A/N: All of the characters contained herein belong to Ms. Rowling.
"Don't read it Gin. Just throw it away, the bloody traitor," Ron said glaring at the offending mail.
"Ronald!" said Hermione. "He's still your brother, no matter what he has done. I think you should read it Ginny."
"Yeah? Well I don't. I was on the receiving end of one of his brotherly notes last year when I made prefect. It was full of stuff about how he thought Harry was a nutter and how I should stay away from him. He's a git, my brother or not," said Ron furiously.
"Look, Percy is not on my list of favorite people either, but he's still a Weasley. Besides, the letter did not come for either of you. It came for Ginny. She can decided for herself if she wants to read it," said Harry, thinking it best to interrupt Ron and Hermione before their disagreement developed into a full blown argument. Ginny smiled greatfully at him. She stared at the envelope for a moment, before taking a deep breath and breaking the seal.
Harry and the others watched silently as she read. Emotions played in rapid sucession across her face. When Harry saw tears well up in her eyes, he cursed silently under his breath. Ron was right. Percy was a git.
"I'm sorry Ginny. I tried to tell you," Ron murmured, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Ginny merely shook her head and smiled, leaving both Ron and Harry puzzled.
"No, it's not bad. I think maybe he's come to his senses," she said. Ron snatched the letter out of Ginny's hand and began to read. Harry and Hermione leaned over his shoulder to scan it's contents as well.
Dear Ginny,
I was in the Ministry yesterday when I heard rumors of another attack. This, as I'm sure you are aware, has become a more common occurence as of late. It wasn't until I heard that the attack had been upon a student at Hogwarts that I became truly concerned, however. My thoughts immediately went to both you and Ronald. At once, I set about trying to ascertain what had happened.
It breaks my heart, dear sister, to hear that you were indeed the victim and, that I may have, in my denial and doubt of the last year, contributed in some way to the conditions which led to this incident. Please rest assured that I will do everything within my power to insure that young Mr. Malfoy pays dearly for what he has done to you.
Ginny, I also wanted you to know that I am truly and heartily sorry for my actions of late. I offer no excuses. I was, as our brothers would say and, no doubt, have said, a complete and utter git. I was blinded by my own ambition and fear. I know that I have hurt the family, particulary Mother and Father, beyond repair.
Please offer my sincerest apologies to all of them for me. I love and miss everyone unbearably. Also, please convey to Harry how much I regret my actions towards both he and Professor Dumbledore. If I could change the last year I most certainly would, but as that is impossible, I will have to hope that I may, someday, be given the opportunity to prove myself once again worthy of the name Weasley.
With love, your brother,
Percy
"Oh," said Hermione, tears welling up in her eyes. "That's beautiful. Your mum will be thrilled."
"No, she won't. We're not telling her. He thinks he can just apologize and everything will be ok. He thinks that all he has done will just vanish. Well, it won't. Have you forgotten everything he did? He worked to have Harry expelled and smeared his name every chance he got. He denied Voldemort's return until the Ministry itself was invaded. He never made any attempt to see Dad when he was in the hospital last Christmas, and he sent back his jumper. He broke Mum's heart. I will not give him the chance to do it again. I will never forgive him. Ever," Ron growled vehemently.
"But he's sorry Ron. He knows that he was wrong," said Hermione, trying to calm him down.
"Yeah, he's sorry. He's sorry that he can't bloody deny it anymore and he's losing all his power because he picked the wrong person's coat tails to ride," Ron snapped.
"Stop it Ron! He's our brother," Ginny said, her eyes glittering dangerously. "You don't have to forgive him if you don't want to, but Mum and Dad have a right to know about this. The others do too. They need to make their own decisions."
"She's right mate," Harry said quietly, noticing that they had once again attracted quite a bit of attention with their argument.
"Don't tell me that you are going to forgive him?" Ron demanded. Harry shrugged.
"I honestly don't know," he said. Ron looked troubled.
"Please Ron," Ginny said with pleading eyes.
"Fine. We'll let Mum and Dad know, but if he hurts them again I'll kill him," Ron growled.
"If he hurts them again, I'll help you," Harry promised placing his hand on Ron's shoulder. Ginny hugged her brother, before turning to Harry.
"Can I borrow Hedwig to mail them?" she asked.
"Of course Gin. We'll go up to the owlery after class. Speaking of which, what have you got today?" Harry asked, thinking a change of subject best for now. Ginny consulted her schedule.
"Care of Magical Creatures," she replied smiling. "Much better than yesterday's schedule."
"We've got our first defense class with Tonks," Hermione said. "I'm interested to see what her approach will be."
"Well at least something is going right today. What about the afternoon?" Ron asked, still obviously upset over the letter.
"Potions for Hermione and I," Harry answered with a grimace.
"Ugh... Divinition," Ron said after digging his schedule out of his bag. "This day just gets better and better. Someone please tell me why I did not drop that class."
"Dunno mate," Harry said. "On the bright side, at least now we know that she isn't a total fraud."
"No, she's just completely mental," Ron grumbled as Colin Creevey came up to them once more.
"You ready to go Ginny?" he asked.
"Sure Colin," Ginny said. Standing, she pecked Harry on the cheek. "See you at lunch."
"We'd better get going too," Hermione said. She was, as usual, concerned about getting good seats.
"But I'm still eating 'Mione," Ron complained. Hermione rolled her eyes. Grabbing a piece of toast, she quickly piled eggs and bacon on it and topped it with a second piece, before handing it to Ron.
"There. Eat it on the way. Now let's go," she said impatiently. Ron opened his mouth to argue, but must've decided an argument with his girlfriend would not improve his day any. He sighed, then stood up and grabbed his books.
"All right, I'm coming," Ron said as he took a bite of his sandwich. Grinning, Harry followed them out of the hall.
*Gasp!* I know. I've failed you. There is no cliffhanger in this one. I hope you liked it despite that. Thanks again go out to the wonderful Danielle for moderating, my son Will for being my handy live in beta, and to all of you wonderful people for reading and reviewing. Please note the emphasis on reviewing. I quite like receiving them :) I already have the next chapter written. It will be posted as soon as I see this one go up. -w. mom