Dear George,
Here’s the address you requested. Part of me is curious as to why you need the address of a Muggle newspaper, but I’m sure you have your reasons. And tell your mother that Ron and I will be at dinner on Friday as requested! Please don’t cause any trouble with the Muggles!
Love, Hermione
George smiled slightly, folded the note up and put it back in his pocket. He looked at his watch again and sighed. Crossing his arms across his chest, he leaned back and kept waiting.
Inside, the main office of The Sun was loud and hectic, with people rushing back and forth between desks and talking over the noisy printers. In the back corner of the room, a young woman sat at her desk, typing frantically on an old typewriter. Her long red hair was pulled back into a loose braid with a few stray hairs falling around her face. She was so involved in her work that she didn’t notice the man standing next to her desk.
“Ginny, Mr. Grayson wants your notes on the Harrods article in ten minutes,” the man said, tapping Ginny on the shoulder to get her attention. Ginny jumped at the interruption and looked up at Alan, her editor’s assistant.
“Ten minutes?” Ginny replied, groaning slightly. “He just gave me the assignment an hour ago; I’ve barely gotten any usable notes together!”
“Hey, I’m just the messenger,” Alan said shrugging his shoulders. “If you didn’t insist on using this ancient typewriter, you could always say there was a printing problem.”
“I like my typewriter,” Ginny said stubbornly. “It reminds me of home. We never had computers where I grew up.”
“And where was that, the Dark Ages?” Alan teased. “But seriously Ginny, ten minutes!”
Ginny swore under her breath as she watched Alan walk away. Her notes were completely disorganised but they would have to do for now. She spent the next few minutes scribbling down some random facts that could be relevant to the article and shoved the rest of the notes in a folder. Gathering up her things, she took the folder over to Alan’s desk.
“All right, here are the notes Mr. Grayson wanted,” Ginny said, placing the folder on the desk. “But could you wait until he’s in a good mood to give them to him? It’s really not my best work.”
“Why don’t you just ask him for another half hour to work on them?” Alan suggested, picking up the folder and looking through the notes. “He may be a git but he does want the best.”
“I would but I’m already late as it is,” Ginny said, looking at her watch and groaning. “Remind him that I’m taking a long weekend and I’ll be back on Tuesday, okay? Thanks!”
Ginny hurried out of the office and opted to take the stairs down, despite the fact that The Sun’s office was six floors up. Lifts were one of the things that Ginny would never get used to, no matter how long she spent in the Muggle world. She was only comfortable using the lifts at the Ministry, where they were controlled by magic, something she knew and trusted.
Five minutes later, Ginny reached the lobby and stepped out into the bright afternoon sunshine. She didn’t notice as the man sitting on the bench in front of the building slowly followed her as she made her away across the street and into a nearby playground. Pausing only slightly to smile at all the children running and playing, she quickly looked around and her face lit up when she saw who she was meeting; a young brunette sitting on a bench across the playground with a little girl who had strikingly green eyes on her lap, and a young blonde boy sitting next to her.
“Laura, I am so sorry!” Ginny exclaimed breathlessly as she reached the bench. “The meeting went longer than expected, and by the time it was over it was already three o’clock and my editor wanted extra notes for my article and I got here as soon as I could!”
“Ginny, Ginny it’s all right!” Laura laughed at the panicked look on Ginny’s face. “We’ve only been here for a few minutes anyway, little Aidan over here threw a fit as we were about to leave the house.”
Relief filled Ginny’s face as she sat down on the bench beside Laura and the children. She reached over and pulled the little girl off of Laura’s lap and cuddled her close.
“And how’s my little girl?” Ginny cooed at the young child, tickling her stomach and making her laugh. “How was she today? She seemed a little fussy when I dropped her off this morning. I’m worried that she’s hitting the terrible twos, she’s been ever so mischievous recently.”
“Oh she was fine,” Laura assured her. “Aidan just loves playing with her and you know John dotes on her like she’s his own.”
Laura looked down and smiled at the little girl as she continued, “You know it seems like her hair gets darker and darker every time I see her.”
“Yes, it does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Ginny replied, running her fingers lovingly through her daughter’s dark red hair. “You should have seen it when she was born, I swear her hair was brighter than mine!”
“Well would you believe that Aidan had jet black hair when he was born?” Laura asked laughing a little. “I was worried John would think he wasn’t the father! But his hair started turning blonde less than a week later. You just never know with babies!”
Ginny smiled down at Aidan, who was sitting and playing quietly at his mother’s feet.
“Well I hate to leave so quickly, but I’ve got to put Lily down for a nap and start dinner,” Ginny said hugging Laura and standing up. “Thank you so much for watching her today, as always you’re a lifesaver!”
“Oh it’s no problem at all,” Laura assured her, “We’ll have lunch and catch up soon.”
Ginny nodded and hugged Lily close as they walked out of the park, still unaware that George had been following her all this time. He had ducked behind a few trees as Ginny and Laura talked, waiting patiently for Ginny to leave. After what seemed like an eternity, he watched Ginny hug the woman and start to leave the playground. He slowly followed Ginny out of the park and after a few blocks, the crowds began to thin and soon they were walking down a nearly empty street. Looking around to make sure they were truly alone, he discreetly tapped the top of his head with his wand and performed a Disillusionment charm on himself. He felt a trickling of cold flow over him and knew the charm had worked.
He followed Ginny closer and after a few more empty blocks, she stopped in front of an old brick building. She walked up the steps of the building and rummaged around in her bag for a few moments. George paused at the bottom of the stairs, wondering if she was going to pull out her wand and Apparate to wherever she was going. This would certainly be a good place, as the street was completely empty. To his surprise, she pulled out a small silver key and used it to unlock the front door. George hurried up the steps after her, but the door slammed just as he reached the top.
He swore under his breath and looked at the mailboxes outside the door, noting that flat 4-D was currently occupied by a Ginevra Wiles. He looked around cautiously and tapped the front door with his wand, unlocking it and slipping inside.
Upstairs, Ginny unlocked her front door and walked inside, happy to be home. It was a small flat, with one bedroom and a small kitchen and sitting area, but Ginny had added a few magical touches over the years to make it more of a home for her and Lily. Ginny put her bag down on the couch and sat Lily on the floor to play. She watched contently as Lily started building a tower of blocks while singing to herself. Ginny put the kettle on the stove for tea and was rummaging in the pantry when she heard a knock on the door.
“Door door door!” Lily sang happily, knocking over the tower in her excitement.
Ginny smiled at Lily and walked over to the door, wondering who would be knocking on her door. She opened the door slowly and gasped in disbelief when she made eye contact with a man she hadn’t seen for almost three years.
“Well, well!” George exclaimed, throwing his hands up in mock surprise. “If it isn’t little Ginevra Weasley, all grown up.”
Ginny stared in silence at her older brother before managing to say one word.
“George.”