Disclaimer: This J.K. Rowling’s world. Thank you for letting my mind wander...
Part Two: Craig
Ginny sat back in her chair as Craig readied himself to tell his story to her. He took a deep breath and then looked back to Ginny.
“Okay, I’m ready,” he announced. “I don’t think I’ve told this to anyone before, but I’m adopted. I’ve only lived with the family that I live with now for about four years. I still remember my real family. My mom was incredibly nice and she was always there for me. My dad wasn’t around a lot and when he was, he wasn’t a very nice person to be with. Although my parents were still together, it felt like they were apart. And I kept wishing that my mom would just find someone new and I told her that once. For the first time, I heard the fear in her voice. She told me to never let my father hear me speak like that and that it was only her that kept him away from me. When I asked why she kept him away, she just shook her head and told me that I was too young to understand.”
Craig paused. Ginny saw in his eyes that he held great hatred for his father. She wondered why. Then Craig started to speak again.
“Then one summer day about five years ago, I remember coming home from baseball early because practice had been cancelled since the weather was bad. I used to like to play Muggle baseball during the summer. Anyway, when I opened the door to the house, I heard my mother’s voice begging ‘No…please…don’t!’ After that came my father’s voice telling her to shut up and I knew that something was wrong. So I dumped my backpack on the doorstep after first grabbing my baseball bat and hurried up the stairs to my parents’ bedroom. When I got to the door, I paused and listened. Dad was telling Mom that she was stupid and that she never did anything right. He said that he was going to take me far away so I wouldn’t be ‘disturbed’ by her anymore. She pleaded with him, but he didn’t hear a word. Then…then…” Craig tried to say something but he turned his face away as if it was too horrible for words. Ginny took his hand to comfort him.
“Craig, it’s okay. You can tell me. What did your dad do next?” Ginny asked. Craig pulled his hand from hers and pounded his fist hard on the table, startling Ginny.
“He hit her clean across the face as if she weren’t human. Then he pulled out his wand and used some curse on her which I don’t remember. It all happened so quickly. All I knew was that I had to stop him somehow and I remembered that I was holding my baseball bat. I pushed open the door and my father turned around. He yelled at me to get out, but I didn’t leave. I inched closer to him with my bat behind my back and when I got close enough, I struck him so hard that he didn’t know what hit him. My dad is a big man, too, so it was a little surprising when he fell over. He was mad and I knew it, but I had to do something so I hit him again.
“I had forgotten that he had a wand and I didn’t so when he finally got up and aimed his wand at me, I panicked. I ran toward him to try and take the wand from him, but it was no use. He shot some curse at me and I felt pain throughout my entire body. It was horrible. When the pain finally lifted, he asked me if I was ready to behave. I nodded and rushed over to my mother, who was lying in a puddle of blood on the floor. I shook her praying that she’d wake up, but she never did. She never would. My father told me that all of it was my fault and that I should be punished. The next thing I remember is running as fast as I could away from the house. I ran and I ran and I ran. Finally, I don’t know how long I had been running, but I found some shops. I ran into the nearest one and the clerk stopped me. I tried to break free, but he was strong. When I looked back, my father was nowhere to be found. I spent a lot of time in the Muggle police station explaining everything, but I changed a few parts because they were Muggles. So that’s why I’m adopted. I was ten at the time and I spent two years hoping for a nice family to take me in,” Craig finished.
Ginny looked at her friend with sad eyes. She couldn’t imagine witnessing her mother’s death. It would be too horrible to even think about. Then she pictured Harry watching Sirius die and immediately she knew that she couldn’t even begin to feel what he feels. A tear fell from her eye for both Harry and Craig. Ginny was speechless, but she felt the need to say something.
“Craig, I’m so sorry,” she whispered gently. He shrugged.
“It’s the past now. That’s not my real problem, just the background. Ginny, my father’s back. He hasn’t found me yet, but I know he will. My new family is in danger and it’s my fault. I don’t know what to do. My new sister is only three years old. I can’t let anything happen to them just because they adopted me! It’s not right,” Craig explained. Ginny saw the fear in his eyes and she felt it, too. There’s nothing worse than dreading what’s coming. She felt it everyday when she worried about Harry. Craig stood up suddenly still clutching whatever it was that he held in his hand. Ginny looked up questioningly.
“I’ll be right back,” he muttered quickly and then hurried off toward the other side of the room where he disappeared through a door. Ginny knew that he needed some time to himself to collect his thoughts. She looked around for a while and then went to take a sip from her mug. All the hot chocolate was gone, but she craved for more. So she took the mug with her to the counter. Mr. Waterbut was busy writing something down and he didn’t look up when Ginny approached. She waited patiently.
