A/N ~ I’m very proud of myself now that I’ve actually gotten a chapter up pretty quickly like I said I would! Anyways, this chapter is interesting, to put it lightly. You’ll see what I mean. And, it’s got romance finally! This is supposed to be a romance fic, and I haven’t had very much romance in it. Oh well. Please read AND review. Thank you! ~
______________________________________________________________________
Ginny pulled from behind her back a long black quill with an extra sharp point. She beamed at Sirius, laying it down on his desk. “Ginny?” he said after a moment of gazing suspiciously at the quill as if it would jump up and start doing back flips at any moment. “I already have a quill.”
Ginny rolled her eyes, as if anyone would have known that this was a special quill just by looking at it. “This is a Quick-Quotes Quill,” she said happily. Sirius’s eyebrows rose. “Hermione sort of stole it from Rita Skeeter so that if she did start writing lies again, she couldn’t say that the quill had done it without her knowing or something like that. I don’t know, Hermione told me why,” Ginny said impatiently. “Anyways, Hermione found out that Rita had put a spell on it so it would write exaggeratedly instead of what was actually said. Hermione did the counter-jinx, so now it’ll write down exactly what you say.” Ginny smiled.
“Wow,” Sirius said, picking up the quill, and examining it in the fading sunlight. He looked up at Ginny with an impressed smile on his face. “Thanks. This will definitely save me a lot of time.”
“You’re welcome,” Ginny replied. That’s when Sirius noticed that Ginny still held something behind her back. It must have been fairly small because Ginny held it with only one hand. Ginny smiled, noticing where Sirius’s eyes were looking. “Yes, I have something else,” she said, making Sirius look up at her.
“Well, are you going to show me?” Sirius asked after Ginny just stood there smiling for a few moments. After he said that, Ginny continued to stand there smiling. “What, is it some kind of special paper now?” Sirius added sarcastically. Ginny’s smile became bigger, and she shook her head. “Oh, now I’m really intrigued,” Sirius said, again, sarcastically, though he really was curious as to what it was. And Ginny just kept on smiling.
* * *
After Harry was snapped back to reality, he was informed about what the conversation had turned to- the reopening of Hogwarts. Bill had been asking Harry if he had thought they would reopen it. Harry just shook his head, not saying a word. He chanced a glance at Ron and Hermione, who both looked a bit uneasy, although Hermione was disguising it better.
“Well, I for one am very surprised that they’ve decided to reopen it,” Mrs. Weasley said. “Of course, the safety issue was a big one, but I think that Hogwarts is safer then staying at home personally. Even without Albus, it’s still a great deal more wizards to defend each other than if an attack occurred at someone’s home. But the governors didn’t think so. They thought there’d be a higher risk of an attack at the school, so it would just be putting more wizards in danger.”
Harry thought he could sense Moody’s magical eye swivel in his direction when Mrs. Weasley had mentioned a ‘higher risk of an attack at the school’, but he didn’t look over at Moody to see. There wouldn’t be a higher risk of an attack of Hogwarts because of him this year anyways. Of course, the only people that knew that were himself, Ron, and Hermione, but all the same, it was still true.
“Well, I guess it makes sense,” Lupin said thoughtfully. “Both your point, Molly, and the governors’. I wonder why they changed their mind though.”
“Well, maybe they were planning on reopening it all along,” Kingsley said. “The safety issue is of course the biggest, but maybe there were other things. Like, of course, the education issue. All of the kids that are young and barely educated, especially those that are Muggle-Born, would be in a magical world that’s on the brink of war, but they wouldn’t have any experience. Unless, of course, their parents decided they would go to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons instead, but that’s their only choices.”
“No, that’s not true,” Ella said, speaking for the first time in a while. Everyone looked over at her surprisingly, as if they forgot she was there. “There are other schools. Smaller ones like the one I went to.”
“Who’re you?” Bill and Charlie said at the same time, rather rudely as it sounded. They hadn’t actually noticed she was there until that moment.
Ella held her head high. “I am Ella Jerrica, Hermione’s twin sister.” This took a second to sink in. When it did, Bill and Charlie’s mouths dropped open so much that they looked like they would fall off if they stretched any further. Both men looked from Ella to Hermione, shocked.
“What the bloody hell-is this some kind of prank?” Charlie asked.
Ella giggled. “No.”
