Chapter 2 – Arriving
It had been just over an hour and Molly was on her third cup of tea when Ginny finally came back inside. She was tense as she sat down upon one of the wooden chairs. She looked at her mother, who stared out the window with glazed eyes; Molly’s body seemed to be on automatic, periodically lifting her mug of lukewarm tea to her lips. Ginny’s eyes wandered sporadically around the room: from the dishes left unnoticed in the sink, to the chairs strewn haphazardly around the table. They eventually landed on her watch and she jumped when she saw the time.
“Mum,” Ginny looked at her mother with eyes that shone fervently.
Molly looked up at her quickly and then back out the window. “Yes, of course dear. Let’s head outside.”
No sooner had they stepped onto the back porch when a blue light appeared and grew until a rusty old oil can landed with a soft thud in the grass. Ginny stopped short. That was supposed to be Ron and Tonks’ Portkey. Why hadn’t they come back with it? A million scenarios ran through her mind, but all she could do was stare at the can.
Molly, however, had hurried over to the can and picked it up.
“They must have been late,” the audible worry in her voice mirrored Ginny’s thoughts.
“Must have been,” Ginny wasn’t quite sure if she had even spoken aloud. “Mum, I’m going to get some tea.” She said louder. She turned and slowly walked back into the house. She set some water on the stove and looked out through the kitchen window at her mother who was staring at the Portkey that should have brought her youngest son home.
Another blue light grew in the dark yard a few feet from the can just as Ginny was pouring her tea. But as she saw the lonely shoe fall to the ground, her breath caught in her throat. Fred and her father were missing as well.
“Something has gone very wrong,” she said to nobody in particular.
Molly came in slowly and sat down. Her face was hidden in shadows, but Ginny knew the fear that was etched into every feature. They gazed at each other for a few minutes before looking away. Mother and daughter waited in silence for their loved ones to come home. They were caught off guard by a very loud noise in the yard and they jumped up to see two forms in the yard land hard on the ground. Ginny wasn’t sure who screamed, but before she knew what was happening, the two women were rushing out the door to help Harry and Hagrid.
Ginny didn’t hear what her mother said as they approached them; she could only watch as Harry stood, swaying and unstable. His voice brought her back to the moment.
*“What d’you mean? Isn’t everyone else back?” He was panting and worry started to spread across his face. *“The Death Eaters were waiting for us,” he went on.* “We were surrounded the moment we took off – they knew it was tonight – I don’t know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us…”
Ginny heard his plea to be understood. She looked over every inch of him as he said this, making sure that he wasn’t hurt. But it seemed that only his feeling of security had been shattered. She wanted to reach out, tell him it was okay, but her mother acted faster and pulled him into her arms.
*“Thank goodness you’re all right,” Molly said, voicing Ginny’s very thoughts.
*“Haven’t got any brandy, have yeh, Molly?” Hagrid’s gruff voice seemed even more grating and unsettled.
Ginny turned back to look at Harry and didn’t notice her mother hurry away. She caught his eye and started to speak, not really knowing what she was saying.
*“Ron and Tonks should have been back first but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them,” she pointed at the two useless Portkeys that had caused her so much worry. *“And that one should have been Dad and Fred’s; they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third and,” she looked down at her watch, surprised at how fast time was going now,* “If they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute,” This news didn’t seem to lessen Harry’s fears, or her own for that matter, but she felt the need to say it. As she watched Hagrid down a whole bottle of brandy, something caught her eye.
Another blue light illuminated a nearby part of the yard and everyone turned to see if it arrived with its passengers. As they watched, everyone held their breath in anticipation of what was coming, and a sigh passed every pair of lips as they saw two bodies spin to the ground.
But the breath that had moments ago been a sigh of relief, caught in Ginny’s throat as she saw her brother’s body covered in blood.
Lupin was struggling under the weight of George's body as he tried to hold it up. She saw Harry ran over to help him and followed the small crowd as they hustled into the house and laid the limp form of George on the sofa. Ginny kneeled down next to her mother to watch her attempt to heal the gaping hole in the side of his head. She paid no attention when she heard the others leave the room in a flurry of words and a rustle of robes brushing across various objects in the room.
Molly was trying to stop the seemingly unending bleeding, but it was a very slow process and she never wavered from her duty. Ginny knew that whoever had cast the curse must have known their spells. If they had hit George's heart, like she was sure they had meant to, he would have been dead before anyone could have helped him. But her worries about what could have been slowly diminished when she saw that George was starting to look okay. Molly had healed the gaping wound and was siphoning off the rest of the blood that had started to dry into his long, red hair.
Ginny couldn’t help but feel respect for her mother. Molly had been through so much and yet she still stayed strong for her family and friends. So many other parents that Ginny knew would have broken under the stress that Molly dealt with on a daily basis. As she watched her brother healing under Molly's loving care, she knew that everything would be alright.
Encroachching Darkness by Quill And Ink
Chapter Notes: Sorry this took so long! The quotes with * in front of them are from Deathly Hallows American edition, page 68.
Chapter Endnotes: Hope you liked it! Please review!