Bewitched Times
Chapter 5: Breaking News
A/N: Hello again! FYI, I changed the ending of the 4th chapter for plot reasons, so please re-read it if you haven't yet…
In other news, yay for a new chapter! I hope you enjoy.
-Adrial
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Ginny knew she was going to die any minute now. Her heart raced at an inhuman pace and she felt her legs sagged like wilted tree branches beneath her. The white light was somewhere just behind her eyelids and all she cared to do was give in and walk into it.
"C'mon, Gin! You've only been on for twenty minutes!" A round-faced, pretty young woman with dark brown hair eyed the red-head with disbelief. Her own face was beet red itself, and rivulets of sweat were coursing down the valleys between her nose and cheeks.
"I can't take this anymore, Lav," Ginny groaned. "Look-I'll just keep my cellulite. I'm quite-huff- fond of it actually." And she unceremoniously stumbled from her exercise bike and onto the floor.
Lavender Brown sighed exasperatedly at her friend.
"If only your adoring fans could see you now," she said. "The Ginevra Weasley, former world class seeker extraordinaire-crumbling like a flobberworm on a tricycle."
Ginny rolled her eyes but didn't retort. Her lungs were contracting painfully and she wasn't sure if she could stand properly, let alone speak.
Lavender laughed good-naturedly and pumped her legs harder, leaving Ginny lying spread eagle on the ground beside her.
After a few minutes, Ginny felt as if she'd stand a good chance of making it upright. She heaved herself up on her bike and tested the state of her legs. They were screaming in protest but steady enough for her to walk.
Lavender finished at last and wiped her forehead with a towel. She threw her legs over the side of her bike and bounced off, jogging in place to loosen her muscles.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "By the way, broom flying is totally different than sitting on a stupid machine and spinning my legs in circles going bloody nowhere."
Lavender shrugged and started pumping her arms up and down. "Whatever you say, Gin."
The pair walked away, heading towards the locker room to grab their bags. Ginny much preferred her kickboxing classes twice a week, but she and Lavender had been shopping all day and she'd missed the 5 o'clock class.
"Did you see the bloke spinning three down from us?" Lavender threw water on her face at the sink and smiled impishly. "He was practically undressing us with his eyes."
Ginny suppressed the urge to gag. She highly doubted anyone would find either of them remotely attractive when they smelled like barn animals and were drenched in sweat.
"Right, Lav," she said incredulously.
Lavender glared and looked slightly hurt. "What's the matter with you today? You've been all grumpy since lunch."
Ginny shrugged her shoulders and sighed, leaning against the wall of blue lockers with her bag in her hand. "I'm sorry, I know I have," she said. "I've just been so stressed at work lately, you know. Didn't mean to be a complete cow to you."
She gritted her teeth. She wasn't really sorry. Four hours straight of Lavender could make anybody a little edgy. She loved the girl but preferred her in small doses at the most.
Lavender beamed at her, satisfied at least with her apology. She popped open a sports drink and threw her arm around Ginny's shoulders.
"No worries, love. We all have our days."
Ginny smiled tightly and forced herself to nod. They made their way outside, and the night air felt heavenly against her skin after being inside the stuffy gym.
"D'you fancy getting a drink?" Lavender said. Ginny hitched her bag up on her shoulder and fiddled around inside for her cell phone to give herself time to think of an excuse. All she fancied at the moment was a long bath and a marathon of East Enders.
"Oh, no, I really shouldn't," she said. "You know about what happened with-erm, Jeff-"
She paused to give Lavender time to pat her back affectionately and tell her how sorry she was.
Ginny gave a weary sigh, playing along. "Yes, it really was dreadful, and I've just been knackered with work and the stress of it all. I should probably just head home and get some rest."
She was pleased when Lavender nodded her head emphatically.
"Too right, you are. I'll be fine, you just go along and rest up, Gin."
Ginny was relieved when they finally said their goodbyes and she was left to herself. The night was warm and she loved walking through the city alone. She released her wave of ginger hair from its tight ponytail and sighed, running her fingers over her scalp.
"Ginevra!"
She stopped in her tracks at the sound of her name being called and wheeled around to see who was responsible. The streets were filled with people and it was hard to make out anyone in the sea of faces tinted orange from the streetlights. She gave up after a little while, realizing that she probably wasn't the only Ginevra in London.
"Excuse me, Miss Weasley-"
This time she felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she spun around a familiar pair of bright green eyes were staring back at her.
"Adri-erm, Mr. Cordier, hello," she said, with an awkward laugh.
He was breathing a little heavily from running up to meet her, but he looked immaculate in a three-piece suit and tie. His hair was perfectly arranged, falling just short of his jaw line.
Ginny suddenly wished she'd invested in nicer work out clothes. She was sporting a pair of old track pants with a giant Gryffindor lion emblazoned on the side and a T-shirt she had grabbed out of the dirty laundry in her rush that morning.
Adrien smiled widely, placing his hand on her elbow to steer her away from the oncoming traffic. They retreated to the doorway of a convenience store where it was bit safer to have a conversation.
"I thought for a second I had mistaken you for another woman," he said, smiling. "But that hair. It had to be you, I thought."
"Oh, well, I guess it's a little bit of a giveaway," she said lamely. They lapsed into an awkward silence for a moment, but Adrien quickly recovered.