“You know, we really know nothing about you,” Ron said. Ella looked at him curiously. “Maybe you should do what Sirius-’’ Hermione clamped a hand over his mouth violently. Bill and Charlie looked at Ron in a strange way. But everyone else was rigid. Ron took Hermione’s hand off his face. “Uh, do a serious explaining,” he said awkwardly.
“Everyone’s acting really weird,” Bill said. “You suddenly have a twin,” he said, cocking his head at Hermione, “Ginny isn’t here, and she wouldn’t be outside this long if she was just ‘getting some fresh air’, and you all just went rigid when Ron screwed up what he was trying to say. Is there something we should know?” Charlie nodded anxiously in agreement.
“Sirius is back from the dead!” Neville blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer. Everyone shot him accusatory glances, and then they looked fearfully at Charlie and Bill.
“Serious is back from the dead?” Charlie repeated, only meaning it in a different, even more confusing way. “You’re serious that who is back from the dead?”
“No. Not serious, Sirius,” Neville said, not helping at all. “Sirius Black is back from the dead. Well he was never dead I guess, but he’s here. He’s outside with Ginny.” Neville smiled, feeling he had accomplished something.
Bill and Charlie looked around at everyone as if someone would contradict what Neville had just said, but no one did. Charlie let out a sort of nervous laugh. “Is this some kind of nut house?” He looked around the room at all of the faces that seemed to have an almost guilty expression. “Sirius can’t really be alive, and here.”
“Yeah,” Bill agreed, looking at everyone as if they were crazy. No one said anything. Bill massaged his temples violently. “This cannot be happening,” he mumbled.
“Look,” Harry said, “none of us believed it at first either. But it’s really him, and you’ll believe it once you see him.”
“Oh yeah?” Charlie asked. “Well, let’s see him then. Didn’t you say he’s outside?”
“Yeah, but we shouldn’t go out there yet. He’s writing down all that happened to him inside the veil so he doesn’t have to keep telling the story over and over again,” Hermione said, glancing at the window.
“Fine. We’ll wait,” Charlie said, sitting back and folding his arms.
The conversation kept changing from there, but everyone tried to keep it away from Sirius. Eventually, Bill said, “So you two are really twins? You look nothing alike.” Obviously, this was aimed at Hermione and Ella.
“Yes, we’re really twins, and I’m not Muggle-Born. The Grangers aren’t my real parents, they adopted me,” Hermione said.
“What?” Tonks asked. “You didn’t tell us that. You just told us you two were twins.”
“Well, we were separated at birth,” Ella said. ‘Or at least at a young age. Our parents were killed by Voldemort-“
Ron flinched violently, again, and Hermione slapped him. “Knock it off Ron,” she said exasperatedly. “Other people say it, why don’t you?” Ron didn’t answer.
“Anyways,” Ella went on, “We were put into an orphanage, a Muggle orphanage actually. One family, the Mayorsons, adopted me, and the Grangers adopted Hermione. My family, though they were non-magical, told me about everything, but the Grangers, also non-magical obviously, didn’t tell Hermione anything. My family was killed recently,” Ella finished sadly.
“Blimey,” Fred and George mumbled simultaneously under their breaths.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Tonks exclaimed. “What happened?”
“Ella looked around at everyone, and once again took a deep breath. Even though she had already said it, it was still hard to say. “Voldemort killed them to get to me because he somehow found out who I am. He probably would’ve done the same to Hermione, but he doesn’t know who she really is.”
“Oh my gosh,” Tonks whispered, but everyone else was silent.
“Why would he try to get to you though? Who were your parents?” Kingsley asked.
“Ed and Sabrina Jerrica,” Ella said. “We’re the last two in the long line of our family.”
“They were a fine couple,” Moody growled, speaking for the first time in a long time. “Very powerful.”
Ella and Hermione gasped. “You knew our parents?” Hermione asked.
“Sure did,” Moody growled. “Weren’t in the Order, but they worked on our side. Undercover, and not many people knew about their work. One found out, a spy. He told Voldemort, and they were, I’m afraid to say, killed shortly thereafter.”
“What were they like?” Ella asked. “I don’t even know what they looked like.”
“Me neither obviously,” Hermione said.
“Well,” Moody said, “Your dad, Ed, he was tall, six-foot something. He had dark brown hair, a prominent nose, and hazel eyes. Your mom had reddish-brown frizzy hair,” Hermione squealed in delight, finally knowing where she got her hair from, “and dark blue eyes. They were a great couple, very strong willed.”
