Untold Past ~g. weasley~

03

I didn't know how long Ginny had been staring at me before I began to cry. I just wanted her to say something, anything. The silence was almost unbearable. After a brief moment, I felt a pair of warm, soft arms wrap around me, and I looked up at Ginny. "Shhhhh, it's okay. Don't cry, don't cry. It's okay, I'm here for you. I'm in love with you too, Jules. What can I do to help you feel better?" She said, and I took some deep breaths to calm myself down. "Just by being here, you're helping me feel better," I said, then I thought of something that threatened to make me cry all over again. "I don't want to make you an outcast with me, Gin. You deserve so much better than that, than me," I said, holding back my tears. "Jules, I don't care about that stuff. All I care about is making sure that you are happy, and that you know just how beautiful you are," she said. "Oh, please. I'm not as beautiful as you are. Not by a long shot," I said. "Oh stop. You can make anything look good, even an oversized sweater with sweatpants and hair that looks like you just got out of bed," she said back. "How about we agree to disagree?" I asked. "Works for me," she said.

Ginny and I made plans to go shopping together in Hogsmeade, and we went to a clothing store. We kept returning to the same dress over and over again, a knee-length red and black number with a sweetheart neckline. Ever since I first laid eyes on it, I could see Ginny wearing it on a date with me. "Man, I wish I could afford this dress. It's just... it's so gorgeous," she said softly. That simple statement made my mind up for me. When she moved to look at some of the cheaper dresses, I found the red dress in her size, pulled it off the rack, and bought it for her, and I also got myself a dress to put over the red one until I returned to my dormitory so I could put it in my closet and give to her for Christmas. Ginny got a couple of the cheaper dresses, and we left for the Three Broomsticks to have lunch.

When I got back to my dormitory after the Hogsmeade trip, I put both dresses in my closet after taking mine out of the bag. I was looking forward to the winter dance, which was scheduled for the week before Christmas break.

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On Saturday, the day before the dance, I grabbed the bag with Ginny's dress in it from my closet after breakfast before I met up with her at Hagrid's hut, where we had agreed to have tea with Hagrid. "Hey, love. What's with the dress bag?" Ginny asked when I entered the hut. "You'll see," I said simply, and she smiled and took a sip of her tea. "You know, now that we're together, I feel like a weight has been taken off my shoulders," she said. "I feel the same way," I replied, taking a drink of my tea. After we were done, I handed the dress bag to her. "What do I do now?" She asked. "Go ahead. Open it," I said. She slowly opened it and pulled the dress out of the bag, and she slowly looked at me. "When did you get this for me?" She asked. "On the last Hogsmeade trip, when you said that you wished you could afford it," I told her. "So you got it for me?" She asked. "Yeah. I got it as a Christmas present for you," I said. "Thank you so much. I'm gonna wear it to the dance tomorrow," she said with a smile, and I realized that I had yet to ask her to go to the dance with me. "Gin, will you go to the winter dance with me?" I asked her. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me. Of course I'll go to the dance with you," she said. "Will you be my girlfriend?" I asked her. "Sure," she replied.

The evening of the dance, I had just walked into the Entrance Hall to wait for Ginny, humming softly to myself. I was wearing the dress that I had gotten when I got Ginny hers. Mine was a leafy green dress with a pair of matching high heels, and I looked around, not seeing Ginny yet. I waited for a little while, and then a vision of pure beauty appeared at the top of the stairs. My jaw dropped as she carefully made her way down the stairs toward me, and she linked her arm with mine. "You look gorgeous, honey," I said. "So do you, love," she replied. We walked into the Great Hall and took our places while we waited for the music to start. I put my right hand on Ginny's waist and my left hand on her shoulder, and she did the same with me. The music began playing, and we began dancing together, but things started to derail when, after I twirled Ginny, she got dizzy and fell into someone else, who turned around to reveal that it was Umbridge. "Sorry, Professor. I just got dizzy and tripped on my own feet," Ginny said, quickly rejoining me to get away from her. "That's quite alright, dear," Umbridge said, looking right at me as she said it, as if she believed I did it on purpose. Ginny and I picked up where we left off, slowly moving closer to each other as we danced. Ginny dipped me, and when I came back up, I twirled into her arms.

