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Author: Kathryn Story: Hogwarts Rebellion Part: 13:Wishing You a Cold Christmas and an Unhappy New Year Rating: Teens Setting: DH-interview Status: Completed Reviews: 11 Words: 5,438 Updated: June 3, 2009, 7:48pm
13:Wishing You a Cold Christmas and an Unhappy New Year
A surreal Christmas lunch followed. There was plenty of food; if anything, there was too much for just the five of them. Molly had cooked enough for all her children and their partners in the hope of keeping things the same but in the end it just felt depressing. Fred and George were trying to make light of the situation, and the fact that they were missing Bill, Charlie, Percy and Ron this year, by telling a series of jokes. Normally, Ginny would have joined in with them, but this year was far from normal. This year half her family was missing and there was a reward for Harry that was large enough to make many people consider drastic actions that they would not have done normally and the Death Eaters had Luna. Christmas was a time for families, especially in the Weasley family. So this, in her book, wasn't even a real Christmas. There was no point in pretending to participate in the festivities. She didn't even feel like smiling this year, let alone laughing. Ginny slowly started to pick at her food using her fork to push her carrots underneath a couple of pieces of turkey. She didn't feel much like eating either. She doubted that Luna, Ron, Harry or Hermione were having much of a Christmas dinner, so why should she get one? Carefully, she started to build a tower of mashed potatoes, pushing it together with her fork and mopping up other small pieces of vegetables. If she wanted to leave this table anytime today she had to make it look like she had eaten something. Her mum had already made too many remarks on how her once healthy appetite had disappeared and that now she was far too thin. The worst part of these comments had been knowing that her mum was not completely exaggerating. She was eating enough, but only just, and she was under no illusion about the fact that she had come home from Hogwarts looking very different this year, but then, this was hardly a normal year, so why should she look the same? It was right that she looked different. "Ginny," her mum snapped. "Mum," she muttered. "If you are going to act like a five-year-old then I will treat you like one," Molly lectured in that voice that Ginny knew only too well and Ginny had to forcibly stop herself rolling her eyes at her mother's words. "Now, will you stop playing with your food and actually eat it?" Ginny took a mixture of turkey, parsnip and sprouts onto her fork as she felt her mother's eyes watching her. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ease her mum's worries about her for just one day, especially since it was Christmas Day and there were other people in far worse trouble than she to worry about. Maybe that should be her Christmas present: she would behave herself and act like the good daughter her parents wanted even if it was just for one day. A loud knock at the door just then made them all jump. George even knocked over the gravy as he passed it to his mother. Everyone they were expecting for this feeble attempt at Christmas was already here. Anyone else not this table couldn't be here or was not to be trusted. Unexpected guests were more worrisome than ever at this time, but then again, Death Eaters wouldn't knock and wait politely for the door to be answered. Arthur got to his feet and walked over. "Who is it?" he asked, keeping his wand pointed at the locked door. Tension filled the room as time seemed to stop. What felt like hours surely wasn't longer than a minute. Each of the Weasleys left at the table had dived for their wands and Ginny noticed her mother's face had paled. They all knew only too well what a knock on the door could lead to. Ginny felt her throat go dry and if she had wanted to speak she would have struggled. The last time this had happened Luna had gone. Ginny looked up, wide-eyed, at her mum who put a reassuring hand over her daughter's shaking one. Ginny gulped and regained her courage as she nodded her head. She was ready. "It's me, Dad, Charlie," came back her brother's voice, "I used to dig up worms, put them in my pockets and forget about them till Mum did the washing. Me and Bill used to make the tables attack each other as a weekly sport in the garden. And I still deny all knowledge on how Ginny broke her arm when she was ten and we took the brooms for a walk up to the paddock." Ginny smiled and a sense of relief flooded through her body as she thought back to Charlie's Quidditch lesson during Ron's first month at Hogwarts. That's how she had fallen twenty feet when she had tried a move that was far too complex for any ten-year-old to perform. She glanced