“Wow,” Ella mumbled. “I can’t believe you knew them.” She smiled sadly. “I wish I could have.” No one knew what to say to that.
“Anyways, why are you here now? Did you come because of your-um-family?” Lupin asked awkwardly.
“Yes. Hermione is the only family I have now,” Ella answered. “But of course, the Grangers will take me in, and I guess I can go to Hogwarts now. My other school was on the other side of England, so there’s no point going there. And besides, I only have one year left.” Hermione stared fixedly down at her feet. She wouldn’t be going back to Hogwarts, so would Ella still want to? What would be the point?
“Well, we’re glad you’re here, and you’re most certainly welcome to stay for the rest of the summer with Hermione,” Mrs. Weasley said, smiling warmly.
“Thank you Mrs. Weasley,” Ella replied politely.
“So, when are we going to see Sirius?” Charlie asked, glancing at his watch impatiently.
“Oh, be patient,” Mrs. Weasley said. “You’ll see him when he’s done with his document.” She said this in a flustered, yet formal sort of way.
“I’ll be right back,” Harry said suddenly, and everyone looked over at him in a surprised way. The distracted expression on his face told them that he had probably not been listening to the conversation again, and had just thought of something. This was, indeed, correct. Harry got up, and walked upstairs.
Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, and then got up and followed. Though Harry didn’t look at them like before to signal that he wanted them to follow, they could feel that something was up. They went upstairs, and found Harry in Ron’s room, as could be expected.
“Harry, mate, what’s up?” Ron asked. Hermione too looked at Harry expectantly.
Harry looked from Ron to Hermione. He opened his mouth to answer, but Fred and George suddenly burst into the room. “We’d like to help,” they said simultaneously.
“With what?” Hermione shot.
George looked pityingly down at Hermione. “With Neville’s grandmother, of course.”
Harry looked at the twins, amazed. “How did you know that’s what I was doing? Thinking up a plan.”
“Well, because, Harry, mate,” Fred said casually, “what else could you have been thinking about?”
“Ginny-“ George started.
“Sirius-“ Fred continued.
“Ella-“
“Dumbledore-“
“Ron-“
“Hermione-“
“Or us!” they finished simultaneously, beaming.
“Who’re you kidding?” Ron asked seriously. “That’s a fair bit of choices.”
“Ron, you great, stupid prat,” Fred repeated, “We were kidding.”
“Well then how’d you know?” Ron asked suspiciously.
“Because all of our years with pranking experience gave us good practice in knowing what people are thinking about,” George said. “You have to know what people are thinking so you can plan how to get around it.” He smiled. “All in a day’s work, little bro.”
“Whatever,” Harry said, cutting Ron off who had opened his mouth to reply. “We’re getting off the subject.”
“Okay, but one more question,” Ron said. “How’d you even know that Neville’s grandmother is missing in the first place?” he questioned the twins.
“Because Neville and Harry were having a heated discussion, and we couldn’t help but overhear,” Fred answered shrugging. “Another reason we ‘guessed’ what he was thinking about.”
Harry shook his head, clearly annoyed. “Can we please stop with all the questions now?” Everyone nodded, looking at Harry attentively. “Okay. But actually Fred, George, I think you can help. Don’t you have a whole bunch of weird stuff at the shop that could possibly be used in finding someone?” Harry asked, turning towards the twins. They looked at each other, smiled, looked back at Harry, and nodded. “Good,” Harry said. “Let’s go. We need to find something, and I’ll tell you what I was thinking.” Then, three loud ‘cracks’ filled the room with noise, and Hermione and Ron were alone before they even knew what happened.
“Well, should we go too?” Hermione asked Ron.
Ron considered. “No,” he said finally. Hermione shrugged, sitting down on Ron’s bed. Ron went over and sat next to her. They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Ron said, “What a day, eh? And he lay back on the bed.
Hermione smiled. “Yeah. Maybe tomorrow will be less… hectic.” Then she paused before adding, “Nah.”
Ron looked up at Hermione. He noticed that she looked rather pretty sitting there, looking out the window innocently. Then she looked back at him, and Ron turned crimson.
They sat in silence for minutes at a time, every now and then glancing at each other, smiling, and looking away. The sky was getting dark outside the window, and no one came up to disturb their little ‘quality time’ as some might call it. Sometimes they’d hear laughter coming from downstairs, or a bird outside, but other than that, nothing disturbed the silence either.