"I didn't know you were such a good dancer, love," Ginny said. "You must not have seen me at the Yule Ball last year, then," I said. "I don't think I did," she said. Suddenly, Ron came over to us and told us that Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak with us in his office, so we left the dance with him and made our way to the Headmaster's office. When we got there, we found Harry, Fred and George waiting for us, with Dumbledore standing behind his desk. "Now that we're all here, it would seem that Arthur Weasley has been attacked while doing undercover work for the Order. I am sending you all to 12 Grimmauld Place through the Floo Network," he explained, and each of us used the fire in Dumbledore's office to travel to 12 Grimmauld Place, where we found Sirius Black waiting for us. "Your mother is at St. Mungo's right now with your father. She should be back by morning," he said, and we split up, with me and Ginny entering the room that we had shared with Hermione over the summer, and we fell asleep within a few minutes, still wearing our dresses.

On Christmas morning, I woke up and snuck downstairs as quietly as I could, finding Mrs. Weasley already hard at work making breakfast. "Here, let me help you with that," I said as she attempted to simultaneously pour some butterbeer and flip some pancakes. "Oh, thank you, dear. I didn't even hear you come in," she said as I started working on the pancakes. "I was trying not to wake anyone up," I explained. Together, we finished making breakfast, then Mrs. Weasley asked me what I got Ginny for Christmas. "Well, when we went to Diagon Alley over the summer, I stopped by Quality Quidditch Supplies and I got her a Firebolt broomstick," I said. "Oh, that's nice of you," she said. "Speaking of which, I should run upstairs and get it and bring it down," I said, running upstairs as quietly as possible, grabbed the broomstick from the closet, and went back downstairs to put it under the tree. "I'm glad that she's got you in her life," Mrs. Weasley said. "Even though I'm You-Know-Who's daughter?" I asked. "Yes, of course, dear. You make her happy, and that matters more than who you're related to," she said, just as Ginny came downstairs for breakfast. "Morning, honey," I said warmly. "Morning. Happy Christmas," she replied. "Happy Christmas," I said in response.

The others joined us over the next hour or so, and Mrs. Weasley had to go to St. Mungo's, leaving us with Sirius. "So, what are your plans for today?" He asked us. "I don't really have one," Harry said, and Ron agreed. "I dunno," I said, and Ginny put her arm around my shoulders. "I could show you something, if you like," Sirius said. "Sure, Sirius," I replied, and he brought me upstairs. He handed me a relatively dusty book, titled Unlocking the Secrets of the Animagus. "I don't understand. Why are you giving me this?" I asked him. "I thought you'd want to learn how to become an Animagus, like me," he explained. "Hmm... I suppose you're right," I said, putting the book under my arm. "You can just keep that book if you want. I don't have any use for it anymore," he said. "Thanks Sirius. Happy Christmas," I said. "Happy Christmas," he replied, and we went back downstairs.

I spent the time up until Mrs. Weasley returned reading the Animagus book, finding the information surprisingly easy to make sense of. When I heard that she was back, I quickly went upstairs and hid the book in my trunk under my potions book. I had started thinking about possibly asking Professor Snape if he could help me with understanding some of the information in the Animagus book. After lunch, I gave Ginny her present from me. "Oh my goodness. When did you get me this?" She asked me. "Over the summer," I said. "Wow. You're so thoughtful, honey," she said. "No problem, love," I replied.

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The picture at the beginning of the chapter is of the dresses that Juliet and Ginny wore to the winter dance. Anyway, the next chapter will probably take place around the time when Harry and Dumbledore visit Professor Slughorn. Until next time!