"You never returned my owls," he said. His expression wasn't upset but playful, as if he expected nothing less but still wanted to tease her about it.
Ginny shrugged and decided to tell the truth.
"To be honest, I never actually knew about them," she said. "My boss, who is, incidentally, also a dear friend of mine, thought your messages might have been," she searched hard for the right word. "Unwanted."
"Ah," Adrien replied, still not removing the trace of a smile from his mouth. "And was he correct? Was I a nuisance?"
"No, no, no," Ginny said, waving her hand in front of herself as if to swat away the thought. She thought she must look foolish but couldn't stop herself.
"Collin was only being the protective prat he is, that's all. I actually spoke with him last night and he gave me the messages after all."
The rush of passing cars and people droned on loudly behind them, and Ginny felt silly yelling at him over the noise.
"Excellent," Adrien said. "And I hope you have had time to consider my invitation for this weekend?"
Ginny pursed her lips and tried to pretend as if she hadn't already been about to say yes.
"Well, I would love to, but don't you think it might be a bit awkward?"
Adrien eyed her as if he didn't know what she meant.
"Well, you know," Ginny went on, trying to ignore the sounds of honking car horns and tires screeching, "With the whole Draco incident-I don't want to create another situation like that last unfortunate meeting."
Adrien didn't immediately answer her. He reached into his pocket, withdrew a long, dark colored wand and swept it over the air around them. Almost instantly, the noise of the city was reduced to a small buzz in their ears. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," she said. "Sometimes I can barely hear myself think in this damn city."
Adrien shook his head and cupped his hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry about my cousin, Ginevra, he will be no trouble at all. I will make sure of that."
Something about the mix of his accent and the charm that seemed to drip from his lips made her stomach jolt ever so slightly. She resisted the urge to jab it with her hand.
"You know, I was very worried when you left the way you did," he said, taking her hand in his own. His eyes were sincere. "Let me make it up to you. Accept my invitation this weekend and I promise it will be worth it."
Ginny felt him squeeze her hand gently and ignored the peculiar urge to steal hers away from him.
"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt," she said finally. Adrien broke out into a grin, exposing perfectly white teeth that gleamed in the streetlights.
"Magnifique," he said. "I will send you the address-"
He was interrupted by a loud screeching that emitted from the briefcase he held in his hand.
"Please forgive me for running off now," he said, frowning at the pager he had extracted from within the bag. "I have an appointment I must be getting to." He appeared genuinely sorry to leave.
"It's all right," she said. "I guess I will see you tomorrow night then?"
He smiled widely and before she knew it, he had kissed her softy on each cheek, releasing her after a few seconds.
"Tomorrow," he said. "Good night, Ginevra."
She stared a bit dumbstruck at him for a moment before nodding.
"Sure," she said. "Have a lovely evening, Adrien."
He let her go this time and she walked briskly away, glad to be far from his penetrating gaze. Something about him made her feel off-center, as if he were trying with all his might to unnerve her.
She shook her head a little and wrapped her arms around herself.
"That man has got to be part veela," she said to no one in particular.
Well at least the day hadn't been a complete loss, she thought as she approached her flat. She'd spent last week's salary on a slew of new outfits, worked out (sort of), and gotten a big lead on her assignment. Though, tomorrow she would be better prepared, and, she thought with a smirk, dressed to kill.
She waved to the night desk clerk and sprinted quickly up a couple of flights of stairs to reach her floor. The hall was empty and as she reached number six, she stopped in her tracks. There were voices coming from behind the door, muffled and deep.
She touched the knob with her hand and felt it twist. Unlocked. Heart beating quickly, she fumbled for her wand and stepped back a few feet from the landing.
"Hominem revelio," she said. Instantly, as if a spotlight came on from behind the wall, she could see two distinctly human outlines standing in her living room.
She set her bags down quietly and prepared herself. There was no use calling for help, as it was a Friday evening and she knew her only neighbor had gone to visit his parents for the weekend.
With her wand at the ready, she reached out to twist the door knob again. This time, she flung it open and rushed in.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she screeched. Twin beams of red light flew from her wand and into the chests of the intruders.
She realized then that she had squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them to make sure she'd hit her targets, her jaw dropped.
Two men were surely in her apartment. The place was a mess, with food cartons strewn about and her furniture in disarray. The television was blaring loudly, but it was drowned out by the blazing sound of her own temper in her ears.
She stepped over the coffee table and inspected the two forms now lying rigid on her floor, one with jet black hair and the other wearing a bright orange Chudley Cannons t-shirt that contrasted violently with his head of ginger.
She wanted to kick the pair of them but thought better of it. In a second, she flicked her wand and released them from the spell.
"You stupid prats!" Ginny spat, removing one of her shoes and beating them both about the arms with it. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley gasped and scrambled to their feet, knocking one another around in the process.
Ron jumped on the couch to dodge a blow, holding his arms up to shield himself.
"Oy, Gin! Calm down!"
That only enraged her further. She left Harry to nurse his wounds and pummeled her brother with her trainer with renewed fervor.
"Don't-you-tell-me-to-bloody-calm-down," she said, annunciating each word with another blow to her brother's head. "Get off me, Potter!"
