asked, as they turned the last corner before the hallway where the Room of Requirement was located.

"A bit. The Patronus Charm, obviously. I was thinking maybe Protego, Impedimenta, some basic defense spells that would be helpful if I ever got myself into a fix without a wand." Remus nodded. "Being able to do a wandless Shield Charm would have been dead useful at the Department of Mysteries, considering that my leg was shattered and I got nailed in the face with I don't know what kind of a Dark hex."

"I don't doubt it."

They arrived at the entrance to the Room. Remus walked back and forth three times, and then the door appeared, just like always. He opened it and entered behind her. They found a room that looked very much like the one Harry usually conjured for D.A. meetings, except that a small section was decorated with a table and two chairs, as well as a fresh array of lunchtime foods. They walked over immediately and sat down to eat.

"Remus, do you think I should just tell Harry about my wandless magic? I can't really think of a very good excuse for what happened in there, and I don't think he'd rat me out to the others." Remus looked thoughtful at this suggestion.

"It might be the most sensible thing to do. I understand why you don't want most people to know about your abilities, and I think your estimation of Harry is correct on this--he knows better than anyone about having to deal with the nagging, and the questions, and people treating him like he's a child. If you ask him to keep your confidence, I know he would keep it faithfully."

"Alright. Well, that makes that a bit easier." There was a pause in the conversation as they both chewed the food in their mouths.

"Ginny, I want to apologize for putting you through this stuff about Sirius on your birthday. Had I known that this is what Professor Dumbledore wanted to discuss with us, I would have insisted that he do it another day." Ginny was touched by his earnestness, and she instinctively wanted to put his mind at ease.

"Remus, I could tell last night that you didn't know what he wanted to see us about. It's not your fault, and frankly, the letter was kind of a nice birthday present from Sirius that I wasn't expecting. Of course it hurts, because I miss him; but he wrote a lot of incredible things, and it makes me happy to know what he was thinking, what he thought about me. It's nice to be told that I was important to someone, you know?"

"Yes, I know." Ginny wanted to prevent the conversation from depressing the both of them, and reckoned that a change of topic was in order.

"Do you think we'll get to go to Diagon Alley for our school things this year?"

"Unfortunately, no. It's just not safe for you guys, and if you think about it, we should really try and avoid any situations that could potentially result in revealing your abilities, don't you agree?" Ginny hadn't thought about it that way, but she supposed he was right. She nodded. Remus continued. "So are you anxious to get your Hogwarts letter? With your grades I would think you would be in the running for Gryffindor Prefect."

"Nah. I mean, I'm probably in the running, but I don't want it. Obviously, I'm not one to set much store by the rules, and I wouldn't be all that keen to enforce them unless there's an egregious offense. Who am I to give people detention for being out after curfew, when I'm out after curfew all the time? I don't fancy being a hypocrite, and there's other things I'd rather be doing than going to Prefect meetings."

"Like?"

"Studying, playing Quidditch, practicing wandless magic, visiting Dobby in the kitchens," Remus smiled at this, "playing pranks, going to meetings of illegal defense clubs. Though I suppose it's not illegal anymore. And then there's sleep, which I doubt I'll ever get much of anyway." Remus nodded, and wiped his mouth with his napkin. They had finished eating, and it was time for the good stuff.

Ginny started slow, thinking it best to work up to the harder bits of magic rather than jumping right into them. The Patronus Charm was difficult even with a wand, and she wanted to work up from doing simple charms with and without a wand, to the harder ones. First she tried Accio, and was easily able to cast it, both with a wand and without, on the first go.

Expelliarmus was a bit harder without a wand. On the first try she couldn't do it at all wandless, and on the second she made Remus' wand twitch in his hand, but it remained there. Finally, Ginny found a way to harness the power and use it to launch the spell from her outstretched hand. She may have overdone it a bit, because not only did Remus' wand come flying toward her, but Remus was thrown onto the floor as well. He looked up at her stunned face and chuckled--obviously it had surprised her as much as it surprised him.

