The Burrow...
The days after the trio’s sudden departure were full of confusion and anxiety. Ron had apparently left Mum and Dad a note vaguely explaining the reasoning behind his disappearance. It didn’t go into much detail though, because Mum kept asking me if I knew more than the letter suggested. Despite the fact that I wanted to confide in someone about the secrets which I held, I kept my promise to Harry...even though he did not keep his promise to me.
I spent those days locked up in my room wallowing in my own self pity, which personally I felt I had the right to do. I spent hours replaying the same argument in my head:
Harry left you behind. Once again, you were left behind.
But Harry wouldn’t do that to me. There has to be another explanation!
How can you say that? The three of them have excluded you from the beginning.
But Harry loves me....or at least I think he does.
If he loved you, would he intentionally do something that he knew would hurt your feelings?
Maybe he was trying to protect me.
Then he never should have told you that he would take you with him.
My thoughts ran in circles, and I never found answers to my growing number of questions. I spent my days sulking, wasting away in my room at the Burrow. I put everything that reminded of Harry into a box and shoved it into the back of my closet. A note to me that he charmed to fly across the Gryffindor common room, his Quidditch t-shirt that I stole from the floor of his dormitory, a picture of Dumbledore’s Army. I also had to put away anything that reminded me of Ron and Hermione because these things ultimately made me think of the trio’s departure and, well...Harry.
Mum brought my meals to my room. After about a week she stopped trying to get me to eat downstairs with the family. I never told her about what happened between Harry and me on the night of Bill’s wedding, so she thought that I was mostly worried about Ron’s safety. If only she knew that this was just one of the many anxieties I was feeling.
Despite Mum’s TLC, I lost about ten pounds over the summer, the lack of sunshine did not do good things for my complexion, and I rarely showered. I probably could have grown dreads if I really wanted to, but Mum always made me bathe when my hair got too dirty.
During this time, most of the wizarding community had gotten wind of the trio’s disappearance. The Daily Prophet always printed snippets of supposed Harry Potter sightings and theories behind the trio’s absence, but knowing the Prophet, none of it was reliable. It seemed as though Voldemort had been recruiting or putting Ministry members under the Imperious Curse because most of the stories were about how The Chosen One had abandoned his people or how Harry was a crackpot who was under Dumbledore’s control before his death. The little spirit I had left was very angered by these accusations. Harry Potter would never abandon the wizarding world. No. He would only abandon me.
One day at the end of August, I got a letter. Mum bustled in my room to present me with a tray of breakfast upon which was an envelope.
“This came for you, Ginny, dear. I think it’s from that Longbottom boy you seem so fond of.”
My stomach lurched.
“Do you think he’s heard from Ron?” (And by Ron I meant Harry, but I tried not to say his name out loud so that I wouldn’t get too upset thinking about him.)
“I don’t think so. I would hope that the first letter Ron sent would be to his mother, not to a school chum. But open the letter, Ginny. Let’s see what it says.”
I almost told her that the letter was addressed to me and that I’d like to read it in private, but since she had been so nice to me over the summer I read it aloud.
Dear Ginny,
I hope you’re having a great summer holiday. Mine has been very dull. My Gran made me stay home all summer to practice my spellwork. She seems to think that I’ll be needing to be quick on my feet in the upcoming year at Hogwarts. Hopefully she's wrong. I would like to believe that Hogwarts will remain the way it was when Dumbledore was headmaster. I can’t really imagine a Hogwarts without him, though, can you?
It’s almost September 1, so I’ll be seeing you on the Hogwarts express soon, I expect.
Until then,
Neville.
When I looked up from the parchment, Mum said, “He’s such a nice boy, that Neville.”
“I thought he was just a ‘school chum,’” I said. I mentally kicked myself. I had been trying so hard to put on a happy face for Mum today, but my permanently sour mood got the best of me.
“Yes, well. Eat up, Ginny. I can’t believe how thin you’ve gotten.”
She tucked a strand of my greasy hair behind my ear before walking out of my room. I looked at Neville’s letter again and realized that there was a second piece of parchment there.
Ginny, this second piece of parchment will have only appeared in the envelope if it was truly you who read my first letter. It was a handy little trick I learned that’s useful when trying to keep intruders from reading your mail. What I really wanted to write about was Harry, Ron and Hermione. I know that they have disappeared, and Luna (who I have been talking a lot with this summer) and I have a theory as to where they have gone. We think they’re trying to put a stop to Voldemort. We don’t believe any of the bullocks the Prophet is writing, Ginny, and I’m sure you don’t either. Luna and I have been thinking about getting the D.A. started up again at school. We want to be part of the resistance. What do you say, Ginny? Will you help us?
If you’re interested, send us a message with the enchanted coins. We’ll be waiting for your reply.
Neville.
This was too much. Neville and Luna wanted to start up the D.A. again? And they wanted me to be a part of it? Did they not understand how hard it was for to do or think about anything related to Harry Potter? No, of course they didn’t.
I collected myself and thought about it again. This was my chance to do something to better the world. My chance to show Harry that I’m not someone to be protected, but someone to do the protecting. I was a good witch, and I was going to prove it.
I dug my enchanted coin out from the “Harry Box” in my closet and replied to Neville in the affirmative.
After that day, I began to look forward to returning to Hogwarts. This newfound hope sparked something of my old self within me, and I began to leave my room more often, I ate occasionally with my family, and I did a load of laundry every once in a while. I even began showering more, much to the delight of my entire family.
Soon it was the last day of August, and I was looking forward to a year of action and adventure. My days of moping and helplessness were behind me.
Without You by goldnsnitch79
Chapter Notes: This chapter is kind of short and not that exciting, but it's necessary for the plot. Things will pick up again in the next chapter, don't worry.
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Chapter Endnotes: Do you like where this is going? Don't worry if you didn't like this chapter. I swear the next one is much more intense.