Harry picked her up and set her back down on the floor, managing to successfully wrestle the weapon from her hand.
"Damn, Gin, I think he's got the point."
Ginny huffed indignantly and rolled her shoulders back. Ron was whimpering on the couch, still curled into a defensive ball.
"Oh, get up, you idiot," she spat, feeling drained.
Once he made sure the coast was clear, Ron unfurled himself and sat up straight. Harry threw the trainer well out of reach and dared an apologetic smile at the still fuming red-head before him.
"We ordered pizza."
Ginny rolled her eyes far into the back of her head and punched him in his chest.
"Oh, don't get cute with me. What the bloody hell are you two doing in my flat?"
Ron, apparently feeling brave enough to speak now, held up a white video game controller.
"Harry just bought himself a Wii," he said, as if that was a perfectly reasonable excuse.
Harry nodded affirmatively. Ginny wanted to slap them both again.
"And why," she said slowly, as if she were speaking to a pair of ten year olds, "Couldn't you have played at Harry's flat?"
"Duh, Gin," Ron said, straightening his shirt out. "You've got a bigger TV."
She let out an exasperated sigh. It was no use yelling anymore and she couldn't scrounge up enough energy to hit him again.
"Right then," she said as she went to gather up her bags from outside. "I'm going to go into my room, walk away from this mess, take a nice, long shower, and when I return, everything better be back in its proper place."
"Sure thing, Gin," Harry said.
Ron, who had since resumed playing their game, gave a noncommittal grunt and said under his breath, "As if it wasn't already a sty before we got here."
Ginny stomped off to her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her. She shed her dirty clothes, tossed them in the general area where she usually kept her hamper and went into her bathroom.
She emerged twenty minutes later with damp hair, feeling refreshed and quite lively. A fog of steam followed her over to her armoire where she found her most comfortable pajamas and slipped them on.
She picked up her tea mug from the previous evening and made her way back into the living room.
Obviously fearing another attack, the boys had done a great job cleaning up their mess. The only lingering smudge on her immaculate living room, she mused, was her oaf of a brother lying sprawled out over her sofa.
Harry was in the kitchen, leaning over a steaming tea kettle. Ginny ignored Ron and made her way over to the stove where Harry was pouring water into a fresh mug of tea.
He turned to her when he realized she was there and held out the steaming mug.
"Peace offering?" He smiled. Ginny no longer felt upset, but she grabbed the mug from him and glared playfully.
"I suppose," she said.
"Excellent," he grinned. He then dashed back over to the sofa and shoved Ron's legs off to give him room to sit. While he was gone, Ron had taken the chance to beat him in three rounds of kickboxing and was gloating about it.
"Laugh now, wanker" Harry warned. "I'm just getting warmed up."
Ginny came over and sat on the love seat, since there would be no getting rid of them anytime soon. There was an open box of lukewarm pizza on the table and she helped herself to a slice, feeling a strange rush of affection for the two men bickering beside her like teenagers. Living on her own, she sometimes missed the chaos of a home full of siblings.
"So, how's Luna, Ronald?" She said, with a devious smile. "Wishing she'd signed a prenuptial like I advised?"
Ron took a second to grin widely at her. "She's pregnant."
Ginny nearly choked on her pizza. "WHAT?"
Harry chortled but focused on punching Ron's player into oblivion.
"She's pregnant," Ron elaborated. "You know, with child,"
Ginny took a second to gather herself before she leaped out of her chair and pounced on her startled brother.
"You stupid prat, why didn't you tell me?!" She laughed, kissing his cheeks and mussing his hair. "You two didn't waste any time did you?"
"Geroff me," Ron said, but he was smiling. "I would have told you but you were too busy trying to beat me into a pulp, weren't you?"
"Wow," Ginny said, ignoring the jibe. "You're going to be dad, Ron!"
Ron seemed as if he was still getting used to the idea, and he paled a bit.
"S'pose I will, won't I?"
"Oh, you'll be great, don't worry," Ginny said, giving him another loud kiss on his freckled cheek. He waved her off finally, going red in his face.
"I'm not worried, not at all…" he said, weakly.
Harry snorted under his breath. "Luna told me he ran into smack into a wall when she broke the happy news."
"Shut it, Potter," Ron growled.
Ginny laughed giddily, ignoring them both. "This is fantastic," she said. "Have you told Mum yet?"
"We're having brunch there tomorrow morning, inviting the whole lot. We'll, erm, drop the bomb then I sup-Oy, that's a foul move, Potter! You can't kick a man while he's down!" He punched Harry in his forearm and growled, jamming his thumbs into the controller with renewed fervor.
Ginny squealed in delight, and then clapped her hands together with a sly grin. "Well, I can't wait to see your face the first time you've got to change diapers."
Harry joined in her round of laughter as Ron's face turned a slight shade of green.
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Ginny tossed and turned all night long after Ron and Harry had finally left. She was nervous about the next day, more so about how she was going to get more information about Malfoy when she could think of no one she cared to speak to less.
By three o'clock she had at last succumbed to sleep and woke up with the sun a few hours later, unable to find her slumber again. With a few hours to spare, she decided that now was as good a time as any to try to prepare something edible to contribute to the feast her mother was sure to be slaving over.
