Search:

SIYE Time:14:27 on 28th March 2024
SIYE Login: no


Not From Others
By FloreatCastellum

- Text Size +

Category: Post-HBP, Post-DH/AB
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, General
Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Extreme Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 348
Summary: She may not have been able to join Harry, Ron and Hermione, but Ginny refuses to go down without a fight. As war approaches, Ginny returns to Hogwarts to resurrect Dumbledore's Army and face the darkest year the wizarding world has ever seen.

DH from Ginny's POV. Canon.
Hitcount: Story Total: 108036; Chapter Total: 3764
Awards: View Trophy Room






ChapterPrinter
StoryPrinter


Ginny was sat sorting wedding presents when Hermione shuffled in, looking bashful and followed by a scowling Molly. Molly had realized that the three dropouts, as she now thought of them, had snuck off, and from the slightly muffled yet raised voices Ginny had heard through the ceiling, it was fair to assume that she had caught them talking.

‘You can help Ginny, she’ll explain the pile system,’ Molly told Hermione coolly. Hermione blushed and nodded, looking carefully at her feet.
There was a slight silence as Molly left, and after she was safely out of earshot, Hermione groaned. ‘Oh, I hate this, I feel so guilty!’

‘No sympathy from me,’ replied Ginny cheerfully. ‘Not unless you include me in all your plotting.’

Hermione gave her an awkward look of sympathy and picked up a present. ‘Well obviously I can’t tell you everything we were saying, but your brother is in denial about Moody’s death and Harry tried to convince us into letting him go off on his own.’

Ginny snorted. ‘Of course he did.’ She glanced at the present Hermione was holding; a large, powder blue box. ‘Is that the one from the Bletchly’s? Put it by Mum’s dresser. If they’re not a close relative or very good friend they go over there. French by the dirty laundry.’

Hermione frowned. ‘I don’t know who any of these people are.’

‘Guess,’ shrugged Ginny. ‘It’s a pointless task anyway, Mum’s just making stuff up as she goes along now. Anyway, what was his reason for trying to go solo? Just being noble?’

‘I imagine so, we didn’t really give him a chance to explain his thought process.’

‘I should have tried that,’ Ginny said regrettably. ‘What have you got him for his birthday?’

‘Sneakoscope. May as well be practical,’ she said grimly. ‘Hopefully it won’t be going off non-stop. You?’

‘Well… I wanted to ask your advice on that actually.’

‘Oh?’ Hermione arched an eyebrow, carefully putting down another present. ‘Planning something?’

‘Yes, but I’ll need your help.’ Ginny glanced at the door to check for any brothers or, heaven forbid, her mother. ‘Remember how I was saying we used to get quite… close… by the lake? But never all the way.’

Hermione smiled mischievously. ‘You did mention that, yes.’

Ginny was feeling oddly flustered. There had never been any awkwardness in these sort of candid discussions with Hermione before, but now she felt an anxiety. ‘Well, I know it’s stupid but who knows how long you’ll be gone and what you’ll be able to take with you, so I couldn’t really get him a proper present, not anything meaningful anyway-’ She was babbling, she knew it, but her hazy plans and nervous thoughts came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. ‘-and I keep thinking about really stupid scenarios where he bumps into someone beautiful and capable of having a part in this ridiculous war, and I want to make sure that I give him a meaningful, happy memory that’s definitely a… you know, a first.’

There was a silence. Then Hermione gave a cautious, hesitant look. ‘You know there’ll be a lot of people in the house…’

‘Yes, I know, that’s why I need your help. I need you to distract Ron. Maybe you’ll be able to initiate a plan of your own,’ she said pointedly.

Hermione blushed and looked down at the presents. ‘I can try,’ she said softly. ‘But…’

‘I know it probably won’t happen,’ Ginny said impatiently. ‘But I’ll be so furious with myself if I don’t even try to do something mildly romantic before he goes. Just to make sure he misses me and has a reason to come back.’