"I think you figured out the secret. The rest of the spells shouldn't cause you much trouble now, I expect." He dragged a small table over and placed it in front of her. "Why don't you try a Reducto curse, first time without your wand. Don't worry about being fast; once you get used to going through the motions, you'll be able to do it much quicker. For now we just want you to be able to control it."

Ginny nodded and Remus moved out of the way. Ginny started thinking about Sirius and the letter he had written to her, and immediately felt her power beginning to rise. She directed it into a tight ball with her mind, and pointed at the table.

"Reducto!"

The table exploded.

"Excellent!" Remus shouted with approval. Ginny turned and smiled at her former teacher. She thought for a moment how sad it was that he couldn't be a teacher anymore on account of his being a werewolf. It was really quite a shame because he was brilliant at it.

They went through several more spells--a levitation charm, Alohomora, a severing spell, a vanishing spell, Nox, Lumos, Impedimenta, a stunner, Ennervate, and a shield charm. She seemed to have found an efficient way in which to harness her power, and did all of them three times in a row with ease. Except Protego. The shield charm caused her some problems, mainly because she wasn't sure where to aim when she wanted the shield to build itself around her and not around someone else. After the third time didn't work, Remus stepped in.

"Why don't you try picturing yourself in your mind, and make that image the target of your shield." Ginny nodded and closed her eyes. She gathered her magic into a tight ball, and pictured herself in her mind. Before she could even say the incantation, she felt the magic expend itself into erecting the shield. She opened her eyes to find Remus grinning.

"Is my shield up?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yes, I believe it is. Hold on a second." And he cast a tickling charm which quickly deflected off the shimmering outline of her shield.

"Wow, I didn't even have to say it out loud!"

"That's wonderful. That will come in handy if you run into any Death Eaters again. Not only will your shield be a surprise, but if your thought-casting works with other spells, it will give some cover to your wandless magic. If people don't hear you saying the incantation, they won't think it's you when you don't have a wand."

"Brilliant."

"Alright, are you ready to try a Patronus?" Ginny took a deep breath.

"Yes. Let's do it."

"Okay, why don't you try it with your wand first, and then if you can do it that way, give it a go without your wand." Ginny nodded and pulled out her wand. "Remember, you need a happy memory."

Ginny closed her eyes and tried to think of the happiest moments of her life. There weren't many, to be honest, but she thought of two right away: catching the Snitch to win the Quidditch Cup last year, and Harry rescuing her from the Chamber of Secrets. Since the latter was so closely connected to some not-so-happy memories, she went with the former.

"Alright," she said, picturing herself stealing the Snitch from the clutches of Cho Chang. She raised her wand. "Expecto Patronum!" She got a bright wisp of white smoke that stretched out ten meters in front of her, but no true Patronus. Maybe she should have used the other memory. She turned to Remus.

"I have a different memory I can try, but I'm not sure it's the right kind. You see, in a way it's the happiest I've ever felt, but at the same time, it's surrounded by some pretty bad memories. Would it still work, do you think?"

"I think you should at least try it. Won't hurt to see what happens." Ginny nodded and got herself ready to perform the charm a second time.

In her mind she remembered lying on the cold, damp, stone floor of the Chamber, hearing Tom Riddle taunting her, taunting Harry. She was so deeply involved in the memory, that she didn't even notice how her power began to rise and swell in her gut. She saw Harry defeat the basilisk, and rush to her side, pleading with her to wake up. And then she heard him telling her, with a warm smile and his uniquely intense gaze, that she was safe.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Her own voice startled her out of her reverie, and as she opened her eyes to see if she'd been successful, she heard Remus gasp.

What she saw made her freeze.

Oh Bollocks. Someone just kill me now.

What she saw wasn't a dragon, like Charlie's Patronus, or a stag like Harry's. It wasn't an otter like Hermione's, or a wolf like Remus'. No, the symbol of Ginny's protector was none other than Harry Potter, carrying the sword of Godric Gryffindor in his right hand, his wand in his left. Patronus-Harry stopped, turned, and walked back toward Ginny and Remus, who both stood flabbergasted at what they were seeing.