Her mother tried to encourage her to pick up cooking, but she had never quite mastered the proper wand work. After taking inventory of her barren refrigerator, she decided to attempt to charm a carton of strawberries into a soufflé. Forty-five minutes later, she had only managed to make them smash themselves into a jelly-like lump that looked more like an herbology project than food. Glaring at the mess she'd created, she scooped it all into a jar and decided they could at least use it for toast. To make the overall effect a bit less pathetic looking, she tied the jar off with a red ribbon.
"They'll have a good laugh over this one," she said to herself as she cleared the counter and licked left over strawberries from her fingers.
In the middle of her cleaning, a large owl swept into her flat through the artificial fireplace across from her sofa. He was carrying the large sack of letters that usually accompanied the release of a new issue of Bewitched Times.
"Hello, Fitz, how are you today? Come to bring me another sack full of howlers, have you?" She scratched behind the owl's neck and he nipped her finger affectionately. Once he had been paid in treats for his labor, he zoomed off back to where he came from and she set the bulging bag down.
"Accio howlers!" Ginny said, flourishing her wand. The bag lurched and burst open. About fifty bright red envelopes zoomed out and into her arms. She had gotten used to unhappy readers sending her nasty messages detailing their distaste with her latest work, but she had stopped listening to them once the neighbors began complaining about the sound of her television waking them up in the mornings.
She learned to herd them into a sound-proof box until they had all opened up and shouted their piece. Once they imploded, she discarded the box.
The rest of the letters she read carefully. Today most were gentile enough, the majority commenting on last month's interview with Winifred Wilkins, a mediwitch who had made herself famous by creating a potion that would protect werewolves from infecting their unborn children.
Once she had finished, she made a few notes on a notepad, cleared them all off the table and set them to organize themselves into an overstuffed filing cabinet in her study.
It was about time to leave by the time she'd finished, so she dressed and Apparated into her mother's parlor, the jar of jam clutched in her fist.
She had barley gotten her bearings and straightened out her robes when Harry popped loudly into the room beside her. He startled her so much that the jar of strawberries flew from her hand and shattered at her feet.
"Good morning, Harry," She said glaringly, using her wand to clean up the mess.
"Sorry, Gin, erm…I hope your gravy is all right." He eyed the muck Ginny was attempting to scoop back into its jar and could hardly contain his bemused smile.
"Sod off," she grumbled.
"Fred, George, keep your children out of the gardens!" Her mother's voice screeched from the kitchen. Together, the pair made their way over the threshold where Molly Weasley was waving an oven mitt out of the window, trying to grab the attention of the two men hunched over an old wooden picnic table set for fifteen. A few meters away, two small boys were bent double over a hedge, giggling conspiratorially.
If they could hear their grandmother the children showed no signs of it as they prodded a particularly thick bush with the tail end of one of their Uncle Ron's old brooms. To their delight, a pair of knobby, brown heads suddenly poked around either side to investigate the ruckus, and the boys laughed triumphantly.
The taller of the two, William, a six-year-old with strawberry blonde hair and the same eye for mischief as his father, lunged for the hapless garden gnome. Seconds latter, it was suspended in the air by its ankles, waving two dirty fists at the blue eyes staring cross-eyed back at him
"Dad, look! I've got one!" He yelled over his shoulder, beaming at George who was busy beating his brother at a nasty game of wizard's chess.
"Atta boy!" He called, pausing to wave to his son.
"George!" Molly's voice shattered the children's laughter.
Seated across from his twin, Fred broke his concentration on their game to answer.
"What's the problem, Mum? D'you like having a garden overrun by those idiots?"
Molly huffed and disappeared back into the kitchen. George snickered.
"D'you reckon she's still a bit sore after they swapped them for potatoes at dinner last week?"
Shrugging, Fred glanced over at his son, Alexander, who had triumphed over a pair of particularly ugly gnomes and flung them as far as his five-year-old arms could manage.
"You might be onto something there. Check."
Beyond their game of chess, the back yard of the Burrow was wrapped in a hazy summer cloud, and the sun cast a cheery glow on everything from the old broom shack by the Quidditch pitch to the procession of disgruntled gnomes making their escape into the bordering pasture.
Inside the kitchen, Molly huffed as she set a dozen tomatoes to dicing themselves in the sink, all the while muttering under her breath. What food had been prepared already was lined up on the overflowing countertops, all magically sealed shut and effectively Weasley child-proof.
Ginny and Harry greeted her finally, once they deemed it safe enough.
"Hello, dears!" Molly beamed, slinging the kitchen towel over her shoulder and smothering the pair in kisses.
"Mum, you look well," Ginny said, laughing at Harry's strained expression when Molly attempted for the millionth time to flatten his unruly mane. Over time her own copper-colored hair had been streaked with shades of silver, and the laugh lines about her eyes were deeper than last time Ginny had seen her.
"Mrs. Weasley, honestly, it's a lost cause," Harry said, prizing himself out of her grip. "It's got a mind of its own, I tell you,"
Molly reluctantly backed off, putting her hands on her hips and turning her brown gaze on her daughter.
"Muuumm," Ginny groaned, when Molly reached out to pinch her cheek.
"Look at you, you're practically wasting away!" She scoffed. "I'm going to owl that Creevey fellow first thing in the morning and tell him to stop working you so hard, Ginevra. You're all freckles and bones!"
