In My Cupboard

In My Cupboard

"No, Bill, give it back!" The indignant yell came from none other than from Ginny Weasley's older brother Ron. She took her gaze off her mother, and looked at Ron with an upturned lip. Bill, another one of Ginny's brothers, had seized one of Ron's chocolate frog cards and was holding it up high in the air, out of Ron's reach.

"Bill," said Ginny's mum warningly. The teen stared at his mum for a minute, then hesitantly gave the card back to the red-faced Ron, and muttered something under his breath. The muttering sounded like, "I was only seeing it for a minute."

Now that the small feud was solved, Ginny glanced at her other brothers, waiting to see if they would cause any disruptions as well. The whole family was in the living room, except for Ginny's father, Arthur, who was out in the garage tinkering with the Muggle things. Ginny's mum was sitting next to her on their small, tattered sofa, surveying her children as well.

Bill, the oldest, was now grumpily walking around the room, as though trying to find something to do. "Ah, the hell with it, I'll go practice Charms," he said, and as he was walking out of the room, Ginny's mum stopped him.

"Bill!" she said breathlessly. "Watch your mouth! And you know you aren't allowed to practice magic outside of school," she added. Bill's shoulders slumped at this, and he left the room, muttering something now that was indistinguishable.

Ginny turned her attention to Charlie, her next oldest brother, who was polishing his models of different dragon eggs. Ginny had always liked Charlie's models, but she was not allowed to touch them. She had once when she knew Charlie was out of the house but it had broken and he had been very upset with her.

Percy, the third oldest, and the only brother with glasses, was sitting in a chair, with a large book spread out on his lap, his lips moving as he read the words. Ginny smiled a bit at him; Percy was very smart, and had been able to recite the alphabet at three, and able to read fully at four. Ginny herself was five, and it was still difficult for her.

Fred and George, who were her identical twin brothers, were sorting through their firecracker collection, and "accidentally" setting one off every few minutes. Ginny knew her mummy disproved of the firecrackers, but she and daddy had had a discussion about them earlier, and she had relented.

Finally accepting that there weren't going to be any disruptions, Ginny turned back to her mum. "Mum, tell me now!" she demanded, banging her fists on her knees for emphasis. Her mother smiled wearily and motioned for Ron to come over as well, because Ron never tired of the story.

"There was once a very evil wizard, called "You Know Who, and he--"

"What was his real name?" asked Ginny, but Ron shushed her by clapping a hand over her mouth and saying, "No, Ginny, you can't say his name!" She glared at him, and bit his hand; he howled and withdrew his hand, while she smiled toothily at him. "Please, mum? What was his name?"

"His name was Voldemort," her mother answered with a shudder. Fred, George, and Charlie all grew quiet. "And he was a terrible person who went around doing bad, bad things..."

"Like what?" Ginny asked. "Did he steal from Zonko's like Fred and Geo--" She was cut off by another hand clamped over her mouth, this time Fred's. "Don't know what she's talking about mum," he said jovially, as their mother fixed him with a very dirty look.

Ginny bit his hand as well, and he withdrew, but not howling. Honestly, why did they have to put hands over her mouth?

"You-Know-Who killed people," said her mother, bowing her head. Ron's eyes were wide, like they always were when he heard the story. Ginny, who had never heard the story before, gasped with fear. Fred sat on the couch, between her and Ron, tried to seat her in his lap, and though she was still mad about having a hand clamped over her mouth, she let him. George sat on the couch too, next to Ron. Charlie came close too, but he didn't sit on the couch. Percy was still in his armchair, staring at his book, but his lips weren't moving, a clear sign that he most likely was listening to the story.

"Why?" said little Ginny, her voice shaking a bit.

Her mother lifted her head and looked her daughter in the eye. "Nobody knows why, honey. He was just a mean, mean person."

"I thought this story was going to have a happy ending!" Ginny said, lip quivering. How she hated stories that didn't have happy endings!

"Oh, it does, Gin, just you wait!" George comforted her; meanwhile, she snuggled closer to Fred.

"Anyway, one night, five years ago, when you were in my belly, Ginny, he went to a house. In this house lived three people, two of which were in the Order of the Phoenix. They loved each other very very much."

"They were married, too!" said Ron, scrunching up his face, as though this thought disgusted him. Ginny gave a tiny sigh.