The interesting thing about the image of her conjured protector was that, while carrying the weapons he had used down in the Chamber of Secrets, Patronus-Harry didn't look to be twelve years old. No, he was the sixteen year-old version, six feet tall, complete with broad shoulders and a defined jaw line.

She was so preoccupied with the form her Patronus had taken, that she hadn't even noticed that she performed the spell with the wrong hand--the one without her wand. The Patronus dissolved, making her start from her paralyzed position. She turned to Remus with a look of horror on her face.

"There has to be a mistake, I mean, a Patronus is supposed to be an animal, right? Not a person! I bet it just turned out like that because the memory I used was when Harry rescued me from the Chamber of Secrets. I'm sure it'll be different if I just choose another memory--" She trailed off as she saw Remus shaking his head. She sighed. "Oh, this is so embarrassing. What am I going to do at school? At D.A. meetings? Oh, no."

She wanted to cry. Why did things like this happen to her? Just when the wizarding world no longer thought that she was infatuated with the boy, some mean, divine power had to intervene and do this. If her brothers ever saw this--oh, Merlin, if Harry ever saw it--her life would be over. She would fall over and die just from the humiliation. Remus cleared his throat.

"Er, on the upside, you did it without using your wand." Remus was such a good sport, but she could tell he was as shocked as she was.

"Oh, Remus, what am I going to do?" She was whining now, but she figured she was owed a good whine or two after what had just happened.

"Well, there's not much we can do, I suppose. At least you know you can do it now, right?" Ginny wanted to curl up and die.

"Please don't tell anyone. I'll probably tell Professor Dumbledore eventually, but seriously, Remus, you can't tell a soul about this." Remus looked at her with sympathy as she pleaded with him. It really was some rotten luck.

"Don't worry, Ginny. I won't say anything." He really couldn't stand to see her this distraught. And without even thinking about it, he walked over to her, and for once he gave her a hug, instead of the other way around. Then she really did start crying.

Oh, for crying out loud. Get yourself together, Weasley! She gave Remus one last squeeze in thanks, and pulled back. She wiped her eyes and face with her shirt, and took a few deep breaths to get control of herself.

She was just about calm, when they heard a pop, and turned around to see Fawkes landing on the back of a chair. Ginny walked over to the phoenix and stroked the bird's head in greeting.

"Does Professor [sniff] Dumbledore want us back in his office?" she asked. Fawkes opened his beak and trilled in response. At the lovely sound, Ginny felt somewhat better. Her cheeks were warmer and she hoped she didn't look like she had just been crying all over Remus' robes. She turned back to her friend.

"Ready to go?" he asked. Ginny nodded. She gave Fawkes one last pat on the head, and the phoenix disappeared. Remus walked up next to her and they exited the room.

"Sorry for crying all over your robes," she said, miserably. Remus smiled, but she didn't see it.

"Not a problem. Try not to worry about it right now. He's probably going to find out about it sooner or later, but you might as well not dwell on it until he does. Okay?"

"Okay. I doubt I'll be able to forget about it, at least until tomorrow, but I'll try."

"Here's something to get it off your mind for the moment." Ginny turned to look at him as they walked, anxious to be able to concentrate on something else. "Think of what you want to say to Harry about your wandless magic." Ginny had forgotten about that, and pondered what to say as they strolled through the old hallways in comfortable silence.

"Ice Mice," Remus recited, and the doorway to the headmaster's office opened. They got on the stairs and waited as they rose to the inner entrance. Harry opened the door just as Remus went to knock on it.

Ginny blushed as Harry's eyes immediately went to her. He got a disconcerted look on his face, which she figured must have been caused by the traces of crying that remained on her face. She gave him a small smile, hoping to indicate that everything was okay. Remus entered last and shut the door behind them.

"I trust that you were able to amuse yourselves sufficiently?" Dumbledore inquired. Ginny and Remus shot each other a look, and Ginny snorted with derision as she pictured her Patronus in her mind. Remus smiled, and Harry looked even more confused.

