(Book 7 FanFiction) Harry Potter: The Last Horcrux

Chapter 15: Yet Still Miles to Go

A tense, grim mood settled over Grimmauld Place as everyone awaited word from Azkaban. They had tried to go about their daily business but found their attention wandering and their minds elsewhere. Everyone had quickly given up hope of getting anything done and instead gathered in the large sitting room to pass the time together.

Ginny sighed heavily as she struggled to sit still. She'd tried to wake up bright and early to see Harry before he left, but the alarm she'd set had never rung. She suspected her mum might have had something to do with that, but knew she was wound too tight to bring it up now.

She'd only end up flying off the handle, anyway, and she couldn't afford any more rows right now.

She and Harry had tentatively called a truce the night before, but she still felt annoyed by his constant desire to protect her. Hadn't she proven herself capable of handling just as much as Ron or Hermione?

Somewhere deep inside, she knew Harry couldn't help it. His need to protect her was simply part of who he was, and she both loved and resented him for it.

Hermione, too, was angry with both Harry and Ron for leaving her behind. The logical side of Ginny's brain understood that they all couldn't go to Azkaban, but it was infuriating that Harry had chosen Ron without even thinking about it. Okay, so maybe Ron could handle Dementors better than either she or Hermione, but still... She shuddered, remembering the powerful memories of Tom that the Dementors had induced on the train in her second year.

No. It wasn't as if she wanted to go near the Dementors, but Harry didn't handle them so well, either, and he'd never considered just letting someone else go. Ginny bit her lip and had to blink to keep her eyes from filling. She had a terrible feeling about this. Somehow, she knew in her heart that something wasn't right, and she felt utterly helpless sitting on the couch reading a magazine. She needed to do something.

She let her eyes wander around the room, focusing on the rest of her family as they tried for her sake to appear unconcerned. Her heart filled to bursting for the lot of them. No matter that they drove her 'round the bend on occasion, they were a wonderfully supportive bunch.

Her mum sat in a huge armchair in the corner, her eyes puffy and redrimmed, furiously clicking her knitting needles. On her lap sat the Weasley family clock that she'd rescued from the Burrow. All the hands remained on Mortal Peril, so what she expected to see happen, no one knew. The expression on her face clearly said not to bother her, and the rest of the lot knew her well enough to respect that look.

Bill and Fleur shared a chair and cooed at each other incessantly while they teamed up in a game of chess against Remus. Remus removed a pocket watch from his faded robe every few minutes to check the time. A shadow would cross his features each time, and Ginny noticed Bill and Fleur pretending not to see moves that could have finished the game sooner.

Her dad and the twins had all abandoned work at different times during the morning and returned to headquarters to await news with everyone else. They now sat around a coffee table while the twins tried to explain the concept of Muggle poker to her dad. Mr. Weasley wasn't nearly as interested in the card game as he was with the poker chips and kept trying to see if they would float in his drink, or how many he could suspend at a time with his wand. Ginny simply couldn't understand her dad's fascination with Muggles, although she knew it amused Harry and Hermione.

She and Hermione sat together on the couch. Ginny had tried to work on the schoolwork that her mother insisted she do, but she'd given it up as hopeless today. Instead, she flipped through the pages of a teen glamour magazine while Hermione held a seventh-year Transfiguration book in her lap. Ginny couldn't understand how Hermione could use Transfiguration to keep her nerves calm when it had the complete opposite effect on Ginny.