"Their names were Lily and James Potter," she continued. "Very respectable, very well known, the nicest people you could ever want to meet..."

"You knew them, mum?" said Charlie.

"I knew them, because when they were first years at Hogwarts, I was studying to become a Healer, working alongside Madam Pomfrey."

"Madam Pomfrey must be over the--" said a voice, and Ginny realized that Bill had come back into the room, and sat next to Charlie. Her mother glared at him and he didn't dare finish that sentence.

"Why didn't you become a Healer, mum?" asked Charlie.

"Well, because I became pregnant with Bill," she said fondly, "and I decided to become a work at home mother. Anyway, my being pregnant fascinated Lily and she often came around to see me. She was a very smart witch, Muggle born, and very energetic. She looked a lot like you, Ginny. With green eyes." Ginny beamed.

"Tell me about Jamie!" she begged.

"James," Molly corrected gently. "Well, James was in first year too, and one of his friends was often in the hospital wing, so he was by often. He was top of the year, alongside his best friend, and Lily, and boy did he love a good prank!" Fred and George sniggered.

"But to continue, they grew up and got married and fought this evil wizard. But when they heard that this evil wizard was after them, they went into hiding with their one year old son, Harry."

"This is where it gets good, Gin," Bill promised.

"Well, You-Know-Who found out where they were hiding, and he killed them." Molly's voice was choked up, and Ginny screamed and began to cry into Fred's shirt. He patted her back; Percy, who had come over to the couch unnoticed, took his mother's hand in his and patted it, saying, "They died for what was right, mother." Ron exclaimed, "Ginny, it's not done yet!" in a whiny voice.

Molly gave Percy a grateful look and kissed his head before continuing. "Lily and James died, and then it was time for You-Know-Who to kill Harry."

"But he was only a baby!" Ginny cried loudly, staring at her mother in disbelief. "He can't kill a baby!"

"But he did want to, honey." Their mother's face grew puzzled. "But when he tried to kill Harry, he couldn't. The spell bounced off of Harry and hit You-Know-Who himself, and he disappeared, leaving Harry with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, dear."

"Harry didn't die," Ginny said, sniffing, rubbing her tear stained cheeks. "What happened to him, mummy?"

"There were parties thrown in his honor that night, and our world has been peaceful ever since."

"But where is he now?" said Ginny, lifting her head from Fred's chest.

"He lives with his Muggle relatives."

"I don't like that story," Ginny said flatly, "there's no real happy ending. You said there was a happy ending."

"Well, Ginny, you were born two days later."

Ginny paused. "I-I was?"

Her mum nodded. "You were. You were our happy ending, sweetie. Now, who wants biscuits?" Fred sat up so quickly that Ginny fell from his lap, "Hey!" she said indignantly.

"Sorry little sis," said Fred, bending down to pinch her cheeks as the others scrambled for the kitchen. She smacked her hands away, and he laughed at her; Ron yelled from the kitchen, mouth full of a biscuit, "Ginny, come in here!" Seconds later there was another yell, and he cried, "BILL, GIVE THAT BACK!"

Ginny heard a loud crash in the kitchen and a mess of sounds. "Ron, stop attacking your brother!" yelled her mum, as her teenage boy and her six-year-old boy wrestled over the floor. Charlie rolled his eyes and dived to pull Ron off of Bill, who was coughing and laughing at the same time. In the process, Charlie spilled all his milk over the floor and knocked off Percy's glasses at the same time. Percy screamed, then said, "I can't see! I can't see!" Moments later, there was a crunching sound of glass. Fred and George were roaring with laughter and setting off firecrackers, as her mum yelled at them all.

Ginny quietly headed toward the staircase and flew up it, now sure she wouldn't be heard over the yelling, crashing, and--was that the Puffskein crying? She dashed into Percy's bedroom, observing the neatly stacked books and such. She pulled open his desk drawer and pulled out some parchment. Holding it firmly in her hands, she exited his room, then went up another staircase, into Charlie's bedroom, where she opened the door to his desk and pulled out some crayons. She'd return them later.

Finally, she went into Ron's room and ducked underneath his bed, retrieving his teddy bear. With all these needed items, she tiptoed back downstairs, hoping no one would see her.