“Um, Mr. Waterbut? Sir?” she finally said after waiting a couple minutes. He looked up and she stared at him waiting for a response.
“Miss Weasley, kindly say what you would like to say. I’m very busy,” he replied in a bored tone.
“Well, I was just wondering if I could”hey! I never told you my last name. How did you know?” she observed forgetting about her lack of hot chocolate. He rolled his eyes looked back down at his work. Ginny groaned.
“Why won’t you tell me anything? You have us here, at least let us know what’s going on!” she demanded. He looked up again clearly annoyed now.
“You may leave any time you like, Miss Weasley,” he suggested.
“Why can’t you just tell us?” she pushed.
“Because it’s not my job to figure that out. It’s yours. Now please, you came up here for something, what was it?” he said. Ginny tapped her foot impatiently. She hated it when people spoke cryptically, but she gave up.
“May I please have some more hot chocolate? It’s delicious,” she asked politely. Mr. Waterbut smiled.
“Of course you can. I’m glad that you like it!” He took her mug and poured her some more and handed it back to her happily. She took the cup and sipped it slightly.
“Now, Miss Weasley, is there anything else you needed? Perhaps you would like to discuss something?” implied Mr. Waterbut.
“Nope, I’m all set. Thank you!” Ginny answered quickly and she turned to head back to the table.
“You know where to find me,” she heard Mr. Waterbut call behind her. She nodded and walked quickly to her seat. Craig wasn’t back yet. The dim glow of the fireplace lit the table. She sat for a minute and then got up again. She headed over to where the little girl was playing and sat down on the rug next to her. The girl stopped playing and went over to Ginny, her golden hair bouncing behind her.
“What’s your name?” the small girl said in a squeaky voice. Ginny smiled.
“Ginny,” she replied. The girl thought for a moment and then she sat down right next to Ginny.
“Ooh, I like that name! My name is Hayleigh. I’m four,” she said as he held up four fingers proudly. Hayleigh’s blue eyes were wide as she talked to Ginny. Ginny could tell that she wanted the attention.
“Are your parents here, Hayleigh?” Ginny asked kindly. She saw tears begin to form in the young girl’s eyes. Immediately Ginny realized that it was the wrong thing to ask.
“I don’t know where my mommy and daddy are. I couldn’t find home so I came in here. Mr. Blenky gave me some toys to play with,” Hayleigh sobbed. Then she jumped into Ginny’s arms surprising her. Ginny awkwardly held the small girl and she felt her heart melt. Hayleigh was lost from home and scared. Ginny felt like at that moment she would do anything for her but she didn’t know what she could do.
“It’s okay, sweetie. You’ll be fine,” Ginny soothed. She stroked Hayleigh’s hair out of her eyes and dried her tears. Hayleigh continued to cry and Ginny didn’t know what to do. She held onto Hayleigh and felt a tear fall from her own eye. Quickly brushing it away, Ginny caught sight of Craig walking back into the room. As she held the four year old, she waved to him. He saw her and headed over grinning.
“Making friends?” he smirked. Ginny pretended to glare at his joke. He shrugged and watched the girl in Ginny’s arms. She was quieting down now and she turned to look at Craig. He tried to give her a reassuring smile.
“Who are you?” she demanded as she wiped her eyes.
“I’m Craig,” he replied. She got up off of Ginny to get a closer look at him.
“You look mad. Do you miss your mommy, too?” she asked innocently. Craig glanced sharply at Ginny who had her hand over her mouth. Hayleigh had no idea of the truth behind her question.
“Yeah, I do. Come here,” he said softly. Hayleigh hesitated for a moment and then bounced over to Craig. He picked her up and set her on the table. She kicked her feet playfully and smiled up at him. Ginny wondered what Craig was going to do.
“Do you have a dad?” he inquired. Hayleigh nodded her head. “Do you like your dad?” he continued.
“I love my daddy. He comes home and plays with me everyday. He tucks me into bed every night. Wanna play with me and my dolly?” she asked as she tried to get down from the table. Craig ignored her question and kept her up there. Ginny wanted to see where he was going with this.
“That’s really good. This is important. When you get home, tell your mom and dad that you love them. Then give them a really big hug. Will you do that for me?” Craig said. His voice was hollow and Ginny could see the gloom on his face. Hayleigh didn’t understand but she nodded her head anyway. Then she tried to get down again and Craig helped her. Ginny handed her the doll and then stood up to go over to Craig. Craig was watching Hayleigh and he seemed not to notice Ginny.
“Are you alright?” she asked him worriedly. He seemed to snap out of his trance as he looked at her.
“Yeah, I’m good. She doesn’t understand what she has,” Craig stated as he pointed at Hayleigh.
“She’s only four years old. She’s more concerned with who her next playmate is,” Ginny explained.