It was Harry's turn to laugh as Ginny began bickering with her mother over the matter and tried to turn away the plate of sweets Molly was attempting to force-feed her.
Another tell-tale sound of Apparition sounded from the parlor, temporarily stalling the dispute. Arthur Weasley appeared briefly in the doorway, his ragged traveling cloak billowing around him. In the past few years, he'd been promoted to head of the department of muggle relations-a relatively new addition to the Ministry, instated soon after the war.
He greeted Ginny and Harry with hugs and kissed his wife. As Molly busied herself inspecting a new hole in his shirtsleeve, Ginny and Harry decided to make their escape.
The pair eased out the back door and into the yard, but they hadn't walked two feet before a pair of small bodies hurled themselves at their legs.
"Auntie Gin! Uncle Harry! Auntie Gin! Uncle Harry!" Alexander and William, each wielding a child-sized flying broom, were pushing and shoving one another to gain the attention of the witch and wizard before them.
"All right, all right, calm down you two," Harry said, hefting William over his shoulders and ruffling Alexander's hair.
"Uncle Harry, Dad said you were the youngest seeker in Gryffindor history!" William exclaimed. "Is it true? Is it? Did you really catch the snitch in your mouth? Will you show us? Didn't it taste funny?"
Harry laughed, ignoring Ginny, who rolled her eyes.
"Yes, it's true, though I wouldn't recommend you try it."
Fred and George had ended their game and came over. William took a running leap at his father, nearly bowling him over.
"I'll be sending you my mediwitch bill, Potter," George said as he lifted his son up and slung him over his back. "Did you know it costs fifty galleons to get a snitch removed from a child's stomach?"
"Billy, you didn't!" Ginny exclaimed. William grinned, hopping from his dad's arms and laughing.
"Show me the wr-wronky feist, Uncle Harry! Please! Won't you?" Alexander hopped on his little broom and hovered at about waist level on Harry. He had his mother's deep chocolate eyes and dark, curly hair, but the smattering of brown freckles on his cheeks and nose mirrored his father's.
"The 'wronky feist'?" Harry turned incredulous eyes on Fred. "And you call yourself a parent?"
"Oy! You can't start a match without me!" The small group turned to see Ron emerging from the house, Luna in tow.
Ginny laughed delightedly and rushed over to greet her friend. She hadn't seen her since the wedding.
"Luna!" She embraced her, though she took care not to squeeze too tight. "You look lovely."
Luna had always had a special glow about her, but the presence of the life forming inside her seemed to enhance it ten-fold. Even her long white blonde locks were bouncier than usual. Ron seemed torn between running off to grab his own broom and keeping his arms wrapped securely around his wife's waist.
"Oh, go on already, Ron, she isn't going to break if you let her alone for a few minutes," Ginny said.
Ron glared at his sister and gave Luna and quick kiss before jogging off to the group of men and boys passing around broomsticks in the distance.
Ginny turned to her friend, drinking in the sight of her looking so content and happy. She grabbed her hands in her own and could barely find words to express how happy she was for her. They simply squealed giddily at one another for a few moments and walked over to the picnic table to catch up.
"So," Ginny said, leaning in with a glint of mischief in her eye. "You two didn't waste any time did you?"
Luna smiled serenely. "I'm only a few weeks on, Gin. I wouldn't have even known if I hadn't been due for a check up."
"Did Ron really run into a wall?" Ginny asked.
They laughed together, looking out in the distance at the five forms flying circles around one another.
Luna sighed. "I was quite scared about what his reaction would be," she admitted. "You know, he and Harry just got promoted to senior Aurors last month. He's been quite stressed lately about the training, which makes him really vulnerable to developing Geniggle's syndrome and that takes weeks to treat."
Ginny didn't bother to ask what sad fate Geniggle's syndrome entailed for her brother, but she leaned in to give Luna a one-armed hug. "I wouldn't worry too much," she said. "I heard Harry caught him in Ickle Baby Bobbles last week in Diagon Alley. He was keen on buying a toy Quidditch set and a matching kit, but decided to give the kid a few years yet to swing it's first beater's bat."
"Hello you, two!" Hermione was walking over, looking very relaxed in a pretty yellow sundress. Her hair was down and framing her face, which looked as if she'd gotten a bit of sun.
"'Mione!" Ginny embraced her. "What the hell have you done to yourself? You look great."
Hermione blushed and busied herself hugging Luna to hide it.
"All right, all right!" Molly and Arthur came out onto the lawn, followed closely by a long trail of steaming bowls and plates of food which flew over to the table and set themselves. "Everybody, time to tuck in!"
There was no chance the boys heard her announcement in the middle of their game, so Ginny volunteered to round them up.
In a second, she'd dug her wand out of her pocket and retrieved her old broom with a quick Accio under her breath.
Hopping on, she zoomed off in a blur of red hair and laughter. George didn't know what hit him when she blew past him, knocking the quaffle out of his hand and weaving her way to the other end of the pitch. She easily scored past Ron's frantic attempts to block her and was greeted by raucous cheers from her two nephews.
"Auntie Gin, let us try your Firebolt, please! Please!" The pair puttered past their fathers as fast as their mini-brooms could carry them and over to their aunt. Ginny laughed, ignoring her scowling brothers.