"Ginny, sweetie, come here!" said a voice, and she saw her daddy standing in the doorway, taking off his cloak. He had just come home from work. She went to him and he gave her a big hug, then said, "What the--", for he had just realized the sounds coming from his kitchen. Ginny let out a small sigh and rolled her eyes, and he laughed; they both knew the family was comprised of silly, silly people.

While he went to check out the situation ("Fred, what are you-Molly, darling, calm--HEY BE QUIET!), Ginny opened the door to the place where she often hid when being around her family got to be too much.

The cupboard under the stairs.

She closed the white door, and clicked on the light. Ginny's dad had put in the lightswitch a couple of days ago and she thought it was very nice. The light flickered on three times, going off each time, then stayed on. Slowly, Ginny cleared a space to work, moving the magazines with half-dressed witches off the shelf. She set her parchment and crayons on top of it, then looked at Ron's teddy bear.

"What do you think Harry Potter looks like, huh, Teddy?" she said to him, waiting for him to answer. He didn't, and Ginny shrugged. "Well, I guess he has a face, right?" Without waiting for a response, she set the teddy bear down and pulled out a brown crayon and drew a big circle on the page to represent a face. It wasn't exactly a perfect circle, in fact it looked like an oval, but Ginny didn't think it mattered much.

"Should he have red hair like me, Teddy?" she mused thoughtfully. Scrunching up her nose, she shook her head. No, he's special. He'd have a different hair color, one that would be interesting... "Black!" she said. "And it has to be messy, cause he'll be flying on his broom a lot," she added, not remembering that he lived with Muggles. She chose a black crayon and scribbled over the top of the head, then sat back and admired her work.

Smiling to herself, she continued her drawing, giving Harry green eyes like his mum. And because she had never actually seen green eyes before. She dressed him in black robes as well. But something was missing, what was it?

Oh! Glasses! Harry was probably very smart like her daddy and Percy, so he needed glasses. She made them round like Percy's, then frowned at the drawing. Something was still missing, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Teddy, what am I missing?" she asked the bear, who didn't answer her. She paused, and then realized something. There was no sound coming from the kitchen. Had everybody gone to bed? Ginny slowly opened the cupboard door, peering out of it and into the kitchen. From where she could see, it was now clean, as though chaos hadn't taken place in there at all

"Are you guys in there?" she asked softly. No one answered. Biting her lip, she crept out of the cupboard and entered the kitchen, where one lone biscuit was on the table; she picked it up and took a bite, then went about the house looking for her family. Just then, she heard firecrackers going off and she grinned, then went back into the cupboard.

She chewed thoughtfully on her biscuit and gazed intensely at her drawing of Harry Potter. She sat there thinking about him for quite a while. Did he remember anything about that night? It must have been awful to have your parents die; Ginny didn't know what she would do if her mum or dad died.

Her mummy was always giving her extra food and spoiling her because she was the only girl. She and mummy were partners, and they'd cook together all the time. For Ron's last birthday, they had made him a cake and it had been good! And mummy always let her hang the star on the top of the Christmas tree, instead of the others. Mummy would read her stories at bedtime, about princesses and dragons; Muggle books, they were, because dad brought them home from work sometimes. Ginny didn't know what she would do without her mother.

And daddy! Whenever he came home from work, she was the one he'd hug first, and sometimes he'd even swing her into the air! Whenever they went to his work parties, she'd climb on his feet and they'd dance across the floor. He always showed her his Muggle trinkets in the garage, and she was slowly becoming fascinated with them. He always brushed her hair in the morning, sometimes putting it in two ponytails or maybe a braid.

Ginny grabbed Teddy and clutched him to her chest, tears forming in her eyes as she thought about them dying.

Then she thought about the Muggles. She hoped they were treating Harry well, and that they were letting him chocolate. Chocolate always helped her when she was sad.

Would she ever meet him? She hoped she would. That would be really nice, and she could give him a lot of chocolate. Maybe, if he were really sad, she'd make mummy make him a homemade chocolate egg. Those were really good...

And that's when she remembered. Scrambling, she reached for a crayon, sniffing, and drew a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Ginny vaguely thought that he looked very brave, like one of the heroes in her Muggle books.

Five-year-old Ginny Weasley, clutching her brother's bear possessively, stared at her drawing of Harry Potter for a long time before falling asleep.

She did not know not knowing that six-year-old Harry Potter was in a cupboard very similar to hers, drawing his version of the princess in one of his cousin's books.

A princess with flaming red hair and bright brown eyes.