“Good point,” he agreed. Then he took out the piece of paper that he was holding earlier. Ginny stared at it. He noticed her focus and showed her what he was holding. Ginny didn’t understand. On the paper was a bunch of scribbling and a stick figure person.
“My sister drew that for me. It says ‘I love you Craig.’ I’m talented enough to read three year old scribbles. See that?” He pointed at the stick figure, “That’s me,” he explained proudly. Ginny laughed.
“Oh? I see you’ve got an artist in the family,” she teased. Craig chuckled.
“My sister, Ellie, is one of a kind. She’ll come right up to you no matter who you are and cheer you right up. God, I wish she was here right now. I haven’t seen her in a long time,” Craig muttered. The smile faded from Ginny’s face as quickly as it had come. She understood what Craig was implying. It sounded oddly familiar.
“Craig…you need to go back to them,” she urged. Craig didn’t seem at all surprised by her advice. He leaned against the table.
“You don’t understand. It’s not safe,” he argued. Ginny shook her head irritably.
“I understand more than you think. Quit trying to be the hero and go back to them. If you explain it to them, I bet they’ll know what to do. Did you even try explaining the situation to them?” Ginny asked.
“No. It’s too late. If I go back, my father will find me,” he said. Ginny could sense his anger rising. Obviously he was short tempered.
“Can’t you just try?” she insisted.
“Damn it, Ginny! Just let it go. I’m not going back and there’s nothing that you can do to convince me. There’s a murderer out there looking for me! Must I spell it out for you?” roared Craig. Ginny saw his eyes darken. Hayleigh, who had been playing just a few feet away, ran and hid behind Ginny’s legs. Ginny bent down and put her hand on Hayleigh’s head to calm her. Then she looked back at Craig.
“Don’t speak to me like that”” Ginny started but she was interrupted by Mr. Waterbut. He must have overheard the argument because he was now standing right between the two of them. He held is hand up and faced Craig. Craig rolled his eyes impatiently.
“What do you want?” he said rather rudely. Ginny folded her arms barely noticing that Hayleigh was still hiding behind her.
“Sir, I do believe that you are mistaken. Maybe you should consider asking Miss Weasley about herself a little. She really does know what she’s talking about,” Mr. Waterbut answered.
“How do you know that? Did she tell you?” Craig fired back clearly even angrier.
“No, I just know. Now I would appreciate it if you kept your voice down, Mr. Draudy. You’re disturbing our other guests,” Mr. Waterbut requested as he motioned toward the other people in the room. Craig grunted something that sounded like “fine” and then slouched against the table again. Meanwhile, Ginny was still wondering how Mr. Waterbut knew so much about her. She was starting to think that maybe coming into the Green Dragon was not her best idea.
“Mr. Waterbut? Who exactly are you?” Ginny asked suddenly. Craig looked up because he was clearly interested in the answer. Mr. Waterbut’s eyes twinkled.
“Ah, now I don’t get that question very often. My name is Blenkinsop Waterbut. I have a deceased wife and two kids who don’t visit much, but I love them so much. I’m the owner of the Green Dragon Pub and I like helping people who’ll let me. The Green Dragon has been in my family for several generations and I don’t even know half of its secrets. You can call me Blenkinsop if you want,” he explained.
Ginny thought about his answer. He sounded lonely a little bit. Then she thought that he was one of the strangest people that she had ever met because of his sometimes friendly and other times cryptic personality. She caught Craig’s eye and he immediately looked away disgusted. Ginny didn’t understand why he was so mad. She tried to remember if Harry had ever gotten angry like Craig before but she could only think about what Harry had told her he had been like after Sirius’ death. She hadn’t witnessed that, but she wondered if he was really this bad. Blenkinsop waited patiently for her to say something.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured to him. Blenkinsop was taken back by the apology. He didn’t understand.
“Why?” he asked. Ginny noticed that Hayleigh let go of her legs to go back and play. After all, how entertaining is it for a four year old to listen to adults talk? Ginny tried to think of a good answer and she wished that Craig was still speaking to her.
“Well…I dunno. I’m sorry that I was mean to you. It wasn’t right”you were just trying to help me. And Craig, I shouldn’t have pushed you so far, but I still think that I’m right,” she clarified honestly. The two men looked at her skeptically, especially Craig. Ginny didn’t have anything else to say so she just walked away from them. She needed to think and think hard. She decided to go greet the older woman in the corner who looked really sad. She had to walk past the two middle aged men, but when she did she wished she hadn’t. They stopped their conversation as she glided by.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing?” the first man hollered with a southern drawl. He was tall and was wearing a wide brimmed hat with cowboy boots. Ginny glared at him disgusted. She kept walking at the same pace, but his friend stepped in front of her.