over at the door and dropped her wand. Those words were good enough for her. "Charlie!" Molly exclaimed as she got to her feet and Arthur slowly unlocked the door. "What are you doing here?" "Well, I thought there'd be some extra food on the go this year." Charlie eyed the table as he shook off his winter coat. "And it looks like I was right, so I'd thought I'd surprise you by helping you eat it." Fred laughed. "Charlie finishing up all the food on the table—that's not a surprise." "Well, Ron isn't here, so someone had to," Charlie said with a small shrug. The two brothers made to shake hands but half way through that action changed into a fairly bizarre hug. Charlie was then passed round the room like a present receiving hugs from each of his family before he ended up wrapping his strong arms around Ginny. "So," he looked down at her, "how's the latest Hogwarts troublemaker doing?" "Fine," she muttered. "How are you?" "Good," Charlie laughed, "but then I haven't been trying to steal Godric Gryffindor's sword." "Let's get you a plate," Molly said promptly, stopping their conversation from going too much further. She obviously didn't want this topic to ruin Christmas, especially since she seemed to have just got her Christmas back. "George, would you set the place next to you?" A new lease of life took over Christmas as soon as Arthur began carving some turkey and placing it on Charlie's plate and Charlie began telling them tales of what was happening outside of Britain. He explained that the rumours were growing, especially with the number of Muggle-borns that were fleeing the country, but also explained that there was still no concrete proof, although there was plenty of suspicion, that Britain had fallen into a dictatorship. With Voldemort's proxy government containing lots of old members of Fudge's and Scrimgeour's ministers, it was hard to prove that anything was actually that wrong. At the same time, other countries were not willingly going to declare war on Voldemort in case he extended his reign of terror and attacked outside of Britain, especially when, at the moment, they could deny that he had returned. No one wanted debatably the world's most evil wizard who had ever lived to turn his attentions on them when staying quiet would keep them safe. "Why not?" Ginny finally questioned after listening to Charlie for the whole ten minutes without interruption although she was sure she already knew the answer. "We don't all know Harry; we don't all have friends who are Muggle-borns and those of us who do, know they are safe elsewhere." Charlie shook his head. "We may like the idea of fighting this, but people have families to protect and are very scared of disappearing in the middle of the night." Ginny glanced downwards as guilt filled her again. "Like Luna." "Exactly," Arthur said. "Which is why we all need to be careful with the actions we take." Dinner continued for another good hour and was followed by lazing in the living room throwing chocolate at each other, aiming for and missing their mouths. It even started to feel like Christmas, especially when Bill and Fleur made a Floo call to wish everyone a Happy Christmas. "So who's up for the snowball fight?" George finally asked when they got bored doing nothing but playing cards and listening to the radio. "How about putting a twist on it and using the brooms?" Fred was grinning as he got to his feet. "Inspired," George said in agreement. "Be careful," Molly lectured all of them before turning to Charlie, "look after your sister." Charlie grinned. "Will do, Mum." Ginny was not sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed. Her mum could have stopped her going or tried to, and at least now she didn't have to fight for her right to go out with her brothers. She was now getting to keep to her vague promise that she would be the good daughter for the day but having to have her brothers look after her was just plain annoying and no doubt they would tease her about it greatly later and it wasn't going to be fun. They wrapped up against the cold December air before heading outside. Ginny was not given any time to feel any guilt about her own broom before Fred reached for Ron's broom, handing it to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leading her up to the paddock that they used to play Quidditch in. At least having some of her brothers around her, she was not going to get to mope all day. Maybe she was going to get some of that Weasley Christmas after all. Charlie was making all the difference. The Weasleys were not ones for letting a lack of a white Christmas get in the way of the annual snowball fight. The ground may have been frozen a green colour in the same paddock with not a flake of snow anywhere in sight but that was not going to make any difference. They had overcome this problem many times before. Charlie