Hiding in Plain Sight (A Hinny Fanfiction)

It Sort Of Wore Out

This time, it was Ginny who had trouble sleeping. She couldn't fall asleep, waiting for Harry to come to his room after his reading. When she heard his heavy wooden door close, she took a breath and recommitted herself, using everything from counting imaginary Snitches to flipping her pillow every five minutes or so. The only thing on her mind was the wall that separated them. If he had another dream or vision she wanted to be ready for him. So she made her way to the wall and placed her ear to it. Nothing but the sound of soft breathing. It calmed Ginny's nerves. When she finally started drifting off herself, the snoring began. She shook her head, sleepily.

"And he always blamed Ron. Silly git."

But even the sound of a saw being dragged against a log kept her mind at ease. She eventually fell into slumber.

Ginny awoke to a pain in her neck she had never felt before, caused by her using a wall for a pillow most of the night. She swore and rolled herself to her feet. She had to come up with creative ways to dress herself without being able to turn her head before heading downstairs. She found Matilda and Harry sitting around the table with eggs and bacon displayed around them.

"Hey Gin! How did you sleep?" Ginny had rarely seen this species of Harry Potter before: chipper. She wanted it to stay forever. On second thought, maybe not. But he did deserve at least a little time before reality came back into view.

"Oh. Great. I think it's the mountain air," she replied as she rubbed the side of her neck and tried to turn a grimace into a smile.

"That's what I was telling Matilda! Maybe that's why you've stayed so young," he said as he turned to their host. Even the irascible innkeeper blushed.

Ginny poured herself a cup of black coffee and deposited herself into a chair, not yet reaching for the food.

"So what's the plan, Herr Potter?" Ginny asked.

"Matilda says the house-elf tends to show up around noon at the grocer's. We get there around 11, have a chat with Maurice, and then hide. We let the elf shop, then confront him. Hopefully he'll take us to his master." Ginny nodded and picked one slice of bacon out of the pile. She looked at her watch.

"So we have some time. Any ideas?"

"I did, actually," Harry responded with a grin.

Ginny ate a little more, then she and Harry helped clear the table and set up the bar for what Matilda believed would be today's veritable flood of customers. They waved and promised her they would be back to say goodbye, one way or the other, before walking back out to the High Street hand-in-hand.

"I want to check out Fritz's book shop. Is that okay?" Harry asked. Ginny nodded. They walked the couple of blocks toward the gate, not seeing Helene and the others down the street. Harry held the door open for Ginny.

The bookshop was, frankly, a disaster. Piles and piles of ancient tomes filled the space, leaving only a few channels in which to move. Every breath came with an added bonus of dust, which they could also see moving through the air via an ornate chandelier that looked out of place. As Klaus said, almost everything was in English. There were many books on magical history and Harry couldn't help but smile at Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He resolved to find a way to contact Hagrid. But no spell books, not even the useless theory books Professor Umbridge made them study two years ago.

The store also had a selection of Muggle tales. Ginny picked up one after the other, looking at the colorful (but not moving) cover art. Some were grotesque, from men named Poe and Stoker. This bloke Shakespeare wrote quite a bit. Most of his covers were of royalty, but one stuck out to Ginny of a man looking anguished and holding a skull. For some reason, it reminded her of Harry and made her sniff. She kept it but determined to find its balance, something that looked a bit more upbeat. She found one of a lady in a frilly, elaborate dress and a man in an equally resplendent suit from a woman named Jane Austen. It couldn't be that bad.