"Yes, Professor, thank you, we had an interesting time, to say the least," Ginny answered, hoping that she wasn't blushing. Talk about mood swings. Crying like an idiot one minute, and smirking the next. Poor Remus must think I'm barking mad. The headmaster nodded.

"Are you ready to return to Spinners End, then?"

"Actually, Professor, if you don't mind, I think I ought to explain something to Harry before we go." Dumbledore motioned for her to proceed, and she turned to look at the real version of her Patronus. Harry was looking right back at her, and she got caught up in his intense gaze for a second before Remus once again came to the rescue, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Right. Well, ah, Harry, you probably noticed that when we were reading our letters from Sirius earlier, the model of Jupiter exploded, and then a bit later the, um, mirror shattered." Harry nodded in recognition, and glanced at Dumbledore and then Remus before returning his gaze to Ginny.

"Was that you, then?" Ginny nodded.

"Yes, it was. I can do wandless magic, and since I can't really control it yet, it goes sort of bonkers when I'm really emotional or having intense feelings of some kind. That's how I destroyed the painting of Sirius' mum." Harry's eyed widened in recognition.

"Does your family know about this?"

"No, none of them except Fred and George. And I want to keep it that way, so Harry, you can't tell anyone, I mean it. And definitely not Ron or Hermione." Harry started at this last revelation, but paused to consider her request. Finally he nodded.

"I understand. If your mum or Ron or Hermione found out, they'd be relentless. You'd never get a moment's peace. And forget about ever being independent again." He paused. "I'll keep your secret." As he finished, he looked up at her earnestly. He knew all too well what she was trying to avoid.

"Thanks, Harry. That makes five that know, six counting Dobby." She turned briefly to the headmaster. "Unless you've had to inform Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape?"

"I have not found the need to inform either of them yet, but I think at least one of them will need to be notified before long." Ginny nodded, and Dumbledore continued. "If that is all, you may floo back to Spinners End from my fire. Miss Weasley, if you would stay behind for a moment."

Remus entered the oversized fireplace, and threw down his floo powder. The End had been put on the Floo Network, but only to Hogwarts.

"Spinners End!" And he was gone. Harry stepped in, powder in hand, and glanced at Ginny with a strange expression on his face.

"See you in a bit, Gin. Bye, Professor. Spinners End!" And then there were two.

"I hope I did not ruin your birthday, Miss Weasley. That was certainly not my intention."

"No, it was fine. Actually, I told Remus that it was kind of like getting an unexpected present from Sirius." The headmaster smiled sadly and nodded. Then he turned around and retrieved a rather large box from behind his desk. It was wrapped like a present. Sweet.

"Well, I found this present for you, though perhaps you may want to wait until you are alone to open it." Ginny considered this for a moment. "Seeing as you would like your special abilities to stay a secret, I think, in order to abide by your own rules, it would be best to open this when you are alone." Ginny caught on. Dumbledore shrank the box so that it was the size of a thimble, and handed it to Ginny.

"Thank you very much, Professor. You shouldn't have, but you are kind to think of me." Ginny put the present in her front pocket, moving her letter from Sirius to her back pocket. Dumbledore smiled at her polite manners, and then appealed to her more mischievous side.

"You needn't thank me, Ginny." His eyes twinkled. "I don't know anything about a gift." He smiled. She would see why later. She grabbed some floo powder and walked into the fireplace.

"Goodbye, Professor. Spinners End!" And back she went.

***

She tumbled out of the fireplace, and landed at someone's feet. However, it was completely impossible to know whose feet she was sprawled out over, since it was pitch black in the room.

But not for long.

"SURPRISE!" The lights came back on with a vengeance, and Ginny was blinking as her eyes adjusted. She looked up to see that the feet currently acting as a cushion belonged to her brother, Bill.

"Happy Birthday, squirt!" he said, smiling. A hand reached down, she grabbed it, and it pulled her up as she smiled and thanked her oldest brother. She turned and saw that Harry had been the one to help her up.