"Maybe in a few years, you two," she said. The boys looked put out for a moment, but she didn't notice. Something bright and gold had caught her eye.
Harry was on the other end of the pitch, having a row with Ron over letting in another goal. Fred and George were queued up, enjoying the action. The snitch was hovering just above the tail end of Harry's broom, winking in the distance at Ginny, begging to be caught.
"Boys," she said. "Let me show you how it's really done." In a flash, she shot off, clearing the distance between herself and the other fliers in seconds.
"Sod off, Potter, I could have blocked it if I wanted!"
"Oh sure, and I bet Hagrid could teach a horntail to tap dance if he wanted," Harry countered.
"Honestly you two, I'm surprised you didn't marry each other." Fred laughed.
Ron glared and turned to say something rude in response, but the sentence died on his tongue.
"Watch it!" He dove for the ground, just in time to evade his sister who swept past them with speed that left them all scrambling to stay on their brooms.
"Haha!" Ginny rose into the air triumphantly, her hand clasped tightly over the struggling golden snitch.
Harry's jaw dropped.
"Nice one, Potter," Fred said, swinging his beater's bat over his shoulder. "I suppose you forgot to grab your bullocks when you left the house this afternoon, eh?"
The meal was quite eventful. Everyone pounced on the delicious food, praising Molly with such enthusiasm that she went beet red about her face. Angelina and Katie had appeared a few minutes after they started eating, both having been held up at their shop in Diagon Alley-a Quidditch robes boutique not yet a year old but already thriving next door to their husbands' joke empire.
By the time everyone had settled down again and Alexander and William had finally been coerced into eating their vegetables before dessert (Hermione transfigured them to look like mini snitches and broomsticks), the sun had risen high and steaming hot above them..
Ginny sat back, feeling quite relaxed. She eyed Ron across the table, smiling at the sight of his arm around Luna's shoulder. The pair was beaming for no apparent reason to the untrained eye, but Ginny knew better. She winked at Luna when she caught her eye and gave her a "When are you going to make the damn announcement already?" look.
Luna shrugged slightly and nudged Ron's shoulder. He only grinned at her, surreptitiously reaching beneath the table to caress her still flat tummy with his hand. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Get on with it, already!" she mouthed at him. Ron ignored her. Bored with the two, she turned to Hermione.
"So, Herm, I heard a rumor you've been seeing that Ayden bloke from the Department of Mysteries," she grinned. "Care to confirm or deny?"
Hermione blanched and busied herself refilling her water goblet. "Who on Earth told you that rubbish?"
"Ayden? Ayden Driggins?" Harry had turned around, abruptly dropping his one-sided conversation with Angelina about the latest in Quidditch fashion trends. "You can't be serious, 'Mione. The man is a complete ars-"
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, cutting him off. "Mind there are children at the table."
Harry grinned sheepishly at Mrs. Weasley, who had peered over at the sound of his raised voice. He turned back to Hermione then, talking out of the side of his mouth.
"His father was arrested for sneaking Death Eaters into the Ministry during the War, you know that."
Hermione sat up straighter in her seat, folding her napkin neatly in her lap, and tried to appear nonchalant.
"And what of it? Does that make his son a criminal, too?"
"The idiot got himself stuck in the bloody Department last month," Harry said, trying to seem nonchalant himself but failing miserably. "It took five Unspeakables six hours to get him out. He'd managed to Vanish all the doors to the building."
Hermione shrugged. "Well, I don't see what that has to do with anything," she said. "He's just a-"
"Complete jerk, I tell you. You'd be better off with Barry Boilious from magical maintenance," Harry said emphatically.
Ginny felt suddenly uncomfortable seated between the two.
"Harry, what's gotten into you," she said under her breath. "I was only kidding about the rumors."
Hermione glared over her at Harry. "Who are you to tell me who I should or shouldn't see?" she said. "Who's the prat with seven different witches a week calling on his doorstep, begging to get a glimpse of his stupid scar?"
"All right, then, shall we get on with this exciting announcement?" Ginny said, effectively cutting off Harry's retort. She jumped up quickly from her seat and tapped her goblet in the air with her fork to get everyone's attention.
"Erm, I believe someone has got very exciting news to share, haven't they?" She looked apologetically at Luna and Ron, who were fidgeting nervously.
"Exciting news? Who's got exciting news?" Molly looked up expectantly. "You're not pregnant again, are you Katie dear?"
"What?" George stared at his wife accusingly. "Shouldn't the father be the first to know?"
"Oh, shut up, you," Katie rolled her eyes and smacked her husband on the back of his head. "I'm not pregnant."
Fred turned to his wife with fear-stricken eyes. "Please say it's not-"
"It's not," Angelina said firmly. She then cast doubtful eyes at her stomach. "I mean, it had better not be."
"What do you mean, 'it had better not be,'? You either are or you aren't," Fred said, leaning over his wife to press his ear against her stomach. "Hello! Is anyone in there?"
"Fred, get off- "
"Well, if you are, then please," he said,"Get out!"
Angelina gasped horrorstruck at him. "What are you on about? Would having another child be such a terrible thing?"