Hermione nodded at her; a kind of sad amusement playing across her face. ‘Trust me, he misses you a lot.’ She moved over and sat next to Ginny. ‘Honestly, it sounds a bit soppy and I can just imagine how embarrassed he’d be if he knew I was saying this, but last term was the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time.’

‘That wasn’t just because of me though,’ said Ginny seriously. ‘I mean, he was having these private lessons with Dumbledore and he never told me what they were doing, but I think they made him feel like he was actually doing something, and being productive, you know?’

Hermione’s expression was of perfect neutrality. ‘Hmm. Yes, maybe. I don’t think they were particularly reassuring though.’

Ginny waited, but frustratingly Hermione offered no more hints. ‘Anyway, if I get a chance, will you take Ron away somewhere?’

Hermione considered briefly. ‘Yes, I suppose so.’ She giggled. ‘The boys would be awfully shocked, wouldn’t they? If they knew we talked like this?’

Ginny was about to answer, but the sound of Ron’s laughter floated from the hall. She froze, praying that they hadn’t been overheard. Hermione whipped round, looking horrified, but Ron and Harry entered looking perfectly un-shocked, although their faces considerably fell as they saw the huge pile of presents.

Ron swore. ‘Why do you get so much crap just for getting married? Do we even know half these people?’

‘You two took your time getting down here!’ said Hermione. ‘Mrs. Weasley sent all of us down to do this, where have you been?’

Harry gave a non-committal shrug and Ron glared at the presents. ‘You’re right, we should have rushed down like you so we could get cracking on all this fun. Why’s mum so angry anyway? We heard her shouting earlier and she looked like she was ready to kill us when she came in.’

‘She caught dad feeding some gnomes, and she only just got rid of them. There’ll be all over the garden just in time for our guests tomorrow,’ replied Ginny happily.

Indeed, the next morning when the Delacours arrived, Ginny could spot the mischevious little creatures dotting the garden, peering out from behind flower pots and scampering through the bushes - though not quite brave enough to show themselves openly on the pristine lawn.

‘What on earth is Dad doing?’ whispered George as they watched him approach with the Delacours. ‘Is… is that supposed to be laughter? From a normal human?’

‘They’re French, they’ll put it down to English quirkiness,’ said Fred, although he sounded a little unconvinced.

Arthur did seem incredibly nervous, and although Fleur’s mother was admittedly a little intimidating with her extraordinary beauty, Monsieur Delacour was rather comical in comparison; plump and odd looking with a dark little beard, he spoke dramatically and with flourish. Quite the opposite to Madam Delacour’s effortless elegance.

‘No wonder Fleur was happy to lower her standards to Bill,’ sniggered Fred quietly. ‘It must run in the family to let blokes punch well above their weight.’

Feeling oddly defensive, Ginny threw Fred a dirty look. ‘Shh!’ Her parents and the Delacours continued to gush over each other, so she felt safe in assuming that nobody had heard Fred’s rude comment.

‘Touchy,’ he whispered to her. ‘Do you like them all of a sudden?’

‘Be quiet. Give them a chance, they might not be as bad as her.’ Although she was still feeling particularly resentful towards them.

‘No? The little one has her eyes on your boyfriend.’

Ginny narrowed her eyes and looked back at the family. Sure enough, there was Gabrielle, batting her eyelashes and smiling serenely at Harry. Ginny cleared her throat loudly, a little irritated, before reminding herself that the girl was only eleven. Where had this territorial protectiveness of Harry come from? She had never been a particularly jealous type, even when Harry had been dating Cho. She did not like herself this way, and felt rather subdued as they ushered their guests into the house.

‘Are you ok?’ Harry asked her casually a few hours later. ‘You’re very quiet today.’

‘Concerned about me?’ she teased lightly.

‘Just wondering how you’re feeling about all these guests,’ he said, grinning.

‘Oh, they’re all right really, aren’t they? Even if we are all packed in. What are you doing anyway, I thought you were “feeding the chickens”?’

He smiled slyly. ‘Your mum really is very good at keeping us on our toes.’ She laughed, but his face suddenly fell. ‘I feel very guilty,’ he said quietly, ‘about what a nuisance me being here is. All the security and stuff.’