and George started making snow with their wands while Ginny and Fred made it into snowballs. Once the snowballs were ready and piled into different corners Ginny picked up Ron's broom. She let herself hover softly above the ground before grabbing two snowballs and kicking off. Enjoying the feeling of floating and feeling the happiness start to build from her lungs with each breath she took, it was almost as if flying again was breathing the life back into her. She even smiled her normal smile, using muscles in her face that she had not used for months, making them ache. The cold air hit her face and adrenaline filled her bloodstream. She smiled as she jetted up and down, weaving a little as she tested out the broom. It felt great to be back up there. This was where she belonged, other than in Harry's arms. She needed flying to be part of her life. She aimed two frozen missiles perfectly at George before diving back down to the ground. She may have been banned from honing her Quidditch ability, but the skill and talent were there and it was coming back so naturally. Ginny grabbed a snowball off one of the piles that were scattered around the ground in the paddock. Patting the snowball in her hands, she ducked, skilfully dodging Charlie's well-aimed snowball as easily as she had done Bludgers so often before. She found herself actually laughing as she managed to hit Charlie flat in the face. She was actually having fun and she was refusing to feel guilty about it. She was having one moment just to be herself and she knew how it was going to be cut short when they left the fight and went straight back into the war. She laughed again, her normally warm laugh, the one she thought had disappeared with Harry, as Fred and Charlie both hit George, making him fall. She stopped paying attention to the other two as she watched George pull up his broom as he recovered from a dive. She fell, slipping sideways on her broom, as she was hit squarely in the ribcage. She recovered her position and executed the perfect Quidditch move and as she flew upwards, she heard whoops from the other three. She must have done well if she had impressed the three of them. "You're getting pretty good, Ginny," Charlie commented when the onset of darkness ended the match about an hour later. "It's pretty impressive." She shrugged. "It's just fun to be back on a broom. It's liberating." "Must be hard for the future professional player to be banned," Charlie said as he matched her stride for stride going back to the house. "That's just a dream, and one that is defiantly not going to happen now," Ginny replied softly. "So few make it out of school to the British league and the scouts can hardly watch a banned player, so why would I even make their list now?" Charlie shrugged. "I guess so, but I reckon you're good enough and we Weasleys don't give praise like this normally." He looked directly at her and they both stopped walking for a moment. "It's hard to say this to your baby sister." Ginny raised her eyebrows. "You're really good and putting the rest of us to shame." They headed back into the house, leaving their boots and coats to dry in the kitchen. After a small meal of turkey and stuffing sandwiches they headed in to listen to the radio station of Molly's choice before saying their good-nights and going up to bed. By the next morning Charlie had headed up to see Bill and Fleur before he had to leave the country and head back to work. Giving his mother huge apologies for his fleeting visit, he promised he would come back and stay longer next time. The twins went back to their flat in Diagon Alley, ready for the start of the January sales at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, leaving the house feeling very empty and very, very cold. Ginny herself slowly headed downstairs after spending at least a full hour throwing paper balls aimlessly into her bedroom bin, with the thought of escaping on one of her brothers' brooms. Being at home was even more frustrating than being at school. Even if it was hard being there, school at least had the Death Eaters to strike against; here, it just felt like they were, for the most par,t hiding and doing nothing. "Hey, Mum," she muttered as she made her way into the kitchen. "Ginny," her mother smiled, "how are you?" "Fine," she shrugged as she repeated her well-rehearsed lie. Molly eyed her suspiciously and Ginny had no doubt her mother knew she was lying right now. "Why don't you take these out to your dad?" Molly passed her a plate of sandwiches and two mugs of tea on a tray. "He's working in the shed." "Yeah, I guess so," Ginny said, more than a little wary of her mum's motives as she grabbed a jacket before picking up the tray. She took it outside and made the short walk to the shed. She pushed open the door with more than a little trepidation. She was not stupid; she knew