"Happy Birthday, Gin," he said, a little more confidently than he had earlier that day. She rewarded him with a smile.

"Thanks, Harry." Standing so close to him, she really noticed how much he had grown in the last few months. Neither of them was a scrawny, gangly kid anymore. Both of them had filled out quite nicely, as a matter of fact, and both seemed to be taking a moment in appreciation. She reluctantly let go of his hand and turned to her parents and the rest of the guests who offered their birthday wishes.

Every once in a while, she would think of Sirius, or accidentally look for him around the room, only to recall sadly that he wasn't there. And each time, she would pat her back pocket, just to make sure her letter was still safe in its place.

After everyone had greeted Ginny, and all the guests had been allowed to mingle and talk for a while, they all moved to the dining room and sat down for what appeared to be the biggest dinner to be hosted at the End in quite some time.

All of Ginny's brothers were there (except Percy), her parents, Harry, Hermione, Tonks, Remus, Mad-Eye, and Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, who had joined the Order recently after graduating from Hogwarts.

Apparently the Gryffindor Quidditch team is a feeder to the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix, Ginny mused as she sat down to eat. With six past members--seven, counting Harry's dad--and at least three future members, her observation certainly had merit

Dinner was a jovial affair, and when the plates had been cleared, Ginny's brothers all shouted insistently that it was time for presents. She knew something was afoot because every single one of them was sporting a grin that told Ginny she was in for something. As her gifts--there appeared to be five--were brought into the kitchen, she felt around her pocket to make sure that Dumbledore's not-present was still there. It was. She turned to the array before her.

The first present she noticed was easily the biggest. It was almost as long as she was tall, and about two feet wide. She wondered who it was from until she noticed all the familiar signatures scrawled over the top of the wrapping. She looked around at her brothers.

"Do you lot want me to open this one first?" They answered insistently in the affirmative.

"Then, last it is!" She smiled impishly and went right after the smaller gifts, surrounded by the loud objections of her brothers. From Hermione she got a set of Muggle athletic clothes made by someone named "Nike." Hermione explained that she could use them to train for Quidditch. Ginny thanked her with surprising earnestness, knowing it was quite an effort for Hermione to get something that wasn't a book, let alone something that had to do with Quidditch.

From her parents, Ginny received a set of elegant, Wedgwood-blue dress robes, which were very nice despite being second hand. Tonks gave her a new, dark-gray messenger bag for school, which Ginny really liked (and needed). Remus got her a brilliant set of parchment that allowed the writer to communicate with their friends when they couldn't talk. Remus explained that when one person wrote on one piece, the message would show up on the other pieces, and that he, Sirius, and Harry's dad had used similar devices when they were at Hogwarts.

Thanking her parents, Tonks, and Remus for their kindness, she turned back to the huge gift from her brothers.

"Alright, blokes. I'm ready now." She smiled excitedly and scanned the signatures for the writing of each brother, checking each one off as she found them. Her breath caught as she saw one autograph she wasn't expecting.

Happy 15^th Birthday Ginevra

The enclosed should make for a successful

year at Hogwarts. But I'm sure you would

have been a success anyhow.

Your brother,

Percy

She looked up at her brother Bill, then to Charlie.

"What is it?" her mother asked. All her brothers exchanged glances, while everyone else looked concerned at the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Percy. He went in with them on my present." Despite the fact that her beef with him was not exactly on her own behalf, she felt touched by the gesture from Percy and by the effort on the part of her other brothers to reach out to him. This part of the gift wasn't just for her, it was for the whole family.

Ron looked as though he hadn't quite reconciled himself with Percy's action yet, and the twins were oddly expressionless. Ginny concluded that it had been her two oldest brothers who led the effort at fraternal collaboration, but in such a collective gesture, the impact was still the same. It was from her brothers. Not her-brothers-minus-Percy. Mrs. Weasley was crying. Mr. Weasley appeared to be reluctantly pleased as he comforted his wife. Ginny was relieved when Fred decided to restore the formerly jubilant atmosphere.