Then, finally, Ron mustered up enough courage, and looked up at Hermione without looking away. She noticed, and looked down at him. “What?” she asked. Hermione didn’t sound mad or accusatory, but more interested to know what he was thinking.
Ron turned a red to match his hair. He took a deep breath, and said-or rather stuttered- “Do you want- would you- do want to?” He sort of ended it there, not quite being able to finish the sentence, or sentences as it turned out.
Hermione cocked her head to one side. “What?” she asked again.
“Do you want to-er- you know, when Harry’s…” Ron groaned in frustration, and mentally told himself to just get it over with. “When we’re in Godric’s Hollow, after the wedding, and Harry’s off by himself doing whatever he’s going to do, because at some point he’s going to want us to stay behind somewhere for a little bit so he can go off on his own and-“
“Ron?” Hermione asked. “What are you trying to say? You’re sort of, erm, rambling on a bit.”
Ron was fighting the urge to punch himself violently. “Well, when we’re on our own sometime, do you want to- do you want to do something together?” Ron squeezed his eyes shut, afraid of Hermione’s answer. Finally, he opened them cautiously, and… Hermione was looking a bit- was it confused?
“Do mean, like a date?” Hermione asked.
Ron tried to remain calm. This was a lot harder than it was supposed to be. “Well-er- yeah?” It came out as more of a question than the strong reply Ron was going for.
Hermione smiled, and blushed. “Well, I- erm- okay,” she said. “That sounds nice.”
Ron was trying desperately to look casual about this. But, he couldn’t help beaming. At least he succeeded in fighting another urge, this time to jump up and down and scream in delight. But, he supposed, that was a bit much. After all, it was just a date… a date! With Hermione!
Then Hermione blushed again, grabbed Ron’s hand, squeezed it, jumped up, and ran out of the room briskly. This all happened so fast, Ron was left lying there confused for a moment. Then, he smiled to himself in triumph. “Piece of cake, once you get down to it,” Ron thought.
* * *
Ginny decided that it was now okay to hand Sirius the other thing she was holding. There was really no point keeping him in suspense any longer. And besides, it was getting dark out. Very dark, actually. Like, almost pitch-black. “So much for Sirius getting to write anything now, even with the Quick-Quotes Quill,” Ginny thought.
Sirius looked at Ginny curiously. “Well?” he asked. “Just show me already. Then we have to go inside. I’ll just do this later,” he added, gesturing at the desk.
“Okay, okay,” Ginny said at last. But, before she could show Sirius what she was holding, there was a loud ‘crack’ in the distance, but it was to dark now to see what, or who, had made the sound. Both Sirius and Ginny were looking in the direction of the sound, but no further sound came for a few moments. Then, they heard footsteps, and a silhouette of someone came into view. Ginny and Sirius glanced at each other without saying anything, but then looked back at the person who was drawing closer with each step. But, the person then noticed Ginny and Sirius, and stopped in their tracks. All three stared at each other, not saying a word.
* * *
Hermione pranced happily into Ginny’s room, where her suitcase sat on the floor. She plopped down on the bed, and rested her head on her hands. A date with Ron. Who would’ve thought? But, they had almost gone on a date sort of last year, if Slughorn’s Christmas party counted anyways. Lavender had gotten in the way then, but now there were no obstacles. It would be rather awkward though, without Harry there. Weren’t she and Ron supposed to be best friends? What if they started going out, but then they broke up? What would happen to their friendship? Who would Harry side with?
“I’m worrying too much,” Hermione thought to herself. “It’ll be fine. It’s just one date.”
Then, Ella walked into the room suddenly, disturbing Hermione’s thoughts. She didn’t knock. Ella just walked in smiling, and sat down next to Hermione on the bed. “Hi,” she said. “What’cha thinking about?”
Hermione glanced at Ella. She could tell her sister anything, right? Even if they hardly knew each other… oh well. “I’m going on a date with Ron,” Hermione answered. Her voice came out surprisingly confident, Hermione was happy to note.
Ella beamed. “Good for you.” Then Ella just looked at Hermione for a second. “You like him, I can tell.”
“Well of course I like him,” Hermione replied laughing. “We’ve been best friends since I was eleven. Ron and Harry of course.”
“I don’t mean like that silly,” Ella said, teasing Hermione, who blushed at this comment.
