The Power Within

The Power Within

Prologue: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Ginny Weasley watched on sadly as the summer sun sank down behind the trees. She turned and took one last look at her empty room before making her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. There she found Ron, fiddling idly with a loose wood chip on the floor, along with Fred and George who had come to help empty out the last pieces of furniture.

She glanced around the old room; it seemed so big and empty now, not homey and cluttered like it had been earlier. Her mind flickered over visions of her childhood there, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She was really going to miss this place with its creaky floorboards, breakfast smells (wafting through the air and under her door on hot summer mornings) and annoying bangs which came from the attic. No place could ever be the same; she could never call anywhere else home like she had the Burrow. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek, and she found a sob rising within her throat. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair that all the good people in the world were being mistreated. It wasn't like her father had done anything wrong, but the Ministry was so corrupted that they didn't know good from evil anymore. It was bad enough that her father had lost his job, but then the little money they had turned into none and they found themselves in a horrible situation.

A silent prayer rose within her heart that this would not have to be the last time she sat in this kitchen. There was still hope of getting the house back; it wasn't being sold, just held in Ministry hands until her father paid off all of his debts. Until then she would just have to be content with Remus' kindness. Her father had told her earlier that week that the Order would always do whatever it could to help its members, and that statement had held true. Shortly after finding out about their predicament, Remus had written them a letter offering Number 12 as a temporary residence for the family. He was currently living there in the wake of Sirius' death, making sure nothing happened to it until Harry's seventeenth birthday, at which time Harry would become eligible for Sirius' inheritance.

Darkness began creeping into the small room, erasing the shadows from the floor and covering it in an eerie gray, speckled by the silver of the half-moon shining through the window. Mr. Weasley came slowly through the back door and sighed as he looked helplessly around the empty room. Ginny looked from her father's face to all the others around her and found herself fighting against tears. She rose to her feet, went to her father and hugged him hard around the middle, just like she had when she was a little girl. She felt little again, so helpless and vulnerable. Her father hugged her back, trying to offer comfort to his only daughter as she sobbed into his chest.

"It's all right Ginny, everything will turn out fine...you'll see," he said solemnly as he stroked her hair.

But those words weren't as comforting a Ginny would have liked them to be, and all she wanted was for someone to shake her awake from the horrible nightmare that she was trapped in. She shut her eyes tightly, but even that couldn't erase reality from her mind. It was really happening, she was moving out of her home. It wasn't just a house to her; it held her childhood, her secrets, her hopes and dreams. These walls heard everything, and it hurt her to know that she was leaving something much more than a place to lay her head.

She reluctantly let go of her father and looked sadly up at him.

"It's time to go," he said gloomily before opening the door to usher them all outside.

Fred and George were the first to leave, casting miserable glances over their shoulders on their way out. Ron still stood in the corner with his head bowed, looking almost like a statue. Ginny looked at her father, silently telling him that the two of them would be out shortly, that they needed a few seconds to say a final goodbye. When the door closed behind him, Ginny walked slowly over to Ron. She crouched down and cautiously looked up into his face. What she saw scared her; she saw tiny tears threatening to spill from the sixteen year old's eyes. Ginny had never seen Ron cry, not since he had been a little boy and had fallen off his broom when he was learning to ride. She laid a careful hand on his shoulder, and he slowly raised his eyes to hers.

"It's not fair," he whispered, expressing the thought that had been running through Ginny's mind all day.

"No, Ron, it isn't," she choked out. "I can't believe we are being forced to leave all this behind."

"For Heaven's sake, Ron!" she cried. "Everything we've ever done, every word we've ever spoken... our whole lives are here! How are we supposed to replace that? This is where I feel safe this is where I long to come during those horrible Potions lessons, this is home Ron, I can't bear to leave it... I just can't!" She sobbed.

Ron, who seemed to be putting on that brave Gryffindor spirit, hugged her tight.

"Me neither, Gin, but it will be okay! We have people on our side and they are going to help us, we'll live here again, I swear we will. We'll get our lives back Gin, we'll get them back sooner or later," he whispered soothingly.

Ginny hoped above all that he was right, that they would get back everything that had been taken from them. She pulled back from Ron and grabbed his hand.

"I guess it's time to say goodbye," she said.

Ron nodded. They both took one more look around their home and then walked trough the screen door and out into the dark summer heat. Leaving the empty frame of the Burrow behind them.