Ginny raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, don’t be silly. We’d all rather be a little inconvenienced than-’ The reality that he would be gone soon hit her very suddenly. From his pained expression, she was sure he was thinking about it too. An awkward silence rose between them.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘For everything.’

She looked up at him, meeting his deep green eyes with her own. The prospect of him being gone, maybe hundreds or even thousands of miles away, made her feel cold inside. But she refused to break. She was stronger than that. ‘Everything will be fine,’ she said firmly. ‘I can hold down the fort at Hogwarts until you get back. I reckon I’ll even get Quidditch Captain with you out of the way.’

He laughed. ‘Don’t get too cocky, Miss Weasley!’

‘You know I’m better than you. You’re only leaving because I might have stolen it off you anyway,’ she said with a wink.

The tone considerably lighter, she was feeling far more relaxed by dinner. The Delacours were admittedly charming guests, and she found herself very impressed by their polite attitude and ability to take the chaos of a busy Burrow in their stride. Gabrielle’s staring and following of Harry now felt less irritating and more hilarious, though she quickly stopped smirking about it when Fred and George began humming ‘His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad…’

Ron and Hermione were talking animatedly; Hermione seemed completely engrossed in the conversation and a delighted smile played across her lips.

‘Are they…?’ she asked Harry, who was sitting opposite her.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged playfully. ‘Not yet.’

‘Hey, Harry,’ said George, with an odd smile at Ginny. ‘Fred heard the three of you chatting the other day.’

Harry froze, looking intently at George. ‘Did he?’

‘Mmhmm. Well, that’s not fair. It wasn’t the three of them, was it, Fred?’

‘No,’ said Fred cheerfully. ‘Just Ron and Hermione, the day before you arrived, but it was about the three of you. We’ve been trying to swap notes with Ginny, but she’s very loyal.’

‘Loyal or just doesn’t have information to exchange.’ Ginny threw a scowl at George.

‘If you have something to threaten me with, come out and say it,’ said Harry lightly.

‘Threaten you? Threaten you? Us?’ Fred sounded scandalized. ‘The very nerve! We’re just letting you know that your secret is safe with us.’

Harry looked like he was unsure whether to be scared or amused.

‘If they actually had something to say, they would have said it,’ said Ginny.

‘We are honorable gentlemen and we do not brandish the secrets of Harry Potter willy-nilly,’ said George proudly.

‘No, you just keep him on edge hinting about it,’ said Harry, who had now apparently settled on amused.

‘Ah, Harry, we are going to miss you,’ said Fred. ‘You’re harder to wind up than everyone else. It’s a good challenge.’

Harry was still smiling, though he now looked a little uncomfortable. ‘I’ll send postcards,’ he joked.

‘Excellent,’ said George. ‘A lovely picture of a Death Eater lair with “wish you were here” on it. That will calm Mum down.’

Harry gave a rather forced laugh and turned to talk to Charlie. Perhaps the topic was too serious to joke about, or possibly he couldn’t think of a witty retort. But Ginny wondered whether he too had noticed Fred and George’s calculated expressions, carefully watching for his reaction.

‘You do know something. Don’t you?’ she whispered.

Fred looked down the table at her, uncharacteristically serious. He glanced at George, who looked down at his plate. ‘Let’s hope not,’ he said quietly.
Reviews 348
ChapterPrinter
StoryPrinter




../back
‘! Go To Top ‘!

Sink Into Your Eyes is hosted by Grey Media Internet Services. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2001-2006. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories(fanfiction) are owned by the author and are subject to copyright law under transformative use. Authors on this site take no compensation for their works. This site © 2003-2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Special thanks to: Aredhel, Kaz, Michelle, and Jeco for all the hard work on SIYE 1.0 and to Marta for the wonderful artwork.
Featured Artwork © 2003-2006 by Yethro.
Design and code © 2006 by SteveD3(AdminQ)
Additional coding © 2008 by melkior and Bear