The Curse-breaker's Sister

The Curse-breaker's Sister

Chapter 1

Everything in Ginny's life right now came down to two things; Bill was missing and she was worried. The two concepts revolved around each other- were intertwined in her mind as she once again tried to force Bill's boss, a pointy-faced Goblin named Ripshank, to tell her where he was. They told her nothing. Again. They asked her to leave. Again. She was dragged bodily out of the building. Now that was new.

Bill had been missing for three months. For two of those months, his hand on the Weasley family clock had pointed at "Mortal Peril". This was a normal occurrence. Bill was, after all, a curse-breaker with Gringotts. He faced death and danger on a daily basis but never before had the hand pointed at "Mortal Peril" for so long.

Her parents had brushed her concerns aside in what Ginny thought was too casual of a manner. They were used to Bill's job and told her not to worry. If anything were wrong, surely Gringotts would have informed them. After making no progress with her parents, Ginny turned to Ron. He was an Auror with the Ministry and might have a better idea of what was going on. Ron had simply patted her on the head like she was still a First year at Hogwarts, told her not to worry, and shuffled her out of his flat before she could complain.

Hermione was no help either.

"We're not kids anymore, Ginny. We can't just drop everything and go on a rescue mission for somebody who might not even need rescuing. You know what Bill's job is like-"

"Yes I DO know what Bill's job is like! I am so sick and tired of everybody force-feeding me his job description over and over and over. I know his job is dangerous! But I am telling you this time it's different! He's not dead, or mum's clock would say so. It's been pointing to Mortal Peril for two months now and Gringotts is doing nothing about it!"

Hermione closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose; a sure sign of how stressed she was. "Ginny, I know you are his sister and I know you are worried! I'd be worried to, if my brother was-"

Ginny cut Hermione off again. "How do you know, Hermione? You don't have a brother!"

"Fine then. I know I'd be worried if Ron, Harry, or even you, Ginny, went missing like this. All I'm trying to say is exactly what Ron tried to tell you the other night-"

"How do you know what Ron tried to tell me? I haven't told you I went to see him. Fat lot of good it did me. He treated me like a child and sent me packing before I could get a word in edgewise."

Hermione's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Well, ah, you see Gin, about Ron, yes. He, uh, well, he told me you'd been to see him, you see and..."

"You were there, weren't you!" Ginny's eyes widened in shock.

Hermione didn't reply, but turned a deeper shade of pink and developed an interest in one of the books on her coffee table.

"I always knew you two would get together at some point. Why didn't you say anything to me?"

Hermione put the book down and managed to look Ginny in the eye. "It's a bit awkward, to tell you the truth. His sister is my best friend; we weren't sure how you'd react. Especially after the way Harry reacted..."

"Does your new and improved relationship with my brother have anything to do with Harry's impromptu tour of France?"

"Yes, it does. But that's beside the point. We can talk about that later, right now, you are here to talk about Bill."

Ginny gave Hermione a clearly unimpressed look. "You're changing the subject."

"Yes, I am. Ginny, I know you are worried about Bill, but you really shouldn't be. And we'll have to talk about this later because I'm meeting Ron at The Snitch and Broomstick in fifteen minutes."

"I'll see you later, then," Ginny said glumly as she grabbed her cloak and stood up from the couch.

"Good-bye, Gin," Hermione said. "Oh, and Ginny? Don't do anything stupid? Okay? We'll get together this weekend and see if we can't sort this Bill thing out."

"Thanks, Hermione."

"Ron's not worried, Ginny, so you shouldn't worry either."

Ginny said nothing, just waved as she left Hermione's flat.

Over a period of forty-eight hours, Ginny had exhausted all her possibilities. Her parents were not worried enough to do anything. Harry was off in France somewhere, dealing with whatever it was he felt about his two best friends dating, Ron was very distracted by Hermione and Hermione, though she would never admit it, was distracted as well. Ginny was on her own.

In some ways, this was nothing new to Ginny. She was used to pursuing things on her own, had gotten used to it three years ago after leaving her husband-to-be at the altar. She'd been forced to make her own way, then. Find her own place to stay, find a job, but most importantly, find herself. Through it all, though, Bill had been there, backing her up. Whether it was a piece of advice or a couch to stay on before she found her own flat, he'd been there for her. And some nagging feeling inside her was telling her that it was time for her to be there for Bill.

Four months ago, Bill had visited her at her flat. Ginny had been working on a complicated piece of jewellery, a 4-tiered necklace with over 1000 tiny jade beads on each string. Normally she'd be annoyed by the interruption, her work demanded her undivided attention. It was Bill, though, her favourite brother. She invited him in for dinner, but he declined saying he was in a rush and could only stay long enough for a cup of tea and a quick conversation.

"I'm going to Mesopotamia, Gin'. I should be back in a month, two tops. I'll bring you back something pretty. How does an agate necklace from Ancient Sumer sound? "

Ginny smiled. "It sounds wonderful, Bill. But how about you bring me back the raw agate and I'll make the necklace myself?"

"You know I'll bring you back something to work with, Gin, I always do! I was talking about bringing you something for yourself. You deserve a treat every once and a while. You design all those wonderful necklaces and never keep any for yourself."

"The necklace sounds great, then. Are you sure you can't stay any longer?"

Bill shook his head. "Nope, in fact, if Ripshank finds out I've stopped here on my way, he'll have my head on a plate. This is a Top Priority job and I'm supposed to report to Mesopotamia immediately. The client's some persnickety guy, Nizir, something like that. Wants everything done yesterday. You know how the Treasure Collecting type is."

And Ginny did know the type. She'd heard all about them from Bill, even met a few of them when Bill was on local jobs. Pretentious, uppity, and old; the men who Bill was contracted to work for were carbon copies of each other. The treasure they wanted was always the most important piece of treasure in the world. They wanted their treasure and they wanted it yesterday, regardless of the curses, jinxes and hexes involved. Ginny tried to remember the name of one particular Treasure Collector but couldn't.

She was certain Bill had told her who he was working for but try as she might, the name eluded her. Gringotts claimed that telling her would breach their client's privacy. She had nothing to go on but a sister's intuition, which thus far, wasn't getting her anywhere.

Ginny rested her elbows on the coffee table and pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. Her head was pounding, a headache caused by frustration and lack of sleep. Maybe that's what she needed, she thought to herself. A good night's sleep so she could wake up the next morning thinking clearly and with a fresh perspective.

Ginny glanced over at her lumpy, single bed with its broken springs and thought longingly of the queen-sized bed in Bill's guestroom. No matter how many times she transfigured her bed into something more comfortable, it always reverted to its uncomfortable form. Bill had asked her to look after his house for him while he was gone...spending the night in his guestroom could be considered an extreme form of housesitting.

She packed an over-night bag with clothes for the next day and as an after thought, tossed in a cantaloupe-sized chunk of amber that she was currently working with. She hadn't touched it since Bill had given it to her five months ago. She'd made several sketches, but having never worked with this material before, wasn't sure what it was going to end up being. Ginny half-heartedly hoped that working on it would distract her from worrying about Bill.

Ginny gave her flat a final once over, making sure all the doors and windows were locked and her plants were watered before Apparating to Bill's with a pop.