she was being sent down here for a reason. Her parents had obviously been talking about what to do about her and they had obviously decided that her father would be a better choice at reasoning with her. Maybe, since her mother used words so often, her dad using them would shock her into action—or more accurately, inaction. They were going to do anything they could to get her to behave and to keep her safe even if that meant them telling her not to be herself for the moment. Ginny pushed open the door. "Hey, Dad." Arthur looked up from Sirius' old bike, which he had been working on. "Ginny," he smiled at her. "Mum asked me to bring these down," Ginny shrugged as she set them down on the side and grabbed one of the cups of tea. "Mum won't let anyone starve." "That's your mum for you," he agreed as he took his own cup of tea, "she worries over all of us." "I know that." Arthur used his wand to shoot sparks at the motorbike. "She worries about you too, Ginny." "I know, Dad." Ginny took a seat. "You're hardly the first person to tell me this." "Well," he sighed and placed his wand down, making sure he was giving her his full attention. It was unnerving. "There are lots of people worried about you." "I know that too, Dad," she met his eyes, "and I'm not trying to make you worry, but I can't sit there doing nothing." "We're not doing 'nothing'; we're just being careful, making sure those we love don't get hurt." He took her hand and looked closely at it. "You know how much this hurts us, right? To see you hurt and watch you come home so defeated? Your mother hadn't seen you cry like that in years." Ginny just nodded; she knew exactly when he was referring to. Damn her guilt! When was it going to stop grating away at her insides? Why did life have to be this hard? "What they are doing to you hurts us," he paused, "just as much as it hurts you." "I know," she whispered, her words barely carrying in the air as she glanced downwards. Arthur tipped his daughter's head up so she was forced to look directly at him. "What's really going on at Hogwarts, Ginny?" Ginny shrugged. "They're just teaching us how to be good pure-bloods." Arthur kept his eyes fixed on his daughter, making her meet his gaze. "And what does that entail?" Ginny shrugged again; she needed to downplay this as much as possible, she didn't need to hurt him any more than she was going to. She knew that he was already both hurt and disgusted by what was happening at the Ministry. He didn't need to know that things were just as bad if not worse at Hogwarts. "Ginny," her dad raised his voice. She let out a long deep breath. This was not going to be easy and it seemed there was no way of getting herself out of it. This was just what her mother had planned when she had sent her down there. There was really no escape from this small shed, whereas it was much easier to flee the kitchen. "It's nothing, Dad, I swear." She glanced downwards as she tried to think of the right way to phrase, "We just have to listen in Muggle Studies to how Muggles and Muggle-borns are worse than animals. We just copy down." Arthur studied her face. "... and the Dark Arts?" "Similar." Worry creased his forehead and the frown lines were etched into his face. "And if that stubborn nature and temper gets the better of you?" "I get detention," she shrugged again; she was desperate for this to end, there was no need to hurt her parents. She just had to make sure she told them enough to satisfy them but not enough to hurt them with the grim realities of Hogwarts. "Just like I've done so many times before." "What kind of detention?" "Dad," she offered in protest. "Ginny." He overruled. She held her hand up. "Lines." Arthur took her hand, studying it as he ran his own along the words. Ginny could swear she could see tears sparkling in his blue eyes. "You will tell me if it gets worse won't you, Ginny? We'll get you out of there." "Will do," she replied, feeling only slightly guilty about lying about it. There was no way she was leaving this fight no matter how hard it got. Ginny glanced down at the motorbike, frantically thinking of a way to change the subject. "So what are you doing with the motorbike, Dad?" "Just fixing it for Harry," he smiled at her, "for when he gets back." Ginny ran her hands along the handle bars. She couldn't even start to think of ways to express her gratitude and the relief that she felt that her dad felt so strongly that they were going to get Harry back that he was already doing things to prepare for it. She smiled up at him. "Can I help?" Arthur laughed. "Only if you promise never to ride it." "Dad." Arthur sighed. Her dad knew only too well how stubborn she could be. "You'll wear a helmet?" Ginny smiled. "Will do." Life slipped almost back to normal at The Burrow. With the Ministry and Hogwarts out of their lives, no matter how temporarily it was, you