Fred realized his mistake, but it was too late. Angelina had fire crackling in her brown eyes and her hand pressed protectively over her stomach.
"No, no, no," Ginny waved her arms, trying to diffuse another argument. She was getting bad at this. "You've got it wrong."
Luna and Ron were fidgeting now more than ever. This wasn't how they'd imagined telling the family, but there was no way around it now. Ron glared at his sister.
"Thanks, Gin."
Ginny shrugged, looking sheepish.
"All right, you lot, shut it!" Ron shouted, standing up with Luna at his side. "It's me who's pregnant."
The table was silent for a moment. Then Alexander and William both burst out laughing.
"Uncle Ron's going to be a Mummy!" They pointed and laughed more, rolling onto the ground in the process.
"Good one, Ron," George said, "I mean we always knew Luna wore the pants in the relationship, but this is a bit much."
Luna smiled serenely over the group that was buzzing with confused commotion. She patted her husband's arm to keep him from retorting.
"No, Billy, your uncle is not going to be a Mummy," she said, bringing her hand to her stomach. "I am."
The talking stopped. Eleven pairs of eyes were trained on the beaming witch before them. Ron nodded affirmatively with a lopsided grin on his face as he slung his arm around Luna's shoulders. He looked quite pleased with himself.
Molly was the first to react, and she leapt from her seat with surprising agility, running over to the couple with tears already streaming down her cheeks.
"Oh, my ickle Ronniekins!" She sobbed into his shirt collar. "You're going to be a f-f-father."
George and Fred snorted with laughter.
"Here's to dodging a bludger," Fred said, surreptitiously raising his goblet to toast his brother while their wives busied themselves congratulating the expecting couple.
"Cheers."
Hermione and Harry had barely acknowledged Luna's announcement, as they were still carrying on a heated debate at the table. Ginny, unfortunately, hadn't dared leave her seat again lest Hermione draw her wand.
"Honestly, Harry, you're being ridiculous," Hermione said, her brown eyes flashing dangerously. "We're not school children any more."
"All I am saying," Harry said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Is that if what you're trying to do is find and date the biggest prat on the planet then you're doing a bang up job starting with Driggins."
Ginny knew now was the time to break in. Hermione's face had darkened to a shade lighter than a howler about to burst and her hand was inching toward her handbag.
"All right you two, take it easy, won't you?" She spread her arms out between them. As if they had forgotten that Ginny was there at all, Hermione and Harry both looked at her with startled expressions on their faces.
"Ginny, stay out of this, please," Harry said. Before Ginny could even retort, Hermione blew up at him for her.
"Don't you talk to her like that!" She spat. "You're really turning into an arse, did you know that Potter? It's like you're not even-ugh." Hermione shook her head with frustration. "Just bugger off."
With that, she strode off across the yard and through the kitchen door. The sound of the rickety door frame banging as she passed through was ignored by the bustling group of celebrators.
"She's got a point, you know," Ginny said, eyeing Harry reproachfully.
Harry looked as if he was about to snap at her all over again, but he thought better of it and shrugged indifferently.
"Come on, Gin, if you even met this idiot-"
"The only idiot I see right now is the wizard sitting in front of me," she said, cutting him off. "For merlin's sake, Harry, what's gotten into you?"
He appeared intent on not answering her for a while. He was glaring at the plate of half-eaten food before him. Across the table, William and Alexander took turns pressing their ears against Luna' stomach, trying to hear proof of their new cousin forming inside.
"I don't know," Harry said, breaking his silence. "It doesn't make any sense why she's wasting her time on these blokes who are no good for her when-"
He cut off abruptly, pausing to run his hands through his hair roughly. It was a gesture Ginny recognized at once.
"When are you going to just admit it to yourself, Harry?" She said quietly, reaching out to lay her hand on his forearm.
"You love her, don't you?" Subconsciously, she held her breath, prepared for his answer and whatever pang of remorse it might bring with it. The same way Hermione had felt watching Luna walk down the aisle into Ron's arms, Ginny expected she'd feel when Harry finally acknowledged his feelings for Hermione.
Harry looked at her earnestly for a moment. And then he nodded, just once.
Ginny let out her breath at last, but was surprised not to feel an ounce of any kind of emotion that resembled loss. Even though she and Harry had parted ways years ago, she felt weird realizing for the first time that her feelings for him had truly dissipated. It was quite a relief, she thought.
"Well then," she said, smiling at him widely. "There's only one thing to do now."
"What's that?" Harry eyed her wearily.
"Pick up your bollocks and go tell her right now before she really does run off with some moron from the Department of Mysteries." She picked up her goblet and swallowed the last bit of wine.
Harry chuckled and took a gulp of his own wine, shaking his head. "Yeah, I suppose I can't let that happen after tonight. Next thing you know, she'l; be eyeing Malfoy."
Ginny struggled to swallow the mouthful of wine she'd just taken. It burned down her throat in an uncomfortable lump, causing her to cough harshly.
"What do you mean?" She asked, ignoring Harry's attempts to pat her on the back. "Why on Earth would she show interest in Malfoy?"
"It was a joke, Gin," he said, his face still showing concern. "I just happened to cross paths with the slimy git this morning at the Ministry. He's been coming and going for the past couple of weeks, up to something no doubt."
