Ginny's Sixth Year

Chapter 35

"I'm not hungry," I declared after Mum offered me food for the millionth time, which was a total lie. I was starving, but I knew that I would get sick.

"Yes, you are," said George through gritted teeth. If there is one sibling that you don't want to mess with, it's probably George.

"No, I'm not. And anyway, I still feel like I'm going to get sick from that potion."

"What potion?" Dad asked, suddenly very worried.

Charlie and I looked at each other. I knew that Luna had told him the whole story and that he had told Bill. "There was a little...er...incident on the train," I said.

"Fine. But if you don't eat willingly then I'll..."

"Lay off, George!" Fred yelled, slamming his fists on the table and standing up as he did so. All of us looked at him, shocked. It was the first time I had heard Fred raise his voice at George, and apparently it was everyone else's, too. "I mean..."

To my surprise, George smiled. "No, I deserved it. You don't have to eat anything if you don't want to."

"No, you're right," Fred said. "I just didn't like the way that conversation was going. I have a one broken jaw per night limit."

I laughed, and so did Charlie and George. Mum and Dad, however, looked completely horrified. "Who's jaw broke?" Mum barked. "Ginny's? How in the name of... WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT TRAIN!!!!!!"

"I don't want to talk about it. And don't even think about it, Charlie!" I snapped. By this time, Fred, George, Mum, and I were all standing. Five pairs of eyes were focused on me, particularly my jawline. I wished I hadn't said anything. "Pass the potatoes, please."

Mum still didn't look satisfied, but she did as I asked. I filled my plate with a little bit of everything. I had forgotten how good something besides a couple of crisps could taste. I wolfed down my plate of food despite my head telling me to do everything but (when I say wolfed down I mean ate at average speed, but compared to how slow I had been eating the past months to make the food last...). "Well, now that you're all fed, will you tolerate us hearing your story?" Mum asked impatiently.

"Maybe later. Or Charlie can tell you later. But I don't want to..." I left that sentence unfinished because I had felt a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach. Wait, it was more than that. "I think I'm going to be sick."

I rushed upstairs just in time.

Fred's POV

 When Ginny ran upstairs, I wanted to go up and follow her. George must have sensed this, because he put his hand on my wrist and told me to give her space. 

How could I have let this happen? Ginny was a wreck. None of us had said it outright, but we were all thinking the same thing: she looks terrible. She had lost weight; I'm sure you could easily count her ribs under her shirt. She had huge dark circles under her eyes and clearly had not slept in days; her face, neck, hands, and I'm sure legs, back, stomach, and arms from what I'd heard, were covered in scars. She had obviously been crying, and her jawline was a goldmine of bruises. Charlie told us about what happened on the train. George pulled me close to his chest when he got to the more violent parts, though I wasn't sure if it was for him or me. 

Ginny came downstairs after about twenty minutes wearing a new, better-fitting shirt. Charlie's voice died off as I went over to her and guided her onto the sofa.

Ginny's POV

When Fred placed a hand on my back and started walking to the sofa, I had only one thought: please don't yell at me. Fred sat down to the left of me and George came and sat down on my right after he finished clearing our plates. I was touched, because Fred and George rarely sat apart from each other by choice. Fred pulled my shoulder so my ear was against his mouth. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?" he whispered.

"I know, okay?" I mumbled. I was tired of everyone pointing out how awful I looked. 

"I was just wondering." Fred kept me right where I was, but George moved over a little bit so he could whisper in his other ear. 

"What was your favourite part of today?" George asked.

"Getting Ginny back here. Or that prank that we played on Charlie. That was pretty great," Fred said.

"I liked seeing Ron again," George decided. "What about you, little Ginny?" I lightly swatted at George for using my childhood nickname.

"I don't know. Seeing you lot, and everyone else. I honestly didn't think I'd get to see Ron this Christmas, scratch that, I wasn't sure that I would live to ever see any of you again," I confessed. "I guess there were even times where I wished I wouldn't live through the term. I still feel sort of like I'm going to spontaneously combust now." I wasn't lying at all. I was tense and trembling, which Fred and George must've noticed. Fred sat up a little bit (he had to slouch loads to be able to pull my ear to his mouth) so I was on his chest, right over his heart. I made sure I could still hear Fred's heartbeat when I reached behind me and found George's pulse. Neither of them seemed to mind at all; honestly, they probably didn't put two and two together.

Fred's heartbeat started to slow and he started to snore. At first I was worried, but then I realized he was just sleeping. My own eyes stung with exhaustion. George leaned in so he could whisper in my ear. "Is there anything you want to tell me?" he asked in that smooth, soothing whisper that they had used for so many years.

"Yes. Um...I think I might have mentioned this, but one night I had a bad dream about Riddle. He said...he said that at least one person in our...George, I want it to be me." I whispered.

"Slow down. One person in our what? What do you want to be you?" George was dead serious and maybe even a little panicked.

"He said one person in our family won't make it though the war. I want it to be me. Spare you the pain of losing anyone else."

"Ginny! The family would be devistated! Fred, I don't even know what he would do! I don't know what I would do! We need you! Besides, it was just a dream. Empty words, Ginny, empty words," the last sentence was said soothingly as George's heart rate slowed back to a normal pulse. "Don't ever say that, okay? We need you. I need you. Oh, it's okay," George said quickly when he noticed I was crying. "C'mon, let's get you upstairs, if we can ever get this idiot up. Fred!" George yelled while kicking his shin.

"Oi! I'm up, I'm up! Fred exclaimed while swatting at George. Despite his exhaustion, he picked me up and carried me to my room. "You come and get us if you need us, got it?"

"Why would I...Yeah, okay. G'night!"

"Remember what I told you, okay?" George said as he leaned down to hug me. 

"Mmhmm," I said. 

"G'night!" Fred and George left me sitting on my bed for some reason. I was going to go right to bed. I laid down and fell asleep instantly. I wish I could tell you I didn't take Fred up on his offer.

Hi! I thought it'd be nice to switch to Fred's point of view to get a different perspective on Ginny coming home, even if it is really short. Hope you enjoyed!