“So, why are you up here?” Hermione asked, remembering that Ella had just walked in about a minute ago.
“The adults were getting so boring,” Ella said. “I just kind of got up and left, but I don’t think anyone noticed really, except Neville. He followed me, but he went to find Ron, Harry, Fred, and- what’s the other twin’s name again? It slipped my mind,” Ella added.
“George,” Hermione said.
“Oh yeah, him,” Ella went on. “I saw you sitting here since the door is open, so I just walked in.” Ella brought her legs up onto the bed, and sat cross-legged. “I like these people,” she added randomly. “They’re nice and friendly. And Mrs. Weasley makes good food.”
Hermione laughed. “She loves to cook.” Then she remembered something. “Harry and George and Fred are all gone, just so you know. In case you went looking for them or something.”
“Oh, okay,” Ella said. “Where’d they go?”
Hermione sighed. This was going to turn into a long story, she could just feel it. “Okay, first of all, you know Neville? Of course you know Neville, anyways, he lives with his grandmother. Have you ever heard of Bellatrix Black?”
Ella cocked her head to one side, and glanced at the ceiling in thought. “She’s a Death Eater, but I don’t remember why I would remember that.”
“Yeah, she’s a Death Eater. And she’s also-“
Ella gasped. “She’s Sirius’s cousin, isn’t she?” Ella asked suddenly. “It said that in the newspaper two years ago. Oh,” Ella added, “that’s why I remember her. She was one of the ten Death Eaters to break out of Azkaban two years ago, when Fudge was still Minister.”
“Well, yeah,” Hermione said, even though that wasn’t what she had been about to say. “She is Sirius’s cousin, and she’s the one who forced Sirius through the veil in the first place. That’s a long story,” Hermione added at the curious look on Ella’s face. After all, Ella didn’t even know about the veil, did she? Oh well. “Anyways, Bellatrix Black was sent to Azkaban because she tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom into insanity by means of the Cruciatis Curse.”
Ella gasped again, looking horrorstricken. “It said that in the paper too, but I hadn’t known who the Longbottoms were. Were “ were they Neville’s parents?” she asked in a whisper.
“They are Neville’s parents,” Hermione said. “They’re still alive. They’re in St. Mungo’s. But that’s why Neville lives with his grandmother.” Hermione paused, and took a deep breath. This was hard to say, especially because she had seen Alice Longbottom two years ago in St. Mungo’s. And Frank had been there too, behind a curtain. It was really not fair how good people had to suffer like that when the bad, like Bellatrix, lived free.
“Hermione? What does all this have to do with where Fred, George, and Harry are?” Ella asked cautiously.
“Neville’s grandmother is missing,” Hermione answered. “They went to Fred and George’s shop to see if there was anything there that could be helpful in finding her.”
Ella clasped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, poor Neville,” she said. “I feel so bad. Maybe I can help find her in some way,” she said hopefully.
Hermione frowned. “I doubt it,” she said sadly. “She could be anywhere.” This left the two sitting in silence, thinking.
* * *
“Hey Neville,” Ron said, as Neville walked into his room.
“Hello,” Neville replied, sitting down on the floor. “All the adults downstairs were saying stuff that I really didn’t care about. And Ella left, so I did too. That’s why I’m here,” Neville added unnecessarily. “Oh, by the way, your dad’s home from work. In case you wanted to go down and say hi to him or something.”
“Okay,” Ron said simply. He hadn’t really paid any attention to what Neville had just said. His mind was still on Hermione. She said yes!
“Where’s Harry, and Fred and George?” Neville asked, looking around the room as if they were hiding behind a chair.
“They-uh- went to Fred and George’s shop for a little bit,” Ron answered. He had actually listened that time. Ron didn’t really know why he hadn’t told Neville that they were looking for things that could be helpful in finding his grandmother, but Ron didn’t really want to bring it up at the moment.
Neville looked at Ron for a second. “I’m kind of tired,” he said. “I think I’ll go to bed now. You don’t have to leave or anything though. Could you just turn off the light?”
“Um, sure,” Ron said, glancing at his watch. It was only nine o’clock. Oh well. Maybe Neville always went to bed early in the summer. Ron got up, turned the light off, and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. There was really no point staying if he was just going to be sitting there in the dark, doing nothing. He decided to go find Hermione, who he already knew was in Ginny’s room.