could see the strain lift off them. They didn't have to act or to pretend. As hard as it was to live there, at least they could be themselves. On Sunday there was brief mention of going to see the Lovegoods, only to have the news come down just hours later that the house had exploded and now Luna's dad was missing too. Ginny's world came back, crashing around her. The guilt came back that they had enjoyed themselves, laughed around playing Quidditch as others were being taken from their homes. The shame of what had happened to Luna had returned, along with the guilt that they should have done so much more to help. Then there was the sense of helplessness that she was doing nothing. No matter how small their efforts at Hogwarts, she had to get back there; she had to do something. She had her energy back and needed to use it to strike back. By New Year's Eve, she had gone back to wallowing in her guilt and misery. She sat on the window ledge in her bedroom, letting her feet dangle just short of the tree branch below it. If she wanted to, she could climb straight out of this window, but instead she just stared out, watching through the darkness in the direction of Luna's house. She knew they weren't going to find her any time soon despite what they had sworn. Luna, Ron, Harry and Hermione, everyone she loved, was gone or still in danger and there was no end in sight to that. The New Year was not going to magically bring them back. This was just another grim day as the war dragged on and she stood to lose even more. Wasn't a New Year all about welcoming change and bringing a new start? So where was her New Year? Or where, at the very leas,t was a chance to get her old life back? Where was the news that this was all going to end and she was going to see everyone she loved again? Where was the magic of her New Year and a new start as she left this grim year behind her? Her door pushed open. "You going to come down?" Fred's voice drifted in. "People can't wait to see you." "I'll be down in a min," she said as she used her arm to dry her tears before swinging her legs round and dropping back down into her room. After quickly running a brush through her hair and grabbing the jumper off her bed, she headed downstairs. Christmas may have been quiet but New Year's Eve was not going to be, by the looks of it. The downstairs was packed with all of those her parents obviously could get to come. As much as they could, they were going to celebrate. Ginny was slightly shocked to see that Fred had brought Angelina Johnson with him; she had thought she would be with her family, but then George had quietly explained as he came over to say 'hi' with Lee Jordan that she had not wanted to be there, as it was too painful. Other than the twins' guest, there were Bill and Fleur who were clearly still the picture of newlyweds as they had their arms draped over each other. They were talking to Remus and Tonks, who was clearly sporting a small bump, while over in the corner was Andromeda sipping a glass of Firewhisky and talking to Ginny's parents. "So, George," Ginny said as she made her way back over to her brother, making sure to include both George and Lee in the joke, "Lee Jordan, is there something that you want to tell me?" George laughed. "At least I have a date." "Oh, Georgie," Lee mocked as he winked at George and smiled at Ginny, "don't let all our secrets out." "We were both dateless," George dropped his voice, so only Ginny and Lee could hear his words, "and then Fred said he was bringing Angelina." "I knew she'd need that much more support," Lee said just as quietly, picking up a beer and taking a long drink from it. "So which one of you two needs a pair of balloons?" Fred laughed as he led Angelina over with his hand tightly tucked around hers. "Unless one of you is dating Ginny." "What do you say, Ginny?" Lee winked at her. "Sorry, I'm taken," she smiled back at him as Lee shrugged and threw his arm around George as Ginny turned her attention to Fred's girlfriend. "Hi, Angelina." "Ginny," she said in much softer tones than Ginny had ever heard her use before, "how are you?" "I'm okay, coping," Ginny shrugged, "you?" "The same," Angelina echoed, "heard you got the captaincy for the team." Ginny forced a smile. "Well, had it for one match." "You'll have it back next year," Fred grinned at her, "once we get rid of all those Death Eaters." "Let's just hope I still have a broom," Ginny replied softly. "And Snape hasn't used it for cindering." "I'll let you borrow mine," Fred told her. They continued talking about Quidditch for a solid hour and it felt good. Good to be talking about their respective teams' chances for the British league while berating the suffering and lack of goals with the disappearance of several key — mainly Muggle-born — players. She drifted over to Remus and Tonks over half an hour