"Well, shorty, are you going to open it, or just stare at it all night?" The tension in the air immediately drained away as several people chuckled at Fred's characteristic bluntness.

Ginny tore into the wrapping paper excitedly. What she found was a large wooden box, with a lock that prevented her from opening the present any further. She turned to George, who was sitting to her right.

"Oy, big brother, what do I do now?" George smiled and gestured toward Charlie, who was sitting on her left.

"Need the keys, little sister," he said, beaming and handing her a set of two identical metal keys. She grinned at him and turned back to her gift. She unlocked the box, opened the lid, and gaped.

"BUGGER OFF!" she yelled, in happy disbelief. Her exclamation was followed by a mix of loud guffaws from her brothers, excited comments from Harry, chuckles from most of the adults, and a stern scolding from her mother about her language.

Her six idiot brothers had put their hard-earned money together and bought her a brand new Cleansweep Retro, 1953 Gwendolyn Morgan Special Edition chaser's broom!

She didn't know what to say. She looked around at each of her brothers' smiling faces and felt her eyes fill with tears. Oh, not again! She felt her emotions swelling, egging on her magic as it rose quickly up through her chest and into her shoulders. She had to get a hold of herself. She braced herself on George's shoulder and took a deep breath. Seeing that she was starting to get uncharacteristically emotional--well, it was uncharacteristic before the summer started, anyway--her brothers stood up, one by one, and walked over to where she was standing with her new broomstick in her hand.

She hugged each of them fiercely, not caring anymore that she was crying in front of everyone. Her brothers could tell that she was happy, however, by the wide grin that showed through the tears and sniffling. First George, who she had been leaning on, then Bill, then Fred, then Ron, and finally, Charlie. Each one squeezed her tight, and each one told her he loved her.

She had only ever seen Ron cry before, and even then only when he was about six years old because she had accidentally hexed him. But as she pulled away from each one of the brothers she adored, she saw that they were struggling with their emotions as well. A few renegade tears had escaped onto Charlie's face, and Ginny knew instantly that it had been his idea.

The brother that had once taken the time and the patience to teach her how to fly, had somehow convinced his other brothers that their little sister was worth the newest and fastest chaser's broomstick in the world. Perhaps she'd found a new memory for her Patronus? She didn't think anything could be better than this.

"Who is this Morgan person?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Mum," Ron whined. "She was only chaser and captain for the Holyhead Harpies in the greatest match ever played! 1953, against the Heidelberg Harriers," he rattled off the stats. "The match took seven bloody days!"

"And get this!" George added. "When it was over, the captain for the Harriers, this bloke named Brand, he dismounted from his broom, got down on one knee, and proposed to her! And she answered him with a broom to the face! Gave the bloke a concussion!"

"Yes, well that's why we got this particular broom, see. We thought that Ginny'd fit right in with old Gwendolyn." Ginny tried to glare at Fred, but couldn't help laughing, so she thwacked him on the head instead. "See!" Fred exclaimed, grinning and pointing at his sister. That earned him another swat to the head. Everyone laughed.

"Nah, it's because she's a star chaser, of course! Just like her favorite brother." Bill winked at a laughing Ginny. "And, well, this was the only broom we could find that was good enough for her." That last statement, while perhaps true, earned him a chorus of "awwww" from the female guests, and a synchronized eye-roll from Fred and George.

Presents were followed by cake and ice cream, which was followed by a spontaneous bout of storytelling from her brothers. Fred and George entertained the group with stories about what they did to their helpless little sister before she could defend herself, and even some about how she had paid them back in full once she was not so helpless. Ron contributed a story or two from Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie each got one in, though their stories were from when Ginny was much younger.

By the time all was said and done, the dining room was filled with flushed cheeks and watery eyes from all the laughing. Ginny didn't think anyone ever had such a great birthday. She sat in her chair between Charlie and George, listening to her brothers' stories and adding her own details and interjections where she felt they were needed. She held onto her new broom the entire evening.