He walked down the hall, but stopped short of Ginny’s door. Ella was in there too. He didn’t want to walk in there when they were probably talking ‘girl-talk’. Ron shuddered at the thought of it. Instead, he turned the other way, and went downstairs. No one seemed to notice when he sat down on the floor, and listened in on the conversation as if he had been there the entire time.
* * *
“Hello?” came a shaky voice that Ginny vaguely recognized. It was a woman’s voice, and it sounded more apprehensive than anything.
“Hello,” Sirius replied. He glanced at Ginny, but it was now so dark that he could barely see her, even though they were only about five feet apart. Then, Sirius looked back in the direction of the woman, whoever it was.
Then Sirius had just a purely brilliant idea, and he picked up his wand while muttering, “Lumos.” Finally, the three could all see each other.
Ginny gasped. She knew this woman. The woman knew her too apparently, for she had smiled in relief. “Mrs. Longbottom?” Ginny asked disbelievingly. “Is-is that you?” Ginny knew perfectly well it was her, even though she wasn’t quite the same without her stuffed-vulture hat. Mrs. Longbottom’s face was very white, and her hair had become grayer since Ginny had last seen her. Her clothes looked almost dirty, and there was a small red spot on her left arm that Ginny thought might be blood.
“You’re a Weasley, aren’t you?” Mrs. Longbottom answered, though she didn’t actually answer Ginny’s question. But, she didn’t really need to.
“Yes,” Ginny said. “I’m Ginny.”
“Excuse me,” Sirius said, and the two women looked over at him. Sirius looked a bit confused, Ginny couldn’t help noticing. “Uh, what’s going on?” he asked. “You-“
“Is Neville here?” Mrs. Longbottom cut him off. “Please, tell me he’s here.” She seemed so intent on finding Neville that the sight of Sirius, whether she thought it was him or not, didn’t seem to have any effect on her.
“He is,” Ginny answered, and Mrs. Longbottom seemed to relax a bit. “C’mon, let’s go inside,” Ginny said. “You can tell us where you’ve been then. Neville’s been worried sick.” Ginny walked over to Mrs. Longbottom and took her arm, guiding her towards the door. Sirius, still looking confused, got up and followed them, leaving the desk and its contents behind.
Ginny kept the ‘mysterious object’ tightly in her grasp in the hand that was not guiding Mrs. Longbottom as she led the way into the house. As she walked in, followed by Sirius and then by Mrs. Longbottom, every head in the room turned her way. For a moment, everyone just stared numbly at the three, and then Ron burst out, “Mrs. Longbottom?”
Mrs. Longbottom looked distractedly in Ron’s direction, studying him for a moment. Then she looked around the room. “Where’s Neville?” she asked, turning to Ginny. Ginny turned to everyone else. “Where’s Neville?” she demanded of the room.
“He’s upstairs,” Ron answered. “I’ll go wake him up. He said he was going to sleep.” He got up, walked over to the stairs, glanced back at Ginny and Sirius questioningly, glanced at Mrs. Longbottom, quickly looked away, and then went up the stairs.
“Here, Mrs. Longbottom, have a seat,” Tonks said, getting up and offering her the now-empty seat. Mrs. Longbottom almost collapsed into the chair, and then smiled up at Tonks gratefully. Her smile seemed as if it took effort.
“No, here Tonks, take my seat,” Lupin said, getting up. “Sit. I insist.”
Tonks smiled, and sat down. “Thank you, Remus,” she replied.
Then they all sat in an awkward silence. Mrs. Longbottom sat with her head leaning back, her eyes closed. Everyone kept glancing her way, and then at Ginny questioningly, but no one said anything until Ron appeared at the foot of the stairs with a groggy-looking Neville.
“Gran!” he exclaimed suddenly, and Mrs. Longbottom’s eyes shot open suddenly. Neville ran at her, bent down, and gave her a hug. After they broke apart, they looked each other up and down. “What happened, Gran?” Neville asked, his eyes wide.
Everyone silently awaited an answer. ________________________________________________________________________
A/N ~ Still a cliff- hanger. And still, you don’t know what Ginny’s holding. I’m really keeping you in suspense on that one. *Laughs evilly* Oh well. Please review, people, or I might just have to wait until the chapter after the next one to say what Ginny’s got, and where Neville’s grandmother has been too. You know, I’ll find something else to talk about if I don’t get enough reviews. Oh yeah, I hope you liked the chapter. It was nice and long, just like a lot of you like it. Now you can review. ~