Chapter 3 - Mad-Eye
Ginny turned around as she heard someone walk into the room. As Harry strode hesitantly towards her, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment that it was not one of her missing family members. He stopped a few feet away from the couch upon which the unconscious George lay and gazed down with a muted look of horror at the scene in front of him.
*“How is he?” she heard him say and she looked down at her brother as if to verify for herself that he was, in fact, okay.
As she looked back up at Harry, she caught the tail end of her mother’s reply, *“…could have been so much worse…. He’s alive.”
*“Yeah,” Harry muttered. *“Thank God.”
Ginny remembered hearing a commotion a few moments before Harry had come back in. *“Did I hear someone else in the yard?” It was hard to hide the hope in her question.
*“Hermione and Kingsley,” he answered.
She couldn’t wrench her eyes from his. *“Thank goodness,” she whispered. As she stared at him, all the memories that she had tried to block from the previous year came flooding back and it took all of her willpower to restrain from flinging herself into his arms and crying in a way that she never did.
An uproar from in the kitchen dragged her back to reality and she looked around to see her father storming into the room. Fred rushed in behind him, and Ginny was relieved to see that they were unhurt.
She watched the exchange between her family, trying not to feel detached and shunted to the side. It seemed to her that everyone thought she was still a little girl, too delicate to be put in any kind of danger. She was almost sixteen and as capable as any of the others at fighting for what she believed in. It wasn’t fair.
When she saw Harry motioning to her to go outside, she quickly stood and shook out her aching legs. As they walked out through the kitchen, she found herself rambling again to fill the overwhelming silence that had taken over the house. As she looked up at him, she saw through his stoic façade to the panic hidden behind his eyes. She could see the fear overwhelming him and took his hand in hers, hoping that it did something to comfort him, and praying he knew that she was there for him.
Nobody said anything as Harry and Ginny joined the group that had gathered outside to wait for those yet to return. They waited for an immeasurable amount of time, flinching at the sound of each other’s breathing and trying not to let the worry control them.
All of the sudden, a broom appeared directly above and flew towards the ground.
*“It’s them!” Ginny heard Hermione scream.
Tonks leapt off the broom and landed in Remus’ arms. Ginny watched as they held each other close. Ron stumbled over to them and she could feel the air thicken with relief at their safety. Hermione threw her arms around Ron’s neck and Ginny watched them with amusement as they hugged awkwardly. She didn’t pay too much attention to what they said until Ron looked at her.
*“Are we the last back?” he asked.
*“No,” she answered, *“we’re still waiting for Bill and Fleur and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I’m going to tell Mum and Dad you’re okay, Ron- “
She ran up the steps and into the house, trying to escape the anguish that seemed to have overcome everyone outside, though she knew that it would be no better in the house.
She walked cautiously into the sitting room and found her parents there, sitting together in a chair across from where George and Fred were laughing and joking around. Everyone looked up when she walked in and they stared at her expectantly.
*“Ron’s back. He’s okay.” She was surprised at how good it felt to be the one saying that something had gone right.
Her parents jumped up and hurried out to the yard and Ginny turned following closely behind. She stood off to the side for a moment, facing away from the group. She looked up at the dark sky and imagined that she could see the thestral that carried Bill and Fleur swooping out of nowhere. It wasn’t until she heard her mother cry out that she realized she wasn’t imagining it at all.
*“Mad-Eye’s dead,” the words seemed to echo throughout Ginny’s head and she felt her emotions shut down. He couldn’t be dead. There was no proof. Nobody noticed when she quietly slipped away into the house.
She grasped for the first time that the kitchen was unkempt and needed to be cleaned up. With an almost uncanny Molly-like urge, she started to straighten the chairs. She was clearing off the dishes that cluttered the table when she heard the toast.
*“Mad-Eye,”
Ginny dropped into one of the chairs and put her face in her hands. With no one around, she did not hold back as the tears trailed a slow route between her fingers. Raised voices in the sitting room made her sit up quickly and wipe her face off, but no one came into the room. Deciding that she had had enough of a breakdown for a while, she got up and started to do the dishes by hand. The voices in the other room were getting louder and she was contemplating whether or not she should go and see what was going on when Harry stormed into the kitchen. Ginny froze as he tore through without noticing her and was out the back door, slamming it behind him. She didn’t move at first, until Molly came in.
“Oh, thank you dear! I had been meaning to do up those dishes. Here let me take over,” she tried to grab the plate that Ginny was holding out of her hand. “And you can go relax.”
Ginny pulled the plate out of reach with a reproachful look at her mother. “Go sit down, Mother,” she snapped.
Used to Ginny’s fractious attitude, Molly slipped back into the sitting room.
Frustrated at her mother’s interruption, Ginny thrust the dish violently into the hot water and glanced up through the window almost unconsciously. She saw Harry standing in the yard and knew something was wrong right away. Forgetting her job, she ran into the sitting room.
“Hermione, can you come in here for a moment?” she said when everybody looked up at her.
Hermione’s brow furrowed as she stood and followed Ginny back into the kitchen. “What is it? Is something the matter?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Ginny led her to the window. “I think there is,”
Hermione sighed angrily. “I told him! I told him not to let this happen again! But does he listen?”
“What don’t I listen to?” Ron sauntered into the room and stood behind the girls.
“Not you,” Hermione retorted. “Harry.”
“Ah,” Ron looked out the window and swore quietly under his breath. “Well, we might as well go out and see if he’s all right. Let’s go Hermione. You stay here Ginny.
He and Hermione turned to go out the back door and Hermione looked back at Ginny quizzically, only to follow Ron again at her friend’s shake of the head.
Ginny tried to keep her anger at Ron in check, but it was times like these that she felt it bubbling like a poison in her blood, provoking her to say something malevolent. She took a deep breath and tried to think upon the fact that he was only the way he was because he cared about her. She watched as Ron thumped Harry on the back and Hermione peered into his face. She forced herself to turn away as an ache of longing threatened to overwhelm her. She shut down her thoughts and went back to finishing up the dishes.
Encroachching Darkness by Quill And Ink
Chapter Notes: Wow, it has been a while. Sorry for the wait and hope you like it! Please review! ( * quotes are from Deathly Hallows American edition, pages 73-79.