Gradually the crowd thinned a little, Order members went home (except for Remus), and it was time for bed. Ginny hugged and kissed all her brothers and thanked them for her gift for the millionth time. All of them were quite pleased with the affection they received, except for Ron, who seemed a bit embarrassed now that the commotion of celebrating and opening presents was gone. Ginny caught Harry's eye as Ron turned beet red, and they snickered at his reaction.

Ginny thanked and said good night to her parents, Remus, and Hermione. Still carrying her Cleansweep, she walked quietly up to her room, locked the door so no one could disturb her, and pulled Dumbledore's not-present out of her pocket. She put it on the window seat in front of her, and concentrated on her magic.

"Finite Incantatem!" she said, pointing at the thimble-sized gift. It immediately enlarged to the size of a moving box, and was quite a bit heavier. The wrapping paper was silver, with moving Quaffles and brooms zooming around. There was a big bow on the top and an envelope. She plucked the enveloped and found a letter inside.

Miss Weasley,

I hope you have enjoyed your birthday. Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and I thought that you might find the enclosed useful in the upcoming school year. Take care of yourself. This letter will dispose of itself in a minute or two.

Until September 1st,

Albus Dumbledore

Ginny quickly re-read the note and put it down on the table. She wasn't sure what Dumbledore meant by "dispose of itself" and thought it best that she wasn't holding it when it did so. She had just plucked the bow off the top of the present when she heard a snap!, followed by a crackling sound. She looked over at the note to find it burning itself up. "Dispose of itself," she thought to herself. He couldn't have said "burst into flame"?

She went back to the large object in front of her and continued to unwrap it. Inside was a wooden chest which was, at first glance, not unlike the case her broom had come in. It was more of a cube though, taller and not nearly as long, and the keys were hanging from the lock. She unlocked it and opened the lid to find another note.

This box might prove useful for storing things that you do not want people to find. There is an emblem just under the lock on the front, which causes the box to shrink back to the small size in which you brought it home. The emblem is keyed to your touch.

Ginny looked quickly for the emblem and found it, just where the note said it would be. It was the Gryffindor lion, encased in a circle, and about the size of a Sickle. She heard the crackling noise again, and found the second note quickly disappearing into flame. She turned her attention to the contents of the box.

What she found inside didn't seem as exciting as she would have expected a gift from Dumbledore to be. Books. It was like getting a gift from Hermione, except that Hermione had really outdone herself this year with such a sporty gift. A bit disconcerted, Ginny dove in to see what these books were about. Her disappointment soon became intrigue as she perused the titles.

Apparation: A Guide to Efficient Magical Transportation

Rare and Dangerous Potions of the Middle Ages

A Study of Dark Enchantments

Recognizing Toxins & Preparing Their Antidotes

Advanced Defense and the Unforgivable Curses

The Auror's First Aid Manual

Meditation and Self Control

The Best of the Light: The Official Auror Training Text (Year One)

The Best of the Light: The Official Auror Training Text (Year Two)

The Best of the Light: The Official Auror Training Text (Year Three)

Transfiguration Prodigy

Ginny was speechless, overrun with different reactions at the various books. Some of them were very old, some appeared just a bit used like her school books, while others appeared to be brand new. She looked inside of the four slightly worn Auror's books to find the name Gideon Prewett scrawled in the front cover of each one.

My uncle? she thought with some shock. She knew that her mother's two brothers had been killed by Death Eaters, but she hadn't known that either of them had been Aurors. She liked the idea that the books had belonged to her uncle. Dumbledore must have given them to her on purpose.

She wondered for a moment if her mother knew about her brother's old books, but quickly discarded that idea when she remembered that her mother would go spare if she knew the headmaster had given her only daughter a set of Auror training manuals. She wondered if Harry had been given similar books for his birthday.

The books on Apparation--No wonder Dumbledore didn't want to draw attention to this--Meditation, and Antidotes were brand new. She figured that the one on Meditation was to help her keep her feelings and emotions in check so she wouldn't go around blowing things up before they got back to Hogwarts.