later, before the conversation could either turn back to her or get serious about another matter. If she was not going to wallow tonight, she needed to circulate so she was able to keep her act up and not let them know how bad she was feeling. If anyone spent too long with her and got in too deep, she was sure the truth would come screaming out. "You look great," Ginny said to Tonks as she looked down at the small bump on her stomach, "how are you feeling?" "Really good, and he's getting really big too." She squeezed Remus' hand as she spoke. "How are you?" Ginny shrugged and repeated the lie, "Fine." Tonks frowned at the evasion; she obviously knew where that came from, before she dropped her voice and changed tack, obviously hoping to get information in another fashion. "So are you going for any other Founders' objects after the sword? After all, they are a set and it would be nice to see them all together and I wouldn't mind having that cup on my mantelpiece." "I'm think I'm done with the stealing at the moment, Harry only needed the sword," she smiled. "Besides, even if you could find the cup and the locket, the tiara's been missing for centuries. I don't think anyone's going to find that any time soon. We'd be better off getting the one from Luna's dad. It's probably as useful and looks — well, a hell of a lot more interesting." "You were there when Luna was taken?" Remus questioned as he squeezed Tonks' hand, as Ginny added a small nod in response, not wanting to say 'yes' and admit to the shame of letting it happen again. "Did they hurt you?" "No," Ginny whispered, "not really." "And do they think you know anything about Harry?" Remus continued. "No," Ginny shrugged, "and they really are right there; he left without telling me anything. I'm pretty much useless to them, hardly a threat at all." "... Unless you cause too much trouble." Ginny forced a smile as she echoed her old teacher's words, "... unless I cause too much trouble." She paused and looked at Remus. "Do you know where Harry is?" "I know even less than you do," he told her softly. The New Year was welcomed with mass celebration, small toasts to Harry, hopes that others, including Ted, would be able to return home. Whether the hope was false or not, they started their new year with the hope that everything would be okay and they would get that new start. Ginny slept in late on New Year's Day and then for the next couple of days before she was forced to get up to return to school on the Sunday. They got ready that morning with a number of prolonged hugs that Ginny passed around to each member of the family as the prize that you did not want to let go of in a game of Pass the Parcel. It was so much more than saying goodbye for just a few months, and they all knew it. Ginny tried to smile despite the worry that was clear on her family's faces and was now settling within her. The last two times she had travelled on the Hogwarts Express, there had been Death Eaters. The last two times she had been hurt, as she was found wanting against Death Eaters. And the last two times students had been taken. What was to stop that happening again? No, she couldn't let herself be tormented with those thoughts. She had nothing they wanted, as she'd told Remus and Tonks; she didn't know anything. She wasn't worth catching. Everything was going to be fine. It just had to be. The tension was worse than she had ever known it as she crossed the barrier at King's Cross Station with her mum. Parents seemed even more scared and worried and Ginny guessed they had good reason. As well as the two unexplained stops, Ginny knew the rest of the parents there probably had a better idea what was going on at the castle after listening to their children's stories over Christmas. She looked around the station and there seemed to be even fewer people there. Probably more had fled the country or gone into hiding, scared of what might happen to their children, and who could blame them? She let her mum give her a long hug and kiss her on her forehead before she glanced around the station, spotting Neville and his grandmother just by Andrew Harper and his parents. It was a relief to see Neville and know that nothing had happened to him over the Christmas holidays. She didn't know what she would have done if she had lost him, too. Ginny rushed over and threw her arms around him. She kept a tight hold of him as if she needed that physical proof that he was okay. Neville just smiled and hugged her back, obviously feeling the same. Neville finally broke the hug. "So, you ready to go back?" He eyed the Hogwarts Express suspiciously and asked, "Ready to get back on the train?" Ginny reached down to her trunk. "As I'm ever going to be." She glanced back at her mum and then to the train. "Let's get this fight back on track again."
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