“Where are you going, Miss? Don’t you want to have a drink with us?” he offered with an entirely different accent. Ginny stopped unwillingly. He was much bigger than she was and there was no way she could push by him. He was also very tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was close enough to her that she could smell the foul smell of Firewhisky on his breath. She was not impressed at all.
“No, I don’t think so,” she replied quickly, but the man didn’t move. She could see the first man smirking. They were drunk and Ginny had no desire to talk to them.
“Well you know what I think, Isaac?” the first man said. Isaac kept his gaze focused on Ginny.
“What’s that, Xavier?” Isaac wondered. Ginny continued to weigh her options.
“I think that she’s just being shy. Maybe we should help her out,” he suggested as he pulled out a canister from his pocket and handed it to Isaac. Ginny felt her temper rising.
“Leave me alone!” she exclaimed. The men just laughed at her.
“And why should we do that?” Xavier questioned. Ginny quickly came up with a response.
“Because if you don’t then I’ll get my boyfriend and he’ll severely impair both of you with one flick of his wand. That’s why,” she explained hoping that they were too drunk to realize that she didn’t have a boyfriend at the moment and if she had, he certainly wasn’t with her. She always had a last resort, too. She could use her own wand. Surely there was enough magic in this place for the Ministry not to notice, but she wanted to avoid confrontation. She listened furiously as the two men laughed at her again.
“Miss, if you had a boyfriend then you wouldn’t be here. And I don’t see him anywhere so there’s no harm in sitting down for a drink with two gentlemen,” Isaac observed and then he pulled her arm and started to drag her to the table. Ginny had had enough. She pulled her wand out and pointed it at the man called Isaac. He was clearly surprised but then he smiled.
“That is some nice craftsmanship on that wand. Thanks for showing me,” Isaac joked. Ginny rolled her eyes.
“Want to know what’s even better about it? It can get rid of unwanted attention. Now kindly let me go and I won’t hurt you,” she demanded. Isaac didn’t move so Ginny opened her mouth to release one of her patented Bat-Bogey Hexes. She was relieved when Isaac finally moved and that she didn’t have to use her wand. Ginny walked away from the table quickly and heard the two muttering behind her.
“She’s no fun,” one of them said. Ginny smiled to herself glad that she had gotten out of that situation. It wouldn’t have been pretty if she had been forced to use her magic considering her anger level was dangerously high. Ginny headed toward the woman sitting in the corner as she had originally planned. The lady was now watching her because she must have heard the commotion. She approached the woman’s table and stood for a moment.
“Well, are you just going to stand there? You can sit down you know, that’s what seats are for,” the woman suggested sarcastically in a French accent. Ginny laughed. She was definitely not what Ginny had expected.
“Thank you. My name’s Ginny,” she said as she sat down. The woman put down her photograph and wiped her face with the back of her hand. She looked to be in about her late sixties but she looked good for her age.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ginny. I’m Rosemary, but my friends call me Rose. I saw what you did back there,” she motioned toward Isaac and Xavier. “I used to have the same problem back in the day. The trick is to not let them get the upper hand. You did well,” Rose complimented with a glint in her eyes.
“Thanks,” Ginny responded. She glanced that the picture. There was a young man and woman moving in it and they looked happy. Ginny asked who they were curiously.
“That’s me,” she pointed to the woman, “and that’s my husband, Tom. We were young in this picture. He passed away last week. I miss him so much.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ginny offered her condolence. Rose held her hand up.
“Thank you, but I’ll be alright. I’m just doing my grieving. He really deserves it; he was a great husband. Tom was always caring for other people more than himself. He was a great man,” she added. Ginny saw the tears in Rose’s eyes threatening to escape. Then Rose asked Ginny, “Do you have someone special in your life?”
“Yes, I do. His name’s Harry,” Ginny replied not understanding why she had the feeling that she could trust Rose. Rose smiled.
“Do you love him?” she asked. Ginny didn’t feel like she was talking to an older woman. On the contrary, she felt like she was speaking to someone like Hermione.
“I love him very much,” she said.
“Hold onto him then, dear. It’s not often that the good ones come along. You keep him close now…” she paused after she noticed Ginny’s expression. “You look troubled. Does he love you?”
“I think so,” Ginny answered uncertainly.
“Then what’s the problem?” Rose asked kindly. Ginny felt herself let out a deep breath. She hadn’t told anyone yet about how she felt, but she knew that she had to. She took hold of Rose’s picture and looked at it once more. The people in the photograph looked so content and happy as they danced around. Ginny wished that she and Harry could have a picture like that someday. Then everything would be perfect again. However, deep down, Ginny knew that that day would be in the distant future if it ever happened.