Begin Again

The Snow

Harry wakes me up one morning in late November.

"Ginny!" he says, shaking me awake. "Wake up, it's snowing!"

I smile to myself in my groggy state of half-consciousness. He sounds like a little kid on Christmas morning.

That's something Harry never really got to experience. He never got to just be a kid. A happy little kid. He had to be the kid with the dead parents and the evil wizard who wanted him dead. But he's always made the most of what he has. I've never seen Harry give up.

"Okay, I'm up," I say, stumbling out of bed. I let him pull me by my hand to the window.

I've never seen anything so perfect.

Godric's Hollow, wrapped up in a thick white blanket. Quiet. Innocent. Untouched.

"We should go outside," says Harry.

So we do. We throw our coats on over our pajamas and throw snowballs at each other. I feel like I'm five years old.

When decide to head back inside, there's a homely-looking grey owl on the front steps with a letter in his beak.

"Harry!" I say. "It's Errol!"

"He's still alive?" asks Harry.

I kick him playfully. "Don't," I say. "He's come all the way from The Burrow."

"Let's see what he's brought," says Harry.

I scoop up Errol and bring him inside.

Mum and Dad should really think about getting a new owl.

I take the letter from his beak. It's from mum, addressed Ginny Weasley, The Potter-Weasley House, Godric's Hollow, in her loopy handwriting. I open it with anticipation.

Dear Ginny,

Hope you're having a lovely time in your new house! Say hello to Harry for us. Ron and Hermione moved out earlier this month. And they're engaged! It was a lovely surprise. Very happy for the both of them. They're getting married this summer.

"Ron and Hermione are getting married!" I call out to Harry. He rushes into the room.

"What?!" he says.

"I know!"

"Wow."

Your father and Percy are still working at the Ministry. All's well there.

Write me a letter and tell me how things are going! Can't wait to see you and Harry here at The Burrow for Christmas next month.

Love, Mum

"I can't believe Ron and Hermione are engaged." says Harry, playing with my hair absent-mindedly.

"Me too," I say.

Mum's news leaves me with a weird feeling in my stomach. Is she hinting? Are Harry and I supposed to be getting married too? I'm only seventeen.

Do I want to get married?