She was very excited about the Apparation book--she knew Dumbledore would not have given her a book like that without a purpose. She had seen the twins Apparate from room to room here at the End about a million times, just as they had done so often at Grimmauld Place, so she knew it would be safe to practice before she went back to school, where the wards wouldn't allow it.

Intrigued and not just a little amused, she picked up both Potions texts and looked them over. If the Antidotes book was brand new, the one about the Middle Ages was ancient. The cover was battered and wearing thin, the pages were brittle and yellowing, and she wondered if perhaps it was from Snape's own collection. Not like he'd need it, the git. He's probably got it memorized by now.

Ginny really enjoyed Potions, in a perverse kind of way. She'd been honest with Remus. Even if Professor Snape was the instructor--at this point, almost because he was the instructor--it was her second favorite class after Defense. She liked that you could see what went into each concoction, and how the effects and attributes would change depending on what you added, how you prepared the ingredients, the temperature at which you combined them.

Frankly, she didn't really mind Professor Snape anymore. By now she was more amused with him than anything else, and calling him names had more to do with familiarity than anger or distaste. She had been just as petrified of him as everyone else when she was a first-year, but coming back in second year, and particularly in third year she had decided that there were a lot nastier things than him to be worried about.

By her fourth year she had begun to see him as a particularly feisty challenge, and realized that the feeling of accomplishment was much higher when she prepared a potion perfectly in the face of her instructor doing everything in his power to trip her up.

She knew that Snape had said and done some pretty awful things to Harry, and that Ron hated Snape almost as much as he hated Malfoy, but Ginny considered that there was probably more going on there than it seemed.

First, and most importantly, Snape had to keep up appearances for Voldemort. If he wasn't obnoxiously unfair and mean to Harry (and Ron), then Malfoy would undoubtedly go running to tell his daddy that Snape didn't hate Harry Potter like a proper Death Eater should.

Second, there had to be some particular beef between him and Harry that no one else knew the details of. He goaded Hermione, Ron, and Neville, to be sure, but from what they had said, Snape was just on a completely different level of cruelty when it came to Harry.

And finally, her brother had absolutely no self-control when it came to his temper, and if the idiot hadn't learned to calm the bloody hell down when he was being antagonized in Potions, then it was his own damn fault.

But she had learned from their mistakes. Having been the top Potions student every year after her first gave her a basis of confidence to build from that Snape couldn't deny, and as long as Ginny didn't raise her hand very often or talk in class, he couldn't get her in trouble either. His profound expertise and constant attention kept her on her toes the entire class and very alert. She had developed a formidable amount of self-discipline, both from keeping her cool when Snape got out of hand, and from diligently preparing her assignments.

The best part was that receiving the two Potions books, whether directly or indirectly from Professor Snape, was a small recognition of her talent and ability on his part, and Ginny laughed out loud at the thought. She could just picture him scowling and grumbling at the headmaster's request and not being able to deny it.

Ginny examined the advanced Transfiguration book next, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Professor McGonagall was the author. It looked a bit used like her uncle's Auror Training books, so she flipped open the cover to look for the name of its former owner.

James Potter

Gryffindor, 1976

Ginny slammed the book shut again, not believing that her teachers would actually give her Harry's dad's book. She sat for a second and peeked again, but his name was still there. She thought that Harry's dad must have been a right genius for McGonagall to have given him a separate book from what all the other students used. She had seen her older brothers' books for Transfiguration, and from Bill to the twins, it had always been the same one. And this wasn't it.

She decided she would ask Remus about it sometime. She wasn't keen on showing this to Harry just yet. Showing him the book would lead to other questions and she would be opening up a can of worms that she wanted to keep quite closed at the moment.

Despite all of her new discoveries and questions from opening the box from her professors, Ginny wanted her bed. It had been a long day--albeit an excellent one--and she was ready to pass out. She put all the books back into the box, locked it, and pressed the emblem. It promptly shrank down to the size of an ink bottle, and she shoved it in her underwear drawer. She threw away the torn wrapping paper, and found her way to her bed.