Love Conquers All

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CHAPTER 3: Back home

The next morning Harry was woken gently by Ron, who said that breakfast was almost ready. But Harry didn't feel at all ready to do anything at the moment. He had not slept well and his eyes felt like they had sand in them. For a moment he just lay there not wanting to move. Everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours seemed so unreal, and he wished that it were not true. But the pain filling his heart told him that it was real. He felt helpless, and he didn't know how he could help Ginny. But as he lay there on the spare cot in Ron's room, he vowed that he would try to help Ginny get through this no matter what.

After a few minutes he rose from the bed, and put on some clothes. Then he quietly walked down to the kitchen. There he found every member of the Weasley family, including Hermione, sitting at the table. But one particular redhead was nowhere to be seen. He had expected that, but still he wanted to see her.

When Mrs. Weasley saw his searching eyes she walked over to him and said quietly, "She is still in her room. I don't think she will be coming down right now. I know it's hard for you too; we all want her to be okay. But we just need to give her some time to deal with all this." The last sentence was said with a strangled voice as if Mrs. Weasley tried not to cry.

"I know," Harry sighed and walked over to sit next to Ron, who gave a slight nod and whispered good morning.

Not much was said during breakfast, only a bit of small talk and people asking for someone to pass them the toast or eggs.

After breakfast, Hermione, Ron and Harry decided to walk down to the pond. They needed to get out of the house. The rest of the morning was spent almost silently; they only discussed light topics, like how Ron was glad he had a few days off from Auror training. And Hermione told them how things were going at her new job at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She had gotten a job there as a research assistant a few months back. She had a knack for finding the little details in a case that were the clue to getting the case solved. Even though she was only an assistant, she had already gained some respect among her colleagues. Ron and Harry also tried to talk a bit about Quidditch and how things were going for the Chudley Cannons. No one mentioned Ginny and what had happened to her; things were still too raw for them to talk about it.

That day no one seemed to get anything done, and everyone just tried to get through the day without breaking. Even the twins seemed to be unusually quiet this day: no jokes were said and no pranks were pulled.

Mrs. Weasley had tried several times to talk to Ginny but had had no luck. Ginny didn't want to talk to anyone, she said, and the food that was brought up to her was returned untouched.

Everyone just wished that Ginny would be okay and get back to her normal cheerful self again. But as they went to bed that night there was still no sign of Ginny.

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The next few days went pretty much the same, but the family tried to get the daily life going again. On Monday morning, Mr. Weasley went to work and so did the rest of the family. Only Harry stayed behind, he still had summer break from Quidditch games, he only had some practice sessions scheduled every week.

An owl had brought a letter from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that said that they wished to see Ginny the following Monday. They were going to get the final things set, before the trial. The letter also briefly told that Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle had been taken into custody a few days before. When Mrs. Weasley had told Ginny about the letter she had not mentioned that last information, as to not upset Ginny further.

Mrs. Weasley told the rest of the family that Ginny seemed to open up a bit more, and at this Harry had gently asked if she thought it would be okay if he went up to see her. He had only seen her once since that day in the Hospital Wing when she had run from the bathroom to her own room. Mrs. Weasley had been a bit hesitant at first. But when she saw the sadness in Harry's eyes she had said that it would be all right, only if he promised to go if she asked him to leave.