"After all this time, can a Death Eater just waltz through the Ministry of Magic carefree?" She was eager to learn all she could from Harry, but he only shrugged it off.
"There was never substantial evidence linking Draco Malfoy to any killings or crimes during the War, not enough to get him sent to Azkaban anyway," he said. Ginny looked incredulous.
"I know, I know, it sounds mental. But he either did a nice job cleaning up after himself or he hid like a dog while everyone else did Voldemort's bidding. Regardless, he was exiled along with hundreds others for a certain number of years, depending on their involvement."
"I vaguely remember reading about the exiled ones," Ginny said, furrowing her brow in thought. "So that's where he's been all this time."
"He was sentenced for eight and a half years," Harry continued. "Our records show he whisked himself and his mother off to-"
"France," Ginny said, putting the pieces together. Harry nodded again.
"You seem to be pretty interested in Malfoy," he said. "Any particular reason?"
Ginny shook her head to clear her thoughts. "It's just a story I'm working on," she said. "Malfoy and his cousin, the French ambassador to the Ministry of Magic no less, have been working closely for the past couple of months. I'm curious as to what they're up to."
"Oh, you mean Cordier?" Harry said. "I don't' know much about him, but you're right, he has been in and out of the Ministry quite a lot lately. He's supposedly in talks with Shacklebot to reform the French alliance-fat chance, I say."
"Harry," Ginny said, a thought occurring to her. "Do you keep a track on exiled death eaters? Once they come back I mean, do you have to watch them, monitor their moves?"
Harry looked a bit uncomfortable. Aurors didn't usually open up to others about their work, especially to the press. But this was Ginny and Harry felt he could trust her.
"They've each got a trace on them, you see," he said in a lowered voice. No one had even noticed them huddled together anyway, as they were now digging into desserts and laughing at something that seemed very far away from their conversation.
"It's sort of like what underage wizards have to alert the Ministry when they've performed magic outside of school," he said.
"But they can still use magic, can't they?"
"Yes, they can. But if we detect any ounce of dark magic or suspicious activity, we launch an investigation immediately."
Ginny let this new information process before posing her next question.
"What do you think Malfoy's been up to for the past eight years, Harry?" She said, looking at him earnestly. "Off the record."
"Off the record, eh? I suppose I'll take you word on that one." Harry chortled.
"Well, off the record, I must admit I have no idea what he's been into since he left. There's been no detection of dodgy spellwork or anything on him so far," he said. "But hell, it is a Malfoy we're talking about. You never know what might happen if they think they've got some influence in the Ministry."
Ginny relaxed her shoulders, feeling the tension drain slightly. "I just don't see how anyone could take an ex-Death Eater seriously at the Ministry, especially after Lucius and especially since this particular Death Eater happened to be his son."
"Ginny," Harry leaned in, frowning slightly. "If you're planning on finagling your way into Malfoy's world to get this story, just be careful who you cross paths with."
"Harry, trust me, I'm a big girl and-"
"You can take care of yourself," Harry interjected. "I know, Gin. I just don't want you getting tangled up in the wrong sort of people."
Ginny thought of the evening ahead of her and that she'd soon be mingling with the exact sort of people Harry was warning her about now-even Malfoy, if she could find a way to get close to him.
"Oy, you two!" Ron ambled over, his hands full of pastries and a large goblet of champagne. "Haven't you heard the news? I'm going to be somebody's father!" He grinned stupidly at them. Ginny surmised he'd had one too many congratulatory drinks.
"Brilliant, Ron," Harry said, leaving Ginny's side to help Ron ease himself down into a seat before he toppled over.
Ginny glanced at the time and realized she ought to leave soon if she wanted to prepare for the party that evening. It took her about half an hour, however, to bid her family goodbye, as her brothers talked her into another goblet of wine and her mother kept her for ten minutes talking about knitting stockings for her new grandchild.
Ginny finally agreed to whatever demands Molly was making and squeezed herself out of the melee. Before she left, she grabbed Harry by the elbow.
"Don't think I've forgotten about earlier," she said, jabbing her finger into his chest roughly but with a bemused smile on her face. "Hermione isn't the kind of witch you want to keep waiting forever, Potter. So go to her."
Harry nodded, offering her a one-armed hug. "What would I do without you, Gin?"
"Oh, save the flattery for 'Mione, would you," she said, laughing. "I'll see you soon all right?"
She kissed his cheek and scurried off, stopping at the door to peel Alexander and William from her legs with the promise to let them have a go on her firebolt next visit.
Seconds later, she was surrounded by the familiar walls of her flat. Tonight was do or die for her and this article, she knew. After hours of deliberating over dress robe after dress robe and trying to tame her unruly ginger locks, by six o'clock, she finally finished applying the last bit of mascara and slipped her feet into a pair of sleek black heels, ready to go.
The look on Adrien's face when he greeted at the door of his cousin's expansive home later that evening was enough to convince her that she might actually have a shot at success. But her resolve nearly crumbled as she crossed the threshold, with Adrien's proffered arm in her own. As she drank in the sight of the buzzing crowd, a sudden tap on her shoulder startled her from her scan of the room, where she was trying to spot a telltale head of platinum blonde.
"Weasley," said a cold voice that fell like ice on her ears. "Who the bloody hell let you in here?"
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